LORD T & ELOISE
At 9 p.m. Friday, July 1
Live Wire Music Hall, 307 W. River St. $8
It's kind of hard to figure out whether Robert Anthony (Maurice Eloise) and Elliott Ives (Lord Treadwell) are taking hip hop into uncharted territory, or simply making clever fun of it.
Crunk - dominated by slow, pulsing mechanical drum beats, heavy stabs of distorted bass and hypnotic wordplay - originated in Memphis, which is where Lord T & Eloise come from. Their music is pure dirty south, the words are often extremely witty, and the thing is, well, Lord T and Eloise are really funny.
The shtick is this: They present themselves as some sort of historical dandies. Literally. Treadwell wears a white French aristocrat wig - think Louis XVI - and a nobleman's robes. His face is usually painted a ghostly white. The similarly-robed Eloise (sometimes he wears a tuxedo) has gold-painted skin and sports what look like curlers in his hair.
"The album," Flagpole said of the duo's 2007 debut, "comes out sounding a lot like the Beastie Boys on some very expensive drugs."
Our guys call it "aristocrunk."
The two and their crew have a new one out, Rapocalypse, which they've conveniently described as "a twenty-three track magnum opus of their experiences with time travel, (which) harbors messages of what is in store for humanity."
Personal message from Lord T & E: "Savannah, ready thyself for a debauchery on par with the culture of the city!"
Check out the hilarious video for the Rapocalypse song "Easy" on the Lord T and Eloise Facebook page. See lordtandeloise.com.
KOOL KEITH
With Dope Sandwich, KidSyc@Brandywine
At 10 p.m. Friday, July 1
Wormhole Bar, 2307 Bull St. $15/adv, $20/door
Hip hop isn't a genre known particularly for longevity, but Kool Keith is an exception to that rule, and just about every other rule, for that matter.
The Bronx, N.Y. native took his first steps toward legend status as a member of the Ultramagnetic MCs, whose record Critical Beatdown in 1988 was highly influential for its creative sampling and underground sensibilities.
Flying solo during most of the ‘90s, Keith became known for being a lot of other people, taking on a laundry list of aliases over the years, including Dr. Octagon, Black Elvis, Dr. Dooom, Mr. Gerbik, Willie Biggs, and numerous others. The free-flowing MC was as loose with styles as he with names - penning records that touched on sci-fi, horror-core and plenty of sex.
The new millennium hasn't slowed him down either. He's put out more than a dozen albums in the last five years, collaborating with old favorites like Kutmasta Kurt and newcomers like LA's Yeti Beats, among others. What hasn't changed is his one-of-a-kind delivery that's part stream of consciousness and part pimp strut.
For Friday's gig at the Wormhole, Kool Keith headlines a bill with local hip hop nobility Dope Sandwich and KidSyc@Brandywine. See koolkeith.co.uk (Patrick Rodgers)
