New Year's Eve Eve Eve

Tonight I'll be walking the four blocks over to the Hemlock Tavern to see and hear DJ Marz on the wheels of steel. He plays from 9 til 2. I'll also be scoping out the place to see if we'll be able to play "VETV" somewhere in there at the Gurp City Art Show on February 4th.

I'm working on a huge portrait of Marz for that show. Sure to be epic.


DJ Marz on VETV



Tomorrow (Friday) night we're going to check out the free party at the DNA Lounge with DJs Joe Quixx, B.Cause, Teeko (it's his birthday!), Doc Fu and more. You can watch/listen online. Look for me in the back bar camera.



Last time I was there, I told Cut Chemist about my idea for my 45th birthday party--an all-star DJ lineup playing all 45s. He signed on! So mark your calendars for Saturday, March 10, 2007. Hopefully I can get "Zack" and "Josh" too.

Happy New Year!

Friday Night Live: Breakestra, Z-Trip & Radar

See you tonight. First at the DNA Lounge and then at Mighty. Both shows are going til 4 am, but I think after 3 am I will turn into a pumpkin.

Happy Anniversary, Future Primitive! Check out the first episode of VETV for an interview with Mark Herlihy and FPS DJ RasCue, launching January 2006.

See you at Happy Hour

The first Spindig was a big hit and it's gone monthly! See you at 330 Ritch Street from 6-9 pm.

Emo Rap Fest

I took some pics of Sage Francis years ago when he was a guest at the Anticon monthly showcase, and they keep getting jacked and showing up all over the internet. This one, too.

Since the Time Machine show on the 15th, which was dope (Peep the choreography.), Serg sprained his foot at the Glue show so we haven't gone out much. We saw Sage Francis, Sole and the Sol.ILLaquists of Sound on Wednesday at the Grand (weird venue), on the Knowmore.org tour. Sleep was also there -- an all S line-up. Not to take away from the stellar performances, but a highlight of the show was Sole telling off the drunk girl up front who kept fucking with his laptop table.

Atmosphere rolls into town this week and is at the Fillmore Wednesday and Thursday. Both nights are sold out. I'm looking forward to a good show. In all my years as an Atmosphere fan (it started when my friend Kevin from Kentucky sent me a dubbed tape of Overcast in '98), I've never seen Ant.

We filmed the first episode of "VETV" last Sunday, at the Hunter's Point Shipyards with Eddie K and DJ Marz, at Future Primitive Sound Headquarters with Mark Herlihy and DJ RasCue, then at Groove Merchant with Cool Chris. Shoot day went great, but now the hard work begins: editing. I'll be spending all my spare time on this until January, when VETV.us launches. And then hopefully afterwards as well, as we produce one episode per month. (Graphic/motion designers, hit me up, I need help!) I made up a radio show that isn't really on the radio, and now I'll have a TV show that isn't on TV!

It's Time Machine Time

Get your hands on Time Machine's TM Radio. It's got a bunch of Time Machine tracks of course, plus tracks from Jahpan, The Procussions, Celph Titled and more, plus a DJ Mekalek mix session. Go to Glow In the Dark's site for more info.

Going to see them tonight at Slim's with Giant Panda and People Under the Stairs. I hope they have choreography like last time, so good.

Last night's Spindig happy hour party was a great success! I'd like to get a monthly going at 330 Ritch where DJs can play what they like and maybe feature some live music too. It's so close to work, they're open for happy hour on Fridays anyway, AND I do like to play records.

It's Friday: Countdown to Happy Hour

Come on down to our happy hour party at 330 Ritch Street. DJs Hoj, Stevie, Nick Will and I will be spinning house, hip-hop, 80s, soul and whatever we want. It's free!


(Click the pic above to see the poster.)

"Quality of Life" was very good. It's refreshing to see a film set in San Francisco that's gritty and authentic. It's good to see a film that involves hip-hop that isn't corny. (DJ D-Sharp's in it and Tajai ain't a bad actor.) I'll write a detailed review as soon as I have time. Go see it this weekend!

