On a More Positive Note

The September Campaign Trailer from charity: water on Vimeo

Griff Jenkins: Journalist or Pussy?

Hint: It's not the first one.

E...L.O.V.E...

great chop! now if only the video editor could keep Rosie on beat.

Making music fun again

Another Andre cameo. An admitted freestyle. But I think he is slyly trying to take Weezy's crown as Kang (©Phonte) of the South.

The song is "ehh", but the video is really cool. It gives you a mini-movie chunk of feeling in the way that UGK feat. Outkast's "International Players Anthem" did. I wonder if Barber did this?

Andre's back to stylin' and I have to wonder if these story-video's are part of his plan to get further into Hollywood. In any case, it's enjoyable.

o:{I'm a "G"...entleman."}

What 60 year olds can do in '08.

Love it.

On another note, have we fully left these days behind?

Not the playhouse. Just seems that '88 was maybe the end of the era where Oprah and Charo would be among a long list of guest stars on one entertainment program. These credits kill me. And Pterri (I think) at the end, going, "Amazing! Amazing, Grace!"

Love Quest

As reported on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show this week,
Questlove will be producing the new Smokey Robinson album!!!
{...long pause full of amazement and wonder...}

And if this upcoming album is anywhere as good as the recently ?uestlove and James Poyser produced Al Green album "Lay It Down" as well as the tribute tracks for Isaac Hayes that are credited to The Randy Watson Experience {?uest and James' cover band} then this is going to be a project worth watching for and hearing more of. Now if they can only get an official release on the Pharrell remix project,
"Out of my mind"!

o:{and some more Bilal madness. this Time with The Randy Watson Experience. "I wanna run with ya!"}

Heads Talking

Hillman Curtis has a way of making films that ooze emotion. You feel his interest and excitement in his quiet narratives. And even though I’ve never been a big fan of either David Byrne or Brian Eno, I am excited about their reuniting for this project. They’re legends all.

Birthday Muxtape!

It's on.  It's up.  It's http://mattm.muxtape.com/

Crescendos all night!

It’s a crime that “Love 4 Sale” never got an official release. It’s an amazing album. But that didn’t stop Bilal from filling the Highline Ballroom with a crowd that was singing and dancing along to the songs from that unreleased album alongside his well-known classics.

With support from a band filled with talent like the great Robert Glasper on keys and Chris Dave on drums (“Chris Dave, motherfuckers!” was the text I got this morning from my boy Ollie, an amazing drummer in his own right.), the music was wholly on point. They even slipped from Bilal’s “All for Love” to one of Glasper’s now-standard smooth jazz (but funky!) Dilla tributes; this one was “Fall in Love”. The rest of the band consisted of bass, electric guitar, a horn section, and two back up singers – one of which, a big unassuming dude in a yankees cap, was hitting high falsetto notes to rival the headliner!

The music went from faithful renditions of the songs to fun remixes that bounced from blues to gospel to full on rock. The band cut loose with a rendition of Jimi Hendrix “Purple Haze” that led beautifully in to Bilal’s “Fast Lane”. And all the while, Bilal is being silly and laughing on stage with his band mates. I’ve seen shows where he’s been a hot mess and lines like “I wish I was drug free…” from “Sometimes” really make sense. But for this show he was clear-headed and focused. Everything from the music to the antics and camaraderie on stage to the lighting was working together as each song built in intensity. You couldn’t help but get swept up in it. And for an artist without an album out, that’s more than you could ask for.

o:{too many links? hurmm...maybe.}

The Hold Up

Initially prompted by preparation for a looong (C)DJ gig the other night, I've been well occupied digging through old CD books and cleaning up my iTunes recently.  So, I present to you a new and semi-occasional musical and pictorial (re-)review.

Holds up:

1991. One of Norman Cook's post-Housemartins/pre-Fatboy projects. The second record. The toasting is pretty corny, but it's a nice late summer-appropriate mix of pop, soul, reggae and whatever. It was pointed out to me that the singers, whether male or female, all sort of sound like Alison Moyet (on different bpm's, natch). That's okay, right?

Doesn't:

1990.  I loved this CD in high school.  In my memory, it's really dense, bassy UK soul.  On recent listen, it seems that Island basically got a group of producers to try and sail Mica to America on a slowly sinking New Jack Swing ship.  The disc is a nice orange color, though.