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Review: The Coup @ Black Cat

Boots Riley of The Coup
(photo by yours truly)

Although Oakland-based duo The Coup have been around since 1994, the group never got national attention until their ill fated album cover for Party Music in 2001. Hmm…wonder why? But for a group that has such tracks as “5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO,” you would think that the croud would look less like “the man.”

They weren’tthe grups that invaded the NYC show at the Southpaw two nights earlier, but they were well on their way there. Seriously, I thought I showed up to a Ted Leo and the Pharmacists show. Yes, it makes sense since Ted Leo and The Coup have performed together, but still I swear that only 2/3rds of the audience would know who Pam the Funkstress was if she walked up to the bar (she wasn’tthere anyway, but more on that later.)

The show started off with The Coup’s weed carriers opening acts, Iselyfe and T-Kash. Iselyfe was not bad, as far as opening acts go, and definately the better of the two. T-Kash was….aight, as they say, but his exuberance and multiple big-ups to his record company shows that he was just excited to get out of Oakland.

After a short interlude, and an intro by some dude that looked a little too much like Dice Raw, the main act took the stage. Backed by a live band, Boots Riley and company tore through the groups more recent catalog, playing the “hits,” like “4 Million Ways,” and “We Are The Ones.” However, the crowd (who barley filled half of the Black Cat) could care less. Of course, they erupted when they played “We Are the Ones,” and the abbreviated “My Favorite Mutiny,” most likley because Epitath made them free MP3 downloads. But for the most part Boots and Company couldn’thold the mini-grups intrest in the show, and the already small crowd at the Black Cat was cut in half by the end.
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Review: Shambhala - The Lotus Of…

Shambhala The Lotus Of… Buy from CDBaby.com

Shambhala - African Sunflower
Shambhala - Enlightenment

If y'all know me in person, then you would know that there aren’ttoo many albums that I would define as absolute “classics.” To me, a classic is an album that 1.)Redefines or creates a new genre (The Chronic, Get Crunk, Who U Wit), 2.)Creatively excels and sets the bar of a genre to new heights (Stankonia), or 3.)Withstands the test of time (The Low End Theory, Uptown Saturday Night).

It’s too early to say if Shambhala’s The Lotus Of will fulfill those three of my requirements yet. But it fulfills number 4 - Can be placed in a car CD player and not leave for the duration of a 3 hour car trip.

That’s what happened to me on a trip to Virginia this past weekend. The Lotus Of was so damn good that I had to hear the album over again, not once, but twice after the first playing. That my friends, is a bold step for me.

But damn, the beats on this album are sick, as well as the unique and skilled lyricism of Born Infinite and Aqua, who make up the DC-based group.

Of course, when one thinks of a “local rapper,” you think of some wack ass MC rapping over beats jacked from some dude’s Soundclick site. However, Shambhala redefines that label, with production rivaling some of the best “national acts” in the biz. In fact, its the production of this album that first draws you in. DC stand up!

This album is a must buy. Cop it at CD Baby.

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Review: Sergio Mendes - Timeless

Chances are you haven’t heard of Sergio Mendes. It’s okay; unless you’re older and into Brazilian jazz, the name wouldn’t be familiar to you. However, he was a driving force in Brazil’s jazz and bossa nova scene in the ’60s and ’70s. Mendes, along with his band Brasil ‘66, enjoyed much success back in the day, topping the Billboard chart in 1968 and even performing for two US presidents.

However, it’s 2006, not 1968, and Mendes is barely a household name among the MTV generation. Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am is making it his personal mission to change that.

It’s not an easy task, however. Many Americans just aren’t hip to other cultures when it comes to music. Even though you might have heard his hit record “Mas Que Nada” in the first Austin Powers film, Sergio Mendes could probably walk right past you in the local Wal-Mart and you wouldn’t even notice.

That’s where the Black Eyed Peas producer and star comes in. In order to ease skepticism, Will brought in a host of current American talent: Stevie Wonder, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Justin Timberlake, and Q-tip headline the extensive list of performers.
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CD Review: Ursula 1000 Here Comes Tomorrow

If you were to combine pop, hip hop and rock with a dash of reggae and a pinch of salsa and mix it all together in a disco blender, the resulting sound might sound a lot like Ursula 1000.

Alex Gimeno aka DJ/Producer Ursula 1000 can play anything”and I mean ANYTHING”and you will dance to it. In his newly released album Here Comes Tomorrow, there is a continuous mix of the classically clean sound we have come to know and love in lounge music, but there is also something dirty, even raunchy that hides underneath the beats, making you want to do more than just dance.

Coming from DC’s very own Eighteenth Street Lounge label, the Miami-born Gimeno started out as just a kid with a dream and a seriously large record collection. Now, he DJs everywhere from some of New York”s finest night clubs, the Euro nightlife in Germany and the UK, and now at ESL”s SXSW and Miami Winter Music Conference parties. He”s done remixes for artists like SI*SE, Felix da Housecat, The Faint and my personal favorite, The Powerpuff Girls. His track “Kinda Kinky” was featured on the Fighting Temptations Soundtrack. The man has even said “NO” to a supermodel”s song request.

Here Comes Tomorrow will be his fifth release on ESL. As I”ve already said, his tracks are fun and uplifting, but at times, will make you want to get down and dirty. And you can hear every kind of music in his tracks. The track “Hello! Let”s Go To A Disco” is reminiscent of a 1980″s club hit or possibly a Queen-anthem like song. The song “Elecktric Boogie” conjures up images of fashionable b-boys doing the robot at the Roxy. “Two Tone Rocka” is kind of a tribute to the classic roots reggae from whcih much of today’s pop music get its inspiration. “Descarga en la Discoteca” (the translation of which I am not going to say”it”s inappropriate) is a tongue-in-cheek look at that old skool mariachi/salsa music your grandmother might have listened to”crossed with the funky bass lines of a porn score. There”s the single “Boop” which is just a fun track that will definitely make you think of Betty Boop.

