United in Flow Monthly Hip-hop Showcase @ Sneaky Dee's, January 25, 2010

This past Tuesday Sneaky Dee's played host to United in Flow, a "socially conscious hip-hop movement" making waves for around half a year, all of which began with a mixtape. Producer James Pew of Toronto-based Euphonic Sound Recording Studio rounded up some hip-hop and slam acts from around the city last October to write on the theme of unity and community. The record, United in Flow: Volume 1 can be purchased for charity to help local neighbourhoods.

Their first monthly showcase, hosted by trip-hop T.O. general Mindbender Supreme, went off with a bang and delivered a vibe seldom seen in grassroots indie shows like this. Any uneasiness about the night was immediately ushered out in exchange for a unanimous love for the social music of hip-hop, which brought closer a community of like-minded people revelling in a weeknight of beats and rhymes.

Mindbender Supreme

"It's about the collaboration and community of the scene in Toronto," Pew told me, as the crowd slowly builded. "We want to build something that people can be part of." Mindbender Supreme debuted his new music video, "Reset Button", that night, and you can go watch it here. If you're a fan of clever, heavily delivered lyrics, and want to support Toronto hip-hop (or if you like old-school videogames), definitely check it.

All the artists delivered a uniqueness in their respective music, playing off influences and themes to a nicely varied crowd throughout a night of great music.

More pictures after the jump.

LISTEN: MF Grimm - The Original

My musical tastes from '90-'99 are a bit hazy, what with the whole "I was born then became a kid" thing, but I still remember going over to a friend's house to listen to Eminem's Slim Shady LP, and being consumed by the punch-lines, funny lyrical imagery, and surreal swear words. "I Just Don't Give a Fuck" was my favourite song for a couple years back then, and I could rap the entire thing to kids in the playground, without even knowing of half the things the song was saying. I bleached my hair a year later, and no I'm not showing you a picture.

I first heard MF Grimm (born Percy Carey) on the track "Tick, Tick..." off MF Doom's Operation: Doomsday album, a fine example of New York rap from the late 90's. That track exemplifies the pure rawness of Grimm's style; though it's there, it isn't about the quantity of rhymes (ironically, considering he released the fantastic triple album American Hunger, a first for hip-hop), but rather their quality.

With "The Original", off the hugely slept on MF EP, Grimm delivers; "rhymes so crazy, Son of Sam did half my tracks." There are volleys of completely outrageous claims thrown from every direction in this innercity block-spitting example of underground battle-rhyming, as Grimm reveals "the world is too little, Grimm reaper run the f'kin solar system." This is imaginative swordplay in the purest form. The beat's an effective, simple drum loop from the depths of the underground, acting as a canvas for Grimm to paint you right into his trap, engulfing your ears with a little glimmer into the heart of Percy Carey. 

Surviving a murder attempt that left him paralyzed from the waist down, putting up a one-day bail before a life sentence to record an entire album, countering the sentence to be commutated down to four years, all while delivering this calibre of hip-hop demands recognition. He even wrote a frickin' comic book. Please, take a moment and recognize.

Listen.

LISTEN: The Slackers - Yes It's True

Following in the footsteps of a friend's tumblr, I've decided to post more music that you should know all about and love. If you don't, that's okay (you've probably never heard of them, it's mostly obscue pseudo post-underground electronica doo wop rock), because I'll offer you a brief background!

New York City slickers The Slackers have been a staple in my natural progression as a teenager with a love for all things reggae. I mentioned before that I absolutely adore ska and reggae music, and these guys were a consistent addition to every burn I did on my Sony MiniDisc, all the way back in 2001. 

With "Yes It's True" off their 1998 album The Question, the maturity these guys show with such a fun-loving, happy genre of music is especially striking. This is, at heart, a sad song, but feel the mood of it. Swinging melodys and upbeat horn toots go on as Vic Ruggiero and Glen Pine harmonize perfectly, with a dense progression. The bridge with the flange echoes memories of being a teenager, fondly discovering the opposite sex, while being completely terrified of them. All at once this song made the 12-year-old me feel like a longing ex-lover and a man with a master plan, cruising the morning pavement to grade school.

Listen.

PHOTO: Roommate

A portrait of my roommate.

Mayer Hawthorne and the County @ Opera House, October 15th 2010

So this is one of a few concerts that I went to in 2010 that slipped under the "post these" radar, and I accidentally left the photos on my hard drive, which have since been waiting patiently to be unleashed onto the world. Mayer Hawthorne's 2009 LP A Strange Arrangement instantly got my attention before it was released, as he is on my favourite record label of all time, and I trust any new artist they sign to bring something interesting and exciting to the table.

Combining a throwback to Motown-soul with low-fi, do-it-yourself recordings, Mayer establishes a fantastic niche that should please both longtime listeners of their folk's old records, hip-hop heads, and general likers of good music the world over. His is a great introduction to music from a simpler time, where classic themes dominated, singing in falsetto wasn't ruined forever, and tucking in your shirt was actually hip. 

If you haven't already, please, recognize:

Happy Holidays!

Took this at the Distillery District in downtown Toronto last Friday. Finally snowed in Toronto, so you can definitely expect some pictures of my favourite season.

The semester is over, and my last exam is in a couple of days so I'll be able to post pictures from recent concerts I've been to, like Mayer Hawthorne, Aloe Blacc, and Wolf Parade. I'm contemplating putting my final assignment up here too, but I'm not sure if it's something I want people reading. We'll see.

