Philadelphia singer/songwriter Bilal Oliver breezed through the Birchmere,  in support of his latest release Airtight’s Revenge.  He brought the house down at BB Kings in NYC, and continued the fire in DC.  Bilal wooed the crowd with favorites such as “All for Love”, “Soul Sista”, “Fastlane” and other diddies from the internet only All 4 Love album, before going into newer material from Airtight’s Revenge.    Bilal joked about  the supper club setting of the Birchmere –clearly he’s accustomed to standing room only venues –that makes two of us.  Must say that Bilal pulled off a stellar performance all the while fighting a nasty cold.  If Bilal is coming to your town, do yourself a favor….GO!

Janelle Monae’s mothership landed last week in DC, bringing space-age soul to a sold-out crowd at the Black Cat. The Grammy-nominated singer, on tour now through April, didn’t just put on a show. She gave us an experience. Sort of like a Warhol Factory happening – meets – Alice in Wonderland, set in a strange distant future in a galaxy far, far away.

Fans were drawn into the futuristic fantasy world the second they walked in. Perched at the door of the Black Cat’s Mainstage were members of Monae’s crew handing out flyers outlining her Ten Droid Commandments. They included such directives as:

If you see your neighbor jamming harder than you, covet his or her jam.

Be aware that jamming means: no tweeting without clapping, no sex without screaming and no freedom without dancing.

Abandon your expectations about art, race, gender, culture and gravity.

Early on, another one of her acolytes, mysteriously dressed in an all-black robe, came out to instruct us all to prepare “to find new emotion this evening.” This ratcheted up the anticipation of the super-hyped audience even more, leading to claps, boos, and chants of “Start the show!” (For the record: according to Black Cat staff everything was right on time. Plus, you never rush a diva.)

Just when the crowd couldn’t take it any longer, Janelle Monae finally arrived, making a dramatic entrance to a Star Wars-esque overture. Flanked by a keyboardist, drummer, and guitarist, she bounded onstage and quickly launched into rapping about decoys and bboys while electronic squiggles, bleeps, and loops played behind.

She was decked out of course in her signature Cindi Mayweather pompadour, white schoolgirl blouse, black tuxedo pants, and saddle shoes. The whole band rocked her famous monochromatic look, including a cast of masked cybergirls and cyberboys who cavorted onstage behind her, occasionally throwing balloons and streamers into the audience.

From the party atmosphere onstage to her otherworldly image, every single part of Monae’s act was carefully constructed and brilliantly imagined. To say she kept things conceptual would be an understatement. We weren’t just listening to songs on a setlist. We were watching a narrative unfold. Any weirder and it would have become performance art. Any more theatrical, it would have been an opera.

Monae left the crowd spellbound as she conjured up a world of daydreamers, cold wars, and cyborgs in love. Blazing through new material from her upcoming album The ArchAndroid, she strutted, swayed, moonwalked, and spazzed her way through the night, serving up a whirlwind of hip-hop, new wave, and technicolor pop.

While most of the songs were unrecognizable (sorry, no “Many Moons,” “Violet Stars” or Purple Ribbon joints), she did treat longtime fans to “Sincerely, Jane” from 2007’s Metropolis. She also broke out a reworked version of her latest single “Tightrope,” turning it into a slow-burning groove and ending the song with an extended James Brown-inspired funk freakout (cape and all).

She closed out the night by leaping into the audience and crowdsurfing her way through the Black Cat, disappearing into a sea of outstretched hands and screaming fans. There was no encore, no goodbye or good night. Just like that Janelle Monae was gone. Beamed back to her home planet I suppose, set in a strange distant future in a galaxy far, far away.

Photos by Jati Lindsay

It’s truly the simplest of pleasures in the universe that evoke the greatest appreciation. It is by this statement that we define the success that was The Very Best’s completely sold out tour stop with Javelin at DC 9 on Monday evening. The Very Best, which takes the dark, gritty ghetto electro remixing of Radioclit and blends it with the, well, warm heart of Africa that Malawi’s Esau Mwamwaya brings to the table is an effusive blend that again, for lack of a better term, brings “the very best” out of the soul of the listener.

