The tag line for last Saturday’s low-end movement at The Drake Underground could have been “He’s the DJ, I’m the rapper, and this is my band”, as two crews with similar designs for their disparate hip hop expressions teamed up for a tight little showcase in the cozy bowels of the landmark Queen west hotspot.
Up first was local rhymesmith Miles Jones, who took on the formidable task of trying to warm up a Toronto crowd with ample lyrical dexterity and ranging musicality, backed by a stripped-down musician troupe featuring only a drummer and cohort beatmaker DJ Serious on the decks this time out. With the back-beat pushed to the front by the indispensible live rhythm section, static spectators were eventually coaxed into relinquishing their holding pattern at the room’s fifty yard line and making their way to the front of the stage, just in time to catch bumpin’ electro-tinged closer “Runaway”.
The title track from Jones’ sophomore disc Runaway Jones served as a fitting entrée for main course Grand Analog, who wasted no time in setting the wheels of their hi-tuned dub-rap machine in motioned. With newly added drummer Aaron Edgar in tow, GA rattled walls with their animated sound collage of pointed guitars, smooth bass lines, effects laden cuts and warm analog keys, all held together by the presence and charismatic flare of frontman Odario Williams. The by then packed house gave as well as it got, mouthing the words to tunes like “Not Enough Mondays” and responding enthusiastically to quirky turns like the sneaky infusion of Jackson 5 bass licks. Though relatively brief, the night’s expo – GA’s lone Toronto stop on their current cross-Canada tour – proved the perfect start to a busy Saturday night in the T-dot, and no doubt a welcomed bonanza for the double-booked Drake underground.
(Shouts to my man henri and King Britt, who held it down with an expansive blend of both past and future sounds well into the wee hours.)
Previous: Miles Jones – “Never Too Late” (rmx) ft. Classified
Local jazz emporium The Trane Studio offered up a heavy dose of the fresh and new last Friday as it hosted the premier showcase for upstart series ‘Serious People’ with High Ass Standards. Despite the deceptively high-brow moniker, all attitudes and pretentions were definitely checked at the door as enthusiastic attendees packed the cozy Bathurst St. venue for a night of forward-thinking experimentalism.
To that call, the night’s two main acts humbly obliged with upstart duo Airheart kicking things off with a fresh combination of fluttery, jazz-inflected vocals, varied floor-filling rhythms and sporadic violin flourishes. From there it was on to seasoned downbeat vets LAL, as folks cleared out the tables for some much-needed room to move to the laidback threesome’s always inviting combination of inventive baselines, hypnotic rhythms and singer Rosina Kazi’s inviting melodies, bringing the temperature to a cherished boil on the typically cold January night.
If the success of that inaugural event was any indication, we can no doubt count on more from the ‘Serious People’ set to help us through this frigid Canadian winter purgatory.
Kid Cudi / Keys N Krates
Kool Haus, Toronto, ON November 28
By Kevin Jones
(Published in Exclaim! Magazine)
While the job of critic is to fairly and honestly pull apart a subject, pointing out both the good and the bad to give readers a complete picture, one must also be prepared to admit that some things are simply above critique. The recent sold-out Kid Cudi show at Toronto’s Kool Haus may have been one such instance.
As concerts go, the night was any cantankerous critic’s wet dream, with fodder popping up at every turn, from a sound system that left the artists’ vocals almost unintelligible, to the one-and-a-half-hour wait between solid openers Keys N Krates and the headliner, essentially killing the show’s early momentum. The shower of boos and cries for refunds that ensued would have led most to believe the packed warehouse was just waiting to take it to Cudi’s face, but the moment the spaceman finally did take the stage, all was forgiven and forgotten as the room sang each cut word for word, from the opening “Already Home” to the closing “Cudi Zone.”
The crowd’s love for the “Day ‘n’ Nite” singer even surpassed that showed to surprise guest Drake, who met the screw-face capital with one of his own before busting into “Forever” to unified jubilation.
Of course, none of this meant that the rest of the night made for a dream show, but it did raise some questions about validity of a nitpicking critique. For instance, does it matter that a man stood right beside Cudi’s “DJ” the entire night, offering selection support, snatching camera-phone pics, or simply texting someone clearly more important than the event going on around him? Or that the three-man team brought the show to a grinding halt after every other track to decide their next move, and that a man who can barely sing thought it wise to drop two a cappellas? And does it matter that the rebellious Cudi baited the crowd with such inspiring pronouncements as “Cudi really don’t give a fuck (about the industry) — I wear what I wanna wear”?
The answer to all of these questions is, frankly, not one bit, because true Cudi fans showed up that night not just to watch their man, but to be as much a part of his performance as he was. While it’s certainly fair to question their standards (they made walls shake to the chants of “no-no-no-no-no-no-no—YEAH!…” after all), a proper critique, much like one posed of a McDonalds meal, would be a complete waste of time.
