Rhymes: Atmosphere - "The Waitress" (A Short Film)

The Waitress from nimb on Vimeo.

So this dude made a great short film based off of one of my favorite Atmosphere songs ever. The video was done incredibly well. Great cinematography, great acting, and other fancy cinema lingo I learned in my introductory level film course. Enjoy.

The Waitress is a short film. It is based on the the song: The Waitress by Atmosphere. The film was shot in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was shot on a Red One, using prime lenses, a Pro Steadicam, Eazy Dolly and a handheld Zacuto rig. All editing was done in FCP 7, Color grading was done in DaVinci Resolve. Hope You enjoy it.

2011 End of the Year Wrap-Up: Albums 20-11

20.) The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence



On the final installment of the Toronto crooner's trilogy, The Weeknd improves his songwriting and shows that he is no one trick pony.

19.) Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne



The epic collaboration falls short of lofty expectations, but still manages to push the hip hop envelope. Talks of a follow up for 2012 are promising, as the final product won't be as rushed.

18.) Asher Roth - Pabts & Jazz



On Pabts & Jazz, Asher flexes his lyrical muscle, and shows that his post-"I Love College" career will be something to follow. This jazzy effort is easily Roth's best work.

17.) Thurz - LA Riots



The other half of UNI drops a politically charged album surrounded around the Rodney King riots.

16.) Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver



Justin Vernon and company step out of that cabin in Wisconsin are create the anti-"For Emma," with beautiful, lush production and abstract, impressionistic songwriting.

15.) Blue Scholars - Cinemetropolis


Geo and Sabzi's fan-supported, movie-inspired LP, showcases top notch production and socially conscious rhymes.

14.) DJ Quik - The Book of David


The West Coast vet has a late career revival with some excellent post-G-Funk production; a great summer soundtrack.

13.) Saigon - Greatest Story Never Told


The most aptly titled album finally is released, and exceeds expectations.

12.) Adele - 21


The year's best-selling records is also one of the year's best albums.

11.) Atmosphere - The Family Sign


The indie rap vets turns into a quartet, with bluesy guitar-based production and grown man rap songs.

Life: My Interview with Atmosphere: All In The Family: Left-Overs

Photo Courtesy of R*ch*l W*ckh*m (censored for security purposes)

So last month Atmosphere was in Cleveland and I had planned on attending the show. But being a budding journalist, I decided to ask Okayplayer if they would be interested in a feature story on Atmosphere. They gave me the "okay" and after weeks of waiting for Atmosphere's press people to get back to me, I finally got the interview of a lifetime.

15 mintues (which actually ended up being about 26 minutes, but who's counting) with Sean Daley, my idol. After having a minor panic attack, asking every employee of the House of Blues where Slug was, I was taken back stage. And there he was...

We had met once before (at a concert two years ago, there's an embarrassing picture on facebook as the proof), so him being a little taller than I had expected didn't throw me off, but how down to earth definitely did. First off all he greeted my girlfriend and I by name (because we had been tweeting Atmosphere all day), and instantly I became less nervous (as this was easily the biggest interview I have ever done in my young journalistic career) and more excited to have a pretty candid interview with one of my favorite artists of all time.

After writing the interview, I had a few good quotes and anecdotes that didn't quite fit into my story so I thought I would share them with the world:

More on how Slug and Atmosphere write albums:

When you throw that much mud at a wall, we make probably anywhere from 60-80 songs, some of them start to fall and some of them stay stuck to the wall, and at the end you look at what’s left over and then you go ‘okay, what kind of big story can I tell with what I have?’ And then it might help prompt you to go ‘okay I want to write a song like this cause that would sound good in between this one and this one.

More on the lack of samples on Lemons:

There was no sampling on Lemons but there were certain songs, for… For a song like “Glass House,” there’s no samples, but there’s a synth line that’s mimicking a saxophone line from an old record.

OKP: On the lemons record, you got Tom Waits to do a beat box, I was wondering how you were able to get him to do that?

S: I asked him to play guitar, and got back a beatbox (laughs). We sent him the song and I asked him to put guitar on it and he was like, “yeah.” Then I went on tour, and when I got home from the tour, he returned it. And I opened it, and played it and there was no guitar, there was beatboxing. I was like, ‘this is cool too actually,’ and we just had Nate (Collis) play guitar.

Click HERE to read the whole story.

