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Review: Last Sunday @ Basement w/ Flipside, Rudee, et al.
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| Ni-Cd |
A batch of broken ribs completely ruined my carefully laid plans of attending Bel en Blanc last Sunday night. Having obtained said ribs by precariously challenging a rogue stretch of ice on Mr. Fisher's drive way while carrying my kiddo (he's fine), I discovered just how quickly nature wins over man. I was happy to carry the popular theme along (sarc!).
As a result, I found myself looking for something to do last weekend that didn't involve being too far away from home, should the ribs ache a little too much, and provided good solid beats. I hit up decadence at the guv on Thursday...the milling crowds proved to be too much for me, and I ended up bailing sooner than I would have liked. Then we decided to hit Basement on Sunday morning--not planning to stay too long.
Rudee opened up the club with some nice beats... I wasn't feeling his programming--though there were a few tracks that got me right there. You know, "right there." In that feel-good spot. Yeah, that's where they hit me, and I let him know it too; still waiting on one particular track id that caused a huge smile to spread over my face. Otherwise, I found his set a little all over the place, but it may have been my attention span as well; I'm trying to do better with focusing on a set as a whole instead of just picking out the odd track that tickles my fancy.
The real highlight of that morning, however, was MC Flipside. Anyone who has heard him spin knows how he works...and it is no less engaging if you've experienced his style before.
Let's look at a little history and rewind the scene here--the place: Jamaica, the time, roughly the late 1950s. Deejays would flip records on, and a quick-lipped linguist would hop on the mic and add in 'peps' (sound effects to pep the record up), 'Jive' (taken from black-speak jive: rhymes and slangs spoken to the beat of the music), and wise cracks. The Deejay's vocal infusion became so popular in jamaica, that people would buy records and then return them, disappointed that the vocals weren't part of the released track (they were done live!). The competition was feirce, and these cunning linguists would bring their A game constantly to drive the crowds to their sound machines (a whole other story). (Check out Last night a dj saved my life: the history of the disc jockey, page 114 for the whole story)
MC Flipside grabs the mic, and starts pounding out rhymes with his live mix to create this cool new sound. I had heard him do this before, at Footwork, when The Rubdown was first released (his vocal rendition of the ever-popular The Rub)... but I had forgotten just how engaging and fun the kind of interaction was that he sparked with the crowd. Still retainly a distinctly house sound with slightly accented lyrics, Flipside stirred the crowd up solidly and was active behind the decks, fully engaged with the drops, arcing his arms as the next drop came--slamming it into place. We were having a blast! He gave us a taste of The Tip - a mix he did with Toronto local Joey Seminara (currently no. 5 on beatport), and sang along the recorded vocals with his own vocals; his energy was totally contagious. He of course dropped The Rubdown too (which is now appearing regularly on z103.5 -- kudos to him).
I'm glad that Basement has a guy like Flipside on rotation--he brings something very unique to the live DJ set that we really don't see from... any? ... other DJs with the live and rhythmic vocals he presents. I'm looking forward to hearing more of his sets and seeing more of Flipside in action. If you haven't heard this guy, come out to basement next time he spins and get a gander for yourself; i'm not sure if he has a residency anywhere else or not.
We listened to Cam Maxwell and El Duran--as mentioned on the other thread I really like the fact Cam throws a bunch of tribal into his sets--but it may have been because i sat with him for 20 minutes bitching about how much I'd like to hear more tribal...lol. Cam is one of those guys who totally cracks me up. Great sense of humour and very approachable...but when he is behind the decks, he is as cold as ice man. He takes his DJing very seriously.
So I hear a bunch of people are going this Sunday, and I even get a txt from Psiico saying that he'll drag his sorry ass out of bed if we go. Alright buddy--you're on. We'll pick you up on the way! I hear Samhouse is going too. Should be a good time, and I hear there may be a little HA reunion startin' just after 6? Beers at 11 folks! I'm thirsty already thinkin' about it. |
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| samhouse |
hmm I'm not sure about sunday. Bal en Blanc killed me last weekend and its my grandmoms bday as well.
don't know though lets see. |
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| Ni-Cd |
| Ah--I hear you buddy. I so wish I could have been at bel en blanc to party it up with you... can't wait to hear first hand how it was man! Family first--we'll catch up next time. |
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