The Boom Boxx With Nosaj Thing, De La Soul, and Dj Z-Trip – August 19, 2011
- Posted by Eric B -
Hip hop was definitely in the building at the Hollywood Palladium on Friday night when a couple of classic acts and an up and comer came to rock LA. Arriving half-way through Nosaj Thing’s set with low expectations, what I saw was a pleasant surprise and a fresh take on hip hop and turntableism as he wet the crowd’s appetite for my personal main event of the night, De La Soul.
De La did not disappoint either as Posdnous, Dave, and Maceo came out and rocked the crowd as usual mixing up the tunes with classics (“Saturdays”, “Me Myself and I”) to newer, still funky tracks like “Days of Our Lives” and “Much More”. Highlight for me was the J Dilla tribute where they played tracks from Stakes Is High including my all-time De La favorite “The Bizness”. These three hip hop pioneers did a great job of getting the crowd ready for the headliner in Z-Trip.
When Z-Trip hit the stage, he came out to a crowd foaming at the mouth waiting for some more hip hop and he came through and delivered the bad crap, in a good way. He slowly sucked the crowd in by spinning classic tracks from the golden era and clearly displaying his master of the turntables with moments of scratching that were able to put smiles on everyone. The Palladium may not have been sold out on this night, but what the crowd lacked in size, it made up for in energy and straight up love for hip hop. Z-Trip surprised everyone by bringing LL Cool J out for his swan song I would imagine, as he performed classic tracks from his catalog including “Doin It”, “Mama Said”, and “Rock the Bells”. LL and his ridiculously massive frame destroyed the crowd and by 1:30 when the lights came up, the crowd filtered out into the Hollywood night with their hip hop appetite satisfied, at least for one night.
I used to love Latyrx. Consisting of emcees Lyrics Born and Lateef, Latyrx were at the top of a list of underground hip hop groups and artists that I loved back in the late 90′s. I thought they had more style than everyone else combined. Their distinctive voices and funky, percussive delivery matched poignant and, at times, humorous lyrics backed by vintage 90′s hip hop/electronic beats produced by DJ Shadow, Chief XL (Blackalicious), and Lyrics Born himself. For me, it was unbeatable.
After years of virtual silence, Latyrx is finally back with a very funky Headnodic produced track. ”Moving On Up” really brings me back. It’s a lot of fun to see Latyrx back in action, in true form. I’ve really been enjoying this one.
Ari Roze’s “Endless Memory” is seductively smooth, soulful, and funky. I forget where I first heard it, but I needed to check out some of his other tracks. Mighty Highness, his label, uploaded his songs (here) on SoundCloud along with some other really great tracks from other groups on their roster. Roze’s music really stuck with me. It kind of reminded me of Mocky – “Birds of a Feather” which I still occasionally throw on. There’s a warm quality to Roze’s sound, a vintage style that, for me, is impossible to resist. It’s best explained in this quote off his bio:
Ari Roze is a musician, composer & record collector hailing originally from Fire Island N.Y…& now living on the east coast of Australia…. Ari is not into taking the path of creating sample based or digitally fabricated music. Thus has emerged a recording studio focused on quality organic sounds. Original clavinet and rhodes keyboards, 60’s drum kits, RCA ribbon mics, Ampex tape, valve mic pre’s, tape echoes and a selection of killer musicians fill the space where original songwriting and musicianship are paramount.
The New Limb meander between brilliant pop melodies and innovative arrangements and you cannot be anything but engaged, emotive, and/or excited for the ride. It’s musically ambitious but never indulgent. Ballads skew cinematically poignant and heartfelt before you could ever question your romantic insecurities. The vocal keeps a cohesive pop identity and lyrics provide a consistent narrative companion no matter where the songwriting and sonic textures take you.
Bad fusion: If the Decemberists quit writing about Irish folktales and added an indie Michael Buble.
Where it could go: They’re one Sofia Coppola finale sync away from a late afternoon slot at next year’s Coachella.
Brandon & Leah are ready to storm your beaches, biatches. Malibu grown and ready to put the bon in your bonfire, they have undeniable hooks and the starpower to go with it. Acoustic foundations are topped with ukulele janks and rounded out with mixed percussion and fat lows. The understood swagger delivered in every vocal leaves you bobbing your head at a speakeasy pace.
Bad fusion: If a sultry Gwen Stefani ran into Jack Johnson at a Malibu drum circle where MPCs and Coronas were mandatory for entry.
Where it could go: Could slap coastal sunsets worldwide like a mellow tsunami while leaving a measurement Richter couldn’t fathom at the epicenter.
Christian Banks is a true music artist. His musical compositions are works of art; each song paints a vividly beautiful soundscape for your listening pleasure. Banks’ newest project, Walrus Ghost is, as Banks’ describes it, a necessary departure from his last musical endeavor- Las Flores Project. The music and style is different while remaining familiar enough to recognize the man behind the sound. It’s still Christian Banks at his finest, but in his 2008 release, Colores y Memorias, Banks’ style was heavily based on sampling and highly influenced by chill, jazz-infused hip hop instrumentalists. As Christian explains, his sound has changed since then, which leads us to the new project name:
“So why the new name? Basically, the music sounds different and is made different than how Las Flores Project’s music happened. I think that I definitely have some inherent processes and tendencies to sounds or instruments that may subconsciously or purposefully carry over from Las Flores Project to Walrus Ghost which consequently make some ideas or songs sound similar to Las Flores Project material; however, I feel that in general Walrus Ghost has a new and different sound. Walrus Ghost had to happen because a new Las Flores Project record didn’t make sense to me at this time. So much has changed for me in terms of music that I felt I needed to start from a clean slate.”
If you follow OTIS HEAT, you probably got the email about lead singer Sean O’Neill’s solo project offering a free download of “Don’t Look.” On Monday, 5/16 O’Neill will be opening up for the legendary Chuck Ragan at The Bell House in Brooklyn. You can purchase tickets for $10 right here. On Thursday, 5/19 he will be playing a free show at Piano’s . If you’re in NY and have a chance, I highly recommend you check him out.
This funky little jam is fantastically retro, undeniably catchy, and the video is awesome. Holy Ghost! uses their own fathers to play the band members, it’s pretty hilarious. If you like this track, you will no doubt love the rest of the self-titled debut album which was released last month via DFA. Don’t stop til you get enough…
Washed Out is one of the original chillwave artists. He’s only been around a couple of years but, then again, so has the genre. Filled with heavy, psychedelic effects and filtered vocals, the chillwave sound is a combination of new wave 80′s snythrock/electropop and lo-fi dance music. Personally, I hear a lot of hip hop influence in chillwave beats as well. Within and Without is Washed Out’s debut album and the warm, beautiful sounding “Eyes Be Closed” is the lead track. If the song is any indication of what we can expect, the album is set to become an instant summer classic.
German electronic producer Pantha Du Prince just released an album of reworked tracks from his 2010 album Black Noise. This Slight Below version of “A Nomad’s Retreat” is awesome…
