Tru Life/Green Lantern/DJ Kay Slay - New New York: The Movement
Grand Buffet presents A Night Of Laughin'! Volume 1
Ken Stringfellow & WaFlash - EP
Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Sharkbite Sessions EP
Apollo Sunshine - The Other Side Of The World EP
Ruth Ruth - The Little Death EP
Lake Trout - There Are No Words EP
Cex - Know Doubt EP
UnReal - Real Talk Volume 1
Architects Recording Studio & DJ Radio/Streetsweepers present Street Radio Volume 2.5

Labels: Apollo Sunshine, Baltimore music, Grand Buffet, hip hop, In My Stereo, Ted Leo, The Posies

Jamie Foxx - "Heaven" (mp3)
Large sections of Unpredictable, as covered in my City Paper review, are truly laughable (I'm still not entirely sure that "Storm (Forecass)" isn't supposed to be a quiet storm parody), but he totally pulls it together for the 2 ballads at the end, especially this Stevie-style one that he wrote himself and Babyface produced.

Also in the City Paper, Jim reviews the Grand Buffet show I talked about last week.

Labels: City Paper, Grand Buffet, R and B, some shit I wrote

Grand Buffet - "Nate Kukla's History Of Lemonade" (mp3)
Last night, I went to the Ottobar to see one of my favorite live bands, Grand Buffet, with Jim, who's reviewing the show for the City Paper. It was at least the 8th time I've seen them in the past 4 years, maybe more like 10 times, I'm not sure. I think the best job I've done of explaining what I like about them was in my Five Years Of Fireworks review last year, but they're still kind of hard for me to defend, because usually I abhor the kind of tongue-in-cheek, pop culture referencing white boy indie rap that they do. But they're an incredibly entertaining live outfit, and they clearly put a lot of work into their lyrics and production, and I don't know, they just rule. Last night was kind of a weird show, though, maybe the first I've seen that wasn't all that fun.

One thing about Grand Buffet is that though they're from Pittsburgh, they're friends with many Baltimore artists and play here constantly and refer to it as their second home. So a good sized crowd always comes out for them, but venues always seem to be grasping at straws when putting together a bill for them to play on. They've played shows with indie bands like Deerhoof and Of Montreal, and old school hip hop like Black Sheep, and local white indie rappers and guys like Sage Francis. But sometimes they get thrown on a bill that's entirely novelty acts. Which is fair, since what Grand Buffet do is kind of novelty, although I'd to think that their skill at it kind of elevates them to something else.

When we came in, the first act, Shodekeh, a human beatbox was onstage. I'm not really gonna diss him as a novelty act, though, because beatboxing is just awesome. He did some duets with a saxophonist and then another beatboxer, and he later joined Grand Buffet for a song. He wasn't the best beatboxer I've ever seen, but he was still cool, I think he's local, I'd like to see him pop up at some of the Bmore rap shows I talk about on Gov't Names.

The second act was this guy, Dan Deacon, who is local and I've heard his name a bunch of times, but had never seen him before. He had this little table full of audio gear that he planted on the floor in front of the stage, and performed behind it. He had the stage lights turned off and operated strobe lights and stuff from his table. And he played pre-recorded synth parts and sang through an array of weird vocal effects. Definitely a novelty act. I actually really liked some of the sounds he was making, neat chaotic digital effects, but seriously, it was just a slightly more left field version of Atom And His Package. Plus he looked like The Riddler. And did fake New Year's Eve countdowns between every other song. He did a lot of awkward jokey banter about dicks and poop, and kind of reminded me of Cex's early live shows, except it was all form, no content. I think he goes way back with that whole crowd, Cex and Height, unsurprisingly, but I'm more ok with those guys.

The next band was Peelander-Z, who are one of these cheesy Japanese novelty/noize bands that makes serious bread on the American indie circuit. They dressed like the Power Rangers and were all schtick and barely any music, props and a lot of audience interaction. And when they did play, it was just really weak sludgy punk rock. If they were at least really heavy and rocked hard or made some wild noise, I might've gotten into it, but I just couldn't stand that shit, they drove me into the back room by the bar. The main guy had that shaved-in-male-pattern-baldness hairstyle that's big with American noize dudes these days, and when he said "can you understand my Engrish?", I couldn't tell if he was commenting on stereotypes or unwittingly reinforcing them. The crowd ate it up. Fuck that shit.

After an incredibly long set of Peelander-Z's bullshit, I was thankful for Grand Buffet to take the stage, and them on a bad night is still better than many bands' best, but their set was weird. They frequently pull some antagonistic Kaufman-esque shit on audiences, and that's what it felt like when they clowned on the Ravens and bragged about Pittsburgh winning the Super Bowl, but at other points it felt like something else. They have some songs called "Let's Go Find The Cat" and "Treehouse" that they've been playing live for years from a children's album that has yet to be released, that they don't rap on and are even more of a novelty than their other material. And there were some people in the audience that were very adamantly requesting those songs, and Grand Buffet, Lord Grunge in particular, was clearly annoyed and kind of pissed about it. He also made a lot of comments throughout the night, kind of kidding but kind of like he meant it too, that you (the audience) doesn't like them as much as you used to, or that you won't care about them in 6 months. And I mean, I give them credit for being realistic about what their appeal is and what people like them for, but it was depressing to hear that shit, especially considering that I've been seeing them for years and am not particularly sick of them. In fact, I was pretty excited to hear that they have a new album, King Visions, coming out this year, since their last new release was in 2003 and since then have only put out a best-of and a rarities comp. The new songs they played sounded good, too, and at some points they performed as well as they ever have, aside from the weird vibe. I hope it was just an off night, for them, but I kind of understand. They've been touring constantly and doing this for years and years. And I was kind of amazed that they kept their cool even towards the end, when some asshole in the front kept splashing beer on the stage right up at them, in a very deliberate way.

