K'Naan: The Hip Hop Emperor Has No Clothes (and free download)

A few years ago, I was visiting Delaney Flushboy in Sweden and went to see Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley in Copenhagen. It was a great show, but the highlight was the scrawny, high-voiced rapper who opened. K'naan played a drum as he rapped, his full band locking in the groove with a combination of hip-hop, afro-beat, and straight up rock 'n' roll. When I returned home, I couldn't believe there was almost no mention of K'Naan's album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, here in the U.S. Don't get me started on America's refusal to acknowledge incredible hip hop from Senegal to Toronto to Sweden.

Today, K'Naan's about to release his second CD, Troubadour, and he's getting the hype he deserves. K' Naan lives in Toronto, but he grew up in Somalia. His rhymes paint vivid and gruesome pictures and perhaps the most chaotic country on earth. And he regularly takes American Hip Hop to task for talking tough and violent when the meanest streets of L.A. are nothing compared to Mogadishu. Listen to "What's Hardcore".

NPR's Morning Edition aired a great story about K'Naan and his new album this morning. The best quote is when, talking about American MCs' frontin' and gangsta talk, he says, "in Somalia, we think it's kinda cute."

You'll hear plenty of this album in the coming months on The Beat Authority. But get a head start...thanks to NPR, you can download one track here. Best of all, you can see K'Naan for yourself: he's playing at the University of Ottawa on January 30th.

51 more to go!

The first Beat Authority of 2009 is in the books. I give thanks that I get to play incredible music to people who actually want to listen every week. Here's to 2009! Feliz ano nuevo!

Bonus!

It was fun to do a special, two-hour long Beat Authority today. Props to Jonathan Brown and the news dept. for giving All Before Five a "puente" holiday.

A sad note: Purrrrfectly amazing jazz singer and former Catwoman, Eartha Kitt, died yesterday. She was a childhood institution for Delaney Flush and I both, so expect more blogging on this. Que en paz descanse, Sra. Kitt.

N.B. - She died exactly two years and a day after Mr. Please Please.

What a Pit!

A shout-out to regular listener, Chris Morris in Saranac Lake, for blogging the Beat Authority on Friday. Check out his blog, the Daily Pit.

El Ritmo Nevado: playlist for 12/19/08

As a snowstorm falls that would make Buffalo proud, here's today's playlist. Que tengan fin de semana buenisimo. And be sure to get the free MP3 from El Guincho's band as pointed out by Delaney Flush...

Cosa Catalán

Frequent listeners to the Beat Authority know that there's a fantastic music scene in Barcelona. Musicians from all over Europe, Africa, and Latin America have been making their way to Barcelona over the past decade and forming a scene that bubbles with ideas from all around the world. A relatively new sound to show up there combines the hypnotic sound collages of Animal Collective with the rhythms and melodies of musica latina. Pablo Díaz-Reixa, also known as El Guincho, is one of the musicians playing this sound. His band Coconot released a new album named Cosa Astral in November. You can download the song "Conservad El Rayo" from BCore, Coconot's record label.

CORRECTION: It seems that the mp3 link on BCore's website is actually a stream, not a downloadable file. Sorry about that. I'll make it up to y'all, promise. I'll find the coolest mp3 in the galaxy and post a link to it.

Beat Authority Top Ten of 2008: The Lists

Thanks to Delaney Flushboy for his list, and thanks to all the listeners/blog readers for sending in your faves, too. Some of those are here.

You can still get your two cents in by posting a comment with your best music of 2008. Oh, and here's today's playlist.

David's Top Ten (links and commentary to follow):

1. Pimps of Joytime - High Steppin'
2. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
3. Nortec Collective's Bostich & Fussible - Tijuana Sound Machine
4. Toumast - Ishumar
5. Fort Knox Five - Radio Free DC
6. Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under
7. Alla - Es Tiempo
8. Grupo Fantasma - Sonidos Gold
9. Firewater - The Golden Hour
10. J-Live - Then What Happened?

Honorable Mention:

• Eli "Paperboy" Reed - Roll With You
• Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That S*** Gold

Lost at the end of 2007:

The Dynamics - Version Excursions

Best Compilations:

Jump Back: Imitations, Interpolations & the Inspiration of James Brown
I Like It Like That: Fania Remixed Putumayo's Latin Reggae

Now, from listeners...

Chris of Elizabethtown's Top Five Hip-Hop Albums for 2008:
1.) Kids in the Hall, "The In Crowd"
2.) Young JeeZy, "The Recession"
3.) Wu-Tang Clan, "8 Diagrams" (actually released in December 2007)
4.) Styles P, "Phantom Gangster Chonicles -- Vol. 1"
5.) Atmosphere, "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Pain That Shit Gold"

From Derek in Potsdam...
The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines, by King Khan and the Shrines
Plena el Salsero by Plena Libre
Dub Qawwali by Gaudi and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
And, ohhhhhhhhhh, Grupo Fantasma. Saw them in Ottawa and, ohhhhhhhhh god.

