Grand Designs
By: Melissa Martin
The Folk Festival is over, but this weekend offers another chance to get your summer music jam on. And it comes courtesy of one of Winnipeg’s best known musicians.

Rhymester and actor Odario Williams (better known as one-third of hip-hop trio Mood Ruff) is gearing up to release the debut album from his new project, Grand Analog, at the Pyramid on Friday.

Though the Grand Analog project started as an experiment, big buzz (including the single Around This Town being named the download of the week on MySpace) has convinced Williams to push it into the foreground.

“I’ve put everything else on hold,” he says. “I’ve been doing some voiceover and DJ work to pay the bills, I’ve been working various kids’ programs to pay the bills. But when a kid comes up to me and says, ‘hey, are you that Mood Ruff guy?’ I say,. ‘no kid, take this Grand Analog sticker.’”

Williams is joking about that last bit… he’s happy to say his Ruff cohorts are supportive of his new venture… but his passion for Grand Analog is perfectly serious.

Though the project features his return to the mic, this isn’t a retread of the same hip-hop territory Ruff farmed for years. Envisioned as a Williams-led artist collective, the group stacks sizzling guitar riffs and dusty, dirty samples over sauntering dub and reggae beats.

Add Williams’ hooky vocals to the mix, and you’ve got a sexy summer album that’s still rich with substance: tunes like the bouncy Touch Your Toes and Around This Town score equally with patio partiers and music critics.

“They say the new generation is going to change careers several times in their life,” Williams says. “Well, I’m just going to change sounds every few years.”

Though the sound is a big departure, Williams says it just felt like the right time to take a chance. “Mood Ruff just became this staple in Winnipeg,” Williams says from Toronto. “That was a good thing, and I wanted to force my way into a new direction. I’m not afraid of putting everything away.”

You can almost put your wallet away to check out the gig: the Friday night CD release, which features Ruff’s buddies in Shadez and the retro-heavy spins of DJ Co-op, is only five bucks.