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New Videos: "Body Double" (Live) & "Integration Loop" (Live) - Lushlife + CSLSX

Lushlife and CSLSX brought a pair of songs from The Deli Philly’s March Record of the Month, Ritualize (Western Vinyl), to the live stage at The Special Without Brett Davis. Intertwining the sleek, gliding, futuristic instrumentation with Lush laying down some percussion, the group serves up the smooth fire of “Body Double” and the meditative haze of “Integration Loop”. Lushlife will be back in town on Sunday, May 22 at Johnny Brenda's with Islands. Grab your tix soon, or you'll be left out!

 

Published: April 19, 2016 |
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New Music Video: "The Waking World" (Feat. I Break Horses) - Lushlife + CSLSX

Philly emcee/producer Lushlife, fresh off the release of his new album Ritualize (Western Vinyl), has a new hazy video for "The Waking World," his collaborative effort with CSLSX and Swedish shoegazers I Break Horses. It features a montage of vintage clips with the occasional Lushlife silhouette overlay and choice words from his rhymes. The video - mostly still frames and quick edits - is about as wide-ranging as the present influences on his latest record. While vast, the clip choices are far from random - each one either directly or indirectly referring to his lyrics. The bleary, dynamic footage is contrasted by Lush’s sharp-as-a-tack rhymes and stone-cold flow.

Published: March 08, 2016 |
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The Deli Philly's March Record of the Month: Ritualize - Lushlife + CSLSX
Lushlife and CSLSX crafted their collaborative LP, Ritualize (Western Vinyl), over a 3-year span. The record offers a fresh perspective with each additional spin, as subtle nuances shift to the forefront.
 
Album opener, “Total Mutual Understanding,” gradually builds with a cinematic zoom as keys, bass and percussion interact to assert a relaxed, focused course for Raj Haldar to wax poetic. Making way to the airy opening of “The Waking World,” you are smacked with sonic waves from Swedish shoegazers I Break Horses, before crashing with intensity as Lushlife sketches the imagery of Mark David Chapman’s assassination of John Lennon outside the Dakota Hotel, which was inspired by Catcher In The Rye protagonist Holden Caulfield. Touching on a landmark moment, the song hits on a personal note of sorrow.
 
“Hong Kong (Lady of Love)” pounds the pavement with its slinky 80’s synth pulses, as Ariel Pink’s chorus and a velvety sax temper the determined tunnel-vision delivery, before the murderous electro-funk/soul of “Incantation” takes over. It - someday - will be known as the deep cut that gets all the limbs moving. The amplifying uncertainty of the beat in “Body Double” eventually establishes itself, as an alluring falsetto teases amidst a futuristic Blade Runner-type urgency. Haldar contemplates the reality-shaking nature of a near-death experience… “back to the soil, back to the flower beds… God and the dice tumbles.”
 
An epic sonic quilt is stitched in “Toynbee Suite,” which was originally recorded for a Shaking Through episode. Enlisting local compatriots RJD2, Yikes The Zero, and Nightlands, the absorbing echo of synth steers into the elegance of strings, and then strolls Philly’s streets. Yikes The Zero takes the mic during the second movement, setting a sprinting pace, which continues as the baton is handed back to Lush. It’s an exhibition of expertly textured production that spreads over expansive territory. The breezy beat of “Strawberry Mansion” takes no time to set the tone - “All I need is Henny, dimes, and bottle blondes - fine the bottom-line.” Trading bars with Philly stalwart Freeway, who brings his customary grimy, steamrolling attack, this hometown homage is honed to take no prisoners.
 
“This Ecstatic Cult” is a testament to craft, with its slick, cold-as-ice, blue-flamed rhymes. “The fast-talking, city-slicking, hit your betty with looks/I’m better with books and steady rocking elephant hoofs/Rolling uptown the sound, kid, irrelevant hooks.” Aided by Killer Mike, who reinforces the scenario with his own fire, the track cuts with precision - calm, controlled yet ferocious.
 
Ritualize closes with its title track, bathed in an absorbing, soulful, R&B beat that fits like a secondary skin. The album is an intricate collection of recordings - one that meshes a plethora of sonic surfaces, connecting them in a seamless manner. - Michael Colavita

Published: March 01, 2016 |
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March 2016
Lushlife + CSLSX
"Ritualize"
mp3
Lushlife and CSLSX crafted their collaborative LP, Ritualize (Western Vinyl), over a 3-year span. The record offers a fresh perspective with each additional spin, as subtle nuances shift to the forefront.
 
Album opener, “Total Mutual Understanding,” gradually builds with a cinematic zoom as keys, bass and percussion interact to assert a relaxed, focused course for Raj Haldar to wax poetic. Making way to the airy opening of “The Waking World,” you are smacked with sonic waves from Swedish shoegazers I Break Horses, before crashing with intensity as Lushlife sketches the imagery of Mark David Chapman’s assassination of John Lennon outside the Dakota Hotel, which was inspired by Catcher In The Rye protagonist Holden Caulfield. Touching on a landmark moment, the song hits on a personal note of sorrow.
 
“Hong Kong (Lady of Love)” pounds the pavement with its slinky 80’s synth pulses, as Ariel Pink’s chorus and a velvety sax temper the determined tunnel-vision delivery, before the murderous electro-funk/soul of “Incantation” takes over. It - someday - will be known as the deep cut that gets all the limbs moving. The amplifying uncertainty of the beat in “Body Double” eventually establishes itself, as an alluring falsetto teases amidst a futuristic Blade Runner-type urgency. Haldar contemplates the reality-shaking nature of a near-death experience… “back to the soil, back to the flower beds… God and the dice tumbles.”
 
