Dog & Panther - Giant Hands

Michigan based band Dog & Panther released this track almost a year ago (12/21/2010) but I"m only just now finding out about it. "Giant Hands" is really an amazing track and I think the best way to categorize it is Indie-Pop. For more Dog & Panther music, check out their BandCamp.

Download: Mediafire

Rockie Fresh - Driving 88 (Trailer) x Prom King

Rockie's "Driving 88" project is schedule to drop on January 23, 2012. I'm always excited to hear more from Rockie Fresh. If you still haven't listened to The Otherside, then fuck you. Below is a sample track from "Driving 88".

Phil Ade - A Different World (FreeLP)

Shortly after drifiting of into music blog obscurity, Phil Ade released his free LP, A Different World. I apologize for not sticking around long enough to post this album. The thing that I love about Phil Ade is how he seems to treat each bar with the mentality that it may be the last bar you listen to from him so he really makes it count. Bar for bar, he's got to be one of my favorites doing it right now. Anyways, I'm sure you know who he is and what he does (HE SPITS HOT FIYA!!!) so just download this album and enjoy. SIDE NOTE: "Second CHance" may just be my favorite track of the year.

Second CHance (prod. Mark Henry)

See You Again feat. Kevin Ross (prod. Nieze)

Monte Carlo Dreams feat. US Royalty (prod. Sunny Norway)

Download: Mediafire

Tracklist:

01. ADW Intro ft. Laura Song (Prod. By Mark Henry, Q-Heff, Dre King)

02. King (Prod. By Bink!)

03. Monte Carlo Dreams ft. US Royalty (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

04. Cloud 9 ft. Tracie Josephine and GLC (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

05. High On Life ft. Raheem DeVaughn (Prod. By 9th Wonder)

06. Otherside (Prod. By Mark Henry)

07. A Different World (Prod. By Oddisee)

08. Scoreboard ft. Black Cobain (Prod. By Bink!)

09. The Let Out (Interlude) (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

10. You're The One ft. Killa Kyleon (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

11. The Weekend ft. U-N-I (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

12. Second CHance (Prod. By Mark Henry)

13. See You Again ft. Kevin Ross (Prod. By Nieze)

14. Incense ft. Mac Miller (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

15. Your Hand (Prod. By Mark Henry & Dre King)

16. Coming Home (Prod. By Sunny Norway)

Saint Motel - At Least I Have Nothing

Saint Motel is an indie pop band from L.A. whose members actually met in film school. Maybe thats why their first EP titled ForPlay had 6 songs with a video accompanying each track. Anyways, this track is off of their upcoming 7" vinyl ep titled, "7"1". Pre-orders are available at their website. Fortunately for us, this track is their free single.

Download: Mediafire

Yuna - Decorate (Video x Audio)

Recently stumbled upon this 24 year old Malaysian songstress by the name of Yuna. This track (which I kid you not, I played about 7 consecutive times) is the title track from her Decorate EP. You can stream the rest of her EP for free at Yuna Music and if you like what you hear, be sure to purchase the EP on iTunes. Thankfully, Yuna has made this track available for free download. Audio below.

Download: Mediafire

Mayer Hawthorne - Dreaming (Video)

Some visuals from Mayer Hawthorne's "How Do You Do" album, available now. Definitely one of the best releases of 2011.

Artist Spotlight: K.Flay

While taking my "sabbatical" from blogging, I came across an artist that was NOTHING that I was expecting her to be. You all know (if you don't, you should know) I'm not really a fan of female emcees but every now and then, I'm left in awe by one of them. This time it's Stanford graduate, Kristina Flaherty a.k.a. K.Flay. Not only does she rap but she also makes all of her own beats which are not only unique, but awesome combinations of Hip Hop, Indie Rock, and Electronic music. Lyrically, she's legit. Content wise, I don't think there's anybody else doing what she's doing. She rocks out on each track with a certain swagger-filled-vulnerability that allows the listener to feel like this is somebody they hang out with. Granted, somebody extremely dope that they hang out with. For this Artist Spotlight segment I only posted the two mixtapes I downloaded from her website but she also has a self-titled EP available in physical form from her site and in digital form on iTunes. Honestly, you just need to check her out. SIDE NOTE: On "PARTY" she says "Party with the Hurricanes, Party with the Seminoles" and it was then, that I fell in love. Go 'Canes.

