Vera Project Fundraiser Tonight Featuring: One Be Lo, Yirrim Seck, Spaceman, Jus Moni and DJ B-Girl
Here's a show that seems to be getting promoted surprisingly well, mostly through twitter and word of mouth, but could still use more of a push. Part-time Seattle resident, One Be Lo, is in town performing at the Vera Project tonight and he's got some of Seattle's finest young urban talent joining him as well. Everybody in the headline above will be there, including 16-year-old R&B singer, Jus Moni, who keeps getting better and better each time I see her perform.
There will also be live art by local painter Jonathan Matas for those that like to be visually stimulated. The show is a part of the current push to raise funds for Vera — tickets are $7 in advance, $10 at the door. The festivities start at 8 p.m. After the jump, check out one of my favorite One Be Lo cuts of all time.
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Fresh Wax -- New Vinyl For the Fourth of July
The sun is out and most people don't have to go to work today. With a three day weekend underway, there's no reason not to go out and treat yourself to some brand new vinyl for your home stereos. There weren't a ton of new releases and reissues that hit stores this week, but what did come out is seriously good. 
The Beastie Boys reissued Hello Nasty, the Bad Brains reissued Omega Sessions and a good amount of classic albums came out on 12" this week. After the jump, vinyl columnist Jason Ferguson gives us a run down on some of the best new records to hit stores and the internet this week.
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Win Tickets to the "Rack N Roll" Benefit Concert July 10 at the Crocodile
"Do you like boobs and music?" That's the question organizers of the upcoming "Rack n Roll" benefit concert are asking the public. A local husband and wife team are courageously putting together a show to raise funds for breast cancer research—and naturally, they want you to be there. Especially if you like healthy boobs and good music. 
On July 10, Duffy Bishop, Stone Rangers, No Ground, and Above All Odds are going to be at the Crocodile rocking out to fight the big C. Tickets are only $15, it's all for a good cause, and they're going to have some interesting raffle prizes (like $100 gift certificates to Ivars and Oceanaire, amongst other restaurants) on hand. So head to this website to learn more about the event. We've also got a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky reader. Just shoot me an email with the words Fight Cancer in the subject line and a winner will be chosen at random. Good luck.
Sunn O))), Pelican and Earth to Play Together This Fall
Wow, this is one fine, fine line-up. The drone metal dork brigade will be out in full force that night (myself included). I am very impressed that they managed to resist calling this "The Sonic Solar System Tour" or use any other silly, celestial references (I guess that's what dumbasses like myself are here for). Anyway, here's the official press release from Southern Lord (ht to Andrew Chapman):
SUNN O))) is pleased to unveil more US tour dates in support of their latest opus Monoliths & Dimensions.
Following their previously announced Midwestern US tour beginning next week, the band will devastate the West Coast this August. The tour kicks off in Seattle where SUNN O))) will headline two Southern Lord label showcase events. The first night will be as a duo performing the the Shoshin/GrimmRobe demos in its entirety! They will be joined by labelmates the Accüsed (this show serving as a record release show for the Accüsed album The Curse of Martha Splatterhead!). An encore Seattle performance follows the next night, this time alongside Southern Lord brethren Earth, Pelican and Eagle Twin. SUNN O))) then surges south along the coast through California and into Utah and Colorado alongside labelmates Eagle Twin and The Accüsed.
SUNN O))): MONOLITHS & DIMENSIONS WEST COAST 2009
8/05/2009 Neumo's - Seattle, WA w/ The Accüsed (record release show!), Trap Them, Black Breath
8/06/2009 Neumo's - Seattle, WA w/ Earth, Pelican, Eagle Twin
8/08/2009 Independent - San Francisco, CA w/ the Accüsed, Eagle Twin
8/09/2009 Historic Brookdale Lodge - Brookdale, CA w/ the Accüsed, Eagle Twin
8/11/2009 Center for Arts, Eagle Rock - Los Angeles, CA w/ the Accüsed, Eagle Twin
8/13/2009 Bluebird Theatre - Denver, CO w/ the Accüsed, Eagle Twin
8/14/2009 Avalon Theatre - Salt Lake City, UT w/ the Accüsed, Eagle Twin
The Physics+Jack Wilkins+A Tribe Called Quest
Local hip-hop group, the Physics, who I've blogged about before, were handing out copies of their newest EP, High Society, this past weekend. A lot of folks that I've talked to since then are fawning all over the project and chatting about how impressive it is. All eight tracks (including the intro) are draped in that old-school hip-hop feel — think '95, '98, and 2003. 
