Mux Mool’s Planet High School gets its point across without speaking

It may not be an easy task for a lyricist to pen a song that accurately depicts what he’s feeling at any given moment, but he has one important tool that an instrumental artist does not: words. Such was the dilemma electronic music auteur Mux Mool (aka Brian Lindgren) faced when he sat down to compose his latest album Planet High School, released Feb. 7, 2012, on Ghostly International.

In the following interview, Lindgren, who will make an appearance at this year’s Sacramento Electronic Music Festival, divulged details about his creative process while offering pointed social commentary and voicing his opinions on experiencing electronic music in the live setting.

I was checking out the “Cash for Gold” video, and I thought it was a really neat clip. Did you have a lot to do with the concept of it?
The reason why I think I’ve hesitated on music videos for so long was because I never wanted to do a music video with me looking really cool with really cool things–anything flashy or anything like that. I actually wrote the story to the music video–the screenplay and everything was based on. It was just about being yourself and sticking it to your boss.

Do you think cinematically when you write your music?
I just think I think cinematically story-wise. I think narratively as opposed to a random collection of things.

The album does have a bit of a funk feel to it. Is that indicative of the music you were listening to while you were creating it?
No, it just was funky. I was definitely not listening to any more or less funk than I was in the past year.

So your funk intake has remained consistent throughout your entire music career?
Yes, it’s been almost entirely the same.

The album just came out in February, but are you already looking at what’s next? Are you the kind of artist who’s constantly writing?
Yeah, it’s an ongoing process. It’s not really done in blocks. You just have to work when you feel like working, which is not always. Some people like to post that they work every single day and nonstop and all they do is work between flights and, “Oh my God, I’m on my way to a show and I’m working on a song,” and I don’t buy it for a second. Everybody has a limit where they’re like, “I don’t want to work on music. In fact, I don’t want to listen to music, and I don’t want to talk about music.” Everybody has that. I definitely have that. I definitely work quite a bit, every single day, but with these songs it was all in the moment when I started making them at least.

Is that “in the moment” process something you utilized just for Planet High School, or was that also the case with your previous album?
With the last album, the record label wasn’t sure what I was going to do career-wise, so they wanted as many songs as they could get. At the time, they wanted to grab everything, so Skulltaste had less focus in terms of an album, because I think maybe about 12, 13 of those songs could have been an album and seven of those were songs they just grabbed.

When you commented on people bragging about how they’re constantly working, it occurred to me that that may play into the idea of prolonged adolescence–sort of like the kid who’s too eager to answer questions in class.
There are some high-school-type social elements even among professional musicians… To me, there are these dudes who want to post, “Going into the studio!” every day, and it’s like, “Well, you’re a professional musician. That’s just your job.” It’s not like if you’re a janitor you’d post “Scrubbing toilets!” and everyone’s like, “Oh, dude, that’s dope. You’re scrubbing toilets.” It’s not all brag-able. It really isn’t.

Plus, all they seem to talk about is how much they’re working. To me, it seems like real-life experiences are the things that should inspire you to write songs. If your entire life experience is sitting in the studio behind a computer, it’s like, what is a computer song inspired by other computer songs? There’s just no feeling there.

When you’re out on the road, do those experiences fuel what you’re writing?
Yeah, because you’re seeing stuff, and you’re away from home. I saw this thing on Reddit the other day that I thought was really funny, because it was like, “Bus window is a first year philosophy class,” and it’s kind of true. Because as soon as you sit there and you’re by yourself, and you have nothing to do but look out the window and think about stuff, you start thinking some basic philosophical stuff. But when you do that forever, you do that for three years, and that’s every single day, you’re thinking about a lot of stuff for a lot of time.

Before you mentioned you wrote the story for your video. Do you often write stories and do those inform your songwriting?
I think the reason why I wanted to put the message behind the video, of just being yourself at all costs, it’s just more or less what I’ve had to go through in the past couple years, which is just being able to do music for a living, which is not always easy. It’s not always easy to convince people that it’s a viable career, but being myself has always been worth it, because that’s the message I’ve always agreed with.

Is it weird for you to hear yourself say that you’re a professional musician?
I don’t really tell people that. People I meet, I don’t really say that, because everybody’s a fucking DJ. Everybody is.

I’m the same way about telling people I write. I mean, I do, and I get paid for it, but the reaction is always weird.
Right, because they’re like, “Yeah, of course you are, dude.” And you’re like, “No really. I make money at it. It’s a job.” And they’re like, “Uh huh.”

Either that, or they think it’s more interesting than it actually is.
Oh yeah and that, too. That’s the other side of that. That’s when you play shows and people come up to you like, “Oh my God, that was so incredible,” and you’re like, “Calm down. I didn’t just cure cancer. I didn’t give your mom heart surgery or anything. I played with my computer in front of you. I’m glad you’re impressed, but let’s be realistic.”

You mention playing on your computer in front of people. How is it for you to connect with the audience? Do you sometimes have to be more physical to get people involved?
For me the show isn’t about what I’m doing physically. There are a lot of people who go out there with their sets pre-programmed, they press play, they tweak on filters for the next hour and a half and they dance around and throw their hands up during the exciting part of the song. They get a lot of credit, and they get really far that way, and I think that’s a fucking joke. I’m not a clown. I’m not up there to be a clown and choreograph the songs to whatever shitty dance I’m doing. I’m trying to create the mood, but I think about it in a more European style, which means the mood should be created by the songs I’m playing and the order I’m choosing to play them in and how those things are working. It’s definitely more of a listening experience. I don’t dance. I don’t jump. I don’t even make funny faces. At least, I try not to.

