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RECOMMENDED: The Skeptics – “1990Now Mixtape” [Mixed by Johnny Quest]

Chris Mills — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:04:23 +0000

Topeka, KS-based hip hop group, The Skeptics, have only been active for about a year-and-a-half. But they nearly sold out their show at the Jackpot in Lawrence just a couple of weeks ago, according to Lawrencian, Johnny Quest. This is not a small feat, especially when considering these dudes are all quite young and much of the crowd made the trip from Topeka to support their hometown homies. Based off this information, I’ve come to the conclusion that these dudes just might be one of the hotter rap groups coming out of Top-City in 2012. This new mixtape, 1990Now, is absolutely fantastic, borrowing some of the hottest beats from the 90′s era of hip hop with the four MCs spitting their own wise-beyond-their-years verse and chorus covers accompanied by Johnny Quest’s precise mixing and turntablism on front street. When it comes to mixtapes and you have to sincerely ask yourself if it’s the DJ skills or the lyrical content that is so damn good, that’s when you know you have some really, really good hip hop on your hands. Featured 90s instrumentals on this project include Rakim’s “Guess Who’s Back” and Ice Cube’s “Friday” beats among other classics. I can’t reiterate enough how well Quest exectued this mixtape. Props to all parties involved. Hopefully we’ll be able to land an interview with these cats soon. If ya don’t know, now ya know…

Wild Weekend Videos: Roy Hargrove @ Foundation, Ces @ Record Bar, Mizzou/KU @ Buffalo Wild Wings

Chris Mills — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:49:29 +0000

Grammy-noted jazz composer and producer Roy Hargrove swung through the Foundation on Friday night, which turned out to be a pretty wild night in Kansas City with a lot of events going down. I first went to see Matty G at the Midland Theater downtown, and his minimal, sub-bass, West Coast-referred dubstep beats had my eyelashes vibrating at more than a couple of times throughout his set, which started rather early on the main stage. I didn’t get to stick around for Caspa because I had to be on my way to Record Bar for the Ces Cru signing party…

…where Ces tore the house down in addition to JL of B.Hood and the Phantastics. Even local band Mr. History had heads nodding to their latest Radiohead cover, which was a pleasant surprise. It was by far the most packed hip hop show I’ve seen at a medium-sized venue in Westport in quite a long time. Tons of Ces fans, both new and old, turned out and caused Record Bar to nearly hit capacity. From there, I headed over to Firefly in Westport for some house music goodness with Pat Nice and LC. I was rather taken aback at how thin the crowd was there, but I guess when the upper echelon of the establishment is accused of running their venue on racist terms, that’s to be expected. It was always a diverse crowd at Firefly, but this past Friday there was virtually no crowd to mingle with whatsoever.

Saturday saw me going to Buffalo Wild Wings in Lee’s Summit (don’t judge me) with some brothers from other mothers to watch the MU/KU basketball game. As you’ll note in this video, it got a little wild in there as well after a KU fan and MU fan got into a bit of an altercation after Mizzou sealed the deal.

All-in-all, these past couple of weeks have been a lot of fun and I look forward to a looming spring concert/show bonanza. I feel good things for Kansas City right now. PEACE.

TONIGHT: Diverse plays a night of music inspired by Africa @ Kansas City Academy

Chris Mills — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:57:43 +0000

7933 Main Street Kansas City, MO. 7:00 pm. All Ages. GA is $10, with preferred seats going for $15. For more information on the Grassroots Concert Series CLICK HERE.

ALBUM REVIEW: Archetype – “Red Wedding” [Out Today on iTunes]

A:42 — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:15:50 +0000

I’m not sure how many readers are already familiar with Archetype, the Lawrence duo of Jeremy Nesbitt and Isaac Diehl, or Nezbeat and iD. I’m not gonna get into much of a biography about these chaps, because I did some of that when I reviewed their first single from Red Wedding, “Everybody’s Sayin.”

The first thing I thought when I hit play was “Hey, this sure sounds like Archetype.” That’s kind of a dumb statement, but most artists would have a continuity problem after so many years on hiatus. Although, supposedly this album was recorded a few years ago, and is just now seeing the light of day. So, in a way, it’s a bit of a time capsule. I won’t say things in hip-hop changed drastically in the past year or two, but it is interesting to listen in that context. Not that I would expect Archetype’s emcee, iD, to start saying “swag” any time soon, but there are always subtle changes in styles to consider.

