October 21st, 2007

Live: Def Jux Showcase at Northsix (10/19/07)

By Elizabeth Yoo

For one night only, local label Def Jux supplied thoughtful, independent rhymers and DJs that almost made one forget the pallid hip-hop scene these days. The night was jam packed with seven official acts, including a set from Def Jux label founder El-P.

The best acts were Cool Calm Pete and Hangar 18, who stood out with their charming stage presence and memorable songs. Cool Calm Pete, as his moniker suggests, is indeed quite cool and calm. It is unfortunate that he played so early and that his set was short. There was a quirkiness to Pete’s beats, but one that is familiar. You have to appreciate songs like “Brush P.S.A.,” which waxes poetic about the glories of oral hygiene. His dude-next-door demeanor surely helped as he tried out some of his new material, which was so fresh, in fact, that he had to read his rhymes off a piece of paper. The audience rightfully cheered him on.

Along with Cool Calm Pete, Hangar 18 were also one of the standout acts of the night. They brought what most of the Def Jux acts missed: an infectious, booty-shaking set. Since Hangar 18 seemed to be having fun on stage, the crowd was very receptive of their tunes. They saved the best track “Bakin Soda” for last, which features a fantastic arrangement and an infections hook.

Also noteworthy, if only for its sheer novelty, were metal-punkers Activator, who were an anomaly at the primarily hip-hop showcase. As the first band of the night, they played to a mostly empty venue, but did so with gusto. The frontman gave his all, but the real star of the show was the curly-haired guitarist, who spent much of his time focused on his sweet solos. His performance was reminiscent to the sort of guy who uploads videos of himself playing the guitar onto YouTube so that the whole world can see how awesome he is.

As for Junk Science, Despot, and Yak Ballz, they offered solid sets of serious hip-hop. They all put a great effort to get the crowd going, though their results varied.

As a headliner, El-P played a great set, but he could have cut back on the onstage banter. Looking more like an aging hipster dad with each day that passes, he had fanboys reacting as if he was all four of The Beatles circa 1963. This is not surprising when one considers how responsive he was to the most enthusiastic fans, shaking hands and dedicating songs to them. Sadly, this also meant that he kept antagonistically referring to the CMJ badge holders who may not have been as well versed in the Def Jux catalogue. Is there really a need to create an “Us vs. Them” atmosphere? It is no wonder that, when El-P dropped to the ground for a full ten minutes while DJ Mr. Dibbs played, some audience members threw empty plastic cups at the stage.

But El-P’s set was full of surprises. First, Del The Funkee Homosapien dropped by for a song, during which he effortlessly rapped while the crowd went wild. During the second set, El-P had more visitors: it was a reunion with his former Company Flow partner, Bigg Jus. Conspicuously missing was Mr. Len, but the fans were happy with whatever they could get. El-P prefaced several of his old songs by expressing some doubt over whether he could remember all the words, but he definitely gave his all and the audience greedily and enthusiastically fed off this energy.

Cool Calm Pete
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coolcalmpete

Hangar 18
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hangareighteen

Activator
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/activatorwins

El-P
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/elproducto

For more on Def Jux and its artists: http://www.definitivejux.net

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at 11:47 pm and is filed under Arts, Music, CMJ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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