Opener’s Javelin nearly rendered the evening a half success. Occupying the slot due to a fantastic new wave remix/interpretation of The Very Best’s trunk funk anthem “Julia,” the 80s shlock celebrating, hipster trending, Brooklyn synth and sample remixing/DJ/performance duo certainly provided moments of fun and dance, but in being COMPLETELY ironic lose lots of steam from their very well crafted synth pop creations. In the midst of their opening set, the audience was treated to a retinue of video images culled straight from 1985, whether it be a man in an awkward tan sweater with Johann Sebastian Bach on the front explaining the craft of playing the synthesizer, to a “learn to breakdance” video, BMX bike riding on the roof of a suburban rambler, keytar images or manatee life in the Pacific, the entertainment value of the videos, while memorable, stole a lot of the impact from Javelin’s compositions. However, once the shock of the imagery wore off, near the end of their set, tracks like their breakbeat heavy remix of the theme for 8-bit Nintendo Mike Tyson’s Punch Out competitor “Soda Popinski,” as well as a breakdown over a track that took the chorus of Blondie’s “Rapture” into a recitation of childhood rhyme “Frere Jacques,” and a finale that ended with recitations of the chorus of Outkast’s “SpottieOttieDopalicious” over an electro backing made for a very quirky, disjointed, but overall entertaining opening act.

Then, DJ Johan Hugo, two beautiful English based African dancers in lettermen jackets and traditional garb, and the overjoyed Esau Mwamwaya took the stage, and the event was transformed from mere concert to African tent revival. The Very Best is a simple concept that effortlessly succeeds due to stellar execution. Between 2008′s “The Very Best” mixtape, and the new Warm Heart of Africa release, there is certainly enough material present to create an exciting, dance friendly set that moves, grooves and removes all pretension from people, and culminates in a great time. Opener “Yalira” served as a vocal appetizer, as Esau Mwamwaya’s charmingly accented voice and Hugo’s production rained down upon a sold out crowd well acquainted with The Very Best’s body of work, and just waiting for the moment to dance as though hell’s demons were being set forth from them in an exultant manner. From there, we journeyed back to 2008′s starmaking and awareness inducing mixtape, with Mwamwaya’s take on M.I.A.’s now ubiquitous anthem of social freedom “Paper Planes,” which still, if even sung in an African tongue 90 percent of the crowd cannot understand, causes riotous debauchery.

But the highlight of the set is the album’s guaranteed hit, “Warm Heart of Africa” featuring Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. It’s a joy filled exciter, with such simple yet catchy African rhythms that it’s tailor made for acceptance from possibly slow footed and plodding Western audiences. As the song built to crescendo though, Radioclit stops the track to a noticeable gasp of shock from the crowd, and drops his remix of the track, an uptempo electro meets the Zambezi River like overflow of pleasant vibes that caused jumping, screaming, and movements in the female form that belied A-line skirts, prim and proper couture, or awkward hipsterdom, and turned the room into an earthquake of rhythm and very sexy and nubile undulations.

The Very Best’s set also included Africa by way of Crenshaw Swap Meet g funk love anthem “Julia,” which in front of a live crowd really spotlights the unique qualities of Mwamwaya’s Malawian-accented voice that makes the group the truly unique winner for 2010 that all expect them to be. Closing with their take on Vampire Weekend’s African themed and rhythmically tinged “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” was expected, though funky club killer “Rain Dance” with the aforementioned M.I.A. not being performed owes much likely to M.I.A.’s flow being responsible for 75% of the track’s vocals, which does not lend well to the live experience, which, more than anything serves as a backdrop for making Mwamwaya’s luckiest human in the world million megawatt personality and Hugo’s excellent production and remix talent to shine ever brightly.

In final, The Very Best present a live event. To refer to it as a concert would be to limit the effectiveness of the group in creating a perfect party atmosphere. In final, I take from this show leaving the venue, looking back on the stage at a bemused Johan Hugo, dropping remixed traditional African music to a room of people that had no desire nor intention of wanting to drink, wanting to fight, nor ultimately wanting to leave. They created the essence of the ultimate moment, and achieved the aim of what the group likely considers their perpetual goal…living up to their name.

Photos from The Foreign Exchange’s NYC show at BB Kings
by Joann Gomez, Music Looks Like This. Follow her on Twitter @MLLT.

