Chipper Jones and Mas Ysa

So as I was reminiscing about my recent escape to the beautiful city of Paris and how I missed the fact that everyone took bottles of wine to the local parks to get drunk with friends and significant others while taking in the sights of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower; I found myself illegally walking down the streets on East Austin with a red Solo cup full of some random microbrew I bought at Central Market. It was at this moment that I realized that I might become the latest subject of police brutality on CNN as this is clearly an offense that warrants lethal force by the local authorities. Why can’t they make Solo cups black so that you can hide them from the police? And was the fact that the cup was so brightly colored red the real reason I kept calling the tremendous new band Chipper Jones, Crimson Tide instead?

Maybe I just had Denzel Washington and his unique ability to question white authority without being executed on the brain. Whatever the case was, I eventually got in the right state of mind to finally see the band I discovered on line a few months ago. Chipper Jones is a two piece instrumental indie rock band from the now budding music epicenter that is Austin, Texas. Gone are the days of old hippies stumbling on stage and giving audiences their best Stevie Ray Vaughn imitation; this city is now full of youthful and creative artists who have migrated here thanks to festivals like SXSW and ACL.

And it appears that Chipper Jones is trying to cement their place among the city’s elite as they thankfully avoid falling into the same trap that most instrumental bands do today, and that’s to have 20 minute long songs that consist of very little movement. Jones’ songs are for the most part short and build to climaxes that would have Ron Jeremy questioning his stroke. They have great stage presence and are somehow able to command an entire room of drunken hipsters on a Tuesday night (on a Tuesday…) without the use of lyrics or a light show.

Check out their EP Two Rooms and go see one of their cheap shows as I give these guys a rating of FRESH!
https://chipperjones.bandcamp.com/

Next up is Mas Ysa, he’s a guy from Brooklyn who sounds like M83 is he ever decided to sing. The jury is still out on this guy but I do find myself nodding my head to quite a few of his songs, so right now he gets a rating of barely FRESH! Check out his song Margarita.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjgZIVvggdQ

Brayton Bowman and Uniform

While I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Prince dance party the other night, the fact that I saw old women wearing Go Go Girl outfits with diamond studded heels made me realize that it was high time for me to find some new artists to listen to. This way I could at least go to shows that have young girls wearing high waisted jeans which show off their wonderful FUPA’s and possibly even get a chance to make out with the next Zooey Deschanel. I mean her time as the hipster it girl has finally faded, so I should have a realistic chance at her by now, right? Oh well, with that in mind, here’s a look at a few new artists for you to listen to.

Brayton Bowman is a singer-songwriter from Philadelphia who seems to be following the Sam Smith formula, which is to try and be successful with one genre, only to get your heart broken by a dude, and then decide to switch it up to RnB because you once heard an Al Green song that touched your heart. And who can blame the man, How Do You Mend a Broken Heart has led many men to the beds of prostitutes and Hooters girls for years in the hopes that they will find comfort there. The difference between him and Smith is that he at least is bi as he apparently has a thing for Black girls too, something he made evident in the song Ride or Die. Typical. I guess he finally ended the decade long argument of if you should go for a Ride or Die Chick (The Lox) or a Hot Girl (Cash Money Millionaires) as Ride or Die chicks can apparently turn gay men straight.

His music reminds you of the days when RnB artists shamelessly talked about getting drunk on Crown Royal and booty calling their girls to come over; it’s just that instead of liquor he prefers blunts, see the song Jaywalk which contains the lyrics "it took 6 months of blunts to get the taste of you out of my mouth". One can only hope that this song was about a girl. His songs are for the most part all up tempo and will certainly have you dancing. Some of his highlights are Skin Deep and his wonderful cover of Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time. Until today I had never actually heard that song in its entirety, I had only seen the video about a million times with the sound off but this song with its electronic feel has me seeing it in a whole new light. Right now I rate him as FRESH and suggest you check his music out.
https://soundcloud.com/brayton

Next up is punk rockers turned industrial artists Uniform. The band is made up of former members of The Men and Drunkdriver and the opening track of their new album Perfect World lets you know that it wasn’t a hard transition for them at all. It sounds like Trent Reznor B sides but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s not much movement in their songs but you’ll find yourself rocking out to the same crashing chord over and over again and it’s because of this that I find myself liking the potential of this band. It’s a bit too early for me to get a good feel for them but as of now I give them a rating of FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7QmkvoweCk


