Does this guy really need an introduction at this point? Okay, for those not in the know, Flying Lotus is Steven Ellison, L.A.-based producer and one of the leaders of that city’s IDM-via-hip-hop noise scene. His Reset EP firmly established his place in the Warp Records family, and now, Ellison has furnished XLR8R with a remix of “Tea Leaf Dancers.” Here he slows the tempo down and turns up the soul elements, for a slinky, crooning rework.
Time magazine crowned Craze America’s best DJ in 2001, and you can make a case that he’s the best in the world, particularly in turntablism. Just check his three wins at the DMC World Championships. But he can spin a banging club set, too, laced with turntablism’s voracious appetite for beats, no matter from where. For this latest entry in the long-running FabricLive series, that means tracks leaping from hip-hop to electro to ghettotech and more. The Miami Vice theme? Check. Chromeo? Yup. Earth, Wind & Fire? Sure. But Craze makes it all work, so sharply mixed you barely notice just how good he really is–and he’s very, very good.
As the title suggests, 10 abstract electronic artists invite listeners to get lost in their favorite places. Field recordings of these places are followed by musical invocations of them. Dot Tape Dot scrubs himself in his tub, John Kannenberg transforms the British Museum into a cathedral through which thousands of ghosts pass, and Biosphere loops a half-asleep jazz ballad from lighthouse sounds. Some cheat by claiming their studios as their favorite places, and many here perform introspective works that ignore listeners. Still, there ought be more experiments like Favourite Places, at a time when rootlessness and alienation from the outside world prevail.
Members of the Get Physical roster will kick off a North American tour this March during the 2008 WMC festivities, then hit major U.S. cities and ones in Mexico and Central America.
Label bosses M.A.N.D.Y. (above), along with Canadian-born, London-based DJ and producer Heidi, are scheduled to play every date on the tour. They’ll be joined in May by British/Italian duo Audiofly, and Booka Shade is scheduled to join in the fun for one lone date in San Francisco.
Wantickets will be the exclusive ticketing partner for the tour Best to snap some up very soon.
Dates
03/27 Miami, FL: Studio A
04/23 Las Vegas, NV: The Hard Rock
04/25 San Francisco, CA: Mezzanine*
04/26 Los Angeles, CA: Avalon
04/30 Guatemala City, GT: Play Zone
05/01 Puebla, MX: Las Bodegas Del Molindo
05/02 Juarez: MX: Hardpop
05/04 Boston, MA: Underbar
05/05 Washington, DC: Fur**
05/06 Philadelphia, PA: Woody’s**
05/07 Toronto, ON: The Social**
05/08 Montreal, QC: Tribe**
05/09 New York, NY: Studio B**
05/10 Chicago, IL: Vision**
* w/ Booka Shade
** w/ Audiofly
First Raging Bull then Bob Marley? Martin Scorsese and the family of Bob Marley have begun production on an authorized documentary film on the life, legacy, and global impact reggae’s king. Tuff Gong Pictures and Scorsese’s Shangri-La Entertainment will produce the film, which is to be released globally on February 6, 2010, the 65th anniversary of Marley’s birth.
Louder Than Words is the forthcoming documentary produced by Wake The Town And Tell The People author Norman Stolzoff. The dancehall-focused film examines Jamaican dancehall music and culture from its origins to the present. The life and career of Ricky Trooper, of Killamanjaro and Sound Trooper, is featured throughout the 80-minute documentary; no release date has been set.
Looks like another sound clash event will bow out this year. The 7th Annual UK Cup Clash, to be held April 5 at The Stratford Rex in London, will be the event’s final staging. Entitled The Final Conflict, the clash will feature Killamanjaro, Bass Odyssey, Mighty Crown, and other top sounds.
The Reggae Academy Awards were held February 24 in Kingston, with live performances and awards delivered by Buju Banton, Cherine Anderson, Morgan Heritage, Marcia Griffiths, Tarrus Riley, and others. OutARoad has posted an excellent picture gallery from the event, with plenty eye-popping “red-carpet” attires. A complete list of the award winners is now available, with sees Tarrus Riley winning for Best Solo Male Vocal Performance, Breakthrough Artist, Best Video, and Best Recording. Busy Signal won for Solo Male Dancehall Vocal Performance; Stephen McGregor won Best Dancehall Riddim and compilation, while Beenie Man easily took the Most Popular Artist category. Special awardees included Chris Blackwell as Reggae Trailblazer Award and Ernest Ranglin for the Reggae Legend Award.
