Your Friend, Kaytranada, and Issue

I found myself stuck in my apartment for most of the weekend due to a bike accident I had on a Friday morning. I'm telling you this because when you live downtown in a city that has literally 40 shows a night on any given day of the week and you can't go see any of them because you look and feel like the Elephant Man, it's like sleeping next to a naked Mila Kunis that won't let you touch her; it's pure torture! The one time I did sneak out was to support my friend who was playing a show at Stubb's. He was opening for Fire in the Sky and some other terrible band that had three former frat boys playing awful country rock as they wore these short sleeve polo shirts that were unbuttoned to their navels. It felt like I was watching three Patrick Batemans walk on stage right after they had just banged two hookers and flexed their muscles in the mirror mid act. By the way, I recently watched this movie with some people and pretty much every guy in the room admitted to doing this very act at least once. What?!?!? These people actually exist??? Anyway, the point is, even if I did have to suffer through these scrubs, I more often than not stumble upon some pretty good shows. And I live in too great of a city with awesome music options to go this long without previewing some new artists for you. So here you go.

First up is Your Friend from Kansas. Your Friend is the project of Taryn Blake, a girl who looks like someone who would play bike polo on the weekends, not someone who would sit in their dorm room making great mind altering music. I'm always skeptical of the one man band because it generally consists of one scrubby dude with an over elaborate drum kit and a MacBook, and they typically just sit there and play the same rhythm and beat on a loop for about 12 minutes. But with Blake, her music consists of guitars, drums, keys, and her magical voice. She reminds me of Jim Jarmusch's wet dream of being a vampire whose too reclusive to leave their apartment, so all they do is stay in and make this amazing music for centuries (Only Lovers Left Alive). Along that same line, her songs actually feel like an independent film; one that takes its time in telling you the story but once it gets going it completely sucks you in. And that's the perfect description of Tame One; I had almost written it off until all of the instruments kicked in and once that happened I was completely mesmerized by what I was hearing. Give her EP Jeckyll/Hyde a listen as I give her a rating of FRESH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zad8wq4afr8

Next up is Kaytranada, a DJ out of Montreal that 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 FRESH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rppKW9eIvE

The last artist for the day is the son of hip hop legend E-40, Issue. My buddy tried to tell me that he was wack but I just didn't want to believe it. Now I will say this, he does make some dope beats but  I should have known something was wrong when he was compared to Lil B. I figured no one could ever be that wack again but boy was I wrong; this is the second coming of dude! All he raps about is making and drinking tea! What's up with rappers and this latest obsession over rhyming about food? Wonton Soup??? When he rhymes he sounds like the dumber and lazier version of Ma$e. Remember him? I think he is wack but because of who his father is I will give him a rating of only WEAK. If you want to check him out, listen to Ten Monks and Let Me Do My Thing. I mean, if a song like Gas Pedal can be a hit, I guess anything can be these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr9aL0Dsaak