Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg aka Avi Buffalo is only 18 years old, but his band (also called Avi Buffalo) just signed to legendary indie label SubPop Records, and they are making major waves along the Pacific Coast. With roots in Long Beach, California, Avi Buffalo also consists of three other local musicians, two of them female (one who is still in high school), and all who are under 21. But Avi is the heart of the band. He writes all the songs, sings lead vocals, and plays guitar. And his real last name is Isenberg just like mine, spelled the same way and everything. A Californian with the last name Isenberg who is signed to SubPop Records?!?!? I’m an instant fan. Check out these two clips of Avi playing stripped down versions of the A and B side from Avi Buffalo’s first SubPop single “What’s It In For?”/ “Jessica”, off their upcoming album which is due out this spring, live from his bedroom in Long Beach…
“What’s It In For?”
“Jessica”
Talented kid. And here is a two part behind the scenes video with Avi Buffalo in the studio, which features Avi, keyboardist Rebecca Coleman, and their producer Aaron Embry. It will give you a feel for the vibe of the band…
Their single is available now on Itunes, and I also suggest you check out a session they recorded for Daytrotter.com, which is a cool website that lets you download free high quality mp3’s from their very large catalog of live performances by well known acts like Fleet Foxes and Raphael Saadiq, as well as loads of up and coming bands. Just register real quick it takes two seconds and you get instant and unlimited free download access. Links to the Avi Buffalo website and their Daytrotter session are below…
By the way, that’s the cover for their first single…
I watched The Hangover again a few nights ago with my wife, and I gotta say, Zach Galifianakis really makes that movie rewatchable. He’s off the hook. I’ve posted his stuff on here before, so those of you who read Westcheddar on the reg should know I love his Between Two Ferns episodes on Funny Or Die. But he also has this stand-up DVD out now (see cover above) of him performing in San Francisco at The Purple Onion. It’s a very entertaining watch. Not only does it show his whole set, where he plays the piano, fucks with the audience, and manages to tell some jokes too, but it also has clips of him hanging out with one of his boys, and also an interview with his “brother” (who is actually played by Zach himself). I found the whole thing on YouTube and figured I’d post it for your enjoyment. It’s about an hour long. Check it out below, then cop the DVD for your collection…
Look for him in that new movie with Michael Cera, Youth In Revolt, which comes out this Friday…
Ok, please grant me a late pass for posting about this book. I know, it’s kind of old news. But I just got around to buying it the other day, and it is really fun. And accurate! For those of you not up on Stuff White People Like, well this random white dude Christian Lander from L.A. (via Toronto, Canada) started a blog listing a bunch of things that white people are into i.e. coffee, Apple products, dinner parties, public radio, etc. The blog caught fire on the internet, and so it was quickly turned into a book. There’s about 150 things listed in the book, each with hilarious detailed descriptions, some which were on the blog, and some which are exclusive to the book. If you are a liberal minded white person, you may find yourself guilty of liking many things on the list. I know I am. This guy Lander is spot on. Here’s a video of him explaining how the blog (and the book) came to be, and further discussion about the book itself, at Google Reads…
And here’s the link to the blog, which he continues to update regularly…
Cop the book next time you’re at the book store, or go on Amazon.com and order it! Hey, “Amazon” should be on the list, or just “shopping online”. Ha! Anyway, get the book, and put it on your coffee table the next time you have a bunch of your white friends over for a dinner party. It’s a guaranteed hit (trust me I just had a New Year’s Eve gathering at my place and it was the centerpiece of discussion for a good half hour). And if you’re not white but you have white friends, well, I’m sure you’ll get a good laugh out of the book too. And if you don’t have any white friends, then you will learn almost everything you will ever need to know about liberal minded white people, and much more.
