Greetings! I'd like to first and foremost welcome you to Half Full's Music Soup. My name is Jay Costa and I will be your tour guide on this journey through sound, music, art, life, and love. My goal is to expose the unexposed to the freshest in music, film, and art, but mostly music. So strap in kiddies and Enjoy the Ride!
In today's blog I'm going to shred some light on some up and coming Hip Hop acts...sort of. Well one of them have been doing their thing for a while, but he's about to release a new album and he needs to get some props.
Vakill
That aforementioned veteran would by the ONE, the ONLY Va to-the KILL. Straight up, I fucking love Vakill!!! His rhymes are as gritty as the Southside Chicago streets he grew up on. He truly carries on the tradition of witty, raw, wordsmiths that The City of Wind is known for. He's hands down, one of the best punch line MC's ever. Vakill has done tracks with such underground legends such as Percee P, Rhymefest, Royce da 5'9, and Crooked I and he's about to release his 4th album on Molemen Records entitled "Armor of God". Check out this freestyle trailer? (the first of it's kind maybe?) for that upcoming release.
Vic Mensa
Vic Mensa is an up and coming MC from the home of President Obama, Hyde Park; a Southside Chicago neighborhood. I know, I know, another Chicagoan, but Yo! these cats bring heat. Anyway, this kid will get a lot of comparisons to Drake due to the similarities in their voices, but believe me Vic is a fresh, young talent. Vic just released his first solo record "Straight Up" last summer and was recently featured on Nike's City of Win mixtape. Check out the vid below where Vic explains his life story and shows the video for the track featured on the City of Win mixtape "Out of This World". The video is hosted by freestyle legend and fellow Chicagoan MC Juice.
Grieves and Budo
Grieves and Budo are an MC and Producer duo that originally hooked up in Seattle, but currently operate out of NYC. Two years ago they were signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment and have been doing it big ever since. To me they sound like a more smoothed out version of Atmosphere, but their energetic live shows with live instrumentation set them apart from the pack. They are currently on tour with Atmosphere and Blueprint on "The Family Tour" and will be part of The Vans Warped Tour this summer. So check out these guys on the road as well as the vid below featuring their single "Pack it Up", currently one of my favorite songs.
That is all for now. Until we meet again...........
This past Friday I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite live bands Lojic play at the Mint in L.A. Let me preface this by saying me and these dudes go way back. From the days of beat boxing in the Singer/Bass Player Johnny O'Neil's parents backyard in suburban St. Louis in the late '90's to just the random antics that kids in high school get themselves into.
Oh the good ole days...but just because I know these guys doesn't mean I'm giving them a preferential write up. These guys deserve everything they get. They have done it all from conquering the St. Louis music scene to winning the World Battle of the Bands in Hong Kong in '06 to collaborating with such musical visionaries as George Clinton and DJ Battlecat (Snoop Dogg's DJ).
Anyway, if you don't know them by now they are a high energy, musical gumbo of: heavy rock, reggae, ska, funk, and hip hop. They most recently released their 3rd record "Lies in Hopetropolis" this past summer and have been rocking the Los Angeles music scene for the past five years after migrating from St. Louis.
Bottom line: They rock and Friday's show was no different. They ripped through some of the of their new material such as "Horizon Lines" and "Smeart" as well as some of their older tracks, such as this blogger's favorite "It's All the Same". Their combination of heavy guitars, keenly written vocal melodies, and dynamic rhythm section kept the party rockin' and the crowd pleased.
The show was put on through Smashtour.com which is a music social networking site. Here's the link: http://www.smashtour.com/ . Through Smashtour.com Lojic won a fan voted contest that has allowed them to collaborate with funk legend George Clinton as well as West Coast hip hop staple DJ Battlecat.
The band will soon release the single "10 to 4 to Infinity" which will feature George Clinton and the track "Smeart" off of their latest album "Lies in Hopetropolis" will be remixed by DJ Battlecat.
