Prosthetic Records

Animals As Leaders

​Judging by the feedback we received from our post on instrumental metal bands, many of you out there in blogland are Animals As Leaders fans. In fact, a few of you took umbrage when we ranked the group's guitarist Tosin Abasi at number two in our top metal guitarists under 30 list. "Tosin should have been number one!" you cyber-screamed.

Hopefully we can make things right with this exclusive track from Animals As Leaders' new album, Weightless, available as a stream below. Like the other songs on the work, it continues their ornate progression down an instrumental path, and the best part is that it never feels like they're showing off.

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Glasses Malone

​​Glasses Malone's Beach Cruiser finally comes out today. But the Watts gangsta rapper was offered a deal more than four years ago by Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman on the strength of the single "Certified," and Beach Cruiser was originally slotted for release in early 2007.

Not just anyone snags a deal with legendary Southern label Cash Money, whose artists Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj dominate the pop charts. It wasn't just his gangsta music that got Malone signed, it was his gangsta lifestyle, toward which Birdman gravitated.

"My reputation in the street is really good," Malone says during a recent visit to the LA Weekly offices. "I've been a part of crime but never told on anybody. Birdman had heard I was a real dude, and told [my mentor] Mack 10 to send over some songs."

Beach Cruiser seemed like a surefire hit, if only from the guest appearances -- Snoop Dogg, Akon, Rick Ross, T-Pain and, of course, Lil Wayne and Birdman. Singles included "I Get Doe," with the Cataracs, and "Til Da Sun Come Up," featuring T-Pain at the tip-top of his AutoTuned fame. None, however, cracked the Billboard charts. "There was this pressure to deliver hit singles, and I wasn't coming through," Malone says. "They believed I'd become this superhuge artist, and when it wasn't panning out, everybody got a little frustrated."

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When we heard word that a group put out a mixtape that mashs up the Wu-Tang Clan and Fugazi, it reminded us of the time when we heard that they were remaking Clash Of The Titans.  In other words, this could either be a giant failure or something incredibly epic. 

Let's just say this mixtape did not turn out like the Clash Of The Titans remake.

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"I close my eyes and seize it
I clench my fists and beat it
I light my torch and burn it
I am the beast I worship...
I am the beast I worship"

As the media is shining its hip-hop spotlight on Los Angeles, there is a monster growing in the state's forgotten capital.  Drummer Zach Hill (Hella, Wavves), MC Ride and Mexican Girl make up the looming beast that is Death Grips.  We hate to say unique, but they are-and they are a group that could only rise from the off-the-radar scene of Sacramento,  a city not caught up in the melting pot of trends, fashions, and celebrity pollution like L.A. is.  The city has infamously grown to be known for producing some of the most aggressive acts of today, and Death Grips can stand toe to toe with Sacramento heavy hitters Trash Talk, Deftones, and even Hill's Hella.

By no means is Death Grips another hardcore punk rock-inspired hip-hop mash up mistake, or forced genre blending in vein of what was brought to us by the likes of Jay Z and Linkin Park.  The group is a heavy hip-hop group like nothing you've heard before:  Their carefully crafted sound is a perfect balancing act between genres. Taking inspiration from '80s hip hop and hardcore and building on that with a thick layer of raw unapologetic vocals, MC Ride makes even the loudest of rappers seem like they were nervously whispering.

There's nothing cute or fun about Death Grips, a breath of fresh air for California hip hop after the now-popular candy pop-rap of Kreayshawn or the swagged out "teen prankster vibe" of OFWGKTA. The production is raw, industrial, and sparse, leaving plenty of (necessary) room for MC Ride's vocals.  Where other aggressive hip-hop groups have failed translating their aggressive nature from live shows to the studio, Death Grips has far exceeded that goal. On their Exmilitary mixtape, raw aggression comes through and hits you square between the eyes.

Given the chance, Death Grips will bludgeon your ear drums. You've been warned. Proceed at your own risk:

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Scott 'Wino' Weinrich is a man who over the last 35 years has helped define heavy music, starting with Maryland's doom-y Obsessed and L.A. St. Vitus and now culminating with this fine return to form, Premonition 13. They'll be opening for Sleep this weekend and they're streaming their full album 13 (on Volcom Entertainment) now at premonition13.com.

