Lougheed

Robin Thicke

This is crazy.  Robin Thicke is Allan Thicke's (yes that Allan Thicke) son.  He's a grammy-winning 30 year old white kid who sings and produces R&B tracks and he's good.  Yes I like hip hop more than most of my friends, but this guy really has something.  He's produced for Usher, Brandy, Michael Jackson among others and he's on Pharell WIlliams' Star Trak record label.  Anyways, my latest non-sexual man crush.  All that AND he's freaking Allan Thicke's son.  I love surprises like this.

Pocket Symphony

I've been an Air fan for almost 10 years and they're coming to Toronto on May 5th.  The new album is just what you'd expect - a perfectly analogue/digital mix of warm, dreamy beats and melodies.  I've seen them 2 or 3 times and they always put on an amazing concert.

Track - "Bossy"

"Bossy" by Kelis featuring Too $hort and produced by Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford from Atlanta.  It's amazing to watch how hip-hop has splintered into so many different local sounds.  Artists like Outkast, Master P, Paul Wall, DJ Screw, Ludacris, Lil' Jon, and most recently Chamillionaire and TI have brought southern-flavoured hip-hop to the mainstream and it sounds good.

Mike and Trent

I went to see Birmingham's Michael Skinner (The Streets) on Friday night in Toronto.  Great show - he was entertaining and so was his band.  He poured brandy into the mouths of the front frow fans and put on a great Brithop show.  The next night I went to see NIN at the Ampitheatre with Bauhaus and Peaches.  We missed Peaches (sadly) but it was cool to see Bauhaus and watching these guys do their thing.  The real treat of the evening was Trent.  He sounded and looked great, and he still clearly enjoys being on stage. 

Love Removal Machine

Gwillard took me to go see The Cult at the Amphitheatre in Toronto last night. Like you, I was a little concerned that they might not still have it but once the show got started, we totally rocked out.  I used to be a huge Cult fan and saw them once with Guns n' Roses and again on New Years' with Lenny Kravitz. I had forgotten how many songs I knew, and how amazing Bill Duffy plays guitar.  Ian Austbury was for sure older than I saw him back in 1988 or something at the CNE, but he was still Ian.  Lots of presence, great lyrics, and he genuinely seemed thrilled to have sold out the Molson Ampitheatre, some 20 years after the Cult were truly fresh and unique.

Common

I saw Common perform in Dave Chapelle's "Block Party" and it reminded me that I wanted to pick up his album.  I'm liking his record and the movie was funny as hell.

Finally

I'm inspired to write.  The Kanye West "Touch the Sky" tour landed in Toronto last night.  I took my good friend Gwillard to see the show for his birthday and we rocked out.

I expected good and it was great.  His skills are amazing, he's a half-decent stepper, and he can most definitely put on a show.  He played everything I wanted to hear except "Celebration" and there were at least four costume changes. 

The only negative aspect of the experience were the massive "Verizon" logos projected at either side of the stage.  I don't normally have any issues with advertising anywhere, but Kanye asked everyone at one point to put their "Verizons in the sky if they feel the vibe".  Corny.  The strange thing is that Verizon doesn't offer cell phone service in Canada.  Just dumb?

His live performance, however, was as good as it gets and he kept the show moving for 90 minutes.  He had an AM radio set up in between numbers playing clips of 80s hits ("When Doves Cry", "Sweet Dreams") and Kanye himself did the Molly Ringwald-style A-ha dance for a snippet of "Take on Me".  At one point he said his show was for hip hop fans who are "sick of the same thing over and over and over".  I agree - hip hop has been stuck on gats, rims, and paper for too long and Kanye (and Outkast) are here to save it.

Kanye

What talent.

iTunes July 2005

   

Everyone's a fucking DJ

There.  I said it.  Probably 3 years too late but it's still true.