Album: Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror

Album: Reign of Terror
Mom & Pop
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Rating: ******* (7/10)

Personally, I think you’d have been foolish to harbor high hopes for Sleigh Bells’ follow-up to their 2010 debut, Treats. Sure, Treats was, hands down, the best album of 2010. But remember, 2010 wasn’t exactly 1991. The reason Treats was such a treat is that it was one of the only albums that sounded like 2010. >> Read the full review at piquedmag.com

Album: A Place To Bury Strangers - Onwards to the Wall [EP]

Album: Onward to the Wall
Dead Oceans
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Rating: ******* (7/10)

It's no secret that A Place to Bury Strangers is a one-trick pony, but it's a damn good trick. Guitarist and singer Oliver Ackermann makes his own custom guitar pedals and uses them to annihilate his songs in a peeling monolith of distortion and feedback. A driving beat and heavily reverbed tenor vocals emerge from the murk and shape the wash of noize into irresistible bite-sized songs.

The band's new E.P., Onwards to the Wall, is in many ways a more interesting release than the band’s last full-length album, 2009’s Exploding Head. >> Read the full review at piquedmag.com

News: Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon Announce Divorce

I don't believe in love anymore.

Upcoming Shows: Walt Mink, Screaming Females + more!

Tonight!! Thursday, July 28

Walt Mink @ Bell House * Gowanus, Brooklyn * $12
Walt Mink were a band in the 90's who were good at making music but had bad luck with record labels so nobody has ever heard of them. It's kind of like Husker Du (who shared their alma mater) or Smashing Pumpkins or Archers of Loaf - basically, fast-paced 90's alternative/indie rock but towards the pop punk end of the spectrum. ::details::

Controlled Bleeding, David Grubbs, Ryan Sawyer (Stars Like Fleas)+C Spencer Yeh+Nate Wooley @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
This is an amazing line-up of experimental musicians. David Grubbs was in Squirrel Bait, Gastr Del Sol and Red Krayola so he basically rules 80's and 90's experimental rock. Controlled Bleeding are perhaps a little more straightforwardly punky and the trio of Ryan Sawyer, C Spencer Yeh and Nate Wooley is an avant-garde supergroup. [controlled video] [grubbs video] [rs+csy+nw video] ::details::

Shilpa Ray (solo) @ Shea Stadium * Bushwick, Brooklyn
Shilpa Ray is one badass lady. She sings like a very drunk Janis Joplin and dances like an overly excited four year old and hates everyone but most of all, herself (or so her lyrics and stage banter would have you believe). [video] ::details::


Tomorrow!! Friday, July 29

Fucked Up, Cro-Mags, Screaming Females, Pissed Jeans @ House of Vans * Greenpoint, Brooklyn * Free with RSVP, currently at capacity!
How can I possibly explain how good this line-up is? Even major music festivals rarely boast four bands of this caliber. Fucked Up are a band of punk superheros who have reinvented the entire genre of hardcore. Cro-Mags are old school. Screaming Females may be the best rock and roll band on earth right now, with legendary guitar hero and screaming female Marissa Paternoster at the helm. Pissed Jeans are a vitrolic, self-destructive punk/noise band. Their frontman is one of the better, and more captivating, self-debasing performer (in the vein of Iggy Pop) to emerge in recent years. [fucked up video] [cro-video] [screaming video] [pissed video] ::details::

Other Shows
Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom (sold out!) [deets]
Dez Cadena (Black Flag, Misfits) @ South Paw (West Memphis Three benefit!) [deets]
Eels @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ($30) [deets]


Saturday, July 30

Gang Gang Dance @ South Street Seaport * Financial District, Manhattan * Free!
Gang Gang Dance's experimental dub, pan-ethnic tribal trance music is amazing. Yeah, that description maybe sounds a little horrible, but they've got club dance smarts and mystique and their "world music" elements are genuine and tasteful and never about co-opting shit. [video] ::details::

Bells @ Bruar Falls * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $10
Bells are a post-rock/math-rock sort of instrumental band who know how to be loud and aggressive but also sometimes ecstatic. They are ex-Jawbox and ex-Oxford Collapse and they are as good as that sort of family tree would have you believe. ::details::

