Better skater than never? by SCOTT C The good news is that once again the wicked live show put on by Dilated Peoples is coming back to Montreal. On top of this, they'll be joined on the same bill by the Jurassic Five, who also tagged along last year. The not-so-good news is that they're part of the Vans Warped tour. No disrespect to the tour, but I have no intention of sitting through MXPX and Green Day to get to the goods. Maybe if I cry long and loud enough... Anyways, the Warped Tour is still mostly punk, ska, and hard rock with a little hip hop mixed in for variety à la Lollapalooza (let it go, dudes), and is coming to town July 21. Stay tuned. If you haven't been down to L'X on Ste-Catherine E. yet to check out a show, I've got something for you. On Friday, May 26, Symbiotic Soul, a small Montreal collective of crusaders for real hip hop, has put together Shift. The show features Boston MCs Virtuoso and Mr. Lif, as well as 40th Dimension and Fygment from NYC. The show will be hosted by Blurum 13 and features performances by locals Chilan, Manchilde and beatbox dreamteam Shadowboxerz. DJs Fakts-One, Mana and the always smokin' Killa-Jewel will be providing musical ambiance for the evening. Tickets are $10 and available at Science, located at 28 Pine E. Jazz Fest notes: If you didn't already know, this year's fest has some head-turners and people you probably won't see in this city for a long time. People like Meshell Ndegeocello, whose melancholy soul styles have stood on their own in the music world since her debut. She always rolls with a loaded band too, so watch close. She plays Théatre Maisonneuve, June 29. Swede Jay Jay Johanson brings his jazzy choirboy routine to Metropolis on Saturday, July 1, while the absent-too-long electric jazz-funk of Medeski Martin and Wood, on July 5 at Metropolis, is definitely going to be hard to get tickets to, but it's damn well worth a try. Thursday, May 18, is the night that a few St-Michel crews have chosen to launch their new CD Population Hip Hop. The comp, which features tracks from Amalgamate, Homeboy (s), Shamaz and Tra-G-Die was produced in part by Vivre St-Michel en Santé. The launch opens the doors of Centre de Loisirs St-Damase at 7411, 17e Ave. The launch is from 7-10 p.m. and free. Info at 270-0084. Finally, this Thursday May 18, don't forget the always spectacular Concordia University Communication Studies Year End Film Screenings happening in room H-110 at the Hall Building on 1455 de Maisonneuve W. Admission is free, not bad for a situation where you could see some of those up-and-comers before they actually come up. : Let me know what to do with all this illicit mojo I got squirrelled away: plan_b13@hotmail.com