The Foreign Exchange, the North Carolina based duo of Little Brother’s Phonte and Dutch producer Nicolay is steeped in legend. Meeting online via the hip-hop site Okayplayer, they exchanged beats and rhymes over the Internet, creating a friendship and leading to the group we now know today. Over the years, The Foreign Exchange has grown and matured, flipping its sound from its roots of hip-hop to the laid back almost Radiohead-like soul of their latest project Leave It All Behind, which received Album of the Year Honors from The Couch Sessions in 2008.

Earlier this week, The Foreign Exchange graced DC for the second time this year, spreading their magic on yet another capacity crowd at Black Cat.

Rapper Big Pooh started off the night to a somewhat lukewarm reception, running through a 30 minute set, dropping selections from his extensive (and slept on) body of work, Pooh did his best to entertain the crowd until the headliner, but people didn’t seem to feel Pooh until he dropped the classic “Whatever You Say.” The lack of crowd response is sad, because he’s one of the more underrated MC’s of of the past 10 years.

After Pooh’s set it was time for the main event. The Foreign Exchange graced the stage looking as dapper as ever. Let’s face it The Foreign Exchange dresses better than you do, complete with matching suits and fedoras, with the woman of the moment, Yazarah fronting a shimmery dress and honestly, killing the game. The first thing you notice about Foreign Exchange is that the live band is stacked with talent. Singers Darren Brockington, Carlita Durand and DC Native Yazarah are so good that they make me want to slap the creator of AutoTune for even thinking of inventing pitch correction software. Another DC native Zo! mans the keys while Nicolay lays back in the cut, quietly  enjoying his producer status.

As The Foreign Exchange dressed in their Sunday best, the show ended up being a Sunday night revival. Phonte, who is one of the best frontmen of this decade, commanded the stage with a classic and commanding (and sometimes long-winded) swagger. With a set that blended the more upbeat songs from the first album, Connected, with the more downtempo tracks from their second, Phonte kept the crowd hype and entertained, dropping wisdom and relationship knowledge at times, and leading the band into jazz renditions of “Snap Yo Fingers,” and “Stanky Leg,” and their crowd pleasing cover of “My Prerogative.”

When it was time for the band to get down to business, they did. D Brock kills it on his track “Take Off The Blues,” while Yaz shines on her song “Sincere.” Even downtempo tracks like “House of Cards” had an extra dose of energy in the live set.

For those who dismiss The Foreign Exchange as just another “backpacker neo-soul group” be warned. They put on a show that will rival any touring act you will see this year. Hands down. The excitement of the show that went down on Sunday cannot be expressed in written words. You must experience them for yourself.

Beautiful Photos by Philippe N, aka Star P. Please support.

The very first Afropunk tour hit Toronto last Friday with a lineup of impressive performances from the likes of Saidah Baba Talibah, American Fangs and the legendary poet and rebel, headliner Saul Williams.

Matthew Morgan, Resident Producer of the Afropunk 2009 tour, Producer of Afropunk the documentary, and co-spearhead of the whole Afropunk movement along with James Spooner was in attendance as well. “If I could meet one or two kids that didn’t know we existed,” said Morgan on the goal of the tour, “that either went on to create a profile or just find a band that they like on Afropunk and become a part of the community then I’ll be happy.”

Saul Williams said it himself in an interview with The Couch Sessions a while back, performance is his forte, and he couldn’t be more right. For a man whose music is not readily digestible for most of mainstream culture, his performance skills meld his profound and harshly beautiful lyrics, with the catchy, synthesized and guitar heavy music they are set to, creating a show that nobody, fan or not, could stand still through. Together on stage William’s band looked like the most random assortment of characters, the guitarist dressed in a classic 70’s prom suit, Keyboardist dressed as Dracula, the DJ channeling Afrika Bambaataa, and finally Williams with feathers in his hair and elaborate purple sparkling face paint.

Despite the complete lack of visual cohesiveness, the music was hypnotic as they played many of the tracks from Williams’s 2007 album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! The Hit track List of Demands (Reparations) (remember the Nike commercial?) was recognized by the crowd, and everyone pumped their fists in unison to NiggyTardust. A highlight was a dope and twisted cover of Bjork’s Declare Independence that eventually progressed into a slowed down, bass bumping outro. One of Toronto’s best known MC’s K-os also made an appearance, jumping on stage and freestyling for a minute over the band.

