Here is a great in depth post on the evolution of, "Try a Little Tenderness" from The Awl. Head on over there to read the whole thing. It was recently sampled for The Kanye and Jay-z song, "Otis." Well I don't agree with their assessment of the Jay-z incarnation, I kind of like it minus Kanye and the James Brown scream thing at the end. The Jay/Kanye version will actually be on the next hip hop mix which is tentatively scheduled for mid-August. Despite our differing opinions, the Awl's post is a well put together look at the history of one of my favorite songs. I actually didn't know it had so much history and the only other versions I knew of were Sam Cooke's and Aretha's. *Cues the more you know*
"As nice a story as it’d make, Otis Redding didn’t transform “Try A Little Tenderness” from campy relic to anthem in a single stroke. The process was more gradual, maybe more compromised. Bing Crosby took a go at “Tenderness” in 1933, and in the process injected some humanity into it. No less paternalistic, his interpretation stressed the duties of manhood, the weakness of women, and how love was about being strong by pretending to be vulnerable. Maybe that’s a little too much psychodrama to pull from a performance that, for all Crosby’s sly phrasing and attempts at straight talk, is still relatively light fare. But it was enough for “Tenderness” to catch on as a minor standard, an especially useful one to have in the songbook for black entertainers looking to cross over in the ’50s and early ’60s and perform at “classy joints.” Selling records to white kids was one thing; eons before anyone thought to let youth guide the industry, appealing to white adults was the real meal ticket." via
Bonuses: Apparently the hip hop world doesn't agree with the Awl either, because everyone is going over the, "Otis" beat. Links to the freestyles on Nahright can be found below.
Marriages have a 50 percent chance of ending in divorce in the United States, and with money, ego, health, fighting, wandering eyes, and varying ambitions at play, those stats aren't a huge shock. Staying together is hard, yo. And like the many couples we've all known or been a part of, our favorite musical groups are prone to disbanding despite the love … or, the classic albums, the flawless live performances, and the near unanimous critical acclaim.
The Beatles. The Jackson Five. The White Stripes. Rage Against the Machine. Uh ... Destiny's Child. Groups unravel even at the height of success. And in hip hop, one of the most painful breakups for fans has always been the day A Tribe Called Quest called it quits. There's been plenty of speculation about the group’s demise, the most common theory being that Phife Dawg was, well, feeling a little bit like Kelly Rowland to Q-Tip's Beyonce. That's the last Destiny's Child reference I'll be using -- I swear.
Fans finally get somewhat near closure on ATCQ’s separation thanks to the documentary Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest. Michael Rapaport (the actor probably best known for his role as a college freshman outcast turned neo-Nazi in John Singleton's Higher Learning) and longtime hip hop fan/New Yawker serves as the film's director. Clearly, the film is a bittersweet love letter to not only a group he still adores but also to the hallowed days of old school hip hop in NYC, in the days when Soulja Boy was still a zygote and had the potential to not grow up to be a truly heinous approximation of a rapper.
Vintage photos of emcees, DJs, breakers, and hip hop founding fathers and mothers literally come to life onscreen as the film takes us to Queens' Linden Blvd., where we trace the formation of elementary school students Johnathan Davis and Malik Taylor into Q-Tip and Phife Dawg of one of the most beloved hip hop groups of all time.
We learn that Q-Tip voraciously scoured vinyl shops and his father's record collection for beats (his reenactment of creating the "Can I Kick It?" track is worth the price of admission alone) and that despite writing his first rhyme around the age of 9, Phife took longer than Q-Tip to warm up to joining a group and didn’t come into his own as an emcee until ATCQ’s second album The Low End Theory. We learn that local legend DJ Red Alert (the uncle of Jungle Brothers’ Mike G) helped them get their start and that The Native Tongues collective (including Tribe, The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Black Sheep, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Brand Nubian, and The Beatnuts among others) fostered a movement for rappers who were, self-admittedly, weird.
Rapaport interviews hip hop’s finest (Questlove and Black Thought, Common, Pharrell, Beastie Boys), culling sound bites of unending praise for Tribe’s discography and oral histories on the group's rise to fame and their influence on other artists.