Rhymes: A Message from Evidence (Video)

Finally one of the most anticipated releases of the year, Evidence's RSE debut, Cats & Dogs will hit shelves 9/27. I will also be seeing Evidence (along with Blueprint and Atmosphere) next week in Cleveland.

Rhymes: Atmosphere - "The Last To Say" Music Video

Get More: Atmosphere, Music, More Music Videos

Here's a powerful video to one of the best tracks off of Atmosphere's latest album, The Family Sign.

BRL Radio: Headphones & Backpacks Podcast Episode #1

BRL Radio- Headphones & Backpacks Podcast episode 1 by zgase
This is my first attempt at a podcast, and a nice reminder that I should stick to print journalism. In this podcast I talk about some latest news in hip hop, and play some recent tracks that should be getting some more attention.

Tracklist:
1. XV – Witchita
2. Talk about XV
3. BRL Intro
4. Talk about Atmosphere's New LP
5. Atmosphere- "If you can save me now"
6. Talk About Family Tour
7. Grieves – "Lightspeed"
8. Blueprint – "Radio-Inactive"
9. Phonte’s solo album….
10. Little Brother – Tiggalo for Dolo
11. Custom Made info
12. Scoobs – These Days
13. Talk about StudyAbroad album
14. GooseFlames – few good blokes
15. Wrap it up – upcoming posts, future podcasts
16. The Coup Kids – All Iever wanted

Rhymes: Atmosohere - The Family Sign (Released today!)

Atmosphere's long awaited 7th LP is finally released today. My review of the record will come later in the week, via Okayplayer. But it is the group's most mature sounding effort to date, and exactly what hip hop should sound like when it's made by people almost in their 40s (Jay-Z take note, bro).

The Video up top is a presentation of the album's awesome artwork (I'll be picking up my copy on Sunday once I get paid). And the video down below is the great music video to "She's Enough" the album's second single.

Rhymes: 2011 - Year of the Rhymesayer

2009 was a huge year for the Minnesota-based indie rap label with many releases finishing in my personal top records of that year. Last year the label had a handful of interesting releases, but 2011 is definitely gearing up to be the year of the Rhymesayer.


The first RSE release will be the Columbus emcee, Blueprint. "So Alive" is the third video/single released from the up-coming album, Adventures in Counter Culture. "So Alive" along with his other singles "Keep Bouncing" and "Radio-Inactive" are increasingly building hype around his album which will examine American Popular Culture.


The second RSE release of 2011 is also probably the most anticipated one - Atmosphere's first longplay in almost exactly 3 years, The Family Sign. The album is expected to continue the live instrumentation from guitarist Nate Collis and Key-man Erick Anderson, which were very prominent on last year's double EP release as well as the group's 2008 LP. On this track Slug tells a story about taking a loved one for granted. Another great concept for the music video features a dog being neglected by its family until it runs away, then the video concludes with a "Missing Dog" poster.


Grieves had a pretty big 2010: signing with RSE, Re-released his excellent 2008 album 88 Keys & Counting, and releasing a great EP on the RSE. 2011 is to be an even bigger year for the Seattle-based rapper, as he plans on releasing his first LP on Rhymesayers, Together/Apart. His rockstar looks and complex lyricism filled with vivid imagery reminiscent of a young Slug, will once again be complimented by Budo's guitar licks, piano loops and horns. Together/Apart is expected to see a June release.

Other Rhymesayers who are expecting to see a 2011 release include: Evidence's long awaited RSE debut Cats & Dogs
Freeway is also expected to see another release following his collaboration LP with Jake-One
The Seattle beatsmith, Jake-One is expected to release his follow up to his 2008 double-disc, White Van Music .

BRL 2010 Year in Review (Continued)

Sorry for the delay, I've been extremely lazy the past couple of weeks, but I'm going to take this time I have off from class (Snowpocalypse part 2!) to wrap up 2010, finally.

