MICHAEL JACKSON

I’ve always had the feeling that Michael Jackson had no other option in life but to be Michael Jackson. That’s a lot of why he was the best to ever do this. I’d say he was Jackie Wilson meets James Brown and a whole slew of other artists, but that’d be so trite and unfair. Fuck. Michael Jackson is dead. And with that, a part of our collective musical consciousness is a memory. There’s a vitality inherent in the presumption of immortality. In death, we lose that, and we find the human. My greatest wish is that in remembering the human, we don’t lose the nature of just how amazing the man was. His dream in youth to be the greatest singer and dancer that ever lived, and to positively touch the lives of every single person that ever heard his music, is just like any other child’s dream, to be President, or, as our parents all teach us, to dream big, dream impossible, and make those dreams come true. But Mike had these dreams at three and four, and by by five he was already doing it, already attempting to make dreams realities. There’s something full of naivete there, something so human there, something so accessible there, something for us ALL to love there as well, and we did.

Michael gave his life to music, and in devoting the entirety of his being to being the ULTIMATE, lies a tragic flaw. We all get a bit older, get a bit slower, get a bit worn, but that was not supposed to be Michael. Michael, through his aspiration, became timeless, became an epic representation of something meant to create emotion: music. Michael Jackson died while once again, at the age of 50, preparing to make time stand still, doing it harder and better than anyone, a 50 show concert tour, which at any age is daunting, but at 50, given his particular expectation, would have been simply incredible. His motivation, be it financial salvation or a youthful pondering of whether he still had “it” be damned, we ALL hoped that these concerts would go off okay. Even if not for the advancement of his greatness, but just to make sure that the best we ever had was still in good health and good spirits after an amazingly tumultuous number of years.

We have never and will never see another Michael Jackson because, when the man is at the height of his ability, and can be produced and recorded by those at the heights of their abilities, the results are timeless. I can list the songs, but I’d miss one and the universe would be angry. I’m sure we’ve all heard every song Michael ever performed over the last 12 hours. Five number one albums and thirteen number one singles. And the B sides and hidden album cuts we all know and love and hold dear. The man lived a life where he worked with Gamble and Huff, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Teddy Riley. He’s sang on stage with Pavarotti and had Jay-Z lay down 16 bars on “You Rock My World.” And, amazingly, after discussing ALL of that, I’ve touched a tenth of his career. In working and learning from and emulating ALL of the greats, Micael Jackson existed as a sheer musical marvel. Michael Jackson is a standard and brand of excellence that in aiming for, artists of the present and future can achieve greatness just in the attempt to mirror him.

Through the music, Michael Jackson made a difference. In his youthful demeanor, and sheer hope upon all hopes in the world, Michael created change. He was a life changer. A WORLD changer. He single handedly changed the face of pop radio and MTV by being black and having widespread appeal and undeniable talent. By merely being better than everyone else, he knocked a hole in the terrifying edifice of racism that so so so many have walked through in so many walks of life. He had the power, through his career to do daily what people hope to do once in a lifetime. He’s shaken hands and had conversations with so many people of power, so many people of influence who were likely prouder to meet him than he was to meet them. When your goal is to be the best, you go into life fully expecting this to be the nature of what you do. And he did this all dutifully, as if with each legendary tune, at a certain point, knowing that he was solidifying his ability to literally be a world beater.

And there’s his final tragic flaws. Life and love. Michael Jackson lived on the same planet with us, but due to the intense stress of literally being the greatest and most influential man to ever create sound, he mortgaged his life, and mortgaged the ability to learn how to love himself and love others. You can’t love yourself when you become the forefront of public opinion at eight years old. Eight! We all know how damaging it is as a child to be told you’re ugly and are no good. Now imagine likely hearing this from not your child peers, but from adults! Many humans are cynical, jealous and hateful people. The pain and stigma from that certainly seems tremendous. Now extrapolate that over forty-two years of striving and winning despite that, and as the woes increase, still attempting to just do what you know, and in the process grow, mature, and learn, having never been adequately provided the tools to do. His legendary odd behavior (we all know all the stories and cases, no need to rehash them in this space), well, if not a reaction in attempting to fight his own life and gain the ability to love, to create something “normal,” to have an other from his very public, full time persona, well that makes sense. It may sound crazy, but in holding Michael Jackson to the same rules, laws and regulations as say, Marcus Dowling, well, that’s just a recipe for danger. Nobody has ever lived this life and existed in this manner before. There are no rules for this. Crazy, but upon further review, true.

Michael Jackson is no longer amongst us in the living. But remember his exalted life. Remember his sheer mastery of music. Remember his hopes and dreams. No matter how you feel, the man had an impact and made an ultimate sacrifice and difference. Long live the King.

NEW ARTIST SHOWCASE: NACEY AND STARKS

Nacey (l.) and Steve Starks. The most potent DC connection since Doug Williams to Ricky Sanders. Photo by Sexy Fitsum/iLLIMETER – http://illimeter.com

What DC as known for awhile now is that Columbia, MD natives and friends since high school Nacey and Steve Starks, two-thirds of the Nouveau Riche triumvirate with Gavin Holland, are two of the most underrated DJs and producers in the country. The reason why the rest of the country didn’t know, is, well, Nacey and Steve Starks are also two of the most humble DJs and producers in the country, opting to let their mixing and skill speak louder than their marketing and voice. However, with a less than inspiring Winter Music Confernence spurring on the talented duo to replace thir humility with quiet confidence, Starks and Nacey have rolled out the most consistently solid remixes of the year, Nacey gaining the big prizes from Mad Decent and Discobelle, along with tracks rapped over by former Yo Majesty! rapper Shunda K, and Starks quietly honing his craft, a musical viper waiting for the right time to attack. Amd that right time was this past Tuesday, as the duo released their debut EP, a six song compilation of completely original tracks and reworkings of popular tunes as well, a clear shot to DJs everywhere that the duo are forces to be reckoned with.

