I’m just a simple man
I like funny things; I like cheap things…
So says the Grouch, so says me. I don’t need much—well
liquor and a good show is usually more than enough to recharge my
battery (or at least deplete it in a highly engaging fashion). So for
starters this week, go catch Living Legends’ own Grouch (who, it
should be noted, also likes beans and rice—but who doesn’t?) at
Nectar on May 22. He’s performing with Olympia’s gravelly voiced
Oldominion/Step Cousins rep Xperience, Project
Mayhem stalwarts Mind Movers, and DJ WD4D.
The Rendezvous has a nice li’l night of local dopeness going on May
23, courtesy of the Silent Lambs Project, Larue, Yirim Seck, Mr.
Hill, and the one and only Specswizard. Specs recently
dropped a brand-new full-length, Green Lover & the Northwest
Hits; hit up www.myspace.com/specsone and
order one for yourself so you can be up on the latest from a
down-since-day-one Seatown legend. Just be sure and get your boxes out,
’cause the first 50 copies are on cassette. Some would hate on
that—me, I love it, because I love everything about tapes.
Everybody’s nostalgic about the media of their youth, I guess. ‘Cept
maybe eight-tracks or laser discs. That said, come on out and party
with this handpicked lineup of vets and up-and-comers—and do buy
Specs a drink for his birthday!
Check Chop Suey the night of May 24 for Young Soprano‘s
“Already Platinum” CD-release party for his debut album, Top of tha
Coast, featuring no less than Aftermath’s Atlanta soldier Stat
Quo (drop the fucking album already) and Harlem’s heat seeker
Jae Millz. Also on this bill are Neema, Mr. Von, Sammy
“P,” and DJ MoneyD.
Big ups to Soprano—I haven’t heard his album yet, but the
radio-ready street raps on his MySpace page sound very promising, and
when I saw him at Nectar a couple months back he definitely did his
thing.
The next night at Chop Suey is seriously an incredible lineup for
hungry hiphop lovers: Blu, One Be Lo, Macklemore, and the
Physics, with cuts from proud Garfield alum DJ Marc Sense.
If you’ve been hitting all the shows I’ve laid out in this here column
today, make sure you save some ducats for this one, it’s a
must-see.
If you read my column every week like I know you must (jokes), then
you already know I felt Blu & Exile‘s Below the
Heavens was a refreshing concoction of straight-up hiphop,
definitely a contender for best of 2007. The word on The Piece Talks, the new album by C.R.A.C. (that being the
combination of Blu with Detroit expat Ta-Raach) is very positive
as well. All I know is Blu was an unbilled performer for last year’s
Lifesavas CD release and he rocked it. Add that to sure-fire
shit-starters like the Physics, Mack, and revered honorary Seattleite
Lo and you got yourself a show, dunny! 