One of the songs on the album, "The Session," really reminds me a lot of A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga" from the Midnight Mauraders album. So much so that it sent me on a journey trying to find out who sampled what first. The first step was learning about the samples on Midnight Mauraders, which lead me to this site. If you're a Tribe fan, I highly recommend it. The initial bass line on "Sucka Nigga" is a sample from a Jack Wilkins cover of "Red Clay." Even though Freddie Hubbard wrote "Red Clay" first, Tribe sampled the Wilkins version instead. Check out the Physics song below.
If you listen to the first three second sample on that song, it sounds a hell of a lot like this Jack Wilkins cut below. Ignore the first six seconds of the video (friggin YouTube) and focus on the bass. Vibe out a little bit too — it's a real nice track. After the jump, check out the Tribe Called Quest classic, "Sucka Nigga," and let me know if my inner music nerd has gone too far, or if all three of these songs aren't connected.
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Grand Hallway MP3 from Upcoming Album
Promenade, Grand Hallway's second full-length album, comes out on September 15, which I knew was going to be good when I heard the album's single, "Blessed Be, Honeybee" for the first time. And right now, you can download the song from the band's website for free. And if you REALLY like it, you can pre-order Promenade on the band's website, which will guarantee you a copy of the record on or before September 1. If you want to hear more of Grand Hallway's new material, though, they are playing the Nectar Lounge tonight. 
Duff McKagan: Inspiring and Painful
Duff McKagan's column runs every Thursday on Reverb.
So I have finally arrived back home in Seattle after being on the road for the last two months. Traveling and playing gigs sometimes gives me a chance to witness or be a part of some pretty spectacular events. Whether getting a chance to see another inspiring band play or slipping and falling in a unfamiliar shower, life on the road is never without a daily event, it seems. Here I will list a few events that have highlighted my last eight weeks:
1) As I have previously written about, I had a chance to see Soundtrack of our Lives twice in Germany. If you are looking for music to set a tone for your summer, may I suggest getting Communion, SOOL's new double record. Super-cool and vibey.
2) Was bestowed the honor of sitting at the "big kids' table" with Billy Gibbons and Jeff Beck at the MOJO Awards in London: Whoa...! Was also given the pleasure of presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to the Manic Street Preachers that night. Pretty damn cool for sure.
Speaking of Living Colour
They were my first inkling that black musicians and rock, especially heavier rock/metal, belonged in the same sentence. As a seven or eight-year-old kid in Detroit — long before I heard about Jimi Hendrix or Bad Brains or Black Merda or Fishbone, hell before I even really knew about Chuck Berry or Little Richard — I knew Living Colour. Sure, they couldn't dress for shit (neon?) but they were my gateway into black rock and I'm glad they were.
Of course, the song I'll always remember them for the most is "Cult of Personality." They eventually won a Grammy for the song, but more importantly, inspired countless musicians, from Darius Rucker to TV on the Radio to find a home within rock.
Remember Living Colour?
I sure do, thanks to last night.
Live Music Roundup: Thursday, July 2
Chop Suey has an awesome line-up this evening: See Me River, Triumph of Lethargy, Skinned Alive to Death and Battle Hymns. And it's only $7. The thing starts at 8 p.m.
Kyle Johnson Grand Hallway
And in cheap fun, the Sunset Tavern celebrates nine years of existence with a show featuring all kinds of prominent local musicians: John Ramberg and Johnny Sangster (of The Tripwires), Jacob London, Los Rubbish (featuring Kurt Bloch and Leslie Beattie of Thee Sgt Major III), and a bunch more. That starts at 9 p.m. and it's free.
