Oooooh, Ladies first. Ladies first.

Fiona Simone- Ladies Room 2.5

Fiona Simone has some certified bangers on this mixtape.

No Doze/ New Music

Well, I've been listening to alot of older music lately. I can't explain exactly why this is. What is old? Well, mainly I've been listening to First wave Ska, Old School Hip Hop, Parliament and Led Zeppelin. I've been enjoying myself. But, alas, I have a responsibility bringing new projects and artists to you, my readers. Most of this music isn't incredibly new, but it's still got that new cd smell about it. Let's start with a group you should have heard of already. It's called Idle Warship and it's single is nothing like the other tracks I've heard from them. Looks like they want to go the way Bilal did with First Born Second and totally confuse both record companies and consumers. I'd normally frown at this, but since this song is about the Industry it could have been a little 'how's your father' from Talib Kweli and Res, the duo that comprises Idle Warship. I love some Res. Santogold wrote most of her first album How I do and much of it was produced by Esthero's production team. She knows how to keep good company. She is a talented singer and performer in her own right and being easy on the eyes doesn't hurt her appeal either. We all know who Talib Kweli is. The Brooklyn MC has been on his Janet Jackson- he's taken control of his career with the creation of his own label Blacksmith. What I hear is an explosive fusion music spanning from electronic to spoken word, Hip Hop and Soul. I'm curious to see where this goes. Remember, the single is nowhere near as interesting as other tracks, but I'll respect them by going ahead and releasing the single first.

Idle Warship- "Industry Diary"

The next group isn't new either, but The Black Keys have recently dropped their acclaimed album Attack and Release. I was a huge fan of Rubber Factory and other projects from this group, but this here is just incredibly fresh. Why? I don'tknow if it's because I've been bombarded with too much lo-fi folk music or too much clean yet hard driving, pop driven Rock lately but this here seems grimey. It coats your ears in wonderful soot as it eases into your countenance. It's that smooth, yes. Would I lie to you? Maybe if I was getting paid under the table, I would. A man's gotta eat. Thankfully, this isn't the case. I've got just a handful of loyal readers andI tell y'all the truth. Attack and Release has a down-home, basement blues sensibility about it without sounding like it was recorded in a closet. I guess having Dangermouse on as the producer doesn't hurt, right? I have yet to put my finger on how Dangermouse is able to create these compositions that at once hearken to a tangible past without sounding like either an homage or a facsimile, but he pulls it off, again. Don't take my word for it. Listen for yourself.

The Black Keys- "Lies"

The third and last National/International group of this No Doze Segment is the Kidz in the Hall. Yeah, this isn't about the comedy troupe. This is about the Chicago-based Hip Hop duo that seems to be dropping mixtapes every other hour on the hour. Not only have they dropped some of the more interesting mixtape projects of late like Naledge is Power, Detention and others that slip my mind but they've been getting their politic on, as I've noted in past posts (again, without Internet Explorer you can't view ATL Heat's archives. I have no idea why that is, and I'm tired of trying to fix it. When I move to wordpress in the summer, it'll be fixed). Well, looks like they've remixed their Obama support. They've added Talib Kweli and Under Ground King Bun B. Oh yes, those Obamaites have star power.

Kidz in the Hall ft Talib Kweli & Bun B - "Work to Do"

That quickly we are back in the A-town. I love talking about what we have going on in the city. I think I'll start with an R&B songtress that might have slipped off your radar but is back into the swing of things in a big way with a song produced by last week's No Doze segment producers, Battery 5. I'm talking about former TLC member, Chilli. Fresh off what can be regarded as her drama filled post-TLC career, the sister is back to work with a song already getting spins here in Atlanta clubs and on local Radio.