Mux Mool will be featured on day 2 (Friday, May 4) of the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival, which will take place at Harlow’s. The festival runs from May 3—5, 2012. For more information and to get a glimpse of the full lineup, go to http://sacelectronicmusicfest.com/

Lagwagon, Cobra Skulls, Nothington

Harlow’s, Sacramento – Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012

Catering to the working people of the city, Harlow’s hosted an early evening show, promptly starting at 6:30 p.m. with San Francisco’s Nothington. With only a couple dozen early birds in attendance to start, Nothington held little back, providing a solid performance. Bandleader Jay Northington forcefully belted out the mid-tempo “Stop Screaming,” which drew obvious comparison to the gruff vocal styling of Chuck Ragan’s early work in Hot Water Music.

The slightly quicker paced “This Conversation Ends” harked back to familiar pop-punk sounds of the mid-‘90s with straightforward rhythms, but catchy anthemic vocal hooks a la Face to Face or Social Distortion. “A Mistake” was perhaps their best song of the night, which included moments of all three guitarists singing at the same time; a formula that the band thrived on and shined the brightest when doing. At one point in between songs, Northington saluted the crowd with a can of beer, appropriate for the midway point of the third annual Beer Week in Sacramento.

Second on the bill was Cobra Skulls, originally from Reno, Nev., but now calling the Bay Area home. Right out of the gates, Cobra Skulls were ready to roll and brought the rock with them. Drummer Luke Swarm led the way on “The Streets of Cairo” with grooving, danceable beats that grabbed the attention of the ever-increasing crowd. “Cobra Skullifornia” incited several in attendance to dance and mosh in the middle of the room. Adam Beck’s clever single-note guitar leads transitioned well into the chorus of the song, and bassist Devin Peralta legibly shouted disapproving lyrics into the microphone, “You planted seeds in the desert/you stole your water from afar/Southern California stay where you are.”

Other notable songs from the set were the upbeat and driving “Solastalgia” and hip-shaking infectious “Honorary Discharge Under the Influence,” which sparked similarities to AFI and Rancid’s first few albums respectively. Cobra Skulls put forth a ton of energy and charisma with each individual member showcasing their talents as the supporting act.

The legendary Lagwagon graced the stage with much anticipation and adoration from bunches of eager fans in attendance. Though some might argue Lagwagon’s heyday has come and gone, the group still performs with the energy, pizzazz and goofiness of teenagers. Lagwagon quickly riled up diehard fans, old and young, into a moshing frenzy with classics like the stop-and-go “Black Eyes.” Showing their playful side, towering guitarist Chris Flippin took time in the middle of the set to inform the crowd that they were missing American Idol on television. Vocalist Joey Cape also told an entertaining story about a warehouse show the band attended after a Cattle Club performance early in their career, in which Cape recalled seeing an awesome metal band, Crank Lab, whose name he mistook for years as the name of the venue. Prior to playing the catchy “Razorburn,” Cape and Flippin gave praise to an audience member with an impressive mustache. Songs like “Sleep” and “Weak” showed the talent of the band to be simultaneously melodic and aggressive, serving as a reminder as to why Lagwagon reeled us in to begin with and why they remain a relevant punk rock band today.

Submerge’s very own Adam Saake and his crew at Sacramento Electronic Music Festival, including Clay Nutting of Concerts for Charity, have really outdone themselves with this year’s lineup. The three-day festival will take place on May 3—5, 2012 at Harlow’s and Momo Lounge, and Submerge is proud to be the media sponsor again this year. If you remember anything about last year’s SEMF at Townhouse, you know it was the hottest ticket in town that weekend (there was a line down the block!), and this year will be no different with heavy hitters like Death Grips, Shlohmo, Mux Mool (pictured), Lorn, DJ Nobody, Salva, Dibiase, B. Bravo and Starship Connection confirmed. Also performing will be Giraffage, Raleigh Moncrief, Dusty Brown, Yalls, Doom Bird, Favors, Little Foxes, James & Evander, Dolor, Adoptahighway, Chachi Jones and more. It really is an incredible mix of national and local talent and you can get your three-day pass for a steal, just $30, at Harlows.com. Individual day tickets are $13 a pop. Learn more about SEMF at http://sacelectronicmusicfest.com/ and keep an eye out for coverage right here.

Blitzen Trapper Navigates Nostalgic Avenues on American Goldwing

The key word for the successes and attention over the last five years for Portland, Ore.’s Blitzen Trapper might have to be “patience.” With their conception in 2000 as a six-piece crew of classic-rock connoisseurs–anchored by the songwriting prowess of figurehead Eric Earley–Blitzen Trapper accidentally enjoyed an educational incubation period in garages and small clubs for a full seven years before anyone outside their hometown really had a clue or cared about them. With everyone seemingly looking the other way, the band honed their craft, wrote, recorded and released three albums on their own (2007’s Wild Mountain Nation would eventually be re-released on Sub Pop), and figured out, basically, how to be a band. With Wild Mountain Nation, Earley’s artistic prolificacy, and his isolation/inspiration of residing in the band’s actual studio space during the creation of the record, resulted in a buzz that’s ricocheting even today, complemented greatly by the 2008 follow-up, Furr, and the slightly prog-y 2010 LP Destroyer of the Void.

