Goodness gracious, it’s Rifflandia time again!

For seemingly as long as I can remember, (Quick caveat here: Between decades of weed smoking, looking at my phone too much and the inexorable march of time, my memory is, quite frankly, kinda fucked.), Rifflandia has been one of the most important weekends in the Victoria music community. It is a marker of time; the summer is over. We get together to commune and blow off the last of that warm summer energy as we get ready for the new – and quite frankly, much better – seasons and return to Life™. It is a beginning and an end. A time to connect with all the homies who went off for separate adventures and a time to maybe make a new homie or two. For all the changes it's gone through over its nearly 20 years of existence, Rifflandia still sits there, at the beginning of September, fulfilling its ultimate destiny as a Great Connector. Beyond that lofty position, Rifflandia remains a place to go and just listen to some really fucking good music.

The musical net Rifflandia casts is wide, genre-wise; you're never going to like everything Rifflandia has to offer. But I don't think that's really the point. Rifflandia is a crossroads where fans of music - be they casual, general fans or hyper-niche fans - can get together and find some common ground to commune on. Like children being given new foods to help expand their palettes, it's good for all of us to be exposed to stuff outside of our bubbles. The pathways in our brains that allow us to genuinely enjoy new, different music will atrophy if not kept active. So even if there’s stuff I’m not personally interested in, I can guarantee there’s going to be something positive in my brain that is a direct result of standing in front of acts I’ve never heard before. But luckily for me (and for you, dear reader) there’s a lot of tremendous music on this years lineup that I already know and that is going to pull me out of the house. And here are some of the things, presented in no particular order, that will make me drag my lazy ass out of my house and down to the Matullia Lands in Rock Bay, Victoria to experience yet another Rifflandia.

Signaling to the mothership? Receiving signals? Is this man associated with intergalactic music terrorists?!

AHEE (Thursday)
I don’t know how I still haven’t seen this man AHEE live. His wubs and wobbles have been among the craziest sounds I've heard in bass music in the last decade. The first time I heard anything from AHEE was his remix of Featurecast's “Move.” I was working with Featurecast's management at the time and was given a copy of the Shout It Out Remixes EP. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I ran into the homie Rough Child later the same day and played it for him. His head looked like it was going to explode and he begged me to let him have it for his set that night. Anyways, this is all to say AHEE has to have been befriended by an alien and gifted weird future tech to move air in ways previously unimagined by the human ear. It is the only possible explanation. Well, that or HE IS AN ALIEN!! Either way, I'm very stoked to get shaken up by the bass manipulating spaceship dweller.

Mat The Alien (Thursday)
Speaking of aliens, I guess we're having a little Thursday Night Alien Party because here is a man that everyone on the west coast has known to be in constant communication with some intergalactic force for decades now. There aren't many bass dealers as versatile and well-traveled as the homie, Mat The Alien. Mat the Alien is like the Nicola Jokic of DJs – tall, pasty white dude, overflowing with skill combined with ultimate consistency. Doesn’t matter what he’s doing, or in this case playing, you know when The Alien is behind the decks, it’s going to be top-quality bass. If I could get my hands on any DJ set I’ve seen in the last decade, it would be his reggae-dub set from Victoria Ska & Reggae Fest. I think about it all the time. If you like deep, heavy, dubby bass delivered with unparalleled taste and skill, you simply can’t go wrong with a Mat the Alien encounter.

Macy Gray (Friday)
I assume if you’re reading this on Rags Music, you’re someone who is already at least somewhat familiar with Macy Gray. “I Try” was rightfully inescapable for a period of time (I listened to it this morning and can confirm it holds up 25+ years later) and she hasn’t really let up. Her catalogue is packed with smooth, groovy, forward-thinking and accessible funk, soul and R&B. A classic performer equally inspired by Motown and Parliament. I’ve been on the Macy Gray train hard since I saw her open for David Bowie on his final tour. Her set became a core music memory because I vividly remember being the only person in my section in Rogers Arena standing and dancing. No one else seemingly gave a fuck but I knew right then that Gray’s infectiously funky music was going to be a part of my musical life into the future. She’s such a huge, commanding presence with a perfectly weird aura on stage that you can’t look away from. I have my fingers crossed that we’re gonna get to hear “Oblivion,” because it remains one of my favourite songs of all time. It’s a go-to any time I need a pick-me-up.

Honeycomb (Sunday)
I don’t know where the fuck I’ve been that my radar has been mostly devoid of Honeycomb sightings. I knew I had seen the name pop across my screen at least once or twice when I was looking at the lineup but what I found upon further inspection was astounding. Honeycomb is fucking SICK. The grooves are so deep. The energy is so uplifting and inspiring. I’ve now spent some hours with Honeycomb while thinking about this article and I just can’t figure out how someone who creates such ridiculously dense and groove-laden bass music hasn’t been on constant rotation in my listening diet. I guess I’m just slipping in my old age. This man has played all kinds of festivals that I know of and casually keep track of (Even if my camping festival days are long behind me) like Shambhala and the legendary Dirtybird Campout. In any case, I’m glad this gross error is about to be rectified because I am FUCKING PUMPED for Honeycomb to hit Riff. A couple of my favourite sets in Rifflandia’s history have been from other on-the-spot-voice-creators/performers - Reggie Watts (2012) and Beardyman (2018). And while Honeycomb is doing his own thing, sonically very different from those two, I am wholly prepared to be inspired by the sheer creative force and imagination of his set, like I was with those other two. Hop in, marks. We’re going to get in touch with the best parts of our humanity on this one.

Pigeon Hole (Thursday)
Watching Pigeon Hole play before Chali 2na at Rifflandia 3 (2010) is among my favourite Rifflandia memories. My rap-loving brother and I were absolutely befuddled at the beginning of their set but by the end we were both chanting “Pigeon Hole!” to each other. When I got to my first Shambhala a few years later, they were one of the only acts I knew. It was clear how much they had levelled up in that time. It took just those two shows to make me a Pigeon Hole fan for life. I’ve interviewed them and written about them fairly extensively since. And while the raps that first hooked me have mostly faded away from the duo’s output (Chimp Blood seems like a lifetime ago), their hip-hop roots are evident on pretty much everything they do. It’s what keeps my ears locked in. The combination of their rap bonafides with their relentlessly heavy bass have made them favourites of bass freaks around the world. And it’s about bloody time we got to reunite in Victoria. Pigeon Hole! Pigeon Hole! Pigeon Hole! I would also like to point out before I hop off this one, that if I were to be a professional wrestler, “Wolves” would be my entrance music. Fucking unreal.

NxWorries (Saturday)
I try not to write about headliners when I do these things, because they’re headliners. They’re the big draws. Like, of course you’re gonna see fucking Public Enemy. But I cannot in good conscience not drop a note to make sure you do your best to stay out and see NxWorries, the much-beloved (by anyone with taste) team of Anderson .Paak and super-producer Knxwledge. Any time you get a chance to see .Paak, it’s a special time. He’s one of the most consistently dope and smooth artists, in any genre, working today (and has been for nearly a decade) but seeing him with Knxwledge promises to be something truly unforgettable. Real ones know some of the true gems in .Paak’s catalogue are contained within the confines of NxWorries albums and seeing them live is not something to be taken for granted. Is it rap? Yes. Is it soul? Also yes. Is it sexy? Again, yes. Is it gangster as fuck? Undoubtedly, yes. Impossibly smooth and oozing with otherworldly swag, you just gotta see NxWorries. I don’t know why I’m spending space selling you on this. Just tap in and get knxwing.

How can you miss this level of cool? *Credit: Richard Bord/Getty Images*

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