Top EPs and Mixtapes of 2010:

15. Grynch - Rapping About Rapping Mixtape - 30 points
14. Evidence - I Don't Need Love EP - 31 points
13. Blu - theGODleeBarnesLP - 33 points
12. Blueprint - Blueprint WHO? EP - 33 Points
11. Freddie Gibbs - Str8 Killah EP - 33 Points
10. Marz Lovejoy - This Little Light of Mine - 34 Points
09. Brothers From Another - Too Soon? EP - 36 Points
08. Sene - Reality Bites - 36 Points
07. Pac Div - Don't Mention It - 37 points
06. Asher Roth & Nottz - Rawth - 37 points
05. Atmosphere - To All My Friends & Blood Makes the Blade Holy - 40 points
04. Shawn Chrystopher - The Audition - 42 points
03. Grieves - Confessions of Mr. Modest - 42 points
02. J. Cole - Friday Night Lights - 42 points
01. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Vs Ep - Redux - 46 points

Rhymes: Atmosphere - "Just For Show" (New Single)

Atmosphere - Just For Show by rhymesayers

Here's the first single off of Atmosphere's The Family Sign, which is the group's first album in 3 years. The Nate Collis guitar-driven track features Slug airing out his grievances with a love gone awry. The album, due in less than 2 months now, is supposed to be the group's most personal and mature effort to date, with tracks about love, family, and death.



Tracklisting:

01 My Key
02 The Last to Say
03 Became
04 Just For Show
05 She’s Enough
06 Bad Bad Daddy
07 Millenium Dodo
08 Who I’ll Never Be
09 I Don’t Need Brighter Days
10 Ain’t Nobody
11. Your Name Here
12. If You Can Save Me Now
13. Something So
14. My Notes

Rhymes: 2009 WRap-Up

I know I'm over a month late, but I've been busy.
Using a system of criteria I made up including:
-Replay Value (how many times I listened to the album)
-Rapping/Singing (technical sense of rapping, ie: flow, cadence, vocal delivery)
-Production (Overall sound of the beats)
-Lyrics (Includes Lyrical Content as well as Lyrical techniques including multis, punchlines, similies and metaphors)
-Cohesion (how well the album meshes together as a whole unit, includes sequencing)
-Good Songs (plus 1 pt for every good song that stood out on album)
-Great Songs (plus 1.5 pts for every great song that stood out on album)
-Filler Songs (Negative 1 pt for every bad/filler song on an album)
-Tie Breakers are settled by my own personal decision

Top 20 Albums:
20. UGK - UGK 4 Life - 40 pts
19. Slaughterhouse - s/t - 40 pts
18. Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati - 40 pts
17. Eminem - Relapse - 41 pts
16. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3 - 41 pts
15. Asher Roth - Asleep in the Bread Aisle - 43 pts
14. Royce da 5'9" - Street Hop - 45 pts
13. Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez - 46 pts
12. Wale - Attention: Deficit - 47 pts
11. Q-Tip - Kamaal the Abstract - 49 pts
10. Kid CuDi - Man on the Moon: End of Day - 49 pts
9. BK-One - Radio Do Cabinal - 51 pts
8. K'naan - Trubadour - 52 pts
7. Clipse - Till the Casket Drops - 53 pts
6. P.O.S. - Never Better - 53 pts
5. Sene&Blu - ADayLate&ADollarShort - 54 pts
4. Mos Def - The Ecstatic - 54 pts
3. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 - 61 pts
2. Brother Ali - Us - 61 pts
1. Fashawn - Boy Meets World - 62 pts

Top Mixtapes/EPs (To Qualify, must have all original production)
13. Blu - HerFavoriteColo(u)r - 38 pts
12. Inverse - So True EP - 39 pts
11. Pac Div - Church League Champs - 40 pts
10. B.o.B. - B.o.B. Vs Bobby Ray - 41 pts
9. Charles Hamilton - This Perfect Life*** - 44 pts
8. DWill & Stik Figa - hellogoodbye - 46 pts
7. Freeway - The Beat Made Me Do It - 46 pts
6. Drake - So Far Gone EP - 46 pts
5. Atmosphere - Leak at Will EP - 47 pts
4. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Vs EP - 47 pts
3. Brother Ali - The Truth is Here EP - 48 pts
2. Danny! - Where is Danny? *** - 49 pts
1. CunninLynguists - Strange Journey Vol 1 and 2 (Both had 55 pts and couldnt decide between the two)

*** Denotes that the album was intended to be released as an album, but due to label difficulties was never released officially (which negated it from the top albums section), but was leaked by the artist themselves.

Rymes: Best Hip Hop Single of the Decade #20-11

#20 Devin the Dude - "What a Job (ft. Snoop Dogg and Andre 3000) [2007]

Devin and Snoop do their thing speaking of the behind the scenes shit that goes into making music. But my God does 3 stacks go off on that last verse. Verses from Benjamin Andre were few and far between towards the end of the decade, but all of them were absolutely spectacular as this one.