Skateboarding

 I remember when my cousins first introduced me to the art of skateboarding with this video, fondly encapsulating my mind with dreams of being Rodney Mullen. I got my first board, a Birdhouse deck with Canadian Grind King trucks and my little brother followed suit, skating at the various skateparks in the GTA for years. The waxed curb outside my old house is still there, according to an old neighbour. Though I haven't skated seriously since 2006, my good friend Gabe, pictured here, is definitely a formidable skater, and still skateboards these days. Here's a picture I took of him in the summertime. I would love to shoot more skaters doing their thing. It really is a beautiful pastime, one I hope isn't on its way out.

Here's a phenomenal skateboarding vid of Kilian Martin, perfectly exemplifying the focused proficiency this sport demands, and the ability to make these near-impossible movements seem effortless.

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P.S. For those who care, I've been recently signed on to contribute to POUND magazine, so be on the lookout for some of my writing there! There's a bunch of good stuff on their site, and I'm really proud to lend my name and efforts to a publication that keeps it as real as these guys do.

PHOTOS: Inside Allan Gardens

Walking around the botanical garden in Allan Gardens is one of the few secret treasures in downtown Toronto. Most people pass by it without second thought, but thankfully, I had it brought to my attention by a good friend who lives right across the street from it. It's almost like stepping into a different, nature-filled world. It feels like the Garden of Eden at times, not only because of the sheer diversity of the plantlife in there, but also because it's just peaceful. Definitely a good place to go to calm down after a stressful week.

REVIEW: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

A new Kanye West album always comes with some... let's call them, preconceptions before listening. Aside from the obvious award interrupting, media influenced judgments one may carry, the last major release from Yeezy was an auto-tuned, down and out, sad kind of record. And although 808s and Heartbreak was a success, fans with roots grounded in rap were taken aback by West's decision to completely drench the LP in a synthy, robotic sing-song, with few traces of hip-hop found anywhere.

Walking around Toronto

In one of my classes today the instructor had us bring our cameras to the lab and go out and take "newsworthy" pictures, like ones you would see that preface an article in the paper. Naturally I was ecstatic about the endavour, as I've been delving into photography for several years now and think I've gotten steadily better. It's a very fun hobby of mine, and one that I am constantly trying to get better at.

Here are some of my pictures I took today.

This little kid (complete with Buzz Lightyear action figure and gramma) was a pretty cool dude.

Streetcar was moving.

LISTEN: J Dilla - So Far to Go (feat. Common and D'angelo)

Biking to school this morning, I noticed the perfect autumn weather. The sun gives off a great feeling of warmth to the otherwise brisk weather. Perfect for some classic beats from my favorite hip-hop producer, J Dilla. Here's a track that I really love; the beat is just perfect, as always, the hook really shines at the latter half of this song, and Common remains always on point. Definitely one for the headphones, kids.

Dirty Projectors @ Opera House, September 16th 2010

 

Last Wednesday, on a whim, my girlfriend and I decided to muster up $30 to go see the band that released what TIME Magazine called the 2nd best album of 2009. Surely an indie act that received that kind of praise would put on, at the very least, a decent concert.

And man, did they deliver.

Their latest EP with Icelandic singer Björk recently made waves on the music blogosphere, and for good reason; Dirty Projectors' frontman and creative force Dave Longstreth provides a terrific jarble of noise, off-beat time signatures, and quirky melodic guitar tones that perfectly complement the avant-garde direction of song Björk is notorious for.  Definitely one to check out if you're familiar with either act's musical style.

Sublime with Rome @ Kool Haus, August 21st 2010

At the height of my guitar playing teenage youth, there was always one genre of music that I absolutely LOVED to play; the not-too-serious rhythms, fun musical motions, simple chord progressions, and of course, soulful lyrical ballads of reggae all contributed to my eventual love of Sublime. The early 90s reggae/ska 3-piece out of California proved to be a very formidable band. Their success of 40 Oz to Freedom, originally released on their own Skunk Records label, became a smash hit, catching the attention of major label MCA and blasting the then-dubbed "college rock" group right smack dab into the limelight of music goers far and wide.

Reflections of Saturday: The Toronto G20 Protests

The past weekend I witnessed downtown Toronto turn from one of the safest cities in North America to a near police state with mobs of people clad in black, faces covered, brandishing hammers, makeshift metal bars, spray paint, and war cries, all in the name of protest. The chaotic rumble plaguing what began as a very peaceful, coordinated, cooperating protest rally will no doubt be the red ink stain that blemishes the rightful, intended message of the groups protesting at the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit. I was there on Saturday the 26th, documenting what I saw with my camera, trying to provide introspection of what I witnessed. It was quite the experience, though I'm not quite sure if that is for all the right reasons. I'm sure those reading have been following the news and are quite familiar with the shocking turns the weekend took, though I hope to provide a unique, first-hand perspective that major media organizations can not.

Born Ruffians @ Phoenix Concert Theatre, March 14 2010

 

I never really listened to Born Ruffians much past that catchy "ah, ohh a-oh" song that seemed to be everywhere, even a Skins episode. Well, they put on a fun enough show at the Phoenix. In fact, it was very fun. Despite flagging with a bit of a lame album, their catchy two-step song skills made a really great night out of an otherwise forgettable band. Thanks for the mam'ries guys. Unfortunately their musical prowess wasn't enough to prevent the sag that was my girlfriend's wallet getting stolen at the show. It was eventually found, but it's the sort of thing that really impedes the whole "positive concert experience" deal.