Another Vid

Up at http://www.mcenroe.net

This one took a little more time, I hand wrote all of the lyrics and then had to sequence them on the screen as Gruf said them. Some of the lip sync was shot at off speeds so you can see traffic moving very fast and that sort of thing.

Video Daze

I have finally finished some videos. First is the Butcher's Bill video:

Visit http://www.mcenroe.net

5000 Watts pics

Video coming soon!

Best show in a while

Over the weekend I went and saw Damian Marley here in Vancouver. Damn. I enjoyed that show like crazy. Easily the best show I have seen in a long time. If you get the chance to check it out, do it. I have been listening to a lot of reggae and dub lately, so this was the right show at the right time. I will go as far as saying it is in my top 5 shows of all time.

So what are my top five? In no particular order...

Fugazi, Winnipeg, 1991ish
Ice Cube, Minneapolis, 1991ish
Medeski Martin & Wood, Winnipeg, 1995ish?
Damian Marley, Vancouver, 2005

OK so its a top four then. Other honorable mentions:

Jawbox, Winnipeg, 1993ish?
Beastie Boys, Minneapolis, 1993ish?
Super DJ Dimitri, Whistler, BC, 1992
Rheostatics, Toronto, 1995
All, Winnipeg, early 1990's
Mercury Rev, Minneapolis, early 1990's
Rage Aginst The Machine, Minneapolis, early 1990's
Lush, Minneapolis, early 1990's
The Roots, San Francisco, 2000

Good rap shows in a small club:
Third Sight, San Francisco
Atmosphere, Vancouver

Good but not that good:
Tribe Called Quest
Run DMC
Dinosaur Jr

Tyler will probably correct me on alot of this, including shows I liked that I have forgotten about. Word.

So how was tour?

Tour was good. Pretty straightforward. I like being on the road but I really like being home. What can I tell you? Maybe its all the responsibility of road managing a tour that I booked myself and taking care of everybody. I dunno, but it is a relief to be home.

I started by leaving monday morning for a show in Regina on tuesday night. I made it as far as Medicine Hat that night. It rained the WHOLE time, from Vancouver to Medicine Hat. That was a bummer because the day before, my 5000 Watts video shoot was cancelled because of rain. Eff the rain.

We played Regina, Jasper, Victoria, Kelowna, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Saskatoon.

- Regina was fun. Good vibe. No one was stabbed. Def3 opened, he is dope.
- Jasper was pretty good, wierd vibe in the room though. Hunnicutt took out suckers at Big Buck Hunter.
- Victoria was really good. Several old friends from Brandon were there, including Jason Bell, who (to my knowledge) coined the term "Peanuts & Corn"
- Kelowna was probably the best stop on the tour. Such a hype crowd. Sound was a little suspect but the vibe was great and the promoter took real good care of us.
- Vancouver was Vancouver.
- Calgary was good although a little under attended. Sound in the club is good and the vibe is always good in Calgary.
- Edmonton was chaotic, again. The day of the show we get a call that the venue is closed for renovations, and that we are playing in a pool hall. This is the second time I have played Edmonton and the venue had changed on the day of the show. Very frustrating. Thanks to those who kris-krossed town to see us. In the end we played to a handful of people but kept it loose and probably were the most entertaining...
- Red Deer was going great. Although it is a small venue (cafe) we had a vibe going. The promoter (Felipe) had his neice out (she is maybe 10 or so?) , and she knows all the words to "Nothing Is Cool", so Pip gave her his mic and she backed me up. The place went nuts and things were going really well. The very next song, a fight breaks out in the back of the venue and three quarters of the people spill out into the street. What a mess.
- Saskatoon could have been great but the sound was very frustrating. I had a run-in with the soundman, trying to fix things, but to no avail. When he slipped away to go to the bathroom, I hopped up to try to improve the situation.

My car smells like fart. No more new car smell!

Now I'm back and switching gears. I worked on Josh Martinez's video yesterday, and am directing the 5000 Watts this weekend. I am working on several other video treatments too. Its pretty fun to be working on that aspect of things, it has really recharged my creative side and helped me focus.

What else?
- Arrested Development is the best. New shows aren't making me laugh as much though, but maybe when I watch them again? But I broke my no-DVD policy for seasons 1 and 2.
- Lakers 3-1? Kobe looking good but they are average at best...
- As a Buccaneers fan I was excited about their start but it looks like they have crashed back down to earth. Where is the Cadillac Willams of the first three games?
- I got Grand Theft Auto for my PSP. What a fun game. I would love to visit Liberty City for real somtime, feels like I have lived there.
- I got the new star wars DVD. Why? cause im a sucker. I figured since I have the other 5, it was wrong not to.
- I hate the amazing race this year. Who cares about seeing the US? Not me.
- I haven't seen any new movies in a while, whats good? Going to see the 50 cent movie?

I am working on getting new Park-Like Setting shirts. Check them out.

Park-Like done!