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Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, as local artists and teams – like those connecting to the long-running Up From The Roots family, or the rotating Toronto Poetry Slam Team, continue to perform and compete regularly on both a national and international level. One such local luminary is one-time TPST member Truth Is who, along with poets Annu Saini and California resident Mumbles, held the first of what will no doubt be many Basement Poetry parties on last Saturday Nov 21 at the cozy Labyrinth Lounge. The come-as-you-are gathering was about as comfortable as an event could be, with folks invited to curl up on one of a handful of sofas in near-complete darkness as the capable word-slingers blessed attendees with works both time-tested and still-in-progress. A night that began with pronounced intimacy became all the more so as the hours passed and other fellow poets began to trickle in and participate, resulting in an ever expanding line-up showcasing diverse styles, tones, and themes well into the early morning.
If this opening movement was any indication, expect a reprise of the Basement Poetry bash to happen again in the near future, though if you do plan to attend, for the love of God please don’t ask one of the humble scribes on hand to recite a piece by Saul Williams. (You’d assume some things shouldn’t need saying, but this, unfortunately, should have been printed on the flyer!).
For more info:
Truth Is: http://www.myspace.com/truthisellipsis
Annu Saini: http://hustlinstrongagain.blogspot.com
Mumbles: http://www.myspace.com/barakanoel
The local soul siren set things ablaze in the early going, serving up luscious full-bodied renditions of the gravely cassette-styled recordings that make up here recently released Phone Demos teaser. Backed by an impressive crew of musicians holding things down on guitar, drums, cello and sousaphone, the ultra-expressive front-woman imbued the unabashedly classic tones and feel of the r&b/rock amalgam that characterizes her latest project with well-received style and substance.
Quirky experimentalist Maylee Todd soon followed, slinging together a strange brew of old school electric funk, breezy rock dabblings, beer-gargled vocals and impressive harp tinkling for an ambitious set of boundary massaging tunes and onstage chicanery. But it was the night’s main event that truly set the room full of unrelenting cheese grills to full beam, as Little Dragon singer Yukimi Nagano took the stage – racket-styled tambourine in hand – to give full-on credence to the worldwide buzz surrounding the Gothenburg-based foursome. Backed by impromptu backup singers Tanika Charles, Zaki Ibrahim and DJ L’Oqenz up front, Nagano led her bearded backers on an all-out synth attack the went well into the wee hours, and that no doubt had fans setting the group’s two records to repeat in the days that followed.
If you haven’t heard those records, you should. More satisfyingly, however, was the pleasure felt in witnessing this unbeatable opportunity to catch three talented women doing their thing at the bargain basement price of $13.50 – less than the price of either one of those discs, and a chance a truly lived up to all expectations.
Previous: Saidah Baba Talibah releases The Phone Demos
Now in it’s 4th year, the educational Make Some Noise expo is aimed at letting the general public in on the somewhat hidden wealth of in-depth musical knowledge and resources that are housed in public libraries across the city, while exposing audiences to a diverse host of move-making local musicians in a very intimate setting. To this second end, the mini-festival has teamed up with the Steve Jordan, founder of Canada’s esteemed Polaris prize, in an effort to help showcase a collection of artists considered to be on the leading edge of what this great nation has to offer, with this year’s list featuring Grand Analog, Timbre Timbre, Bruce Peninsula, Katie Stelmanis, and Jordan himself, who will be hosting a workshop offering sage advice on the ins and outs of breaking into the Canadian music scene. Other workshops include an insightful, GA-led discussion on the art of DJing to be held this coming tuesday (Nov 10, again at the College/Shaw library), as well as look inside the world of music documentation with local documentarian Colin Medley, this time at the Kennedy/Eglinton branch.
Make Some Noise runs until December 1, with workshops happening every Tuesday. Check torontopubliclibrary.ca/noise for more a comprehensive list of performers, locations, show times, and other related news, and let’s all try to take advantage of this perfect opportunity to get reacquainted with our many local book learin’ emporiums.
With DJ Loqenz setting the overall old-school tone of the evening, and “Big City, Small World” host Garvia Bailey guiding the exploratory interview portion, Cuban-born singer/MC Telmary Diaz got things going on the performance side with one of her rare all-hip hop sets in recent memory. Others on hand that night included former DMC champ DJ Dopey, Monolith alumni WIO K and Grimace love, and big name out-of-towner Scratch (form The Roots) who, armed with just a pair of loop machines, embarked on mouth-music massacre through a slew of recent rap and r&b hits.
Of course, the purpose of the night was to help promote the many tough questions posed in Higgins’ latest analysis of hip hop culture, and through his interview with Bailey the author offered a taste of what readers will find there. Wrapped in the general observation that hip hop outside of North America is far more in-tune with the culture’s initial potential as a social change agent than the myriad styles dominant here at home, the book tackles issues of commercialism, multicultural acceptance, and even the curious absence of homosexuality in hip hop. It’s a thought provoking reflection on the shear force of a music and culture many of us take for granted, and a must read as we settle into September’s educational spirit.
For more information on Higgins’ Hip Hop World, visit the Groundwood Books website.