Other Shows
Gary War @ Cake Shop ($8) [deets]
Ill Fits (mems Amazing Baby, MGMT), Sundelles @ Cameo Gallery ($10) [deets]
So So Glos @ Knitting Factory ($10) [deets]
Eels @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ($30) [deets]


Sunday, July 31

Jeff the Brotherhood @ Rockaway Beach * Rockaway, Queens * Free!
You gotta go to Rockaway for this (the farthestest reaches of New York, out past JFK) but it's JEFF for FREE. Jeff are bringing rock and roll back. [video] ::details::

Yvette, Liquor Store, Dinowalrus, So So Glos (DJ Set) @ Shea Stadium * Bushwick, Brooklyn
Yvette are a heavy band I heard some time ago, kind of experimental and screaming and lots of rhythm-led stuff, if I recall correctly. Liquor Store are a blue color punk/rock band who kind of look like they're on meth (but they play too well for that to be true, probably) and put on a goddamn show. They're most like the proto-punk garage rockers (e.g. MC5) but a little lighter on their feet. Dinowalrus play experimental, psychedelic, baggy rock that you can dance to. They will make you want to do drugs, but in a fun way. [yvideo] [liquor video] [dinovideo] ::details::


Tuesday, August 2

Sugarhill Gang @ Tappan Park * Staten Island * Free!
Even Sugarhill Gang are not worth the trek to Staten Island. Sugarhill Gang are rap's first real breakthrough act, one of the first rap acts to be put on vinyl and receive proper, national distribution. They stole a bunch of shit from legit MCs and got credit because no one else had recorded it yet. But for all they're plagiarizing wannabes, you can't deny their importance in the history of contemporary pop. ::details::

Other Shows
Ettes, Heavy Cream @ Mercury Lounge ($10) [deets]
Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park (sold out!) [deets]
Death Cab for Cutie, Frightened Rabbit @ Williamsburg Waterfront (sold out!) [deets]
C Spencer Yeh @ The Stone [deets]


Wednesday, August 3

Big Audio Dynamite (Mick Jones of the Clash), HR (Bad Brains), Andy Rourke (The Smiths) (DJ set) @ Brooklyn Bowl * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * Sold out!
It's the dude from the Clash, the dude from Bad Brains and the dude from the Smiths. If you don't know who those bands are, you are beyond my help. [bad video] [hr video] ::details::

Other Shows
Ettes, Heavy Cream @ Knitting Factory ($10) [deets]
Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park ($45) [deets]
Andrew W.K. @ Santos Party House ($13/$15) [deets]
Frightened Rabbit @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ($25) [deets]


The long view...

August
4
Pygmy Shrews, So So Glos @ Shea Stadium
Anni Rossi, Dinowalrus @ Bruar Falls ($7)

5
Vaz @ Death By Audio ($7)

6
Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom
Crystal Antlers @ Glasslands ($10)
Total Slacker, Darlings, Beets @ Shea Stadium

7
Mission of Burma @ South Street Seaport (free!)
Friendly Fires, Cults @ Central Park (free!)

8
The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Terminal 5

9
The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Terminal 5

11
Memory Tapes, Bell @ Glasslands ($12)
MV+EE @ Shea Stadium
Nas, Damian Marley @ Central Park ($45)

12
Sonic Youth, Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney), Kurt Vile @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($40)

21
Rakim, EPMD @ Central Park (free!)
Jeff the Brotherhood (not headlining) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($18)

22
Deerhunter, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ Webster Hall

23
Deerhunter, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ Webster Hall

24
Cold Crush Brothers @ East River Park (free!)

25
Wavves @ East River Park (free!)

27
Male Bonding @ Glasslands ($10/$12)
John Zorn @ The Stone

29
Male Bonding @ Mercury Lounge


September
3
Weekend, Talk Normal, Brown Recluse @ Glasslands ($10/$12)

6
Les Savy Fav @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

8
TV on the Radio @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($48)

12
Blondie @ Highline Ballroom

13
Blondie @ Highline Ballroom
Peter Hook (Joy Division) @ Irving Plaza

20
Deerhoof, White Suns @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

23
The Descendents @ Roseland Ballroom

27
Swans @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

29
Marnie Stern, No Joy @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Ty Segall, The Babies @ Bowery Ballroom

30
X @ Irving Plaza


October
1
X @ Irving Plaza

3
Shellac @ Bell House ($17/$19)

4
The Horrors @ Webster Hall

15
Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney) @ Bell House

18
Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney) @ Bowery Ballroom

21
Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles @ Bowery Ballroom
Jonathan Richmond (Modern Lovers) @ Bell House ($15)

22
The Damned @ Irving Plaza
CSS, The Men @ Webster Hall
Jonathan Richmond (Modern Lovers) @ Bell House ($15)

29
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) @ Town Hall (sold out!)

