#8 Myka 9 - 1969

Myka 9. The name itself will forever hold a spot in my own Emcees Hall of Fame. As a founding member of Freestyle Fellowship as well as being a key figure at the Good Life Cafe in the early 90s and as being one of the original members of Project Blowed he has forever paid his dues and deserve only the best in life. Early this year he released his fifth soloalbum, 1969. I must admit that I didn't have any real expectations when I heard of the release. I kinda lost track of Myka the last couple of years and should be ashamed because of it. The album also sat the standard for the label Fake Four Inc. this year. More about that in an upcoming post. So what about the album itself? Well, it's filled with tight productions that are sprinkled with Mykas dark flawless flow. The man is an emcee genius and this album is just another one that proves it.

So what did Myka himself think was the highlight of the year?

"Coming to Europe will be the highlight of 09!
I must also mention the Soundset Festival (20,000 fans) in Minnesota and all The Burning Man type functions!"

#9 AC4 - AC4

Anyone who knows me knows of my slight obsession when it comes to the old straight edge hardcore band Refused and then especially the singer Dennis Lyxzén and the drummer David Sandström. Since the groups demise in the late 90's they have both made brilliant albums in various constellations such as The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Text, David Sandström Overdrive and Invasionen just to name a few. Now they have started an old school hardcore band together with Karl Backman and Jens Nordén and are calling themselves AC4 (AC stands for the code of the region in Sweden where they are from and the 4 is for the number of members). The self titled album is raw, basic and just straight up brilliant. 15 songs in just 21 minutes. I love it!

This One Goes Out To You Hannes

What a perfect way to begin my vacation in Umeå. I finally got around to watch the movie Bravestarr: The Legend. Verdict? I totally loved it! Too bad though that my personal favourite Cactus Head was one of the bad guys. If you haven't seen this movie or the television show, I strongly recommend it! You never get too old for quality.

R.I.P. Flight of the Conchords

So, that was that. The superb show Flight of the Conchords has come to an end after 2 seasons. A bit sad, but perhaps it was for the best. Read the official note here.

#10 MC Paul Barman - Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud

This year was almost coming to an end and I was quite sure how this top ten list would turn out. Didn't really expect an album to pop up at the last minute and force itself on to the list. But I was wrong. Along came MC Paul Barman. Here's a guy who always been left in the dark and never really got the attention that he deserved. His album Paullelujah! was a masterpiece when it came. And who could really think that he would be able to do another one 7 years later. But he sure did. Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud is just as lovely, tight and quirky as one could hope. Paul is a truly underrated emcee and with the help of amongst others Masta Ace, Del The Funky Homosapien, Memory Man, Prince Paul and Doom he's truly made an album worthy of being on my top ten list this year.

So what did MC Paul Barman himself think was the musical highlight of the year? He was good enough to share this with us, and this is what he had to say:

This year I finally discovered John McLaughlin.
In the late sixties, McLaughlin was working as Miles Davis's guitarist until Miles told him he needed his own band. So he formed The Mahavishnu Orchestra with monster drummer Billy Cobham and made one of my all time favorite records The Inner Mounting Flame.
Every Sunday I listen to Garam Masala, an Indian music show on WKCR and I heard his more traditional Indian work, the type of work he apparently prefers over his famous electric guitar. I adore both styles and am amazed by his breadth of work.
I began researching Hinduism and the lives of Vishnu in order to illustrate the cover of Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud. I am hoping this will lead to a greater understanding of McLaughlin's music.

Compilation of the Year - Fake Four Inc A Record Label Sampler vol 1

I usually don't think about compliation albums. They are simply there but never anything out of the ordinary really. But I thought I should mention Fake Four Inc A Record Label Sampler vol 1 for 2 reasons. Firstly because of the pure content of it. Every single song is amazing in it's own right. But also because the label Fake Four Inc. is without a doubt the label of the year. And for everyone that knows me and knows of my obsession with anticon that means a lot. Not that anticon has been bad this year, on the contrary. But as a whole, Fake Four Inc. sweeps the floor with its mix of artists. Ceschi, Awol One, Factor, Myka 9, Gregory Pepper & His Problems, sole & the Skyrider Band and Cars & Trains are just a few of the amazing acts on the label. I will not go into the album too much actually. The album is a free download and if you don't go here and download it, well, then you're simply stupid.


