Quite the interesting project (mini-documentary) we have from Stones Throw Records and Dublab on DVD, which released just 10 days ago. What are you waiting for? Check the trailers out. Also, for information on the DVD release party this coming Saturday, April 3, go here.

To his fans, Cole Dennis is a heavyweight contender with a devastating right hook. To a city being held hostage to chaos and terror, Dennis has a grit and charisma that make him the shining hope for justice–until he is arrested for a brutal murder. Framed for a crime he did not commit, he finds himself captive in a foreboding high-tech superprison whose masters secretly conspire to turn inmates into tomorrow’s most terrifying bioweapons–with Cole Dennis as the intended prize specimen. But Dennis is nobody’s lab rat. Reborn as a towering engine of destruction, Dennis will prepare for the fight of his life. He will rename himself Ghostface Killah. And his cry of righteous rage will echo beyond the cold steel walls of Cell Block Z.

So we love art and we love music, but it was only within the past couple years we noticed that musicians, specifically hip hop MCs, are beginning to star in their own graphic novels. Good hip hop MCs have already created vivid images of themselves with their lyrics, music, videos, photos and so on. Now, these MCs that we’ve known and loved for years are exploding onto pages, or even LCD displays in digital form. Method Man was the first of the Wu-Tang Clan to release a graphic novel for Hachette Book Group, followed by members GZA and now the great Ghostface Killah.

When given the opportunity for an interview with Chris Walker, the illustrator behind Ghostface’s new graphic novel Cell Block Z, we couldn’t resist. Walker’s work has appeared in the pages of such substantial comics as Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman when he worked for Marvel, and he is currently producing and developing animated projects for Humouring the Fates animation studios, and creating communication solutions for companies through 5Rings Design.

Interview:

How did you get into comic books and graphic novels when you were younger?

Chris Walker: Well, I was always into comics. Some of my first drawings as a kid, where you can tell what they are, are of Batman and Robin. I’ve always liked cartoons and comics so it was just one of those things.

Hipsterwave: Just made sense, huh?

Chris Walker: Yeah. I would save my money and buy comics at the drug store, and when I got older, I would go to the comic shop we had downtown.

Hipsterwave: They had a bigger/better selection, I’m guessing?

Chris Walker: :D Just a little. That’s when you get serious. At first it’s like Spider-Man is cool. Then you want to know what happened in the story and somehow you find out, “At the comic book store, they have all the back issues with all the story lines you’ve ever wanted to know!!” LOL! I’ve seen it happen old and young: like someone who has been away from comics for years discovers the comic book store and they are hooked at least for 2-3 years from that point.

Hipsterwave: Right.
Read the full story

The classic Mr. Scruff album has been remastered (in warm and glorious analogue) and is packaged with a 9 track bonus CD including 6 unreleased tracks from the original Scruffy studio sessions.

Scruffy has put up a 15 minute megamix to give to fans in celebration of 10 year re-issue of Keep it Unreal.

And to keep up the celebratory spirit, Mr. Scruff is running a photo competition to win a gold disc on his site here.

Have a look and please ask your friends, family etc. to get involved! Just upload a photo of someone/something “keeping it unreal” and Scruff will select the best one to win the gold disc!

Mr Scruff’s music can be found in the new Rolando 2 game for the iPhone. The first installment was considered by many to be the best iPhone game of 2008, so the second is bound to be a hit!

Spanning the high seas on the way to the tropical island of Fontanis, ‘Rolando 2′ takes players to a beachside retreat set to the tune of Mr. Scruff, who appears in the game as a Rolando! At Mr. Scruff’s music shack, gamers can groove to Scruff classics ‘Blackpool Roll’, ‘Spandex Man’, ‘Fix That Speaker’ and ‘Sweetsmoke’ and buy tracks directly from iTunes.

Rolando 2 at Ngmoco
Rolando 2 at IGN

‘Rolando 2′ is available for both the iPhone and iPod Touch from:
Apple App Store USA
Apple App Store UK
Ngmoco

Joe Corrales, Jr. aka Yppah (pronounced “Yippah”) is back. The young Mexican-American from Texas debuted on Ninja Tune in 2006 with his album, “You Are Beautiful At all Times,” and now releases his sophomore effort, “They Know What Ghost Know.”

