Sexweather - Sexweather (Review)

March 23, 2020 by Blake Morneau in Reviews

Sexweather – Sexweather (Review)

The first time I saw Sexweather live my first thought was “This is one of the worst bands I've ever heard.” By the end of the set I was loudly declaring to anyone who would listen, “This is one of the best bands I've ever seen in my life!” The potent combination that informed that performance – passion, skill and excitement that boarders on recklessness – oozes from every nook and cranny of the power trio's eponymous, self-titled debut. I've listened to Sexweather fucking countless times since its release last summer and I still get the feeling that it might all just fall apart at any moment. That is a truly beautiful thing in music and something that is generally only found in a live setting. Sexweather is a record that manages to capture that elusive feeling – a rare album, indeed.

Is the production? That's a big part of it, because the production here is truly phenomenal. The sound has an very deep, familiar warmth, and it's a bit rough; but it doesn't sacrifice modernity or cleanliness to achieve its decidedly classic sound. Sexweather is just, end-to-end, a really, really good sounding record. Immaculate production aside, this is all about the powerhouse collection of 10 songs that make this record.

The idea that a mini tour through Americana would come from the Canadian west coast in 2019 is kind of a baffling one, but here we have it. The album is an ode to the many facets of American music. There's a straight ahead 70s acoustic campfire singalong, “Wendy.” There's the really fucking good, laid-back jazz rap of “Musician.” The down and dirty blues-rock of tracks like “Golden Ticket” and “Black Bayou,” the latter of which is an especially sticky, sweet sludge for your ears. The hard-driving “Takedown” is perfect speeding-down-the-highway-at-night-with-a-cigarette-in-your-mouth music, and what, may I ask, is more Americana than that? Don't usually use the word “bratty” these days when talking about any kind of guitar-based music but “Punanawa” (which I just spelled correctly on the first attempt, thank you) is one of the straight-up brattiest songs I've heard in a long time and it's fun as hell.

Putting your biggest song at the end of the album is a thing I've missed in a lot of albums I've heard and Sexweather does just that as they close things off with “Abracadabra.” The hook on this song is absolutely ridiculous. Legit will be stuck in your head for days after just the first listen. Each member takes lead vocals. It's a little musical journey that feels like three songs in one. It's a lean 6 minutes but feels like a muscular 3.5. If any other song ended this album I would genuinely complain and it would ruin the experience. But another song doesn't end it. Sexweather ends with “Abracadabra” and as such, I can say this is one of the most genuinely pleasing albums I've heard in a very long time. This is a goddamned good record and one you should listen to.

Pick it up at Bandcamp.

5 Questions with Rags #77 - Deuce Eclipse (Bang Data)

March 18, 2020 by Blake Morneau in 5 Questions With Rags

If you're plugged into the West Coast hip-hop scene, there's a good chance you've seen or heard the man known as Deuce Eclipse, whether you know it or not. See, about 16 years ago, I went to my first proper live hip-hop show, a couple of weeks after I turned legal drinking age up here in British Columbia. It was a Quannum Projects tour featuring Lyrics Born and friends. Among those friends was powerful Zion-I. At that time, Zion-I was three people and one of those people was singer/rapper/generally amazing human being, Deuce Eclipse. It wasn't until the summer of last year (2019) - when Garden City Grooves festival here in my hometown announced they were bringing Bay Area groove-monster BANG DATA as part of the years festivities – that I realized that not only had I encountered Deuce Eclipse's captivating talents more than a decade and half before, but he has been (and still is!) putting out ridiculously groovy, thoughtful, passionate music with the powerhouse that is Bang Data.

Paired up with the multi-talented Caipo, Eclipse formed Bang Data and the duo hasn't stopped creating since, carving out a special place in the west coast music scene. “I was working on a solo album and I was working with Amp Live, from Zion-I, at the time. We kind of hit a wall. I was trying to do more singing in more Spanish, so he took it upon himself to reach out to other people and put them in touch with me. That's how I met Caipo,” Eclipse says, speaking to me from home in the Bay. “At the beginning, Amp Live was actually part of Bang Data. He was still in Zion-I and it was taking off, so he had to be there more, so Bang Data ended up being me and Caipo. At the end, we're the ones who stuck it out, stayed in the studio and started creating. Caipo thought he was basically kind of done playing live, but I think the music inspired him in a way that he wanted to start playing again. We started recording and coming up with all kinds of different music, then we ended up staying together as a group.”
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1. When's the last time you did something for the first time?

