P.O.S: "Fuck Your Stuff" (Music Video)

Here is the epic, cameo-packed new video for P.O.S's "Fuck Your Stuff," directed by Isaac Gale and David Jensen. Like all of P.O.S's new material, the song is a monster in live performances, and gets fans in full-out riot mode. The video captures that similar energy — there's dancing, graffiti, a plethora of blurred out insignia, and lots and lots of fire. This is part of the anti-corporate, non-materialistic, posture-free section of life that P.O.S is referencing with his album title, We Don't Even Live Here. The song and video for "Fuck Your Stuff" may inspire some new people to seek that out as well.

Franz Diego: "Waggin on the Scene" (Lazerbeak Remix)

"Waggin on the Scene" was a bit of a stylistic change for Franz Diego, yet it made considerable noise on the local scene. The song more or less became the de facto anthem of the Wag movement, got plenty of spin at local shows (BK-One played the track at First Avenue during the Welcome to MN tour), and then spawned a ton of remixes. Those had all slowly faded away, until yesterday when Franz shared a remix done by Lazerbeak, who is a brand new father (congrats!). Lazerbeak's take on the track is supremely chilled-out. Stream it below. The original music video for "Waggin on the Scene" is above for comparison's sake.

Franz Diego: "Waggin on the Scene" (Lazerbeak Remix)

Sims & Lazerbeak: Daytrotter Session

As if rocking shows damn near every night on the No Kings tour alone wasn't enough, Sims and Lazerbeak stopped by the Daytrotter studios to record a brief session featuring heaters from both Bad Time Zoo and the accompanying Wildlife EP. Head over to Daytrotter to listen or download the set.

Sims & Lazerbeak: Daytrotter Session

Lazerbeak: "Torch Light"

Fieldwerk Recordings, a record label based out of Chicago, has been releasing a series of split 7" instrumental collections. For their latest release, they recruited Lazerbeak and San Francisco producer Edison to each produce some songs for the Kill Switch LP (purchase here), which was officially released today. I haven't listened to the entire thing yet, but I've heard each of Beak's 7 tracks run the gamut of his versatile abilities. You can download or stream "Torch Light" below.

Lazerbeak: "Torch Light"

Lazerbeak: "Lift Every Voice" (Music Video)

Frequent Doomtree collaborator Matt Scharenbroich was called on to create the video to "Lift Every Voice" off Lazerbeak's recent instrumental album Lava Bangers. You may recognize his work from Sims' "LMG," as well as "Land's End" and "Let It Go" from Lazerbeak's Legend Recognize Legend. The beautiful and trippy video is half elementary school art class and half acid trip, in the best way possible. Watch it for yourself, because my stupid description can't do it justice.

Equally interesting to me is this quote from Lazerbeak about "Lift Every Voice" and it being a critical song in the creation of Lava Bangers:

“This track is probably my favorite one on the album. It's one of the only beats I've ever made that no one was ever able to write a song to, it just felt like it could stand on its own without any rapping. For that reason it was a huge catalyst in putting this instrumental album together in the first place.”

Halloween, Alaska: "In Your Sleep (Lazerbeak Remix)"

Posting about local band Halloween, Alaska is not something I ever envisioned when I started Midwest Broadcast. The indie group writes atmospheric pop songs with lush electronic textures layered on top. Their album All Night the Calls Came In came out last year. They're a good band, just not one that Midwest Broadcast tends to cover. Ever. That is, until today when it was announced that a remix album with production by Lazerbeak would be released on February 28. Which begs the question: If Lazerbeak crafts a downtempo beat for a local indie band, is it still a Lava Banger? Stream his remix to "In Your Sleep" below and decide for yourself.

Halloween, Alaska: "In Your Sleep (Lazerbeak Remix)"

Lazerbeak: Lava Bangers Promo Video

Lazerbeak's Lava Bangers is due on January 24. Preorder it before it's too late.

Lazerbeak: "Smash Hit"

Here's another sample of what's to come from Lazerbeak's upcoming Lava Bangers instrumental album, which can be preordered right now. "Smash Hit" (premiered by Absolute Punk) is the second single from the album, after "Cement Blocks/Knife Fighter." Stream it below.
 

Paper Tiger: 20 Minute Mix of Lazerbeak's Lava Bangers

Paper Tiger recently released another one of his consistently excellent 20 Minute Mixes. The theme for this one stays in the crew, as it's a continuous, career-spanning mix of fellow Doomtree producer Lazerbeak's patented Lava Bangers. Hit the link to stream the mix, or right click + 'Save As' to download it. And remember that you can preorder Lazerbeak's upcoming instrumental album right now at Doomtree's website.

Paper Tiger: 20 Minute Mix - Lazerbeak

Lazerbeak: "Cement Blocks/Knight Fighter"

Lazerbeak had one hell of a year in 2010, producing the entirety of Sims' Bad Time Zoo (my favorite album of the year, local or national) and much of No Kings. Now, he's coming back with an instrumental collection of his patented Lava Bangers in an album aptly titled after his funked-out boom bap productions. Lava Bangers the album started as a collection of 150 different instrumentals, eventually whittled down to 20 tracks that were seamlessly mixed together by none other than Plain Ole Bill. It sounds like the resulting product will be equally ready for the headphones, the car, and the dance floor.

Stream/download "Cement Blocks" and "Knight Fighter" below to get a feel for what the album will be like. You can preorder Lava Bangers immediately. Also, for you emcees out there, get your bars up and enter the rap contest; you can find out more about this on today's Tuesdays with Lazerbeak post.

