Following  the first single from Pataphysics new album “The Ology Unknown” ‘Cloaked Guerilla’, the second single ‘Over’  featuring Vida-Sunshyne has just been released along with this great film made by eep! productions.

Check it out!

Pataphysics – Over (feat. Vida-Sunshyne) from eep! productions on Vimeo.

Many thanks to eep! productions, and all others involved in the creation of this clip.

enjoy.

…bs

This week we caught up with Omar Musa and talked about three of my favourite things, hip hop, poetry, and of course… ladies

I first heard of you as the Australian Slam poet champ, now you have a new music video out. So which came first; poetry or music?

Definitely poetry. I have been writing poetry since I was a young child. My father was a poet in Malaysia, so he always encouraged me. I’m an only child and we didn’t have much money growing up, so writing and painting kept me busy. Once I was in my teens, I got into Wu Tang Clan, Ice Cube and Public Enemy, because I realised that hip-hop was modern poetry, but contemporary and accessible, unlike a lot of written poetry.

The video for Hemmingway was shot in London, have you made the move out of Australia or was this just for the video?

I lived in London most of last year working with grime artists such as Akala, which was amazing. I shot the video during that time with Tom Spiers, a genius of a director and gem of a guy. The video was painstaking work, mostly shot between the hours of 10pm and 4am. I’m back here in Australia now. It was a bit too hectic, cold and dreary over there. London pretty much swallowed me up and spat me out!

Omar Musa – Hemingway

How do you find it to be an Australian hip hopper? is this something that goes down well with audiences, or do you find is conjures up the wrong image of your music?

It’s weird. Overseas people either go bananas cos my style is something totally new to them, or they don’t quite “get” it. In the Australian poetry scene, I get the feeling that people think you are going to be less literate or intelligent because you are a rapper, which is annoying, but something I hope I’m helping to change.

What’s playing on your ipod at the moment dude?

Man, a lot of stuff. I still listen to a lot of Kanye West, Jay-Z and OutKast. But the albums I’m listening to the most at the moment are ‘Troubador’ by K’Naan, ‘Dummy’ by Portishead and ‘Boy in da Corner’ by Dizzeee Rascal. I really like stuff that pushes the boundaries a bit. There is so much lame, cheesy shit out there are the moment.

What gets you more love interest… being a rapper, or being a poet?… and do they attract different audiences?

Haha. I guess being a rapper, because women seem to be attracted to the allure of a bad boy musician. Little do they know I’m a mad bookworm who spends most of my spare time in second hand bookshops and galleries haha. And yeah, poetry and hip-hop attract really different audiences. I love both equally, though sometimes poetry can be a bit wanky and hip-hop a bit too aggressive.

What’s up next for Omar Musa?

A bunch of shows, writers’ festivals and most importantly, I’ll be recording my full length album in Seattle, USA, with Geoff Stanfield. I want people to realise that I’m Australian hip-hop’s most powerful, important and intelligent new voice.  I’m trying to do everything in my power to make that happen. Keep supporting independent music!

Also, I just released a free download mixtape, so if people are interested they can get to it here

Peace,

Omar

And you can check out more from Omar Musa at:

www.myspace.com/omarmusa

…bs

Here is a good video to check out, it’s from Black Milk, a Detroit based MC and producer, who has worked with some hip hop greats already in his career. Such as the likes of J Dilla, Elzhi, Phat Kat, Frank-N-Dank, Lloyd Banks, Canibus, and Pharoahe Monch, and handled most of the production on T3’s Olio mixtape of 2006. I came across him by accident while listening to the radio, so then I had a bit of a browse around the net and listened to some more of his tracks. I was quite impressed.

On this track “Give the Drummer Some” I love the beat it’s catchy as, and his vocal skills ain’t nothing to sneer at. Also good to hear the horn section used so elequently on a phat as hip hop track! If you check this song (and also possibly “Losing Out” with Royce da 5′9), you’ll notice he likes to play with voice pitch. This is a cool video with some nice effects, that suit the music nicely. This track is off his latest album “Tronic” which was released October 28, 2008.

I also noticed on his myspace page that he’s about to tour Europe in June and July, so if you’re in the area, why not check it out?