But of course, you can’t discuss ATCQ’s peak of accomplishments and cultural impact without inevitably discussing the groups’ personal implosion. First, the exit of fourth member Jarobi White (I’ll be the first to admit, as a Tribe fan, that I did not know of Jarobi until watching this film. Yes, I’m ashamed) which was a source of emotional distress for his good friend Phife, who was also dealing with the repercussions of an un-checked diabetic condition. He talks about his addiction to sugar despite knowledge of his disease and the friction it caused between him and Q-Tip who took a self-described “gym teacher approach” (which he later regretted) in encouraging Phife to eat well and exercise with him and deejay Ali Shaheed Muhammed.
Physical fitness aside, the growing fracture in Tip and Phife’s friendship appears to be the main factor in the group’s break-up as Ali kind of sits on the fence as an easygoing pacifist with limited screen time in the film. (He’s looking fine these days, though, so good for him). Phife’s references to Q-Tip as the Diana Ross or Michael of the group (he delivers a Tito Jackson punchline which is, probably, the funniest quote of the entire movie) and Tip’s somewhat feigned ignorance of why Phife is so upset doesn’t do much to clarify the real reason of the split. It’s one great emcee’s word against another’s.
The friction in the group affected their creative output, with many calling their Beats, Rhymes and Life album the “beginning of the end.” [Note: I actually really like that album and think it gets an undue bad rap.] By the time The Love Movement was released, everyone knew the group had had it. However, the story of how the group officially disbanded has Q-Tip telling a markedly different tale than Ali and Phife; the former saying it was unanimous decision and the latter two saying Tip wanted to go solo.
For hip hop groups, break-ups -- or indefinite hiatuses -- seem to occur at higher frequencies than in other genres: Gangstarr, Blackstar, The Pharcyde, Fugees. Lauryn Hill of the latter group once spit an unintentionally prophetic and self-referential verse on "Zealots" from their breakthrough -- and final -- album The Score: "Two emcees can't occupy the same space at the same time/It's against the laws of physics/So weep as your sweet dreams break up like Eurythmics." Hype men and deejays aside, all rappers in a group must command a stage and demonstrate skill or risk befalling the second banana curse (Sorry, Pras…). But if all the emcees hold their own -- and do so exceptionally well -- another issue arises: Is it feasible to equally distribute the shine on each emcee? If each emcee is good enough to go solo, why not just go solo?
Which is exactly what Q-Tip did, releasing three albums between 1999 and 2009, reuniting with Ali and Phife in 2004, 2006, and 2008 for the Rock the Bells tour, primarily because Phife needed money to cover his extensive medical bills.
It is in Rapaport's behind-the-stage footage (often hand-held, shaky and unaware of how the zoom function works) that we see Phife and Tip's contentious friendship truly come to a head. In short, these scenes are documentary gold and perhaps the reason Q-Tip protested the film's premiere at Sundance late last year (ATCQ as a group have a producing credit on the film and the other members fully supported its release). As neutral as Rapaport tries to be, the unfolding of events and interview commentary may paint Phife as the people's champ, particularly as we follow the heart-string-tugging side narrative of his ongoing health problems.
The film ends on one those artfully subtle notes that documentarians would kill for. Rapaport's labor of love salute to A Tribe Called Quest and to a golden era of hip hop could be the template for any examination of group dynamics. If there's any moral of this story, it's a quite simple one: Sometimes relationships get ill.
Beat, Rhymes and Life is in theaters now. If you were lucky to show up on premiere night in Berkeley like I was, you got to see Phife roll through:
Kyu Sakamoto was popular in the early 60's even having international success with his Japanese love song, "Ue o muite arukō." When it was brought over to the UK, they changed the name to "Sukiyaki." The new title had nothing to do with the song but sukiyaki is delicious and it was easier for the non-japanese speakers to pronounce. I would have called it, "A China Chong Chong." That's catchier and that's what all that gobbledy gook sounds sounds like to me. That was like three kinds of offensive if you look closely. *bows and hits gong*
Below you can check out his hit song, "Sukiyaki" and a couple more. He definitely sounds like a product of his times. He has some Four Seasons vocal styling going on and you can even see some older swing sensibilities in the backing music and phrasing. He is an interesting study of cultural appropriation and a melding of styles.
