We catch up with Houston hip-hop legend and XLR8R‘s April cover star Bun B in his native Texas. Last December, Bun B was dealt a serious blow when his longtime U.G.K. collaborator Pimp C suddenly died. The always eloquent rapper waxes wise about his new role as an elder statesman of hip-hop, doles out advice on surviving in the music industry, and why artists should go out of their way to play in small towns.
Bristol duo Fuck Buttons have created a huge buzz–and not just in the blogosphere. Their debut album, Street Horrrsing, is dominated by a truculent, enveloping buzz, possibly from a Roland 303 or a homemade generator of low-end madness, beneath which heroic melodies struggle for audibility. “Sweet Love for Planet Earth” opens with sprightly music-box tinkles, but they’re quickly overrun by gnarly, fuzz-toned synths and haloed by angelic keyboard drones. Here and elsewhere on Horrrsing, faint yet feral caterwauling, like Trent Reznor on helium, animates the background. But ultimately it’s just another texture in a tsunami of tense oscillations and Brontosaurus-colonic tones. To keep stasis at bay, sporadic fits of tribal drumming (recalling Cro-Magnon) and 4/4 kicks puncture the barbed din. Fuck Buttons follow Throbbing Gristle’s lead on “Discipline,” and their buzz-laden bombs are more powerful for it.
It’s easy to turn on the radio and immediately be depressed by the state of commercial hip-hop playlists. On the one hand, there’s very little actual hip-hop being played, as R&B artists like Mary, Trey, and Keyshia split time with ringtone rappers like Flo Rida, Plies, and Gucci Mane. On the other, hip-hop acts that do make it into rotation (Lupe, Jay-Z, Kanye) are hammered over and over until you’re sick of the song. Only college and community stations have kept the genre from being buried under major label “product.”
But if you’ve been keeping your ear to the street, you may have noticed that independent, conscious and soulful hip-hop is again cropping up all over. Recent releases by New Jersey’s S.O.U.L. Purpose (The Construction, Dunn Deal), the Bay Area’s Moe Pope & Headnodic (Megaphone, Natural High), North Carolina’s Nicolay & Kay (Time: Line, Nicolay Music), and D.C.’s Jazz Addixx (Oxygen Refreshed, Domination) prove that excellent, conscious, well-produced hip-hop is alive and well, and thriving all over the U.S.
Could this herald the critical mass that fans have been waiting for, where commercial radio will have no choice but to add decent independent artists to their playlists? Time will tell. But in the meantime, late-spring and summer will be bustling with superb, authentic hip-hop releases from all states and quarters. For starters, XLR8R’s recently profiled EMC drops The Show today, Tuesday April 8. EMC’s dominant lyrical quartet of Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Punchline, and Stricklin is a juggernaut of talent. Here’s a guide other albums to anticipate:
April 22
C.R.A.C.The Piece TalksTres
C.R.A.C. (Collect Respect Anna Check) is pronounced “Crass” and emcees Ta’Raach and Blu earn their due and challenge status quo power structures with this penetrating album.
May 20
Giant PandaElectric LaserTres
Los Angeles-based GP’s second album is a symphony of boom-bap, with a futuristic, synthed-up sound on tracks like “Laser Ray,” “CinemaX,” and “Speakers Funk.”
Raashan AhmadThe PushOm Hip-Hop
Ahmad holds it down regularly with Crown City Rockers, but takes time to stretch out on the solo tip for an expressive set that features production from DJ Vadim, Procussions’ 89th Key, Headnodic, and D-Sharp.
June 5
J-LiveThen What HappenedBBE
New York’s J-Live refuses to quit on this, his fifth album since 1996. What happens is uncompromising production and lyrics on songs like “Be No Slave,” “The Zone,” and “Simmer Down.”
June 10
Time MachineLife Is ExpensiveGlow In The Dark
This L.A.-based trio’s third album is brimming with party vibes that recall The Jungle Brothers, De La and Jurassic 5, offering 12 tracks that smash it with humor, observations, and personal revelations.
June 17
InvincibleShapeshiftersEmergence
Detroit’s Invincible from Anomolies crew gets respect across the board – from Bling 47’s Wajeed to Talib Kweli – for her ardent, forthright lyrics that quickly cut through any rap industry or personal BS. If you’re looking or firebrand hip-hop, this is it.
PrestoState of the ArtConcrete Groove
One of L.A.’s most accomplished working-class producers, Presto has assembled his best cast yet to flow over his jazzy productions. Peep crucial tracks from CL SmoothFatlip, Trek Life, LOWD, Blu and Sadat X with O.C. and Large Professor.
“Get Bitches” comes fresh off Guilty Simpson‘s Ode to the Ghetto release, and we didn’t lace you with the clean version of the track either. Here, the Detroit native raps about baby mamas, smoking the good shit, and getting rich, while heavy beats and some seriously bad ass handclaps pound in the background. The album, which marks his first for Stones Throw, lies somewhere between indie hip-hop and gangster rap, and is, of course, thematically concerned with his hometown. Photo by Eric Coleman.
