Sharon Jones: "100 days, 100 nights" Video
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Crossfade TV: Orgone, Foals, Gutter Twins
On the latest Crossfade TV, the Download Music crew checks out soul-funk group Orgone (as Mike Tao says, it's a no-brainer for fans of Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse), and a pair of new Sub Pop bands: Oxford dance-pop group Foals and the dark, moody new Gutter Twins project featuring Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan.
With the desire to express yet another facet of his musical persona, one that would explore with density the boundaries between jazz, rock, pop and world music, it was decided to record with guitarist/arranger Thor Madsen, drummer Jochen Rueckert, bassist Jesse Murphy and songstress Marla Turner . These, with Ilhan on tenor and keyboard would be the latest incarnation of a continuing project known as Wax Poetic. The pun intended, Wax Poetic was both to go vinyl and to be an armature on which to drape the mnemosonic and dreamy cinematic soundscapes that ilhan sought. Think Dance of the Penguins. Earlier incarnations of the project including a then?unknown Norah Jones, N'dea Davennport and Saul Williams. Skating on glass, dancing on twigs, exploring crisp edges of dub and electronica, this version of the band continues in a tradition begun some 6 years ago. Characteristic of Wax Poetic's web of voice and the effusive persuasion of Thor's and Ilhan's electronic meanderings through levels of the band's id are the pulsating bass of Murphy and the chugging, rock steady backbeats of Rueckert. Says singer Marla Turner, "I don't want to sound like anybody else. I just want to do what I'm doing. That's why I'm with Wax Poetic." In response to comparisons to bands like Thievery Corporation or tenor riffs that conjure those of John Coltraine on electronics, Ilhan has said "There are always going to be influences. You hear them, you reconfigure them and you arrive at something new. That is what I want to do with all my bands, and particularly with Wax Poetic. I wanted a vocally?led situation - you know, songs - and a little improvisation with the emphasis on sound rather than on solos. In fact there is actually not that much saxophone except as obligato behind the band and Marla. It's mostly keyboards with Thor's guitar and beats added to Jochen's, with Jesse's bass. If we happen to sound like somebody or remind you of somebody, maybe we meant that to happen and maybe we didn't. I guess that is the price of being contemporary, you hear things and you accept them or reject them in accordance with what you intend to project. Sometimes it's not what you intended, but I think - insofar as I even do think about it - that that is what makes it art."
In the summer of 1998 ? brought together by a slew of disparate-yet-alluring musical reference points ? high school friends Eddie Baranek (vocals/guitar), Mike Trombley (drums), and Mark Leahey (bass/vocals) formed The Sights. The trio began playing around their hometown of Detroit shortly thereafter, around which time Trombley, founding drummer, headed to California for what would come to be a three-year respite from the band and also the impetus for a revolving door of drummers, bassist and keyboard players. Undaunted , The Sights took to the studio and began recording their debut album, Are You Green?, at Jim Diamond?s Ghetto Recorders in Detroit . Originally released in June of 1999, Are You Green? was picked up by L.A.-based Fall of Rome Records and re-released the following year. Never big on rest, The Sights went to work on their sophomore album, Got What We Want (released in 2002). With this, the band?s freakishly precocious ability to blend frenetic garage rock, Motown and 60?s pop into something equal parts classic and catchy got them noticed. Got What We Want was released in the U.K. a year later, garnering them some very nice words from both the British press ("Got What We Want is a revelation - a treasure trove of sparky and wildly immediate songwriting." --NME) and the not-so British press ("At last - a new Detroit-garage band that comes in colors." --Rolling Stone). The Sights hit the road for a year of touring both countries, including a 10-week stint sleeping inside the group?s 1991 Ford Econoline van and stealing bagels for sustenance. In the spring of 2004, The Sights - now including relative newbie Bobby Emmett as organist/bassist and Keith Fox as drummer- caught the ear of ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who signed them to his own Scratchie Records ( an imprint of New Line Records). And with that, the band headed back to Ghetto Recorders to record their self-titled third LP, The Sights, due out in April 2005. No small feat, the album combines the unobtrusive honesty of The Band with slivers of influence from The Sights? own personal record collections: Ike & Tina, Solomon Burke, Everly Brothers , Bob Seger, Tim Hardin and all manner of raucous songwriting. The end result is an album that?s classic, not derivative?filled with swagger and deference?and ridiculously catchy. Really.
