Panacea "The Prelude"

Panacea (Raw Poetic on the mic and K-Murdock on production) is back with their track, "The Prelude" from their forth coming album, "Midnigt Morning Africa." The album is slated for release in early 2012, but so far no date has been set, but I fully expect another dope release from the group (you can check out their last two albums "Ink is My Drink" "12 Step Program" and more on K-Murdock's bandcamp.)


Panacea - "The Prelude" by Neosonix

Mallz and Dr. Khil "Khil Shot Mallz"

Always a good thing for me when two (or more) artists I am a fan of decide to join together and make a song, or even better a whole project. Well, that is exactly what is happening right now as Mallz and Dr. Khil have joined forces and are working on their EP entitled, "Pen Stroke of Genius." Who are Mallz and Dr. Khil you may ask? First off, shame on you. Second, you can check the pieces I've done on Mallz and Dr. Khil and get familiar quickly. Now for those who know what is going on, or for those who just want me to shut and tell them about some dope music, check out the first track off the "Pen Stroke of Genius," entitled "Khil Shot Mallz."

Khil Shot Mallz by Dr. Khil

Sulfur "Waking in the Wasteland" (Video)

If you follow this blog regularly you will recognize the name The ThoughtCriminals (posted a review of their live album a few days ago.) There are two talented MCs that provide the vocals for them, the first is Mikal kHill (who also plays a mean midi-NES) the second is Sulfur. While they are putting the finishing touches on their newest group album, they have decided to release some side projects, one being "entropy" which is a post-apolopytic album that features Sulfur on the mic and kHill on production.

Well, I had heard that there was a video for one of the tracks off "entropy" and figured I would check it out. The song is titled "Waking in the Wasteland" and to be honest I had a vision of the video and song before I checked it out, I was expecting a very Fallout style song with visuals that would appeal to fans of the game. Well, there is that sort of feeling of doom in the video but not at all what I was expecting. This is not a fun shootout to Fallout, this is one hell of a piece of visual art that was created and the song is much more than I was ever hoping for. After hearing it all I can say is WOW and I cannot wait to hear the full album, no I understand why Sulfur told me once that after this album he needed to take a step back from the post-apocolyptic world, much more tortured and exhausting than I imagined this creation would be, well done and let's see if the album keeps up to the high standard set here (which I am sure it will, I shall never doubt either of these two artists again.)






You can preorder the album here.

Black-Tokyo aka Skott Phree "Rusty Gems"

How is it that some artist seem to put out more albums than I can keep up with? I just start to digest their previous effort and then there are two new releases. I cannot say it upsets me because that just means more dope music but just crazy to me the output of some of these artists. One such artist is Black-Tokyo, who in the last week released 3 EPs. You read that right, 3. Ok, well the latest joint, "Rusty Gems" is actually older music he created while going by the name Skott Phree, but still. It seems like every time I get ready to do a review for one of his projects he has released more. So honestly, the best thing I can say is to constantly view his bandcamp and check out the dope music he continues to release. Now don't think I won't let you know about them, but I do fall behind sometimes, but you will not be disappointed with his work. Check out his latest project and peruse the site to see what you have missed.

You can stream and download the album here.

Lyle Horowitz "Nothing Says Hello Like Goodbye" and MORE

Lyle Horowitz has been rather busy lately, you may remember on Halloween he released "The Woodside Boys"
with PreZZure. But then decided that on November 27th, he would release 5, yes you read that right, 5 albums: "Bodies" "City Lights" "The Dance" "Smiles Of A Summer Night" and "Nothing Says Goodbye Like Hello" (click each link to download.)
A few days later, on December 5th, he decided to release his newest project, "Nothing Says Hello Like Goodbye." But what makes this album very interesting is: it was created in one night (yes 1 night) and released the next day. It amazes me that artists like Horowitz can create and release an album in 24 hours and have it be of high quality. That is what is remarkable about it..the quality of this album and makes me wonder what is coming next from him, and how will those who enjoy his music be able to keep up (one thing you need to do if you enjoy the music is check out Horowitz's tumblr to find even more nuggets scattered throughout.)

You can stream and download the album here.

Open Mike Eagle "Extended Nightmares Getdown: The Dark Blue Door"

Rappers never say anything in their music. Rap is all about guns, money and drugs. Insert other commonly heard rap stereotypes. Enter Open Mike Eagle to smash them all. Earlier this year, Open Mike Eagle released one of my favorite albums of the year (might actually be my favorite) entitled, "Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes." Just about everything about this album screams incredible and a piece of art. The topics on the album cover just about every angle of life and apparently he has more to say about most of these because he has decided to release 4 Eps that are headlined by a remix by one of the album tracks, with the other songs being linked to the subject covered.

The first of these EPs is entitled "Extended Nightmares Getdown: The Dark Blue Door" which showcases a Busdriver remix of the track, "Nightmares" (original produced by Willie Green.) Now do not worry, if you haven't heard "Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes" yet, you will still thoroughly enjoy "Extended Nightmares Getdown: The Dark Blue Door" and hopefully this will make you realize that you need to check out the full length album. But for now, listen to the EP and see why Open Mike Eagle is quickly becoming one of my favorite MCs out there.

You can download the album here and purchase a limited edition physical copy here.

Random "A Very Random Christmas" (produced by DN3)

Bah Humbug. I am sick of Christmas music, it is all you hear when you go anywhere starting the day after Thanksgiving. What makes it even worse is that is it always the same 10 songs, just performed by different people, and rarely do they even sound any different. There are very few Christmas albums that I do not detest, for years the only one I would actually listen to from start to finish was Harry Connick Jr.'s "Harry for the Holidays." I can take some Willie Nelson and some Stevie Wonder as well, and Peanut Butter Wolf's "Badd Santa" mix, but this year something strange happened.

A teacher, rapper, hero, decided to create a Christmas album and have all the beats made from the classic television special "A Charlie Brown Christmas." A few other items make this album a bit unique, for one there are actual new lyrics to Christmas songs HOORAY and the songs are actually good *GASP* this isn't an album that was thrown together to get some money, these are songs made specifically for an alternative to the overplayed traditional Christmas songs and created with intelligence, humor, and a bit of nerviness (which let us be honest, we all need) and do not forget there is also some of that Christmas magic. Who created such an album, non other than the one, the only, Random (or Mega Ran as you may know him.) Yes, I just typed two paragraphs before telling you the artist's name (then again it is in the title and there were hints.)

"A Very Random Christmas" is a dope album, that just happens to be about Christma. Whether told through the point of view of a child who just wants what is on his Christmas list, a grown man who encounters Santa, a group of friends questioning the Grinch in the group, making money shoveling snow, or giving love to those most important to you, Random is able to get the feeling of Christmas out through music with all the highs and lows in between. So check out the link below and enjoy.


You can stream and download the album here.