Props to DC Rap for this one...
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
New Kickdrums & Rik Cordero Mixtape Trailer!!!
Anything the homey Rik does, I get behind, *pause*...
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Oddisee & The Roots Rockin' Over, "Get Busy" At Highline Ballroom NYC!!!
Black Thought x Oddisee x CurT@!n$ Live @ The Jam 5/26 from Okayplayer on Vimeo.
You still don't know who Oddisee is?!?!?!?
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Interview With The Food Chain Collective's, Ardamus!!!
- Describe who Ardamus is, in Twitter Terms(140 Character's or less)...
Alcohol enthuiast. Unofficially trained gynecologist. And oh yeah, I rap/produce/make beats.
- You have been a very, visual member of this music scene since I have known you, and have always been that artist that is at every spot he can be at, supporting his people in the scene(which is well, everyone), buying merch, recording music, promoting shows, writing/producing for yourself and other's, holding a steady job down, etc. Are you human?
I actually am. I realized it when I knocked flat out in the studio in the middle of recording one of my verses....not sure if that means I'm sleeping on myself (literally) but.....I'll damned if I don't rest at some point.
- You released When Nothing Goes Right at the end of the last year, how was the response to the record? What is the concept behind this, and the follow-up to this? Is this an album, an EP, or a mixtape? Did you handle the production on the record, or did you reach out to local/national/international talent?
I've gotten some good response on the record. Mainly good critiques and a few bad ones. All in all, its helping me re-shape my focus for the newer projects coming out. The concept is based on ode to bad luck and personal issues I've had to deal with. I loosely based those ideas on situations I'd been thru and decided to put more of a twist on the actual outcome of the project.There is a follow-up mixtape entitled When Everything Goes Wrong 2.0 which is intended to sound very unprofessional like a real mixtape. LOL. Not all clean and perfect. After that, me and Metaphysical have a project entitled A Day In The Life Of Modern Day Living. Its a concept record......I joked with Metaphysical the other day that it was the album white people would love, haha. After that, I'm planning for another album and an EP. The EP will come first which will include exclusive production from me and will feature some DMV heavyhitters. The album.....well, lets just say I'm expanding my base as far as who I've worked with.
- I know besides being down with the Food Chain Collective, you roll with a cat named Double-Plus, forming Ardaplus...I have seen a handful of shows, any plans of a full-length, mixtape, EP, something?!
Yes, me and Plus are finally almost ready to drop our EP entitled A Fistfull Of Plutonium. Another project could be on the way soon. We just need to get our schedules straight and we're all good. There is actually a mixtape coming out at some point. I wasn't there for the mix of it but Metaphysical and PLUS sat down to put together to tracklisting of it. Actually, we just recently got back up to write some more songs we'll hopefully record soon. As for shows, we currently are about to open for Blueprint from Rhymesayers/Weightless on 6.3.09 at EXPO alongside our peers Educated Consumers and K-Beta with DJ Underdog on the 1's ad 2's. Should be fun because currently, Blueprint is one of my fav. emcees.
- Since you are part of so many different facets of the music scene around here, and have been here for awhile, how much have you seen things change around here? One could write a book on what's happened in the past few years, alone!
Way too many changes. Venues that would have the dopest events closing down over money, legal issues, no support.......you name it. But I think now in the DMV, cats are stepping up more seeing the need for the hip hop scene to thrive. New talent has come in and we still got the OGs around. With that said, we're building with one another and trying to get the scene more recognized on all levels.
- Do you think things are finally starting to get cohesive around here, and the rest of the US is starting to pay more attention?
Way more cohesive than what it has been in the past. The scene here has always been slept on for so long that I think its about time. People are getting a taste of it from certain acts these days like Wale, Tabi, Panacea, Diamond District, and etc. But if they only knew how much more there is to the scene than what they've heard, it would blow their minds.
- Who from the DMV, would you work with, that you haven't been able to?
