Jones: "God, where are you" Video
Related Videos
Sharon Jones: "100 days, 100 nights"
Sharon Jones was born Sheron Lafaye Jones in Augusta, Georgia on May 4th 1956. Her mother moved to Brooklyn soon thereafter, however Jones was sent down south for a few months every year to stay with her family. As a child, she and her brothers would imitate the songs and dances of James Brown, who shared their hometown. Like many rhythm and blues entertainers, she began performing in church at a very young age where her voice would find a lifelong home and inspiration. As a teenager in the early nineteen seventies, she began singing outside of the church in talent shows and with local funk groups. Later she would make her living with a combination of sporadic session work as a mostly anonymous voice on various dance records (sometimes credited as Lafaye Jones), singing with wedding bands, and a handful of day jobs which included stints as both a prison guard at New York’s notorious Riker’s Island, and an armored car guard for Wells Fargo Bank. In 1996 she was called in to sing back-up at a Desco Records studio session for 70’s soul legend Lee Fields.
The Presets: "Are You the One?"
The Presets are an electro duo from down under that sound like suicide and the faint with just enough David Byrne/Talking Heads to make them strangely intimate. They are on the Modular label (who released the Avalanches). Their album, "Beams," will be out April 18th. "Drifting through twisting drum patterns and rolling, atmospheric blips, "Beams" paints a broad brush stroke, where simple deliveries meet sleazy electro and floor-stompers." - Rolling Stone Australia.
"Monty Python: Terry Jones's Personal Best" interview segment
See this clip and more on the "Monty Python: Terry Jones' Personal Best" DVD.
Kacey Jones: "San Francisco Mabel Joy"
She's been virtually the laughing stock of the music industry for years. She's been laughed at outside the Nashville city limits by the likes of People Magazine, USA Today, Billboard, and on National Public Radio as Garrison Keillor's special guest on "A Prairie Home Companion." With KACEY JONES there's a lot to laugh about. Her new CD on IGO Records, "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Box of Music," proves that Kacey Jones won't be taken seriously anytime soon. The follow-up to her last music-comedy project, "Never Wear Panties to a Party," the newest creation is not only bottomless in comedy appeal, but in establishing the vocal talent and comedy genius caught in the grooves. In the hard work-a-day world of carving a national name as one of the brightest new musical humorists to break through in recent years, Kacey Jones is used to breaking the mold. Singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, producer, and publisher--all distinct descriptions that fit only one unique piece of this puzzle. When completely assembled, the one that emerges is one of a delightful, born and bred in the San Francisco Bay Area, madcap redhead who sees the world at large with laser perception and a funny tilt. The naked truth is that many of the songs on "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Box of Music" were divinely inspired by three best-selling Sweet Potato Queen books written by Kacey's friend and ally, Jill Conner Browne. "The Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Cookbook & Financial Planner" written by Conner Browne and published by Three Rivers Press/Random House, hit #1 on the NY Times bestseller list for three weeks in March of 2003. Boasting a worldwide membership of 50,000, the Sweet Potato Queens can also boast that Kacey Jones holds the Official Title: "Royal Minstrel To The Sweet Potato Queens' Court" among the ranks of those who consider the sweet potato a sacred vegetable and have raised its perception to a national art form. If it all seems off the wall, it's totally sane in the world of Kacey. Hers was, after all, the brilliant mind that conceived one of Nashville's most unique and revered cult groups, the all-girl "Ethel and The Shameless Hussies," who broke above the waves in the late 80's to mainstream nominations as "Comedy Act of the Year," as well as a major contract with MCA Records. As lead singer and lead comedy writer, Kacey put the Shameless Hussies on America's national radar. Further proving that her talents could produce more than just a few good laughs, Kacey went into the studio with legendary cult artist, Kinky Friedman, only to emerge as the producer of his critically acclaimed project, "Pearls in the Snow." The album reached the #1 spot on the Americana radio chart in 1999. She added further weight to her professional portfolio by producing tracks for Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Tom Waits, Dwight Yoakam and Delbert McClinton for the same project. Movies were next to fall under the spell. Kacey contributed three original songs to the soundtrack of the award winning cult film, "Sordid Lives" starring Beau Bridges, Olivia-Newton-John, Delta Burke, Bonnie Bedalia, and Leslie Jordan. Could television be next? The WB Television Network currently has a sitcom in development titled, "The Sweet Potato Queens." "I hitched my wagon to the Sweet Potato Queens' rising star four years ago," stated Jones in a recent interview, "I've got 50,000 fabulous women (and a few Spud Studs) who worship me like I'm their Elvisit's a Royal ride and I'm enjoying every minute of it." The simultaneous release of "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Box of Music" and a three-book-box-set by Conner Browne titled, "The Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Box of Love," may just be the puff of wind under the dress that lifts Kacey Jones' career to new comedy heights.