Labels: Baltimore music, concerts, Grand Buffet, mp3

This year was my first as a paid critic, and I consumed a lot more new music than is average for me. But still, I feel the same way I do at the end of every year, like I drank from a pretty shallow well of music and probably missed the boat on a lot of stuff. And I also feel like I gave things a lot less repeat listens than I did in other years. There's stuff that isn't on this list that I listened to more times than some things on this list, but usually for review purposes or because it took me a while to figure out it wasn't very good. That's why I can't ever really say with any confidence with it was a good or bad year for music (unless we're talking a very specific scene or genre), and I wonder if even industry people and obsessive downloaders who consume hundreds of albums a year can say so either. But it was a cool year for me, even if I wish there were more revelations on this list and fewer average albums by people who I'll buy anything by. I'd hoped to vote in the Pazz & Jop poll for the first time this year, but I procrastinated too long on trying to get in on it and missed the deadline. Oh well, I'll try again next year.


1. Kanye West - Late Registration

I was following Kanye's production and copping his mixtapes and every single leaked track for so long that by the time The College Dropout finally dropped, I had developed Kanye fatigue and didn't really get to enjoy its phenomenal success, and when I put it at #1 at the end of last year, I did so kind of by default. And I kind of am again this year, as I would've loved for a much different kind of hip hop album to have blown it out of the water for me. But my endorsement of this is much more certain, he really did his thing and let everyone know the first wasn't a fluke. It's still kind of soggy and overlong, but I can say that I actually enjoy it all the way through, skits and all (which I can't say for the long stretch surrounding "School Spirit" on Dropout). There's stuff that still doesn't make sense to me, like "Addiction" or the random Common solo track in the middle of the album, but it all fits together. And the tracks I don't love have something to redeem them, like that bizarre verse in "Celebration" where he talks about how his son is going to be well endowed.

Kanye West - "Roses" (mp3)


2. Apollo Sunshine - Apollo Sunshine

There's something I completely fucking love about what Apollo Sunshine do, and I don't think I got entirely to the bottom of yet. But even with kind of bland, touchy feely lyrics and not a lot to distinguish them aesthetically from a lot of other bearded indie pop bands that I wouldn't give the time of day to, they made an album and played a couple live shows that just completely bowled me over this year. And really, if nothing else, I have to credit the guitar solos. If Elephant 6 bands had solos like that I might give a shit about more of that stuff.

My Stylus review of Apollo Sunshine
Apollo Sunshine - "Eyes" (mp3)


3. System Of A Down - Mezmerize

As tightly concise as the first album but better paced and with just enough goofy Malakian moments to make it more inviting and replayable.

My City Paper review of Mezmerize
System Of A Down - "Sad Statue" (mp3)


4. Rod Lee - Vol. 5: The Official

This is the only album on this list that was also on my best of Baltimore 2005 list, and that's largely because of the far reaching waves it made outside of Baltimore this year. Rod Lee has been one of my favorite Baltimore club music producers for years, and it was real gratifying to see him get his props all over the place. I copped at least a dozen club mixes this year, and while it's a little hard to justify putting one above many similiar ones simply because of better distribution ad visibility, it really is the best sounding (more expensive mastering, maybe?) and best paced.

My Government Names review of Vol. 5: The Official
K.W. Griff - "Good Man" (mp3)


5. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II

One of the reasons I always procrastinate on these year end albums lists is that there's always 4th quarter hip hop event releases to sneak in there. And I'm about the last person you'll catch getting excited about a Chopped & Screwed CD, but the C&S bonus disc of Wayne's greatest hits is really worth the price tag in and of itself. I don't think there's another rapper and producer I'd rather hear slowed than Wayne and Mannie Fresh. Tom is nuts about thinking that "Shooter" is a potential single or even one of the best songs, though. It's like all the rap songs with the guy from Maroon 5 but not as good.

Lil Wayne - "Hustler Musik" (mp3)


6. Grand Buffet - Five Years Of Fireworks

Noone who watched the SNL "Lazy Sunday" video over and over should be sleeping on Grand Buffet.

My Stylus review of Five Years Of Fireworks
Grand Buffet - "Pink Deadly" (mp3)


7. Beanie Sigel - The B.Coming

I'm kind of hoping that now that he's a free man again he's going to make an album that leaves this one in the dust.

My City Paper review of The B.Coming
Beanie Sigel f/ Freeway and Young Chris - "I Can't Go On This Way" (mp3)


8. Brooke Valentine - Chain Letter

The kind of schitzo R&B album that Missy wishes she made this year.

My City Paper review of Chain Letter
Brooke Valentine f/ Jermaine Dupri - "Playa" (mp3)


9. The Posies - Every Kind Of Light

In my mind, The Posies can almost do no wrong, and while this wasn't the perfect comeback I'd hoped for, they definitely made some worthy additions to their catalog.

My Stylus review of Every Kind Of Light
The Posies - "Second Time Around" (mp3)


10. Black Rob - The Black Rob Report

Like Beanie, this proves I have a weakness for spirited gasps from fading NY rap dynasties.

