The hardest grinding MC in Koreatown (and in hip-hop generally) Kosha Dillz has finally dropped his catchy anthem to chilling L.A. style. "Hangin' Out" has arrived just in time to be the SXSW jam and staple for any festival mixtape. Complete with references to culinary establishments like Mel's Diner, Froyo and Ralphs, and featuring a cast of cameos that includes Yo Gabba Gabba dancers, Lakers' girls, the Boom n Crates duo and Culver City veteran rapper Verbs, the video is itself a homage to Los Angeles.
You can download the song from Soundcloud here:
"Hangin Out" is the lead single from Kosha's forthcoming record tentatively titled either "The Shtick" or "Kosha Dillz is Everywhere." The release, produced by Grammy nominee Belief, features guest appearances from Gangsta Boo, Murs, Wax, Big Pooh and more. Go chime in on his facebook page to encourage him to go with one title over the other.
"Hangin Out" was shot by Ricky Shabazz and the Boom Bap Boys and co-directed by Kosha Dillz and Ricky Shabazz.
Yes. Its true. The amazing electronic production wizard Flying Lotus is playing at KXSC Festival today. Its FREE. Its going to be dope and there are going to be Trojan cuties in full force on this excellent Sunday.
Not only is the L.A. Dilla-inspired beat champion going to be in the house, up and comer Delicate Steve is also going to be there as well...
They join a line-up that already features Sister Crayon, Abe Vigoda and SUPERGOODMUSIC's very own Boom D in the DJ Booth. With Marko from Downtown Lobby and Dublab Derek also DJing - it should be a continuous banger from 4 pm to close (around midnight).
If you come by - please visit the SUPERGOODMUSIC.com booth so we can meet you. Plus we'll have some CDs to give-away, some stickers to give-away and some clothing to give away - so its worth your time.
Here is a sample of things to come. On St. Patrick's Day we had some hip-hop, some funk and some electro at Lipstick 24 on 7th St, including platinum recording artist Miguel doing one of his hits, "Quickie," and rising electro hip-hopper Keith Masters doing his Futurecop! collabo "1988 Girls."
FILTER, festivals and food trucks! Oh my! What does every half-employed, LA-based hipster love? Vivacious tunes with a side of PBR and grilled cheese, of course! Luckily, FILTER Magazine has decided to appeal to the music masses and offer up a multi-day street festival composed of radical bands from all over the world, and delectable food trucks from all over the city. Seriously, what’s better than that? The answer is: nothing. We’re lucky enough to live in Sunshine Central with an over-abundance of creative minds all looking to let loose and get their dance on. So let’s prove to our parents that our college degrees were worth it, and take advantage of this. Don’t make me tell you twice.
October 7th through 10th FILTER magazine is taking over the streets of Echo Park and Downtown to give us musical, as well as edible, deliciousness. From Klaxons to Sea Wolf, and Casiokids to Caribou, they’ve got a United Nations of enticing beats to appeal to your own individual tastes. Wristbands for all four days are a mere $20 - that’s $5 per day, or to put it in hipster terms, is the near-equivalent to one PBR on tap during Cha Cha Lounge’s happy hour. For more information go to culturecollide.com, or better yet, take my word for it and get your ticket directly from ticketweb.com. It’ll be the best (and least expensive) decision you made since... well, let’s face it, you guys probably make bad decisions all the time. Buy your ticket, and then proceed to make your bad decisions at the festival in typical LA-fashion, you’ll be happy you did.
Over at SUPERGOODMUSIC, we are stoked to have the stellar line-up of Blockhead, Signal Path and Nocando coming to town next weekend. After listening to Signal Path's recently released (AND FREE) album, Imaginary Lines (which you can play at the bottom of this post) we reached out to the artists to learn more and get amped for the upcoming show.
Not only did we discover that Signal Path's Damon Metzner is a cool mo-fo who formerly lived in Michigan, we found out he trained under Galactic's Stanton Moore too!!! Imaginary Lines had me sold on attending The Roxy initially, but armed with the knowledge that Damon is a funk master's disciple, I definitely won't miss a minute next Saturday!