Rather, iD’s lyrics are grounded in poetry and Nezbeat’s production is a very well-rounded and well-executed blend of hip-hop breaks, electronic effects and instrumentation, and live instrumentation. Both iD and Nez have experience with live bands of various genres, so there is a noticeable emphasis on songwriting rather than just beats and raps.

Nezbeat’s production throughout the album is exceptionally thorough. The drums are prominent, but not in a boom-bap, straightforward kicks and snares kind of way. He incorporates a wide variety of instruments and sounds in each song, yet somehow avoids becoming a cacophony. It’s incredibly harmonic, and tracks like “Look Away” boast a nearly cinematic structure, with mounting drama and gripping breakdowns.

Speaking of drama, the title track, “Red Wedding,” is a piece of moving, lyrical storytelling from iD. There are a couple other narrative songs on here. I make note of that because I’m more accustomed to iD delivering his message either through didactic, second-person, motivational pieces, or through a first-person divulging of his own personal methodology and thought process. Either way, iD’s always making a point. It’s never raps for the sake of rapping. He’s trying to tell you something.

However, this record, like much of Archetype’s material, is so smooth and ethereal that sometimes it’s easy to zone out and let it become background music. While it makes it hard to get the full impact of any song all at once, and you’re not going to have a “What is this?! Turn it up!” moment, I can guarantee it’s going to have longevity. It’s complex, but it’s subtle. You might not catch everything on the first couple listens, or even the first hundred. If Archetype’s first album, Freehand Formula, is any indication, you’ll still be able to play Red Wedding ten years from now and find some new meaning. Yes, that means I still give Freehand Formula a spin in the car every so often, and I still hear a little something fresh each time.

GET THE ALBUM HERE ON iTunes.

VIDEO: Better Make Room TV #2 by Steddy P

Chris Mills — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:18:39 +0000

Steddy P‘s latest promo video for his upcoming “Better Make Room” album depicts performances across the state (MO), studio sessions with the likes of Royce Diamond, Smoov Confusion, producer Matthew Sawicki, and extracurricular shenanigans. Sawicki, who we believe is producing the album in its entirety, will be using zero samples in the process. No word yet on an official release date for “Better Make Room”. But stay tuned to Steddy’s site (linked in the first mention of his name in this paragraph) for previous videos and upcoming news on the album.

D/L: New Mix From MiMOSA – “FUTURE TRILL MIXXX”

Chris Mills — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:00:25 +0000

Catch MiMOSA with Kastle at The Granada in Lawrence, KS on Sunday, January 29th. RSVP HERE. His latest mix was just sent to us in e-mail, and you can download that below.

DOWNLOAD HERE.

TRACKLIST:
1. NiNA SiM0NE – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
2. THE T0UCH – Bodies Waiting (FRENCH FRiES REMiX)
3. DARK SKY – Be Myself
4. MiM0SA – Pink Sprite
5. DiSCL0SURE – I Love… That You Know
6. STAGGA – Wild For The Night (D0SHY REMiX)
7. LUNiCE – I See U (GiRL UNiT REMiX)
8. TEETH – Shawty
9. JAY-Z KANYE WEST – Niggas In Paris (MiM0SA REMiX)
10. MiM0SA – Ice Box
11. AFRiKA HiTECH – Out In The Streets
12. MiM0SA – Dirty Money
13. Sleepyhead – Summer Lovin

VIDEO: JR Tha Fly Guy – “Shot Caller”

Chris Mills — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:06:50 +0000

Confession: I don’t know anything about KC’s JR Tha Fly Guy, other than this video sent to us via e-mail just yesterday. On French Montana’s “Shot Caller” instrumental produced by Harry Fraud, JR gets fly over a recycled horns sample which I can’t put my finger on as far as its origin. Regardless, this kid pretty much wrecked the beat. I really enjoy his flow and voice on this and his vocabulary isn’t bad either. Looking forward to more fiery verses from JR Tha Fly Guy in the near future.

