An enthusiastic crowd of youngsters showed up at Nam's album release party at the Vera Project this weekend to appreciate energetic performances from The Physics, Bambu, super-talented super-group Good Medicine, and Nam himself. Though The Stranger billed this night as a Good Medicine show, every artist on the bill pointed the glory towards Nam and his "de-boo" album, Exhale.

The album is as earnest, lovable and hard-working as Nam himself and plays well live, especially with Khingz' loose-limbed exuberance adding spark to the performance. Highlights from Exhale include the heart-wrenching stories in "Where You At Now," Toni Hill's powerful contributions to "Ghetto," the hott beat from MTK on the title track, and the party-friendly track "Get Live."

Nam is part of the new generation of emcees raising their voices in Seattle's hiphop scene. The young artist has plenty of room for growth, particularly in the areas of with his work cut out for him in finessing breath control and flow in general. However, he has the highest of intentions and is willing to work hard. He's got Ra Scion's stamp of approval as a "dope lyricist," so we're looking forward to watching him improve and develop as an emcee over the next couple of years. On the title track, he lays out his ambitions: "I just wanna ride with the best of the best, and so I'm bumpin Illmatic, reading Cornel West." That's a good start.

More about the show and tracks from Exhaleafter the jump! Photo of Nam during his set at the Vera Project, by Janelle Quibuyen. Courtesy of Nam, and thanks!

"You're about to experience an astrological, zodiacal event," host Ra Scion announced on Saturday night, and "zodiacal" was the perfect word for the combined prodigious talents of the four emcees of Good Medicine (Macklemore, Geologic, Khingz and Gabe Teodros). Macklemore sent a plastic parrot out to crowd-surf, Teodros rapped from atop the low side walls, and Khingz' hair swung madly as the four men took turns with verses. These emcees absolutely love what they're doing, and they're very good at it, and that makes Good Medicine a pleasure to behold.

The hyper-political Bambu, out of L.A., used the annoying trick of starting off songs with familiar samples and then cutting off abruptly to move into something different entirely. The juxtaposition didn't always work in his favor, but we did appreciate his a capella verse as well as the DJ's goofy banter. And of course, the Physics played a lively set--though "I Heart Beer" wasn't nearly as popular with the under-age crowd as with an over-21 audience. (Awkward!)

All in all, it was a successful release party for an engaging album. We're interested to see what Nam and Khingz will release as Balance Brothers (we loved "This Is For The Cops" and the duo's performance of Khingz' super-catchy "Hydroplane"), and look forward to Nam's future endeavors. Here are two tracks from Exhale so you can judge for yourself.