Big $ilky (Chicago, hip-hop), Marlowe (North Carolina, hip-hop), Weird Flex (Houston, hc punk), Science Man (Buffalo, noise punk), and Gabríel Ólafs (Reykjavík, classical piano)

I meant to post for Bandcamp's no vig Friday last week, but I mean to do a lot of things that I don't get around to. Here's new stuff from Bandcamp I've been listening to lately:

Female rap duo Big $ilky's 7 track digital release "Big $ilky Vol. 1" is a must have for hip-hop fans. I think they're based in Chicago. Psalm One and Angel Davanport just knock it out of the park with this, released back in April. There's already a volume 2 out, released in July, so I'm way behind.

Bandcamp Daily also has a post featuring essential tracks from Psalm One today. But just for the record, I was planning on doing this post a week ago. 

Marlowe is also a rap duo, producer L'Orange and rapper Solemn Brigham. Based in North Carolina, their new full length, Marlowe 2, released on August 7, is the good stuff:

Weird Flex is a Houston punk duo and their new 5 song digital release "...But Ok" is a great indictment on our current state of affairs...

Coming out on 7" vinyl on the 21st of this month, and limited to 250 copies, "Match Game" by Buffalo, New York's Science Man is available on Bandcamp, 9 short blasts of noise punk that I am definetly into:

And finally, released back in May, from young Icelandic composer Gabríel Ólafs, a mesmerizing 8 song digital release of brief piano arrangements:

Für Elise

Here's a kid playing Für Elise in a mall:

Here's Ukranian-American pianist Valentina Lisitsa playing it:

My mom would play that intro part, we had this big piano in the living room.

CNQ 2015 Retrospective

I'll be coming up with faves from the year's posts here shortly. Meanwhile, I had a lot of favorite other things this year, and this 30 Rock clip sums them up.

Bully's Feels Like is my favorite album of the year.

I became openly reggae and got big into dub and rocksteady. Check out The Upsetters' "Super Ape." Totally rad.

I discovered 19th-early 20th century composer Erik Satie's Gymnopédies.

I loved Tom Holkenborg's Mad Max: Fury Road score. I listened to his Black Mass score the other night and it's also good. Music scores in general are a new thing for me. I have never had a taste for them until recently.

The new Faith No More, Sol Invictus, was really good.

I like the Leon Bridges album.

The Lil Bub album "Science and Magic" might be the last great album of 2015.

Protomartyr's The Agent Intellect is top notch.

I recently discovered these next few. Johnny Burnette is amazing o.g. rockabilly. Some really raw, rockin' songs. This one is a little more kitschy:

The Vibrators are amazing o.g. punk. Here's the complete Peel Sessions.

Bluesman Tommy Johnson. The band Canned Heat got their name from this song:

Hollywood session man/jazz guitarist Howard Roberts. This is a cut from his excellent 1959 album, Good Pickin's.

Just Because, What's Up With That Kid?