Live: Thorns Of Life at Disgraceland, Philly 11.29.8

I'm as excited, if not more, than the average guy when it comes to the return of a band fronted by Blake Schwarzenbach. I bailed on the Underground Railroad To Candyland show that ended up being first unannounced Thorns Of Life show and fell for the red herring that the show was cancelled about the second show, so when I saw a snippet on line about a TOL show in Philly and knew I'd be passing through town, I was determined to see the show if I could. Cue three days of phone calls and shenanigans that precipitated my getting the address 45 minutes before the show, through the luck of friendly punks on the street. I understand that they want to keep Disgraceland under the radar, but the level of subterfuge that is going on for these Thorns Of Life shows is bordering on the ridiculous. I'm sorry, but when you have Blake Schwarzenbach, Aaron Cometbus and an actress from The L Word in one band, its going to be hard to keep things a secret for long.

I ended up squeezing my way in to Disgraceland, but as the place was three or four times past capacity and I was wearing a bag, there was no way that I was going to be able to shed my outerwear, making for a sweaty, sweaty time for me. Most of the rest of the crowd were in the same boat, although there were the odd pre-emptive 40oz and Natty Bo's scattered through the space. The space seems to be well run and the sound was decent enough, so here's hoping that they are able to keep the place going for some time to come.

The first band was Philly's own Restorations. Despite playing to a full room of people that really wanted to see TOL, they played a really good set of stuff that sounded like The Weakerthans or early Hot Water Music without so much shouting. They are evidently also 3/4 of the band Jena Berlin, if you're familiar. I'm not sure whether this is a project thing or a full-time band, but they are well worth checking out. Do that here.

I passed Blake going the other way down the street from the venue and was pleased to see that he was actually coming back for the set. The room was so full that the drums had to be passed over the crowd but the band managed to take the stage in short order. Shows have to be over by 10pm at Disgraceland and I couldn't be more excited about that trend. May that trend move to NYC with the quickness. Thorns Of Life took the stage by 9 and played ten or so songs that were pretty decent. Two of them, especially the one about NYC were exceptional. It was good to see Blake and Aaron. Both look older, but Blake was quick to point out that he is 41, so I'd say they've held up ok. The stuff is raw, yet melodic, more Jawbreaker than Jets, save for the song about losing his virginity. I'm told they are recording in the early winter or late spring. I'm not sure when or if they are going to grace us with a web presence, but if you hear, holler at your boy.

Sadat X - Generation X

Aging gracefully has been tough for many of hip-hop's old school. A lot of the problem might be the lack of examples from forerunners. Afrika Bambatta and Kool Herc are hardly millionaires and save for Jay-Z, Bumpy Knuckles, and bizarrely enough Eric B, there aren't too many successful entrepreurs that have stayed solvent past their rap heydeys.

Rap's fan base is getting older as well. There are parents that came up listening to rap music, and maybe even grandparents. The question becomes, is today's rap music what the old school wants to hear about? Sadat X has a unique perspective, having come up with Brand Nubian almost 20 years ago. Nubian were more conscious than the average group of the time and Sadat hasn't lost that part of his personality, but he's still not adverse to smoking weed or getting some ass. Said ass-getting content is oddly juxtaposed against his openly extolling his love for his wife and (literally) telling his in-laws to go fuck themselves on this record, but such are the dichotomies in the hip-hop of today.

X has had varied success with his solo material, I thought Loud Hangover with Akineyle was (and is) among the best hip-hop of the time. By contrast, that Wild Cowboys shit was a nice nod to the Juice Crew, but all in all not the smartest idea. Nor was his getting arrested in Harlem for gun possession and resisting arrest a couple years ago. That's behind him and after the blink and it's gone Black October release comes Generation X, a record that does a pretty decent job of straddling the old school and the new. The beats are decent (all via producer Will Tell) and Sadat still has rhyme skills, but whether you want to listen to a whole album of is another question. I've given it a half a dozen spins thus far and like it, but it's not going to knock my Joell Ortiz or Big Daddy Kane playlists out of rotation. There a couple missteps, like the obvious attempt with Think Different to evoke Slow Down with a (I assume) Regina Spektor loop but Generation X is worth checking out. Reach out to X here to make that happen.

