New artist: Mayor Hawthorne

True story: when we were young and were first exposed to 'Mmmbop' by Hanson we were pretty sure it was a rather large black woman doing the singing. Just imagine our surprise when we found out it was actually three little blonde kids with scraggly hair and ruddy cheeks. Something similar happens when you listen to Mayer Hawthorne, who describes his sound as Otis Redding meets J Dilla and looks like this:



This is his recently released, limited edition single 'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out', which was released as a heart-shaped vinyl. If you look very closely (i.e. not very closely at all), you'll see said vinyl make an appearance in this here video:



It doesn't look like that sound could come out of his mouth does it? Perhaps Derren Brown is involved somehow.

Mos definitely

Monday was all a bit of a blur and we bleated on about the fact that there were no good albums out this week, blah, blah, blah. We were wrong of course. The Ecstatic by Mos Def is in most good record shops (i.e. HMV as it's the only one left) now and it's possibly the best Hip Hop album we've heard since Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury.

Featuring production from Madlib, J Dilla (didn't he die a little while ago now?) and The Neptunes, it's an album packed full of socially conscious wordplay, humour and enough banging beats to makes you realise that rap need not begin and end with the Black Eyed Peas.

This is 'Twilite Speedball', produced by The Neptunes:



Which chump said The Neptunes couldn't produce for shit anymore? Idiots.

Even better is this, Quiet Dog (Bite Hard):



It's enough to get this white arse gyrating like a mad man.