Metal Lungies

As promised, Knobbz just let y’all know that Kid Capri > $4 & cap-less water bottles in Boston, we didn’t get a chance to experience the water situation (fortunately) or Kid Capri (unfortunately).
But read on to find out what the DMV arm of ML thought of the latest stop of Rock the Bells. Yesterday HM and I hit up the Rock The Bells stop in Columbia, MD (which most of the acts preferred to call Baltimore, DC, or even Virginia). In a nutshell the day was like many festivals, overwhelming at times yet highly memorable, esp. for a hip-hop head.

As I was getting my pass from Will Call, I heard some woman in a frantic asking to no one in particular at about 12:30 pm, “Is that Nas on?!”
When a security guard said it was “only” Jay Electronica, she was relieved, I fought back the urge to hiss/make verbal threats. Once I bypassed the crazy long line leading to the Pavilion to duck into the press entrance, I was at a loss at what to do first.. MURS was on the main stage, I stopped for a few moments to check him out, but with people just starting to trickle out it seemed like the perfect time to roam around, I stumbled across the smaller stage where a duo by the name of Ninjasonik, who were well into their set with a track about being on the internet called Internet Bitch, but once I heard Holla For a Dolla next which featured a sung part of the hook that went “HIV don’t be the death of me, I wanna fuck” over some clubby beat, I had to get them a mention and I didn’t really need to hear much more. I roamed some more to see the venue and try to find the elusive SanDisk VIP area, but in enough time to check out Wale on the main stage (home town advantage yo!), he only did a few songs including Nike Boots, but seeing a good majority of the people getting into his abbreviated set was a very welcome sight. Those that missed him this first time got lucky, he would come on later in the show to do even more songs during intermissions. After Wale wrapped up Supernatural or Supernatura if you will:

(we get it, Supernat never takes an L, right?)

went on to partake in his intermission/hosting duties that would carry on through out the day. He started freestyling about random objects throughout the concert,  people (Highlight: Saying konichiwa to a girl that looked Japanese; ethnicity couldn’t be confirmed as of press time), stage props, etc. while Scratch (of The Roots fame) did a pretty impressive beatbox and spun. When Supernatural saw that there was a section of seats in the audience on the left for the hearing impaired with a full out sign language lady (what’s that occupation called?), he bugged out in his freestyle “I’ve never seen a white girl translate my rhymes!!”. He went on to spit some more stuff directed at her which resulted her in shaking what her mama gave her (throughout the night a lot of the MC’s like Redman gave a confused/smile/wtf  look at what the epicness going in that section) . I’ve seen a few MCs do this schtick but Supernatural did it best.  I stuck around to see Dead Prez come one for a handful of songs but for some reason I decided to check out Tyga on the small stage for curiosity sake (I had a lot of energy to walk around at this point, ok?). I can’t hate on dude, he showed a lot of energy and I only caught him doing his last songs including the single Coconut Juice. One of his entourage members had 2 (!!) GED chains, for some reason that amused me. Next I stuck around to see B.O.B. to see if he was living up to all the internets hype. The verdict is yes. He has the most care-free southern drawl this side of the Outkast. He did his track with Amy Winehouse, Grip Your Body, and I can’t say there is anything out that quite compares to him.  Not only did rhyming seeming care-free his whole crew from the hypeman to the DJ were as well, I was impressed by the hypeman’s jumping jacks and told him later that he should make it into a trend.  And get this B.O.B.-plays the guitar he played a track for the ladies (who were heavily outnumbered at something of like a 90:1 ratio by the other gender):

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(click for full size images)

Because my friend is a bitch ass, I went to Rock the Bells in Boston instead of my native New York. That’s about four hours by car each way. I learned two things at the daylong festival: 1. I’m never going to Boston again, 2. Kid Capri is the man. Here’s how it went.

Before we even got inside, I had to deal with some bullshit. Security dug threw my backpack and made me take the cap off my water bottle. The concern was that things would get thrown, which is bullshit because I could still throw the bottle (more effective than a cap, wouldn’t you say?) and you could buy a bottle of water inside (with a cap), albeit for $4. Also on sale were $30 t-shirts and $10 burritos. I wonder how many ‘fuck you’s those vendors got.