My friend passed this along to me a while ago. My fault for just getting around to posting this now. Thank you for the super awesome find though. Apparently Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates, hosts this show called, "Live From Daryl's House." The video below comes from an episode he did that featured Booker T, from Booker T and the MG's (The legendary backing band for the legendary Stax record label), and Stereofat's most posted about artist, Mayer Hawthorne. They get down on Mayer's song, "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out." I could do without Daryl singing. I am pretty sure he forgets the lyrics at one point, but yeah it's his house, so I guess he can do whatever the hell he damn well pleases.
Daryl also did an episode with another one of my favorite artists, Sharon Jones. It's strange to see her without the Dap Kings. You can't really get a better backing band than them but Daryl and his crew do a pretty good job of standing in for them. Below is their video for, "100 Days."
Pretty sweet deal Daryl has going on at his house. Check out his site for full episodes and peruse the archives. You don't want to miss gems like the Bacon Brothers episode or the one with the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls...stellar stuff.
New video, "Fou Lee," from Blue Scholars. About the video from Geo:
"We had house parties during recording sessions for The Long March and Bayani during that time, made a lot of coffee runs, had a lot of meetings, and the meals we shared were usually cooked with ingredients bought at our favorite Vietnamese-owned Philippine grocery store, where the staff greets you in Tagalog spoken with thick Vietnamese accents. This song uses food as an analogy for who we are – a mash-up of ingredients, chopped up and thrown onto a fire made from memory instead of recipe."
Less music in this one but you say El Mac and I'll post it. Part of "I Am Los Angeles". A little about them:
"I Am Los Angeles is an online collection of documentary portraits that feature the first-hand experiences and stories of unique and intriguing personalities in Los Angeles."
Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.
Nice little video. It's a short film by JW Griffiths titled, "Splitscreen: A Love Story." It was was shot entirely on a Nokia N8 cell phone and won the 2011 Nokia Shorts Competition.
Way old by now but still terrifying. I have been in the same room while "Toddlers in Tiaras" has been on and it's some pretty scary shit. Add the slowed down drunken dwarf style and it just pushes it over the edge of sanity. *shudders*
The Cool Kids remixed by Cookin Soul. I am a fan of both of them.
Action Bronson is pretty scary. Love his music though.
Hey!! Wake up and flip the record!! This is a soul mix guurl this isn't slow jams for seniors. Wake yo ass up!!
Damn it's been a bit since I put together a soul mix. This shit used to be my bread and butter too. But lately, I have been all about getting my indie on, all consumed by ill fitting beanies, tight pants, and weekly trips to the Farmer's Markets. Thus leaving my original love to wither and die like a sunchoke on the vine...do sunchokes grow on vines?...no, no they do not. Shit...uhh, save the heirlooms!!...no? That won't get me enough cred?...damn it. *Hands over urban farmer card* Screw your vegan mexican food, I'm going to Taco Bell.
Enough of those hipster elitists, we're back in the soul saddle, so giddy up. Download it here. Or hit the jump for samples, the whole tracklist and non-judgmental consumption of in-organic, toxic orange, nacho cheese chalupas.
There is a man -- let's call him Deejay Graybosch -- who likes to send me links to news items of obese people cemented to lawn chairs or accidental deaths via sex toy with the express purpose of following up with "...and it happened in Ohio!"
California's my birth state and where I've lived for the past 6 years, but I spent my childhood and college years in the Buckeye State. Most people here, upon hearing that fact, assume that I'm adopted or wonder why I'm not wearing overalls. You ever have someone from Bakersfield try to clown on the city you're from? Unbelievable.
But aside from me, there are tons of extraordinary people from Ohio. Oscar winner Halle Berry, "Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride" NBA star LeBron James, indie auteur Jim Jarmusch, Sarah Jessica Parker from that one show, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and a slew of other notables. And when it comes to music, we're not too shabby either.
