Porocrom’s Crappaper

My life must be pretty uninteresting these days, because I am posting another installment of…

This edition focuses on yet another rapper. I realize that technically he isn’t a BAND, but he might as well be. This is an artist that was also referred to me by Ken, who is way more up on the hip-hop scene than I am. This is a guy who is often referred to as a ‘triple-threat’ for his skills as an MC, a DJ and a producer. I’ve never heard anyone rhyme quite like…

Scram Jones

Listening to Scram is almost like listening to a standup comedian mixed with Dr. Seuss… mixed with the streets of New York. According to interviews, he’s been mixing since he was 15, and pretty much involved in every part of the underground he could get into since then. It’s interesting to hear about a white guy making it big in an industry that is essentially 100% black (except the lawyers), but what is even more interesting is that he does it better than 99% of these so-called ganstas from the hoods of various cities. I’ve never heard any of the top 10-selling artists spit with the same level of artfullness as Scram (with special exception being made for Kanye West).

There’s something almost playful about the way that Scram raps. I’ve never heard anyone else (in rap or outside of rap) put this kind of a spin on rhyming. It’s not something that can be adequately conveyed in text alone, but I’m going to try. This is a cut from his track “Change Ya Rosta”

I almost lost my 20/20 drinking 20/20, The kind of kid that they would talk about on 20/20 Take the rims off of a Jeep, I got 20 20s, Sell ‘em for 400 apiece, just give me 20 20s. … Y’all don’t know the shit you’re in I’ll leave you in a pool of of piss now you’re in urine And you can’t get out ‘cause once you’re in, you’re in Now you wanna spaz out like (Yrrrin! Yrrrin!)

Again, it’s not something that can really be conveyed through reading it, but I swear, this guy’s unbelievable. He’s got these incredible one-liners that clearly show off both his comedic genius for even coming up with these things, but his artistic genius as well for fitting them into a rhyme. In fact, those of you who know me well know I love making outrageous analogies or similies… I got it from Scram. Some of my favourites are:

“Two bitches gave me mono, now I’ve got stereo”
“I tried to become a vegetarian but it was hard to stop cold turkey”
“My flow is like lard, PHAT. While your style’s on a diet with no carbs”
“Yeah your rhyme’s the shit… why? ‘cause it’s crap”
“I used to ride with no hands on the handlebars/now my hand’s on the mike, watch me handle bars”

The list goes on, and Scram fans will undoubtedly say “What about this one?” but you get the idea. If you are a hip-hop fan AT ALL… at all at all at all… check out Scram Jones. He’s a bit undeground, so it may be a little difficult to get your hands on the goods. If you’re Jonesin’ really bad, e-mail me and I’ll see what I can do.

Tracks to Check Out

- Back to Back (f. Rob Swift & X-cutioners) – Air it Out (f. Jack Venom) – Heavy Metal (f. Kool G. Rap) – 3’s Company (f. Swigga & Eddie Brock) – Line Up (f. Styles P.) – Change Ya Rosta – Liquid Heat

Seriously… check this guy out!

Yes children, uncle Crommunist is back with another edition of…

This issue, we examine a Canadian band that is poised to take off like gangbusters. I recently had the immense pleasure of seeing these guys live as part of a beer promotion that came to my school. I got into the show for free because a friend of mine snagged me a ticket (you rule, Jeff). I had heard a bit of this band, and I wasn’t really super-excited about them, but the show changed all of that. I have been to a few rock shows in my time, but nothing I’ve ever seen or heard even comes close to the hard rockin’ show put forth by:

The Trews

My first exposure to the Trews was their single Not Ready to Go from their second album “House of Ill Fame”. It’s a pretty hard-rockin’ but straightforward song, and I wasn’t particularly impressed until I heard the second single Tired of Waiting

I am wired and fading
Looking blind and blaming
Following and trailing
Words you might be saying

I am tired of waiting,
I’m tired of waiting, I am tired

I grabbed a few tracks of theirs and was suitably impressed. They kind of sat in the back of my brain for a while until I heard they were playing at UW, so I thought I would give them a listen. My life was changed that night.

Touring on the strength of their recent disc “Den of Thieves” the Trews brought a rock show that blew away anything else I’ve seen live. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any band put that much into a live show before. I don’t know what these Nova Scotia lads are having for breakfast, but I’ll imagine their wives/girlfriends/groupies are very well satisfied. Just when you think they can’t possibly have any more energy, they bust out into a face-melting guitar solo.

