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Earl Greyhound Channel 70′s Rock & Avoid The Cliches

kissdetroit Staff — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:10:31 +0000

There are few current-day groups that are able to so potently harness the sheer balls-to-the-wall bombast of 70s rock and roll groups without traveling down the slippery slopes of parody or limp revivalism. Earl Greyhound is definitely an exception.

Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Matt Whyte, bassist/vocalist Kamara Thomas, and drummer Ricc Sheridan, the Brooklyn group has been pummeling peoples’ eardrums with their intense live show since 2002.

The group has an in-your-face sound (most easily characterized as a direct descendant of the blues/hard rock of groups like Led Zeppelin and the Jimi Hendrix Experience) and a hypnotic vocal delivery powered by the intertwined harmonies of Whyte and Thomas.

Like the groups of the 70s that they so evidently draw their inspiration from, Earl Greyhound are true-blue road warriors, having earned their reputation as a can’t-miss live act while touring behind their full-length debut (2006’s Soft Targets) and this year’s Suspicious Package.

While each member provides an integral element to the Earl Greyhound sound, the band’s real secret weapon is Thomas; her sense of groove and charm (both vocally and as a bassist) are impeccable and have taken more of a front-seat on the band’s more recent material.

Combined with Whyte’s blazing guitar riffs and Sheridan’s Bonham-inspired powerhouse drumming, Earl Greyhound also incorporates elements of post-rock, Afro-Cuban, punk, acid jazz, and ambient music in the songs that comprise their catalog.

– by SeanDammit

Flying Lotus Carves Out New Paths Of Rhythm

kissdetroit Staff — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:19:08 +0000

Flying Lotus (government name: Steven Ellison) is much more than just a simple beat maker. Drawing from a pool of influences that range from the likes of left-field hip hop masterminds J.Dilla and Madlib to peers like Samiyam and Gaslamp Killer out of Los Angeles’s burgeoning Low End Theory scene, the 26-year old producer has churned out an unmistakable musical identity that’s equal parts hip hop, dubstep, IDM, and more that’s earned him critical acclaim with press and fans alike – all in a relatively short amount of time.

The world had already heard plenty of Flying Lotus material way before he ever dropped a proper album – they just probably didn’t recognize it. The producer began his first serious steps in the industry by creating and licensing instrumentals for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming. Characterized by loosely unquantized rhythms and liquefied-sounding samples, his work was commonly used in the bumpers played between shows and commercial breaks. When FlyLo released his first full-length, 2006’s 1983 (Plug Research), beat enthusiasts everywhere immediately took notice.

He followed that up with a six-song EP called Reset on Warp Records, which hinted at the sound and style he would bring to the table on 2008’s Los Angeles LP, which featured glitched out drum loops, wobbly basslines, and a sonic collage that was at once both chilled out and driving.

His latest effort, this year’s Cosmogramma, represents the next step in FlyLo’s evolution as an electronic musician/composer. The album features more live instrumentation (including horns, strings, and bass – courtesy of Sa-Ra musician Thundercat and Outkast/Erykah Badu string arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson), as well as a collaboration with Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke. As Flying Lotus continues to push the boundaries of what can be done with electronic/hip hop music (both in the studio and onstage with a laptop), the young artist has definitely proven himself to be someone to watch out for in the future.

– by SeanDammit

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Former Guitarist For The Roots Shows His Versatility

kissdetroit Staff — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:58:58 +0000

If there’s one word that best describes Ben Kenney, it’s versatility. With his background as a session guitarist/bassist on Philadelphia soul/R&B tracks coupled with New Jersey punk rock roots, Kenney spent his formative musical years becoming a master of multiple instruments, including the guitar, bass, and drums.

Kenney linked up with the legendary Roots crew in 2000, becoming their first full-time guitarist and helping to shape the sound of the group’s fifth album, Phrenology. His guitar work was most evident on cuts like “Water,” “Break You Off,” and the Bad Brains-influenced “!!!!!!!”.

Kenney first met the members of popular rock band Incubus when the Roots joined them on the bill of Moby’s 2000 Area One Tour. He would go on to play bass in Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger’s funk-inspired side project The Time Lapse Consortium, and soon after it was announced that he was replacing Alex “Dirk Lance” Katunich as bassist for Incubus. Kenney’s melodic basslines, tight grooves, and knack for live improvisation would have a large impact on Incubus, starting with their A Crow Left of the Murder album.

