Jay-Z's rock & roll cover art

Jay has gone all Coldplay for the cover of his new album.

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Some eagle-eyed music bloggers have suggested that this is effectively an amalgamation of a cover by the Secret Machines and some imagery from U2's last album. Click the links and see what you think.

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For what it's worth, I like it a alot. It's a darn sight more creative than most Hip Hop album covers, and without question it's 100 times better than a close up of Mr. Z wearing a Yankees baseball hat. Track list below. I'm keen to hear Jay and MGMT on the same track, although form the 'additional production' credit, I imagine that Kanye has sampled a huge chunk of one of their tracks and been forced to include them as assistant producers.

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1. What We Talking About (Produced by Kanye West)

2. D.O.A. (Produced by No I.D.)

3. Weigh Me Down Feat. Kid Cudi (Produced by Kanye West)

4. Unforgiven (Produced by Kanye West, Additional Production: MGMT)

5. Run This Town Feat. Rihanna & Kanye West (Produced by Kanye West)

6. Empire State Of Mind Feat. Nas (Produced by Kanye West & No I.D.)

7. When It Comes To This (Produced by Timbaland)

8. Always Feat. Drake (Produced by Kanye West)

9. Scenes From The Past (Produced by No I.D., Co-produced by Kanye West)

10. Everyday A Star Is Born Feat. Mr. Hudson (Produced by Kanye West)

11. Already Home (Produced by Kanye West)

12. Forever Young Feat. Mr. Hudson (Produced by Kanye West)

13. Thank You (Produced by No I.D.)

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Bonus Tracks:

14. Sound Of The 70s (Produced by Kanye West)

15. We Made History (Produced by Kanye West)

Beastie Boys - New Album Cover, Track List & mp3

New album from the Beasties, Hot Sauce Committe Part 1, coming September 15th. Is that really Ad-Rock on the right? Looks nothing like him...

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Tadlock's Glasses
B-Boys In The Cut
Make Some Noise
Nonstop Disco Powerpack
OK
Too Many Rappers (featuring Nas)
Say It
The Bill Harper Collection
Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (featuring Santigold)
Long Burn The Fire
Bundt Cake
Funky Donkey
Lee Majors Come Again
Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament
Pop Your Balloon
Crazy Ass Shit
Here's A Little Something For Ya

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Too Many Rappers mp3 courtesy of nahright

Arctic Monkeys - Album Cover & Track List

The cover and track list for their forthcoming album, 'Humbug', on which they have gone "full-on Black Sabbath" with the help of producers Josh Homme (QoTSA) and James Ford (Klaxons, Last Shadow Puppets).

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01. My Propeller

02. Crying Lightning

03. Dangerous Animals

04. Secret Door

05. Potion Approaching

06. Fire & The Thud

07. Cornerstone

08. Dance Little Liar

09. Pretty Visitors

10. The Jeweller's Hands

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Due on 24th August. At the moment, I'm indifferent. I'm too into the Bombay Bicycle Club's album to care about this. That will all change next month, I'm sure.

Blame One & Exile - Bedroom Rap

2 old white dudes in a bedroom, hitting an mpc and spitting into headphones. The essence of Hip Hop in living colour.

Buy Blame One & Exiles album when it drops.

The Prodigy feat. Dave Grohl - Run With The Wolves mp3

I've just burnt The Prodigy's new album to a disc, and I'm going to give it the once over. I'm sure I'll feed back on its merits at some point in the next few days.

I thought I'd swiftly zShare this one track with you before I hit the hospital, purely because it has Dave Grohl doing some actual drumming on it, just like the good old days.

Enjoy, and buy The Prodigy's 'Invaders Must Die' when it comes out in a couple of weeks time.

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Run With The Wolves mp3

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Antony & The Johnsons - Her Eyes... mp3

The new album by Antony & The Johnsons is out tomorrow.

Ever since I heard 'Another World', which had a profound impact on me during a difficult month, I've been looking forward to this more than any other incoming long-player.

It's been on repeat on my iTunes all weekend, and it's a beautiful, gentle and at times unsettling album. Below is an mp3 of a stand out track, although the standard is just as high throughout. And yes, I have tagged this post 'Soul'. If Antony's music is not that, then what is it?

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Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground mp3

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Animal Collective's Weird Cover Art

Animal Collective's (the group that includes Panda Bear) eagerly anticipated new album, Merriweather Post Pavillion, out on 12th January on Domino Records, has this weird, headache inducing optical illusion as a cover.

