An Appreciation of… Todd Rundgren

From generation to generation there are many things that are lost and gained in music. As 90’s kids have experienced a reflux in appreciation of Disco in the last few years, but have probably lost an understanding of the NWOBHM that came after it. For some reason or another, be it through modern hits or the marketing of discographies from major labels, some artists slip through the radar when it comes to being discovered by new audiences. One of these artists is Todd Rundgren. Now if someone heard ‘I Saw The Light’ (Below) it may be different, but generally the scope of his musical endeavours is un-trampled ground for many.

To pigeon hole Todd Rundgren into one genre is a difficult one as he could shift from a sort of blue-eyed soul to experimental art rock in just the movement of the stylus needle. He originally started off in a Beatles-esque pop quarter, who had a hit in ‘Hello it’s Me’ which was strange because just three years later he would get his break as producer replacing George Harrison for Badfinger’s ‘Straight Up.’ However away from Todd Rundgren the producer for now, as a solo artist he really set out his modus operandi in his 1972 solo album ‘Something/Anything’, with three quarters of the album recorded with Todd playing every instrument, singing all vocals and producing it all. Todd Rundgren had reportedly shown dissatisfaction at other studio musicians so had set out to make an ambitious double album, all by himself. The album contains pop songs to Motown influenced numbers but it also shows signs that he was veering towards more experimental rock of which would alienate a lot of this albums fans in the years to come.

After the success of ‘Something/Anything’ Todd Rundgren released ‘A Wizard, a True Star’ which pushed the boundries on how much music could fit onto a long-playing LP, despite there being no gaps between songs, playing like a 56 minute mix. The quality of the sound was also compromised because of this, something of which Todd Rundgren acknowledges on his liner notes of the album.The album’s highlight is probably  the fantastic ‘Just One Victory’ (Above) which became an unofficial anthem for Todd’s loyal cohort. He then joined a band named ‘Utopia’ and made cosmic influenced psychedelic rock of which they decided to have no advertising and rely solely on word of mouth to sell their records. For years after he churned out some quality tracks as well as some difficult and bizarre songs, but his song-writing quality was evident for everyone to see. Although it’s as Todd Rundgren the producer and multi-instrumentalist that created some of his biggest hits.

Todd Rundrgen got his first break as the sound engineer for The Band’s ‘Stage Fright’ it was quick work with The Band already knowing what songs they wanted on the LP and taking over production duties themselves, but it was a great starting block which would help him on Badfinger’s ‘Straight Up’. Without delving too much into the tragic story behind Badfinger, Todd Rundgren played an important part in ‘Baby Blue’ a song revitalised by its use as the final song in Breaking Bad last year. After that Todd Rundgren was recruited to produce the debut album of New York Dolls, a band who’s live shows had created a fair amount of buzz, and everyone felt that Todd could deal with the pace as well as not take any shit from a band that were ‘kind of persona non grata to most producers at the time.’ The album didn’t find the commercial success many were hoping but is still regarded as an important album in the punk-rock explosion that was about to take off in the 70’s, it is also regarded as Morrissey’s favourite album, if that means anything. Todd would then help Grand Funk Railroad hone their sound on ‘We’re an American Band’ and then help Hall and Oates veer away from their blue-eyed sould roots on ‘War Babies,’ but it was the album in 1977 he produced that would be the biggest selling LP of his career. Meatloaf’s ‘Bat out of Hell’. Traces of Todd Rundgren’s immense talent are littered all over Meatloaf’s 43million sold behemoth of a record, but the biggest example can be seen on the title track as he plays piano and lead guitar climaxing in a huge solo.

Meatloaf- Bat out of Hell    

Badfinger- Baby Blue ()

New York Dolls- Looking for a Kiss ()

Grand Funk Railroad- We’re an American Band ()

If he’s producing some of the 70’s best albums, creating his twisted psychedelic sound or making pleasant pop songs he is someone worth remembering. Whilst I prefer to talk about his career rather than his personal life, a small indication of the person he is comes from when he treated his lovers daughter like she was his own despite multiple doubts and the end of their relationship. He helped finance her life, gave her his name in Liv Rundgren and paid for her private education whilst putting his ‘heart and soul into the white lie.’ The child turned out to be Steven Tyler’s biological daughter and now famed actress Liv Tyler, who deeply appreciated what Todd did for her and still looks at Todd as one of her two fathers. Many artists slip through the net when the generational baton is passed, but great musicians, song-writers and producers such as Todd Rundgren deserve to be remembered.

