Welcome back to another Tuesdays With Lazerbeak! This past weekend, on the heels of our big Electric Forest fest announcement, we put out the good word that Doomtree will be headed up north to Lutsen to headline two nights at the Elevate Music Festival this April. Soooooo pumped about this. I’ve never been to Lutsen, let alone a real deal ski resort, and I can’t wait to spend the weekend wearing a robe over my clothes, hanging out in a chalet drinking brandy and not skiing at all. Tons more details, ticket info, and discounts can be found right HERE. Can’t wait!
This Thursday night (2/18) I will be speaking on a panel at the Walker Art Center as one of four artists discussing the ins and outs of what it takes to be an artist for a living in this day and age. The event is called “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” and things kick off right at 7pm. It’s totally free and open to the public. Hope to see some of you down there! Much more info on the speakers and the topics discussed can be found right HERE.
P.O.S just landed back home after his trip out to Seattle and will be headed down to Davenport, IA this Thursday for his big Daytrotter Downs show. William Elliot Whitmore and The Civil Wars’ John Paul White are also on the bill. Grab your tickets HERE.
And speaking of Stef, he just dropped an awesome new track with our friend Onry Ozzborn last week. It’s called “Turmoil” and it appears on Onry’s upcoming album DUO. Check it out below. Love this one.
Mike Mictlan is back in town from the first weekend of Prof’s Gasoline Run Tour. The dudes will be playing a beyond sold-out show in Minneapolis this Friday, followed by a final show in Sioux City, IA on Saturday (2/20). Tickets for the Sioux City show can be grabbed right HERE.
Yesterday marked the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the Sims & Lazerbeak album Bad Time Zoo! Maaaaaaaan, I’m feeling so old lately. Really cannot believe this came out that long ago. There’s still some of my favorite beats that I’ve ever made on that one if I’m really being honest. That was a super creative and productive time period for sure. Insanely proud of the way everything turned out. Check out the cool behind-the-scenes album artwork below (shouts to Adam Garcia for completely crushing it!), followed by a bunch of music videos from the release. If you don’t have Bad Time Zoo already you can grab it digitally HERE, but I would highly recommend grabbing a physical copy on CD or LP HERE based on how sweet the origami artwork turned out. And grab the companion EP, Wild Life, right HERE. Happy BTZ Day!
Unboxing Bad Time Zoo
Click here to view the embedded video.
“Burn It Down”
Click here to view the embedded video.
“One Dimensional Man”
Click here to view the embedded video.
“LMG”
Click here to view the embedded video.
“Bad Time Zoo” (City of Music live performance)
Click here to view the embedded video.
Damn, I’m gonna have to go back and listen to this one all the way through again. Lotta memories popping up just in the time it took to search for those video links. While we’re at it, let’s get into another round of Bonus Jams for the week. I’ve been able to listen to a lot more music than usual this month, and here’s the stuff I’ve really been feeling as of late.
Kanye’s been unavoidable all month, I know, and I’m still on the fence about how I feel about The Life of Pablo as a whole. Believe me, I’m all for crazy geniuses in this world, I just wish getting super into fashion and Twitter rants didn’t have to go hand-in-hand with that tag. All Kanye thinkpieces aside though, one thing is undeniable: This “Ultralight Beam” song is a complete and utter masterpiece. You definitely gotta hit up Tidal to here the real thing though, because the SNL performance below is a little sloppy.
Kanye West ft. Everyone In The World – “Ultralight Beam”
Allan Kingdom just dropped a video for the title track off of his latest project Northern Lights. This is by far one of my favorite joints on the album. Check out the vizual below. And big congrats to Allan on the “All Day” Grammy nominations.
Allan Kingdom – “Northern Lights”
Click here to view the embedded video.
ZULUZULUU, one of my favorite bands in this whole dang state, just dropped a brand new song called “Black Maybe.” It’s an excellent cover of the old Syreeta song written by Stevie Wonder. I’m a die-hard Stevie fan, so this is a total win win for me. Check it out below and make sure you listen through to the nutzo end part.
