by SCOTT C

I had to laugh this week when I got an e-mail from local band Artist of the Year, who are having a little party down at Petit Campus this Saturday, August 19. The night, called Warn a Brother Vol. 1, will encompass an AOT live performance and a DJ set of Dilla-dedicated Detroit grooves from the Glad Professors, and although the 9 p.m. show is $10 at the door, visible minorities pay only half of that. Is AOT very openly trying to say that they attract a fairly homogeneous crowd? Where the brothers at? At any rate, tell all your black, Chinese and Arabic friends that there’s some joints to be heard on Saturday night.

Hung out with DJ Naes for a minute last week, and he pulled out the laptop and played me the new Atach Tatuq video for “Chips,” featuring Arnak and RU, where they play cops driving around the city harassing punks and engaging in a little undercover action. Produced by Montreal’s NuFilm Productions, it should be on TVs everywhere in a couple weeks. Oddly enough, both RU and Arnak look pretty much at home dressed in police gear from head to toe, but don’t look for them on the SPVM anytime soon. Look for Atach Tatuq to hit the stage at Lola’s for French Connection Thursdays on August 24 with DJ support from DJ Twitch, Djoolz and Sagewondah.

Nice to see that Under Pressure can still pull in a healthy crowd at 11 years on. The parking lot by Foufounes was rammed with all kinds of people checking out the writers, music, kicks, cars and bikes. I gotta say this though: Just once, I would like to enjoy all the splendour of the b-boy and b-girl battles. After 11 years you’d think that they’d rack up some bleachers, or an elevated stage or something. If you weren’t within the first five people on the inside of the circle, or seven feet tall, or standing on the roof, or on a speaker or chair like Diegal the battle host had to do, then you probably saw what I saw, which was the backs of peoples’ heads. It sounded very exciting though, and as always, several rogue circles popped up around the grounds, so there was still lots of footwork to see.

Did anyone else notice that U.K. import and now old boys of electronica Massive Attack are playing at Metropolis on September 11? I wonder who came up with that concept. They’ll be joined by an unannounced guest that will hopefully make the $55 ticket a little more palatable. Can’t forget the legendary DJ Krush (yet another old boy) who makes his way back to Montreal for a show at Club Soda on September 13. The last time this trip-hop pioneer played in this city, I remember an aural assault of heavy-duty beats laced with darkness, and for $20, what more could you possibly want?

Finally, for all those girls who are still trying to jock Atmosphere, you can form a line here, because he’s back in town September 16 with Mac Lethal and Psalm One for a $16 show at les Saints.

TIME TO THROW IN THE TOWEL.... fathead@videotron.ca

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