Illecism - 'Molotov' Mixtape

Molotov! Revenge of the Refreshments! The Whole Mixtape!!

Fly High Films presents Molotov by Illecism, produced by MF DOOM and inspired by his Special Herbs instrumental series.

Download:
Illecism - 'Molotov' Mixtape

MF Doom Live At London's Roundhouse Concert Recap

via the BBC

Unsurprisingly though, his much anticipated slot at London’s Roundhouse (Friday March 5) amongst a lineup promoting Sonar festival was shrouded in as much mystery as his facial appearance.

With numerous stories of impostors and stand-ins circulating, many speculated about whether this would be the sort of showcase for which the Barcelona event has become renowned or purely a charade based on the notion of an incredibly skilled recording artist.

Almost certainly, the figure who appeared for the opening Madvillainy track Meat Grinder was not the same individual who performed the rest of the gig.

Nevertheless, taking the next Doom we were given at his word, it proved to be a stunning exposition of why the New York MC’s lyrical style blends so well with the sort of intricate beats for which producer Madlib (the other half of the Madvillain project) is renowned.

The combination pits throbbing bass and often curious time signatures against a disarmingly direct and darkly comic vocal flow, and it’s an irresistible cocktail, particularly on tracks from last year’s release Born Like This.

Doom’s litany of collaborators, such as Danger Doom with Dangermouse, Wu Tang Clan, Nas, Talib Kweli, De La Soul and his appearance on the Gorillaz track November Has Come, point to his incredible versatility, and hopefully this live outing opens the gates for combinations of that calibre to finally make it to this side of the Atlantic.

It’s hard not to wonder quite who was presented as Doom for the first track, and it’ll be interesting to see whether other crowds tolerate it. Fans at a recent gig in Chicago were disappointed to find the whole set performed by a stand-in, but the Roundhouse crowd seemed willing to forgive the mis-step.

In a sense talk of impostors and speculation about new material (there’s said to be several albums on the way) feels a little academic.

Doom’s managed to occupy such an important – if sometimes understated – place in the development of hip hop in recent times that these first gigs on European soil are merely a catch up on the past decade. Once audiences have got over that, they’ll demand more.

Photos:
Flickr (MF DOOM photos) by Def Danny
Flickr (MF DOOM photos) by encosion (Tim Ferguson)

Also, Def Danny's account of the MF Doom concert on his blog site:
A Tribe Called Next - Who is the masked man? Doom?…

And Lucid Mover account of the show on his blog:
Lucid Mover - DOOM @ Roundhouse

more fan shot video below.









(video courtesy of jordang187, Stevenhoward09 & Pundrick12345)

(MF) Doom Live in Paris

Looks real. MF DOOM at l'Elysée Montmartre in Paris, France Wednesday, March 3. It was DOOM's first show in Paris.

(video courtesy of ThePatHibulaire & gratmaf)

Will The Real (MF) Doom Please Stand Up?

The question of ambiguity has surfaced yet again with (MF) Doom's recent show's asking the question, is this the real thing or not?

via New York Magazine

After a shaky, lip-synch heavy show in Chicago a few weeks back, the underground rapper DOOM is once again being accused of having sent an impostor to perform in his place. This is something DOOM can easily do because he’s never seen without his trademark silver mask, and has more or less been caught doing before. But the Chicago performance isn’t a clear-cut example. The promoters are convinced it was him, releasing a statement that says they “DO NOT have any proof that the person who performed was not Daniel Dumile, a.k.a. Doom. The show was legally contracted and paid for in full. The show was officially listed on Doom's website.” So, what's going on here?

One of the promoters, Harry Knuckles, explains further:

At no point did we have time to fingerprint him or draw blood for inspection. And IMO, seriously, the dood looked like him, like Zev Love X. yes it was pretty obvious that the guy was lip-syncing, but we can't say that it wasn't Dumile. If Dumile lip-syncs because he is too fat, alcoholic and out of breath to spit his own verse, I guess that's what it has come to now.