Black Rob - "Long Live B.R." (mp3)


11. Lil Kim - The Naked Truth

Hell no, it's not a five mic album, but considering that she possesses one of my least favorite voices in rap and I've never been much of a fan, it's a triumph that I'm feeling this. The cover photo really scared me off of copping it for a couple months, even though I loved "Lighters Up." Actually, the real triumph is that I can tolerate an album with multiple Katt "Money Mike" Williams interludes. I'm gonna give Kim the benefit of the doubt that she decided to diss Foxy Brown on a song titled "Quiet" before Foxy announced that she was going deaf.

Lil Kim - "Durty" (mp3)


12. Amerie - Touch

I guess a whole album of "1 Thing" was too much to hope for, but the less bombastic stuff had some surprising staying power.

My Stylus review of Touch
Amerie - "Come With Me" (mp3)


13. Cassidy - I'm A Hustla

"Hotel" will probably always loom over him a little too much to be taken seriously by everyone, and now that he's behind bars his career might be over anyway, but he really did step up and make a hot album, whether anyone wants to admit it.

My Stylus review of I'm A Hustla
Cassidy f/ Swizz Beatz - "Get 'Em" (mp3)


14. Medications - Your Favorite People All In One Place

I have to admit that to me, they're still a surrogate for the superior and short-lived Faraquet, but Rush-meets-Fugazi is not a niche that many other bands are serving, so I'll take what I can get.

My City Paper review of Your Favorite People All In One Place
Medications - "This Is The Part We Laugh About" (mp3)


15. Missy Elliott - The Cookbook

Missy's last two albums were my least favorite to date, her collaborations with Timbaland slowly becoming a dried out husk of what they once were, so I was probably in the minority in being overjoyed that she finally branched out with producers other than Timbo. It still can't touch the earlier albums, but it was a step in the right direction. She really fucked up sales with the singles choices, though. "Teary Eyed" totally bombed and "We Run This" probably will too. It's a crime that "Can't Stop" isn't on the radio right now.

Missy Elliott - "Can't Stop" (mp3)


16. Brendan Benson - The Alternative To Love

He continues to slide into more of the 2nd album's mopery and less of the 1st's giddy rush, but he's getting better at balancing the two.

Brendan Benson - "Between Us" (mp3)


17. The Evens - The Evens

There's something charming about this dinky, scaled down version of Fugazi's already relatively subdued later albums. I kind of have to tune out the parts where he's talking about police and governors, though.

The Evens - "Sara Lee" (mp3)


18. Ebony Eyez - 7 Day Cycle

Maybe I'm still alone in this but seriously, I think the TrackBoyz are the dopest producers in the game right now. It's a shame this album came and went with such little notice.

My City Paper review of 7 Day Cycle
Ebony Eyez - "Good Vibrations" (mp3)


19. Sheek Louch - After Taxes

If people are starved enough for decent New York hip hop that they'll rep for everything the Diplomats do, then I don't really understand why records like this and the Black Rob can be so ignored.

My Stylus review of After Taxes
Sheek Louch - "Intro" (mp3)


20. Petra Haden - Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out

The original The Who Sell Out isn't my favorite Who album by a mile, but it's a perfect choice for a ridiculous project like this. Petra Haden throws herself completely into an a cappella note-for-note cover, even doing the silly interstitial skits and fake commercials and silly voices and fake accents and beatboxing the drum parts. Like Carla Bozulich's reading of Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger, another recent cover of an entire decades-old album by a So-Cal alt-rock chick friend of Mike Watt, it's a completely unnecessary idea that was pulled off with absolute conviction.

Petra Haden - "Heinz Baked Beans" (mp3)

Labels: Apollo Sunshine, Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Dischord, Grand Buffet, hip hop, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, lists, mp3, R and B, The Posies

With links to things I wrote about them at the time on here or Gov't Names or in the City Paper. For the most part I'm only going to name the band I went to see and enjoyed seeing, and if it's more than one than I'll name them in the rough order of who I enjoyed the most, regardless of who opened or headlined.


1. Apollo Sunshine and Lake Trout @ The Ottobar, Baltimore, September 15th


2. Grand Buffet @ The Ottobar, Baltimore, August 16th


3. Karmella's Game @ the Talking Head, Baltimore, April 28th


4. The Posies @ The Black Cat, Washington, D.C., September 26th


5. System Of A Down @ the 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, August 22nd


(photo by Dawn Mercurio)
6. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists @ The Ottobar, November 22nd


7. Bossman, Skarr Akbar, D.O.G., Dirty Hearts and Q @ The Ottobar, Baltimore, October 16th


8. The Travis Morrison Hellfighters @ the Ottobar, Baltimore, February 22nd


9. Dinosaur Jr. @ the 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., July 11th


10. Noise Against Fascism: To Live And Shave In L.A., Mirror/Dash, Magik Markers, Nautical Almanac @ the Black Cat, Washington, D.C., January 20th