From Dawn in Key West...
Michael Franti & Spearhead, All Rebel Rockers

From Kirsten in Burlington...
Santogold, Santogold.

Favorite songs from John in Westford, VT...
The Pinker Tones - Working Bees
She & Him - Why do you let me stay here
Sober Driver - Dengue Fever
Kuf Knotz and the Hustle - Run Wit Me
Nortec Collective - Brown Bike
Bajofondo - Pa' Bailar
I also really like the DJ Z-Trip Obama mix tape. It is not a radio edit (the intro) but it is really good to play loudly!

Flushboy's Top Ten

10: London Zoo by The Bug Dark and spooky dubstep from London. Dance to it, bug out to it, or put on headphones and listen closely -- the choice is yours.

9. Parc Avenue by Plants and Animals Not so far from The North Country, these guys are like from Montreal. I'd call them an indie jam-band -- if you didn't know any better you'd swear that Trey Anastasio was playing guitar on their song "Mercy". They also wrote the fantastic lyric "Sainte Jean Baptiste is gonna eat us all alive." They make my list because of that alone.

8. Where You Go I Go Too by Lindstrøm Gotta give give some love to my Scandi brethren. Lindstrøm is a Norwegian DJ/musician/producer. This album is a space-disco odyssey, kind of like a house Dark Star. It could've easily been crap, but Lindstrøm knows what he's doing so it's actually very, very good.

7. Gost Rock by Nomo New directions in afro-beat from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Who wouldv'e thunk it?

6. Saint Dymphna by Gang Gang Dance Freaky electro-tribal-disco. Or something like that. Gang Gang Dance is definitely on a trip of their own. It takes a while to join them on their trip, but it's worth the effort.

5. Dear Science by TV On The Radio My friend Damali, who also lives here in Malmö, is friends with the guys in TV On The Radio. He told me that they've been influenced by the band Antibalas lately and that their plan for this album was to hide afro-beat rhythms in rock songs. It works well.

4. Les Chinoiseries by Onra Last year, the French DJ Onra traveled to his parents' homeland, Vietnam. While there he loaded up on vinyl which he hauled back to Paris and used as the basis for this album of hip-hop instrumentals.

3. Visiter by The Dodos Freaky folk with some great rhythms, catchy melodies, and blistering jams. The Dodos take folk instrumentation to some pretty funky places.

2. Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend This was the album of the year for me until The Very Best came out. Simple and fun, these songs are well-crafted and the afro-pop roots that they draw on seem to be the musical trend of the year.

1. Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit Are The Very Best by The Very Best This album is just so right for me on so many levels. I love that it's being distributed as a free download, a teaser for a future album that they'll sell. I love that it's funky yet melodic, unusual yet familiar, underground yet accessible. I love that it's a return to the DIY, two-turntables-and-a-microphone (or a laptop with pro-tools and a microphone) roots of hip-hop. Most importantly, I love the music. And I mentioned that you can get this for free, right?

Top Ten Jumpstart: a lexicographical approach

David and I will post our top ten albums of 2008 list tomorrow, but I'll offer a sneak peak today by announcing that Vampire Weekend's album is on my list (won't say exactly where...)

One of the things that I love about Vampire Weekend are the obscure references that they tuck into their lyrics. I've learned a thing or two by listening to VW. So here's a brief dictionary of some of Vampire Weekend arcana to celebrate the whitest band on Earth and one of the best bands of 2008.
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Crowther, Jackson (b. 1976) A right handed pitcher who played for the Expos' farm system from 1999 to 2001 and for the New Jersey Jackals (in the independent Northeast League) from 2003-2004. He has a career ERA of 4.33 over 305.2 innings pitched and a record of 18-16, not to mention 230 Ks.

Dharamsala The town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh where the Tibetan government in exile sits and where the Dalai Lama lives.

Gabriel, Peter (b. 1950) British singer and flautist who has sung about Heracleum mantegazziani, restrictions on humanoid height, and urban ovine repose.

Hyannisport, Provincetown, and Wellfleet Towns on Cape Cod.

Keffiyeh A traditional headdress worn by Arab men. The black-and-white keffiyeh is a Palestinian national symbol.

Kefir A yogurt-like fermented milk drink originally from the Caucasus region.

Kwassa kwassa A dance from Congo that was popular in the late '80s. The name is thought to come from the French quoi ça? which means "what is it?"

Mansard roof A roof with two slopes on all sides, the lower slope steeper than the higher one. Like this. Popularized by the french architect François Mansart (1598-1666).

Oxford Comma Also known as the serial comma, it's the controversial comma that comes before the word "and" in lists: e.g. reggae, disco, funk, and bluegrass. Many Brits leave it off while Americans tend to use it.