Comparing the YouTube videos available to what we saw from DOOM at the Pitchfork Festival, we agree with Knuckles that it was the real deal, just giving a lackluster performance. More interesting is the question of why people are so upset: More than any other rapper’s alter ego, DOOM — whose backstory borrows from the Marvel comics super-villain Doctor Doom — is explicitly a separate entity from Daniel Dumile. What’s the point of creating a character that wears a mask all the time if you can’t send out other people to play that character?

As Dumile has explained:

I'm doing the shows; the stage is my canvas; I'll put whatever up there for the visible eye … Look, was niggas rockin' or was niggas rockin'? See, I'm snapping niggas out of it.

And yet … this would be a good point, if everyone were indeed “rockin.’” If DOOM were able to cultivate a cadre of fakes to entertain the masses, that would be unprecedentedly dope — someone pushing hip-hop’s concept of the alter ego to its extreme point. At this point, however, neither the real nor fake DOOMs seem to be entertaining anybody. Meanwhile, DOOM gets to charge $39.50 a ticket thanks in part to people willing to pay in the hopes they’ll be the lucky ones to get the real DOOM. With that said, there’s no way we’re missing his show this Friday at the Nokia Theater. (another source to story - Brooklyn Vegan)

Mos Def & DOOM Team Up For Upcoming Concert Dates

via Exclaim Canada

While live appearances from underground hip-hop icon DOOM are definitely a touchy subject for some fans, the rapper is set to play two shows with Mos Def in early 2010. So far, we know a Toronto show is happening at the Koolhaus on January 27 and a New York show is happening the Nokia Theatre at Times Square on January 30.

We hate to be so conspiratorial, but the amount of controversy surrounding DOOM's concerts will likely raise some concerns. The shows are billed as “DOOM with Mos Def,” which is strange, because if Mos Def were to play with DOOM, there's no question he would headline.

Neither rappers have announced the shows on their official websites, so it’s unclear if more shows will be scheduled.

Tickets for the Toronto show go on sale this Saturday (December 5), and you may want to get buying early, because if both Mos Def and the real DOOM actually show up, it will surely be one great evening of hip-hop.

Tuesday 11/10 Street Date Album Reviews Wale, Wyclef Jean And More

Wale - Attention Deficit
(Interscope/ Allido)

via the New York Times

While Wale has long cited Black Thought, lead rapper of the Roots, as his strongest influence, Kanye West (an acknowledged Wale fan) looms over “Attention Deficit,” although he had no direct role. The productions often sample old funk, particularly horn sections, emulating Mr. West’s orchestral arrangements and annunciatory buildups. Wale comes close to a direct West imitation in “Mama Told Me,” from its windchimes to its “never ever” refrain.

Still, Wale could have chosen far worse models than Mr. West, who never feigned being a thug. Wale can admit to (former) insecurity in a song like “Shades,” about being a dark-skinned young man ignored by lighter-skinned girls. He also musters compassion, in the waltzing “Diary,” for a woman wounded by love and, in “90210,” for a “regular girl” with “celebrity dreams” growing increasily desperate in Beverly Hills, succumbing to bulimia, cocaine and promiscuity.

via the Washington Post

For proof of Wale's lyrical acrobatics, look no further than "Pretty Girls," where the rapper's best pickup line involves two bottles of champagne, a football joke and a healthy credit rating: "What you sippin' on? It's no problem/Black and gold bottles like I'm pro-New Orleans/But shorty, I'm far from a Saint/But I got two AmExes that look the same way."

This is some masterful wordplay -- with an emphasis on play -- and it makes for the album's most dazzling cut. The song's thundering, go-go-inflected track helps, too. Production duo Best Kept Secret built it around a sample from local stalwarts Backyard Band and it sounds like a house party crumbling in an earthquake. How it will fare on national radio is anyone's guess, but for locals fluent in go-go, "Pretty Girls" is a thriller.