Beyond his endeavors playing sold-out stadiums across the globe with his full-time gig, Kenney has also carved out a lane for himself as a solo musician, putting out three albums (2004’s 26, 2006’s Maduro, and 2008’s Distance and Comfort) on his own Ghetto Crush Industries. On all of his projects, Kenney writes all of his material, sings, and plays drums, guitar, and bass – an impressive feat that he visually illustrated in his video for Distance and Comfort’s “Eulogy.”

Black Punk Trio, Death, Comes Back To Life After 35 Years

kissdetroit Staff — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:45:55 +0000

The documentation of rock and roll’s Black roots should come as no surprise to anyone with an Internet connection and a thirst for musical knowledge, but many are unaware of the band Death and the role that they played in shaping the sound of 1970s proto-punk music. Brothers Bobby (bass, vocals), David (guitar), and Dannis (drums) Hackney started off as an R&B trio, but switched their sound in 1973, after finding inspiration in the heavier sounds of the Stooges and Alice Cooper. Their sound typified the raw garage rock sound of Detroit, with breakneck rhythmic changes, crunchy power chords, feedback, and a ‘middle-finger’ attitude that predated the likes of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.

The trio recorded just seven songs during recorded sessions funded by Columbia Records president Clive Davis; however, the band balked at Davis’s suggestion that they change their name to a more commercially-friendly moniker, sessions were halted, and Death broke up.

While the full-length album was indefinitely shelved, a super-limited 7” single was issued and the band became the stuff of legends to record collectors and punk/garage rock luminaries who drew inspiration from the Hackney brothers’ music. While the band members went on to pursue other musical ventures (most notably as the gospel rock outfit The 4th Movement in the early 1980s), David succumbed to lung cancer in 2000.

Death’s sole album …For the Whole World to See was finally released in 2009 – a whopping 35 years after its creation – on Drag City Records, sparking a new wave of awareness and recognition for the already criminally overlooked group. That same year, it was announced that Mos Def and Dame Dash were producing a documentary on Death that will no doubt expose an even greater audience to the music of the Hackney brothers.

– by SeanDammit

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Kenna

kissdetroit Staff — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:01:03 +0000

While Kenna Zemedkun – better known simply by his stage name of Kenna – has an international background that spans from Ethiopia to England, but his real musical birthplace is in Virginia Beach. It was there that he first became enamored with the music of U2, Stevie Wonder, the Cure, and Duran Duran, and also where he attended high school with Chad Hugo (who would go on to become one half of the wildly successful hip hop production duo the Neptunes).

Once he began college, Kenna began working on demo tapes with Hugo that soon caught the attention of Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst, who had recently launched his Flawless imprint on Geffen/Interscope. Durst gave Kenna and Hugo the green light to produce an entire album; and while the label would end up releasing Kenna from his contract (the heads at Interscope were unsure about how to market his music), New Sacred Cow eventually was released on Columbia Records in 2003.

Kenna’s brand of new wave mixed with synth pop and hip hop garnered attention with critics and a small audience. His follow-up, 2007’s Make Sure They See My Face, was also co-produced by Hugo and sported a more mainstream, pop sound. The album also earned his song “Say Goodbye To Love” a nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 2009 Grammy Award, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 20 Heatseekers Chart.

Throughout his career, Kenna has also collaborated with a slew of artists whose diverse genres reflect his own personal style, including Lupe Fiasco, Kings of Leon, RJD2, The Clipse, and Mark Ronson. He’s currently working on recording songs for his third studio album Songs for Flight, scheduled to drop sometime in 2010.

– by SeanDammit

P-Funk Guitarist, Garry “Diaper Man” Shider, Dead At 56

kissdetroit Staff — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:58:04 +0000

Garry Shider, the musical director for George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic band known for wearing a diaper on stage, died June 16th at the age of 56.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Shider suffered from brain and lung cancer.

Shider joined George Clinton’s P-Funk mob in 1972 as guitarist and quickly became an indispensable part of the incredibly large cast of musicians working under Clinton.

He co-wrote and sang on several of Parliament and Funkadelic’s most memorable hits including “One Nation Under A Groove,” “Cosmic Slop,” “Do That Stuff,” and George Clinton’s solo smash “Atomic Dog.”

Check out Garry live with the P-Funk All-Stars in 1981 singing lead on “One Nation Under A Groove.”

