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Monthly Archives: October 2007
Saul Williams joins Trent Reznor for “Niggy Tardust”
Last week, Saul Williams made a surprise announcement when he declared that he would release his next album on Halloween. Produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is the spoken-word legend’s third album, and first since his 2004 self-titled disc.
"The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is the lovechild of Trent and me," says Williams in a press release. "The Niggytardust concept sets me free to do more on stage with costume, etc. than one might expect from a regular Saul Williams show. It allows me to put my theatre training to use. I’ve also thought long and hard about all the discussion surrounding racial epithets etc. and chose this title as a means of furthering the dialogue while also showing how creativity will outlive and outshine hatred of any kind."
Williams will take a page from the Radiohead playbook and sell his album for free or for a $5 donation. But unlike Radiohead — which angered fans by selling a low-quality 160kb version of In Rainbows — Williams will offer high-quality formats such as 192kb, 320kb, and FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). The 320kb and FLAC formats are only available to those that make the $5 donation. NiggyTardust is on sale at www.saulwilliams.com.
The press coverage surrounding Niggytardust has focused on Reznor’s involvement and its digital sales gimmick, but it may also turn out to be a significant artistic statement, too. Despite his storied history as a sometime actor, published poet, musician and philosopher, Williams has yet to make a full-length album that mirrors his ambitions. With Niggytardust, the third attempt may be the charm.
Nas debates “Nigger”
By now, every hip-hop fan knows that Nas plans to drop a new album before the year is out, and he’s going to call it Nigger. Nas has bandied the title since late last year during promotional appearances for his … Continue reading
Connie Price & the Keystones talk “Tell Me Something”
All year long, deep funk bands have been sharing the spotlight, from the Dap Kings’ work on Amy Winehouse’s Fade to Black to the Scion Live Metro series. Connie Price & the Keystones, an L.A. crew led by multi-instrumentalist/producer Dan Ubick and Todd Simon, has been a consistent presence on the latter project.
Although the latest Scion Live Metro tour — a brief, four-date jam with Connie Price & the Keystones and Brand Nubian — is nearly over, fans in Minneapolis can see the show tomorrow night (Thurs., Oct. 25) at the Varsity Theater. The rest of the world has CPK’s second album, Tell Me Something, to look forward to. Set for release on January 22, 2008 via Ubiquity, Tell Me Something reunites the troupe with several other Scion Live Metro veterans, including Big Daddy Kane and Percee P. The album is split into two discs: a vocal version with a slew of rappers, and an instrumental version for all the DJs and funk lovers.
Stones Throw undertakes 2K8 Sports Bounce tour
Unlike many of their indie brethren, the Stones Throw crew isn’t known for doing shows. They’re mostly content to lamp in the studio and maybe rock a DJ date in L.A., New York, London or some other major international city. Sitting in a hot-ass van and plowing through 50+ cities? That shit is for the birds.
So consider yourself lucky if they come to your town on the upcoming 2K8 Sports Bounce Tour "Holiday Edition" (also known as the B-Ball Zombie War tour). Just like last year’s Chrome Children package tour, it won’t be very comprehensive, and only encompass a baker’s dozen of shows. Featured artists will be the mighty Madlib, Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib’s Supreme Team partner Karriem Riggins, onetime Beat Junkie J. Rocc, and rhyme inspector Percee P.
How rare is this tour? It’s so rare that the lineup for some recently added shows (ATL and Baltimore) hasn’t even been confirmed yet. Check out the itinerary below; as usual, I’ll update as more details become available.
Posted in News
Tagged J. Rocc, Karriem Riggins, Madlib, Peanut Butter Wolf, Percee P, Stones Throw
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Review: Rob Sonic, “Sabotage Gigante”
Bronx linguist and conspiracy theorist Rob Sonic returns with Sabotage Gigante, the latest chapter in a long and underrated career. Continue reading
Sage Francis marches on with Against Me!
If Sage Francis’ summer trek for Human the Death Dance was a full-blown punk-hopper’s paradise that co-starred Buck 65, Bernard Dolan, and Alias, then his opening dates for Against Me! will be a little more low-key. Against Me! is the Gainesville, Fla. hardcore band who, when not gathering kudos for its string of albums (including this year’s New Wave), sometimes combats fans who feel they’ve sold out. The resolutely independent Francis should lend the tour some credibility.