Download the track HERE.

Featured Artist of the Month: MORRI$ of Team Bear Club [Jan/Feb 2012]

Chris Mills — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:33:55 +0000

Having lived all over the country in places like Philadelphia, Texas and Chicago among others, Lawrence, Kansas seems like an odd place for MORRI$’ patented style of dreamy trap beats and DJ mixes to come out of. Soon to enroll back in school at KU as a film major, the blog buzz over MORRI$ and his Team Bear Club crew has been raging at the speed of a snare roll over the past couple of years. Collaborations with the likes of Sinjin Hawke, pub on sites such as XLR8R, Mad Decent, Earmilk and others have garnered him a lot of international exposure. His Goomahrave parties, and other DJ events out in Lawrence put on by Team Bear Club have built a reputation as being some of the coolest events to hit Mass Street since DJ Konsept left for Chicago a few years ago.

As a freshman at Topeka High, he was introduced to the “realness” of the pool of potential sitting in the state’s capitol while current area hip hop movers and shakers like Stik Figa were rapping outside the school on Fridays. At about this time, MORRI$ was playing in punk and screamo bands and even participated in one group that served as a precursor to our indie rock icons, Cowboy Indian Bear. 2005 is when he moved to LK, received a Serato box from his dad (who’s also a DJ), and got his hands on Ableton the following year, essentially ditching live instruments for the computer.

At 24, the future looks very bright for MORRI$. And in typical Featured Artist of the Month fashion here on Demencha, he’s involved in quite a few big collaborations that he insisted were to be left off the record. But considering his effervescent knack for building bridges via the internet, MORRI$’ rise throughout blogland is nothing to scoff at when youtube views and soundcloud plays have transformed an artist’s attractiveness meter. In this interview, MORRI$ tells how the Team Bear Club machine operates, speaks upon his future plans and clears the air to let us know that being an underground-chained artist is not a rut that he’s trying to sink into.

MORRI$ SOUNDCLOUD
MORRI$ TUMBLR
MORRI$ TWITTER
TEAM BEAR CLUB YOUTUBE

Chris Mills: What’s the scoop on Team Bear Club, and what does each member bring to the table individually?

MORRI$: As time has gone on, those divisions have made themselves a little bit more clear. I started Bear Club by myself in maybe, 2008. And it was just an idea. I wanted to be able to move and operate in whatever directions I wanted. It wasn’t a team by any means, it wasn’t shit. But it wasn’t until I met (Tom Richman), he was the first person who I was musically clicking with and understood the vision too.

Meanwhile, I had a pretty good relationship with this kid named Jamaal. I recorded his first mixtape which was called “Womyn”, and it was really good. It was definitely just some joke rap and it was definitely some shit we just did amongst ourselves. But from that project sprang every recording project that we’ve done since then, every MORRI$ song. A lot of those MORRI$ songs that would’ve got released six months ago instead came out on Jamaal’s tape which ended up being really fucking good. Jamaal went on to become our art director. He designed our shirt, he did the video for “Affairs”…

…He’s just really good at that kind of shit. So he’s pretty much our art director. We’ve worked very heavily as far as our lingo and our branding in general just came from what he was trying to do. But the music side of it came from what Tom and I were doing. That springs from us. The music springs from a lot of the influence from Tom.

Also, on the video and design end, our buddy Reggie Scott Smith, he DJs at Goombahrave and he’s a really competent graphic designer and he does a lot of our designs and shit. When I’m feeling lazy and I don’t want to do a design, he’ll definitely do some or he’ll just come up with an idea. He does all the Blasian flyers. Tomo is his sidekick, and he pretty much just DJs.

But Tomo is crazy. He’s from Japan and he DJs under the name Mitmo. He has two twitters, one for us and one that he tweets in complete Japanese and he’s got hella followers. People are fucking with him real heavy over there. That’s Reggie’s better half, they DJ together.