Todd Rundgren- A Dream Goes on Forever  

Cheap Trick- I Can’t Take It ()

The Psychadelic Furs- Love My Way (

An Ode to…MTV BASE

This last week in America has seen mountains of abuse heaped on the creators of the Lifetime movie ‘Aaliyah: Princess of R&B’. Timbaland branded it as ‘Bullshit’ and others have waged in calling the portrayal of Baby Girl (her nickname) as an untrue representation of America’s sweetheart. To people who may not know, Aaliyah’s death in 2001 in a tragic plane accident impacted on many fans as her musical and acting career was really just about to start. For British fans to understand, it was like Lady Soverign dying right after 9 to 5, I know, heavy stuff. Now although I haven’t been bothered to check out the film, it’s appearance in the news made me think of two things which go hand in hand. R Kelly and MTV Base. The reason I thought about R Kelly is because he met Aaliyah at age 12, and selflessly mentored her, and produced her album and of course, because he is R Kelly, golden showered her with love. R Kelly denied any sort of sexual relationship and claimed they were merely close friends rather than lovers .When she was aged 15, R Kelly (27) married Aaliyah, of course illegally, and again openly denied it, despite documentations suggesting otherwise. As I stated before R Kelly produced Aaliyah’s first album of which he conspicuously named ‘Age is Nothing but a Number.’ Which is pretty much the equivalent of standing in an elevator with another person, proudly eating a Burrito and loudly farting whilst stonily denying said deed. However all is okay, R Kelly is forgiven, if only Max Clifford had belted out ‘The World’s Greatest’, Rolf Harris had ‘put his hands through his ‘fro’ and Gary Glitter really believed he could ‘turn back the hands of time’, Operation Yewtree would have no guilty men. Anyway, away from R Kelly for now, the thing that the Aaliyah film made me think of the most was where I first heard of her and the answer was the music video to ‘Back and Forth’ on MTV Base.

On July 1st 1999, MTV launched a subsidiary channel named MTV Base, it would be a platform to promote music of black origin such as R&B, Soul, Hip-Hop and Rap. This may not seem like anything now, but back in 1999 there was limited ways to find out about new or even old hip-hop across the Atlantic, and if it wasn’t in the charts or on a compilation CD, then there was a slim chance you would of heard of it. This isn’t a nostalgic view of how music was shared or discovered back in the early 00’s but rather an appreciation of the music that was released around this period of which was a Golden Age of R&B and Hip-hop. It was on MTV Base where I discovered Outkast as the ‘Ms Jackson’ video was played multiple of times before it made an assault on the UK charts. It was on MTV Base where I first heard Nas, with Hype Williams huge video for ‘If I Ruled The World’ which started my love affair with Nastradamus. In other words a lot of my favourite artists  I discovered on MTV Base at the young age of 9 or 10, and although I was a white suburban kid who had no idea what the hell ‘No Diggity’ meant or thought Jay Z was mid-stroke when he shouted ‘H to the Izz-O…V to the Izz-A’ the music was great.

One of the main elements of MTV Base was of course to showcase new singles and promote albums to our shores, and it was the music from 1999-2003 which I specifically miss the most. The R&B songs were heavily sexualised and a lot of the songs were basically coital music, but the whole musical landscape at the time wasn’t as serious as it is now and the music was really fan and even camp in an oxymoronic kind of way. That sounds like something a wanky arts student would say, but just listen to songs like ‘The Thong Song’ by Sisquo and ‘ In Those Jeans’ by Ginuwine, and you will see that although heavily sexualised, the songs could be sung by big masculine guys as much as Lily Savage and a drag choir. (The choir would consist of Sylvester, Peppermint, that bloke who won Eurovision and orchestrated by Dame Edna Everage)

