Chali 2na & The House of Vibe, The Gaff - 09.02.19 - Capital Ballroom, Victoria, BC

February 11, 2019 by Blake Morneau in Reviews

Chali 2na & The House of Vibe, The Gaff – 09.02.19 – Capital Ballroom, Victoria, BC

Yo, Canada, can we just give Chali 2na honorary citizenship already? The hip-hop legend (Both with a spray can and on the mic) is basically family now here on the Canadian West Coast and Saturday night at Capital Ballroom in Victoria, Chali 2na and his incredible band, The House of Vibe, showed yet again why he's a mainstay in people listening diets...and judging from the reception he and the band received for 2+ hours, a mainstay in peoples' hearts.

The band, one of the tightest (But somehow ephemerally loose at the same time) bands around, The House of Vibe held things down with ease as they helped 2na run through a career-spanning set that touched on two-plus decades of Chali's world class hip-hop. Loose and relaxed, the band was smiling as much as the man himself (Which is A LOT) during the set as they flexed their considerably funky muscles from beginning to end. Every time I see these cats play (I've seen them more than a dozen times now), I always think at least once in the night, “Man, Anthony (Brewster) is fucking sick. I know he gets some spotlight every set, but I really wanna see him do an opening set or something one of these times.” And then, this past Saturday, as I'm thinking that very thought, the band launches into an extended medley with Anthony front and centre rocking “Get Up, Stand Up” and “Smoke Two Joints.” Note to the House of Vibe for next time: Loved that, more of that please. As great of a band as the House of Vibe is, Chali 2na is the guy that makes the motor move.

Just know Chali from Jurassic 5? Well, he's gonna play a few songs to cover you. Know him from his more recent work with The Funk Hunters and Westwood Recordings (Like his recently released beast of an EP Instrumentality)? He's got you covered. Know Chali from his (I'm calling it here) timeless hip-hop masterpiece, Fish Outta Water? He's got you covered there as well. In fact, no matter how many times I've seen the songs from F.O.W. I'm still amazed at how big they hit in the live setting. Whether it's the hard-hitting “Guns Up” or the tender, contemplative “Righteous Way,” or the downright grimy “So Crazy,” the songs on that landmark album are captivating. They are a part of my musical make-up now. I could honestly watch Chali and the House of Vibe just play that album once a year for the rest of my life and I'd be a happy human. Thankfully though, Chali is straight-up relentless in his output and is always creating new music and new art. The thoughtful and sublime “Blue Marble” from Instrumentality was a track that I originally glossed over, but in a live setting, whooooa boy, that struck deep. As 2na continues to add music to his repertoire, his sets just get longer, adding new stuff into the mix while not taking old staples out. It's a good choice because honestly, is there such a thing as too much Chali 2na? After more than two hours of grooving and smiling, I think a packed Capital Ballroom would answer that with a resounding “No. No, there is never too much 2na.” Another west-coast success for the immortal 2na fish.

Alright, I'd be remiss in writing this little review without mentioning the groovy stylings of one of the smoothers operators in the DJ game, The Gaff. Getting things started on a rare snowy night in Victoria is never an easy thing and I was one of only a handful of people there when Gaff took his place behind the decks, but he did the thing and gave zero fucks how many people were there, going in straight away with the goods. At one point my brother asked me, “So, Gaff is a scratch guy right?” A moment later Gaff was scratching up a storm, as he does, and my brother was in. That's a win on a dude notoriously iffy on the whole DJ thing. And apparently, his main turntable (The left, because he's a lefty) stopped reading Serato 10 minutes into his set so he had to dig into his apparently vast improvisation skills to make that shit go- The mark of a true master. By the time he finished his set the room was packed and sweaty, all lubed up and ready for Chali & The House of Vibe to do their thing. Good snap.

#festivalseason - Ragslandia: Rifflandia gets groovier than ever.

September 27, 2016 by Blake Morneau

Every year in Victoria, Rifflandia is the highlight of the music calendar. Bringing hundreds of artists from different genres and aesthetics, Rifflandia has established itself as a celebration of music like nothing else in the area. This year's Rifflandia had me excited like past years haven't. I'm all about groove and this year the pool was deep, overflowing with hip-hop and electronic tastiness I'm constantly on the lookout for. Here are just a few of the highlights I was lucky enough to get into my ears this year.

Jurassic 5, De La Soul and the importance of world-class Djs.

Part of the delay on the release of this piece has been the need to let things lay fallow in my mind for a bit, to see how they stick with me when I’m no longer a prisoner of the moment. Since some of the Rifflandia smoke has cleared from my mind, I can still say that Jurassic 5’s Rifflandia set was one of the finest sets of music I’ve ever seen. I assume this is the standard festival set they’ve been playing since their reunion a couple of summers ago, and why would it be anything different? Everything the group did was so well-done, so on point. “Concrete Schoolyard” (Complete with kazoo interlude), “Freedom,” “Jurass Finish First,” “Quality Control,” the whole set was hit after hit. Their Four-MCs-As-One, synchronized rap thing was as fresh as ever – as lively and crisp as any of the songs’ recorded counterparts.

Even more impressive than the four MCs and their interchangeable raps were the beats, the music, delivered with the utmost imagination and dexterity by two of the great DJs in hip-hop, DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist. DJ desk, turntable-guitar, vest of music (I don’t know a better way to describe this)...This wasn’t just two DJs laying beats for rappers. The show wouldn’t have worked the same without them.