Doors opened at 11:00 and the show was supposed to start at 12:00. We arrived at 11:45 and to my astonishment, Wale was already well into his set. This is the first time in my experience that a concert has started early. Wale performed to a mostly empty Comcast Center. It was kind of sad to watch him perform for such a small, uninterested crowd. He really got dissed.

Next up was Jay Electronica, which I skipped to get out of the sun for a minute. It was a hot day and our seats were very much in the sun, so it was pretty unbearable to stay for too long without a break.

Then came Scratch and Supernatural whose performance consisted of Scratch beatboxing and Supernatural freestyling, which was cool, but it went on for way too long. And Supernatural did some of the same stuff he did at Paid Dues, like taking a camera from someone in the audience and taking a picture of himself with it. His act works better with a small crowd because you can see the people he’s incorporating into his rhymes.

Next up was Murs who’s always a funny, entertaining guy. He drew a bigger reaction from the crowd than anyone before him. He did a few of the same songs he did at Paid Dues, but he also took requests which I thought was pretty cool. At the end of his set, he chided the two extremes in hip hop today: candy rappers who never say anything worthwhile and elitist rappers who are too angry have any fun. Speaking of which…

Immortal Technique, accompanied by DJ Green Lantern, mostly did songs off The 3rd World. He screamed his head off about government conspiracies and how much he hates cops for a little bit. He was rocking a cute little homemade shirt that read “Government = Conspiracy”. At the end of his set, he said that he wasn’t selling any merchandise because they were taking 30% of all sales (“Y’all can have 30% of my dick!”) and that he would be handing out free CDs and t-shirts and whatnot.  This sent a lot of people rushing outside.

dead prez was supposed to go before Immortal, but they were “stuck in traffic” (which meant a lot more Supernatural) so they went on after and only had time for two songs.

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ScottieL and his eclectic slang is back in the building sporting a tan and great hair. He took a break from admiring himself in the mirror to file his report about last weeks Camp Bisco VII.

What’s up ML, it’s your boy ScottieL back with the latest festival review. About a month after Bonnaroo, I had finally completely recovered and was ready to rage to the max for another weekend. This time I headed up to Mariaville, NY for Camp Bisco VII, headlined by the Disco Biscuits. Other acts included Snoop Dogg, The Egg, 2020 Soundsystem, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, and Lotus among many others. This was my first Camp Bisco, and the lineup looked like the best, and most eclectic to date. Camp has turned into one of the premier electronic festivals in the U.S., and the fact that it has the drawing power to get an act like Snoop is very impressive.

For the past two years, Camp has been held at Indian Lookout Country Club, a vast 200-acre farmland run by the local bikers. It was interesting to go to a festival and not see any cops around, but the bikers kept things in check. I know if I was to partake in illegal activities, hypothetically of course, I would probably be more scared to fuck with these guys than the popo. Almost all of them I encountered were cool, showing us respect when we showed it to them, but let’s just say I heard some stories, and yeah, you don’t wanna fuck with them.

Camp was a much more intimate festival than Bonnaroo. Unofficial numbers put the attendance around 7,500, and you could walk from one side of the grounds to the other in about 10 minutes. There were two stages, the main stage and the hill stage, and one dance tent. We had a good view of the main stage from our campsite, which was perfect when I needed a minute to relax while still listening to some great music. And there was plenty of that…

Thursday:

After waiting in line for a few hours to get into the campgrounds, I missed the first few acts, but got in just in time to set up my tent and make it to the evening Biscuits set. They opened with a fun “7-11”> “Little Betty Boop”> “42,” that got the party started. The highlight of the set for me was guitarist Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig nailing the “Svenghali” peak. They closed the set with the hip-hop(ish) “Trucker’s Choice,” setting the stage for Snoop to follow.

Watching Snoop walk out on to the stage amidst giant weed leaves and bongs, we knew we were in for a treat. This was my first time seeing him, and I couldn’t have asked for a better show. His live band was incredible, and he had a nice mix of newer songs such as “Sexual Eruption,” and older classics like the fan favorite “Gin and Juice.” As great as the music was, the highlight for me took place after the set. Blunt in hand, Snoop got on the mic and told everyone to enjoy 311, who he’s been on tour with, but wasn’t at the festival. You gotta love him.

