Splitting The Atom is my favorite song off of the new album from British trip-hop staple Massive Attack. The guest vocals are totally creepy and sometimes it’s like you are listening to a super sinister Gorillaz track. Remixes please!
Mar 012010
Mar 012010
Aloe Blacc needs a dolla and I need more of this soul!
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A week has passed since last week’s news of Chilly B – RIP. I remember the very first time I heard Jam On It when I was on the playground in fourth grade. Even kids in MA were first break dancing to this along Run DMC’s Its Like That, now some Twenty plus odd years later and I am seeing this video for the first time. What a mind trip. What really blows me away is how much raw energy they have. You could rock this at a house party Friday night and it would still get people on the dance floor. Slaves to the beat.
Feb 282010
Broken Bells, the collaboration between Danger Mouse and Shins lead singer James Russell Mercer deliver a gem with The High Road and I can’t wait to see how they pull off the live show when they visit The Troubadour in LA on March 14th. The show is sold out so don’t sleep on the opportunity to see them perform. Album release March 9th and you can pre-order it from Brokenbells.com
Feb 272010
Slash’s first solo album features an amazing line-up of vocalists, making it quite an eclectic experience for anyone who’s had a chance to listen. One of my favorite songs is Andrew Stockdale’s “By The Sword,” as well as Ozzy’s “Crucify The Dead” and Rocco De Luca’s “Saint Is A Sinner Too.” Regardless of favorites, each track in the album makes it a classic journey led by the riffs of an icon.
SLASH, will release in April 2010. The all-star roster of guest musicians includes Ian Astbury, Chris Cornell, Rocco DeLuca, Fergie, Dave Grohl, Myles Kennedy, Kid Rock, Lemmy Kilmeister, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Duff McKagan, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother.
“By The Sword” just premiered on Spinner and you can listen to it here.
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THE LONELY FOREST
THE LONELY FOREST
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The Lonely Forest are the first signing to Chris Walla’s (Death Cab For Cutie) new imprint label, Trans. The band is currently working on their next record, due sometime this year. “We Will Sing In Time” is featured on the band’s second record We Sing The Body Electric! released in 2009.
Feb 212010
“all I have left is my soul, for left me with this winter so cold. take me away like I overdose on heroin. baby we were born for fun or maybe to sleep in the sun. a place where new waves come in, a place to begin.”
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Coming back from a vacation is never easy. When that vacation is 30 days of summer in Brazil in the middle of winter here, well, coming back is really, really, rough. It took me weeks to get my head out of a haze, but I also discovered my latest swedish indulgence, jj. After finding they were the one act I didn’t recognize in some year-end lists of “best records of 2009″, I burnt through jj n2 faster than I have any other album in months. A couple of weeks later, the harmonica melody and wave sounds in the band’s new single Let Go instantly transported me, once again, to a paradise beach sippin on cold coconut water and eating fire-grilled cheese. It is contagious and announces the band’s next release, jj n3, out in March. The new album also features an amazing cover of The Game & Lil Wayne’s song My Life, with a similar style to the band’s great adaption of Lil Wayne’s Lolipop entitled Ecstasy.
Copyright Criminals explores the craft of music sampling from the rise of hip-hop to its current state. The documentary provides interesting view points from various perspectives of the industry including Chuck D from Public Enemy to seminal D.I.Y producer Steve Albini. The film questions, ‘Can you own a sound?’
Sample culture is ultimately pop culture and I think this debate is a very interesting one. Can you own a sound? I’m still not sure what side I am on. I don’t think you should prevent or inhibit artistic expression yet somehow the original creator should still be compensated. I’m not saying we should only create art to make money but those that do should at least get the recognition and respect they deserve, ask the funky drummer himself, Clive Stubblefield.
What is even more interesting to me is where technology is taking us. Sample culture, hip-hop and its cut-and-paste ethos are driving innovation and art beyond sound. Pop culture is multi-media and we live in a multi-media world. Audio and Video. What we should really be asking is not ‘Can you own a sound?’ but what ownership of art for the creator really means?
Electrolightz rocked their mixtape release party at Cinespace on Feb 10.
Rami
Barry
Electrolightz
The crowd at Cinespace
BrandName & Rami
Feb 102010
Ronald McDonald, The Colonel, The King and Jack walk into a bar strip club, get down in the city and do it right. The Rad Omen take Man Night to another level in ‘Rad Anthem,’ and it ends the way any good night of partying should – by covering each other with ketchup and mustard at Carney’s! I can’t wait to check out more from these guys. Can you guess who plays The King and what Hollywood rocker is under the Jack in the Box? (Hint: check the Tats).
