Lots of small items of note worth passing along today before we wrap up the week. So, let's tackle 'em -- in brief form!
- For starters, lest you haven't already heard, the love-'em-or-hate-'em Black Tie Dynasty is back, sort of! Two ex-BTDers -- frontman Cory Watson, keys man Brian McCorquodale -- have formed a new, more down-tempo band called Mon Julien, which, on record at least, will feature some assistance from one fellow ex-BTDer, bassist Blake McWhorter, and Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith. Expect the band's debut full-length to earn its release in November via Idol Records. Check out a teaser performance video from the band in the above clip.
- In other blast from the past news, Wanz Dover has announced the formal return of his much-beloved Laptop Deathmatch events. The first round of competition will begin on Saturday, September 17, at Bryan Street Tavern. In case you either can't remember or just plain aren't familiar with the event, here's how it works, per the Facebook event page: "Up to eight laptop artists compete in a
friendly single-elimination tournament. Contestants are randomly paired
up in the first round and advancement to the next round is based on the
scoring from judges and/or crowd reaction measured by a laptop (of
course). Contestants are judged in three categories: Creativity,
Technique, and Stage Presence(or better known as Crowd response). Contestants can use a laptop and two external devices (midi- controller, etc)." Judge Mills Lane will not be present.
- In other Wanz Dover news, the DOMA-nominated electronic performer and DJ's Lost Generation weekly at the Arcade Bar will celebrate its one-year anniversary on Sunday night. Says Dover of the event: "
- In hip-hop news, the three area veterans behind the long-running Bodega Brovas moniker pass along a new music video for their song "We Got It" this afternoon. Watch it below. The clip was shot at Deep Ellum's Canton Co-Op and features the old-school, optimistic party vibe this group has long been known for. The song, produced by Twiz The Beat Pro, will appear on the group's soon-to-be-released mixtape, Fancy Anthrax, which is being mixed by the DOMA-nominaterd DJ Fishr Pryce. That mixtape will serve as a teaser for the band's upcoming full-length, which is due out in October and is being produced completely by Picnictyme. And that should be happy news to any local hip-hop head's ears; Picnic, you'll recall, also completely produced A.Dd+'s much-adored latest, When Pigs Fly.
- Lastly, and in more A.Dd+ news, perhaps you read Nic Hernandez's review of this week's Black Star show? Yeah? Then you saw that he was pretty high on local opener Topic, which is quite the coincidence, as I've been jamming this track from the new rapper, called "Who We Are" and featuring, among others, A.Dd+'s Paris Perhsun for a few weeks now. Good stuff, courtesy of Topic's July-released full-length, Finally Confident. Stream the whole record here. Grab "Who We Are" below.