After Snoop, I headed to the dance tent to catch Pnuma Trio. The tent was fairly big, had amazing lights, and when full felt like it was 500 degrees. It gave “face-melting” a whole new meaning (wakkawakkawakka.) These guys have come a long way since I last saw them a few years ago. Seeing them (all in their early 20’s) tear up late night at Camp Bisco sort of made me feel like a musical failure. (Cue Violin.) After Pnuma, things started getting a little bit hazy. Must’ve been the, ahem, fatigue setting in from the long drive. Orchard Lounge set the table nicely for Lotus with one of their signature video mash-ups. I’ve never been a big Lotus fan, but I was getting down to them pretty hard (according to my friends) and I remember having a great time. Overall, the first day of Camp was a lot of fun, and set the tone nicely for the next two days.

Friday:

Waking up crammed in the driver’s seat of my car with the sun beating down on me is not one of my finest Camp memories, but it is memorable nonetheless. At least I wasn’t naked. Stepping out of the car, I heard the crunchtasticness of RAQ emanating from the main stage. Should’ve stayed in the car. (Just kidding RAQ… you guys are good musicians, just not really my thing… no offense.) Around 3 p.m. I headed over to the hill stage for the first time to check out Dr. Fameus. Dr. Fameus consists of Allen Aucoin, the drummer of the Biscuits, playing drums while DJing. DJ Drizno sat in with him for a little while, and Allen got to show off more of his chops on the drums.

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Vital info (all stolen without shame from Pitchfork):

Drops August 19th on Babygrande (aka My Birthday, get your greeting cards ready now.).

Tracklising:

01 Intromental
02 Pencil [ft. Masta Killa & RZA]
03 Alphabets
04 Groundbreaking [ft. Justice Kareem]
05 7 Pounds
06 0% Finance
07 Short Race [ft. Rock Marcy]
08 Interlude
09 Paper Plate
10 Columbian Ties [ft. True Master]
11 Firehouse [ft. Ka]
12 Path of Destruction
13 Cinema [ft. Justice Kareem]
14 Intermission (Drive in Movie)
15 Life Is a Movie [ft. RZA & Irfane Khan-Acito]
16 Elastic Audio [ft. FYRE Department & Dreddy Kruger] (Live at the Parish in Austin, TX, 5/31/2007) [bonus track]

The Single & Tour Dates after the jump:

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If there is no Tanya Morgan there is no Lessondary Crew. We caught up with the center of the Lessondary core right before they were gearing up to hit the road on their 40+ “Freshly Dipped” tour with the Hieroglyphics. We linked up online to chat and get a bunch of vital questions answered including finding out what Don was deleting off of his ipod. If you missed the first feature of the Lessondary Month with Jermiside.. no excuses go read. Done? Now read this:

ML: What up sir?
Ilyas: Chillin man…chillin.
Don: Party people.
ML: So this is probably going to turn in to same craziness, making in the history shit.. I can see the whole G-Unit talking to The Source in an AIM chat next week.
Don: Wordup.
Von Pea: lol.
ML: So just jump on whatever you want to say something about.. lets go.
Ilyas: My 4th of July was great! lol.
ML: haha

ML: Well first thing.. who came up with the Kyte channel (I’m guessing Don?), what did the rest of the guys think?
Don: Our label got the kyte channel, in promotion for our tour with Hiero[glyphics]. Its a promotional tool to help tune people in and keep em interested.

ML: Where are all of guys located right this moment?
Ilyas: Cincinnati, I dont have NY money right now.
Von Pea: NYC.
Don: I’m in Brooklyn.

ML: Are you waiting till the tour starts in a few days to regroup?
Don: Well the tour kinda starts tomorrow for real. The travel part, we go to LA tomorrow.

ML: Is there a date any of you are looking forward to the most?
Don: All of them, its a few cities I’ve never seen before on there, but its kinda just all of em. They all should be major.
Von Pea: Yeah, I’d agree.

