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.