Quality of Life

Locally-produced graffiti film "Quality of Life" premiere is TONIGHT at 7 pm at the UA Galaxy on Sutter @ Van Ness Avenue. See you there! Runs for a couple of weeks. Check the website and the trailer. "Quality of Life" is an independent narrative feature film about two graffiti writers struggling to maintain their friendship after getting busted for painting. It was filmed and edited in the Mission, and played film festivals around the world last year (won awards in Berlin and Stockholm). QoL was made by locals and stars many well-knowns in the SF art and music scene (including Tajai, Sam Flores, Abhor, and TopR, among others).

What a weekend.

Friday night after happy hour at 21st Amendment (try the Watermelon Wheat), we meet up with our friend Woo and head over to Milk for Night of the Remix.



DJs Kingmost (not shown here, that's Vin Sol on the right) and Morse Code killed it. 3XDope's "Funky Dividends" over Kanye's "Gold Digger" beat was my favorite.



Special guest DJ Mike 2600 was introduced to the hyphyness that is SF. I also have random crowd shots of white tees, collar popping, gettin' low and shirt removal that I won't post here. But believe me, it went down (and so did one guy's pants).

Saturday afternoon we hit up Justin Torres' record sale and I picked up some hip-hop 12s and a sealed MC Ant LP. Also got the Loose Ends 12-inch with the Gang Starr remix that I lost a few years ago. Thank you, DJ B.Cause!

With Soul Strut homies Mike 2600 AND Terry_Clubbup in town, we organized a little karaoke party in Japantown. Words can't describe what ensued, but here are a few visuals. Note the progression from cool and calm to outright foolishness. SO fun.










More over at Serg's blog.

We got press.

Serg's and my blogs are listed in this week's SF Weekly cover story about hip-hop blogs. Now I feel obligated to actually write stuff.

See you at Milk this Friday night.

13 and God

photo by Odd Nosdam

Back to the Great American Music Hall for Themselves and The Notwist as 13 & God. Every song was bangin'. BANGin'.

Ask Jel about the time MC Lyte walked into his dressing room while he was changing.

Hell's Winter Release Party SF

Y@k Ballz was a surprise opener for Cage Saturday night at Slim's. Well there was some other kid earlier who rapped over other people's beats, including Mr. Dibbs', who wasn't good. Hell's Winter is pretty damn good, and very different from previous Cage stuff. I hear he was scared to release it. Glad he did it anyway. He says he'll be back in November. I like Cage's new look too. My friend Dan says he looks like he's in Weezer. Check out this week's VE Radio for "Good Morning" and some other great new and old joints.



Aesop Rock shared the stage with Y@k, Cage and El-P.



El-P says he won't be back until the spring, after his album is done. I got this shirt.

Feist-y

Feist at the Great American Music Hall, Sept. 17, 2005

Does anyone else love rap AND Feist? Holla. Girl's got soul.

Last time I talked to Buck 65, he was mad at her for flaking on the recording session for his album, since he had given up attending some big play (or something with Tom Waits ?) that he had tickets for to film her "One Evening" video (which I LOVE, love love!). Listen to Feist.

Friday night we caught Boom Bip and his band at the Bottom of the Hill. He's touring with Interpol so they cooked up a rock lineup and ol' Bryan Hollon was rockin'. What does he NOT do? He is good peeps.

Filipino! Filipino!

DJ Jester the Filipino Fist rolled through San Francisco again (as he likes to do), this time DJing for the always awesome and sweet Grand Buffet. They played the Hemlock Tavern last Tuesday night and were on FIRE. Jester's opening set consisted of some genius mixing of country, Southern rap and 80s. (He loves Terence Trent D'Arby's "Wishing Well.") Grand Buffet was awesome as usual. They're not even halfway through their tour, so catch them if you can.

As much as I hate the Black Eyed Peas, I'm obsessed with the song "Bebot." Thanks, Kersten and Diane! "Filipino! Filipino!"

Happy Birthday, Serg!

This is where we'll be tonight, celebrating with the crew.



His next birthday is the 20th. Ask him why he has two.

