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SIJI – ‘Ijo’(Official Video) from SIJI on Vimeo.
Check out this video for Siji’s single “Ijo”. Siji returned to Lagos, Nigeria after a 20 year absence from his childhood home, to rediscover what he left behind. Shot on location, the video is an open audition searching for dancers.
Gilles Peterson will be running the Virgin London Marathon on April 17th to raise money for The Steve Reid Foundation that he recently set up on behalf of struggling musicians. He’s been training for months and besides our good wishes he also needs your sponsorship.
For those of you who don’t know, Steve Reid was an amazing drummer with a long and illustrious history that stretched from working with James Brown, Miles Davis, and Fela Kuti, through to his own Steve Reid Trio and more recently working with Kieran Hebden (Four Tet). He died from throat cancer in the US in April 2010 without the money for treatment that could have saved his life.
As Gilles says, “This is something that is very close to me and that I feel strongly about, and wanted to set up something as a lasting legacy to help others in similar situations. To this end, I am running the London Marathon on April 17th on behalf of the Steve Reid Foundation.”
The Steve Reid Foundation is applying for charitable status and in the meantime will work closely with the Musicians Benevolent Fund to aid the plight of struggling musicians, especially those with long-term and life threatening health problems. A career as a musician may sometimes seem glamorous, but more often it is a struggle and health related issues can often be the final straw.
A variety of other fundraising activities are planned, but in the meantime all the monies raised by Gilles’ running in the marathon will go directly to the Musicians Benevolent Fund.
On Tuesday, April 5th, Focus Features and Giant Step invite you to an exclusive advance screening of the upcoming thriller Hanna at The Cobble Hill Cinemas in Brooklyn NY at 7:00PM. Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement), and starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett, the film revolves around a teenage girl raised as a killer out in the Alaskan wilderness by her father Erik (Erick Bana), an ex-CIA agent. Hanna is sent out into the world for the first time after she is captured by the CIA and held underground for observation as they hunt for her father. She breaks free in an attempt to fulfill her ultimate mission.
Entrance is free, but strictly RSVP only.
Les Nubians‘ upcoming album, Nü Revolution, includes a handful of featured artists including Brooklyn-based Ghanaian MC Blitz the Ambassador. With this song, Paris-born sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart tackle the subject of gossip and soussou (rumors), as the rastas say.
“Gossips and are little mundane poisons. What people say about you is deformed from a mouth to an ear, to a mouth to another mouth!” – Hélène
Les Nubians – Les Gens (People) ft. Blitz the Ambassador by Giant Step NYC
While it’s been a few years since Goapele has released a studio album, she has been touring and performing constantly since the release of Change It All back in 2005. She will be performing live this coming Saturday, April 2nd, at The Shrine in Chicago backed by Verzatile with special guest DJ Mark Fulla Flava.
If that’s not enough good news, check out the video interview below and listen to her talk about her upcoming third release titled Milk & Honey, scheduled to hit stores later this year.
Sister duo Tina and Erica, better known as Mary Mary, drop the long awaited Something Big (Columbia Records/Myblock Records) today. Produced by Warren Campbell and written by Mary Mary, their 6th album has the same strong story-telling and inspirational qualities that has made their previous albums such a huge success, while bringing something fresh and entirely new to their sound.
If you are in the New York City area today, make sure you head on down to J&R (23 Park Row, New York, NY) at 12:30pm to meet the sisters and get a signed copy of Something Big. They will also be raffling away tickets to their upcoming shows in New York, so don’t miss your chance to win some of those.
2010 saw Cut&Paste scouring the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America for the ultimate champion in each of these stops. Now they are bringing more than 30 winners from across the world to Webster Hall in New York City and pitting them against each other to reveal the ultimate winner of the Cut&Paste Global Championship. The mouse clicking will commence on Saturday, April 16th, at 7pm. As a special offer to our community, we are giving a lucky winner a chance to snag one pair of tickets to this ultimate design battle.
More Info || Buy Tickets || Win Tickets
Tomorrow, March 29th, Strut will release Fania Records 1964-1980: The Original Sound Of Latin New York. The double-disc compilation features a 32-page booklet with full Fania label history, memorabilia, album artwork and many previously unseen photos from the Fania archive. And for you collectors the vinyl is on the way soon with a double gatefold LP also from Strut.
Taken from Strut’s retrospective of the hugely influential Fania Records check out “Pa’ Bravo Yo” below . This is one of the biggest hits vocalist Justo Betancourt achieved on the label. An infectious cut lead by his deep vocals, the song first appeared on his 1972 album of the same name. See the tracklist after the jump.
Justo Betancourt- Pa’ Bravo Yo (From Fania Records 1964 – 1980) by Strut
Record Store Day is becoming a wonderful annual tradition among music lovers of the school that physical records are better than digital. Over half of those people are vinyl-crazy, which makes Record Store Day such a success. The video above was created for alt-music store End of An Ear by radio station KUT, and is exemplary of the special kind of love we have for record shops.
Record Store Day started with the intent to save local shops – an attempt to return to the days before digi-releases – and celebrate the physical releases as goods we purchase and hold onto forever. Now, Record Store Day is nationwide in participating independent record shops. Some host in-store performances and exclusive ‘Record Store Day’ releases, including Ellie Goulding’s Lights. A full list of these titles can be found here in PDF format. And although that PDF is official, it is by no means a comprehensive list of what you’ll find going on in your town on April 16th.
Basically, you ought to find the best locally-owned record shop near you and just hang out there on April 16th. It’s what music people used to do before the internet. Work out your criticisms with heads at the store, instead of typing away in the comments section (say it to their face!) Find some records, listen to exclusive new releases and feel the vinyl in your hands. Happy Record Store Day to all, and RIP Fat Beats NY.
This week, Gilles Peterson has words and music from The Stepkids (Stones Throw) and Raoul K, but he made time in between sets to play music from Japan, for Japan. The Japanese joints are simply beautiful, including artists like the Hideo Shiraki Quintet, UFO and Hozan Yamamoto. He also got a quick interview with The Stepkids, self-professed ‘MP3 nerds,’ and a sampling from their new album. A post-genre band, these guys have played as session musicians in different ways – from hard jazz, to R&B, to indie rock and everything in between. The combination they created for their upcoming album is like nothing you’ve heard before. The show ends with a mix from Raoul K, German-based DJ via West Africa, with tracks from King Sunny Ade, Carl Craig, Raoul K himself and more.
Part 1
Part 2
