Crib Notes

Back in the early years of the decade, when electronic music was still conceptualized as a dude (or girl) twisting knobs and pushing buttons on a few MIDI controllers, Tortured Soul emerged to reproduce the same sounds and effects using live instrumentation. Fast forward a half-dozen years or so and Tortured Soul have no doubt become synonymous with live house music, playing in a style that has been adopted by other bands (their borough neighbors Chin Chin come to mind).

Keeping it to the basics (drums, bass, keys), TS plays their soulful songs continuously, never dropping the beat and assuring the four-to-the-flour vibes keep you on the dance floor. The trio return to Apache Cafe Saturday night in support of their latest full length, Did You Miss Me, of which, a handful of tracks have already seen remixes from the likes of Dimitri From Paris. DJ Mike Zarin will keep it interesting on the decks prior to the show.

Listen to the premier episode of their Tortured Soulcast: podcast.

Tortured Soul $10. 9 p.m. Apache Cafe. 404-876-5436. www.apachecafe.info.

(Photo courtesy Tortured Soul)

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Van Hunt played Apache Café Friday and Saturday, July 3 and 4. Reader-shot photo submitted to CL’s You Shoot by one | two aka gudrun. Peep more of her Van Hunt photos on flickr.

CL’s Photos & Video page.

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Van Hunt doesn’t sound like himself.

Last year, he admits, he was devastated after Blue Note/EMI decided against releasing his untamed third album, Popular. In hindsight, however, Hunt suggests that given the opportunity to do it over, he would’ve tempered the characteristic defiance that’s come to define his bitches brew.

“I think I would have made a different record,” he says. “I don’t think I understood that they wanted a particular sound. It wasn’t like it was a foreign sound to my artistry. It was just one part of what I do. I think I could have made a record that would have made them more comfortable doing what they do — which is sell records.”

Continue reading “Van Hunt takes the Emergency exit after Blue Note’s blowjob”

(Photo by Big Hassle)

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STICKY ICKY SITUATION: Devin the Dude

UPDATED SHOW DATE: Devin the Dude with 88 Keys. $20. Fri., June 19. Apache Café, 64 3rd St. 404-876-5436. www.apachecafe.com.

Over the last decade, only one dude has consistently maneuvered hip-hop’s flinty trends, coastal biases and various mid-life crises. His name — Devin the Dude. And most hip-hop heads consider the dude a legend. Himself? Eh, not so much.

“Well, only because it rhymes with Devin,” he obliges with a chuckle. “I still think I have a lot to accomplish and do to feel as if I’m a legend. Maybe a gold album?”

But it’s his sense of humor — not units sold — that’s always been his hook. His self-deprecating, smoked-out and sexually explicit stories had folks calling him hip-hop’s Richard Pryor after his first album, The Dude, dropped. Eleven years and several albums later, he’s among the few who can say he’s worked with such alternative rappers as De La Soul and Dilated Peoples to Raphael Saadiq, Nas and Dr. Dre — all while consistently remaining himself.

Continue reading “Devin the Dude, a legend in his own rhyme”

(Photo courtesy Devin the Dude)

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BEHIND THE MASK: Bobby Ray comes clean.

B dot O dot B was the name
I ain’t like Bobby Ray ’cause I was ashamed
But you can call me Bobby Ray from this day forth and
I could give a damn about the fame and fortune
— Bobby Ray, “Generation Lost”

Rapper Bobby Ray Simmons is one of Atlanta’s most promising young talents. His feverishly anticipated debut album is due later this year, and his soaring, OutKast-evoking smash “I’ll Be in the Sky” is approaching 5 million MySpace spins.

But what to call him? The Decatur 20-year-old now prefers to go by Bobby Ray, despite being signed to Atlantic Records at age 17 as B.o.B. and going on to grace the covers of magazines including Urb and XXL under that moniker.

His name change reflects a change in philosophy, both musical and personal. It was years in the making but crystallized last year after he was catapulted into the public consciousness with his mixtapes My Name Is B.o.B. and The Future, the latter of which spawned the local radio hit “Haterz Everywhere.”

Continue reading “Bobby Ray by any other name”

(Photo by Terrence Tyson)

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UPDATE: Read the follow-up post, Sugarhill’s last jam — plus a Shameless Plug for the future of live music in Atlanta.

Next Tuesday will be the last night for Sugarhill — Atlanta’s premier destination for live soul and progressive urban music.

It’s a stunning announcement — but maybe not too surprising considering the obstacles the venue has faced since its inception.

Much of the onus for the club’s closing lies with “Underground [Atlanta] mismanagement,” according to co-owner Richard Dunn, who partnered with Jason Carter (Sol Fusion promoter), Freddy Luster (former co-owner of Yin Yang Café), and Rival Entertainment/Center Stage co-owners Josh Antenucci and Tom Cook to open the venue in September 2006.

(more…)

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THE LAST STAND: Mic Club host/promoter Dres tha Beatnik (middle) says Mic Club won’t die. (photo by Zack Wolfe, taken from Mic Club’s MySpace page.)

After holding it down for 6 years at Apache Cafe, Mic Club — which won CL’s 2007 Critic’s Pick for Best Club Event — is calling it quits.

Next Tuesday’s show will be the last, says host and 4 Kings Entertainment promoter Dres tha Beatnik, who blamed the event’s sudden demise on failed renegotiations with Apache Cafe owner Asa Fain.

“They don’t want to give us what we need to stay,” says Dres.

According to Dres, his long-standing arrangement with Apache guaranteed him 60 percent of door receipts, but the best updated offer he says he received from Fain was a 70 percent take on door receipts on nights that net $1,500.

Fain counters that Dres “wanted 100 percent of the door and 20 percent of the kitchen and bar. I just don’t do those kinds of deals.” He admits the Tuesday night event was well-attended but disputes Dres’ average attendance numbers of 275.

“It’s a little bit insulting and disappointing because this show does mean something to a lot of people in Atlanta,” says Dres.

Fain says Dres let “pride get in the way” of what was originally a partnership that included the late Quinton “DJ Ox” Bradford Jr. and Fain’s own band.

“Now [Dres] wants to justify that it’s his thing, but now he’s made his bed and he’s gotta sleep in it. I’m not glad it’s over…. We had a great time. It was a blast. I’m sorry to see it go, [but] things change. It’s cool. I think people will miss it a little … but it’s time to get with the new.”

A monthly Mic Club event could be on the horizon, says Dres, who is looking at the Masquerade and Variety Playhouse as possible venues.

Meanwhile, Dres hopes other promoters in the city can learn from his experience.

“I wanna be able to have this serve as a lesson to up and coming promoters to know what to do and what not to do, and also for the general public to know how much this venue and this city [de]values independent hip-hop.”

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THE VAUDEVILLIAN IN BLACK: Rahbi (right) as Michael Jackson. His live album, Rahbi-Raw, will be released Dec. 11.

(photos by Kimble Joyner — more below the break)

Click here to read the Nightcrawler review of his show. (more…)

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