Below is our full interview with Damon from just before he hit the road to tour (first show was last night Seattle), along with a stream of the album. ENJOY :D
SUPERGOODMUSIC: Where did you grow up?
Damon: I grew up in the great city of New Orleans, with a little bit of time in America's High Five: Michigan!
SUPERGOODMUSIC: How did you decide to chase a career in music? When did you give up the typical "day" job?
Damon: I've been bouncing between being a performer and working the music industry side of things since I was 17. The last job outside of either the music industry or performing was at a pizza shop in New Orleans when I was 16.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: Did you go to school for music or take any music lessons growing up?
Damon: I did both. I started out taking lessons with the great teacher Mark DiFlorio in New Orleans who then introduced me to Stanton Moore. Stanton was a gigantic inspiration in my playing and having him take the time to show me a few things was a huge motivator to say the least. I then went on to major in jazz at The University of New Orleans before changing my major to business at The University of Montana.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: Where did the name Signal Path come from?
Damon:Ryan Burnett (guitar production) came up with the name in 2000. It makes sense for an electronic act, no? Haha.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: What is Signal Path all about?
Damon: Signal Path is a musical project created by Ryan Burnett (guitar/production) and myself, Damon Metzner (drums). We try to incorporate deep melodic ideas that wrap around compositionally focused core of intricate rhythm and massive low end. Both Ryan and I draw a lot of influence from american roots music, and try to incorporate those influences with our electronic production. Rhythmically, we definitely identify with a lot of glitch, hip hop and big beat music, but intertwine acoustic instrumentation as well. We regularly incorporate acoustic guitars, mandolins and lapsteel guitars that weave inside synths, massive leads and heavy basslines. Our goal is to produce deeply meaningful unique music that can be both beautiful and intense live.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: What's brewing at the moment?
Damon: Right now we are 100% focused on the recent drop of our free album Imaginary Lines, that came out on September 1st. Getting ready for one of the most exciting headlining tours in our history too. We couldn't be more thrilled to share the stage with some of our favorite artists in the nation including Blockhead, Bluetech, Designer Drugs, EPROM and EOTO. Having the opportunity to perform with artists of this caliber is a HUGE inspiration.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: What makes this tour that you're embarking on different from all your previous ones?
Damon: This tour really stands apart as it's giving us the opportunity to perform music from an album that we spent more time on than any other release. This tour also is allowing us to work with some of our favorite producers in the country.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: When will you be playing LA?
Damon: Saturday September 25th. At The Roxy. We're giving you a pair of tickets to give away. (tweet and mention @supergoodmusic @signalpath & @theroxy for chance to win or e-mail contest@supergoodmusic.com with the Subject: Signal Path)
SUPERGOODMUSIC: When was the last time you played LA? Where? How was it?
Damon: We haven't played in LA since 2007 when we did a run with the Pnuma Trio. We played a place called Fais Do Do. It was a great time for sure. LA throws down.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: Where have you stayed in LA when you've come? Do you have a favorite place? Do you have a favorite spot to hit up to eat?
Damon: Hahahaha - Well, we pretty much always stay at some seedy motel....this one time, naw, forget it.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: Have you had In n Out? Is it the best fast food burger there is?
Damon: I have had In n Out...and although a fantastic burger, I have to say that the Burgerville's in Portland, OR takes the cake for the organic(ish) fastfood chains...I hope I get some free burgers out of this!
SUPERGOODMUSIC: I hope I do too. So, what's next?
Damon: We're focused on making the next several months some of the most positive in the history of the band. We couldn't be more proud of the music we've put out on the new album. We just really can't wait to get on the road and share the music with the fans live. Ultimately, none of this would be possible without their support.
SUPERGOODMUSIC: Anything else you want to let the SUPERGOODMUSIC community know?
