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D/L: Future – “Same Damn Time” [Busted by HeRobust]

Chris Mills — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:25:52 +0000

The latest “bust” remix from Georgia’s HeRobust challenges what’s probably the hottest rap artist in the South right now in Future. You may remember a couple of remixes we recently featured from HeRobust in recent weeks (HERE), which we absolutely loved. But on this latest reworking, HeRobust takes the trap out of Future’s original and breaks out the bro-step. In the same damn breath, this “Same Damn Time” bust would probably go over well in the right room, but I’m not sure there’s too much anyone could do to make Future’s track worth more than a couple of listens. Sorry, I just really dislike Future. With that being said, be your own judge and listen below. You can also download the track for free if you “like” HeRobust’s facebook page (linked in the first mention of his name).

Sunday Soundcloud Scoop #14

Chris Mills — Sun, 20 May 2012 18:47:27 +0000

Getcha some…

D/L: Ludacris – “Georgia” [BUSTED by heRobust]

Chris Mills — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:25:52 +0000

Atlanta’s heRobust has been dishing out some really, really amazing beats lately. But expect that dishing to turn into nothing short of an all-out assault on the global beat game very soon with surely enough material to keep us all enthralled for the rest of the year and beyond. His latest “BUST” reps his state to the fullest, taking on Ludacris’ Ray Charles-referenced, “Georgia”, and twisting it into a glitch-hop inferno. Look out for his upcoming duo project with Kansas City’s own beat maker extraordinaire, Leonard DStroy, under the guise “Supachip”.

Hit previous entries we’ve completed regarding heRobust HERE.
Hit his official website HERE.

Looking For Somewhere To Dance in Westport on Saturday? We Got You Covered.

Chris Mills — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:49:34 +0000

Between Hy-Tekk Productions, Lotus Camp, Think 2Wice and the independent drawing power of KC house music legend, Pat Nice, we’ve got three super solid options for you to break a leg to this Saturday in Westport. The Union, Gusto Lounge and the Riot Room are partaking in what might as well be a mini club crawl, though we’re not sure if all parties intended for it. Take your sweat with you from bar to bar (they’re all within ~~walking~~ dancing distance of each other).

OTHR & Front Space Present Blank/Face [05.05.12]

Chris Mills — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:44:25 +0000

DRplus2, Osiris-1 and DJ Maangoman are chalked in to throw down some beats at the Front Space gallery on Cinco De Mayo in the Crossroads district of KC. Starting at 7:00, this should unfold as nothing short of a showcase of of just three of the finest electronic beat-makers out of KC. While we’re not sure whether or not they will be playing their own tracks (we have a hunch that they will), just know that these guys have an extremely receptive taste when it comes to current EDM.

DRplus2 Soundcloud
Osiris-1 Soundcloud
DJ Maangoman Soundcloud

Front Space is located at:
217 W. 18th Street
Kansas City, MO
64108

REVIEW: Middle of the Map Fest [Chris Mills' Take]

Chris Mills — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:26:58 +0000

I wasn’t expecting Ink and The Record Machine’s Middle of the Map Fest last weekend to be as draining and taxing as it turned out to be this year. Perhaps I’m just getting older? Or perhaps music festivals and I don’t always cooperate with each other.

Back in 2007, after the second night of Coachella, I walked for nearly three hours around the expansive parking areas trying to find my rental car only to finally throw $20 to a groundsperson who gave me a ride in his golf cart in hopes we could locate the vehicle. It was like a little slice of heaven when that black Cobalt SS popped up in a secluded “sub-lot” as I like to think of it now. The next day I woke up in my hotel room practically unable to straighten my body out when I stood up. Oh yeah, I also wound up going to the ER that same weekend in Indio with some odd medical issues, which I later checked myself out of (Tupac style, almost) after one of the nurses told me I would have to wait another four hours for tests to be done.

At Wakarusa last summer, I had a groundsperson tell me that I needed to go see one of the medical people at the festival because my face was so red…and this was after the sun had gone down. Nah, I’m good on that. I drove down there for the sole purpose of seeing Thievery Corporation. In a nutshell, music festivals can be a pain in the ass, but it’s all worth it to see some of your favorite acts. Middle of the Map Fest was not a “camp out” festival or anything of the sort, but it was a good way to get 2012’s festival season in line.

