brndn
New Kitchen Blogger Brendan Philip introduces you to Shabazz Palaces…
Over the past 8 years I’ve been running the Kitchen, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve had by guest writers post here on the blog.
It’s not that I’m selfish or proprietary but I never really started the blog to turn it into the basis for a media empire. It was really supposed to be a platform for me to share things, music, art, news, sneakers, event, whatever that I personally was into or wanted to support. That being the case, having outside contributors seemed to dilute that purpose. However that changes today.
Below is the debut post by Brendan Philip (@brndnphlp), a Toronto-based artist and producer who I met through some new but very close friends of mine. It’s kind of eerie how similar his taste and outlook on music are to mine but at the same time, different (hey!). Also, Brendan is serious about his music and is constantly digging and searching for fresh new ish! So starting today, on an ongoing but not necessarily regular basis, Brendan is going to share music & sounds that turn him on here at The Kitchen. It should be nice compliment to my efforts which I know have slacked off somewhat as compared to in the past due to new, heavier work & life commitments. Check him out and leave comments if you dig what he’s talking about. For his debut post today he starts with Seattle group, Shabazz Palaces. Read on….
…Shabazz didn’t come to kill a sound, just to shine their own incandescent lamp on this. Hear. Hard and clear.
2011 seems to have been the ‘year of mystique’, and through the veil came one of the best and ultra progressive hip-hop albums since MadVillain: Black Up by Shabazz Palaces. Originally introduced as Plcr (pron: palaceer) Lazaro, the spokesman for Shabazz Palaces was later revealed to be Ishmael Butler, formally of Digable Planets. Having produced two EPs (the first self-titled; the second called, Of Light) in 2009 and now one full-length, Ish has somehow reconfigured the Black power algorithm last found on Blowout Comb and put a Sun Ra spin to it and in the course of doing so became the first hip-hop act signed to the legendary Seattle alternative rock label, Sub Pop.
Check out these two short films released to celebrate Shabazz Palaces:
Title track, “Black Up” (called the Video of the Year by The Seattle Times!!!)
“Belhaven Meridian”:
Listen to the entire Black Up album here:
Dig what you see/hear? Hit the jump to hear bonus music: a session by Shabazz Palaces live at KEXP FM.