Doctor Don't Know (From I Stopped Caring in '96)

Mason Jar (From I Stopped Caring in '96)

PARTY (From I Stopped Caring in '96)

CRAZYtown (From MASHed Potatoes)

boom boom pow KUNG FU (From MASHed Potatoes)

ON the bridge (From MASHed Potatoes)

Release Date: 4/1/11

Download: Mediafire

Release Date: 9/16/09

Download: Mediafire

Jose James - Trouble (AllSaints Basement Sessions) (Video)

Born and raised in Minneapolis, singer Jose James offers a soulful mixture of hip hop and modern jazz."Trouble" is his first single from his forthcoming 2012 album, "No Beginning, No End". Unfortunately, no free link for this one but you do get an awesome video.

Available Now on iTunes.

Mansions On The Moon - Leaves Fall

MOTM just made this track available for free in an effort to promote their upcoming Lightyears EP. I think it was last year that I was first exposed to MOTM when I saw that Diplo co-signed their Paradise Falls mixtape. After hearing this, I definitely have to go back and revisit that release. Don't be surprised if you see that up here on TOTR later tonight.

Download: Mediafire

Steffaloo - Covers (FreEP)

Stephanie Thompson, also known as Steffaloo, recently released her FreEP, Covers. This ep is filled with beautiful, lo-fi, Ukulele renditions of some pretty awesome songs. Covers really showcases Thompson's range as she effortlessly goes from covering Bright Eyes to Justin Timberlake, with every cover being injected with a dose of gleeful sincerity. I know, I know, "gleeful sincerity"? But trust me, there really isn't any other way for me to describe the sound. It just fits. Get off your high horse and stop judging me. What are you? A bunch of pretentious hipsters trying to find the next big..wait a minute...

First Day Of My Life (Bright Eyes Cover)

Wake Me Up Before You Go (WHAM! Cover)

My Love (Justin Timberlake Cover)

Download: Mediafire

Tracklist:

01. Believe (Cher Cover)

02. Wake Me Up Before You Go (WHAM! Cover)

03. First Day Of My Life (Bright Eyes Cover)

04. Neon Roses (Jesse Woods Cover)

05. My Love (Justin Timberlake Cover)

06. All The Wild Horses (Ray Lamontagne Cover)

07. I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry Cover)

08. Let It Die (Feist Cover)

09. Over The Rainbow

14th - Hide Youself EP

London duo, 14th, released their 4 track EP on 11/14/11. Blending Electronic/Minimal beats, with soulful pop vocals, this duo offers up one of the more unique sounds of 2011. I wish I could post these tracks for free because they're pretty awesome, but as of now, you have to purchase them on iTunes. But for now, you can stream it in it's entirety via 14th's SoundCloud.

Buy: iTunes

XV - The Kick x BITSU (Freestyle)

Here are two songs that you may have missed while I was taking my sabbatical. Vizzy posted these on his own blog within the last couple of months. The first ("The Kick"), samples the theme from Inception and actually uses the concept of the movie to describe how he's living out his dream. I literally get goosebumps every time I listen to it. Side note: dopest cover art for a single EVER. The second ("BITSU"), samples Jai Paul's "BTSU" and XV totally kills it. I guess there's really no better way to return to TOTR than with XV and Lupe Fiasco.