There's a few cats. I definitely want to work with The Low Budget Crew (Kev Brown, Oddisee, Roddy Rod, etc.). There's the homie, G5 Clive whom I've talked with doing some stuff with. Kokayi, who in my opinion is one of the best artist in DC period, is someone who I have alot of respect for and would definitely want to build with. Dirty Water, whom I've known for years, are two cats I'd want to work with. The homies.....Pro'Verb and Lyriciss......them dudes put in work. Some of the Food Chain homies I haven't worked with just yet like Jade Fox, Teddy Faley, Cubbiebear, and etc.
- Have you collaborated with any bands, world-musicians, electronic musicians, etc.? DC's got tons of em!
I have done a few sets with a jazz band by the name of Motel; which is headed by Matt Grayson. Also, I've recently got to get on stage with The Black & Tan Fantasy Band with Seez Mics and Mental Stamina of Rosetta Stoned when they opened for Themselves (Anticon). I've also had the pleasure to perform with The Five One Band; I'd almost want to say is my fav. band to watch perform these days.
- If you had to pick one thing, that you think is holding back this city from becoming a major, major, force in the entertainment industry, what would it be and what would you do to fix it?
A major outlet for helping artists in the city; I don't mean a label either. It has to be something more than signing cats to a deal. Like an organization that has a solid foundation in the DMV. Not only could that help these acts out......it could spark more businesses to help out with these entertainment ventures out.
- Shouts...
Ok let me shoutout, the following: Food Chain Collective, SPP Waxworks, DMG, 3 Stars 2 Barz, The Low Budget Crew, Strange Music, Enoch The 7th Prophet, DJ Earth 1ne, DJ Soyo, Jay Mills, Dirty Water, Observa, D-League, Emperess, Young Raven, The Package, M1 Platoon, G5 Clive, and anyone else I may have forgot.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Artomatic 2009 Promo Up On 2 Websites!!!
Artomatic Promo 2009... from Seannie Cameras on Vimeo.
The Washington City Paper and DC Theater Scene!!!
http://washingtoncitypaper.com/artomatic
http://www.dctheaterscene.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
NEW ARTOMATIC PROMO VIDEO BY OVP!!!
HEADS AIN'T READY! STOP BY MY PHOTO-EXHIBIT ON THE 6th FLOOR, WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU!!
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Artomatic Promo 2009... from Seannie Cameras on Vimeo.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL - DANGERMOUSE/DAVID LYNCH/SPARKLEHORSE?!
That's right, if the rock you are living under, and the grass blade, that is your landlord has been keeping you from logging onto the interwebz, welcome to the future, again...Dangermouse, teams up with, everyone...And creates magic...And, turmoil...
Deeply appreciative,
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104129585
Monday, May 18, 2009
NEW, FREE CAGE EP AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD!!!
http://www.subterraneanblog.com/2009/05/18/download-cages-new-ep-in-full/
Peace to the good people @ Subterranean Blog...
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Peace to the good people @ Subterranean Blog...
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Cage "I Never Knew You" Video Premiere, Directed by Shia Labeouf!!!
Wow, CCWM gang, makin' major moves...
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Friday, May 15, 2009
JUNE 5 @ ROCK n ROLL HOTEL W/ CAVERNS!!!
Let your head bang, like you have hammers in your hat...
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Monday, May 11, 2009
New Leak From Soulstice's New Album, ft. Supastition!!!
The second leak from SoulStice’s upcoming album comes in the form of the title track; featuring Supastition & Angelina. And in case you didn’t check the first leak, here’s some info on the album…
The project is a collaboration between myself and Belgian beatmaker, SBe, who provides all of the instrumental music for the album. As far as the vocals, the songs are collaborations between myself and many of my favorite artists from around the world. We’ve got artists from the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Africa, and Canada. The first time I ever traveled abroad was a trip I took Russia in 2000. The fact that the globalization of hip hop had reached all the way there really made an impression on me. Since then I’ve grown as an artist and have toured around the world, seeing firsthand how hip hop, as a US cultural export, has grown and become something new and different in these various places. Yet, the underlying theme is the same everywhere: hip hop continues to be the mouthpiece for people who exist outside of the mainstream to make their voices heard throughout society and around the world.
http://www.zshare.net/download/5973808537313a6a/#
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
IT'S FINALLY HERE, K-BETA'S 89-09 MIXTAPE MIXED BY DJ ALIZHAY!!!!
