Yes, it’s true, Backburner will be the Buckyiest winning rap crew in the world very soon. Here’s what Les had to say about his nomination.
“CBC Radio 3 fans have voted ME onto the short list for the 2009 Bucky Awards, Radio 3′s year-end celebration of Canadian independent music voted on by their listeners!
I’ve been nominated for “Best Off-Stage Performance” for my freestyling antics at 2009′s SXSW music fest in Austin, Texas.
(get on their website and scroll allllllll the way down)
Winners will be announced in a special live broadcast of Grant Lawrence Live on Wednesday, December 9th, on cbcradio3.com and Sirius 86.
Voting is now on with polls to remain open until MY BIRTHDAY – Sunday, November 29th @ 12AM. You can vote once per day until they close, so vote, vote often and vote HERE”
http://radio3.cbc.ca/buckyawards/vote
GO VOTE. Help out Les, not cause he’s nice but cause he deserves it! Check the video above for the freestyle that got him nominated. Kils on the MPC, Fes holdin down the Amp, lol.
After a successful release show at the Drake this week in Toronto. Here’s the video everyones been talking about, “POP N CHIPS”.
Lithium Studios presents the “Pop N Chips” video, fresh from The Les-Kils EP, featuring More Or Les, Fresh Kils, Ghettosocks, Timbuktu & Uncle Fester!! Directed by Darrell Faria, produced by Mike MacMmillan, and edited by Jonathan Eagan (FACTOR)
The Les-Kils EP can be purchased in hard or digital format from CDbaby by following this link: BUY IT NOW!
The album is also available from iTunes, and all other major MP3 retailers.
With emcee More Or Les along side of producer/beat maker Fresh Kils, combined create a “rip-roaring, head-banging blastfest” with their newest release – The Les-Kils EP. With cuts from Uncle Fester and scratches by Killa Jewel, the album also features Timbuktu and Ghettosocks on the single “Pop’N'Chips.”
The release show is Friday, July 24 at Rancho Relaxo in Toronto! If you can’t make it to that, you can buy the album from CDbaby.com!
Bonus! Check out some stills from the video shoot for “Pop’N'Chips”
We’re all so proud of More or Les! He and Fresh Kils are dropping their new EP, the aptly titled Les-Kils EP (where did they come up with that?) at the end of the month. The EP features scratches by DJs Uncle Fester and Killa Jewel, plus guest raps on the first single, “Pop N Chips,” by Timbuktu and Ghettosocks! The EP will be officially released on July 24th in Toronto at Rancho Relaxo, as part of the kick-off show of this summer’s Eastern Canadian World Tour – BACKBURNER AWESOME SHOWS, GREAT TOUR!
Watch this space for further details on the record and the tour, as well as a behind-the-scenes account of the “Pop N Chips” video shoot in Toronto!
So in honour of Les and his many achievements, this week’s Showtime In ’09 heater is another of his unreleased remixes, a little number called “Comedy Two.” It features Miss Butter and was remixed by Dorc!
So, we’re starting something new here on Backburner.ca this week called “Into The Archives”
Every week Uncle Fester will dig into his hip-hop interview tapes and Beatmason will dust off the reel to reel and give you exclusive live show audio!!
This week we start off with none other than the WordBurglar. Uncle Fester is serving you up with an interview done for radio in 2006 and Beatmason brings us back to 2004 for Burgs’ set in Halifax during the “More or Les & WordBurglar Companion Fare Tour” This took place on April 3rd. Alright heads, enjoy.
Into The Archives Vol.1:WordBurglar Interview&Live Show
Backburner massive is turning up everywhere these days… sometimes you see and don’t hear us. Sometimes you hear and don’t see us. It’s all pleasant, though, right? I got some treats for you.
Here are three new music videos, listed in decreasing order of Backburner involvement.
1. Rhythmicru – We Have Come For Your Children
Rhythmicru members D-Ray, Cale Sampson and DJ Sawtay come lovely with a grip of central Canadian MCs on the help-out. In addition to Backburner members Ghettosocks, Wordburglar and More or Les flexing rhymes on the cut, in the background of the video you can detect cameos from Fresh Kils, Timbuktu, and Timbuktu’s troubling moustache.
The other MCs featured are Odario from Mood Ruff/Grand Analog, Bath-O and Uncle Dropsi. Obviously this is an epic posse cut and it looks vibrant and rugged even on YouTube thanks to the video by Ghostmilk Studios.
Edit: I just realized this is Canada’s/2009′s answer to the Monstarrs rap off Space Jam. Don’t pretend it isn’t.
2. Modulok – Ink Spots
Modulok is not a type of industrial fencing… he is a He-Man figure. I think he was part of Hordak’s horde? His arms and legs and body parts all came off and went back on and stuff. It’s crazy.
He’s also lead vocals in a rap crew called Red Ants who put out one of my favourite records of 2008, Omega Point. Now he’s rather selfishly blowing up 2009 with another record that features him front and centre on raps and a different dedicated beat maker, Leon Murphy. The record is called Cities And Years and it’s a huge departure for the imposing Modulok, who usually sounds gruff as hell and twice as mean on the mic but spends this record in a more reflective mood (not that his more aggressive material isn’t thoughtful) kind of lamping and dropping smooth lyrics with more personal perspectives (not that hip-hop adaptations of classic cold war sci-fi can’t be personal) than one may be used to.