It was a time when an Ashanti features would almost give the track quality assurance and every school kid would attempt their gruffest voice when replicating a Ja Rule rap or if you were feeling really hoarse, a DMX intro. It was a period where you could be as soppy as you wanted like Joe in ‘I Wanna Know’, make as explicit videos as you liked, exemplified by a naked D’Angelo in ‘Untitled (How Does it Feel)’ or be as enormous as you wanted like Big Pun, Fat Joe and Beanie Siegel and it all be okay. Mariah Carey, Jenifer Lopez and Janet Jackson were the pin-up girls, Missy Elliot and Mary J Blige the Queens. Usher, Ludacris and Nelly were the young pretenders, Dr Dre sitting on the throne with his release of 2001 (annoyingly released in 1999). Although this American music of black origin movement of course wasn’t unique to MTV Base, with a lot of songs getting airplay across all types of channels, it was certainly the most prominent. Other MTV channels favoured big national releases or the current European dance songs that were crawling up the top 40. Looking at the only Americans hitting number 1 in 2000 being Britney, Eminem, Mariah Carey and Destiny’s Child, the US music scene wasn’t as significant on the British charts as it is now. Fast forward to 2004 where Ja Rule, Usher, Nelly, Mario Winans and Eamon all had number 1 hits, you can see the impact that MTV Base had in introducing and catapulting some of its biggest artists into UK chart success. However that’s all boring analysis of stuff that doesn’t matter now, and that’s what the music being featured on MTV Base from 1999-2003 was against, it was all about making solid, enjoyable tunes be it for a party or an orgy .Of course after 2003 the UK charts were saturated with these types of songs, and with any movement it became tired and a counter-culture in Grime would be born. Although from having ‘No Scrubs’ to being told to ‘Pop ya Collar’  and getting taught about being an ‘Independent Woman’, a track Beyonce made at aged 19 and is still her biggest selling hit, the music produced during this period is as memorable as anything in my lifetime and this is partially due to MTV Base.

(Here is a small playlist of some of the songs on MTV BASE from 1999-2003

The Gaslight Anthem- ‘Get Hurt’ Album Review

 

I saw The Gaslight Anthem for the first time at Reading Festival in 2008 after the eruption of the buzz surrounding ‘The 59 Sound’, it came around the same time I had fully listened to Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ and it made perfect sense to fall in love with this band. Brian Fallon (Main Vocalist) embraced the similarity to his idol, covering his work and even jumping at the chance to bring him out at a now famous Glastonbury performance. I saw TGA 3 times from 2008-2010 and each time Fallon and the rest of the band looked comfortable with the success they had amassed and the comparisons that came their way, they looked genuinely thankful and blessed to be doing what they loved. Then last year Fallon released a succinct rant at how his band was portrayed and not being able to do the things that many of the fans came to see him do,  such as a favourite cover or bring out a special guest. Many people were split as they thought that if the band didn’t want to draw these comparisons then they shouldn’t cover Pearl Jam’s ‘State of Love and Trust’ or repeatedly reference Tom Petty or Joe Strummer in their songs. However to me this was a message of a man who had become increasingly tired by the journalistic questions and wanted to pave his own path and have his own voice rather than be seen as a pale imitation of his heroes. The often cheery Brian Fallon (Vox, Guitar), underrated Alex Rosamilla (Lead Guitar) mischievous Benny Horrowitz (drums) and nonchalant Alex Levine (bass guitar) took a step back from the limelight, went away to write and record and have returned with the most complete album of their career.