Producer Bird Peterson–not a jazzman, but he takes his pseudonym from heroes Charlie “Yardbird” Parker and Oscar Peterson–works a USB MIDI keyboard like his tracks do subwoofers: pushing air like jump-man Jordans. And in the last couple years, the 24-year-old native Texan has ridden the internet equally hard and high, using blogs like Discobelle and Gorilla vs. Bear to spread a bevy of remixes influenced equally by B-more club, nu-skool breaks, jump-up, and screwed-down mixtapes.
Before moving to Austin, Peterson (born Andrew Hoke) had started producing in his native Houston, making hip-hop beats for local and South American MCs. But he found his true calling through the Hollerboard, where DJs and producers, including Cosmo Baker, Tittsworth, and Dirty South Joe, helped Peterson learn how to build to the breakdown and go to town on a vocal line without blowing out the energy early.
“People have misconceived B-more–[they think] you can take anything on the planet, throw the ‘Sing Sing’ loop [a sample of Salsoul recording artist Gaz] under it, and make it stutter. But that’s not the case at all,” says Peterson. “There is a real art behind making a really good Baltimore club track.”
The names that have gone under Bird Peterson’s bootleggin’ knife include remix favorites and whodathunkits: Future Sound of London, Nelly Furtado, Wu-Tang Clan, Wale, The Who, Naughty by Nature, Bobby Womack, Yung Joc, Spank Rock, Lil Wayne (mashed with Black Sabbath), and Big Country. Originally, his tracks were very funk- and soul-based, but over time Peterson developed a taste for Plump DJs, Fatboy Slim, and Switch, and entered a “more synth-y bass-type zone.” The avian also takes cues from the noticeably fierce late ’90s Houston drum & bass scene and British bassline house, whose influence can be heard on tracks like “Twurk Central” (on last year’s Hot Noise LP), an homage to 4×4 garage and Conga Squad. “I’m a big fan of basslines that reflect absolutely nothing from the rest of the track,” he offers.
Peterson’s aesthetic also looks out for DJs, offering up four mix-friendly bars on the front and back ends of tracks, just like he’d like them prepped for his Serato-assisted mixes, which often blend My Morning Jacket, Queen, Iron & Wine, and Feist into the same set as Daft Punk, Ludacris, vintage DJ Zinc, and Devin the Dude.
As for what’s next, there is an EP with 215: The Freshest Kidz, production on albums from rappers Mugsy Flowz and Praddaman, remixes for Grecco Roman and Cadence Weapon, and Peterson’s own third album. “It’s going to be hotter and noisier than two flaming skeletons in a cat fight on a tin roof in July,” he says.
Miss Kittin has always managed to keep her own identity while collaborating with others. Her vocals helped make Felix da Housecat’s “Silver Screen Shower Scene” so memorably fantastic in 2002, and even when she worked with The Hacker, her vision of herself–coolly deadpan vocals from a tongue-in-cheek dominatrix–shone through. That makes it all the more unfortunate that this album, for all its dark electro, lacks that same strength. Batbox, as she details on her website, is supposed to be an uplifting journey through change, but ultimately that change is lacking from track to track. Even the glossy, high-quality production can’t give this album the energy to rise above the middling bar it sets for itself.
Richard Riley Reinhold (a.k.a Triple R) practically defined Cologne’s minimal sound as a producer and Traum/Trapez label owner. His staple Triple R mixes took some critical hits the last few years, but Reinhold responds with an elegant, immaculately machined mix on Selection 6 that never wavers in its quiet intensity, yet takes in the global growth of minimal with ease. To wit: Mihalis Safris’ “R2” is a gorgeous tweak-fest in the Underground Resistance tradition (via his native Greece); Roland Dill’s arty, hectic “Modus Operandy” spins spiky glitch into shuffle gold; and Reggy von Oer’s “Metza” dips into soundtrack strings. Yet each goes smoothly into the mix in classic Trapez style.
A little over a year ago, Brooklyn dance-punkers !!! dropped their Warp debut, Myth Takes, and since then, we’ve seen the band remixed by everyone from Hot Chip to Scottie B. Nothing beats a live !!! performance though, as last year’s sold-out performances will attest, and this summer just got brighter when the band announced a slew of dates for June, July, and August. Venues for several of the dates have yet to be confirmed, so keep your ears open for more info.
