I, like many of you, hate the goddamn holidays—family’s
weird, shopping sucks, it’s cold as shit. But for some reason, the
season isn’t weighing as heavy on my shoulders this year, even though
it probably should. Hope you feel the same.
While you’re on your yuletide swagger, hit up Nectar on Thursday,
December 11, for Everybody Say Ho, which is, incredibly, a “Beastie
Boys & Run-D.M.C. Tribute Night.” What about that sounds wrong?
Not a damn thing (I hope)—I’m sure you can expect a rousing
version of “Christmas in Hollis,” which my colleague Megan Seling
should appreciate. I love that damn song myself, as it never fails to
remind me how awesome Die Hard was. This show will also play
host to a Lightheaded reunion—yezzir, Braille,
Othello, and the homey Ohmega Watts (now a Seatown
resident) will reunite one of Portland’s finest crews to bring you the
greatest gift of all: the gift of music.
Fittingly, the very next night sees a return of one of Seattle’s
favorite crews: Lace Cadence, Rockwell, and Take
One, collectively known as Clockwork. While they’ve all been
making moves, individually and collectively, domestically and overseas,
the Clock have been somewhat MIA (no “Paper Planes”) as a unit in town
since the 2005 release of After Midnight. But the hiatus was not
for nothing—the dudes have been hard at work on their newest
album, the long-awaited Future Pastime. If you’re for real, then
you know the deal—Clockwork make tunes to bang in the rides, to
smoke that legally obtained medical marijuana to, and to get the ladies
open (so to speak). If that doesn’t sound like your tightly packed bag
of sticky, do not pass go. Otherwise, crank that shit—the
talented trio are on top of their game, with some solid production from
their Blast Off crew, particularly from their guy House.
The crew are celebrating the release of Pastime with a party at
Nectar on Friday, December 12, with no less a parade of characters than
Macklemore, Candidt, Xperience, and DJ Marc
Sense. I sense an epic, tequila-soaked party on the horizon.
While we’re on this page, let’s also look to a new local crew that
represents that vibe to the fullest—Beacon Hill’s own
Helladope. Composed of Jerm (who you damn well better
already know for embarrassing cats IRL and for rocking well in Alpha
P) and MC/producer Tay Sean. Sean is cofounder of the larger
clique that Helladope rep, Cloud Nice, a conglomerate
of
Southside rappers and producers that are truly cooking up some
marvelous shit. But for starters, hit up the HD MySpace
(/helladoper) and peep my favorite song this week, “Shine On,” a
three-minute slice of summer debauchery in the middle of winter.
Helladope are dropping their LP Return to Planet Rock this
summer—keep your freakin’ earballs peeled. 