Wale has a fantastic ear for beats, though you wouldn't know it after hearing "Attention Deficit" in its entirety. There's some real dreck from producers Mark Ronson ("90210") and the Neptunes ("Let It Loose"). Wale is either adopting the please-all-audiences model West popularized, or his label's invisible hand is fussing with the dials. (In a delicious stroke of irony, Interscope reportedly zapped a song from the track list titled "Artistic Integrity.")

via Pitchfork

6.6 rating
Opener "Triumph", a terrific, Afro-beat-inspired production by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, indicates this will be a sonic adventure. It's not particularly. "Mama Told Me" is a sort of post-Kanye reflection on how difficult it is coming up in the game, namedropping people in his life whose names you will not recognize. It's been done before and better. "Mirrors" is sonically consistent-- squealing horns and down-low bass-- but also features that tried-and-true rap trope: the Bun B feature. It's negligible. "Pretty Girls" is an ode to women via his native Washington D.C. sound, produced by longtime partner Best Kept Secret, sampling legendary Go-Go crew the Backyard Band, and featuring that group's Weensey. It's a classic hip-hop raveup, loose and fun. And then Atlanta's Gucci Mane shows up. Wasn't this supposed to be a D.C. anthem? "World Tour" is typically bland, R&B diva-led (in this case Jazmine Sullivan) nostalgia-stroking patter. "Let It Loose" is the Pharrell record. Six songs in and we're hitting all the bases, without any sense of what it means to be Wale.




Wyclef Jean - From the Hut, to the Projects, to the Mansion
(Carnival House/Megaforce/Sony Music)

via the Los Angeles Times

3 stars out of four
Partnering with mix-tape master DJ Drama, (Wyclef) Jean seems determined to change that. Here, he introduces his Toussaint St. Jean alter-ego, inspired by Haitian liberator Toussaint L'Ouverture. The fictional guise coupled with furor at his also-ran status has injected a hunger in Jean. Childhood anecdotes about receiving his first pair of shoes and the crushing poverty in Haiti, ("Warrior's Anthem") provide a gritty poignancy he'd lacked since going pop. "Toussaint Vs. Bishop," and "Letter from the Penn" triumph thanks to Jean's sincerity.




Melanie Fiona - The Bridge
(SRC/Motown Universal)

via the Associated Press/Yahoo

Melanie Fiona may be eccentric. Or maybe she's just madly in love. Either way, her debut CD is an impressive mix of tracks that presents the many sides of the woman.

"The Bridge" finds the 26-year-old newcomer begging her man to stay put on the uptempo "Please Don't Go (Cry Baby)," leaving her lover behind on the impeccable "Monday Morning," and demanding her partner treat her the right way between the sheets on the groovy first single, "Give It to Me Right."




(MF) DOOM - Unexpected Guests
(Gold Dust Media)

via Pitchfork

5.9 rating
The early news of DOOM compilation Unexpected Guests positioned it as a field report from the indie MC's late-decade wilderness period, spanning a half-committed star turn (2005's Danger Doom collaboration with Danger Mouse) to this year's bullish return to form on Born Like This. And it is... except when it isn't-- "Rock Co.Kane Flow", taken from De La Soul's The Grind Date, actually finds DOOM doing something of a victory lap in 2004 after his essential triad of Take Me to Your Leader (released under the name King Geedorah), Vaudeville Villain (Viktor Vaughn), and Madvillainy (Madvillain). "Rock Co.Kane Flow" is a fantastic symbiosis of DOOM's many playful styles, but the beat itself feels weightier than what we're used to from De La and the stakes higher (ahem) than what we're used to from DOOM when he guests on a track. The other high(er)-profile collaborations on Unexpected don't always fare as well-- while "Da Supafriendz" spotlights a nerdy side of Vast Aire that often goes overlooked amidst Cannibal Ox's doomsayer image, "Fly That Knot" is the second hopelessly corny track DOOM's done with Talib Kweli (see also: "Old School" from The Mouse and the Mask) and most of the blame lies with Kweli's increasing ineptitude at hook-writing, it's clear these two share more camaraderie than chemistry.

