I’m not really into comics, but I definitely appreciate the talent of some people who can draw the most amazing illustrations for them.. It’s a strange alien world to me though. I don’t get how people can keep up with the sheer number of issues of the various comics that get released and I really don’t understand the fandom around certain artists who may have done a particular cover or something; because they all look the same to me. I’m so ignorant. Well, I was. At least now, I have a name I can look out for next time I roll through Comic-Con or whatever it is. Chris Bachalo is apparently ‘internationally recognized as one of the most popular artists in the comic industry’ according to his website. I have no idea if that’s true but he’s at least recognised by me as the artist behind the Wu-Massacre cover art that I briefly posted about last month.

The album drops at the end of March and I’ll happily be making it my first ACTUAL CD purchase of the year. In fact, I’m vaguely tempted to buy 3 copies so I can get each of the cover variants. Thinking about it, surely they’ll be releasing it on vinyl(?) That cover art is crying out for some twelve inch action. (Pause). Soooo dope.

I suppose a slight nod to Alex Haldi is required but it’s the pretty pictures that kill it. Props to Mr Bachalo. I kinda get the feeling from his website that he’s not necessarily a Wu-Tang aficionado but he’s clearly not let that effect his work. Tis superb. And there’s a lot of it too. Peep the single cover for ‘Mef vs Chef 2′ below.

How much do you think he charges for portrait work?

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via click3x.com

Annoying catchy song; but the video is something else.

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via hiphopisread.blogspot.com

How ill is this cover?! Love it! My most eagerly anticipated Wu project in years..

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via the answer

Amazing gangster skills on the mic.. Seriously.

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3. lego hip-hop album covers

Poor Michael Jackson. Have they decided what happened to him yet? Was it the evil Dr Death? Was it the stress of preparing for the UK shows? Is he hiding in Cuba with 2Pac and Elvis? I got lost in the deluge of MJ based ‘news’ over the summer and have no point of reference any more. All I know is, I had tickets to see him, then he died.

I’ve been a fan for most of my life. My parents have fond stories of me trying to the various dance moves when I was growing up, and I still have the cassette version of Bad that I got for like, my 6th birthday or something. Even this blog is named after a Jackson lyric. There’s no need for me to go into the whole obituary thing; we all know how amazing his music could be. Timeless. Which is why I forced myself to get up early back in March, to join the millions trying to get tickets for his ‘This Is It’ tour at the O2. It was actually quite easy getting tickets as it turned out, and we got a couple for July 26th 2009, just a few days after we were due to return to England from getting married in California. (They were potentially great seats too). Would’ve been a great way to end the summer. As a warm up, we went to the Bournemouth leg of the ‘Thriller’ musical and the excitement grew!

So on the 25th of June, just after we’d finished packing all our stuff and were about to hit the sack ready for our flight the following morning, when I switched on the TV just to see what was on, it was quite a surprise to see the footage from L.A. of Michael Jackson reportedly dying in hospital. In fact, I didn’t really believe it. I was really tired anyway, and it was very surreal. We waited up for a bit, flipping through the various news channels, until Sky News claimed that he was officially dead, then went to bed. (That seems heartless writing it like that but what else were we going to do? ).

Anyway, the day after, we flew to California, did the whole marriage thing, and saw the hysteria grow via snippets of the news in various hotel rooms. It was literally the only thing on TV for those couple of weeks (and I’m sure, beyond that). Interviews with friends of people who knew cleaners at the same company that did cleaning at one of his houses in the 80’s etc etc.. utter madness. Just a constant barrage of non stories vaguely to do with his death; it began to get irritating. It wasn’t until we got to L.A. that I really paid it any attention, but visiting the Hollywood Star bearing his name was a weird experience. So many people just flocking around this tiny plaque in the ground, leaving hundreds of mementos behind.

We did of course, leave our own note, crudely scrawled on the back of a scrap of paper, but it got swallowed up by the mass of A2 sized collages and drawings. Seriously, some people must have put hours into their tributes.

While we were in the city, as well as driving around blasting out the classics we applied for tickets to the ‘official’ memorial service to be held at the Staples Center but didn’t get them, so we went to Six Flags instead. But that’s by-the-by. We also went to the house in Beverly Hills that he was living at in those last days, and it made the star on the walk of fame look bland in comparison. I felt out of place for not wearing any MJ themed clothing.

