IRT Magazine

Sad news in the world of underground hip-hop. Words courtesy of a public statement by Camu Tao’s longtime friend and collaborator El-P courtesy of his publicity firm Biz3:

On Sunday, May 25th, at around 2pm, our dear friend, family member and musical collaborator Tero “CAMU TAO” Smith passed away in his home town of Columbus, Ohio. Tero had been quietly fighting for his life for the last year and a half after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

To those who knew Tero, he was an almost uncategorizable force of nature. Wild, hilarious, proud, loving, tough, outspoken, spontaneous and brilliant. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he dripped creativity, leaving inspiration and awe in the hearts and minds of anyone who was fortunate enough to see him work.

Camu was a brilliant rapper, singer and sought after producer. He got his start in the group MHZ which released records on Fondle Em Records. He was also a founding member of the artistic collectives known as “Weathermen” and “Cardboard City”. He was in a group called Nighthawks with Chris “Cage” Palko, whose album was released on Eastern Conference Records. He was also in S.A. SMASH with Keith “Metro” Lawson, who released their debut album “Smashy Trashy” on Definitive Jux records. More recently he was a part of Central Services with myself, Jaime “El-P” Meline, whose debut album “Forever Frozen in Television Time” never got released. At the time of his death he was working on what those who had the chance to hear it considered his break through solo record, called “King of Hearts”, that was scheduled to be released on Definitive Jux this year.
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We, his friends and family, have truly had our collective hearts broken by his passing. Not only because of the loss of our friend, but because of the loss of his contribution to those who never knew what we knew about his talent and his potential. He was the secret that no one wanted to keep and we always knew that one day his vision and his heart could change music forever the way he changed all of our lives.His departure from us all one month away from his 31st birthday is nothing less than a tragedy. Nothing less than a crime. He was a gift to us all and he is irreplaceable.

Rest in peace, Mu. We will love you forever. May god bless you and your family.

Sincerely,

Jaime “El-p” Meline

On behalf of Definitive Jux, Weathermen and many, many wonderful and broken hearted friends. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.

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“I wish I could come up with some profound statement of everything I feel about this amazing man who impacted my life in countless ways but I can not. It has already been so difficult to not have him at home with me. I am not sure how I will carry on my life without Tero but I know that he would kick my ass if I didn’t.
I feel peace knowing that he is no longer in pain and can continue on in his journey of greatness in the next life.
You are my partner, my best friend, and I am so in love with you. Not one day will pass that I do not think about the life I shared with you. I will carry you forever in my heart and in my spirit.” Love, Gayle

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“Summing up my feelings regarding Camu, who he was as a friend, what he did as a musician, and how devastating his death is to me will never be possible. I have never lost a best friend before. These types of emotions have no names. Mu had an infectious magnetism about him that was so far removed from the comfort of any convenient adjective or classification, it makes stomaching this with any hint of grace that much more unrealistic. So much of who I am today is directly related to Camu’s ability to unearth things in me that would have otherwise remained dormant forever. He had an unprecedented influence on me as a human being, and beyond that as an artist. I can only hope that when this current fog eventually lifts, I am strong enough to do justice to the things he has given me.” -Ian “Aesop Rock” Bavitz

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“Camu Tao was like my big brother; hard on me, caring, inspiring, and confident. I looked up to him. On the first day we met he took his jacket off his back and put it on me because he saw that I was cold. That is the type of person he was.” -Yashar “Yak” Zadeh
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“He was robbed of his life. I was robbed of my friend and brother. We created music together and he believed he could change hip hop and so did I. There are many wonderful things I could say about Tero in his passing.I am fortunate I got to tell him most of them while he was alive. I am angry. I am bitter. My life will NEVER be the same again. He said “you should pump this shit like they do in the future” and HE WAS RIGHT!!!!!

I wish he could have seen all this love while he was still here. Cherish every second you have with someone you love sick or healthy. Time is NOT on your side.”