Blitzen Trapper’s latest release, American Goldwing, is a return to the nostalgic confines of road-weary rock, rumbling with gobs of groove, walls of squalling guitars and Earley’s typically brilliant strokes of capturing the nomadic spirit on tape. Big riffs and catchy choruses abound, showcasing a band maturing a mere 12 years after they first played a note. With the band’s ascent into the consciousness of media heads and music lovers alike having coalesced to form a formidable army of devotees, the band is capitalizing on their impeccable sense of timing yet again, hitting the road for another run of dates that will slither them out of the clubs and into the maw of the festival circuit through the spring and into summer. In anticipation of Blitzen Trapper’s gig at Harlow’s on March 5, 2012 guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist/melodica player Marty Marquis spoke with Submerge via phone from Seattle, where he was slated to headline at his friend’s wedding ceremony.

The band’s been off the road for a while now. How do you relax off tour? Do you tend to hibernate away from each other?
We hang out and do stuff now and again, but for the most part I think everybody’s got their own lives now. When we’re on the road, we enjoy each other’s company, but it’s nice to have a break from the enforced intimacy. I’ve got kids now; our bass player Mike [VanPelt] just had a kid a month ago. The other guys have their own things going on, too. When we started playing together in 2000, we weren’t like, “Let’s make a band and get famous and make a bunch of money!” We just liked hanging out, so we’d spend four or five hours a night, three or four nights a week. We did that for years, just hanging out, playing and recording. We’ve logged a lot of time with each other. We don’t feel the urge to do it all the time anymore.

Do you feel like folk, roots or Americana music is being homogenized by its resurgent commercial popularity? If so, is a band like Blitzen Trapper fearful of a backlash?
The thing to look at is how much of this music is actually folk-Americana music, and how much of it is just the trappings of that. I was hanging out with this guy last week, and he was talking about Mumford and Sons was Journey with banjos and acoustic guitars. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just funny I guess. In the [late] ‘60s, no matter what style of music you were playing it was important to have long freaky hair and wear peace signs or have a fuzz guitar, making your music psychedelic regardless of where you were actually coming from musically. So bands are responding to all kinds of different pressures, and I think especially young bands who are talented but don’t necessarily have much of a sense of identity are apt to go for those folk-Americana trappings.

I don’t know about backlash. I feel like everything is so fragmented and Balkanized in music that it’s hard for me to imagine people being like, “Oh, we’re sick of this folk-Americana stuff!” There are a million other subgenres you can get into that will sell just as well probably.

Eric Earley has said that American Goldwing was written and at least partially recorded during your tour for Destroyer of the Void, and that it was hard playing the current songs when he knew that American Goldwing was the “real” record. Was that the sense for the rest of the band, or had you even heard those songs yet?
We’d heard a bunch of them. In my recollection, I think Goldwing was about half-done when we took off on tour for Destroyer. That’s been Eric’s motive; he’s ultra prolific. If he doesn’t actively stop himself from writing and recording, he’d be recording all the time. There were a lot of different things going on around the time we were putting together Destroyer. One of the things we were trying to do was build a consensus with all these different players–the band members, our label, our management–about what the record was supposed to be. I think because Destroyer wasn’t necessarily well-received, it was sort of easy to say that was a bad approach. It didn’t really represent what Eric as an artistic director was going for. He felt like Goldwing was a lot stronger of a representation of who he is as an artist, musician and songwriter. He felt great about the songs that were on it. On an objective level, the songs on Goldwing are coming from a more honest place than anything Eric’s ever put out before. It’s more about his life and less about fantasy stuff.

As a band, then, how do you reconcile that underlying feeling of having such a great album waiting on the shelf and you’re not able to play it because you have to tour for a different record that you worked on just as hard?
I think there’s always that thing where as an artist, you’re always most excited about what you’re currently working on. But there’s a delay in the music biz where your record comes out six or nine months after it’s finished. So you wrote these songs maybe a year or two before. You’re thoroughly familiar with them and you’re kind of tired of them. And then if nobody else in the world seems excited about these songs, it’s even more tempting to want to move on to the next round. But I don’t think that this narrative of American Goldwing being the “real record” is anything that all of us were thinking when we were touring on Destroyer.

I know Eric writes a majority of the songs, but what collaboratively is happening in the creative process? How informative are you in those processes when recording and writing, and the rest of the band as well?
I’m not very important at all in the writing and recording process. I came in on Goldwing and sang on some songs, but I didn’t play any guitar or anything. Brian [Koch], our drummer, was a lot more instrumental in arranging these Goldwing songs. I think he was a big part of why those songs turned out the way that they did on the rhythm side. I think also there’s this–I don’t know if it’s subliminal or what–but if you’re playing stuff in the van when we’re on tour, Eric’s going to pick up on it and incorporate elements of what he’s hearing, whether or not he realizes it. We’ve been talking about aesthetics and rock ‘n’ roll philosophy for a decade now, so I think we’ve all really influenced each other and been informed together. Also, I think while Eric’s in the studio arranging these things he’s thinking this stuff is going to be represented live by these players, here’s what they do well. He’s arranging these songs and thinking in terms of who we are as a band, as individuals. That’s not strictly collaborative, but I think it still affects the way the songs turn out. The more we go along and become a band, and it sort of crystallizes as a creative performance unit, the more it affects the way the songs end up on the record.

