'Why do you have so many concerts by the same band?'

Playing in the band...

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why I like the Grateful Dead so much. Like many other Deadheads, I have a full shelf (and CD book) stocked with show after show, and I’ve often been asked, “Why do you have so many concerts by the same band?”

It’s a fair question.

In attempting to bring other folks into the fold, I’ve also had to answer a lot of queries about the scene at shows like Dark Star Orchestra, Furthur and the like. “Why is that person dancing like that? That’s not even a dance.” People who ask questions like this will probably never realize: that’s not the point.

In addition to listening to a group of world-class musicians perform, one of the other wonderful things about the Grateful Dead is the community they engendered. It is truly an all-accepting, always-kind nation of people who could care less how you’re dressed, where you work, or what your belief system is. But we’re all here now, and having a good time, and GAWDDAMN, THEY JUST RIPPED UP ONE HELLUVA ‘CHINA CAT,’ DIDN’T THEY, BOYS!?!?

What I truly enjoy more than anything is that everyone knows why they’re there. The band is there to put together a kick-ass night of music, to settle into a vibe that will define the evening. And the crowd is there to help them. It’s fairly rare that I go to a non-jamband show, and you do see big audience reactions there, but it’s usually for a certain song, or at the end of an obviously-rehearsed solo.

That’s not what we’re really about.

Sure, folks will get amped if they hear the beginning of their favorite Dead tune, but it’s really about where the song will go, about how far the band can push itself and still stay in the pocket. For me, that is truly what the jamband scene is about: seeing how high-flying and far-out you can push your sound and where you may be able to take it without even realizing.

The original Grateful Dead’s philosophy of never writing down a setlist is the full realization of this idea. And I will grant you, it could make for some very, very uneven shows. Then again, without that philosophy, you don’t get an utterly magical moment like the 12/29/77 show whose second set made a transition from “Playing in the Band” to “China Cat Sunflower,” which the band hadn’t even played since ’74.

And even with a band like Dark Star Orchestra, where the sets are planned out, the same philosophy still basically guides the band. But even better than that, there are occasions where the crowd guides the band. As I said earlier, people at regular concerts will give applause if they hear their song, or after a ripping solo. But crowds at jamband shows can have a tendency to push the band to go harder. I’ve been at plenty of Dark Star shows where they started what was originally a guitar solo… but then the rhythm player comes in with a slightly new idea, and the keyboards follow, and the crowd, which is already getting excited, can actually see this musical synergy happening right in front of them.

It’s a really amazing feeling to be bouncing along with 800 other people in unison and watch the band react accordingly. You see big sh*t-eating grins break out across the faces of old-school Deadheads, and you realize: this is what it’s about. It’s not about drugs or liberal hippie politics or interminable drum solos or ooey-gooey ganja balls. It’s about having a collective, inspiring musical experience with a few hundred kindred souls, doing your own thing and being completely accepted for it.

If you’re not tired and sore from dancing after a show, there’s a good chance you aren’t going to the right shows.

Dead Album Night with theCAUSE: 4/9/11, Moondog's, Blawnox, Pa.

"Lotta poor man got the Cumberland blues..."

Saturday was the first time I've been to Moondog's, in Blawnox. You can tell as soon as you walk in that it's one of those venues a ton of people have played before. It's got that well-worn blues-bar feel to it, great setting for live music, if not necessarily for a show that gets people moving like theCAUSE.

"Album night" was a blast, and not just because I predicted Workingman's Dead as the first album they'd play. It worked out on two fronts, actually, since not only is it my favorite Dead studio album, it's also the only one my father owns. He and my mother were in attendance, and I was concerned that he might lose interest if he didn't know any of the songs, but he recognized "Uncle John's Band" right off the bat, and I could tell he was into it. He's a huge fan of the guitar solo off of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes song "Hearts of Stone" since, in his words, Dante Silvio — sorry, Little Steven Van Zandt — "just makes his guitar cry, and it fits so well with the song lyrics." Well, that description right there is the definition of Jerry Garcia guitar playing. Pappy Weingrad from theCAUSE has the unenviable task of trying to emulate Jerry AND Bob Weir simultaneously, but he does a fine job, and he's certainly nailed down the clear, cutting plaintive tone of Garcia's guitar.

