MURS and Thes One look ahead to the People Under The Stairs performance at LACMA on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 7 pm, as they join Skeme and VerBS at the thrid installment of Through The Mic: LACMA x Hip Hop. The concert is followed by an after-hours viewing of Chris Burden’s “Metropolis II”. Tickets and more information available at http://www.lacma.org/peopleunderthestairs.

Co-curated and hosted by LACMA and Murs, Through The Mic: LACMA x Hip Hop is the first museum hip hop concert series of its kind, that will explore contemporary Los Angeles hip hop music from May through October 2012. Concerts will take place on the third Thursday of every month, and will feature emerging and experimental L.A.-based hip hop artists. After each concert, select contemporary galleries are open late for concert-goers only.

In collaboration with Cashmere Agency and Guerilla Union. For more information about the concert series, check out: http://www.lacma.org/peopleunderthestairs

Thes-One speaks on his new website PL70.net, which stands for Piecelock 70. The site will be a co-op between P.U.T.S. and other artists such as Cut Chemist, DJ Day, and Wonderful Radio, where they will offer exclusive releases for sale and free download. Right now, the downloads section has about six releases for free download, including exclusive new material from Thes-One.

    Thes, one-half of underground favorites People Under the Stairs, embarks on quite a coneptual journey with Lifestyle, one that draws upon the genius of two men to create one of the more memorable releases of the year thus far.

    Of these two men, Herb Pilhofer has yet to be mentioned.  You see, Uncle Thester’s inspiration for Lifestyle Marketing was derived from two previously unreleased volumes of Pilhofer’s work. Pilhofer, a German composer/pianist largely recognized for founding Sound 80 – a Minnesota recording studio best known for its contributions to Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks – released Music That Works in the 1970s, an assortment of commercials he produced for a host of local and international companies.

    It is from these jingles that the backdrop for Lifestyle is formed. Albeit strange, the resulting creation is nothing short of amazing. The PUTS signature sound is still resonant — laid-back, jazz-infused rhythms reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest – but, introduced with Thes’ reinterpretations of these commercials, becomes something altogether distinct.

   The album’s opener, “Gate City Savings and Loan,” teeters on the line between celestial and cryptic  – forceful synth and percussion versus alluring, bewitching keys.  Sparce production on “GBX Malt Liquor” rightfully allows the distorted audio sample to drive the track, while “Target” – the album’s lead single – Is a sharp, funk-driven offering.  “Grain Belt Beer” is undeniably catchy, with the product’s tagline, “Grain Belt Beer treats your thirst,” flanked by a raffish guitar riff. A pair of island/nightlife grooves emerge from Pilhofer’s Pan-Am workings, the later, “Pan-Am 2,” garnering high marks for resembling something Sergio Mendes may have contrived.

Included with Lifestyle Marketing is a bonus disc featuing selections of Pilhofer’s original compositions. These alone are well worth a listen, not only as well-constructed pieces of music but as insight into the production process of Thes One the beatsmith. Lifestyle Marketing is a conceptual mash-up of immense proportions.