Wake the fuck up, Boo Boo Heads! This is the tape I've been trying to tell the interwebz about, for months...Today is Christmas, go open yo gift, foo...
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www.innerlooprecords.com and www.hiphopgame.com presents: K-Beta (Mixed by DJ Alizay) "89 to 09". Beta and Zay run the gambit on the past 20 years of Hip Hop.
http://www.zshare.net/download/59616284e5d02c03/
Monday, May 4, 2009
BETARAZ ENTERTAINMENT IS AT IT AGAIN!!!
Faraz Behvandi
Today at 10:46am
Reply
BeTaRaZ Entertainment Presents:
Spring Fling Swimsuit Contest
Friday May 8th, 2009
Blue Water Grille
5127 Westfields Blvd.
Centreville, VA 21020
Guest Appearances by the DMV DIVAS
Doors Open at 8pm
Huge Decked Out Patio
Prizes:
1st Place $500
Runner Up $300
Must be 21 to Enter with a Valid I.D.
Dress Code Strictly Enforced: No Athletic Wear, No Baggy Jeans & No Tims
Music By : DJ Kwest
Hosted by: K-Beta
Interview with DC's own, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer!
Thanks to DCist for the words and prose...
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If a band chooses a sweet name like Solar Powered Sun Destroyer, they've already set themselves up for hefty expectations. The moniker brings to mind an all out guitar assault that leaves ears bleeding and brain cells, well, destroyed. The truth is more interesting. Yes, all five members of Solar Powered Sun Destroyer count various hardcore bands among their influences, and guitarists Justin Horenstein and Dave Davies (no, not the guy from the Kinks) both have considerable technical chops. But the guitar parts veer more toward the post-rock end of the spectrum, and the vocal melodies of John Kneip are at once powerful and sweetly emotive. At their most visceral, they could find a spot next to bands like The Life and Times or Explosions in the Sky. At their most experimental, they bring to mind M83.
The most interesting thing, however, about SPSD is how unapologetically excited they are about the band. Their current lineup reflects a recent personnel shift and while all of the bands have played (or still play) in other seasoned and notable acts, to listen to these five talk about the music that they're creating, you'd think that they just discovered rock 'n' roll. Kneip, Horenstein, Davies, drummer Jimmy Rhodes and bassist Ross Hurt (whom we've previously interviewed with Caverns) sat down with us outside of WMUC after their in-studio performance on Third Rail Radio to talk about matching T-shirts, playing with their idols and why they're so pumped about playing in this band.
Find them online at: myspace.com/spsdmusic
Catch them next at: The Black Cat Backstage tomorrow night with Tera Melos
So I know that this is the second lineup of Solar Powered Sun Destroyer. Who’s still here from the original lineup?
JR: Justin and Jimmy. We’re the authentic ones.
How did you find the rest of these guys and recruit them?
JR: I played with Dave in All Else Failed. We knew Ross from Caverns and he’s originally a guitar player. We asked him to play bass and he was totally up for it. So he filled in for a couple of shows on our last lineup. And it was awesome. Justin and I have both known Slobes for awhile now.
JK: Seven years?
JR: Since fall of 2002 or summer of 2002. We’ve been best friends since we met, so we’ve played in bands before. In Nashville. And he just moved down from Ohio to do this band with us. Basically, when the old lineup wasn’t working out Justin and I talked and were like, “If we had a band with our best friends and we were imagining that happening and like, Dave would have to come down from Philly, he would have to come down from Ohio, Ross would have to make time from Caverns...”
RH: I would have to drive all the way out to Olney (laughter all around)
JR: To have all of those things come together seemed pretty impossible but we worked pretty hard to make it happen. Everybody worked really hard to make it happen. And within a period of like, four months, we got a lot done. Wrote some songs and stuff.
Is it all new songs that you’re playing now or still you still play some of the songs that you’d already had?
JK: We’re playing basically like three songs from the first EP. Not really different versions of them. The only thing that’s different is that some of the vocal patterns have changed a little bit. But other than that we’re playing “Some Assembly Required” “Unity of Those Unseen” and “Intromission.”
