Tag: Seattle

Ep. #167: THEESatisfaction

Post author By vish
Post date February 23, 2015

THEESatisfaction is a remarkable multi-genre duo based in Seattle, Washington. Cat and Stas are two fearless and visionary young women steeped in hip-hop and R&B whose 2012 Sub Pop debut, awE naturalE, made several lists, as one of the most noteworthy albums of the year. Their new album is EarthEE, it’s dizzying, remarkable, and romantic, and it’s out Feb. 24 on Sub Pop. Here we discuss how Stasia’s in Brooklyn these days, spending four years working on their first album, growing as musicians, no samples, laughing at sexiness, how THEESatisfaction works, what Seattle and the Black Constellation is all about, musical missions, keeping things positive, the meaning of “Post Black, Anyway” and self-awareness in people fending off racism, today’s letter is “E,’ what hip-hop is and what some people think it is, touring in April, SXSW or China, celebrity watching, bonus tracks, the song “EarthEE,” and that was all.

Related links: theesatisfaction.com subpop.com vishkhanna.com

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Tags Black Constellation, E, EarthEE, hip-hop, Seattle, Sub Pop, THEESatisfaction

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Ep. #138: Palaceer Lazaro of Shabazz Palaces

Post author By vish
Post date October 16, 2014

Palaceer Lazaro is the founder and frontman of the excellent and inventive Seattle hip-hop group Shabazz Palaces. Once known as Butterfly, one of three MCs in the pioneering group Digable Planets, Lazaro was born Ishmael Butler and his actions suggest that he was brought here to make a difference. The critically acclaimed new Shabazz Palaces album is called Lese Majeste, a wonderfully constructed seven-piece suite of 18 songs, which is out now via Sub Pop Records. Its creators have described Lese Majeste’s dizzying array of beats and rhymes as an attack and it’s true; there is revolution in the air whenever Shabazz Palaces touch down. They’re on tour throughout Europe now and have several upcoming North American dates, including stops at the Kool Haus in Toronto on November 21 and the Corona Theatre in Montreal on November 22. Here, Ish and I discuss what’s up in Seattle, attacking suckerism and materialism, aging out of hip-hop culture, acting young versus being youthful, actually contributing to the culture, necessary self-involvement and elevating your community and social media, when hip-hop became the powers that be, the song “Dawn in Luxor” and Egypt, a throughline between “lese majeste,” overtaking majesty, and Watch the Throne, calling people on shit but also not trusting everything we think we know about them, kids in Chicago and down south are the leaders of hip-hop, basketball and jazz, hearing “Rapper’s Delight” and Rakim’s “Eric B. is President/My Melody,” De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising, Guelph and Portlandia and Seattle hippie mysticism and betterment, what’s next with the Black Constellation, the songs “Soundview,” “Ishmael,” “…down 155th in MCM Snorkel,” and then we out.

Related links: subpop.com/artists/shabazz_palaces vishkhanna.com

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Tags “...down 155th in MCM Snorkel”, “Dawn in Luxor”, “Ishmael”, “Soundview”, De La Soul, Digable Planets, Egypt, Guelph, hip-hop culture, Lese Majeste, Palaceer Lazaro, Portlandia, Rakim, Seattle, Shabazz Palaces, Sub Pop Records, Watch the Throne

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Ep. #84: Charles R. Cross

Post author By vish
Post date April 3, 2014

Charles R. Cross is a Seattle-based music writer and author who has written nine books, including the award-winning and definitive Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain. He was the editor-in-chief of the Seattle music magazine The Rocket, covering the early rise of local bands like Nirvana and he’s regarded as both an esteemed expert and reliable firsthand witness to the media’s mania about the arts and culture cultivated within the Pacific Northwest almost 25 years ago. His latest book is Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain, which is an intriguing chronicle of the myriad ways in which Cobain’s life and death affected various strains of culture—everything from hip-hop music and high fashion to geographic interest in Aberdeen, Washington and a more serious medical assessment of addictive personalities, suicide prevention, and the moral gridlock that stymies the so-called ‘war on drugs.’ Here, Charles and I discuss his recent trip to Cobain’s hometown, Aberdeen, Washington, the library where Cobain spent a lot of time as a youth, the fiasco that was Aberdeen’s ‘Kurt Cobain Day,’ the good people of that town versus the hapless public officials who grapple with his legacy, how a weird conversation with Larry King inspired Cross’ latest book, the divisiveness of Cobain in his work and lifestyle, how Cross viewed Cobain after finishing his biography Heavier Than Heaven, grappling with Cobain’s suicide and how his life was shadowed by its prospect, how making music and art actually may have prolonged his life, how dwelling upon Cobain proves to be insightful as a writer and fan, holding Kurt’s suicide note and reading his journals, the infuriating crassness of cashing in on Cobain’s death, how Cross feels he’s now said all he can say about Cobain, how he’s struck this close, trusting association with Courtney Love, the latest about the biopic that will supposedly be based upon Heavier Than Heaven, the Nirvana song “Sliver,” and more.

Related links: charlesrcross.com youritlist.com nirvana.com vishkhanna.com

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Tags Aberdeen Washington, addiction, Charles R. Cross, Courtney Love, Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain, Here We Are Now The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain, Kurt Cobain, Kurt Cobain Day, Larry King, Nirvana, Seattle, suicide prevention, The Rocket