Nacey’s three songs reflect his diverse interests, with a particular investment n his love of Southern bass and appreciation of an upbringing saturated in Bmore club. The EP kicks off with “Lose Your Love,” where Nacey deftly handles one of the most emphatic disco breaks of all time from the extended mix of The Emotions’ “Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love,” where the sisters sing the title as chorus over horn stabs, and with the aid of the break from “Doo Dew Brown,” and ambient noise, creates a perfect track that doubles as the perfect breakdown at the height of a Bmore club specific set, or to jazz up any disco mix. It’s a hit for sure, and I FULLY expect to see it showing up all over the place this summer. “Money on the Dressa” turns a sample of Bun B’s iconic voice from “International Playa’s Anthem” into a gangstafied house banger, replete with samples of a shotgun loading and shooting, squealing car tires and violin strings over a futuristic and hollow breakbeat, creating the perfect soundtrack if Major Lazer wasn’t a Jamaican freedom fighter but a Dolemite clone. “Work For This” may be the most sonically lush and mentally stimulating of the three tracks he delivers on the EP, taking what sounds like a sexed out Trina sample and creating a classic house jam, lush Arabian horns mixing with jazz horns over a syncopated bassline to create a sexy, sexy, sexy club heater that is certain to get the ladies moving seductively on the dancefloor.

Steve Starks on the other hand is similar, but with his deep house and funk explorations is a different DJ entirely. “So Sexy,” his first EP track, plays as an homage to Green Velvet (i.e. Cajmere of “Percolator” fame’s later project), all distinct spoken word vocals, deep synthy basslines and tinny hi hats with congo drums, it’s a classic deep house track, a retro fit for these most interesting times. “You Don’t Want None” follows next, a far more bass heavy and big sounding Bmore club exploration than Nacey’s smooth as silk “Lose Your Love,” it sounds like a Brick Bandits type club cut, the enormous filling sound mirroring what Philly has done with the early 2000s work of Debonair Samir and others. He closes his section and the EP itself with his most accessible for the current sonic atmosphere track, “Don’t Let Me Go” (Dub Mix f/ Manulita) featuring samples of heavy and orgasmic breathing, it’s a very dubbed out mix of a classic sexy club jam, and certain to be a necessity in the Serato boxes of any DJ looking to create the perfect mood as nightcapper to a night of playing nerve pounding wobbly basslines.

The EP is clearly aimed at creating noise and being relevantt the current set of producers and DJs presently making noise in the mainstream. At the same time though, neither Nacey nor Steve abandon what stylistically broght them to the forefront, instead weaving it into a set of tracks that are certain to continue the trend of DC infiltrating the club music mainstream.

DOWNLOAD THE EP HERE!

BLACK LIPS/SPANK ROCK feat. NINJASONIK/POPO – SONAR – 6/19/09

Say hello to Mad Decent’s newest punk rock signees, Popo.

Continuing in a string of solid lineups at Sonar as of late, last Friday, dirty south garage rockers the Black Lips, perennial hometown favorite Spank Rock, backed by punk hop sensations Ninjasonik, and the giant brothers Malik of Popo, the new punk darlings on the Mad Decent imprint rocked a less than capacity, but full of youthful vigor crowd in the larger main room of the venue.

Popo played first, and the most telling thing about the act to a non-informed observer is that there are three gigantic (they’re all well over 6’1″), gangly Middle Eastern brothers from Philly playing loud garage punk with pop melodies. The effect is visually arresting, and clearly part of the allure, as with ironic titles like the downtempo “Feel Good Song of the Year” (arguably their best and most polished song) and “Kill Tonight,” you’re immediately bobbing your head and thrashing along, reciting choruses word for word as they’re ever so slightly witty and absurd, but the craftsmanship apparent in the music not allowing you to toss them aside as a throwaway act. And that’s important as well. The attention to craftsmanship is high, as Popo may easily be one of the most well honed and practiced bands on the label, as they take great pride in nailing melodies and in sounding like a band you really want to have every intention to appreciate. Having seen the band three times now live, their improvement is marked, as they are gaining confidence in their live performances, and while still not as cohesive and interactive as they could be, do have a live performance set of music that portents future success. During the set, the drummer announced that the ink has indeed dried on their deal, and that he had “Three thousand dollars, and who wants a drink.” World conquering words, indeed! Mad Decent has released a vinyl 7″ of the two tracks mentioned in this review presently for sale, and the band, while not on tour, does play regularly, with gigs throughout the Northeast. For more information, visit myspace.com/popobros.

