NOISE

Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks, Fast Food Tunes, Coming to Town







Three questions with Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks




JMT's albums have been well received over the years, but it seems like the road is really your bread and butter. Correct assessment?

Remember when you were a kid and you'd see someone you loved, and they'd blow you away, and you'd think about that show for three days, like you couldn't go to sleep at night? I remember those days. We grew up on people like KRS and Public Enemy, people who made sure you left with a smile on your face; you bought a T-shirt that night, and you remembered that show for the rest of your life. I'm not comparing myself to those guys, but it's definitely what we strive for.


Nas' latest album is titled Hip Hop Is Dead, a fairly popular opinion today. Is there any validity to that, or are people missing what's going on beyond commercial hip-hop?

My problem with that philosophy is that people think that it's that way just now. Fifteen years ago you had MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice at the top of the pop charts. With the exception of groups every now and then like Nirvana or Tool or the Beastie Boys, who do great music and sell a lot of records, 99 percent of the Top 40 is garbage anyway. So the whole philosophy that this is dead or that's dead is bullshit. It's always been where it's meant to be, and that's a subculture.


Rumor has it you're cooking up a new album with Jus Allah back in the fold ...

Yeah, it's not currently being worked on since we're on the road, but we should have it out in '08. The first three shows on this tour were in the East Coast and [Jus] came through as a surprise guest—we rocked a lot of the old shit. So that's definitely gonna happen. Stoupe [the Enemy of Mankind] already has the majority of the beats. He told me he feels like that album is almost done production-wise. Then in '08 the three of us are gonna get back into a lab and finish the next Jedi record. People have been wanting that [next Allah collaboration] for seven years.



– Spencer Patterson










The Weekly Playlist: Fast Food Tunes













Electric Six with Test Your Reflex, Night Kills the Day. April 17, 10 p.m., $12-$15. Beauty Bar, 598-1965.



With their immortal lyrical couplet to open "Danger! High Voltage"—"Fire in the disco/Fire in the Taco Bell"—Detroit rockers Electric Six joined the exclusive ranks of these franchise chain name-checkers:


1. Run-DMC, "You Be Illin'" (Raising Hell, 1986)

"Day when I was chillin' in Kentucky Fried Chicken/Just mindin' my business, eatin' food and finger lickin'"


2. Ramones, "Oh, Oh, I Love Her So" (Leave Home, 1977)

"I met her at the Burger King/We fell in love by the soda machine"


3. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, "Pump Me Up" (Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel — The Furious Five: More of the Best, 1996)

"So don't ask where's the beef, baby/Here is the meat" [Wendy's]


4. Guttermouth, "23 Things That Rhyme With Darby Crash (Shave the Planet, 2006)

"Let's beg for change and eat at Arby's/Two beef and cheddar for my friend Darby Crash"


5. Ben Folds, "Army" (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, 1999)

"Grew a moustache and a mullet/Get a job at Chick-Fil-A"


6. Wesley Willis, "Rock N' Roll McDonald's" (Greatest Hits, 1995)

"McDonald's will make you fat/They serve Big Macs/They serve Quarter Pounders/They will put pounds on you"



– Spencer Patterson/Julie Seabaugh









Coming to Town













With Whitey. April 14, 10 p.m., $5. Beauty Bar, 598-1965.


Birdmonster


No Midnight (3 1/2 stars)

Peter Arcuni, frontman and songwriter for this Bay Area quartet, must have a killer record collection, judging from the apparent influences behind the gritty, angular rockers' full-length debut: The Replacements, Fugazi, Mission of Burma, Uncle Tupelo, Springsteen. In other words, an ideal band to see—to quote one of Birdmonster's song titles—at "The Bar at the Back of the Basement." Or on the Beauty Bar's back-alley outdoor stage.



– Spencer Patterson













With Chantal Kreviazuk. April 18, 7:30 p.m., $20-$22. House of Blues, 632-7600.


Five for Fighting


Two Lights (2 stars)

Strings and pianos and earnest croonings about dead soldiers, classic cars, morality crises and the sweet voices of 4-year-old daughters. John Ondrasik's contemporary pop is restless and dreamy; in short, Mom Rock that's as easy to digest as it is to forget.



– Julie Seabaugh









Sixty-second karaoke critic













Reba McEntire. April 14, 8 p.m. $60.50-$79.75. Buffalo Bill's Star of the Desert Arena, Primm, 382-1212.

Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe," Grease's "Summer Nights"—why bother with the obvious duets when you can bust out Reba McEntire and Linda Davis' "Does He Love You." With infidelity, soaring vocals and a video featuring a boat-exploding climax, it's a surefire showstopper when one or more dudes tackle the roles.



– Julie Seabaugh


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