Author: keshav

Review–Stamp Nation performs at the Diag

keshav

This Wednesday evening, Stamp Nation, a newly formed student organization, performed a concert on the diag featuring all student performers. The concert featured performers from a variety of genres: everything from acoustic guitar, to funk music, to hip-hop. The decision to perform at the diag was a great idea. Students walking by who were uninformed about the concert discovered it firsthand. I also admire the performers’ confidence—it takes a lot of guts to perform in such a public setting, in an environment where the audience is free to leave at any time. Performers had different levels of experience. For some, it was the first live performance they’d ever participated in, and they stuck to covering songs by favorite artists. Others, like student Brandon Canniff, performed music they had written themselves.
The Stamp Nation club deserves a lot of credit for organizing the event successfully. The club is a meeting point for students with interest in music at various levels of prior experience. Some of the bands at the concert actually formed after meeting at the club. The club also arranged for speakers, provided by the university, in order to conduct the concert.
Stamp Nation faced one challenge Wednesday night: concert had difficulty maintaining stable audience numbers for the entirety of the concert. I suspect this is because of the weather, but luckily, Stamp Nation plans to set up another concert near the end of winter term, when the weather has improved.
Although relatively new, the club has big plans for the future. They plan to create a music mentorship program. Students looking for instruction will be set up with a tutor skilled in the musical style the student wants to learn. Stamp Nation also discussed the possibility of setting up an online page compiled with music their members have recorded. I wish them the best in their efforts and hope they continue to attract student interest, if they continue to grow, they will be an excellent resource for aspiring student musicians. Keep an eye out for concert footage—the club also arranged for the concert to be filmed.

I had trouble tracking down online samples of student music. I did find aspiring hip-hop artist Brandon Canniff’s soundcloud page—here’s a link to an album he produced this summer.

Review: FlatbushZOMBies @ The Blind Pig

keshav

This Tuesday I listened to Flatbush Zombies perform at The Blind Pig. I believe attending a concert at The Blind Pig is a bucket-list item for students here—gotta once before you graduate or you’re missing out. It’s not the biggest or most glamorous venue. Neither of those words should ever be used to describe The Pig—sweaty and crowded are more appropriate adjectives. Nevertheless, this venue is a great spot to see talented groups on the cusp of stardom for reasonable prices (tickets usually $15 before fees).
Flatbush Zombies are a Brooklyn based group formed in 2010, consisting of MC’s Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice, and Erick Arc Elliott. New to the rap scene, Flatbush Zombies follow in the tradition of legendary New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan— minimalistic yet expressive production style, dissonant harmonies, and each MC embodies a unique persona on every track. Listeners can also appreciate the many references to hip-hop culture: frequent references to famous MC’s, particularly 2pac and Wu-Tang Clan, as well as plays on iconic lines from classic songs.
Flatbush Zombies, like many other hip-hop groups, fixate on drug use in their lyrics. It would be a mistake, however, to consider this group another run-of-the-mill group drawing on controversial subjects to gain popularity. Their lyrical content is distinctly existential, openly questioning the value of conventional morality and religion, opting instead for a morality derived from real life experience. Unlike mainstream hip-hop artists who advocate decadent, illicit drug use according to a purely hedonistic worldview, Flatbush Zombies depict drug use as an inevitable consequence of socioeconomic exclusion. Rather than glamorize drug use, they problematize the activity, prompting listeners to consider why drug use is prevalent, and how the activity is a conscious act of self-destructive escapism.
So how are the Flatbush Zombies live? They kill it. The venue was perfect for their musical style—informal setting mixed with ear-splitting acoustics complemented the minimalistic production style and the raw energy of the group. In my experience, hip-hop concerts rarely recreate the sound quality of studio recordings live, but this loss of sound quality is more than made up for when a performer brings enthusiasm and panache to the stage. Panache, pizzazz, x-factor, swag, whatever you want to call it—The Flatbush Zombies came packing heat, they lit up the stage with energy, adding a personal depth to their music which cannot be captured in the studio.
Fans of Wu-Tang Clan, Joey Bada$$, and Odd Future should definitely check out Flatbush Zombies—I think this group has a lot of potential to produce quality hip-hop music over the coming years. Fan or rap or not, definitely check out The Blind Pig, a venue that is integral to the Ann Arbor experience. The Blind Pig setting is ideal for discovering new music on an intimate level.

Listen to some Flatbush Zombies for free here (I recommend No Religion and Thug Waffle): https://soundcloud.com/flatbushzombies

Watch the Music Video that helped them gain popularity–you may notice inspiration from some of Tyler the Creator’s music videos

Flatbush Zombies–Thug Waffle

Review–Erik Santos@UMMA: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

keshav 2 Comments

After this Thursday, one of my biggest regrets over the past 3 years I’ve been at school here is not spending enough time at the UMMA. The UMMA is a great cultural resource not only because of its amazing collection of paintings and its innovative gallery setup, but also because it is frequently a live performance venue for artists of all types (and the shows are free!). The event I attended this Thursday had very little to do with any of the common connotations associated with a night at an art museum. The event was accessible and enjoyable even to people uninterested in esoteric art, most of the people in the audience didn’t have grey hair yet, and the audience was actually encouraged to be loud. The event also had nothing to do with paintings or sculptures, this was a live performance of the classic rock album Ziggy Stardust and a short animated film screening by University of Michigan composition professor Erik Santos and his co-performers Toko Shiiki Santos and Collin McRae.
Santos devoted the first half of his show to playing David Bowie’s classic Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album in its entirety. Covering this album live is difficult, as much of its unique sound comes from the Bowie’s heavy studio experimentation with layering multiple guitar tracks with a multitude of distortion effects. Santos adapted the original music to play by himself on acoustic guitar. As a fan of Bowie, I admit I was pretty skeptical about such a stripped down adaptation. Nevertheless, I loved the performance. Rather than imitate the album’s instrumental variety, Santos’ focused, minimalist approach captured the raw energy of a live rock performance. I was particularly amazed by his vocal performance—critics often label Bowie the rock and roll chameleon due to his ability to seamlessly change the range, tone, and character of his vocals. The live cover presented me with a narrative—the story of a rockstar’s rise to fame followed by his tragic inability to cope with the pressures of stardom.

The highlight of the second half of the show was a screening of an animated short. Toko and Collin are responsible for design and animation, while Erik composed the video’s score. The video is a response to the suffering caused by the recent tsunami in Japan. Narrated in Japanese, the film chronicles the journey of a blue dragon, born from innocent and pure human sympathy, as it flies to Japan to comfort and inspire tsunami survivors. The dragon’s journey is harrowing, but as the blue dragon begins to falter, a panoply of colorful dragons come to its aid. The animation style of the video was striking and gorgeous. The lush color palette demonstrates the tangible effects of human emotions. At the outset, when characters are grief-stricken by the tragedy, the world is enveloped in shades of blue; nevertheless, people’s continuing optimism and good will unleash a hopeful rainbow of colors which illuminates the sky. (Watch the video here if interested)
Needless to say, I enjoyed my evening at the UMMA very much, and plan to go back soon for special events. For those interested in checking the UMMA out, consider attending UMMA After Hours on Friday, October 18th. I hear there’ll be free donuts and cider.