When we left L.A., we left most of the madness behind. But Michael Jackson still cropped up now and then over the next few weeks. Mostly, it was an easy thing to fall back on during conversation with random americans who we met throughout the trip. Everyone has an opinion on MJ! And people loved the fact that we had tickets to go and see him – even though they would never get used.

Arriving back in England, we had the choice of getting a refund for the tickets, or getting a ’souvenir’ ticket stub type of thing instead. We opted for the money. A piece of paper costing £70-odd quid wouldn’t quite have been the same as actually seeing him, so it was a non choice really. At least we still have the confirmation email from Ticketmaster. Show that one to the grandkids.

There was still a part of me that thought ‘oh well, the show probably wouldn’t've lived up to the expectations anyway’ – so I kinda got over the fact that we weren’t going to see him. On the night we were due to be at the O2, we went out in London anyway, seeing as we’d already booked the train and hotel months previously. Walking past the venue for the ‘Thriller’ musical was poignant, but I still had that ‘oh well, it would’ve been blah’ feeling. That persisted until I saw the trailer for the ‘This Is It’ movie. Comments about AEG cashing in on his death aside, the film looks amazing and makes me sad that I never got to see it live, in person. He’s doing the dances, has the outfits, and there are zombies on the stage!! What more could you ask for!?

So this Sunday, I’ll be rejoining the online queues, trying to get a ticket to see ‘This Is It’. Only, it wont be the real show. It’ll be the film of the rehearsal footage. That’s as close as I’ll get to seeing Michael Jackson perform live, but it’ll do, and it’ll be the only way I can get closure after my MJ summer. RIP. Blame it on the boogie.

http://thisisit-movie.com/

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You know when you used go back to school after the summer and had to write down a story about what you did over the holidays(?) – (edit: Did anyone else have to do that? I’m not even sure that I ever did that.. but it sounds like I should’ve) – Well, this is that. Except not in story form. Just the facts. I’m not 100% sure why this is relevant to anyone but it goes someway to explaining my silence and besides, this is my blog, and I’ll cry if I want to. Or something.

I suppose the main thing was that I spent the best part of a month in California and Hawaii. Ostensibly due to a marriage / honeymoon – mine, that is. It went great, thanks for asking – the trip actually served to develop a yearning for a less stringent U.S. immigration policy. Seriously, it’s practically impossible to move there from the UK, which is a shame, but probably just as well because it’s a superb holiday destination and living there would ruin that. So anyway, in a trip that wasn’t too dissimilar from our Californian adventure 2 years ago, we started in San Francisco, stopped in Big Sur to get married, went to a few different places in Los Angeles for a bit, flew to Hawaii (Oahu – Big Island – Oahu again), then flew to Las Vegas. I still haven’t finished sorting the photos yet, but they’ll be here soon, along with a bit more detail. It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

(^ custom made wedding figurines of us.. it’s an exact likeness.)

Also went to the Reading Festival and lost a glowstick (and some dignity) to The Prodigy who were the definite highlight for me. They were STONKING. I’ve mentioned before that Out of Space is just immense, and mentalling out to it live was great . Catching the ’secret’ performance from rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures was quite good too, and Little Boots was ace. But generally, though the festival itself was fun, the bands are all pretty much meh to me. It’s no ‘rock the bells‘, put it that way. Nonetheless, two groups that I didn’t get to see because they were on the main stage at midday (on different days) but wished I had seen were Sonic Boom Six and Mariachi El Bronx. Until a week before the event, I had no idea who they were but then I discovered them just in time to be disappointed that I didn’t see them live. Ah well. Maybe next time.

What else? Oh yeah, I finished two-thirds of an M.A. (time-consuming), sold my house (exciting), watched the whole of The Wire (awesome), and mastered the art of caring for an injured hen (sadly necessary). Some of those things could do with longer explanations but now that I’ve mentioned my M.A., it’s dawned on me that I really ought to be doing something for it this weekend, so I’ll wrap this up now

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So, a while ago, before people like Benni Benassi and Eric Prydz started relying on tits, sweat and slow motion tits and sweat in their promotional material, dance music videos used to be brilliant. You know, back when artists appeared in their own videos, and not just as a seedy looking fat man in the midst of a club of semi-naked girls. Or if they weren’t in the video, it was because the video consisted of groundbreaking 3D animation which more than made up for it. Back when the dangers of strobe lighting effects triggering seizures were irrelevant. When anything was possible. I miss those days.

