From the monthly archives:
After watching this really amazing video for Fan Death’s “Reunited,” there is one obvious question: what was wrong with that pumpkin? Directed by Dandilion Wind Opaine, the extended mix of this song drops on their forthcoming A Coin For The Well EP.
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Little Dragon’s first single from Machine Dreams, “My Step,” was a slip-sliding synth adventure. “Blinking Pigs” is a little more traditional in its production, but also a little warmer. They are touring the US through the fall, stopping in LA on Halloween for KCRW’s Masquerade Ball. More info on their ‘Space.
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Once in a very long while, somebody at a major label makes a mistake. I know, crazy, but such is the case with Morgan Page’s new remix for Jason Mraz’s “Make It Mine.” After asking Page to tackle the track, Mraz’s people (at Atlantic) didn’t like the way their tin ears heard it. This re-working has power to win over people who were previously indifferent (or oblivious) to Mraz while still keeping the integrity of the original tune. The French touch-esque open is sexy, and Mraz’s classic vocal harmonies actually sound futuristic when vocoded. Listen below before someone asks us to take it down.
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Kuti is really the only name in Afro-funk, and Fela Kuti, long hailed the father/creator/badass of the genre is now being hailed as Obama’s predecessor (sorta) on the “hits” collection, Best of The Black President. The disc compiles 13 songs from Kuti’s years with Nigeria 70, Egypt 80, and his other bands, for a solid introduction to the genre he created and his sons – notably Femi but also Saun – are still championing today. This disc is also the relaunch of Knitting Factory Records, which somehow got its hands on the Fela catalog, which it’s releasing remasters of over the next two years. We’re not sure how that plays as a business model, but it’s great for the public archives of music! Black President is currently streaming for free via AOL Music (really, what would Fela think of that kind corporate partnership?) and you can download the classic “Water No Get Enemy” below.
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God bless Juliana Hatfield. In a 20 year music career she’s managed to work consistently, progress musically, and stay as self-obsessed and distorted as she was in the beginning. She’s managed to keep her psychodrama both vital and central to her musical persona. Last fall she released an autobiography, When I Grow Up: A Memoir, which chronicled the ardors of touring, sexism in the music industry, and like, how some people suck and stuff. Her albums in recent years have been all over the place – the 2005 independently released Made In China was bizzare, but last year’s How To Walk Away had some really beautiful moments. On the forthcoming Peace and Love, Hatfield is going super solo, recording on an 8-track digital recorder without so much as an audio engineer to help her out. “I always like to try things I’ve never done before and I’d been yearning to record myself,” she says of the new album.
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New York quartet Brazilian Girls took it upon themselves to play a very) low-key spot at the Avalon in Hollywood Monday night. The gig was their first in Los Angeles in over a year, and one of the first warm-up gigs since lead singer Sabina Sciubba’s pregnancy. The event, sponsored by KCRW, was not promoted extensively (sans a mention on air and KCRW’s website), a fact many fans vocalized before the show.
Despite it being a warm-up gig, the set went beyond expectations. The group took to the stage shortly before nine and jumped right into “Jique,” off of Talk to La Bomb. Sciubba donned a lace body-suit and a giant red heart with a target in the center, inviting audience members to try and shoot arrows while shouting “I love you!” to them.
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