Never been a fan of Radiohead...

...but I likes this.Thanks to J Kelly Nestruck's blog.

"I was pain in the ass, maybe"

I'm writing about reggae in Ethiopia at the moment. Here are a few choice examples:

Abby Lakew, awahdishallo!

I've loved these tunes ever since I heard 'em blasting from some bus driver's horrible soundsystem. She's pretty cute too.

Bus a style...

The above clip is part one of a rough version of the film I'll be discussing on Saturday as part of Le Festival International du Film Ethnographique du Québec. "Temporary Sanity: The Skerritt Bwoy Story" is being shown on Saturday as part of a group of films starting at 4:45pm. Here's the location info:

Centre d'essai, Centre étudiant / Pavillon J.-A.-DeSève
Université de Montréal
2332 boul. Édouard-Montpetit, 6e étage
(Métro Édouard-Montpetit ou autobus 51)

It's good timing, actually, since I just wrote a piece about Passa Passa, a big dance in Kingston and my piece focused on dancing as much as anything.

I'm talking about dancehall this weekend at what looks like an amazing film festival

I was pretty honoured to be asked to come and talk. I'll post more about the film I'm discussing later...

Only he can get away with this...

Was listening to this a little loud last night and had my downstairs neighbours banging on the floor. It was worth it. C. Hamilton is the Fader cover boy this month...

Again, I'm behind the times...

But I am absolutely taken by the stuff they're calling "funky house". So flippin' wicked. And cool dance moves...big step up from the Rolex Sweep. Way to go British folks! Keep it up!

Viva 2009!

As I was lolligagging through my blogs, I found Wayne had posted DJ Earworm's mashup of the top 25 or 2008. The strange sweet melancholy of the resulting track seems to me quite emblematic of the past year. 2008 was a bit of a mixed bag for this girl (always is), but I'm excited about the new year (always am). Anyhow, I'm off to indulge in one of my favourite things--copious amounts of spicy wat and injera. A great way to kick off any year (or month, or week...).

Dusty Foot Philosopher

Latest from Toronto's K'naan. Watch and listen.

Moonstarr, killin it.

Hey, so this lovely dude I know makes music. And it's darned good. He's got a new record out called Instrumentals Forever. You should check it out. Like now. Lots of other folks are!

As I wrote in Facebook...

Sometimes things just come together to make everything right in the world. Yesterday it was Hot Chip in a spinning class. Even after 50 minutes of sweating like crazy, "One Pure Thought" made me feel like I could continue for another 50.

Today, it's recovering from significant anger and frustration by remembering this little blast from the past. Why wasn't Spookey Ruben absolutely huge?It's also officially, as my old roommate Ash would insist, Spookey-ing season here in Montreal, so named for the violent tossing into snowbanks that occurs at the beginning of the video.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Yeah, so Caveman's new Axum riddim is pretty good, but I wish they'd have insisted on lyrics related to the Axumite empire. Seriously, it woulda made for some seriously great tunes. Think of the material...I'd pull out my lighta for lyrics about the Ark of the Covenant everytime!

It doesn't really need to be said, but Sizzla sounds a titch insane (i.e. not all there) on this riddim.

Nice video.

Nice tribute to Natasja. I like the idea of having Spice, Macka Diamond, etc. mouth Natasja's words. Very good at capturing the vibes, methinks. Makes me wish I could go to Weddy Weddy.

More stuff I liked in 1991

I'm having a bit of a nostalgia thing going on. I used to lie on my bedroom floor and listen to this one.

I like MBV as much as the next music blogger, but...

How much cash would I pay to see these guys? I know it's a cliche, but having just spent the past hour wasting my time on youtube checking out video after video, man. There was a reason why I loved these guys. The above video is from a show I always read about as a teenager, but, growing up in the 'Shwa, never got to see. Had to settle for City Limits with Simon Evans.

La traduction

For those who asked me for a translation of the P45 thing...I think it sounds better the way that Vero did it!

I always liked reggae, but when I heard Stone Love, I was smitten. Stone Love isn’t a band, but a soundsystem—one of Jamaica’s many mobile discos, a concept that has been around for almost fifty years, playing the music audiences demand to hear. A soundsystem is so much more than just a DJ, it’s a whole experience. I didn’t think that music could be so loud, so powerful and so fun. From that moment forward I have had a love affair with Jamaican music, specifically dancehall and especially at top volume.

One of the things that’s particularly wonderful about the types of music played at a soundsystem event is that some of the sweetest tunes—stuff called lover’s rock—gets just as much of a response as the most intense dancehall. Jamaican music is so varied. Granted, sometimes I’m beyond disappointed by the lyrical content, but I tend to focus on the positive stuff I like and simply don’t support the negative.

Given the sheer amount of tunes available, for this playlist (or playlists!) I chose some of my favourite tunes from 2008 and split them up according to mood. Depending on how you’re feeling check out a little something soft or a little something hard. I like ‘em both equally.

Merci Vero!

I was asked by the terrific P45 to contribute a little bit of sunshine as an antidote to our increasingly cloudy and chilly days. Every week they host mixes by local folk--luckily they aren't looking only for djs, because, apart from my appearance at Bounce Le Gros (which still shocks me as something I actually did--thanks, Ghislain!) and opportunities provided by Guillaume, I very rarely dj anything or anywhere.

All this to say that I don't suggest that the mixes are terrific, but the tunes are!

Check it here--and don't forget your French/English dictionary!

p.s. I am not going to pretend that I wrote such amazing French...that's thanks to the inimitable and wonderful Ms. Vero B!

Things I am enjoying right now...

My disc of the week:
Amadou and Mariam
Welcome to Mali (Because)
Kicking off with the eerie, electronic, Damon Albarn-produced “Sabali,” this simply fantastic album continues to seduce and surprise throughout. Mariam’s voice is perfectly paired with Amadou’s jangly guitar and a range of layered instruments on an album that resists catagorization. The couple, who met in 1977 at Bamako’s school for the blind, have been making music together for over 25 years. Their Manu Chao-produced Dimanche à Bamako, from 2006, was a revelation. On their own, they have now crafted an album that’s equally good and sounds overwhelmingly present. It connects the dots across the continent of Africa (Somali-Canadian K’naan guests on “Africa,” calling it the “original East-coast, West-coast collaboration”) and beyond, to the rest of the world, begging comparisons to everything from garage rock to ’70s funk to ’90s Britpop. It’s tough to stop
listening. 9/10 Trial Track: “Sabali” (Erin MacLeod)

My TV program of the week:

Witness the day that Babylon shall fall...

Still think all jungle sounds the same, but that doesn't mean it isn't wicked. Case in point: this track, that I remember dancing to at Angels.

Tunes.

This is amazing. I've been stuck in a weird nostalgia phase for a while now, and this is therefore perhaps the best thing ever.