Shabazz Palaces - Most important musical group/moment in Seattle since Nirvana at OK Hotel?

yeah I was gonna say if the above clips remind me of anything its the Sa-Ra stuff jaxon gave me years ago lolz

I've gone from lukewarm/this is ok but nothing more than a Clipse rip-off to non-stop listening/holy shit this is amazing in about 24hrs. BTW, this is basically a "laidback Clipse without the booger-sugar obsession" as Dave Segal stated but it's still fun to listen to.

http://www.biznotic.com/images/01_13_09.jpg

what? how does this sound anything like Clipse beyond "it is rap"?

Have you heard Til The Casket Drops? It's a pretty obvious comparison to me.

Raw, minimal drum machine beats, similar lazy cadence and delivery.

Bah, this actually sounds nothing like Til The Casket Drops but it does still sound like Clipse to me. Better than Clipse though cuz i'm sick of listening to coke raps.

Looks like there were two 2009 releases - were they at the same time?

Good question. I don't think they were released simultaneously but I think they were released close together. I've ripped the stream from their live appearance on KEXP. It's not very good but here it is in case you want to check it out: http://www.mediafire.com/?ky1ynzu5bjw

I like that little "film" although I wouldn't mind someone explaining it to me

Ok, I listened to the SP album again and thought about the whole Clipse thing. I really don't see at all how those two groups are more similar to each other than any other two randomly picked rap acts. The most notable stylistic difference between them is Clipse's fussy concision in rhyme/beat/song construction vs Shabazz's more ramshackle nature. As far as the rapping, besides their divergent subject matter, the Clipse deliver everything with a sneer, in contrast to Ish's more laconic rap style. The comparison with The Ecstatic makes more sense, but the Shabazz album(s?) is/are way better and altogether less boring than Mos' most recent.

Can we change this silly title already?

maybe use some iteration of the thread title for the next excelsior?

New Kingdom 2010 edition

The CD's are at Sonic Boom for 10 bucks but if you order them from the website, they ship from 420 High Street!

This is pretty tite imo.

into shabazz btw

i like almost everything i've heard, keep forgetting to dl the ep's

I love the two eps. Met Ishmael at a show. Super nice guy. If you get the chance to see them perform live, don't miss it. Can't wait for their Sub Pop debut.

thetroyblog.com/2010/12/13/shabazz-palaces-re-mystifying-cool/

this is a v nice piece on shabazz places

also, i'd like to take back my clipse comparison. it was hastily made and ill-considered.

positions him w/in a historical milieu & seems to accurately gauge precedents & how his work has changed over time, also I like the constellation of different-but-similar rap artists he describes (i would also include it was written-era nas in it tho)

I think "Gunbeat Falls" is my favorite track from this.

ayo deej, have you read this article about Blowout Comb? http://archive.ohword.com/features/5/slicker-that-year

yah thats thun too, he posts as thun on philaflava

i checked shabazz palaces out on deej's mention in another thread—i'm really enjoying it.

I'm listening to the album right now and it's great. I wish I'd known about it sooner. Sounds kind of like if The Bug was American.

i can't really say about the bug but i do get a kind of british/international beat science vibe from the EPs—in a good way, kind of like that stuff has been improved on by being americanized. (i don't think it's just hearing an american voice, either.) it makes it sound fresher than you would expect for what is otherwise pretty traditionalist.

it's odd how many of the tracks just kind of end.

lol i had no idea this was revived when i linked keyes to it. just followed my own link, listened to belllhaven film again, scrolled and here were u guys

maybe use some iteration of the thread title for the next excelsior?

― The Book of Eli Porter (ojo), Friday, January 15, 2010

Most important excelsior group/moment in Seattle since Nirvana at LOL Hotel

Just wait until LJ gets in here

i seriously would have never recognized him

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5398811172_49bc0bca45_z.jpg

http://kjphotos.tumblr.com/post/3024965302/portraits-of-seattle-19-ishmael-butterfly-butler-aka

ok i've been listening to the eps on repeat all week

man i had wu-tang idea for an excelsior thread:

I'mma Put Your LOLZ on the dresser and EXCELSIOR them shits with a spiked bat

probably should end with "LMAO!"

haha yeah. i think weird stuff at like 3am when i've fed the lil' one and can't get back to sleep

ok i've been listening to the eps on repeat all week

― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Friday, February 4, 2011 1:03 PM Bookmark

Perfect blend of hard beats and blunted/laid-back cali style.

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2011/03/08/shabazz-palaces-an-echo-from-the-hosts-that-profess-infinitum

new track is great, can't wait for the album.

can never have too much kalimba

has anyone here gone back and listened to Cherrywine yet?

never tracked it down in the first place, altho I am curious

This is totally nuts so far, esp. "A treatease..."

Album of the year?

where'd you find it?

slsk

One thing I'm noticing is where the eps occasionally got bogged down in murk, there's always some element in the mix here that shines through with just enough levity to keep my ears perked.

Oh shit the beat on the last song :o

damn, not on what.cd yet. ish said it would be coming with a patch like the first 2 eps. hope that's true.

ok i just cackled like crazy when this ended. lovin it

has anyone here gone back and listened to Cherrywine yet?
― jaxon, Tuesday, March 8, 2011 7:48 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i downloaded cherrywine but can't find the files. think they got archived somewhere without being added to itunes.

ha. no love

Wow, this is great. A Street Gospel sounds exactly like something off one of the Shabazz eps.

I've liked most of their stuff but Lese Majesty was a peak for me

I think I preferred lil b doing ambient weirdness

I'm relistening to Lese Majesty and it sounds way better than how I remember tbh

lese majesty is at least as strong as black up, songwriting-wise, but the heavy-hitting sonics of black up put it over the top for me.

Lese Majesty was a peak for me

same here. don't think I've ever been so awed by an album on car speakers. also really liked what I heard from Don of Diamond Dreams, should probably go back to that.

same for me too

id like instrumental versions of their last few albums, esp lese majesty

Lese Majesty feels like you're lying on the floor staring at the ceiling in a darkened room where someone has different coloured spotlights trained on a spinning disco ball

I thought lese would be cool music to have playing if your masseuse was rap inclined

Hip hop spa beats

best way to experience Lese Majesty is at a laser show out of your gourd on edibles. I haven't really connected with any of their post-LM material tho. I've also just had mixed feelings since Tendai was transphobic to me in person -_-

ugh, i'm sorry.

I should give their albums more proper listens, LM sounded really cool but didn't have tracks that were as immediately arresting as a lot of Black Up, and I don't think I heard the Quazarz albums in their entirety. The last time I tried to see them live was at the Sub Pop anniversary party on Alki and the bass was so ridiculously loud that it drowned out everything else. The show I saw a couple years earlier was excellent though.

damn i'm sorry to hear that EM

he's not in the group anymore, left sometime between the last two albums so it's just a butler solo project these days i think

revisiting the first two EPs now ... shit felt revolutionary at the time.

and still does, kinda

ish butler has a new e.p. out, it’s really nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEoE_1-Ctq4