Friday, November 27, 2009

What's New In Dart's iPod #106 AKA Where Is Dart?

This week sucked balls because my reliable workhorse 17" G4 PowerBook finally died for good this week. I had hoped that it would last until January but nope. It had about 25 kernel panics in the past week and the PMU was so screwed up that it no longer could sustain a charge. My brother gave it to me in August '08 but I didn't use it exclusively as my laptop until about that December, though. I was afraid to kill yet another Mac.

I've been without a laptop for a while and I've lost some files & pics I used to make posts. All of my old bookmarked sites have been affected to so my entire organized posting & writing process has been reduced to shit. This is why I haven't posted all week & also why this post is two full days late.

It's been almost a month since our (mine, Eric & Travis') collaborative blog Bloggerhouse launched and it's been going beautifully. I will be adding new content up there as well as here until I discontinue Poisonous Paragraphs on January 1st, 2010 (that's 41 days away). I'll bring a revamped & streamlined version of "What's New In Dart's iPod" to Bloggerhouse in 2010.

The Patriots beat the Jets last week and I posted about it over @ Armchair Linebacker. Hopefully they'll beat the Saints on Monday Night Football. I'll try to post something up on Nerd With Swag as well. As soon as I get my whole computer situation figured out I'll be able to get back to regular posting on here & Bloggerhouse.

This week I'll be reviewing eight new projects that recently hit the 'net/bloggerverse and/or will be landing on store shelves soon in the following order: A Disturbing New Trend "Year Of The Carnivore", The Clipse "Til The Casket Drops", Danny! "Where Is Danny?", LMNO & Yann Kesz "Devilish Dandruff With Holy Shampoo", OC & AG "Oasis", Portformat "The Repeat Factor", Souls Of Mischief "Montezuma's Revenge" and Wiz Khalifa "Deal Or No Deal". For those of you new to this blog, I don’t rate albums on a scale or assign them a numerical value out of 5 or 10, instead I merely answer the all important question of “Is it worth buying or not?”. Here's how my recently revised "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:

Opinions be damned. This particular project has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and should come with a Surgeon General's warning and/or a biohazard sticker. It should only be handled by hazmat teams or bomb/demolition squads. To quote Common & Canibus, this album is your worst nightmare squared.

Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.

Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.


Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.

It was all good just a week ago! © Jay-Z


Best Joints: A Disturbing New Trend, Winters, Affiliate's Theme and Year Of The Carnivore

Hot Garbage: That it wasn't longer

Dart's Take: If I was asked to find a song that exemplified the feeling behind Boston Hip Hop this would be it. Clocking in at just over 10 minutes of mayhem these 4 songs make me want an album from Silva & Affiliate right fuckin' now. They also managed to create a new Boston anthem with "Winters" (that's pretty damn hard to do). "Year Of The Carnivore" will be available on December 1st @ Newbury Comics & Underground Hip Hop and it's available on iTunes right now. Mos def. Cop it.




Best Joints: Freedom, Popular Demand (Popeyes), Kinda Like A Big Deal, Showin' Out, I'm Good, There Was A Murder, Door Man, Never Will It Stop, Eyes On Me, Counseling, Champion, Footsteps and Life Change

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: I was sent this album just recently. The same day I was sent it my OC & AG CD got stuck in my now dead Powerbook G4 & it was sitting in my iTunes not yet moved to my iPod Touch. Two days later I'd finally get to hear "Til The Casket Drops". It's the perfect soundtrack to the death of my laptop & the pending death of Poisonous Paragraphs.

The selection of producers (Sean C & LV, DJ Khalil & The Neptunes) made for great listening music. I hate Cam'ron & Yo Gotti but they somehow made them tolerable. Even clubby tracks like "Eyes On Me" & "Counseling" with female R&B singers on the hooks worked really well. DJ Khalil did his thing on "Kinda Like A Big Deal", "There Was A Murder" and "Footsteps" and the album will be blasting out of cars & iPods until the Summer comes. Bet on it. I give "Til The Casket Drops" a highly recommended maybe.




Best Joints: Manic! At The Disco, Where Is Danny?, Tattered Fedora Flow, Hoedown Showdown, I Ain't The Walrus, Turn Me Up, Many Reasons, Still Got Love, Sloppy Joe, Pt. 1, Fa Fa Fa, This Is Your Life (In West Watch-A-Ka-Tella), Off The Hook, George Wendt, Theme Music To A Killing Spree, Lost One, Scrambled Eggs, Sloppy Joe, Pt. 2, Mama, I Want To Fucking Sing, Wake The Fuck Up Man (You're Trippin' Man), Crank Dat (Hey DJ), Get Down and Gone Danny Gone

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: Download it now. Buy it when it drops. This is easily one of my favorite releases of the year so far as I've played it so much that I expect a team of people to attack me like on the Stride gum ad to force me to play something else for a change. Salute to Danny Swain, Alex Goose, Von Pea, Che Grand, Danny Brown & whomever else even breathed on "Where Is Danny?". Mos def, dammit.




Best Joints: Devilish Intro, The Brunt, Never Stop, Fashion Show, Creation Of The Gun, Different Borders, Cocaine, Just Want You, Many Options, Peace Of Art, 1974 and Too Strong

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: It saddens me that people are going to sleep on this album heavily. LMNO spitting over Yann Kesz's hard production should open a bunch of eyebrows from the album's opening to it's conclusion "Too Strong" with a Kev Brown feature. LMNO last three projects have received favorable reviews from me and this album might be the best of all three (that includes the Kev Brown collaboration "Selective Hearing").