Who else? Tyler Waugh. Tyler’s our photographer. He’s pretty much our in-house dude, like all of my press shots. He’s also a recording artist. And we’ve done a series of viral videos and shit that are on our youtube channel. I directed those with him and those are pretty good. But his music is a trip. It’s like, nerd-core, but like on some other shit entirely (Tyler’s upcoming project will be titled “New Suede”). He’s a very unique individual. He’s got a couple different jobs in Bear Club. He operates in that capacity a lot of the time, just taking pictures. Greg Enemy, Marty Hillard. Pretty much any beat that comes out of Bear Club is probably gonna be us (Morri$ and Tom Richman).

Rashida Jones by M?RRI$

Chris Mills: What’s the difference between the music you play at the Team Bear Club parties and the music you make and put on your soundcloud?

MORRI$: I think that there’s a pretty big difference honestly, between what I personally make and the music we play out. They’re definitely cousins. Like Mingle, for instance, is a trap party. We play pretty much trap music 100%. Sometimes we’ll get into some Jay-Z from the mid 2000s. We definitely play a lot of Three 6 Mafia, a lot of Wacka Flocka, Gucci, shit like that. That’s what we’re trying to play.

We have a lot of room to breathe when people are vibing. Tom’s beats are a lot more like a punch in the face. They land with you a lot more directly. So we play a lot more of his music in the club. I don’t think I make music for the club particularly.

Morri$ beats are definitely more for what we’re doing right here, kind of relaxing, just vibing out, you know what I mean? I don’t really aim to make dance music I don’t think. But do I make music to have sex to? I think. Sometimes I make music to smoke weed to, a lot of the time. It’s heady. It’s heady music.

Inside Yr Head Riddim ft Gucci Mane by M?RRI$

Chris Mills: Are most of the tunes you make geared towards having vocalists on them, or no?

MORRI$: That’s a good question. It depends because I don’t feel like every song that I make lends itself to a real live vocalist. I don’t think every beat I make could have a rapper going on top of it. But I do think that a lot of the beats that I make…if I sample a vocal or some shit like that, I could probably weave it into it pretty well. I’ve been doing that more and more recently just because not only does it make it sound fuller or whatever, but it just gives people this dimension that they can suddenly connect to, this human element or whatever. I don’t think that every beat I make is ready for Whitney Houston or Gucci Mane or somebody to just like, walk in and record over top of it. But I think if I was able to sample an Aaliyah vocal or something, I could definitely work it into the songs that I do. And I’m doing it more and more.

Chris Mills: What can you divulge about your buzz right now?

MORRI$: I don’t know what there is to say about it except that it’s all thanks to the internet. 100% of what I’m doing right now is with the internet. I spend a lot of time on it, just as somebody that participates in the internet. So I guess I have some awareness about what it takes to interact with people on that level. It’s just led me into a lot of different things. It just so happens that the music is what the people interact with the most. It just so happens that people interact with my videos and interact with my website.

It just so happened that that combination of things is what sort of makes you attractive as an artist. And that’s great. If I look at a collective, I expect them to have a sweet website, I expect them to have cool videos, an art direction, I expect them to be cohesive. That’s definitely the pressure that I put on myself maybe to the nth degree. The more and more that things have developed, I’ve definitely met more and more people who are willing to help me sort of forge in that direction towards accomplishing that vision. The machine even happens without me. When we made that video for Blasian (a now defunct series of parties through Team Bear Club), I wasn’t even integral to the creation of that thing and the script was written, the idea was there and I just helped them execute it. It was great. It was an idea that I wished had crawled out of my head. It just happened to crawl out of this other person’s.

Chris Mills: In a previous interview conducted with you and RawJuice, you said, “It’s never really been my goal to be an underground artist.” Could you go into more detail about that?

MORRI$: I just don’t want to be pegged as an indie dude. I’m just not trying to be on the underground. I’m definitely not trying to get stuck in this rock and roll dream of being in some band, traveling around going place to place, selling your merch and shit. Nope. That is not part of my vision. I might as well just sit here and sell beats to rappers. I’m avoiding both of those paths.

Chris Mills: What’s on the horizon for you, looking into 2012?

MORRI$: I know I’m going to SXSW. I put an official bid in to be in one of those special showcases. So I hope it works out. But I’ve already got a bunch of shows lined up. Who knows what will happen after that? People go out to that kind of shit and they blow up off some SXSW type exposure. I haven’t put out very much music. It’s a very slow trickle.

