Perhaps many of you are too young to remember the “Super Bowl Shuffleâ€, that perpetual answer to a trivia question that took the nation by storm in 1985, the last time Da Bears were in the big game. Sweetness talkin’ about how “runnin’ the ball is like makin’ romanceâ€; Jim McMahon, who is so white and uncool that the Utah high school where he graduated is named “Roy,†wearing his glasses and rappin’ anyway; Mike Singletary trying hard not to look like Urkel before there was even such a thing—in other words, it was to 10-year-old boys and 40-year-old men what “We Are the World†was to 10-year-old girls and 40-year-old women a year earlier. But that was two decades ago. Rex Grossman? Sorry dude, but you’re no Mac. The real QB is down the interstate in Indy, and now he’s got a fight song by Indy homeboys the Mudkids, part of the capital city’s Musical Family Tree. This sorta-crunky version may not feature any of the players, but when you’re droppin’ lines like “We love the Colts ‘cuz the blue’s the hottest part of the flame,†you don’t need no stinkin’ Chi-Town shufflers!
Lyrics Born
It’s not quite lunchtime here on the West Coast and I’m oh, so ready to belly on up for some comfort food courtesy of El Chavito. Lyrics Born provides similar, comforting nourishment to the ears. Ain’t no need to front. He let’s his skills do the talking. Lyrics Born delivers rhymes all neighborly-like. His vocals have a front-porch, homegrown tone that keep me coming back for more. Just like El Chavito, nothing fancy, just pure flavor (insert El Sombrero if you’re in Lyrics’ neighborhood, or Cancun over on Mission Street ). You can be in the same room as Lyrics Born with his newest release, Overnight Encore: Lyrics Born Live!. It’s Friday people, ease up and get down with Lyrics, his live band and a ton of hot and sweaty Aussies.
*FYI: Lyrics and Cut Chemist are playing tonight in NYC at Webster Hall.
Urbs
Austrian hip hop and breakz DJ, Paul Nawrata, has been crafting mean sets since 1991. He’s been producing since 1997 and his first solo album, Toujours le Même Film, in a word, KILLS. Fans of film scores and other cinematic sounds are definitely gonna wanna jump in on this one. As are the hip hop kids. Quality downtempo, trip-hop for folks who are partial to Portishead, RJD2, and surround sound.
Radio Citizen
Radio Citizen updates the big band concept for the hip hop generation. To be more precise, Radio Citizen is Niko Schabel, a one-man big band really, with a cast of players, including Indian-born vocalist Bajka. “The Hop’s” bluesy beats, grinding organ riffs, and seductively soulful vocals resurrect trip hop’s potential and tap hip hop’s power and promise—the ability to combine genres and moods to create a new work of art. Radio Citizen’s source genres are a potpourri of sixties jazz, funk 45s, soul, dub and reggae, afrobeat, electronica, trippy avantgarde, surf, Latin, boogaloo, and rocksteady just to name a few. Get in on this track now for an injection of soul into your usual, soul-sucking Monday.
Serengeti
Remember back on Saturday when I posted Polyphonic the Verbose? Man, those were the days… Anyway, Chicagoland MC Serengeti guests on Polyphonic’s album and I found myself wanting to hear more. And more is what I got this week in the form of an email from Serengeti’s publicist. Get your “rewind” finger ready, if only for the ill shout-outs on “Dennehy” (yes, as in Brian Dennehy). Here’s a taste: “Vacation place: ‘sconsin, sausage: Johnson, chicken: Swanson’s…”
Tim Fite
He’s a little bit country; he’s a little bit rock ‘n’ roll; he’s a little bit hip-hop. He’s straight outta Brooklyn. He’s Tim Fite. Basically, Mr. Fite builds songs around hip-hop loops and beats, infusing the tracks with folk’s lyrical sensibilities. “Away From the Snakes,” for example, follows country’s song template: “I lost my dog, I lost my wife, I lost my money.” Then, on “No Good Here,” he’ll fracture an upbeat, diddy-of-a-riff, with rock’s explosive power. Consider him Beck’s East Coast brother-in-arms, ten years later, but mining the same, largely untapped source of urban-folk gems. If cursing offends, beware. If cursing delights, dig in.
Polyphonic the Verbose
Polyphonic isn’t just a swell sounding stage name, it really gets at the complexity of Will Freyman’s production. He weaves live instruments and bizarre samples into intricate patterns no doubt drawing from his diverse musical background (classical European piano, jazz trombone, Indonesian gamelan music, medieval European choral music — you name it, he’s played it). The net result is what a lazy record clerk might file under “dub” for its spacey vibe and stilted gait, but there’s more to it than that. So much more, in fact, that intrepid MCs like Nico B, Serengeti, and Psalm One lined up to add their rhymes to Polyphonic’s solo debut, Abstract Data Ark.
Royce
Taking pop cues from fellow Chicagoans, The Sea and Cake, and tapping into hip-hop’s rhythms (courtesy of DJ White Lightning, whose desert island discs by the way are Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors and Daft Punk’s Homework) Royce delivers up a second dose of everything from introspective campfire songs to bouncy romps praising girls on bikes (one of my favorite songs this year!). They frequently put Chicago’s underground MCs on mic duty to keep things fresh and now. Royce forges music of the future, a pastiche of pop past, present, and tomorrow, launching from where the Slabco family left off. Now if they’d just get out of the Windy City more often…
G. Love
I’ll be honest. I’ve let G. Love drop off my radar. It’s been a long while since I’ve chilled out with a cold beverage tapping my toes along with G. Love’s white boy Philadelphonic blues. He’s sweetened up his new album, Lemonade, quite nicely with Blackalicious and Lateef on my favorite track, “Banger.” Perhaps you prefer a twist of Ben Harper, or a pinch of Donovan Frankenreiter. G. Love’s got a posse and they’ve set up their lemonade and blues stand just in time for me to drop some quarters on a refreshing, late-summer cool-me-down.
Eliot Lipp
Tacoma, Washington. Home of the underappreciated, yet thoroughly ruling punk band Seaweed. At one point I think I had eight Seaweed t-shirts. One of them had the band’s logo on the front, and in large, capital letters “VISUALIZE TACOMA.” I’ve never been to Tacoma, but from what I hear there’s nothing special to visualize. Then there’s Eliot Lipp. His two latest releases were recorded in L.A. while he had Tacoma on the brain. So what did he do? AURALIZE TACOMA. The soulful grooves on Tacoma Mockingbird, and the new Days EP, grew from his moods and emotions while reflecting back on his hometown and friends. His output is a simple, yet simmering synth stew of well-worn breakbeats with Lipp’s retro, yet timeless, twist. His goal was to create a classic electro sound which he pulled off with his economic use of synths and beats. Think New Order pitched down to Grandmaster Five’s tempo, and drop in a lick of their rhythm.