High Art Hip Hop: Lyrics Born Rock With Chali 2na

September 12, 2014

As we all know, hip-hop has a revolving door of rappers. With contemporary artists being chewed up and spit out faster than you can say Lil Jon, the probability of a career spanning multiple decades is highly doubtful. Notable East Coast emcees such as KRS-One, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are among the few that can claim years of longevity. Lyrics Born (real name Tom Shimura), however, has been at it since the early ‘90s and is still going strong with his latest release, As U Were. Growing up in Berkley, Shimura had a hard time getting his hands on good hip-hop. Fortunately, he crossed paths with future label mates, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious) and Lateef the Truthspeaker (Latyrx) while attending school at UC-Davis where the idea for Quannum Projects was born. In addition to putting out their own records, the three entrepreneurs started putting out material by artists like DJ Shadow, Lifesavas and Pigeon John under the Quannum moniker. As Lyrics Born, Shimura has reveled in plenty of success with his funk and soul-infused hip-hop, something he learned as a college radio DJ in California.

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Album Review: Ty Segall – Manipulator

Laguna Beach native Ty Segall has exploded with popularity since he started popping up in lo-fi garage rock bands around Orange County in the early 2000’s, and now, Segall’s solo career is on fire after releasing 2008’s self-titled debut. With an affinity for fuzzed-out guitars, surf rock and ‘60s-inspired psychedelic garage rock, Segall has proven to be on the front lines of the recent garage rock surge. Fortunately for Segall, he made the move to San Francisco before MTV’s reality show, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, landed on his front door. It transformed his hometown into something unrecognizable to him. Fortunately, that’s beginning to change.

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Album Review: Operations – EP 1

September 10, 2014

In terms of comparisons, Operators are probably closest in sounds to Handsome Furs. Not to be confused by the hard rock band of the same name, Operators sport a peppy electronic sound that splits the difference evenly among its songs between clean, exciting beats and softer, fuzzier sounds. It mostly works quite well, and with the different types of ideas and sounds Boeckner experiments with on the album, it’s exciting to anticipate what he’ll do with the next Operators release, especially if that release is enabled by the expanse and budget of a full-length album.

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Greeley Attempts to Break World Chalk Record

September 4, 2014

On September 6th, 2014 citizens of Greeley, Colorado will draw 3.7 miles of pavement chalk art in the parking lots surrounding UNC’s main campus in order to break the previous record made on June 5th, 2009 in Jena, Germany. Students of Jena completed the longest chalk art at 3.47 miles, made up of 6 foot by 6 foot square segments.

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Feeling the Vibe – Vibe Squad Talks Business with The BandWagon

September 3, 2014

Considering the music Aaron Holstein makes, you’d never guess the man behind VibeSquaD is a trained multi-instrumentalist with a background in jazz. The talented Colorado-based music producer emits sounds that can make your ears bleed with its pounding bass, swirling synthesizers and relentless energy—just don’t call it dubstep. His infusions of funk, hip-hop and other polyrhythmic textures into his electronic concoctions defy categorization. Combined with his eccentric stage persona, Holstein is in a world of his own.

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Cooler Than A Polar Bear’s Toenails: OutKast Hits Up the Mad Decent Block Party in Denver

August 26, 2014

When Big Boi walked out on to the Red Rocks Amphitheater stage in 2010 for a Rock the Bells performance, Andre 3000 was noticeably absent. Nonetheless, he performed many of Outkast’s singles, including “Elevators (Me and You),” “ATLians” and “Rosa Parks.” However, it just wasn’t’ the same. This year, when Big Boi and Andre 3000 perform at Denver’s Mad Decent Block Party on August 22, things will be a little different.

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