I’ve definitely achieved some hype and shit, but if I had dumped out a lot of the shit that I have been working on like a little while ago (a release), I probably would’ve had a lot more write ups. But I’m definitely still on the underground just because it’s got to bubble under there for at least a little while. But it’s definitely floating out there to some very interesting people. Everyday, I get an e-mail from this person or that person and it’s getting more and more interesting everyday. In 2012, we’ll definitely see what the fuck’s going on. I can’t put my finger on it yet, especially as I get closer to putting out a release, but inevitably I think some very interesting things are sure to develop.

Brief Thoughts on Drake & Common Rap Beef

Chris Mills — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:08:01 +0000

Though I loved Drake’s latest album, Take Care, I thought Drake’s verse on Rozay’s recent “Stay Schemin” went a little too hard. Common does his best to expose Drake in this latest diss track that just came out today. The heads know that Common’s never been one to cower in the midst of rap disses.

Once upon a time, Drake said on “Successful” with Trey Songz, “Diss me and you’ll never hear a reply for it.” We’ll see about that. Drake fans should keep in mind that he, Kendrick Lamar and ASAP Rocky are coming to the Sprint Center here in KC on March 1st. CLICK HERE for more info on that.

In related news…

KC-Based Beats/Electronic [2011 Music Picks]

Chris Mills — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:26:59 +0000

With more artists in KC doing experimental, beat music derivatives this year, I thought this separate chart would only be right. I don’t think I had near as many favorite local beats to refer to when the Demencha writers put together their 2010 music picks last year. But in 2011, some said that electronic music exploded with more bang than in any other 365-day span, and somehow I imagine Skrillex being some kind of poster boy for this resurgence. Seems to me like music is easier to create nowadays and all these kids in their 20s who’ve been messing around with earlier versions of Fruity Loops in their bedrooms for the past five years are finally getting the hang of it and cranking out some real jams. I also think that dubstep’s BPM tempo (particularly arriving in Verizon commercials while the Dirty South still reigns in rap) has helped its crossover appeal in the United States much more than any style of electronic music has seen in years.

I did forewarn a lot of people that dubstep was about to see a big backlash in 2011, and it proved to be true. Am I happy to see Matty G at the Midland here in in a few weeks? Yes. Do I like the vast majority of dubstep tracks and mixes I listened to this year? No. I intentionally refrained from downloading or seeking out much dubstep this year, and seemingly every time someone referred me to something “so sick”, I couldn’t help but cringe after the drop.

For this local beats/electronic chart I’ve come up with to round out 2011, I’ve included 10 really slick compositions and official releases. The Excision, Datsik and whatever else that I’m still not sure how to dance to was left at home in my external, though. Beyond that, these were my favorite beats out of our area this year. Thank you for reading and listening on Demencha.com…

10. Leonard DStroy – “Sunnshine”
Sunnshine by Leonard Dstroy

This was my personal favorite from Lenny’s Inner Exit EP, which came out earlier this year. But with a brand new album out on Elm & Oak today, 2012 looks to be shaping up quite nicely for Lenny. “Sunnshine” sees him incorporating some jazzy horns and KRS-One’s “Woop, woop!” vocals which he’s using as a kind of territorial track marker on much of his recent work and live sets since crossing over from the local underground hip hop base, and breaking new ground for himself amongst an audience of glowstickers.

9. FreeKing – “Unreal” (DJ Mix)
FreeKing-Unreal by FreeKing

HAM. This mix plays out like a workout tape that FreeKing (FKA Rob Lee) made for a friend in need of a cardio soundtrack. Not only that, but this guy absolutely reigned at one of the Kansas City Techno parties at The Union in Westport over the summer. This brand of unrelenting techno is exactly what I needed for a lot of my long drives and work day motivation.

8. Archi & B-Stee – “Can’t Stop”
Archi & B-Stee – Can’t Stop by Think 2wice

Locals DJ Archi and DJ B-Stee cooked up a really cool moombahton flip of After 7’s “Can’t Stop”, hanging on to the chorus for the most part. While I decided that I did in fact like moombahton this year, I’m still not sure if this music is going to stick around very long. I still think moombahton is best appreciated when it’s played in a club and girls are getting down to it. In those instances, it can be pretty electric. But aside from David Heartbreak’s “moombahsoul” derivative, you might not be able to get into moombahton by just listening to it in your headphones at home. Archi and B-Stee have great anticipation for what can work on a dance floor. Trust in these two to stay on top of burgeoning club sounds in 2012.