So in a loose attempt to revitalise the dance music video genre and drag it out of the slump that they’re currently in, I present my top 7 dance music videos from the 90’s. A selection of the best of the best, each one has carefully been considered against the following criteria:

Got any salmon?
How well does it embody the ethos of dance music? Is there a clear use of salmon in the video? (high). Or no dancing at all? (low).

de l’Épée factor
Were the production crew clearly deaf? (high). Or does the video actually have any relevance to the song? (low). (Named for Charles-Michel de l’Épée)

Dworkin-ism
Distinct lack of tits, arse, or any other excessive sexy time allusions in order to try to promote the music. (high). Or, does it look like a promo for ‘nuts’ magazine? (low).

You’re not alone..
Its influence and clones etc.. Also known as the ‘dolly’ element. Because of dolly the sheep. (Two birds, one stone. Genius.) More influence = more sheep.

Sound basis for evaluation, I think you’ll agree. There’s also the factor of whether I like the song or not, but I’m trying to be objective. Honest.

Anyway, Let’s begin by pushing the limits at number 7...

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Last night, BBC Radio 1 & 1xtra broadcast 5 hours of hip-hop as part of their celebration of ‘30 years of hip hop’. It was alright.
Most of the quality came from an hour long mix from Jaguar Skills, featuring tracks from the past 3 decades. Superb, and available to download courtesy of the man himself here. The quality of the mix is undeniable, but some of the tracks toward the end (i.e. recent times) are a bit iffy.. Maybe that’s just me and my distaste of modern music, who knows. Either way, worth a listen. Great stuff. I’m not sure how different it is from his ‘Hip-Hop Odyssey’ 1979-2006 mix from a few years ago (I’d need to listen to it again) but to be fair, that was brilliant in itself and pretty hard to beat so he could be forgiven if there are any similarities .

The rest of the show, hosted by Zane Lowe & Tim Westwood, took the form of a top 30 countdown of the ‘most hip hop’ people. It was generated by a ‘consensus vote from influential people in hip hop’ including Dizzee Rascal, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Zane Lowe, Tim Westwood and more. Comprehensive indeed. There are definitely some questionable entries and positions but generally, I was actually surprised at how good it is. Bear in mind this was broadcast on Radio 1 which is generally hip hop retarded, and you’ll share my surprise.

The list, in full, is as follows.. complete with links to their featured songs in case you’re not sure who they are..

30. Q-Tip
Founding member (and the most notable one?) of A Tribe Called Quest.
Featured track: Can I Kick It? (ATCQ) from People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

29. N.W.A.
The world’s most dangerous group..
Featured track: Express Yourself from Straight Outta Compton.

28. Ice Cube

Don mega.
Featured track: Today Was a Good Day from The Predator.

27. De La Soul
Started the D.A.I.S.Y. Age, repping native tongues.
Featured track: The Magic Number from 3 Feet High And Rising.

26. Beastie Boys
Known to let the beat.. dddddrooppp!
Featured track: Intergalactic from Hello Nasty.

25. Wu-Tang Clan

From the slums of Shaolin.. The RZA, the GZA, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon The Chef, U-God, Ghostface Killah and the Method Man! (& Masta Killa )
Only at number 25?! Loco.
Featured track: Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin Ta F’Wit from Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

24. DJ Premier
Producer extraordinaire. He IS that boom bap NY sound.
Featured track: Just To Get A Rep (Gang Starr) from Step Into The Arena

23. Lil’ Wayne
Biggest selling artist of 2008. “best rapper alive”? Fucks sake.
Featured track: A Milli from Tha Carter III.

22. LL Cool J
Don’t call it a comeback, he’s been here for years.
Featured track: Mama Said Knock You Out from Mama Said Knock You Out.

21. Snoop Dogg
Laaiiid back..
Featured track: Gin and Juice from Doggystyle.

20. Rakim

He was a fiend, before he became a teen..
Featured track: Paid In Full from Paid In Full.

19. Barack Obama

Featured track: Victory Speech.

18. Run DMC
Featured track: Run’s House from Tougher Than Leather.

17. James Brown
The most sampled man in the world. Praise be to the funky drummer.
Featured track: The Payback from The Payback.

16. Puff Daddy
Don’t worry if he writes rhymes, he writes cheques.
Featured track: Bad Boy For Life from The Saga Continues….

15. Public Enemy

Featured track: Fight The Power from Fear of a Black Planet.