The band was in a nice groove right from the funky opening jam that led into "Uncle John's Band." Parts of "New Speedway Boogie" were blasting off into the atmosphere... or at least I thought so, until Pappy and bass player Dave Tauberg took "Cumberland Blues" into hyperdrive, a jam I'm pretty sure single-handedly converted my mother into a Deadhead. She was stomping her foot so hard I thought she was going to aggravate her scoliosis.

We didn't stick around for the whole second set album — Skull & Roses, which is, I believe, culled from several 1972 shows — but a jam that led from "Playing in the Band" into "The Other One" had me flashing back to the Furthur concert a couple weeks ago.

Ultimately, "Album Night" is a little limiting, because it forces the band's hand in constructing a setlist that flows. If someone comes up with a great, spontaneous musical idea to transition into a song... it better be the next song on the album. That made for a couple of moderately awkward transitions, but it's still the best five bucks I spent all weekend.

OMM is Comin' Back!

In light of the fact that there hasn't been a podcast for, ohh, nearly seven months now... we're going back to being Obscure Music Monthly, your [Probably Not] No. 1 Source for music you mighta not heard, reviews, occasional live mixes at UStream.com and whatever else we can think of.

So be sure to change your bookmark (probably reaching on that one) to the original address!

My Campaign to Force Chris Berman to Shave

Chris Berman's disastrous decision to grow what appears to be a 1970s-style "upside-down Hook-'em Horns" 'stache can only result in one of two things:

1) He will get beat up for trying to out-Ditka Mike Ditka

2) He will get beat up for trying to out-Burgundy Ron Burgundy

So consider this my digital petition to persuade Boomer to shave. Feel free to leave your comment as a signature. STOP THE INSANITY!

Besides, this is going to make him look even MORE curmudgeonly the next time someone catches him on video yelling at a production assistant for the unforgivable crime of moving around off-set.

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'Meta-Historical,' by KRS-One & True Master

"I'll splatter my data on rappers that don't matter..."

KRS-One can divide hip-hop fans. Some view him as a righteous teacher-MC who has been broadcasting truth from New York City streets for more than two decades. Some view him as an overly preachy defender of a brand of hip-hop whose time may have passed.

A song titled "Gimme the '90s" isn't going to help dispel those who subscribe to the latter group. Seven skits with the Blastmaster holding court, on everything from true hip-hop to the N-word to white fear of the black man, isn't going to help, either.

But pairing up with Wu-disciple True Master for a collab album definitely helps. Once only counted among the sonic architects of the disastrous sophomore Gravediggaz record, "The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel," True Master eventually came into his own as a credible producer, and his simple, effective loops match well with KRS's flow.

Is it kind of annoying as he philosophizes on "Palm & Fist" about metaphysical reality? Kind of. Then again, listening to some excellently casual boasting on "One of Them Days" had me bobbing my head like the first time I heard "Rappaz R.N. Dainja."

KRS's overarching philosophy is on diplay in "Old School Hip Hop": "Back in the days we threw it like this on 'em/Beats and rhymes you didn't have to wish for 'em/Beats and rhymes today you gotta fish for 'em/'Cause most rappers traded ass and tits for 'em." Now that right there is some truth, and while Kris can sometimes get a little too professor-ish, it's nuggets of greatness like those few lines that keep him near the top of any great-MCs list.

Meta-Historical coalesces best in the form of "1-2, Here's What We Gonna Do," as RZA drops by for one of his best verses in years and True Master loops a forlorn guitar; it also shines on the title track, where KRS explores history in all its forms and importance.

Is it a perfect record? No. It limps out with a couple of clunkers ("Street Rhymer," "He's Us"), but along the way, it's a good reminder of why hip-hoppers still love KRS-One.