Album: The Horrors - Skying

Album: Skying
XL Records
Release Date: July 26 or August or something (in the US)
Rating: ******** (8/10)

The first time I heard the Horrors, they were opening for someone or other at Music Hall of Williamsburg and I thought they were one of the worst bands I'd ever heard - a "goth" band that had probably never listened to real goth music in their lives, a band who ripped off real musicians to create an "edgy" image and used some cheap effects to try to disguise the fact that their music is as formulaic as any mainstream teen radio idol.

But I kept seeing their 2009 record Primary Colours on Best of Oh Nine lists including lists by some people I hold in high regard. Like Fucked Up. I grudgingly sat down with a copy. And was astounded.

I can still hear in the Horrors what inspired my very mistaken first impression. On one level, they are a blatantly derivative 80s throwback. You'd be hard pressed to find any single element in their music that wasn't directly sourced from a UK band circa 1982 (give or take a couple years). And if I'm to be honest, that fact really does prevent this band from full-on greatness. The silver lining here is that they don't sound like most of the other bands of the moment. They sound big and their music resonates with drama and genuine pain. It's a sad truth that a band that doesn't sing about going to the beach is now exceptional. Fuck the beach. Ian Curtis never sang about the fucking beach - not because he didn't like the beach (probably) but because he knew it would be a stupid thing to sing about.

This is all kind of irrelevant because I actually have no idea what the Horrors are on about, except that it’s not the beach (probably). But what I'm saying is that the Horrors are true Romantics and are definitely not into this escapist bullshit. Romantics may be dramatic goofs, but if you can say one thing for them, it’s that they are much too busy getting their hearts broken to think about the beach.

For all its moodiness, Skying is less dark than Primary Colours. Which isn’t saying much. It also sounds much larger than Primary Colours, which definitely is saying something. Instrument for instrument, the Horrors owe their biggest debt to Public Image Ltd and Joy Division. The guitar is straight up Keith Levene (Public Image) with bass recalling Peter Hook (Joy Division) and vocals that are, at most, two generations down the musical family tree from Ian Curtain (Joy Division again). There is another band that ripped of Keith Levene and Joy Division, and they are called U2 and Skying doesn’t sound unlike U2’s first record (okay, it sounds exactly like it), even if the Horrors’ pseudo-gothic image doesn’t exactly jive with golden boy Bono. I haven’t heard anyone rip off Keith Levene quite so well since the Edge did back then (a long long time ago).

This guitar, however derivative, is the highlight of the album. It’s never high in the mix, but below the surface, it twinkles and shimmers like glowing embers. There's some Kevin Shields influence in there too, pitches bending achingly in and out of tune. The sparkling chorus on "Changing the Rain" is stunning and the melting reversed reverb on "Still Life" might take your breath away.

The synthesizers, on the other hand, are entirely lacking in subtlety. The cheesy parts may be hard for some folks to swallow, but at least the band fully embraces them. There's nothing worse than self-aware, apologetic synth pop. If you feel you have to apologize for your music, you shouldn't be making it in the first place. The Horrors offer no apologies when the blaring synth textures introduce "You Said" or when synthesizer riffs burst in rather rudely on songs like "Moving Further Away" and "I Can See Through You." Although the synths do sound modern, their parts unabashedly channel London, 1981. The band is not shy about signposting their New Romantic roots - you remember all those synth bands out of London in the early 80's: Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Spandau Ballet, Depeche Mode and the rest of them? Those guys.

The vocals also owe their biggest debt to that period - direct Ian Curtis descendents though they may be, they are more dramatized and less despondent. Sure, singer Faris Badwan has anguish, but it's the anguish of a showman. The Horrors are writ large and deliver a performance, a production, drama in the sense of theatrics as well as emotion. Like so many of their influences, they draw on glam rock, which draws in turn on cabaret - it's spectacle, it's fully removed from the mundane, it's the soap opera to punk's gritty documentary.