14. Spike Lee
Doing the right thing.

At this point, I stopped listening. Not in a protest or anything, but because things to do and that.. 5 hours is a looong time. I have the final ‘chart’ entries but the featured songs from here on are my choice as opposed to the tracks that were played on the radio.

13. Nas
Half man, half amazing.
Featured track: Nas Is Like from I Am...

12. Kool Herc
The innovator.
Featured track: Old school documentary.

11. Afrika Bambaata
Zulu nation overlord.
Featured track: Planet Rock from Planet Rock.

10. KRS-One

Knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone.
Featured track: Sound Of Da Police from Return of the Boom Bap.

9. Notorious BIG
Mo money mo problems.
Featured track: Party & Bullshit.

8. Tupac
Sippin’ hennesy and ridin’ on his enemies..
Featured track: 2 Live And Die In L.A. from The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.

7. Eminem
How the fuck can he be white? He don’t even exist..
Featured track: Role Model from The Slim Shady LP.

6. Chuck D
Different to Public Enemy(?) Never hear a brother like him go solo.
Featured track: Welcome To The Terrordome from Fear Of A Black Planet.

5. Kanye West
Seriously?
Featured track: 2 Words from College Dropout.

4. Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster! Cut-cut-cut faster!
Featured track: The Message from The Message.

3. Russell Simmons
Bigger and deffer.
Featured track: EPMD – Rampage ft. LL Cool J from Business As Usual.

2. Dr Dre

The motherfucking D R E.
Featured track: Keep Their Heads Ringing from Friday Soundtrack.

1. Jay-Z
Meh.
Featured track: Can’t Knock The Hustle from Reasonable Doubt.

And that’s that. If you’re in the UK and reading this within the first week of this being posted, you can go and listen to the various hip hop shows that formed this mini celebration over at the BBC here. The Sarah Love UK hip hop show is a standout. Live cyphers from Jehst, Verb T, Mystro and some others..

Word.

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Saw this today and marveled at the genius of it for a while. Thought I’d share.

It’s basically a collection of songs that have been produced from audio snippets off of YouTube – and the corresponding music videos which are made up of the actual original video footage. I’ll let Kutiman explain it himself;

It’s really nicely done and actually surprisingly listenable-to. It’s also a nice touch having the credits (i.e. links to the source material) because watching the original clips on their own highlights how much of an achievement this project is. Rather mundane videos of people playing guitar in their bedroom or singing to themselves come together to form a decent piece of music. Go watch. http://thru-you.com

Inspired!

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So, happy new year and all that.. I’m not really one for retrospectives (nor for any blog posts at all it would appear) but I thought I’d briefly kick off the new year by commenting on my most listened to music from the past year. Because I’m sure you’re interested. Bear in mind that this is based on my last.fm stats so doesn’t take into account any stuff played at home or in the car (thus ignoring a lot of dance music). But still, it’d be fairly similar anyway.

In a year in which I got to see Atmosphere and Rage Against The Machine, it’s hardly a surprise that they both feature heavily in my rotation. Between them, they make up my top 20 tracks of the year, and rightfully so. The new Atmosphere album is brilliant, and the Rage shit never gets old.

In fact, in the top 60-odd tracks, the only other artists that featured were Justice, Brother Ali (both of who I also saw last year), Nas, Wu-Tang & Doomtree. Quite a Rhymesayers-themed 2008 for me then.

So there you have it. Just something to get into posting in 2009. It’s a start. Incidentally, my most listened to track so far of 2009 is Columbia University Orchestra – Mozart – Symphony No. 40, IV. Could be a sign of things to come. Though it probably wont be.

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Great post over at formatmag that shows 20 hip-hop album covers done in lego. Well, with lego characters anyway. It’s well fresh.

Granted a lot of the covers wont mean anything to a lot of people but there’s a lot there that everyone should own. Or at least hear at some point. Download some stuff. Expand your mind.

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It’s been a fair while since any new Sage Francis material came out, let alone any stuff with a expressly ‘political’ theme.. I still remember downloading Makeshift Patriot a month after ‘9/11′ and being overly impressed with the way it really seemed to capture that moment in time. (The signed 7″ of one of the original pressings of that track is one of my prized possessions) . But anyway, what better time to step back into the fray than this, the last few weeks before the US presidential election..

