Killa Kela tonight in Brisbane with Pendulum

UK beatbox sensation Killa Kela is performing tonight at Family in Brisbane, supporting massive Perth-bred drum and bass trio Pendulum, and he’ll be getting down with them tomorrow night in the Metro in Melbourne. If you don’t mind yourself some dnb action (and Pendulum are the top of the pile in that arena), Kela is unfathomably dope. He was last seen partying hard at CMJ in New York. Safe.

Killa Kela on MySpace

Soulmate gets it locked with Boltz

The first signing to upstart label Soulmate Records, Boltz of A-Diction, is expanding his debut EP into an LP for release in the first quarter of 07. Still titled The Wishlist, the revised full-length features a guest shot from locked-up Detroit spitter Royce Da 5′9” and beats from M-Phazes (Bliss n Eso, Supastition, Kenn Starr), Muneshine (Canada), Weapon X, Trials of Funkoars, Stylaz Fuego and Mules. An early listen to the EP revealed crisp beats and thoroughly developed writing. Particularly notable was a politically charged A-Diction reunion track.

Soulmate is Melbourne based, and The Wishlist will be distributed by Inertia. Also on the Soulmate roster is Brisbane-based producer Stat D, who has hustled his beats onto upcoming releases from 13th Son, NFa and freestyle wunderkind 360.

Soulmate Records
Boltz on MySpace

Final Big Day Out line-up announcement

The third and final announcement of acts for the 2007 Big Day Out holds a few hip hop names, but certainly no surprises.

P-MONEY was virtually guaranteed – Scribe was part of the first announcement.
FOREIGN HEIGHTS put on a hot show and should get the crowd lifted.
TZU are purported to be fly on live tip, and hit that crossover spot without the extra cheese.
MACROMANTICS was a shoe-in. She’s been doing regular support shots with different acts around the country for the last two years and gained that coveted JJJ feature album spot.

They join Scribe, Spank Rock, The Herd, Lupe Fiasco and Diplo. Locally, the Funkoars play Adelaide and Fdel and Armee play Perth. Ransom and Perplex DJ in Melbourne. The most interesting of the international acts are the least traditionally hip hop: Spank Rock and Diplo. As for Lupe, will he survive beyond the hype surrounding Food and Liquor?

Triple J adds 13.12.06

The final round of Triple J adds for 2006 is bereft of hip hop, local or otherwise, rounding out a slow few months for rap on the Js. With the exception of Muph n Plutonic’s Silence the Sirens scoring feature album during Oz Music Month and Nas’ “Hip Hop Is Dead” getting a decent flogging, we’ve seen spot play for Rhymefest, Mystro and Yungun & Mr Thing in the last quarter. Before that, Astronomy Class got deserved love for “A Better Tomorrow” and Lupe’s “Kick Push” was ground into the asphalt. To the left, Macromantics’ Moments in Movements was also feature album and True Live’s “TV” was put to air in prime time. For consistency, Soul Position’s “Hand-Me-Downs” was the stayer of the year, getting repeated spins well into the second half of 2006, especially from Robbie Buck and Myf Warhurst.

On a related note, the following were selected as Triple J’s weekly feature album during 2006:
Muph n Plutonic Silence The Sirens 17.11.06
Lupe Fiasco Food and Liquor 20.10.06
Macromantics Moments in Movement 06.10.06
Ghostface Killah Fishscale 04.08.2006
Hilltop Hoods The Hard Road 23.03.2006
Koolism New Old Ground 17.02.06
Atmosphere You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having 06.01.2006

Review: Hilltop Hoods “What A Great Night” CDS/12” (Obese Records)

Major label isht aside, the CD single is a rare commodity in Australian hip hop, with most acts catering to a core fanbase that are going to buy (or download) the album anyway. ARIA, DMA, and J-Award winners Hilltop Hoods are one of the few who can afford the luxury, which is good news for listeners who appreciate remixes and instrumentals, and DJs who can cop the accompanying 12”.

With a rocking, rattling guitar loop, tinkling chorus, and party-hardy theme, “What A Great Night” is an obvious single choice from The Hard Road, even if it’s not one of the best tracks from the album. Suffa’s verses don’t measure up to the previous two singles, and while there’s a concept, it’s not explored on par with, say, “Stopping All Stations”. The remix from Simplex of Terra Firma adds a touch of drama with it’s flute and a brief, ominous switch up at the start of Suffa’s second verse. The thickly layered chorus is almost, but not quite, too busy and the stripped back ‘rock the house’ outro works a treat. With any luck, this is a sign of some forthcoming Terra Firma material. Funkwig & deNorthwode’s loping remix keeps things sparse, extending the intro and adding cuts from DJs Sum 1 and Kansel in the outro. Overall, it’s a safe choice for a radio single, with remixes to satisfy the heads.

