The Mighty Miscellaneous: Almost Done, Never Finished...

All photos courtesy of Isi Laureano

Every time I'm asked about our scene and artists to look out for, I find that The Mighty Miscellaneous remains on the top of my head.  I've followed this diverse group for awhile now, though at times, they seemed to be more suitably described as mysterious than miscellaneous.  Seldom did they have gigs, responses from members as to when their album would be done were often ambiguous, etc. I suppose part of the appeal may have been the unknown; but as a fan, I always yearned to hear more, see more, and experience more.  See, I'm sure music heads will feel me when I say that once I experience an artist's music - when I get in that zone - I am a fan for life.  Now, over a decade deep and with a great deal of growth and hard work, Misc is prepared to serve their fans and like their performance set-up, they are ready to get live.

In anticipation of their album titled "Almost Done" (pun intended), the crew launched their first single and video "CTRL+ALT+DEL" last February 29, 2012. Backed up by class acts and surrounded by their friends, fam and fans; Cubao X was The Mighty Misc' house and they brought it down.

Chillitees warming up the crowd

Chillitees started off the night with something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blues. From hits off their past albums like "Paikot Ikot" to their latest "Why" to freaked tracks like Bill Wither's "Use Me"; this Pinoy Soul band brought it like always.  So there may have been a few changes with respect to members (B Surge of Iconic on bass & Alay of Makopa on drums), but Uela Basco on vocals and Dan Gil on keys kept it essentially...well...Chillitees.  Good stuff.

ILL-J reppin' the Golden Era

To keep it moving and to set the mood for the Golden Era of Hip hop, ILL-J too, had a medley of his own.  With industry hits like Nas' "The World is Yours" to Mastaplann's "Way of The Plann" to a megamix of ILL-J w/ SVC and solo tip singles; he had the crowd nostalgic and at ease.  After giving props to those that paved the way like Francis M. in unreleased track "A King is Born", he had DJ D'Tech loop his music to bring on-board Aero & RJay of LDP for a brief freestyle sesh.  In effect, homage to past, present and future MCs.

Before Misc hit the stage, the crowd tuned in to the first viewing of their "CTRL+ALT+DEL" video directed by Syke.  I was unsure of whether I was going to mention this, but I figured it was a funny tidbit for the evening.  Initially, there were some technical difficulties on the system that was going to play the vid and Misc member C.Lo/Delphi broke the ice by saying "Well, that's a MAC. Can't CTRL+ALT+DEL that shit!"  After a minute or so, however, the program was back in business.  The video was a simple depiction in B&W of the ultra tight crew in what appeared to be their Misc Mobile, just doing their thing as usual and jammin' to their anthem.  It was very anti-glamour, but represented a lot more for true Hip hop heads.

Thereafter, their set opened with the heavy boom and bap of DJ Umph's MPC and you could almost feel everyone's chests thumping along to the beat. From there on out, the crowd was treated to a consistent mix of breakbeat, boom bap, and jazz fusion Misc music in the form of tracks like "One Step", "Lounge Logic", "Speech" and "Keep Rockin'".  Naturally, they closed it out with the evening's title track "CTRL+ALT+DEL", but a flipped version that induced collective cries of delight.

Who's house? It's The Mighty Miscellaneous' House!

If Miscellaneous' music was a celebration of Hip hop then Indie.Nial's DJ set at the end of the night was in keeping with the tone with a seamless mix of 90s East Coast gems. There's really not much more that needs to be said about his set beyond the fact that it was on-point.

Mr. Soulsonic, ILL-J & Rye giving Indie.Nial their stamp of approval

The CTRL+ALT+DEL single/video launch was a definitive high in Hip hop.  That night stood as a forecast on more highs to come in the musical journey of DJs Umph & D'Tech, Tibbz, C.Lo/Delphi and Switch - The Mighty Miscellaneous - specifically, the release of their full-length album.  A portion of their journey is "almost done", but I'm confident that we can expect a lot more from these guys who are innately and passionately Hip hop purveyors.  Thus, they are never finished, and that's great news for all of us fans.


Reminders:
-A 4-track EP will be released on www.themightymiscellaneous.blogspot.com within the next week or so
-Almost Done will be launched on June 15, 2012 (more details TBA)
-Gigs and other info can also be found on their blog or on www.lockeddownentertainment.blogspot.com