‘Conpiracy To Riot‘ is, on the face of it, a track released to highlight various issues surrounding the Republican National Convention last month – notably the arrest of his fellow Providence poet and musician Jared Paul but as Sage points out, it’s really..

..less to do with a friend of mine possibly looking at jail time, and more to do with citizen’s rights continually being trampled on. There are thousands of innocent people in jail right now because of their lack of finances. This is a principle thing as much as it is personal. Attorneys working with the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU are identifying this year’s RNC as one of the most extreme examples of strategic, premeditated attacks on the First Amendment in U.S. history..

You can familiarise yourself with all the background info, check the song lyrics, make donations, and of course, download the track for free on the Conspiracy To Riot microsite. It’s recommended.

http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/conspiracy/

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I was going through some old records last night and it made me think of this video of Paul Mawhinney’s music collection. The video has been doing the rounds for the last month or so but I remember reading about it at the start of the year when he was trying to sell it on eBay and I presumed that it had actually sold and was in safe hands, but apparently not. A $3m bid fell through and as far as I can work out, the collection is still for sale.. Surely someone wants to buy it(?) DJ Shadow? Premier? Dre? If I had a few milli to spare, I’d happily snap it up.

Anyway, the video is only short, and worth a watch if only to get a vague idea of what a couple of million pieces of vinyl in the same place looks like. Crazy.

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

More about the story here, or on google.

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4 words that have the initials R, A, T and M.
You’re a fool if you can’t fill in the blanks.

As pretty much the only reason I wanted to go, Rage Against The Machine were always going to the highlight for me, and while there was a risk that they’d be a letdown because I was looking forward to it so much – they weren’t. Just amazing. My only complaint (apart from the lack of volume that afflicted everybody on the main stage) is that we could’ve/should’ve tried to get closer to the front because we seemed to end up in a patch of people who were happy to stand with their arms crossed and only appeared to know Killing In The Name. Eejits. Bouncing around to Know Your Enemy, Sleep Now In The Fire and Guerrilla Radio, we must’ve looked a tad odd to the statues behind us but it’s Rage for fucks sake.. etiquette and inhibitions had no place there. The whole set was great, and featured everything you’d expect right through to the rant during Wake Up (although really, surely it’s getting too late to mention Bush & Blair?). It’d be hard to single out highlights, but coming out and doing Bombtrack in the jumpsuits was loco, and the Freedom/Killing In The Name encore was fever pitch.

Epic. Definitely one to remember.

It’s a bit shit that the band have a ‘no filming’ policy going on because it means that for video footage, you have to resort to shaky hand cam stuff on youtube. Like this.

Rage aside, we managed to catch a few other bands across the Friday and Saturday. Worth a mention; Manic Street Preachers, Justice and Dizzee Rascal. Slightly mentionable; Queens of The Stone Age, The Ting Tings, The Killers, Bloc Party, Jack Penate, The Wombats, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Hifi Handgrenades and Santogold. Utterly forgettable; Editors, Ida Maria, The Subways, The Enemy, The Fratellis, countless other ‘The’ bands. I’m sure there were other people worth seeing but as I’ve said before, it’s not really my ’scene’ so I’m not really fussed. But I did have lots of (mostly Rage inspired) fun. Good times.

Wu-Tang to headline next year(?)

(plenty of photos/video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/readingandleeds/)

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It’s been a chockablock couple of months in terms of new musical offerings and while it’s beyond me to comprehensively review everything I’ve been listening to lately, I wanted to mention a couple of things in no particular order, with examples!

Doomtree – Doomtree
Easily one of the most talented collectives in hip hop right now, Doomtree finally blessed us with a group album (self titled). It’s rather good. As with a lot of their stuff, there’s a big punk influence meshed with the straight up hip hop and it works gloriously. P.O.S. is probably the most noticeable face of the crew but there really is no weak link to be found.

[audio:http://www.mattnortham.com/blog/wp-content/images/2008/08/02-drumsticks.mp3]

The Game – LAX
3 albums and countless mixtapes in and Game is still superbly embodying almost everything you love about gangsta rap. There’s still no Dre reunion but to be honest, I’ve given up noticing. You can criticise The Game’s lyrics as much as you want – (the consistent name-dropping is getting to almost a parody of himself by now) – but one thing he’s always shown is an ear for a quality beat, and to his credit, while not necessarily stellar, he’s never weak on the tracks.