• Listen to samples from Meta-Historical on Amazon

128 Oz. of Great-erade: 'The Basics EP,' by DTMD (Dunc & Toine Makin' Dollars)

Comin' from Prince George's County, Md., right in the middle of the DMV, Dunc & Toine Makin' Dollars, a.k.a. DTMD, is a duo to watch for in the years to come.

Granted, I'm about eight months' late in discovering their excellent EP, The Basics, but I can't pass up the chance to recommend that you go to Bandcamp.com RIGHT NOW and cop the free download.

Production heads may recognize Dunc as the architect behind the clipped soul of "The Shining," from the excellent Diamond District record featuring X.O., yU and Oddisee, who has gone out of his way to rightly hype DTMD.

"I MC/I must create microphone classics/Metaphysical craftsman with musical captions/Relaxin', lettin' the draft in/The in smoke out what we ashin'/The ganja/In rap, I'm a monster/N****s comin' back like karma/But y'all gon' pay for it like a sponsor/In the element of irrelevance and drama/The current testament was heaven-sent to calm ya," Toine raps over the smooth, wavering synths of "Fantastic," kicking a verse that belies the fact that neither he nor Dunc are even 21 yet.

It would be unfair to pigeonhole DTMD as a "nerd-rap" group, but that is undoubtedly the demographic to which they will most likely appeal. That said, if you're a real hip-hop fan, chances are you'll find something to like in the horns and guitars of "Champion," the conga-syncopated bounce of "What That Mean" or the Roots-ish vibe of the closer, "Above the Clouds."

Add to that a great video and better lyrics for a song that doesn't appear on the EP, "Loan for the Lonely," and you'll see DTMD as a couple hungry youngsters that deserve your time.

• DTMD on Bandcamp.com (download the EP for free here)

• Dunc's Donuts on Blogger.com

DTMD - A Loan For The Lonely from dunc & toine makin' dollas on Vimeo.

128 Oz. of Great-erade: 'Off the Grid,' by Dinner at the Thompson's

French singer Lucille Tee and Cali-based producer Fablive have combined to put together one of the best Franco-U.S. collaborations since French fries, a heady, psych- and hip-hop-influenced soul record that oozes cool.

Tee's vocal presence is like a less-nasal Erykah Badu, but with the same penchant for breathy, multilayered harmonies. But where Badu, for the most part, stays grounded in soul and R&B, even when working with hip-hoppers like Madlib, Dinner at the Thompson's sound on Off the Grid has the heavy knock to support a guest MC like Guilty Simpson, who shows up on the swinging "Rice'n'Beans."

Fablive's intricate production - which this particular reviewer would love to see paired up with any number of MCs - weaves hip-hop, jazz-soul, bits of electro and a heavy dose of modern psychedelia into the mix. On tracks like the twitchy "Levitating," the synth-stabbing "Whatever It Takes" and the uptempo "Different Beings" (featuring modern funkateer Lee Fields), the music is unerringly catchy, diverse and accomplished.

Three short, hidden tracks following the closer, "You are Love," also hint at the great potential this duo has to expand their range into solidly hip-hop territory.

Sit down to a little Dinner at the Thompson's; it's a well-prepared meal.

• Dinner at the Thompson's on MySpace

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'The 7th Hour,' by 7th 7ign

It's a mixed blessing to hear a forlorn soul loop as the backing for "Spinning Wheel," the opening track from Wu-affiliate 7th 7ign's (Sign's) debut record, 7th Hour. On one hand, for an old Wu head like myself, it's a refreshing bit of nostalgia. On the other hand, there's always the chance that new-school hip-hoppers will accuse him of trying in vain to recapture the Wu's glory days.

To be sure, 7th Hour isn't going to surpass Enter the 36 Chambers on your top-albums list, but neither is it simply a throwaway Wu-crew record. 7th 7ign has a commanding vocal presence, creating interesting, slightly-cryptic verses, without descending into the massively-obscure arena that Killah Priest permanently occupies. And the production settles nicely between RZA's baroque, tortured soul and the muddy, lo-fi sound of the Killa Bees compilation records.