Is there a song that encapsulates the universality of that theme best on this record in your opinion?
Yeah, I think the title track is a pretty awesome song. It’s got a lot of abstract imagery, but it’s about travel, and the willingness to get on a vehicle and go. There’s sort of the spiritual thing that’s built into that song in particular, where the will to travel and the will to move places is somehow spiritually refining. But I think probably the best song on the record is the last one, “Stranger in a Strange Land.” It’s kind of the flip side of that: Once you stop moving, you don’t know where you are.

Catch Blitzen Trapper live Monday, March 5, 2012 at Harlow’s. Opening will be excellent alt-country Portland group The Parson Red Heads. Show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15 in advance. Visit Harlows.com for more information.

Sacramento’s genre-smashing math-rock trio Tera Melos is hard at work recording a new full-length record, a notion that excites Submerge very much. Their 2010 release, Patagonian Rats, scurried its way onto our annual year-end list, they snagged the cover of issue No. 67 and most recently they co-headlined/melted faces at our 100th Issue Party at Ace of Spades in December. The yet-to-be-titled album is being recorded at Earth Tone in Rocklin with longtime friend Pat Hills (who plays in Bastards of Young and has been in other credible local bands over the years including Hanover Saints).

“He’s like our go-to guy,” guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart told Submerge, pointing out that Hills has added his touch to every Melos record in some form or another. “We all grew up playing in punk bands together. We know him really well, he’s super familiar with our musical personalities.”

In the end, Reinhart predicts there will be 13 songs on the album. “To me, it’s a progression from the last record,” he said of the new material, all written within the past couple months. “It does not sound like the last record. It sounds like the record our band would make after Patagonian Rats, if that makes sense…Without giving too much away of what it’s sounding like, I just definitely think it’s like, ‘Oh wow, these guys stepped it up and did something even more different this time.’”

Reinhart said to expect an early 2013 release via Sargent House. In the meantime, catch Tera Melos opening up the fIREHOSE reunion tour dates (including Harlow’s on Thursday, April 5, 2012) before they head overseas for two months in May for their first ever “proper” European tour. “We’re finally making it over there for reals!” To learn more about the band and view tour dates visit Facebook.com/teramelosmusic or Teramelosmusic.com

Sizzling Sirens teach Sacramento how to shake it

Silky bustiers, black feather boas, strings of pearls and a random pair of motorcycle handlebars made of PVC pipe are painted silver and lay on the floor. A gold vintage sofa rests near two racks lined with handmade costumes, including bras stitched with imitation cash and coins. Beneath a clutter of buttons, jewelry and a tower of sewing knick-knacks appears to be a desk–a typical day at the office, if you’re a Siren. This is the headquarters of Sacramento’s only active burlesque troupe, the Sizzling Sirens, a team of 10 women ranging in ages 19 to 43 years old, each radiating with a flare that is uniquely her own.

A little vaudeville filled with theatrical satire and brought to life with provocative striptease and choreographed dance numbers defines burlesque entertainment in the simplest terms. But when Jay Siren founded the company in March 2008, she envisioned this classic genre of performance art with a couple modern alterations. Siren started teaching her first round of classes at The Press Club later that year, eventually gaining more students and at the same time finding some of the first members of Sizzling Sirens.

Since its infancy in 2008, the Sirens have built a reputation within the local music scene and around town by performing alongside bands like Agent Ribbons and Goodness Gracious Me in addition to corporate parties and events. What’s more, the gals now have a regular live show each month at Harlow’s centered around a theme, and if they ever need a live band, they turn to the veteran jazz musicians of the Harley White Jr. Orchestra for support.

“I think the greatest misconception about burlesque that we run into all the time is, ‘Where’s the pole?’” explains Jay, her off-the-shoulder black T-shirt revealing tattooed leaves spreading down her right shoulder. “For us, burlesque is burlesque-fusion. The way that we do it is a little bit different than the way that you see most burlesque presented nowadays. We take elements of everything that we love about the culture, genre and history and make it our own, mixing past and future ideas. A striptease is part of it, but in the sense of using your costume as a tool to engage your audience as though it were a prop.”

Since moving the Sizzling Sirens troupe into a gray, Victorian building on J Street last April, an idea to form a Performance Series of classes, catering to those interested in learning the art of burlesque with the opportunity to perform alongside the Sirens, was created.

Indiana Bones, Georgia Fire and Sass Herass are all present during this afternoon’s Burlesque 101 class, a one-hour introduction course into the Sirens’ world of burlesque-fusion open to the public. Each woman planted on the wooden floor of the small dance studio routinely stretches her legs and arms before claiming her space, waiting to warm up with the day’s basics.

“Alright Sass, teach us some class,” says Jay clapping her hands together like an athlete ready for the next play.

Herass, wearing hot pink spanks that read, “Dance all night,” across her bum, complete with black fishnets, tall black boots and a tilted fedora, is the instructor leading the workshop this week.

