flying burrito brother...

-i hate cancer. i was so mad at it. i could have killed it.

-toronto was awesome. alanna and i drove up on wednesday, got into town around 7pm, and hit the patio at the black bull. we met up with my good friends rachelle and summer, kathi z and sonya, and knocked back a few steam whistles. the price difference between london and toronto is crazy. $5.25 vs. $7.00. we hit the el mocambo just before ten, and i went on around 11pm. great room, good sound, and a not-too-shabby crowd for a wednesday night in toronto. notoriously still, toronto audiences don't like to let you know if they like you. but we got some noise, so it was all good. alanna was on stage with me, uprocking to the music, and since recordface couldn't be there, i was planning on playing off just my instrumental cd, but lyle from stop die backed me up on the machines as well, adding some effects and such. also, addi showed up to rock his verse from bury the bodies; i left a message with vangel, but no sign of him. the mayor of toronto, planet pea, came through. it was good to see him. if you haven't already, check out his band the quartertones, they've got an album out now, and are also now playing dates with moka only. i think i might be opening for them in london in a couple of weeks, i'll let you know.



-also, to the mystery man who was taking pictures during the show... how about sending a few of 'em my way? does anybody know who that dude was?

-so yeah, after the show, we kicked it at luke and melodie's place for a bit, then crashed out at rachelle's. my stupid ass left my backpack - full of all my ok cobra cds - at their place, arrgh, hopefully luke will be able to send it to me when he gets back off tour. in the morning, i was introduced to the best burrito i've ever had in my life. i'm kicking myself for not buying a few of 'em to bring home with me.



-got home, ran a few errands then got together with the boys, hit our jam-spot out in the country, and worked on some tunes. the vibe felt great, it was my first jam with these cats, and immediately i was feeling good things. so much fun. i could do it every day forever. i think i might.

-i bought a new microphone, a shure 58, i think, plus a cord, which set me back about $200. shizzle. i mean, it's something i need, i'm glad i bought it, but it's a bit of a setback. i was hoping to buy an ibook this week, so now i'll have to wait a bit. the cutie at the music store said i could hammer nails with it.

-i can't believe i didn't call 'til ten. i'm such an idiot...

-the low pressure boys are on tour...



-people passed out.

-sunshine superman.

-i had a few other things i wanted to say, but i'm hungry, and the advils aren't as powerful as i'd like...

lasers,
ryan

marlboro man...

-so yeah, i'm hitting toronto tomorrow night, opening up for stop die and no luck club again. i think fatski is djing. guaranteed good times... come early. i'll probably be on at like 10pm or something...

-check out no luck club on the cover of eye weekly.

-it's been a pretty chill couple of days. super slow night on sunday, but whatever, i like working sundays 'cause nobody's at the bar and i can just play my favorite old rap songs all night and sit on the patio chilling. i closed the bar early, my buddy jay came by and we hit up call the office for last call, a couple shots and a jug pabst. i can't even believe anywhere has that beer on tap. crazy.

-so the boys and i are getting ready to jam on thursday night. it'll be my first jam with them, i've been working so much, so spencer, jamie, and pat have been jamming on their own... bass, guitar, and drums, to get some music ideas together. we got a great name for the band... yeah right, like i'm gonna tell it to you now. just wait. i've been looking for some musical inspiration, so i've been spending equal time listening to my favorite 90's rap, and 60's psychedelic rock... i think as far as rock 'n roll and rap music go, those are their respective peak eras. i've been checking out dj gregarious' radio show, the pop shoppe, on technicolor web of sound, and downloading songs of his playlists. man, dude has some good taste in music...

-happy hour with mark mckay.

-my man daybi in montreal has a new site, peep it.

-my flatmate alanna brought me back a carton of marly lights from new york. hmm...



-maybe i'll see you in toronto tomorrow,
lasers,
ryan

my sister wanted to be an actress...