Whew, it was a lot of work but I finally finished it up. It's really intense. I am loving it.

What you want to hear some early? http://breadwinnermusic.com

Wish I could pull off a fitted like this...

Park-Like Setting LP going to press in under 2 weeks!

Talking Heads

All you kids, check them out, they are dope...

more shit coming soon, i directed 3 videos that will be on the web soon... Gruf, Break Bread and Farm Fresh...

spine and grind

That's me, back in the day, at the Spine and Grind in Brandon. Shout out to Jason Chumola for the pic. Shout out to the whole Brandon crew, especially Jordan at Senate and Pete!

more to come soon, big things brewing, but for now just chill

Big Shot Rob

Its big shot Rob, not Big Shot Bob.

I've got my Lakers Horry jersey, now I need a Spurs Horry jersey too? Nah...

Lurk On

So many of y'all have mentioned my Japan photos in emails and stuff, but no one leaves comments. It's cool, I can take it, I lurk too.

OK So I'm doing this mixtape right? So is every one else, thats cool, its really fun because I can sample anything and break my own rules. Like I'm sampling Aretha Franklin, David Axelrod, Barry White, Talking Heads, shit that I would never do for a commercial release. How liberating! Anyway its gonna have lots of guests, such as Bird, Josh Martinez, Evil, Cadence Weapon, Stace Prints, Factor (Vancouver Factor), Smitty, Yy, Pip, Gruf. If you see your name on this list and I haven't asked you yet, wanna be on my mixtape?

Shout out to my friends at Shaw Cable. I called to cancel my Internet and things got HEATED. Like yelling at each other at the top of our lungs type shit. Fun!

Interview steez

A little interview I did with my man Marmalade (whats up Adam), a real solid dude who hooked us up with a show in Waterloo.

http://www.earwaks.com/read/64/

My fave shit right now

This is the heat right here, Gordski's beats are so crazy good.

Pip Skid - Shinola

From Pip Skid's I'm Mean mixtape...

Photo gallery finally up

Almost 100 photos from my Japan trip now up, be sure to read those snappy captions at the bottom...

Rod's Japan Trip

bad blogger right here

All right I went in to this with the best of intentions, daily updates, unbelievable wit, all that. So far I am coming up short. Its all good, thanks for coming by.

Japan was a trip. Amazing. Big shout outs to St. Louis!

I'm just getting into NBA, go Suns, go Nash. I don't see them beating the Spurs but thats what I will be rooting for.

I got a new cell phone...

I got a PSP too, I got it to play games but I ended up watching tons of TV and movies on it. If you travel even a bit, its great. Cop it!

I'm working on some music videos for two mcenroe songs, a farm fresh song, and more. Can anyone hook me up with an old school pricing gun?

tour daze

Tour is over. It was really good. Bird and Hunnicutt are my road dogs. We had some great crowds and had consistently more people almost everywhere.

I hope to do a full tour report sometime but right now I am packing for Japan. I got some yen in pocket so its on.

Nash for MVP!

Brave New Waves

As I mentioned, I was on Brave New Waves last week, here is an mp3 for anybody interested.

http://www.breakbread.ca/blog/bravenewwaves.mp3

Going to Japan!

So my wife emailed me saying "you should really go to Japan to see your friend St Louis"

She offered me her air canada points, and my mom offered me her delta points...

long story short im off to Japan, end of April. After the mcenroe and Birdapres tour is over, I have about 5 days to chill before I head to Japan. Hope to get a show together in Tokyo or something.

I had a one hour interview on Brave New Waves tonight, it was cool. For me thats a milestone, because I grew up on Brave New Waves and was put on to so many bands through it. I listened to that show every night for at least 3-4 years straight.

But the question is, do young'ns listen to BNW now?

Tracks for datass

Sending tracks on blogs is the way to go I guess. I'm gonna get with it. Here are tracks that some of my friends and colleagues have released recently.

Shout out to Razorblade Runner, a great blog with tracks several times a week to check shit out.

Cadence Weapon - Julie Will Jump the Broom

I heard CW's whole mixtape and really like his style and voice. This song jumped out at me big time, though. A real original sounding beat and a nice flow. He will be playing with us in Edmonton, looking forward to the live set.

Draft Drodgers present Evil - Too Many Trees (w/ Birdapres)

Just saw these guys live too. I think Evil is smooth as it gets, and live it really works. He doesn't put too much into each bar, never overpowers you, which worked really well live. On the production tip, they pull off a mix of sampling and synth, with a very current sound. Not all of you will dig this but I do...

Sound Barriers - Withdrawl

Gruf hadn't been doing much for the last couple of years, so he hooked up with DJ Brace (CDN DMC champ) who was making some beats and came up with this album. I'm feeling it, but I like Gruf over my beats better. But how can I be objective?

