Lux Interior's brother reminisces
''He always had a lot of records, and when I was a kid, I was always coming up in his room and I'm sure I was pestering him, so he would make me promise that if I could be quiet for 24 hours, he'd give me a record,'' Purkhiser said.

''And I'd think, 'Man, that's a really good deal, I don't have to say nothing and I'll get a record?' And it didn't dawn on me until years later when I thought 'Damn him, he was just trying to get me to shut up for a day.' I did get a lot of records,'' he said laughing.

Link

Orchestral J-Dilla: coming soon!
Last weekend a new series of concerts kicked off in Los Angeles, called Timeless. The first installment featured Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke with a 15-piece orchestra, and dj sets from Cut Chemist, Quantic And Egon.

"The next installment in the Timeless series is entitled A Suite For Ma Dukes and will feature Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino conducting a 30+ piece orchestra paying tribute to the legendary J Dilla with an opening DJ set by the incomparable House Shoes. There will also be an accompanying EP released with selected orchestral interpretations of James Yancey’s music. More details on that soon." More here, plus Mulatu vids. Hat tip to Sweeny Kovar.

Questlove's (The Roots) Grammy roundup
Spotted via Twitter. Follow him: @qoolquest.

highlights from the last 5 hours by Questo.

5. radiohead is so gangsta that they turn away a gazillion rock groups tryna get into their shindig. you went to a secret location and then they picked YOU up.

4. rosanna arquette is 50 and can get it. SERIOUSLY

3. diplo is hillllllllarious beyond belief. he and i were polar opposites when it came to tonight's ceremony. i was elated....he snarky

2. nigel godrich is a hip hop head. and a great dj. best moment. playing "tomorrow never knows" and mccartney walked in on CUE. and danced!

1. thom wins again. he looked at the serato the same way austin powers looked at a cd for the first time before playing it on a turntable.

his segues were a work of art. he just BLAMO!---played what he wanted. tonight was surreal and very hard to gain entry. so much love to one of my favorite bands for looking out and letting a brother show yall a taste of my world. and now i gotta pack. time to make the donuts.

FOTC miss out to late comedy great
"Best comedy album went to George Carlin [Flight of the Conchords were also nominated in this category]. George's daughter Kelly is accepting. "I was hoping to get through this without crying ... I promise to take care of this better than my dad did." Apparently, George, in a "chemically-induced altered state," took apart his first Grammy (in 1972). Carlin passed away last June." From LA Times Grammys blog

Speaking of the Grammys, after 110 categories (seriously), the finale is Radiohead with a massive brass band, the USC Marching Band. Their warm-up song? Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. Hat tip to MIA, who performed also, even though she is due to give birth TODAY - see above photo. (Will link to video of that Readiohead performance when it hits the internetz).

ADDED Watch Radiohead and USC Marching Band video here.

Ring The Alarm playlisyt, BaseFM, Feb 7
Dexter Wansel - Life on Mars
Al Green - Take me to the river
Ozomatli - Superbowl sundae (Peanutbutter wolf remix)
Magic fly - Play that funky reggae (JStar mix)
Erykah Badu - Honey (Grant Phabao remix)
Grant Phabao, Lone Ranger, Carlton Livingston - Message to you Rudy
Flomega and the ruffcats - Pay me right (Tiger Hifi echo mix
Bob Marley - Soul shakedown party (Aphrodisiac Sound System remix)
Issa Bagayogo - Dibi
Amadou and Mariam - Djama
DJ Hen Boogie w/ Kissey Apslund - Adore
Eli Paperboy Reed and the Trueloves - I'm gonna getcha back
James Brown - The Bose (Geisha boys mix)
Eru Dangerspiel - The holdup
Beat conductror - Caribbean path
Sean Paul - Get busy (B.cause Ticklah dub edit)
Quantic - Westbound train
Juju orchestra - Funky Nassau
Staple singers - Something aint right
Como mamas feat Mary Moore -Trouble in my way
Sound dimension - Time is tight
Mophono - The edge remix
Sola rosa -Turnaround
Tom tom club - Genius of love
Paltinum pied pipers - Go, go, go
Defari - Behold my life inst
Ayah - I reminisce
Kashmere stage band - Superstrut (Kenny Dope remix)

Henry Rollins on Lux Interior.
"Once I drove up to New York to see them in my little VW; it was me and most of the Bad Brains all crammed into my little car. It was at Irving Plaza, and H.R. from Bad Brains, he went backstage because he's a big rock star, and he came out with a slick of the album cover and the whole band had signed the back. I still have it to this day." More here.