The album starts with a proper message of intent in the single ‘Stay Vicious’ which makes the casual transaction from face-melting riffs to a sort of Iggy Pop ‘Passenger’ chorus of ‘La’s’ and is a decent start to the album but the next track in ‘1,000 Years’ completely blows it out the water. When you hear a song by a band 5 albums into their career that you would instantly put into their Greatest Hits you know you have a serious track on your hands. It seems like a perfect marriage of the heavy punches of Handwritten and the pop-rock quality that shined on American Slang, a lot of TGA best songs are ‘growers’ but this track immediately draws you into a multifaceted and powerful record. On this track Brian Fallon shows how much more of an accomplished and confident vocalist he has become over the years. Throughout the album his vocal delivery is the best it’s ever been, and his time with his side-project in The Horrible Crowes has evidently helped the band. It’s his pronunciation and slow articulation of words such as baby on ‘Get Hurt’ and his soft speech on ‘Underneath The Ground’ which really adds another element to every song which you discover initially and over time. The vocalist who is the most accomplished at this is The Boss himself and although the album sounds like a departure from The E Street Band’s sound and he wants an end to the comparisons, it is one of the biggest compliments you could give to any vocalist.

Fallon usually takes most of the band’s attention but Alex Rosamilla (Lead Guitar) has never sounded better as you can strangely hear his ‘The Cure’ and ‘The Displacements’ inspiration in equal measure. On ‘Get Hurt’ you can listen to the inner personal battle weather to make intricate licks of ‘Selected Poems’ or the bold forceful riffs evident in ‘Rolling and Tumblin’. He has seemed to improve the most from Sink or Swim to the punky Stadium Rock they are producing today, I’m sure touring with Mike Mcready (Pearl Jam) hasn’t done him any harm.

One of my favourite things about The Gaslight Anthem which has become apparent from being a fan of the last 6 years is that album tracks like Red Violins which didn’t click on first listen have a good chance of being one of my favourite on the record. ‘Ain’t A Shame’ seems a bit filler though but is followed by ‘Break Your Heart’ which follows the formula of my favourite TGA song in ‘Blue Jeans and White T Shirts’ which has Fallon’s croaky vocals rest upon an acoustic guitar and some neat engineering work. Brian Fallon came out recently saying they wanted to explore different sounds and having the sound engineer being The 1975’s self-titled album seems to have created a larger and more polished sound whilst allowing some experimentation.

The band came out in December 2012 and said

‘I want to do the No Code record, that one. They did these three rock records, and [then] they all of a sudden went left turn. And everybody went, ‘What the hell?’ Then later, five years, they went, ‘This is amazing.’

It was an interesting comment for the band to make, and the parallels between where Brian Fallon seems to be now and where Eddie Vedder was post-Vitalogy are similar but the position the bands are in and the music industry are very different. This album isn’t as much a far cry away from their previous sound as anticipated but rather a band becoming fully comfortable with who they are as artists and musicians and seemingly getting the monkey off their back when it comes to the fans wanting them to be different people. Sonically it is their strongest sounding and most complete album yet, and despite the immediate imagery of ‘Dark Places’ with the line ‘If I thought it would help, I would call your name into my heart’ the lyrics aren’t as powerful as ‘The 59 Sound’…yet. Though as I said earlier, The Gaslight Anthem are a band that makes a song that keeps giving and giving and at first the songs that appear to lack depth may appear to be the most poetic on the album. With first several listens it appears The Gaslight Anthem have made one of the best rock albums of 2014, and only time will tell if it will be as fondly regarded as ‘No Code’ is today.

Weekly Music Recap 21.05.15

I’ve starting a weekly music recap on my day off, which happens to be a Wednesday, so the following is all the new stuff from last Wednesday, enjoy.
New Music

 Hip-Hop

Jurrasic 5- The Way We Do It

First Jurrasic 5 song released in over a decade with Heavy D (Public Enemy) on production and Chorus duty.

Schoolboy Q- Hoover Street

The visuals for arguably the best song off of Schoolboy’s newly released ‘Oxymoron’ were released yesterday.

Bodega Bamz ft Raekwon- Fuck Dat Shit

Nicki Minaj- Pills n Potions

So this song is going to be blared out on every radio for the next month or so, so you may as well get accustomed to it.

Cam’Ron & A-Trak-DipShits (Just Blaze, Juelz Santana)

A-Trak has reuinted some of Harlem’s finest in The Diplomats (Dipset).