CC/WM FOREVER

Chris “Cage” Palko

Was never much of a Gossip fan, but hearing this scorching live set recorded in Liverpool, England in the summer of 2007 has given me total respect for Generation Y’s own Mama Cass, Beth Ditto. She may not be exactly the most hygienic gal on the block, as the album cover flanked by her soiled girlie t-shirt signifies. But Goddamn does she have some kind of powerful singing voice, one that, in a less image-driven world, would easily score her a finalist position on American Piehole (check out the group’s blues-punk rip on Wham!’s “Careless Whisper” on here). Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody?” is not exactly an easy song to cover, and they nail it with only drums, vocals and a guitar, and signifies the band’s further descent into the depths of dance music following 2006’s GSSP RMX. Who knows, maybe they’ll use their newfound industry muscle being on Columbia and hire Timbaland himself to helm their next studio endeavor. –Ed.

Diamond’s second studio venture with producer Rick Rubin is a far starker affair than 2006’s 12 Songs.  As Rubin once again puts together a dream team of session musicians, Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney and one-time Tom Waits axeman Smokey Hormel chief among them, Diamond delivers perhaps his darkest work since his early MCA material.  So in other words, if you are looking for more “Sweet Caroline”, best keep listening to your faithful copy of Hot August Night. –Ed.

Nigger, the controversial new album from Queensbridge’s favorite son, is slated to come out July 1, and with no shortage of controversy.  The title itself, at least in the estimation of this publication, appears to be the final chapter in a trilogy that initially began with 2002’s God’s Son and crescendoed with 2004’s double-album opus Street’s Disciple, in that these albums’ titles refer to what Nas has called himself or been called by others through the course of his majestic eighteen-year career in the hip-hop game.  In any rate, it is a bold and brave move for Mr. Jones, who has never been known to pull any punches in his rhymes and stands firm as an impacting statement to the Black community that the word still indeed exists and it can never be “buried”, as the mayor of Detroit tried to do in a shameless publicity stunt a few months back while also, in our opinion, calling out his younger contemporaries who have since transformed the harsh inner city landscapes Nas would depict in his rhymes into a playground of thugged-out minstrelsy.

But then again, what do I know, I’m just a stupid white boy. -Ed.

MP3:Nas - Be A Nigger Too
Download (Click Here)

Excellent quality boot. Great performance. Wish I was there!

Prince
2008-04-26
Coachella Music and Arts Festival
Empire Polo Field
Main Stage
Indio, CA

Disc 1 - 60:17

01 Intro
02 The Bird w/ Morris Day and Jerome Benton
03 Jungle Love w/ Morris Day and Jerome Benton
04 The Glamorous Life w/ Sheila-E
05 Santana Medley (Jungle strut/Soul sacrifice/Toussaint l’ouverture)
06 1999
07 I Feel For You
08 Controversy > Housequake
09 Little Red Corvette
10 Musicology
11 Prince and the Band
12 Cream
13 U Got the Look
14 Shhh

Disc 2 - 50:59

01 Anotherloverholenyohead (w/ Rock Lobster outro)
02 Creep (Radiohead Cover)
03 Angel (Sarah McLachlan Cover feat. Ledisi)
04 7
05 Come Together (The Beatles Cover)
06 (encore break)
07 Purple Rain
08 Let’s Go Crazy

http://p7pp3gbr4fmtdnzjdrpswdj.usercash.com
http://p7ppc4kwxhlsqeczu05qlw.usercash.com

Found somewhere on the blogosphere, these are incredible-sounding (though slightly hissy) home recordings David Byrne laid down in 1984 for tracks that would later appear on Talking Heads’ mid-80s masterpiece Little Creatures and its just-aiiight follow-up True Stories. Using what sounds like a Linn drum machine and his guitar, these tracks are bare-bones, but still incredibly soulful and in certain cases, given the lack of production that mired a good amount of the songs on True Stories, actually sound better here. Too bad Byrne’s solo albums can’t all sound like this. I hope these see the light of day on an official level someday soon. Thank you. -Ed.