 

Alison Wonderland and New Highway Hymnal

Ice Cube once taught us that “Gangstas make the world go ‘round” on what is quite possibly the best diss album of all time in Westside Connection’s Bow Down. After he drank a beer, busted a rap, and ended B-Real’s f*&^ing career (another line from the album) he reminded everyone just how influential music can be at times. Music can unite people in dangerous ways, see the whole East coast versus West coast battle and how it ended two of hip hop’s biggest stars’ lives in Tupac and Biggie, but it can also bring people together who would have never otherwise met.

 I recently convinced a hot 40 year old woman to shout “I wanna f&*^ the freckles off your face b&^*” at an Earl Sweatshirt show. Sadly neither one of us has freckles so I didn’t actually get to take her up on her offer but I do have Earl to thank for giving me such an awesome intro line.  Well hopefully after listening to one of the two new artists I’m previewing today you will be shouting obscenities at random strangers in public in no time.

First up is Alison Wonderland; she’s a DJ out of Australia who’s probably fresh off of parole because let’s be honest, aren’t most Australians on parole from their day of birth? Anytime Britain thinks you’re too low class of a criminal to stay on their island so they ship you off to another one, that says quite a bit about you as a people. But today’s music is fresh because it’s full of former criminals who now make fresh beats for us to dance to versus making guns for us to strip all of our valuables off to; although there is still some stripping that goes on to their music in certain situations’ or so I’ve heard anyway.

Wonderland sounds like she’s Swiss Beats mixed with Flux Pavilion; which is perfect as her trippy banging club beats with famous leads Lil Wayne and Wayne Coyne will take her to the next level. It’s just a matter of time before Kanye disses her, so pop in on her tracks I Want You, U Don’t Know, and Cold before you’re forced to choose sides in the global hip hop war. I rate her as FRESH!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et4Ns2ADrmw

Next up is New Highway Hymnal. They are a dark and almost gothic psychedelic group who spit out lyrics like “My girl, she wants more more more!”. Sounds like the soundtrack to a 70’s porn. The jury is still out on these guys but I rate them as FRESH for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ZlaL_guv4

The Best of SXSW 2015

After the week and a half long marathon that is SXSW, your body's immune system begins to shut down and you start noticing that the water section of your local grocery store is surprisingly understocked as there has been a mad rush on Ozarka! Are people getting ready for the zombie apocalypse or are they really just trying to rehydrate in a desperate attempt to prepare themselves for the brutal work week to come?

Well before I personally reached this point of desperation, quite a few awesome things happened to me, and quite possibly a few others as well, as I tried to reclaim my youth this SXSW. For the most part I failed in my lame and pathetic attempt of regeneration but before I realized that I'm just a younger version of Walter Matthau (Grumpy Old Men) I was able to take a few notes along the way on what I considered to be the highlights of this year's festival.

Hip hop was on center stage this year and I have to say that for the most part all of the artists delivered. For one, they all showed up where they were supposed to and were all relatively on time; this is a modern day miracle for Black people and it should definitely not go unnoticed.

Vic Mensa out of Chicago was a clear stand out as the one show he had early on in the festival set the tone and the bar for what was to come later on in the week. Every SXSW has that one moment where you can simply look at the performance and instantly know that that person on stage will be a bona fide star. This moment happened last year when I saw Sam Smith (admittedly I didn't quite understand why at the time but I noticed everyone else's reaction to him around me) and it happened a few years earlier when I saw Young the Giant. Well Mensa came on stage and immediately grabbed the attention of the capacity crowd as he ran through grimy hits like Feel That and Wimme Nah. And this is something that's considerably hard to do at one in the morning when after a full day's worth of drinking, most people's thoughts are on late night food and/or sex. But by the time he got to Orange Soda and Down on My Luck, even the hardest G in the crowd found himself letting go of his cool demeanor and was caught jumping alongside of me like a 12 year old schoolboy. Be sure you catch Mensa while you can before he's playing to large arenas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jUGAVUwhRU

Next up was Run the Jewels, a hip hop duo that's taken over the genre right now and consists of El-P out of New York City and Killer Mike from Atlanta, Georgia. EL-P is able to perfectly blend his progressive mix of old school hip hop and semi electronic beats with the deep and angry rhymes of Killer Mike and the results have crowds loosing their minds for 45 minutes straight. The raw energy these two bring on stage is palpable and maybe too much so as one hefty fan walked on stage and tried to attack El-P during one of their performances. I guess he forgot the fact that Killer Mike weighs like 300 pounds and looks like he eats small children for snacks.