Bass+Dance  Music

Mix Of The Week- Applebottom- http://thump.vice.com/en_uk/mixes/mixed-by-applebottom

Bok Bok- Da Foxtrot

Donell Jones- U Know What’s up (Option 4 Remix)

358/2 (Days)- Hebona

Celsius- Attrition

Cassius Select- Judge/Lock

Rock Music

This website contains the Vocal range of most of the greatest vocalists of our team, and it’s an interesting read, especially if you are an Axl Rose fan, who’s vocal range is deemed the most impressive with the ability to even singer lower than the legendary Barry White.

http://www.concerthotels.com/worlds-greatest-vocal-ranges

Paramore- Ain’t It Fun

After multiple attempts on three albums, and being one of the biggest rock bands in the world, this is Paramore’s first single to crack the top 10 in the US, due to be released soon here.

Artwork Of The Week

How To Do Sexy

Mariah Carey- Me. I Am Mariah

How not To Do Sexy

Cher Lloyd- Sorry I’m Late

Hilariously Band Metal Artwork of The Week

Throwback Tune of The Week

Marvin Gaye- Where Are We Going

Weekly Music Recap 12.05.14

Top 4 Tracks of The Week

1. Coldplay – Always in My Head

2.Kurt Travis- Desperate

3. FKJ + Alice Russell- Hurry On Now

4. The Story So Far- Navy Blue

Rediscovered Track of The Week

Chance The Rapper- Long Time II

My Favourite Cover Art Releases of The Week

 

Bane- Don’t wait Up

Kurt Travis- Everything is Beautiful

Canterbury- Dark Days

Hillariously Bad Metal Album Art of the Week

Austin Deathtrip- How I Spanked Your Mother

Mirzadeh- Desired Mythic Pride

Splattered- Guttural Species

Funny Datpiff Rap/Hip Hop Mixtape Art

Rick Ross + Young Thug- Drama Time

Puppet- Puppet EP

Jonathon LS- Emotional Robot

Topical Tune of The Week

Jay Z- Money, Cash, Hoes

True Detective: True Disappointment

Spoilers Ahoy!

Unlike the inconstant and randomly  British speaking ‘Yellow King’ this HBO anthological series created an illusion that it was anything but ordinary and unlike the sister shagging freak that was the Green Eared monster, the show was exposed as your ordinary detective and buddy cop story. I haven’t tortured myself and gone to the cinema to see Kevin Hart and Ice Cube in ‘Ride Along’ but I am guessing that discussion over ‘who is tougher’ and a hospital reconnection cannot have been far from the screenwriters minds. True Detective was a good series, but after that scene in episode four and the depth that the script went into early on, like Peter Green from early Fleetwood Mac, the show threw away potential greatness.

My concern that the show wouldn’t have the conclusion I or thousands of other fans wanted came after reading an interview with Nic Pizzolatto on Buzzfeed*  a couple of days ago. Through his email correspondence he showed his kind of resentment at some of the theories that fans had deduced and was quick to debunk and unable to even flirt with any notions that Marty and Rust were ever suspects. This obvious unease with some of the fan theories probably stems from his knowledge that the finale’s dissatisfaction was likely to follow.  Through all the origins in Weird Fiction, to the introduction of non-consequential characters like Maggie’s father and the unresolved foreboding of Marty’s daughter it was all smoke and mirrors to mask a simple story of two White Men’s redemption and the justice of one sick criminal. Don’t worry about how the man was killed in police custody, the outcome of the Tuttles and how the mention of Rust’s visions earlier in the episode suddenly play a major part in the shows concluding and poorly done fight scene. All of these issues reek of poor screenwriting, something that I would never have questioned of Pizzolatto merely three episodes ago.