Granted, the band has some roots in punk and garage rock as well. The Birthday Party (Nick Cave's original band) is the first example that comes to mind but the band learns from bands as far back as 60's garage rockers like the Seeds and ? and the Mysterians. But on Skying, they've largely said adieu to their grittier side in favor of a massive, polished sound. They're still noisy, no doubt about it, but they don't have a lot of rough edges left.

The most polished and least dated element in the music is the rhythm section. Just as the vocals are Ian Curtis via New Romantics, the bass is Peter Hook via U2 in as much as it tends to hang on the root a lot and sticks to a lot of quarter notes. But this sort of minimal melodicism fits perfectly with the dance-y grooves of the drums, which unlike the beatz of 1981, have the advantage of having a chance to learn from hip-hop, trip-hop and acid house (of which the last is the most direct rhythmic blueprint for Skying). They've got that whole baggy, Madchester thing down pat, especially on the slower tracks like "Changing the Rain" and "Moving Further Away."

The album boasts a decent amount of variety, ranging from the one rough'n'gritty track, "Monica Gems" to the slick "Changing the Rain," from the Telescopes ripoff "Dive In" to the M83ity "Moving Further Away." The best tracks are the biggest, shiniest, danciest, poppiest, rockin'est ones: "Changing the Rain," "I Can See Through You," "Dive In," "Still Life" and the eight minute opus "Moving Further Away." The remaining tracks are a bit less inspired but work well enough in the context of the LP.

It's hard for me to admit this album is made up entirely of recycled 80's Britishisms and that's probably because I enjoy it so very much. I want to believe in the Horrors. I want to believe they are doing something that matters. I want to believe I'm not buying into an act that merely pillaged a decade and dressed it up all as something new, but I am. And so what? I started asking myself why anyone would want to make an album that sounds exactly like early U2, but I've ended up with a different question - why wouldn't anyone want to make an album that sounds exactly like early U2. Skying isn't important. But it's so beautiful it makes my heart skip a beat. And that's not a bad accomplishment, even if it's fleeting.

Upcoming Shows: The Feelies, N.O.R.E. + more

Tonight!! Thursday, July 21

N.O.R.E., Funkmaster Flex @ Queensbridge Park * LIC, Queens * Free!!
N.O.R.E. is A.K.A. Noreaga, and he's one of the better rappers out of NYC in the late 90's. Don't underestimate the special guests either, it's going to be someone amazing. I went to another one of the shows in this series on Tuesday and I wrote about it. What I wrote should make it clear why you must go to this. It's swimming distance from Manhattan (but I recommend the F train). [video] ::details::

Other Shows
Gang Gang Dance @ Rocks Off Cruises (sold out!) [deets]
The Vandelles @ Union Hall ($8) [deets]
Haunted Houses (mems Trail of Dead, Here We Go Magic), Magik Markers @ Cameo Gallery [deets]


Tomorrow!! Friday, July 22

Death From Above 1979 @ Wiliamsburg Waterfront * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $35
This band has a very loud distorted bass guitar and a drummer who yells. They've been known to start riots (well, just once). [video] ::details::

Other Shows
Autodrone, Dead Leaf Echo @ Pianos ($10) [deets]
Magik Markers @ Shea Stadium [deets]
WU LYF @ Mercury Lounge (sold out!) [deets]


Saturday, July 23

The Feelies, Real Estate, Times New Viking @ Prospect Park * Brooklyn * Free!
The Feelies were one of the best bands in the 80's. They sounded like a more ambitious and slightly less dissonant, more poppy Mission of Burma. They play jagged, percussive post punk and held the throne in the booming Hoboken scene at the time (well, shared it will Yo La Tengo, of course). Real Estate and Times New Viking open. [feelies video] [real video] [times new video] ::details::

Andrew Cedermark (ex-Titus Andronicus), Dustin Wong (Ponytail) @ Shea Stadium * Bushwick, Brooklyn
Andrew Cedermark was in Titus Andronicus, which is one of the best bands. Dustin Wong still is in Ponytail which is another one of the best bands. Mr. Cedermark sounds all calculatedly unpolished post punk folky rock stuff. Mr. Wong feeds a guitar through a loop pedal again and again and again to make some pretty fascinating (if geeky) instrumental music. [ceder video] [wong video] ::details::

