I don’t want to get all Louis C.K. on you, but he certainly has a point about how quickly we begin to take amazing technology for granted. I think this is especially true where music is concerned. Back in the day, if you wanted to record an album, you had to find some way to get yourself signed by a label and then go into a studio with some nutty Phil Spector type motherfucker and try to make the magic happen while 38 assorted groupies and hangers on got high on your supply. This is not the case now. Anyone with the desire to make music, some hustle and/or a little bit of technical know-how can get an album done. And yes, this often results in some delusional dude recording himself in his bathroom and sending it to us claiming he sounds like “Stevie Wonder playing Lou Reed’s theramin in one of David Lee Roth’s sparkly jumpsuits”, but quite often some great art is produced and folks like you and I get to discover it thanks to the magics of the internet.

That huge ramble is my way of saying that Vancouver trio Friends With The Help sent me their video for As The Light Hits You, I was pretty amazed by how good it was, and was struck by how amazing it is that people everywhere are making these great songs & videos in relative anonymity.

Friends With The Help is comprised of MC’s Low Lux, Young Nige and DJ K-Rec, and you can grab their latest release, Confidence, for free off their bandcamp site. Which I strongly suggest you should do, if you’re looking for a carefully constructed, introspective hip hop record that throws a healthy nod towards the days when a DJ was a major part of a group and not a dude that cues up instrumentals from iTunes at live shows. I recognized K-Rec’s name from his work with hill fave mikedecline and I pretty much got a nostalgia boner when I saw that their album had DJ-dedicated interludes (“K-Ludes” in this case) like they used to in the good old days.

So then, any interest in checking out Friends With The Help? What if I threw in the fact that they have a jam that not only flips a line from the Degrassi Jr. High theme song into a chorus, but also uses The Zit Remedy’s famous hook in the breakdown? Well they do, so get on it.

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MP3:: Friends With The Help – A DJ You Will Like
Web:: friendswiththehelp.bandcamp.com