Billy Joel's "My Life" Re-imagined By The Kickdrums/Machine Gun Kelly

If The Kickdrums aren't on your radar yet, they oughtta be. They're an indie rock group, I guess. Their sound blends with hip hop in a great way though, as the many collaborations with MCs on multiple albums will prove.

I like what the band did here in reworking Billy Joel's hit "My Life". It's interesting. And, while I'm not completely sold on Machine Gun Kelly yet, he holds his own here. Check out both versions below.





Also, if you're really interested you can catch a music video for Billy Joel's "My Life" below. You may notice that the song used at the beginning of the video ("Stiletto" by Joel) was sampled for Kool G. Rap's classic "Road to the Riches".

Just Be

Well goddamn. I ran into some great music last night that I'm enjoying this morning/afternoon. Thanks to Kevin Nottingham, who does a tremendous amount of work to gather these songs, I am enjoying another complete collection of samples used for a Hip Hop album. This one is Common's Be. Tons of great music on this one - The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Chi-Lites, Sam Cooke, Ahmad Jamal...and, of course, I'm getting put on to some new ones too. And as always, I end up appreciating Hip Hop even more when I hear where such an important part of their final production comes from. The artistry that comes out of sampling is just amazing to me.

So, after this, I'm going to have to break out the Be album again for examination. Despite the complaints I have with Common as of late, no one can deny his past classic material (including Electric Circus, in my opinion, so fuck you), and the brilliant, possibly career-defining opus that Be is.

So be like me and head over to KevinNottingham.com to grab the collection of samples for Be. And, before or after, listen to Be itself again and see what you think.

Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati (Sample Mix)

Today Tanya Morgan is in a giving mood - call it the Xmas spirit. They have released this mix of the samples used on their album Brooklynati - in all likelihood my choice for album of the year, which I will decide some time soon after the holiday. Sorry for the spoiler.

I like how it stays in line with the theme of the album. It;s like you're rolling through Brooklynati listening to the local radio station. Enjoy the mix!

http://www.mediafire.com/?jnwzgmlzyhh