Many of you are familiar with Kimya Dawson from her whimsical and incredibly creative folk music from movies like JUNO. She’s also got a Grammy!

What you might not now is that they’ve had a group for a couple years now known as The Uncluded. Elements of Folk, Hip Hop, Rap, Blues, and more can be found strewn throughout their creations together.

Yesterday, we at Rhymesayers announced that we’ll be releasing their project and debut album Hokey Fright on May 7th! As a whole, the album is fun, provocative, thought-inducing, and varied in sonical tones and moods. It’s an incredible listen from front to back and I can’t wait til everyone can hear it! Pre-order the CD or Vinyl from Fifth Element and peep the killer shirt/button pack/signed lyric book packages.

Check out the first song and video below for “Earthquake” and get your funny socks on.

I largely and foolishly didn’t pay attention to the hype around Bon Iver when their latest full-length Bon Iver was charting, making noise, and winning Grammys. Not sure why. My man Budo tweeted the video for “Beth/Rest” a few months ago and the melody and tone really caught my eyes…and ears.

From there, I scoured the internet tubes and found the below video, which basically altered my favorite music collection for the foreseeable future. Below is “Skinny Love” and a handful of my favorite songs from Bon Iver. They may be “done” as a group but the best thing about recorded music is that it lives forever. And the beautiful thing about THIS music is that it sums up the Midwestern experience of biting cold, irreversible sadness, despair, love, depression, anxiety, anxiousness, and the ability to overcome all these things. Some songs have very few words but the movements within the composition and the flow of words is absolutely pulse-pounding.

Bon Iver “Skinny Love” @ ACL behind-the-scenes from Austin City Limits on Vimeo.

(Added for @sailorlegs)

I think I first met them at that Blueprint show, and they’ve always been very approachable and kind dudes. This past year at Soundset was no different. These dudes are riding incredible waves of success in the last nine months but they still care about their fans and friends who’ve supported them along the way. Even as someone “in the industry”, that says a lot about a person. This success isn’t an accident. A well-managed team can go a long way and it’s a beautiful process to watch from both the inside and outside of the music industry arena. I can’t praise them enough for sticking to their guns and trusting in their fans to support them.

The new album covers materialism in “Wings“, Marriage Equality in the Ellen-approved “Same Love“, and just a good-old time at the “Thrift Shop” – the latter just hit 25 MILLION VIEWS. It’s been a long time coming for these two, with addiction and relapses harming a potential outcome. However, like I said before…the FANS have always been there to support. I’ve seen lots of shows at First Avenue but I don’t think I’ve heard many crowds as loud as this one at an All Ages show when it tends to be quieter – let’s call it a lack of liquid courage keeping some voices quiet. These kids were absolutely rabid. Hanging on to every word, movement, and crowd surf (I think there were 8 instances…those dudes can jump!)… I snapped a few shows on my Instagram. Check them out here: Leifstagram.

Below is a video of “Thrift Shop”. Would you just check out and appreciate the magnitude of that stage show? It takes a lot to put that together. I wish I could have gotten footage of “Same Love”, but this dude was way too busy tearing up while Mary Lambert sang her heart out…

Thanks to these dudes, Zach Q., Tricia, and everyone involved for their hard work and dedication to promoting independent hip hop across all borders and messages. It’s not an easy job for any of us. Peace.

There’s also this…Peace Ben!

In other Grieves news, check out my new favorite tweet from him earlier today: Tweet tweet

Below are a few excerpts from the post that I really like. Click here to read the whole thing. Scratching your head about UUism? Learn more here.

“When we reflect on what we are truly most grateful for, we realize that loving relationships are what matter most in our lives. When we gather in thanks and in love, we create a sacred space. We also touch base with something central, vital and important.”

“Gratitude must not be blind or indifferent to others. There is too much poverty. There are too many families torn apart by violence, by war, by policies that rip families apart. There is so much needless suffering.”

If you remember the early 00s indie hip hop scene and the circa 2008 electronic/dance scene, you might know Sixtoo (hip hop producer) and MEGASOID (“lazer-bass”, etc). I’m a HUGE fan of both projects that Robert Vaughn Squire has undertaken. Now, he’s working under the alias Prison Garde and has released a couple projects. Most recently he released a project with Isiah Toothtaker and he just dropped the instrumentals for that release. Check everything out below – you won’t be disappointed. One of Canada’s best!

DOWNLOAD:

Sea Punk Funk Instrumentals

Boogie Screw Mix

Garde & Eames Brick LP

Système Hermès LP

Just got my invite and installed! Seems pretty awesome and intriguing. Will update.