After this incident, the Austin Police Department was on high alert as they brought in Robocops to monitor the festival. I seriously had a robot yell at me the following "Sir with the red bike, please get closer to the curb so that you are not impending traffic!" No one around me could figure out where this voice was coming from and it took all I had in me not to randomly flip off the voice in hopes that a giant robot man would fly down from a rooftop with a semi automatic weapon to attack me. This incident alone was cooler than the stupid reboot of that movie that came out last year. Check out Run the Jewels as they are FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-S9mtYowPY

I am going to combine the next two as they played the same showcase and each had their sets cut short due to time. But the artists I'm talking about are Rae Sremmurd out of Mississippi and Kaytranada out of Montreal. Rae surprised me as I had previously heard their music and thought that it was both fun and funny but nothing more. But I had no idea that these two country boys knew how to command a crowd. I found myself booty shaking to songs about dropping money in strip clubs and only liking bad bitches like every other social degenerate out there. For better or worse these two will definitely blow up this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzMrK-aGCug

I've raved about Kaytranada for almost a year now and after seeing this DJ perform live, I like him and his versatility even more. He can do anything from hip hop to house music and can do so at a high level. When he brought out a few hip hop artists that he's worked with over the past year, you could immediately tell that his beats took their game up to another level. While they were ok performers, everyone in the venue knew the real talent lied with the beat dropper, and that you can expect everyone in the game to reach out to him soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rppKW9eIvE

So since I found myself cursing more than I ever have in my life and also caught myself randomly dropping the N word, which is something that I NEVER do, I felt it was high time to mix it up a bit by seeking out the soothing sounds of distorted guitars. This way I could at least mosh the aggression out of my system.

Speaking of, why do people wear expensive shoes to these festivals? All they're doing is making a conscious decision to waste the hard labor of a 12 year boy in China! I saw $200 pairs of Jordans getting covered in beer, mud, and self loathing; why else would people do this to themselves?

So as I was ruining my four year old pair of $60 Puma's from dancing and freaking out to the crushing guitars of the Canadian rockers Metz, I noticed that they were just as hung over and tired as my friends and I were. "You'll have to forgive us as we've been here since Sunday and we no longer have the energy to play songs back to back. We need a little break." He of course followed that up with a giant swig of Hamm's Original to help get his mind right. And as the beer began to flow in their system and they felt last night's buzz returning, they slowly turned into the amazing live act they've become known for. They shredded through crowd favorites like Wasted and Wet Blanket before introducing songs off their new album which sound just as good as their debut album. Their sound doesn't make them the most accessible band but if you want to rock your socks off, feel free to give these guys a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6qGeNVwwfw

Cloud Nothings is a three piece power punk band that started in the lead singer's bedroom and now they are gracing the stages of one of the world's biggest festivals in SXSW. Their lyrics of "I thought I would be more than this" in Wasted Days or "I need time to stop moving, I need time to stay useless" had young kids crowd surfing and old men tearing ligaments in the mosh pit. If you ever want to feel 16 again, give these guys a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxeNn_O5u5E

I just recently allowed myself to once again like Twin Shadow as the first time I saw him, it was unbelievably hot outside, I over served myself at my pre party, and his show was packed to the gills making it nearly impossible to enjoy it. Plus I didn't like the fact that he looked like the kind of guy who'd have quick sex with my girlfriend in the artist lounge while I went to buy him a beer.
But he has improved his act tremendously since the last time I saw him perform live as he no longer relies on lasers and smoke machines to bring his recorded music to life. Instead he now has a real band to play every instrument in his songs and you can see how that energizes him on stage. Messing around with nothing but a keytar and a beat machine on stage can't help but make you feel like an uptight German with a mock turtleneck. Check out Shadow but just keep an eye on your girl at all times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg4IhOpndrQ

