The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on September 11, 2001, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features soul-based sampling and production handled primarily by Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Bink, as well as Timbaland, Trackmasters, and Eminem, who also contributes the album's sole guest feature.
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Nick O'Malley, and Matt Helders. Former band member Andy Nicholson left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released.
Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina. He is also known as Syndrone and Tstewart. He is one half of Sepalcure, with Praveen Sharma, one half of JETS, with Jimmy Edgar, as well as half of Dream Continuum with Jim Coles, a.k.a. Om Unit.
Chris Brown is the debut studio album by American singer Chris Brown. It was released on November 29, 2005 through Jive Records. The production on the album was handled by multiple producers including Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, Oak Felder, Bryan-Michael Cox and The Underdogs among others. The album also features guest appearances by Juelz Santana, Lil Wayne, Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri.
Ys is the second studio album by American musician Joanna Newsom. It was released by Drag City on November 14, 2006. The album was produced by Newsom and Van Dyke Parks, recorded by Steve Albini, mixed by Jim O'Rourke, with accompanying orchestral arrangements by Van Dyke Parks. It features guest vocals from Bill Callahan and Emily Newsom. The vocals and harp were recorded at The Village Recording Studio in Los Angeles in December 2005, with the orchestration being recorded between May and June 2006 at the Entourage Studios in Los Angeles.
Dear Science is the third studio album by the band TV on the Radio. It was released on September 16, 2008, digitally through Touch and Go Records, with the physical release coming a week later through Interscope Records and DGC Records in North America and 4AD elsewhere.
Bitte Orca is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Dirty Projectors, released on June 9, 2009, by Domino Recording Company. The word "bitte" is a German word for "please", and "orca" is another name for a killer whale. Frontman David Longstreth states that he liked the way the words sounded together. Longstreth notes that the music contained within the album "felt very [much] about colors, and their interaction," and that the music was written with the notion of the band, as a whole, in mind.
Have One on Me is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on February 23, 2010 via Drag City as the official follow-up to the harpist's highly acclaimed second studio release, 2006's Ys. It is a triple album produced by herself and mixed by long-time collaborators Jim O'Rourke and Noah Georgeson, with the accompanying arrangements by Ryan Francesconi. Have One on Me continues Newsom's use of cryptic, pastoral lyrics, with a further progression of elements of her sound such as the orchestral accompaniment and the arrangements – with the inclusion of diverse instruments like the tambura, the harpsichord and the kaval. The production also flirts with genres such as jazz and blues in some of the tracks, while adding drums and the electric guitar in others. The album is also her first since The Milk-Eyed Mender to include songs played on the piano instead of the harp. Because of health problems, Newsom's voice was damaged during the sessions consequently affecting the overall recording process and forcing the harpist to change her singing style.
James Thomas Smith, known professionally as Jamie xx, is an English musician, DJ, record producer, and remixer. He is known for both his solo work and as a member of the English indie pop band The xx.
Bon Iver is the second studio album from American indie folk band Bon Iver, released on June 17, 2011. The album is composed of 10 songs and was seen as a new musical direction for the band.
Oceania is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on June 19, 2012 through Martha's Music. The album was produced by Billy Corgan and Bjorn Thorsrud, and forms part of the band's 34-track music project Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. It was their first studio album to feature guitarist Jeff Schroeder, and their only album to contain contributions from bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne, who replaced original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.
The Whole Love is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock group Wilco, released on September 27, 2011. It is the first Wilco album that was released on their own label dBpm. Attendees at Wilco's 2011 Solid Sound Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art from June 24 to 26 could purchase the first single from the album, "I Might". The entire album was streamed live on Wilco's official website for 24 hours between September 3 and 4, 2011, and later streamed on National Public Radio. The album packaging and cover art are pieces by Joanne Greenbaum. On November 30, 2011, the album received a nomination in the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album.
Strange Mercy is the third studio album by American musician St. Vincent, released on September 13, 2011 by 4AD, in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States. The album's cover art was designed by St. Vincent, and was photographed by Tina Tyrell. The album peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200, it was St. Vincent's highest charting album at the time, later being surpassed by her next two solo albums, St. Vincent (2014) and Masseduction (2017). In addition, Strange Mercy received significant critical acclaim.
"Niggas in Paris" is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Ye from their collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011). The song is built around a synth bell loop from the Dirty South Bangaz music library, and contains vocal samples from "Baptizing Scene" by Reverend W.A. Donaldson, an interpolation of "Victory" by Puff Daddy featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and dialogue excerpts from the 2007 film Blades of Glory. On the week of the album's release, "Niggas in Paris" debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at number five. Outside of the United States, "Niggas in Paris" peaked within the top ten of the charts in the United Kingdom. As of 2018, it has sold 6.7 million archetype digital units in the United States. The song won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
Habits & Contradictions is the second studio album by American rapper Schoolboy Q. It was released on January 14, 2012, exclusively on iTunes, by Top Dawg Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from ASAP Rocky, Jhené Aiko, Dom Kennedy, Currensy, Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock. The production was handled by American producers The Alchemist, Lex Luger, Mike Will Made It, Best Kept Secret and ASAP Ty Beats, as well as members of Top Dawg Entertainment in-house production team Digi+Phonics.
Celebration Rock is the second studio album by Canadian rock duo Japandroids, released on June 5, 2012, by Polyvinyl. Recorded in Vancouver with Post-Nothing engineer Jesse Gander, the band aspired to capture the spirit and energy of their live shows, thus forgoing standard studio techniques such as double tracking and overdubbing, while consciously taking into account the perceived reaction of their audience to hearing the songs live in concert.
Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, previously a member of P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield grew up. Originally an acoustic solo project, her recordings now tend to involve a backing band, and the music has increasingly been performed this way. Crutchfield, as Waxahatchee, has released 5 albums to date: American Weekend (2012), Cerulean Salt (2013), Ivy Tripp (2015), Out in the Storm (2017) and Saint Cloud (2020).
Lonerism is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings. Like the band's debut studio album, Innerspeaker (2010), Lonerism was written, recorded, performed, and produced by Kevin Parker, with live member Jay Watson contributing on two tracks. Recorded mostly in Perth, Australia, and Paris, France, Lonerism builds on the psychedelic sound of its predecessor and features fewer guitars and more synthesisers and samples. Parker attempted to incorporate his love for pop music into his songwriting for the record through catchier melodies. Many tracks feature ambient sounds recorded by Parker with a dictaphone. The album's theme of isolation is reflected in the album cover, featuring an image of a fenced-off Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
Foxygen was an American indie rock duo from Westlake Village, California, formed in 2005. The band consisted of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado and vocalist Sam France. They have released six albums and a number of self-released EPs.
White Blood Cells is the third studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes, released on July 3, 2001. The album was recorded in less than one week at Easley-McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee, and was produced by frontman and guitarist Jack White. It was the band's final record released independently on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album explores themes of love, hope, betrayal, and paranoia, which were inspired by the increased media attention the group were receiving.
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