"My sister wanted to be an actress, but she never made it. She does live in a trailer. She made it half way. She's an actress, she just never gets called to the set."

i can't believe mitch hedberg died.



what the fuck?

okay, it's 6:47am, i really should try to go to sleep...

lasers,
ryan

oh yeah suckers...

i'm in toronto this weds., at the el mocambo, opening up for stop die and no luck again... so fuck... be there or fuck off and don't talk to me. i think i'm in love.

tonite...

act like you didn't see it..., so be it...

-another night working the wood at the alex p., nothing major to report, andy capp was spinning, i made a gang of drinks, made a bit of money, and came home. nicole brought this paulina girl in, her neighbor, who's 19 and ridiculously model hot, and only served to remind me of how old i am. it also didn't help that my old high school buddy tyler showed up, who i hadn't seen in probably 5 years at least, and told me i was thinning on top. you too, buddy. you too...

-check out this dude's crazy turntables. i've put this link up before, but i was just checking it out some more, so here it is. thanks to ben lee for originally hipping me to it.

-crack is back...




-chiling at home, gearing up for the show tonight.

-okay, time for some tunes... this is easily one of my favorite hip-hop songs of all time...

raw fusion "throw your hands in the air"
(live from the styleetron, hollywood basic, 1991)



i was a huge fan of digital underground's first album, so when i heard that money b. and dj fuze were making a record together as "raw fusion," i couldn't wait for it. muchmusic (canada's equivalent of mtv) had a daily hip-hop show called rapcity (not to be confused with bet's show of the same name), and they featured a special on raw fusion, where mon and fuze did the interview wearing what looked like radiation suits, in what looked like a bio-chem waste site. very strange. anyway, this track is bananas, from the moment the drum cracks in (bbd's "poison," anyone?), it's got you hooked. i've always loved mon's voice and flow, and this track is clever, flipping the whole meaning of the "throw your hands in the air" party chant. in the interview, money said this song was based on true events, and all of this stuff happened in one day. crazy. i don't think this album ever really got too big, which is too bad, as the whole thing is bumping. more straight-up rap than digital's p-funk influence. there's a video for this track, and a video for "rockin' to the p.m." as well. the album also features one of 2pac's early appearances, on "#1 with a bullet."

raw fusion "hoochiefied funk"
(hoochiefied funk, hollywood basic, 1994)



they followed up with their second album, "hoochiefied funk," which seemed to go almost completely unnoticed. aside from the "freaky note" 12", which i found about 5 or 6 years ago, i've never seen anything from this album.

after this album, it looks like raw fusion just sort of fizzled out. apparently dj fuze is still dj'ing in the bay area, and money b. had a solo album out a few years ago called "talkin' dirty," which i'm still trying to get a hold of. he had a site for a while, but it looks like it might be gone for good.



money's also got another website thing happening...



lasers,
ryan

that girl...

-oh yeah, i've been meaning to mention this for a while now, so i thought i'd add this while i'm thinking of it, before i forget again... my girl esthero just put out a new album, and from what i've heard so far, it's wicked (no pun intended).



-also, moka only's got a new one coming out soon, "the desired effect."



a long time ago i put moka on the cover of my old rap magazine.

no stop ok? luck die cobra. club resuscitate...

-okay, first things first. i fucked up, the show is tomorrow (friday) night, not saturday. here's the flyer they emailed me:



i don't really know what time things will get going or how much it is, but whatever. and one last time, check out no luck club,



and, stop die resuscitate.



-check out american hunger, a new site started by gm grimm (formerly mf grimm). you probably know the name miranda jane from all the hip-hop mags, i just came across her page and she hipped me to it...