Following Popo’s thrashing, Spank Rock and Ninjasonik took to the stage for what was more house party than true live performance. Naeem “Spank Rock” Juwan, Baltimore native and presently residing in Philadelphia, is a charismatic hip hop frontman whose productions, in this reviewer’s mind, was at the front end of our present electro rap movement, but hardly gets the full respect he deserves from those who have cloned, aped or outright stolen aspects of his persona. And frankly, it’s everywhere. From Common’s sudden turn from conscious rapper to couture wearing pussy maven to countless Myspace hipsters inbetween, if it wasn’t for the work of Naeem Juwan and his Hollertronix honed act with Devlin, Darko, Amanda Blank and XXXChange, music would certainly be a very different place. On this particular Friday night, Spank played background to giving the stage to Ninjasonik, an act he did as well for the band at December’s Baltimore Bass Connection Christmas Party, Juwan complementing the act and creating a perfect storm of sex raps and ribald humor, replete with girls jumping onstage, African drumming (yes, you read right), DJ Teenwolf on the backup, and ridiculous fun had by all. let it be said in this space that whenever Spank Rock or Ninjasonik are in town, get your hands on a ticket. If you miss the late 80s, early 90s party rap vibe of the 2 Live Crew (sans naked women), it still exists, and is just as raw, just as interactive and just as entertaining as ever before.

Atlanta, Georgia’s hillbilly soul revue Black Lips have changed. Well, not so much changed as matured. Going into the show expecting the vaguely homoerotic acts that got them kicked out of India, or the public urination, vomiting or disgusting perversity, I, at age 31, was happy to see these four young men signed to Vice Records stay onstage, clothed, focused, and playing a phenomenal set of melodic, throwback Southern garage rock that sounded like what is the soundtrack for a keg party at a University of Mississippi frathouse in 1966 when the race line wasn’t crossed and Red Tops and the Hot Nuts were playing. Given that they lived as a band for some time on the Georgia Tech campus, this isn’t surprising. Their unique take on music, called “flower punk” by the band, combines syrupy sweet doo wop and girl group elements with powerful, loud guitar licks to create something that inspires really bad dancing by comically arythmic people, meaning that their music is inclusive of people who genuinely want to have a fun time listening to music, and are not concerned about getting sweaty and looking good. Being on a label that is part of a conglomenrate that contains a near comically scatalogical magazine actually aids the band as it allows for the music to be more reflective of sheer ridiculous fun to the more attuned observer, as on a mainstream label their sound would be far more neutered and would sound something far more akin to Chester French than Lynyrd Skynyrd 2.0. The Black Lips have been causing crowds to combust since 2000, and have a new album out on Vice, 200 Million Thousand, and clearly are at the forefront of the garage movement for good reason. More info available at http://www.black-lips.com

SHIT I’M DIGGING THIS WEEK

Brooklyn’s So So Glos continue to bring the punk heat from the BK

1. The 1.21 Jiggawatt Soundsystem of DJs Andrew Jaye and James Nasty – As of late, the DJing and production duo of Baltimore by way of DC’s James Nasty and DC by way of Pittsburgh’s Andrew Jaye has been on fire. Playing the midweek Tax Lo event last Thursday was easily the biggest moment for both Jaye and Nasty, who have toiled tirelessly every weekend as DJs in the local area and are well respected for the last few years by all who spin records in the DMV (Nasty has also spun at Will Eastman’s Blisspop party). Furthermore, Nasty spun late into last Saturday night and well into Sunday morning at the Deep Sugar party at Baltimore’s legendary Paradox, sharing a bill with powerhouses and legends alike in Carlos Sanchez and Ultra Nate, and alongside Unruly Records signed half of Claire Hux, D Lake. As well,Nasty opens for Thunderheist this Sunday night at Baltimore’s Ottobar. Jaye spins locally as of note at the 12 Pound Sound Monthly at the 9:30 Club’s Backbar, possibly the best soundsystem in the oddest space in the city, and spins tonight, June 19th alongside DJ Apt One of the Philadelphia based Philadelphyinz collective, and longtime local spinner DJ Spiggums.

Jaye brings to the table an unbelievable knowledge of all music, a specialty in post disco funky house and a voluminous record collection of all genres, something he deftly uses to create intelligent mixes that introduce the mainstreamed ear to forgotten hits, B sides or underground jams, while still keeping alive the favorites that keep the people on the floor. Nasty, on the other hand, may be the next big DJ to blow in Baltimore, boasting more tracks that are ready to slay than most any other unsigned DJ and producer in the city. His latest release, “Eye of the Club,“ an energetic, old school Bmore club fight anthem with a frat boy tinge, takes Survivor’s Rocky Anthem to Druid Hill Park, and all places beyond. The duo is definitely on the rise, and attention deserves to be paid.

2. Live performances – Saw Peaches on Wednesday night at the 9:30 Club. There’s something to be said about a show with no frills, and balls to the wall action like the Death Set’s set from last Friday. There’s also something to be said about being someone like Peaches, and understanding yourself, and exactly what it is you do. Peaches’ show featured thirteen costume changes, illuminated diaphanous fabric sleeves that were unfurled like wings to show her face, black and gold professional wrestling gear with puffy gold lame sleeves, white unitard with mangina urinary device attached with glowing lightbulb at the end of it, backup singers dressed to look like Cousin It, lightsabers, lasers, fake blood regurgitated on the crowd in a manner consistent with KISS’ Gene Simmons, encouraged nudity, five minutes of crowd surfing, and a myriad of other salacious behavior. The point to be made here is that if you deem yourselves worthy of being onstage, and wish to sing a song like “Fuck Your Pain Away,” and have an outsized persona while doing so, the absurdity is appreciated, necessary and welcome. It’s what makes someone a star, going to the absolute nth degree to separate one’s self as a performer.