[audio:http://www.mattnortham.com/blog/wp-content/images/2008/08/10-house-of-pain.mp3]

GZA/Genius – Pro Tools
Not a great album title, and to be honest, not a great album on the first couple of listens, but that’s probably because I can’t help but compare every GZA release to Liquid Swords and that’s not especially fair is it(?) There’s no denying that there’s just something lazy about his delivery these days though, and it’s a shame because lyrically, he’s still a beast.

[audio:http://www.mattnortham.com/blog/wp-content/images/2008/08/05-7-pounds.mp3]

Ice Cube – Raw Footage
Listening to this album it makes me wonder how the fuck films like Are We There Yet? ever got made. Ice Cube clearly isn’t meant for the kids. It’s a welcome return to form and is the reason I said that The Game is ‘almost’ everything you love about gangsta rap.. Because as much as he idolises NWA, his content isn’t a tenth as good as Cube at his peak (or even remotely close to his peak). Peep the video for Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It. Brilliant.

[audio:http://www.mattnortham.com/blog/wp-content/images/2008/08/03-it-takes-a-nation.mp3]

Also in rotation and worthy of a listen (and maybe a future more detailed post);

• Nas – Untitled (didn’t really live up to the hype but still, not bad for his NINTH ALBUM!!! mental.)
• The Wackness – Soundtrack (nothing new to be heard but a good one for reminiscing to when it wasn’t all business..)
• El-P – WeAreAllGoingToBurnInHellMeggamixxx2 (free on the def jux site and even better than the first one)
• One Day As A Lion (a fairly decent stand in for new RATM material)

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I’m not sure if I really should admit this but I went to see High School Musical Live at the Hammersmith Apollo last weekend. And it was fun. There. I’ve said it. So what(?) If I say that it had some breakdancing in it does that make it better?

I really don’t think I’m the target demographic for something like that, and based on a quick scan of the audience there, I’d be about 95% right. However, there were a handful of other people like us who presumably were just there because it seemed like an entertaining way to spend a Saturday night that would have otherwise probably descended into watching the X-Factor or more Olympics.

My point for coming out with this (no homo) is just to say that despite the kiddie-centric theme of the show, it deserves kudos for being an incredibly slick operation. I’ve been to tonnes of other theatre based entertainment forms but few that were put together so seamlessly with so much going on. It was no Illyria but still, mad props (literally and figuratively). I suppose that’s what you expect from a massively-invested-in international smash hit Disney thing. Also, it never ceases to amaze me how much energy some people have; jumping and singing and smiling like a loon must really take it out of you.

So yeah, it was fun. It goes on a vaguely national tour soon I think so if you’re comfortable with your sexuality, go and see it. Oh, and it’s got Letitia Dean in it. Superstar. What more could you want?!

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Regular readers should know by now that I’m a fan of Atmosphere. They’re easily my favourite group, and my last.fm profile proves it. I’m also a fairly decent Brother Ali fan. I’ve pretty much bought anything and everything that Atmosphere have put out in the last 10 years or so and consequently got put onto Brother Ali quite a while ago too. I’ve also seen Atmosphere before (in 2002/03?) but Mr Dibbs was playing the Ant role so technically I suppose it wasn’t quite ‘Atmosphere’. Blah blah. What I’m trying to get at is: there was simply no way at all I was going to miss the ‘3 The Hard Way‘ European tour this summer. Atmosphere (with Ant) and Brother Ali doing a joint show. Wowser.

They’ve already covered a hefty chunk of Europe but there’s quite a few dates left if you fancy it.. It comes heavily recommended. Last night was the Bristol stop, on board the legendary Thekla (which is actually much bigger than I remembered, but still easily small enough to be considered an ‘intimate’ venue. None of this stood-miles-away-and-cant-see-shit shit).

The drive to Bristol from Bournemouth is horrendously tedious but undoubtedly worth it. We arrived a little early and while generally, that’s not a great thing to do, it turned out alright because I got a chance to speak to Slug outside, and then Ant at the bar. I’m sure I said some stupid shit (I kinda told Ant, in a smug way, to give up smoking) but they both seemed cool about being interrupted by an over-excited me in a Rhymesayers shirt. It’s nice when your idols (strong word but seems apt) turn out to be normal and amiable isn’t it(?) Not that I thought they wouldn’t be but y’know..

Kidz In The Hall opened up, and though I’m only vaguely familiar with their music (a fact attributable to the vast majority of people there by the looks of it), I enjoyed the set. Credit due. Driving Down The Block was an obvious highlight. Also, I don’t want to sound old, but they were really really loud. My proximity to the stage/speakers didn’t help at all but still, loud loud loud.

