Lee Fields, Phenomenal Handclap Band, recorded live
Listen to Lee Fields and the Expressions, and Phenomenal Handclap Band, paying at Joe's Pub in NYC last week, streaming audio over at NPR. Damn!

Interview with Neville Staples of the Specials.
Next Saturday marks the first time ska band the Specials have visited NZ. They're currently on a 30th anniversary jaunt, (minus founding member Jerry Dammers). Today's Sunday News has a rather amusing interview with band member Neville Staple. He seems a tad confused.

"... Staple admits he didn't exactly jump at the chance to rejoin the guys who pioneered the 2 Tone genre. "I wasn't really bothered because I was doing my own thing and I was with my own band," Staple tells the Sunday News. "To be honest touring with The Specials will give me and my band a bit more exposure. And I need the money. A lot of people say they don't do it for the money but it does come in handy."

Hang on, this is the same Neville Staple who toured NZ with is band in 2006, billing himself as Neville Staple's Specials. Can you say Cash-In? Ha ha.

Anyway, he's written a book about his life, and will be doing an instore signing 2pm this saturday at Real Groovy Auckland. He's got 8 kids from 6 different mothers, so go help him out and buy his book.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm July 25
Cookin on 3 burners - Cars
Aim - Just passin thru
E's E - Scratchs skank pt 1
Mr greedy -Fustep version
Dubblestandart - Terrorists and inhalers (Keith Le Blanc version)
Joe Ariwa - Neeky youths
Noel Ellis - Memories
The Dramatics - Get up and get down
Esther Phillips -use me
Johnny Frigo Sextet - Scorpio
DJ Adlib fear MED - Every day
Hypnotic brass ensemble - Sankofa
J Rawls Jay Are project - Lee Morgan story / red peppers
Dub Colossus - Azmari dub
Major lazer -Can't stop now
Noiseshaper - Bushmasta
The Wailers - I'm gonna put it on
Jackie Mittoo - El bang bang
Mophono - Edge remix
El michels affair - Red rooster
Muchael Jackson - Rockin robin (Grant Phabao remix)
The revolutionaries - Kunta Kinte (DJ Kentaro remix)
Smashproof - Ordinary life (Moody boyz dub)
Wajeed - Jeedo suave
Bob James - Angela (theme from Taxi)
Cookin on 3 burners - Settle the score Diesler mix

Oddisee
One of my favourite musical releases so far this year was from Washington DC-based hiphop producer by the name of Oddisee. He dropped the Odd Summer EP back in late May, as a free download (get it here). It's a laidback collection of wicked funky, jazzy instrumentals, check it out. Just discovered this great interview with him, talking about how he works. He's released three (partial) albums this year as free downloads, to test the market and get feedback to take to a label and get a deal for a full version of each release (he mentions in the interview that one of these releases got 12,000 downloads).

He says that if you try and work the old way - send out press copies of your album three months in advance, then do press, tour etc, you will get nowhere. (hat tip: Crate kings. Love that blog!)

Notable Quote:
"Hip hop is bootlegged more than anything else. If you go about putting it out the old way, you’re gonna be destroyed by leaking and bootlegging."

Vinyl revival at PortalSpace Records
Via Crate Kings. Financial Times goes inside the PortalSpace Records, EMI’s former vinyl pressing facility, to explain the life of a vinyl record, including masters, mothers, and 100 ton hydraulic presses. (Related: Crate Kings visits United Record Pressing Plant in Nashville, where Daptone Records get akll their vinyl pressed)

Dub Echoes Movie Premiere on tonight
At Galatos, 17 Galatos Street, Newton, 7pm doors
7:30pm start (75 mins) $10 door / $5 afterparty

Afterparty featuring...
Newtown Sound, Sandy Bay Social Club, Earthtone Hi-Fi

Dub Echoes is a documentary directed by Bruno Natal (Brazil) that traces the origins of Jamaican dub music and its huge influence on the development of other musical forms including hip-hop and electronica.

It chronicles the evolution of sound and bass and shows how the Jamaican invention called dub has influenced much of the music we hear today and transformed the studio into a musical instrument.