7. Moodymatic – “Ampex Frequency” EP
Ampex Frequency EP by MOODYMATIC

The super-weird beat music movement gained even more steam in 2011 and showed everyone that current bass music doesn’t have to clock in at exactly 70 BPM and be completely ridiculous. I munched on these crunchy, glitched-out beats from North KC-based, Bmoody, and Midtown-marinating, Dan Matic, for a good part of 2011 and almost broke a tooth in the process. The whole Footclan are constantly making beats and putting them up for free download.

6. Sinjin Hawke & Morri$ – “One Kiss”

Barcelona-based dream beat weaver, Sinjin Hawke and Lawrencian, Morri$, came together on this “One Kiss” track just a few weeks ago. I’ve really been feeling this rush of melodic bass music that became more blogged about in 2011. A lot of the Team Bear Club sound (Morri$’ crew) comes out in this really shiny, fun take on trap-styled beats. After interviewing Morri$ at his crib in LK just about two weeks ago (check back for our Artist of the Month Feature in mid-January), it sounds like this guy could start making some rather massive moves soon.

5. Topp Boom – “Planet L.O.V.E.”
Topp Boom (aka Luke Rocha) – “Planet L.O.V.E.” by DEMENCHA MAGAZINE

Our Featured Artist of the Month for December, Luke Rocha aka Topp Boom, is still on that analog tip, but that doesn’t mean this track (and a lot of the music on the Symbol Heavy crew site) isn’t fantastic. Depending on how you look at it, the dustiness of the sample-based, “Planet L.O.V.E.”, may even enhance its beauty. With very little use of modern computer programs and technology, Topp Boom really turned out a gem here. But you will need to turn it up.

4. Motorboater – “Lessons”

This joint came out on Motorboater’s 2011 album, Sport, through the local indie champs at The Record Machine. I’m still not exactly sure how this guy performs when he plays out, but “Lessons” really hit the spot.

3. Miles Bonny – “We” [DRplus2 Remix]
We [DRplus2 REMIX] by Miles Bonny

DRplus2 (FKA Dr+) churned out an amazing beat disc over the summer. Oddly enough, I can’t remember if this track is on it or not, but that doesn’t matter because you can grab all of the official “We” remixes on Miles Bonny’s bandcamp page (including flips from Tactic and Chrissy Murderbot). But DR’s beat disc was never released online. If you don’t have one, and can enjoy any kind of hard, glitchy beats, you might want to hit him up. DRplus2 remains one of the most brilliant young producers out, and his remix of Miles’ “We” was one of my favorite local tracks of 2011.

2. Ghost – “Autoscopy” (beat album)
Fallen by Ghost_816

Citing Dr. Dre, 9th Wonder and Oscar Peterson as some of his main influences in an interview with us earlier this year, the classically-trained, 21-year old hip hop producer known simply as Ghost flew under the radar of a lot of local hip hop heads this year. But I fully expect business to start picking up for him a lot more in 2012. There’s not necessarily much pop potential in his beats yet, they’re just really solid hip hop jams intended for really solid rappers. But until Ghost starts serving more beats out to vocalists, I’ll hope and pray that none of them fuck anything up because these tracks stand out on their own already.

1. Nezbeat – “Children of the Ghetto”
Children of the Ghetto by Good Hair (Nezbeat & Joe Good)

One half of Lawrence hip hop duo, Archetype, and wonderful beat-maker, Nezbeat, really outdid himself here. I distinctly remember my jaw dropping at my desk as I got to the 1:45 mark shortly after getting his Good Hair project (a lost album of sorts, featuring former KC rapper, Joe Good) this year. Nez leaves plenty of room for his own singing throughout the melody-drenched airiness and bent-up bass. Deep and inspiring, “Children of the Ghetto” is one of the most rewarding tracks I’ve heard out of KC/Lawrence (and beyond) all year.