The last act to check out is the electronic group Odesza. I was only able to see a song and a half of theirs but what I saw was pretty damn good. This Seattle duo has vocalists on quite a few of their tracks but none of them were able to come down and perform live with them but that certainly didn't take away from what they were able to deliver live. If you want something to groove to before you head out at night, definitely give these guys a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdzI-191xhU

Well that's it for me, I'm going to fly to London and marry the cute girl I met at the Bomb Tacos stand.

SXSW 2015 Preview: BJ the Chicago Kid, Odesza, and Kaytranada

Uh oh! I just saw a group of hipsters pile out of an electric Mini Cooper like they were a liter of puppies, all of whom happened to be rocking mop tops, checkered t-shirts, and skinny jeans! I thought we had another week before these guys invaded Austin? Oh well, I guess it's time for me to hit up my favorite local spots before the 3x5 space that was once a hostess stand is converted to the main stage for a SXSW showcase featuring Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts. But before I do that, here are a few more acts to check out in what is possibly the greatest two weeks ever in Austin!

The first act to check out is BJ the Chicago Kid, he is a skinny Mannie Fresh look alike who obviously hails from Chicago, Illinois. He’s a deep singer-songwriter who writes depressing songs about people dying and... well that’s really about it. Someone needs to get this guy a Blow-pop or some kitten videos to watch stat before he commits suicide. I mean like dark music more than the next man but even this stuff made me hit up Nirvana’s Negative Creep for some encouragement. The man has been in the game for a while and he has worked with some heavy hitters like Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy-Q, and even Kanye but I suggest you only listen to him when you’re in a really good mood. For now he gets a rating of kind of WEAK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpK87RVHnHM

The second band to check out is Odesza, two hipsters out of Seattle who make electronic pop music. Some of it is simply chill out music to bob your head to but a lot of it will have you dancing like you're on the Maury Povich show as they have figured out the perfect balance between electronic and pop. It’s not the kind of music that will have you whipping your hair like Willow Smith does but it is universal enough to hit up that market and still allow you to keep your self respect if you find yourself digging it. And to help separate them from some of their counterparts, I like the fact that they bring in guest vocalists on quite a few of their tracks; so hopefully this will keep them from falling into the bargain bin section of electronic artists in the next two to three years. They get a rating of FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdzI-191xhU

The last artist to check out is Kaytranada, a DJ out of Montreal who makes funky hip hop music with a touch of house mixed in. I know what you're thinking, something comes out of Montreal besides strippers??? Yes, apparently that city does have more to offer than women of the night and awful French Canadians! Plus I don't think strippers ever actually leave the city. Anyway, this is the kind of music you'd expect to hear in a lounge that has mixologists; but it's cool enough that you'd ride to it on your way to the club. I would check out Disclosure, At All, or just his entire mix tape Instrumental Hip Hop is Dead as it definitely gets the party going once the base drops. I rate this guy as very FRESH as I see him as the future of hip hop!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rppKW9eIvE



 

a l l i e and Gazelle Twin

My mom loves to tell the classic story of when my grumpy old uncle offended poor Kanye West's grandmother on her birthday in Oklahoma City a few years back. This was obviously back when both she and West's mother were still alive and clearly before Yeezy went completely crazy like he is today. My uncle and Ye's grandmother went to the same church at the time and the church happened to be throwing a special birthday party just for her. Well Kanye flew into town to attend it and he decided to get up and perform a surprise number just for the occassion. My uncle, being an old minister, had no idea who Kanye West was but had just found out that he was "some kind of a rapper". So when Kanye got up to perform, he in a rather loud whisper, asked my aunt "Oh Lord! You mean we have to listen to rap?!?!" My aunt, who is a bit more hip than my uncle is, slunk down in her chair in an attempt to hide herself because there was no way that Yeezy's relatives didn't hear him as they were sitting right next to them when he said it. God bless my uncle!

