So yah, DJ Vajra is a cat to watch. Fellow heads/indie nerds.... do not sleep on this! in addition to being a D-town native and having spun at everything from Nuggets half-time shows to top indie hop hop acts, he is the real deal. when He came on stage and immediately kicked into a mix of Headnodic's "Vallejo", I was like damnnn.... quite impressed. Honestly, in the turntablism/hip hop DJ game right now, I think he might only be equalled by Thes One, Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, and maybe Mark Farina. That's right, I favorably compared him to "the man" in live DJ'ing. He recently released a single with Othello, which is pretty awesome. Has also worked with heavyweights like Ohmega Watts, Lightheaded, Headnodic, and Eyedea and Abilities. Have a feeling he is going to be big.
Anyways, next up was D.C's 'Fort Knox Five', who also rocked a killer set, which, while not quite as quality-consistent as Vajra's set, had some pretty impressive funk cuts and superb breakbeats. Their penchant for mixing old jazz/funk samples into tight breakbeats is reminiscent of Mark Farina or Kraack & Smaack.
Speaking of Kraack & Smack, their set delivered a force and pleasure suggested by their name, with the classic old-school live turntablism and mixing skills they are known for. The only unfortunate aspect to the whole show was the utter lack of people. Weak sauce! I love how MSTRKRFT will doubtlessly sell out for their Thursday show at the Fox, while equally-talented DJ's [THREE of them nonetheless] attract maybe 40 people topz. What it really is, the way I'm seeing it, is that MSTRKRFT has made it's way onto the indie/college 'cool kids' radar as an "it" band, thus attracting the dreaded "bro" crowd. I don't mean to be so down on "bros" all the time, I suppose I'm just another bro really, what I hating on is their passive, complacent attitude towards real creativity and sincerity in music and culture.
For the record, I thought MSTRKRFT's first album was superb. The best thing that could have come out of Death From Above 1979's breakup. Which is why I had such high expectations of "fist of god' and was so disappointed by the reduction to cheesy vocal collaborations with washed-up hip hop artists, and weak beats that sounded more like noise than music. Ah well, I'll just keep listening to "The Looks" until they make a return to their old style.
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