SGF hip hop fans have been waiting for a formal release from emcee Brief since he moved from Aurora, Ill. (let’s just say if anticipation were a person, it would be able a very mature third grader). After technology virtually ripped the Death of a Salesman in mid-2011 the rapper formerly known as SincerelyYours. (legally known as Lucas Ramsey) leaked the new single on Facebook Monday. Ramsey said “Miss Popular” will be included on a yet-to-be titled EP.

As the age of fake jewelry, fake money and fake whatever else(s) continues, Brief is real. A storyteller with a level of honesty hard to find amongst best friends. The instrumental sets the tone for “Miss Popular” — a smooth, sultry, jazz-lader sample throbs over laid back drums. Lando Beats’ production alone is worthy of a second listen, but Brief’s paintbrush is as detailed as it is gut-wrenchingly uncomfortable. Even though it will never feel good to hear a first-person tale of infidelity, this is a story you’ll listen to again and again.

He said there wasn’t a timeframe for an official release, but recording should be wrapped up in the month, adding that Lando Beats and Trak Masta Tom are the primary beat contributors.

Local rapper J-None already laid out his “foundation of determination” earlier this summer, but that was only part of his plan for album and mixtape releases this year. Now comes Phase II: A 20-track mixtape titled Reverie with a host of producers and the return of many collaborators you previously heard on Adhittana. Today J-None (real name Jason Nunn) let loose the first sneak peek at the new work, a song called “Where You Been” produced by former Columbia, MO resident (he now lives in Minnesota) Abstracked and with Bryce Merritt back to lay down the hook again.

If “Where You Been” is an indication of what to expect from the rest of Reverie, look for a record with an identity altogether separate from Adhittana. For starters, the supplemental live instruments over the beats are replaced with sample-heavy structures with quicker tempos. The guitarist-turned-rapper’s growth is on full display, too, delivering lyrics about the draining fishbowl that is minimum-wage work with a tightness that doesn’t sacrifice his distinctive all-around-the-beat style of flow. You can check out the song yourself for streaming or download below.

J-None, “Where you been”

The evolution of local indie rock/punk band The First Teenager Ever continues. First came the departure of bassist Caleb Haas followed more recently by the relocation of guitarist Cory King to Montana. No matter; the band forges ahead with new members, and it might be making some of its best music yet. A new album, The Horse EP, is on its way, and the first song released from it, “Truckload of Guts,” is a good example of the band’s continued sonic evolution–less manic, better rhythms, same slightly insoucient bent to the lyrics. It’s a fun listen, and you’ll find it below to check out for yourself. No word yet on when The Horse EP is due for release, but don’t expect to have to wait long.

Truckload of guts by thefirstteenagerever

Up to now Beard & Pen Records has been known as the home of music from The Seed and lead singer Lance Sitton. In late September that all changes with the arrival of Hideout, the debut album from Elevenpoint Outlaws, the side project of Seed bassist Tom Gibson. Though Gibson has occasionally broken out his own work here and there during Seed concerts over the years Hideout will be the first album exclusively of his own work since joining the band. The first track released, titled “The Hurricane,” puts Gibson’s familiar deep rasp in a lively full-band setting, a nice change that lets him explore his singing range a little. You won’t be able to get Hideout until its digital release on September 27, but you can give a listen to “The Hurricane” below and see for yourself what Gibson and his cohorts have been up to.

Laying low is not the same as being inactive. Local electro dance group Kids & Chemicals is a case in point. The brother-and-sister duo has been off radar in recent weeks since playing early in the month at The Outland, but it reemerged last night with new material for you to digest. The new song, titled “Bottle Fly,” is an example of the group progressing into more complicated beat/melody interplay as well as display more rock influence with reigned-in guitar reverb blasting through the chorus. You can check it out, and even download if you approve, on the group’s SoundCloud page.

Lucas Ramsey (aka SincerelyYours.)

Lucas Ramsey (aka SincerelyYours.) was the musical guest on SGF Local Live on Mother’s Day. Catch a sneak peek of his new project with Ramsey’s live performance of “So Far Away” from upcoming EP Death of a Salesman.

Listen to the podcast of the entire show which includes an interview with Ramsey as well as with Jeff Schrag and Jeremy Wicks of Mother’s Brewing Company. SGF Local Live airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on KBFL 99.9 FM and on TAG TV (SpringfieldWebTV.com).

Contrary to popular belief, local synth-rock group We Are Like the Spider isn’t gone yet. Yes, the band said goodbye to the SGF stage with one last concert at The Outland Ballroom in February, but the now-pared-down group (Lucia and Gozu are the remaining members) is still on track to move to Portland later this summer. In the meantime, new music (and a music video) are afoot to begin the band’s next phase. A sneak peek of one such new song appeared last night on Into to Dhruv, a three-song acoustic EP WALTS recorded with friend and recording student Dhruv Tucker over the weekend with help on hand drum from Joe Nanez of Vasovagal. The new song, titled “Drala,” will emerge soon in amplified form, but for now you can catch the acoustic version below to whet your appetite. You’ll find it, a cover of P.J. Harvey‘s “It’s You” and an acoustic take on the band’s oldie but goodie, “Locura,” head to the band’s BandCamp page for a FREE download of the full EP.

