Scapegoat Wax
Grand Royal
You probably wouldn't expect a secluded, hippied-out town in the Northern California boondocks like Chico to produce a hip, urban, budding pop icon like Scapegoat Wax -- but hey, hip, urban, budding pop icons have to come from somewhere, don't they? Scapegoat Wax is Marty James, a kid whose teenage fondness for mixing beats in his bedroom has turned into a promising career. Working the niche opened up by Beck's '90s success, Scapegoat Wax combines catchy pop melodicism with tons of hip hop influences -- boomin' urban beats, layers of samples, a little scratching, a little rapping, lots of self-referentiality. Stir in a little reggae and R&B and you've got a hook-heavy, super funky, and potentially very lucrative pop hybrid that's as close to a can't-miss formula for success as you can get. James recorded his first album, Luxurious, on Goodvibe Records in 1999. It caught the attention of Grand Royal, which helped James put together the next Scapegoat Wax LP, 2001's OKEEBLOW (so titled because James thinks of himself as an "okie from the sticks, blowin'"). That album's first single is "Aisle 10 (Hello Allison)."
Jesse Ashlock
last updated:
08/28/01
Similar Artists:
Beck, 1 Giant Leap, G Love, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Elwood
Other Suggestions:
Cibo Matto,
Cornelius,
The Folk Implosion,
Money Mark,
Hayden,
Arrested Development,
Baaba Maal,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo,
Mixmaster Mike,
Russell Simins,
Raz Ohara,
Burnside Project,
Brassy,
Jason Traeger,
Love as Laughter,
Badly Drawn Boy,
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks,
Kleenexgirlwonder,
Eels,
Doug Martsch,
75 Degrees,
Lake Trout
