A word to the wise – avoid watching the video with other people around if you can, it’s a tad NSFW.

We weren’t poor but sometimes we sure did act like it.

As we tried hard to mask the delinquent thoughts that percolated under the yarn balls of our hats, a flurry of conversation flew past my ears. Three or four entered and quickly exited as I had a hard time keeping up with what must have been the most exciting, enlightening, and engaging collection of words put into sentences and then orated that I had ever been privy to.

That was a common occurrence for me during that time, though. Everything was interesting. Everyone I met I wanted to learn something from. Everyone excited me and everything was an opportunity.

“What the fuck do you mean, he’s in town tonight? How could we not know that?”

“Yeah, man. Word is it’s sold out but…I don’t think we’d have a problem getting in.”

“Fuck. I don’t care who I came here to see, I’m going to see him if he’s here.”

“For sure!”

I halted and grasped at these words. I calmed down and started to pay attention. My ears perked up at the passion and elevated excitement that was coming from these two kids that had just glided into our group. The clean/dirty dichotomy of their presence commanded they be taken serious as straight shooters who quite possibly could know where it’s at. They were firecrackers. And they had just been lit by something sure to be astounding. Clearly.

And besides, I had no idea who the ‘he’ in the conversation was.

It was 1999 and my friend Erica and I had driven an hour and some change to see Trey Anastasio on his first solo tour. It was to be an intimate show in front of a small audience where he ‘d play a set of Phish songs and a second set of covers and new originals. I was more than excited and up until this exact moment, had I not had tickets, I would have stowed away in dude’s guitar case just get in the building. Or done anything within reason, I guess.

But now there was something else. Something that could be more exciting or more of an experience than seeing a dude and a guitar that I’d be seeing with his band in July. The fast talk and ear-to-ear smiles of some kids I never knew had completely enveloped and coerced me to forget about what I came to do and to do something completely different.

So I thought to myself so what. Sweet. Let’s do this. Let’s skip Trey and see…

Tom Waits.

Up to this point I hadn’t knowingly heard of Tom Waits, his music, or seen him in films. I had no idea who he was, how old, what instrument he played. Nothing. I only knew that some people I was hanging around exploded at the sound of his name. I had no idea if I would like him more or less than the man I had worshiped as a guitarist. I had no idea at all.

This Tom Waits could’ve been a cellist, a rapper, or a flutist. He could’ve been a Satanist, a rapscallion, or a stand up comedian. I knew absolutely nothing about Tom Waits on that cold May day except that I was going to see him that night!

….

Incredibly pleased to bring the avant-garde hip-hop collective SHABAZZ PALACES to Milwaukee’s Mad Planet April 4th. It’s no secret that we love this album, as many do. Spinning records all night are the heads behind Milwaukee’s very own boutique golden era hip-hop label Dope Folks. Tickets go on sal Monday, 4/30, here.

mp3 – Shabazz Palaces – Swerve… The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)

mp3- Shabazz Palaces – An echo from the hosts that profess infinitum

Our first post of 2012 is brought to you by one of our favorite Milwaukee producers, Haz Solo. Press play.

mp3 – Haz Solo – Hazzy New Year (Mix)

#10 - Surgeons In Heat – S/T

#9 - Canopies – S/T

mp3 – Canopies – Strangers Glare

#8 - HAZ SOLO – PDQ Beats / download

mp3 – Haz Solo – Chick In Jerky

#7 - Catacombz – Mother Tongue One / ST

#6 - Fatty Acids – Leftover Monster Face

#5 –  Babes & 16 Notes – Siobhan’s

mp3 – Babes & Sixteen Notes – Autumn Addict

#4 –  Lorn & Dolor – Drugs / download

#3 - Head On Electric – Sleep Slaughter Sheep

mp3 – Head On Electric – Sleep Slaughter Sheep

#2 - The Hussy – Cement Mind Tomb

Mp3: The Hussy – Babychild

#1 - Prophetic – Purgatory / download

mp3 – Prophetic – Jungle

25- Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

Fucked Up – “David Comes to Life ”

24- Antlers – Burst Apart

The Antlers – “No Widows”

23- Atlas Sound – Parallax

Atlas Sound – “Mona Lisa”

22- Carter Tanton – Freeclouds

mp3 – Carter Tanton: “Fake Pretend [ft. Marissa Nadler]“

21- Prophetic – Purgatory

mp3: Prophetic – Game ft. Yo Dot & Pizzle

20- Iceage – New Brigade

mp3 – Iceage – White Rune

19- Unknown Mortal Orchestra – S/T

mp3 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Ffunny Ffriends

18- Shlohmo – Bad Vibes

mp3- Shlohmo – “Places”

17- Kendrick Lamar – Section .80

mp3 – Kendrick Lamar – A.D.H.D

16- Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

mp3 – Kurt Vile – Baby’s Arms

15- Smith Westerns - Dye It Blond

mp3 – Smith Westerns – All Die Young

14- Cass McCombs – Wit’s End

mp3 - Cass McCombs – County Line

13- Twin Sister – In Heaven

mp3 – Twin Sister – Kimmi In a Rice Field

12- Jeff The Brotherhood – We Are The Champions

mp3 – JEFF the Brotherhood – Wastoid Girl

11- Yuck – S/T

mp3 - Yuck - Get Away

10- Destroyer – Kaputt

mp3 - Destroyer – “Kaputt”