For more information on Black Milk see:

His myspace page

Peace out
…Yossarian

Obviously many of us are aware by now that governments and the media lie to us on a regular basis, whether we like to believe it or not. Some of us don’t really care anymore, while others get really into the whole conspiracy theory type thing. Sites like infowars.com manage to keep churning out some great ones. So how the hell does this relate to music you may begin to ask? Well here’s a song that came out end of last year by Ill Bill, it’s got a great beat which is pretty much guaranteed when Dj Premier is on production. It’s from the album ‘Hour of Reprisal’ which also came out in 2008. It should appeal to hip hop fans who like a bit of controversy or substance in the lyrics. With great lines like:

“Every society honours it’s live conformists and dead trouble-makers.”

“Old men start wars for young dudes to die in
Madison Avenue tellin’ what you should be buyin’
religion and science always profess peace but in the end
who created the deadly war machine society is?”

Ill Bill – Society is Brainwashed

We all should know by now that the world is run by people who don’t listen to good music!

You can check out more of Ill Bill at:

www.myspace.com/illbill

…Yossarian

Following a considerable amount of touring throughout Europe, Asia, and the world over the past two years, Very Good friends Pete Philly and Perquisite have finally taken a break to work on some solo projects in 2009, but don’t worry… they assure us that they will be back with another album in time for 2010 … ish. Having been nominated again for ‘best alternative group’ by 3FM in the Netherlands, and an Edison award for ‘best song’ in ‘Mystery Repeats’, they continue to produce quality ish like the new video for Q&A which was directed by ‘Nokia Trends Lab’ winner, Lucinda Sedoc, and was shot entirely by using a cell phone!

Check it out…

Pete Philly and Perquisite – Q&A

Aside from this, Pete is currently rehearsing for his lead role in ‘The Man From Nowhere’, a theatre play by Kasper Kapteijn, which premiers at the ‘Melkweg’ in Amsterdam April 15th. Perquisite on the other hand is creating the soundtrack for the upcoming Dutch film ‘Carmen Van Het Noorden’ which also stars Mc’s GMB, Duvel, Jiggy Dje, and Turk.

With a couple of shows in South Africa, and a couple in America coming up, probably one of the better known spots to play in the world is the ‘South by Southwest’ festival, where Pete and Perq will be playing March 18th right before Beyonce’s little sister Solange Knowles hits the stage… two of my fabourite artists playing consecutively… what a dream come true huh ??? yeah well maybe not, but Pete Philly and Perquisite will be sure to drop some heat anyway.

You can check out more of Pete Philly and Perquisite at:

www.petephillyandperquisite.com

www.myspace.com/petephillyandperquisite

…bs

Have you been looking for an interesting musical video? One that challenges your perceptions of art and music? Well have I got great news for you. Portishead, that talented bunch of folks from Bristol, have just released online the new video for the track ‘Magic Doors’, the third single off their latest album which is coincidentally called ‘Third’. the song has quite a bold, catchy, jazzy beat, which is used as a musical canvas for Beth Gibbons’ haunting vocals. The video itself has a fluid but glitchy almost D.I.Y feel to it which suits the song well, open for interpretation and speculation.

If you have already seen and liked the other singles Machine Gun and The Rip, then you should also dig this. But if you haven’t seen them and don’t mind a slightly confrontational sounds, then best you go check them out too. Especially ‘The Rip’ which has a very odd and surreal animated video, not quite like anything I’ve seen before. Very interesting and experimental if nothing else. Glad to see the Portishead team back in the game after their long tea-break/hiatus between 1999-2005ish.

Portishead – Magic Doors

“Through the glory of life
I will scatter on the floor
Disappointed and sore
And in my thoughts I have bled
For the riddles I’ve been fed
Another lie moves over”

(The Rip – Portishead)

there is no other place…Yossarian

Pete Philly and Perquisite this week released the new video for their second albums title track ‘Mystery Repeats’. The video was directed by Amsterdam creative duo KGB and features dutch hiphopacts La Melodia, Blaxtar, Spacekees and Cmon & Kypski. Enjoy!