Read each album review here:
New York Times - Wale

Washington Post - Wale opens a panderer's box

Pitchfork - Wale

L.A. Times - Album review: Wyclef Jean's 'From the Hut, to the Projects, to the Mansion'

Associated Press/Yahoo - Melanie Fiona's debut CD is solid

Pitchfork - DOOM

For a full list of November 10 New Releases:
Hip Hop And R & B New Releases 11/10

Radiohead's Thom Yorke & J. Dilla Contribute To (MF) DOOM EP

via Crave Online

According to a press release:

"Masked maverick DOOM (previously known as MF Doom) is set to release his new GAZZILLION EAR EP this December. The record includes production by Radiohead frontman and longtime DOOM fan Thom Yorke, the much-missed J Dilla, psychedelic hip-hop artist Jneiro Jarel and TV On The Radio lynchpin Dave Sitek. The EP follows DOOM’s earlier BORN LIKE THIS album opus - one of the hip-hop highlights of 2009."

There's been a longstanding rumor that TVOTR's Sitek was collaborating with DOOM, and it's encouraging to see that it's actually happening. The same goes for Yorke, after he remixed one of DOOM's tracks earlier in the year.

Sitek, meanwhile, collaborated with Jarel to co-produce a version of the title track.

Gazzillion Ear is released digitally on December 6 and on 12-inch on December 7 on Lex Records.

(source)

Related:
(MF) Doom: New Album Collection And Working With TV On The Radio Guitarist

(MF) Doom: New Album Collection And Working With TV On The Radio Guitarist

via press release

DOOM is one of the most original and uncompromising voices in hip-hop. From his work in the 90's with the seminal KMD to his legendary releases under a variety of aliases including MF Doom, Madvillain, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Dangerdoom & more, his prolific body of work has always valued artistic integrity and creativity over anything else. As numerous and varied as his albums are, DOOM also has a thick catalog of guest appearances, remixes, non-album tracks, & vinyl only singles. For the first time, Unexpected Guest presents many of these hard to find tracks as a mix CD, executed and overseen by the Super Villain himself.

With a list of co-conspirators which includes marquee level names such as Talib Kweli, Ghostface & GZA as well as underground heroes Vast Aire, CountBass D & Kurius, the music on this disc highlights DOOM's ever-present trademark wit and taste for raw and ominous beats. On "Trap Door," he spits couplets like "No curse words / DOOM the worst church nerd verse heard" over a plucked bass and guitar line from producer Jake One that sounds like the funkiest spy movie soundtrack imaginable. "Sniper Elite" sees the emcee united with the late J Dilla, and is one of the many tracks featured that has yet to see an official CD release. The album will also feature a never before heard live version of DOOM's classic "I Hear Voices" from the Operation Doomsday album.

Peppered with his signature comic book dialogue and vintage sound clips, Unexpected Guests presents a treasure trove of DOOM obscurities which should shed light on material that even some hardcore fans may have missed. It's a frenetic, virtuosic look at a true hip-hop original.

Tracklist (Final tracks and running order TBA)
01. Get 'Er Done ft. DOOM - Jake One
02. Fly That Knot ft. DOOM - Talib Kweli
03. Sniper Elite ft. DOOM - Dilla Ghostface DOOM
04. Trap Door ft. DOOM - Jake One
05. Sorcerers ft. DOOM & Invizible Handz - John Robinson
06. Da Supafriendz - Vast Aire
07. Quite Buttery - Count Bass D ft. DOOM
08. ? - DOOM ft. Kurious
09. All Outta Ale - DOOM
10. E.N.Y. House - Masta Killa
11. Bells of DOOM - DOOM
12. My Favorite Ladies - DOOM
13. Street Corners (Remix) - Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck & GZA

Also read here:
MF Doom and TVOTR’s Dave Sitek to release album