Ginuwine’s “Pony” blares from the studio’s sound system and the Sirens begin loosening their hips in a circular motion to the music. Each woman follows Herass’ lead as she keeps time out loud through the steps of the warm up. Now with Etta James’ “W.O.M.A.N” changing the mood of the workshop within the small Midtown space, the four slowly bend forward to stroke the frames of their shapely legs with both hands before gracefully lifting their arms in the air like ballerinas. Using one hand, the Sirens trace the outlines of their faces, then across their chests and eventually following the curves of their bodies. Every move the same, yet differently interpreted through the personality of each Siren.

The newest member to the troupe, Fire, watches her moves in the mirror, her limbs naturally following the flow of the lesson as Bones practices pinup faces while dancing, her short red hair ornamented with a big, white bow. Jay’s once straight black locks begin to curl as the warm-up progresses, sweat glistens down her throat as she attacks each move full out. Herass, who has taught dance over five years, emanates hip-hop in each move she teaches.

“One of our biggest things that we try to reiterate is to honor your spirit and your character,” Herass says. “It’s something that I think is really important, especially with women, we are made to feel like we are supposed to fit one cookie cutter mold and burlesque is about taking what you have and accentuating it. We’re not trying to hide, or diminish anything, just being proud of who you are and what your body is and just adoring yourself. And, that’s something that I’d really like to share with everybody else.”

Through the classes Sizzling Sirens hold every week, whether its Burlesque 101, Cardio Burlesque (which is exactly how it sounds), or the Performance Series, the Sirens believe any and everyone, with the right instructor, can learn everything from how to properly shimmy to how to incorporate props into the steps, adding a personal tease to the routine.

“I would like to stress that most people come in with absolutely no theater or dance experience and they have a blast. You seriously do not have to have any dance experience to enjoy the classes. Literally, everything is all-levels. You can walk in, gain an understanding and find a challenge and enjoy it. Truly, you can enjoy this without ever having done it before,” explains Jay, fanning herself at the close of class.

And it’s true according to Fanny Coquette, a 43-year-old Siren joining the cast last August, who took her first class with Sizzling Sirens on a dare from her husband and looks forward to February’s “Good, Clean, Dirty Fun”-themed performance at Harlow’s.

“It’s just fun. It’s fun to step outside of who I am and be 100 percent who I am,” explains Coquette. “When you get older and have a family and have a regular job, there aren’t very many venues to push that line of ‘I don’t care what you think of me.’ So, it’s a great venue to relax and have fun and not worry about what other people think.”

Together Sizzling Sirens witnessed members from the first cast come and go, but have continued to grow in numbers as well as expand their reputation outside of Sacramento, performing at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco during its monthly Hubba Hubba Revue series, named one of the Top 10 Burlesque Shows to see around the world by the Travel Channel.

“I’ve never seen a group of 10 women get along and support each other creatively and emotionally,” says Jay. “Through the process of burlesquing together and learning how to create together, we’ve all become friends.”

Sizzling Sirens Burlesque is located at 2419 1/ 2 J Street. Hour-long Burlesque 101 and Peel and Reveal classes are taught on Sundays (at 1 and 2:30 p.m. respectively). Cardio Burlesque is taught Tuesdays from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. For more info on their Performance Series Workshop, go to Sizzlingsirensburlesque.com. If you prefer to watch the girls in action, check them out at Harlow’s for their “Good, Clean, Dirty Fun”-themed performance on Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. 21-and-over only. You can also catch the Sirens the first Friday of every month for Fishnet Fridays at Dive Bar.

Res and Talib Kweli defy expectation as Idle Warship

Talib Kweli has become synonymous with underground hip-hop. Through his solo career and his collaborations with DJ Hi-Tek (Reflection Eternal) and Mos Def (Black Star), Kweli has enjoyed mainstream attention that hasn’t tarnished his artistic credibility. Res (pronounced reese), a rock/pop/soul singer from Philadelphia, may not be as well-known, but she’s no less talented. Signed to MCA Records, her 2001 debut How I Do received some attention with video play on VH1 before she fell victim to the major label machine. A few years back, Res and Kweli began hanging out in a studio, writing songs. They called it Idle Warship, but it wasn’t until the release of the band’s first album, Habits of the Heart, in November 2011 that the project began to realize its potential, according to Kweli.

“Idle Warship was an abstraction before Habits of the Heart came out,” he says. “We’ve been doing this for four years. Now we’re getting a lot of interest from a lot of artists who are just now starting to get it.”

Fans of both artists’ solo careers may at first balk at the songs on Habits of the Heart. This isn’t the hip-hop Kweli has become known for with a simple addition of a prominent female voice on the hook. In fact, Res is at the fore of many of these tracks with Kweli playing more of a supporting role. “Are You In,” for example, is a spacey funk-flavored rock track where echo effects lend Res’s earthy vocals an ethereal quality. “Covered in Fantasy” gives listeners the Kweli they know and love, showcasing his word-heavy flow, but the beat behind him might be something you’d more likely find in an electronica track. Res, singing the chorus, chimes in with, “There’s a lot more inside of me,” as if to request that fans leave their expectations behind them and come along for the ride, wherever it may lead.

“I think that the album feels like a total collaboration between the producer, what Kweli brings to the table, what I bring to the table, the writers that we work with,” Res says of Habits of the Heart. “It’s bigger than just what Talib and I do. It’s all the stuff that we love, and all the music that we love that we’re not able to express in our solo projects.

“I feel like this group brings out the best and the most unusual things in everyone.”