In particular, tracks like "Everyman Bleeds," "This is War" and "Spinning Wheel" stand out as promising examples of where 7th 7ign can go when he wants:

"The wheel starts spinning/The end is the beginning/Constant motivation my world's in rotation/My fam comes first/React you get hurt/'Cause the first shall be last and the last shall be first."

That's some old-school Wu shit right there, and it's always welcome in my record collection.

• 7th 7ign on Myspace

128 Oz. of Great-orade: 'Jazz Young Spirit,' by Various Artists

When I was in high school, my mother bought me a copy of the Afro-Cuban Allstars' A Toda Cuba Le Gusta, with fantastic tracks like "Maria Caracoles" and "Los Sitio Asere." It got me into Cuban jazz in a big way, branching out into Ruben Gonzalez and Ibrahim Ferrer records and even a fantastic LP whose name I still am not 100 percent sure of. I believe it's Ska Cubano.

Anyway, not since I first threw on the A.C. Allstars has a Latin jazz record grabbed my attention like this showcase of ten young musicians, despite the negligible mid-'80s bad-tie-abstract artwork on the cover.

The predominantly Cuban musicians (not everyone... Charly Sarduy is from Spain, Esperanza Spalding from Jersey City, N.Y.) rip into nearly every tune. Sarduy's "Charly en la Habana" starts off as light, uptempo funk before blasting off into chunky polyrhythms; breathy scatting intermingles with twitchy piano and percussion on "Loro," with a coda that sounds almost like a spacey Grateful Dead improv session, Spalding's vocals taking the place of Jerry Garcia. And the simple piano-and-congas combo on Marialys Pacheco's "Intro" sounds like the best song on a great '70s action-movie soundtrack.

Puerto Rico's Yasek Manzano shifts meters and slows things down a little on the abstracted, bouncy "Amnios," in addition to creating a hazy, tropical-jungle atmosphere on "Drume Negrita."

This is an out-of-control-great Latin jazz compilation.

• More on Jazz Young Spirit (you can also order it, but this is a German website, where you're ordering in Euros... don't know if it's commercially available in the U.S.)

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'George Kush Da Button,' by Smoke DZA

'The connect's confidential and the weed's continental..."

If you're about to throw on the new Smoke DZA joint expecting political allegory about the Bush Years and the War on Drugs... well, you're in for some disappointment. George Kush Da Button is pretty much about weed.

No matter, though. What you do get from the Harlem rapper is a laidback mixtape with a bit of an executive-lounge soundscape... no surprise considering the primary producer is Ski Beatz, the architect behind much of Jay-Z's Big Willie sound on Reasonable Doubt.

Hints of this excellent sound were on display with DZA's April 2010 EP, Substance Abuse 1.5: The Headstash, and to a lesser extent on the original Substance Abuse, which came out in February 2010. Matter of fact, this Smoke DZA cat has been pretty prolific in the past 365 days!

George Kush, though, is his most polished effort to date, despite its mixtape status. Ski, along with Kenny Beats, G14, Big K.R.I.T. and Steve-O (not that Steve-O... at least I don't think so), provide a solid bedrock of lower-midtempo head-nodders, providing ample space for DZA to wax philosophic about smoking, and the things he does before and after smoking.

Big K.R.I.T.'s beats on tracks like "I'm Saying" and "The Secret" up the BPMs a little, and lean more toward the radio-friendly side of things, but it's Ski's loping loops on songs like "We On," "Continental Kush Breakfast" and "Etc Etc" that comprise George Kush's best moments. Additionally, Steve-O slows down the loop for Masta Ace Inc.'s "Turn It Up" to nice effect on the introspective "My Life."

Is it a perfect record? No. The weed theme starts to wear a little thin after a while, but it's more of a constant presence than a unified theme. After all, this is an MC who named his first two releases Substance Abuse, and who notes confidently in "We On": "I don't care about your problems, n****/I just wanna smoke my weed/And we on this year/Give a f*** what other n****s want this year/I just wanna smoke a zone this year/Roll it up/Take a flight and we almost there."

