Graymaker (Grayskul x Maker) – Crazy Talk Rhymesayers/Oldominion hip-hop duo Grayskul hooks up with producer Maker for a new project. Sounds dope! More info can be found here . +++ The homie Toki Wright hooks up the fans with a nice behind the scenes look at the Fresh Air Tour's most recent tour stop in NYC. Dope stuff! Fresh Air Tour featuring Brother Ali, Evidence, Toki Wright and Bk-One stops through Chicago November 18th. Toki Wright X PWELBS [...]
Now that baseball season is officially over, it's hard to ignore that another season of NBA is in full swing -- a painful reminder of what was taken from us in Seattle. And now, of course, there's a documentary to go along with it. Sonicsgate made it's way online last month and while the film has a lot of issues (its in desperate need of art direction, for one -- the Powerpoint-like graphics "needed a fresh pair of eyes," as we like to say), its a compelling tale of a franchise, a city and the [...]
Hesitation Wounds is out on Sleep's new home Strange Famous . A big step for Sleep and a huge win for a great label with a tight roster.(2MEX,Buck 65,Cecil Otter, Sage Francis!) To be honest I didn't have any doubt Sleep would release another solid album. Continuing where Christopher left off Hesitation Wounds shows an advancing Sleep getting faster without losing any meaning. All substance and no filler. You're not going to hear the same repeating line "You're a jerk" a million times. With Live instrumentation [...]
5/5 Hesitation Wounds is out on Sleep's new home Strange Famous . A big step for Sleep and a huge win for a great label with a tight roster.(2MEX,Buck 65,Cecil Otter, Sage Francis!) To be honest I didn't have any doubt Sleep would release another solid album. Continuing where Christopher left off Hesitation Wounds shows an advancing Sleep getting faster without losing any meaning. All substance and no filler. You're not going to hear the same repeating line "You're a [...]
A few days back, I threw up a couple of Grayskul tracks sent to me by Fieldwerk Recordings . Well, they hit me again with some new I Self Devine , featuring production by Chicago artist Crushcon7 . And, as a bonus there's also a song by Skech185 , also of Chicago. It's all enclosed below in a single .zip file. I Self Devine: "Fieldwerk" (Prod. Crushcon7) + Skech185: "Letters from the Low End" (Prod. Crushcon7)
Grayskul, the Rhymesayers duo comes back with some new material. Haven't heard from these guys in a bit. Huge props to Fieldwerk Recordings for hitting me with these. Both songs are enclosed in a single .zip file, so hit the link below to get both joints. Grayskull: "Mod Volatile" + "At The Time"
Like I said yesterday, I'll be sharing some of my favorite old Elemental magazine columns with JTTS readers over the next few weeks. In addition to my presumption that you'll enjoy them, I want to get these joints in cyberspace since they don't yet (and never did) exist here. This first one is the introduction to my old column, Read the Labels , in which I profiled a different indie imprint every month. If you're at all involved in the industry yourself - I suggest you check these carefully. Not because [...]
![The Forcefield Kids - Home EP [Album Review]](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/1844997_lg.jpg)
Newcastle is a town known for many things. A fine thick lager would be the obvious. But, hip hop probably wouldn't cross an outsider's mind when envisioning fields of green and cheerful soccer games pouring through two-story flats. Enter The Forcefield Kids with their soulful and spiritual flows over great seizures of digitized utopia. Their debut release, Home EP , is a fine example of the relevant fact that these brilliant British rhyme-smiths know hip hop, and they deserve their place in all it's glamour. For [...]
[INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING] As much as longtime Portland MC Sleep contemplates the unknown in his verses, it's not really fair to peg him as "dark." Thorough examination of death is a hallmark of the entire Oldominion crew he co-founded over a decade ago, but like his pioneering Northwest peers, Sleep voyages into the void for a bit of perspective on life. So while the title of his new record, Hesitation Wounds, may elicit images of grisly failed suicide attempts—the sort of themes explored on the album's title track—it means something more to Sleep. It's an apology for nearly losing [...]
If you are fan of one or maybe more of these bands (as I guess), have a stop at the daytrotter and get the 4 song sessions of them! Incredible concept, incredible acceptance, incredible songs... Congretulations! ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (Mar 3, 2008) The 1900s (Feb 11, 2008) 31 Knots (May 9, 2007) A Faulty Chromosome (Apr 12, 2009) A Place to Bury Strangers (Mar 25, 2008) The A-Sides (Jan 9, 2008) A.A. Bondy (May 21, 2008) About (Mar 5, 2007) The Acorn (Feb 22, 2009) Adam Green [...]