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I've heard the album, and first impressions are that it is strange. I hope it's a grower.

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 2

5. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

Everybody loves the Kings. Their sold-out Arena tours twice a year proves it. Yes, 'Sex On Fire' was played to death, but I've not let that ruin it for me. KoL have changed massively since Youth & Young Manhood (which is still my favourite of theirs), and their sound has become bigger, more accessible... it is now far closer to the 'stadium rock' of a Coldplay than the dusty garage rock of their debut, but the bluesy influence of their southern roots remains intact. Despite the larger sound, the quality has not suffered and the boys are probably writing the catchiest 'big' rock & roll tunes this side of Arcade Fire.

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4. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

At the turn of the year, Vampire Weekend were the latest New York band being tipped as "the ones to watch" by those in the know. Here, they've delivered an album full of bouncy, somewhat quirky pop songs with bags of melody, 'smarter-than-you' lyrics and New England references that makes the bands 'preppyness' pretty obvious. Because of their well-to-do social background, The Strokes have become an easy comparison to make for music journos, but Vampire Weekends sound is less retro, less guitary and less spikey. The emphasis here is on light, melodic pop tunes with a bit of Afro-beat thrown in (hence the other easy comparison, Paul Simon). It's a record that doesn't sound like much else out there, and the band seems to be having a good time themselves, which transmits to the listener.

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3. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

The former leader of r&b group Tony! Toni! Tone! (back when he was plain old Raphael Wiggins) has been threatening this album since his days in supergroup Lucy Pearl. This album should really have carried the name of his 2002 debut solo LP 'Instant Vintage'... all the tracks on here sound like genuine 60's soul staples. In his own words: "When I was making the album, I watched videos by Gladys Knight & The Pips, Al Green, The Four Tops... and fused them all together".

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2. Elzhi - The Preface

The ex-Slum Village member emerged from the shadow of his former colleague J Dilla by dropping 2008's best Hip Hop album by a mile. Blessed with the sample-driven aural landscape of Detroit's hottest beatsmith/emcee Black Milk, Elzhi raised his game accordingly and delivered a lyrical masterclass that steered well clear of the tiresome, ignorant thug/money cliches. Proof that real Hip Hop lives.

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1. Glasvegas - Glasvegas

Much-hyped at the end of 2007, but still the best album of the year, in my humble opinion. Thick Scottish accents, a Spectorish 'Wall Of Sound', bags of emotion, songs about having no dad, the murder of a child, alcoholic husbands and of course genuinely catchy indie/pop tunes that sound like old classics. I'm sure this album will stand the test of time. If you haven't got it, get it.

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Honourable mentions for those artists who didn't quite make my (pretty arbitrary) Top 10:

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Q-Tip - The Renaissance

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part 1

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Neon Neon - Stainless Style

Santogold - Santogold

Lykke Li - Youth Novels

Black Milk - Tronic

Antony & The Johnsons - Another World EP

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Let's hope for an equally excellent 2009.

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 1

Numbers 10-6 of my (cross-genre) best albums of 2008. I'll get to Part 2 in the New Year:

10. Johnson & Jonson (Blu & Mainframe) - Johnson & Jonson

Conscious, soulful, everyman lyrics from LA's Blu (who delivers the fitting follow up that Below The Heavens deserved... we'll give him a pass for the C.R.A.C. project) and music with warmth that compliments the rhymes, courtesy of new beatsmith Mainframe resulted in one of the years best Hip Hop albums.

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9. Portishead - Third

After a 10,000 year break from the sharp end of the music industry, I was slightly worried that a new album from Portishead wouldn't be anywhere near as relevant or interesting as their important duo of LP's from the 90's. Then I heard the mind melting 'Machine Gun' and my fears were put to rest.

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8. White Denim - Workout Holiday

The Austin, Texas garage/blues-rock trio rode the crest of the wave created by their lead EP 'Let's Talk About It' and toured their high energy show extensively. They must be shattered. Punky, soulful, always raucous, often psychedelic but always technically excellent, White Denim provided a spiky and progressive alternative to the White Stripes or the Black Keys.

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7. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

The lads from Bury struck gold in 2008, after years of digging, by winning the Mercury Music Prize ahead of my personal tip, Burial (who doesn't feature in this list on account of his Untrue album having been released in 2007). The Seldom Seen Kid is a soaring, beautiful album that can lift you up and carry you away. What more can I say...