A similar thing happened a couple of nights before when De La Soul took the stage at the Phillips Backyard stage. Pos and Dave could get an crowd amped on their own, for sure, but the amount of attention Maseo commands behind the decks while his cohorts are doing their thing out front is kind of staggering. Throughout the trio’s stellar set, Maseo proved once again that he’s a real director of the party, the man all the energy flows through. Dude can rap something nice too. I was more than thrilled when he stepped out from behind the wheels to take Redman’s place during “Oooh,” a personal favourite of mine. It’s just further proof as to how important the DJ is the landscape of hip-hop, even when you have world class MCs there rock the party.

#festivalseason - Memories of Shambhala, unearthed.

July 18, 2016 by Blake Morneau

It's hard not get personal when I'm writing about Shambhala. It set off such a chain reaction in my life, in so many areas, that it's mark is just burned into me. It might even be annoying to read or hear about, but I don't really care. You're free to stop reading at any time. The really great thing about this is how other Shambhalovers brighten up and beam when you bring it up to them. I've made a point to ask a lot of the Djs and personalities I've interviewed in the years since my first visit to Salmo River Ranch about their memories of the festival and what it means to them. I've gathered up some of the best quotes to get you all either psyched up for the trip back Home, or get you dripping with jealousy that you won't be there this year.

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DJ Nu-Mark (Jurassic 5), on why he keeps coming back to Shambhala

I keep coming back because it seems as if I'm the only not playing electronic music? The first time I played, I thought I was at the wrong festival. I saw the line-up and was a bit freaked out because everyone was playing dub-step...Hey, remember that? Dub-step? Anyway, I enjoy playing a variety of genres – Soul, Funk, Reggae, Hip-Hop, Oldies, etc... They give me room to express myself and I rarely get the hippie chick yelling, “Hey! Can you play some Persian Anthem Trance?!”

#festivalseason - 6 stages, 6 acts to get down to at Shambhala 2016. (And a bonus warm fuzzy feeling.)

July 07, 2016 by Blake Morneau

There is no place on the planet like the Shambhala Music Festival. Each year, along the life-giving Salmo River in BC - clearly Canada's most beautiful province - thousands of people gather around the semi-permanent stages that have waited all year, to build a colourful, loving, excessively fun community for three-to-five days (Depending on how you Shambs). The setting, the people, the music...it's been the basis for an entirely new part of my life. I have forged stronger friendships with old friends there, I have met new beautiful friends that I talk to near-daily and, last but not least, it opened me up to the thrillingly diverse world of electronic music. The learning curve is steep and I wouldn't have even started the process if I hadn't stepped onto the Farm for the first time a few summers ago. So, as we prepare to return Home a mere three weeks from now, I present my first batch of must-see (that-I-will-probably-get-distracted-from-seeing) picks.

Actually, first off, let's get mushy. Remember those new friends I mentioned earlier? Well, thanks to the lovely people at the Pagoda, they were able to have the most perfect wedding, early Friday afternoon last year. The day was a Pinnacle of Life. Two giant rainbow people, bursting with love, combining their powers once and for all in the heart of the most loving place I've experienced in my short time on Earth. To you two, to everyone who was there, to everyone who stopped by camp for a dance and to everyone who makes that wondrous place go, THANK YOU. I'll stop now.

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Russ Liquid Test

(Grove – Friday, 4PM)

This is the year I spend more time in the Grove and Russ Liquid is where I'm going to start. I don't really know what this “Test” thing is all about. I don't know if the homie is testing new stuff, playing with guests or whatever else, but it really doesn't matter, because if I've learned anything over the last few years of musical digging, it's that anything that has the name RUSS LIQUID on it is going to be of some major quality. It doesn't matter if he's working with heavy-hitters like Gramatik and Opiuo or working on his own, the guy clearly knows his music and, more specifically, he knows his grooves. Armed with his incredible trumpet abilities and a seemingly unquenchable thirst for sultry, hip-winding rhythms, Russ Liquid is guaranteed to be the perfect start to your first night of ultimate partying at Shambhala this year.

5 Questions with Rags #13 - DJ Nu-Mark

March 02, 2015 by Blake Morneau in 5 Questions With Rags

It’s kind of amazing how much DJ Nu-Mark has permeated the world inside my ears throughout the majority of my life. Jurassic 5 was one of my big four of hip-hop that made me truly love the genre. “I Know, Didn’t I” from his amazing album with Pharcyde’s Slimkid3 last year, immediately found a special place in my heart, finding me at a particular time in my life. Most importantly, last year at Shambhala he gave my brother and I our “bonding set.” That one special set that both of us were looking forward to more than anything else. Holy shit, it was amazing. The guy put on a damned class in the History of Groove. While the set was criminally under-attended, my brother and I danced our faces off in front of those speakers, loving every single choice the good Uncle Nu made. I was lucky enough to get to talk to him before that set for the Martlet and even luckier to get some of his time here for y’all. Big props to one of the greats in the world of DJs and just an all-around cool cat, DJ Nu-Mark.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? What medium was it? Do you still have it? Does it still hold up for you?

Yeah, the first album I bought was U.T.F.O.'s first self titled LP. I still have it although it's pretty beaten up from multiple 80's house parties. Can't really play it out now but it is for sure a Hip Hop classic. Roxanne Roxanne was the big hit.