WW's producer profile series continues with a PDX hip-hop mini-mogul. Most treasured studio item: Avalon 737 preamp. Admired producers: Smoke, DJ Premier, J-Dilla, Dr. Dre Required listening: Iame's Noise Complaints, Smoke's Bleed, The Chicharones' When Pigs Fly. Up a flight of stairs in a nondescript inner-Southeast Portland warehouse, the longtime home of Momentum Studios has been stripped down to bare burgundy walls and a broken '70s pinball machine. Momentum—the music wing of which [...]
One might not think that a Northern Kentucky native would aim to make it in the hip-hop industry, but going far is exactl what 25 year old indie hip-hop maverick Cas One intends to do. His new album Liberation , with a guest appearance by acclaimed rapper Brother Ali, is reaping deserved attention. With musical influences ranging from UGK & Big Daddy Kane to Ratatat, Cold War Kids & Okkervil River, it's interesting that as a rapper Cas One gravitates towards intrumental music and greatly values the production of his own. He's opened up for Immortal Technique. [...]
Lifesavas and Grayskul at the Nectar...this is gonna be a great show. For those of you unfamiliar with Grayskul-they could be described as minimalist gothic hip-hop, which is better than it sounds. They're on the Rhymesayers, which is a pretty good indication of a high-quality live show, and hail from Seattle. Lifesavas is a lovely [...]
Bloody Radio is a strong document of this dynamic duo's unique spin on Hip-Hop. You could call it Doom-Hop or Goth-Hop if you want to get really silly, but those are blanket terms that don't accurately describe the eclectic mix of styles found here. read more
Sportn' Life Records and Scribes + SoL Presents SPACEMAN Scribes SoL (CD Release show) JFK (of Grayskul) BYC (B-boy Crew) DJ BeanOne $8 8pm doors All Ages// Bar w/ID
This one was a long time coming. Chris "Sleep" Tafoya, one-third of the Chicharones, the fastest rapper in Portland (the world?) and a heck of a nice guy, has signed to Sage Francis' label, Strange Famous . But don't take our word for it, read Sleep's blogging from last night: Hey what's up everyone? So I was on the road when the announcement was made and just got home. I wanted to tell you how excited I am now that the cat is out of the bag!! I have been working on a new record [...]
Last Saturday night, I headed out with a large contingent of friends to Neumo's to see the Oldominion 10th Anniversary show (you know, the one I wrote about last week). With a bill like the Saturday Knights and Grayskul, there is no way I was going to be let down. And yet, with such high expectations, I was absolutely blown away! . We got there just before Grayskul, and although I had seen Onry and JFK take to the stage on many occasions before, there was something special in the air this night! At this point, [...]
After my long absence from the world of the internet (due to a freak accident involving scalding water, a night guard, a Christmas tree, and a spinning hard drive...seriously, don't ask), I came across a show so great that I had to rejoin the world of the interwebs just to share it with all of you. . That's right, this coming Saturday night, Seattle's favorite indie-hop superstars, The Saturday Knights , will be performing as part of the Oldominion 10th Anniversary show at Neumo's. For anyone who hasn't managed to [...]
![[rock the dub Interview]: Kosha Dillz](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/1430637_lg.jpg)
I get a lot of interview requests, and have been slacking on getting them done/posted. Here is one I have had finished for about a month, and just haven't gotten to. If you've not heard Freestyle vs Written from C-Rayz Walz & Kosha Dillz , you're missing out on some ill Hip-Hop. Kosha grew up in NJ, is doing his thing in Cali, and is getting some crazy press. Get on this bandwagon early, for the train will be flying out of here ASAP... [...]
Here's a pretty tight video from Seattle's Grayskul . The culturally-conscious doom rappers enlisted the help of former Pretty Girls Makes Graves vocalist Andrea Zollo to add in some of her trademark urgency to the sinister, head-bobbin' West Coast tune . Entitled "Missing", it centers around a bubbly bass beat and Onry Ozzborn and JFK's jagged upbringings. How they were able to harness their inherent skillz is a principal theme (along with Zollo going a bit nuts), and it's shot in an attractive widescreen, semi-sepia format. . [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
The Beach House Theory of 2k10.
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
