Tonight’s show at PhilaMoca is a stacked and eclectic one. Deerhaus co-founder and electronic wiz kid Francis Tseng a.k.a. Golden Ages will be headlining the show with his filled out live band sound. As stated on their Facebook, this will be their last show for an indefinite amount of time so it is bound to be a doozy. While Golden Ages on record land somewhere between the visceral, shape-shifting pop of Animal Collective and the blissful waves of chillness oozing from artists like Millionyoung and Washed Out. The more guitar-driven live sound shows Golden Ages from a different angle, a less electronic one, but still atmospheric and enrapturing. One of Philly’s best kept secrets, though not for long I’m sure, Hop Along will be performing as well. The Quinlan siblings will be bashing out their cacophonous folk tunes while Frances unleashes her vibrant croon that is both skittering and maternal. Brother Quinlan, a.k.a. Mark, will also be playing with Chicago migrant artist Shawn Rosenblatt a.k.a. Netherfriends along with Andy Molholt from The Armchairs (RIP). Don’t miss out on this live show, it could be the last living thing you ever see. PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 8pm, $8, All Ages (Golden Ages Photo by Jake Baumolh; Hop Along Photo by David Turcotte) - Adam G.
Lushlife, a.k.a. Raj Haldar, has been dropping mixtapes since 2005, when he released his debut entitled West Sounds, which was a mashup of The Beach Boy’s classic Pet Sounds and Kanye West’s College Dropout and Late Registration as well as his own verses. On his first label release Plateau Vision (Western Vinyl), Lush continues to develop his eclectic style, combining ‘60s psychedelic, experimental indie and golden era hip hop sounds to create the grandiose, maximalist soundscape beats that he rhymes over.
With his latest LP, Lush establishes himself as a unique artist who is able to take influences from various genres, sounds and eras of music to develop a completely original style that has one foot in classic hip hop and the other through the doorway of the future. This distinctive style is displayed immediately on the album’s opener “Magnolia.” The track combines a beautiful harp sample over a hard boom bap beat with lyrics that reference composer Burt Bacharach, the graffiti culture of Wild Style, Citizen Kane’s Xanadu and Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” through his gritty Nas-esque vocal delivery. In “Hale-Bopp was the Bedouins,” which features Das Racists’ Heems, Haldar references his technique as “half-Delorean, half-rap historian.”
Plateau Vision boasts an impressive guest list of artists including Andrew Cedermark (Titus Andronicus), Styles P and Shad amongst others, but Lushlife always shines through as both an emcee and a producer. The first feature comes from Styles P (famous for his work with ‘90s hip hop crew LOX) on “Still Hear The Word Progress,” one of the LP’s standout tracks. Lushlife trades bars back and forth with the iconic emcee at a furious pace without losing a step over a dense synth and 8-bit beat. Towards the halfway point of the album, Lush shines brightly with fellow Philly emcee and former Atlanta native STS on “Glistening,” and he hands over the mic on “Gymnopedie 1.2” to critically acclaimed Canadian emcee Shad while crafting one of the most interesting beats on the Plateau Vision by sampling one of 20th century French composer/pianist Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedies,” which fades out under a clip from Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee’s classic emcee battle, tying Haldar’s classical and jazz upbringing with his “fetish” for golden era hip hop culture.
Lushlife is definitely one of the most interesting artists in hip hop today. He continues to push the genre’s boundaries with his production while remaining true to its culture through his vocal delivery and preservation of its history throughout his lyrics. Plateau Vision is available for streaming HERE, and you can purchase the album via Western Vinyl. - Dan Brightcliffe