This was obviously before the Graduation album dropped and he became the global sensation and nut job that he is now (btw I love Kanye), but I'm still surprised that I haven't heard at least one lyrical diss from him about old preachers and disrespect at this point. Because this would obviously lead to me dropping an album with a counter diss and then Jay Z releasing a diss track of his own to support his boy and so on and so on, just like Boyz in Da Hood. "Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood"

The point is, I don't ever want to be as oblivious as my uncle was, so I constantly check out new artists no matter how strange or how wack they are. Now with all of that said, here are a few more artists that my family can hopefully offend in the near future.

First up is a l l i e. She is the latest artist out of Canada that is bringing the noise and thankfully for her she just so happens to sound like a mix of the Chicago based Nylo, with her beauty and soul, and the wonderful Erykah Badu and her neo funk. She represents the more experimental side of Badu as she has the ability to take you on these sexy trips to outer space with her ambitious take on the Rnb genre. I'm hesitant to give her that label because it puts her in a box that she doesn't quite belong in but I have to start somewhere. She is on Kaytranda's label, who is based out of Montreal, and you cant help but hear his influence in her music with the head nodding hip hop beats that are dropped on her tracks. The combination of the coolness of her music and her sexy delivery wont quite inspire you to go raw dawg and produce babies but there will definitely be some baby making activities going on. Some of her highlights include Maharajah, Just Like That, and Cross My Mind. Private Island with 2nd Son is like nothing I've really heard before in RnB with its innovative beat that has these spatterings of underground electronica mixed in it. I give her a rating of FRESH but let's just hope that she has more of a stage presence than Sza does, another artist I fell in love with until I saw her perform live.
https://soundcloud.com/search?q=a%20l%20l%20i%20e

Next up is Gazelle Twin; and I have to admit that when I first read up on her, I immediately rolled my eyes and let out a loud hipster esque sigh in disgust! There were all of these comparisons to Nine Inch Nails and stories about how she always disguises her face with a mask or some sort of visual matrixing while also appearing with dirt covered hands. Typically when artists go through these drastic of measures in an attempt to separate themselves by not drawing attention to their looks its because of two reasons : 1. They are generally ugly and 2. Their music really sucks. Look at Kiss. But after listening to her music I discovered that it actually is heavily influenced by the industrial scene with its dark, grimy, and sonically booming electronic beats. This is the kind of music you'd expect to hear playing while Ryan Gosling walks into a dark club night right before he whacks someone in an art house action flick.

She spits out lyrics at a steady and determined rate like an evil robot would but she also has the ability to sing in such a beautiful way that cant help but slowly and sneakily draw you in. Her EP Mammal is the perfect example of this. Outside of Anti Body, Belly of the Beast is my favorite song of hers as this is where you hear the NIN influence. "I'll beat them at their own game" from that track may be a shout out to all of the big boy artists in this male laden genre; and I have to say that she may certainly give them a reason to look over their shoulders with her talent. I rate her as FRESH!
 https://soundcloud.com/gazelletwin

Sinjin Hawke and Joanna Gruesome

My life is about to become a bit more boring as I have now sworn off bars unless there is a show happening there. So you will have fewer stories of hipster greatness from me unless they are rocking skin tight jeans and white tees that shows off their potbellies while wielding their baby making ukuleles. By the way, I’m not sure if that’s an intentional trend to shoot the finger at society’s view of what a man should look like or if hipsters are just lazy and like to drink their fatty PBR’s while eating cheese laden vegetarian meals. Either way, it leads me to talk about the unintentional yet quintessential hipster in James Murphy. If you don’t recognize that name, he is the former lead and co founder of the indie legend band LCD Soundsystem. Ever since he quit the band at the height of their popularity, he’s been kind of lost in obscurity while only popping up randomly to play dj sets in small venues. I missed his first stop in Austin but was the first to buy a ticket to see him spin records when he returned to play a larger venue.

