They Might Be Giants The two Johns – Flansburgh and Linnell – have been penning quirky rock tunes for nearly 30 years at this point. This time around, the band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album Flood – which some, including yours truly, would claim to be their finest work. In recent years, their focus has been on children’s albums – which won them a Grammy in 2009. There might be a few children’s tunes played at the show, but they’ll fit right in with the rest of the material. You can also hope for “Particle Man” and “Instanbul (Not Constantinople).” Visulite Theatre
With today being the 13th anniversary of Biggie Small’s death, it’s crazy to think that as a 23-year old that literally grew up with hip-hop, that B.I.G. has been dead more than half my life.
March 9 is always a day where radio blows the dust off Biggie records that aren’t just singles but the meat of the legacy he left behind. Ironically, one of the most compelling points I heard on radio this morning actually came from Sports Talk radio.
On Sirius this morning, Bomani Jones likened the short length of his career and the lasting musical footprint to being like hip-hop’s Jimi Hendrix. Both died in their 20s and produced timeless music in a span of about three or four years, so that’s just a little nugget to chew on. I think about my relationship with Biggie’s music and I always laugh because unlike 2Pac, who I definitely didn’t understand as an artist until years later, Big was easy to digest lyrically. Plus, because Moms knew the samples, she’d definitely let that ride in the car before something like “Hit ‘Em Up.”
Anyway, for today’s National Hip Hop holiday, I’ll share one of my favorite Biggie tracks of all-time, a freestyle from ‘94 he did with Funkmaster Flex, I present to you, “The Wickedest” (they talk for about a minute first so let it ride, trust me it’s worth the wait).
You’ve probably been in a Charlotte restaurant and noticed that a musician or musicians were playing over in a corner somewhere. I’ve played many a dinner gig and have noticed something that you might find interesting. Let me tell you a story…
The bass player for my band and I sometimes do duo gigs in restaurants for some extra money when our band takes a break from doing shows. We had been playing about once a month at a NoDa restaurant (that shall remain nameless) and had been digging it. We played a couple of sets for a couple of hours, had a few beers and grubbed on some good food.
As with most restaurant gigs, the crowd didn’t really care about the music but, after all, they’re there to have dinner and drinks and probably didn’t choose that spot because they wanted to hear some live music. That’s the name of the game when it comes to these kinds of gigs — your music is part of the restaurant atmosphere/ambiance and usually doesn’t take center stage by any means (as an aside, it always makes me laugh when I hear musicians griping about not getting enough attention when they’re playing in a restaurant. If someone digs your music, that’s cool, but remember that folks came out to that restaurant to, well, eat.)
Anyway, we’d played this gig several times and I asked the manager what he thought. He said he thought it was great and said he’d call about booking a date in February. So, he calls me up and wants us to play on Valentine’s Day. He also wanted us to play for an hour longer than we usually played. Naturally, I asked him how much extra he would be paying for the extra time and he said “nothing.” So I replied, “Well, we normally play for a couple of hours and get paid X but you want us to play for an hour longer but still get paid X?” He replied, “If you don’t want to do it, I’ll find someone that will” and he hung up. I tried to call him back to negotiate, but he wouldn’t answer — call blocked. Read the rest of this entry »
Minus the Bear just released their spring tour itinerary and it includes a stop at The Fillmore Charlotte on May 9, shortly after the May 4 release of the band’s new album, Omni.
Leatherface The missing link between the post-rock angularism of early ’80s college rock and Lemmy Kilmister freight-train mondo metal, Sunderland, U.K.’s Leatherface has been called the thinking man’s punk band, and with good reason. Singer Frankie Stubbs is a first-rate lyricist, never taking the easy rhyme (or, indeed, not rhyming at all) when a particularly delicious le mot juste or turn of phrase will do instead. The band’s 1991 release Mush, while hardly well-known, has become a touchstone for a new generation of bands like The 400 Blows, Future of the Left, and Dillinger Four, which, sez here, is reason enough to warrant a trip to the venerable Ghetto Fortress. The Milestone
This past Tuesday, the Arts & Science Council did an “Update Lunch” at the Gantt Center, announcing that its annual fund drive was slightly ahead of the pace needed to make its cautious 2010 goal of $7.5 mil. Mingling between arts groups and corporate heavyweights is part of the raison d’être of such gatherings, so it was appropriate that we all queued up on a buffet line where jambalaya and red-beans-and-rice were served. And of course, as we were gathered at Charlotte’s Afro-Am Cultural Center chowing down on Nawlins foodies, it wasn’t surprising that the theme for the luncheon was jazz, complete with pointed references from the podium to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker.
Nor had it been surprising that, on the previous Friday, the Monterey Jazz Festival had nearly sold out the new Knight Theater. This was the biggest jazz event in Charlotte since Wynton Marsalis brought the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra to Belk Theater late in 2001, and it was happening at the end of Black History Month during the CIAA Tournament, the most spontaneous block party we got. Read the rest of this entry »
The Deal: The same day Drake released the first official single from his debut album, Fabolous knocks it off the hip-hop front page with his long-awaited mixtape.
The Good: Fab holds on to his title as king of one-liners, I mean he was really consistent with the punchlines, finding about a dozen new ways to say he slayed someone… lyrically, of course. The piano and synth-heavy original tracks are cool but he shines over the familiar beats, so much so you’ll wish he was on the official remixes. DJ Drama actually did more than loan his name to a mixtape, talking his usual shit.
The Bad: More than a little repetitive but the title and cover alone should’ve told you that. A few yawn-worthy guest appearances too.
The Verdict: Dope, free music. Everything you’d imagine.
You might have seen Duke slaughter my beloved North Carolina Tar Heels in the greatest rivalry in college sports over the weekend. While I’m still licking my wounds and receiving tons of salt via social media, I can be glad that we’re still the reigning National Champions for about a month AND this dope Pac Div song from their 2009 mixtape, Church League Champions, exists in honor of the rivalry… well, maybe not honor, but it’s named after the rivalry which it samples rather dopely. Further proof you don’t even have to be from the South to respect the greatness.
Enjoy the track (and Duke fans, enjoy this year because that’ll never happen again).
