Occasional Detroit

Where do I begin with a group like Occasional Detroit? It's so difficult to try and define them because there really is no other band like O-D. Their fusion of experimental rap, funk, electronic beats, noise, and fucked up rock is literally like nothing I've ever head before. The band is also somewhat of an enigma, they disappeared from the Detroit scene around 2006 and moved to Decatur, GA and from the looks of it now (according to their website and various myspace accounts), they're now located and operating out of Albuquerque, NM.

In addition to exploding minds with their unrelenting sonic assault, O-D has a visual art project entitled, Dollface Filmz, which is a natural extension of the music. Basically, it's the visual equivalent of getting stuck in a trap house while your buddy goes to make a deal. It starts out with you waiting on the couch for your buddy to come back, then suddenly some dude appears next to you and offers you a joint laced with PCP. Next thing you know, you've been listening to top 40 hip hop non-stop while rocking back and forth in a corner for 12 hours waiting to come down. To put it bluntly, it's a trip and a half.

Everything O-D touches turns into pure psychedelic gold. Band's are not this expressive anymore, and it's a damn shame, they touch on the gritty reality of life and project it into the astral realm. If this band is too much for you, then I'd just say you're a sheltered pussy who's never struggled a day in your life, and if that's the case then this music is definitely NOT FOR YOU. This is serious expression, and quite frankly some of the best art in any medium that I've been introduced to in quite some time.

O-D: EP

O-D: LP

Ghetto Brothers - Power Fuerza

I have trouble accepting the changing of seasons. I don't want to admit that this may be out of some stubborn refusal to accept change, it must be something else. I'd rather blame it on the fact that I spend a great deal of time in windowless rooms and have all but completely lost any concept of time. Last week before going out to party I asked if it was cold out. Auchie said "It's January in Michigan. What do you think?" Check mate. Even so, it didn't dawn on me that winter is here and the effects it's having on my brain and body are staring me right in face. Everybody seems weirder than usual. Thinking twice before I say something, thinking a million time about everything I've said. These aren't things I do when it's not winter.

The Ghetto Brothers were a Puerto Rican gang active in Bronx the 60's and 70's. However, as far as I can tell the Brothers were pretty much your stereotypical "good guy" gang. All the literature I can find about them talks about keeping drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes out of their neighborhoods, NOT seeking revenge for the killing of their buddies, staging parties and jam-sessions, and being super righteous dudes. They had a band too, and that band played the most good-vibe sun-drenched latin-funk party music I've ever heard. In an interview a former member and organizer the dude says

We used to go to Crotona Pool. And you have the 8 ft. section so we would go there periodically to see who was the victim. A gang would kill somebody and throw them in the pool. Everybody would be like, 'Ooooooh! I wonder who's that?'

Here I am sulking about the chilly weather while these dudes were living stone-cold real-talk lives while managing to pump out the sunniest jams of all. Seriously, "You Say You Are My Friend" is giving me the fuzzies all over. Plus, as things get more latin the knob labeled "ALL THE REVERB" gets cranked up. I'm going to pretend it's summer and go drink thirty stone on the roof with this just FUCKING BLASTING



POWER FUERZA