Damon: We just really want to thank all the fans. Like I said, NONE of this could happen without them which is one of the reasons why we give the music away for free. Of course we'd like to give props to www.supergoodmusic.com for the opportunity to share these thoughts and help spread the word. We'd also really love to thank all the artists we're fortunate enough to work with including the amazing visual artist Josh Keyes who donated a fantastic piece of art for our use as our album cover.
FULL TOUR SCHEDULE:
09/16/10 Thu - Seattle, WA Nectar Lounge - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/17/10 Fri - Bellingham, WA The Wild Buffalo - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/18/10 Sat - Portland, OR Refuge - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/21/10 Tue - San Diego, CA Casbah - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/22/10 Wed - Santa Cruz, CA Moe's Alley - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/23/10 Thu - Arcata, CA Arcata Theater - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/24/10 Fri - Berkeley, CA Shattuck Down Low - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
09/25/10 Sat - West Hollywood, CA Roxy Theatre - w/ Blockhead, Nocando
10/01/10 Fri - Dallas, TX La Grange - w/ Eprom
10/02/10 Sat - Austin, TX The Parish Room - w/ Eprom
10/09/10 Sat - Denver, CO Ogden Theatre - w/ EOTO
10/14/10 Thu - Minneapolis, MN Cabooze - w/ Sovereign Sect
10/15/10 Fri - Aberdeen, SD VFW Post 42 - w/ Sovereign Sect
10/16/10 Sat - Fargo, ND The Aquarium - w/ Sovereign Sect
10/20/10 Wed - Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
10/21/10 Thu - Grand Rapids, MI Founders Brewery.
10/22/10 Fri - St.Louis, MO 2720
10/23/10 Sat - Madison, WI Annex
10/28/10 Thu - Missoula, MT Wilma Theatre - w/ Designer Drugs
10/29/10 Fri - Bozeman, MT Filling Station
10/30/10 Sat - Chattanooga, TN Collective Vision
11/11/10 Thu - Oxford, MS Proud Larry's - w/ Bluetech
11/12/10 Fri - Nashville, TN 12th + Porter - w/ Bluetech
11/13/10 Sat - Asheville, NC Club 828 - w/ Bluetech
11/15/10 Mon - Blacksburg, VA Awful Arthur’s - w/ Bluetech
11/16/10 Tue - Knoxville, TN Southbound - w/ Bluetech
11/17/10 Wed - Raleigh, NC Pour House - w/ Bluetech
11/18/10 Thu - Wilmington, NC Kefi - w/ Bluetech
11/19/10 Fri - Charleston, SC The Pour House - w/ Bluetech
11/20/10 Sat - Atlanta, GA Apache Cafe - w/ Bluetech
The fun party that is Midnight Juggernauts swings into town tonight at Echoplex and tomorrow at Cinespace (for Dimmak Tuesdays). You may recall some of their anthems from the 2008 album Dystopia, like "Shadows" which you've heard often and just didn't know the title of. Check out the video here.
But, their tour is truly in support of their soon to be released follow up Crystal Axis. Their 2 LA plays to kick off this week are their last stops stateside before they head back home to Australia for a series of August shows. Don't miss your last chance to potentially get dirty with the Juggernauts in California in 2010!
One of our favorite up and coming bands, and a California homegrown talent, Rebelution is kicking ass on the road this summer and will be getting dirty at two huge festivals coming up - Wakarusa and Bonnaroo respectively.
We've caught the fearsome foursome several times in various LA stomping grounds - from Saint Rocke to The Roxy to House of Blues to a house party - and each time they brought their smooth reggae dub sound to a higher level.
They are putting their fire into the late night party at Wakarusa, getting things going with a set this coming Friday night from 10:30 to Midnight in the Revival Tent. The reggae rockers will be competing with STS9 who are playing on the Main Stage, but they take the stage 15 minutes earlier after Supervillains and before Basnnectar.
The following weekend Rebelution brings their tour bus to Bonnaroo. Not sure precisely when they arrive and if they will be taking it in with the crowd, but Saturday is when they perform. Festival goers can cure their first full day 'Roo hangover with Rebelution, who are playing from 11:30 am to 12:15 pm on Saturday morning at the Which Stage.