11. Elvis Costello & the Imposters with Emmylou Harris and Larry Campbell @ Wolf Trap, Virginia, July 31st


12. Grand Buffet @ the Ottobar, Baltimore, March 27th


13. Sonic Youth @ The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, April 15th


14. Apollo Sunshine and Lake Trout @ the Ottobar, Baltimore, April 23rd


15. Ogun, Ammo, Profound, Tyree Colion and Diablo @ Club 429, Baltimore, August 9th


16. Our Lady Peace @ The 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., September 22nd


17. Private Eleanor @ Current Space, Baltimore, August 27th


18. Ted Leo/Pharmacists @ The 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., June 23rd


19. Enon @ the Ottobar, Baltimore, March


20. The Evens @ The G-Spot, Baltimore, May 17th

Labels: Apollo Sunshine, Baltimore music, concerts, Dinosaur Jr., Dischord, Elvis Costello, Enon, Grand Buffet, hip hop, lists, Sonic Youth, Ted Leo, The Posies, Travis Morrison

Albums:

1. Kanye West - Late Registration
2. System Of A Down - Mezmerize
3. Rod Lee - Vol. 5: The Official
4. Apollo Sunshine - Apollo Sunshine
5. Beanie Sigel - The B. Coming
6. Grand Buffet - Five Years Of Fireworks
7. Brooke Valentine - Chain Letter
8. The Posies - Every Kind Of Light
9. Medications - All Your Favorite People In One Place
10. Bossman - Law & Order

11. Missy Elliott - The Cookbook
12. Brendan Benson - The Alternative To Love
13. Amerie - Touch
14. Cassidy - I'm A Hustla
15. The Evens - The Evens
16. Lake Trout - Not You, Them
17. Fat Joe - All Or Nothing
18. Scott Amendola Band - Believe
19. DJ K-Swift - Club Queen Vol. 6: The Return
20. Enon - Lost Marbles And Exploded Evidence

Singles:

1. Kelly Clarkson - "Since U Been Gone"
2. Amerie - "1 Thing"
3. The Game f/ 50 Cent- "Hate It Or Love It"
4. My Chemical Romance - "Helena"
5. Three 6 Mafia f/ Young Buck and 8Ball & MJG - "Stay Fly"
6. R. Kelly - "Trapped In The Closet
7. Mariah Carey - "We Belong Together"
8. Cassidy - "I'm A Hustla"
9. Ying Yang Twins - "Wait (The Whisper Song)"
10. Lil Kim - "Lighters Up"

11. Natasha Bedingfield - "These Words"
12. Toni Braxton - "Take This Ring"
13. Lil Mo - "Dem Boyz"
14. System Of A Down - "B.Y.O.B."
15. Vivian Green - "Gotta Go, Gotta Leave (Tired)"
16. Ludacris f/ Bobby Valentino - "Pimpin' All Over The World"
17. David Banner - "Play"
18. Juelz Santana - "Mic Check 1, 2"
19. Shakira f/ Alejandro Sanz - "La Tortura"
20. Kanye West f/ Adam Levine of Maroon 5 - "Heard 'Em Say"

21. Mariah Carey - "Shake It Off"
22. Bobby Valentino f/ Lil Wayne - "Tell Me"
23. Tweet - "Turn Da Lights Off"
24. Will Smith - "Switch"
25. Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz f/ Usher and Ludacris - "Lovers & Friends"
26. Young Jeezy f/ Akon - "Soul Survivor"
27. Snoop Dogg w/ Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson - "Signs"
28. Omarion - "Touch"
29. John Legend - "Ordinary People"
30. Boyz N Da Hood - "Dem Boyz"

31. Toby Keith - "As Good As I Once Was"
32. B.G. f/ Homebwoi - "Where Da At"
33. Destiny's Child - "Girl"
34. Tony Yayo f/ G-Unit - "I Know You Don't Love Me"
35. Nivea f/ Lil Jon and the Youngbloodz - "Okay"
36. Webbie f/ Bun B - "Give Me That"
37. Kanye West - "Diamonds"
38. Lee Ann Womack - "I May Hate Myself In The Morning"
39. Bobby Valentino - "Slow Down"
40. Rihanna - "Pon De Replay"

41. Common f/ The Last Poets - "The Corner"
42. The Killers - "Mr. Brightside"
43. R. Kelly - "Sex In The Kitchen"
44. T.I. - "ASAP"
45. Missy Elliott f/ Ciara and Fatman Scoop - "Lose Control"
46. U2 - "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
47. Tyra - "Country Boy"
48. Remy Ma f/ Swizz Beatz- "Whateva"
49. Gwen Stefani - "Cool"
50. Ebony Eyez - "In Ya Face"

51. 112 - "U Already Know"
52. Gucci Mane f/ Young Jeezy - "Icy"
53. Juvenile f/ Wacko - "Sets Go Up"
54. T.I. - "U Don't Know Me"
55. Dem Franchize Boyz f/ Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Bow Wow - "I Think They Like Me (So So Def Remix)"
56. Bow Wow f/ Ciara - "Like You"
57. U2 - "City Of Blinding Lights"
58. Big & Rich - "The Big Time"
59. Foo Fighters - "Best Of You"
60. Ludacris - "#1 Spot"

61. Kelly Osbourne - "One Word"
62. Snoop Dogg - "Ups & Downs"
63. Fat Joe - "So Much More"
64. The Killers - "All The Things I've Done"
65. Papa Roach - "Scars"
66. T.I. f/ P$C and Lil Scrappy - "I'm A King"
67. Kanye West f/ Jamie Foxx - "Gold Digger"
68. Alan Jackson - "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues"
69. Marque Houston - "All Because Of You"
70. Trick Daddy f/ Cee-Lo and Lil Kim - "Sugar"

