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S*** I’M DIGGING THIS WEEK: Crunk and Dope Edition

9 Sep

Man, I really loved screw music when it was the province of fat black dudes from Texas. My adoration of the works of OG Ron C and Michael “5000” Watts and the rest of the Swishahouse family should be pretty well known if you read this site. At least once every six months I drop a post where I proclaim my love of chopped and screwed rhythms. That being said, I may love screw music even more in the hands of skinny pale white goth kids even more. In following the adage of “less is more except when more is more,” taking screw music out of the realm of purple “lean” soaked fantasies and into the realm of spooky Halloween nightmares is pure fun and high entertainment. This is one of those places where you have to be thankful for ironic hipster bullshit, as well, if ironic hipster bullshit never existed, how else could you even account for this combination. Happy accidents come from strange pairings in music quite often, as proven by 1993’s rap/rock Judgement Night Soundtrack doing things like combining Helmet with House of Pain, but, this is a horse of a different color as the province of a brand new time in music.

Mad Decent’s arbiter of all things weird and musical, (and the key man behind Maluca’s next level merengue/techno sonic sound clash) Paul Devro dropped the second volume of a mix series by New York’s Ghe20 Gothik crew who do witch house, the province of crunk meets fright better in many cases than leading arbiters of the sound like S4lem and ooOoo. Whereas The aforementioned acts get caught up in histrionics regarding grinding speeds of songs to a near unlistenable halt, the Ghe20 Gothik crew instead find quality underground crunk Southern tunes and put them through a drugged out sonic haze of being screwed and having layers of screams, pained yells, angst and agony layered on top for a perfect blend of oddball fright. I’ll leave it to our own Denman C. Anderson, a leading national purveyor of all things musically creepy that go bump in the night to let you know when the Ghe20 Gothik crew throws their next NY party, but it’s probably a good idea to take the time to listen to the mix, and or take note of the witch house sound. It’s fun, unique and here to stay.

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This blog absolutely reminds me to remind you of the brilliance of the Judgement Night soundtrack. The 1993 film may have sucked mightily, but it’s soundtrack set an archetype for music for the next millennium. Everyone who has heard, or still owns the disc has a favorite track. I love Onyx, and their title track with Biohazard is pretty amazing. De La Soul and Teenage Fanclub’s hippie boho combo for Tom Petty and the Heartreakers’ “Free Fallin'” as “Fallin'” is kinda fun. But the award for easiest and most natural sounding pairing on the album goes to either Boo YAA Tribe and Faith No More on “Just Another Victim, or Helmet and House of Pain’s “Just Another Victim.” The Boo YAA Tribe are lost heroes of West coast hip hop, their chino-sino-latino sound now back in vogue with the likes of Rocky Rivera kicking it from the Bay area, and Faith No More, after kicking Courtney Love and then Chuck Mosley to the curb in favor of Mike Patton, and everyone from Fred Durst to Chester Bennington, to yeah, I’ll say it, Eminem couldn’t have existed without Faith No More’s 1993 rap-rock classic “Epic.” And Helmet and DJ Lethal and the most underrated 32 bars in the history of 90s hip hop by Everlast make “Just Another Victim” a track worthy of a listen if you’re a hip hop afficionado, or if at any point you were a fan of any song by Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park, and yes, I know that covers about, yep, 85% of this reading audience.

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And, the track that likely started the entire screw music adoration by nerdy white kids who love hip hop and strange sounds is “Still Tippin'” by Mike Jones, however, attention deserves to be paid to the remix of “Got It Sewed Up,” as Three Six Mafia’s Juicy J goes to TOWN on the track.

S*** I’M DIGGING THIS WEEK: Superior Sounds Edition

10 Aug
1. U Street Music Hall and DC blowing away the East coast

It’s really starting to get real down at U Street Music Hall, folks. Between Cosmo Baker (all vinyl set), Sam Burns and Treasure Fingers in one weekend rocking a crowd to their core, alongside the sonic slam dance that was the benefit for DJ Stereo Faith (headed into brain tumor surgery Friday, send strong vibes), the buzz on the underground venue is only getting hotter and higher. Willy Joy returns to keep his DC lovefest going on Thursday, Jellybean Benitez swings through on Friday, and with Paul Johnson, Thommy Davis, Timmy Regisford, Tony Humphries, King Britt, Francois K, Annie Mac, Craze, Klever, Mowgli, Sonic C and so many more coming to the venue alongside a growing in strength crop of local talent, this journalist fully expects U Street Music Hall to be the top underground dance music venue on the East coast by the end of the year. Mixing rabid crowds with top sounds and DJs uplifted to playing high quality sets, few spaces in the country can compare to the Temple of Boom. On a site note, we’re hosting a Michael Jackson Birthday/Motown Happy Hour at the venue on September 25, almost solely based around the idea of hearing what James Jamerson’s bass guitar will sound like in the venue. DC is an absolute treat of a city these days for sure.

