Grand Buffet
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| Grand Buffet | |
|---|---|
 Left to right: Jarrod Weeks, Jackson O'Connell-Barlow |
|
| Origin | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Years active | 1996 – present |
| Genres | Alternative hip hop, Nerdcore hip hop |
| Labels | Self Produced Fighting Records |
| Members | Jackson O'Connell-Barlow Jarrod Weeks |
Grand Buffet is a hip-hop duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made up of Jackson O'Connell-Barlow (stage names: Iguanadon, Grape-a-Don, Nate Kukla, and Mr. Pennsylvania) and Jarrod Weeks (stage names: M-Dog, Lord Grunge, 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, Sole, Cex, Magnolia Electric Co., and the late Wesley Willis. They have also toured the USA and Europe extensively, and have a large dedicated fanbase in both. In 2004, they toured Canada on the Suicide Girls tour; they finished a European tour with Sage Francis in 2005, and an American Tour with Of Montreal and [The MGMT] in 2006.
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[edit] History
Grand Buffet has been together since 1996. They have released two self-produced, full length LP's, Scrooge McRock (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-Rod, early on who left the group in 1998 - thus the liner art for both Scrooge McRock and Dicer contain 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 has also been announced for this year.
[edit] Abandoned and Unreleased material
The band has often distanced itself from Scrooge McRock when the topic is mentioned in interviews, 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 actor), which ultimately was never released, culminating in an abandonment in 1999. (Several tracks from these sessions were released on Dicer.) The band refers to that year as "The Zero Year", and it was at this point that the foundation work was laid for Sparkle Classic, the earliest of their work they consider part of the official discography.
Grand Buffet have been working for the better part of the decade on a yet-unreleased but long-promised children's album entitled Gorilla and Fox which will presumably include live favorite "Let's Go Find the Cat!" Their next full length, currently unannounced, was last mentioned in August 2004 as being titled King Vision, and is expected to be released in 2007. Weeks also recently mentioned, via their website, the likelihood of a Dicer 3 and even more ambitiously, possibly expanding the project into an annual release.
[edit] Discography
- High Grabber - 1996, self released demo tape
- Scrooge McRock - 1997, out of print LP
- Height - Height - 2000, guest appearance on "String Game"
- Sparkle Classic - 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 Beach - 2002, EP
- Pittsburgh Hearts - 2003, EP
- Dicer: The Unheard Funk Tracks - 2004, B-sides collection
- Five Years of Fireworks - 2005, Greatest hits collection with bonus DVD
- Bloom - Untitled remix LP - 2005, Remix of "Remote Control"
- Height - 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.
- Dicer 2 - 2007, B-sides collection (announced)
- King Vision - 2007, LP
- Dicer 3 - Supposedly TBA, B-sides collection (tentatively announced)
- Gorilla and Fox - Unknown release date, children's album
[edit] Videography
- "Candy Bars" (2000)
- "Pink Deadly" (2002)
- "Cool As Hell" (2004)
- Five Years of Fireworks DVD (2005)
