I’m not really sure how to describe this one except that I want this to be the soundtrack of my day, everyday. Detroit tech/house master Theo Parrish links with fellow Sound Signature labelmate and UK Ghanaian crooner Andrew Ashong for a blue-eyed folk soul jam that will undoubtedly be resonating in your head way after the 9 minutes of “Flowers” are up. This track comes off of the Flowers EP, featuring two more tracks by Ashong, “Take It Slow” and “The Way She Moves.” This is easily the best song of 2012 that you never heard so get on it: listen to “Flowers” below and cop the EP here.

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While we wait anxiously for the feature-length Stones Throw documentary,  Life+Times gives us a short version of the evolution of one of the most diverse and talented labels in the game today. Chronicling the pre-Stones Throw era of Peanut Butter Wolf and the late Charizma to the birth of the label and its newly signed artists, like South African new kid Jonti, this mini-doc gives an inside look at the ST environment. Sharing exclusive footage of himself and Charizma from back in the day, the Peanut Butter Wolf monster discusses his personal thoughts on Stones Throw history, from his own “Apple Juice Break” to Jonti’s newly created soundscapes, comparing the new kid to Kraftwerk  (“He’s our Kraftwerk”). Watch the development of Stones Throw Records and listen to the thoughts of the founder and one of the newest signees. And hopefully we’ll see the full feature-length documentary, Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton (This Is Stones Throw) sometimes this year.

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Brooklyn-based instrumental funk and soul jam band, The Menahan Street Band, just dished new visuals for their track “Keep Coming Back” off of their latest release The Crossing. Just in case you forgot, you know these guys for several reasons. Be it because Jay-Z, Curren$y, or Cudi sampled them or because you know them as individuals from the Dap-Kings, Budos Band, Antibalas, and The Expressions. Whatever reason it is, the Menahan Street Band are not a group of musicians to forget. Last year we saw a few visuals from The Crossing, but nothing quite as emotionally fantastic as “Keep Coming Back,” which explores the complicated relationship between a beautiful young woman and her boxing trainer. Watch the visuals below and definitely check out more funky soul going by the name of The Menahan Street Band.

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It’s been a long ride but Tweet has finally given a concrete date for her new EP titled Simply Tweet. The EP is set to drop on February 26th and while we wait just a little bit longer (what’s another month after waiting a few years?) she gives us a new joint to tide us over. “Enough” finds Tweet with her hands in the air and her head held high as she says–you guessed it–”enough” to a no-good man she’s been trying to make it work with. After teasing us with her #TweetTuesday summer series last year, it’s a relief to know that she’s ready to hit the studio again. Watch for  Simply Tweet on February 26 and a full album later this year, and listen to “Enough” below.

Spotted at SB

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In commemoration of Black History Month, NYC’s Museum of The Moving Image presents “L.A. Rebellion: Creating A New Black Cinema.” The series, organized by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, will focus on various films and shorts from a period known as the ‘UCLA Rebellion’. The story of the movement is described as:

In the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the Watts Uprising and against the backdrop of the continuing Civil Rights Movement and the escalating Vietnam War, a group of African and African American students entered the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, as part of an “Ethno-Communications” initiative designed to be responsive to communities of color. Now referred to as L.A. Rebellion, these mostly unheralded artists, including Charles Burnett, Julie Dash, Larry Clark, Haile Gerima, Billy Woodberry, and many others, created a unique cinematic landscape, as—over the course of two decades—students arrived, mentored one another, and passed the torch to the next group.

Works from Larry Clarke,  Zeinabu Irene Davis, Julie Dash, Funmilayo Marakah will be screened alongside other filmmakers who attended UCLA from the 60s to the 80s and created alternative cinematic narratives. Check out the website for all the details.

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Here’s another song for your weekend pleasure. Full Crate & Mar are gearing up to release their long awaited follow up to the Conversations With Her EP. The two took some time off to explore their solo sounds and are now reuniting to bring us an infectious electronic sound. Back in November we showed you guys a short video from their Summer 2012 Tour which featured a song that shacked up in our brains. Now we get the full song on its own, titled “Nobody Else,” a prelude to their debut album in the works. Let this joint invade your brain (not like you have much of a choice once you hit play) and enjoy your weekend.

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One of my favorite female spitters, Nitty Scott, MC recently dropped a dope freestyle over Flatbush Zombies‘ “Bath Salt” beat. Today, she dished out the haunting visual accompaniment. The video, shot in a gritty black and white, has Nitty and friend roaming the streets in a zombified state, while Nitty spits hard bars about the rap game and her Boombox Family. This track is straight fiesty, and so is Nitty Scott, MC, who leaves some gentle advice for you rappers out there: “Don’t be mad if my blunt got more hits than your mixtape.” Check out the dopeness below.

spotted at NR

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Chazwick Bundick, known to most of you as the illustrious Toro y Moi, dropped his third studio album Anything In Return a few weeks ago. He’s since been on the road, currently in Europe and will eventually be taking over North America, Australia, and South America. The 8th stop on his European adventure found Chazzy B (sorry, I think he might have the greatest given name of all time)  in Amsterdam, at the MC Theater. And while I’d have loved to been there to see the magic happen, we’re all pretty lucky that some dude filmed the show with a Nokia 808 PureView, giving us a pure view of the chillwave king rocking the stage. The entire performance can be seen and heard (excellent audio quality given the circumstances) in three parts, watch below. And check the set list, written by the king himself, here.

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dead prez‘s Information Age received some mixed reviews when it dropped last October. Comparisons to Enya were made. And while the beats have undeniably strayed from classic dead prez style, M1 and stic.man do what they always do; lyrically motivate, organize, and rally their listeners.  ”Time Travel”–with its positively Weezy-ish, sizzurp drenched hook–is a case in point, an update of their approach on “Bigger Than Hip-Hop” formula in the sense that they prefer to spit their revolutionary but gangsta-isms over the latest street sounds (it’s worth remembering that the dirty-south bass groove of what is now acknowledged as among their most classic tracks definitely threw off some of dead prez’s Rawkus-reared listeners at the time). Now, they’ve dropped a posse-cut remix for the track featuring Bun B of UGK and Brooklyn newcomer Reek Da Villain, who is currently under the tutelage of Busta Rhymes. Bun B takes point, before the others jump in and talk about everything they want to see and do in the past, present, and future. This version of “Time Travel” can be found on the deluxe edition of Information Age which you can cop here. Listen below and judge for yourself.

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We told you to watch out for up and coming Beast Coast crew members The Underachievers. Today, they dropped their highly anticipated, Indigoism. Straight outta NYC, these cats are respected all the way to the left coast, what with this tape being their debut on FlyLo‘s L.A.-based label Brainfeeder. A 17-track mixtape, Indigoism features underground favorites like “The Mahdi” and “Gold Soul Theory”, along with some new joints produced by the likes of Mr. Bristol, Rich Flyer, The Entreproducers, Bruce Lee Kixxs, Juice and Lou Chapo from Tribe Gang, and Dreamrite. But there are two things that impress us even more than that: 1) these kids are only 21 and 22 and 2) up until around 9 months ago, they had no plans to jump in the rap game. Now, they’re dropping a mixtape that’ll be sure to stay on rotation for a while. Clearly, “Indigo Is On The Rise.” Download/Stream below.

Download Mixtape (via DatPiff.com)

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