Posted on 09/22/2005

 

After being paraded at random live shows for years by everyone from Jay-Z to Wyclef, 2004 was a breakout year for Miri Ben-Ari. The Israeli-born, classically-trained violinist with a penchant for hip hop was thrust into the spotlight for her production and arrangement work on Kanye West's The College Dropout, and her appearance in Twista's "Overnight Celebrity" video. This is when we found out her third album would be a hip-hop compilation. And we waited. And waited. And now, more than a year too late, The Hip-Hop Violinist finally drops, to little fanfare.

Posted on 09/21/2005

 

A mixtape compilation can be a funny thing. You're bound to get some really good tunes (albeit in—no doubt—an altered form) and some admirable showing-off on the turntables by the mixer. However, these same things that can be the good side to a mix can also be the cause of its downfall.

Posted on 09/21/2005

 

Kev Brown's new collection of songs brings about a few questions. Can an album be refreshing and nostalgic at the same time? Can an artist create a sound reminiscent of the early 90s, yet remain progressive and new? If so, Kev Brown has mastered that niche with his fantastic debut record, I Do What I Do.

Posted on 09/21/2005

 

I long ago gave up keeping track of all of radio-rock's Next Big Things – so little of it rewards my investigation that I can live without throwing on the latest bunch of nerdy white guys in suits and bad haircuts.

Posted on 09/20/2005

 

Los Angeles always seems to be on the cutting edge, creating new styles and sounds ahead of the time, or at the very least, ahead of East Coast’s time. The newest group hailing from LA is the Longevity Crew. Made up of rapper StresOne, producer Choice37, and DJ Rel; the crew sounds straight up futuristic with Everything Builds.

Posted on 09/20/2005

 

"You're a stranger, strangers don't talk to strangers."
If I followed Omni's own advice, I would've missed out on his third solo album, Ballyhoo. But you're talking to a man who once played rock-paper-scissors for three hours in an apartment full of unfamiliar, non-English speaking Chinese immigrants just for irony's sake. So naturally, I dove headfirst into this paranoid, clanking beast of an LP.