Chillin’ backstage afterwards in silence on a couch, Williams seemed like the complete opposite persona of the man who had been climbing above the crowd on huge speakers only seconds before. Both introverted thinker and enigmatic performer, each side of Williams is equally impressive. Make sure you check out the tour when it comes to a city near you, your chance to see a living legend and some totally impressive Afropunk.

Photos by EvaBlue. PLEASE SUPPORT!

Bonjour! Big ups to our homie Laurent and his peoples at 33 Mag in Montreal, Canada for providing this amazing review of this show! Look for more cross-border collaborations with Couch Sessions and 33 Mag real soon!

After a fast and absolutely unscientific survey, I can affirm that nobody could remember if Outkast ever stepped in the 514 during their career. Sizzurp, apparently, hits more than we’d like to believe.

So, the presence of Outkast’s Big Boi at Club Soda in Montreal’s notorious Red Light District had a particular significance for North of the Border’s playas and Montreal’s Funk Freaks. There were definitely people waiting to hear a blasting sound system exerting from the upcoming Sir Luscious Left Foot: The son of Chico Dusty. But most of us were there for a travel across time and space: Direction Stankonia, Georgia, era 1994-2000.

After pushing the audience’s patience to its limits, the last of the multitude of opening acts finally retreated where they should have never left: backstage. Four hours after the doors opened, alas, the tired host announced, trying to be as convincing as he could, that the South was in the building and ready to jump on stage. Yesssssssir, ‘cause with beers at $6.50 a pop, I was drinking more dollars an hour than my hourly rate at work.

Without wasting a second, “the least effeminate half of Outkast” (as a good friend of mine puts it) was rocking the room with the hits he wrote with Andre 3K–2 Dope Boys in a Cadillac, Git up Git out, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, Ms Jackson–all in 15 minutes! Woah. I didn’t need the ATLiens chorus to raise my hands in the air and wave them like a Wacky Waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. The projection of the amazing videography of Outkast was flawless and (surprisingly) perfectly coordinated with the song performed on stage. It made me realize though, how much hip-hop needs more artists capable of producing inspired and varied videos. I mean, who else can claim to have recorded videos with an entire pet shop, crazy indu-alien chicks and fierce pimps and playas from the A-Town?

The mood couldn’t have been smoother to introduce the new joints from Big Boi’s LP. It was a real treat to (re)discover in such good conditions Royal Flush (with Andre 3k and Raekwon), Shine Blockas (with Gucci Mane) and For ya Sorrows (featuring George Clinton & Too $hort), one of my favourite tracks of the year so far. A twitter leak is always good to spread the word but a blast-in-the-face performance is still the best way to break singles. Yet aware that new tracks are always a bit rough on a crowd’s spirit, Hot Tub Tony rapidly got back to its most known material and sped up the night with its best shots. You could have had your booty dipped in liquid nitrogen, I like the way you move, Bombs over Bagdad, The whole world and Player’s ball would have made your shorts bounce left to right. The grand finale was a wink at those who followed Big Boi’s adventures with the Purple Ribbon All-Stars. The explosive Kryptonite gave a chance to C-Bone to shine a bit outside of his backing vocal role and drained the last bit of energy out of the fans. ”I be on it/On it/On it/I be on that kryptonyte!” Ya!

I left with my ears buzzing happily and totally satisfied, something that doesn’t happen at much of these pre-album promo tours. DC people, be assured: Big Boi still got the stank! You better catch him when he hits your town.

Photos By Jati Lindsay. Please Support.

Meshell Ndegeocello – Love You Down (Ready for the World/INOJ cover)

As artists, it’s our life’s work to bleed–to open our souls to the world and give you, the reader and the listener, the sincere glimpse of the traffic or peace inside. Many musicians attempt to do this, but Meshell Ndegeocello has perfected the process of emotional exfoliation. On October 8th, 2009, she took the stage in front of an eager audience at the Black Cat, in Washington, DC. Ndegeocello walked into the Black Cat and hilariously so, they carded her and her band mates. She set the door politics aside, and ironically enough, her opening song lyrics from “Lola” were, “So you think you’re so f**king special,” and followed up with “Die Young, off of her newest album, Devil’s Halo. It’s an album that tells the stories, not of anyone in particular, but of the human experience and our quest for whatever is the subject of our happiness or pathos.