I don't know why this is coming up, but when I water-skied, a long time ago. This was years and years ago, somewhere in California on a camping trip. My friend's dad had a boat with skies. I don't know why but the first time I snow-skied as well, I did it the first time. I don't know how I did it the first time but I did. I got up water skiing for the first time with no problem. I think it was for Boy Scouts. That's one of the first times I did something that stands out in my mind. But I've never done it since.

2. If you could spend the day with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?

It would be my dad. I would spend the day with him and we would probably catch a Giants game, drink some beer and just talk.

Emotionz - Gems (Review)

March 04, 2020 by Blake Morneau in Reviews

EMOTIONZ - GEMS

A little hip-hop treasure, Gems is a warm, thoughtful and hella groovy record from Emotionz, one of Vancouver's mightiest MCs and keepers of the culture. Gems is a lovely example of old school hip-hop aesthetic and beats flavoured with just enough spice from the modern era to keep it tasting fresh and delicious. “Warm” is the word that can't leave my head anytime this record is on. The production is lush and rich, sliding along at a deeply restful and calming pace. Lyrically, Emotionz is concerned with the earthly, the human, the immediate. If albums had mission statements, I think a good, simple mission statement for Gems would be “Anti-Bling.” While I personally don't need or want all of my rap diet to be on this tip – or really even to be making any point at all really – right now, in early 2020, this is exactly what I (And my best guess is a quite a few others) need in my musical diet.

The album is a easy-grooving, endlessly pleasing listen. Soothing boom-bap beats, with hefty doses of soulful bass lines, sweet horns and drums that hit proper. Beginning to end, Gems is going to keep your head your head bobbing and your spirit feeling strong. If you haven't heard it I don't want to spoil too much, because like any piece of art, you should discover it on your own. I could point to any of the tracks on here and say, “If you like good, solid rapping on a positive steez, over classic beats that work the car or in a club (albeit, a really cool club – if such a thing exists), listen to this album,” so I'm going to do that and point out a couple of my favourites after more than a few listens through the album.

“Complications” bounces along on a sexy house beat that slides down the ear canal like warm audio-syrup. The track has Emotionz going in with lots of “tions” rhymes – which has made me realize how pleasant of a sound that “tion” sound can be to ears when utilized correctly. Combined with that groovy beat, the song is works as both earworm and hip-shaker. “Request Line” is an absolute staple of so many rap albums I grew up, with homie is rapping lovingly about all the rappers and pieces of hip-hop culture that inspired him. This kind of shit always makes me feel good because it's a nice reminder that people making rap are usually doing it because they're real fans. Just like us! Seriously though, this is in my lane. On an album that repeatedly proves Emotionz' seemingly bottomless capacity to write a verbal hook that gets into your brain, I don't think anything here accomplishes that like the slow-burning, chilled-out G-funk treasure, “Moments.” Emotionz' use of varied tempos and cadences on this one is pretty astonishing and when he gets to “Is you good?/Well alright/In my hood/We could ride/And we could/Go all night...” there's something that happens in the brain that commands full attention.

Gems is full of delights for fans of hip-hop that are looking for something fresh, but are missing a more old-school vibe, both in lyrical aim and in beatsmanship. It's definitely going to be an album to reach for as winter fades and the creeping warmth outside needs a soundtrack.

5 Questions with Rags #76 - Keysha Freshh

November 11, 2019 by Blake Morneau in 5 Questions With Rags

2019 has been an incredible year for hip-hop and one of the best rap releases of the year belongs to Toronto MC Keysha Freshh. If you've been paying attention, it's not really a surprise that Freshh is releasing such on-point hip-hop right now. With a slew of other releases and her incredible work with The Sorority, Freshh is a proven veteran. Field Trip is a deep blast of bangers, perfect in the car or on in your room with those good headphones. Talking to me shortly before heading out west to BC for the final tour with her comrades in The Sorority, Freshh explained the genesis of this chapter in her career. “Field Trip was basically inspired by me wanting to tell a story that I felt was necessary to tell about my life at the time and where I was. It also felt like I was going on a journey at that part of my life. Basically writing the music, putting it all together and working on the album and every part of the album really was a special moment for me and that’s what made the whole process important.” The importance of her moment is evident in music. Field Trip sounds vital, important and aware. The sound on the album is a luscious balance of warm and heavy. Freshh's MCing, the main event, is unimpeachable. Check out the bars on “Hero,” one of the most alarmingly honest tracks of the year. Or the relentless battle rap of “Blah Blah.” Even if you haven't heard anything else she's done, a couple of listens through Field Trip and you'd be convinced that Keysha Freshh on the mic is hella serious business. If there's one thing we support over here at Rags Music, it's top-shelf hip-hop. So I was more than a little bit excited when Freshh was able to throw some of her time to answer the latest round of 5 Questions with Rags.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