Girls, Girls, Girls, Girls, Girls "From Anne Landers, to Ani DiFranco to Orphan Annie I love all women, but most of them just can't stand me" - Slug of Atmosphere, "Like Today"
The above quote wasn't meant to be autobiographical. I just really like it as well as the song.
Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day! After realizing how many powerhouse releases that are due out this year from such female artists as: Adele, PJ Harvey, and Lykke Li I realized that 2011 is The Year of the Woman as far as music goes.
This realization prompted me to compose a blog entry highlighting some female artists and/or bands that are somewhat under the radar. Some of these artists you may have heard of and some of them are just co-fronting a band that does include male performers. So the following will showcase five female artists/bands that I think are on the come up or I just really like.
Audrianna Cole
Audrianna Cole is a singer/songwriter out of Salt Lake City, but originally from Salem, OR. Audrianna is the REAL DEAL! I personally believe in the next few years she'll be huge. Her radio friendly pop tunes are ridiculously well written and her voice reminds me of a more soulful Feist. The craziest thing is this girl is only 17! By the time she's 20 who knows where she'll be.
Below I have posted a link to Audrianna's site and a video for her single "Misplaced" Check her out now because I have a good feeling you'll be hearing a lot more of her in the future.
I was just turned on to Colleen yesterday and I'm very happy I was. Colleen's music reminds me of a throwback to punk inspired female alternative acts from the '90's like: The Breeders, Veruca Salt, and L7. She classifies it as Stoner Pop which I think suffices. Her sound is very lo-fi, but her songwriting is great.
Last year she released a pair of cassettes called "4 Loko 2 Kayla" and "Milo Goes to Compton" and she was recently signed to Hardly Art a sister label of Sub Pop. Check her out on her current tour she'll be at SXSW this year and I'm sure she'll create a ton of buzz there.
Below I have posted a link to her page on Hardly Art's site.
I've also included a video for her track "Dance the Night Away" Peep it son!
Bombon are an all girl garage/surf rock trio from San Pedro, CA. I have been longing for a good surf rock band to come out for a while and here it is. Like Colleen Green their sound is very lo-fi, but their writing trumps their recording quality. Honestly, the sound adds to whole surf rock thing anyway.
The girls have recently released the album "Las Chicas Del Bombon" and it's an explosion of punk inspired surf rock that's the perfect soundtrack to the So-Cal way of life.
They play shows pretty regularly in the San Pedro/Long Beach area, so if your in the area check 'em out.
Below is a link to their ReverbNation page and a video to a performance at the San Pedro Cevapcici Fest which showcases a few of their tracks off of "Las Chicas Del Bombon". Enjoy!
He's My Brother, She's My Sister are so dope they have a tap dancer that performs with them. That said, they are dope because they make great music. They are another L.A. band doing big things and I understand that the members aren't comprised of all females, but Rachel and her brother Robert Kolar share vocal duties, and Rachel vocals are definitely a one of the highlights of this group.
Their sound is country western meets Americana blues rock, but is very pop friendly and pleasing to the ears. They are known for their amazing live shows and are actually playing live this Wednesday at The Satellite in L.A. They will be performing a set comprised entirely of Velvet Underground covers.
And enjoy this vid of them performing their track "How'm I Gonna Get Back Home"
Icona Pop
Icona Pop is a female electro pop duo from Sweden. Their choruses are super poppy and typically huge. I see a lot of commercial potential from these ladies in the future. They remain true to the Swedish pop sounds of Robyn and Ace of Base, but more modern.
Their most recent single "Still Don't Know" is an orgy of poppy electro goodness. These girls in my opinion are ready to blow up.
Odelay! Welcome to the first post of Half Full's Music Soup...So Ruff So Tuff!!! blog. I welcome you into a world where art is life, and.....never mind I couldn't think of anything clever. Anyway, it's basically a music blog. So look out for interviews, album reviews, video posts, etc. of the latest and greatest in the world of music.
FRESH FOR 2011, YOU SUCKAS!!!!!!!!!!!!*
*It's hard to impersonate KRS-ONE through text. For those of you who got the reference god bless.