Hilltop Hoods on MySpace
Obese Records

Braintax to provide beats for The Tongue?

In a new interview at In The Mix, the UK’s Braintax mentions that he’s keen to collaborate with Elefant Traks’ artist The Tongue.

Yourself and Mystro recently hooked up with the Hilltop Hoods for the song ‘Obese Low Life’. As the Low Life head honcho, can you tell us if you have any more collaborations planned with any other members of the Obese Family, or any other Aussie artists for that matter?

Nothing really planned but I checked out this guy Tongue and I’m gonna try and link him and give him some beats. DJ Debris is a good dude so I’ll definitely be round his place again, and I got a lot of respect for the Elefant Tracks crew so next time I’m in Sydney we’ll hook up hopefully. I need to get out there again and make some links still.

Joey Brains has also previously collaborated with The Herd on “Effortless” from The Sun Never Sets (Elefant Traks, 2005), and says elsewhere in the interview that Urthboy is his favourite Australian MC.

Interestingly, on the final track on his new album Panorama (Low Life, 2006), Brando Flux mentions that his plans for the future include “a beach house in New South Wales”. Could there be a seachange on the cards for one of Britain’s foremost hip hop acts and entrepreneurs?

The Tongue on MySpace
Braintax/Low Life Records on MySpace

Video: Pegz – What Would Happen?

Here’s the Isore-directed clip for “What Would Happen?” from Pegz’ Axis. Isore also put together the clip for the Hilltop Hoods third single from The Hard Road, “What A Great Night” which debuted on Rage this weekend. Check out more of Isore’s work, including Funkoars’ “DuNaNa”, here.

New Australian crate digging blog

Sydney-based DJ Kinetic’s new blog providing brief reviews of Aussie funk, jazz, soul and psych rock gets off to a strong start with a post full of goodies. Among the curiosities is Mandy Sheridan and Terry King’s From The Shark’s Mouth, apparently pressed up by the Cronulla Leagues Club and featuring a version of the Sharks’ anthem “Up, Up Cronulla.” Very Australian. Aussie Funk kind of fills the gap created by the hiatus of DJ Sheep’s Tasman Connection. It remains to be seen how a blog like this might effect the availability and price of the records featured (a la the Soulstrut effect).

Def Wish Cast live in Brisbane

Sydney’s Def Wish Cast bring their album launch tour to Queensland this weekend, with members of their Basic Equipment crew in tow. Last night’s Brisbane show was a little sparsely attended, but those who did show brought plenty of love for the b-boy originators. Scott Burns set it off with a short set that seemed largely off the cuff. Beatboxer Rivals stepped up and got busy with Brissy’s own Tom Thumb (aka Tommy Illfigga – album dropping early next year on United Notions) before being joined on stage by MC Immune, who had a tight show and a few songs that definitely deserve a closer listen.

The sound at the Columbian Bar is not brilliant, which is disappointing as the place is becoming the default venue for a lot of Australian hip hop. (The Living Room, across town in Paddington, has a better sound and a classier vibe, but is demand in across genres, so only the bigger events are getting in.) The first half of DWC’s set was marred by feedback that necessitated constant mic-swapping by Die-C and Def Wish, but by the last few songs all kinks were ironed out. DJ Murda 1’s ferocious cuts settled perfectly into the bombastic production and the three MCs maintained their energy throughout. Def Wish’s breakneck speed-spitting on older cuts They Will Not Last and AUST was unlike anything seen on Oz stages these days, Sereck gave us a brief handheld 808 workout, and the closing tracks – Knights of the Underground Table, Allstars and AUS Down – proved definitively that old kings never die.

Video: Def Wish Cast – Knights of the Underground Table – Live at the Columbian

Yungun & Mr Thing tour in January 07

Yungun’s MySpace says he’ll be in Australia January 6 to 21 for shows with Mr Thing. The tour will support their album Grown Man’s Business, licensed in Australia by Central Station’s new hip-hop subsidiary, Grindin’. Actual dates are yet to be announced.

Yungun on MySpace