Francis, for his part, will continue to support Human the Death Dance, which critics will hopefully remember when it’s time to make those all-important Best of 2007 lists. Dance, monkey! The tour dates are below.
Hangar 18 sweeps the States
Hangar 18 isn’t the type of group you’d normally associate with Definitive Jux. Formed from the remains of the underrated Atoms Family crew — the same camp that yielded Cannibal Ox — the Brooklyn trio is a mix of straight-up backpacker raps, dirty party joints, and quirky Prince Paul-type antics. Their debut, 2004’s The Multiplatinum Debut Album, drew some positive notices but was largely ignored during a time when a lot of hip-hop heads wrote Def Jux off. Three years later, with El-P paving the way, Sweep the Leg is bound to get more attention. People are finally realizing that Definitive Jux aims to be a deep and diverse indie label. Not everyone’s going to sound like Aesop Rock or Mr. Lif.
After Sweep the Leg drops on October 23, Hangar 18 will take their unusual styles to the road for a lengthy tour. Glue, the Midwest trio behind last year’s Catch As Catch Can, will open. The dates are below.
Cadence Weapon makes the rounds
Since its release on the Canadian imprint Upper Class Recordings in 2005, Breaking Kayfabe has continued to win fans who like unusual and cutting-edge hip-hop but can’t stand the boring "true school" aesthetic that contaminates so many underground scenes. Rollie "Cadence Weapon" Pemberton’s debut album blends Aesop Rock metaphorical wordplay, Antipop Consortium’s techno mishmash and Pharoahe Monch’s hardcore righteousness into something memorable.
Earlier this year, Cadence Weapon signed with Epitaph’s Anti- imprint, which promptly re-released Breaking Kayfabe for worldwide consumption. Sometime next spring, he’ll drop the first fruit of that deal, Afterparty Babies. But first, the Edmonton rapper will take to his first proper tour of the States (not counting a few dates for Scion last fall and some festival shows) with Canadian indie-rock weirdo Final Fantasy.
The itinerary is below.
Blue Scholars issue digital EP, tour
Despite issuing a widely acclaimed album, Bayani, Seattle duo Blue Scholars still haven’t mounted a proper tour. Slowly but surely, however, they’ve been making their way across the country, knocking off a few dates at a time.
They’ll cover several more cities during the next two weeks. Some of the artists they’ll perform with include Canadian crew Swollen Members and LA vet Evidence; Minneapolis upstart Psalm One; and backpack thugs La Coka Nostra. Blue Scholars’ year ends with a special event: a weeklong hip-hop showcase at Neumo’s in Seattle.
For those that can’t make the trip or, worse, don’t live in a city on the group’s itinerary, there’s the Joe Metro EP. Scheduled to drop on November 6 via Massline/Rawkus, the digital package features a remix of two cuts from Bayani (including a Jake One remix of "North by Northwest") and two new tracks.
The track listing for Joe Metro EP and Blue Scholars’ tour itinerary is listed below.
Review: Flying Lotus, “Reset”
West Coast beat phenom Flying Lotus sets the stage for next year’s Los Angeles album with Reset, a short, 17-minute teaser EP. Continue reading
Big Dada celebrates a decade of “Well Deep”
Ten years ago, UK journalist Will Ashon launched Big Dada as a subsidiary of famed electronic imprint Ninja Tune. After a few promising 12-inch singles by the likes of Abstract Tribe Unique and Saul Williams, the label made its first major statement in 1998, Black Whole Styles. A lot of American heads — including myself — didn’t start caring about UK hip-hop until that compilation. We paid particular attention to its breakout star, Roots Manuva.
A decade later, Big Dada has accumulated an incredible string of artistic successes, most recently Spank Rock’s debut YoYoYo. Diplo, Mke Ladd’s unfinished Infesticons trilogy, TTC, New Flesh for Old, Wiley, Cadence Weapon, MF Doom’s King Geedorah project, Busdriver, cLOUDDEAD…the list of cutting-edge musicians Big Dada has supported is a long one.