However, if the band has a more musical focus, and the lyrics don’t focus on making the insane sane, the hyperbole comes from the energy of the band in playing their music, and the ability of the band to have energy in their performance. Too often now, bands feel that they have to insert unnecessary gimmickry into a show, and lose the fact that ultimately, especially when beginning, it’s all about the musicality. As example, Totally Andrew, the openers for Santigold last week, are a few good nights with amazing producers away from having a much more marketable sound. However, in performing in gang gear, and having a blinged out Olmec head/skull figure onstage, tossing money and standing stoic, it takes away everything from the band’s actual talent, and really does nothing for advancing the band as musicians, but certainly does more for advancing them as ballsy charlatans, which gains press, but all press certainly, in this case, isn’t good.

3. The So So Glos – Caught Brooklyn’s So So Glos last week at the Black Cat’s Backstage as the openers for South African tour de force the BLK JKS and was pleasantly surprised. The four brothers have a fantastic throwback sound that not like the throwback we hear now to the low fi 60s, is instead a throwback to the pop accessible punk of the NYC post-punk era, an era they were familiar with since youth. There’s clearly something brewing in the Brooklyn DIY/punk movement, and actually much of it may have to do with this band, as forefathers of the movement, they opened new venues (the well respected Market Hotel) and did so with humility in the face of bands that were, in their opinion inauthentic and more style than substance. Armed with sounds that include the pre-requisite genre blenders of electro and manic surf guitars, with phenomenal tracks like “99 Degrees” and “Throw Your Hands Up” in their arsenal, when Brooklyn goes big, they most certainly have to be considered at the forefront of that movement.

NEW ARTIST SHOWCASE: LAURA IZIBOR

Irish born Laura Izibor is bound to be a star. Possessing the perfect storm of strong talent, marketing muscle, and being a downright attractive, honey complexioned, piano playing mixed race female singing R & B, her path to success was already laid in the personage of Alicia Keys, and while nothing separates Izibor per se, her voice and particular abilities, at a point where Keys does not have any new material at present in rotation on pop radio makes her a surefire winner of the hearts and adulation of fans of lilting melodies and impassioned lyricism worldwide.

Her debut album, “Let the Truth be Told,” released this week on Atlantic Records clocks in at 37 minutes of pop radio aimed R & B confection, songs that have been honed, crafted and perfected during the first five years of the 22 year old songstress’ career, a career so far that has seen her open for the likes of James Brown, The Roots, Estelle, Aretha Franklin and John Legend, the young singer known as “The Soul of Ireland” clearly was the person to open for any international touring act on the Emerald Isle in the past five years, and her confidence in her talents from said experiences shows clearly on the release.

Izibor’s time signed to major label powerhouse Atlantic Records will provide an invaluable assist as well, as many of the albums tracks have ALREADY been featured elsewhere, from Step Up 2: The Streets, to Grey’s Anatomy, The Hills, and The Nanny Diaries, in a move akin to Moby and Santigold, she has already gained considerable commercial success, so even in the face of a tough record buying public, the belief is that she already has traction with a broad enough spectrum to expect success. As well, she is presently featured as a model and artist for Steve Madden shoes and apparel on their website, as well as international focus as a VH1 “You Oughta Know” artist, as well as being spotlighted as an artist to follow by Vibe and Rolling Stone magazines. The marketing machine is obviously behing Izibor, and with good reason.

Internationally, she has already released four singles, foremost is “From My Heart to Yours,” an upbeat love anthem that allows Izibor’s considerable vocal talents to be on display as she belts and soars over a track built on pianos and an old school East coast hip hop boom bap, this represents her most American radio and mainstream ready single, and as expected, it’s presently zooming up the charts. As well, the “Grey’s Anatomy” featured “Shine,” a positive and uplifting pop winner with a Stax styled drum pickup and rhythm section, allows Izibor’s piano to fit in and create, for her followup American single a rollicking groove of a song. Also, “Don’t Stay,” Izibor’s latest foreign single, a straight up lovelorn over love lost reflection is a solid track as well, the production taking second fiddle to Izibor’s fine songwriting, lyric after lyric showing some of her best songwriting to date in her young career.

However, the real pride of the album, and admittedly by Ibizor of her career is album closer “Mmm…,” (previously featured on the soundtrack to Step Up 2: The Streets) a melange of exemplary and most evocative songwriting and brilliant production, it’s clear that this song, which has been in her touring show for quite some time, is the product of unusual amounts of hard work and dedication between songwriter, producer, label and a perpetually rousing crowd reaction, creating a must hear song that fills the mind and fills the room with romance, Izibor’s lush pianos and vocals are the only thing on the track, and it creates a showstopper, her song, and the song that takes the album from the place of being solid in a year of solid music to being likely one of the more acclaimed R & B productions of 2009.

“Let the Truth Be Told” presents Laura Izibor as an artist bound to be one of the future cornerstones of international R & B. Between her talent and ability at such a young age, mixed with the fact that the album only features her, no duets, and songwriting by the artist that shows an emotional and personal depth that belies her youth, it’s only certain that she will improve, and, with a fuure expected to be surrounded by the top of the charts in pop and urban music, it’s not a thought of if, but when Laura Izibor will be a true, dependable chart success.

