How’s this for consistency: J. Rocc — member of “The World Famous” Beat Junkies DJ crew since the early 90s, winner of many a turntable battle — drops his first solo 12-inch single “Play This (One)” in 2003, then waits seven years to deliver his second single, “Play This Too,” which just happens to flow seamlessly from the last minute of the first single — DJ music for DJs, indeed. It’s this blend of craftsmanship and insanity that likely led to J. Rocc’s status as “Madlib’s DJ,” joining him on most shows (even in the days of Jaylib) and collaborating on some of the latest volumes of the Beat Konducta series. Now seems as good a time as any to declare “Dude can scratch!” and make everyone within earshot feel uncomfortable.
For all that time taken between singles, J. Rocc’s kept himself busy with countless DJ mixes (five volumes of the Taster’s Choice series, four volumes of Dilla tribute series Thank You Jay Dee) and collaborations with labels like Jazzman and Now-Again, but it’s only RIGHT NOW (well… YESTERDAY) that Some Cold Rock Stuf, the man’s debut album proper, is made available for the public. As Stones Throw explains on their website, this thing is “Not a mix tape. Not a DJ album. Not a beats album. It’s THE album.” For an album worthy of underlining a word to describe it, the label has spared no expense in the packaging department; available as a 2-CD set or a triple-vinyl monster with double-sided poster and sticker sheet, each copy has one of its discs ominously labeled “Mystery Disc,” of which there are three different possibilities. It’s like those 25-cent machines that don’t tell you what’s inside, and you think it might be a really nice watch but it ends up being just another “sticky hand” that gets dust and hair on it on the drive home. Except any given “Mystery Disc” is likely to be closer to getting the watch.
To celebrate the album’s release, J. Rocc is going ahead with a Japan tour that was scheduled before the disaster, with 100% of the tour’s profits now going to the Red Cross. That tour’s almost over, but a sprinkling of European dates will follow shortly after, and everyone knows you don’t have to speak the language to rock the crowd (though I’m guessing bands like The Hold Steady are still having troubles with that). Check the dates below, and find musical relief when you apply Some Cold Rock Stuf to your most sensitive areas.
Japan/Euro dates:
04.08.11 - Tokyo, Japan - Unit *
04.09.11 - Osaka, Japan - Studio Partita *
04.24.11 - Glasgow, UK - Electric Frog $
04.27.11 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Old Gaslaboratory (Eindhoven University)
04.28.11 - Brighton, UK - Digital
04.29.11 - Galway, Ireland - Kellys
04.30.11 - Paris, France - Bellevilloise
05.01.11 - Madrid, Spain - Black Book Club
05.05.11 - Landshut, Germany - Wintergarten
05.06.11 - Leipzig, Germany - Conne Island
05.07.11 - Basel, Switzerland - Kaserne
05.13.11 - London, UK - Fabric (Room 3) %
05.14.11 - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Westelijk Handelsterrein
* Peanut Butter Wolf & Mayer Hawthorne DJ sets
$ Kode 9, Francois K
% James Pants, Kutmah
• J. Rocc: http://www.stonesthrow.com/jrocc
• Stones Throw: http://www.stonesthrow.com
