On Our Radar: Anthem

The legendary Party Inform, sent out and received on most Thursday afternoons, mentioned yesterday that there was going to be an opening act for Cool Kids. Billed as an “NYC Hip Hop Artist,” running under the pseudonym Anthem, one can’t help but wonder who this young man is and what he might bring to the table prior to Cool Kids taking the stage. From what I have gathered thus far, Anthem a.k.a. “Ant” would astound most at CMC in that he decided to go against the grain, drop his professional life as an investment banker and pursue the dream of becoming a hip-hop sensation.  According to his self-penned bio:

Anthem (a.k.a. Ant) is a 24-year old Manhattan (NYC)-based emcee whose single(s) “Bachelor’s Theme” (and “Call Me Anthem”) have been building considerable buzz on the club scene and online.  Ant grew up in Northern Virginia and went on to attend Duke University.  After graduating from Duke, Ant headed to New York to embark on a career as a trader a top tier investment bank.  Despite enjoying the competitive intensity and high stakes nature of trading, Ant never lost his passion for rhyme and felt increasingly torn between the security and stability that a Wall St. career afforded his family and the opportunity of pursuing his dreams and making a name for himself in the hip hop world.  Ultimately his dreams won out;  and the rest, as they say, is history.  Outside of living in the studio while putting the finishing touches on his first release “Anticipation,” Ant is currently touring and doing shows at live venues in NYC and throughout the US.

Anthem has a handful of studio tracks on his MySpace and all of them feature his knack for lyrical creativity. A versatile rapper, Anthem manages to cover his whole bio, from dropping the Wall Street paycheck to pursue his dream on “Home” and “One Life” to silly drunkenness on the “I Gotta Feeling” Remix. He moves from verse to verse and from subject to subject over any beat that is on in the studio with nonchalance. That effortless quality is known by hip hop snobs as flow and many believe that without it, a rapper won’t stand a chance in the music business. We find Anthem at his best in “More,” a track that sounds like an all-out “off-the-top” freestyle and samples Bob Marley’s “Concrete Jungle.”

Van Gundy’s mad at my magic/ Cut from a different cloth, fathom my fabric/ Boy meets world like a n***a been savage/ Ravaging you wack emcees that spit average/ God damn my boast of having a classic feel/ Sh*t is bananas and you slipping in my mass appeal.

The ten tracks are averaging about 4,500 plays each on his MySpace page, a good number for up-and-coming rappers.

You can follow anthem on twitter @iamanthem and listen on his website www.iamanthem.com.

Here are a couple downloadable tracks for your pregaming tomorrow afternoon:

Anthem – Bachelor’s Theme

Anthem – Home

Anthem – I Gotta Feeling (Remix)

Lewis Corson from www.cmcforum.com

Bringing It Back: The New LA Lights

Shoe connoisseurs, this one’s for you. The past few years have undeniably seen our favorite shoe companies reaching into their respective vaults and reintroducing all the classics. Whether it be Jordan with its relaunch of the Jordan Retro I from Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”, Nike with the “White Men Can’t Jump” Air Flight Lite or Reebok with its timeless Pump series, the past is fueling the future when it comes to the newest kicks.

However with all the old styles coming back, there is one in particular that really got this child of the 90s excited:  LA Gear’s reinception of LA Lights. That’s right kids, dust off those Starter jackets and get ready because as of December of 2009, LA Lights will make their long overdue return.

Back in the early to mid-90s the LA Lights line exploded on the kid’s shoe scene, and then just as quickly disappeared off the face of the Earth. With the rebirth of the Lights in 2009, LA Gear is selling their classic to those same kids during their college years.

The difference is that the reinvented line finally comes out in adult sizes whereas they used to be only available in kids, something that previously killed off any hopes of reselling or redistributing the shoe.

And that isn’t the only improvement made. The new Lights are supercharged compared to their predecessors, not so much that they’re obnoxious and over the top, but definitely noticeable. Instead of the old Lights’ small blinking lights in the heel and midsole, the new Lights have a luminated heel that has a crazy strobe, giving a hot laser lightshow effect. The new design is also sleeker and less boxy, making it a solid sneaker beyond just the initial appeal of the strobing lights.

I posted a video of the LA Lights at LA Gear’s recent tradeshow in Vegas, giving you a little sneak peak of the new designs.There looks to be an array of color schemes both in the shoes and the lights, and they seem pretty tight. Personally I think the blacks with the green soles and neon green strobe are ridiculous, and I’m ready to snag a pair. Again look for these guys to be hitting stores around Christmas time.

