Grand Buffet
Encyclopedia
Grand Buffet is a hip-hop
funk duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, made up of Jackson O'Connell-Barlow (stage names: Iguanadon, Grape-a-Don, Plaps, Nate Kukla, and Mr. Pennsylvania) and Jarrod Weeks (stage names: M-Dog, Lord Grunge, Viceroy, Matt Kukla, Fred Durts). Their music is a unique brand of humorous, often satirical rap
. They have toured several times with notable artists such as Gil Mantera's Party Dream
, Sage Francis
, Of Montreal
, Cex
, Sole
, Magnolia Electric Co., Streetlight Manifesto
, and the late Wesley Willis
. They have also toured the USA and Europe
extensively. In 2005 they finished a European tour with Sage Francis
, and an American Tour with Of Montreal
and MGMT
in 2006. They toured with Girl Talk
in 2008, and Third Eye Blind
in 2009.
(1997, out of print) and Sparkle Classic
(2000), as well as a "Trilogy of Terror": 3 EP's - Undercover Angels (2002), Cigarette Beach
(2002), and Pittsburgh Hearts
(2003). Each of these releases has included different names for Jackson and Jarrod in the liner notes; the stage names are listed chronologically from Scrooge McRock to Cigarette Beach - Pittsburgh Hearts attributed them by their real names.
Their MySpace
account also lists them as Viceroy (Jarrod) and Plaps (Jackson). There was a third member, a DJ named G-Rude (Dan), who was credited on Scrooge McRock but no subsequent albumsthus the liner art for both Scrooge McRock and Dicer contains three member's pictures instead of two. In 2004, they released a full length CD of outtakes, rarities, and radio performances called Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks
. In 2005, they released a greatest hits collection, Five Years of Fireworks, which included a new track and a bonus DVD
filled with music videos, outtakes, backstage antics, and live material. A sequel to Dicer was announced in 2005, and Weeks mentioned possibly expanding it into an annual release. It is notable to mention that they once again toured with a DJ for some shows in 2005 and 2006; a DJ from Texas, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist, who has toured with Kid Koala.
On May 8, 2007, "The Haunted Fucking Gazebo" EP and on January 8, 2008, "King Vision" were released, both on Fighting Records.
), which ultimately was never released, culminating in an abandonment in 1999. (Several tracks from these sessions were released on Dicer). Sparkle Classic is the first album they consider part of the official discography.
Grand Buffet have hinted at a children's album entitled Gorilla and Fox, but there has been no official release date announced.
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
funk duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, made up of Jackson O'Connell-Barlow (stage names: Iguanadon, Grape-a-Don, Plaps, Nate Kukla, and Mr. Pennsylvania) and Jarrod Weeks (stage names: M-Dog, Lord Grunge, Viceroy, Matt Kukla, Fred Durts). Their music is a unique brand of humorous, often satirical rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. They have toured several times with notable artists such as Gil Mantera's Party Dream
Gil Mantera's Party Dream
Gil Mantera's Party Dream was an electronic synthpop party band hailing originally from Youngstown, Ohio, with Gil Mantera living in Columbus, Ohio as well as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Donny has always lived in Youngstown...
, Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, Of Montreal
Of Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
, Cex
Cex
Cex is a musical project run by Rjyan Claybrook Kidwell and started in 1998 at the age of 16. Although Cex and Kidwell are frequently used interchangeably, Cex occasionally expands to several people at sporadic points, such as particular tours or albums...
, Sole
Sole (artist)
Tim Holland, known as Sole, is an alternative hip hop artist and a co-founder of the Anticon collective/label. Sole is known for his dense and often dark stream-of-consciousness style of rapping. His verses are often filled with abstraction, metaphor and sarcasm while avoiding or deconstructing...
, Magnolia Electric Co., Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto is an American punk band with many influences from different genres including ska, from New Brunswick, New Jersey fronted by Tomas Kalnoky....
, and the late Wesley Willis
Wesley Willis
Wesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...
. They have also toured the USA and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
extensively. In 2005 they finished a European tour with Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, and an American Tour with Of Montreal
Of Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
and MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
in 2006. They toured with Girl Talk
Girl Talk (musician)
Gregg Michael Gillis , better known by his stage name Girl Talk, is an American musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling. Gillis has released five LPs on the record label Illegal Art and EPs on 333 and 12 Apostles....
in 2008, and Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American alternative rock band formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco. The songwriting duo of Kevin Cadogan and Stephan Jenkins signed the band's first major label recording contract with Elektra records in 1996 resulting in two multi platinum albums. The band's lineup...
in 2009.
History
Grand Buffet has been together since 1996. They have released two self-produced, full length LP's, Scrooge McRockScrooge McRock
Scrooge McRock is Grand Buffet's first album, released in 1997 by BrickBrain Productions. The title is a pun on the name of the Disney character, Scrooge McDuck. G-Rude was still a member of the group at the time and his name is listed on the inner artwork. The third track titled "John Candy", is...
(1997, out of print) and Sparkle Classic
Sparkle Classic
Sparkle Classic is Grand Buffet's second album, released in 2000 by BrickBrain Productions.-Track listing:...
(2000), as well as a "Trilogy of Terror": 3 EP's - Undercover Angels (2002), Cigarette Beach
Cigarette Beach
-Notes:*"Thus Ends The Beach" is a relatively short outro followed by several minutes of silence and a short untitled hidden track. Counting the silent break, it is the longest track on the album...
(2002), and Pittsburgh Hearts
Pittsburgh Hearts
Pittsburgh Hearts is the third and last in the Trilogy of Terror, a series of three EPs by Pittsburgh alternative hip hop duo, Grand Buffet. It's the first release on which they're credited by their real names. On previous releases, they had used a variety of stage names. The credits of back of the...
