Sunday 31 May 2009

We'll Be There If You Will...


Sundays don't get much better when you have this track blasting and you're throwing shapes like a tribal priest in the rain. Epic.

"Will You Be There" - The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit)

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Summer Summer Summertime

The sun is shining over here and thus I felt inspired to bring you a selection of sunshine songs that are on repeat across the channel. 

Freddie Scott, apparently called The Gentle Giant Of Soul which is a descriptive moniker, "You Got What I Need".

The Gladiators,  "Soul Rebel", the title pretty much sums up my aim in life.

Bobby Caldwell, "Open Your Eyes", sampled by Common on 'The Light' the original never fails to make me feel better though I do have a real soft spot for the Dwele version.

Gwen McCrae, "Rockin' Chair". She needs no introduction.

And finally one of the most ridiculously happy music videos I have see in a long time. Could they look like they're having any more fun? Plus I defy you not to want to dance to this...


Saturday 23 May 2009

NEWSFLASH

WELL HELLO and welcome to my newsflash! 

Breaking and Amazing News: Starting on June 9, 2009 a re-edited "Welcome To My Home" will be sold exclusively on brenda dickson.com.

Here's Brenda with the official scoop:

"Eight minutes have been added with never-before-seen outtakes. The film is brought up to 2009, with current fashions. Much of the film holds true today. It was just touted as a "cult classic and must see" by New York magazine, it's a clear master copy, with beautiful saturated color frames."

I wonder if/hope you can pre-order. Incase you haven't seen it (though why wouldn't you have forraged incessantly to find it?), here is a link to the much sought after part two of Welcome To My Home. 

Postcard from New Orleans

Summer's here and that means the time is right for dancing in the streets.

Friday 22 May 2009

Huuuuh.

Also I was at a skate festival yesterday and among the many blasts from the pasts I got whilst drinking warm beer sitting on a concrete ramp watching grown-up boys fall off wheeled objects, one of them was hearing the DJ drop this...


When this came out I wanted to be one of those girls so bad, they were cool as.

Cold Game. Warm Heart.

One of life's happy songs. When this arrived in my inbox the other day it almost made my heart explode. Since then it has been on repeat. Thank you Gabriel. 


Turn it on, turn it up, and take 3:49 minutes off everything.


Wednesday 20 May 2009

Catting..

I found this on one of my favourite music sites 'soul-sides'. Oliver Wang is a bit of a legend. 


Besides having a killer name they evoke some of the best things about 60's soul and his voice is just beautiful and more than a little Sam Cooke as Mr. Luecking down at SoulSides pointed out. I won't go into too much detail as it would just be their words, but read his post it's better worded than mine would have been anyway.

The debut album is out 26th May. 

Sunday 17 May 2009

Q-T's

Plus I know this is no longer appropriate as the US elections are long gone but if this doesn't make you smile on a Sunday I don't know what will. I love it when the kids get totally into it at the front. 

Bright Light From A Distant Star.


I haven't been this excited for the release of a new album since last year and Erykah's come-back. It seems that for a year or so there has been a bit of resurgence of intelligent hip-hop and soul, what with "New Amerykah" by the afore-mentioned Miss Badu, "The Renaissance" Q-Tip's long-awaited second studio album and Raphael Saadiq showing everyone how to make a modern motown record with "The Way I See It. My excitement and anticipation for those albums however has been far eclipsed by the news that Dante Terrell Smith aka Mos Def's new album is due to be released on the 9th of June of this year. Since his announcement in November of 2007 that a new album would be being released and Mos himself throwing crumbs of information to crowds at gigs, such as playing new songs produced by Madlib and hinting at collaborations with Kanye, hip-hop fans have been eagerly awaiting a release date and a first single. Finally though we have a new song and video and I can happily say that I think it's him back to his best. A sparse opening relys on the rhythmic power of his voice with a killer looping horn line and a smattering of him singing, the instrumentation behind him then builds up in layers throughout the song ending in a lovely piano and strings section that tip to just the right side of up-beat. It is pretty great and the video is pretty cool too.


Then you've got "Flowers" which is off his myspace. A cross between spoken word and a rap, all acapella. Intelligent hip-hop has returned. Plus the video contains the only thing better than Mos Def, 6 Mos Def's.


9th of June is the date. I'll see you by the record shop counter and I warn you if there's only one left I will hurt you for it.

Monday 4 May 2009

Sunday 3 May 2009

Musical Memories part 2

Josie’s post struck a chord. I am never able to disentangle songs from their time and place – a song always comes with a memory, and a memory always comes with a song. The moment I hear Lauryn Hill chanting the opening of The Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly,’ the accompanying image is as vivid and instant as a slide – sitting on the park railings with my best friend Matilda, racer-back Speedo swimsuits, licking Twisters, and cackling at the lyrics (“You can’t kill someone with a song!” – innocence or common sense?).

This is the only way I can describe music I like; a backdrop scene which might be imaginary or remembered. When it comes to exchanges of musical revelry and analysis of technical mastery, I am totally inarticulate, and unable to wax lyrical. I don’t mind really – keeping it tied up leaves its spell unmeddled, like a secret crush or one of those dreams that is impossible to describe out loud. That moment you first heard it and you left your imagination to it’s own devices is sometimes the best explanation of why it has stayed with you for the long haul.

There is the Bob Dylan whose lyrics journalists pour sweat over, sorting the good from the bad, the bad from the sad, and there is the Bob Dylan of my Dad’s car; like a sort of curmudgeonly distant relative in the back seat, who is sometimes lucid, sometimes incoherent but I’ll always listen.

My favourite Bob Dylan song :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSGDoNbKy_s

(Just don’t ask me to explain why…)

Amendment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV8KvKYRxig

(I think I need a master class covering the basics if anyone is offering)

Sunday Song

It is still a mystery to me how to embed videos but here is a song for your Sunday, sung by a woeful looking man with a tambourine. Sway along like it's the sixties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV8KvKYRxig

minor error

http://www.band-of-gypsies.blogpsot.com/

Don't make the same mistake as I just did.

Friday 1 May 2009

Friday Night