The release of The North Decade‘s What You’d Give Up Tomorrow You’ll Pay For Today is just a little more than two weeks away. Also, it’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for the band to let slip another preview of the album, this time the live-show staple “Wreck.” This one is another song that dates back to the band’s early full-band period, and while the composition is little changed on record the haunting synth roar of the last 30 seconds might, in a way, serve as a sneak preview of whichever track follows “Wreck” on the album, too. It certainly has “lead-in” written all over it. Head over to The North Decade’s BandCamp page now to stream or download the track (for $1) and see what I mean.

Two weeks from tomorrow you’ll be able to pick up The Spacetones‘ new Welcome to the Land of Drugs and (e)Money mixtape, a true throwback-style cassette tape produced by LemonDrop-affiliated beat specialist e$Money, DJ Geeg and Casey White and the first physical release by the group since Moon Tunes in 2008. That’s not a lot of time, but let’s face it: This is the Internet Age and no one wants to wait for anything. To the rescue comes Steven Eudaly, who recorded the new work onto an eight-track reel-to-reel tape and then transferred the recording to computer for mixing via Logic Studio. Eudaly provided a sneak preview track yesterday via his blog, a song titled “Spablam” that shows the ‘Tones traveling further down the creative paths they’ve previously established with plenty of growth mixed in. In the song you’ll hear Tahmiipee deliver his characteristic butter-smooth rhymes over a jazz-influenced beat with horn section, a ghostly, almost subliminal bass track and a keys loop that sounds like raindrops hitting a xylophone in an echo chamber. But enough of my talking. Check out the track below and know to be at The High Life Live Martini Lounge May 5 for the tape’s release if you like what you hear.

The Spacetones – “Spablam” by steveneudaly

The weekly Wednesday new-track dropping continues for local indie rock group The North Decade as the band gears up for its CD release show May 20 at Lindberg’s. This week’s contribution/preview/get-it-now from What You’d Give Up Tomorrow You’ll Pay For Today is the lovely, organ-tinged ballad “Cliff,” a staple of the TND’s repertoire since the early days of its full-band era but given a fuller sound through the recording process with Jonathan James at Dark Egg Studio. You’ll have to wait a few weeks yet for the full album, but you can stream or purchase “Cliff” right now by clicking here.

If you have ever wondered what some of the members of The Short Histories of Powerful Nations have been up to away from that band, tonight is a good night for you. Power Marketing, the latest project of SHOPN guitarist Shawn Maher, combines rock music with the free-form, trumpet-laden jazz style of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis for a set unlike any SGF is likely to have seen on a local stage. The band makes its debut at The Outland in a show together with The Gardenheads and Southern Panthers. In fact, Maher says tonight’s debut show will consist of one song, 30 minutes in length. Different, eh? The band has been recording its practices lately via iPhone and it was kind enough to edit down a few snippets for you to listen to as a sneak preview. Click on the links below and enjoy.

Power-Marketing-1.mp3
Power-Marketing-2.mp3
Power-Marketing-3.mp3

StereoGum.com has released another track off of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin‘s upcoming album Let It Sway. Hurry over if you haven’t already and check out the new track titled “Banned (By The Man).” You can stream and download the track FOR FREE here.

SSLYBY’s album Let It Sway is due out on August 17 on Polyvinyl Records. Pre-order it here

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

If everyone enjoys free music, then Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin must be the band for everyone. Or, SSLYBY is just a bunch of friendly dudes. Either way, our ears win.

The local indie rockers are in full promotion mode for their third full-length album, Let it Sway, which is scheduled for an August 17 release on Polyvinyl Records. To celebrate and try to coerce you into purchasing the record, the boys are offering a free download of the lead track, titled “Sink/Let It Sway.” If you’re looking for a jolt of free new music, click here.

Within the same link you can pre-order the record, as well as visit an entire SSLYBY catalog, digital, CD and vinyl. Now that’s friendly.

Most people spend New Year’s Day nursing hangovers, watching college football bowl games or otherwise trying to get to the next day in one piece. Springfield/Kansas City Latin-jazz group Grant Maledy Trio spent New Year’s Day holed up in a local studio (they’re not at liberty to say which one) recording their debut EP When Words Get in the Way. The four-song album is in the process of being finished up, so the tracks aren’t available for purchase yet, but hey, why wait, we say. Give a listen to “Old Devil Moon,” “Lucky Southern” and “South & Walnut” (named after the downtown Springfield intersection) in the widget below and catch a whiff of what the boys are cooking: