We Review: Kublakai, Illegitimate Children, and Unexpected Arrival at Nectar

Seattlest hopped over to Fremont last night to experience Kublakai's much-anticipated The Basics release party, featuring not only new material from Kublakai but also sets from Illegitimate Children, Unexpected Arrival, and Phil In The Blank w/ The Oddfellows. (Joseph Average performed, as did Murder Dice, but we must have just missed them.) We lost $20, but left the richer for a solid show, a copy of The Basics, and a couple beers in our belly. It was a good night's work.

Illegitimate Children, a.k.a. Type and Grieves plus Swervewon and Murder Dice, pulled off a charmingly wry, friendly set involving tequila shots ("These are not drinks. These are not drinks," they reassured Management). The two of them give the impression that they are inseparable best friends who just happen to be musically talented; we loved "My Girlfriend Beats Me" in particular. At the end of their set, Swervewon dropped Lenny Kravitz and Queen in quick succession, which was just... fun, and in keeping with the spirit of Illegitimate Children's mission statement: fun-having.

The last time we tried to catch Neema and DJ MoneyD, Neema lost his voice partway through the set. Unexpected Arrival's set last night blew that raspy performance out of the water. The beats were intense, hard, and dramatic; so was much of the lyrical content. Dysfunctional relationships got a shout-out: "Put your drink up if you've been through it," Neema urged us. DJ MoneyD looked imposing behind the tables, like some kind of prison preacher about to unleash the truth upon us all. Neema did a couple songs from the floor (thereby rendering himself invisible, but we're sure it was fun for the people right around him). When he was up on stage, he looked confident and grounded. Neema knows who Neema is and what Neema can do, obviously. We're going to try to get our hands on the UA album.

Highlight: Kublakai. Everything about him, actually, but primarily his music; we've been bumping The Basics all day. A record is an enormous undertaking, and we're sure it's tempting to release it before every angle has been sharpened and honed; Kublakai has not fallen prey to this temptation, and his release shows a maturity and control that should garner him praise from all corners. It glides, trips, goes down surprisingly easy. He jokes plenty, even donning a surgical lab coat for the hilarious "Doctor's Prescription" at Nectar last night, but this guy is also dead serious. "We go back to the basics when all else fails," Kublakai reminds us. He's agile on the mic, and the production sounds fresh; this record is an astoundingly listenable way for the 206 to break into the new year.

Heads up: beat battle at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard this Saturday night! Be there and support your favorite local producers.

Photo of Kublakai is via MySpace, where it was unattributed.