• Smoke DZA at Amazon.com

• Listen to tracks and download George Kush Da Button at DJBooth.net

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'Fresh,' by Shawn Desman

While I can't in good conscience recommend the "crooked mohawk" (above), nor can I endorse the eighth-grade-pube-'stache he's rocking on the album cover, I can recommend a good portion of Shawn Desman's Fresh, which combines the Black-Eyed Peas' future-techno vibe and Akon (without all the Auto-Tuning) into a pleasant, bouncy record.

Fresh is a head-nodder that exhibits the same flair Will.i.am seems to have for taking what could be a boring techno-based track and adding a few tweaks, bells and whistles to spice it up and keep it moving. And Desman achieves it without needing any cornball "raps" from Fergie, which is always nice.

Granted, the "Can I, can I watch? Keep on doin' what you do" chorus of "Moneyshot" is a little unnecessary, but hey? Let a Canadian-born, Italian/Portuguese player play, I suppose.

Fresh lays aside some of the rougher-edged drums of 2005's Back for More, opting for a cleaner, more-processed atmosphere. The first single, "Shiver," is about as good as modern pop R&B gets, a cascade of heavy percussion and harmony wrapped into a love song that doesn't need to venture into X-rated allegory to get its point across.

Desman leaves that to "Moneyshot," haha.

There's no need for me to go over the slow songs. You know how they sound; you know what they're about. Overall, though, Fresh is a solid step in the right direction for Desman.

More on Shawn Desman:

• Official website

• MySpace

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'InDRUpendence Day," by Dru Hill

The last time something meaningful came from the Dru Hill fam, it was a solo-minded Sisqo "releasing the dragon" and going whale-tailin' as he extolled the virtues of butt-floss (as if to drive home the irrelevance, Sisqo is battling the Jimmie Van Zant Band right now on Rock & A Hard Place, a.k.a. Washed-Up Rock-Star Jeopardy). And is Sisqo wearing motorcycle gloves on the cover? In the immortal words of Riley Freeman, "Pause."

In sheer spite of all that comes InDRUpendence Day, which veers from vaguely-cheesy '90s-ish R&B ("Back to the Future," "Love MD") to decent uptempo grooves ("She Wants Me," "Whatcha Do"). "Can't Stop" finds the gang personifying their smoking and drinking as lovely ladies named Chocolate Tye and Hennessey. An allegorical masterpiece if ever there was one... but I will say that it's couched atop a nice bed of vocoder, as opposed to Auto-Tune, which is used judiciously throughout InDRUpendence Day.

Do I need a cover "(Everybody Wants to) Rule the World"? No. With talented soul acts like Mama's Gun and Georgia Anne Muldrow out there, a reunited Dru Hill just seems kind of... old.

**Bonus points if you can name any other member of Dru Hill without Googling it first. I can't.

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Remix I Totally Forgot to Post on Linkin Park's Contest Site

Well... Linkin Park had this really cool contest where they gave out five stems from their forthcoming single, "The Catalyst," for fans to remix and repost on their MySpace site.

Unfortunately, I stupidly thought the deadline was July 30. It wasn't. It was July 25, and I completely missed it. Now, I'm not a Linkin Park fan, per se, but I always love the chance to remix a song and give it my own spin. So I've posted a link to download my version of "The Catalyst," where I took the stems and re-ordered them into a sort of dubbed-out version complete with Nyabinghi drumming.

Click here to download "The Catalyst (Beat Doctor's Dub Mix)." And lemme know what you think! (Link will be active until Aug. 4)

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'Teflon Don,' by Rick Ross

This isn't the album cover, but it shoulda been...

Negligible corrections-officer past aside, I have kind of a soft spot for Rick Ross (pause). I don't really have much use for his raps, but his producers have occasionally done what I think is a pretty good job taking Jay-Z's debut 'Big Willie' aesthetic and sound, and slowing it down a little. On tracks like "Magnificent" and "Yacht Club," from Deeper Than Rap, a '96 Jay verse wouldn't sound out of place at all. His guest spot on Teflon Don's "Free Mason" is equally well-matched... although Jay spends his bars dispelling the winter's Freemason/devil-worship rumors, while Rick sort of courts it... the Freemason part, at least. Although me personally, I wouldn't equate "Maybach Music" with building the pyramids...

