Spek Won, featuring Shi Wisdom, Black Body
If you need a crash course in some of the city’s most interesting under-the-radar hip-hop and R&B artists, you should probably check out Manifesto’s Future Sounds showcase at Daniel’s Spectrum tonight (September 18). Just in time for the show, local MC Spek Won has dropped the video for his Strange Fruit-referencing Black Body, a track off his recent Sofa King Amazing release. The jazzy cut has a summery Digable Planets vibe and features a beautiful vocal turn by Shi Wisdom.
Princess Century, Sunscream
“I feel good when I get my heart broken and I write good songs,” Maya Postepski told NOW during an interview for a cover feature on her band Austra four years ago. If that still holds true, we can only imagine the drama that’s gone down lately: the drummer-about-town is having a particularly prolific third quarter. Not only is her debut solo album as Princess Century coming out via Paper Bag on October 9, she also scored the buzzy TIFF film Closet Monster (along with Todor Kobakov).
N/O/T/A, Return Of Prometheus (Neu Beat)
Toronto techno producer Dinamo Azari (formerly of Azari & III) and Mixhell’s Laima Leyton and Igor Cavalera – formerly the drummer of Brazil’s Sepultura – have formed an acidic industrial project called None of the Above, or N/O/T/A. The trio’s debut EP is out this week via Mike Simonetti’s 2MR label and, as you might expect from something that references Greek mythology and features drumming by a thrash metal god, it really goes there. Dinamo Azari plays the Black Eagle on October 3 with In Flagranti.
Language Arts, Neighbour
Kristen Cudmore-led three-piece Language Arts’ upcoming Able Island album is an homage to Nova Scotia and nearby Sable Island, which is famous for its wild horses, its lack of trees and its cameo in the George Clooney disaster flick The Perfect Storm. The day-dreamy single Neighbour has a bit of a round-the-way-stalker vibe as Cudmore sings, “I’m on my best behaviour / this feels like it’s a crime / I want to be your neighbour / I have to have your time.” Able Island comes out via MapleMusic on October 9.
Clairmont the Second, Lames (All I Hear)
Clairmont the Second incorporates samples of En Vogue, Ice Cube, J. Dilla and George Clinton into his latest project, A Mixtape By Clairmont The Second. Lead single Lames (All I Hear) finds the teenage rapper channelling the aggression of his live shows in the studio with a track aimed at the hangers-on who come out of the woodwork at the faintest whiff of success. Clairmont plays Manifesto’s Future Sounds showcase tonight (September 18) at Daniel’s Spectrum.
Brendan Philip, Ghostface
R&B singer Brendan Philip has shared the lead single from his upcoming EP Culture Power Vol.0, out via Dine Alone on October 16. Ghostface was initially supposed to be based around a Ghostface Killah sample, but Philip and producer Mike Imperial ended up taking inspiration from the languid soul and snappy drums that were a signature of J. Dilla’s hip-hop group, Slum Village. Brendan Philip plays Massey Hall’s Lunchtime Live! concert series at Yonge-Dundas Square on Monday (September 21).
kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie
