by SCOTT C

Being the recipient of hundreds of pairs of socks, underwear and Avon-for-men products over many birthdays and holidays, I’ve learned that you need to be thankful for what you’ve got, because somebody else has it way worse than you. You may never use the Horsemen Body Wash you got from your grandmother, but eventually something you can get excited about will find its way to you. Having said that, I was very surprised to find news of two great shows in my inbox this week, and not a lump of coal in sight!

First, there’s Sept. 14 at Foufounes with Brother Ali, Last Emperor, Skratch Bastid, Apt & Cosmo and Flight Distance, and then not even a week later, Foufs also has the Commercial Free Tour with Little Brother, Away Team, Legacy, Darien Brockington, Joe Scudda, and Chaundon with Montrealers Lotus and Simahlak on Sept. 19. You know these are value shows for the buck too, so do not sleep.

Those of you who would pay money to go see Foxy Brown rap live onstage (and I know there must be a few of you) can pencil Sept. 30 at Dome into this month’s agenda. Miss Ill Na Na would be smart to schedule a couple lunchtime buffet gigs over at Chez Paris too, if she really wants to get in touch with her fan base.

If you haven’t done so already, take a minute and check out the re-incarnation of Luba Lounge, in the form of the brand new Lola Lounge at 1023 Bleury, just south of René-Levesque. With a space three times the size of Luba, and all of it lounge, you can bet the sofas in there will see some action. DJ Static and DJ Goser move their hip hop Thursday night, The Bridge, to Wednesdays, while Alex Robbins (aka The NARC) brings you a Saturday night of many musical flavours every week.

Some bona fide happenings that you can’t leave out this long weekend include another Hip Hop You Don’t Stop Festival installment called Graffitude at Parc Nôtre-Dame de Grace in NDG on Saturday, Sept. 3, starting at noon. Expect a lot of great local hip hop, a skateboard competition, live graffiti and breakdancers. Check out www.hiphopyoudontstop.ca for the entire lineup.

There’s U.K. tastemaker Russ Dewbury bringing nu-soul, underground funk and dancefloor jazz to The Goods at la Sala Rossa, also on Sept. 3, and Simon B, Christian Pronovost and Jojo Flores playing Stereo as part of the Funkn Soul festival on Saturday night as well.

Also, that DJ Z-Trip and DJ Goldenchyld show is still happening at la Tulipe on Wednesday, Sept. 7, but Black Sheep are no longer on the bill. The border is a bitch!

Finally, go wish DJ Whitefish a happy B-day this Sunday, Sept. 4, over at MondoMusique at Blizzarts, as he celebrates with special guest Das-M from Germany.

NO BRIBES NECESSARY... fathead@videotron.ca

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