Despite the fact (or perhaps in addition to it) that these guys can rock, they are incredibly skilled at what they do. Colin MacDonald has an incredible voice. It’s warm, full, throaty, and he has amazing range. For an example of what I mean, check out a song called “Hopeless”. John-Angus MacDonald has killer guitar skills as well. He busted out all the great tricks: playing between the legs, playing behind the back, rolling around on the floor. He did everything but make it sit up and beg. Not to be neglected is Sean Dalton, who threw in a great 10-minute drum solo amidst strobe lighting.

Their older stuff is a bit more provincial, but their latest release has more mainstream appeal, as evinced by the first single from that album, So She’s Leaving. I seriously recommend checking these guys out.

As is my habit, I will also discuss the opening band. Boy, a Toronto band, was mediocre, had little stage presence, and got kicked out for bringing shots on the stage. Seeing them get booted from the hall was my favourite part of their show.

Songs to Check Out

- So She’s Leaving – Stray – Confessions – Hopeless ******* OMG LISTEN TO THIS SONG – Tired of Waiting – Fleeting Trust

Yes folks, it’s time for another edition of…

This week I’ll be talking about one of my favourite “Oh yeah” bands. You know the kind of band where you hear a song on the radio and you say “Oh yeah, I remember these guys!” Bands that for whatever reason dropped off the radar, but left a legacy of great songs by which to be remembered. The band I’ve selected for your reminiscing pleasure this time is the band The Odds.

The song you will probably remember the most (if you were into alt-rock in the mid-late 90s) is the song Someone who is Cool

In natural selection I’ve avoided all detection and the tender bits underneath
All with window dressing and calculated guessing and a heart bigger than my sleeve
It was the suit that got me the gig
It was the tear that got me the girl
I’m a sheep in this wolf’s clothing
I’m a picture that I’m holding of someone who is cool

I heard that song and decided to grab up as many of their songs as I could. I was most pleasantly surprised. The music is an eclectic blend of rock and pop, and no two songs are the same, unlike some bands who subscribe very strictly to one style. They’re not overly complex or deeply musically brilliant, like Tool or the Pumpkins, but their music definitely has a quality to it that defies boredom.

In true Crommunist style, the thing that most impressed me was the quality of the lyrics. Without being overly funny, the lyrics are light-hearted and clever, even in deep and somber songs. The best example I can think of comes from the song Last Drink:

Carrying your ashes from bar to bar,
I’m in a mess, you’re in a Mason jar.
With you under my arm like a football,
I’m not ready to let go, and that is all.
You were never too big on conversation
And that hasn’t changed much since your cremation

A lot of their appeal surely comes from the nostalgia factor, but The Odds are definitely worth a look. They are easy-to-listen toe-tapping songs. Don’t expect anything prolific or life-changing, but you can’t go wrong with these guys.

Songs to check out (Numbers 1-4 were released as singles)

1. Someone who is cool
2. The Truth Untold
3. It Falls Apart
4. Eat my Brain
5. Last Drink
6. Smokescreen
7. Radios of Heaven
8. Break the Bed

Yes folks, it is time for yet another edition of…

This month we’ll be looking at an artist (not a band, sorry) that was brought to my attention by my buddy Ken when he was introducing me to a lot of hip-hop music. He cautioned me that Sage is not strictly hip-hop, but I decided to give it a try anyways. I’m really glad I did.

Sage Francis (or Paul Francis as he is otherwise known) pioneers a really effective fusion of spoken-word poetry and hip-hop. He is the front man for his group Art Official Intelligence (AOI). Anyone who read the BIL about The Weakerthans and liked the lyrical depth will NOT be disappointed by Sage:

… is she buying it? I tilt my glass and drink the phlegm, she’s still scoping in fact this chick’s a 10
At least in my book, which isn’t all that well read, but it’s been said
That when she gets her grip on men they simply bend backwards
She attracts nerds, jocks, substitutes and student teachers,
Who all profess their love for all of her protruding features…

It’s difficult for me to pick one good quote from Sage, so I have posted this exerpt from the middle of Cafe Girl and instead ask you guys to download some of the titles I’ve indicated below, because it wouldn’t do the music justice to judge it by a couple lines.

