Breen Damage

Make my shit the Chronic, I wants to get funked up

2009-08-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Dr. Dre - The Chronic

Man, what do I even say about this? This the album that defined an era of hip hop, that defined an entire coast. Dre was, and still is, one of the most influential producers to ever touch a soundboard. This is his opus. The production Parliament Funkadelic samples (which would inspire the G-Funk name that this sound acquired), rolling bass, and high pitched synthlines. This is chilling music. This is cruising in the Caddy smoking a blunt music. Lyrically the songs deviate from just kicking back and have a good time, but even when you hear Snoop rapping about time in prison on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" you're nodding your head. That is another asset that makes this album so great, Snoop Dogg. Before he became a parody of himself, Snoop was the cat with the smoothest flow in hip hop. His silky smooth voice works in perfect harmony with the production and provides a nice counterpoints to Dre's gruffer rap style. Start to finish, excluding the damn skits that plague so many great hip hop albums, this thing is classic. If you want to know more, go read the internet, I guarantee you'll find plenty. And if you aren't satisfied with reviews and stuff then there's probably like a bunch of pretentious essays written by white music professors who will quote lines like "Who's the man with the master plan? / The nigga with the muthafuckin' gun" and not feel like jackasses even a little bit.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gd8zzzlwmrm

Lightnin' Strikes

2009-07-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Alright, we're laying down some old school blues right here. I would talk about the album, but there's a text document in the folder that explains far more than I could. Basically if you dig the blues you'll dig this album. Hopkins played with a deep, earthy style that rattles your bones. It is excellent music.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gwmimmn3yhj

And if you like fish and grits and all that pimp shit...

2009-07-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Outkast - ATLiens

With their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik Outkast laid the groundwork for a new generation of Southern hip hop. It mixed pimps and playas with a social consciousness, but definitely leaned more heavily on the former. They definitely weren't your typical rappers, though, and something seemed to bubble under the surface. That special something made its way to the surface on ATLiens, and brought with it new ideas and sounds. Abandoning the tried and true playboy formulas they had been inspired by before, Outkast created a remarkably original record with ATLiens. Oh, the pimps and players are still there, but they don't dominate, and the social consciousness comes through with more strength here. The production , most of which was done by Organized Noize who handled the production on Outkast's debut, is dark and spacey funk. It makes you feel like you're rolling in a cadillac through the shadowlands. With this musical evolution Andre and Big Boi also grew as rappers, spitting more complex flows and dancing with free-association in their lyrics. It wouldn't be until Aquemini and Stankonia that Outkast really caught the ear of the mainstream, but ATLiens remains one of the most impressive and inventive albums of not only Southern hip hop, but hip hop in general.

Please excuse my blatant abuse of run-on sentences above.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?duzylucnlv0

A return

2009-07-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this has gone neglected for quite some time. However, tonight I am officially relaunching Breen Damage. Got a shiny new layout and I'm going to stay on the blog this time. From now until Sunday I'm uploading a new album every day, then I'm going back to a more reasonable schedule. But now, album number one:

Pomegranates - Everybody Come Outside!

Pomegranates burst with an energetic, sort of fuzzy indie pop sound. The record itself is strung through with a narrative about a man who leaves his house and is abducted by a time traveler. The album starts with a song that sounds like it's about trip over itself because of the shaky, contagious excitement. It ends with a beautiful, spacey instrumental piece. I'm pretty tired at this point and clearly not doing a good job with descriptions. Basically it's a great album and you should check it out.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wdonuq3ydum

Mix 3

2009-04-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is coming really late, I know, I'm sorry. I'll get on a good schedule one of these days. Anyway, here's mix number three! No theme, just good music. Everything from psychedelia to electronica to blues to a capella. Track commentary might come later. For now enjoy.