If you haven't heard these amazing youngsters who have more reggae soul than you'd expect from a quartet of white guys, you MUST check them out. Their website is www.rebelutionmusic.comand their MYSPACE is www.myspace.com/rebelution. Also do some digging around for their facebook page and their recently released remixes by Amplive, Zion I and a few others (they had been circulated for free by the band)
Be sure to call out for some of their choice songs - I'm a big fan "Courage to Grow" from the album titled by the same name...it is a gem; "Safe & Sound" is often a closer of theirs and one of my favorites too and "Other Side" is also a good song from that album. From 2009's Brighter Side of Life, I'm hoping for "Outta Control."
Had the privilege and pleasure of hitting up the Sunset Strip a handful of times this week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights, but I finally remembered to bring my camera to Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek at House of Blues on Wednesday and Hyper Crush last night at The Roxy. Both acts come with a hip-hop edge, but wildly different spectrums. Kweli & Hi-Tek representing Reflection Eternal and their lyrically rich and classic sound whereas Hyper Crush is a flavor of the new electro-fueled party anthem hip-hop variety in the vain of other artists like LMFAO.
Kweli ripped it from the minute he got on stage - opening with an original Reflection Eternal banger "Move Something." The lyrics were on fire and Hi Tek backed him up perfectly all night - especially in the series of opening cuts from their original record. Concentrating on old material as they got going, they satisfied the crowd's hunger to hear their original (and arguably ground breaking) works. I was definitely satisfied, although still wish I'd gotten to hear "Africa Dream."
Hyper Crush came out on fire. Immediately after premiering their video to a wild, young, intoxicated and neon dressed crowd, the curtains lifted and they smacked the crowd in the face with their electro-dance hip-hop fusion. The crowd was shook, screamed, raised their hands on command, crowd surfed and clamored for more. Hypercrush did a great job of controlling The Roxy crowd energy and made sure they delivered on fans expectations, by hosting Far East Movement on stage for a track and on playing fan favorites, like "Robo Tech" (whose video we have just below) and their live remix of La Roux's "Bulletproof."
All in all, despite missing the opening acts, I had a great time. Like the aforementioned LMFAO, Hypercrush destroyed a sold out show at The Roxy. LMFAO just opened for Black Eyed Peas at Staples Center - so who knows what is next for the interesting trio they call Hypercrush?
So, I foolishly have hit the town the last few nights sans camera. While that means we don't have pictures to share from our escapades - there are still stories, highlights and bands worthy of mention since our last update.
Saturday night brought us to the second night of Flying Lotus for the epic introduction of Lotus with a band. With Lotus flying high off the release of Cosmogramma, the night was one to be remembered. Not only was there a Cosmogramma themed design-your-own-tee-shirt station in the back of the Echoplex, but there were Cosmogramma images being projected on walls both inside and out. The whole night had a very artistic avant-garde feel to it - which was only further emphasized by the improvisational saxophone playing of Ravi Coltrane.
Looking at the bill for Saturday night, I did not anticipate that we'd go from Gaslamp Killer to Coltrane's quintessential jazz in a matter of an hour, but it happened. Spanning the spectrum of multiple genres, the night became a melting pot of experimentation, collaboration and last, but not least, people. There were all sorts of heads out - from electro freaks, to hip-hop heads, to music critics, to seeming jazz aficionados. While the eastside is more often the locale for finding a mixed bag of people - this was one of the more diverse crowds I'd seen at a show recently. Although we tuckered out at the end of Flying Lotus' set, we were happy to have witnessed Flying Lotus' first full band performance. If you failed to make it - you can check out some free flying lotus downloads from www.rcrdlbl.com right here - http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Flying_Lotus/music - including his remix of Kanye West's "Love Lock Down."
