Well, fuck. Starting out with yet another RIP; we get all the
nightlife-friendly candidates voted in, and now the War Room is
about to close its doors. From summertime happy hours wasted on the
roof deck to some classic Yo! Son nights (okay, not always as
classic as at, say, Chop or Neumos, of course, but whatever) to the
very first Big Tune, the War Room has been a hub of beat-centric
awesomeness on the Hill since its inception. It was a place where
b-boys and b-girls were always welcome, where the beats most often
heard were hiphop (and thus, the place was frequented by cops). It was
created by hiphop-minded folks, not just for themselves, but for
everybody—even the occasional drunk asshole. I’m sad to see it
go, and I’m hoping it doesn’t become some Belltown-type douchebox, like
the new Club Lagoon or some shit (if I see a fiberglass Lambo sitting
high above Harvard Avenue, it’s coming home). Big ups to Marcus and Brian (and all the homies over there, as there’s
quite a few)—the place had a great run. So get in there
and suck the rest of the liquor down before the War Room rests in peace
on November 30.
Slick-spitting 206 reps Clockwork are headlining Nectar on
November 20, bringing their signature flow and well-honed party rocking
to any and all faces in the immediate vicinity. The Clock are working
on new music and building with local production house Fueled
Creative to “change the way music is marketed for independent
artists in this digital era.” More cats in technology-rich Seattle need
to come up with their own new grind model—and not the “rap, get
signed, blow up, pop bottles” scheme that so many are still chasing.
This show is also the CD release for Peoples‘ Purple
Ribbon EP—check him with Alto and R.O.B., as
well as sets from State of the Artist, SK, and DJ
Soundwave.
November 21 at the Rendezvous is the video premiere/listening party
for Dark Time Sunshine, a new collaborative effort from Seattle
MC Cape Cowen (?) and Chicago-based producer Zavala.
Their debut album, Believeyoume, is 28 and one half minutes of
self-aware, slow-dance fugue-rap status updates, all warm, dreamy keys
and crunchy drums—particularly the gauzy gotta-be singles “The
Wrong Kids” and “Shewolf.” If you wanna know more, or if you’re already
in on it, don’t miss this very limited-attendance show, which boasts an
unfair supporting cast of Oldominion– aires
JFK, Sleep, Candidt, Xperience, Pale
Soul (with Sick Aura and DJ Zone), plus Patrick
the Magician.
What’s next, what’s next, what’s n-x-e-t… the motherfucking
G-Child, the Regulator, Mr. Warren G, will be at Neumos,
November 22, that’s what. L.A.’s U-N-I (whose Y-O is a
proud Seattle native, dig), Grynch, They Live!, and “This
DJ” Marc Sense make it just right. It’s all ages, so even you
young motherfuckers eating ValuPaks can get some. If I had
wings I would fly, let me contemplate… 