Chilli- "Dum, Dum, Dum"

Listen, folks...I am one man. I can't be everywhere. I can't do everything. I also work nights so I miss most shows, it seems. That is how small of a picture you are getting about ATL's music scene when you come to this site. This is part of the reason why I have so many links along the right-hand side of this blog. Peruse them. Click the links, find out what going on. Why? Because I didn't even know this act existed. HEED is a live band from Decatur doing it WELL. Front man Big HEED reminds me of B.o.B in that he has a street sensibility about his flows but his content, his subject matter is broad. He has an armory stocked with lyrical weapons of which he can choose coupled with the luxury of baddest drummer in Atlanta by his side, Alien 1. Alien 1 is a dynamo. If you've EVER had a chance to see him live, you cannot forget him. He'll jump over his drums, stand on them, flip sticks, walk around with his snare...anything the spirit moves him to do. If you haven't seen them live, you are losing in life. Seriously.

HEED-"LEGZ"


HEED live at A-town Day 2008 from FireBrand on Vimeo.

Last but not least is Kid Kaos aka Senor Kaos. If you don't know, you should know that Kaos is the man around Atlanta in the promotions game. He's also one half of Vintage Imperial. Vintage Imperial doubles for the marketing arm of Kaos's promotions business and the group that the ATL Underground is holding it's breath to hear from again. It's been a few years since Senor Kaos has blessed us with a single of his own. We've heard him on DJ Unknown's 200.6 FM Mixtape in 2006 and we got a taste on that Audubon Society Volume 4. But this jawn is all his and it's already getting spin on Radio 1 in London. So lets run a check right quick. Kid Kaos:

1.) 1/2 of Hip Hop duo Vintage Imperial
2.) Owner of Vintage Imperial Marketing and Promotions
3.) Runs The Kaos Effect Blog
4.) Promoter of Creative Control at Cenci with DJ Jamad, DJ Lord, Applejac & Steve Dinero.

Yeah, he's holding down the A. And yeah, I'm showing him extra love because we are both originally from Brooklyn. Talk about it. Show some love for the Kid Kaos. He's known for dropping classics automatically.

Kid Kaos/Senor Kaos-"Automatic Classic"
Kid Kaos/Senor Kaos- "Building Character"
Kid Kaos/Senor Kaos- "Girls Rock Too"

As promised....

Well, I've finally got rid of my virus issues. I'd like to thank my lustful desires to see Vivica Fox doing the do for keeping me from uploading files for so long. You'd think a Trojan Horse would be an easy thing to be rid of, but *eh*. If you didn't know, a person on a board I frequent posted up a blog link that supposedly caught ms. Fox white handed. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, and alas when you lie down with even the finest of bitches, you come up with fleas. May God forgive me. For my penance I've put together this little mix which was a pain to do with a million pop ups inundating my screen (hence the truncated version). It's not my best work, but I'm not a DJ and this IS free. Same rules as always: there is no individual tracking of the mix in order to protect the artists as much as possible, and none of these are full tracks. Enjoy.

Grit's 'n Gravy Volume 10:



TRT: 50:55:00

Common- Black Maybe
Kanye West ft Lil Wayne- Barry Bonds
Che Grand- Swing
Feist- Sea Lion Woman
Lupe Fiasco- Go Baby
Black Dice- Gore
B.O.B ft playboi Tre- Heavy Breather
Heavy- P.R.I.T.T.Y Boy
Spank Rock & Benny Boom- Loose
Janet Jackson- Feedback
Estelle ft Kanye West- American Boy
One Hand Loves the Other- Rubbernecker Nightingdale
Felix the House Cat- Monkey Cage
Van Hunt- Prelude (The Dimples on your Bottom)
Little Brother ft Dion- Step it up
CL Smooth- Unplugged (Gensu Dean mix)
Talib Kweli- In the Mood
Nicole Wray- Stand Up
Clan Destined ft Sum Kid- Yo Life
Atmosphere- Don't Stop

One of my favorite carpetbaggers

No, he's not home-grown but he's still one of ours. Kid Kaos aka Senor Kaos has been doing his thing in the ATL music scene as a member of Vintage Imperial, a solo artist and as ATL's resident hip-hop promotions specialist for some years. I'd clown him for being a carpetbagger from Brooklyn, but I'ma carpetbagger from Brooklyn too as well as a Mets fan. We have to stick together.