Record Auction for New Orleans

The kind folks at Soul Strut are now hosting members' vinyl auctions/sales in the "Let a Heatrock Loose" forum. All money goes to the Red Cross and their relief efforts in New Orleans. Register and raise some money! I plucked this Pete Rock & CL Smooth promo from my Pete Rock collection.



Includes a slipmat autographed by Pete Rock.

"The idea should be to pick something that will hurt you not to have. That’s what sacrifice is about. That pain you’ll feel is called empathy, compassion, camaraderie. Because every time you think of that particular record, and you feel the pang of its absence, you can think of all the victims of Katrina who lost their entire record collection, their pets, their homes, their loved ones, their lives, and you can count yourself among those who were part of the solution."

Last month we saw Saafir perform not once, but twice. Look out for the new album, the three tracks he performed, "Crispy," "Cash Me Out," and "PDs" (I'm making up the titles based on the choruses) are DOPE. At Kevvy Kev's 21st Anniversary (21 years! Incredible.) showcase for The Drum show on KZSU Stanford, Saafir shared the stage with Money B and Ras Kass. Warmed my hip-hop heart.





As always, please check the weekly VE Radio Show for a half-hour mix of hip-hop vinyl gems.

"You're so tall."

That's what I say to Subtitle almost every time I see him, and he's still nice to me. Be nice and check him out Wednesday night, August 17th at Madrone Lounge, with Eliot Lipp, Leo 123 and Benji aka DJ Centipede. See you at the bar.



P.S. His album, Young Dangerous Heart, is dope.

P.P.S. The VinylExchange board is on and poppin' once again.

The Vinyl Exchange board is DOWN again.

The board is down. You haven't been banned, and yes I paid the bill. (But I won't turn down your PayPal donations to stef@vinylexchange.com.)

This week on VE Radio, I played something off of Boxcar Sessions in honor of Saafir's show at Milk on Sunday night. Serg talks about it on Beer and Rap.



Let me know if you're checking out the mixes: djbooth@veradio.com.

DJ Premier in SF July 22nd

Yes, the twenty-second aka "twenty-twoth."

Stolen Records Alert: Toronto!!

Toronto heads and eBay shoppers, please keep an eye out for my man Big Jacks' records which were stolen the evening of June 24. Here is his message:

==============================================
peace ya'll,

a DJs nightmare has just happened to me. Shortly after the Pete Rock jam over @ Roxy Blu here in Toronto my friends car was broken into and my crate of records, mixer, needles, and headphones were all stolen.

The car was parked on adelaide near spadina where una mas used to be and broken into between 3:30 and 4:30 am. If anyone knows ANYTHING or saw ANYTHING i'd appreciate if you could let me know.

each one of my records has my initials, "JI" written on the label,
mostly in permanent black marker. if this is seen in any stores or in anyone's crates, please let me know.

here's a list of records which were in the crate that was stolen. this is NOT EVERYTHING that was in the crate this is just what i remember off the top of the head,

these are all ORIGINAL PRESSED 12" singles unless otherwise noted....

R & B
Aaron Hall ‘don’t be afraid’
Arrested Development ‘Tennessee’
Casserine ‘why not take all of me’
Jade ‘don’t walk away’
Jomada ‘I like it’
Keith Sweat ‘just a touch of love’
Love & Laughter ‘I surrender’
Mary J Blige ‘be happy’
" " " ‘you bring me joy’
‘EP’ (w/ real love remix, everyday it rains, sincerity, etc)
Raphael Saadiq ‘get involved’
The Rayne ‘didn’t you know’
Soul 4 Real ‘candy rain’
" " " ‘every little thing you do’
SWV ‘right there’
" ‘im so into you’
‘im so into you’ (remix)
Toni Tony Tone LP (w/ Let’s get down)
Zhane ‘groove thang’
" ‘ hey mr DJ’

