We’ve seen many weekly series come and go here at OTU, but it’s been a while since we’ve launched a new one, which frankly isn’t in keeping with our ‘we do things differently’ mantra.
That would be the marketing spin on this. The truth is, the thought occurred to me that as modern-day music listeners, we consume so much music on a daily and weekly basis that there have become two clear pools of choice when picking something to listen to: either a classic, old-school track or something relatively new. “What’s wrong with that?”, I hear you cry. “The vast middle in between those two”, I reply.
There are countless songs that lie in that grey area of being a little old, but nowhere near aged enough to be considered ‘classic’, and often they get overlooked. Several tracks may have been ‘ahead of their time’, and you’ll find them an almost brand new listen in today’s climate, or it may simply be revisiting an excellent track to recrete that ‘first time’ feel once again. Welcome to your friendly reminder of tracks we may have once loved (or even completely ignored), and enjoy the fresh yet familiar feeling that accompanies each one.
Nothing like resurrecting a perfectly good, but forgotten, song. Asher goes quite far out of his comfort zone here to grab what is arguably Mr. Hudson’s finest track to date, and applies his lyrical touch to the emotional track. It’s certainly not Roth’s usual lane, but he comes through with a fairly decent verse here, bringing relatively easy and clear lyrics to painting a nice picture of his scenario and thought process.
In keeping with the feel and vibe of the track, it would have been nice to hear him step away from his laidback flow and into something more passionate, but it’s a commendable effort nonetheless.
A definitely inebriated Giggs takes over Westwood TV and takes us backstage of Tinchy Stryder’s recent album launch party. A must watch as far as I’m concerned, I had no idea Giggs was so hilarious! I was on the fence about him/his music, but after seeing this I’m now a fully fledged fan.
He may have a rep for being “arrrrrd” (being incarcerated for gun possession suggests it’s not just an image) but it’s great seeing him just having fun. People he interviews in this include: Devlin, Ghetts, JME, Skepta, Griminal, Mr Hudson, Tinchy Stryder and a fair few other artists as well as some randomers.
Click on below to see parts 2 and 3 of this (towards the end of part 3 he kicks some freestyles to some American production, ironically one of them being a Young Jeezy beat!).
I’m not sure the term ‘much anticipated’ quite fits here, as I don’t think anyone was particularly bothered about this single: considering the talent on offer, the track is really disappointing.
The video makes the best of a bad situation with lots of diversity and variety in the images and effects chosen, and is fairly decent viewing. Having said that, I’m not sure the scenes of Hudson performing in a vintage, stripped-out venue make sense given that the song is heavily autotuned.
Audio can be picked up here, if you didn’t grab it way back in July 2009.
Oddly, there are some huge hip-hop names making appearances in this episode. Click on to see what they’re doing hanging around these parts, and what everyone else is up to.
Originally let loose a couple of weeks ago, Mr Hudson’s first foray (to my knowledge) in the dubstep world gets some video treatment to boost its popularity. If it’s not already, I expect this song to blow up pretty big so be sure to check this out.
I REALLY need to remember to do these. I prepare them all week, setting up playlists and filtering songs, but come Friday I end up being massively distracted and completely forget all my hard work.
You’ll forgive me after the click though, of that I’m sure. I’ve made sure all the big hitters are involved in this milestone episode. Don’t believe me? Prepare to look (even more) like a fool.
I know the Jay-Z & Mr Hudson version had its fans (I’m not one of them as shown in that link), and I expect that was more to do with Hudson than Mr. Carter. This will come as a nice treat for you guys, as you can grab the original solo version that was intended for Hudson’s Straight No Chaser album. If you liked the original, you’ll probably prefer this.
I made no secret of not particularly enjoying the original version of this. I must say that this version is much improved on first listen, which is just as well for a single choice. I’m also reliably informed that the UK release of this single will not actually feature ‘Ye, but will have a UK rapper instead. I assume/hope they’ll use this new beat.
In what can best be described as a fitting coincidence given the retrospective nature of this particular post, 2009 was very much a year of hindsight. I rediscovered artists I’d neglected, I discovered artists who I’d simply ignored, but most importantly I began to see the fundamental flaw in my appreciation of music (especially hip-hop) and how I probably got it wrong.
Don’t make the same mistakes. Click on to grab some unmissable tracks, and of course my discoveries from the year gone by. I’ve thrown in a couple of lists too, as I know some of you can’t deal with excess reading.
Why is this song called Young Forever, when the chorus clearly goes Forever Young?
I was never really completely sold on this track and think that it’s quite overhyped (like most of The Blueprint 3…), but I know it has it’s fans so this one is for you.
An interesting behind-the-scenes look at the making of Mr. Hudson and Kid Cudi’s track from Straight No Chaser. You can pick up the audio for this track here, and if you enjoy it be sure to pick up the album, which is out now.
Here’s the audio from Mr. Hudson’s recent appearance on Radio 1′s Live Lounge. He performs White Lies, as well as a cover of JLS’ Beat Again. I’ll throw the video on as soon as it’s made available.
An unexpected video here from a track taken from Hudson’s upcoming album Straight No Chaser.
Anyone else beginning to think that October might be a good music month? The tracks/videos we’ve posted so far have been pretty damn good. It’s only gonna get better too, seeing as there are some big albums on the horizon…
Check out the video here for a track I’ve been loving ever since it leaked a little while back.
It’s a very simple video, but remains effective and allows the song to take centre stage. I’d have liked to see a little more going on in the video to make the track even better, but there we are.
The track is awesome though, and can be picked up from here for those of you who missed it first time around.
It’s time for another uptempo/club/party/whatever track post. There’s hip-hop, dubstep, electro and miscellaneous here. Hit the click for some party-ready, club-busting, face-shattering tracks.
Yesterday was all about the bits and pieces surrounding the music, and there was only one new track for you to enjoy. Well, I’m making up for it here with a post packed with quality new tracks, from uptempo through to mellow.
Also, this is officially the 100th post on the site-thanks for your continued support folks. In honour of that, I’ve put music in from a ridiculous range of genres to represent all that we represent, so hit the click.
I meant to post this a couple of days back, but didn’t get round to it. The artwork and tracklisting for Jay-Z’s upcoming album The Blueprint 3 have been released. The tracklisting is after the click. → Continue Reading The Blueprint 3
More new music for you from names including the UK’s Mr. Hudson. We’ve also got Asher Roth, Fabolous and Drake in the mix. There’s more coming later today too, including a new Slaughterhouse track. Click below for the goods, and keep an eye out tonight for the new Slaughterhouse joint.
Paranoid, the most recent single from Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak album, had a video released for it a month or so back. The video had a slightly altered version of the song. Click below for more.
Two big new tracks from UK artist Mr. Hudson’s forthcoming album, Straight No Chaser. One features Kid Cudi and one has Kanye West. (and it’s not Supernova…!)
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