Now I have always said that I don’t see the point of paying money to watch someone famous play their favorite records for us on stage but for some reason I fell victim to Murphy's evil yet genius plan. Think about it, he quits his band at their peak, disappears for a while so that we will pay money to simply see him do anything, and then he will then make his triumphant return at LCD’s reunion tour 3-5 years from now. He’s ultimately trying to create a Daft Punkish mystique and I can’t really fault him for that. Well in the meantime, for the most part his DJ show is boring as you could barely see him; and instead of turning it into a big disco dance party, everyone just stands there trying with all their might to catch a glimpse of the furry hermit he's become. The only fresh part was seeing this meemaw get down with what I assumed were her daughters at the show. I’m sure she had no clue what any of the newer records were but I'm also sure that she was the only one there who was alive when he started playing records from the 70’s. Why do I bring all of this up? I do so because I wish I had spent my money of seeing the up and coming DJ Sinjin Hawke instead.

If you have never heard of Hawke, he is from Montreal and he makes these live and energetic beats that take you places you’d never expect. At one point you’re thinking that this beat is kind of wack and then all of a sudden he drops horns out of nowhere that literally have you yelling “that’s the shit right there!” He does this on one of my favorites, Prom Nite. Another favorite of mine is Crystal Dust, it sounds like something that should be on a Big Boi solo album. Check him out for yourself as I give him a rating of FRESH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XWWvOgLpxA

Next, you should check out Joanna Gruesome and their 90’s pop punk sound. They are a 5 piece from Wales with a male and a female lead. Their music makes you want to hop around off beat and it reminds you of when you had your first beer as a teenager. While their not quite a One Direction or Haim guilty pleasure, it is still something that you’ll like but will be ashamed to admit it. Check out Lemonade Girl and Secret Surprise. As of now I give them a rating of kind of WEAK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHbn8fQLlk

Pharmakon and MMoths

Being from a small town, it didn’t take much to scare me in my younger years. I’m from a coastal town in Texas that for a brief period banned MTV. Today, I would be jumping for joy if they banned that awful network, but back then they actually showed music videos and had cool shows like 120 Minutes which was hosted by Uncle Fester. So unfortunately, unless it was Bobby Brown Humpin Around or Ice Cube Jackin for Beats on BET, I missed out on any other genres of music. I guess it was ok for the urban kids to learn how to have unprotected sex from Bobby or have Ice Cube teach us about jackin but please please don’t let the white kids get exposure to Courtney Love. And honestly, I wouldn’t want my kid seeing that train wreck either.

The point of all of this is, there was a time when music used to scare the hell out of me; and dammit I miss it! I remember the day when my buddy sneaked Nirvana’s In Utero into my household like a plantation owner’s kid sneaking a book in to a slave. Due to the MTV ban, this was the first time I was ever exposed to Kurt Cobain and all of his weirdness. I heard Scentless Apprentice with Kurt yelling “Like most babies smell like butter He had a smell like no other’ followed by him screaming over these screeching guitars and I nearly threw the cd out of the window. Especially since the liner notes had some guy dressed in women’s undergarments. It was the perfect combination of everything that I was taught was evil and weird in this world! And from that point on, I was hooked (not that I’m evil or weird).  

These days it’s hard to find artists that are truly messed up in the head. Sometimes you get close with the likes of Kanye West or Jack White but for the most part its all an act. Well in this case I might have actually found a girl from New York who just might fit the bill; you cant make the music she makes and not have had one too many acid trips in your life. The person I am talking about goes by the name Pharmakon (Margaret Chardiet) and her music sounds like something Trent Reznor or Marilyn Manson would make…but  evil! She screams indiscernible lyrics over slow driving beats and screeching sounds that are mixed in with industrial music. It’s really tough to listen to for an extended period of time which would explain why she can’t make an album that she likes. She’ll record one and then instantly scratch it. But I think with the right producer to reign her in a bit, her music could be something special. She’s quite technical in her music making process and that comes across in her live shows as each song builds to these chilling and hair raising climaxes with her dancing around and screaming at the top of her lungs. I rate her as slightly WEAK for now but I like her potential. Sneak razorblades in your hair and wear steel toed boots to the show just in case you decide to pop in. Trust me when I say this music isn’t for everyone and quite honestly it’s really only something you go see for the pure spectacle of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_5Xmk5zBpk

