Anybody who even moderately pays attention to music knows how difficult it is to survive as an independent label nowadays — the shit is brutal. What’s even harder is surviving when you’re uncompromising about your product, discriminating with your roster and meticulous about your craft. Such is the case with Los Angeles’ Stones Throw Records, […]

Back in May we previewed J Dilla’s Rebirth Of Detroit, a posthumous album of 25 unreleased tracks, with a trailer to get y’all excited. Unearthed straight from the ex-Slum Village producer’s vault, Rebirth Of Detroit features new verses from Danny Brown, Beej, Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson, Chuck Inglish, Boldy James and many more. Pick up the physical […]

Yesterday we previewed J Dilla’s Rebirth Of Detroit, the superlative producer’s posthumous album, and here comes the first full cut from the anticipated LP. Danny Brown lays his vocals over Jay Dilla’s beats, the results being “Jay-Dee’s Revenge” — with the rudimentary video shown below. Even though they were never in the studio together, the […]

The pride of Detroit, the late great J Dilla, aka Dilla, Jay Donuts, Jay Dee, et al, is coming out with another posthumous album, this one packed with 25 unreleased tracks and unheard beats from the ex-Slum Village producer’s vault. Titled Rebirth Of Detroit, the LP is technically J Dilla’s fifth studio album and will […]

Time for the fourth edition of our Best Of 2011 retrospective series (after ART, BOOKS & STYLE), where we look back on the LIAS Year In Music. Frankly none of these lists are easy — we can trim each down to about 20 but then cutting them down to 10 means we gotta chop some […]

As posted today over at Stones Throw: “This was Mehdi’s homage to J Dilla, created back in 2006, pressed up on about 200 CDs by Ed Banger Records for friends. Busy P posted it this morning for even more friends. DJ Mehdi rest in peace. Loukoums: non-produced and un-mixed by DJ Mehdi. “Based on the DONUTS […]

Pittsburgh DJ/producer Kastle dropped a really interesting mix this week, one that heavily samples an interview by WNYC’s Radiolab with Ann Druyan. Druyan was interviewed about her NASA-driven love story with Carl Sagan and their role in the compilation of the Voyager Golden Record. “Toward the end of the summer of ‘77, NASA launched two spacecraft as […]

I love books. I love vinyl. I want Extraordinary Records when it comes out in May via Taschen. All hail the picture disc. Produced in collaboration with Colors magazine, the book features some of the most sought after vinyl artifacts ever produced. It’s a treasure trove. Over 400 pieces pulled from the private collection from […]