Below is the best and brightest Ohio has to offer in terms of musicianship. For obvious reasons, I omitted 98 Degrees, Lil' BowWow, and with a heavy heart, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. BTW, it is an Ohio rite of passage to say you saw a member of Bone at your local Kroger grocery store. Ask any Ohioan. Well, any Ohioan of color.
1) The Pixies "Here Comes Your Man" -- Kim Deal, bassist, from Dayton, OH
Bonus: My boyfriend Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing "Here Comes Your Man" from 500 Days of Summer.
2) The Black Keys "She's Long Gone" -- from Akron, OH
3) The National "Blood Buzz Ohio" -- from Cincinnati, OH
4) The Pretenders "Creep" (Radiohead cover) -- Chrissie Hynde, lead singer, from Akron, OH
5) Macy Gray "Wake Up" (Arcade Fire cover) -- from Canton, OH
6) Kid Cudi "All Along" -- from Cleveland, OH
7) RJD2 "Smoke and Mirrors" -- from Columbus, OH
8) Soul Position "Keep it Hot for Daddy" -- RJD2 and Blueprint, from Columbus, OH
9) Adam WarRock "Angry Asian Man" -- Ohio State University alum
10) Hi-Tek "Breakin' Bread" -- from Cincinnati, OH
11) John Legend "Slow Dance" -- from Springfield, OH
12) Bobby Womack "Across 110th Street" -- from Cleveland, OH
13) Ohio Players "Summertime" -- from Dayton, OH
14) Nancy Wilson "Satin Doll" -- from Chillicothe, OH
15) The Isley Brothers (feat. Jimi Hendrix) "Looking for a Love" -- from Cincinnati, OH
16) The O'Jays "How Does It Feel" -- from Canton, OH
17) Kool and the Gang "Summer Madness" -- Robert and Ronald Bell, from Youngstown, OH
18) Bootsy Collins "Funk McLovin'" -- from Cincinnati, OH
19) Deee-Lite "Groove is in the Heart" -- Lady Miss Kier, lead singer, from Youngstown, OH
20) Zapp and Roger "I Wanna Be Your Man" -- from Dayton, OH
Free mix from yvynyl. "Maybe these are a set of summer tunes for yr vacation roadtrips, or perhaps just yr backyard BBQs. Slow down and feel ‘em." Tracklist below. Head on over to their site to read the post and grab the mix.
Bottom of the World- Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
Goshen- Beirut
Colour Me Badd- Land of Talk
How Can U Luv Me- Unknown Mortal Orchestra
I Get Nervous- Lower Dens
Lovers Carvings- Bibio
Sunday Morning- Gardens & Villa
Dosh Remix- Roma Di Luna
Modern Normal- Memoryhouse
This people, is the fucking goldmine of free music. Top notch blogs with exquisite taste do all of the work for you...and me. It's pretty glorious if I do say so myself. Four great blogs just hand out awesome music and don't even expect you to buy them dinner. It's all part of Think or Smile's July Free music collection. Head over there and check them out.
This the latest mix from Gorilla vs. Bear. It is a sampler of the artists who will be playing their first ever, Gorilla vs. Bear music Festival, in Dallas on July 23rd.
Tracklist:
01 Preteen Zenith :: Extraction
02 White Denim :: Drug
03 Grimes :: Vanessa
04 Shabazz Palaces :: an echo from the hosts that profess infinitum
05 Sleep ∞ Over :: La Rose
06 Pure X :: Dry Ice
07 White Denim :: Street Joy
08 Sunset :: Moonlight
09 Dreamed :: Izumi
10 Grimes :: Devon
11 Shabazz Palaces :: Swerve…the reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)
12 Sleep ∞ Over :: Casual Diamond
13 Radiohead :: Reckoner (Julianna Barwick remix)
14 Washed Out :: Eyes Be Closed (Grimes remix)
15 Julianna Barwick :: The Magic Place
Fair warning though, if you do download these, you may find some of them on upcoming Stereofat mixes. This is like giving you the raw uncut material. I like to filter through this stuff and pick and choose my favorite songs for mixes.
Last Donut of the Night from Tuomas Vauhkonen on Vimeo.