Lazerbeak: "Cement Blocks/Knight Fighter"

Sims: Wildlife EP (Prod. Lazerbeak)

Wildlife is an EP of songs that Sims and Lazerbeak recorded in 2009 and 2010. Sims is releasing it to thank his fans for supporting him through the release of Bad Time Zoo (still one of the year's best hip-hop albums) and his first headlining national tour. Make sure to attend one of his shows if he comes through your town; Sims and Lazerbeak together are a great live act to see. Stream the Wildlife EP below, or click through to Bandcamp to download the project.

Toki Wright: "25/8/366 ft. Oskar Ly" (Prod. Lazerbeak)

Funny story about this song: back in 2009 when I compiled tracks from artists all over the Midwest for the Flyover Land, Vol. 1 mixtape, I got an overwhelmingly positive response from artists. In fact, I had a stash of leftover songs that I chose to hold out for a second installment of the mixtape series. One of those songs was "25/8/366", a Toki Wright track produced by Lazerbeak. So, while Flyover Land, Vol. 2 never came to fruition — mostly due to my poor work ethic and getting sidetracked by life in general — I've had this song in my iTunes library for a couple of years. Fast forward to one hour ago, Toki sends me an email to release (rerelease?) it. It's stream only on Midwest Broadcast, hit the link below to visit the SoulTools Bandcamp site if you want to download it. You know you can't go wrong when you've got Toki and Lazerbeak on the same track, two of the finest artists in the Twin Cities rap scene. Enjoy.

Toki Wright: "25/8/366 ft. Oskar Ly" (Prod. Lazerbeak)

Sims & Lazerbeak: Interview at Radio K + Live Songs

Sims and Lazerbeak are playing a FREE show at Northrop Plaza on the U of M campus tomorrow night at 7pm. To get hyped for the show, you should watch them visit the Radio K studio to do an interview and perform "Future Shock" plus some other cuts from Bad Time Zoo ("Radio Opaque" and "Good Times"). The album is still my favorite hip-hop release of 2011 — what's your favorite song on the record?

Sims & Lazerbeak: "Future Shock"

Sims & Lazerbeak: "Radio Opaque"

Sims & Lazerbeak: "Good Times"

Hand Over Fist: "Shux ft. P.O.S." + "Hand Over Fist" (Live)

Mike Mictlan and Lazerbeak united for a semi-rare Hand Over Fist show on Thursday night at the Triple Rock. I biked to Target Field for the Twins game with some friends, and told them that we should go to this show afterward. Long story short, we didn't end up making it to the show, and I lost out big time. Here is some video of P.O.S. joining Hand Over Fist on stage to perform "Shux" and "Hand Over Fist."

Illuminous 3: "Rollin" (Prod. Lazerbeak)

Super producer — at least in the local scene — Lazerbeak was the latest to collaborate with Illuminous 3 for their monthly free release. Check the video above to see the lab where Beak composes his lava bangers, and hit the download link below to check out "Rollin."

Illuminous 3: "Rollin" (Prod. Lazerbeak)

Sims: Bad Time Zoo Unplugged (Video)

Can't wait for Bad Time Zoo Unplugged: The Best Time Zoo. Sexy. Enjoy your weekend.

Sims: "Bad Time Zoo" + "Burn It Down" (Videos)

Sims' new album Bad Time Zoo is now available at your local record store, online, and via iTunes. The album is produced entirely by Lazerbeak and is fantastic, start to finish. Anyway, here are two very cool videos featuring Sims. Up above, Sims stars in the latest episode of MPLS.TV's City of Music video series. Below, MPLS.TV, again, was able to get some footage of Sims performing at Fifth Element to celebrate the release of his album. But remember, his official album release party is this Saturday, 2/19/11, at The Fine Line Music Cafe in downtown Minneapolis.

Sims: 'Bad Time Zoo' Album Release Party (Video)

I'm very excited for this album to be released. Should be one of 2011's local highlights. But here's the real issue, Sims' Bad Time Zoo, album release party is on Saturday, February 19 at The Fine Line Music Cafe. Guess what else is also that day? Dre Day 2011, with a headlining performance by Heiruspecs, at the Triple Rock. This is extremely unfortunate planning. What's a local hip-hop fan to do?

In related Sims news, he is streaming another new song off his album, "Radio Opaque", at his AbsolutePunk profile. Check it out.

Lazerbeak: "Pearly Gates" (Live at The Current)

Lazerbeak performed some songs from his Legend Recognize Legend solo release at The Current, complete with an all star lineup of local rap celebrities.

Sims: "Burn It Down" + 'Bad Time Zoo' Album Preorder

I'm still playing catch up from my brief vacation, but here is one of the most exciting upcoming local projects, already on my shortlist for favorite records of 2011. Sims will be releasing his sophomore solo LP Bad Time Zoo, entirely produced by the esteemed Lazerbeak, in early February. Preorders are now available on the Doomtree website, both in normal and deluxe packages. The deluxe package comes with all kinds of goodies:

• Signed copy of the Bad Time Zoo CD
• Signed poster
• Two exclusive extra songs
• Password to a live, streaming webcast with Sims and friends. [Questions will be answered. Secrets will be shared.]
• Chance to win a mask worn in the Burn It Down music video
• Exclusive BTZ t-shirt (available only to the pre-ordering crowd)
• A Sims-brand box cutter to be used to cut the origami-style album art which folds into a dioramic mini zoo. [A blade! In the mail! Dangerous and fun!]
• The entire package arrives in a silk-screened box, rendering the recipient the coolest kid on the boulevard.

Preorders help support local and independent musicians, so jump on this opportunity now. Buy two, in fact! Also, check out the lead single from the project, "Burn It Down". If the rest of the album sounds this good, we're in for something special.