Wino and guitarist Jim Karow have been jamming for almost two decades, hashing out the basis of what would eventually become 13. The authority and craftsmanship that the two possess are obvious: Premonition 13 proves that sometimes it's better to leave it to the experts and sit back and take notes. In a scene full of bands that are attempting to do what Wino has done for decades, 13 is here to show people what's what.

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Dawes: The boys are back in town

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Most bands might take pains to avoid having their new record described as "something my dad would like." But when it comes to L.A.'s own Dawes, who play a homecoming show Saturday at the Orpheum, they totally dig it.

"I guess we do draw kind of an older crowd," drummer Griffin Goldsmith told us en route to a gig in Portland. "We had a dude tell us that this was the kind of record he could listen to with his dad. I thought that was cool because not only was this young dude enjoying it, but so could a generation or two above him. It's cool to realize that a lot of people listening to our band are the same people who are listening to Robbie."

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Avi Buffalo, arguably Long Beach's most successful band to feature an animal in its name, is gearing up to release the new single "How Come" on Sub Pop in two weeks but interested parties can take an early listen by following this link--but beware! This is good for one short week only! (After that, your only option will be to preorder the 7" here.)

Studied Buffalo-heads will note that a slightly more intimate acoustic version of "How Come" has been up on YouTube for a couple of months now, accompanied by a tasteful, understated video. But this rejuvenated "How Come" suggests great things ahead for young Avi.

While previous single "What's In It For" displayed a heavy though not unwelcome Shins/Danielson vibe, "How Come" comes closer to Dave Fridmann-era Mercury Rev with its cavernous room echo, organ noodles and lead singer Avi Zahner-Isenberg's lovely falsetto floating above everything. Zahner-Isenberg explains on his blog that he has been taking Music 94 (Beginning Recording Techniques) at Long Beach City College and this beautiful recording is as good a recruiting tool for the school as anything. (He also writes that he is living in his tour van.)

Avi Buffalo heads out to Europe after the single is released and won't be playing live in Southern California until an August 9th performance at the Casbah in San Diego but the smooth, cool groove of this song should help make the inevitable summer heat a little more bearable until then. Tour dates and single art after the jump!

--Tom Child

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Bootsy wants YOU to get on the funky train

​[Originally published 7:55 a.m.]

Bootsy Collins has dedicated his life to spreading the funk. He's like Santa Claus on Christmas, except he gives all year round and what Bootsy brings is far greater than anything your chain smoking aunt hastily wrapped from around her house and left for you.

On his way to band practice, Bootsy was kind enough to talk to us about his upcoming tour and the new album, The Funk Capitol of the World.

And we just got the exclusive tip-off on Bootsy's special guests at his Club Nokia show tonight:

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​Despite being sick of her face, we still admire Lady Gaga's go-big-or-go-home approach to music, imagery, shoes and yes, beauty marks. Even her most zealous haters gotta give it up to the omni-present, ever-polarizing pop freak when it comes to marketing herself as an outsider icon. For many, however, the glossy pop she makes has never pushed the boundaries as far as her fashions, stage antics and messages have. Her music has been called everything from pretentious art fluff to retro-pop regurgitation, and her new one (released yesterday) probably won't change the made-up minds out there. But the singer's "little monsters" already seem more than pleased, and based on the slew of interviews the Lady's been giving, she's pretty pleased with herself too. Club bangers (especially on the longer Special Edition) and winsome power ballads make up this un-even collection, and while a lot of it is Velveeta vampy and embarrassingly self indulgent, there are bits of meaty brilliance as well. Here, five points on the Good, the Bad and just plain Bizarre of Born This Way.

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J.Rocc at the Do-Over

​One of Cali's finest, the world famous J. Rocc, drops his double album, Some Cold Rock Stuf, tomorrow on similarly solid label Stones Throw. Because he's as nice in real life as on the turntables, he gave us an exclusive mix in anticipation of the release.

One of the original turntabalists, J. Rocc has had a hand in some of hip-hop's most legit collaborations, forming the Beat Junkies with Melo-D and DJ Rhettmatic and acting as DJ for Madlib's shows and member of Jaylib (Madlib & J Dilla).

His album, which Stones Throw calls, "Not a mix tape. Not a DJ album. Not a beats album. It's the album," includes a "mystery disc," also produced by J. Rocc. Three different mystery discs--no tracklists will be published--are in rotation, so it's like everybody gets a golden ticket.

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