What's goin' down, soul children? I've been agonizing more than usual about what to post today, so I thought it might be the perfect time to stop by some of my favorite spots in the cyberhood. Here's what's good...
First and foremost, rest in peace to Bill Pinkney, the last surviving member of The Drifters (8/15/25-7/4/07). Soul Brutha Dave B. and Brown Eyed Handsome Man were amongst those who paid this legendary artist some well-deserved respect.
My pal Vincent recently posted the first and second parts of Sharon Jones' "Damn, It's Hot" over at the ever-delicious Fufu Stew.
Dan Love did an excellent write-up at From Da Bricks about George Benson's "Face It Boy, It's Over", including several hip-hop joints that feature a sample of the song.
Visit Missingtoof to download a shitload (as if this is a scientific unit of measurement) of Beirut remixes. Includes reduxes of tracks by Jay-Z, Clipse, Biggie, M.O.P., and more.
O-Dub is currently offering a couple of stellar B-sides by Ann Sexton and Clarence Reid.
Internet radio has suffered yet another devastating blow. If you haven't already, please holla at some of the congressional jackasses who claim to represent you...
A couple of funktastic Don Covay songs are currently available by way of the almighty ear fuzz.
RZA recently spoke with Billboard.com to discuss Wu-Tang's pending release, 8 Diagrams. More info by way of Hip Hop DX.
If you haven't already noticed, JT is killin' it with the summer song selections over at Feed Me Good Tunes. These are a couple of his most recent posts, featuring the likes of Skull Snaps, The Roots, Grant Green, Kool & The Gang, Chuck Berry, and more.
Download "Why Can't There Be Love" by Dee Edwards, courtesy of Colin at In Dangerous Rhythm.
Featured artist of the day is Gordon Parks, an amazing photographer who was also a musician, film director, journalist, novelist, activist, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his photo essays in Life magazine and as the director of the 1971 film Shaft. He was once quoted as saying that photography was his choice of weapons, giving you just a hint at what a powerful figure he truly was.
Cornel West's upcoming LP, Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations, features an outstanding guest list with appearances by Prince, Andre 3000, Gerald Levert, Black Thought, KRS-One, Killer Mike, Lenny Williams, and more. Visit Nah Right to scoop up "Bushonomics", featuring Talib Kweli.
Download a veritable classic, "Bus Stop" by Oliver Sain, by way of Flea Market Funk.
More sample goodness is available via Martini & Jopparelli's Music Selections---d/l Stanley Turrentine's "The Man With the Sad Face", the original song sampled on "Dead Serious" by Das EFX.
A recent Intel report indicates that Al Qaeda is currently "better positioned to strike the West" than ever. Learn more at Crooks and Liars.
Darcy recently posted a couple of versions of "I'm Back for More" by Al Johnson & Jean Carn and Leo's Sunshipp over at Feel It.
Visit hahamusic to get your chubby fingers on a nice selection of Al Green covers.
Metal Lungies waxes nostalgic about DJ Premier, and offers tonz of mp3s to illustrate why there can never really be another Primo.
After a reasonably long hiatus, 2 minutes of bliss 2 steps back into the arena with some exceptional footage of Fontella Bass performing her version of "Rescue Me".
Soul junkies in the house will definitely want to check out A Deeper Shade Of Soul, a pretty phenomenal blog that I've been sleeping on for way too long. (Thanks for the tip Nicole---and well...for just being you).
Before I go, a final thought. I hope you know that I would never shamelessly pimp any LPs that I didn't think were quality material---at least not until I get a fuckin' check or something. That said, I am really diggin' the promo copy of Billie Holiday: Remixed and Reimagined that I got in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Unlike the Nina Simone remix project, I can listen to this CD from beginning to end and enjoy every single moment. I'll probably end up in jail if I give you one of these tracks, but you can and should read more about the album here.