There are so many fun things about this album that it’s hard to say who will like it and who won”t. It is such a musical combination that there is something I”m sure everyone can enjoy about Here Comes Tomorrow.

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Review: Corinne Bailey Rae Like A Star EP

Dubbed by BBC Radio as one of the top artists to watch in 2006, Corinne Bailey Rae???s quiet EP made anything but a quiet debut. Her album was released in the UK on the 27th of February, and is on its way across the pond. Right now, Rae, herself, is on her way to Texas for SXSW. Being hailed as ???the next Billie Holiday??? by some, this 26-year old chanteuse has more music experience under her belt than many musical acts out there right now.

Born in Leeds, UK to a West Indian father and Yorkshire mother, Rae got her start where many soul singers get their starts from: the Church:

“I started off singing in church, I suppose, but people think it must have been a gospel church because of the whole, you know, black assumption,” she says in reference to her mixed-race background. “But it wasn’tgospel at all, it was just your regular brethren church, very middle-class, where we would sing these harmonies every Sunday. It was always my favourite part of the service, the singing.”

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Review: The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

Originally posted for Blogcritics.org

On a hot summer day, a young teenager named Emmett Louis ???Bobo??? Till saw an attractive woman walk by him. So he did what most young men his age do: He whistled at her. Pretty normal day.

Except that this woman was white, the young teen was black and they were both in Mississippi in 1955. Sadly, this whistle would cost him his life.

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till is a heartbreaking look into the reality of lifein the South before the Civil Rights Movement. The documentary retells the story of Emmett Till, his murder and the following farce of a trial.

Emmett Till was born in July of 1941. He grew up in Chicago, raised by both his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley and grandmother. Like many young boys, he was a prankster. He had a quick wit and didn???t always think before he spoke. But according to all who knew him, he was a happy and loving child.
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Review: D4L's Down For Life

Original posted for Blogcritics:

The South has been altering the learning curve of popular music for the past five or more years. First it was the Dirty South sounds of Ludacris and the soulfulness of Usher. Then Lil John came on the scene and Crunk was born, giving way to a new array of artists including ???Crunk&B??? siren Ciara. Come 2006, however, Crunk is moving aside for the a similar but newer sound. It???s called Snap music. The frontrunner for this new genre is the group D4L.

D4L has already been making waves with their hit single ???Laffy Taffy.??? The track, which has been played and overplayed, is one of the hottest joints in the club. It very recently broke the record for SoundScan Digital Download Sales by selling over 175,000 copies. I have to admit??????Laffy Taffy??? is definitely a guilty pleasure.
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Review: Big Boi Presents…Got Purp? Vol. II

Originally Posted to Blogcritics:

Rapper/producer Big Boi is a man of many talents. He is one half of OutKast, Hip Hop???s most prolific duo. His film Idlewild (which he and Andre Benjamin both worked on) was bought by Universal Pictures. He has guest appeared on numerous singles from artists like Omarion, Trick Daddy, Missy Elliot and most recently Brooke Valentine???s ???Girlfight.??? Now he is releasing (through Virgin Records) two albums off his own custom label, Purple Ribbon. The first of the two is Big Boi Presents???Got Purp? Vol. II. The second is Bubba Sparxxx???s new album Space Mountain .

Big Boi Presents???Got Purp? Vol II, is a strong debut. It features rap and R&B stars who already have a name (Killer Mike, Bubba Sparxxx, Goodie Mob, Bun B, Konkrete, just to name a few) as well as ones who are on the up and coming.
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Review: Dwele - Some Kinda

Dwele (born Andwele Gardner) has been an underground favorite ever since he dropped his Rize demo a few years ago. After Rize, the Detroit native has garnered him instant respect with Slum Village, BBC DJ Giles Peterson, and the ever-so critical Okayplayer crowd.

When his debut album, Subject, dropped in 2003, it was a welcome change from a neo-soul genre that was getting stoic and complacent. Although Subject had the same laid back sound of, say, D'Angelo, something about the album was different. It was obvious that Dwele used the “concrete jungle” aspects of Detroit as his inspiration.

After the months of worldwide touring and the critical and somewhat commercial success of Subject, Dwele returns with Some Kinda…, his sophomore effort and first major label release. Instantly, his underground fanbase questioned his status after learning that he was picked up by major label. Even before the album was released, people on the message boards and in the media were already starting to throw around the term “sophomore slump.”

In fact, I read so many message board post by the naysayers that I personally came into this review not knowing what to think about Dwele's sophomore debut.
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Review: Stone Hits: The Very Best of Angie Stone

Originally posted to Blogcritics.org:

Very few R&B /Soul singers have what it takes to be a real star. The ones who do get a hit either become a pop phenomenon or fizzle away into one hit wonder history. There are also very few R&B/Soul singers who can cross over to other genres of music without spreading themselves too thin.

And then there is Angie Stone

Having three phenomenal albums under her belt (Mahogany Soul, Black Diamond and Stone Love), numerous hit songs, a budding acting career, and having worked with some of the biggest names in music today, it seems like there is nothing Angie Stone has not done. So what better time than now to release a record of her best and most recognizable songs?

Entiltled Stone Hits: The Very Best of Angie Stone,, this album is simultaneously happy, angry and nostalgic. Stone???s talent as a songstress and storyteller is what sets her apart from other singers.
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