The film was shot in Kingston (Jamaica), London (UK), New York, Washington, LA (US), Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (Brazil). Dub Echoes features some of the true greats and pioneers of music from around the world including Bunny Lee, King Jammy, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, LTJ Bukem, The Mad Professor, Roots Manuva, Sly and Robbie, Congo Natty, Kode 9 & U Roy. The film was completed in 2008 and released through Soul Jazz Records (UK) in May 2009.
From Mukuna

Say it loud.
The International Film Festival kicked off in our town this week, and there's a ton of fine cinematic treats on offer. If you're a music fan, make sure you catch Soul Power. It had its first screening this afternoon, and I can report it's a stone killer. Second and last screening in Auckland is this Tuesday night, at 6.30pm, Skycity Theatre.



Via Flavourwire:
Soul Power documents the Zaire ‘74 all-star concert that set the stage for Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s legendary Rumble in the Jungle. Originally uncovered during the editing of Oscar-winning documentary When We Were Kings (1996), which captured the Ali/Foreman fight, this sizzling footage has been waiting nearly 35 years to see the light. Kings incorporated just a few tantalizing glimpses of the three-day concert.

Soul Power sets the record straight by featuring complete, historic performances from legends such as B.B. King, Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba, Celia Cruz and the Fania Allstars, The Spinners, and an incendiary James Brown, whose 1971 single lends the film its title.

Like the Rumble itself, the Zaire ‘74 concert marked a seminal moment of cross-cultural contact, bringing together African and Black American musicians for a festival spanning geography and generations. Shot by acclaimed cinematographers including Albert Maysles and Paul Goldsmith, the verité-style doc captures the event’s political and spiritual intensity with intimacy and style.

Watch the trailer, read our exclusive interview with the director, check out video of Celia Cruz’s performance.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm July 11
Chosen few - People make the world go round
Butch Cassidy sound system -Rockers galore
Beat pharmacy -Sunshine
Jackie Mittoo - Wall Street
Tommy McCook and the Supersonics -Beriut
Trackheadz - Jah shall come
Hypnotic brass ensemble - Alyo
Phenomenal handclap band - Baby
Lee Scratch Perry -International broadcaster
Major Lazer - Can't stop now
Manasseh - Creation dub
Naomi Shelton - Trouble in my way
Orgone - Come around
Salmonella dub - Freak local
Topaz -Pharaoh
Aim - Birchwood
Hypnotic brass ensemble - Party started
Booker T and the MGs - Melting pot
Speedometer -Work it out (Beatfanatic remix)
DJ Vadim - Hidden treasure
Cooly G - Love dub
Revolutionaries - Kunta Kinte (DJ Kentaro remix)
UBB - I believe in miracles
Angela Bofill - People make the world go round

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm July 4
MJ vs Q-Tip -Breathe dont stop
Guts - And the living is easy
DJ Vadim - Watch that sound JStar remix
Prince Jammy - Dub ites green and gold
Mere Mortalz feat U Brown - Dis a boom
Noiseshaper - This is not a gun thing
Freddie Cruger -Running from love
Brother culture -Warning/Warning dub
Beat Pharmacy - Strangers
Budos band -Mas o menos
The topics - Louie Louie
Staple singers -Something aint right
Emotions - Blind alley
Quantic - Cuidad del swing
Sister Nancy - One two
Romanowski -Strudel strut
Orgone - Already doin it
Nickodemus - Gypsy magic
Issa Bagayogo - Filaw (Senor Oz remix)
Jackson 5 - I want you back (Readymade 524 remix)
Phenomenal handclap band - 15 to 20
Dub asylum - Jump and twist
Dubwize and Hi Kee - Goodness gracious
Lee Perry -Yellow tongue (Kode9 remix)
Kode9 - Back sun

Can I get a handclap?
I've been listening to the debut album from New York crew the Phenomenal Handclap Band. I came across them late last year via music blogs, and got hooked after hearing their tune 15 to 20. Its catchy as hell.

"This 8-strong group of NYC-area musicians (and featuring Jon Spencer and Lady Tiga) blend space disco and smooth 60s-style soul perfectly with early hip hop, and moody, synth-soaked hooks'. Now how many bands can you say that about?"

They dropped their first single on Truth and Soul earlier this year, and their debut self-titled album came out On Friendly Fire Recordings late June. Haven't seen physical copies in this part of the world yet, but you can buy it as a digital download - I got it from Juno Download..

Go have a listen to 15 to 20 here.

Dam Funk
Free mp3 over here. Mad. "Dam-Funk is currently putting finishing touches on his debut album Toeachizown which will be released this Fall as 5/LP set - two and a half hours of music - with CD version to follow."