Lonestar from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.
[Note: In an attempt to start blogging again, I have decided to move my music posts from Tumblr to here. I originally planned on making this a place for commentary on politics in my city, but that's all too predictable and melodramatic. I lose interest easily.]
Lonestar is one of the new tracks on the album Dirty Words from the new duo PND which is comprised of Sareem Poems and DJ Dust. Poems is (was?) a part of one of my favorite hip hop groups from back in the day: L.A. Symphony. DJ Dust is one half of Mars Ill, another favorite of mine.
I do not claim to be an expert in hip hop. It's a genre I love, but I do not listen to it as much as I do other genres. I'm particular about the sound. I like it to sound raw, acoustic, and authentic. I can appreciate the auto-tuned, 808-esque, synthetic sounding rap/hip hop one finds on the radio stations because, believe it or not, I think it does take a fair amount of skill to produce. Escargot also takes requires skill to prepare, but that doesn't mean I'm going to eat it or like it. Not my cup of tea.
I like it simple and I like it real. If it has a jazz-vibe about it, that's always a plus. I am a big proponent of mixing music genres. Hip hop + jazz is one of my favorite combinations.
As far as the Dirty Words album is concerned, DJ Dust says it best:
Sorry no autotune, syncopated hi hats, swag, songs feat. Divas etc on this record. You'll have to make a new category for PND.
Which is ironic since it sounds much more down to earth than the pop/hip hop he is alluding to.
I also love the cinematography and post effects in the Lonestar video up above. It looks amazing. PND also did a great job with the graphic design of their new album. Very high production value.
Though, while production value is important, it takes a back seat to the actual quality of the music. We're not supposed to judge books by their covers, but we do it anyway. Making ugly book covers doesn't accomplish anything.
Listen and purchase Lonestar and Dirty Words from bandcamp. I bought the album. I do love how on bandcamp I can listen to the entire album in its entirety. Check it out.
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