Kudu tap into Siouxsie circa 82, dark Chicago house circa 86, deep 70s funk, and, consciously or not, UK jungle tekno circa 91. They are real deal, and their music is so primal that they could just as validly be classed a rock act as a jazz or dance act. On stage Kudu are dark and raw and desperate, but their pop potential has always been apparent to anyone with ears for song craft and eyes for charisma. Bar Star, the first single from the upcoming full-length from Nublu Records entitled Death of the Party, confirms this perception. In addition to the aforesaid ingredients, Kudu on record have a sense of fun lifted from Deee-Lite, ESG, church in rural Georgia and parades in New Orleans. Kudu plans to tour extensively surrounding the release of the record, and they have already received press from the likes of XLR8R, URB, Pitchfork, and the acclaimed music writer Simon Reynolds. Remixes of Bar Star are as diverse as Kudu?s influences. In Flagranti, the head of Codek Records, turns Bar Star into a disco track that echoes Prince and the Time?perfect for a Miami Dancefloor. Freddie Mas, of Tigersushi fame, twists the track into an AC/DC-like cock-rock funk anthem. This is the twelve inch of the year from the band of the year.
From the animated b-boy dancing to the mad flow, Boba Fett shows off his lesser-known skills in this amazing fan film. The author writes: "Boba Fett sings a song about Star Wars from his perspective. I've been working on this for 2 months. If it does well, I may make a version 2 with the whole song. The song is by MC Chris. You might recognize his voice as MC Pee Pants from Aqua Teen Hunger Force."
Natalie Walker. Urban Angel. Biography. Born and raised in Indiana, vocalist Natalie Walker is an artist whose lilting, melodic voice and lyrical reveries reflect a life journey of determination and self-discovery. With musical influences ranging from Alison Krauss to Portishead, Jewel to Lauryn Hill, Beth Orton to Bjork, the former lead singer of downtempo electronic group Daughter Darling now delivers her own unique, haunting sonic landscape that is at once organic, ethereal, elegant and entrancing. ?Creating music is my outlet,? says Natalie. ?I was born to sing. When I don?t, I feel empty. When I do, I feel fulfilled. It?s that simple.? Urban Angel, her solo album debut, was co-written by Natalie and two-man production team Stuhr. ?I worked with two really great producers out of Brooklyn, Dan Chen and Nate Greenberg. They?d send me the rough copy of a song and the music would just evoke emotion,? she explains. ?Its like fitting pieces of a puzzle together. When you?re in the studio recording its all very raw and real. I try to make a song new each time I sing it. I want it to be unforgettable. My producers are amazing. They forced me to develop my real voice. I?ve improved my vibrato and my tone. Stuhr delivered exactly what I asked of them. It couldn?t have happened more perfectly.?
Fishbone lives up to their legend as "THE" group to bridge the gap between the funk of George Clinton and the blare of Rush; a hybrid fusion where Led Zeppelin and Sly Stone dance to a frenetic ska beat that fuel's the alternative thrust of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction and the cast of Lollapalooza. From their childhood together in the hardcore South Central Los Angeles wasteland to years of forced school-bused integration, Fishbone's influences were kaleidoscopic and never-ending. The band was formed in 1979 in the ghettos of South Central Los Angeles. The group came from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction. Fishbone first gained attention with their unique live concerts, earning a reputation as one of the most original bands in the alternative genre. Their unique stew of different styles, mixed with hectic energy and pounding rhythms, were a huge influence on the funk/rock/metal/rap genre that would become popular in the 1990s. Live audiences around the world have been surrendering to the band's stage flash and magical rhythms with uninterrupted regularity. Such passionate devotion is not lost on Fishbone, who refer to their friends on the road as "The Familyhood."
Jones' Belgian electro music is his own production.
When the farmer's away, all the animals play ... and sing, and dance. Eventually, though, someone has to step in and run things, a responsibility that ends up going to Otis (Kevin James), a carefree bull.
When the farmer's away, all the animals play ... and sing, and dance. Eventually, though, someone has to step in and run things, a responsibility that ends up going to Otis (Kevin James), a carefree bull.