-man, i'm really getting sick bartending sometimes. most of the time it's cool, but every once in a while, you just have one of those nights where all of your customers are annoying as shit and you really just can't give a fuck. every weds. at taps, they have an open-stage night hosted by this dude vinnie. now, vin's a cool cat (super-talented), but open-stage nights are hit-and-miss at the best of times. i work it pretty much every weds, and it pretty much always sucks. a bunch of broke-ass wannabe musicians who don't drink, and when they do, don't tip. plus, when they play, 95% garbage. i mean, fuck, i guess that's what the whole open-stage concept is for right, letting anyone go up and play, but jesus, when you're stuck working there all night, and you're forced to listen to people whining their way through and destroying classic songs... by the end of the night, your patience gets pretty low. week after week, these same people, just annoying the shit out of me. like this fat little too-much-make-up goth chick who drinks ginger ale, never tips, and tries to flirt with me, calling me "cutie" and making me want to vomit. i do my best to ignore, but what can you do. then i got this older, drunk guy, who used to be the keyboardist for max webster, coming up to me and telling me about how he used to be the keyboardist for max webster, but how he's sick of people always talking to him about max webster, and i'm just thinking, dude, i don't really care who you are, i barely know what max webster is, and if you hadn't of told me you were the keyboardist for max webster, the thought would have never crossed my mind. if you don't want people talking to you about max webster, why do get drunk and go around telling everyone about how you used to be the keyboardist for max webster? ridiculous. there's more, but that's enough for now...

-i had a couple of crazy dreams last night. i haven't remembered any of my dreams for a month or so, maybe more, which had me a bit worried. last night's were crazy. i'm kicking myself for not writing them down as soon as i woke up. all i can remember are a few random flashes of images, nothing that would make any sense were i to describe it here...

-more later, i'm off for some coffee and watermelon...

lasers,
ryan

whachagonedu?

-oh yeah, i also had to buy the fat lip 12" for "today's your day," and some old justin warfield 12" (funkmaster flex remix?) in the used bin for 5 bucks. i can feel my vinyl addiction starting to come back... and i don't even own turntables right now. what am i thinking?





wanna read an old interview i did with fat lip for vice?
part one, part two, part three.

rebirth of a nation...

-when i was in high school, ten or fifteen years ago, every week my buddy bill and i would go to dr. disc on "new release day" and would each buy one or two new rap cassettes. on the chalkboard at the store, there was a list of upcoming releases, and nothing got us more excited than a new album by public enemy.



over the years i got less and less excited about new records. writing the rap column at vice, i'd get more music in the mail each month than i could ever find time to listen to... so being hyped on anything was next to impossible. about a year and a half ago, when i left vice, i swore off all new music for a while, and went back to the crates for familiar inspirations. (so yeah, kids, don't ask me about the "new" so-and-so album, 'cause i haven't heard it, and honestly, i don't care, i'm listening to special ed and king tee.)

anyway, yesterday, tim and i went out for some lunch, and then he wanted to go look for a couple of new records. i went along (i hadn't been in a record store in like two years, i used to spend so much money on records, i had to stop letting myself even walk through the doors). we stopped into a store called "grooves," which is next-door to dr. disc, and while tim was looking for some weirdo punk i took a look at the rap wall. what did i see? the new public enemy single "can't hold us back," featuring paris, dead prez, and kam.

i got excited. i bought my first 12" in years. public enemy. perfect.



i can't wait for the "rebirth of a nation" album. it will be the first time in forever that i'll go to a record store on release day for a specific, anticipated album. i've already got my copy reserved.



chuck d rhyming over paris production? wow. check out guerilla funk for more. and supposedly, paris will be releasing new albums from kam, mc ren, da lench mob, and possibly the coup.

-i then went over to rich's place yesterday evening. we looked over the footage we shot last week for the film. some of it looks good. other stuff didn't turn out as we'd hoped. but that's how it goes, right? we're going to start up filming again in a couple of weeks. i can't wait to get this thing happening.

lasers,
ryan

get the girl, grab the money and run...

-waking up from another heat-stroking night behind the bar. last night some drunk old guy tips me $70 on a $73 tab. i'm like "are you sure?," and he's like "yeah." and i'm like "sir, i think you might have misread your bill, that's almost a 100% tip..." and he's like "no, that's fine," so what am i supposed to do? take the money and run, i guess.

-if you're into film, check out my man nick's new film skinhorse, and patron saint pictures. he's doing the film festival thing right now, so who knows, he may be in a town near you.

now that's gangsta...

-oh yeah, i thought it mad cool that shyne got the d.o.c. to be in his video for "that's gangsta." too many cats take shit from the old school without proper credit, by putting him in the video, shyne showed proper respect for the use of the same sample and the importance of showing love to those who came before. much respect.



-speaking of shyne, who are these guys?