Thursday night (April 5th) at Middle of the Map Fest in Westport got underway at Foundry for Sean Malone, Kalie Mashaney and I for some chatting. I presented a thousand fancy Demencha flyers to them and I don’t think I became aware of the impact the flyers made until a couple of days after the fest. A very, very healthy mix of my adored 90s r&b was flowing through the restaurant’s speakers. After naming off a few artists that were soothing out the Foundry’s patio like Tony Toni Tone, Aaliyah and 112, I felt compelled to tell my story to Kalie and Sean about why I grew up on the 90s r&b sound.

But my personal highlight of Thursday night’s performances was by far and away the local three-piece, Parts of Speech, inside at the Riot Room. When Sean referred me to their bandcamp page the night before, I was on the fence about them. But their live show revealed personal comparisons to another local band – Mouth. While the vocals in Mouth’s music aren’t very prominent, I couldn’t shake a likening between Parts of Speech and Mouth with their sweeping, atmospheric grooves. POS played to a very attentive and surprisingly full floor of bodies at Riot that night. American Catastrophe played at Union, while someone was playing Montell Jordan and other typical party music from a laptop and a folding chair on the Union’s patio.

Friday night really made me think twice about the festival’s diversity, however. Maybe it was just me, but indie-rock overload was beginning to set in as I saw Ghosty play to a packed house at Gusto Lounge full of people just kind of standing around and looking straight ahead at the band. That’s another thing that irks me about indie-rock shows – no one really gets moving or nodding their heads much, in general. Ad Astra Arkestra, Capybara and others had the Beaumont Club’s modest crowd vibing with their own fun on stage. Ad Astra specifically strike me as the kind of band who are going to put on an exciting show no matter how many people are in front of them.

To the delight of my own hip hop fandom, Les Izmore was hosting his “Heartfelt Anarchy” stage on the patio at Riot Room that night. While I thought that dropping a bunch of relatively dark, 2000-2005-sounding underground hip hop wasn’t necessarily a good look on DJ Nick Fury’s part, he did seem to know his way around the turntablism game pretty well. Things were looking rather bleak at Riot Room early on that night, with not many people in attendance for Mask & Glove in comparison to what was probably going on at some other venues in the district. Conquerors put on a heavy, psychedelic standout performance under Izmore’s stage.

When they were done, Diverse Trio jazzed things up with Hermon Mehari’s trumpet sounds piercing through the night air. But it seemed like after Conquerors and Diverse Trio were finished playing to a reasonably large crowd outside, a lot of the crowd was finished too. Either they moved inside or went to other venues. I saw a lot of people being turned away at Riot Room’s patio entry because they didn’t have wristbands noting that they had purchased a ticket to the fest. So perhaps that was a contributing factor to the shaky turnout at Riot Room that night as well. People only really go to the Beaumont, for instance, when there is a big show with drawing appeal. Riot Room is a little different in the generalization that many who go there just go to hang out with their friends.

It was unfortunate because KC North Sider, Gee Watts, at the age of just 20 years old, put on a very solid show to a thinned-out crowd that had apparently moved on for the most part. He performed all new material from his upcoming record “WWGD”, and the first ten minutes of his set were spent sitting on a stool pulled up from the bar, which some didn’t like. But the crowd was very interested, pleasantly surprised and expressed a lot of oohs and ahhs at a number of punchlines he spit from his thin frame. In the middle of his set, one of the girls from Hearts of Darkness asked who he was, then commented, “I like him.” Gee Watts left the crowd wanting more.

Les Izmore may have put on the coolest solo hip hop show I’ve seen in a while. I’ve never seen a rapper do this before, but he was actually throwing on the effects pedal with his foot during his choruses, essentially crashing the typical call-and-response hip hop show ideal. Apparently calculated, he also made major adjustments to his flow and syllable structure on all of the songs he performed that I can remember, which definitely added something different as well. I can’t front, something magical happened when Mr. Mehari jumped up on stage with his band (Diverse Trio) and played along live to Izmore and D/Will’s “Swagger Killer II”.