Nate Robinson (above giving a pound to Will Ferrell last season) dropped 41 on New Year’s Day in Atlanta against the Hawks in his first game back since being benched in early December. Nice. It was an exciting performance and a big win for the Knicks. We got mad love for Nate here at Westcheddar, because he’s known to pop up and play ball at the NYSC in White Plains all the time, and he also runs a basketball camp up in Mount Kisco (where I work) for the local kids. Here’s his highlights from last night…
If you have NBA 2K10 for PS3 and you want to battle the kid online, holler at me. And if you don’t have it, go get it, because it is easily the dopest basketball video game of all time…
I warned you guys about this Broken Bells album a few months ago, which is a collaboration project featuring The Shins frontman James Mercer and DangerMouse (who was born in WP). Well, the first single from the album is out now on Itunes, “The High Road”, and it is excellent. And if you search hard enough, or have a good friend like my boy Gippamaldi, you might even get your hands on the whole album, which just leaked to the internet. Regardless, go to their website now (link below) and pre-order the official copy of the album, which is due out in March. And give a listen to “The High Road” right here on Westcheddar…
I think people made their best of 2009 song lists a little too soon…
P.S. I heard this song by some band called Yeasayer at the end of an Entourage episode recently. Their Myspace page says they’re from Brooklyn, and they describe themselves as “Enya with bounce”. They’re definitely on some next shit, even though this song “Sunrise” is actually from a couple years ago. I like it. Consider it a bonus…
Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg are back with a special holiday “Snooptacular” Juan Epstein podcast featuring the legendary Snoop Dogg. Remember when he first came out and he looked like this (see above)? Well it’s almost twenty years later and he’s still the coolest cat, I mean, dog, in the rap world. This is a great interview, and they touch on everything from Snoop’s lengthy catalog to his relationships with Tupac and Biggie, and much more. Download/Stream below…
Snoop is still doing it too. His new song “I Wanna Rock” is huge right now! But I particularly like this video for his international anthem, “That Tha Homie”, which is also off his latest album (his 10th solo album!), filmed in Lebanon. You better recognize…
Nestled next to the Hudson River in Westchester County, just north of Yonkers and a bit south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, lies Dobbs Ferry. It’s a picturesque river town, with cute restaurants, some great schools, and a budding population of musicians. My friend and collaborator Marlon “Moshe” Sobol has lived there for a few years now with his wife and two daughters, and works nearby in White Plains teaching music therapy as a music therapist at the Schnurmacher Center nursing home. I’ve sat in on his music therapy sessions before with the elderly, and they are loads of fun and very inspiring too. He’s doing amazing things over there. Recently he was recognized in the Journal News for his innovative music therapy work. Check the link to the article below…
I paid Moshe a visit last week to get a behind the scenes look at how he runs his sessions. We could not film the residents, so Moshe gave us a simulated session of sorts, pulling out a ton of instruments, and showing us first hand his music therapy style. Here’s the two part video. Enjoy…
Thanks so much Moshe and keep up the good work!!!!!
JSWISS is another one of my dudes out of Dobbs Ferry. I first met JSWISS when he performed at River Ciphers this past summer, an event Moshe and I co-hosted in Dobbs Ferry at The Rec Room (a local clothing store shout out to Bahr). JSWISS came through and ripped a really nice old school type song called “Mammoth” over a slow drum beat that Moshe hooked up for him, and it was kinda ill. Turns out the two knew each other from playing one on one at the park one day, and I guess the story goes that Moshe got schooled. Ha! Check out the performance…
I.M.R.O.B.O.T. is the first mixtape from JSWISS (see cover above), and it features original production as well as him rapping over a bunch of different old school and new era beats. It’s a cool mixtape. Here’s an interview I did with him last week. Give it a read to find out more about him and his music…
IP: For those who don’t know you, where in Westchester did you grow up? And you’re a freshman in college now right?
JS: I grew up in the tiny village of Dobbs Ferry. I lived there from age 5 up until now after I moved from Yonkers. And yeah right now I’m at THE UNC-Chapel Hill, home of the national champs in basketball and I found pretty much every other sport too. I’m definitely hyped that I’ve been able to find lots of ill MCs and producers here, which is what got me motivated to do the tape.
IP: I heard you’re nice at ball. Moshe said you schooled him in one on one.