And just because I really love you, here's a classic Billie song that remains a favorite of mine to this very day:
"Solitude"---Billie Holiday (mp3)
Word From Your Moms:
"Define your own voice rather than imitating others. Cut against the forces of conformity. The forces of conformity are market-driven, driven by titillation and temptation, as opposed to decency and dignity."
"Hip-hop came from the killing fields of chocolate cities. Hip-hop artists constituted tremendous power, before they were ripped off by the record industry, and it all became about money. We went from MLK's 'let freedom ring' to the bling-bling."
"The world listens to jazz, to Luther, to Aretha, to Stevie, to get a taste of what freedom should be like."
All above quotations from the mind of Cornel West
9 comments:
I feel like a golddigger when i visit your page...
great Job!
keep it comin'!!!!
Scholar -
Paul at Aurgasm.us recently posted something encouraging his readers to write their Representatives about internet radio, and I'm going to copy here the same comment that I left there. Congress isn't necessarily the problem - once again, it's those who stand to make money from the downfall of independent internet radio.
---
As someone who works in Congress, I can tell you that contacting your representative isn't necessarily what you need to do. I promise your representative already knows about the issue, and also that they're not getting a whole lot of letters from constituents saying "Stop Internet Radio!" There is no public movement disagreeing with you.
At this point, the biggest problem is actually the major internet radio companies. AOL, Yahoo, and other large internet broadcasters control the industry group that speaks for internet broadcasters. There are a variety of compromises on the table, but the industry group is not being very accommodating. Why is this? I can't say for sure, but I've heard it said by people who usually know these things that AOL and the other majors are happy enough to wait until after the July royalty kick in date to negotiate. They have the money to weather a higher royalty environment, while many of their medium sized competitors don't.
Essentially, by refusing to compromise or make good faith negotiations until the new royalty regime kicks in, conglomerated internet media has the ability to knock out most of their competition. They then weather the storm, work out a compromise, and boost their market share in the process. Because the smaller internet broadcasters are so much more fragmented, they can't speak with a unified voice, and therefore are less likely to find a seat at the table.
So if you're going to write anyone a letter, make it AOL. Not that they have any reason to listen.
Cornel West is incredible. I'm eager to hear his album in its entirety.
Scholar,
Thanks as ever for the link. Hadn't heard about that Billie Holiday remix project so I'm gonna take your advice and head over and check it.
Hope you're good bro,
Dan
Just to update on the internet royalty issue, a short term compromise was reached a few hours ago in which sound exchange will delay the implementation of the new royalty regime for the time being.
It's something of a delay of execution, as it doesn't actually fundamentally change the royalty schema, but it does give a little more breathing for negotiations. Of course, that will only help if the big players stop stonewalling.
Thanks for the link, much appreciated!
Scholar, I feel like a broken record player saying it, but thanks for the link as always. That Lady Day track is beautiful and so is the Cornell West quote. I'd say keep up the good work, but it's completely unnecessary.
Thanks large for another monumental shoutout, and thanks to your readers who stopped by... Once I get over this marathon work week I'll be back in the kitchen cooking up batch after batch for sure.
escapista---Appreciate the feedback, and I promise to keep servin' up the goods whenever I can.
Kerry---Thanks for the additional info and update about the internet radio ordeal. I agree though---AOL probably has little or no vested interest in hearing the concerns of the people. It's a problem in our society in general that we don't have more avenues to effectuate change. It encourages this bland sort of complacency w/ the status quo that makes me really uncomfortable.
Zilla---Cornel is the man. Can't wait for the LP.
Dan---I'm so behind in answering comments---guess we've already discussed this, huh?
Young Satch---You deserved it, asshole. I have a new Bullion track to send you, btw.
Buhizzle---Couldn't pass up the chance to mention it---that was a premium post.
Adam---Gratitude. In my egomaniacal way, I never tire of getting props. Cover Tuesday is always such a wonderful thing.
Vincent---We're hungry and waiting to be served, homie.
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