ZULUZULUU – “Black Maybe”
Majid Jordan just dropped their debut full-length on OVO Sound last week. I kind of think they set the bar too high on their first EP, as this one is taking a little bit longer to grow on me. There’s still some definite heaters on there though. Check out “Something About You” below.
Majid Jordan – “Something About You”
Click here to view the embedded video.
The homie Afrokeys just dropped the first single from his new project with Lady Midnight (insane singer from Malamanya and VANDAAM) and it is phenomenal. This is that old school roller rink vibe nailed to a T. So excited to hear more from these guys, along with the rest of the artists on Afrokeys’ new BlackWave Music Group. More on that soon.
Lady Midnight x Afrokeys – “Wax Line”
KING dropped their excellent first full-length We Are KING earlier this month and it slays. Super smooth and crazy harmonies. Highly recommended. Check out “The Right One” below.
KING – “The Right One”
Click here to view the embedded video.
Sticking with the R&B vibe, check out this great video from Jarell Perry for “Relapse” off his Shift EP with Deebs. Been discovering a lot more of Jarell’s music lately and I’m way in. His White EP is also a must have.
Jarell Perry – “Relapse”
Click here to view the embedded video.
Paper Tiger put me onto Georgia this past weekend when the wifepiece and I visited NYC. I’m still not all the way through the album, but there’s for sure some immediately grabbing stuff on there, even just in the first few songs. Check out the video for “Nothing Solutions” below. Really excited to get into this one.
Georgia – “Nothing Solutions”
Click here to view the embedded video.
Shouts to my friend Dave Rene for putting me up on this producer SCOUT!. He’s been popping up a lot on official remixes for EDM and pop artists like Zedd, but it’s this solo instrumental cut “Midnight Donuts” that has been blowing my mind all week. NUTZ.
SCOUT! – “Midnight Donuts”
Finally, here’s a new vizual from our longtime Chicago friend ShowYouSuck. It features Oreo Jones and is called “I Hope Your Next Pizza is the Best One,” which is possibly the greatest song title ever created. Hands down. Enjoy!
ShowYouSuck – “I Hope Your Next Pizza is the Best One”
Click here to view the embedded video.
BAM! Consider that your Bonus Jams Mixtape for the week. I’ll leave you with a handful of Bonus Baby Pics before calling it quits. I took the wifepiece to New York last week for her birthday, so all these ones came from my mom. Huge shouts to all of our parents for watching everybody over the weekend so we could get out and party a little. Here’s Penny holding up her handmade Valentine’s card for us. The Life of Pablo indeed. Gonna be worth millions one day.
And here’s P rocking my old junior high drum set (sorry Mom for never taking that out of the closet). I wasn’t there to hear it, but I can pretty much guarantee this sounded better than Diplo’s drum solo at the Grammys last night.
Here’s Penny defying gravity and floating on air at the indoor kids park. Really impressive for her age. And somewhat terrifying.
Laid Back Lou yucking it up and more than likely singing the chorus to “Let It Go” for the billionth time. He is meticulously learning one new word to the song every couple of days.
The elusive Crab Man Cam. This guy is moving so fast these days that we can’t even capture him in a picture. Soccer, dancing, running in circles, and tackling/jumping on Lou are just some of his new favorite activities.
And lastly, here’s Penny and Lou playing in a bucket of tie-dyed snow because it’s been so cold outside lately. Only at Grandma’s house.
OK! That does it for this post. I hope you all have a wonderful week warming up a little bit, and I’ll see you back here next Tuesday for sure!
— Beak
Twitter: @_LAZERBEAK_
Instagram: @lazerbeak
SUPPORT THIS BLOG LYFE. TUESDAYS WITH LAZERBEAK SHIRTS AND POSTERS AVAILABLE NOW!!!