Not sure if you've heard, but the Winter Olympics are starting next week, and they are in Canada! Vancouver to be precise. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get that Winter Olympics fever pretty bad - there's nothing that heats up my February like some hot Biathlon action.

So then, how about something a little patriotic to get us all fired up to dominate all those Estonians and Slovaks who are heading to Vancouver next week to try and deprive us of our destiny of winning the overall medal competition. Well I can't think of anything more suitable for such a purpose than Classified's Oh Canada. Last month, Class put the call out for folks to come out and help him film the video for this very pro-Canada song from his last album, Self-Explanatory, and the results are pretty fun.

However, the point of this series is to post some of the remixes we're sent, and it just so happens we have one that's Classified-related. Halifax native, and DJ extraordinaire Skratch Bastid has flipped a rather ubiquitous radio favorite from Iyaz with Classified's The Maritimes - not a likely combo by any means, but the results are rather enjoyable. So, enjoy.

VIDEO:: Classified - Oh... Canada

MP3:: Iyaz - Replay (Skratch Bastid Classified Maritimes Remix)
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/hiphopclassified
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/skratchbastid

Labels: Classified, Remix, Skratch Bastid, What's This A Party?

As we make our way through fall out here in Halifax, things are finally getting back to business, or rather posting, as usual. The Polaris is over, HPX is over, and so we're back to bringing you that sweet, sweet can-con, errrr, content. And because it's Thursday, that means one thing, Videos!

As you might imagine since we haven't run an episode of Video Hits in a while, we've got quite a backlog of them. So if you've sent us a vid in the last few weeks, our apologies, but perhaps send us a reminder and we'll try and get it up. So in the interest of backlog clearing, we've got a super-sized edition for you today. Five great videos on deck, so I'll do a quick intro and get out the way (Luda style).

The Tom Fun Orchestra's Bottom of the River somehow got nominated for a UK music video award, and that's pretty awesome, so I figured that deserved a posting. One great animtaed video deserves another, and so Said the Whale's vid for Camilo (The Magician) is up next. STW were one of the many buzz bands to play at the just-concluded HPX, another being Little Girls, and so their vid for Youth Tunes gets a posting. While on the subject of folks playing Halifax, Octoberman are playing Gus' Sunday night, so we've got their clip for Thirty Reasons here as well. I've said this before, but I've always enjoyed Classified's videos, and since he's got a new one for the awesome Can-rap all-star track Quit While You're Ahead, I had to put that up too. Enjoy!


Tom Fun Orchestra - Bottom of the River

MP3:: Tom Fun Orchestra - Watchmaker
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/tomfunorchestra

Said the Whale - Camilo (The Magician)

MP3:: Said The Whale - The Magician (Camilo)
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/saidthewhale

Little Girls - Youth Tunes

MP3:: Little Girls - Concepts
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/littlelittlegirls

Octoberman - Thirty Reasons

MP3:: Octoberman - Thirty Reasons
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/octoberman

Classified - Quit While You're Ahead

MP3:: Classified - Up All Night
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/hiphopclassified

Labels: Classified, Little Girls, Octoberman, Said the Whale, Tom Fun, Video hits

It's Thursday, and that means one thing here on the hill: videos. Well, at least it does on weeks like this when we get ourselves organized and manage to compile a few of the best clips we're sent into post format. I think it's appropriate that on the week it was announced that the hill will be crashing the Polaris Prize this year and bringing some Maritime flavour to the festivities (Ack as a Grand Jury member, myself as the Ack's Weed Carrier), that we give you an all east coast edition of Video Hits. With videos from Classified, The Danks, The Novaks, and a little bonus footage from DJ Skratch Bastid, we've got a little something for everyone, so lets get to it.

It seems like Classified has been putting out quality videos for years now, and that's all the more impressive when you consider this latest record is his first with any kind of major label support. That kind of hustle likely explains why Classified is one of the most successful hip hop artists Canada has produced. This is a simple video, for a fairly straightforward, but very catchy, autobiographical song, and it works quite well. Class is in the studio pulling an all-nighter, and the maintenance man is kind enough to hang around to sing the song's hook. Class's dad sings the hook on the record, but I have no idea if that's him in the video.

Classified - Up All Night

MP3:: Classified - Up All Night
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/hiphopclassified

Watching The Danks new video for Planet Beach made me realize that we haven't posted a review for their debut full-length, Are You Afraid of the Danks, which is unfortunate, as it is summer-ready indie pop at its finest. So we'll see if we can't do something about that (and they will certainly be on our PEI mixtape when that drops in the hopefully not to distant future), so for now you should watch their rather sharp looking video, and then go check out their album.

The Danks - Planet Beach

MP3:: The Danks - Die Young
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/meetthedanks

From one east coast island to another, The Novaks rep St. John's to the fullest, and they check in for a rather stylish effort for There Goes The Night, which was one of my favourite songs from their latest release. I have to say, although I like the look of this video, I have no idea what to make of it. I think perhaps it's some kind of commentary on corporate greed, but then again I could be completely wrong. Doesn't much matter really, so just enjoy the sights and sounds.

The Novaks - There Goes The Night

MP3:: The Novaks - There Goes The Night
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/thenovaks

** Bonus Time **
There aren't too many more enjoyable hip hop-ish things I can think of than an awesome DJ driving a crowd crazy and having a ball whilst doing it. Well this here video is exactly that, as Halifax native Skratch Bastid does the "Out Here Grindin'" rountine from his new %110 mix, and the folks at the Paragon are very appreciative of his efforts. Perhaps you feel the same.

Skratch Bastid - "Out Here Grindin" Live - from 110% mix

MP3:: Skratch Bastid - Out Here Grindin'
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/skratchbastid

Labels: Classified, Skratch Bastid, The Danks, The Novaks, Video hits