9- ASAP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP

mp3 – ASAP Rocky – Bass (Prod. By Clams Casino)

8- Peaking Lights – 386

mp3 – Peaking Lights - Birds Of Paradise Dub Version

7- Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread

mp3 – Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread

6- James Blake – S/T

mp3 – James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream

5- Mikal Cronin – S/T

mp3 – Mikal Cronin – Gone

4- Panda Bear – Tomboy

mp3 – Panda Bear – Surfer’s Hymn

3- The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

mp3 - The War On Drugs – Baby Missles

2- Real Estate – Days

mp3 – Real Estate – Easy

1- Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

mp3 – Shabazz Palaces – Swerve… The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)

What did we miss? What’s on your list? Thanks for visiting SC in 2011 – looking forward to the next year of music.

xoxo

- SeizureChicken

Mp3 – Sat. Nite Duets – Way Behind My Age Group

If your like me (and you should be if you know what’s good for you! naa) you’ve been waiting (in)patiently for the release of Sat. Nite Duets‘ Summer Of Punishment Long Player. The band’s follow-up to last year’s insanely fantastic One Night Only. The first single from SoP, “Way Behind My Age Group”, just under 3 minutes long, opens up with universal truths on girls and motherly guilt backed by harmonizing guitars and doesn’t let up throughout. If you haven’t already, pick up One Night Only because you’ll be a better person afterwards. Also, Milwaukee folk, the band plays Turner Hall Ballroom Jan 14th in celebration of the upcoming record release.

Holler at SND on facebook & twitter.

more on Sat. Nite Duets:
New Sat. Nite Duets – Throwback Man / Homemade Halo
New Sat. Nite Duets, “Wilder Dreams”
Sat. Nite Duets – One Night Only

Wilco: Milwaukee (12-9-11) Photo by CJ Foeckler

Wilco blew the doors off of Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater last Friday night and they did in a way that absolutely shocked me. (I guess I wasn’t absolutely shocked. but it sounds better if I put “absolutely” and “shocked” together) Take a look at the amount of songs played from each Wilco album and something should jump out at you.

A.M. – 1

Being There – 6 

Summerteeth – 2

Mermaid Avenue – 1 

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – 5

A Ghost is Born – 0

Sky Blue Sky – 1

Wilco (The Album) – 1

The Whole Love – 8

Now it shouldn’t shock you that they played 8 songs from their great new album, The Whole Love. That was something that was expected and also a great reason to go and see them play.

I’ve started to go through a rather tiring song and dance when it comes to whether or not I’m going to see Wilco when they show up in Wisconsin or not. I’ve started to have the same – “do I really want to spend the $__.00 on another Wilco show conversation with myself. And I suppose I need to stop having it because it always ends up with the same outcome.

As long as Wilco continues to put out albums of new material, I’ll continue to go and have one of the best musical nights of the year. Hearing new songs played at the same level of mastery and skill as the old ones that I love so much, always gets me in the door.

Opening the show with the song that I listened to the most this year, “One Sunday Morning” and one song later playing a one two punch of “Art of Almost” and “I Might” was one the early highlights of a show that was chock full of highlights.

And you shouldn’t be surprised that they played a good amount of songs off of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It’s one of Wilco’s finest moments and one of if not the album that they’re most known for. I don’t think I’ve seen them once post YHF where they didn’t play “Kamera,” “War on War” “I am Trying to Break Your Heart” and “Heavy Metal Drummer.” It seems that they’ve got a pretty good lock on what the fans want to hear and they do a great job at giving it to them. The seldom heard, for me anyway, “Poor Places” which just so happens to one of my all-time favorites, was a nice treat in their sets’ two slot.

And you might be a little surprised but not absolutely shocked that they played 6 numbers from what I consider their heavily undervalued second album, Being There. I suppose I rarely keep song tallies like this but I was a little surprised to find that many. But then when I thought about the overall energy, momentum, and push/pull trajectory of the evening, songs like “Far, Far Away” “Misunderstood” “Monday” and the firecrackers that are “Outta Mind (Outta Site)/Outtasite (Outta Mind)” made absolute sense and added some great depth to the set.

So, now, what in the hell was so shocking then? How about he giant/fat goose egg that stands in for the number of songs Wilco played off of A Ghost is Born. Right, they played none. No “Spiders (Kidsmoke).” No “At Least That’s What You Said.” No “Hell is Chorme.” No “Hummingbird” which means no sweet Tweedy dancing. No “Handshake Drugs” which means no awkward and hard to take your eyes off of crowd dancing. None. A Ghost is Born is not only my favorite Wilco album (I know a few SC writers and alumni are in agreement) it’s one of my favorite albums of all time. And one that I always look forward to hearing songs played live off of.

But on Friday December 9th, Wilco played Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater and they didn’t play one single song off of it. And the show was absolutely incredible. Well done, boys. And to top it off Nick Lowe came out to play “Cruel to be Kind” for the band’s second encore. Wow! It was a great night.

