Budos Band: Budos Band II
August 15th, 2007
This 11-member group of Staten Island Jazz musicians originally called themselves Los Barbudos, meaning “the bearded ones”, but shaved the name down after one of the members trimmed his beard. Also in the spirit of keeping things short, all of the solos on Budos Band II are concise and interwoven into the songs’ other parts. They dig into grooves just as deep as their Afrobeat influences but without all the 20 minute long track lengths. Nobody steps on anybody else’s toes, Read on…
Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators: Keep Reachin’ Up
August 15th, 2007
Light in the Attic is usually just a reissue oriented label but while Keep Reachin’ Up looks and feels a classic, undiscovered, soul album, it’s actually a brand spankin’ new release, well at least domestically. This slab of funky, sophisticated soul was actually made with the help of a group of Finnish musicians and was originally released on Timmion records in late 2005. This is actually Nicole’s third solo album but her first with the Soul Investigators, a group of funky Scandinavians who dig the sounds of Booker T and the MGs and the Meters. Read on…
Daniel A. I. U. Higgs: Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot
August 15th, 2007
Daniel Arcus Incus Ululat Higgs, the former frontman of Baltimore, Maryland’s Lungfish, has released a collection of six extended, hypnotic, instrumental, droning, experimental pieces played on guitar, toy piano, Jew’s harp and banjo recorded on a handheld tapedeck. On the opening cut “Luminous Carcass Ornament,” an explosion of distortion gives way to a furious, backwoods, hillbilly raga as Higgs shreds through notes in rapid succession. “Cocoon on the Cross” is an eleven-minute-plus Faheyesque acoustic guitar workout with a visionary clarity that that transcends the fidelity of the recording while “Spectral Hues” Read on…
Reggae Rising 2007
August 15th, 2007 After months of an intense war of words, various allegations and lawsuits People Productions finally managed
to move forth and produce their first annual Reggae Rising festival as the Mateel Community Center hangs on the old moniker of Reggae on the River. In the end the landowner gave permission for use of the site to the group who had the experience in throwing the festival in years passed. The win, unfortunately, was not without it’s drawbacks. Most attendees that weekend walking the path still referred to the annual event as Reggae on the River, but it was obvious that a few keys differences were in place and a looming sense of nervousness clouded the normally joyous event. Read on…
Daft Punk at the Greek
August 15th, 2007 July 27th saw a sold out house at the Greek Theater with individuals eagerly anticipating the doors to open for the Daft Punk concert. Kicking off the festivities was the Rapture who wasted no time getting the party started. Fresh off their two explosive shows in L.A., these guys were on point right out the gates as they ran through hit after hit off their latest, “Pieces Of The People We Love” album. Heavily melodic and bass-driven, Read on…Big Rich and Balance
August 15th, 2007So what u been doing since ur last album dropped?
Big Rich: Well I hit the road… I was booked from September 06 til March 07… when I wrapped up the shows I got back in the studio… I’ve recorded over 50 songs for various projects.
Balance: I just been working on pushing “Young & Restless” album. It’s been out for over a year but tha promotions never stop.
Where did tha idea of doin Tha Unda Dogg Kingz mix CD come about? Read on…
Zodiac
August 15th, 2007
Part police procedural, part thriller, Zodiac brings one of the most famous serial killer stories to the big screen and does so with aplomb, thanks to the confident direction of David Fincher (Se7en, Panic Room, Fight Club), who manages to stick with the facts of Robert Graysmith’s book, while at the same time, creating an atmosphere thick with tension and intrigue. A dark chapter in San Francisco history began in 1968, with the first of a series of murders committed by a man calling himself Zodiac. Taunting the SFPD, he sent crude letters to the Chronicle and other Bay area newspapers containing details regarding his five victims that only the killer would know and kept up the correspondence until 1974. Fincher elicits strong performances from Robert Downey Jr Read on…
Mirah and Spectratone International: Share This Place
August 15th, 2007
This may sound like novel or clinical subject matter for a concept album but fans of Advisory Committee know that Mirah’s voice can lend emotional weight even to lines as odd as “we communicate with chemicals” like on “Community” to the point where you can actually empathize with a hive of bees enduring tragedies like colony collapse disorder and want to hum “we get things done” along with them. While it may also come in handy as a study guide for entomology students, Share This Place says a lot about the human condition for an album of songs with titles like “Gestation of the Sacred Beetle” and “Emergence of the Primary Larva”. Read on…