The good of the show in working with one cinematographer and as clichéd as it is, to make Louisiana a real character in the series should not go un-noted;  as too, McConaughey and Harrelson’s strong and at times sublime performances.  For television the show was a great success averaging 11million people a week within America and it has achieved favourable reviews so far (3^rd Episode) over here in the UK. I will not be the smallest bit surprised if every big agent in Hollywood have been receiving calls from their clients to secure them a role in the second series of the show, however like The Old Testament God, the show offered promise that it couldn’t deliver upon.  Fan theories and presentiments have been known to sour experiences before (see Lost) and will carry on to in the future, but Pizzolatto’s belligerence over where these Weird Fiction reliant theories came from is what angers fans. It basically means that HP Lovecrafts relevance, Rust’s visions and in particular seeing birds make a spiral and the use of Carcosa/Devil’s Nests are all merely a plot device to surround a basic good versus evil tale. I think maybe Cole is correct in stating that having some light is a success in this dark world and having an entertaining and often engaging experience in what is usually a black void of television entertainment can be attributed the same way. However, like is often the case it’s a time when our expectations, hope and theories far surpass the reality… but then again We’ll Always Have That Tracking shot.

(http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/true-dectective-finale-season-1-nic-pizzolatto)*

Classic Albums and Songs from 1994

With the advent of 2014 upon us we have already been inflicted with The Voice’s third season to scar our musical landscape and the return of Pitbull and Ke$ha to rape our clubs for the next coming weeks. Although with another year comes another chance for artists to cash in on Anniversary tours and for magazine/blogospheres to be lazy journalists and talk about a certain album ten/twenty years on. I shall be doing the latter as I have chosen a couple of albums which will be celebrating their 20^th Birthday this year, old enough to be known as a classic but young enough to  have its artists still creating music today. 1994 was the year Kurt Cobain’s heroin addiction claimed his life and MTV driven artists such as Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams and Sting were pitted against underground artists in the billboard charts. I have only looked at a couple of great albums and missed albums like  Sunny Day Real Estate and what is seen by some as the birth of the ‘emo’ generation, as well as albums from Prodigy, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. 1994 was really the year for Hip-hop and rap music and a time where music exec’s shifted their focus from the family friendly soft rock stars into edgier and more dividing characters.

 

Outkast- Southernplayalistcadillacmuzik

After a chance meeting on an airplane with none other than Rev Run, he introduced me and my Dad onto Outkast just before the release of the chart-topping Ms Jackson off of Stankonia. It wasn’t until years later than I turned back onto Outkast debut album coming out just two years after Andre 3000 and Big Boi met at just 16 years old. The album is primarily a southern rap album but with Babyface and Organized Noize as producers there are elements of R&B and Funk which the Outkast sound has become famous for. The beats on tracks such as ‘Funky Ride’ wouldn’t seem out of place on any track released in 2014 and Andre 3000 showcases throughout why he is regarded as one of the best rappers around. Southernplaylist isn’t necessarily a classic, it’s not even necessarily Outkast’s best album, which I would give to Aquemeni. Although it is a mission statement from Outkast and with their reunion tour playing at 40 festivals over the year, the funk, rap and stylish mentalities that are heralded on this album will still be present today.

 

Jeff Buckley- Grace

Looking back on the nineties and the tragic deaths of some of music’s rising stars, Jeff Buckley’s demise is the most unsettling for me. Admittedly when he went into the water on that fateful night it was three years after the release of the brilliant ‘Grace’ and we have no idea how ‘Sketches for my Sweetheart the Drunk’ would have turned out but his talent that shone through on his debut album suggests the brilliance he possessed. Jeff Buckley’s guitar playing and voice on the album combines folk sensibilities with the popular sound of Alternative Rock at the time and drew numerous admirers including David Bowie who claimed it was one of the best albums ever made. From his haunting cover of ‘Hallejuah’ to his lingering vocals on ‘Lilac Wine’ there was no one like him at the time and no-one like him since. The album still holds up twenty years later and tracks such as ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ are still as beautiful as the day our tragic hero penned it.

Nas- Illmatic

What can be said about Nas’s classic debut album that hasn’t already been said, twenty years later and this album is still the benchmark for every other rap album. With DJ Premier claiming that his long-awaited collaboration with Nas will be out this year it is a good time to look back to Nas at his hungriest and his choice of beats at its finest. Every track on the album could have been a single with Nas’s poetic delivery and his ability to transcend you to the streets of Queens Bridge, I challenge anyone to listen NY State of Mind and not want to bark out ‘I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death’.  I go on about Nas too much but Illmatic is a masterpiece, enough said.

