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Best live look yet for Shabazz Palaces? Quite possibly. The enigmatic crew brings its live presentation to The Apple for the third (?) go-round, this time to one of the Lower East Side’s most venerable party establishments, Santos Party House. Oh yeah, the equally talented Cat and Stas of THEESatisfaction will dazzle, as well. This one’s in my own backyard, so how couldn’t I?
Click album cover to D/L.
Get familiar with Seattle MC Notion on this pleasantly bumping three-track EP featuring production by MTK. Notion’s high-pitched rasp rides with admirable precision over MTK’s soulful thump, though guest MC Chev (one of the best local rappers flying under the general public’s radar) kills him on his own sh-t on the EP’s best track, “Right Here.”
The official video for “Head Up,” the best track from Rockwell Powers and Ill Pill’s Kids in the Back 2 (read the 206UP.COM Review here) and download the LP at this location.
I dig the washed-out color combined with the nighttime high-def. Classy visuals for a classy track. Read what the MC himself had to say about it:
These videos were all filmed within a five block radius of my apartment in downtown Tacoma and all the shots are of places I am on a weekly or daily basis.
Head is especially telling because while writing Kids in the Back 2 I would often walk around downtown at night before I would sit with my pen. If you’ve been to Downtown Tacoma at night you know that 5 days week its quiet and tranquil. I would walk around the city and think about what I wanted to write about and what images I wanted to use.
The other shot in this video is from a live show (our recent album release party), and that is important to me because I always write lyrics with the intent of performing them. Especially with personal songs like this, I always picture the end result of the creative process which to me is sharing the music on stage.
CLICK :: LISTEN :: VOTE
Back by popular demand, 206UP.COM’s The TrackMeet returns after a month-long respite. Three fresh artists, three new tracks, seven days to cast a vote. You know what it is. Go tell a friend.
LANE 1: “It Ain’t Over” – La-Gitt feat. Ari Saavedra
LANE 2: – “Understand” – Know Choice
Click image for D/L link.
A worthy slapper for your Thursday. It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Wizdom. I think he’s too busy making cameo appearances in just about every Town-affiliated music video uploaded to YouTube. Watch for his next project, Unearthed, with production from frequent collaborator, Epidemmik.
Click Play to listen. Click here to download the track.
Click photo to D/L.
The SEA really lost one when South End native J. Pinder took his cerebral brand of street rap south to the ATL. Thankfully his connection to The Six remains tight-knit in his music. “Opus” is more of that quality life rap where Pinder emotes, but not in a corny fashion. Guest shots from fellow Seattleite Eighty4 Fly, South Sound move-maker Clemm Rishad and California son Royce The Choice. Kuddie Fresh’s soulful slap holds ’em together.
Press Play to listen. Click here to download the track.
Photo: Laura Musselman
Late wit’ it. Then again, we all know Shabazz Palaces defies time and often explanation, so f-ck it. “Lost Foundling” is a joint from the Sub Pop sampler, Terminal Sales Vol. 4: Please To Enjoy. If you’re not waiting with bated breath for May 31’s Black Up, then you must like wack sh-t.
“Lost Foundling” features drunk bass, staccato-ed waves of synth and a threat from Palaceer Lazaro to end all the mainstream rap f-ckery once and for all. I don’t believe that is an idle threat.
(Video courtesy the band’s YouTube page.)
Last Sunday night, at the recommendation and behest of my lady and her very good friend, I went to Mercury Lounge in the Lower East Side to see Live Footage, a Brooklyn-based duo who use live recorded loops to construct not-so-on-the-fly compositions. While it’s not a totally novel idea (see: Animal Collective), this particular LF show was appealing to me because of the covers (actually more like re-interpretations) of J. Dilla instrumentals.
In fact, as an homage to the late great producer, the band recently dropped a mixtape called Live Footage Plays Jay Dee which consists of eight Dilla covers. You can grab that at the Orisue homepage, here. LF’s craft and the acute attention to detail their live presentation requires would probably be respected by Jay considering how meticulously he crafted his beats.
Here’s the original version of “Lightworks”:
Click image for D/L link.
A fresh drop from The Physics crew for your Monday. I like the direction the trio’s music has taken over the course of the last year: Golden Era-influenced boom-bap has given way to a more soulful, multi-layered and dense sound. #Progression.
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