I asked MiC K!NG who are also one of the artists on the label what label he thought was the best this year and also to share with us the musical highlight of the year for him personally.

"Being that Ceschi is one of my best friends and I know how talented he is and how hard he works at the label, I'm gonna have to say Fake Four Inc. is easily my favorite label for 2009. They've been doing a great job and offer a very diverse array of music. I hope to see it flourish into being the next indie powerhouse.

As far as my favorite music moment, it's kinda hard for me to say. I've never been a media darling so I get most of my enjoyment out of my shows. I had a lot of amazing shows this year in both the US and Europe including some festivals that people said I was the best act! The standout might be this point when Dos-Noun and I were in Strasbourg, France playing at this venue called Molodoi. It was a weird situation where we'd been added to the show last minute and it was more like a talent showcase with dance troops and other genres of music. People were generally just milling around and it seemed as though no one was going to pay attention to our sets. Basically I was able to captivate the attention of everyone there and in the middle of one of my songs I just had this immense feeling that "wow, this rap shit is gonna work out after all." I may never be a media darling, but as long as I can fully convert a crowd of people that never heard of me I'm cool with that."

Please check out Gregory Peppers answers to the questions here.

Gregory Peppers Most Memorable Moments of 2009

Was Kanye Right? (I Think He May Have Been)

by Gregory Pepper

So remember how Kanye West bum rushed the stage whilst Taylor Swift was receiving the award for "best female vocal" at the 2009 VMAs? It seemed to be in pretty poor taste, even for an admittedly artistically vacuous event such as the MTV video awards. Obama already totally called him on it but for posterity's sake, let's just take a moment to examine the hard evidence: like, have you ever heard a Taylor Swift song? The tune she won the award for, You Belong to Me is too brutal to describe. In fact, it seems to embody- in one fell swoop- all that is wrong with popular music, with it's faux "girl next door" posturing and all that trite middle-american imagery.

Now take a look at Single Ladies by Beyonce. Say what you will about that weird metalic glove, but guy, that shit is on point. The chorus has this dark, brooding undertone, perfectly complementing the infectious beat, while miss Knowles and her two friends are violently thrusting their pelvises like there's no tomorrow. Dude, you can't deny that it is unequivocally better than Taylor Swift. Kanye may be relying too heavily on the auto-tune as of late, but he did have that cool rotoscope video plus that other one with Will Oldham and Zach Galifianakis. I'm just saying, man...

Favourite label of the year? I'd have to go with Flemish Eye Records just because that's Chad VanGaalen's label, and he is the man.

Prelude to Countdown

We all just love Best of the year-lists don't we? Well, beginning tomorrow I will do a daily countdown of the top ten albums of 2009. And with some of the albums there will be a little treat. Wanna know what albums that made my year? Curious about the treats? Well, start reading my blog daily starting tomorrow. Easy eh? I will however start it all of today with looking at my favourite compilation album and the label of the year. Check upcoming post.

Recycling Christmas

2 years ago I put together a small mix of alternative Christmas songs for my readers to download. I listened to it a while back and thought to myself that the stuff was actually kind of good. And being lazy as I am I decided to recycle that mix and put it up for downloading this year too. So without further ado, I give you Hyvää Joulua; beats, breaks & big smiles vol. 3.

Right click and save here: DOWNLOAD

Army of the Pharaohs @ Pustervik

Tonight might turn out to be a wicked evening. First a trip to Macforum for an in-store by Army of the Pharaohs, then dinner together with two totally amazing friends, Emelie and Freddan, and then it's time for AOTPs show at Pustervik. Their first and only gig in Sweden so far. Am really looking forward to seeing Reef the Lost Cauze, Esoteric, Apathy, Celph Titled and Outerspace live and direct.

