December 31st, 2011

BACKBURNER: Heatwave on Best of Year lists…

What better day than the last day of the year to brag about the year end lists that have included Backburner’s Heatwave:



France’s Indie Rock Magazine has included “Lifers” in their list of 47 recommended tracks for the year, saying of the song: “Une chanson pour faire chauffer l’autoradio sous les sunlights”

Hear the song:

See the rest of the list here: http://www.indierockmag.com/article16855.html



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And our good friend John “Hex” Carter of The Nerdy Show has placed “Heatwave” on his list of Top 20 tracks of 2011.

Here’s the full list in David Letterman Countdown style:

20. Independents - Adam WarRock & Mikal kHill ft. Tribe One
19. Comix Zone Live! - Action Adventure World
18. Jean Luc - Danimal Cannon
17. Bad Azz - PrototypeRaptor
16. Feeling Good - Videogame Orchestra
15. Ninja Haters - Captain Dan & The Scurvy Crew
14. Kraid’s Campfire Ballad - Sebastian Martensson ft. Kristin Bjorkeback
13. Heatwave - Backburner (click here to read the review)
12. Vantam - minibosses
11. Children of Africa - Symphony of Science
10. ChronoStep Suite No. 3 - WubWater Palace - DJ RoboRob
9. Still More Fighting - Random Encounter
8. Space Warrior Sound Machine - The OneUps
7. Party in the C.I.A. - “Weird Al” Yankovic
6. Nerdcore Now - Beefy
5. Love My Little Squiddy - Marc with a C
4. Ska Buffet - The OverClocked Plain Muffins
3. Tell Me Something - Adam WarRock
2. KABOOM! - I Fight Dragons
1. Cry of the Planet - Random (aka MegaRan)

Here’s the song:

Check Hex’s blog The Hex Dump at http://hexwarrior.tumblr.com/ and the Nerdy Show podcast site at http://nerdyshow.com/. Lots of different ways to waste away your days between those two sites…

December 31st, 2011

BACKBURNER: The Listening Party play & review Heatwave - and love it!

Thanks to our basement-loving friends at The Listening Party and their get-naked guest for this fun and fabulous video review of Backburner’s Heatwave album.

Check out more of their video reviews, including a previous review of Teenburger’s Burgertime, at: http://www.justin.tv/thelisteningparty/b/303034569

December 25th, 2011

BACKBURNER: Check the interview by Czech magazine Bbarak



Hand’Solo Records and long-time supporters Bbarak Magazine have been discussing an exclusive Backburner interview since prior to the release of the album. It took a long time to coordinate due to busy schedules for all involved, but it has finally happened. The interview was conducted between myself and core members Wordburglar, Ghettosocks, Timbuktu and Chokeules. They discuss how they came to be in Backburner, the difficulties of recording an album with nearly 20 members, the prospects of a follow-up, and what their highest recommended Backburner album might be… I hope all the humour and sarcasm comes through… Thanks to Lukas at Bbarak for making this happen.

Here’s a little taste, beginning with the opening questiong:

Bbarak.cz: Mohli byste se úvodem představit a uvést, jak jste se stali součástí Backburner?

Wordburglar: Mé jméno je Wordburglar SJ. Do Backburner mne asi před 10 lety přivedl Fresh Kills. Znal jsem už ale tehdy [Uncle] Festera, Thesise [Sahiba], Jesseho [Dangerouslyho] a další MC´s a producenty z Halifaxu.

Ghetosocks: Ghettoscks. To, proč jsem v Backburner, ani nevím (Wordburglar a všichni okolo se začnou smát). Popravdě to má co dočinění s Timbuktu. Bez něj bych v kapele nebyl.

Timbuktu: Já jsem Timbuktu. Kromě Backburner mě můžete znát i z Toolshed. Myslím, že dřív jsme měli každý své vlastní zájmy. My se zabývali především Toolshed. Pak nás ale Kills se všemi seznámil, začali jsme spolupracovat a postupně to přerostlo v Backburner.

Chokeules: Tady Chokeleus z Backburner a Toolshed. Můj příběh je velmi podobný Timbuktovému. Myslím, že to bylo v roce 2001, kdy jsme byli na turné s Wordburglarem a zastavili se v Halifaxu. Tady jsme potkali Jesseho a ostatní kluky. Oni už si s myšlenkou Backburner pohrávali. My se přidali následně. O nahrání alba jsme pak hovořili více méně neustále.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Bbarak.cz: Could you introduce yourself and and indicate how you became part of Backburner?

Wordburglar: My name is SJ the Wordburglar. I was brought into Backburner about 10 years ago by Fresh Kils. I already knew [Uncle] Fester, Thesis [Sahib], Jesse [Dangerously] and other of the producers and MCs in Halifax.

Ghetosocks: Ghettoscks. I don’t know how I ended up in Backburner [everyone starts laughing]. I blame it all on Timbuktu. Without him, I wouldn’t be in Backburner.

Timbuktu: I’m Timbuktu. Aside from Backburner, I’m also from Toolshed. I think for a while we each had our own interests. We dealt primarily with Toolshed. Then we met Kils and we started to cooperate and eventually we grew to become a part of Backburner.

