what’s new The Very Best, “Yoshua Alikuti” (Nairobi, Kenya), 2012 Any resemblance to this is purely intentional. Lil Wayne, “A Milli,” 2008 ***** Here’s a big shout-out to my son Alex, who just finished his last week of classes, graduates from Harvard next month, and introduced me to The Very Best in the first place.
Archive for the ‘hip-hop’ category
Friday, 4/27/12
04/27/2012Monday, 4/9/12
04/09/2012Shabazz Palaces, live (studio performance, KEXP-FM), 2011 These guys—their mix of drums, mbira, electronics—call to mind the AACM’s* tagline: ancient to the future. *Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Fred Anderson, Leroy Jenkins, et al.).
Wednesday, 3/14/12
03/14/2012what’s new Nneka, “Soul Is Heavy” (Soul Is Heavy, 2/12) More? Here. And here.
Monday, 3/12/12
03/12/2012Some folks, seeking communion and transcendence, go to church. Others go hear hip-hop. Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) & Talib Kweli Live, Paris, 3/9/12 More? Here. And here. And here. And here. And here. ********** lagniappe reading table [I]t has been only in the past decade that we appear to have entered an [...]
Monday, 1/2/12
01/02/2012what you’d be listening to if you were 20* Lupe Fiasco, “The End of the World” (sampling M83, “Midnight City”), 2011 ***** Adele, “Rolling in the Deep,” Jamie xx Remix, feat. Childish Gambino, 2011 ********** lagniappe musical thoughts Hip-hop is jazz’s great grandson. —Roy Hargrove, trumpet player, bandleader ***** found words Don’t Die with your [...]
Wednesday, 12/28/11
12/27/2011more favorites from the past year passings ***** Is any drummer more lyrical? Paul Motian, drummer, composer, collaborator, bandleader March 25, 1931-November 22, 2011 Paul Motian Trio (PM, drums; Joe Lovano, saxophone; Bill Frisell, guitar), “It Should’ve Happened a Long Time Ago” (P. Motian), live, New York (Village Vanguard), 2005 ********** lagniappe Sometimes he would [...]
Tuesday, 12/27/11
12/26/2011more favorites from the past year Wild Flag, live, SXSW (Austin, Texas), 3/11 “Romance” (Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop) *** “Future Crimes” (IFC Crossroads House) Someday an all-female band will seem no more remarkable than an all-male one. (Originally posted 10/24/11.) ***** She’s going to be a big star someday. Nneka, live (Originally posted 2/15/11.)
Tuesday, 12/20/11
12/19/2011kaleidoscopic, adj. 1. changing form, pattern, color, etc., in a manner suggesting a kaleidoscope. 2. continually shifting from one set of relations to another. E.g., Azealia Banks’ “212″ (2011). ********** lagniappe reading table In an age when other fantastically speedy, widespread media are triumphing, and running the risk of flattening all communication into a single, [...]
Friday, 12/2/11
12/01/2011what’s new Black Star (Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey [formerly known as Mos Def]) TV broadcast (The Colbert Report), 2011 “Fix Up” *** “Astronomy (8th Light)” More? Here. ********** lagniappe reading table I’m on a crowded ship and I’ve been served the wrong breakfast. This small mound of soggy dough is not what I ordered. “Why don’t [...]
Thursday, 11/17/11
11/17/2011three takes “Now That We Found Love” (AKA “Now That We’ve Found Love”) (K. Gamble & L. Huff) take 1 Heavy D (AKA Dwight Arrington Myers), May 24, 1967-November 8, 2011 Heavy D & the Boyz, 1991 ***** take 2 O’Jays, 1973 ***** take 3 Third World, live