LA Gear also brought back their Unstoppable line last year to solid reviews, so if you can’t wait on the Lights you can find LA Gear shoes at Sportie LA in Los Angeles, The Tannery in Boston, Raggamuffin in Brooklyn, and a few other select stores and cities.

Kade Krichko

Vampire Weekend Releases New Single

After an extensive viral campaign on Pitchfork and other indie music ‘relevant‘ blogs and websites that featured a comely looking blonde girl (pictured above) posted within the ad sections, we finally have breaking news from the Vampire Weekend camp. We have heard from Ezra Koenig that the upcoming LP, Contra, draws extensive influence from California and with the lead-off single “Horchata“, which is a Latino juice/soda, California residents understand what he means. VW are up to their old tricks as Koenig, much like Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, makes sure that his listeners have a dictionary on hand to fully understand the content within.

Words that may need a dictionary depending on learnedness (excluding ‘horchata’):

‘Balaclava’ – a cap that is close-fitting and woolen and covers all of the head but the face.

‘Masada’ – (Hebrew מצדה, pronounced Metzada, from מצודה, metzuda, “fortress”) is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea (we’re not sure if this is what is meant by ‘Masada’, but we’re trying).

‘Aranciata’ – San Pellegrino (also S. Pellegrino) is a brand of mineral water with carbonation added, produced and bottled at San Pellegrino Terme

Lucky for us, by downloading the song from VW’s website, we received the lyrics to Horchata, which seem to have something to do with wistfully dreaming of becoming a Mexican wrestler (hence, the “Balaclava” reference):

“In December, drinking Horchata/ I’d look psychotic in a Balaclava”

Vampire Weekend – Horchata

8.2/10. Ezra Koenig and his crew of Columbians have taken a wonderful and new approach to their over-sophisticated tunes with “Horchata”. It is a fun-filled track that is a cross between Koenig’s work with The Very Best, a slower West Coast jam and an Ivy League orchestra club.

Lewis Corson

Ukulele & KiD CuDi

On the heels of a great review of the SummerStage show at Central Park where Phoenix and Passion Pit were apparently incredible, I’m going to blog about a random YouTube video that I found. The clip features a college-aged Asian kid with a ponytail and a Ukulele covering “Soundtrack 2 My Life”, one of the best tracks off of KiD CuDi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day.

The Ukulele is actually great but this dude’s voice is not… a very entertaining clip nonetheless (especially at the conclusion)!

Lewis Corson

Phoenix and Passion Pit Light Up SummerStage 9/26/09

Phoenix and Passion Pit played two nights at Central Park’s SummerStage this past weekend. I went to Friday’s showand was blown away.

Going into the concert, I thought I was completely sick of PassionPit. Back in February, after seeing a show at DC indie-haunt Black Cat, I had quickly labeled them a one-trick-pony. Even by summer, the falsetto and whipping electronic synth were getting pretty tired. However, they did a fine job opening for Phoenix; they are a pony who performs his one trick well. Michael Angelakos, that high-pitched squealer, kept the crowd energized by bouncing around the stage like a three-year-old for the majority of the set. I don’t mean to sound (entirely) insulting – I think Passion Pit was a smart booking choice: they pack enough poppy enjoyment for about half an hour, then the audience will thirst for something more substantial. And for that, they were perfect – did what a good opening band should do: whet the appetite for the main course.  Now, enter Phoenix.

(see: here for Passion Pit’s performance of “Sleepyhead” on Pitchfork’s Juan’s Basement)

The Frenchmen ran on stage to burst right into a strobe filled “Lisztomania” and never let the energy drop. And those strobes never really stopped either, yet not as an epileptic’s nightmare. They were perfectly employed during each song and made the entire crowd dance like lunatics (the frat-boy next to me ultimately took of his shirt and continually tried to stand on the shoulders of the strangers in front of him). The flow between each song (mostly off of Wolfgang, though a healthy mix of Alphabetical and United classics like “Run Run Run” – a personal fave – and “Too Young”) was perfect: blending from each in interesting and creative ways.

Banter was spare in between songs, with the occasional “merci beaucoup” from lead singer Thomas Mars, but he made up for the minimal speech with maximum engagement. He held attention whether he climbing the speakers as if to proclaim himself champion or jumping into the crowd as if to fully connect with the audience. But he was no hog of the spot light (literally). For one fully instrumental song, he lied down on stage out of view to nearly all, while another time Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai, the two guitarists, had an intense one-on-one.

Even the encore was perfectly balanced, from the earnest Air-cover “Playground Love,” performed solely by brothers Thomas and Christian, to the  high energy closer “1901.”  The evening was a crowning success. I am sure it has been written in multiple reviews as “the perfect end to summer,” and maybe it’s the same thing, but to me, this concert was the perfect start to fall.