Best Tracks of 1994

Jamiroquai- Space Cowboy

The Brand New Heavies- Have a good time

Aaliyah- Back and Forth

Bruce Springsteen- Streets of Philadelphia

Johnny Cash- Let the Train Blow the Whistle

 

 

 

Mary J Blige- I’m going down

 

 

Stone Temple Pilots- Interstate Love Song

Best Soul Songs of 2013

 

Soul music is a genre which usually gets letterboxed as an older genre, its success in the past almost hurts the genre. The greats did such a good job in the past; I feel that if people were going to listen to Soul music they would listen to the Otis Redding’s of yesteryear. However although it is not usually popularised there are always stellar soul influenced albums that come out every year and 2013 is no different. Here are some of my favourite releases this year.

Gregory Porter- ‘No Love Dying’ and ‘Hey Laura’

Just like Charles Bradley a couple of years back, Gregory Porter seemingly came out of thin air but in actual fact he won a Jazz Vocal album Grammy in 2010, although it is through his latest album ‘Liquid Spirit’ that he has attracted the most attention. He has elements of jazz, blues and soul on his latest album and here are two tracks which really display his greatest quality which is his remarkable voice.

Alice Smith- ‘Fool for you’

I first heard about Alice Smith after hearing one of her tracks feature on the end of an Entourage episode, she then fell away for a bit and it was all quiet until the release of her second album ‘She’ which performed pretty well in the US. The album is varied with jazzy arrangements followed by traditional rock songs, but the one thing that stays constant is her soulful voice. She also happens to be married to Citizen Cope who produced hits such as ‘Sideways’ and ‘Let the Drummer kick’

Mayer Hawthorne-‘Crime’ ft Kendrick Lamar

This is more blue-eyed soul and Mayer Hawthrone has become the new king of the genre following his latest album ‘Where does the Door go’ in which he played every instrument on the album. The track also features one of K.Dot’s hundredth feature of the year.

Cleveland P Jones- ‘Free Yard Sale’

Cleveland P Jones whole debut album ‘Ace of Hearts’ allows you to hear some fresh Southern soul music and with this track ‘Free Yard Sale’ we see the brilliant arrangements and Cleveland’s raspy voice.

Omar- The Man

Some British soul coming from the quality record label ‘Tru Thoughts’ ,the whole album from Omar Lye Fook exudes a new grittier take on soul music and the single ‘The Man’ of which the album gets it’s name is a definite highlight.

Booker T Jones- Sound the Alarm ft Mayer Hawthorne

Booker T Jones the multi-instrumentalist genius behind Stax records and of well-known hit ‘Green Onions’ released a solid album showcasing why he will go down as a legend of the genre. Mayer Hawthrone also features on this track and sounds as good as ever.

Cody ChesnuTT- Till I Met Thee

I only knew Cody’s work through The Roots and then I was put on to his latest album ‘Landing on a Hundred’ by an illuminating review and loved it. The guitar in the intro to this track is especially superb and his perfection of the Marvin Gaye ‘Hooneeeyy’ he is a new Soul Icon.

Charles Bradley- Strictly Reserved For You

Charles life really changed following the release of his debut album, he was no longer a James Brown imitator he was an artist in his outright. His sophomore album ‘Victim of Love’ explored his new confident swagger and this track ‘Strictly Reserved For You’ is one of the best soul songs to come out for years.

Best Rap Skits Ever

Ever since De La Soul’s seminal ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ which takes the form of a gameshow, Rap artists have been filling up album slots with Skits comprising of shit-talking, phone conversations or in the case of Biggie getting his jollies off. The skit usually breaks up the flow of the album and involves numerous in-jokes which the laymen listener has no idea what is going on. Thanks to the death of the Walkmen, most rap fans will just skip right past the skits and on to the actual songs. However in some cases, the Skits are humorous or really add something to the album or the next track, so here are my selections of the best Rap Skits ever.