Download: Mediafire

Download: Mediafire

Coeur De Pirate - Wicked Games (The Weeknd Cover)

I have to say, I had no idea what to expect when I say that 22 year-old Beatrice Martin covered one of my favorite (definitely top 3) songs from The Weeknd. She really does a breathtaking job of breaking down the song and giving it a chilling, raw sound. Backed by only a piano, Pirate Heart really does an amazing job of covering an amazing song.

Download: Mediafire

Mike Posner - The Layover (Mixtape)

Mike Posner linked up with Don Cannon to bring you his 3rd mixtape installment. Another quality mixtape from Posner only further solidifies my opinion that his mixtapes are much, MUCH, better than his album material. This mixtape features him sampling Elton John's "Rocket Man", Oasis' "Wonderwall", The Knocks' "Blackout", Adele's "Rolling In The Deep", Coldplay's "The Scientist" (previously posted HERE), and I think theres even a James Blake track in there. In addition to the awesome covers, Posner also provides a healthy dose of original material. Guest appearances include: Big K.R.I.T., Bun B, Bei Maejor, Elzhi, CyHi Da Prynce, and more. *I know I usually only include 3 songs to stream but I had to add a 4th for this one. "Shut Up" is too awesome to not include in the streams.

Wonderwall ft. Big K.R.I.T. (Drive to This)

Rocket Man ft. Bun B (Fly to This)

Long Time (Vibe to This)

Shut Up ft. Rusko (Drive to This)

Download: Mediafire

Tracklist:

01. The Layover ft. Don Cannon

02. Wonderwall ft. Big K.R.I.T. (Drive To This)

03. Shut Up ft. Rusko (Drive To This)

04. Henny & Purple ft. Slim Thug (Smoke & Drive To This)

05. Looks Like Sex [Snippet] (Pull A Bad Bitch To This)

06. Rocket Man ft. Bun B (Fly To This)

07. Blackout Remix (Pre-Game To This)

08. Hey Lady ft. Twista (Fuck To This)

09. Marauder Music ft. Blackbear (Drive In The Dark To This)

10. Long Time (Vibe To This)

11. They Call Me ft. Bei Maejor (Ride To This)

12. 21 Days (Chill To This)

13. Attitudes ft. Casey Veggies (Blaze To This)

14. Travelling Man (Reminisce To This)

15. On Fire (Drug Dealer Girl Pt. II) ft. Machine Gun Kelly (Rage To This)

16. Room 925 ft. CyHi Da Prynce (Fuck To This)

17. Mittens Up ft. Elzhi & Dusty McFly (Represent Your Shit To This)

18. A Perfect Mess (Think To This)

19. Rolling In The Deep (Fall Asleep To This)

20. The Scientist (Fall Asleep To This)

21. Echo ft. Michael Franti & Rjd2 (Fall Asleep To This)

Lupe Fiasco - Friend Of The People (Mixtape)

Don't let the cover art deceive you, this is an awesome mixtape. Took some time for Lupe to release this seeing how he was originally going to drop it before his Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, but then delayed it for obvious reasons. It seems he's updated the tracklisting considering he raps over a few new songs from the Justice album, "Audio. Video. Disco." which were pretty cool. Anyways, this was definitely a solid outing for Lupe and anybody who was beginning to think he'd fallen off, will probably change their opinion after giving this a listen. My favorite line on the mixtape comes from "SNDCLSH In Vegas" when he says:

"Yeah, Atlantic on the fritz

Cause I might not step foot back in that bitch

You disgust me, Jerry Sandusky

Goodness gracious pedophiles and rapists"

Lightwork

SNDCLSH In Vegas

Lupe Back

Download: Mediafire

Tracklist:

01. Introduction

02. Lupe Back

03. Friend Of The People ft. Dosage

04. Double Burger With Cheese

05. Joaquin Phoenix ft. LIl Ronnie

06. WWJD He'd Prolly LOL Like WTF!!!

07. Lightwork

08. LIfe, Death & Love from San Francisco

09. SLR

10. SNDCLSH In Vegas

11. Super Cold

12. The End of The World