Anyway, when he's not flossing over heavy downtempo thudders, the executive-lounge atmosphere is definitely still in effect: in the smoothness of DJ Clark Kent's beat for "Super High" and the rough-edged bounce of the Drake-assisted "Aston Martin." J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League handle the latter, as well the bulk of the production. Unfortunately, none of Raphael Saadiq's recent Motown vibe rubs off in his guestwork on the closer, "All the Money in the World," but as Rick Ross albums go, well... if you liked the first two, you'll probably like this one.

Outer-Space Soul with Georgia Anne Muldrow, a.k.a. Jyoti

I don't know if it's already been used, but if not, the otherworldly future-soul stylings of Ocotea would work perfectly as the soundtrack for any number of "Adult Swim" promo segments. The reverb-heavy, jazz-swingy sound is provided by Jyoti, alias Georgia Anne Muldrow, no stranger to this brand of soul.

It's just that her full, commanding voice is nowhere to be found. Jyoti is apparently an instrumentalist, content with creating shifting, interesting soundscapes.

"Blessed Matches" is awash in atonal piano and fluttering cymbals; "Language of the Flame" is plodding, tense and bouncy all at the same time, and "Unchanged Reverie" is almost a dub-reggae workout, peppered with snare drum and ghostly synth work.

Ocotea is almost like the score to a blaxploitation sci-fi movie that was never made... or kind of like if Ridley Scott had hired Sun Ra to do the "Blade Runner" soundtrack.

Whatever it is, it's well worth a listen. Muldrow and fellow Stones Thrower Dudley Perkins are at the forefront of out-there, P-Funkish, occasionally freeform neo-soul.
Check out samples from Ocotea at Amazon.com.

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'The War Report 2,' by Capone-N-Noreaga

Swapping camo doesn't make it fresh...

Does it matter that the cover of The War Report 2 is almost, literally, the same as the original thugged-out classic War Report record? Not really. Raekwon basically did the same thing, thinly veiling Cuban Linx II with a new cover color.

And despite the carping of cats who think it's doing a disservice to listeners to try and "remake" your classic record, it doesn't even matter to me that "Pain" and "Bodega Dreams," the first two tracks off War Report 2: Report the War (really...?), sound very similar to "Blood Money" in their use of ghostly piano.

But The War Report came out 13 years ago in '97, when metaphorical references to the Queensbridge ghetto as Iraq didn't carry quite the same type of weight that they would today. And although a hip-hop record exploring parallels between America's war and the struggle of urban youth does have some appeal, don't expect that here.

Backed by a few Scram Jones productions, a banging-but-out-of-place Buckwild track and a handful of lesser-known producers (M3, Araab Muzik, SPK, Neo da Matrix and others), most of War Report 2 consists of the type of warmed-over crime tales Nore was spinning on his solo debut. Three guest spots from Raekwon lend a little authenticity to the proceedings, and it's not like Capone and Noreaga don't have plenty of source material for their rhymes... but a meandering focus and production that recalls some of the more plasticized, hollow moments from QB mates Mobb Deep holds War Report 2 down a little.

The recastings get a little old as well. "Thug Planet" is a boring throwback to "Superthug," and I imagine if I had listened to Nore's other solo work, I would find more derivative stylings.

The final two tracks on The War Report 2, "The Corner" and "Obituary," slow things down and finally bring a little emotion to the proceedings, particularly the latter, where Nore talks about 2009 being a bad year for losing rappers and "having a phone book full of ghosts."

All told, I would give War Report 2 a B minus. Its heart is in the right place, and while you can go home again, you can't always stop your parents from turning your bedroom into a media library.

P.S. What's up with Capone's voice? He had a nice, ashy-but-smoove thing going in the original War Report. So how did his voice get higher since then? Did he have electro-shock therapy when he was locked down?

