A film about Northwest hip-hop from

All Star Opera

In early January of 2018, All Star Opera launched the audacious “Seattle World Tour,” a five-stop jaunt through several neighborhoods in our city, each night selling out a different venue and each night sharing the stage with artists representing a dozen genres of Seattle music. Most of the profits from the tour were donated to Mary’s Place shelter. It’s, therefore, no wonder that this five-piece hip-hop rock band have endeared themselves to the community. I was lucky to see them on stage three times that week, and each live performance shined brighter than the last. Not to mention you get to witness the sheer joy on the face of guitarist Will Greenburg throughout the set. Their self-titled debut, All Star Opera, is the next best thing: ten tracks of singalong roots-rock hip-hop that sounds amazing on headphones. The back half is where this record really packs a punch, from the half-Spanish “Indigestión” and it’s prog-rock trip around The Dark Side of the Moon, to the nightmarish “1,000,” featuring Remember Face and Nacho Picasso, and the seven-minute “Clocktopuss” that jams its way into a frenzy. Album closer, the similarly-lengthy and gracious “A.S.O.,” is enhanced with a string section, showing they are already ready for their MTV Unplugged debut, and all the other famous stages where Seattle has shined.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Shifting States

Evoking the spirit of the kite-like image on the cover, Shifting States by All Star Opera swoops and soars. I first heard their music a few weeks ago at the record release party for this seven-track EP. They were heavily hyped to me, and this record—and their live show—does not disappoint. Wistful raps are backed by a proper, six-piece rock band, with guitars, bass, drums and so on, used to full effect on the reggae-inspired opener, “Marooned,” and in the guitar and horn interplay on the instrumental “Dock Ellis.” The low-key, not-quite-title-track, “Shifting Statements,” taps a spoken word coffee shop jazz vibe.

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