71. 3 Doors Down - "Let Me Go"
72. Fantasia - "Free Yourself"
73. Cam'ron f/ Kanye West - "Down & Out"
74. Paul Wall - "Sittin' Sidewayz"
75. Common - "Go!"
76. Tony Yayo f/ 50 Cent - "So Seductive"
77. Damien Marley - "Welcome To Jamrock"
78. Foxy Brown f/ Sizzla - "Come Fly With Me"
79. Amerie - "Talkin' About"
80. Cassidy - "B-Boy Stance"

81. Good Charlotte - "I Just Wanna Live"
82. Ne-Yo f/ Peedi Crakk - "Stay"
83. Audioslave - "Be Yourself"
84. Dierks Bentley - "Lot Of Leavin' Left To Do"
85. Shania Twain - "I Ain't No Quitter"
86. Nine Inch Nails - "The Hand That Feeds"
87. Hot Hot Heat - "Middle Of Nowhere"
88. Foo Fighters - "D.O.A."
89. J-Kwon f/ Petey Pablo and Ebony Eyez - "Get XXX'd"
90. Young Jeezy f/ Mannie Fresh - "And Then What"

91. Brad Paisley - "Alcohol"
92. 50 Cent f/ Mobb Deep - "Outta Control (Remix)"
93. Backstreet Boys - "Incomplete"
94. Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz f/ Bohagon - "Get Crunk"
95. Kelly Clarkson - "Behind These Hazel Eyes"
96. Mars Volta - "The Widow"
97. Toni Braxton - "Please"
98. Sawyer Brown - "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand"
99. Hot Apple Pie - "Hillbillies"
100. Weezer - "Perfect Situation"

Labels: Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Dischord, Grand Buffet, hip hop, Kanye West, lists, R and B, The Posies

I'm glad I decided to see Grand Buffet for the 2nd night in a row on Tuesday, because their show in Baltimore was ten times better than the one in D.C. (aside from the Scrooge McDuck/Nazi gold banter from the night before). They always have a loyal audience that shows up everytime they play the Ottobar and they feed off that. I knew from the moment Grape-A-Don walked in with a bunch of balloons shaped like a palm tree, a turtle and the sun that it was gonna be a good show. They had some technical difficulties with their discman, and apparently lost a disc with the instrumentals for a lot of their new stuff on it, so they played a great 45-minute set full of old Undercover Angels/Cigarette Beach-era stuff. Ned Oldham played unbilled before GB and I didn't even know that's who it was until someone mentioned it way after he played, and I didn't stick around at all that time for Magnolia Electric Co.

Labels: Baltimore music, concerts, Grand Buffet

Tonight I attempted, for I think the first time, that old trick of going to 2 shows in different places in one night. First I went to Fort Reno, which I hadn't been to at all last summer but went a few times the 2 summers before that, so I'm glad I got to at least one show this year. There's always at least one or two bands I wanna see there every summer. I went to see the new Dischord band Medications, who are basically 2/3rds of Faraquet, who I liked a lot and who they sound more or less just like (the 2 mp3s on their website happen to be my favorite songs from their album and EP respectively, so consider that a reccomendation). I'm working on a review of their album, so I won't say too much about them, but they were pretty good, although their drummer sometimes got a little caught up in the intricacies of their mathy rhythms and missed cues or almost messed up the song. They were opening for Mary Timony, and Devin Ocampo, the guitarist/singer from Medications is her drummer on her current album and tour. I didn't like her much last time I saw her and she wore that damn kittie mask, but I was kinda looking forward to seeing Devin drum with her, since I loved his drumming on the 2nd Smart Went Crazy album. But I decided to get out of there and get across town to meet my friend Mike and see another show.

Mike and I went down to the Black Cat's 'backstage' downstairs bar to see Grand Buffet, who were great as always, although we missed their first couple songs and they didn't play very long, since they were opening. But they did the non-LP favorite "Treehouse" and some other good ones. A lot of their shows have this odd rhythm where they play a 2-minute song and then talk for 4 minutes at a time between songs. Mike is gonna be in Baltimore tomorrow night so we might end up going to see GB again at the Ottobar to get a full set. They're touring with Magnolia Electric Co., who we only stuck around for the first few songs of. It's kind of an odd match, Grand Buffet opening for some country rock played by a Luke Wilson/Scott Bakula-looking guy, but they always seem to end up touring with mismatched bands.

Labels: concerts, Dischord, Grand Buffet

Grand Buffet review in Stylus today, another one I worked kinda hard on because I'm a big fan and I wanted to get it right. I've talked about them a little bit here before, and they really are great live, so I might reccomend seeing them before checking out the CD, and they happen to be touring the whole country in the next couple months.

Note: In light of the end of Stylus in 2007, I decided to archive the text of all my reviews for the site on this blog for posterity, since I don't what the future holds for the Stylus domain, and have included both the letter grade ratting that accompanied the original review, and an adjusted rating that I would give the record now in retrospect.

Grand Buffet
Five Years Of Fireworks
Fighting
2005
Stylus rating: B+
Adjusted rating by reviewer: A-

Five Years Of Fireworks is a greatest hits album by a group you’ve probably never heard of. Since the late 90’s, the Pittsburgh duo Grand Buffet have been honing their deeply silly strain of indie rap in obscurity. And for their first national release available somewhere other than the group’s own website and live shows, they’ve assembled a package including a DVD and a retrospective collection featuring highlights from the 2000 album Sparkle Classic and the trilogy of EPs Undercover Angels (2001), Cigarette Beach (2002) and Pittsburgh Hearts (2003).

