There's something beautiful about the Great Unknown. It's not only because of the stark and bewitching alt-country they weave, or the yearning intones and the seizing rhythms. It's also because of their collaboration with the American Society of Composers (ASCAP) and the national after-school program, American SCORES, in late 2010. As part of this team up, the ASCAP Songwriter Residency at America SCORES brought the West Philly outfit in to write and record a collection of songs with public school youth from underserved communities in Washington DC, Cleveland, Milwaukee, New York, and Boston. The result of that is the brilliant and heartwarming 5-track EP, Other Voices, Other Rooms, available July 19 (you can preorder the album HERE and receive a bonus audio commentary with frontman Todd Henkin. All proceeds go to the ASCAP Songwriter Residency). It was a positive, enlightening experience for the four, so much so that Brad Jacobson decided to leave the band to pursue teaching again, according to a recent Making Major Moves interview. And with the lap steel/banjo/guitar player gone, the now-three piece is switching sonic gears, exploring fresh, not-yet-pinned down territory on new material they began recording for their upcoming album. It should be a refreshing change in direction, one in which you can hear twinkles of it tonight when they perform at Kung Fu Necktie with hometown folk eccentrics The Spinning Leaves. But don't just head out to the show to support the Great Unknown. Go to support the 120 kids they've helped inspire. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., $7, 8pm, 21+ -Annamarya Scaccia
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
