by SCOTT C

It’s back to the grind for Montreal’s ICM crew as they step up with their monthly night at le Swimming this Friday, Oct. 7. Heads Connect will feature Island City Monsters with Meta4ce, Eye 2 Eye, Memo and DJ Twitch, but they’ll be joined by Toronto’s Rhythmcru, and Wax Philosophic from good ol’ Thunder Bay. When’s the last time you went out to see a hip hop crew from Thunder Bay, people? Now’s your chance! Five dollars gets you in.

Got a note from Montreal producer 7D this morning, and it seems he has a new remix LP coming out at the end of the month. You may remember when he and DJ Manifest remixed some of their favourite Blackstar tunes a while back with favourable results, so look out for his new one called The SevSignal, on shelves at the end of October. Both Manifest and 7D have yet to show their faces or beats at the Turf Builder monthly beatmaker showcase, but I’ll assume it’s because they’re much too busy in the lab.

Just when you thought New Orleans had disappeared off the radar, a group of concerned MTL artists have decided to get together and raise some more much-needed money to aid in the Hurricane Katrina mayhem. Make your way down to la Sala Rossa this Friday for a Mardi Gras-style party, hosted and organized by Josephine Watson, to raise money for the Red Cross. You can expect performances from the Fat Tuesday Brass Band, Kalmunity, Jacki Starr, Neema, Choeur Maha, Vanessa Rodrigues, Gruyen Gumbo, Kumpa’nia, Jordi Rosen & Friends, Tempus Fugit and DJ Momodu. There will also be a gang of door prizes and giveaways. Tix are $10 at the door or in advance at Casa del Popolo.

Looking ahead, old-school electro specialist and hip hop archivist Freddy Fresh will be stopping in at Living on Saturday, Oct. 22, for a little throwdown. He’ll be playing alongside DJ Bliss, who just happens to celebrate his birthday this week. Happy B-day, Hammer! Ricky D also tipped me off about a show featuring Musiq Soulchild and a live band on Friday, Oct. 21 at Xodus (7000 Parc), a place that holds an intimate 600 people for maximum enjoyment. Anybody make it down to the Nas show the other night? n

Seven reasons it’s in the brain:
1. The Mizell Brothers “Think Twice” 2005 remix (Blue Note)
2. The Ill Relatives “Ci What U Get” (Counterflow)
3. Moonstarr “Kats” remix (CDR)
4. Patr00 “untitled” (CDR)
5. J-Live The Here After (3TP)
6. Tony Ezzy The First Letter to the Ezzikians (Don’t Bite)
7. Steve Spacek Space Shift (Sound in Color)

BACK TO THE GRILL AGAIN... fathead@videotron.ca

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