MIXTAPE MONDAY presents…THE JONNY BLAZE INTERVIEW

Jonny Blaze (l.) with manager Dirty South Joe

If you’re well acquainted with Bmore Club Music, you’re aware of DJ Class, ubiquitous with his hit single “I’m the Shit,” and mainstream album release Alameda and Coldspring due to drop on Universal Records this fall and expected to do MAJOR damage. If you go a bit further, you’re probably aware of Unruly’s Scottie B and King Tutt, and likely DJ Booman. Continuing into the annals, you’re probably aware of KW Griff, the dearly departed Club Queen K Swift, Diamond K, Jimmy Jones who told us all to “Watch Out for the Big Girl, Miss Tony, Rod Lee, and so on and so forth. But, somewhere along the way, when the hipsters came to appreciate Baltimore club, someone was certainly missing. Jonny Blaze has held down Baltimore for over fifteen years providing local hit after local hit, and with the help of manager Dirty South Joe (who also manages the amazing Philly/NJ DJ collective the Brick Bandits), and a legion of intelligent DJs who dove further into the history of Bmore club to unearth Jonny Blaze and his twenty two album history of instantaneous club bangers. Erring on the side of unforgettable raunch that captures emtions that everyone’s felt in the club on his hits like “Wham Bam (Thank You Ma’am)” to “Head, Titties and Ass,” to an entire EP of reworkings of popular children’s television theme songs, and big hits documenting urban Bmore dance trends like the Spongebob and Ice Cream, and the most amazing of the all, the triumphant “300 (Sparta),” Jonny is truly a populist DJ, a classic and throwback to Baltimore’s history, and now, is attempting to bring Baltimore into the future as well, as he has once again fired up the Blazeone Records machine, now as part of a duo with DC club smasher Stereofaith as “The Heat,” a duo made up of two veteran turntablists and producers who have the history and knowledge of keeping crowds rocking, and are as studied and professional as any two deejays on any circuit.

The interview linked below is Jonny at his spiritual, open, entertaining and charismatic finest, telling tales of his career, discussing pretty much every DJ that has ever dropped a record using a “Sing Sing” or “Think” sample anywhere in Baltimore, gives his thoughts about his future, discusses Serato, and generally has a jolly time. Jonny Blaze is a legend for a reason, because he understands the club, understands fun, and mixes both to create audio magic.

For more information about Jonny Blaze, check out http://www.myspace.com/blazeonerave

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5227235&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

TGRIOnline.com presents THE JONNY BLAZE INTERVIEW (part 1) from Marcus Dowling on Vimeo.

THE DEATH SET / MIKA MIKO / THE STRANGE BOYS / THE COATHANGERS – SONAR – 6/12/09

Clearly there was no “Negative Thinking” by anyone in the crowd at the Death Set’s concert Friday night

An unbelievably solid from top to bottom rocking show hit Sonar on Friday evening as another one of Baltimore’s (by way of Australia and the world) musical success stories, balls to the wall and hook friendly Death Set, along with punk rockin’ LA chicks Mika Miko, the Atlanta based Coathangers, and the 60s flavored garage rocking of The Strange Boys put on quite the event that, if you closed your eyes and believed, if only for a second, that CBGB still existed, and that the music was still frsh, still vital, still exciting, and still able to inspire joy, fear, happiness, or even all three in the same refrain.

Atlanta’s Coathangers are the type of vulgar girls that I’d love to date, but would have my eyes gauged out and be disemboweled for bringing home to mom. Lewd, crude and tattooed, with songs like the anthemic “Nestle in My Boobies,” if you didn’t get to ever see these female punk rockers live, you’d be absolutely positive that they bite the heads off of Ken dolls and punch lame dudes with no game in the teeth. But watch them live. Their image they cast is nothing AT ALL like them. Genteel high fives befire playing, and a stage show replete with balloons and confetti and keyboard licks to accompany really well honed and grooving guitars and one helluva great drummer (Stephanie Luke can play, and is the charismatic core of the band) create a band that for someone, like me, who has never seen them live before, every desire to see them live again. Sure, having a name that’s an incredibly distasteful take on abortions may be off putting, but as soon as your off kilter, that’s where they catch you, and bowl you down with bountiful heaps of screeching noise, girly silliness and overall solid music. Check myspace.com/fuckthecoathangers for more information.

The Dallas, Texas originating now in Austin, Texas Strange Boys followed, and hit the stage hard with a slightly dustier, less straight ahead take on the low-fi, 60s garage sound that has come to define what we now call good “rock” music, as The Strokes and now Kings of Leon have taken forth to the mainstream. The Strange Boys played a very good set, making ovious their new locale of Austin, as the sheer amount of good gigs and being surrounded with competing bands that are as solid or better than you, given the SXSW connection of the collegiate party town and alternative music hub has made them come far. Key to their set in my eyes though is the fact that they chose to cover both “Think” by James Brown and “Lodi” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, their rocking renditions sounding very similar to a mash of what British invasion bands and young white guys like Buddy Holly sounded like covering “race music” in the early sixties. That is seen as a sacreligious act in most music circles bringing up such occurrences as “good,” but, in the development of fun party music than creates a swingin’ good time for a live crowd, they succeeded. To get a sample of their material, as well as information on their very well crafted debut album The Strange Boys…and Girls Club check http://www.myspace.com/thestrangeboys, and do catch them live if they’re anywhere near you.

Los Angeles punk rock quintet Mika Miko played an eagerly anticipated set next, as the all girl, one guy drummer punk band has created quite the ruckus on the underground as the best of the West, and certainly proved as much Friday evening, as their fun live show, marked by moody and evocative, heavy and jagged guitarwork and frank lyrics not heard since the days of The Slits, and a free flowing good time feel in their stage presentation. The band also notably wears name tags onstage, a sly nod at marketing, but likely something cute, tongue in cheek and nothing but fun. Jessie Clavin’s work on the bass, as well as Jenna Clavin’s lead vocals are astoundingly great, and really make the band quite the live act in ange where punk bands with fresh live acts are all the rage.