Anti-Pop Consortium: "Get Lite (Tobacco Remix)"

Tobacco from Black Moth Super Rainbow is bringing us a remix of Anti-Pop Consortiums song Get Lite. And I actually like it better than the original

DOWNLOAD

Cool Aide - Flavor Ade

Cool Aide - Flavor Ade


MiC K!NG or iCON the Mic King as he is formally known as has been around in my life longer than I've actually heard his music. As a devotee to Scribble Jam videos, I remember seeing him cheering in the background during the infamous rematch between Mac Lethal and Dos Noun back in 2002. It took me a couple of years to realize that I've heard that guy on albums such as Happy Fuck You Songs and Fake Flowers. But it wasn't until I got my hands on Mike & The Fat Man that he made together with Chum that I really started to give him any real attention. But over these last couple of years I more and more began to like him and now he's truly grown into a fullfledged emcee. Here we have a battle emcee that actually could make the transition into making good albums and his latest album together with Chum under the name Cool Aide is a very good example of this. Flavor Ade is filled with songs that are both hard and on point at the same time as they show that they got a refreshing sense of humour which overall is lacking in hip hop nowadays. The only song that make me question the album is Neo Jack Swing but hey, most album has a track that you don't like. And when you have songs such as I Am So Cool and Word Perfect you can't really complain. Flavor Ade is a great addition to Fake Four Inc.'s rooster and considering that they're the best label this year Cool Aide should be really proud of their album. Pick up Flavor Ade and support some of hiphop's friendliest artists.

Review: 3 of 5

Beard makes better music

How can one not love a blog dedicated to the thesis that people with beards make better music? I know I love my friend Elviras page and I think you should check it out too by going here.

2012

In my last post I was talking about a crappy music video. Maybe I should stick to the theme and mention a crappy movie I just saw?

2012

The King of Crappy Videos: R.A. The Rugged Man

Here's a perfect example of a good song that gets destroyed beyond belief thanks to a really crappy video. But at the same time, isn't that kinda what we expect from R.A. The Rugged Man? A truly talented emcee with really poor taste. On this song from Legendary Classics vol. 1 we also get to hear (and sadly enough see) Hell Razah, JoJo Pellegrino, Remedy & Blaq Poet.

The Understudies - All Here

A fan of The Understudies? Then you have the chance now to download their single All Here for free by going here. It's more of that warm Christmas spirit that is going around here today.

Bomarr - Wild Xmas with Bomarr vol. 4

Bomarr from Restiform Bodies keeps up his Christmas tradition by giving us his fourth installment in his series Wild Xmas with Bomarr. You can download that mix, together with his older ones here. I also think that you should check out his regular blog at http://bomarrblog.blogspot.com/.

Away We Go

Movie of the day.

Away We Go

MC Paul Barman - Thought Ballon Mushroom Cloud

One guy that I've been missing the last couple of years is MC Paul Barman. His early EP It's Very Stimulating from 2000 and his follow up Paullelujah! from 2002 has been played a lot over the years and I've been hoping to hear something new from him. And now he's back! Everyone's favourite geek rapper is back and the album is slammin'! Check out Thought Ballon Mushroom Cloud. One of the best this year!

Broken Language

So! Now it's time for a new era at the beats, breaks & big smiles 2.0 headquarters. As I mentioned in an earlier post I asked if y'all thought I should switch to English. The poll is not finished yet, but at the moment over 50% would like to see this blog in English. So this I how I'm going to do it. For the entire month of December I'll give the Swedish language a rest and see what you all think about this. Nothing will however change when it comes to content. My English might not be the best, but my taste is still flawless.

As a first treat for the month of December comes the track Doin It Wrong. It's from Dres of Black Sheep. It might not be as good as the classic stuff, but it sure is nice to hear his voice again. The track is from the new EP The Black Pool Of Genius: The Prelude.



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