Chokeules: Chokeleus, of Backburner and Toolshed. My story is very similar to Timbuktu, but bilingual. I think it was in 2001 when we were on tour with Wordburglar and stopped in Halifax. There we met Jesse and the other boys. They had already toyed with the idea of ​​Backburner. We were subsequently added. When we recorded the album, we were talking more or less constantly.

Those of you fluent in Czech, or if you love using those half-ass online translators, check the interview out here: http://www.bbarak.cz/article-64-backburner-popisuji-vznik-kapely-nahravani-heatwave-a-pripravy-nove-desky-10179

December 17th, 2011

MORE OR LES: “Busted Gear” w/ Ambition & Wordburglar #14 on CBC Radio3 TOP 103 of the Year

Congratulations to More Or Les, Ambition and Wordburglar for making the #14 spot on CBC Radio3’s Top 103 Canadian songs of 2011. They’re also the highest ranked hip hop song, beating out K-Os, Eternia and D-Sisive. Way to go, guys!!

The 8-hour countdown airs on December 24, but in the meantime the rest of the list is available here: http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2011/12/R3-103-Sneak-Preview

Here’s the song in question, “Busted Gear”:

December 12th, 2011

BACKBURNER: Fantastic PopMatters.com review! + more reviews!!

PopMatters.com posted a fantastic new review for Backburner’s Heatwave, and I also noticed I’ve missed a few other reviews that should be mentioned, so…



Thank you, Adam Finley, for finally putting Hand’Solo Records on PopMatters.com with his (have I mentioned it was fantastic?) review of Backburner’s Heatwave. He gives it 7/10 but the review sounds much more positive. Really. He opens with the headline:


“Eat your hearts out, Odd Future, this is how a true collective works.”

And ends with (spoiler alert):

“Existing somewhere in the space between Atmosphere and Jurassic 5, Backburner’s dozen or more contributors provide feel-good atmosphere and effortless vocal and lyrical calisthenics that reward multiple listens… Especially good are tracks like ‘Lifers’ and ‘Show Of Hands’, where nimble wordplay and deft hands at the turntable combine to create near-perfect old school hip-hop gems.”

Hell fuckin’ yeah! Read the rest of the review right here: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/151684-backburner-heatwave/



Thanks to blog Argue Job for their recent review of Heatwave alongside some slick promotion for the local stop of the VIA Rail Presents The Train of Thought Tour with Timbuktu, Ghettosocks, Jeff Spec and Muneshine now just about finishing up their cross-Canada tour. Of the album, they say:

“No shortage of skills there. …There is no way to pick a favourite but perhaps I will note Wordburgy’s verse in ‘Long Story Short’ as most physically revulsive, haha.”

Read the rest of the review here: http://arguejob.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/backburner-heatwave/



Also thank you to Chi Chi (always reminds me of Tachichi) for the honest review and a rating of 6/10. Following some fair criticisms, Chi Chi writes:

“…Heatwave is still a very entertaining album bursting with energy. There’s a ton of talent and great hip hop happening in Toronto and Halifax, and this album serves as a nice introduction.”

The points made about sexual content are interesting… Read the rest of the review right here: http://www.scratchedvinyl.com/?q=node/553



Blog Beats, Breaks & Big Smiles brought big smiles to Backburner faces with Michael’s review of Heatwave. His rating of 3/5 is nice, but an even higher rating would have brought even bigger smiles. Still, he describes the album as:

“A solid compilation of bangers that got me bumping my head all through the 14 tracks. And that can’t be said of every album out there.”

Read the rest of the review here: http://blog.mrhauer.com/2011/10/backburner-heatwave.html



And way back in October, Kyle Wertz was holding it down for Hand’Solo Records and the Burner in Cleveland with his very kind review of the album. This should have been posted sooner. Thank you, Kyle, for saying of Heatwave:

“…it blew me away. Quick and clever rhymes over rich beats are what makes this group shine. Everyone in this group has their own voice and style, but they all comes together quite nicely. I listened to it several times, and there is not a single track I would skip.”

The rest is equally as good. Read it right here: http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/17643



And another review that has been long-delayed in getting posted was originally posted on BBaRáK back in September. That’s a long time ago. Anyway, thanks to Lukas for the 7/10 review and the final words:

“I přes o trochu slabší druhou část se jedná o kvalitní zářez k letošnímu kolaboračnímu výčtu.”

Which I believe translates as “despite a weak second half, it ranks among the year’s best collaborations”.

Those of you fluent in Czech, check the rest of the review here: http://www.bbarak.cz/reviews.php?id=366&cid=1

December 6th, 2011

$5 RAP SHOW: New Footage - Rhino, More Or Les & Thrust!!

New live footage from the December 1st $5 Rap Show is now up on YouTube. Check www.youtube.com/5DollarRapShow for additional footage from this show and previous instalments of Toronto’s best underground hip hop month-and-a-bit-ly. Subscribe to receive future updates from each show.

First up this round is Thrust performing “Connecting Dots” from The Chosen Ones, his 2011 collaboration with producer Salty Jackson:

And next up is “Whaddup Witcha,” another collab track between The Mighty Rhino and More Or Les, this one from The Mighty Rhino’s new album, which officially dropped at this release party… Nice!