Closing the show, Ninjatune Records signed Baltimore favorites The Death Set hit the stage with typical Bmore club influenced, hip hop type braggadocio and more than anything old style punk rock intensity. Members of the incredibly vital and important to the new wave of punk crew the Newmore Switchblades (with Brooklynites hip punk group Ninjasonik and stoner drunken skater hard and fast punk rock conglomerate Cerebral Ballzy as well), The Death Set set a standard in current punk with their adherence to standards of having accessible and memorable hooks, a visually captivating stage show with no gimmicks, and being one of the hardest thrashing and deeply devoted to the audience bands in the world today. The band has had an incredible touring schedule over the last three years, and it shows in the quality and consistency of their recordings. However, we got a relaxed and renewed Death Set this evening, as the band has just come back from a two month break, but in this performance without drummer Jahphet Landis who is presently touring with Santigold as her live drummer in her band.

The core of the band lies in many ways in lead singer Johnny Siera, a punk lead singer’s punk lead singer, diminutive, exuberant, charismatic, an unlikely heartthrob, but when you hear him sing “We go around the world and we do what must be done! It’s a top secret mission and our enemies are wishin’ that they had a bigger gun!” in “Around the World” from the critically acclaimed 2008 release Worldwide, you get it. He sings the hopes and dreams of people. He comes off like an underdog in a fight, he and his terrific band locked with you in a fight to do as little as be awesome and as much as change your life. There’s something very true to the punk aesthetic about this, something that comes from litrally being around the world, or hell, like Friday night, even literally holding an intentionally broken hi hat in the air while standing on a drum kit.

For those, like me, who thought that, as Lenny Kravitz once sang that “Rock and Roll is Dead,” Friday, even if for one night, proved us completely wrong. And that’s alright by me.

SANTIGOLD/AMANDA BLANK/TROUBLE ANDREW – 9:30 CLUB – 6/11/09

Santigold assumes the lead as corporate flagbearer for hipster movement

In what was a big week for hipster centric acts on U Street this week, the Santigold tour, with opening acts Trouble Andrew and Amanda Blank hit the 9:30 Club on Wednesday evening. TV on the Radio and Passion Pit also hit DC last week, so for the pink t-shirt and purple sneaker American Apparel set it was nothing but a good time, and the concert approached manic levels, but was not completely successful in reaching them, leaving a solid show, and a good time had by all, but not by any means a showstopping event.

The show started with the odd hodgepodge of Trouble Andrew and his “gang” taking the stage. Trouble Andrew (born Trevor Andrew) is a snowboarder turned sweet 80s pop/punk melody singer and also, coincidentally the fiance of headliner Santigold. Thrashing yet catchy band melodies were overcome unfortunately by the presentation and attitude of the band, as the melange of the irony laden and tired “bad gang dudes in skull caps, leather and denim” routine as done by a band and lead singer apparently well schooled in the art of making melodic pop was just a bit too much and completely disjointed. While not as bad as Pat Boone recording an album of metal favorites, when Andrew attempted to ingratiate himself to the crowd by saying “DC, I ain’t fuckin’ scared of you!”, instead of sounding very punk and very cool, out of the Johnny Rotten school, he instead sounded like a wannabe and a tool. The band backing the lead singer sounds great. However, there’s a mashing of many notable Brooklyn partying, hipster dumpster diving, You Tube regaled influences, which leaves the band to the uninitiated ear sounding weird and slightly catchy with promise, but to a more attuned ear extremely tired and spending time onstage entertainng themselves with the fact that they’re allowed to play music, instead of creating, as the pop act they deign to be, cultural influences, marketable hooks and a mainstreamed image that can advance their careers.

Following the Trouble Andrew fiasco was Amanda Blank, who, to many, is a fiasco unto herself, but, to this author is an unusual historical sponge of sorts as she’s totally got that dance pop/freestyle/Lil Kim/Hollertronix one woman (read: Amanda Blank) genre vibe down, the best and worst of urban mall culture with a well honed appreciation for underground musical styles that go boom, bap, wah and zing. She also is representative of being the coolest hipster chick of all the hipster chicks you know, coming onstage in a white sheath of a dress that barely covered past her unmentionables, no pants, and boots, wearing an outfit that 99% of the girls in the room WISH they would’ve thought of wearing first, but didn’t have the balls to do so. And that’s where the Amanda Blank show is at. Balls. Chutzpah. Not the kind of chutzpah that earns people Grammys or makes you into Loretta Lynn, but the kind of chutzpah that makes your crazy girlfriend, well, your crazy ass girlfriend. This particular crazy ass girlfriend was backed by Fully Fitted crewmates deejays Devlin and Darko, an East coast pair of selectors supreme, who have toured with Blank, as well as with Spank Rock for seemingly forever, and not just dropped her tracks, but did so with such supreme talent that it suited Blank’s skills as a fantastic party rapper and hypewoman. Her debut album is forthcoming on Downtown Records (where Santigold is also signed), and with production credits to XXXChange of the same crew, like the lead single “I’d Like You Better If We Slept Together,” a chipper hip hop/electro tinged ditty that isn’t going to have her challenging MC Lyte anytime soon, but is a great track to make lithe chicks with greasy hair shake their asses after two PBRs and a can of Sparks, it’s the talent Amanda Blank is surrounded by, and her ability to stay within herself that makes her occupy the space she has, will and can always occupy profitably as an artist.