Peep this no-so-new jawn from him I've been sitting on for a few weeks- or is it months? Who can keep up?

Friday's = No Doze/New Music.

Matthew Dear is dope. The first mixtape I ever made had an Audion (one of his known aliases) Track on it. This Texan living in Ann Arbor makes two Ann Arbor transplants I've talked about on this blog making good music (the other being Buff1). This single I'm making available for DOWNLOAD is called "Dog Days". He made this back in 2003 and it reminds me alot of the Audion tracks I used to love. I'm not going to get into all of his aliases and his prolific body of work in such a short amount of time. That's just too much work and I'm lazy. His newest release is called Asa Breed . What can do, however is leave you with this: Matthew Dear- "Dog Days"


Okay, okay. Fine. I know it's weird. I know *I* am weird. I'm a relatively young man, still in my 20's. I'm a Jamaican-American and I don't listen to alot of Dance-hall. Sue me. I was raised on a steady diet of Roots-Rock Reggae. In my family we broke bread in the morning with records of Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh and of course Bob Marley spinning in the backdrop. I still gain sustenance from that sound. I love some Gregory Isaacs with my toasted breadfruit on a Saturday Morning waiting for My Dawgs come on the tube. Every now and again a Dance-hall artist like a Capelton comes along and changes it up for me. This time it's Mavado. If you are into Dance-hall or Reggae and you haven't heard this VP recording artist's name ring out recently, you've prolly been under a rock. If you missed out on the mixtape prequel to his Album bearing the same name "Gangsta for life" you missed out. However... we still believe in seconds chances here at NorthernArc. You're welcome. Buy the album.

Y'all heard of the Procsussions, right? Well damnit this ain't about them. Okay, it sorta is. I wanna speak about this new mr. J Medeiros album "Of gods and girls". It's his solo debut, and I gotta say that it's the hotness. It really is. I mean, as soon as I put the album on I was in love. In fact, allow me to help ya'll share in the feeling. This is track #1 of the new album from mr. J Medeiros- "Amelie".

Enough for out-of-towners. Let's get back to the A. We've mentioned Le Castle Vania before on this blog. The man is doing his thing. Be sure to check him out at his Monthly Event over at the Drunken Unicorn on First Thursdays. The event is called Fuck Yesss, in case you were wondering. Dylan has an EP out, if you didn't know. Here's a track off of it. Le Castle Vania - "Tigertron"


Real quick I'ma speak on a young cat by the name of Atypik. This Atlanta based artist is originally from the Bay area. I know y'all haven't heard of him yet, but y'all might have seen him around. How did I run across him? We go to school together over at Clark Atlanta (CAU!). Yet another AU center artist, yes. This cat is talented, and he'll be on the "Brew House" mixtape coming Late Summer from Dj Unknown. Can't wait that long to hear new shit? Atypik - "Hold that pose".

I'ma close this out with Jahi Kearse. I mentioned him last week when we talked about Days Ahead. This man is talented. We know how deep the Atlanta Soul scene is and this brother has been on his grind in that scene. You might have seen him perform with Donnie, you might have seen him perform solo but I promise you that if you are into Soul (Like I am) You've never seen him and been disappointed. Word on the street is that he's got a Demo he's shopping. Enjoy this little jam from him...
Jahi Keare - "You're Beautiful".


That ends our No Doze segment for the day. I MIGHT be back to talk about some events this weekend. Lots of parties. The F'in Socialites have Slush(Featuring Matt Roan) planned for Saturday, The Decatur Social Club has an event featuring The Glamour over in East Atlanta (I'm assuming) tonight. Can't forget to mention that Dj Mafioso's Sazon will be going down at Apache as well for those that want to get their dance on.