Fashioning a rockier sound than last time out, the album draws on a cultural heritage that took in My Bloody Valentine alongside hip hop and which is heavily influenced by various forms of electronic music, psychedelic soul and rock.

Opening track “Son Saves The Rest” is wall-of-noise guitar pummeller. “Gumball Machine Weekend” sounds like southern-fried Go! Team with more soul. “Playing With Fireworks” somehow reminds you of the way you felt stuck between childhood and the adult world, not a million miles from instrumental tracks from the Phantom Band. “Shutter Speed” is nostalgia psyched into a memorable tune. Title track “They Know What Ghost Know” is West Coast rock reimagined as trance-rite, a spooky, echo-heavy drum-roll-filled set of repetitions and overlaps that builds into a tune which DJ Shadow in his heyday might have dreamed of making. “Sun Flower Sun Kissed” takes the doomy grey skies of MBV and gives them a Texan make-over. “Bobbie Joe Wilson” channels the Dust Brothers and proves Yppah hasn’t lost his love of hip hop. Corrales build moods through a combination of melody, rhythm and sonics and if those moods are mainly melancholy, they’re also ecstatic.

After a series of shows last year from SXSW to Japan, there’s a real feeling that Joe Corrales is ready to step up into the big league. The album has that feel to it – that it has been made under huge skies, that it’s possible to make music which is epic and intimate all at once. It’s beguiling and beautiful and makes you a little giddy, too. Find out what Ghost know.

Fresh off of their sold out spring tour of Europe, Peanut Butter Wolf, James Pants, Dam-Funk, and Mayer Hawthorne are now touring the US & Canada. Peanut Butter Wolf will be mixing music videos live, James Pants is performing with his band Royal Zodiac, and Dam-Funk and Mayer Hawthorne will be Djing. Mayer Hawthorne will perform a few songs with James’ band as well. This will be the first US tour for James Pants, Dam-Funk, and Mayer Hawthorne and the best tour for Peanut Butter Wolf. Come to our show.

STONES THROW US TOUR
BEGINS APR 21, LOS ANGELES

4/21 Los Angeles @ Echo Plex. 9pm. 18+ Tickets
4/22 SF @ Great American Music Hall.  9pm. All Ages. Ticket Info
4/23 Portland @ Holocene. 9pm. 21+ Tickets
4/24 Bellingham @ Nightlight Lounge. 8pm. 21+ $10
4/25 Seattle @ Chop Suey. 9pm. All Ages. Tickets
4/28 Minneapolis @ Varsity Theater. 9pm. 18+ $15
4/29 Madison @ High Noon Saloon. 9pm. 18+ Ticket Info
4/30 Chicago @ The Abbey Pub. 9pm. 18+ Ticket Info
5/1 Toronto @ Revival Bar. 9pm. 19+ Tickets
5/2 Montreal @ Les Saints. 8pm. 18+ Ticket Info
5/3 Princeton @ Terrace F Club. 3pm. All Ages. FREE
5/4 Boston @ Paradise. 7pm. 18+ Ticket Info
5/5 Baltimore @ Sonar.  7pm. 18+ Ticket Info
5/6 Philadelphia @ North Bowl.  9pm Tickets
5/7 Washington DC  @ 9:30 Club. 9pm. All Ages. Tickets
5/8 NYC @ American Museum of Natural History. 9pm. 21+. $20
5/9 NYC @ LPR. 11pm. 21+. $10 (Pants, Dam, Hawthorne & Folerio) Tickets

Buff1 – “There’s Only One (Feat. Mayer Hawthorne):”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Mayer Hawthorne – “Maybe So, Maybe No:”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

James Pants:

James Pants – “Rhythm Track 1:”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

James Pants – “Rhythm Track 5:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dam-Funk:

Dam-Funk – “Gold:”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dam-Funk – “Chocolate:”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.