1. Beck - Nicotine & Gravy
2. The Amorphous Androgynous - The Peppermint Tree
3. Brian Eno & David Byrne - Help Me Somebody
4. Hardfloor - Yimtrop
5. Devin the Dude - The Dude
6. Lightnin' Hopkins - Got Me A Louisiana woman
7. Spiritualized - Electricity
8. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
9. Elvis Costello - I Don't Want To Go To Chealsea
10. Iggy & The Stooges
11. The Unicorns - Jellybones
12. DOOM ft. Ghostface Killah - Angelz
13. Mothers of Invention - Any Way the Wind Blows
14. Stan Rodgers - Rollin' Down to Old Maui
15. Simon Joyner - Joy Division

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jfvzyymmzzd

My goodness

2009-03-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

In retrospect, it was perhaps not the best idea to launch this blog immediately before I returned to Germany. Luckily, I have basically settled into the groove of things now, so the blog can once again get on the right track. I really am terribly sorry that things got off to such a rocky start, and I hope that you'll once again give me a few fleeting moments of your lives so that I may spread even the tiniest bit of joy to you. I have decided that mixes are going to bi-weekly (every two weeks) rather than weekly. It just makes more sense. Moving on.

So, as you may know I'm a big hip hop fan. Real big. Now you may be sitting there at your computer going, "I want to be into hip hop too, but I'm a white person who only listens to Kanye West and occaisonally 102 JAMZ ironically!" Hey, don't worry your pretty little head, because Papa Breen has got you covered. You may not like every song on this mix, but I'm willing to bet you'll like at the very least one. Everything from party jams to heartfelt narratives about the pain of life. I may add track commentary later, but I'm just not in the mood right now.

Aim feat. Diamond D - The Omen
Beastie Boys - Shadrach
Binary Star - Slang Blade
Aesop Rock - Citronella
Atmosphere - You
MF Doom - Somersault
Brother Ali - Take Me home
Endless Mic - Supa Dupa
Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg - Deeez Nuuuts
Gang Starr - Full Clip
Bone Thugs N Harmony - Clog Up Yo' Mind
Deltron 3030 - 3030
Public of Enemy - Prophets of Rage
Ghostface Killah feat. Raekwon, Cappadonna - Daytona 500
Jay Z feat. Notorious B.I.G. - Brooklyn's Finest
Nas - Halftime
Notorious B.I.G. and Pharcyde - Stakes is High (Omer Saar mix)
Scarface - On My Block
Ol' Dirty Bastard feat. RZA - Cuttin' Headz
Mos Def - Traveling Man (Omer Saar mix)

note - The Omer Saar songs come from The Green Album. The Green Album was a project by Saar, a producer, where he took some fantastic verses and put them over his own beats made up entirely of Al Green samples.

http://sharebee.com/ca628948

The Good, The Bad, and The Funky

2009-02-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody, hope you're doing fantastic. So here's the full original soundtrack for The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly. I can't say enough good things about it, so I won't try. I will say that every one of you should get this and listen to it, though, cause it really is brilliant. And if you haven't seen the movie yet you owe it to yourself to go rent it.

http://sharebee.com/cbb3caeb

This is some down home, greasy, crunchy, groove-tastic, hard funk, and since it's from the Carolinas it holds a special place in my heart. These are songs long sought after by funk collectors, really rare tracks (some of the 45's go for $1,000 these days). Since there weren't any really big music centers in the Carolinas these artists didn't really consolidate in one main area. Because of that most of these songs rarely made it past state lines. So come on now and take a big bite of your local music history and get down.

(Did you know the Venus Flytrap is only native to North and South Carolina? That's why it's up there, just so you know.)

http://sharebee.com/ad70dd0d

Oh, guys, on that mix a few of the tracks are .wma format, which doesn't work on iTunes, which I know most (if not all) of you use. However, if you just drop them in your iTunes they should convert to playable files. Hopefully this hasn't caused a problem for any of you.

And folks, I would love some feedback, just to know if people are interested in what I'm posting, it'll help me decide what to post in the future. I'm thinking of maybe doing an all German mix this week since I'm returning to Deutscheland. Krautrock and electronica sound good to you?