Hip Hop
ADOR ‘let it all hang out’
Alkaholiks ‘daaam’
The Alliance ‘do it’
Beatnuts ‘get funky’
Beastie Boys love America style EP (w/ hey ladies)
Big Daddy Kane ‘raw’
" " " ‘smooth operator’
Biz Markie ‘make the music with your mouth” EP
" " ‘something for the radio’
Black Sheep ‘flava of the month’ (test press)
" " ‘choice is yours’
Boogie Boys ‘fly girl’
Boogie Down Productions ‘criminal minded’ LP
" " " ‘jack of spades’
Chubb Rock ‘treat em right’
Common ‘like water for chocolate’ LP
Cypress Hill ‘hand on the pump’
De La Soul ‘me myself and I’
" " " ‘ring ring ring’
" " " ‘supasweepstakes’ EP
Diamond D 'sally got a one track mind'
Diamond D ‘f**k what you heard’
Digable Planets ‘rebirth of slick’
Dougie Fresh & Slick Rick ‘the show’
EPMD ‘headbanger’
Eric B & Rakim ‘paid in full’ LP
" " " ‘don’t sweat the technique’
" " " ‘juice (know the ledge)’
Fearless Four ‘rocking it’
Funkdoobiest ‘bow wow wow’
Fu Shnickens ‘breakdown’
Gangstarr ‘full clip’ LP
Ghostface Killah ‘cher chez la ghost’
Grand Daddy IU ‘something new’
Grand Puba ‘that’s how we move it’
Jeru ‘sun rises in the east’ LP
Jungle Brothers ‘straight out the jungle’ LP
Kardinal Offishall ‘ol time killin’
Kool G Rap ‘talk like sex’ reissue
KMD ‘what a niggy know’
Leaders of the new school ‘zone coasters’
LL Cool J ‘big ole butt’
Lords of the Underground ‘funky child’
Main Source ‘breakin atoms’ LP reissue
MC Lyte ‘cha cha cha’
Nas ‘virgo’
Nice & Smooth ‘funky for you’
" " " ‘hip hop junkies’
Notorious BIG ‘ready to die’ remastered reissue
NWA ‘straight outta compton’ LP
Poor Rigtheous Teachers ‘rock this funky joint’
Positive K ‘step up front’
Q tip ‘let’s ride’
Redman ‘time for some action’
Roxanne Shante ‘have a nice day’
Run DMC ‘it’s like that’
" " ‘peter piper’
" " ‘down with the king’
Schoolly D ‘Saturday night’
Slick Rick ‘children’s story’
" " ‘sittin in my car’
Showbiz & AG ‘runaway slave’ LP reissue
Special Ed ‘legal’ LP
Third Bass ‘gasface’
Tribe Called Quest ‘low end theory’ LP reissue
" " " ‘midnight mauraders’ LP reissue
" " " ‘find a way’
Ultramagnetic MCs ‘poppa large’
Wu Tang Clan ‘shame on a nigga’

again, ANY help is appreciated. thanks for your time
==================================
You can find Big Jacks at www.black-rap.com

Speaking of Canadians, I got to meet DJ Killa-Jewel (a kilojoule is like, a fraction of a kcal, I think?) from Montreal this weekend and do a little shopping with her at Amoeba and Groove Merchant (which she didn't want to leave). Check out her website, www.killajewel.com.

Animal Chin

"It's been a long time..." We moved a few weeks ago and are still unpacking. We are NOT going to move 3,000+ records again anytime soon.



I haven't found Animal Chin but I did capture Mr. Dibbs' chin when he was here on June 11th for the Scribble Jam tour. He also has nicely groomed eyebrows, thanks to the lovely Mrs. Dibbs. Performances by Glue, Blueprint and Mr. Dibbs were all spectacular, but to be honest I didn't pay much attention to the emcee battle which was won by Borat who, along with 2nd placer The Sauras, won a free trip to Scribble Jam to compete for the $10,000 prize. That's a lot of dough.


Pase (5 Deez), Kevin Beacham (Rhymesayers) and Dibbs pick the battle winner.

The next day was spent with Kevin Beacham and Trinity at the Haight Street Fair, hitting up some record stores along the way -- Future Primitive, Groove Merchant, Amoeba, Open Mind. The rest of the Scribble crew started on their way to Portland right after the show, but Kevin spent a little extra time to see SF before he had to get back to work planning the Scribble Jam 10th Anniversary. Hopefully we'll see you there in Cincinnati, August 11-14.