With the amount of projects, tours and festivals Pete Philly and Perquisite have been bumpin’ lately, it’s no wonder they are the new drug of choice in the pleasure capital of the world. Their new single which they named their second album after “Mystery Repeats”, was released in Europe this month including a remix by Tony Shift and 4 exclusive live theatre versions (You can download the single on iTunes). ‘Mystery Repeats’, the album, has been nominated in Pete and Perqusites home country, The Netherlands, for the ‘3voor12 Award’! The award, which will be given out by ‘3voor12′ on September 4th, goes out every year to the best album of that year, according to the voters on the 3voor12 website, fans can vote for them at: www.3voor12.nl!

In 2008 for the 3rd year in a row, Pete Philly and Perquisite have been selected to play at their favourite festival ‘Lowlands’. As well as this they are one of 3 of this year’s winners of the dutch award “Amsterdamprijs’!”. The other two winners are architect Marlies Rohmer and video artist Julika Rudelius. The award, which is the most important art award of the city, goes out every year to those artists who contributed in a special way to the arts and to putting Amsterdam on the map. It’s the first time that a hip hop group receives the award which, besides the honour, consists of a very nice sum of money.

Somehow in amongst all of these projects Pete Philly and Perquisite have just recently returned from Japan playing concerts as well as filming the video clip for recently released single ‘Empire’.

Pete Philly and Perquisite – Empire

The next year doesn’t seem to be looking much different for two of the worlds hardest working musicians playing at Mundial (Netherlands), Summerjam (Germany), Splash (Germany), Exit (Serbia), North Sea Jazz (Netherlands), Gurten (Germany), Nuke (Austria), HipHop Open (Germany), Open Air Lumnezia (Switzerland) and Sziget (Hungary) just to name a few.  In February, finally, they come over to tour Australia and New Zealand, brought to you by none other then The Very Good Agency. There’s some interesting collaborations the guys are working on with artists from Australasia too, so all you Aussie’s and kiwi’s who are fans… your in for some awesome crossovers with artists we’ve grown up listening, only with a funky hip hop and jazz twist.

you can, and definitely should, check out more of Pete Philly and Perquisite at:

www.petephillyandperquisite.com

www.myspace.com/petephillyandperquisite

There are few artists who gain my highest honour; the ‘buy before try’ scenario. Minneapolis based duo Atmosphere is one such example and their latest offering ‘When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold,’ easily returns my faith.

Since ‘You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having,’ Slug and Ant have been consistently drip-feeding fans with a string of 5-song EP’s and the awesome ‘Strictly Leakage.’ Such releases have been hit and miss for me and it is great to have another full-length album that feels cohesive and obviously benefits from greater time spent on writing and production. If you are expecting the jump around beats of classics such as ‘Get Fly’ and ‘Pour Me Another’ beware, ‘Lemons’ moves into darker territory both lyrically and sonically. Ant’s flawless production has moved away from hooky grooves to a more acoustic sound with live instruments; flutes, piano and guitar, these compliment Slug’s sometimes preachy, but always poetic flow. That’s not to say the album doesn’t retain that top-down, cadillac-country feel, especially on tracks such as ‘You’ and ‘Can’t Break.’

It never fails to amaze me that Slug can deliver a poignant and I think, ultimately optimistic message (just look at the title), using such grimy subject matter as pimps, cigarettes and dry heaves, all layered above Ants swelling, hand-clapping beats. Sure he shows moments of despair, for example ‘The Skinny,’ about the hold cigarettes can have over someones life, but this is off-set by glimpses of hope such as my favourite track ‘Wild, Wild Horses,’ ‘go ahead and chase your dreams and your freedom, run run wild wild horses, you can’t tame these horses.’ Apparently god loves a trier. It is his realistic never afraid to call a dick a dick, attitude that tears Slug and his brand of introspective hip hop away from the diamond encrusted wannabes of mainstream hip hop, so much so they barely deserve to be categorised in the same genre. “All of us cut from the same damn cloth, some of us never cut the price tags off.”

Atmosphere
Trying to find a balance

If you were in any doubt that Slug is a bonafide wordsmith, the deluxe edition comes with a 40 page childrens story written and illustrated by the pair, a nice touch for big kid fans like myself. Ultimately, this album is a step-up from previous releases and I’ll definitely part with my cash with the same reckless abandon next time around. Surprise, surprise, another lady loves Slug (and Ant.)
Alesha

You can check out more from Atmosphere at:
www.rhymesayers.com
www.myspace.com/atmosphere