JS: Haha yeah I can’t deny it. It’s funny cuz I knew I recognized him at the River Ciphers! But yeah, basketball was my first love before music and still is. It’s been something that’s given me my highest highs and also my lowest lows, but that’s what happens with something you love that much. Right now I’m playing club basketball at UNC and I’m trying to move up and by the time my four years is up you’ll see me with the Carolina blue on TV!
IP: Nice. So the mixtape is definitely dope. I see you made some of the beats on there yourself. What type of equipment/programs do you use to produce?
JS: I used the fruity loops demo. Meaning I gotta download it again everytime I wanna make a new beat! Actually I gotta step back and say that “Mindframe” was the first beat I made when I got to college, and I did that on my suitemates Garageband before I looked into downloading fruity loops. So, I produced four songs on the mixtape, one was produced by Jae Monee, and the rest were from songs already out there. And I do have to give a shoutout to the four track tape recorder and 15+ year old drum machine and keyboard I used to use back home!
IP: You’ve got some skillful rhymes. The one where you go through the entire alphabet bar by bar is particularly impressive. Where do you write most of your stuff? Or do you even write rhymes? People seem to be typing verses now more than ever, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
JS: I used to write only in notebooks but now that I’ve had my new iPhone for about 6 months, I mix it up and write on that sometimes if I’m out and something hits me or I’m in the studio with with no pen and book. The “Alphabet Aerobics” one was written over a year ago so that was handwritten, and believe it or not that super long final track was too even though I had the iPhone at my disposal. I know people have made fun of Drake for his incident, me included, but that’s because it was
hyped up as a freestyle so…
IP: Tell me about that last track. It’s over sixteen minutes long, with you flowing over a bunch of classic beats.
JS: Yeaaa. When I rap I always try and be creative. So on “18 Years of Greatness” I decided to rhyme straight through a beat from every year of my life, 1991-2009, with no chorus. And yea it wound up being over 16 minutes and 350 bars, and it was the most fufilling and frustrating thing I’ve done musically. I first had to download each instrumental and piece them together cohesively before I even started writing, and that took forever. The frustration of never seeming to finish writing it didn’t take away from the quality though cuz I won’t allow that, but just as the lines were coming I could tell the song was gonna be so nice, but I just had to wait and wait until I finished the whole thing. But it came out just how I wanted, it’s one of my favorites, and now I can bang out a 16 like it’s nothin!
IP: Just from listening to your mixtape, I can tell that you are a student of hip hop. I mean, not many dudes your age know about Camp Lo and stuff like that. I grew up in that early 90’s era, but I know what it’s like to dig back in time looking for music. Do you spend a lot of your time doing that? What are you listening to right now?
JS: Man I pride myself on knowing my hip hop history, that’s another reason why the “18 Years of Greatness” track fit me. I’ll go back to the ’80s with you and I know some stuff from before that too! I’d have to say that before the past year, when I’ve been hipped on some of the blogs where you can discover lesser known artists out now, I rarely listened to stuff out currently. I stayed alive having A Tribe, and The Roots and some of them Big Daddy Kane songs to listen to on the computer or iPod. Now though, I like Lupe, Blu and Pac Div and U-N-I on the west coast and some others, Nas still rapping. But believe that I got a huge old school rap playlist that never ceases to satisfy.
IP: Okay, top five albums of all time. Go.
JS: Hip Hop? In no particular order: Illmatic (Nas), Midnight Marauders (ATCQ), Do You Want More?!!!?! (The Roots), People Instinctive Travels…(ATCQ), Desire (Pharoahe Monch). Overall? No order: Illmatic, Midnight Marauders, Action Figure Party
(Action Figure Party), Emergency on Planet Earth (Jamiroquai), The Brand New Heavies (The Brand New Heavies).
IP: Okay! Got some classics in there. What’s your goal with this mixtape? Do you have one?
JS: I don’t have a clear goal. It’s free, so I’m not trying to make money. I see a lot rappers get recognized when I know I bring more to the table as an MC, so I’d like to get noticed as someone who’s really doing real hip hop, and if I do get well-known off it, take the other MCs I’ve been working with and that have supported me with me. But honestly I probably would have made this tape if only me and my parents listened to it.