Not everyone was pleased with the selections, most notably dancehall publicist Ray Alexander, who thought authentic dancehall music was dissed at the event. Alexander told the Jamaican Star, “I think it was a total disrespect to dancehall, because what I saw, it showed a bias in all forms, the nominees, the categories and the performances itself where they had reggae artists perform with bands and the dancehall artists perform on tracks, which made [the dancehall performances] look weak.”
Burning Spear celebrated his earthdate on March 1. Winston ‘Burning Spear’ Rodney has been in the studio finalizing his next studio album, Jah Is Real, to be released summer 2008 on Burning Music Productions label. Joining him in the studio, performing on several of the album tracks, were Parliament Funkadelic legends bassist Bootsy Collins and keyboard maestro Bernie Worrell.
A new dancehall dance, in which people mimic the disabled, is being roundly criticized by disabled rights groups and others. The dance, called The Handicap, sees dancers pretend as if they have a deformed hand, bent at the wrist and elbow, bowed knees and with the head leaned to one side; the tongue may stick out during the process. The Star claims that a dancer named Dyema from the Attitude Girls is dance’s originator. Disability rights advocate Valerie Spence at the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) says she is disappointed. “Obviously whoever does [this dance] has a serious problem. If somebody is going to use a person’s disability as a dance that person is backwards.”
Pon Di Wire is feeling One876’s top ten video countdown. Viewers can watch music videos of Jamaica’s top singles by Vybz Kartel, Anthony B, Busy Signal, Mavado, RDX, and more, counted down with additional commentary.
Following a recent movement spurred by Tanya Stephens, Queen Ifrica, and other female artists writing about previously taboo subjects, Lady Saw (pictured above) has penned a song dealing with rape after a conversation with a young victim, which in turn stirred her own intense reflections. “When I was writing the song I cried. I cried because some of her experiences were my own,” Saw told Jamaica Observer’s Roland Henry, “I feared the song, I was afraid to tell my story, I was like ‘No, it going to cause too much attention’. I called Sly & Robbie (producers of the track) and said delete it, but they told me the words were too powerful and that somebody who’s hurting needs to hear it.”
Roots reggae singer Bushman has released his first fully independent album. The 15-track Get It In Your Mind is now available on his own Burning Bushes Music.
Germany’s Rootdown label, known for 2005’s successful Crystal Woman riddim, is back with its latest creation, the I-Love. Featured artists for the 7” and download releases include Luciano, Anthony B, Million Styles, Ginjsh, and Natural Black.
Classical reggae in Florida? You heard right, as John Holt and Freddy McGregor join the Reggae Symphony Orchestra on April 20 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale. The two reggae vocal icons are backed by Lloyd Parkes and We The People Band along with the 17-piece New York Symphony Orchestra.
LA’s weekly reggae party Dub Club, at The Echo-Plex in Los Angeles, has an impressive lineup over the next several months:
Wednesday March 12–Mad Professor & The Ariwa Posse
April 2–Don Carlos
April 18–Half Pint & The Yellow Wall Dub Band
June 18–David Rodigan
Friday June 27–Pat Kelly & Stranger Cole.
Each night features resident DJs Tom Chasteen, Roy Corduroy, Dungeonmaster, and Boss Harmony.
Not content to collaborate with Kanye and get numerous mentions each week on every single blog in the universe, the Fool’s Gold crew will hit the road in April for a handful of dates dubbed the “Screaming Bloody Murder Tour.”
The line-up will feature turntable prodigy A-Trak, along with Brooklyn DJ and producer Sammy Bananas and remix master Sinden. Oh yeah, Steve Aoki will be tagging along as well.
In the meantime, check the Fool’s Gold site for info on the label’s SXSW and WMC party lineup.
Screaming Bloody Murder Tour Dates
04/10 New York, NY: Hiro Ballroom
04/11 Toronto, ON: SAT
04/12 Montreal, QC: Club Soda
04/13 Philadelphia, PA: Barbary
04/16 Chicago, IL: Metro
04/17 Vancouver, BC: Celebrities
04/18 Seattle, WA: War Room
04/19 San Francisco, CA: 1015 Folsom
Under his Siriusmo guise, Berlin-based wonder-kid Moritz Friedrich has produced for the likes of Boys Noize’s label, remixed Simian Mobile Disco, Yelle, and Kool Keith, and contributed to compilations like Shir Khan’s Maximize. “All the Girls” has been in the record bags of every cool kid on the block, from A-Trak to that idiot behind the decks at your local dive bar. Bag this one.