Saturday evening (back at Riot Room again) saw a very large crowd inside and outside, well before sunset. I felt as though there should’ve been a DJ outside or some kind of live act to appease the people who didn’t want to mess with the elbow-on-elbow action inside with the sun still up (anyone looking forward to Sunday Solace yet?).

At about 8:00, I jaunted over to Gusto Lounge where Steddy P’s Indyground Stage started making some noise with its windows open, soaking Westport Road with the greater good of hip hop (and moombahton, thanks to DJ Mahf). At one point, I could’ve sworn that there was something falling from the ceiling. It didn’t occur to me that there really was some shit falling off the ceiling until I asked the soundman why his drink looked like this—————>

…I haven’t been to a show like that in a long time. Indeed, the sound at Gusto was pumping pretty tough. Central Missouri-based MC, Dallas, did more than his part to ensure a dope hip hop stage with his passionate, stretched syllables, high energy and on-point choruses. Stik Figa and Greg Enemy soon followed with their own respective sets and Deep Thinkers put on a fantastic show to cap the night off. Brother of Moses (MC for Deep Thinkers) reminds me of Black Thought of The Roots more and more everytime I see him perform, which isn’t often enough.

Here’s a video I shot outside of Beaumont Club where the line stretched somewhere between an eighth to a quarter mile:

In closing, I did read some backlash from the area DJ community in the following days after the fest about a lack of representation for electronic music and even hip hop. They have a point. There is a lot more to this city, and to the middle of the map than experimental shoegaze drone music…or whatever. I’d like to think that booking nationally renowned hip hop acts might be a good look, in addition to touring DJs as well for next year’s event. In all, Middle of the Map had a little something for everyone and a whole lot of indie-rock. But I survived, saw some cool bands and had some fun along the way.

REVIEW: JL of B.Hood & Info Gates – “Heavy Metal Objects”

A:42 — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:25:07 +0000

I’ve seen JL (pictured) perform a few times, but I haven’t heard much in the way of recordings. The beats on this EP were cooked up by my man Info Gates, who I’m also more familiar with as an MC than as a producer. So, I was curious. Heavy Metal Objects is available on JL’s bandcamp page to stream for free or five bones to download the whole thing.

Since it’s only six tracks and I can embed ‘em all pretty easily, I’m just gonna give a quick rundown of each track.

1. H.M.O. Intro
H.M.O. Intro by JL of B.Hood
I’m impressed with the intro for how well it functions as an intro. The music builds step by step, from church organ to moog, which alone is a quirky combo in my mind. Actually, I realized Info loves the sound of organs, digital or analog, all over this EP. The drums don’t drop until a full minute into the song. JL kicks it off with a casual, cipher-style flow with solid Midwestern wordplay. What really sold me is how he subtly worked in a nod to some of his influences (“Mo Murda Mo’s what I heard, learnin’ the words, built a foundation”) and the personal reasons that he raps. Plus, he throws in a few rapid bars and I’m a sucker for speedy delivery like any good Kansas City kid.

2. Take Under
Take Under by JL of B.Hood
This is the car track, if you ask me. It’s got wild kick-snare slaps and deranged space carnival instrumentation. JL spits with a tinge of Bay Area silliness and overpronunciation. Or, at least I always sense some Bay flavor when I find myself bobbing my head in a circle instead of up-and-down, haha. It’s fun. Download it and crank it in your system.

3. For The Win ft. Cuddy Mac
For The Win ft Cuddy Mac by JL of B.Hood
Noise. We got a steady metal scale riff on the electric guitar, and a metric shit-ton of crash cymbal. Cuddy Mac spits frantically, sounding like he’s yelling raps from a padded room. JL goes in with that same urgency. “They say our chances to make it are paper thin, but I never listen to them, I’m goin in for the win.” The structure of this song is weird. It’s not your standard verse-chorus alternation, but more like a series of breakdowns, with layers of instruments coming and going unexpectedly.

