Kansas City Music Blog

This just in, courtesy Ruth Bigus, publicist for the Jewish Community Center's
CenterSeason:

Due to an illness of one of the performers, the concert at the Jewish Community Center featuring Richard Cass and Tiberius Klaunser will not be held this Sunday, November 22.

It will be rescheduled at a later date.

If you want to see some holiday lights kick on, and want to avoid the hell of the traffic, crowds, and general insanity that is the Plaza lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving, hit up the Zona Rosa Shopping Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. There will the arrival of the Fairy Princess (a Kansas City tradition, revived from the days when she used to appear at Kline's department store), as well as the arrival of Santa, and carolers. There's plenty of stuff for the kids to do, as well.

​If you're wanting something a little less straight-laced, there will be the opening for "Take Two and Call Me In the Morning" at Lawrence's Love Garden Sounds (new location at 822 Massachusetts). Artists Kenneth Kupfer, Clint Ricketts, and b.d. eek will show works on paper at this event. Kupfer also has work right across the street at Wonder Fair. A whole pantload of info on the event can be found at the Rathaus.

By the way: if you're not reading the Rathaus, you're missing out on one of the best sources of information about Lawrence art out there. They cover national stuff, as well, but if you want to know what's going down in the hipper parts of the art scene, hit it up. We should really be stealing from referencing them more often.

Given that it's now in its seventh edition Donald S. Passman's All You Need to Know About the Music Business looks like a pretty safe investment, .

​The music landscape has certainly changed since All You Need to Know... was first released in 1991. However, what hasn't changed is the fact that many artists go into the music industry as just that -- artists. Artists aren't aware of the various legal hurdles, contractual issues, and everything business-related they're bound to encounter as they record albums, book shows, and (maybe) sign a contract with a label.

This book is legally dense. Seriously. There's mathematical formulas, which usually cause me to set a book down and walk away slowly. There are four ways to get through it, however. You can fast-track through the book, and get an idea of how to hire your "team," as Passman refers to the group of advisors you'll need. Those advisors, by the way, are as follows:

1. Personal manager
2. Attorney
3. Business manager
4. Agency
5. Groupies

With respect to number 5, you're pretty much on your own.

That's also an example of the humor Passman sprinkles around
All You Need to Know.... If you do more than just fast-track the book, you'll get more enjoyment than you'd expect from a book that deals with business affairs. The fake band names and album titles are especially entertaining. You can also just read the book with the more detailed sections skipped over ("Advanced Overview"), or just read the whole book all the way through, and end up being able to tell your lawyer that he's trying to screw you when he represents you and your record label.

So, bands -- skip that next trip to the liquor store before practice, and drop the money on All You Need to Know About the Music Business instead. Even if you never make it, you'll at least know that it's not because you got screwed by the system.

Two things we love that are all too rare in this world: local zines and Murderbots.

Get both tomorrow night at Balanca's (1809 Grand) when Chrissy Murderbot returns home from Chicago to beatslap KC in the face in honor of the Fall/Winter issue of hip-hop/DJ-scene 'zine Demencha Magazine.​

Demencha founder Chris Milbourn, who used to write the Spin Cycle column for The Pitch, has always been a Murderbot champion, so it's fitting that he booked the eclectic electronic killer for the show. Chrissy (short for Christopher Shively) is a prolific producer and label owner who's constantly releasing mixtapes, but it's his latest self-titled solo album that really gets the party going for us.

Murderbot is a master at taking bizarre, off-kilter ragga, drum-n-bass and depth-charge dubstep and mixing into sharp and deliciously funky jams that are easy to dance to -- if you have three legs. Which we do.

Case in point:

MP3: Chrissy Murderbot, "Red Bone (The Yoshi Track feat. Don P & Tha Basix)" off Chrissy Muderbot (SleazeTone)

Cover is $5. Dirty D and the Galactic Soul Tribe featuring Z-Sonic will get the dancefloor greasy before Murderbot goes on.

This video is not for fans of Family Guy, American Dad, or the Cleveland Show. This short from CollegeHumor pretty much sums up the output of Seth MacFarlane over the past decade:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

That said, as scattershot as the man's approach is, he's bound to hit every once in a while. Such is the case of Hall & Oates in a scene from this weekend's episode.

And now you've seen the good part and can go back to watching Time Warp episodes on DVD, which is what I've been doing all week.

