It is summer.  Let the glorious rays of sun beat down upon my pasty skin.  Let cold Mexican beer sit in plastic red coolers and beautiful people wear tiny clothing that showcases their scalded shells.  It is unexplainable but the sunshine and the beers and the semi-nudity make me yearn, yen, absolutely desire the hard-rocking beats of anything suitably hip-hop related.

My playlist over the course of the last three days has featured Mos Def, J. Dilla, N.A.S.A., and a smattering of classic J5 and the absolutely must-listen Moment of Truth.  I can not explain this need, but it exists and while perusing these cold, dark interwebs I was shown a ray of light in this vaguely hip-hopesque album entitled Ambivalence Avenue.

This is an exploded pinata of hip-hop and electronic influences.  A vomitous spew of knob tweaks and bass beats that though erratic in composition, has moments of thump that have me smiling in to the warm glare of the sky.

Bibio - Jealous of Roses

Ah sweet Friday rolls around again and I’m tired of the work week and ready to dig on in to inexpensive whiskey and a healthy dollop of live music.  I’m sure you feel the same, so I’ll get right to the goods:

FRIDAY:

KEXP Yuletide Benefit w/ Grand Archives, Shearwater, & Dutchess and The Duke @ Neumos

I’m not going to be attending this show, as I’ll be heading out on Saturday night to see Thao and crew.  But, if you can’t make it to Saturday, I’d recommend coming out for this.  I’ve seen Grand Archives too many times (don’t ask) to be able to clearly state my opinion on them, but know this, they’re a sunny bunch of bastards on stage.  Dutchess and The Duke (a favorite of mine this year) put on one of the most inconsistent live shows I’ve ever seen, but there’s something truly charming about the duo (trio on stage).  Shearwater is a black hole about which I know nothing about.

Police Teeth @ The Comet

For some reason, I blame Reverb Fest’s schedule, Police Teeth and Team Gina are paired in my mind.  And yes I know, Team Gina plays hilarious girl-rap and Police Teeth play deconstructed punk rock, but they’re stuck there, holding hands like schoolyard lovers in my mind.  Thus, when I saw they were playing at my favorite shithole The Comet, I thought, “Damn, Noah, you should recommend this shit.”  So I am.

The Whoremoans @ Chop Suey

The new Whoremoans album is realllllyyyy good.  And they’ve always been known to melt minds with their live show, so I say, guh-guh-go!

SATURDAY

KEXP Yuletide Benefit w/ Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Shearwater, and Cancer Rising @ Neumos

Thao, sweet sweet Thao, how I love your live performance.  Your silly little comments, your sheer bad-assness, I’m sorry I didn’t come out to see you when you played with Rachel Yamagata and some other lady, I thought the estrogen cloud floating over the crowd might have grown me boobs.  But don’t you worry Thao, I’ve got a ticket to Saturday night, and I don’t care what kind of chemical cloud is floating over Neumos, I’ll be there.

Mos Def @ The Moore

Mos Def hasn’t put out a listenable album in like five years but I don’t care, he’s still the most loveable of underground rap icons.  Blackstar pretty much, for better or worst, birthed my love of hip-hop and if I could afford the high price for this show I’d be in the front row pumping my fist and screaming like a gangster school girl.

SUNDAY

Holy Ghost Revival, The Pharmacy, and Wild Orchid Children @ Neumos

I like local music, I do really.  And this show, according to the good folk at a paper I believe is called “The Stranger” claim that Holy Ghost Revival and The Pharmacy are former Seattle locals back from sojourns in various parts of the world.  Hell, this “The Stranger” even hints that Harry Potter himself might have a thingy for the Holy Ghost Revival … that must mean they’re good … … nonetheless, The Pharmacy (back from Nah Or’leans) will rock your ugly face of and Wild Orchid Children seemingly are unable to stop touring ever.  It’s Sunday night so I’ll probably be asleep in my highball by like seven thirty.

Enjoy your weekend.  Just remember some hookers are only pretending they’re girls!

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Geography

This is Mos Def’s “Katrina Clap.” Just now passing the one year anniversary of the hurricane and we are reminded that New Orleans is still a gaping wound in our national conciousness.

It’s dollar day in New Orleans,
It’s where water everywhere and baby’s dead in the streets,
It’s enough to make you holler out,
Like where the fuck is Sir Bono and his famous friends now,
Don’t get it twisted man I dig U2,
But if you aint about the ghetto, Then Fuck You Too,
Who care bout Rock N’ Roll when babies can’t eat food,
Listen homie that shit ain’t cool,

It’s like dollar day for New Orleans,
It’s where the water everywhere and homies dead in the streets,
And Mr. President’s a natural ass,
He out treatin’ bruthas worse than they treat the trash

It’s clear that restoring New Orleans to its former glory is a low priority of federal government. To ignore the racial element of the issue is to ignore the history and what the numbers say. For a short time the national press examined the racial and class dynamic surrounding the initial response and who was left to fend for themselves. Mos Def brings that issue alive again with this song and video, that is an underground favorite.

To suggest that action or inaction is ever a decision based on race has become crass. We like to think the newspaper version of our country has integrated and things like this would never be allowed to happen anymore. We want to think that this was simply a “Perfect Storm.” We really want to believe that Army Corp of Engineers fucked up big or that events like this are bound to happen sooner or later when attempting to tame nature. But a significant question to confront is: Had the demographics of the area protected by those levees been different, would those levees have been taken care of differently? I don’t know the answer to that question, but Mos sure has plenty to say about it.  

Watch: Katrina Clap Video (YouTube)

Full Lyrics: Katrina Clap