Other Shows
Young Boys @ Bruar Falls ($6)[deets]
Passive Aggressor @ Dead Herring House [deets]
WU LYF @ Knitting Factory (sold out!) [deets]
Heartless Bastards (acoustic) @ Mercury Lounge [deets]


Sunday, July 24

Vaz, Mattress @ Bruar Falls * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * Free!
Vaz play sharp, loud music that's kind of angry and delightfully unpleasant (that's a compliment). I haven't heard Mattress but I keep seeing their name around. This show is free. [vaz vid] ::details::

Other Shows
Heartless Bastards (acoustic) @ Mercury Lounge [deets]
Swirlies, Psychedelic Horseshit @ Beekman Beer (afternoon show, free) [deets]
Black Francis @ Le Poisson Rouge ($20/$25) [deets]

Wednesday, July 27

Super Big Gulp (mems Total Slacker, Beach Fossils, Oberhofer, Friends) @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
This is a really weird thing, it's like Todd P made a Brooklyn supergroup out of leftover buzz bands. Total Slacker are amazing. Friends (the band) are less so. I saw Beach Fossils a long time ago and didn't like it. But this is none of these bands. I don't know what it is. It costs $7 to find out. ::details::


The long view...

July
28
Walt Mink (great 90's indie band that split up over 10 years ago) @ Bell House
Shilpa Ray @ Shea Stadium
Controlled Bleeding, David Grubbs @ Death By Audio ($7)

29
West Memphis Three Benefit with Dez Cadena @ Southpaw
Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom

31
Yvette, Liquor Store, Dinowalrus, So So Glos (DJ set) @ Shea Satdium

August
2
Sugarhill Gang @ Tappan Park (free!)
Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park

5
Vaz, Pygmy Shrews @ Death By Audio ($7)

6
Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom
Crystal Antlers @ Glasslands ($10)
Total Slacker, Darlings, Beets @ Shea Stadium

7
Friendly Fires, Cults @ Central Park (free!)

8
The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Terminal 5

9
The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Terminal 5

11
Memory Tapes, Bell @ Glasslands ($12)
MV+EE @ Shea Stadium
Nas, Damian Marley @ Central Park ($45)

12
Sonic Youth, Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney), Kurt Vile @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($40)

21
Rakim, EPMD @ Central Park (free!)
Jeff the Brotherhood (not headlining) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($18)

22
Deerhunter, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ Webster Hall

23
Deerhunter, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ Webster Hall

24
Cold Crush Brothers @ East River Park (free!)

25
Wavves @ East River Park (free!)

27
Male Bonding @ Glasslands ($10/$12)
John Zorn @ The Stone

29
Male Bonding @ Mercury Lounge


September
3
Weekend, Talk Normal, Brown Recluse @ Glasslands ($10/$12)

6
Les Savy Fav @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

8
TV on the Radio @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($48)

12
Blondie @ Highline Ballroom

13
Blondie @ Highline Ballroom
Peter Hook (Joy Division) @ Irving Plaza

20
Deerhoof, White Suns @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

23
The Descendents @ Roseland Ballroom

27
Swans @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

29
Marnie Stern, No Joy @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Ty Segall, The Babies @ Bowery Ballroom

30
X @ Irving Plaza


October
1
X @ Irving Plaza

3
Shellac @ Bell House ($17/$19)

4
The Horrors @ Webster Hall

15
Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney) @ Bell House

18
Wild Flag (ex-Sleater-Kinney) @ Bowery Ballroom

21
Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles @ Bowery Ballroom
Jonathan Richmond (Modern Lovers) @ Bell House ($15)

22
The Damned @ Irving Plaza
CSS, The Men @ Webster Hall
Jonathan Richmond (Modern Lovers) @ Bell House ($15)

29
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) @ Town Hall (sold out!)