Grand Hallway, Friday Mile, Apple War and carcrashlander at Nectar, 8 p.m., $7
Grand Hallway is a name that evokes eminence, a kind of timeless grandeur. Such is the quality of the octet's sprawling orchestral pop music - it is stately without being stuffy and dreamy but not too distant. Grand Hallway's songs are built upon layers of guitar, violin, piano and percussion - all showcasing frontman Tomo Nakayama's smooth, exquisite tenor. (Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger dubbed Nakayama's "the most beautiful singing voice in Seattle"). The craftsmanship that went into putting these songs together is apparent - some of the lush melodies are stop-in-your-tracks gorgeous, even more so when coupled with the swelling strings and tinkling piano keys - and lyrically, too, they are packed with stirring, picturesque emotion. "When you're lying next to me, I'm a hibernating grizzly bear," lilts Nakayama on "Blessed Be, Honey Bee," a track off of Grand Hallway's forthcoming LP, Promenade. Refreshingly, the music lacks tired irony or any other superciliousness - instead, these are simply dazzling and eloquent love songs. ERIN THOMPSON
Blues Singer Shemeika Copeland Plays Jazz Alley on July 7th and 8th
Shemeika Copeland is one of the funniest and most brutally honest women working in the lovely industry we call rhythm and blues. I've had the pleasure of interviewing her before and she lays it all out there — just like her father, legendary Texas-bred blues singer, Johnny Copeland, used to do. That's partly why (aside from her incredible voice) I'm so attracted to her music. In the spirit of real female blues legends such as Koko Taylor, Etta James, and all the way back to Bessie Smith, Shemeika Copeland can make you laugh one minute and cry the next — and she does so by singing about what's really ailing people. Stuff they don't even want to talk about. 
When I got her latest album, Never Going Back, in the mail recently, one of the tracks that caught my ear the most is the song below. It's called "Dirty Water" and between the roadhouse guitars and powerful singing, before the song is over, she's giving listeners holy water to ingest instead.
Copeland brings her contemporary blues sound to Jazz Alley on July 7th and 8th. Tickets are still available for both shows and are $23.50. If you're not really familiar with Copeland, or even if you are, check out "Dirty Water" and it should help you determine if this is a show worth watching.
Rock The Bells 2009 Books an Abbreviated Seattle Date
I just got a phone call from Gabriel Teodros, who was bragging about scooping the Weekly. I loved his enthusiasm for the first three seconds, then had to ask: What's this about? His response: a Seattle Rock the Bells show! I immediately headed to the Guerilla Union/Rock the Bells website to check any new announcements but there were none. And just yesterday, I was talking with the PR folks behind Rock the Bells, which is billed as the nation's largest hip-hop tour, featuring artists like Common, Nas, the Roots, Reflection Eternal, Ice Cube, Slum Village (pictured above), Cypress Hill, etc., about how there is no Seattle show this year. Last year, Rock the Bells was at the Gorge, and I've already blogged my discontent with the state of Washington getting skipped. 
Maybe somebody read that at Guerilla Union or heard the cries of our local hip-hop fans as I just got confirmation that a local show was recently booked. It's an abbreviated line-up, but I'll take it. According to the tour publicist: "This is not a part of the actual festivities but is more of a 'Rock the Bells presents' type of show." What's below is currently up on the Showbox's website under upcoming events.
Mike Thrasher presents Rock The Bells Tour Reflection Eternal with Slum Village, Slaughterhouse, Raekwon, Supernatural, and Pete Rock Day: Fri, Aug 14, 2009 Days until show: 44 Doors open: 7:00 PM Ages: 21 & Over On sale: Sat, Jul 4, 2009 10AM Ticket Prices*: $28.00 ADV-$30.00 DOS Reflection Eternal - Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, backed by a live band Slum Village - Reunion performance with T3 Baatin and Elzhi Slaughterhouse - Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Crooked I Supernatural - Freestyle world champion Pete Rock - HostTickets go on sale this Saturday and you're welcome for the heads-up. Plan accordingly.