(2003). Each of these releases has included different names for Jackson and Jarrod in the liner notes; the stage names are listed chronologically from Scrooge McRock to Cigarette Beach - Pittsburgh Hearts attributed them by their real names.
Their MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account also lists them as Viceroy (Jarrod) and Plaps (Jackson). There was a third member, a DJ named G-Rude (Dan), who was credited on Scrooge McRock but no subsequent albumsthus the liner art for both Scrooge McRock and Dicer contains three member's pictures instead of two. In 2004, they released a full length CD of outtakes, rarities, and radio performances called Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks
Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks
Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks is a compilation of unreleased studio tracks, rarities, and live performances by Pittsburgh-based alternative hip hop group, Grand Buffet.-Track list:...
. In 2005, they released a greatest hits collection, Five Years of Fireworks, which included a new track and a bonus DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
filled with music videos, outtakes, backstage antics, and live material. A sequel to Dicer was announced in 2005, and Weeks mentioned possibly expanding it into an annual release. It is notable to mention that they once again toured with a DJ for some shows in 2005 and 2006; a DJ from Texas, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist, who has toured with Kid Koala.
On May 8, 2007, "The Haunted Fucking Gazebo" EP and on January 8, 2008, "King Vision" were released, both on Fighting Records.
Abandoned and unreleased material
The band has distanced itself from Scrooge McRock in at least one interview, dismissing it as more of a retrospectively-viewed collection of demos than a proper album. For the following two years, they worked on material for an album that was to be called Peter Weller (after the actorPeter Weller
Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...
), which ultimately was never released, culminating in an abandonment in 1999. (Several tracks from these sessions were released on Dicer). Sparkle Classic is the first album they consider part of the official discography.
Grand Buffet have hinted at a children's album entitled Gorilla and Fox, but there has been no official release date announced.
Discography
- High Grabber - 1996, self released demo tape
- Scrooge McRockScrooge McRockScrooge McRock is Grand Buffet's first album, released in 1997 by BrickBrain Productions. The title is a pun on the name of the Disney character, Scrooge McDuck. G-Rude was still a member of the group at the time and his name is listed on the inner artwork. The third track titled "John Candy", is...
- 1997, out of print LP - HeightHeight (musician)Height is the stage name of Dan Keech, a rapper from Baltimore. He is most associated with two albums released under the name Height With Friends, Baltimore Highlands and Bed of Seeds...
- Height - 2000, guest appearance on "String Game" - Sparkle ClassicSparkle ClassicSparkle Classic is Grand Buffet's second album, released in 2000 by BrickBrain Productions.-Track listing:...
- 2000, LP - Circuits of Steel - 2002, compilation; contributed track "Murphy" (now available in DICER)
- Trilogy of Terror EPs - 2002-2003, EPs
- Undercover Angels - 2002, EP
- Cigarette BeachCigarette Beach-Notes:*"Thus Ends The Beach" is a relatively short outro followed by several minutes of silence and a short untitled hidden track. Counting the silent break, it is the longest track on the album...
- 2002, EP - Pittsburgh HeartsPittsburgh HeartsPittsburgh Hearts is the third and last in the Trilogy of Terror, a series of three EPs by Pittsburgh alternative hip hop duo, Grand Buffet. It's the first release on which they're credited by their real names. On previous releases, they had used a variety of stage names. The credits of back of the...
- 2003, EP
- Dicer: The Unheard Funk TracksDicer: The Unheard Funk TracksDicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks is a compilation of unreleased studio tracks, rarities, and live performances by Pittsburgh-based alternative hip hop group, Grand Buffet.-Track list:...
- 2004, B-sides collection - KaraokeKaraokeis a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
- 2005, Jackson's Collection - Five Years of Fireworks - 2005, Greatest hits collection with bonus DVD
- Bloom - Untitled remix LP - 2005, Remix of "Remote Control"
- HeightHeight (musician)Height is the stage name of Dan Keech, a rapper from Baltimore. He is most associated with two albums released under the name Height With Friends, Baltimore Highlands and Bed of Seeds...
- Title to be announced - 2005, Guest appearance on "Going Down Big" - A Night of Laughin! Volume 1 - 2006, Contains various stand-up comedy sets with Jackson and Jarrod making fun of the comics in the background. Signed, limited edition run of 100; available only at shows. Disc itself labeled "A Night of Laughs!" Sold out.
- Circuits of Steel II -2007 Jackson and Lord Grunge contribute solo songs, "Holy shit! Yikes!" and "Frosty Anchors"
- The Haunted Fucking Gazebo - May 8, 2007, EP
- King Vision - 2008, LP
- Escape From Anthony Baboon's Nautical Playhouse The Sample Based Remixes - 2008
- Gorilla and Fox - Unknown release date, children's album
Videography
- "Candy Bars" (2000)
- "Pink Deadly" (2002)
- "Cool As Hell" (2004)
- Five Years of Fireworks DVD (2005)
- Grand Buffet are featured in the 2003 German documentary Golden Lemons by Jörg Siepmann about a Wesley WillisWesley WillisWesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...
tour supported by the German band Die Goldenen ZitronenDie Goldenen ZitronenDie Goldenen Zitronen are a punk rock band from Hamburg, Germany that are known for their entertaining and politically relevant style. Their original name was Die Deutschen Nazikartoffeln . When the band formed in 1984 at the beginning of the “Fun-Punk”-movement, punk was their main style...
(The Golden Lemons) and Grand Buffet.