RH: “Intromission” was the first thing I’d ever heard from Solar Powered, and that’s what really kind of drew me to the band from the beginning. Hearing that just captures their sound. That song, even though it’s just an instrumental, thirty seconds knowing what it’s going to do was nice sort of bookends to the end of the EP and the new lineup. That was the first song this lineup played all together just as a warmup and all of us were just thinking, “Shit...this is going to be cool.”
JK: Let’s do it again!
JR: Basically we just wanted to play it over and over again because it sounded so much better than before.
DD: Basically, every day that we practice sounds better and better and we get more and more excited about everything.
JK: I was thinking about this as we were walking up the hill out of breath after ten steps, actually I know that you’re just as psyched, actually when I was taking a piss, I was thinking, “I am so pumped for this band.” Like after listening back to the show we just played, I was like, “This is going to be so awesome. Like, imagine in September.”
JH: I’m really excited for our writing process, how it’s going, like before, I would just write a bunch of music, bring it to Jimmy and we’d just bang out the song and it’d be done in like a day or two and then kind of go from there. I’ve never been in a band where everyone could actually be in a room and actually write. We actually wrote a couple songs already, one in particular that we think is kind of where we’re going but just feels right and it just happened in a day, all of us in the same room, which has never happened to me.
JK: “Ghost Light?”
JH: “Yeah.”
RH: It’s just like, everyone is on the same page. I’d imagine it’d be pretty close to something like a Christopher Guest movie or an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where it’s just, everyone shows up on set, and it’s on the spot, kind of improv but everybody knows exactly what they’re doing, how it fits in with the song, in this case.
JR: Everyone in this band, you can tell their individual influences from their actual instrument and even by their gear, but we get in the same room and play and it sounds like a very cohesive unit, as opposed to before where it was just Justin and I trying to get everything together. When we finally made this lineup, I consider this the actual real lineup. I don’t ever want to think about the other lineup, we played like ten shows or something. It’s like it never even happened because this is what we were trying to do from the beginning and now it sounds how we want it to sound as opposed to just Justin and I just who felt that we were babysitting a lot of the time, trying to get stuff together and now we’re in a band with our friends and everyone knows the deal. And it sounds like a huge cohesive unit when we’re all together, playing. And if one of us is not playing, you can tell. It sounds very unified.
JH: It’s really nice that we all have similar musical influences.
Like what?
JH: Thrice.
I see the Darkest Hour shirts, Young Widows, Life and Times shirt, Shiner...
JR: We actually have to call each other before shows sometimes to see if we’re wearing the same shirts. Because we all have the same band shirts.
DD: I showed up at Jimmy’s today and I was like, “Oh good, I’m really glad you have a Young Widows shirt on today. And not wearing a Life and Times shirt.”
RH: And Jimmy actually had to text me and tell me, “Oh, by the way, I’m wearing a Young Widows shirt today.”
DD: And we have to do that all the time because we all have the same type of influences for the most part.
RH: And we’ll do that when we go to the mall. And the State Fair. You should see people’s faces when we’re all in bumper cars together wearing the same clothes, it’s like a little gang. But the band is just dead serious. We’re just dead serious. (laughter)
You guys already have a tour set up, where are you going?
RH: Yeah it’s still in the super super early works but in July, a quick ten dates from D.C., Baltimore, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Nashville, Ohio, Missouri and Italy. And hopefully we have a day off to go to Cedar Point.
JK: Yes! We’re going, dude!
You guys are actually getting to play with Frodus next month? Who set that up?
RH: That was actually Jason.
JH: Jason actually asked us to do it which was a huge honor because I’ve liked Frodus for a long time. Even if you hear Frodus later in your musical career, they influence you and you realize how important they actually were. So being able to be asked to open for that band is such a huge honor. It’s at the Talking Head and I think we’re playing first. It’s pretty intimidating playing with them there.
JK: We’ll rock it.
RH: Caverns is also playing that show and Caverns would not exist if Frodus did not exist so it’s beyond an honor twice over.
