Hello, Springfield!

Manu Chao has a new album out early September, called 'La Radiolina' (pictured above), his first studio album since 2001. He was last heard on the fantastic album 'Dimanche A Bamako' from Mailian couple Amadou and Mariam, released in 2005.

'Toward the end of a live show, weary musicians often appeal to the audience with a stock phrase intended to invigorate the proceedings: “How is everyone feeling tonight?” “I can’t hear you!” “Cleveland, make some noise!” Manu Chao, a wiry forty-six-year-old of Spanish extraction who grew up in Paris, used a different tactic when he played the first of two sold-out shows in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in June. He shouted out the names of countries, and people cheered, often in reverse proportion to the nation’s population: “Uruguay!” Some whoops. “Costa Rica!” Roars. “Macedonia!” Total mayhem.'

Read the full interview at The New Yorker.

Doin the Dap
Here's a way cool clip of Gabe and Neil from Daptone Records giving you a guided tour of their studio, in an old two-storey building in Bushwick, Brooklyn (pictured above). "That's the couch where Amy Winehouse farted..." funny guys. They reveal they funded their studio from sales of seven inch singles - Daptone has sold about 30,000 of em since they started the label. Hat top to Brooklyn Vegan.

Big Matt tribute - Welli
From Nice-up - "Reggae events this weekend - Friday 24 - BIG MATT TRIBUTE @ GOOD LUCK - with heavyweight selectors DANNY LEMON, MANRAY, DUKE WILLIS, PRINCE ALEXANDER & UNDERCOVER plus guests - a night to pay respects to one of the pioneering selectors of the N.Z. Reggae scene, Big Matt, who sadly recently passed away. $10 on the door, all proceeds go to the Big Matt Trust and to help support his family." Check it, if you're in Welli.

AND there's a record swap going down on saturday in AK...

"Beat Merchants have teamed up with Base FM, Santos and Safari to bring you the Beat Market, this Saturday 25th August from 12 - 4pm.

Basically, you rock up to the Santos/Safari courtyard [on Ponsonby rd] with a crate full of records, grab a coffee/beer and get swappin' - those old Chaka Khan records you have collecting dust could be someone's dream edition to their collection. Like the poster says, it's a time for classic collections to be showcased and refreshed as well as a great time to check out the Beat Merchants sale stock they're sure to have on offer."

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, August 18
Joy Division - Love will tear us apart
Massive Music - Find my way (Kode9 remix)
Byron Lee - Hot reggae
Jnr Reid - Bubblers
Ernest Ranglin and Jungle Bros - Funky Bond St (Flex edit)
Scientist - Pick up a dub
DJ Vadim - Watch that sound (JStar remix)
Eric B and Rakim - Follow the leader
Snake Salvador - He's a wonder
Human race - Grey boy
Madvillain - Money folder
Lloyd Williams - Reggae feet
The Eternals - Queen of the minstrels
Spanky Wilson - Sunshine of your love (Bombs edit)
Pleasure -Bouncy lady
Leon Haywood - If you're lookin' for a night of fun
International Observer - (The more) we know
Mr Vegas - Lean wid it
Bacao Rhythm and steel band - Look-a-py-py
Freddie Hubbard - Red clay
Roland Alphonso - President Kennedy
The sharks - Music answer
Jacksons feat Mick Jagger - State of shock
A Certain Ratio - Shack up
Zion-I - Kharma inst
Ice Cube - Bop gun
Cornerstone roots feat Luciano - Jah
Hot 8 Brass Band - Get up

Pink sees red
You may remember a while back, when US singer Pink ripped off the artwork of local artist Martin Emond for her video "U and Ur Hand".

Seems that maybe Martin wasn't the only artist she borrowed from...

From New York Post "page Six" column... "ugust 16, 2007 -- An avant-garde Manhattan painter is suing Pink for copyright infringement, saying the pop cutie used one of his works in a 2006 music video. In his case filed in Manhattan District Court, Vladimir Kush charges Pink and her record company, Zomba, with reproducing images from his painting "Countes Erotiques" throughout her video for "U + Ur Hand" without permission."