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6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago...

After the breakup of a band, relationship, and a bout of sickness, Justin 'Bon Iver' Vernon left Raleigh, North Carolina and moved back to Wisconsin, spending three months alone in his father's cabin in the woods. The result is this gentle, atmospheric, heartbreaking and heartwarming folk album. Recorded entirely in the log cabin, Vernon plays all instruments, sings all backing vocals and presses the record and stop button himself (as his footsteps across the floor at the end of the standout 'Re: Stacks' will attest). Perfect listening whether you are up or down.

Guns n' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" - Rolling Stone Review

Rolling Stone magazine have heard and reviewed the loooooong awaited (not by me, I hasten to add) new album from Guns n' Roses; Chinese Democracy. Not exactly my kind of thing, but I've posted this for two reasons:

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(1) Bookies were offering long odds that this album doesn't get released this year, and it looks like they are going to lose money, which is always worth celebrating, and...

(2) It got a good review. A really good review. Which is frankly, unbelievable considering Axl Rose is a complete dick.

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Go HERE to read it.

Osang Gwon - Keane's new album art

Wow. I'm impressed.

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Keane are getting incrementally cooler, due to moves like this one (plus, their music got better). Osang Gwon is a Korean artist, who has made an impact with his photo-sculptures. Essentially, he photographs every inch of a subject, and then places those images onto a polystyrene model to great effect. The above is a rendering of Tim from the band.

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Go to hypebeast to see more pics of the Keane project, or click here to see Osang's website which has some very impressive examples of his work.

Q-Tip - I Believe (featuring D'Angelo) mp3

New from Q-Tip's forthcoming album (cover art above).

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So Kamaal somehow persuaded D'Angelo to put down the crackpipe and cheeseburger long enough to sing some bars... let's hope theres more to come and we get that third album we've been waiting for for 8 or 9 years.

Nah Right is reporting that this isn't the final version that will appear on the album, but you get the idea.

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I Believe mp3

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New Streets album - Cover Art & Tracklist

Cover of the new album from Mike Skinner, released on monday in the UK.

Track list below.

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1. Everything Is Borrowed
2. Heaven For The Weather
3. I Love You More (Than You Like Me)
4. Way Of The Dodo
5. On The Flip Of A Coin
6. On The Edge Of A Cliff
7. Never Give In
8. Sherry End
9. Alleged Legends
10. Strongest Person I Know
11. Escapist

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Previously:

The Streets - Everything is Borrowed (Audio/Video)

The Streets - The Escapist (Video)

Kanye West - Love Lockdown mp3

Kanye West's new sing-le (see what I did there?). I wonder if he'll go back to rapping on his fourth album "808's and Heartbreak", due 16th December?

I'm not sure this link will last long, so get it while you can.

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Love Lockdown mp3

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Courtesy of 2dope

Oasis - New Album Cover & Tracklist

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1. Bag It Up
2. The Turning
3. Waiting For The Rapture
4. The Shock Of The Lightning
5. I'm Outta Time
6. (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady
7. Falling Down
8. To Be Where There's Life
9. Ain't Got Nothin'
10. The Nature of Reality
11. Soldier On

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Self explanatory. Due out 6th October.

Large Professor - Main Source (Cover Art) / In The Ghetto mp3

Coming 30th September. Bringing back that old New York rap. The Press release says:

No skits. No songs based around dances. No forced collaborations sprung from the mind of an overeager and clueless A&R. Just Beats. Rhymes. And Life.

Bonus: Large Professor - In The Ghetto mp3

From 2dopeboyz

Nas - Nigger Hatred mp3

More new music from Nasir.

I'm assuming that this must be the intro to his new 'untitled' album, the cover of which is above.

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Nigger Hatred mp3

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Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook mp3

This is weird, but great. The first single from Sigur Ros' forthcoming album (cover art above). Click here for the title... I'm not retyping it!

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Gobbledigook mp3

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Seeing Sounds Cover Art

Cover art for the upcoming N.E.R.D. album, seeing sounds.

They like their red animals don't they?

The Fratellis - Shameless mp3

Brand new Fratellis, in their trademark spirited style, from their album 'Here We Stand' (in the shops from Monday 9th June). Try and tell me it doesn't sound like Slade...

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Shameless mp3

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