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| Unlooped photos courtesy of Kallao. |
Sometimes the best way to move forward is to take a step back and reorganize. That’s exactly what Tarik Moody did with his innovative music series Unlooped, which began in 2009 and is now coming back after a one-year hiatus.
The original idea was to get musicians from different bands together and create original compositions in a short period of time. There were a few problems – mainly that it was very difficult to create original compositions in a short period of time. This time around in the new “Versus” series, Unlooped invites musicians to reinterpret the work of a well-known artist. Events are also now semi-annual rather than monthly. “This way I have more time to promote, the musicians have more time to rehearse and they have something to work with, so they can put their own spin on it,” says Moody.
The first in the series is Unlooped vs. the legendary producer J. Dilla on Saturday, Sept. 17, 9:00 p.m. at Stonefly Brewery (735 E. Center St.). It’s not just an interesting musical experiment, but also a social experiment to put a bunch of different musicians in a room and ask them to recreate a composition. The results can be astounding or appalling.
Participating musicians for the event include: Alida on violin, Barry Clark (Adoptahighway, Omega Clash) on the double bass, Allen Russell (Andrew) on violin, Peter Thomas (I’m Not A Pilot, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra) on cello, Old Man Malcolm (Codebreaker, Citizen King) will be on the turntables and Dave Olson (Plight of A Parasite) on MPC/Sampler. Other special guests include spoken word Artist Nigel Wade and Jank, DJ Tarik and K-Mart performing DJ sets.
Some of the musicians had only heard J Dilla’s name, but Moody thought using an artist that crosses boundaries was a good way to start the series. “Some of [J. Dilla’s] most amazing stuff was his solo instrumental albums that were thought provoking and lends itself to composition arrangement,” Moody says. “He really knew his music. He really understood how to put things together.”
Dilla is most well known for producing for artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson and Erykah Badu. Aside from hip hop, Dilla also helped influence electronic artists like Flying Lotus before dying prematurely from lupus in 2006.
“The whole thing is loose, we let the artists do whatever they want to do,” says Moody, though this time around, Moody is also getting more involved in the rehearsal process, if even only to buy a few rounds of beer. The goal of the series is to allow fans of bands to see their favorite artists in a different way, to allow artists to network and to bring together people from different neighborhoods and walks of life.
“I’d like to see some 22-year-old hip hop kid and some 40 or 50 year-old-person who likes classical music walk into a show together,” Moody says. “I know it sounds cheesy, but the whole thing about Milwaukee being the most segregated city and all, this is sort of a way to say. ‘Well what about this, are we that bad that we can’t do this?’”
For a preview of the J. Dilla collaboration, click here. For additional information, check out Unlooped on Facebook. There is an $8 cover charge at the door. Watch out for the next and highly anticipated Unlooped vs. Bon Iver in December.
One more not to miss: Rock the Green – This is the first ever near-zero waste music festival featuring The Fray, Ben Folds, Fitz and the Tantrums, Michelle Branch, Parachute and Milwaukee’s beloved Evan Christian all in Veterans Park on Sunday, Sept. 18.
To reduce their environmental footprint, Rock the Green is powering the festival with solar, wind and bio-diesel generators, replacing all disposable items with their compostable equivalents, providing free water stations to reduce plastic bottles and advocating carpooling, public transportation and bicycling, which includes a free bike valet service for event attendees.
Rock the Green is also giving back. Proceeds from the event will benefit Urban Ecology Center and Park People. General admission tickets are $25 in advance or $35 the day of the show. There are also a limited number of $50 “premier viewing” tickets for access to a reserved area in front of the stage. To purchase tickets, click here.
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