In the belly of her Tony and Grammy-nominated, pregnant yet still performing mother Salome Bey, Toronto-based vocal powerhouse Saidah Baba Talibah missed being born right out on stage by about one month, so it’s little wonder that she’s managed to maintain such a close relationship with that great artistic pulpit through most of there life. A singer, dancer, actress, and all around renaissance woman, Talibah has found success in many avenues throughout her career, from her touring work with renowned musical theatre presentations and her 6-year stint fronting local soul/fusion group Blaxäm through the late 90’s, to her lengthy list of backup duties for artists as disparate as Divine Brown, Alannah Myles, Enrique Iglesias , and Saukrates.
Still, it’s only now that the talented songstress has mustered the confidence to craft a masterpiece stamped with her own name, settling down to bang out a debut album some ten years in the making. But with such a wealth of experience in her back pocket (she’s even worked as a member of the Canadian Idol backing band), it’s curious that Saidah has taken this long to lay her own songcraft to tape.
“[I’ve been] just kind of getting over insecurities about myself and whether the songs were good enough, or whether I was good enough and whether I was worthy,” she said when asked at the end of a recent marathon week that saw her and the band lay down twelve cuts in three days’ time. “Just being ready to be on stage being naked singing my own songs. I mean, I’ve been singing all my life, but I’ve always been singing other people’s songs. But it’s different when you get up there and sing your own songs – you leave yourself open for people to poke at you.” Taking the interesting and cost effective approach of recording “live off the floor” – with each part being recorded simultaneously, though in isolation – while practical, was also important in maintaining a natural feel across the board.
“[Recording live] is kind of how we’ve been doing this process and that’s how we’ve been able to knock off twelve songs in three days. We just bang out three or four of them and see which one felt the best as a whole, and maybe which pieces could fit in there wherever it’s not feeling so good. Like, if the sousaphone is like, eh, that one note – we’ll either get the engineer to fix it, or he goes back in and does it. So basically, I wanted to get a continuity, and I don’t like doing things bit-by-bit. It just doesn’t flow.”
Those who caught her rocked-out performance of title track “(S)cream” at this year’s Honey Jam showcase got a taste of how things will likely sound when the record drops is finished, though Saidah assures that there’s no one sound that will characterize this album. For a better sense of things to come, look for her to storm the stage of Manifesto’s main throwdown this September at Nathan Phillips Square, in the lead up to her upcoming digital EP release The Phone Demos, due out in October.
Check for Saidah on Myspace to keep up on the goings on:
www.myspace.com/saidahbabatalibah
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Born from an event launched in NYC back in ’04, the hip hop karaoke concept has now taken root in a handful of countries around the world, with the Toronto edition serving as Canada’s lone representative. Capable hosts More Or Les and Abdominal serve as both lyrically encyclopedic masters of ceremonies and supportive hype men, sure up the work of the night’s main attraction – the participant amateurs and their audience – with assists from event promoters/DJs Numeric, Dalia, and Ted Dancin’, who combine to make what plays out as a collective trip down memory lane possible.
Of course, Hip Hop Karaoke is not for everyone, and one of the biggest hurdles you’ll find in completely submitting to the madness will be your personal taste (or tolerance) for karaoke in general – something that having of some of your all-time favorite rap tracks as the event’s setlist may or may not be enough to sway. However, this clearly has not been a problem for HHK Toronto, where arriving early to the regularly packed monthly is a must if you hope to see any stage time. But whatever your opinions and preconceptions, what you can definitely count on is being caught out by surprise tastes of the people in the room, and the chance to rock out to cuts you’ll likely never hear at a local hip hop jam (“Bitties At The BK Lounge” on the night that I went!), even with the city’s current addiction to everything pre-’96.
HHK Toronto runs the 3rd Friday of every month at Revival. Check the website for upcoming event listings, photos, videos, etc.
Show-stealing guest host Oliver Samuels, the long anointed Caribbean King of Comedy, had bellies busting as he held down MCing duties alongside Marcia Brown and show producer Allan Jones of Jones & Jones Productions, keeping the wheels turning as the event’s diverse group of performs delivered a well-run spectacle for the whole family. Early highlights included the educational African dance stylings of the Charles Town Maroon Drum Ensemble, an impromptu Brazilian feature from local vocalist Luanda Jones, and the nostalgic sketch comedy of Sabu Grant and Terri Salmon. Things moved comfortably along through the mid-afternoon as Toronto dance troupe Baby Boyz – with their Jackson 5 antics – and sweat gospel vibes of Nana McLean added some diversity to the mix before local old-time reggae legend Jay Douglas took to the stage, just in time to lead those cramping up from hours spent in the shadeless field through a melodious seventh-inning stretch of spot-on classic jams.
From there, it was onto the heavyweights, namely Juno nominees Humble, and the animated crowd pleaser Steele, who provided a snippet stream of popular tunes in his setup for the night’s main event, Byron Lee’s world-renowned Dragonaires. With both the Jamaica and Canadian colours flying proudly as far as the eye could see, when it was all said and done, few could argue that Jambana ’09 wasn’t a great to spend the final day of a long summer weekend.