2. Say it after me…tribal guarachero.

Anybody who knows me REALLY well will know that my favorite mix of the last few years has been Paul Devro’s Invasion of the Loop Zombies from Mexico. It held a mystical magic to me hearkening back to how I received it, as Taxlo co-chief Cullen Stalin slipped it into my hands at 5 AM on a sweaty Sunday morning at SXSW ’09 after an epic tribal gathering/dirty hipster mess/rave of a Mad Decent party at an abandoned Salvation Army store in a strip mall outside of Austin, TX. Upon listening, the blend of techno with traditional Mexican folk music was a dizzying mess, like being dipped in a full body bath of LSD, and being asked what it sounded like once your head was dipped under.

Fast forward to 2010 and Toy Selectah dropping knowledge on me in our interview that tribal guarachero was coming. In mentioning the members of the 3Ball MTY (think “Tribal”) Crew by names (Erick Rincon, Sheeqo Beat and DJ Otto) and reputation, we should’ve seen what was coming. Well, on Monday, the crew dropped a free EP and mix that has stunned ears nationally and worldwide. Hot on the heels of Dave Nada’s Moombahton, the Mexican response is to take the traditional sounds completely underground and adrenalize them with techno. If you thought this Latin revolution was happening in 2/4 time at 108 BPM, stop EVERYTHING you’re doing and take a listen. The Latin sound now has depth and scope, and the rest of 2010 appears to be quite entertaining to say the least.

The Mad Decent Block Party on July 31st is the end of the hipster movement.

22 Jul
The Crowd Surfing Michael Vick Dog and Booty Obsessed Elmo,
maybe the two biggest names announced for the Mad Decent Block Party
If Michael Wadleigh were directing this story, the 3rd Annual Mad Decent Block Party on July 31st, the hipster generation’s last stand, would end the way Woodstock did. However, instead of Jimi Hendrix playing the “Star Spangled Banner,” it would be the self proclaimed “Philly Club King” and likely the movement’s closest performer on a level comparable to Hendrix, DJ Sega crushing his own remix of the national anthem in the same manner Jimi did, however, this one would be done behind the turntables, head nodding in time to the beat, blunt hanging askew out of the corner of his mouth, with the song that defines the nature and purpose of our nation being taken into avenues and corridors it likely never expected to reach. 
The hipster movement is dead. Just like the hippies before it, the most mainstream accessible and luckiest acts in the movement made it big, cashed out, and became superstars everyone could enjoy. As well, there are perpetual favorites too, the acts that everyone hopes make superstardom one day, because they’re entirely responsible for some of the best songs and defining moments that allowed the movement’s development. On July 31st, on a few blocks in Philadelphia, let’s all take a serious look at ourselves and a serious look at these performers. Let’s all hug each other, let’s all remember the times we shared, the moments we enjoyed, and what brought us together. Because it’s gone. It’s on the soundtrack to Jersey Shore. It’s the background music in video games. It’s number one on the Billboard charts, and it’s #1 on the President of the United States’ iPOD. These days, it’s certainly no longer the domain of the hearts and minds of awkward, creative, technologically enhanced and socially wandering misfits, but it’s the music that informs the world.
Let’s also give credit to Diplo. Much of what became the hipster movement we couldn’t have had without him. He co-opted, co-mingled, resurrected, invigorated, involved, mashed up and reheated many of the world’s most unique and disparate local trending melodies into international champion sounds. Bmore club, Baile funk, Dirty South crunk, Dubstep, and the list goes on and on. Smelly girls and boys with phenomenally terrible beards would never have a clue of who K.W. Griff, Scottie B, Blaqstarr, M.I.A., Rusko, the Paper Route Gangstaz, the entire Brick Bandits crew and so many more were without him and the Mad Decent imprint. From such humble beginnings with DJ Low Budget and the Hollertronix parties to the likelihood of rocking 20,000+ screaming EDM maniacs at the upcoming Electric Zoo Festival, the idea of seeing this man dropping legitimate sound bombs of musical delirium while hanging out on a South Philly street corner in front of a mausoleum was once expected, but is now incongruous with the level of the man’s fame and legend.
And ultimately, that is why this is the end. It is now time for the rest of the universe to become enraptured by what we held near and dear. This block party, complete with a relaxed social atmosphere, local families and bizarre interlopers mixing and sharing and being happy together without threat of crime, is an ideal universe. Hipsters, a culture of people largely defined by eschewing financial gain for personal satisfaction and a self-defined harmony, for a significant era lived and thrived in that ideal. However, the bottom fell out of the economy, mommy and daddy had to pull the purse strings, and in many cases, an entire generation remembered those college diplomas sitting on the wall collecting dust, and used them to *gasp* get jobs, be useful in a traditional sense, and hopefully use the ethos of their era to influence the direction of the next generation.
From Nadastrom to the Death Set, to the Brick Bandits to Paul Devro and Brendan Bring’em to those they directly influenced like Maluca, Po Po, Bosco Delray, and the mysterious Toadally Krossed Out, this is the end of yet another renaissance era. Let’s bask in it’s memory, and revel in its ultimate success.
JULY 31st. Philadelphia. 12th & Spring Garden. 2-8 PM.
FREE FOOD & DRINKS. ALL AGES FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.
If this movement defined you, raised you, and allowed you to truly discover and enrich your life, come join me and let’s celebrate.