Grand Buffet have amassed their small cult of followers through constant touring, often opening for fellow white indie rappers such as Sage Francis and Sole. But Grand Buffet project no trace of the seriousness or messiah complexes of their tourmates. If anything, they’re more Bloodhound Gang than Anticon. It’s hard to tell when, if ever, anything that Lord Grunge and Grape-A-Don do or say is meant to be taken seriously. Their concerts often seem like elaborate put-ons, wherein they seem to change nicknames (Fred Durts and Mr. Pennsylvania, M-Dog and Iguanadon, Matt and Nate Kukla) from night to night and make constant inside jokes and tongue in cheek speeches.

Instead of the dusty jazz samples or herky-jerky IDM production touches typical to undie rap, Grand Buffet’s beats, produced mostly by Jarrod Brandon Weeks (a.k.a. Lord Grunge), seem to draw their inspiration largely from synth pop. Big, glistening keyboard riffs and four-on-the-floor dance beats are a strangely appropriate backdrop for their surreal raps, delivered mostly by Jackson O’Connell-Barlow (a.k.a. Grape-A-Don). And if he rapped slowly, awkwardly, or like the Sugar Hill Gang, Grand Buffet would never rise above novelty, the kind of cringe-inducing joke rap that only people who don’t actually like hip hop could enjoy. But Grape-A-Don is a stunningly dexterous MC, winding absurd, intricate stories into every verse, like the most inane, nonsensical daydream fully realized. Whether he does a disservice to his own skills by filling his dense rhymes with pop culture references and juvenile jokes is up for debate.

Grand Buffet’s scatalogical sense of humor is on full display on “Double Crazy,” which is literally about eating shit, and “1000 Percent,” in which Lord Grunge admits to crapping his pants. Two songs, “Cool As Hell” and “You’re On Fire,” are about going to hell and pledging allegiance to Satan, which brings us another component of Grand Buffet’s humor: their constant ridicule of Christian conservatives. I can think of few things I’d want to hear less than middle class liberals sarcastically lampooning rural Republican stereotypes. But I just couldn’t help but howl with laughter the first time I heard “Americus (Religious Right Rock),” which sarcastically lays out the following platform of opinions: “We’re not holier than thou, but holy cow! / There’s people doing stuff God would never allow! / Like guys kissing guys, and poor people too / There’s plenty of jobs, find something to do!”. Occasionally they do sneak some sincere political commentary into their songs, though, with the environmentalist stance of lines like “they trample the vegetation with their ATVs / So now they’re fucking with the ghost of Johnny Appleseed,” from “Cool As Hell”.

Like the previous releases it draws from, Five Years Of Fireworks clocks in at under 35 minutes, and every song runs under 3 minutes. Grand Buffet know better than run any one joke into the ground. In the liner notes to last year’s 50-minute rarities compilation Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks, they swore “this is NOT an album. We will NEVER make an album this goddamned long.” Still, for a career retrospective, they could’ve included more, and longtime fans my cry foul at the omission of favorites (no “We’re Into This”? no “Nate Kukla’s History of Lemonade”?). Though the tracks are not presented in chronological order, there is evidence of progress. The vocal distortion on early songs like “Candy Bars” smacks of an adolescence spent listening to Check Your Head. But later tracks from Pittsburgh Hearts and the only previously unreleased song on the collection, the bizarre battle cry “Birdwater Highway,” are among the best on the album.

What makes Five Years a worthy purchase for fans and newcomers alike is the DVD. Nearly an hour of live footage, culled from over a dozen different shows from throughout Grand Buffet’s career, is perhaps more likely to convince nonbelievers than the album. Favorites like “Pink Deadly” and “Candy Bars” really are best seen and heard as they’re delivered in concert. Between that highlight reel and the CD, this is a nearly perfect introduction to the world of Grand Buffet. The motto once emblazoned on their early self-released discs—“No Label. No Fans. No Problem.”—has been replaced on Five Years Of Fireworks by “Label. Fans. Problem.” Judging by this, they may have to get ready for a lot more of each.

Reviewed by: Al Shipley
Reviewed on: 2005-08-04

Labels: Grand Buffet, some shit I wrote, Stylus

top ten:

1. Dinosaur Jr. - "The Lung"
2. Three 6 Mafia f/ 8Ball & MJG and Young Buck - "Stay Fly"
3. Little Feat - "Long Distance Love"
4. Grand Buffet - "Pink Deadly"
5. Luther Vandross - "Never Too Much"
6. Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz f/ Bohagon - "Get Crunk"
7. Blaq Starr - "Get My Gun"
8. Natasha Bedingfield - "These Words"
9. Montgomery Gentry - "My Town"
10. The Cars - "Bye Bye Love"

Labels: Baltimore music, country music, Dinosaur Jr., Grand Buffet, hip hop, lists, Little Feat, R and B

FIRST HALF OF '05:

Albums
1. Beanie Sigel - The B.Coming
2. System Of A Down - Mezmerize
3. Rod Lee - Vol. 5: The Official
4. Brooke Valentine - Chain Letter
5. Grand Buffet - Five Years Of Fireworks
6. Bossman - Law & Order
7. Brendan Benson - The Alternative To Love
8. Cassidy - I'm A Hustla
9. The Evens - The Evens
10. Amerie - Touch