Riley Freeman's Greatest Moment Ever

From "Riley the Fundraiser," one of the best Boondocks episodes yet:

ALLISTER RIGBY: So you either get down... or lay down. What's it gonna be, sunshine?

RILEY: [to himself] This wasn't no movie. The smart thing was to say yes, get up, and leave the room... but then I thought to myself... what if this IS a movie? [to Rigby] Look, f*** you, f*** the plane you flew in on, f*** dem shoes, f*** your socks with the bell on it, f*** yo' gay-ass f***** accent, f*** dem cheap-ass cigars, f*** yo' Yukmouth teeth, f*** yo' hairpiece, f*** your chocolate, f*** Guy Ritchie, f*** Prince William, f*** the Queen... this is AMERICA. My President is black and my Lambo is blue, n****. Now get the f*** out my hotel room... and if I see you in the street I'm slappin' the s*** outta you."

Watch below:

128 Oz. of Haterade: The Rundown

While we work to bring you more interviews with up-and-coming musical talent, let's continue with the blog's mission of mo' music, mo' music. Here's a little bit of what's been blasting through the speakers lately:

• The Strangerz, 2nd to None - The Long Island trio of Hus, Smoovth and Marvelous Mag put together a great, laidback album that captures some of the best elements of '90s underground hip-hop while keeping a modern, polished edge. It's almost reminiscent of neighborhood legends De La Soul, as the group gives streetwise takes on love, relationships and everyday living.

• Akon, Stadium - Despite making a fantastic decision in signing Kardinal Offishall to Konvict Records, I have very little love for Akon. When he isn't busy Auto-Tuning himself into submission, he's partnering up with the techno flavor of the month, David Guetta, for some Night-at-the-Roxbury bulls&#^. There's literally one song on Stadium that I halfway enjoy, and it's mainly a guilty-pleasure thing, since it reminds of the slightly-corny R&B songs that were popular in the '90s.

• Alborosie, Escape from Babylon - I'm not quite as up on modern Jamaican reggae as I would like, but I do know that there are precious few singers out there putting out classic rocksteady reggae. Alborosie, originally born in Sicily, Italy, is a very notable exception. I came across his Soul Pirate a couple years ago, and I've been a huge fan ever since, thanks to tracks like "Moonshine," "Police" and "Bad Mind." Escape is another heavy dose of roots-rock, politics (where he takes on not just American foreign policy, but also Italian President Silvio Berlusconi), and the ubiquitous ode to herbs.

• The Roots, How I Got Over - My occasional difficulty with the Roots is that, in my opinion, Things Fall Apart was their best album, and I tend to compare a new Roots joint based on that. How I Got Over is very different, in tempo and tone, from some of Things' raw sounds, but it's also a laidback head-nodder. There are a few more guests than usual, but Black Thought still holds it down as one of hip-hop's premier lyricists.

The Beat Doctor's Podcast Show: June 7, 2010

He &$%!ing hates rappers... you $#%!ing date rappers...

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST! (link will eventually expire)

We're back on the ball today, presenting an interview with Brooklyn rapper PackFM, whose latest record, I F&^!ing Hate Rappers, hits stores on June 16. We'll discuss the inspiration behind the title, his thoughts on the music industry, and how not rocking "the Kanye look" can occasionally keep you on the wrong side of the velvet rope ("Yo, you need some tighter jeans.").

As always, you can email the show at thebeatdoctor@verizon.net.

Back in Biznass!

Well, not exactly in business... it's still a non-commercial podcast, but we'll be back this Monday with a brand-new show, including an interview with Brooklyn rapper PackFM (above), whose new record, I F*%!ing Hate Rappers, will be released in stores on June 16.

We're not going back to the daily weekday format, but the hope is to bring you a weekly podcast, featuring interviews with artists of all stripes, along with album reviews, and the occasional odd news and sports items.

As always, if you have a show idea or there's someone you'd like us to try and interview, email the show at thebeatdoctor@verizon.net!