4. The Midi
The Midi by JL of B.Hood
DJs pay attention and get your PayPal accounts handy. Especially you dubstep remix heads. Plodding bass line and a sludgy Godemis vocal sample at the start should be enough to get your attention. By the way, Info Gates, plugging all these keys into this track and titling it “The Midi”… I see what you did there. JL’s first verse pulls the chop out and goes fully with rapidity. His second verse almost reminds me of Brother Ali for a few bars but then he turns on the afterburners again.

5. Delta ft Joey Cool & Mel Balu
Delta ft Joey Cool & Mel Balu by JL of B.Hood
Maybe I’m making this up, because I’m not a smoker, but this sounds like the weed head song to me. Joey Cool and Mel Balu both bring verses that are simultaneously energetic and mega chill.

6. Like A Rock ft Vi Royal & Zoo of B.Hood

Like A Rock ft Vi Royal & Zoo of B.Hood by JL of B.Hood
Okay, I never thought I’d hear a rapper make a Vinny Testaverde reference. Oh, and when I saw the title “Like A Rock,” I was just happy to find out there weren’t any Bob Seger samples. This is a good closing song, it brings some of the themes full circle to the intro. I’ve never heard anyone from B.Hood besides JL before, so it’s good to hear what a crew track might be like. The grinding tempo of this one has a little more Southern flavor to it and gets a little hypnotizing. It’s 4 minutes long, but seems kinda short for some reason. Or, I’ll say that if there were 3 minutes of instrumental appended to the end of it, I’d probably just zone out and groove til it faded out and not even notice. Another one for you smot pokers out there.

You clearly have the intarwebz if you’re reading this, so you have no excuse not to give that shit a listen… whether or not you value my verbose play-by-play.

REVIEW: The Outer Peoples – “Iconoclast”

Chris Mills — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:16:04 +0000

A couple of years ago, I asked a friend of mine what she thought the next big thing in music could be. “Maybe lo-fi will make a comeback,” she quipped jokingly. Enter the Kansas City-based, beat-creating collective, The Outer Peoples. Primarily comprised of BMoody, Dan Matic, Wandering Mayor, OSIRIS-1 and Lexicon with the help of a few others in 2012, these guys represent the dubstep scene’s 180th degree. Their second bandcamp release, Iconoclast, chalk-full of dingy, speaker-mangling manifestations, reflects inspiration from the Madlib’s and J Dilla’s of the world over the likes of Skrillex or Deadmau5.

Key tracks include the glitch-crunk infused jam “Huh What” by TheBeatMizer, BMoody’s delightful “Eureka”, Wandering Mayor’s “Breathing Apparatus”, and Los Cauz’s show-stealing verse on the Dan Matic-produced “Orwell’s Thoughts”. Not to mention OSIRIS-1′s unexpectedly aggresive raps and expectedly quirky beats that most of his 16,000 soundcloud followers are most likely hip to by now (seriously, if you can find a producer in town with more soundcloud followers, let a brother know). While some beats get lost in the lo-fi fog of the 29-track project, this is a release that you might just find yourself returning to in search of something odd, indie, pretty and rebellious all at the same time. Perfect for the ADD-aware generation, most of these tracks hover around the two minute mark in duration, ideal for getting lifted in whatever capacity.

Disregarding the pristine but oddly described “grimy” or “dirty” electro and dubstep sounds that maintain all the rage in the United States’ current EDM climate, The Outer Peoples might just be carving out a new underground encased by relatively primitive production techniques that generally favor hands-on machines. Iconoclast sounds like someone left a bunch of hip hop kids in a dungeon with a SP-404 and a bag of mushrooms. You’ve been forewarned.

Iconoclast by The Outer Peoples

Sunday Soundcloud Scoop #7

Chris Mills — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:34:43 +0000

You ought to know the drill by now. Also, click HERE for previous SSSs.

TONIGHT: “Run De Dance” w/ Shaun Duval & LC @ Gusto Lounge

Chris Mills — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:48:04 +0000

[pictured: Shaun Duval]

With Brent Tactic being out of town at SXSW (jealous), LC is filling in for him alongside Shaun Duval tonight at Gusto Lounge in Westport KCMO. LC typically messes with mostly house music, whereas Tactic is usually all over the place regarding genres. But LC will be a dope addition to the event. This should be your spot if you’re wanting to dance tonight and hear some riotous booty shaking music in Westport.