See “Lisztomania” from SummerStage below:

Christian Morrissey

Julian Casablancas Releases New Single

The frontman of The Strokes, Julian Casablancas, released a new single a few days ago. I have taken my time in reviewing the track for [cl] because I have been apprehensive to make up my mind too quickly about the track. As a huge fan of The Strokes, any side project (or main project… erhumm) released by any member of the group excites me. Power guitarist, Albert Hammond Jr., has been recording and performing solo under his own name for the last two years as bassist Nikolai Fraiture is operating under the pseudonym Nickel Eye and drummer Fabrizio Moretti has been touring with Little Joy.

However, up until this point, we have not heard much from Julian Casablancas except for the occasional appearance on one or two of Pharrell-produced cuts. With 11th Dimension, we hear Casablancas reiterating the eighties sound that the band experimented with on their most recent album, First Impressions of Earth, which was released in 2006. Hammering bass lines, a running and high-pitched guitar riff and steady, up-tempo percussion complement Casablancas’ vocals perfectly.

The LP, Phrases for the Young, will be out on October 19 in the UK and released October 20 in the US courtesy of RCA Records.

Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension

7.4/10. A strong first single from Casablancas but there doesn’t seem to be much movement away from his style on the latest album from The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth, where he experimented heavily with eighties synth and percussion (hinting to how Phrases for the Young might end up sounding).

Lewis Corson

Pavement Announce Tour But Where Are They Now?

After BrooklynVegan announced it Tuesday night and Matador Records confirmed it two days ago, it’s official that (arguably) the greatest band of the 90′s is really going to reunite. I am unashamedly a gigantic fan of theirs, always citing them as my favorite band. Having been too young to have seen them live back in the 90′s, I am extremely excited to go to their shows. Of course, this also brings up the fact that they haven’t played a live show (as Pavement) in over 10 years. I have heard many bootlegs of their live shows, many of which came with pre-orders of their recently reissued albums; I think they sound fantastic live: spontaneous but cohesive, never take things too seriously but always giving their all for each song. Still, friends, teachers, and cohorts from the era tell me they weren’t as mind-blowing as they sound on those live tracks. So this begs the question, will they be good live? Respectable? Will they live up to my fantastic and absurd expectations when I see them live in 2010 (doubtful, unless Stephen Malkmus turns water into wine with the guitar solo from “Cut Your Hair”). So, what have they been doing in their absence? Will they be able to get back on the bicycle that is Pavement with ease, or will the past 10 years have been a total waste?

Well…

Stephen Malkmus: The lead singer has been busy with his solo project, working with band The Jicks. Four stellar albums later, you can see that he was truly the mastermind behind the band. Now he’s married and has two kids, but is still rocking live.

Mark Ibold: Bassist Mark jumped into Sonic Youth a few years ago and helped them record recent album The Eternal. He is still currently touring with them. And no, he hasn’t cut his (trademark?) long 90′s hair. Also, occasionally bartends at Great Jones Cafe in good ol’ New York. Time to get a drink with him.

Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg: The other founding member with Malkmus, Scott played backing guitar. His first band after the split was critically acclaimed Preston School of Industry, who had marginal success in the same respect as The Jicks. S.S. is currently releasing a solo album under his moniker “Spiral Stairs,” and will be touring the west coast in mid-October.

Bob Nastanovich: My favorite member of the band. Performing ”percussion” (basically the extra noises and loops and occasional howling) for the band, he doesn’t necessarily have to keep his musical muscles in constant exercise. Therefore, it makes much more sense that since the Pavement split, he has been breeding and managing thoroughbred horses, doesn’t it? Also, he was the surprise guest in Matador’s “Win a Date to Ikea” promotion for the reissue of Brighten the Corners last year.

Steve West: The official drummer for the band has been drumming with new band Marble Valley after the 1999 split. After that, he is a mystery.

Everyone has been keeping their musical chops pretty toned. This reunion should be as good as any Pavement concert ever was. Tickets went on pre-sale a couple days ago (sorry) for their September 21st 2010 “Benefit” concert at Summer Stage. I assume tickets will be selling out faaaaast. Good luck grabbing some before they go up on stubhub.com or craigslist for triple original price.