PS: I could watch and listen to Nels Cline play the guitar all day. Every day. Forever.

Mp3 – All Tiny Creatures – Deck The Halls

We can all agree that this rules right? Check out the rest of the Hometape‘s Chrismas album here.

20. Kissin Pink by ASAP Rocky featuring ASAP Ferg
Needless to say, The Baron is a connoisseur of chronic and narcotic. This being his highness’ nightlife anthem since its release. The Baron’s often found leanin’ smokin’ a blunt while drunkenly rapping along to ASAP Ferg’s verse. Seriously Ferg sounds like he was birthed by a Muppet, or is Barry White’s swag ass nephew.

19. Hold Me Down by Chip Tha Ripper
Another one of The Baron’s favorite enablers takes on Ice Cubes’s classic.

18. Cloud Skatin by Main Attraktionz featuring Danny Brown
Woozy synths and what could easily be obscure gameboy samples make for some lo-fi groovy raps. As the Hybrid says “Lo-Fi Indie Rap, Dawg I’m fucking with that.”

17. Ridin’ Round Town by Casey Veggies
Nominated for most effective use of the word SWAG. Track feels damn good, it fulfills your dietary need for vegetables and has a Debruit-esque break. SWAG

16. Nothing Like Home by DaVinci
He remains the best ignored talent in hip-hop, really any of his tracks could’ve made this list.

15. Reincarnate by Has-Lo
Album opener off of Has’ Conversation B, a conversation The Baron is quite familiar with…he’s talking contraceptives right?

14. Scottie Pippin by Curren$y featuring Freddie Gibbs (Prod. Alchemist)
Al-The-Chemist provides a gutter sound-scape, Curren$y awkwardly talks violence, and Freddie Gibbs reiterates; Frederick is the best technical rapper in the game. Video

13. She Don’t Want A Man by Curren$y
The Baron loves hearing Curren$y get deep….. but more importantly rap the phrase “cuddle master”.

12. Nasty by Nas
Rapping a labyrinth, Nas’ return to Illmatic form, hopefully a sign of things to come. Video

11. R4 Theme Song by Big K.R.I.T.
The Vent is probably the better choice for this spot but The Baron favors feel good raps over progressive raps any day. Video

10.  Oxy Music by Schoolboy Q
Q throughout the entire year has crafted a captivating and unique take on hip-hop, Q’s got a new projecting drop this month, here’s Sacrilegious, some Cormac McCarthy Western Rap Shit.

9. Recollections of the Wraith by Shabazz Palaces
Simultaneously futuristic and simplistic, Palaces’ music is like refined malt liquor. Audio

8. Round of Applause by Waka Flocka Flame
Ignorance is bliss, to the point that you start to wonder if it was even ignorant in the first place.

7. Lincoln Continental by Danny Brown
This song is dear to The Baron, considering he used to whip it real hard in his own 96′ Lincoln Continental while this blared to the dismay of woodland creatures and north shore Nancy’s alike. The Stinkin’ Lincoln, The Baron’s chariot of narcotic debauchale is no longer with us, please be kind and po’ some out.

6. Insomniac Dreaming by ADd (Prod. Black Milk)
Infectious production laced with some refreshing blue-collar hip-hop sentiments: “I don’t wanna be famous, I just wanna be well off. Keep my bank account bangin’, take care of those i care about. Fuck a Maybach, I just keep swangin’ my Lac.” They’ll probably get moderately famous and remain well off. No protest.

5. Huzzah by Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire
This man understands alcoholism. The Baron knights him an Honorary Wisconsinite! Peep the video (click) for full appreciation. Huzzah!

4. Crime by Chip Tha Ripper
Boisterous mission statement; nothing special but fully aware of it’s purpose. Serving it extremely well.

3. Suck A Dick by Spaceghostpurrp
OHHH was The Baron tempted to make this his favorite track of 2011. He restrained himself out of respect for his grandmother; Citing all the times he’s attempted to defend the rap genre in her presence and realizing that this would void everything he’s ever told her. Which, come to think of it, is exactly why this track rules. If the Mayan Apocalypse does in fact happen, you can count on The Baron dancing naked a top the Empire State Building blasting this song on repeat until it’s all over. SVCK V DICK 4 2011 Mayan Apocalypse! $WAG

2. Rigamortus by Kendrick Lamar
The Baron predicts Kendrick Lamar to be the next hip-hop artist to successfully cross-over, without compromising his artistic integrity. Pretty bold, but this dude has the intellect and personality to do it.  Video

1. Deep by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
Say the Mayan Apocalypse does occur, this is a front runner for the hip-hop time capsule track. This is conventional hip-hop music on steroids! We’re talking Madlib digging through obscure record after obscure record to find the disco strings and dubby bass line that comprise the beat. Then there is Frederick switching flows, rapping his ass off about socioeconomic conditions, bluntly addressing the human condition in the hood, questioning authenticity in hip-hop. AND! he makes comparisons between Star Trek and prostitution. Quintessential Rap Music.