In the clearest sign yet that Sisqo’s reign at the top ended a long, long time ago, a North Carolina beach town recently encated a law making it illegal “for any person being naked or insufficiently clothed … to bathe or swim in the Atlantic Ocean.” The code goes on to specifically single out “thong bathing suits or similar attire” as banned items. What’s the deal, Kure Beach? Why is Mayor Dean Lambeth so concerned about thongs? Cut it out.
What do you think? Watch this video of a beach full of thongs and decide where you stand on the issue!
Last week on April 19, the great Roxbury-born and highly influential MC Keith Elam, otherwise known as Guru, passed away after cardiac arrest had left him in a coma for the past two months. Best known for his work as part of Gang Starr in the 90s and early 00s with DJ Premier, Guru (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) was without doubt one of the most unique voices in hip hop and just puts all kinds of rappers to shame.
It must be hard to hold up your side of the bargain when you’re in a group with DJ Premier, so if you don’t know about Guru’s steez then let him explain to all you “knuckleheads.”
Yesterday, BBC News reported that Japan’s whaling fleet had returned to port with about half the number of whales that they had “expected” to catch (whatever that means), meaning that the aggressive tactics of the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had paid off. It seems crazy that even though, as the article notes, “commercial whaling has been banned worldwide since 1986,” Japan’s whalers can try to justify catching 1,000 whales for “scientific purposes” when it is pretty clear that most of that whale meat just ends up in restaurants (like this one in Santa Monica that was recently shut down). But just to wrap up this abundance of whale news with something less somber, I recommend checking out Matt Kish’s project of making one drawing for every page of Moby Dick.
Speaking of whales (seriously?), Freelance Whales played a sold out show last night at Bowery Ballroom, along with the Shout Out Louds and one of our new favorite bands, Sherlock’s Daughter (our interview with the charming Aussies will be posted shortly). Even though they’ve obviously been touched musicall by the Postal Service as much as, say, Owl City, and further have also appropriated Ben Gibbard’s penchant for vocalizing even the most mundane details, there are moments when the band really shines on their first LP, Weathervanes, which came out yesterday on Frenchkiss Records. This guy’s review of the record is pretty spot-on, and I agree that “Hannah” and “The Great Estates” are probably the hottest offerings on the record. So have a listen to Jam of the Day “Hannah” (no video yet).
Freelance Whales – Hannah:
But definitely the most interesting discovery I made while reading up on the band today was a video created by this Vimeo user Austin Conroy, which captures the Freelance Whales performing like a 20 minute set on the Bedford Ave. L platform. The guy walks off the train already filming so I’m guessing he knew it was going on ahead of time (and there are a lot of people with cameras already there). Watch out for the early near-collision of the two women at the beginning (it looks like they’re about to have a “Get the fuck out of my way,” “No, you get the fuck out of the way” kind of conversation until they see the camera), as well as the cops telling the band they need to move because playing music on the platform is “too dangerous.” Once the cameraman actually gets situated, the band sounds pretty great. If you only have time to listen to one track from this, I’d recommend jumping ahead to about 15 minutes 30 seconds in the video for the subway-track version of “The Great Estates.”
Das Racist dropped their first mixtape about two weeks ago via Mishka and Nah Right, and also in association with their self-owned label/management group Greedhead Entertainment. You can download it for free from either site, or here if you’re lazy. Here’s the cover art, designed by Aakash Nihalani:
Basically, Das Racist is so contemporary that without a close read/listen some of it can just sound like a bunch of advertising copy and sloppily-delivered lyrics about fast food. But maybe that’s because you only heard “Combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell?” As Heems raps on “You Oughta Know,” (which samples the Cam’ron track of the same name), Das Racist is “sick of arguing with white dudes on the internet.” But then again, are they really sick of arguing with white dudes on the internet? Either way, basically I don’t think that anyone can step to them after this release: “A rich interior world is a joy to own.” Word.
So many tracks that make me think Das Racist has the pulse on contemporary culture (self-described “culture vultures”), in a really tangible and influential way. Apart from being so publicity-savvy, part of the appeal of Das Racist has to do with a real rap talent, playing with words in an interesting, intriguing, integral way that begs comparison to a lot of great rappers and rap groups – Eric B. & Rahim, Slick Rick, Ghostface Killah (peep Victor as Kool A.D. in “Nutmeg” dropping that Raekwon/Tony Starks ish), too many to list.
There are also moments that seem kind of played out, like the fake gun sounds in “Hugo Chavez,” which is already well-worn territory for anyone who enjoys Flight of the Concords. But at other times the dudes can be reflective (“I Don’t Want to Deal With Those Monsters”), provocative and maybe a little pissed about being misunderstood (“I Don’t Owe Nobody Shit”), and softer even, seeming about to leave the irony behind for some possible self-reflection in “Ek Shaneesh:”
“My pops drove a cab holmes,
Now I drop guac
just to bop in the cab home.”
But more often than not they’re dropping some hilarious lines and talking about “beers for years,” Rumi, taking pills of “various hues dude,” free associating and morphing the phrase “Nancy Drew” to “Nancy Who” to “Nancy Reagan in a fancy pants-suit.” Or, one of my favorites, from “Rainbow in the Dark” with Heems transiting to Victor:
“We could eat the flyest cave-aged cheese fo sheez, ma.
Yeah we could eat gruyere,
As if we care; we could eat roquefort.”
All I’m saying is that you need to download this mixtape and listen to it yourself, and then if you still think these guys suck then you’re just never going to get what Das Racist is about. Check out this dope video for “Rainbow in the Dark,” directed by Jordan Fish.
Das Racist – Rainbow in the Dark:
And just because I want to underscore the diversity of what they have to offer, here’s a bonus jam of Chairlift featuring Das Racist, called “Fashion Party,” which I think was part of an Urban Outfitters compilation or something like that.
We were down in D.C. over the weekend, and we were able to catch a pretty stellar show by Fruit Bats at the Black Cat on Saturday night.
Fruit Bats is an American folk rock band originally from Chicago, now based in Seattle, formed in 1999 by Eric Johnson, the band’s singer/songwriter who also plays guitar and piano. In early 2007, Eric Johnson joined Sub Pop Records label-mates and longtime friends The Shins, as a full-time, touring member. Johnson has continued working with Fruit Bats, however, and their fourth album The Ruminant Band was released in August of 2009. The top two songs from the album are, in my opinion, “When U Love Somebody” (best heard on their MySpace page) and today’s Jam, “My Unusual Friend.”
They are playing tonight at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC so brave the rain and check them out, they’re sure to put on a sunny show.
Not to turn this into a dead rapper website, but in case you didn’t know today marks the 13th anniversary of the murder of Biggiesmalls, a.k.a. Frank White a.k.a. Biggie, B.I.G. The Notorious B.I.G., etc., the best rapper to ever do it. Apparently, Diddy is throwing a party in Brooklyn tonight to celebrate his memory.
Let’s just be honest, Biggie was my favorite. Not much more to say. Here’s a video of the song “Hold Ya Head” from the B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter album, which features Bob Marley signing a sad and mournful chorus. The lyrics are pretty… real. Biggie never compromised.
The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Bob Marley – Hold Ya Head:
East Village to Brooklyn 