Classic.

This is hilarious. If you haven't seen the original footage of Kanye storming the stage at last year's European VMA's, try and track it down and watch it first. Fam.

this is a test 2

After months of staring at this computer screen, I am ready to share the second version of my thesis project:



http://viralvinyl.com/hs/hscomS1.htm

The Hamlet Safety Project is an experiment in
comprehension through music.

It seeks to emphasize understanding through connecting contemporary musical language with that of classical literature. And considering how popular music, and hip-hop specifically, has helped spread English and slang around the world, I'm curious to see if these connections can make it easier for people who are learning English as a second language as well as those trying to understand the messages of Shakespeare.

Please feel free to respond with any questions or problems you have with this presentation.
o:{thanks!}

(and keep an eye out for a little remix business coming soon)

Undeniable

This song is ridiculous. At a mere minute and forty seconds, it's obviously one of the more abbreviated entries in the Prince canon. While the bulk of Parade swings back and forth between the minimal and the baroque, this track sits somewhere in the middle. Abstract and basic, the Clare Fischer embellishments tie the track to the somewhat European feel of the album (his original take is a little intense).

Anyway, if I'm correct, it's also Questlove's favorite Prince track. Check the drum pattern interpolation (common Questo stuff - don't front) on "Africa."

Elsewhere in celebrity Prince fandom...I dig this, too.

One to watch: Mos Def

"Be Kind, Rewind" directed by Michel Gondry, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. (Looks really funny and could be a wry take on creativity and copyright control)

I know this is obviously not a new face on the scene, but i feel like the man is building up into something amazing. Aside from his great live shows which now feature a band that sometimes includes the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Robert Glasper …

(i really hope this version of Poison makes it onto his next album, even if it is a hidden bonus track!)

...Mr. Mos has also been pretty consistent on the acting tip.

I don't lump him into the "rapper-turned-actor" category because he was on The Cosby Mysteries before BlackStar came out. He's a mutli-tasker: poet, actor, musician. I didn't see 16 Blocks (maybe it was the voice), but he was good in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and his best performance so far was in Something the Lord Made on HBO.

As for the music, I wasn't feeling alot of "True Magic" (maybe it was my cousin's crappy bootleg), but i can't stop rocking U R The One (eff you!!!). But i was happy to see him stand up and make a statement for the survivors of Katerina.

On a different note, big up Jim who pulled me on stage for a crazy verion of "Award Tour" by A Tribe Called Quest (i was Phife!) last night at Plan B's hip hop karaoke! So much fun! (sorry Sean, they took your idea) but it really makes you respect MCs breath control and memory 'cause i broke down two-thirds of the way through.

o:{kay, i'm re-listening to "Tru3 Magic" and it's nice! I also like the Japan-only Good Night off of Kanye's new release}

oh, and respect Michel Gondry (he's got special powers!):

Jim Sharp aka J Bold: Figit Mix Final

MyFlashFetish

Have to big up the one called J (jimmy-james) Bold (just thought I’d add another “also-known-as” to his growing list. Ha!) on the occasion of his birthday. And, what better way to do this than to spread the sound of his skill.

This “Figit Mix” is a good sound to start the party that will be at Plan B (yes, the B is for Brixton, people. NICE site, by the way!).

Why he would do this picture damage to himself on his mySpace site is beyond me. Maybe it’s the beginning of his birthday licks. All the best, Jim.

o:{will be in the party, gettin’ his life!}

Free, Baby

Lately, I find myself longing for more collaborative effort.  
No, I'm not lonely.  
I don't mean it in some sort of creepy euphemistic way.  
I've been listening to this recording of a Stevie Wonder concert from 1973 or 1974.  Likely the latter; a show in London, though I have a ton of conflicting information.  Anyway, Steve and the band are largely restrained during their run through a handful of at-the-time new songs - for a group as solid as Wonderlove, it's strange that they can find no better way to end most of the songs than to have Stevie do a schmaltzy little piano coda.  Nonetheless, these are all songs that are now classics (the bulk are from Innervisions), and it's a beautiful thing to hear documentation of Stevie as band leader.  During some of the longer takes, he alternately guides the bass player, chastises the drummer for failing to catch and mimic his beatbox break, and edges the whole group into an operatic version of "You Are the Sunshine of My Life."
However, the moments I really dig are those which probably fall somewhere between the rehearsed and spirit of the collective groove, so to speak.  When the audience (and the backup singers) finally get the reprise chant right during "Living For the City."  The double-time bridge in "Superwoman" - to die for.  And the bulk of "To Know You Is To Love You" is sublime.  A little more straightforward and poppy in its original incarnation (Syreeta album track, 1972), Steve and the band stretch out here - he starts off by walking Reggie McBride through a straight up Willie Weeks bass line, and lets Michael Sembello (before he was a Maniac he was a Wonderlover) do his thing.  But when the backup vocalists kick in - loveliness.  When they start riffing halfway through, it's as if Stevie had secretly foreseen the whole mid to late 70's Parliament/Brides of Funkenstein connection (in fact listen to George and co.'s 1976 "Getting To Know You" for a very similar vibe).
So, it's all got me in the mood for good collaborative effort.  I'm not trying to sing backup for somebody or anything (in fact I've been spending the last couple of days politely trying to turn down another invitation to be the lead singer of somebody's punk band), but I'm down with DJing in pairs, building beats via email, and people helping me with Photoshop.  Et (tu, Peter) Cetera.
Anyway, an excuse to pass this on:

To Know You Is To Love You