The first album that I had was Mecca and the Soul Brother (Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth). The first album that I bought with my own money was Beware of Dogs by Bow Wow, that was on a CD. First vinyl I owned was Boogie Down Productions Criminal Minded. It was given to me by my cousin.

5 Questions with Rags #75 - Alexis Tucci

October 31, 2019 by Blake Morneau in 5 Questions With Rags

A couple of years ago, in the middle of that lull between Christmas and New Years, I saw Alexis Tucci lay down a ridiculous set of disco/house goodness at Lucky Bar here in my hometown Victoria. I knew nothing about her when I got there, but was instantly elated with her DJ ing, her very shiny jacket and, most of all, the very obvious joy she was taking from playing for the sweaty mass in front of her. Since then I've found that she's basically a legend in St. Louis. (And if you want to dispute the use of the term 'legend', you don't make a 30 year career in music, playing or promoting it, without being some kind of legend.) It's taken a couple of years but she's finally back in Victoria (Unless I just missed her some other time in between...) except this time she's here for Halloween instead of Christmas. “I love Halloween. I love the celebration. Everybody gets to act like somebody other than themselves, let loose and be weird,” says Tucci, from her hometown St. Louis. “I wish it was like that every day. But it's the one holiday that really puts the exclamation point on it.”

Usually at this point in the 5 questions I'd present some more thoughts, feelings and/or facts about the answerer. When I talked with Tucci she told me an incredible story about building community through music, that I think really encapsulates what makes the work she's doing, in DJ ing and in promoting, something very special.

“I went to AfrikaBurn, was brought in through a group of South Africans that had met me at Burning Man months prior. I had known since Burning Man that I had this invitation to go to AfrikaBurn to play for this brand new camp. They'd never built a sound camp and were building this camp for my arrival. But I couldn't fully confirm because my father was very ill and he ended up passing two weeks before Africa Burn was supposed to happen. So I decided to pack my bags after his passing and head out there. The people who actually brought me out I had never met before and they had never me but obviously we were connected through music. The camp they had set up for us – the soundsystem, the way that it was laid out – was so perfectly crafted and hand built, small and intimate, very much the way I would have done it myself. Out in Africa. It was just perfect.
After the first night of dropping my first track, the place exploded. And everything that we've been building in St. Louis, I felt reflected by all of these strangers from all over the world in front of me. Because I was basically the only DJ for the sound camp – there were a couple other people they knew of, but in general I held down all the hours. Anywhere from 4-6 hours a night. The last night I played 10 hours back-to-back with this South African DJ. Every night from the second the first record dropped to the second the last record played, I had a totally packed crowd in the middle of the desert, with the wind blowing in this tent. The relationship with these people was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before and it was the best DJing I've executed, ever. Completely free of trepidation, fear or self-consciousness or anything. It was so comfortable.”

1.What's the first album you bought with your own money?
That's a really tough answer. I really can't remember so I'm going to give you a different answer. Thievery Corporation and Dub Syndicate, because those were the records I started buying. I did buy a ton of disco and funk. Disco has been the foreshadowing tone of my entire 30-year career. It makes me laugh, every once in awhile I'll remember another something that happened eons ago when disco music was a priority for me, and I forgotten about it, and here I am making a career out of it. Frankie Knuckles “The Whistle Song” was the very first track that I was really able to identify with and geek out. Once I was going to parties – you know once you get past the point where it sounds like one long song and you really can start differentiating between DJing, what you're listening to – that song was the one. Frankie Knuckles is the godfather of House. He's the man. If you listen to the song now it sounds so dated, but those are the foundations, when disco switched over to house music.