Mudfoot
Mudfoot EP
(self-released)
myspace.com/mudfootcleveland
Mudfoot's MySpace "sounds like" blurb might be the most accurate self-description in the history of popular music: "A guy with huge sideburns and a hot chick with a giant bush are about to get it on." Burly-voiced singer Mike Martini cut his teeth playing funk-injected rap-rock in Unified Culture, but he might be better known as the Original Prankster, the serial prank caller from Mushroomhead's "Evil Joe/Black Metal" skit. Both those projects have equally influenced Mudfoot's latest EP, a quarter-pound bit of deep-groove wah-wah funk that's as sticky as any of the big bags the band serenades in tunes like "Got It All." - D.X. Ferris Mudfoot performs with the Alter Boys at 7 p.m. Friday, December 12, at Peabody's (2083 E. 21st St., 216.776.9999). Tickets: $14.
Various Artists
The Necker Cube Volume 2
(La Rock Inc)
(MySpace.com/LaRockIncRecords)
On Volume 2 of La Rock Inc.'s Necker Cube series, a motley crew of local underground notables hold their own against an impressive list of rap, electronic and rock artists from Northeast Ohio to the Pacific Northwest. Connecticut MC Ceschi Ramos takes a shot at U2 in "You Killed Rock 'N' Roll." Representing Barberton, the Woovs' "Dream" is the kind of airy indie-pop that could earn a rave review from Pitchfork. Executive producer Johnny La Rock's samplefest "Reincarnation" is more entertaining than half of the new Portishead album. La Rock and partner-in-rhyme Mush Mouth join Cleveland punks Deaf by Arms for the underproduced "Sleazy's Cut," suggesting there might be some life left in the rap-rock thing. - Ferris Johnny La Rock & Mush Mouth and Deaf By Arms play at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, December 13, at Pat's in the Flats (2233 West Third St., 216.621.8044). Tickets: $5.
