Our society applauds renaissance men (or women). Despite one’s chosen profession, people are coming to the realization that a person can be many things at once. Music can often feel like a get-rich quick scheme, wherein an artist or band diligently studies the trends on the radio and design their creative blueprint around what the masses are feeling at the moment. The artists that follow this blueprint can usually get by for a few years with a low level of talent and an attention to detail, but usually these artists fizzle out because as we all know, tastes change.
I’ve been writing about music for a long time. After a while, a person in my profession is able to decipher the real from the fake. To put it bluntly, some artists make music because they have no other choice– it is a natural force that rises within them, and they are compelled to put their creativity to wax that the world can also enjoy. MC Mad Squirrel and DJ BlakeNine are two emcees who wholeheartedly embody the latter, and their origins are a further testament.
MC Mad Squirrel and DJ BlakeNine first met at Amoeba Music in San Francisco. The following year, reunited in Virginia, they founded the Acorns. They have released two full length albums, “Dropping from the Trees” and “Forming Roots”, and an EP, “Oak Future”. Mad Squirrel is master of illocution and an anthropologist working at Virginia Tech. When BlakeNine’s not rocking crowds in and around DC, he’s holds down Candlewax Records at the CWR Palace in Alexandria Virginia.
The two have supported the likes of Qbert, Nine:Fifteen, Watusi Cultleader, Napoleon Da Legend, Educated Consumers, Prego w/ Zest, and more. Their rare but legendary live shows are not to be missed. Their latest EP Oak Follies, is a giant step in the right direction.
A variegated sonic palette make up the majority of the EP– audiences never know what they are going to get next. Complete with soaring instrumentals, “Uncommon Women” commences the EP and is a perfect introductory statement for a band that is intent on bypassing “radio hype.” The track rests in a dreamy soundscape, as a muted flow meshes well with the slow cadence. Throughout the LP, Mad Squirrel puts his outside talents to use, as the instrumentals seem to draw on different genres the same way in which an anthropologists studies other cultures.
The Acorns will probably never make a song about f###### b###### on site, popping Molly, and shooting up the club. But for us regular folk, their rare breed of sonic selection and graspable content make them a prime candidate for iPhone playlists the world over. You can stream the entire Oak Follies EP below, and as always, make sure to track their movements on the interwebs.
Also, check out their video for “It’s No Secret”
Websites: www.candlewaxrecords.com, http://the-acorns.bandcamp.com/, Acorns_Go_Nuts@twitter.com