#19 Nas - "One Mic" [2001]

Few songs and videos are as powerful as Mr. Jones' 2nd single off of Stillmatic. This and "Hate me Now" were my introduction to the God Son emcee.

#18 Atmosphere - "Guarantees" [2008]

One of the best songs off of one of the best albums of the decade. Sean Daley doe shis damn thing speaking of blue collared struggles over amazing guitar playing by Nate Collis. ONe of my favorite atmosphere songs ever.
#17 Dilated Peoples - "This Way ft Kanye West" [2004]

Damn I miss backpack rap Kanye. This song was an introduction to one of my favorite west coast acts, Dilated Peoples and Evidence. One of my fav Kanye productions ever.

#16 Gangstarr - "Rite Where You Stand (ft Jadakiss)" [2003]

One of my fav Primo joints ever, 'kiss and Guru deliever incredible verses over my introduction to that gritty NY boom bap hip hop.

#15 SunN.Y. - "Soul of a Hustler" [2005]

Now this is an incredible song from an artist who i've never heard from again. He was signed to so so def in 05 but his album was never released, which is a damn shame becuase few emcees can hold down a 5 minute song with just straight spitting and no hook. This song is just as amazingly jaw dropping today as it was half a decade ago.

#14 Hi-Tek - "Music is for Life (ft Nas & Common)[2006]

Nas blacks out on one of hi-teks best beats ever. I prefer hi-teks original verse on this song that was on the demo version of the song, but Common is also excellent on this track.

#13 Lupe Fiasco - "Kick, Push" [2006]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl83mI69nX4
Lupe's debut single was an instant classic, a smooth lush beat provided soundtrakk. Lupe's introduction to the world came at a perfect time, where D4L was dominating the airwaves and nas claim hip hop's demise, lupe brought lyricism back to the forefront of mainstream hip hop.

#12 Jay Electronica - "Exhibit C" [2009]

Similarly what Lupe did 3 years earlier, Jay Electhannekkuh has had the internet going insane during the final weeks of the decade. This being the newest single on the list, its difficult to place exactly where this song belongs in the list, but few songs that I can remember have had as much impact as this just blaze production.

#11 CunninLynguists - "Mexico" [2007]

This song is just a masterpiece. Off of one of the best albums of the decade, released as a digi-single, songs like these make me wonder why arent the 'Lynguists all over MTV and selling a million records. Its a damn shame, maybe in a different era, they would be the most acclaimed group of a generation, but in this decade, they are underground's special little secret.

Rhymes: Top Hip Hop Singles of the Decade (40-31)

#40 The Roots "Break You Off" (2002)

This 2002 single is off the follow up to their 1999 grammy winning classic hit "You Got Me", many say it was a disappointment, but that album along with this song is what got me into the legendary roots crew.

#39 Kanye West "Touch the Sky (ft Lupe Fiasco)[2005]

This song introduced the world to Lupe Fiasco, and Lupe goes off on this. Classic Just Blaze beat, one of Kanye's finer singles.

#38 Raekwon "House of the Flying Daggers (ft. Ghost, Inspectah, Mef, and GZA)[2009]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHVCQc6cbSw (Heres the video its awesome, no embedding allowed, gay youtube)

The lead single off of Royce's comeback album, and one of 09's best albums. A majority of the Wu shred's a Dilla production that sounded like it was crafted for a Cuban Linx album.

#37 Eminem - Lose Yourself [2002]

Everyone's heard this song a million too many times, but who can deny this song? It's easily one of the best things he's ever done, and it seems like this is the closest we'll ever see Mr. Mathers reach his full potential. While 09's Relapse wasn't bad, it still had a hand full of just shit songs, which plagued a lot of his career.

#36 Cunninlynguists - "Seasons (ft Masta Ace)" [2003]

Although there was no music video made for this underground classic, it was released as a 12" single, which qualifies it for this list. Ohio's RJD2 produced this gem, as its one of the few 'lynguists songs that kno does not produce, but he does do a job as he shares mic duties with Legend Masta Ace, former member Mr. SoS and fellow founder of the group Deacon the Villain.

#35 Atmosphere - "Trying to find a Balance" [2003]

Atmosphere's 2003 album, Seven's Travels is often considered the Minnesota duo's worst full-length, but it also features their career defining single, Trying to Find a Balance.