R

Ludacris - Theater Of The Mind

Theater Of The Mind is the sixth record from your boy Luda. Heath and I were discussing the other day how Luda is pretty much the cameo king. In retrospect, there's a strong argument for Jadakiss or Fabolous to fill that slot, but think about it: Ludacris makes DJ Khaled songs sound good. If you can do that, you're practically King Midas in the rap game. On the heels of his stellar cameos on that dung heap of a Khaled track and that Felli Fel joint, I **ahem** 'acquired' the Ludacris catalog recently, then picked up Theater Of The Mind on the heels of that reimmersion.

Luda is a smart guy who has always made the most of the options his fame has afforded him. Like his man David Banner says, "rap money is good--but you should see these movie checks". Luda has been stepping up his acting game, starring in Crash and Hustle And Flow and reaping the benefits therein and of. That's all well and good, but when your acting career seeps its way in as a weird concept for your next record, that's when it gets a little sketchy for me. As does the "many sides of Ludacris" cover. Is that ever a good idea? That shallowly said and hated on, the music on Theater Of The Mind pretty much makes us for any misgivings I have about the cross-career promotion.

Luda has his own label, Disturbing The Peace, which operates in conjunction with Def Jam. It's a good combination, perhaps increasingly for Def Jam, as they've been shitting the bed pretty consistently with Jay-Z at the helm. The argument has been made about Jay-Z keeping the rest of the roster down in favor of his releases and it's increasing looking more and more accurate. If you can't sell a million of the last Roots record, something is fucked up with your promotion.

Theater Of The Mind should sell big, especially with guest shots from Nas, The Game and Lil Wayne. Production is well-rounded, too, with tracks by Toomp, Clinton Sparks and even an up-and-comer you might have heard of called DJ Premier. It's notable that with all the guest appearances here, Luda rips the hell out of that Primo track all by himself. It's called MVP and might just be the best track on the record. I Do It For Hip-hop has Nas and Jay-Z in an actually-not-so-terrible guest appearance. Call Up The Homiez with The Game and Willy Northpole is another banger that should definitely be afforded single status. If It doesn't happen, I see it being all over the mix tape circuit. There are a couple tracks that I could do without, and the presence of Spike Lee on one of the tracks seems a wee bit desperate, but all in all, Theater Of The Mind is one of the few hip-hop records I've heard this year that I would actually pay for. Check out the web presence here.

R

Centro-matic and South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks

Do I really have to tell you that this is a good record? Centro-matic have proven to be an unstoppable force in recent years, sort of a Denton Guided By Voices with better discretion as regards to numbers of records released per year. They do keep busy for a bunch of drunks. Will Johnson has found the time to record solo records, Matt Pence has The Echo Lab and multi-instrumentalist threat Scott Danborn has toured with Slobberbone and a bunch of other projects. I'm not sure what Mark does outside of these bands, but I'm sure he's no slacker.

Centro-matic started as a side-project for Johnson, but soon took a life of its own. There was always a duality to his work. Initially the louder and softer material was meted between seperate releases, as evinced by the Navigational and The Static vs. The Strings Vol 1 records, but recent years have found them subdivided further, with the quieter more melancholic fare taking the form of sister band South San Gabriel. 

Centro-matic takes the baton for the louder fare. Their hawk of the duo is my favorite of the two on this dual release.  The eleven songs are some of the best Centro has released and that sure is saying something. It reminds me of the Jay Bennett (read: good) Wilco era. How Tweedy can have a band that mind-numbingly boring with Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche in the fold is a staggering accomplishment. Maybe it's the lack of Obama mania, but Centro-matic have released a record that trounces all over that Chicago franchises last three record.  From the opening  'the rat patrol and djs' to the closing 'a critical display of snakes' it is hook after hook. Trust me, you need this record. Maybe sell an Arcade Fire record or two.

