One of our longtime favourites, Underoath, are going on what could be termed a vanity tour just before hitting the Rockstar Mayhem traveling circus this summer - and they've handpicked Ill Patriot and hip-hop whiz kid POS to open five dates. Apparently Chris Underoath loves this guy. *shrugs* We just report the news. [JFH]
If you're planning to be in or around NYC this summer, July 12th would be a good date - Thursday will play with Hot Water Music and Paint It Black that night. Place called Terminal 5. Never heard of it. [absolutepunk]
If you're a fan of the gospel rap(exemplified best by crews including Cross Movement, Mars Ill, Lightheaded and the like), help support Sphere of Hip Hop, who're having their fundraising month; they're still about five grand short of their needed total, and they've got four albums created for this occasion to download. Click and donate, and tell your friends. Peace.
Seems a long time ago they were playing college bars and tiny clubs - Tokyo Police Club are big enough that MTV is giving peeps a chance to redo their 'Tesselate' video - if you think you're Spike Lee, check this out.
sweetdisaster's recommended reading this week is 2005's Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang(founder of Quannum Records, among his other endeavours). A killer book by a guy who knows his stuff - and this segues nicely into the next topic: one of the flashiest guys in hip-hop history, Slick Rick, is a free man after more than a decade in the can. He was arrested very publicly in 1991 at the age of 25 after a gun incident, and the threat of deportation to his native England was over his head for the last eleven years, but after a decade of 'exemplary' behaviour, New York state governor David Patterson has granted him a full pardon. Welcome back, Slick Ricky!
Whether or not you were a fan of Joy Division - or, like me, may have never heard a single song - the biopic of Ian Curtis and his band, Control was masterfully executed, and now it's headed to DVD next week, June 3rd. Highly recommended. [Aversion]
Posted by mike at May 29, 2008 10:54 PM