Live: Kool Moe Dee, Marly Marl + more

When: July 19 (also known as yesterday)
Where: Queensbridge Park

Last night I finally managed to hit one of the NYC Parks Department's summer hip-hop shows.  As they've done for a few years now, they're putting on a whole bunch of old school hip-hop shows in parks every borough this summer which, if you stop to think about it, is surprisingly astute, because of course, NYC public parks are exactly where hip-hop was born.   When Kool Herc and dem came up from Jamaica and got the party started, they set up their speakers in the parks of the South Bronx, jacked some electricity from the light posts and cranked shit up.  Or so goes hip-hop's official origin myth - and it's 100% true, if a bit oversimplified.

I was a little surprised at the makeup of the audience last night, in as much as there were very few white people there.  I expected more because almost every time I ask a white person if they like rap or hip-hop, they say, "Yes, but only old school," and then ramble on about Grandmaster Flash for a while.  (Others have reported similar phenomena.)    But then again, it's always Flash and never Kool Moe Dee and Marly Marl, who were on stage last night.  Plus, most hipsters wouldn't deign to go to Queens even if they knew where Queensbridge was.  Regardless, like a typical white person, I was just as glad to be in the minority.  After all, everyone knows a white person's coolness level may increase up to 500% in situations where they are the only white person (not the case for me at this show, but I'd say I hit at least 150%) and conversely, the coolness level of a given event is diminished by each white person in attendance.

What the attendance really amounts to is probably just that the show was in a park in the un-coolest of boroughs, Queens, in a park that's sandwiched between the pristine East River and the country's largest remaining housing project.  A large part of the crowd were just neighbors stepping across the street for the free music.

But there's also a reason I bring it up, other than just to smugly let you know how super cool and non-racist I am (I go to housing projects!  Oooh!), and that's that there is a history, a community here.  The parties started in the Bronx but spread to parks in Queens and East Brooklyn including Queensbridge Park.  The Queensbridge projects have been home to a handful of important hip hoppers including Marly Marl himself, Roxanne Shante (who flew in yesterday to perform at the show), Cormega and whathisname, Nas, and back in the day Marl and co. would steal some electricity to perform just yards away from where they stood last night.  They referenced that and asked who in the audience had been there with them.  (In case you were wondering, the age of the audience was pretty well mixed so the answer, by a show of hands, was "some.")

In addition to the advertised Kool Moe Dee and Marly Marl, audiences got Roxanne Shante (as I mentioned), the entire Treacherous Three, Craig G (another Queensbridge native), Caz from the Cold Crush Brothers and if I'm not mistaken, Doug E. Fresh's son.  Of course, I missed most of it cause I suck.  What I did catch is hard to review from a musical standpoint because there's nothing to say about music that solid.  Kool Moe Dee is an indisputably great MC and was one of the predecessors to hardcore rap and he and Marl both were dead on yesterday, musically as proficient as they were in their heyday.  True to the nature of the event, they hit the classics.  The T3 were in matching white and busting tightly choreographed moves that didn't show a hint of the fact that they're now thirty years older than they were back when.

Kool Moe did speechify a little and explained to the audience how back in the good old days, MCs could have a rivalry without things turning physically violent, referring to his longstanding beef with LL Cool J.  He name-checked LL and even seemed to offer some respect to the man, but still got a dig in there too, saying the whole thing boiled down to a superstar sex icon versus a legit MC.  I'm never too keen on musicians who take the whole "gather round children, sit on my knee and let me tell you about the good old days before you whippersnappers messed everything up" approach but then again, what's a rapper to do?  The story of rap is the story of a bunch of teenage musicians being thrust, without their consent, into the role of cultural spokespeople and then blamed for everything that went wrong in black America.  Which leaves old schoolers like Kool Moe with the option of either seeming to endorse the violence of hip-hop culture in the last twenty years (which would make them both complicit in the violence and poseurs since they really weren't into that stuff) or to give moralistic lectures about fighting with mics and not guns.  If I were him, I'd go for the latter option too.

The music, though truly flawless, still takes a backseat to the show as a community event.  Forty-somethings reliving their youth, moms and dads and grandmas with kids, teens, twenty-something lesbians, little old men with picnic blankets and of course, a smattering of white folks like yours truly (for some reason, all twenty-something or sixty-something in age) the audience was a motley crew.  But for those of us who were not in New York City, nor black, nor alive in 1980, it was a real lesson, a postcard from the past to let us know how little we really know about hip-hop and yet how much there still is to believe in.  It's not ours, but the owners of hip-hop hope are willing to let us share.