GRiZ - Mad Liberation. Take a 21 year old bedroom producer from Michigan, raise them on the the internet with a near complete access to the history of modern music with a focus on electronic/dance and apparently you get this incredibly humanistic and cross-cultural album that's both homage, monument and appropriation of hundreds of influences in modern music in an incredibly dubby dubstep framework. (
Free album download here.)
posted by loquacious
on Sep 5, 2012 -
67 comments
'textbook definition of surrealism' In his epic new bio of James Brown, "
The One"--an account of not just the man's life and music, but a panoramic view of African-American, southern and American political and cultural history of the 20th Century--author R.J. Smith briefly discusses "Future Shock," a dance show that Brown hosted in the mid-1970s. It aired on a pioneering Atlanta station, WTCG, a Ted Turner-owned UHF station that would become a satellite channel by the end of 1976. Along with the pay-only HBO (started in '75 in select markets), WTCG paved the way for a cable TV revolution. Its name would be changed to
WTBS (otherwise known as Superstation WTBS) in 1979.
[more inside]
posted by raysmj
on Aug 14, 2012 -
13 comments
Janelle Monae has been busy since the release of
The Chase EP, the first of four "suites" that make up her genre-bending epic set in the distant future. She's been
"discovered" by Diddy, continued to find
inspiration in
unexpected places, founded an
artists' collective in her adopted hometown of Atlanta, and found time to
speak to Vogue about her singular sense of style. Somewhere in there, she's also recorded the next two parts of the Metropolis Suite, titled
The Archandroid (which is out today), put out a
teaser for the album, and also the video for the first single, Tightrope. [more inside]
posted by heeeraldo
on May 18, 2010 -
24 comments
Dennis Coffey was one of the most prolific Detroit session and solo guitarists. His revamped site features a couple phenomenal podcasts of his music and interviews.
posted by klangklangston
on Mar 25, 2010 -
8 comments
Soul Train (
wiki) has a youtube channel. Lots of great performances here, but in particular I recommend
The O'Jays,
Sly and The Family Stone,
Stevie Wonder,
The Stairsteps, and the
Jackson 5. What really makes it worth watching though are the clips of the Soul Train Line dancing to hits of the day, artists like
The O'Jay,
Curtis Mayfield,
War, and
The JB's.
posted by phrontist
on Aug 31, 2009 -
25 comments
Soul! New York City PBS affiliate WNET have digitized 9 episodes of
Soul!, a early 1970's live music program, providing a groovy video interface with chapters to break down each hour long episode.
[more inside]
posted by myopicman
on Apr 23, 2009 -
20 comments
Regarding the 'Creole Beethoven'
Wardell Quezergue, composer, arranger, big band leader, master of Second Line funk, who brought us Earl King's
Trick Bag, the Dixie Cups'
Iko Iko and
Chapel of Love, King FLoyd's
Groove Me, Baby, Jean Knight's
Mr. Big Stuff to name but a few--not to mention
A Creole Mass--and who, later in life, survived
Katrina, to become, among other things of late, according to Home of the Groove's
Quezergue Onstage and Behind The Scenes, a street performer in the French Quarter. His is a name that ought not be forgotten.
[more inside]
posted by y2karl
on Feb 23, 2008 -
5 comments
The author of the excellent (and
previously mentioned) 60s/70s soul music blog Funky 16 Corners has put together an awesome compilation album
available for free download, called Rubber Souled, featuring soul covers of Beatles classics; the results are intriguing, from Stevie Wonder's funked out version of We Can Work It Out to a nightmare inducing Bill Cosby cover of Sgt Peppers.
posted by jonson
on Jul 25, 2007 -
31 comments
R.I.P. Lyn Collins [NYT, reg. req.] Backing singer for James Brown, whose revue she joined in 1971 (she was also the sister of his band members Bootsy and Catfish Collins), her first hit was the monster Think (About It) in 1972, one of the most sampled records in hip hop, maybe most famously in Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's It Takes Two. (Extensive, but by no means full, list of Collins samplers
here.) Audio sample (mp3) of You Can't Love Me If You Don't respect Me
here. Brief obit and full mp3 of a great live version of Do Your Thing
here.
posted by Len
on Mar 17, 2005 -
9 comments