ML: What has been your favorite live show you’ve done to this point?
Don: Toronto with The Roots, hands down.
Von Pea: Yeah, the Toronto show with The Roots was the best, thus far…
Ilyas: Yeah, T dot! love the T dot! the women are suuuperb! hahaha.
Don: We won that crowd over, hard. Thats a great feeling to watch people fall in love.
Ilyas: I fell in love with the crowd right back lol.
ML: and then to seal the night with The Roots, who I’m sure tore it down.
Von Pea: Hell yes.
Ilyas: I was walking with a little more pimp in my step that night lol.
ML: So you needed a cane at that point?
Von Pea: lol.
Don: I had a broke toe the whole tour, I needed a cane, hahaha.

ML: hahaha, hey canes can serve all kinds of purposes. It’s 30 minutes before you guys hit the stage.. what are each one of you doing, whats going through your minds? Other than polishing your canes.
Ilyas: I’m acting like a boxer warming up for a night while Von and Don tell me “It aint that serious man, we got this”.
Von Pea: LOL.
Ilyas: At the Roots show they had jokes cuz a brother was neeervous.
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I don’t know how I feel about this live band, The Roots these dudes are not though. Recorded @ The Roxy on July 19th. Thanks to Ben from AlwaysHustle

Nas speaking real brief on his past albums after the jump.

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So DJ01 and I went to Artscape for Sunday only. Mostly because neither of us own cars, and public transportation to Baltimore is a crime on the weekends (or anytime for that matter). I was able to borrow a car on Sunday, so we made the trip.

After a stop off at Metal Lungies Radio studios, to pick something up and record DJ01 dropping the best freestyle ever, we arrived at Artscape around 3 pm. We immediately went to the Food Area and consumed epic amounts of ocean product in the form of a crabcake sandwich (pictured above) and a plate of fish and chips.

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Sooo tired..but must share tidbits. What a way to spend a summer Sunday.

Clipse live at Artscape – Baltimore, MD performing Hot Damn:

*Malice jumped on a hood of a car, wearing new ATC IIs none the less, when it looked like a huge pitbull might be on the loose, in verbatim “Oh hell nah, that’s a pit!”

*Pusha T likes to snack on Cheetos & a bottle of Mistic Tea. “Fucking loves” Chevy Chase, MD and wants to live there.

*Clipse nodded in approval of the ML logo.

Rocket scientists.. guess who’s going to be featured on the Neptunes Beat Drop this week? [Well, kinda sorta… check the Beat Drop for clarification. – Buhizzle]

Big shouts to Dan over at Koch and Geezy.

The Clipse Present The Re-Up Gang in stores August 5th.

Wayyy more today.

Well, not the whole gang but ScottieL, who has previously starred in fine productions like ML’s Bonnaroo coverage is going is going to be ML’s eyes and ears at this 3 day festival (July 17th-July19th) in Mariaville, NY (outside of Albany, NY).  The 3 day fesitval is headlined by  Snoop Dogg, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, MSTRKRFT, !!! supporting acts include The Disco Biscuits, Younger Brother (Live), 2020 Soundsystem, The New Deal, Fiction Plane, LA Riots, Dub War NYC, Bassnectar, FIGO, Lazaro Casanova.

Check the offical fan info page over at Going.com, where I hear you can win stuff.

(Click the banner for the official site)

Edit: Bumping this up to remind you suckas!

We were excited when we just heard some of the headliners, now with a possibility of Lil Wayne X Kanye X Bob Dylan, this just might be a 2 day heaven.

Main Stage, Saturday, Aug. 9: Bloc Party, Cat Power, Chuck Berry and The Silver Beats, Citizen Cope, Duffy, Foo Fighters, Gogol Bordello, Jack Johnson, KT Tunstall, Lupe Fiasco, The Offspring, Paramore, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Swell Season and Wilco.

Main Stage, Sunday, Aug. 10: Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire, The Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Bob Dylan, The Go! Team, Iggy & The Stooges, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nine Inch Nails, She & Him, Shudder to Think, Stone Temple Pilots and Taking Back Sunday.

Dance Tent, Saturday, Aug. 9: DJ Dan & Donald Glaude, Erol Alkan, Ferry Corsten, Soul Wax, Steve Lawler and Underworld.

Dance Tent, Sunday, Aug. 10: Armin van Buuren, Chromeo, Deadmau5, Moby (DJ Set), Pendulum and Richie Hawtin.

via BrooklynVegan