by SCOTT C

Nice to step out on a weeknight and check out some hip hop legends. I'm talking about the Jungle Brothers and what turned out to be one half of Black Sheep at la Sala Rossa this past Monday. The JBs did a tight and classic run through all of their hits, even breaking hip hop stride to throw in a few of their big beat/D&B hits for the children in the audience. I have to admit that the high point of my evening would have been a detailed return to Black Sheep's Wolf in Sheep's Clothing LP. As it turned out, Mista Lawnge (who is incidentally just under five feet tall) was calling out for members of the audience who could flip all of Dres' lyrics for "The Choice Is Yours." No good. But even with that bit of disaster, it was still an upbeat and fun show that allowed no room for anything too serious. On top of all that, A Tribe Called Quest reunion rumours coming straight from Mista Lawnge require a little further investigation, no?

Spent a couple days last week hanging out with Toronto-based producer Moonstarr, who was in town to poke around Mutek. This lanky dude has been busy as of late, chalking up remixes for Jazzanova's "Another New Day," Recloose's "Processional" and a Five Dees track that escapes me right now. When he's not rubbing shoulders with Japanese record execs and 4Hero, he continues to run his T-dot-based Public Transit Recordings, boldly venturing into the overlapping worlds of hip hop, techno and future jazz as well as putting the finishing touches on a full-length LP for Jazzanova's Compost Records. He'll be in town on the June 21 for the next installment of the Goods, so look out.

Looks like we've got a slew of new releases to savour from Montrealers who've been in the studio. Along with the return of Sans Pression (SP) with Répliques Aux Offusqués, we've also got a record from Yvon Kreve with Quand j'rap pas. I got 10 tracks from Northern Lights that should soon see the light of day, as well as sooner than later releases from both Narcissist of Patrick Batemen fame and Traumaturges. Bless's Platinumberg compilation The Movement should be on the shelves any minute, while Kobayashi wait patiently for me to finish a rework for a late-June full-length release. Also, if you weren't too slow, you may have managed to grab a copy of Sixtoo vs. Simahlak, a 7" double pack on local label Bully. Go see Marco at Disquivel and he'll tell you the deal, but as far as I know, that shit was sold out before it hit the shelves.

Seven reasons I'm breathing easy…
1. CVEES "The Jump Off" 12" (Subverse)
2. Kobayashi "Nothing Personal B" INC. remix (CDR)
3. Patrick Batemen "Aim at Building" (ICM)
4. Cinematic Orchestra "Work It!" (Ninja Tune)
5. Pavel Kostiuk "Willo the Wisp" (Westbury)
6. Recloose "Processional" Moonstarr remix (Planet E)
7. Madlib "Please Set Me at Ease" 12" (Blue Note)

Stop, look and listen - then try again… fathead@videotron.ca

>> Music Listings