Part of the Stone's throw music video contest a previous entry was posted as part of this Eye Candy. Man this one for, "Light Works," from the same competition is amazing as well. Such a sucker for that style. I am really glad that a lot of design and animation is going back to that look. Always loved this song too.
Peanut Butter Wolf and Michael Rapaport shopping in Amoeba records. This little video is done in part to promote the A Tribe Called Quest documentary, "Beats Rhymes and Life," that Rapaport directed and PB Wolf served as the music supervisor on. I will be checking this out in Berkeley tonight. Check out the official site to see if it's playing near you.
Free, Ghostface, Funk, that's a nice little three word combo. I haven't given this my undivided attention yet, but it sounds like something that I would be into. Go to Max Tannone's site for the download link. A little about the project from the man himself, below.
"Released in July 2011, Ghostfunk pairs one of my favorite hip-hop artists, Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah, with vintage African funk, high-life, and psychedelic rock music. Artwork by Joe Dichiara."
Wu-Tang Fugazi mashup. About the project: "Wugazi is a labor of love by Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy. Cecil Otter is an emcee & producer, and one of the founding members of Doomtree. He has contributed to over a dozen records. His most recent full-length, Rebel Yellow, was re-released by Sage Francis for Strange Famous Records. Swiss Andy is a musician & producer residing in Minneapolis. He has been a contributor to several bands including The Millionth Word, Field Guide and The Swiss Army. He is currently working on a remix of Rebel Yellow." Go to their site to grab the songs. Sleep Rules Everything Around Me by WUGAZI
Adam Warrock who previously blessed any nerds who wanted to hear rapping about X-Factor with his free mixtape posted about here. Is back with more free-ness. This time he is rapping about the New Warriors. I will probably pass on this, I barely remember these dudes, but maybe one of you is a huge...checks wiki..Hindsight Lad fan...really? That is one of the worst names I have ever heard. *pours tea for Strong Guy
action figure* Grab the mix here.
The theme today seems to be Asians and Wu-Tang, sort of correlated, I heard we drafted them in the racial draft. Model Minority recently dropped their gigantor 22 track mixtape entitled, "Tiger Sons." I am sure pretty much everyone knows what the title references but if you are out of the loop you can check out the article here. I am not sure if I have ever heard a Model Minority track, so really I have no formed opinion on them. I assume they are overtly political, I doubt they are clubby, and I am guessing that out of 22 tracks they should have at least one good one, but I could be totally wrong. So with that sparkling recommendation you can grab the mixtape at their site here.
Update: Here is a video for one of the songs off of the mix. It won't really get the party started but I support all asians with beards.
Not free but this project from Prometheus Brown (Geologic from Blue Scholars) and Bambu from Native Guns just came out. About the project via Angry Asian Man, The two Filipino American emcees recently joined forces during a week-long visit to Hawaii to create an album -- "laced with beats by local Hawaiian producers and rounded out by some of LA and Seattle's most talented beatsmiths" -- that pays homage to the islands." Go to the Blue Scholars site to buy, sample it below.
I am grabbing a bunch of free indie mixtapes for an upcoming post as well, so be on the lookout for that if hip hop isn't your thing.
Looks That Kill - HD from Yuki 7 on Vimeo.
Kevin Dart and Elizabeth Ito's new book/DVD, "Looks that Kill," has a new promo video and it looks pretty good. It stars 1960's spy girl Yuki 7, and her secret agent colleagues, the Gadget Girls. I have been a fan of Kevin Dart's art from some of his earlier work, I think these may have been the first pieces I saw from him. Which then led to me doing a little research and finding his awesome fake movie posters, like this one. Check out more of his work at his site.
Dayam that's a line up. Pete Rock and Smif-N-Wessun with Styles P and Sean Price. Part of Nahright's "One Shot video series."
Posted this before but here is Bon Iver's video for his single, "Calgary" again. Another reminder that he will be playing the Greek theater on Thursday September 22nd. Grab tickets here.
Gracie- Untitled from andrew balasia on Vimeo.
