808 and The E.N.D.

New music's coming out every day.

Kanye West's newest compilation of funky beats, electro-hip rhythms and auto-tuned melodic chorus riffs make a great mix, but does anyone really know where the 808 name comes from?

808 is actually short for a synthetic drum system, the Roland TR-808. A rebel amongst the 80s hip-hop beat systems, and basically thrown under the gutter by Roland itself after about a decade of lack of sales, suddenly this instrument has gained a huge amount of fame in the past few years, lyrical praise from Lil Wayne, Britney Spears (ugh...) and of course Kanye. His new album Heartbreak is full of riffs featuring the long-lost track splitter, full of faked-out drum sounds that are, in this day and age, so familiar that we probably even think it's just the norm.

Check out more at this site, Slate --- http://www.slate.com/id/2205718/

Black Eyed Peas finally came out with their newest bash-out against the electro-funk norm with The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies). According to group member Taboo (the asian-looking yet actually native american descedant Karate master) the new album is meant to build upon the individual success of the members of the group, especially Fergie, who has unleashed herself upon the world lately with a ridiculously sexy and badass attitude, and will.i.am who has become significantly more credible in the producing and musical concept scene. will. is actually the main contributor on this disk, bringing into question Taboo's claims, but the beats are sick, no doubt about it. Favourites include a very melodic Meet Me Halfway, the newest radio fav I Gotta Feeling (+ video, check it out here --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_2rrxONlLo&feature=fvst), Imma Be which sounds ridiculously similar to A Milli from Lil Wayne (I wonder if he'll come out and claim that one amongst his millions of milli remixes), and a sick remix of the original Pump It aptly titled Pump It Harder found on the Target-Only Deluxe Edition. Oh and the slightly random rock beat Now Generation holds its own, I'm just curious why it's there at all with its retro hippy feel.

Hope you enjoyed this different type of blog. Comment on what you think. In the meantime enjoy a bit of 808 and Ring-A-Ling.