Sage’s sardonic sense of humour, coupled with his incredible skills as a lyricist make his stuff really interesting to listen to. This is boosted by the fact that he’s not another carbon-copy rapper talking about bitches, booze and blunts. One of my favourites is a song about blind fealty to brand power called Narcissist: “I don’t look at myself in the mirror because I’m a narcissist, I simply like to watch myself exist“. Other songs like “Makeshift Patriot” and “Sage Kills” are reactions to Sept 11 and the resulting war in the gulf. Many others are drawn from personal experience.

Sage is also very outspoken in his criticism of the state of rap music, which he is justified in doing, since he is great and gets very little recognition, while rappers with no talent are making money in fistfuls. For example, at an outdoor festival in England, Sage performed a song in which the chorus was “I’ve seen 99 rappers, but Jay-Z ain’t one”.

Sage once again fulfills my requirements for an ideal artist. He’s obscure enough that I can still feel cool talking about him, but not so esoteric that nobody’s heard of him. He’s incredibly lyrically strong, and in terms of production and the back beat he’s more than acceptable. His live stuff is a lot of fun to listen to as well.

If you’re interested in Sage, check out some of these titles

• Hopeless (this one is just a poem, but it is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard)
• Narcissist
• Andy Kauffman
• Makeshift Patriot
• The Write/The Rewrite/The Threewrite
• Cafe Girl
• Her Schlag

This has been a long time in coming, but I wanted to wait until I did a BIL about this particular artist.

I first encountered him through a video for “Wonderful (It’s Superman)” on Much Music. The song is a really peppy up-beat tune, perfect for driving.

I sing you this song, so you can see
Whatever became of me
This summer I will wait under your cherry tree
Just to hear wonderful from you

His single “Stutter” got a fair amount of airtime on the Edge (Toronto radio station). I sort of filed his name in the back of my mind for a couple years, until I saw a poster for a show he was playing in Waterloo. I called up a friend and we went to Bomber to see him play.

Little did I know that those two singles would only scratch the surface on my love for the musical stylings of

Andy Stochansky

While 5 star Motel wasn’t Andy’s first released album, it was the first one I was exposed to. That night he played most of his songs from the album, as well as some other song from previous recordings. The thing that struck me about Andy the first time was the sheer honesty that dripped from every line. These words MEANT something to him. The other thing that I liked about Andy was his voice, a sort of worn-in-jeans soulful croon that fits his musical style like a cup in a saucer.

I got another chance to see him play in the SLC in November. He and Les (his guitarist – really cool guy who kinda looks like Gord Downie) played some semi-unplugged stuff in the afternoon. One of his songs (“Here Nor There”) was apparently on Felicity, so if you watch that show you might have heard him. I was really jazzed to hear that he was releasing another album soon, and that he would be coming back to Waterloo.

So when Andy found himself in Waterloo again, I found myself standing in the middle of a seated crowd singing at the top of my lungs along to “Wonderful”. Most of the material in the show came from the upcoming album 100, including the first single “Shine”. Whereas 5 star Motel was a bit more romantic and quiet, 100 appears to be a more well-rounded blend of moods. Some happy, some hard, some quiet (including a song reacting to rock super-stars and their boyish mentality), all AMAZING. He closed out the set with a few old favourites, including a rocked-up version of Fly which saw a somewhat impromptu drum solo by Andy. It was a really fun show.

The one bone I have to pick with Andy is that nobody I know has a CLUE who he is. So… I went to the show alone. However, as soon as he hit the stage, Andy made everyone feel as though we weren’t watching him on a stage, but hanging out getting drunk in his basement and jamming. I half-expected him to pull someone out of the audience and hand them a guitar.

I HAVE to throw a line or two to the opening band

Turn Off the Stars

A Toronto 4-piece still in the shallow end of the fame pool. I have been to a few live shows, but I have NEVER seen a group sound so polished on stage. Their effects and musical blends were tight as all get-out. It’s a little difficult to classify TOTS, but the closest comparison I can make is to Our Lady Peace, especially the stuff on Happiness (except One Man Army, which everyone hates). TOTS is touring with Andy across the country, so if you’re living in London or Toronto or points west of Waterloo, make sure to check out the website to see when Andy and TOTS are in your town.

Also! March 29th, 100 is in stores. I will be getting my grubby mitts on a copy as soon as I can.

Andy Stochansky Songs to Check Out

- 22 Steps
- Wonderful (It’s Superman)
- One Day
- Paris
- Miss USA