On November 27 in the U.S. (October 15 in the UK), Big Dada will revisit its history with Well Deep: 10 Years of Big Dada Recordings. The compilation features two CDs of key tracks, including an unreleased cut from Diplo ("Now’s the Time"). It also includes a DVD packed with a label documentary, a bunch of music videos, and a video megamix that you can play at your next Fader party.
The two-CD track listing for Well Deep: 10 Years of Big Dada Recordings is below.
Nas wraps up landmark deal with “Greatest Hits”
Did you know that Nas’ longtime relationship with Columbia Records has lasted longer than nearly any other rapper’s? Yes, Nas has been on Columbia for fifteen years, dating back to his 1992 debut single, "Halftime." Only LL Cool J (20+ years with Def Jam) has had a longer tenure at a single label.
That relationship ends with Nas’ Greatest Hits. When he signed with Def Jam last year, part of the deal is that Columbia would get rights to two more Nas discs, with one — last year’s Hip Hop is Dead — being a co-release. Greatest Hits fulfills his contract with Columbia, and concludes a storied era in hip-hop history.
Scheduled for release on November 6, Greatest Hits contains one new track, "Surviving the Times." It includes most of his best-known hits, from "Life’s A Bitch" to "I Can." But fans will have plenty of reason to complain about its dearth of classics, too. Where’s "Halftime"? Where’s "Nas is Like"? Shit, where is "Ether"? Only God’s son knows.
The track listing is below.
Scratch, Straight No Chaser RIP
This fall brings the demise of two venerable music magazines, Scratch and Straight No Chaser.
Many expected that Scratch, the better known of the two here in the States, wouldn’t last long. Originally launched in 2004 by Harris Publications, it was a failed attempt to capitalize on a burgeoning interest in hip-hop production, studio musicians and crate-digging. In some respects, it was a mainstream version of the same culture that Wax Poetics (launched in 2002) had already successfully targeted. But while Wax Poetics focused on "classic" hip-hop, soul, jazz and deep funk artists such as Pete Rock, the late Weldon Irvine and Roy Ayers, Scratch — which was launched with the help of several Wax Poetics editors — spotlighted the modern-day rap industry.
Straight No Chaser was founded by several veteran UK journalists, including a former editor at The Wire. From the start, its mission was to highlight the acid jazz bubbling around the world. Taking its name from Thelonious Monk’s classic song, it became a standard bearer for underground, soul-influenced beat music. Its cover subjects ranged from Madlib to Bjork, and from Jeff Mills to Meshell Ndegeocello.
Review: Kanye West, “Graduation”
Kanye West celebrates the good life on his third album Graduation: designer fashion labels, oodles of cheese, and blond dykes. Continue reading
Review: Ohmega Watts, “Watts Happening”
Rapper and producer Ohmega Watts continues his true-school revolution with Watts Happening, a diverse collection of solo tracks and surprising collaborations. Continue reading
Galactic brings the block to the States
Last July, New Orleans funk combo Galactic issued From the Corner to the Block to overwhelming acclaim, bringing their unique talents to mainstream attention for the first time. But for most of the year, the group has focused on their traditional strength — playing tons of shows at music festivals with other jam bands.
This month — this week, actually — Galactic will finally start promoting the album with a run of shows starring a few of the disc’s guests. The Coup’s agit-rapper Boots Riley and Gutterfly proponents Lifesavas will appear as guests at all the concerts. Others popping up on select dates include Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born and Mr. Lif.
Galactic’s From the Corner to the Block tour kicks off on October 12. The itinerary is below.
Prefuse 73 pairs with Blank Blue for tour
By most standards, Scott Herren has already had a great year. He dropped a new edition of his Savath & Savalas project, Golden Pollen, to favorable reviews; and has seen his glitch-hop style validated through mimicry by countless imitators. But the original is still one of the best, as they say. He’ll prove it on October 23 with Preparations, the latest chapter in his Prefuse 73 saga, and on an upcoming fall tour.
Herren’s travelmates on his international adventure will be Blank Blue, the new vocal project from DJ Nobody and singer Niki Randa. School of Seven Bells, which features vocalists Claudia and Alejandra Deheza and musicians Benjamin Curtis and James Elliott, will also open.
