Mayer Hawthorne

A smooth Christmas rebirth.

Christmas Time is Here [MP3]

James Pants

Good evening. I'm going to try very very hard not to make any "Pants" jokes here. O.k. — Let's do this. He impressed Mr. Peanut Butter Wolf and now he's impressing us with his neon-bathed, wheel-pitched funk. A sneak peak at the new album from James Pants, "Ka$h" draws a lot of comparison to Prince, Pharrell and the '80s. More specifically, I would say it dates back when nerds *weren't* cool, and Mr. Nelson was knocking the genres of the day on their sorry asses. There's a DRM version out there now, but I'm holding out more. You could say I can't wait for the rest of these Pants to drop. Ah, crap. I'm soooo sorry.

Dan Sicko (special guest to 3hive.com)

Ka$h [MP3, 2.6MB, 135kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com
www.myspace.com/jamespants

The Heliocentrics

I can't promise you these tracks will be up long, so get 'em while the gettin's good. Malcolm Catto leads the nine-piece Heliocentrics for a crazy, funked-up ride into the far reaches of jazz's space time continuum. I don't know what that means either, but it'd take up way too much space attempting to pin down The Heliocentrics sound. They didn't call it Out There for nothing. It sounds retro, like a James Brown outtake, but Catto's been spending the present-day diggin' deep for funk 45s, drumming for DJ Shadow and Madlib, and releasing a solo LP on James Lavelle's Mo' Wax Records (the "Untitled" track below is a sample of an unreleased song from those sessions). "Sirius B" is just 1/24 of the electro-free-jazz-space-out The Heliocentrics have unleashed on an unsuspecting and unworthy world.

Sirius B [MP3, 7.1MB, 192kbps]
Malcolm Catto - Untitled [MP3, 2.4MB, 128kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com
www.myspace.com/heliocentrics

Aloe Blacc

I'm ashamed to admit I would have passed this guy up if I had to gone on name alone. Not to be a jerk, but Aloe Blacc?? Are we really running out of stage names? What's wrong with Nathanial Dawkins? But, after taking in his magnificient R&B gem "I'm Beautiful" for the first time, I got over my prejudice real quick. This guy's voice is pure enough to invoke comparisons to Motown legends. His debut, Shine Through has just the right amount of polish (despite being recorded in a makeshift bedroom studio) and draws from a rich array of musical influences, old and new. If most Stones Throw releases reek of chronic (not that I'm complaining, mind you), this joint's a breath of fresh air. Inhale.

Stones Throw took down the "I'm Beautiful" MP3, but you still get a lovely B-side from the single.

Find a Way [MP3, 3.8MB, 128kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com
www.myspace.com/aloeblaccmusic
www.aloeblacc.com

Percee P

The Rhyme Inspector Percee P!! I can't think of another living rap artist to build such a massive rep on just a handful of solo tracks. Fortunately, he's always down for a collaboration, such as this percussion-crazy track with Four Tet. He's also allegedly working on a solo album (produced by Madlib!) due out...well, it was summer of 2005. So the single "Put It on the Line" on Stones Throw on Wax may have to last you a while.

A Joy [MP3, 2.7MB, 128kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com

Sound Directions

An extra treat for you today: Madlib keeping the funk alive with a full crew of session musicians. Members of The Dap Kings, Antibalas, and Breakestra, all pitch in and bring breakbeats to old-school jazz greats Oliver Sain, and J.J. Johnson. Snag the tracks while you can, Stones Throw links are usually good for a limited time. Heads up via: Enemy of the Crate

The Funky Side of Life [MP3, 2.8MB, 128kbps]
The Horse [MP3, 3.5MB, 128kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com

Koushik

Remember trip-hop? Anyone still out there doing it well? Massive Attack, Portishead and their Bristol neighbors usually got stuck with the moniker, but artists such as Caribou, Four Tet, and their buddy Koushik are tripping out hip-hop with their own set of sound biases (psychedelic melodies paired with slowed-down funk rhythms — imagine Greyboy remixing The Byrds, or early [good] Bee Gees).

Be With [MP3, 4.8MB, 160kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com

Quasimoto

Songs about potheads always get me listening for the same reason songs about gangstas do: because I ain't one. And coming from somewhere near Oxnard, California (word to anyone who's never been there: the name don't sound street because the city ain't), I'm betting Quas, the heliumized alter-ego of Madlib, isn't a gangsta either. But the man can freak a funky beat like the shit was in a blender set to Negativland. Don't worry if you don't smoke the doob — Quasimoto's doing enough for all of us.

Greenery [MP3, 3.7MB, 192kbps]

www.stonesthrow.com