P-Funk

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Ice Cube Turns 41 & Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary Of Debut

kissdetroit Staff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:34:20 +0000

June 15, 2010 marks the 41st birthday of O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson, one of the best MCs to ever touch a microphone.

The month of June also marks another important anniversary in Cube’s life: the 20th anniversary of his debut solo album, Amerikkka’s Most Wanted.

Cube sat down with XXL Magazine recently to talk about the album track-by track.

Read a snippet of the article below, and find the full piece in the June issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now!

2.“The N***a Ya Love to Hate”
Produced by The Bomb Squad
Co-produced by Ice Cube and Sir Jinx

Ice Cube: That record was actually an N.W.A record. It was originally called “The N****s You Love to Hate,” and I was writing it as an N.W.A track. Then, when I left the group, I just went on and put two more verses on it and kept it for myself. So the song was in my notebook, kinda there… Eric Sadler would come in with these crazy, amazing-a*s bottom beats that just was the s**t. I would start rappin’ off of ’em. So when one of those bottom beats took hold, and he had Steve Arrington’s “Weak at the Knees” looped up, I rapped on that with N.W.A’s “Gangsta, Gangsta.” If you listen to “Gangsta, Gangsta,” and listen to “The N***a Ya Love to Hate,” you’ll see the difference in production. But those are the same loop. One of them is just going faster. The other is thicker and slower. So, after you do that, it’s all about just layering on top of it. So once we had a bottom beat and a rap—see, that was a song that we can go and record now. All the s***t that you gonna put on top of it wasn’t done until we got to Greene Street [studios]… We had the song, and we were trying to do scratched hooks all through the break. And I was like, “Since the song is ‘the n***a that you love to hate,’ the hook should be ‘F**k you, Ice Cube.’ And it should be people complaining about the kind of records I’m doing.” That was a big argument between us, about, should somebody say fuck you to themselves on their own record? Specifically, I guess I remember Jinx not really wanting to do that. He had his reasons, because he was in the inner thing with me and N.W.A. Dre is his cousin. He didn’t think it was cool, at the time, to do that, and I was like, “Man, it’s the perfect time.”

Read a lengthier excerpt at XXLMag.com, or purchase the June issue for the full article!

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The Greatest Soundtracks Of The Blaxploitation Era

kissdetroit Staff — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:47:26 +0000

With the increasing number of films aimed towards black audiences in the early 1970s, filmmakers realized that they couldn’t turn to Henry Mancini to provide the musical backdrops for these movies.

They rightfully turned to black musicians to score their films and add an extra touch of soul. In many cases, the soundtracks have outlasted the films.

The list of acts that composed film scores for these blaxploitation movies reads like a who’s who of classic 70′s soul: Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye, just to name a few.

We’ve put together a gallery featuring some of the most essential soundtracks from the great black film renaissance of the 1970s.

Which ones are your favorites???

The Best Blaxploitation Soundtracks

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RELATED: 10 Of The Best Black Music Movies

The Rebirth Of Fela Kuti & Afrobeat

kissdetroit Staff — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:20:39 +0000

Though it can be said that Afrobeat never died, in recent years its seen levels of exposure that would’ve seemed unheard of when the genre was first created in the 1960s.

The man responsible for Afrobeat, Fela Kuti, was a notorious musical and political figure in his native Nigeria during the 1970s and 1980s. After spending time in the United States in the late 60s, he returned to Nigeria with his band and a new direction for his music. He fused his African highlife music with American funk and jazz music and changed the subjects of his songs from love songs to highly political topics.

The shift in topics, and the brashness with which Fela tackled them alarmed the Nigerian government. Songs like “Zombie,” and “I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief) epitomized Fela’s boldness when addressing topics of a political nature.

During the late 90s, shortly after Fela’s death, Fela’s music, and the afrobeat genre in general experienced a rebirth as Fela’s discography was re-issued and compilations featuring other afrobeat artists, many of them largely unheard outside of Africa, were released. Hip-hop producers began sampling afrobeat records, and afrobeat bands started forming in the United States, the most notable being New York City’s Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.

The renewed interest in Fela Kuti and afrobeat reached fever pitch levels with the debut of the off-Broadway play Fela! in 2008. The response to the musical was so positive that it opened on Broadway the following year with Jay-Z, Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith on board as producers. In 2010, the musical was nominated for eleven Tony awards, including Best Musical.

Afrobeat

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