​Remember that flurry of hip-hop shows last weekend? It's surprising that more multimedia didn't wash up from that (or maybe we just missed it), but here's a nice slice. It's a live MP3 of MC Reach performing Mouth, the band which, you'll remember, set up a night of live-instrument-backed hip-hop at the Scion Lab last Friday -- and did a good job promoting it. Before and after.

MP3: Reach, "Radio Love (feat. Mouth)" Live

Sounds like Mouth is on some Medeski, Martin & Wood + wah-guitar shit. Not sure how I feel about that, but it does sound good with a top-caliber rapper like Reach on board.

I have to openly admit I didn't know jack about rapper XV until stumbling across this video last night. His MySpace -- which boasts over a million views -- says he's from "Smalltown, KS." I had trouble digging up bio info, but apparently he's gotten Lil Wayne to guest on a track, and this blogger thinks he's the second coming.

The local connections continue with the video for "Fall Out of the Sky," which was directed by Kyle Harbaugh, the man behind all those excellent Mac Lethal videos. I even paused the video in places to try and identify buildings and street signs. It's not KC...

XV is also apparently working with Wichita producer Michael "Seven" Summers, who has worked with Mac and Tech N9ne. He's the dude playing the upright piano in the video. He's also the guy playing Guitar Hero with XV in this fun but not very informative EPK video.

School me on XV in the comments?

No Idea Records is a fantastic label based out of Gainesville, Flordia. They've released records from Less Than Jake, Small Brown Bike, Against Me!, and Hot Water Music -- only a few amongst the many other hundreds of great albums they've put out.

​However, they're speaking to punk rock java junkies everywhere with No Idea Coffee. Seriously -- we know cool merch here at Wayward Blog, and this is flippin' badass.

We spoke by e-mail with the label's Ryan Murphy, who came up with the idea.

How'd you come up with the idea for punk rock coffee?
No Idea started making coffee mugs, and my thought was, "Why aren't we making a coffee blend too???" So we contacted Sweetwater (right down the street, too), and they came up with an amazing blend for us...and there you go!

What made you choose Sweetwater?
They are a local roastery here in town that does amazing coffee...and has a really amazing grasp on true fair trade practices and are very responsible in having close ties to all the coffee growers they deal with around the world -- to the point that they travel every year to visit all their growers and make sure everything is being run fairly, workers are treated well, etc.

Anyway, we got hooked up with them because I also work with an organization called the Harvest of Hope Foundation (which provides emergency relief, social services and educational support to migrant farmworkers and their families, and the foundation has worked closely with Sweetwater over the last 5+ years. Sweetwater roasted several "Harvest of Hope" blends to help raise money for the foundation.

How much coffee do you go through?
We just started selling it, so we'll see how much we go through. We make a ridiculous amount of coffee every day to drink, though. Seriously.

What's it taste like?
The roast is a full city roast: "A medium-bodied cup with an assertive butterscotch aroma. A sweet, chocolaty intro that tapers into a tart finish."

How do you take yours?
We pretty much all rock the black coffee. If you can see through it, it ain't coffee.

You can get No Idea Coffee direct from the label.

Two coffee-related songs, as chosen by the folks at No Idea, after the jump.

Not only did we get some Robot Koch yesterday (say it out loud, and then it's funny), we also have some Party Robots, courtesy of Idle Warship -- more popularly known by its individual members Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel.
​

Idle Warship welcomes you to our first full length offering, Party Robot. This started out as a path to musical freedom. When we established Idle Warship, we did it for us. Now that we are giving you this music, Idle Warship no longer belongs to us, it belongs to the world. We don't believe in labels for music. Labels may stop you from hearing something before you listen to it. We appreciate those who have taken this journey with us without judgment and enjoyed the ride. To everyone who purchased our music on iTunes and anyone who has bought a ticket to an Idle Warship show, this is for you. All my party robots stand up!

Damn, Talib -- a successful solo career and Black Star isn't enough? You need another musical endeavor? Whatever the case, you can download the Party Robot mixtape, put together by Mick Boogie via Usershare (left click).

In order to trap Billy Joel, you must become Billy Joel.

​The Elton John & Billy Joel Face Off Tour, directed by John Woo, which features the two piano-playing icons surgically switching faces and playing each others' songs, was originally scheduled for a December 1 stop at the Sprint Center.

The date has been moved. It is now set for February 27. Tickets for the original gig will be honored, or refunds are available at point of purchase.

Word is, Sir Elton's got the flu.