The U.S. tour dates are below.
Ghostface Killah preps new album, tour
Ghostface Killah, one of the most critically acclaimed rappers of the decade, is planning to drop a new album before the year is out, according to a publicity site for Universal Music. The album, called The Big Doe Rehab, is scheduled to drop on December 4. And he’s stoking anticipation for the disc with two innovative tours.
The first, which was mentioned a few days ago, is a college campus tour sponsored by Adult Swim. Ostensibly a coming-out party for Dungeon Family affiliate Witchdoctor, Ghost will be headlining the short one-month trek. After that, he’ll appear on Hip-Hop Live!, a package assembled by syndicated cable channel producer Flow TV. Joining him will be Rakim, the original "best rapper alive," who will preview cuts from his forthcoming album The Seventh Seal; and Minneapolis big bear Brother Ali, who continues to promote his recent The Undisputed Truth. Taking a page from the influential Scion Metro series, all three men will be backed by funk combo Rhythm Roots Allstars.
No details are available on The Big Doe Rehab yet, but will probably be forthcoming in the next several weeks. Meanwhile, the dates for his extended road trip, which is already in progress, is listed below. (November 12 update: The tour dates have been updated.)
Kanye West conquers the charts
I wish that I cared more about the SoundScan charts. If I did, then Plug One would have been one of the hundreds of thousands of websites that gleefully announced Kanye West’s opening week numbers for Graduation on Wednesday morning, September 19. (In fact, Billboard announced the news on the Tuesday night beforehand; SoundScan numbers are usually announced on Wednesdays.) Unfortunately, I don’t. But it’s hard to escape the implications of West’s achievement.
Graduation moved 957,000 copies in its first week. It was the most CDs sold by an artist since 50 Cent’s The Massacre moved 1.1 million units in March 2005. Graduation‘s sales dropped 76 percent the following week, but still managed to move 226,000 copies.
To his credit, West executed Graduation‘s pre-release promotion strategy flawlessly. He issued a teaser single, "Can’t Tell Me Nothing," that won him respect among hardcore adherents and mixtape DJs; and then cleaned up with "Stronger," which sailed to the top of the singles chart. "Stronger" capitalized on the burgeoning popularity of Daft Punk, which may be this year’s version of the Pixies (a.k.a. a band that builds its comeback through buzzworthy shows.) Then he milked the attention with countless "leaked" versions of the album and conflicting tracklistings, as well as more acclaimed mixtape cuts (such as "Big Brother.")
“American Gangster” attracts Jay-Z
Every year since 1999, Jay-Z has teased his fans with rumors of a forthcoming album. It usually begins in the spring, as top-flight producers brag of heading into the studio with Jay Hova. It picks up steam in the summer, as fans openly begin to wonder: will Jay-Z "bless us" with another masterpiece? By the start of the fall, someone makes it official: Jay-Z is back. (This time around, the New York Times did the honors.) Then you know the rest: near-constant MTV updates, early leaks on the Internet, a number one debut on the Billboard charts, blah, blah, blah.
Why do fans continue to fall for this well-worn strategy? Well, it’s Jay-Z, one of the most popular artists of the past decade. And for American Gangster, his soundtrack to the upcoming Frank Lucas biopic of the same name, S. Carter is promising a return to the crack-rapper-made-good persona that we first fell in love with on Reasonable Doubt, not the sandals-wearing AARP candidate from Kingdom Come. Jay-Z’s American Gangster arrives via Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam on November 6. The first single, "Blue Magic," dropped last week.
However, since American Gangster is a period piece set in the early 70s with Hollywood superstars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, little to none of Jay-Z’s music will be used in the movie. So Island Def Jam has prepared a proper American Gangster original motion picture soundtrack. It features soundtrack music from 2008 comeback player of the year candidate Hank Shocklee, and vintage cuts from Sam & Dave, Bobby Womack and others.
The track listing for the Jay-Z album hasn’t been announced yet, but the compilation’s track listing is available below. (October 3 update: The songs for Jay-Z’s American Gangster was unveiled on Rollingstone.com earlier this morning, and are listed underneath the soundtrack.)