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, August 11
Antibalas - Che che cole
Mulatu - Yekermo sew
Johnny Hammond - Starborne
LKJ - Victorious dub
Vin Gordon - Steady beat
Johnny Osbourne - Buddy bye
Budos Band - Chicago Falcon
Mckay - Rising tide (Easton rocks hiphop mix)
Fat Freddys Drop - Hope (1998 version)
Cornerstone Roots - Calling
Thievery Corp - Amerimacka
Taggy Matcher - Rockit
Jackie Mittoo - Dr ring ding
Life organisation - Pink steamroller
Roots Combination - General Tso
Oneself - Temptation
Hot 8 Brass band - Get up (download it [legally] for yaself here)
Primal scream -Star
James Blood Ulmer - Are you glad to be in America?
Junkyard band - The word
Kool and the gang - Jungle boogie
Betty Wright - Clean up woman
Lee Moses - Time and place
Eddie Floyd - Knock on wood
(Genuine Stax classic - check out the latest issue of Stop Smiling magazine ["The magazine for high-minded low-lifes"]for a 20 page tribute to Stax, interviews with label founders Jim Stewart and Al Bell, Booker T and MGs, much more - also in same issue, great interview with Sharon Jones here)
King sunny ade - Ja funmi
Connie Price & Keystones - Thundersounds
Sharon Joens and Dapkings - 100 days, 100 nights (off their new album, out early october)

Up North
RIP Tony Wilson - great clip here from BBC Newsnight, with an interview with Wilson two months before he passed away. Comments from friends including Factory Records designer Peter Saville, New Order's Stephen Morris and journo Paul Morley. (Part two of clip here)

From the interview with Wilson....
"People have treated me with contempt, and quite rightly -I'm a TV presenter, I'm a big head, 'F^#&#% you Wilson.' I get that all the time ... Suddenly, I'm dying of cancer - everyone loves you. If you've got people hating you, just get cancer, its fantastic. People are so concerned."

ADDED profile of Wilson from 2002 (Granada TV) / Paul Morley writes about Wilson

How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul
LA Weekly's Jessica Koslow interviewed Chuck D on the 20th anniversary of Public Enemy. Chuck D managed to compare PE to the Rolling Stones... disagree? Whatevs.

And playing tonight in hell...
Imagine you are a journalist in LA. You get an email invite to a gig and you go along, against your better judgement. Welcome to Hanson, live at the Viper Room, last night.

" I'm not quite sure what lured me into going to see Hanson. I saw an e-mail about it, contemplated replying with a not-so-elaborate joke at their expense, and quickly snagged the opportunity without thinking twice.

However, when I called my friend to jokingly present the Hanson show as a concert option for the night she vehemently lurched at it. I began to think twice. Apparently, I was completely unaware of her Hanson phase. I'm pretty sure that if I had known we might not have been friends to begin with.

Regardless, by offering it up I walked straight into a trap. We were going to see Hanson. It was final. I began to frantically rehearse lines in order to justify it to friends and family in the near future, but nothing I came up with really substantiated going to see Hanson..."

"... 10:10pm We plop ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a cluster of underage girls, who clearly have issues with us doing so. I receive multiple blows to the ribcage from the girl standing directly behind me. I turn around and she attempts to play it off as if it were an accident.

10:12pm More blows to the ribcage incite rage. I turn around to explain, in a fatherly-like manner, that elbowing someone isn't conducive to results. If she wants me to move, then she should just ask. We engage in a heated argument, which draws surrounding fans. All of the sudden, I am surrounded by angry Hanson freaks. This is my worst nightmare."

And it just gets better from there. Link to LAist. Props to LAist writer Joshua Pressman for braving the hordes.

Brand new! Good for you!
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings have a new album out October 2 (thru Daptone), BV has an audio sneak preview here. MS Jones has been doing some acting too...

"[She's] just completed filming the role of "Lila" in the upcoming film The Great Debaters. Denzel Washington both directed and stars in the film along with Forest Whitaker. Sharon plays a "Juke Joint" singer named "Lila" and has both a speaking part and is featured singing the Lucille Bogan classic "That's what my Baby Likes". She also recorded additional songs which will be included in the official soundtrack to the film. The movie is a Weinstein Co release and is due out on Christmas Day. Denzel Washington hand-picked Sharon from a quickly-made DVD of her live performances and applauded her on-screen talents." Link.