Known for the ways in which she pleasantly wounds and heals with her lyrics and ebbing bass, Ndegeocello gave nothing less in her near hour long performance. She followed up with “The Sloganeer-Paradise” from The World has made Me the Man of My Dreams. Definitely a fan favorite, the chorus is somewhat of an anthem of the accused or criticized. These were no plantation lullabies, but still proclamations of suffering’s fruit–empowerment and growth. Next Ndegeocello bestowed a gift upon her listeners, and performed “Fool of Me” the much loved track from her album, Bitter (1999). It’s a track that creates a wonderful thickness of “shared experiences” and as she sang the words, echoes of everyone’s stories of heartbreak blended in with the artist. The beautiful thing about Ndegeocello’s shows and music is that it makes one wholly vulnerable and connected. Her raw emotion and unwillingness to be anything but authentic reverberates in her lyrics, voice and down thru her fingertips when she lays them upon the guitar or keys of her choosing. Even as the set progressed with another track from The World has Made Me the Man of My Dreams, “Solomon”, a song for her son poured out into the crowd. An intimate ballad is “Solomon,” one expressing extreme gratitude to “the Creator” for the gift of parenthood, wishes for her son—some that are surely wishes for herself, as well.

But, Ndegeocello’s music doesn’t keep you in one place emotionally. Her next track, Dead N****a Blvd., was introduced by a simple question put to fans, “Are you free?” The spoken word that followed, begs you to answer or at least explore the bondages we create, be it wealth or fame, illusion of control, or an idea of self. Offering a dose of existentialism on a Thursday night is the Ndegeocello way, you stand there questioning and searching–all while just trying to take it all in. Her guitar and voice fill your soul up to the point of overflowing, in that slow bath-tub filling way. You find yourself connecting with the strangers in the room, both aware of the hurts you’ve inflicted and the ones you’re received. “Faithful,” is the perfect vessel for that connection, and it was performed beautifully, pushing some listeners to the point of spilling. Though, Ndegeocello can take you to those melancholy recesses of the heart, she doesn’t intend to keep you there.

Her final song, White Girl (Devil’s Halo), explodes with both lyrical and musical lightness, “White girl..she tell me that she loves me…it’s pure and beautiful.” After one more song, the artist’s set ended, but “White Girl” would continue to fall from the lips of listeners, until an encore performance hushed the crowd with memories triggered by the track, “Love You Down.” Originally made popular by the band, Ready for the World (1986) and later covered by INOJ (1998), this cover is not quite the poppy love song from your teenage years, but something entirely different. The INOJ version in particular is set against this “quick to burn” type melody, forever reminding us of the way youthful love arrests us, willingly, with lust as the usual suspect. The Ndegeocello version is slower and sexier, infused with the pulse of the heavy drum beats of passion. Perhaps her reinvention of the song denotes the wisdom gained through love’s ills and loves, while, stating the stark difference between lust and the making of love with the hope that it…stays.

So, how was the show you ask? With an amazing musician like Ndegeocello, you know the music’s going to be smashing. The better question to ask when you know her music is what did you feel? Don’t get it twisted, it isn’t therapy, it IS the unmasking of human emotions set to sound and song, which is something quite different. Though, you should experience it for yourself, provided that you’re brave enough to shrug off the numbing agent’s in today’s world and really stop and feel. I dare you.

Check for tour dates here

-k.scribe

BONUS: Photo of opening act Kokayi with DJ Cam Jus

Photos By Jati Lindsay. Please Support.

Mayer Hawthorne is the most unassuming guy in the room. While the openers Buff 1 and 14k were on stage, Mr. Hawthorne sat quietly in the back, observing the sold-out crowd at Washington’s DC9. With his vintage 50s ERA frames and a build that looks a bit too much like Brendan Frasier, he’s the last person that you would imaging fronting a soul revue, but once he gets on stage all doubts about who Mayer Hawthorne is are cast aside.

Mayer Hawthorne is best experienced live. Even if you are on the fence about his album, his performance will most certainly win you over . When Mayer comes on stage, the sleepy, almost low-key vibe of his  A Strange Arrangement, comes to life. Much of the credit for this goes to Mayer’s amazing band, The County, which is comprised of musicians from LA and his hometown of Ann Arbor, MI. When I talked to Mayer a few days before the show he told me that “I had all the money in the world and I could get anybody I wanted to, these guys would be the people I would select.” No kidding. The band’s tight arrangements were the key to the performance.