Mix #1

2009-02-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

Okay folks, here it is, mix number 1. Being my first upload it is entitled The Jump-Off. Since it's the beginning of this whole thing I've decided to make the mix entirely of the first song on various albums. It's a pretty big file, I know, I apologize, but that means you get a good amount of music, so that's pretty cool. I doubt all of the mixes that follow will be quite so large, but since this is new and I'm pretty excited about it I decided to go all out. So I'm going to write a few very short notes,for these tracks, which is also something I'm not sure I'll always do, but I think it adds a little something to the whole experience so I'll try to do it when I can. I'll try not to sound too pretentious. Also, since I'm new at this whole thing it'll make sure you get the tracks in the order I intended in case the files get all mixed up in transit.

Song - Artist

1. Best Ever Death Metal Band - The Mountain Goats
- The Mountain Goats at their lo-fi best. John Darnielle's story telling ability really shines on the album this is from, All Hail West Texas, and this song is one of my favorite instances of it. Darnielle turns a vicious metal chant, "Hail Satan", into an unexpectedly catchy coda that you just can't help but sing along to.

2. Desert Skies - Beachwood Sparks
- Yeah, their sound is heavily rooted in the 60's, but not in a rehashed pseudo-nostalgic way. Country-tinged indie rock that's got a warm and soulful feel.

3. The Plan - Built to Spill
- From their phenomenal 1999 album, Keep it Like A Secret, The Plan packs a big sound into the 3 and 1/2 minutes. That guitar solo squawks and tears. Damn.

4. Suntoucher - Groove Armada
- These guys are pretty popular on the dance scene, from what I gather. Jeru the Damager drops a guest spot over a triumphant beat to great effect.

5. Creation of Music - Primitive
- I don't actually know much about these guys and I doubt information is all that easy to find. This is the first track of the fantastic compilation Carolina Funk, a collection of rare funk songs from North and South Carolina gathered by a curator in Chapel Hill. It roars open then settles into a bouncing groove. Mhmm, that's some good funk.

6. Beautiful Morning - Little Brother
- Probably the best rap outfit from North Carolina. Little Brother hails from Chapel Hill and populates their songs with beats sampling heavily from R&B and Soul tunes and rock solid rhymes.

7. My World Is... - Blu & Exile
- One of the most promising newcomers on the hip hop scene, Blu charges out of the gate with this bombastic track and makes damn sure you remember his name.

8. Luv N' Haight - Sly & the Family Stone
- Am I even worthy to be talking about Sly? There's a Riot Going On is undoubtedly one of the most important funk/soul records of all time. This track sets the mood for the album with hard, driving funk that digs into your body.

9. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
- The problem with talking about Springsteen at this point is that he's become bigger than himself. Like David Bowie, he's really more of a rock icon than a man. Nonethelless, his debut album Born to Run is still as powerful as ever, and "Thunder Road" exemplifies that. The music swells up huge, the lyrics tell stories of blue-collar hardship and kids wanting to escape the stagnation of middle America. He's too emotional to be considered cool, but if that bothers you then you're probably too jaded.

10. La Femme d'Argent - Air
- This is probably my favorite piece of electronic music. The first song off of electronic duo Air's Moon Safari sets the mood for the album perfectly. I can't help but feel relaxed when I hear this.

11. The Scenic Route - Panacea
- These guys spit interesting lyrics over beats that are both smooth and lush. I won't ruin it by talking too much, just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

12. The Vowels Pt. 2 - Why?
- The song churns forward on the steady beat of hand claps as Loni Wolf sing-raps some damn fine words. The chorus catches you off guard at first, still drenched in Loni's decidedly dark tone but strangely catchy.

13. Rough House Blues - Buck 65
- Sounding like some sort of hip hop Tom Waits, Buck 65 growls his way through this song in a style that really is his own.

14. Iron Maiden - Ghostface Killah (feat. Raekwon and Cappadonna)
- From the undeniably badass opening sample to the dark and soulful beat, Ghost starts off his first solo album with something that's distinctly Wu-Tang but unlike anything that the Wu had done before.

15. Lyguistics - Cunninlynguists
- In a world were Southern hip hop is defined by unoriginal dance beats and idiot chanting that can hardly be considered rapping, the Cunninlynguists provide a stark contrast of interesting beats and intelligent lyrics. Gotta love those strings.

