by SCOTT C

Today was one of the first days that I didn't wake up sweating from a SARS nightmare. I spoke to my dad, who dismisses all the hoopla as overblown foolishness while he continues to reside in the danger zone. In fairness, most people from Toronto that I regularly talk to are more annoyed about answering questions about the outbreak from people like me than anything else. I personally only know a few people who have hunkered down indoors and refuse to interact with the outside world. Paranoia seems to do strange things to people, I guess. Try to breathe easy for now.

Local lab-rats Specifics can now be found online at www.lpmusic.org. Launch Pad Music is workin' steady to promote these guys as well as an extended collective of artists that are living, working and studying in Montreal. There's four songs up here and probably more to come. Apparently, good ol' Loe Pesci of Patrick Batemen fame has released a single for "Delivery Service" and "Black Book." Now, I've been looking for this like Sherlock, but I'm not having much luck. Anybody out there know where I can get a copy? I'm right here.

This week wouldn't be complete if I didn't include a passage from the personal memoirs of the one and only Tony "Master T" Young. Much Master T, a new book from ECW Press, is a harrowing and painful read that has T rubbing shoulders with people like Shaggy and Tupac, just days before his murder. I'm not gonna front, because I watched T for years on Much just like everybody else, but "the acme of cool" or "the epitome of urban hipness," I'm not so sure. Here's that bit:

"Michael Williams was Much's 'soul brother number one,' before I held that coveted title. Because of the scarcity of Blacks on TV in Canada, there were tremendous pressures and Vince Carter-high expectations for the few that were on the air."

This is a book you might read on the Haitian bus from Montreal to New York if there's no good magazines or cheap gin at the duty-free, but that's just me. Erica Ehm, on the other hand…

Good ol' fashioned loft party on your mind? Check out the digs at 5334 de Gaspé on Saturday, April 26. For six bucks, y'all can boogie to the sounds of Christelle and Dubline, two very capable DJs who I can vouch for, and who also have records for days. The mixed bag is king at this do, so expect some funk, soul, hip hop, house and whatever else they're feeling at the time. See you there…

Seven reasons you can't look at me like that anymore…
1. Omniverse "55 Dollars" 7" (Omniverse)
2. Freddie Foxx "Drop a Jewel" (BBE)
3. Madlib Blunted in the Bomb Shelter EP (Antidote)
4. Rima "So Sweet" (promo)
5. Sunshine Anderson "Heard It All Before" (QSO remix) (white)
6. MJ Cole "Wondering Why" (Recloose remix) (Talkin' Loud)
7. Dwele "Find a Way" 12" (Virgin)

Are you missing something? incubator@hiphopsite.com

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