Singles
1. Amerie - "1 Thing"
2. The Game f/ 50 Cent - "Hate It Or Love It"
3. R. Kelly - "Trapped In The Closet"
4. My Chemical Romance - "Helena"
5. Cassidy - "I'm A Hustla"
6. Mariah Carey - "We Belong Together"
7. Ying Yang Twins - "Wait (The Whisper Song)"
8. Lil Mo - "Dem Boyz"
9. T.I. - "U Don't Know Me"
10. System Of A Down - "B.Y.O.B."
11. Snoop Dogg w/ Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson - "Signs"
12. Common f/ The Last Poets - "The Corner"
13. Ludacris f/ Bobby Valentino - "Pimpin' All Over The World"
14. Juelz Santana - "Mic Check 1, 2"
15. The Killers - "Mr. Brightside"
16. Tweet - "Turn Da Lights Off"
17. Will Smith - "Switch"
18. R. Kelly - "Sex In The Kitchen"
19. John Legend - "Ordinary People"
20. Lee Ann Womack - "I May Hate Myself In The Morning"
21. Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz f/ Usher and Ludacris - "Lovers & Friends"
22. Shakira f/ Alejandro Sanz - "La Tortura"
23. U2 - "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
24. 112 - "U Already Know"
25. Toby Keith - "As Good As I Once Was"
26. Gucci Mane f/ Young Jeezy - "Icy"
27. Juvenile - "Sets Go Up"
28. Pitbull f/ Lil Jon - "Toma"
29. Destiny's Child - "Girl"
30. Webbie f/ Bun B - "Give Me That"
31. Vivian Green - "Gotta Go, Gotta Leave (Tired)"
32. Tyra - "Country Boy"
33. Nivea f/ Lil Jon and the Youngbloodz - "Okay"
34. Big & Rich - "The Big Time"
35. Ludacris - "#1 Spot"
36. Kelly Osbourne - "One Word"
37. Snoop Dogg - "Ups & Downs"
38. Boyz N Da Hood - "Dem Boyz"
39. Foo Fighters - "Best Of You"
40. Fat Joe - "So Much More"
41. Alan Jackson - "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues"
42. Bobby Valentino - "Slow Down"
43. Marque Houston - "All Because Of You"
44. Trick Daddy f/ Cee-Lo and Lil Kim - "Sugar"
45. 3 Doors Down - "Let Me Go"
46. Cam'ron f/ Kanye West - "Down & Out"
47. Kanye West - "Diamonds"
48. Missy Elliott f/ Ciara and Fatman Scoop - "Lose Control"
49. Paul Wall - "Sittin' Sidewayz"
50. Omarion - "Touch"

Labels: Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Dischord, Grand Buffet, hip hop, lists, R and B, R. Kelly

in my stereo:

Rod Lee - Vol. 5: The Official
Limp Bizkit - The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1)
Urban Verbs - Urban Verbs
Grand Buffet - Five Years of Fireworks
The Hold Steady - Seperation Sunday
The Evens - The Evens
Labtekwon - The Ghetto Dai Lai Llama: African Rhythm American Blues
Simon & Garfunkel - The Best of Simon & Garfunkel
Lil Mo - Meet The Girl Next Door
Bossman - Law & Order

Labels: Baltimore music, Dischord, Grand Buffet

Meme time!

Total volume of music files on my computer: at the moment, 565 mp3's, which I guess is a big number, but I don't feel like I download a lot or listen to music on my computer that often. I have an old iBook with pretty limited hard drive space, which means almost everytime I want to download something new, I have to find something I don't mind deleting to make room. I hope to get a new computer in the near future so that I don't have to worry about this issue anymore.

Last CD I bought was: on the same day, Grand Buffet's Five Years of Fireworks and Sloan's A Sides Win, both career retrospectives wherein I was already familiar with a lot of the songs, and was motivated to purchase mainly for the DVDs packaged inside.

Song playing right now: Chaka Khan "I Feel For You"

Five songs I listen to a lot these days: (I'll try not to make any of these redundant with similiar lists I put on this blog) NEK "Face Down" (Remix), Steely Dan "Babylon Sisters", Brendan Benson "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)", T.I. "ASAP", 112 "My Mistakes"

And I am passing this on to be filled out by:
Jeff
Mat
Hillary
Anthony
Zac

Labels: Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Grand Buffet, meta, Steely Dan, T.I.

in my stereo:

Brooke Valentine - Chain Letter
The Movement volume #3: Bmore Live 2005
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Trust
Prince and the Revolution - Parade
Lake Trout - Another One Lost
Grand Buffet - Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks
Will Smith - Lost & Found
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
DJ K-Swift - The Club Queen Jump Off
Steely Dan - Everything Must Go

Labels: Baltimore music, Elvis Costello, Grand Buffet, hip hop, In My Stereo, Prince, R and B, Steely Dan

On paper, Grand Buffet is probably the kind of thing I wouldn't expect to like at all: weird underground hip hop by two white guys from Pittsburgh who have an absurdist sense of humor and like to express leftist ideals with sarcastic exaggerations of the religious right. But they're fucking great at what they do and I love them. Easily one of my favorite live acts. Tom and my friend Mike and I saw them for the first time at different shows all around the same time 3-4 years ago and have been showing up faithfully every time they play Baltimore ever since, which is pretty often. They're tight with a lot of other weird white rappers from Baltimore like Cex and Height and Bow'n'Arrow and have amassed a pretty big following here thanks to countless opening sets where they upstaged the headliner. I don't know if they even get as many people at their shows in Pittsburgh as they do in Baltimore. And on Sunday we were all at the Ottobar to see Grand Buffet headline for once.

