So said Q Magazine - and just about everyone else reviewing music - of Madvillain's hip hop triumph, Madvillainy. The critics went wild for this collaboration between MF Doom and Madlib, released on Stones Throw Records, earning it the third spot on MetaCritic's top albums of 2004. Check the register:

Pitchfork:

Madvillainy is inexhaustibly brilliant, with layer-upon-layer of carefully considered yet immediate hip-hop, forward-thinking but always close to its roots... Good luck finding a better hip-hop album this year, mainstream, indie, or otherwise.

Madvillainy is an essential album for anyone building a badass library. Don't hesitate.

Read More...

We've got something very special for you today. While you were kicking back on a long weekend, we've been prepping the hottest end-of-summer digital shopping spree you could ever ask for - today we are debuting hundreds of albums by some of the best indie Hip Hop artists in the game. We're talking about J Dilla and Too $hort, Mac Dre and People Under the Stairs, Dru Down and Zion I, and the list goes on. Don't hesitate for a second, these prices won't last.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE NEW HIP HOP RELEASES!!

Read More...

[Editor's Note: Today is the 1st anniversary of the Amie Street Blog! To celebrate we've decided to re-post our very first entry -- a brief and lucid, albeit deft, piece on a band we still love: One Ring Zero. Enjoy a stroll down memory lane.]

One Ring Zero brought its big-top contortionist anthems to Amie Street this week. ORZ is the dynamic-duo of Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, indie-alt. ringleaders from Brooklyn. They brought us only two tracks (please sirs, more), but we can't argue with the dynamic strangeness of Natty Man Blues (

) and Here Come The Mannequins (). According to band bios, Michael plays the theremin, Joshua plays the accordion, both play the claviola and employ an instrumental compendium including the toy piano, the melodica, the metallophone, the jones-O-phone, the cajon, and so on. Also, they both sing.

"Natty," written by Paul Auster, comes from the 2004 release As Smart As We Are, a literary collaboration/album featuring song lyrics by several other acclaimed contemporary authors. "Mannequins" is the single off their August 2006 release Wake Them Up.

Buy and REC these golden indies y'all.

Read More...

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel / Rock me mama anyway you feel / Hey mama rock me / Rock me mama like the wind and the rain / Rock me mama like a south-bound train / Hey mama rock me

How amazing is the song Wagon Wheel (

) by Old Crow Medicine Show? With a perfectly simple and simply perfect chorus (see above) written by Bob Dylan, eloquent road-ready verses from OCMS' Ketch Secor about traveling down the East Coast, and a whole lotta fiddle, twang and heart, it couldn't be much more so. It's the sort of song you have to share and sing with friends.

I hope everyone's been enjoying Wagon Wheel and all the other great songs on

and the single, because right now we're bringing you their most recent LP, . Don't wait for one damn second to add this contemporary Country / Gospel / Blues / Folk / Bluegrass romp to your collection.

According to their bio, "the quintet met in New York state and hit the road, traveling city to city in a van and eventually settling for a year in North Carolina, where they ran into a bit of good fortune while playing in front of a local pharmacy to an impressed Doc Watson; the folk icon promptly scheduled the band to play at his MerleFest." Be impressed for yourself and check out some music videos from Old Crow Medicine Show after the break...

Read More...

Grammy winning comedian, actor (Rufus from Bill and Ted's!) and author, George Carlin, has arrived on Amie Street. Courtesy of Laugh.com, we now have 16 comedy albums from one of the very best American comedians.

Carlin was born in NYC in 1937 and started appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the 1960s. In the early '70s Carlin released the album

, which featured his now legendary Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television () routine. The bit eventually got him arrested in Milwaukee in 1972 on obscenity charges and lead to some serious drama with the FCC.

Fast forward to the 2000s and George Carlin is as funny, biting, and relevant as ever. In 2001 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards and in 2005 he did the HBO special

, now available on Amie Street.

It's a George Carlin shopping spree - get your fix of scandalous comedy today!

Read More...

Hey Amie Street members,

Thank you so much! Your support, feedback, and, above all, your passion for discovering new music have helped us reach an important milestone. This week we are happy to announce that Amazon.com has invested in Amie Street. This is a great validation of the community that you have helped to create.

We are celebrating this milestone by dropping thousands of new songs from incredible artists on the site. As always, all songs start free. So go get your download on!

Peace, The Amie Street Team

P.S. In other big news, Thievery Corporation is on Amie Street! Click here to check out their albums.

Read More...

Editor's Question: Does Daptone Records write the best new release one-sheets in the business? Editor's Answer: Oh hell yes! See for yourself...

Like the deadly scorpion of the album's cover, The Budos Band's second release, The Budos Band II, creeps stealthily over the hot desert sand. It is with unmistakable purpose that each beat of the music drives forth, one footstep of many to carry the Scorpion toward it's meaning. With his tail arched high in readiness, he maneuvers patiently under the scorching desert sun, and chooses his prey. He strikes without warning and without remorse. The venom of his sting, true to its reason; his victim, ever-intoxicated.

With it's twenty-two legs, three horns, and hallucinogenic venom, The Budos Band, the un-heralded emperors of Instrumental Staten Island Afro-Soul, continue to rule. The band commands their listeners to follow them on their second journey into the depths of their poisonous vision. While their debut album was itself heralded as a groundbreaking exploration of funk, afro-beat and soul music, few could predict that their second effort would not only match but surpass the realm of mind-expansion embodied on their first sessions. Through ten exciting new instrumentals recorded live at Daptone's House of Soul in Bushwick, Brooklyn, The Budos Band pours themes at once resonant and ethereal over Herculean rhythms.

Read More...