These songs may be unusual, but their charms are apparent. While Idle Warship may not be receiving accolades in the way of album sales just yet, Habits of the Heart has caught on with some critics and fans. More importantly, however, it’s lit a creative fire inside Res and Kweli. When Submerge spoke with the two artists, Kweli mentioned that he and Res are already working on a second Idle Warship album (this in addition to Kweli’s new solo album Prisoner of Consciousness and a new Black Star album both due out in 2012). Res says that the new music is still in its early stages, however.

“We wanted to be sort of the type of thing where we put out an incredible second album quickly, which makes people be like, ‘Yo, did you check out their first album?’” Kweli adds. “That’s where we’re at with it right now.”

Kweli and Res discuss, among other things, the benefits of having two Libras in the same band in the following interview.

One song that really attracted me, which was strange because the slower songs don’t usually jump out at me first, was “Beautifully Bad.” It’s a gorgeous track. I was wondering if you could talk about where that one came from a little bit.
Talib Kweli: That’s my favorite record too. The title Habits of the Heart came from that one.
Res: I think the songwriting on that is really great. A woman named Zenya Bashford, she penned that, and Kweli as well. It’s a story that resonates with every woman. You know, being in a relationship that you love for so many reasons, but at the end of the day, there are one or two things that you know are so horribly wrong with the relationship that make it a bad relationship, and it’s those one or two things that are the deciding factors. It’s a give and take, push and pull kind of record. I think Talib’s verse is really dope, and it was done right. I think the vocals I do complement it, and the music is really simple, but I don’t know, really profound at the same time. If the beat was anything more, it would have taken away from the song. You really get to hear the emotions.

It’s funny how the simplest song can really strike a chord. Do you find that when you’re working, that less is more?
Talib: That’s a lesson for me, because I have such a wordy, loquacious style. I like to listen to complex beats. I enjoy beats with a lot of things going on. If you listen to my records through my solo career, it’s been a challenge for me to find the right beat that matches my style as opposed to rapping over music where my style gets lost. But Idle Warship brings me closer to that balance.
Res: I was thinking, when we were in the studio doing a song, I did notice that you, Kweli. You were like, “OK, more, layer it,” and I think my preference is to have less, but again, this group is different than what I would personally do, and that’s what I like about it. I see that it’s changing–well, not changing 100 percent–but it’s making me feel like I can do more layers in songs and pushing the envelope in what I’m doing with my own sound.
Talib: It doesn’t even always work for me, if I can criticize myself. What I like to hear isn’t always necessarily what I sound the best on rapping.

From talking to you guys, it sounds like you balance each other out in a lot of ways. Is that something that developed over the four years you’ve been collaborating together or something that you noticed right away?
Res: I think we both know for the most part what we like. I can be convinced, though. Talib is a wordsmith, and he can convince me sometimes when I’m like, “No, no, no…”
Talib: Don’t give me too much credit, though. I can only convince you when I’m right [laughs]. When I’m wrong no amount of words will convince you. I only go hard when I’m right.
Res: I guess we do balance each other out. We’re both Libras, and we do agree on a lot of things musically, but visually, we don’t–at all. When he’s like, “Red,” I’m like, “Blue. What are you talking about?” Or something like that.

Do you think you’re going to bring your experience from working on this album to what you’re doing in your solo careers?
Talib: I’m finding it a challenge for me not to do Idle Warship music on my new solo album… You have to do what you feel. At the same time, I’m trying to have respect for the body of work… It’s more about does it fit the album rather than what people expect of me. Now I’m in an Idle Warship mind state, and that’s where I’m at with it creatively. Now for the first time in my career, I have to physically and mentally switch gears because Idle Warship isn’t an abstraction any more, it’s real. I’m making decisions based on the sound and based on what I want to do. I think Idle Warship has helped me be more true to myself musically.
Res: It’s kind of hard to get out of a mode. Now that I’m writing solo songs, I’m going to the mix engineer who has made some songs for Idle Warship, and he does dance and deep house, and I’m like, “I kind of like that,” but I normally do more rock/pop and alternative songs in my solo career… You don’t want to make 12 or 13 of the same record, but at the same time, you know you have a certain brand and a certain sound, so I feel you on that. It’s like, hold on. You’ve got to say, “I’m supposed to be creative all the time, no matter what I do.” Do you stick in a certain lane or do you keep going? I think it’s a problem for any artist.

Talib has a bunch of projects, and you have your solo stuff as well as Idle Warship. Do you think it’s easier not to have side projects and just focus on one thing?
Res: I think it’s easier to have side projects. I think it’s better for an artist to have side projects. You learn more about what you can do. When you team up with other people, you get more aspects of yourself out there. There are songs that I’m singing on this record that I couldn’t even write myself. I don’t even write in that key. I’m pushing myself to sing a lot harder, and it’s a lot more challenging for me to sing Idle Warship than my solo stuff… Doing more projects, doing different things makes you a better artist. Period.

See Res and Talib do their thing in Sacramento at Harlow’s on Jan. 15, 2012. Doors open at 8 p.m. and can be purchased through Harlows.com for $25.