Headliner Santigold played the same set she has played the entire tour, a performance that felt solid, if not relaxed and calm for the artist, as she has become accustomed to such histrionics as she heard from the DC crowd for her debut album, and singing and playing the songs has become an exercise in finance instead of a slow burn to greatness. But, it’s not just the fact that she’s sampled by Jay-Z on “Brooklyn Go Hard” (played during set), or that her voice is ubiquitous on TV commercials. The whole stage show, sound, everything really brands her uniqueness as an artist, as terrific attention paid to everything. In an era that most young artists that play to crowds that are “hipster” in nature feel free to stand behind a DIY attitude to account for heavy handed applications of kitsch, Santi looks, sounds, performs and is an artist that is self realized, self actualized and fully comfortable in herself and what makes her unique as a performer. Firmly couched in the most unusual of styles, it’s the soulfulness of Santi’s voice that is the great unifier that bridges her music from post-punk/new wave to hip hop/R and B. Many artists make great attempts to do this same thing now as genre bending is the key, but all lack the urgency and soul of her voice to make it take off. On tracks like “Shove It,” “L.E.S. Artistes” and the manic panic “Creator,” her talent is most apparent.

Also of note from the hour long Santigold set were the use of her Diplo produced tracks. Foremost is her “I’m a Lady” remix featuring Amanda Blank from her Diplo produced mixtape, the Sir Mix-A-Lot “Posse on Broadway” sampling track with Blank dropping lyrics from LL Cool J’s “I Need Love,” sounding like such a total teenage mallrat Becky with a hip hop loving black boyfriend, taking the track froma serious exposition on the nature of love to being a song that in a different era would be played by teenage girls on Metros, Subways and T lines everywhere on their Sony Walkmen until the tape popped. As well, the opener for her entire set was the Diplo and Switch as Major Lazer track “Hold the Line,” which is the most explosive song on the underground right now, a concussive whirlwind of a dance track that leaves this author in awe even further with each successive listen.

If anything, the fact that Santigold has reached a point of influence in the music industry where she can orchestrate an Amp energy drink sponsored tour where she’s surrounded by her friends and lovers with promise, and allowing them the ability to tour the country in middling the larger venues, giving them unbelievable experience that they can’t trade for anything? That, more than any note that may have been struck the entire night, may be the largest statement of all. Things are changing slowly, but nevertheless, the times, they are a changin’.

TAX LO 6/14/09 – Notes and reflections

Tax Lo Summer Blowout headliner and Bmore native Dan Deacon

The Cullen Stalin and Simon Phoenix collaboration Tax Lo presented an audacious and very aspiring Summer Blowout Party event at Sonar, featuring a solid mix of everything any club music enthusiast could enjoy. For the more urban and bass driven tastes, there was Unruly Records legend Scottie B, Dew Doo Kidz crew member and perpetual Baltimore club motivator DJ Booman and the quickly rising party rap duo he produces, The Get Em Mamis. For people more avant garde, minimally funky and melodic, there was the Swedish duo Thieves Like Us and the French noise and synth driven sounds of DAT Politics, the for those needing hard, deep, bone shattering bass there was Dutch dubstep maestro Martyn, the garage driven, alt rock of Awesome Color and finally, in mirroring the style of the evening’s main eventer, the pulsing noise of Black Dice, as a set up for Baltimore native Dan Deacon.

Tax Lo at the best times is a musical carnival that deeply connects with the listeners and dancers, and best illustrates to the partygoers that music is the bridge that creates their similarities as people. As an example, one of the best parties ever and recently thrown under the Tax Lo banner for instance, was the May 12, 2008 rager that featured The Old Haunts, Rye Rye, Blaqstarr, DJ Sega, Bonde do Role and The Death Set. Surely between the experimental garage rock, Bmore club and it’s Philly experimentations, crunked out baile funk and balls to the wall new style punk, there’s something there for everybody, but, what’s more important there is that there’s something endemic in the music, and something endemic in the kids that listen to the music, that allows them all to be able to enjoy that, in unison, something groundbreaking, something that made Tax Lo what it has become, THE place to go to get a handle on what has the most potential to be at the up and coming forefront of modern music, or in general, what is the best sounding music of any type, anywhere in the underground universe at any given time.

At it’s not so efficient is a night like last night, which had a Lollapalooza feel to it, multiple stages, multiple bands, multiple DJs, but the only single unifying theme being that these bands and DJs were all playing at Tax Lo, so therefore they were important, and therefore were worthy of our time and appreciation. Tax Lo, good, band, or indifferent, is an important rallying point for the “hipster” scene literally nationwide. Countless acts have been launched from those stages, or have come to those stages to seek validation and move forth as more impressive acts for having played the event. The key to Tax Lo’s success in the author’s eyes is when there is a unifier there, some sort of cultural statement that can be made, that a group of kids can come together and ALL APPRECIATE ALL. A divided house cannot stand, and in creating a situation where there is too much of everything, in yes, creating a sampling of amazing and fabulous sounds there is a positive for music in general, but in attempting to create cultural launchpad or musical impact point, there’s something lost, almost making the name bigger than the artist instead of the artist contributing to the name, an almost accidental rebranding in the face of fame.

There’s a lot of music out there now, and also in our present recessionary times, new concepts must be used to maintain revenue streams. I’m also certain that it’s certainly a different time as well given that everything is so big now, and that everyone that started from Tax Lo’s gestation period and growth are now gigantic national acts who gained renown from playing the event, so access to booking an enormous multi-national event, which certainly wouldn’t’ve been possible years ago is absolutely a possibility now. To not make the attempt is to deny one’s ability to revel in success.

