 Blackalicious: Separate but Equal
by DeMarco Williams
“It’s rarely an instance when he comes in and he actually writes in the studio when I’m there,” explains the man behind Blackalicious’ organic, almost Pharcyde-ish sound, Chief Xcel. “Once I know he’s into something, he’ll be like, ‘I’ll take these [beats]. I’ll be back tomorrow with the songs.’ Once he takes them, I’m on to creating the next beats to give to him.” The cat Chief is referring to is Gift of Gab, a backpacking rap cohort he’s known for 18 years and three albums now. The Craft is the Bay Area duo’s latest attempt at coercing hip-hop away from Moet-pouring nightclubs and into maitai-sipping house parties near Laguna Beach. The following interview goes into the crew’s quirky style, but more importantly, it sheds light onto one of the game’s most under-hyped creative partnerships.
3 to Watch:
Tim Blaine, Ben Miller, and Juliet Lloyd
by Pat Keating
patkeating@insiteboston.com
Tim Blane
More than the Same
Tim Blane, once a child prodigy on piano and violin, is now a mature singer-songwriter with a very mainstream sound.
A close inspection of Blane's In the Meantime disc unearths a deeply talented musician and honest lyricist. His refreshing approach has won some notable fans and Blane has opened up for national standouts The Verve Pipe and The Push Stars. Chris Keup (Jason Mraz, Josh Kelley, Rachel Yamagata) served as producer and the disc was engineered by Stewart Myers (Shawn Colvin, Jason Mraz, Lifehouse, Agents of Good Roots.)
Wild Over Wildlife
by Leah Rainis
leahrainis@insiteboston.com
I’ve seen a lot of really weird stuff in my time. I mean, I spend most of my days exiting or entering the liquor store I work at in Allston, so whether it’s someone passed out in front of the door or someone taking half-consumed coffees from the garbage and drinking them, it’s kind of a given that I will see something slightly less than ordinary. However, the other night takes the cake. My boyfriend and I were walking around in Watertown Mall and stopped to look at something. I noticed it smelled like cigarettes really bad, but figured it was someone who had just come inside from having a smoke. I turned around to see something, and sitting on a bench right in front of me, was this older woman smoking in the mall!
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November 2005