#34 Royce da 5'9" - "Boom!" [2002]

This is vintage Primo with one of Detroit's finest emcees unleashing some his best rhymes.

#33 OutKast - "The Whole World (ft Killer Mike)" [2001]

Outkast drops yet another gem off of their 2001 greatest hits album, some of the best drums I've ever heard on a hip hop song.

#32 Brother Ali - "Room with a View" [2003]

Classic Ant and Ali. Ali's vivid lyricism makes me feel like a resident of Minneapolis.

#31 Mos Def - "Life in Marvelous Times" [2009]

Off of one of 2009's best albums, Mos makes his "Comeback" from 2004 and 2006 duds with this masterpiece. The way this tracks builds beautifully, there is no other word to describe the track other than well, Marvelous.

Rhymes: #7 Greatest Album of All Time: Atmosphere - God Loves Ugly

Yeah it's been a long ass time since I've done one of these posts, so I'm going to finally finish the countdown this month.

"You're so ugly. You're so ugly."
Those are the opening words to one of the most influential albums of my life. God Loves Ugly, a curious album title, for a curious hip hop duo. My first time hearing Atmosphere was "Lovelife" on some Pandora type website back in 2004. Sean and Anthony have since become one of my favorite musical acts.

But it all started with this 18 piece masterpiece. I was 15, I had never heard anything like Mr. Daley's abstract, emotional approach to rapping. Sure the battle raps are there (Onemosphere, Give Me, etc) but songs with such pain and vivid imagery, such as "F#&% You Lucy" and "A Girl Named Hope", this album was way over my head, and I wasnt ready for an album of this nature quite yet.

Years passed and I heard an Atmosphere song here and there, but one day once again my curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to revisit GLU. Once again, it wasn't the masterpiece that I had heard it hyped up to be. But a couple weeks passed, and my Junior prom came and went, and my date who I was currently crushing on, had just gotten a new boyfriend and I had felt something I had never felt before. Then "F&%# You Lucy" came on shuffle on my 2GB iPod nano, and all those emotions that I couldnt relate upon my first hearing of the album, all connected with me in a way that is beyond dope beats and clever lyrics.


Here is a live performance of "F#*$ You Lucy" I thought it was important to post a live version of this song because when I went to the atmosphere concert in May, it was one of the most unforgettable musical experiences Ive ever had.

Rhymes: Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez

Still no luck on getting the lap top fixed, but here's a vid from Felt (Slug of atmosphere and Murs) thats a few weeks old, but its still enjoyable nonetheless. Get Cake. Get Felt 3 November 17th.

Rhymes & Life: Feels Like Home vol 1 (Playlist)

This is a playlist I made full of songs about home, that have inspired my next ablum.

1. Ben Gibbard - You Remind Me of Home
2. Dear Juliet - Take Me Away
3. Kanye West - Home (Original Version)
4. Nina Simone - I'm Going Back Home
5. Norah Jones - The Long Way Home
6. Bob Dylan - House of the Rising Sun
7. Nirvana - Sliver
8. Sage Francis - Keep Moving
9. Audioslave - Like a Stone
10. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - Ohio
11. Bowling for Soup - Ohio (Come Back to Texas)
12. M.Ward & Zooey Deschanel - Bring it Back Home
13. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
14. Feist & Ben Gibbard - Train Song
15. Atmosphere - Always Coming Back Home to You (Acoustic)

Rhymes & Life: When God Gives You Ugly... You Paint That Shit Love

It had to have been maybe five years ago since the angelic sounds of Anthony Davis' drums from a song called "Lovelife" has graced my ears. "Lovelife" was my first exposure to this indie rap group hailing from Minnesota, Atmosphere. Since then the emcee/DJ combo of Sean (Slug) Daley and Anthony (Ant) Davis has become a soundtrack to my daily life. Brother Ali also tagged along for the show in Cleveland [Area], even though he's not on the When God Gives You Ugly Tour. Also Nate Collis' band (Collis plays guitar in many of the songs on When Life Gives You Lemons... and tours with Atmosphere), Attracted to Gods opened.

The show started about 10 til 9 with Attracted to Gods. The alt rock band consisted of Collis and a drummer. They were fairly good, and for a rock band at a hip hop show seemed to get a pretty decent reaction from the crowd. I am not familiar with any of their work, but the band performed some excellent instrumental songs which I may have to explore. Also Nate Collis provides strong vocals for most of the songs.