Something caught my eye while perusing Mashable this morning (surprise)…

A GAME from Google that incorporates Android OS. 

From Mashable:

“…The app isn’t one you play while sitting on your couch at night. It requires actual movement and encourages you to get outside to unlock new features, weapons and adventures. For example, to control and capture things called “portals” — which spew matter from creative places such as museums and libraries — you have to go there. Once you connect three portals, you form a region and claim a territory.”

WHAT? This is awesome.

I’m counting the days until I get my activation code! This is seriously a game that connects your phone with your local surroundings.

Read more from Mashable here…see you on there soon enough.

In addition to this, I’ve been on a huge Bon Iver kick. Not sure why it took me so long, but that’s not important. This Saturday and Sunday AM I walked alone with only the sounds of Bon Iver’s latest album (self titled) in my headphones. The song “Minnesota, WI” came on while I was playing around with the video recorder on my phone so I made this quick video. The Galaxy SIII isn’t too bad at video, huh? Pretty pleased with it. Placed a quick filter or two in Magic Bullet Looks just for fun, edited in Final Cut Pro.

I have to say, at, 24, I was probably one of the youngest people in attendance. even thoughI saw a few kids running around and even heard a baby crying at one point.

I don’t remember when I met Jason Noer or his wife Bethany, probably at Soundset or another rap event. Jason was a friend of Eyedea’s and has been an intergral part in the Twin Cities hip-hop scene since the early days. He spends his time living the life of a b-boy and teaching the art to the next generation. He also appears to have at least 47 pairs of Pumas.

I came to the show alone, mostly because I wanted to experience the night with no attachments. What I thought was a good seat at Cowles turned out to be taken by someone else, as someone in the front row had messed up the arrangement and made it so I couldn’t grab my seat. The staff at the venue was great and let me sit in the “accessible” seat at the top of the stairs with plenty of leg room and a great view. No complaints here. The usher who assisted me comments on my new Nike Air Max 90s and told me he was ready for a good show. I was down with him.

The night started out with an introduction of each of the dancers. Each member of the troupe had a “day job” and this was all part of their routine during the night. They each also had their individual style of dancing whether it be classic breakdancing, “tutting”, “waacking” or other styles. Despite having many friends who dance, I learned a lot about the various styles this night.

As an independent hip-hop kid, my favorite part of the night was seeing several people at once dance to some of my favorite artists and songs…Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan, Busdriver, Eyedea & Abilities, Aceyalone (at least 3 times), KRS-One, and more were all on the playlist. The same feeling I get when a DJ puts on a favorite track of mine was felt all over in my body, the feeling that someone other than you knows a track THAT GOOD is a very special one. With breaking being one of the elements of hip hop, that shouldn’t have surprised me. I guess I’ve seen too many orchestral shows in fancy theaters…

The pinnacle of the performance (besides the incredibly entertaining beginning and ending) was when the lights went out and Jason came on stage, all one. With only a dim spotlight shining upon him, he answered a phone call and then began to cry, apparently in complete shock of what he had just been told on the other end. Not completely unexpected, the call was to let him know of Eyedea’s tragic and unexpected passing in the fall of 2010, a shocking blow to the worldwide independent hip-hop scene.

Behind Jason was a wide swath of empty canvas, which was soon filled with VHS-style video from a projector. The images projected (with only the sound from the video – no background/venue music) were those of Micheal Larsen breakdancing as a youth and young adult. Jason watched 3 or 4 different dance sequences and proceeded to copy the dances movement by movement. My friend Janessa (a lifelong friend of Eyedea’s) and his mom were sitting up in the balcony at this point, and I could both hear and feel their reactions to this display of love, affection, and admiration from Jason. 20 years deep in the breakdancing game – and it was almost impossible to copy what Mikey was doing in XXL t-shirts and pants, just as no-one will ever be able to match his intensity, skill, and passion on a microphone 100 years from now. There’s something special about what Mikey gave to the world, and I can’t think of a better way to honor it than pure, public imitation as Jason displayed in front of a full house at Cowles.

I left that night with an incredible sense of realization of just what this city has to offier. I moved here almost 21  months ago but haven’t really explored everything I probably should be exploring. For little or no money, every night of the week, there is something alive and prospering in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis and St. Paul are incredibly special places that are aching to be explored, and I’m glad watching people dance and listening to my favorite music was a catalyst for me to explore this.

Thank you Jason, Bethany, and all of the people involved in the production. See you soon!