If you can answer the question, "Bryce Luv, where you at?"* then you already know about this record:



I put this in the mix today for this week's Vinyl Exchange Radio show. Not hard to find, but a must for any Mantronik collection. This is one of my favorite non-Mantronix Mantronik productions. Bryce Luv later joined Mantronix after Crime Master Tee left, and then later created Groove Theory. There are a couple of copies up on eBay right now. Check out the mix here. (And listen to ALL the past ones while you're at it.)

*answer: "(I'm) Just Adjustin' My Mic"

Biz doll!

Cot damn, had a blast last night. You can't complain about seeing Lowbudget, Paul Nice and Prince Paul, all in close quarters. Milk was packed, but not uncomfortable.

Paul Nice blessed me with this Biz Markie doll -- 18" in height and one of 1,000 made, according to Bufalo Club, the manufacturer. I love him! He beatboxes when you squeeze him. He comes in a big ass cereal box complete with Nutrition Facts ("Calories from fat... Don't ask") and a warning: "Caution: This is not food." Gotta keep him in the plastic for now.


Prince Paul and Paul Nice -- I didn't notice the Serato until I saw this picture. Yep, I'm paying attention. Wish I'd had one of these buttons to give Prince Paul:


But I'm all out.


Lowbudget


This dude Whiz is a TIGHT Oakland emcee with references from all over the place. Serg should have his new music covered soon on So Many Shrimp.

(This post brought to you by Advil Fast Acting Liqui-Gels.)

Paul N-I-C-E

photo jacked from http://betterpropaganda.com/artist_page.asp?id=739

Tonight at Milk:
LAB SESSIONS 01 w/

DJ PAUL NICE
LOWBUDGET (HOLLERTRONIX)
BLU JEMZ (MONEY STUDIES/TTLAB)
AND JUST ADDED!!! PRINCE PAUL

See you there!

Rappity rap rap

FRIDAY, May 13th
Club 6 Presents:
SFMC BATTLE #5
MCs:
1. Subverse
2. Infinite
3. Dublin
4. Pharoah C
5. Megabusive
6. Uptown
7. Orukusaki
8. Wonway

First Place:
$200 cash prize + $100 in gear

DJs:
SHORTKUT (Triplethreat/Beat Junkies Sound)
B-CAUSE (4Onefunk)
DELIVERY (Modus)
MORSECODE (Audiophonik)
SATVA (I.T.S./ The Breaks)
KELSONE (Modus)

HOSTED BY CONCEIT (Strangeface)

Setting off a raptastic weekend in rapalicious fashion! Saturday night we'll be gettin' durrty at Extra Classic presents The Block Is Hot at 26Mix, then Sunday be sure you get to the record swap at 1177 Polk St., Ste. 310 (near Sutter), noon to 6 pm.

Same !@#$ Different Day

Meet us at the Great American Music Hall tonight for the Lyrics Born show. Tom, you look so Zoolander in this photo. Maybe I'll see my old roommate, Chief Xcel. Yep, I used to get free Solesides shows in my living room. But every time Shadow came over, I was either asleep or in the shower.

It's the newww style.

I wore two different shoes today. And not on purpose.


My ol' Steve Maddens.

I know, I need new shoes and a tan.

Big Shug is back...

"...with the flyest material."



Got the 12-inch in the mail the other day. He's not singing this time. Am I the only one who's disappointed by that? I love the record, even though Serg says he shouldn't make Lord of the Rings references. (Serg saw Elijah Wood at the Fader party at SXSW and pointed "Frodo" toward the end of the line for the porta-potty.) You can hear "The Way It Is" in this week's VE Radio show. I played a lot of Boston stuff this week -- Big Shug, Ed O.G., Almighty RSO. Check out Big Shug's Never Say Die (The Pre-Album). I also got DJ Premier's "Step Ya Game Up 2" CD, which includes the Big Shug, Geto Boys' "When It Gets Gangsta" and Slim Thug, Mike Jones and Paul Wall "Still Tippin."


Shug and me, SF '99

Did you see "My Block: Houston" on MTV2? They could have had my boy Matt on there for at least a minute. At least he's in the credits, as Matt Sonzala So Real.

Paul Wall's mouth

...looks like Christmas.