JR: Jason’s kind of like a helpful guidance counselor to us. He doesn’t manage bands anymore but we always going to him for advice and he talks to us about band situations. Basically, if we ever have questions, should we do this or should we do this, he tells us another way to think about it. He’s a helpful source to go to all the time.
RH: From bass drives to back rubs, he’s got it all covered.
It sounds like you guys have a lot of resources both here in the area and outside of the area as well. Is there anything or anyone in particular, as well as Jason, that you’d recommend to any newer D.C. bands?
JR: It’s weird. A lot of people I’ve met have been through hardcore bands and a lot of people that I’ve met in hardcore bands end up doing music with more melody later in their musical career. They were kind of hitting that point. Like our friend Steve, he plays in Circa Survive, he was in a hardcore band, that’s how we know those guys. All of those guys used to be in heavier bands. We knew them through that sort of connection. Helped us out with some shit. Steve Lambert did sound for All Else Failed in Michigan.
Steve Lambert from the Rock and Roll Hotel?
JR: He did sound for All Else Failed in Michigan. Lansing, Michigan. We broke all our gear that night. He still remembers that and the first time I ever met him again, he remembered me from that show, I had no idea who he was at that time. Little connections like that are super helpful. We consider most of these people, not just connections, but our friends and because we’re such good friends with them, they’ll help us out. Anybody from Deleted Scenes to J. Robbins who let us come in and record for our EP when we were hurting money-wise, he helped out. It’s awesome to have friends like that who just happen to be higher up musically. We’re just starting, we’re a brand new band.
JK: Don’t burn bridges with people either. Isn’t that a good one? Treat people as you want to be treated.
RH: You don’t want to waste your time hanging around negative people.
Do you have any other bands in the area that you particularly enjoy?
JR: It’s really awesome as far as D.C. bands right now there’s a bunch of us that are friends and we actually consider as friends and not just bands that we play with. We’re friends with Caverns, Imperial China, Hammer No More the Fingers are from North Carolina but they’re basically a D.C. band, they play up here so much. Deleted Scenes, we’ve been best friends with those guys since high school.
JH: Yeah, pretty much my whole high school band was with the entire lineup of Deleted Scenes minus Scheffey. That’s how I know them.
RH: New Rock Church of Fire. The recently deceased Black & White Jacksons. We’re friends with all of them.
JR: And there’s a lot of bands that are very similar in sound along the East Coast. Like the Bronze Course is one that really stands out as a band that really fits in well with Solar Powered, Survival based out of New York. But there’s a lot of bands down here that we know. It’s funny, Solar Powered is such a huge deal to us but we all have our own things that we do on the side. Ross has Caverns, Slobes has his own stuff.
JK: I’ve got two things that I’m doing right now. I’ve got this thing called The Spectator. I’m trying to improve my skills as a drummer and a bass player so it’s basically like a beginner/intermediate drum and bass player, you can tell the difference. But I did this thing in Nashville where, once I have time to actually get it out, I did this thing called NASA Wives. Probably some songs I wrote two years ago, I started recording them and I have an EP that I’ll be putting out in a couple months.
JR: And I have this project that I’m not supposed to talk about at all. Basically, with members of bands that are higher up in the music world. Justin keeps writing stuff.
RH: He plays video games.
JH: I play video games and I have a hard drive full of song ideas but those are probably going to be in the vault for awhile considering how well we all write together. If we ever wanted to write again, we could probably just go to my vault, because I took all of last year to write for this band and I’ve probably saved like, a hundred ideas. Just recorded anything I played. We have a lot of stuff we can go back on but everything is coming together so well that we can all rather do the writing. We’re all getting some new gear. Our sound will be changing a little bit.
RH: The last thing that Justin introduced is now our set opener. Justin’s an incredible songwriter. Right now we’re calling it “These Old Socks and Shoes” but all of our song titles are all ridiculous titles like “Loose Hoagies” is our set closer.
JK: It’s called “The Roulette Year”
RH: It’s called “The Roulette Year” but all of us call it “Loose Hoagies.”
DD: We’re in the stage of naming songs right now.
Are you still recording right now?
RH: We’re recording a three song demo EP that we’re going to be handing out.
JK: All new stuff.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
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