I drove up for the show from Delaware after spending Easter with the fam, and got stuck in really heinous traffic and ended up getting there later than I expected to. When I got there, one of the openers, Big In Japan was playing. BIJ is comprised of 3/5ths of Lake Trout, who are a Baltimore band that I've seen live a bunch of times, and the 3 members who are in BIJ are the best thing about Lake Trout, but Big In Japan is generally a lot more laid back and boring. So when Mike challenged me to a game of Ms. Pac Man upstairs, I went and did that during their set. And then while waiting for Grand Buffet at the bar we ran into Tom. Turns out that Tom interviewed GB before the show for a feature in the City Paper that's going to run in a couple months when their new record comes out. All of Grand Buffet's CDs so far have been self-released, but now they're finally on a label with national distro and are putting out a CD/DVD in June featuring a greatest hits of stuff from the previous records. I always kinda wished they'd reissue their amazing trilogy of EPs (Undercover Angels, Cigarette Beach and Pittsburgh Hearts) on one disc, but this should be just as good. Judging from their setlists, they're pretty good at picking out their best material. And their show last night was as awesome as ever. Maybe the only band I've ever seen where the between song banter is as entertaining as the songs. I hope the world's ready for Grand Buffet, if not it's their loss.

Labels: Baltimore music, concerts, Grand Buffet

my most anticipated albums of 2005:

Comp - My Thoughts (Chocolate City/Def Jam)
The first Baltimore MC to be signed to a major label since one hit wonder B Rich, Comp is carrying the hopes and dreams of one of the most slept on cities in hip hop on its back. His talent is still somewhat unproven, but having met him, I can say that he's got charisma and a good head on his shoulders for a 19-year-old kid. Being at the bottom of a big big label's list of priorities means there's no telling when his album will finally drop, but I'll continue to chart his course on Gov't Names.

Kanye West - Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
Kanye hit a home run with his first album, so there's a lot of pressure on the follow up to deliver. A lot of people are sick of him already, and he didn't bring his A game on most of his outside productions and guest verses over the past year, but I feel like that's because he has so much invested in his solo career, so I hope that means he's ready to top himself.

The Posies - TBA (Rykodisc)
Since the Posies' last album, Success, and initial attempt at breaking up in 1998, they've released a rarities box set, a best of, 2 live albums, and an EP of new material, and have staged a handful of tours. But finally the on again off again Posies are a going concern again, and they have their first full length album of new material in 7 years in the can and ready to go. I'm so much more excited about this than anyone has a right to be.

Jon Auer - Songs From The Year Of Our Demise (Pattern 25)
Although Jon and Ken Stringfellow have always made roughly equal contributions to the Posies, Ken has been much busier in the years following the band's initial run, releasing 3 solo albums while Jon's been steadily working on and delaying his first for what's felt like an eternity.

Brendan Benson - Alternative To Love (StarTime International)
This is dropping March, and based on the single "What I'm Looking For", which you can download here, and the version of the title track that appeared on the Metarie EP, this should be at least as good as Lapalco. This time around, BB's chief collaborator was Jack White instead of Jason Falkner, which means there will probably be a good amount of hype behind it (MTV News already ran a story calling BB the "New Loretta Lynn"). But considering that the first time I saw Brendan live was when he headlined at Fletchers a few weeks after opening for the White Stripes at the Recher and the place was practically empty, you never know exactly how much that connection will help him.

Peedi Crakk - TBA (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
Given the current state of the Roc, this is another debut that may be stuck in label limbo for a while, but Peedi's resume of guest appearances so far ensures this will be worth checking it out, even if it continues in the State Property tradition of stalling at gold.

Cex - Invisible Sidis
2004 was the first year since his career began that Cex hasn't released an album, and considering that I loved one of the albums he released in '03 (Being Ridden) and didn't consider the other (Maryland Mansions) even worth checking out based on what I heard, I'm not sure how excited I am about this. But considering that his backing band on this one is going to be Nice Nice, the band who completely upstaged him when I saw open for him in '03, I'm hopeful about the results of their collaboration.

Nels Cline
He's got a list of some of the releases he's got coming in '05 on his website, and I'll probably buy at least half of them, especially the Thurston/Lee and Zeena Parkins collabos.

Other artists that I'm not entirely sure are putting out new albums this year but I'm hoping they will: Carla Bozulich, Grand Buffet, Two Dollar Guitar, Lake Trout, and Chris Lee. Plum Drank from Gel & Weave also put together an amazingly long list of hip hop albums dropping this year.

Labels: Baltimore music, Grand Buffet, hip hop, lists, Nels Cline, The Posies, Two Dollar Guitar

The Top 10 Christmas Songs I've Actually Been Happy To Hear This Holiday Season

1. The Jackson 5 or Bruce Springsteen - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
2. Grand Buffet - "Stocking Stuffer"
3. Prince - "Another Lonely Christmas"
4. The Waitresses - "Christmas Wrapping"
5. Mariah Carey - "All I Want For Christmas Is You"
6. De La Soul - "Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa"
7. Travis Morrison - "My Two Front Teeth, Pts. II & III"
8. U2 - "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"^*
9. The Posies - "Christmas"
10. The Ramones - "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight"

^* _{possibly the best thing from the Rattle and Hum era.}^**

^** _{I realize that is not a terribly bold statement.}

Labels: Grand Buffet, hip hop, lists, Prince, The Posies, Travis Morrison