After about a 45 minute set by the opening act, Brother Ali came on stage. He opened his set with battleraps from his song "Bitchslap!" from his first song. Then spared no time going into the first single from his 2007 album, "The Truth Is" which had the full house screaming "MORE" over ant's reggae fused loop. Ali's stage presence was that of a merging star, as he interacted with the crowd telling jokes in between songs, and having the crowd hanging on every word during his performance. His next album, slated for a September release, is going to be huge (and by huge i mean top 10 first week on the billboard 200). Ali has already established himself in the underground with arguably two classic albums, and I have a feeling he will be getting a lot more exposure with his next release. One of the biggest standout performances of the night was his performance of "Walking Away", which is one of my personal favorites and Ant's bluesy backdrop perfectly compliments Brother Ali's heartbreaking story of his divorce...

"I Guess theres nothing more for us to say,
Got my mind made up, I'm walking away,
sometimes we just outgrow the roll that we play,
I hope you find a happy ending to your story someday..."

Also towards the end of the song, Ali adds another, just amazing verse to the song explaining how his wife neglected his infant son, which made him divorce him. I really wish I knew what the verse was from, it may have been a freestyle, but it seemed too well constructed to be so. Ali's performance of "Good Lord" which was off of his "Truth is Here EP" released in March, was another highlight of the night. The entire crowd knew every word to this song, and the crowd participation to "Freedom Aint Free" was another unforgettable moment.

After Ali's impressive, but short set, Sean and Anthony took the stage with a couple background vocalists, Nate Collis on guitar, a bassist and a keyboardist. Their set opened with "Godlovesugly". Slug was charming throughout the 2 hour set, telling humorous anecdotes inbetween songs. At one point in the show after an outstanding performance of "Painting", Slug had to bounce an intoxicated couple for acting beligerent and disrupting the show, but he made a smooth transition into another excellent performance of a crowd favorite, "Yesterday". Another high point of the night, was "Guarantees", which was played at a faster tempo than on the record, giving it a much different vibe, Slug also included another verse at the end, which was way too perfect to be a freestyle, but at the same time, I wouldnt put it past the Minnesota emcee.

Slug, indeed is the face of indie hip hop, and I like to refer to him as the voice of the unheard generation. No doubt he has the capability to be the biggest hip hop star of the decade, but chose to stay independant instead of selling out to a major label. This may have cost him millions of dollars, but at the sametime I have a hardtime thinking Nickelback and other multiplatnum artists having this strong of a fanbase. Cleveland, Ohio is not known for its hip hop roots, but the Beachland Ballroom, located on the outskirts of Cleveland, was jam packed at maximum capacity with people who knew every single bar the underground star uttered.

The show's most unforgettable moment had to be the performance of "Fuck You Lucy". My personal favorite song off of the God Loves Ugly album, which is Slug at his best:

Fuck the what happend
I got stuck
They can peel pieces of me off the grill of her truck
Used to walk with luck
Used to hold her hand
Fell behind and played the role of a slower man
I wanna stand on top of this mountain and yell
I wanna wake up and break up this lake of hell
I feel like a bitch for letting the sheet twist me up
The last star fighter is wounded time to give it up
On a pick it up mission
Kept it bitter
Getting in a million memories just to forget her

Out of my few live shows I've attended, this is the best musical moment I've ever been a part of. Slug captured the crowd with his tale of heartbreak so sincere, it's almost like it had just recently happened to him. I personally was sucked into the moment so deeply, I almost felt like I was experiencing an outer body experience, chanting the haunting reversed lyrics with the background vocalists:
"It leave never would you, you shouw could I if"

The show consisted mostly of songs from "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold" and "God Loves Ugly", but towards the end, they threw in some crowd favorites from older albums including "Trying to Find a Balance" "Guns & Cigarettes", and "Always Coming Back Home to You". During the encore, Brother Ali came back on stage and ran through performances of "Cats Vans Bags", which sounds much better live than on the album and "Blah Blah Blah". After that they broke into a rendition of Prince's classic, "Purple Rain", which was very ammusing, then they closed the set with some freestyles.

This was probably the best concert experience I've ever had. Everything was on from the ticket prices, to the stage, to merchandise (I got GLU and WLGYLYPTSG on vinyl), to the crowd, to the performances, and everything else in between. It was an excellent show.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338897205094234322" />