Mayer’s set included tracks from his debut album with a few surprises. The singles “It Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out,” and “Maybe So, Maybe No” got the crowd moving, but the breakout performance however, came my favorite song “Green Eyed Love,” and the breathtaking “I Wish It Would Rain,” where the “Rain Down” break saw the whole room mimicking Mayer’s rain gesture with their hands. The performance was topped off with a surprise rendition of Slum Village’s “Fall In Love,” for the 10% of the audience who knew of Dilla’s existence and the significance he had in the Michigan area.

Speaking of the crowd, they were fixated on Mayer the whole time. Forget the nerdy attire, Mayer has huge stage presence, and kept the people moving and hype up until past the encore. His bits between songs got the girls swooning, and of course he had to bring the most beautiful girl in the room up on stage for “Make Her Mine.” To the victor goes the spoils.

You can tell that the people at Stone’s Throw went to great lengths to create an entertaining show. The venues for this tour were under booked to give it that “soul revue” type of style, making the whole experience a lot more intimate than his previous stint at 9:30 club. Mayer put on one of the best shows I’ve seen all year, and many artists need to take note from Mayer (and old school Motown in general) on how to put on a entertaining, and crowd pleasing soul revue.

Photo courtesy of Sergio Leenen

Common + The Roots – Come Close, Love Is…

Amerie + The Roots – Why Are U?, One Thing

The Roots – You Got Me

Download: All three tracks in a Zip file.

On September 19th, 2009, The Roots, Common, Amerie, Muhsinah,  Boyz II Men and Anjulie descended upon The Velvet Room in Atlanta, GA as part of the Hennessy Artistry Blends event series.  The result of these collaborations left a crowd of over-Hennessied ATLiens swooning with multiple eargasms.

Moral debates aside (alcohol & tobacco company sponsorships), this was definitely one of the best shows to pass through Atlanta this year.

Matt and Kim, Brooklyn’s twin prime ministers of awesome, visited the Black Cat on Wednesday night with Secretary of Sensual Aural Panic Amanda Blank in tow for an evening that agreed with the musical sensibilities of everyone in attendance, and portended that both acts have the talent and confidence now to ascend further than their indie pop and dance status would allow. With Matt and Kim coming into this show having won the MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Artist for “Lessons Learned,” they made it readily apparent in their hour long set that they are a whole lot more than proof that the pop punk couple that runs together naked in Times Square stays together. They’re easily the brightest light for the mainstream infiltration of fidgety and quirky yet forward thinking indie pop.

This evening started with DJ’s Devlin and Darko playing Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Fugazi. That should’ve told us that our collective asses were going to be blown, gyrating wildly, clear off our bodies.

Opener Amanda Blank, much like Ronnie Ronette, Donna Summer or Aaliyah is a producer’s dream as a phenomenal canvas to paint a palette beats and rhythms upon. While not to say that she’s anywhere as talented yet, if the gay and hipster dance culture needed a diva that isn’t as weird yet as wearing facial bird nests, and appearing as though she’s your cool ass, ridiculous best friend, Amanda Blank is more than woman for the job. This is not to say that this is a job she quickly accepted in the best of manners. In the last year, I’ve witnessed Amanda Blank perform four times, with this Black Cat performance being her latest. And from a woman appearing small, yet entertaining in front of an enormous crowd of 1,500 at an outdoor bar in Austin, Texas at SXSW, the growth in performance maturity to the woman totally confident in amazing new material on Wednesday is a 180 degree improvement.

In her 45 minute opening set, Blank, seconded as always more than capably by Philly by way of DMV DJ sensations Devlin and Darko, writhed, preened and vogued her way more than capably through tracks on her debut “I Love You.” Blank, easily the urban hipster queen, was dressed in a manner I can only call vampire red riding hood sexpot, with a cloak covering a tight, barely there lycra minidress. Diplo, Switch and XXXChange’s productions while expected, do well in the hands of Blank, who neither sings nor raps in a manner consistent with the tops of either game, but damn sure knows how to take phenomenal productions and create a ton of eye catching, body grinding entertainment. The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s leaning “Make It Take It,” the vamped up Romeo Void covering debut single “I Might Like You Better,” and the LL Cool J “I Need Love” covering set closer “I Love You” all went over well, and induced a party.

