May
28

LA Times-Justin “Aquarium Drunkard” Visits ‘The Blues,’ and Lives to Write About It

My interview with that infamous drinker of aquariums is up at Pop and Hiss now. We talk the blues, the stubborn persistence of Southern regionalism, and juke joint drinking etiquette. I’ll be at the reading tonight. If you don’t know what I look like, I’ll be the guy in need of a haircut, drinking 60… Continue reading »

May
22

LA Times: Busta Rhymes’ “Back on My B.S.”

I suppose it’s own fault. “Don’t Touch Me (Throw ‘Da Water on Em)  was so vintage Busta that I figured that he had another The Coming/When Disaster Strikes in him–or at least another Anarchy. Wrong. There’s nothing “bad” about “Back on My B.S”–Busta’s talented and likeable enough to carry most tepid tracks.*  But his 8th… Continue reading »

May
21

LA Times Review: Cam’ron “The Black Gallagher” Giles–Crime Pays”

In an ideal world, the Maybach Music and Toyota Tercel rhymes of Rick Ross’ Deeper than Rap would’ve been exchanged with Crime Pays’, “Ross Dress for Less” Beats and Bergdorf Goodman raps. If you’re scratching your head at the clunkiness of the mixed metaphor, that’s the point–it’s Killa, the man calling out for a James… Continue reading »

May
18

A Reunited Pharcyde Discuss Breakups, Makeups and J Dilla

There’s something sad about watching a once-great group sing old songs because nobody wants to hear the new ones.  Except The Pharcyde don’t have new ones, even though they’ve been “reunited” since last year’s Rock the Bells–which means that their performance at at the Santa Monica Pier last Friday was solely to cash a check.… Continue reading »

May
15

Exile on Melrose–Fat Beats In-Store Footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IkowzZyBO8 Admittedly, you’re taking a recommendation from someone who missed Exile’s set at Fat Beats last Saturday, to see The Grateful Dead. So maybe the MPC mastery of Aleksandr Manfredi is the hip-hop equivalent of the drum circle–meaning I’m the prime demographic. Still, between Fly Lo, Exile, Nosaj Thing, Gaslamp Killer, and, of course, the… Continue reading »

May
13

LA Times: Extra Golden on African Music, Obstacles, and Obama

In my quest to redeem that last lost post, let me invoke the name of half-Kenyan, half-American benga band, Extra Golden. Among the premier practioners of contemporary afro-beat, they’re living proof that the American legacy of Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and D.O. Misiani, isn’t entirely the province of a bunch of pencil-necked geeks rocking… Continue reading »

May
11

Dead Notes and LA Times: LIVE–The Dead at the Forum and KIIS-FM’s Wango Tango at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine

Too young and initially obsessed with hip-hop to have seen The Dead when they were still Grateful, my communion with the skull and roses is primarily a personal one. The first Damuscus Moment tape: a battered bootleg temporarily loaned by an ex-girlfriend, but hoarded as break-up spoils–dubbed off a radio station in Provo, Utah. Studded… Continue reading »

May
08

LA Times: Company Flow-”Funcrusher Plus” Reissue

  There are three albums I’d theoretically want to write a 33 1/3 about: Fela Kuti’s Expensive Shit/He Miss Road, Ghostface’s Supreme Clientele, and Company Flow’s Funcrusher Plus.  500 words clearly doesn’t cut it, but it’ll have to suffice. LA Times: Company Flow-Funcrusher Plus Reissue Download: MP3: Company Flow-”Juvenile Technique” MP3: Company Flow-”Simian Drugs”

Apr
27

LA Times: Rick Ross–”Deeper than Rap” Review

Whether labeled “Speedboat rap” or “yacht music,”  Rick Ross is not deep. No one believes he is–save for Ross himself–a man who lives in an oblivious nether-galaxy heretofore reserved for Mike Tyson, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rod Blagojevich, Killa Cam, and Jim Jones–the real Jim Jones. Even if we agree on this pathology, the “RICK ROSS IS… Continue reading »

Apr
22

LA Times: Asher Roth’s–”Asleep in the Bread Aisle”

Next week, we’ll tackle more pressing questions like keeping Atlantis off the map, making Steve Gutenberg a star, and keeping the metric system down. But for the duration of this one, consider Passion of the Weiss, official anti-stone mason headquarters. On Thursday and Friday, Sach and Jonathan Bradley will battle the bulge of Roth publicist… Continue reading »

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