Fresh Track: Billy Woods “Tinseltown”
Thought on Tracks favorite billy woods hasn’t made much noise in 2013, but that’s all about to change. Fresh off releasing my album of the year from 2012 History Will Absolve Me, woods is set to release a follow-up album July 2nd, entitled Dour Candy and fully produced by Blockhead (just like Illogic’s recently reviewed album Capture The Sun). If the first single “Tinseltown” is any indication, Dour Candy should be one of the best hip hop albums of 2013, just like History Will Absolve Me was the year before. As an Indiana resident, I could especially appreciate billy’s wordplay in this outstanding section:
“That’s why conventional wisdom don’t do nothing for me/ Marvin Harrison passed the iron to Dungy/ The quiet ones be the shooters/ He who dares wins and down here we the losers/ They robbed that white boy, cuz this ain’t Hoosiers/”
Not only does he have a clever line about Colts legend Marvin Harrison’s run-in with the law, but then he goes on to drop a Hoosiers reference the very next line. My favorite rapper dropping back to back Indiana references, it doesn’t get much better than that. Check out “Tinseltown” below and pick up the limited edition colored vinyl for Dour Candy due to drop in July over at Backwoodz Studioz.
Connect with billy woods via Facebook | Twitter
Written by John Bugbee
Video: Sonny & The Sunsets “Palmreader”
Sonny Smith has bounced back from the post-divorce listlessness of Longtime Companion. He has returned from the wandering, dissociative identity disorder of 100 Records: Vol. 3. On Antenna to the Afterworld, due to drop June 11 on Polyvinyl, Smith is back to what he does best: lending his perceptive, singular voice to understated rock tunes with his posse The Sunsets. He’s scarred, bleary-eyed and the opposite sex is only beginning to come back into focus.
The future is uncertain on the propulsive, guitar-driven “Palmreader.” In the video found below, Smith plays the role of box office attendant / director of a short, black-and-white film that centers around a gory, B-movie death match. The video serves as an odd accompaniment to an otherwise gentle rocker. Maybe it speaks to the precarious nature of Smith’s ambiguous destiny as he re-enters bachelorhood. Or maybe he’s just a guy with a sense of humor and an appreciation for cheap special effects. Watch the video below and pre-order your copy of Antenna to the Afterworld.
Indianapolis readers can catch Sonny & The Sunsets at Radio Radio on Wednesday, June 19. Grab tickets from MOKB Presents. Fellow Californians Little Wings and Bloomington’s Mike Adams at His Honest Weight will be on hand to lend support.
Connect with Sonny & The Sunsets via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track: Via Vegrandis “Baby Baby”
Earlier this spring, Bloomington label Flannelgraph Records released the debut EP from Chicago musician and Crown Point, IN native Via Vegrandis. I reviewed the EP for Indiana music archive/blog Musical Family Tree. Since the EP’s release, I’ve been itching for more. Fortunately, my wait didn’t last long. Today, Flannelgraph dropped Via Vegrandis’ synth-heavy reworking of the Amy Grant classic “Baby Baby.” According to Twitter, the Grant cover is part of a forthcoming compilation. Let’s hope this means more Amy Grant goodness in the near future. Listen to the single below, and grab your copy of the debut EP from Bandcamp. I decided to include the original music video in all of its indisputable glory below, because why not?
Connect with Via Vegrandis on Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Thought on Tracks 