Headliners Matt and Kim, while missing a lot of things (guitars!) that would make it easier to do so, are well poised to be the top band of this generation. The legit Brooklynite couple fill a room with enough irrepressible glee to power all five boroughs of New York. Calling their music “punk” would be a misnomer, as the checks they’ve cashed from Bacardi and Converse definitely take the ephemeral definition out of the equation. But it leaves the literal sounds, as well as a lot of other concepts, as this is a band that, given the lack of instrumentation, has turned this into a positive, being able to literally cover anything between a keyboard and drums. In fact, the Matt and Kim live experience goes ballistic when the couple does covers of Sugar Hill Gang’s “Apache,” Ol Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya,” Dead Prez’s “Hip Hop,” or Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll, Part 2.” Yes, it’s true if you look at the packaging with a jaded eye for the first time, you’re thinking, “why do people love these sweaty fucking hipsters?” It’s because there’s more than that. In watching them power through a set of underground hits from their indie debut to the more hook laden and pop friendly 2009 top album Grand, you get a sense that, as Matt says, “the stage is his home.” I’d argue that both members of the group view the music as catharsis, as these two play music that doesn’t make you dance because the melodies are fantastically catchy, it’s because they’re simple, fun, and they go hard. In the sparseness of their music, you find the ability to let yourself go, and get locked into the groove with the band. There’s not so much there that you have to be the best dancer, or the best singer, or the smartest music critic that ever lived. There’s a really melodic keyboard and a drummer who sounds like if you don’t dance, she’s gonna punch you in the face with snares and kicks and hi hats, all the while smiling massively. Their music is easy, and in a world where people fight to make the simple ridiculously hard, having Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino around is a breath of fresh air for sure.

The hits like “Lessons Learned” and the blend of street musician kick drum pickup and simplistic and maniacally catchy melody that is “Daylight” have been discussed ad nauseum, but its what fleshes out their set that makes them the mainstream accessible pop stars they’re becoming. Tracks like the delightful, baseball themed tale of the human condition “Lightspeed,” to the teenybopper leaning love tale “Yeah Yeah,” it’s clear that it was never a question of if, but an expectation of when they’d be ready for the brightest lights. Matt and Kim make great music. It’s not pop, it’s not punk, it’s certainly commercial, and definitely amazing.

Music, when in the hands of people like Matt and Kim and Amanda Blank, is certainly a much happier place, and that makes me terribly glad.

Photos By Jati Lindsay

Before MURS took stage at the Rock and Roll Hotel last Friday, he spent time talking to fans and trying his best to blend in with the eclectic and already anxious crowd that waited to see him perform. Besides being an incredible lyricist, a large part of his appeal can be attributed to his ability to create music that is easy to relate to and that caters to an average dude like me. Even though he hails from a city where gang activity is as common as the DC traffic during rush hour, his music is never saturated with tired, trite tales of street life and gang violence. Instead, he takes a contrasting approach, choosing not to speak from the voice of an aggressor but instead telling stories from the perspective of the common man dealing with both the struggles and conveniences of everyday urban life. It’s this commonality that makes MURS both rare and likable. Seriously, who can’t relate to songs about bitter breakups, alcohol and white women?!

Shortly after “kissing babies and shaking hands”, MURS took stage donned in a “Legalize LA” American Apparel t-shirt, his signature locks and began to tear down his set beginning with “H-U-S-T-L-E”. The crowd, a generous mix of male and female, hipsters and hip hop heads, rapped along in unison as MURS breezed through a couple newer songs as well as some of his earlier material.

Highlights included “Dark Skinned White Girls”, “Break Up [The OJ Song]“, “L.A.” as well as watching MURS try to jump around as much as possible while still nursing a groin injury. Even after a playful tongue lashing from MURS; frequent collaborator and the man responsible for making me a serious fan of MURS, 9th Wonder, made his way on stage. The two announced that they were beginning to head back into the studio to put together yet another collaboration. As well as this collab, MURS also announced that the third installment of his collab with Slug will be titled “A Tribute to Rosie Perez”.

Overall, DC was treated to a great performance from an veteran performer and seasoned lyricist. Next time MURS is in town, I suggest you check him out.