Along with the 80′s fashion comeback over the last few years, 80′s style music has also begun it’s march. Black Kids will soon be at the forefront of this repeat revolution. With synthesizer beats, electric keyboards and soft quick guitar rifs, Black Kids can’t help but remind you of The Cure. If you dig The Go Team, Cut Copy, or MGMT, you will dig Black Kids. Their debut album dropped in 2007 and they are starting to catch fire more and more. You might recognize their popular single “I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you”, not included in this post, but a rad remix by The Twelves is. Spin Magazine and the NY Post ranked their album “Partie Traumatic” as a top 40 album in 2008. The Twelves do some pretty bad ass digitalism remixes on a few of their songs, and you can check out some of them below.

THE TWELVES REMIXES

Turn on your radio, and tune into your local hip hop (shitty rap) station, and listen for a minute. If you have any real sense of musical taste, you will be acting like Alex from Clockwork Orange, after he is “reformed” of violence. Todays music is something to get sick over, and if you are a hip hop fan from the mid 90′s and earlier, you probably constantly feel like your ears are bleeding when your forced to listen to the radio. The main problem is that its hard to pin point exactly when and where things got so shitty. Was it when rappers started to use that funny mic shit? Was it when everyone wanted to be Jiggy? Maybe it was when rappers stopped filming videos in apartment stair wells, and started shooting them in the front seat of Lamborginis and Phantoms. Theres probably a million different things your can attribute it to, but honestly, the main factor, undoubtably has to be….college kids and college parties. Hear me out. I am not crazy. I dont think.

Think back on your greatest college party memories. If they are anything like mine they go something like this. Tons of middleclass white kids, a heap of cheap alcohol, and super loud rap music to get things live. When your in college, what else do you really care about other than getting drunk, hitting on girls, and jamming to loud upbeat tunes. When party rap hit the scene and became huge, it was engulfed by college students who could give two shits about the lyrics, but were only concerned with how good the beat was. Rappers didnt even care about the lyrics. They started just throwing stuff together, knowing it didnt matter. Example.

” You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub, momma I got what you need if you into taking drugs, Im into having sex, I aint into making love, so come give mea hug if your into gettin rubbed”

What the fuck?

So lets recap real quick. Rapper from Southside Jamaica Queens, whos been lit up with 9 gun shot wounds, is rapping about giving people hugs, while at the same time admitting he isnt about that soft love making, but would rather opt for the hardcore animal fucking. Contradiction? Fuck it, the beat was hot 50!

How about this one?

Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger (When I’m in need)
But she ain’t messin’ wit no broke Niggaz (She steal me money)
Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger (When I’m in need)
But she ain’t messin’ wit no broke Niggaz(I gotta leave)
Get down girl, go ‘head get down (I gotta leave)
Get down girl, go ‘head get down (I gotta leave)
Get down girl, go ‘head get down (I gotta leave)
Get down girl, go ‘head

Who wrote this? It seems like its an argument between 2 80 year old black dudes in the south during the turn of the century.

What tends to happen is that people start to like these songs based strictly on the memories that they are associated with. People like shitty rap music, because it reminds them of the time in college they funneled 5 beers consecutively, pumped that hot new Nelly album, puked, rallied, did shots, fingered a chick in the hallway, and woke up covered in Elios pizza. By all accounts, you have to chalk that up as a solid night, but does an entire genre of music have to suffer because rappers started to make party albums?

I cant really call it. Ill just do my part to support good hip hop while occasionally sneaking in the time to pound beers and freestyle with friends over a Weezy beat. Fuck it. Im only human. YA HEARDDD.

I first heard about The Felice Brothers a few months back in a review that I read in Transworld Snowboarding. They bring a very folksy sound to the table, and no I’m not talking about country. The story telling music thats mellow to listen to. If you ever were into Dylan or Neil Young you will like these guys. The song below, Frankies Gun is actually kind of a rip of Knocking on Heaven’s Door but good none the less. If you dig it check out “Love Her Tenderly” another goodtime jam by them. Also, I’m not sure who this ballbag in the video is I was just trying to find the music and this is all that was out there, no need to pay attention to him.