Three the hard way by SCOTT C Alright. I want you to forget about the Greyboy Allstars, Maceo Parker, Karl Denson, Galactic, the New Deal and even our beloved Jazz Pharmacy for just one second and listen to what I have to say. If you've in any way enjoyed the music of any of these bands, along with Jimmy Smith, Grant Green or the neo-authentic sounds of the Neal Sugarman Five or San Francisco's Breakstra, then you would be a bona fide fool if you didn't check out Soulive as they roll into Montreal for the first time. This is the way things go down: Alan Evans (drums), Eric Krasno (guitar), Neal Evans (Hammond B-3 organ). These guys play like they've been listening to a lot of hip hop, but still manage to keep it raw for a trio. You'll swear you heard some of their beats produced by your favourite head, but then they start soloing and improvising and it's bananas. These cats got me open in a big way and I give their upcoming Wednesday, Oct. 25 show at Le Swimming my highest recommendation. Take the blinders off, you might learn something. The boys down at The Grill (Thursdays at Blizzarts) should have their hands full on Nov. 2 as the funky and "cocksure" DJ Czech jumps the plane from Vancouver for a little record release party. Cock, the third volume in the Obscene Underground series from Stickman Records, is a continuously mixed array of selected picks from Czech's personal breakbeat arsenal. You'll also be able to check the styles of special guest DJ Slide, as well as the Grill residents T' Cha, Ayara and Bliss. Tickets are available at Noize in advance for $5, but are otherwise $6 at the door. Rap Flow sur le Plateau continues, with part three happening on Thursday, Oct. 19 at La Place à Coté (4571 Papineau). Featured performances at this gig include the "playing almost everywhere" Shadowboxerz, Kombinne Lakail, Batards, ADN and the DJ skills of Horg, DJ Naes and Jaber. Five bucks. www.go.to/dj-horg. Just copped the new mixtape from DJ Suganeedles that features tracks from Apani B Fly down to LL and Truth Enola. The whole thing is musically tight, featuring a lot of underground pieces that have been released in the last six months or less. Suga likes tracks that clip hard, but doesn't front on lyrics either. Her deck skills come second to musical picks, but overall I'm likin' it. My Constitutional Right to Head Nod is available at Science. Suganeedles, aka Ozzie, can be heard every Friday night on Cypher on CKUT 90.3 FM along with Siminee and Miranda. : "Puttin' heads to bed like Hennessey and Nyquil..." plan_b13@hotmail.com