Anyway, aside from how close Modulok is to the Burner crew as fam, our direct involvement with this album is that Uncle Fester provided cuts and scratches for the whole thing and it sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
Yes.
3. Josh Martinez – Going Back To Hali
This one has zero audio involvement from Backburner, but due to the very special cast of thousands of notable Halifax hip-hop personages, we’re represented in the scenery. Starting as early as 24 seconds in, you see Fester, Ghettosocks, Dexter Doolittle, then Wordburglar sitting with Jorun at about 1:37. Lots of other legendary homies represent but if you want to know who they are… read THEIR blogs. Ha.
This video is really touching to me, having moved away from Halifax almost two years ago now. It captures many of the sights and familiar areas and scenes I grew up around in a way that really transports me back, and I think that’s what Martinez was looking for as a fellow expatriate who’s been away much longer than I have.
Halifax is where it all started. Well… not hip-hop (that was invented in Toronto, right?), but Backburner when it was just nascent and all of us were way wacker than we are today (which is: zero wackness amount, which is why everyone likes to have our pretty faces all over their videos).
Next time you come around, you might be ready to hear a little something about the two music videos that Ghettosocks has in post-production at the moment… or the ridiculous slew of records about to trample you in your sleep… or maybe just a picture of Jesse Dangerously with the head of a Jackalope. Anything can happen.
Until then, keep listening to Jive-era Hiero and rocking your hat crooked but good crooked.
South By Southwest is the Austin, Texas, music, film and new media festival that tells you every spring who is going to be the greatest and best and most wonderful.
This year, Backburner is sending a host of representatives.
More or Les and Jesse Dangerously will both be playing, and both will be accompanied by The Extremities (Uncle Fester and Fresh Kils) providing wax and sampler support/wizardry.
So if you’re going to be in Austin next weekend, you are going to never forgive yourself if you don’t get in on a piece of the action. Here’s how it’s going to work.
On Friday, March 20th, More or Les + Extremities is playing the Canadian Hip-Hop Allstars showcase at Music Gym & Lounge (815 East 6th Street). Their performance is at 9 p.m.
If, after their performance, you wanted to stick around and see other Canadian rap ambassadors do their thing, you could not be blamed for it. But you would kick yourself in the FACE the next day if you didn’t take the chance to scoot just thirteen minutes west (East 6th becomes Old Pecan St, turn left on Congress Ave) for:
Jesse Dangerously + Extremities, performing at Prague Nightclub (422b Congress Ave)! That performance begins at 10:30 p.m. so you have plenty of time! Look how easy:
Now, we’re not going to lie to you – both of those showcases will be difficult to get into without a SXSW bracelet, and those cost more than a car (not a real one but a very nice toy). It’s not that it won’t be possible or that you shouldn’t try, but it’s a fair concern. I don’t know exactly what to tell you about that.
I do know this, however – it will be much, much easier to get into the other Jesse Dangerously show on Sunday night, the 22nd. It’s not an official showcase, and only costs five dollars to get into. Jesse will be performing with several of the same nerd rappers as are sharing the bill at his show on Friday – MC Frontalot, MC Lars and Terp2it. We’re still working out the logistics of whether the Extremities will be available to be perform at this show as well (they may be on a bus to San Antonio, which they aim to make “Jus Lyke Compton”), and More or Les will most certainly have fled the premises by then, but it’s still another chance to make things right.
Speaking for myself (Jesse D), I would recommend the die-hard Backburner aficionado try harder to get into the Canadian rap showcase on Friday to see Les and Extremities together (AKA FesKilLes? Did I get that right?), then lamp out until Sunday when it will be easier and cheaper to see my show. If you can swing all three, do that instead, but I don’t want you to miss out on More or Les. His new album with Fes and Kils is ready and will be available and you MUST HAVE IT.
If you have any questions, go ahead and post comments here or e-mail jesse@backburner.ca and we’ll get you sorted out.
This is the part where I make a promise to you: from now on, for at least the duration of 2009 or 52 weeks (whichever is more) and maybe longer, we at Backburner are going to be giving you a free, unreleased MP3 from some member of our crew every Friday. There’s going to be a lot more other good, free stuff available from this site at various times throughout the year such as free mixtapes, podcasts, contests and what-have-you, but through it all will be a regular current of single songs that are completely free for you to download.
They may be solo tracks, posse cuts, unusual collaborations, remixes, who knows what else? I’ll tell you one thing for damn sure though: they’re for YOU.
We’re all so proud of More or Les! He and Fresh Kils are dropping their new EP, the aptly titled Les-Kils EP (where did they come up with that?) at the end of the month. The EP features scratches by DJs Uncle Fester and Killa Jewel, plus guest raps on the first single, “Pop N Chips,” by Timbuktu and Ghettosocks! The EP will be officially released on July 24th in Toronto at Rancho Relaxo, as part of the kick-off show of this summer’s Eastern Canadian World Tour – BACKBURNER AWESOME SHOWS, GREAT TOUR!