Friday's show at Nectar Lounge was a great showcase for both classic and fresh, emerging talents in local hiphop. Alpha P, a gratifyingly professional, unflaggingly high-spirited crew of twelve headlining the show, were working NW underground hiphop in the 90s; the other acts on the bill included Tacoma-based Jay Barz (a raucus party act, himself), pissed-off Neema of Unexpected Arrival, fast-talking Premonition and the bulging vein on his neck, and charismatic story-teller Kublakai--interviewed by Seattlest here. Though the show started late, DJ Hanibal won us over when he played Snoop and Dre's "Nuthin But A G-Thang," which we'd coincidentally just finished reminiscing about with our show-going companion.
We Went: Alpha P, Kublakai, Neema, Premonition and Jay Barz @ Nectar
We Interview: Kublakai
Seattle hiphop artist Kublakai (aka Ian Waller) released in early January, and we've happily kept tracks from the record such "Oh Lord" and "Power Food" in our frequent playlist rotation ever since. This week, Kublakai talked to Seattlest in an exclusive about jazz, Snoop Dogg, his mom, a budding film career, and more!
Eddie Vedder, Hollywood. Hollywood, Eddie Vedder.
The past few months have seen Mr. “Wes C. Addle”—Eddie Vedder—looking more like Mr. Tinseltown than just another (incredibly talented) Easy Street customer. Times don’t look like they’ll be a-changin’ in 2008.
Elsewhere In The Ist-a-verse
After Wired ran a story documenting the GoogleCenter of the United States a bunch of ists jumped on the opportunity to figure out their own middle. Gothamist, Chicagoist, Bostonist and Seattlest all zoomed in on their creamy GoogleCenters. A crack cartography team is hard at work determining the GoogleCenter of the Ist-a-verse as you read this...
Hamburger Busts The Funnies
This Friday, "America's Funnyman" Neil Hamburger will turn the Funhouse into the Funnyhouse (sorry, but we had to say it before he did).
Snoop Beat Down and Brad Pitt
We would have written about this earlier, but we were so enchanted with ABC New's ad for the Brad Pitt interview on 'Prime Time Live' that we couldn't look away. His eyes and roguish smile are just so mesmerizing. Last week, local music fan and we are sure all-around nice guy Richard Monroe alleged that he was assaulted during Snoop Dogg concert at the White River Amphitheater. "They just beat me, stomping me, and beat me with a microphone," Monroe told a local TV station. The Snoop crew claims Monroe was considered a security risk and that they acted accordingly.
Canada: Land of Give'r
The past holiday weekend offered a bevvy of Seattle activities, from the Folklife Festival to Sasquatch, to SIFF, and we’re sure there’s more. Well, we’re pretty sure, because some of us went to Canada instead. Just a quick jaunt to Vancouver on Sunday for some biking; perhaps we’d even try to catch the Bloc Party show that evening at the Commodore since somehow we’ve missed out on every other opportunity to see them in what has been a near blitzkreig of Bloc Party show dates in Seattle over the past few months.
A Weekend of Music
Apparently, there is something out there called 'nature.' It has trees and birds and such things. We are a little scared of it. If you, on the other hand, are more intrepid than we are and you also happen to enjoy the indie rock, head over to the Gorge Amphitheater tomorrow to see the Sasquatch Music Festival. As you most likely know, the lineup features the Pixies, Wilco, Modest Mouse, Kanye West, the Dears, Arcade Fire, the Bloc Party and more. The lineup is awesome, but we are a little biased towards ceilings, walls and climate control, but that's just us.
Supersize MC
To all you aspiring hip-hop MC's out there. Advertising Age and the Daily News are reporting that McDonald's is offering between one and five dollars everytime a song that plugs their signature sandwich is played on the radio.