Christian Morrissey

The Mysterious jj

Who ever thought that a mysterious Swedish indie group that was nominated for best new Swedish act last year would think to sample Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” for a song that thaws the boundaries between ambient music, indie, hip-hop and electronica (listen: “Ecstasy”)?

jj released jj n° 2 during the early months of summer in 2009 to rave reviews from web critics including those at Pitchfork and PopMatters. “Who is jj?” you ask… nobody seems to be sure about the answer to that. They have no tour dates that anyone knows of, no merch other than the EP, jj n° 1, and the LP, jj n° 2, that is available to purchase and have no bio posted on the website of their label, The Tough Alliance (which only has the words “Be Still” plastered across the face of the page).

We do know that jj has crafted one of the most creative LPs of the year with jj n° 2 that we have seen all year. Creative ideas and influences travel faster than ever in the blogosphere age, an idea that shows as we hear the combination pop, ambience, electronica, rhythmic diversity (listen: “From Africa to Málaga”) and some drug-induced sampling practices. Gorgeous vocals and solid lyrical content accompany the chill-out vibe beautifully even as the ‘important’ ideas in life such as death and art are mentioned subtly in some particular tracks even as a blood-splattered pot leaf graces the cover of the LP (see above).

jj – Ecstasy

8.7/10. Must be the brainchild of someone with a severely drug-addled mind, more-so than Weezy himself.

jj – From Africa to Málaga

8.5/10. Rhythmic diversity ranging from African drums to Spanish acoustic guitar accompany deeper lyrics: “It’s too easy to cry/ when everything eventually dies/ if not today/ then maybe tomorrow/ don’t let the sun slip away/ let it come out and play/ it takes you down at the speed of sound/ when you’re underground/ you never think you’ll get out.”

Lewis Corson

Blakroc

The Black Keys, one of the most creative groups in the current entertainment environment, have breached the walls of their rhythm and blues and alternative cocoon in the most unexpected fashion. The group has entered the hip-hop universe under the pseudonym Blakroc and has crafted a self-titled LP and have also created a label under the same name for their explorative ventures. According to the band’s website and trailer for the LP (make sure to check out the long trailer as you will see The Keys sitting down with CEO Damon Dash as he hooks up the boys Mos Def and Jim Jones), the album will feature an impressive guest list that includes RZA, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, M.O.P.’s Billy Danze, the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Mos Def and Jim Jones (the latter two artists feature on the single “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)”; it is downloadable below).

In June, Jim Jones twittered “Aight back to our reg schedule I did some dope music with black keys and mos def last night def a good rock n roll experience.” Unfortunately, we don’t have minute-to-minute updates from other featured artists on how their respective recording sessions went, but it is clear that all parties involved are excited about this new project, and so is [cardboard living]. Hopefully, there will be much more to come in the upcoming weeks…

Blakroc – Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) feat. Mos Def & Jim Jones

8.7/10. In typical Keys fashion, guitars twang, brass instruments wail and percussion thumps as the boys from Ohio provide bluesy backing vocals, Mos Def sings the hook and Jim Jones spits some decent verses.

Lewis Corson

Feature: Our Rising Debt

I came across this article a couple days ago in the Wall Street Journal and thought it might be relevant to all of us in the college world out there…

Students across the country are having to borrow a great deal more money to pay to attend schools, 25% more year over year in 2009-2010 than in 2008-2009. Obama has targeted educational institutions, both private and public, as the instigators of this positive feedback loop between lenders (banks) and those in debt (students). Anne Marie Chaker, the article’s author, is telling us something many of us have not heart before. Contradictory to the stance that the current administration takes, Chaker asserts that the party at fault is the government itself because

“Its involvement causes tuition to rise, people to attend college when they would be better off in vocational training and wasted use of taxpayer funds.”

Current levels of borrowing (from the federal government) are at an extremely high rate and have created a system of false assumptions that colleges use when the administration gets together to decide how much to charge us this year. The model that we have used for decades on college prices has been crippled as students and families began to borrow more from the government to pay for the rising cost of attending colleges and universities. The feedback loop thus continues as students and families are committed to borrowing more, colleges continue to raise prices and the government increases the maximum loan that one may apply for.

The Stafford loan, the most popular federal student loan, has risen to an unprecedented. It currently allows a student to borrow up to $31,000, up from $23,000 last year, a symptom of “The Great Recession” and a government investment that plays on the safer side. A loan of this magnitude has students, a portion of the American public that takes in little to no income, shaking in their boots as they begin to consider the sack of money that they will owe the government upon graduation day.

While the politics surrounding education assert the importance of human capital, i.e. investing in oneself, the question remains as to whether a generation of twenty year-olds need to be so deeply entrenched in debt that borrowing these types of sums of money for college merits self-investment.

Check out the piece below:

Students Borrow More Than Ever for College

Lewis Corson