An epic sonic quilt is stitched in “Toynbee Suite,” which was originally recorded for a Shaking Through episode. Enlisting local compatriots RJD2, Yikes The Zero, and Nightlands, the absorbing echo of synth steers into the elegance of strings, and then strolls Philly’s streets. Yikes The Zero takes the mic during the second movement, setting a sprinting pace, which continues as the baton is handed back to Lush. It’s an exhibition of expertly textured production that spreads over expansive territory. The breezy beat of “Strawberry Mansion” takes no time to set the tone - “All I need is Henny, dimes, and bottle blondes - fine the bottom-line.” Trading bars with Philly stalwart Freeway, who brings his customary grimy, steamrolling attack, this hometown homage is honed to take no prisoners.
 
“This Ecstatic Cult” is a testament to craft, with its slick, cold-as-ice, blue-flamed rhymes. “The fast-talking, city-slicking, hit your betty with looks/I’m better with books and steady rocking elephant hoofs/Rolling uptown the sound, kid, irrelevant hooks.” Aided by Killer Mike, who reinforces the scenario with his own fire, the track cuts with precision - calm, controlled yet ferocious.
 
Ritualize closes with its title track, bathed in an absorbing, soulful, R&B beat that fits like a secondary skin. The album is an intricate collection of recordings - one that meshes a plethora of sonic surfaces, connecting them in a seamless manner. - Michael Colavita




Weekend Warrior, February 26 - 28
This Saturday, Lushlife (a.k.a. Raj Haldar) & CSLSX celebrate their collaborative project Ritualize at Johnny Brenda’s. Three years in the making, the album, which is now available via Western Vinyl, is wide-reaching, texturally rich collection of songs, littered with guests, whose appearance offer subtle wrinkles. However, Haldar is the steadfast navigator, whose sure-fired lyrical command through each line meshing within the beats – sensual, soulful, smooth, while still touching down on the street level with its roving immediacy. One easily gets caught up in its refined cinematic tones and the concurrent construction of thoughtfully layered lyricism, which flows like a natural spring. Joining in on the festivities is producer/composer and fellow Western Vinyl labelmate Botany, a.k.a. Spencer Stephenson, who will help set the tone with his psych-meets-jazz sound. Udbhav "Dev" Gupta of Mr Twin Sister bridges the gap. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $12, 21+ (Photo by Ebru Yildiz) - Michael Colavita
 

 
Other places to get down this weekend…
 
The Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Little Strike, SAT TJ Smith and the Wild North (Record Release), Belgrade, Waveradio
 
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Hartline, Taking October, Stories of Loving, Saver/Tommy Hogunz, Jesse Johns/Wassup Gina, Fame Lust, SAT Fight Amp, Humanshapes/Lapses, Ang13, Kim Jong Ill, SUN World Pieces, VNIX, Whiting, Lainey Quinn, C3rd & The Philly Prime Time Players/FFH
 
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) FRI Fake Boyfriend (EP Release), Shannen Moser, Lady Parts, SAT Abandos (Tape Release), Vivatape, SCC
 
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) FRI Foxtrot & The Get Down with The Binary Sea, Cold Roses, Modern Colour, SAT Kathapalooza: Creem Circus, Stepping Razors, Photon Band, Weird Hot, Suffacox (Mach 2), Zonic Shockum
 
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI The People, Derpeck, SAT Rob Tait (Record Release), The Captain The Pilot The Driver, A Fistful of Sugar, John Gilbride, SUN Port Arthur, Hanging Hills
 
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) SAT (Balcony) (1:30pm) Uphevil, Powerless Rise, Suicide Conspiracy, Harmonaris/(10pm) (Balcony) The Phix, Spotted Atrocious, Cole Redding
 
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) The Miners, Reckless Amateurs, The Defenders, SUN (Upstairs) Three Fourteen, Curtis Jr.
 
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Kevin Killen, SAT (5pm) Inhail/(8pm) Illadelp, Mvrdo & I.Q (of WLB)
 
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Nicky P, MH The Verb
 
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Angenue, Joshua Bright, Will Williams, SAT Prowler, The Fantastic Imagination, The Homophones, SUN Live Not On Evil
 
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Francisco Collazo, SAT DJ Deejay, SUN DJ Lil' Dave, Mike Nyce, DJ Dav
 
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SUN Rusty Cadillac
 
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) FRI Gina Sicilia, Gretchen Schultz
 
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI The Founders, Fight, F**k, Or Dance, Fool Me Once, SAT The TC Cole Riot, Chestnut Grove, SUN Visoon
 
Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI Ben Aire, SAT DJ Chris Urban
 
The Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal St.) SUN Dirty South Joe
 
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI The Dispersions, Chugsley, Cardinal Arms, Children’s Books, SAT Stealing Fame, CarFax Abbey, Eighteenth Hour, Bohemian Mule
 
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Mason Porter, SUN Rad and Kell (CD Release), Seoul Delhi, Vinnie Paolizzi
 
First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.) SUN Marge, Free Cake For Every Creature, The Guests
 
Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) SAT Little Big League, Lithuania, Pouty, SUN Mumblr, The City & I
 
Girard Hall (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Scraaatch, DJ Haram, Precolumbian, What Nerve
 
All Night Diner (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Spring Onion, ylayali, Diane Foglizzo
 
The Aquarium (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Line Leader, Birthday Ponies, The Cultour
 
Goldy’s (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Space Chumpy
 
Published: February 26, 2016 |
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Published: December 31, 1969 |
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