After a short break, during which I randomly bumped into a couple of people I used to rap with back in Plymouth (word to The Cohorts), Ant came on and introduced Slug and Ali as ‘two of the best mcs in the world’. He wasn’t lying. For just under two hours, they weaved through their respective repertoires with ease. Haha.. That’s an awful line. I suck at reviews But they did do that; I don’t know how else to put it. With a group like Atmosphere who have such a massive back-catalogue, there were bound to be some tracks I’d've liked to have heard that they didn’t do but the set was more than diverse enough to keep me happy.. The tracks off the new album were dope – Guarantees is a great singalong, the bass drop on Puppets is immense – and the older tracks like The Woman With The Tattooed Hands are instant crowd pleasers by now. Scapegoat was a particular highlight for me.. *ahem* scpgt *ahem*.

Brother Ali proved why he’s such a renowned performer and I’m glad I’ve finally got to see him live. The man knows how to control a crowd.. Definitely an mc’s mc. Rain Water, Bitchslap, Forest Whitaker and Truth Is were stand outs. Throughout, they acted as each others hypeman and the whole sharing the stage thing worked really well, but it worked best with the songs they have together. Obviously. Blah Blah Blah and Cats Van Bags have always been favourites of mine, and seeing them done live, by both mcs, with Ant on the decks (/MacBook Pro) was sublime. When they walked off, my throat was red raw (haven’t had that happen in a looong time) but they reappeared to squeeze in an encore of Your Glass House and a little freestyle which is always entertaining. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better show. Truly superb.

I got plenty of photos, a few of which are here and the rest are on flickr. Got a couple of bits of video too but the sound is atrocious. Ah well. You had to be there really

More photos on flickr.

Related posts:

1. my ‘most listened to’ in 2008
2. when life gives you promo
3. kanye west. live.

Shortly, the new Atmosphere album “When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold” will be out (April 22nd to be specific) and personally, I can’t wait. The couple of tracks that I’ve heard off of it have upheld my expectations and I’m sure the album wont disappoint (more on this next week. probably). The reason for this post however is to celebrate the way that Rhymesayers (or indeed, Slug and Ant) are promoting the album because it’s a definite change from the standard stickers/posters/myspace bulletins approach (although it includes those things as well).

Firstly there was the announcement..

..that in order to curb illegal downloading, they would not ship promo copies of the new Atmosphere disc. Instead, the label planned listening sessions in New York and Los Angeles. Either music reviewers made the trip, or they waited for the album to hit stores like everyone else.

- see here

It’s a bold move and until this morning, one that proved effective (the album leaked today.. only 6 days before the release.. not bad at all really). The rest of that article talks in more detail about the approach and puts it in context of the whole music industry / download ‘market’ thing. Go read it. It’s good.

There’s also been the recent talk of ‘Atmosphere Karaoke’ where the group are going to host a sing-a-long of their songs before each of the US tour dates. If they do this in Bristol this summer, I’ll be all over it. My Slug impression is fiyah!

What else(?) Oh yeah, the ‘moldy lemon in an envelope‘ thing which is quite funny as long as you weren’t the poor sap who ended up with rank lemon all over your hands.

And the free download on Christmas Day of ‘Strictly Leakage‘ was inspired. It’s still available if you missed it.

But the main thing I wanted to highlight is the ‘Paint It Gold‘ series that they’ve been putting out on Youtube. For the last couple of months leading up to the release date, Slug & Ant have been filming these 10 minute clips in their basement, answering questions emailed in, talking about random shit, and promoting the shit out of the album at any available opportunity. It’s entertaining. And genius. The episodes are getting better each time which makes the forthcoming release (and presumably, forthcoming end of the Youtube things) a bit upsetting. But fuck it, at least the album will be out .

So yeah. I did have a summary in mind for this, talking about how it’s a clever ploy in today’s society which is so indifferent to modern advertising techniques. How utilising Youtube in (what I think is) a novel way is a great use of the service. That managing to fend off ‘leakage’ til so close the album release date is nothing short of a miracle these days. etc etc etc blah blah blah. But this’ll do. for now

BUY THE ALBUM!!

Related posts:

1. atmosphere & brother ali. live.
2. wu-tang / mental football / child dj’s
3. my ‘most listened to’ in 2008