The first ever Capitol Comedy Competition is a five-week comedy showcase featuring comics from all over California battling it out for a $1,000 grand prize. The final two weeks of the showcase are Jan. 4 and Jan. 11, 2012. You’ve still got time to catch one of these hilarious shows, all of which take place at Harlow’s. Each week one winner and one runner-up earn themselves a spot in the Jan. 11 finale. The first week’s winner was Insane Wayne Jackson (from Stockton) and the runner up was Tristan Johnson (from Oakland); the second week’s winner was Jay Rick (from Oakland) and the runner up was Anderi Bailey (from Sacramento); and the third week’s winner was Stephen Furey (pictured, from Sacramento) and the runner up spot went to Leroy Stansfield (from Oakland). Week four (Jan. 4) will be hosted by none other than Sacramento’s own rising comic star, Mike E. Winfield, as well as DJ Racer X, and will feature eight comics each with a 15 minute set. There are only two spots left in the Jan. 11 finale–who will it be? The Capitol Comedy Competition is being put on by Conscious Vibes, a local events company that is coming off a huge year where they booked acts such as Dwele, Goapele, Dead Prez, Questlove, Bilal, KRS-One, Planet Asia and many others. For more information about the Capitol Comedy Competition and other Conscious Vibes events, visit Consciousvibespresents.com

In 140 characters or less…

It’s probably trite by now to remind you that fans just don’t consume music the way they used to. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. We still enjoy putting on an album and ingesting it en masse, but it’s also fun to put the iTunes on shuffle and let fate decide, troll YouTube for new music videos or share play lists via Spotify. So for this year’s Top 20, we decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of just albums, we included a music video, EPs, live shows (even a comedy album snuck in there). Here’s our favorite music moments of this past year, in tweet-friendly format.

20. Jason Webley (live show)

Beatnik Studios, Sacramento
Oct. 30, 2011
When the man on stage thrusts his torso into a giant red balloon and gets the entire audience drunk enough to link arms and sway, you know it’s a good show.

Each song rocks, and it’s short and catchy enough to listen back to back, and back. They have mastered a sound, exemplified here. Loud fun.

Possibly the local comic’s best work to date, if this album/DVD doesn’t have you rolling on the floor, check your pulse, you might be dead.

Mastodon ditches spacey prog metal for gnarly bruising metal/rock hybrid and makes us wonder why they haven’t tried it sooner.

From dub to dusty breaks Mike earns the name Colossal.

Metal heads dose heavy riffs w/ stoner-core harmonies, crushing drums, subtly brilliant solos & bring serious balls back to rock ‘n’ roll.

The small porch in Davis provided the perfect environment to fall in love with every up-beat strum from The Generationals.

Hacksaw Ben Thuggin. Period. Fik is a rapper for real. From Halloween concepts, to catchy anthems, his words are precise and full of vigor.

Under-appreciated experimental rocker Ann Clark dropped the most schizophrenic, bipolar mélange of musical porridge ever stirred into a commercial triumph.

No one expected Oak Park to birth the ingenious production and vocal aggression of Death Grips. Nor expected it to tear down stages worldwide.

Eight tracks of chiming synths and fragile vox swelling into magical crescendos. Trevor Powers gives a taste of hibernation at its best.

Local country-tinged rockers spin 15 songs and something for every mood. Engaging, memorable songwriting at home in any genre.

Classic Sacto shots in this Faux Real Productions video. Light rail, top level on a parking garage, in front of downtown murals, real nice.

A solo debut that amalgamated the producer’s credentials with midnight recordings of glitch hop in the kitchen.

Appetite’s Teddy Briggs masterfully created this rich, dense album that’s nearly impossible to define. Weird pop-folk that dabbles all over.

Big band indie rock devoid of cloying twee impulses. Sprawling yet hauntingly intimate. A rare EP that doesn’t feel incomplete.

Irresistible neo-retro hip-hop from a fashionable Trinidad-born, Brooklyn-based MC. A “rap” album hipsters and indie-kids can agree on.

Take the gentle vocals of Feist, acoustic guitars, special guest Little Wings, and it might equal the most intimate show of the year.

Sacramento’s psych rockers produce yet another gem, keeping that Beach Boys sound meshed with unexpected twists, ballads and tribal rumbles.

KTP made Harlow’s feel like a house show! “Flight” theme featured hot stewardesses and (drunken) pilot outfits. Plenty of moshing ensued.

Live Manikins conquer distractions to focus on new album, Full Canvas

As DJ Rated R put the scratch to his crewmates’ reflections on the intro to Live Manikins’ Full Canvas record, the rappers speak with disbelief about their three-year lapse between albums. “I’m sitting here looking at the credits and the album cover and there’s a lot of growing up,” he said. If the hip-hop group’s first record, Still Life, was merely a snapshot or Polaroid, Full Canvas is the result of three years spent revising the portrait in the midst of what one of the group’s members, Self, calls real life shit.

In its earlier days, Live Manikins was a mainstay at Second Saturday events at Revive, The Body Shop and United State boutique, at which they were one of the first hip-hop crews to host events without drawing suspicions from Sacramento’s law enforcement. “We always coordinated with local businesses,” rapper J-RockIT said. “We threw shows right outside with DJs. When Second Saturday finally started blowing, it would just get packed.”

Self said the crew found sanctity in a specialized wording of the event, so that it never got shut down. “There was once a time we couldn’t even perform because we were hip-hop,” he said. “We’d bill it as spoken word artists with a funk rock background. That was our work around. But we also brought hella different bands just to fool the police.”

