THE REPORT: 11/29/24
TURKEY DAY BOUNCING
I saw DMX perform live around this time nine years ago. If you can believe it, and I don’t know why you wouldn’t be able to, it was at Art Basel in Miami. It is one of the handful of live rap shows I have seen in my life that exceeded my expectations. I have this memory of him kicking a bunch of Bacardi-branded cups off of the stage right before “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” kicked in. Legendary! Here, New Orleans bounce artist Heaven provides a tribute to the rapper with a tune that plays on “Party Up” to excellent effect.
A looney bit of industrial-strength hardcore techno that actually samples the sound of a loon call. Kilbourne always comes through with the goods. How hard would this hit at 4 a.m. inside of some warehouse? You’ve been on the floor for hours, fully locked in, and then these loon sounds start poking out of the distorted kick drum pummel?
Look, people, we love freestyle music over here at John’s Music Blog. If someone flips a Debbie Deb classic into a satisfying Cali rap tune, chances are it’s going to make its way onto The Report. If it just so happens that the person doing it is Kendrick Lamar, that’s fine. If it just so happens that Jack Antonoff has a production credit on it—that’s fine, too. If you want my thoughts on anything else related to either artist, you are going to have to subscribe to the ultra-premium VIP tier of the blog.
Turkey is a duo that features one half of The Garden. Their second album came out yesterday. “2300 TURKEY” starts with a sample of the Empire Flooring jingle. I was in Paris for Thanksgiving, where I tried and failed to do an edition of Public Listening at the notorious “French taco” chain O’Tacos. More on that Tuesday…
Christoph De Babalon “Dearth Mill”
Proto-breakcore legend Christoph De Babalon hits us with a bit of the ill slow-burn splatterdrift style. The drums don’t even start to make their way into the mix until the two-minute mark, and the shit doesn’t really start moving until after four. But the sonics here—I’m picturing a dreadlocked Berliner calling the track “mad textural”—make the track go down like a cold bottle of Mezzo Mix.
MIX OF THE WEEK: “NTS: TINKER BELL'S COUGH RADIO W/ F.G.S."
Have you listened to Tinker Bell’s Cough yet? The record by longtime John’s Music Blog affiliate F.G.S. is the Americana album of the year. Here she expands on the context with an hour of bangers: Everything from Naomi Elizabeth to Bassvictim to Lisa Marie Presley. When that Rilo Kiley hits… Let’s go!