IP: What’s next for JSWISS? Will we see you at the next River Ciphers? We’re hoping to have one at the start of the new year.
JS: What’s next for JSWISS has already begun, and that’s just continuing to make music, and getting better at it. I’ve already started planning out new stuff from myself and working with other MCs who you will hear about. And I’ve been asking about the River Ciphers to make sure that it goes down when I’m home from NC! When I first did it I really had no quality songs, just a lot of separate verses, but I’ve got work to share now so let’s do it!
IP: Where can we find out more about you online? Let the people know son!
JS: Ah I get to plug myself haha. I have a facebook fan page for “JSWISS” which I love to get fans on who aren’t already my facebook friends. I also have a myspace page, the url is myspace.com/jswissmammoth, and my
youtube acount is youtube.com/mammoth365. Love to get those views and feedback. And check out Stan Ipcus’ “Young Professional”, and support that Westcheddar hip hop! Peace.
Jay Electronica’s “Exhibit C” is the hottest hip hop song out right now. I mentioned it briefly in the post below, and posted the radio rip when it first surfaced earlier in the fall, but it really needs its own shine now that it’s officially out. I promise you that this is something new and genuine to get really excited about in hip hop. Even the artwork for the single (above) is ill. Stream it or cop it on Itunes here…
Props to Just Blaze on the production. Here’s where the sample is from. Billy Stewart’s “Cross My Heart”. Dope.
As for Jay Electronica, well, he continues to impress me. I’m tuned in now fully. For more, click HERE.
*Bonus*
Jay Electronica and Nas are buddies. Here’s a pretty good interview segment with Jay talking about how he met Nas. He also discusses his influences. The interview is a little dated (it’s from sometime in 2008), but it will give you a feel for what Mr. Electronica is all about…
Can’t wait to hear some more songs…him and Nas should do a track together asap…hollerrrrr.
Happy Hanukah! And Happy Holidays to everyone out there reading this. I am embarking on something new here at Westcheddar, and it’s called Westcheddar Radio. Our first episode is entitled Hanukah Hold Up, hosted by myself and my good buddy Fitz Winkleman, who you may remember from my song “Happy Hour”. In celebration of the last night of Hanukah, Fitz and I play a bunch of songs from our favorite jewish (and half-jewish) artists. Here’s the download/stream link…
Thanks for listening!!! Stay tuned for Westcheddar Radio #2, coming soon…
*Bonus*
I was invited by Matisyahu to be on this Shade 45 Hanukah Radio show with Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, but because the date got switched to a Friday night, we didn’t roll (because Matis faithfully observes the sabbath). Too bad, because I had a dope rhyme I was gonna spit on the air. Oh well. It motivated me to do my own show I guess and get Westcheddar Radio off the ground. Anyway, the Shade 45 Hanukah Radio show aired last night, and Paul Rosenberg’s site RapRadar.com has some highlights, including call ins from their “Jew Of The Year” Drake, and also from Jay Electronica (aka Jay Elec-Hanukah, his self proclaimed nickname from his latest classic). Check the link. I’ll post the whole show when it surfaces.
Watch a full Matisyahu live performance, from the last 2009 Festival of Light show RIGHT HERE!!!!! And here’s the interview with Matisyahu from Paul Rosenberg’s show, RIGHT HERE!!!!
Californication is the best show on television. A New York writer living the California party lifestyle in LA, trying to hold his family (and his career) together. It’s sex, drugs, rock and roll, and fatherhood, all rolled into one. Great characters, great writing, and the perfect blend of comedy and drama. I don’t even have Showtime, I just look for a link to the new episodes online using a Twitter search after they air. Well, the season three finale from this past Sunday was insane. Very emotional. Check the TV Guide recap with the show’s creator Tom Kapinos. He talks about what happened, why the finale went in the direction it did, and what we can expect from next season…
I thought this past season was amazing. I’m a Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage guy at heart, but Californication is really crazy. If you’ve never seen it, I suggest you start at the beginning. Go cop the DVD’s or Netflix them or something. You won’t be disappointed.
Westcheddar 