Special Online-Only Version of Rocket Queen This Week
At the risk of beating a dead horse (and let's just marvel at the horrifying nature of that cliched expression for a moment, shall we?), operating as a luddite while working within the framework of pop culture journalism is career suicide. Given the fact that I'm so enamored with analog technology that I had a typewriter tattooed on my arm and only play cassette tapes in my car, this presents some challenges for me.
A few years ago, I helped launch the online music blog of another local alt-weekly, something that I was proud of and excited about at the time, but am now retrospectively grateful that I don't have to swim the cesspool of snark that it rapidly devolved into. But even more than the unpleasant nature of vitriolic comments found on that site and countless others, the primary issue I have with blogs in general is when the desire to break news or simply make waves results in half-baked analysis of major cultural events. While there's much to be said for breaking important news and the visceral nature of an immediate response, the writing I'm ultimately most interested in is what's written in the ripples afterwards.
I was thinking about this last Sunday afternoon, when myself and the rest of the world had finally had 72 hours to digest the death of the Gloved One. I was listening to a girlfriend DJ a happy hour set at Hazlewood. She played the requisite MJ cut ("Beat It", as I recall), which caused the conversation in my group to alight briefly on the subject again, but only long enough for everyone to reiterate the standard refrains of "I liked Off the Wall more than Thriller", "I'm nostalgic about rollerskating to the Jackson 5", and "Man, the bad jokes are already everywhere, aren't they?" A couple of songs later, she dropped the needle on the title track from Purple Rain and it hit me: thank God it wasn't Prince! I'll expand on that more in a moment, but first, let's contemplate this amazing clip of James Brown on stage with both Michael Jackson and Prince:
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Live Music Roundup: Wednesday, July 1
Sir Richard Bishop plays the Crocodile tonight at 8 p.m. for $10.
Mark Sullo Sir Richard Bishop
Grudge Rock happens tonight at Re-bar; this month, Patrol and Abodox go head to head for the door money and the glory! I believe this starts at 9 p.m. and costs $7.
The Stone River Boys, Chuckanut Drive at the Tractor Tavern, 8 p.m., $15
The Hacienda Brothers were sweet. They could achieve these peak moments ("A Lot of Days Are Gone" is my personal fave) when cofounders Chris Gaffney and Dave Gonzalez channeled the ghosts of Doug Sahm and Gram Parsons. Unfortunately, liver cancer claimed Gaffney's life in 2008, shortly after the release of Arizona Motel, arguably the best album the Haciendas ever recorded. By all accounts, Gonzalez was a shattered man. To cope, he has done what all great musicians do: bury himself in his music. The Stone River Boys have yet to ink a deal, but a handful of MySpace tracks sound pretty f'n killer. Not unlike the Haciendas, Gonzalez fuses country-n-western and funky Southern soul into a gnarly brand of roots rock. As always, one of the main attractions is the dude's masterful guitarwork. It's truly awesome. JUSTIN F. FARRAR
New Music From D. Black -- "Keep on Going" Featuring Vitamin D
It was announced yesterday that local rapper D. Black is geared to release his upcoming album, Ali'Yah, on September 15th. I haven't seen a lot of D. Black performances since moving here, only one or two over the last six months if memory serves me correctly. But that's actually a sign of an MC and businessman hard at work on a serious project. The disc is slated to come out on Sportn' Life Records (naturally) in conjunction with Bay Area label MYX Music. 
I just looked up the meaning of the Hebrew word Ali'Yah and it's real interesting. For those that don't already know, D. Black is Jewish and stays deep in the Torah from what I've heard. Since he represents the Israelites, expect him to drop lot's of knowledge with a street edge on Ali'yah. For a taste of it, check out his newest single, "Keep it Going" featuring Vitamin D on production and vocals below. If the beat sounds familiar, it's apparently the same joint that 50 Cent jacked from an old Vitamin beat CD and recorded "London Girl" over. It doesn't sound familiar to me though cause I don't listen to 50 Cent. Check it out.
After the jump, check out the new, uh, commercial for D. Black's upcoming album. It's hoodtastic for sure but gets the point across. And if you didn't already know, D. Black plays the Capitol Hill Block Party on July 25.
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