06/13 Manchester, TN: Bonnaroo Festival
07/17 Boston, MS: Venue TBA
07/18 Mariaville, NY: Camp Bisco Festival
07/19 Chicago, IL: Pitchfork Music Festival
07/20 Detroit, MI: Venue TBA
07/21 Cleveland, OH: Grog Shop
07/22 Pittsburgh, PA: Venue TBA
07/25 Nova Scotia, Evolve Festival
07/27 Brooklyn, NY: Music Hall of Williamsburg
08/29 Portland, OR: Doug Fir Lounge
08/30 Seattle, WA: Bumbershoot Festival
08/31 Vancouver, BC: Venue TBA
Recording throughout the mid-’90s as a part of groundbreaking ambient dub group Rockers Hi-Fi (Different Drummer, Island, Warners), Glyn “Bigga” Bush didn’t let up after the group disbanded at the end of the decade. Instead, Bush evolved his sound, keeping dub as the foundation and adding other eclectic musical structures on top. The results have included solo albums for Sonar Kollektiv (Studio Don as Lightning Head) and Stereo Deluxe (Biggabush Free, Sound Sensation as Bigga Bush).
“Bigga” Bush got his nickname from his tall (6’7”) frame and reggae-themed downtempo electronic productions, but recently he’s debuted a new alias: Lightning Head. Lightning Head’s 1999 single, “Me & Me Princess,” on Germany’s Best Seven, took many by surprise with its confident, bubbling dancehall groove. From there, LH released a split EP with Cutty Ranks in 2001, as well as the aforementioned Sonar Kollektiv album.
So, what’s next for this towering dub traveler? Lion Head Recordings is this veteran’s new label, and has a new EP scheduled for May and album soon.
The new, mostly instrumental 12” single explores West African styles, including High Life, Nigerian Funk, and Afrobeat, with a funky fusion approach similar to recent releases by Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen or France’s Comet Recordings.
Lightning Head’s take on Africa is strictly deep, groovy tracks that will inspire complacent dancers. Bush gives us a run-down on the EP’s tracks: “’N.P.G.’ stands for the ‘Nigerian Policeforce Groove,’ and that’s exactly what it is! ‘Bokoor Sound Special’ features Ghanaian vocals and highlife guitar with balafon over a heavy rhythm. ‘Afro Spot’ is named after the famous nightclub in Lagos [Nigeria]–big bad horns vie with James Brown-style guitars. Finally, ‘Ilu Baje (Sick State)’ is a 6/8 gidamba rhythm with swirling electric organ and filthy flute lines.”
Look out for the forthcoming 13 Faces of Lightning Head album on Lion Head.
Afrobeat EP Tracklisting
A1. NPG.mp3
B1. Afro Spot.mp3
A2. Bokoor Sound Special.mp3
B2. Ilu Baje.mp3
The Teenagers have accomplished the rare feat of making an album in which every single song has the possibility of being stuck in your head for hours on end, so just imagine how often tracks like “No Love” and “Streets of Paris” will be doing time in the brain once the trio embarks on its forthcoming North American tour. The group, whose Reality Check album dropped last month, will be joined by Brooklyn synth-punks Team Robespierre for the Stateside batch of dates, before heading back across the pond for several European appearances.
04/29 Chicago, IL: Abbey Pub*
04/30 Detroit, MI: Magic Stick*
05/01 Toronto, Ontario: Anti*
05/02 Buffalo, NY: Soundlab*
05/03 Brooklyn, NY: Music Hall Of Williamsburg*
05/05 New York, NY: Bowery Ballroom*
05/06 Baltimore, MD: Ottobar*
05/07 Washington, DC: Black Cat*
05/08 Boston, MA: Paradise Club*
05/09 Philadelphia, PA: North Star Bar*
05/10 Hoboken, NJ: Maxwell’s*
04/04 Glasgow, Scotland – Stereo
04/05 Bristol, England: Thekla
04/06 Brighton, England: Barfly
04/07 London, England: Bush Hall
04/11 Stockton-on-Tees, England: Ku Bar
04/12 Leeds, England: Faversham
04/18 Vancouver, British Columbia: Richard’s on Richards
04/19 Seattle, WA: Neumos
04/20 Portland, OR: Doug Fir Lounge
04/22 San Francisco, CA: The Independent
04/25 San Diego, CA: The Casbah
04/26 Indio, CA: Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
05/12 Newcastle, England: Academy
05/13 Edinburgh, Scotland: Corn Exchange
05/14 Inverness, Scotland: Ironworks
05/15 Sheffield, England: Academy
05/16 Brighton, England: The Great Escape Festival
05/17 Brussels, Belgium: Les Nuits Botaniques
05/18 Amsterdam, Netherlands: Paradiso
05/24 Bristol, England: Dot to Dot Festival
05/25 Nottingham, England: Dot to Dot Festival
06/23 Lillesand, Norway: Hove Festival
06/25 Stockholm, Sweden: Accelerator Festival
07/18 Grafenhainichen, Germany: Melt Festival
07/19 Moscow, Russia: Afisha Picnic Openair
07/23 St. Petersburg, Russia: Afisha Music Lenexpo
08/09 Tokyo, Japan: Summer Sonic Festival
08/10 Osaka, Japan: Summer Sonic Festival
09/06 Isle of Wight, England: Bestival
* w/ Team Robespierre