20 best: Colombian records ever made
Will Quantic and Roberto 'Beto' Gyemant look at some great Columbian records... "The depth and breadth of Colombian music never fails to astound me; just as you think you have it covered another sub-genre shows its face. Colombia has a musical history as multi-faceted as Brazil or India but so far, in my opinion, it’s not been given the respect it deserves by the outside world..." Will Quantic. From Fact magazine.

Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes is out now on Soundway Records.

Welcome to America, Baghdad metalheads
"Acrassicauda had been through hell as a rock band in wartime Baghdad. Its practice space was bombed. Its members were branded Satan worshipers and received death threats for making Western-style music. Then they suffered through two purgatorial years as refugees in Syria and Turkey, killing time and dreaming of rocking out in the land of the free.

And on Sunday night, two days after the last of the band’s four members was resettled in the United States, they enjoyed what any metal fan would have to call heaven: bearhugs and “Wow, dude” heart-to-hearts backstage with Metallica at the Prudential Center in Newark.

It probably wasn’t necessary for James Hetfield, Metallica’s lead singer, to surprise them after the show by handing over one of his guitars, a black ESP, and signing it “Welcome to America”; their minds were already blown.

“That’s for keeping the faith,” Mr. Hetfield said, adding as he disappeared with his entourage down a corridor, “Write some good riffs.”

Acrassicauda’s rock ’n’ roll faith was traced in a documentary, “Heavy Metal in Baghdad,” released in 2007. That film portrayed the members as ordinary if tenacious rock Joes amid the most extraordinary circumstances, and they continue to embody those roles in their new lives. .."

Link to NYTimes article.

Boozoo for you and you.
Boozoo Bajou drop a new album, Grains, early next month. Free remix download for you!

"More heat from Boozoo Bajou, the Votel remix is really heavy.
Boozoo Bajou- Same Sun (Andy Votel's Music Minus Music Version) get it here
From: "Same Sun" EP (Feb. 17th) / Grains (March 3rd)
Bonus download: Another Sun" (Bootleg Version)
Streaming audio & more http://www.boozoobajou-grains.com

"With Grains, the West Coast sounds of the Laurel Canyon era serve as a primary reference point. The lead single "Same Sun" will be released digitally on February 17th with remixes from Prins Thomas, Andy Votel (available above), & Quantic. Grains will be release March 3rd on K7.

"And if you missed it, check out the fantastic Grains Inspiration Mix featuring tracks from the new album alongside classics from Neil Young, David Crosby, Joni Mitchell & more."

Great news for the modern man
Eru Dangerspiel rolled into town last Friday night with his 12 piece band, and proceeded to tear it up at the monthly Turnaround club night, here in AK.

Eru Dangerspiel is the alias for one Ricky Gooch, formerly of reggae jam band Trinity Roots. I know a lot of folk are in raptures over fellow ex-Trinity Roots member Warren Maxwells' new stoner rock outfit Little Bushman, my preference is for the funky psychedelic soul of Mr Dangerspiel. His debut album Great news for the modern man dropped last year, and it's easily one of the best local releases of the past year. It's a little bit Stevie Wonder and a little Sun Ra too.

This is only the second live performance by Dangerspiel (I think), and his band is a stellar bunch of talent, featuring members of Fat Freddys, Kora, and Open Souls. Friday's show featured lotsa cowbell action, a wicked horn section and, three vocalists including the stunning soul of Laughton Kora, and the delightful sight of Joe Lindsay of Fat Freddys dancing in his singlet and boxers while furiously slapping a pair of jandals together for percussive effect. Oh, and all the band wore Zorro masks, except for the 2nd drummer seated next to Dangerspeil (Julien Dyne of Open Souls) - that fella was in a dinosaur costume. Gutted you missed it? You should be.

There's a few albums that dropped late last year that have surfaced here on local release. A Town Called Addis by Dub Colossus was one of my fave albums of last year (Ethiopia meets London dubmeister), that's in the shops now. Also worth checking, the latest album from Amadou and Mariam, called Welcome to Mali is out here now too. Their previous album Dimanche A Bamako was a big fave of mine. Came out late last year overseas, and made a few best of lists.

Speaking of which, I've noticed this odd trend with CD reviews in the NZ Herald lately - they seem to have spent much of last month reviewing hiphop albums that came out last year and made numerous best of lists, like Q-Tip's The Renaissance, The Knux' Remind me in three days. or Common's Universal Mind Control. Q-Tip's album was available here in early Nov shortly after its US release, and The Knux dropped late October. Common dropped late December, so that may have only recently come out locally. Weird trend, though. That Q-Tip album is mighty good.

Oh, and who was the marriage proposal in the middle of the Alice Russell gig on Saturday night?