Now South San Gabriel I'm a little more ambivalent about. South San Gabriel tends to have more guests and be that much more slow and depressing. That's not a bad thing. I saw them for the first time opening up the American Music Club reunion shows and they are definitely cut from the same cloth. With the new Mark and Vudi AMC, SSG might be able to stand a chance, but they are no Engine or California era AMC. The material is good, and there's the same Centro underpinning to remind you that the bands are two sides of the same coin, but it falls a little short for me. It's better than most of the stuff your find on your average Paste sampler. It's no Dakota Suite, but it's also better than the last AMC record, so perhaps some standings need to be recalculated. 

You get both records when you buy Dual Hawks, so there's no sense splitting hairs. There is a Saturday Night/Sunday Morning dichotomy between the two records and I'm not talking the Counting Crows record. I could (and, I guess, now will) refer to the Ralph Stanley record Adam ripped the title off from. Stanley and the boys played the hell out of a lot of barn dances, but were in church on time the next day. South San Gabriel seems more steeped in regret than repentance, but I'm sure there's enough of both to go around. Personally, I would buy Dual Hawks for Centro-matic and stay for the South San Gabriel. You can acquire the means to do both here. Centro and SSG are wrapping up live dates behind Dual Hawks, but Will is coming through town next month for a solo show with Chris Brokaw. Keep up on that and all of the other going on in their dual worlds here. If you'd like to be their internet friend, do it here, but after you pick up Dual Hawks.

R

D.I.T.C - The Movement

I'm always surprised that D.I.T.C isn't a more successful crew. The death of Big L certainly took some wind out of their sails (and sales) and while Fat Joe has definitely taken it to the next level, he could rep the set that brought him up a little more. That said, true bad boys move in silence, and it's not like Show, Buckwild or Lord Finesse haven't been producing a gang of successful tracks in between crew releases.

The Movement features contributions from the aforementioned producers as well as their usual MC pool of A.G., O.C., Party Arty and D-Flow. I would have liked to have heard Finesse behind the mike, but his collabo with the mightiest MC out there, Mr. Joell Ortiz makes for an intriguing guest appearance on Air Y'all, as do the Boss Money tracks. The Movement is a good record. I really don't hear a single here, although Shine My Way comes damn close for Party Arty. I suspect it's not really an issue, as D.I.T.C are self-releasing and have a pretty rabid album-buying fanbase here and abroad. I don't think that anything here is going to propel The Movement to do huge numbers, but buy it here and spread the word. Support independent hip-hop!

R

the eighteenth letter

Tim Barry review up at The Tripwire

Hey Kids:

Review of the new Tim Barry record Manchester up at The Tripwire. You can peruse here.

Thanks to Derek Evers and Luther Dickinson at Suburban Home!

R

The Mountain Goats - Satanic Messiah EP

John Darnielle is to metal what Craig Finn is to hardcore. Who would have thought? Darnielle's old school with his shit as well, having recently penned one of the better 33 1/3 books on Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality. Appropriate enough for the author of The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton, I guess. Darnielle keeps up, as well: the opening track of his new four-track Satanic Messiah EP concerns a bunch of Brazilian teens waiting to see Brazilian metal merchants Sarcofago. That's a little esoteric and a lot of awesome.

The four songs were committed to tape recently in Darnielle's current hat-hang of North Carolina. They are spartan and austere for the most part, with the usual themes of trancendence and displacement. Darnielle is irritatingly prolific, and for the most part not to a fault. There have been two EPs and a full band release in the past year and all have been pretty top-notch. Satanic Messiah is being released in a limited double seven-inch run of, appropriately enough, 666 copies, but is also available in the trendy 'donate-what-you-choose' format that all the kids are doing these days. You can get the digital release as a zip in a myriad of formats here. Think about leaving a tuppence or two in the virtual coffers on your way out, ingrate. Up to the minute Mountain Goats news can be found here.

R