So to balance this post out a bit, I thought I’d point you in the direction of MMoths. He’s an Irish electronic DJ/producer who makes atmospheric music you can chill out and bob your head to. He has quite a few guest vocalists on his tracks for those who like vocals with their music, so you won’t quite need to break out your furry backpacks and glow sticks to it. Apparently his EP is based off of events that occurred on his tours with Aphex twin and At the Drive In. And if you have seen a single Aphex Twin video, then you know how disturbing some of their experiences can be. I rate him as FRESH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mhti79fAl4&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Diiv, Crystal Castles, and Doldrums

You never know what you’re going to get with Canadians. Sometimes you’ll get surprises in the form of the Japandroids, Crystal Castles, and yes even Drake; I’m sorry Snow but you only get honorable mention at this point. But then you also get terrible bands like The Tea Party and the Doldrums. Or you're stuck watching Owen Pallett make out with the lead singer of Grizzly Bear on stage. I wasn’t quite prepared for this but my friend informed me that the Bear lead had officially come out and that Pallett may be his lover. I guess it’s possible, Pallett has been known to play Final Fantasy and dress in character for said game. I just wish I was given a heads up so I could be prepared to see male on male action while drinking my tall boy of Tecate. It was like being exposed to Peter North’s earlier work for the first time all over again. (shuttering) Let’s just move on.

So I show up early for the rave that is a Crystal Castles show in order to finally check out the Doldrums. I kept hearing about them during SXSW and wanted to see if they had more than the two OK songs I heard online. Thankfully I never got around to seeing them because they ended up being like the poor girls in Peter North’s movies; just an awful awful white mess! They are the quintessential  “we got drunk in college one night and decided to form an awful band” band that somehow got lucky and ended up opening for the Castles. Their lead singer was wearing an oversized pseudo pirate shirt that the curly haired scrub in Color Me Badd wore (how many 90’s references can I fit in this post?). They have no concept of timing and this is mainly because their drummer was quite possibly the worst drummer I have ever seen. Even when they would luck up with a good beat, they would screw it up and totally kill the momentum they had built. And I don’t know if the lead singer was supposed to sound like an orca when he sang but…Anyway, these guys are really WEAK and if you decide that you like them in spite of this rating, do yourself a favor and stick to their recorded stuff as it covers up their flaws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vIP2ZEnxnc

If you are 50 years old and have never heard of Crystal Castles, check out my preview here.

http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html

But if you are still a part of the land of the living, then you know that Alice is crazy and this suits their style of music perfectly. They opened up with Plague, Baptism, and Suffocation; wasting absolutely no time in getting the party started. They had an excellent light show but nothing too over the top to distract you from the music or kept you from dancing. Alice brought her normal crazy energy and repeatedly jumped in the crowd screaming her lyrics as she stood on the waiting hands of her fans. They played close to a two hour set and everyone seemed to be hooking up with someone by the time they played Not In Love, quite fitting actually. I rate this show as TIGHT and definitely suggest that you pop in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkbCUIm21rc

The band I want to preview today is Diiv. They are four 8 year olds who play dream pop/indie music. I keep wanting to hate on them because I don’t think that this retro eighties gender bending music has staying power but the more I listen to it, the more I find myself dancing.  I don’t know if that’s my strange love for Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs or if they are really that good. They are Zach Smith’s  (Beach Fossils) side project  and are quickly making a name for themselves. If this is the first time you've ever heard anything about them, check out their song Doused as it reminds me of a few Bloc Party cuts. Home and Wait are few additional songs that will have you tucking your male genitalia in no time as well. There was a quite a bit buzz about these kids from their shows at SXSW and I definitely plan on checking them out next time they roll through. I can’t rate them as fresh because if I told some dude in the hood about them, the chances of me getting pimp slapped with baby powder are pretty high! So based off of that, they get a rating of barely WEAK but I like them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-_5sQplcDM

Danny Brown and Baauer

Back in the day when I used to dabble in porn, and by dabble I mean watch not star in,  I used to tell my co worker that I was bored and it was about time to pop in and see what old Jenna Jamison wass up to. Well that was years ago and I no longer watch porn or keep up with their stars, but luckily my friend hit me up the other day to let me know that good old Jenna got arrested for punching out her assistant with a brass knuckles Iphone case. Jenna…still entertaining. I try and avoid old female porn stars for the simple fact that just because they look like beef jerky, doesn’t mean they are as tasty.