SHIT I’M DIGGING THIS WEEK

22 Dec

aka avant garde musical water cooler discussion…

1. Mad Decent’s Toy Selectah takes Vampire Weekend’s “Cousins” in a decidedly CUMBIA direction!

Vampire Weekend – Cousins (Toy Selectah Mex-More Remix)

Mexican mix master Toy Selectah is one of my underrated faves of the Mad Decent family. His cumbia/hip hop production style is an acquired taste for sure, but the two steppin’ rhythms of Mexico allow for really easy dancing and are actually quite accessible. Vampire Weekend, the squeaky clean Hahvuhd white guys with a distinct African polyrhythm, when taken to a cumbia level make you think of three things. Christopher Columbus making a mistake, Triangle trade, and the global nature of sound. This remix is phenomenal, and only makes me hope that like last year at SXSW, when the quirky and perpetually entertaining Paul Devro dropped his “Invasion of the Loop Zombies” mix that sounds like a faith healing old Mexican man dropped a mix while on mescaline in the desert, that we get some more Mexican based hotness from the label, hopefully from Toy Selectah.

2. Kitty Daisy and Lewis go rockabilly!

http://www.youtube.com/v/GxW3Ed7GrhQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01

Prior to dropping this column six months ago, they were definitely going to be featured. Kitty Daisy and Lewis are a UK rockabilly trio that consistently turn music on its ear with their adherence to classic rock and roll standards and more than backing up the obvious kitch of the act with clear dominance and knowledge of their instruments. Siblings, the trio are signed to Britain’s Sunday Best Recordings, and over the summer toured in support of Coldplay while they were in the US. I’m not quite sure as of yet if they will be featured at SXSW this year or are considering national touring again, but do go out of your way to check their clips, and do follow this band. Also, they cover “Up the Country,” which until about a year ago, I only thought Canned Heat could cover with any skill. Well, this completely proves that theory wrong.

Unsure of your affection for rockabilly? Well, you likely know who bass madman Drop the Lime is of NYC’s infamous Trouble & Bass collective, and, well, if you ever looked at homie, you’d know that, well, with his ducktailed hair, pegleg pants, gold tooth and rolled up sleeves that well, if he ever dropped a rockabilly mix, it might be kinda fly.

3. Fort Knox Five and Kraak and Smaak remix each other?


The Fort Knox Five/Kraak and Smaak show at 9:30 Club a few months ago was easily one of the more musically expansive evenings of the DC year. Fort Knox Five exist as a collective to destroy all notions of what dance music is at present, and to incorporate as many disparate notions into that definition as humanly possible. Kraak and Smaak are a Dutch duo who drop soulful mixes of just about everything, loving retro hip hop break beats and deep rhythms that evoke disco and classic soul. After their tour together, they joined forces to remix each other’s tracks in a pleasant show of musical solidarity that is par for the course for both acts. Kraak and Smaak take “What Make Ya Dance,” from FK5’s new disc The Gold Standard 2, and take it in a decidedly 90s house direction, a dance floor inviter for sure. FK5 take Kraak and Smaak’s “Ain’t Gonna Take It,” and go in with the funk breaks as per usual, DJ Mat the Alien providing some scratches to make this another pop locking jam from the group.

DOWNLOAD HERE

4. DJ Pierre drops new Bmore club heat!

DOWNLOAD HERE

OK. With all due respect, as long as Ultra Nate, Lisa Moody, Thommy Davis, KW Griff, Scottie B, DJ Class, Jonny Blaze, DJ Booman and Rod Lee are all living and breathing, being “Baltimore’s Best DJ to Spin in a Club” as voted by the Baltimore City Paper is an award that isn’t going to mean diddly poo if not won by any of those people. Honest, but completely true. But DJ Pierre won at 18. And he is the future, if there is one, for Baltimore club music. So, downloading his 15 minute mini mix, getting familiar and showing support for the young man is important. He’s still improving, and is leagues away from where he likely wants to be, but his dedication and improvement is more than apparent. I have no problem with dancing to “Dance My Pain Away,” “Swift’s Revenge” and “Pick Em Up” for the next 50 years, but, if this thing is going to evolve, there’s a short list of people this depends upon.