Sunday we took the night off from concerts, but we were back at it again on Monday with stops at the Libertine and 14 Below. The Libertine, hosted Hunnypot Unlimited's radio show with guest Foster The People, who unfortunately cancelled their performance due to a band member's personal issues. Nonetheless, "Hot Tub"John Anderson asked the questions and produced some nuggets of information about the recently signed and rising LA indie-electro-soul buzzband. From Libertine we made an obligatory stop at Pinches Tacos (best Carne Asada taco in town), before heading to the westside to meet up with A/J and Dak of Saint Motel for Glen & The Sunshine Gang at 14 Below.
Arriving at 14 Below, A/J, Dak and I bumped into @berkorules of @theviperroom before witnessing the crazed unitard party that is Glen & The Sunshine Gang. With half the band in skeleton themed unitards, it was a spectacle to be seen. That picture was only made more graphic when the pantsless keyboard and effects player removed his shirt and started dancing in his tighty whities in the middle of the crowd. I was particularly down with their juiced up version of "We Didn't Start The Fire", the classic song from Billy Joel's Storm Front album. Glen, their front man, who began the song by jumping off stage in his not so flattering to the crotchal region all red unitard, gave a performance that can only be described as rock star. What this band might lack in great songs they make up for in great (and energetic) live show. Although I can't say SUPERGOODMUSIC will be rocking out to Glen & The Sunshine Gang tracks on a regular basis - we do look forward to seeing the band again and intend on being a bit more intoxicated to enjoy the balls to the wall party that is GTSG.
Last night we ventured to The Roxy in hopes of catching both Ironheel and Bigelf. Ironheel includes band members (Jim) that hail from Boom D's hometown of Shaker Heights, but unfortunately, SUPERGOODMUSIC missed their performance. We did happen to catch Vas Defrans and Bigelf - both loud, but both worthy of The Roxy's stage. Bigelf not only had big sound, but big make-up, big hair and a big wardrobe. For reference the lead singer - whose name I do not know - was wearing a striped scarf and a jacket, with a mane down to at least his shoulders and more eye make-up than you've seen since Cats. (Okay, the Cats reference is an overstatement, but I'm just saying - homeboy rocks the make-up hard). We caught most of their big performance but left a little early to attempt a run at seeing Steve Aoki and Special Guest at Dimmak....which was thwarted by Frankie & Johnny's scrumptious pizza and a desire to watch LOST. (BTW - LOST finally answered some questions!)
Uploading a video of their performance of "Saving Grace" last night at The Roxy right now, we just had to upload a few pictures, taken by Brandon "Boom D" Dorsky, of this amazing (and rising) trio too.
Their songs are performed with a passion, the wa-wa hohner is fun to watch, and the band is tightly knit. KROQ often knows what's up when it comes to the indie rock scene and last night at The Roxy was no exception.
Crash Kings are great - and their over hour long show solidified why we had them play our 10 Days of 2010 earlier this year, and why we went to see them at SXSW and why we will go see them the next time they are in town. Their shows are fun, sweaty, sexy and filled with rock n' roll flavor, both old and new as evidenced by their top notch Hendrix cover last night.
The trio know how to channel energy, keep a crowd focused and deliver the supergoodness.
Tonight and tomorrow night I will find myself doing a back to back Silverlake Lounge trip. Like the frequency in which I go surfing, it is rare that I find myself wanting to hit up Silverlake Lounge two nights in a row over other LA offerings. But, I have good reason this week as both Hotel St. George and Chasing Kings will be showcasing their talents on the small eastside stage.
Hotel St. George, whom hail from San Diego, are making the drive up tonight for a FREE performance on the heels of their recent video release which features outdoor wizard back rubs and robots with guns and whiskey. As of this writing, it has been viewed a mere 41 times, but with that sort of ridiculousness, it ought to be viewed more.
You can see Hotel St. George (and maybe even the robot?) play tonight at Silverlake Lounge.
Chasing Kings reign on the stage tomorrow night at 10 pm. The quartet plays cool, classic-rock, indie-rock and surf-rock inspired grooves with stellar vocals that will have you pining for more at the end of their show. I had the privilege of catching up with the band in their living/rehearsal space a few weeks back where we talked about everything from first dates to music festivals to Stop Making Sense. Any questions? Just check out some of the footage from our hilarious conversations here...