What’s the point of that story? Well, back then I was also feeling old and called myself the Kurt Loader of Sixth St. You remember him don’t you? The super old VJ on MTV who was still trying prove himself as relevant by anchoring their news segment. Isn’t he dead? I truly think that MTV is like that movie Moon where they just replace dead VJ’s with their clones.  

Well I’ve graduated a bit and now I’m the Kurt Loader of concerts (see I said concert instead of show). And tonight I will attempt to stay relevant by attending the Danny Brown and Baauer show. You may know Baauer from all of those awful Harlem Shake videos that pop up on Youtube. It’s just a matter of time before you see your parents on one doing what has become the new Macarena! It’s sad really because I actually like that song, along with his other music. Baauer is a West Philly native who makes trap and bass music. If your only experience of it is the Harlem Shake, it’s basically dance music with elements of hip hop, traditional dance, and even some dubstep depending on the producer. It relies heavily on the 808 drum machine and sampling and takes more skill than I have at this point, so I would give these guys a listen when they come to town.  I rate Baauer as FRESH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WR2d9EhuDA&list=PL2B60CE71CC7A86C9

I’ve already previewed Danny Brown here a few times but here is the original post.

http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/04/whats-in-name.html

I was worried that I would look back and regret my FRESH rating of him but the more I listen, the more I like him. He is definitely an acquired taste but once you get used to his voice, you realize that there is skill behind his craziness. And yes, any dude who comes on stage rocking a mumu with half of his hair pressed and the other half shaved better come correct with the rhymes.  “I put my d!ck on your nose now you look like Scottie Pippen” Haha need I say more? FRESH

Justice and Fun Fun Fun Fest : Araabmuzik

The last time electro dj’s from France had this kind of impact in the U.S. they came wearing space suits and motorcycle helmets and had entire festivals dancing to Around The World. While Justice isn’t as big as Daft P, they still wreck shop while wearing track suits and smoking slim cigarettes on stage. I waited almost 6 months for this show and of course I got sick the day of.  But I decided to power through it and of course the one time I decided not to care about how I look when I went out I run into everybody who I have ever met in this city; including every cute girl imaginable. I was rocking beat up jeans with a whole in the crotch and an old man light coat that Mister Rogers would wear. Strangely enough, I kept getting looks from the young gay men in the crowd. Not sure what young gay dudes would want with an old black Mister Rogers but hey, to each his own. 

So the show was pretty amazing. They opened with Genesis of course and the crowd went nuts! They had a huge screen behind them for their pretty elaborate light show along with 20 speakers on stage which produced their own lights as well.  In the middle was their trademark white cross and behind that was their computers, turn tables, organ, and whatever other instruments they used  to get Mister Rogers and his kids jumping. While their second album is good, you could tell that everyone was there to hear Cross and to Justice’s credit, they played the majority of that album. They had Superman crystals rise from the ground for DANCE and brought the house down with Waters of Nazareth and We Are Friends.  It was like being in a giant nightclub as everyone was dancing and throwing around glow sticks. I was a bit confused on what to do with my glow stick as I have evolved to the invisible glow stick ball that you throw around but I made do. And even though someone yelled “You French Bastards!” behind me, it was really cool that after the show they hung around and crowd surfed for about 10 minutes, showing that they enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed dancing to Frenchie disco. Here is my preview for these guys.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/04/phd-in-hating.html

A new artist you should check out at FFF Fest this weekend is Araabmuzik.  He is a dj from Providence, Rhode Island of all places.  I guess there was nothing else to do there so he perfected his skills on the Super Nintendo and that translated over to the skills he has on an MPC. I have lived with a dj and have many friends who make beats but I have never seen anyone do what this kid can do on a beat machine. Check out his videos on youtube; they really look fake as he rocks the crowd with his dub step but once he breaks it down and goes nuts on the MPC, you will see what sets him apart. This show will be as much of a visual phenomenon as it will be an auditory experience. If you missed out on Justice don’t miss Araabmuzik Sunday on the Blue Stage at 7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt3dgVmhghE

I also did a half asleep preview of FFF here
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2012/07/fun-fun-fun-fest.html