But onto the music. The Get Em’ Mamis’ performance was once again solid, as the duo has a great touring set with DJ Booman that they are gaining confidence in. They’re making dramatic growth on the English charts, amd it would seem as though their initial international foray couldn’t be too far away. They’re developing an onstage synergy as well, something definitely important and key in their attempts to garner success. Above all else, they do have terrific charisma though, that being the duo’s selling point to any audience, and a key qualifier between acts that make it big, and acts that make another date on a calendar. DJ Booman is sitting on the edge of huge things as well, as, between already producing a Diddy remix (for the album Press Play‘s “Get Off”), he’s producing Bmore two hottest rap acts, MTV Jams reaching Mullyman (“Bmore Go Harder” gets daily airplay) and the aforementioned Get ‘Em Mamis, and with both poised for far bigger things, it’s clear why he was all smiles onstage Saturday night.

In the main room, French veterans DAT Politics made the most of their Baltimore debut, presenting a volatile and excitable set of quirky synth dance that really turned the Taxlo crowd on their ear. Speaking of turning on ears, Dan Deacon. I will admit that I understand exactly why he is popular, but have absolutely no actual love for his particular brand of music. There’s something in the ever pulsing noise he plays that attacks an excited or altered nervous system and makes it do the most spastic things. When I was ten years younger, and inebriated in some manner roughly 50% of the time, his manic, raw, pounding wall of noise would be pretty cool. But, I’m 31 now, and my ability to access that particular brand of music has certainly been feebled considerably. There’s an art to what he does though. In creating beats that top out at the 140-150 BPM range, and overlawing that wth rhythms, as rudimentary as they may be, takes an attention and thought that is overwrought with depth and intensity, the type of thought that doesn’t create traditional pop, but creates performance art pieces that are almost intentionally inacessible to people except for those who share that minimalist, nihilistic hedonism most necessary to enjoy.

Given their nature as “performance art,” Deacon’s DJ sets, which feature him on a small table in the middle of a supremely crowded throng of sweaty, altered maddened youths becomes entertaining as well, as between songs, Deacon gives the crowd instructions, commands and demands, literally creating the proper atmosphere or moment in which to best appreciate his music. To create a analagous situation, it would be as if R. Kelly, prior to playing “Bump N Grind” asked a crowd of couples to get naked and commence to foreplay activities. Deacon’s artistry at worst is music deconstructed to a point where the artist creates music that has minimal appreciable universal value outside of the live performance. At best it is the ULTIMATE interactive experience, and a rollickingly good time, as if you get it, you get it entirely and fully, and believe in the artist and his aims. Either way, to have an artist like this, who inspires such devotion and underground pandering be again, a Baltimore original, is a testament to the city, and a testament to the creativity and creative push therein.

NEW ARTIST SHOWCASE: PARTY BROS

Rare has been the time in our current electronic musical culture when an attempt has been made to encapsulate the sound of the youth of the average hipster in an original manner. Twentysomethings everywhere have been harkening back to their awkward pre-teen and teen phases in abundance as of late, but have been doing so at functions and gatherings in which music originally composed in the early to mid 1990s has been played. Oddly, there hasn’t been a true attempt to focus on directly recalling that music by the disc jockeys and producers of today. Instead, there are snippets and overlays, but usually advanced with more forward thinking sonic attempts. That all changes with the formal release of the first two tracks by the Party Bros combination of Gavin Holland and Chris Burns.

Holland, the orchestrator of the ever present and popular Nouveau Riche and SHORTS parties in DC, has the market cornered on a fond remembrance of the high amount of production credibility apparent in the songs that cornered the market on lyrical and conceptual kitsch and silliness of the era, something he arguably celebrates and reveres in a HIGHLY non-ironic manner. Whist surrounded by oceans of those who certainly see and celebrate the irony in oddball color combinations as fashion statements and tracks from the Space Jam soundtrack being used as party starters, Holland seems to be the dude at the party that remembers WHY this all worked, and actively believes that the sounds, outside of their earlier ridiculous presentation, can still work. It’s his unrepentant intellectualism and talent in the face of people who now find fun in “stupid” things as fad that makes him, and by extension the Party Bros concept work so well.

On the flipside is disco, early and deep house historian and preserver Chris Burns. Burns has the unusual designation as throwing the most critically respected yet not truly appreciated parties in the city at the Trinidad and Tobago Association and the upstairs of the Rock and Roll Hotel, respectively known as Hometown Heroes and Disco City. In attempting to recreate the Paradise Garage and Shelter, it’s a heady proposition in 2009 to do so and remain hopeful and sane that others also remember how important these venues, and their music were to the advancement of music worldwide. Existing outside of the margins of DCs hip hop, top 40 and electro passion allows Burns to bring a sense of cohesion and focus to the Party Bros project, as coming from the non mainstream pop side, he keeps the music solidly in the club, and away from becoming too pop, too gimmicky to remain vital.

There’s something afoot in Party Bros that’s right about music. It’s a celebration of everything that anyone that has ever danced to music can appreciate. The elegant and very precise balance struck between Burns and Holland as co-producers really makes the tracks completely different, yet totally necessary on the landscape. It is this author’s hope that the belance remain exact, as any movement in the direction of renown of either Burns or Holland puts the tracks solid behind the music that influenced it instead of celebrating what it did and creating a new avenue and niche as if 1994 never ended.

To close, I deem a new term for this sound: “retroACTIVE” retroACTIVE in the sense that it is clearly retro, but forward moving from the point in which it celebrates. It’s fresh sounding and a memory at the same time. An exceptional accomplishment by an exceptional collaboration.

More info can be found regarding the duo at myspace.com/superpartybros