Live Manikins’ debut Still Life earned the crew numerous accolades and local bragging rights, but the Manikins put an immediate follow-up record aside to pursue solo projects. Linguistics, who goes by Mr. Lingo these days, dropped Anybody Want a Peanut? in 2010, which earned him a Sammie nomination. Self split time between Sacramento and Los Angeles recording his solo record. J-RockIT and Runt Rock formed Live Audible Soul, later renaming the group DefRockIT, and took their EP as far as the Philippines.

While Rated R won DJ contests, toured the West Coast with Random Abiladeze, formed a DJ crew called Sleeprockers and started a DJ night at Capitol Garage called Joints and Jams. For Rated R, the experiences came in such a whirlwind that Self kept reminding his DJ of the events, to which he replied, “Wow… I forgot already.”

The good-ole-days summation reads like a storybook: three years of continued success, but each storyline was eventually mired in tribulations that led each member back to the group project–well, except for one. After the release of Anybody Want a Peanut?, Mr. Lingo brought his own peanut into the world. As Live Manikins began to regroup for a follow-up record, Lingo chose to remain an auxiliary member to focus on his family. “We understand especially since it’s their first kid,” J-RockIT said. “It’s happened with a couple of our friends in the past who’ve done music. And then they come back when they’re ready.”

Self did record portions of his solo record (due in the spring) in Los Angeles, but he also lost his job at Hewlett-Packard and made vague mentions of an incident with the law in Seattle, while listing his trials. “After I lost my job at HP, mentally I wasn’t strong enough,” he said. “I’d never had to go through the loss of a job, losing investments…shit, I lost a lot. I had to get over it and find myself once again.”

Touring the Philippines in 2009 should have been a golden opportunity for J-RockIT, Runt Rock and DJ Rated R, but a car accident nearly claimed the group’s lives. The brakes gave out on their vehicle. sending Rated R, who was in the backseat, through a window. He sustained major head and spinal injuries as well as a broken collarbone and clavicle. Rated R fully recovered, but still bears a large scar on his forehead from the incident. “It’s right there in the mirror, every morning to keep on doing it,” he said.

J-RockIT continued, “My wife was with us and a couple other people. That was a big calling. It was hard on the whole crew when we got back. After things settled it turned into ‘let’s do it.’”

Live Manikins was never defunct in the passing years. Songs were casually recorded and archived; each member made appearances on the solo records. The group would get together for one-off shows, opening for nationally touring acts and billed slots at festivals. The members joked, though, of a divide which made the performances less about Manikins. “Me and Gabe [Runt Rock] would work DefRockIT stuff into the Live Manikins shows,” J-RockIT admitted, since his group had a new EP. Self chimed in, “Yeah, y’all strong armed us. He would suggest things like, ‘Let’s do this track,’ and I’d come back with, ‘That’s not even a Live Manikins track,’ and he’d say, ‘But we’re both in it.’”

The accruement of value-altering, trying events led to the solo Manikins’ regrouping. “We had a moment of reflection and remembered that we’d built something,” Self said. “We had a lot of sit downs that led to kicking it, hanging out and freestyling. After a couple times it just became apparent we can rock.”

Even with the lack of focus, the group recorded 30 to 40 songs to consider for the sophomore record. Full Canvas in final cut form is 15 songs deep. Largely produced by Runt Rock, Full Canvas explores a live sound aesthetic, but maintains close ties to hip-hop’s roots in flipping samples. Gritty funk licks propel the production, while subtle sonic tweaking prevents the beats from falling into static lapses. “Sleepy” is the oldest track to make the album, but it was still adjusted throughout the years from its original form. J-RockIT said the album title came from “focusing on ourselves to create this new chemistry.”

“It was almost like a piece of all of us,” he said. “So the title represents the completion. Within the last year everybody got super motivated. You can hear the passion in all of our voices. ”

Outside production came from DJ Epik, Resource and Thiago Prodigo, who is from Brazil, while Random Abiladeze offers a guest verse on “Heights.” The group recorded in several studios around the Greater Sacramento area, including downtown, Visalia, Rocklin and Elk Grove–the home of their new label Freqy Music Group. With Live Manikins’ reestablished focus and individual growth the problems surrounding them were reduced to molehills, or in some cases, snake holes. While recording in Rocklin, the worst that happened to Self involved a smoke break incident. “There’s snakes way out there,” Self said. “One of the sessions I was out smoking a cigarette with Runt Rock and I looked down and there was snake. I’m not used to that being in the neighborhood. I’m fine with loose dogs, but not loose snakes.”

Rated R chided him with, “What, was it a green garden snake?”

Self, getting worked up, responded, “It was brown. It wasn’t a green garter snake. It was like… [stretches arms out to indicate its alarming size].”

Touring plans are in the works, but Live Manikins’ primary focus is their album release party on Thursday at Harlow’s. The group secured sponsorships from Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Scratch Live, among others. The purchase of exclusive VIP tickets means swagbags and a catered pre-party. Mr. Lingo is joining Manikins on stage as well. “We’ve been training…hard,” Self said. “Hours and hours and hours per week. I want to crowd surf. That’s my goal. I want to feel confident to be a six-five, 200-pound guy who won’t jump out and just crush one girl.”

Live Manikins will throw the Full Canvas album release party at Harlow’s on Nov. 17, 2011. The show will get underway at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through Harlows.com and will cost $10 for general admission and $20 for VIP tickets, which will include a swagbag and a catered pre-party.