Archive for the ‘Members Only’ tag
There’s a bloody heatwave taking over most of the U.S. right now and staying outside for long periods of time without a cooling mechanism is rather difficult. Frankly, it’s too flippin’ hot. If you don’t want to crank the AC but still need something to hit you in the face like a cool ocean breeze, check out my man DJ 100Proof’s latest mix, Backyard BBQ Part 5. It’s an annual summertime mix that seems to show up right on time each year and consistently get better.
Of course, I’m always in the Bahamas (which is where I’m currently stationed) when he releases Backyard BBQ and 100Proof’s soothing gift for mixing new school jams with rare, old school classics is just the relief I need from the scorching temperature outside. On his latest version, he’s got everything from the Stylistics, Roy Ayers, and De La Soul blended with more contemporary joints from Madlib, Elzhi, Ta’raach, and the Physics. Considering that 100Proof is also a Frenchman by blood, it’s not surprising that he’s mixed some Onra in here as well which all helps to make Backyard BBQ 5 such a fun listen.
Download it now. You’ll be happy that you did. Check out the full tracklist after the jump.
This is one of the best music videos I’ve seen emerge from Seattle in awhile. Stephan Gray has a knack for shooting top notch, firebrand music vids (this we all know) but he came extra correct with this latest black and white gem. It’s the first video from Thad of State of the Artist and Taysean of Helladope’s overly slept on project, Adventures in a Helluvastate that came out on Members Only/Cloud Nice earlier this year. You’ll see Taysean AKA Swan Coltrane blowing some of the best smoke clouds captured on film and Thadwick staying fresh and freckled as always.
Day one at South By Southwest is in the rearview mirror, and for this first-time attendee, I think it’s safe to say that it was a trial by fire. The sheer scale of the festival is astounding – I did the math late last night and can now proudly say I cracked the five mile mark of walking. Classy!
It was a crazy day of lines, but here are my highlights, as well as a selection of pictures from my absolutely high-quality camera. Enjoy!
The Fader Fort is its own center of gravity in the SXSW universe. The multi-hour line to get in, and the total production of the space is unmatched. To get a good sense of it, imagine a boiled down Sasquatch with more edge. That is to say, free beer, Statik Selektah and DJ Eleven providing between-band music, and a razor-edge selection of music. Twin Shadow won the day musically, combining delicate melodies with synth-driven quiet/loud rock. The only downer was a cancellation from certified Grown Ass Man Raphael Saadiq. Next time, Ray Ray.
Seattle’s Members Only crew put together an excellent funk and soul night with Austin staple DJ Chorizo Funk. Seattle’s DJ 100 Proof and Mr. Supreme, aka Supreme La Rock, flexed their significant crates, with the event serving as a de facto reunion for Seattle expats.
Yup. Heems and James Blake.
New York’s certified party-rockers and LxNxM homies Das Racist put a memorable capstone on the night by playing a show with Impose Magazine that featured the worst sound system, the nicest bar staff, and the most beer bottles per capita thrown thus far (note to showgoers: not cool).
And finally, the requisite afterparty, featuring Moby and Trouble and Bass boss Drop The Lime. Another note: when you walk into a warehouse and see a bald house DJ, there is an approximately 95% chance that it is Moby. There is no reason to question this.
Today’s all about checking out some specific folks, including the Vancouver/Brooklyn crew Old Money Massive, and San Antonio’s own Sonora and Mexicans With Guns. Where will we end the night? Nobody knows…
Hella more pictures right here after the jump.
The first time I heard about Brothers From Another, it was through Seattle astral rap divas THEESatisfaction. They were fairly adamant roughly a year ago that young hitters like Brothers From Another (BFA) and Kung Foo Grip were the next generation of high school kids with a legitimate chance of making an impact on Seattle’s hip-hop scene. After watching them perform at the Hidmo (RIP) and seeing how many drunk teenagers showed up to watch them rock, I got a strong sense of why people believe in their music. BFA are all about being honest, being 18, bragging about silly shit, and mostly, having a lot of fun. They’ve got the youthful energy of kids who are still falling in love with hip-hop and not disillusioned by the genre like many of us who are just slightly older than they are.
Last week, the BFA duders dropped a free EP with the Members Only label called Two Weeks Vacation and it’s solid. What stands out first is that it’s completely unpolished. The young guns are still smelling themselves and half of these raps won’t be relevant 24 months from now. But that’s the point. It’s music for right now. They just finished their first semester of college in California and came home for a two week vacation. They’re still on that same two week fucking vacation right now. So soak it up like free beer at the first kegger of your life. And don’t worry, BFA will get jaded like the rest of us sooner or later. But for now, let ‘em live.
Appearances from Vitamin D, Sol, and Jus Moni help make this more enjoyable as well.
Here’s a track that the good homies State of the Artist just decided to put online and use as a fundraiser to help them get to South By Southwest. They’ve been selected to participate in the official festival (congrats boys) and like so many other artists this time of the year, they need to raise some scratch in order to travel there. Thus they recently made one of their previously unreleased tunes that always does well at live shows, “Chief Seattle,” into a downloadable post Christmas digital stocking stuffer.
As always, you can stream it for free, or even download it for free but they’d love you even more if you put up some coin instead of just freeloading. Enjoy the track and be on the lookout for new SOTA material dropping later this year.
Here’s the debut single from Hi-Life Sound System, a group that more people need to be watching out for over the upcoming months. It’s a relatively new group comprised of sometime solo artist Khingz and B-Flat and Crispy of Godspeed. Together, they’re making music that smashes any expectations based around their former work and simply creating “feel good” music and having fun. It’s a different sound but after years of grinding making socially conscious music and basically having to wear that hat, these dudes just want to have fun. Crispy kills on production and the rapping is fresh. Look out for their self-titled digital debut album dropping later this year.
As for now, just check out “Death of a Party.”
If you don’t already know about the musical series that DJ 100proof created awhile back called Backyard BBQ, then you need to get brought up to speed.
It’s essentially a once physical, but now digital mixtape full of songs that are perfect for a summertime cookout. You’ll know most of the songs, you’ll love most of the songs, and now you’ll have them in one spot. On this latest version, released a couple of days ago, everything from Sly Stone to The Physics to Large Professor to Roy Ayers is here. Hundy did a good job of picking songs that most people wouldn’t play at a backyard BBQ, but probably should.
Go ahead and download it for free now. Oh, and you know how much we love Chicago’s Hynotic Brass Ensemble. Yup, they’re on there too.
Das Racist wins, naturally.
Just came across some footage from the Das Racist fellas’ afterhours show in Seattle a few weeks back, courtesy of Sportn’ Life mastermind DeVon Manier. Good times!
