The Musik Lounge

I've never been very good at these lists but i decided I had to do one for 2009 as there was a lot of great music and I can't seem to remember almost any of it. The ones i did remember, and returned to, are presented here. I'm not doing these in any particular order nor am I worried about genre, medium, format, etc. These were simply the best new pieces of music I could remember making an impression on me during the last 12 months. Things are always forgotten and as is always the flaw in these things, the selections are weighted towards the second half of the year. Oh well, enjoy and hopefully you discover something new! First up is the one and only ambassador of Funk. Dam brought back an era that has long been forgotten about and the butt to many jokes. Showing me that I have long been mistaken to think the 80s had nothing to offer, the Toeachizown EPs showed me how to boogie and proved that sometimes happy music is better. While the double disc CD offering is massive, th...

In the early to mid 90’s Hip Hop fans would have been ecstatic to be treated to new Jay-Z and Raekwon albums in the same month, let alone the same week. Today it generated a moderate amount of media attention and a whole lot of internet attention. Bloggers love the superstars and the legends. While Jay-Z may be a bit of both he showed the superstar side of himself a bit more than the legendary skills he took the thrown with. Raekwon on the other hand has never been one for big numbers or mainstream appeal. He has however always repped for the Wu Tang and maintained a loyal following – all of whom should be saluting the man right about now for delivering a suburb follow up album to an album that it could easily be said should have been left alone. What makes Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part 2 succeed is exactly where Blueprint 3 fails. While Raekwon didn’t go back to RZA entirely, he has the abbot doing what he does best – fitting the appropriate pieces where they should be. Getting Dilla...