Very summery video from Gracie. Way more about them at Friends With Both Arms, one of the sites I regularly seek "inspiration" from. Seriously check out her site, she has great taste and finds all sorts of indie goodness. Take for example the video below as well, that her and her organization, Invisible Children produced as part of their "Silver Series."
Kiersten Holine has excellent taste in music. Her cover of the Beach Boy's, "God Only Knows" is the second track on this new mix. Above she covers another one of Stereofat's favorites, The Morning Benders. What? You also like Andrew Bird and Fleet Foxes??!! *Fumbles for ring pop to propose.* Check out her website here.
Blondie makes some appearances on the mix and I am partuclarly fond of her French version of, "Sunday Girl." Some comments from the youtube page by native French speakers said that they could not understand one word of the song. I am not a French speaker so it all just sounds like pretty noises to me, but what's your prognosis Dr. Tres Quais? Can you pick up what she is putting down?
Blondie- Sunday Girl (French version)
Sharon Van Etten is all kinds of awesome. She has a heavy presence on the blogs I frequent and rightfully so. She crafts such pretty alluring music it's hard to not be drawn in by her voice.
NPR Music said, "Her songs are heartfelt without being overly earnest; her poetry is plainspoken but not overt, and her elegant voice is wrapped in enough rasp and sorrow to keep from sounding too pure or confident."
Word. Sample her song, "Love More" below. Yellow Ostrich does a bad ass cover of this that will be on an upcoming Indie mix as well.
Sharon Van Etten- Love More
Download the mix here or hit the jump for a couple more samples and the full tracklist.
Slum Village or what remains of them will be at the New Parish in Oakland. The show is on Friday, July 22nd. Tickets are $23.09 total and you can get them here. I saw Elzhi awhile back when he came through with Black Milk, he puts on a good show, really clear on the mic, which unfortunately can not be expected from all hip hop artists.
Foreign Exchange will be at The New Parish on Tuesday, July 26th. Tickets are $28.37 total and you can get them here. I like Little Brother (when I say Little Brother I mean Phonte, Pooh, AND 9th, LB minus 9th is not the same) better than Foreign Exchange. I am not as into the R&B style they have going on. A little too much crooning, not enough rapping for my taste.
Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile give you options on Tuesday, July 26th. Hip hop or Indie? Moore and Vile will be at The Great American Music Hall. Tickets are $26, available here.
The Cool Kids are also having a show at The New Parish on Thursday, July 28th. Tickets range from $20-25. Get them here. I saw these guys when they were part of the openers for Q-Tip a couple years back. Definitely worth checking out. They got that bass that will knock a filling loose. Love their throwback style.
August
Adele will be coming back to The Greek theater to make up for her previously canceled show. She arrives on Sunday, August 14th. Tickets are $45 for general admission, $65 for reserved seating...I don't think I have been to a concert at The Greek that was anything but general admission. Tickets are still available here.
Reggie Watts who is both a comedian and singer will be at the Independent in San Francisco on Wednesday, August 17th. Tickets are $20, get them here. We saw him as the opener for Conan O'Brien when he came through on his, "Banned From TV" tour. He also made a video appearance during Donald Glover's opening set at the Childish Gambino show. Funny guy with funny friends.
Bilal, that crazy ass dude from Detroit will be at The New Parish on Monday, August 29th. Tickets are $20-25 and can be found here. Whenever I hear his name I just think of that Black Milk line, "So Detroit like I'm Bilal."
September
Fleet Foxes are playing the Greek theater in Berkeley on Saturday September 10th. Tickets are $39.50 plus service charges and can be found here.
Bon Iver will be at the Greek as well on Thursday, September 22nd. Tickets are $39.50 plus service charges, grab them here.
TV On The Radio will be at the Fox theater in Oakland. I like the Fox a lot more than the Greek. Much more intimate, the Greek is awesome, it's just so big. Anyway, they will be here on Tuesday, September 27th. $35 plus charges. Get yo tickets here.
Braids who I am a big fan of will be at The Bottom of The Hill in San Francisco. Their show is on Tuesday, September 27th, the same night as the TV On The Radio show. Tickets are $10 and you can get them here.