Nightmares On Wax: "Know My Name"
While the group's 1991 debut A Word Of Science buried mainman George Evelyn's influences beneath a bleeping MIDI interface, 1995?s breakthrough Smokers Delight had little to do with techno; it's a hip hop chill out album, with a classic soul flourish. On Carboot Soul, George continued to take the sounds of soul innovators to new sound plateaus. Weaned by his family on soul staples Quincy Jones and Curtis Mayfield, George continued his musical education when the first wave of hip hop hit with tracks like "Rappers Delight" and "Buffalo Gals." George joined a local breakdance crew, where he forged an alliance with fellow b-boy Kevin Harper, forming Nightmares On Wax. They released the "Dexterous" single in 1990, but what caused a stir was their Top 40 UK hit "Aftermath." The track signaled the presence of "Northern Bleep," a homebrewed, Northeast digital-break sound underlined with solid hip hop beats. This technique can be found on 1991's A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter. After four years of co-running The Headz Club in Leeds, amassing samples, and rethinking his approach to music, George returned without Keith on 1995?s slo-mo, soulistic LP Smokers Delight. By then, George was up front about his musical inspirations. Each track nonchalantly sojourns down crisp Philly Soul production, pulsating ho-down medleys, heavy Barry White pant tones, and nerve-shivering chord shimmers. Its laid-back tone came from George hearing KLF?s "Chill Out" record and applying the concept to hip hop. Carboot Soul marked a major change for NOW in their use of live musicians. George is now joined onstage by a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, singer and rapper. It is all part of his plan for NOW to operate like a band rather than a studio act. In spite of this, the drum machine still remains. George elaborates, "Doing the live side proves there is more to the music. People have something more tangible to relate the music to and it gives us the chance to connect with the audience. The main priority for NOW is to prove that we can perform music, but we're not ignoring the fact that we come from a studio, technical background. We just want to mix the old with the new. That's why, at the moment, I don?t have a live drummer. The sound of the beats is what makes Nightmares." The title Carboot Soul commemorates the time George would hunt for dusty 12"s and albums in car boot sales. It's another indication that NOW?s true sound was there from the beginning; all they've done is come full circle. George has a realistic outlook about the way his music is developing: "Today's music is inspired by whatever has gone on before. That's what fascinates me. Soul music is the earliest form of hip hop. That's why I want to create it. It might seem like recreating what was done in the past, but what I want to do is merge soul and hip hop together. That's why I'll bring in the live aspect of what happened back then into current hip hop trends. That?s the angle I?m arriving at."
Chromeo, Oakley Hall, 'House M.D.' soundtrack
For their picks this week, the Download Music crew gives the lowdown on new albums from electro-clash group Chromeo and indie/alt-country band Oakley Hall, plus a new 'House M.D.' soundtrack featuring songs by Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Massive Attack, and more.
Kate Nash, Hot Chip, Dengue Fever
On Crossfade TV this week, the Download Music crew recommends up-and-coming London pop artist Kate Nash, electro-pop quintet Hot Chip, and Cambodian-American indie-rock group Dengue Fever.
Guru, Miss Kittin, Herbie Hancock
On Crossfade TV this week, the Download Music team checks out a solo compilation from onetime Gang Starr member Guru, new material from electro DJ Miss Kittin, and the Herbie Hancock's Grammy-winning album 'River: The Joni Letters.'
Ying Yang Twins featuring Pitbull: "Shake"
In an industry dead-set on replicating instead of originating, the Ying Yang Twins (D-Roc and Kaine) have managed to stick to a formula that's helped them harvest a new audience with every song and secure their position not only in southern hip-hop history, but also as hip-hop royalty. U.S.A. (United States of Atlanta), their second TVT album, features production from Ying Yang Twins co-creator Mr. Collipark. Guest artists range from Anthony Hamilton, Teedra Moses, Pitbull, Jacki-O, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Mike Jones, Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes. The album is all about showing everybody that Atlanta and the Ying Yang Twins are bigger than the strip club, says D-Roc. We're just trying to put the love back in the music and let people know that there are still people who really make music from the soul. About Pitbull: This Cuban-American MC is proving himself to be one of Miami's most prominent rhyme-spitters. Source Magazine's Unsigned Hype Column (Nov. 03) stated - "let it be known that Pitbull is as viscous as the pedigree he's named after." Recently signed to TVT Records, Pitbull is sure to make his name known.
Ying Yang Twins featuring Mike Jones & Mr. Collipark: "Badd"
In an industry dead-set on replicating instead of originating, the Ying Yang Twins (D-Roc and Kaine) have managed to stick to a formula that's helped them harvest a new audience with every song and secure their position not only in southern hip-hop history, but also as hip-hop royalty. U.S.A. (United States of Atlanta), their second TVT album, features production from Ying Yang Twins co-creator Mr. Collipark. Guest artists range from Anthony Hamilton, Teedra Moses, Pitbull, Jacki-O, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Mike Jones, Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes. The album is all about showing everybody that Atlanta and the Ying Yang Twins are bigger than the strip club, says D-Roc. We're just trying to put the love back in the music and let people know that there are still people who really make music from the soul.