Stace Prints - Soulivar

I first met Stace at Sushi King when I was hanging with Bird. Stace has been around a while, doing his thing, dropping guest verses and whatnot. Finally he has a new EP and it is really growing on me. The five tracks are really diverse. The strings from this one get in my head all the time.

Turn The Gun - Moods Are Seasonal (w/ John Smith)
Turn The Gun is the new name for what used to be Milch & Allegra, I guess. Anyway, its Yy and Gumshoe Strut. I threw three beats at them for their album, this is one of them. I love this track, can you believe they were gonna leave it off the album? And yes, we will have the CD in the P&C store in a week or so... the Foultone Records crew is on tour as we speak.

31 years young

today I'm 31, who thinks I am getting to old for this rap shit?



Back in University, I was a thug! Well, actually, I was listening to too much House of Pain.

mcenroe and Birdapres tour info coming soon!

Gruf = Done

I finally got the Gruf album completed this weekend, and away to the press. Here is a glimpse of the cover:



Its a dope record, 13 cuts. Much more abstract than Druidry (I didn't think that was possible). Lots of wordplay and flow with hidden meaning. The writing is different than Druidry in that the self expression is toned down quite a bit (no Owl type song). But there are Bangers. Pip is on 4 songs.

This is also one of the few P&C releases I do not appear on. I was supposed to be on the posse cut, but its already nearly 6 minutes long so I decided to chill. With all the records I have dropping, people are probably sick of me anyway.

NHL in the 05

The sports networks in Canada should offer to pay the rest of the players salaries. Because if they keep showing what they are showing now, they will go out of business. Breaking news:

The Calgary flames players got together and went bowling

Some other player has been installing plastic truck bed liners

Theo fleury is playing in the middle of nowhere, for nothing, and he scores two goals.

Plus they keep showing that pic of Gary Bettman sitting beside Bob Goodenow at that game, and Bettman is acting like a real nancy boy. And that footage of Bettman eating a hot dog. You would think the tape would be worn out by now.

ebay and duran duran

two posts in one night? shiiiit

I have been clearing out my CD collection lately on eBay. I am addicted to selling on eBay, I don't know why. I may sell my entire collection because selling these CDs is more fun than listening to them for some reason. Here are my auctions:

http://search.ebay.ca/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZmcenroe2000QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortpropertyZ1


I am moving CDs for now but I will be putting up a large amount of vinyl this weekend and next week.

I heard Duran Duran is coming to Vancouver and I am tempted to check that out. I am seriously sick - I passed on De La soul a bunch of times, Pete Rock, LLoyd Banks, Beatnuts (I had free tickets to Banks and Beatnuts and still didn't go). But I may spend 60 bucks or more to see Duran Duran? I also want to see R.E.M. and the Pixies. Hall and Oates would be good too!

random thoughts jan 14

Just got back from The Aviator. Good flick. Its the first Scorsese flick I have seen in a long time - and I call myself a fan. I think my wife and I were the youngest people in there.

I made the mistake of heading into Tom Lee (music store) the other day to see whats up. I almost got talked into buying a new preamp with nifty digital outs and a new mic. I am happy with my current preamp (although I wish it had digital outs) but I definitely need a new mic - I bought my current mic used off of Moves a few years back and its OK but I can hear its deficiencies now. Anyway, I have a sickness, seriously thinking about spending another $2000 on gear when my setup is just fine and I don't have that much left to record in the next few months.

The Farm Fresh is finally done and at the press. It's called Time Is Running Out. In my opinion, its hot as hell. Upbeat, fun, funny, catchy. When Pip writes alone he gets very personal and so do I, but together we can keep it lighter (although there is some subject matter on here). Tyler (Hunnicutt) did the cover, check it out:



We recorded the Park-Like Setting and Gruf albums over the holiday too. Now I am back in Vancouver and will be working with Bird on his new record. It never ends! Still havent started San Andreas, too much work to do. Hoping to start it before the end of the month...

NFL PLayoffs

Not a bad weekend of football!

Chargers / Jets
Poor chargers. That was a heartbreaker. I root for the Jets sometimes and I root for the Chargers sometimes so I was swinging back and forth throughout the game. In the end I was rooting for the Chargers, just because they had a great season, a good turnaround from last year and deserved to keep going.

Seahawks / Rams
Hate the Rams. Really felt for Hassleback on that last play. The look of frustration and agony as the ball slips out of Ingram's hands on the biggest play of the year. Would someone please get him some receivers that can hold on to a ball?

Colts / Broncos
I like the Patriots but I will definitely be rooting for the Colts next week. Indy is so fun to watch on offense. I really think they can find a way to pick apart the Patriots. Whatever happens, the game should be a classic.

Vikings / Packers
I didn't see this coming. Even when the Vikings jumped to a 17-0 lead, I still felt they would lose. They have collapsed so much, so often, that they were bound to finally hang on. Next week I give them a shot against the Eagles. If they can get it together and play a decent defensive game, they could upset the Eagles since the Eagles seem to be lacking in confidence right now.