Posted on 09/04/2008
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” The relevance of this infamous slogan fades when applied to the budding Las Vegas Hip Hop community. There's plenty of CD players, hard drives and ipods to target outside of the desert. When Danny aka Effect and Joe Fury assembled to form Canto I, the two brothers had to be aware of their local brethren's tendency to STAY local. Because of this, While...

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Posted on 09/04/2008
To label Immortal Technique’s musical offerings over the last few years intense is a towering understatement. There isn’t an adjective strong enough to capture the scope of the fiery Harlem, NY (by way of Peru) MC’s rhymes and choice of subject matter. Coupled with his well-publicized activist involvements, his music serve as a sonic reminder of his convictions. After two critically acclaimed releases (which also featured a re-release of his...

Posted on 09/04/2008
When British duo, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip began making waves in the U.K. underground with their debut single, “Thou Shalt Always Kill,” fans would certainly have been justified in writing them off as a one-hit-wonder in the making. Though undeniably hypnotic, the record, basically a two-thirds angsty, one-third zany spoken rant over a tense industrial beat, had “novelty” written all over it. Of course so did “I Wanna...

Posted on 09/04/2008
“Queens represent, buy the album when I drop it.” It’s a sad but truly ironic fact that one of the most memorable and notable quotes from boom bap pioneer Large Professor references an album that never, in fact, officially saw the light of the day. Still, it would be an extreme error to dismiss Extra P’s career as a legacy stunted by label politics. A self-described ‘music dude’ in an...

Posted on 09/04/2008
When Minnesota’s Muja Messiah emerged from the digital fluster-cuck of Myspace with his incendiary single, “Patriot Act,” he appeared poised to establish himself as a fiery new voice, capable of branding the North Star state with a musical identity outside of purple synth funk. A tense fusion of jittery drums, eerie choral samples and brooding strings, the song felt like the split second when the first molotov cocktail...

Posted on 09/04/2008
Birdmonster’s sound on From the Mountain to the Sea is wide open and expansive. It’s no surprise many of the songs were written in a desert cabin. You can picture stark quiet with nothing but the band’s tender melodies decorating an isolated, natural landscape. Translate that to audio and the beauty is a double-edged sword. At times on the band’s sophomore effort, such quiet is a strength allowing you...