if the existential pranksters in Ween had cut their musical teeth on Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, they'd probably be Grand Buffet. A suburban Pittsburgh duo on the comic, underground fringe of hip-hop, Grand Buffet first attracted national attention touring with the late Wesley Willis. Contemptuous of anyhing that smacks of pretension, these guys - who go by the pseudonyms Lord Grunge and Grape-a-Don - nonetheless dared to go epic with a cycle of EPs they dubbed the "Trilogy of Terror." On these discs, as well as their debut full-length, Sparkle Classic, they produce a bed of minimalistic, electronic burps and squiggles, over which they free-associate like the overstimulated, deadbeat bohemians that they are.
Currently on a "Texas Trouble Mini-tour," Grand Buffet will be part of an August 19 Sanctuary blowout featuring the likes of DJs Jester and Klassen, Lotus Tribe (with Theory of Everything & Sly), and Character Flow. The biggest compliment Lord Grunge and Grape-a-Don can give anything is to describe it as "fire" (as in "Canada was fire"), occasionally going out on a limb to praise something as "straight fucking fire." By the group's own exacting standards, there's little question that Grand Buffet's visit to San Antonio should qualify as fire.
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