One More Time

Turntables and DJs

Zero Degrees/Spiros, Saturday, March 15 Saturday was saturated in a hip-hop summation of double-dosed DJing and mic ripping at Zero Degrees and a block down the street at Spiro's turntablist showcase. Spectators wore a path back and forth all night, 7pm-2am, in order to ferret out worthy newcomers. St. Paul's Heiruspecs started it off hot, already warmed up from a Friday night showcase backing Atmosphere at the Venue; they filled the floor fast with their hip-hip instrumentation ensemble and slinky rhymes. They were followed by Halifax's Buck 65, who served up samples of how to get down in the dark areas of Nova Scotia. Colorado Springs' FOS returned to SXSW for a 2003 fusion of syllables and driving beats that stood out as an early highlight with a perfected presentation of fun lyrics, strong punch lines, and galvanizing hooks. Astronautalis put Denton on the map, flexing a Paul Barnum-esque psychopathic storyteller style. At midnight, the party shifted to Spiro's with a six-turntable, two-sampler, keyboardist showcase explosion from H-Town's Mathmatic Turntable Collective. Making an effort to meld sampling, scratching, and remixing on a minimalist level, the quartet of CeePlus, Comp1, Samplistik, and Jef Dam smeared together an elemental uprock improv by throwing the rhythm around solos, triples, and duets for a whole of balanced musical scales. Prompt painter BBC, meanwhile, used these interpretive notes for a spur of the moment canvassed creation. As San Antone's Supa Brotha Scientists started an environment of shaking bodies, it was time to shoot back to Zeroes for an awesome underground lyricist's lounge session with freestylers AWOL One, Josh Martinez, Aceyalone, Diverse, and Ol' Dominion's Bishop and Sleep rhyming over Scratch Bastard's collage of instrumental anthems from MOP to ODB. Afterhours lasted forever.