Unless you were one of the few dozen deadbeats who happened to be at The Local 269 on October 17, you missed a very special show. A jazz trio called Stray Phrases played J Dilla’s Donuts live in its entirety. Yep, you missed out on history, but they’re doing it again next week.
Stray Phrases consists of Storm Siegel on drums, Dave Mainella on piano, and Evan Crane on bass. Come to the Tea Lounge on 837 Union St. in Brooklyn at 10:30 and watch these guys get busy. Now that you’ve heard the full recording of their set, you know that missing it a second time would be unforgivable.
I will be in the house, so if you’d like to say hi, look for the guy stealing silverware.
The crowd at The Local 269, a shabby New York City bar on 269 Houston Street, could not have been less interested. The bartender scribbled on his notebook, two older men talked to a woman half their age, and a gaggle of NYU students crowded a booth by the stage. Midterms were distant enough that they could drink on a Sunday. When an ear-splitting free jazz session finally died down, three NYU students put down their drinks took the stage.
“I thought Dilla was just a rapper,” asked a friend of mine who was there by mere coincidence. I began to reply, but the opening riff from “Workinonit” drowned out my voice. Maybe it’s a good thing more hip-hop kids weren’t in the house — one of them would have replied to that statement with the business end of a broken bottle.
The Detroit hip-hop producer passed away on February 10, 2006, but his influence is inescapable in 2010. The fanatical zeal of the Dilla fanbase has resulted in an outpouring of tributes, but few like this.
Stray Phrases is a jazz trio consisting of Storm Siegel on drums, Dave Mainella on piano, and Evan Crane on bass. On Sunday October 17, 2010, they covered J Dilla’s classic instrumental album Donuts from beginning to end. Metal Lungies is proud to bring you a recording of the whole set.
Here are some picks from ML (but don’t forget that discovering new artists is a clutch aspect of any music festival):
Muse; Ozzy Osbourne (that guy from MTV!!); MGMT (be sure to see mostly KIDS, if they do it lawls); Drake (Please report on his knee.);Metric; Hot Chip (sleeper pick of the festival!); Deadmau5 (biggest buzz on the festival scene this year?; Street Sweeper Social Club (Tom Morello+Boots Riley from The Coup=Win.); Paul Oakenfold; Florence and the Machine; Raphael Saadiq; Janelle Monae (one the best live acts of the year); Afrojack; Kelis; the Crystal Method; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; Crookers; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Boys Noize.
This whole weekend I have been laid up sick (my cold is perfectly coinciding with next level/amazing weather occurring right out side of my sunroom). There was one good thing about this however; I was able to work my fingers into tip-top shape with the TV remote buttons and clicking of the computer mouse. Now when I wasn’t watching some hockey or playoff beisbol, Kanye West seemed to have my attention on either the TV or the computer screen. First, Kanye West premiered his artsy film, Runaway (pure coincidence the single shares the same title!), set to the score of his new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I took the movie as a canvas to show off the new(ish) music, and for that purpose the beautifully shot visuals worked. What I enjoyed more was the post-movie interview he did with Sway of MTV. The interview was unedited/live which showed off Ye’s train of thought and his passion for his work. When the interview was ending, Sway blew up the spot, by mentioning his surprise appearance he was going to do later in Brooklyn. Covering his face when he heard Sway spoil the surprise, Kanye’s reaction made the whole interview worth watching.
Check the movie & the interview that follows at the top.
The CMJ Music Marathon is upon us next week. New Yorkers have an endless supply of shows (“showcases,” they call them) to chose from, so ML filtered out the interesting ones. If you know about something we don’t, let us know. Check back because we’ll be updating this post as more comes to our attention.
NYC, pay attention. Something on the extra-special, low-key, cooler-than-your-friends-because-you-know-about-it tip.
A jazz trio called Stray Phrases is performing J Dilla’s Donuts from beginning to end this Sunday (10/17) at The Local 269 (269 E Houston Street). No breaks and no cover, so come get your drink on and build some good water-cooler conversation for Monday morning.
ML will be in the house. You’ll likely catch me a sipping a John Daly.
Shout out to my homie Storm, the drummer, and extra props to GonCreative for the flyer.
I might be trying to wife MNDR. She and Q-Tip get down like long lost siblings on the Late Show stage. Neither acknowledges the awkwardness of their pairing, but the song is so dope that it almost never occurred to me that the guy who produced “One Love” is on David Letterman with an electro-dance-pop Brooklynite who looks like she could be a Charlie’s Angel. Like I said, I might be trying to wife MNDR.
The Virgin Mobile FreeFest is tomorrow in Columbia, MD at the Merriweather Post Pavillion, and since ML hascovered manyVirginFestivals in it’s history. We think it’s appropriate that we share our picks on who to check out this year.
The Temper Tramp (killed Bonnaroo this year.)
Trombone Shorty (Yes, the same guy from HBO’s Tremé)
Will Eastman (DC DJing god, yes please.)
T.I. (Sike! He’s not coming.)
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (To hear Home is reason enough.)
Neon Indian (ML’s chillwave fav).
Thievery Corporation (To chill out for all the raging that will happen afterword)
Chromeo (2 things: Bring dancing shoes & try to not OD on funk)
Ludacris (The (sole) RAPPER of the festival!)
Sleigh Bells (you brain will melt from this electronic group)
M.I.A. (A lot of prayers from fans that her live show returns to form here. The B-More dance child Rye Rye might appear, too.)
LCD Soundsystem (Must catch these guys before their impending retirement, your grandchildren will be jealous)
If you are looking for some non-music things to do, my guy James from Fanscape suggested ML readers check out State Farm’s Club 17k where they will hook you up with chair massages, custom t-shirt printing and a boat load giveaways (trust me, it’s their job to giveaway stuff.). If you click that aforementioned link and install a ringtone they’ll even bless you with some VIP treatment at their compound.
ML’s attendance this year can be best compared to a star football player coming back from an injury– a last minute decision. So if ML does end up crashing the Virgin Mobile Fest gates, we’ll be sure to rant on twitter.. or mess around, and *gasp* make a review post.
While the free tickets are long gone, there have been some $30 tickets released, and that craigslist site is sure to be flooded with them. Lastly, check out the nice preview Express put together.
There’s a strange vibe at a concert full of NYU students, mostly freshmen, many of whom have been in New York City for just over a week. It’s an auditorium full of kids who don’t have to report home to their parents for the first time in their lives. The crowd was beyond excited and had just as much fun between sets as they did when Big Boi took the stage.
I arrived just in time to catch the end of indie rock band Dr. Dog’s set. NY production duo The Knocks DJed between sets. Aside from a wannabe fratboy (there are precious few real fratboys at NYU) yelling “Daddy Fat Sax” from the balcony, the crowd showed no sign of impatience and was more than happy to groove to the dance-pop sounds of The Knocks for an hour.