16. Stoney Street - Amon Tobin
- A blend of jazz and electronica that really works well. I don't have a whole lot to say on this, it's just a damn good song.

17. My Little Red Book - Love
- Love are criminally under-appreciated in the world of music. This song from their 1966 self titled debut scored them a minor hit. You wouldn't guess it from hearing it but this a cover of a Burt Bacharach song. Arthur Lee put some fire under it's ass and turned it into a driving, infectious pop song.

18. Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town - Talking Heads
- The first song on their first album, and don't it just make you feel good? They would go on to create some of the most interesting, innovative music of the century, but they started here, simple but splendid.

20. Oh Shit - The Pharcyde
- When they first appeared on the rap scene in the early 90's no one sounded like the Pharcyde, and that fact has endured to today. With beats and voices like no one elses, the Pharcyde created an album too good for them to follow up. This song is basically a string of some rather unfortunate stories told by these hyped up west coasters, you know, the kind of thing that'll make you go "Oh shit!"

21. Doomsday - MF Doom
- After KMD (Doom's first group) fell apart in the 90's Zev Love X dropped off the map, only to reemerge as the mysterious masked villain, with a name and mask based off the infamous comic book legend Dr. Doom. First song on his first solo album and Doom murdered it. Over a dreamy, jazzy beat Doom unloads a verbal salvo that goes non-stop for almost the entire 5 minute track which can only be described as unfuckwithable.

22. Slow Education - Silver Jews
- Originally confused as a Pavement sidevproject, David Berman's Silver Jews quickly made it known that they were far more than that. Never quite able to decide if he's a poet or musician Berman's lyrics are unquestionably his own, writing with a voice that manages to distinguish itself in the glut of modern indie music.. The Jews' fourth album Bright Flight was more focused on what Berman was singing than those that preceded it. He always knew how to start an album on the right foot.

23. Home - Brian Eno & David Byrne
- Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) and Eno (he did way too much stuff to list) first collaborated in 1981 on the seminal My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. It was a record that basically kicked off this whole sampling thing being done in music today, and they did it completely analog. However, the 2007 album this song comes from, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is a far cry from their first collaboration. There's nothing groundbreakingly innovative here, only warm, inviting pop songs that wrap you up in their charm.

24. Il Buono, Il Cattivo, Il Brutto - Ennio Morricone
- Even if The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly wasn't an utterly classic film, it would've been worth it just for the music. Ennio Morricone crafted a soundtrack that sounds entirely unique to this day, using whistles, gunfire, yodeling chants, thundering drums, swelling crescendos and mournful ballads. The main theme has become ingrained in the culture, especially when a duel is afoot.

25. Ol' 55 - Tom Waits
- Tom Waits if my favorite musician and I could've included any number of songs here, but I decided to pick one that would hopefully be more accessible to more people, as Waits can be a little jarring in some of his later incarnations. This is from his first album, Closing Time, when Waits was more singer/songwriter than growling demon. Just enjoy the song, because there's nothing I can really add to it.

26. Maggot Brain - Funkadelic
- George Clinton is one of the unquestionable grand masters of funk. He's a mastermind, a band leader, and a pioneer. For the first track on the tremendous and varied Maggot Brain, Clinton pulled back his extensive band and sent guitarist Eddie Hazel into the booth alone telling him to "play like your mama just died." The result is a stunningly emotional solo (my favorite guitar solo of all time) that spans over 10 minutes recorded in one take.

Daaaamn, that was more work than I thought! Well, I hope it will help you enjoy this compilation just a little bit more. So, download, listen, and if you liked it perhaps you could leave a comment, as I really did put some time into this thing.

http://sharebee.com/a1fb3068

The Jump-off

2009-02-05T10:14:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, I hope this finds you well. So I've basically decided to create a little mp3 blog here for friends and such, because I rather like sharing music with people.

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I want the format to be, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking: A weekly "mixtape" constructed by me, possibly themed but who knows. Plus album uploads of stuff I like and think you might not have; no set time line for those. Sound good? Good.

Much love,
"Matthew" Breen Damage