Do me a favor & listen to this album and tell me that you weren't rockin' these tracks with your face scrunched up. "Devilish Dandruff With Holy Shampoo" drops on December 1st. Don't sleep. I give it a highly recommended maybe.




Best Joints: Oasis, Keep It Going, Give It Back, Alpha Males, Young With Style, Everyday Life, Think About It, Against The Wall, Put It In The Box, Boom Bap, Reality Is, Contagious, Supreme Squad, God's Gift, Two For The Money and Pain

Hot Garbage: Get Away (NO!)

Dart's Take: This is a solid straightforward Hip Hop album from D.I.T.C. legends O.C. & AG. Beats and lyrics make this a great album for driving around to or having in your iPods as you ride the iron horse. People are gonna sleep on the project, too. It dropped on November 24th, get out there and let them know that we appreciate emcees that know how to execute a full album rather than make ringtones & club anthems. I give "Oasis" a recommended maybe.




Best Joints: Knock Knock, U Gotta Find, Purple Planet, Mothership, Thunder and Lightning, Fairy Child, Bionic Arms, The Myth, Everything U Change, 37 Degrees, It's On, Put Your Love To The Test, Life Water, For The Hungry Cats, U$ and So Thankful

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: Germany based Senegalese producer Portformat drops his Tokyo Dawn debut project on December 3rd. This mix of ill instrumentals ("Purple Planet", "Thunder and Lightning", "Bionic Arms", "37 Degrees" & "For The Hungry Cats") and collaborations with Bless1, Obey The Altar Native, Shuanise, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dudley Perkins and Suzi Analogue amongst others one of the biggest surprise releases of 2009.

Expect Portformat to earn a spot of my January "Producers You Need To Hear Right Now" list on Bloggerhouse. I give "The Repeat Factor" a highly recommended maybe.




Best Joints: Intro, Won!, Postal, Tour Stories, Proper Aim, You Got It, Hiero HQ, Poets, Fourmation, Dead Man Walkin', For Real Y'all, Lickity Split, Home Game, Outro and Lalala

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: Take Souls Of Mischief's lyricism and group dynamic then let legendary producer Prince Paul craft a soundtrack geared specifically for them and you have a must hear project. It's taken almost a decade for Souls Of Mischief to craft a new album and it doesn't disappoint in any way shape or form. It's almost as if Prince Paul make the kind of beats they would've made to rhyme over themselves. I give "Montezuma's Revenge" a mos def. Cop it on December 1st.




Best Joints: (This should read "Tolerable Jawns" instead): Bout Y'all, Chewy, Friendly, Take Away, This Plane, Take Away & Young Boy Talk

Hot Garbage: Goodbye, Hit The Flo, Lose Control, Moola And The Guap, Studio Lovin', Right Here, Red Carpet (Like A Movie) and Superstar

Dart's Take: I don't know why this album sounded like he stole the beats from an R&B album. I don't know why this album sounded like Wiz Khalifa during boring as bars over club/rave music. I picked Wiz Khalifa as one of my "12 To Watch" back in February '08 but since then he's turned wack as fuck. I guess I ended up at 91.5% (11 out of 12) with that list, huh? I should've listened to Zilla Rocca & picked Shawn Jackson instead.

This album is on some Glowstick/Club MTV/AutoTuned Ibiza Rap shit. I tossed this promo CD into street like it said "Benzino" on it somewhere. Fuck this candy coated sugar encrusted album. Oh no.




Late Passes (For Doz Dat Slept):

Projects I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop:




Rhymefest-El Che
Jay Electronica-Act II: Patents Of Nobility
Jay Electronica-Abracadabra: Let There Be Light
Big Boi-Sir Luscious Leftfoot, Son Of Chico Dusty
Pac Div-Grown Kid Syndrome
Blu-God Is Good
Drake- Thank Me Later
Alchemist & Oh No are Gangrene
Eternia & MoSS- At Last
B.O.B.-The Adventures Of B.O.B.
Billy Danze-Behind Gatez
Statik Selektah & Termanology Are 1982
Lil' Fame & Termanology-Fizzyology
Baatin-Titus
Phat Kat and Elzhi are Cold Steel
The Beatnuts-The Planet Of The Crates
Ski Beatz-Half Man, Half Amazing
Evidence-Cats & Dogs
Statik Selektah-The Hangover
Buff1 & Rhettmatic -Crown Royale
Apollo Brown & Boog Brown-UPS
DJ Muggs & Ill Bill- Kill Devil Hills
Crown Nation (Quelle & Denmark Vessey)-Slut Bag Edition
Jay Electronica x Mos Def x Curren$y-Center Edge Territory


Bloggerhouse has arrived! Dart Adams (Poisonous Paragraphs), Travis Glave (Wake Your Daughter Up), & Eric Coons (When They Reminisce) are the official lineup of Bloggerhouse. Content is king and we are the undisputed kings of content. It's only been a month and we've already moved to the top of the Bloggerverse. I have to thank Eric & Trav for all of it. Let's keep it up, fellas! 2010 is ours.

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