Dangerdoom (MF Doom + Dangermouse)
The rap/talking from 3.25 till the end, It is Meatwad rapping in a voice that wouldn’t sound out of place in The Rescuers, and it always gets a cheap laugh.

Kanye West- Skin #2
All of Kanye West’s skits are pretty good and I especially like Chris Rock’s bit on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but the memorable one has to be Skit #2 on Late Registration.  With the chanting of ‘We Broke, broke broke phi broke, We Ain’t Got it’ being as catchy as anything else on the album.

Dr Dre- Deeeez Nuuuuts
This is just the intro to a song on The Chronic that features Warren G on the phone punking a girl with the immature and brilliant punchline of Deeeezzz Nuuuuts! It is childishly brilliant and makes me laugh the same now as when I heard The Chronic.

Mobb Deep- Infamous Prelude

This one isn’t a good skit really, but is one of the first to straight talk at people and the only one I know of to start beef, which it did with Redman and Keith Murray. Prodigy speaks a lot of garbage but does say the immortal line at the end of ‘I might have to get on some ol’ high school shit and start punchin’ niggaz in they face just for livin’, which is pretty amazing.”

Ludacris- Greatest Hits sung by White People

Before Luda was grooming Bieber and doing shitey guest-slots, he was one of the best dirty south rappers, he was also hilarious. This skit on his album Word Of Mouf has Mike Johnson proclaiming an album called Ludacris’s Greatest Hits, Sung by White People! It is pretty funny, and is one of the things I remember most about the album other than downloading it from Lime-Wire years ago.

Wu Tang Clan- Torture

This skit involves members of the clan trying to outdo each other with stories of how they would torture people, you know the laughter heard in the background is genuine, I especially like Method Man’s sound effects and then it evolves into a classic Wu Tang Track.

Eminem- Public Service Annoucements

This was brilliant at the time with all of the controversy surrounding Eminem and his lyrics and the Parental Advisory stickers that had to put on them, he took the piss out of it all, and created what is definitely one of the most memorable skits of my generation.

Biggie- Fuck Me ft Lil Kim,

I mentioned this in the intro about Biggie skits, one of them has him getting a blowjob which is supposedly real and I really hope Biggie really was giving it to Lil Kim in this one too. Kim is dissing Notorious repeatedly which climaxes just before Biggie does when she says ‘You Chronic Smoking, Oreo Cookie Eating, Pickle Juice drinking, Chicken gristle eating, biscuit fucking fucking, mother fucker!’

 

The Supergroups, pt 1.

The Supergroups, pt 1.

This is a pretty tired idea, it is pub chat in its purest form and has cemented its place with other drunk ramblings such as the idea of ‘Opening a Bar’ and ‘Who would you invite to a dinner party?’. It is the assembling of a Justice League-esque group of crazy talent and I thought I would have an attempt with different genres and stipulations, so here it goes.

‘The New Black’

In the recent years we have been lucky enough to have a new array of talented musicians trying to prove their place as our generations’ greats, and the four I am thinking of specifically all seem to be African-American. I don’t even know what genre of music they would play although they are all very influenced by Fusion Jazz, but whatever it is, it would be at times unsettling and other times soothingly tranquil.

Singer+ Guitar- Willis Earl Bearl
Bass- Thundercat
Guitar + Vocals- Gary Clark Jr
Production- Flying Lotus

Here are two Thundercat and Fly-lo song showing their ability to remix; they both have hip hop and jazz backgrounds and are incredibly innovative in a number of different genres. Thundercat is probably the best bass guitarist around at the moment and Flying Lotus the most prolific songwriters. The second song is what would happen if Rick James took acid instead of crack.

Here is a track by Willis Earl Beal, the homeless person who appeared on the American X-Factor, he is one of the most intense performers around as can be seen in this video and has an ability to wail with the best. He’s also a pretty solid guitarist when he’s not using a toothpick as a plectrum.

And last and arguably the most talented of the bunch is Gary Clark Jr, he along with Willis is a one of the prophets of the American Blues revival, he can riff like The Black Keys and sing like a young Hendrix.