The Very Good Agency

Tommy Ill – Bill Murray meets Frida Kahlo

Quirkiness and a bit of humour are always good to lighten the mood, take your mind off your worries and make you realise ‘hey, things are pretty damn good!’. They also help to show you don’t take yourself too seriously, which also a good thing. One chap who isn’t afraid to have a bit of a laugh is Tommy Ill.  He is a Wellington based rapper/producer by night, who also earns his crust as a web developer/graphic designer by day. He frequently plays and attends gigs in NZ’s capital and writes songs about diverse topics for consideration like the fame of Bill Cosby.

His myspace self-description reads: “If Bill Murray and Frida Kahlo had a baby and it grew up in the suburbs listening A Tribe Called Quest.” This is his typical kind of off-beat, random humour that features throughout his music, with lyrics you can laugh along with.

His debut EP “Toast and Tea Kettles” and his latest EP with offsider/colaborator Bucky Beauchamp “Matchsticks” are both out on Loop Recordings. He has received some great critical reviews and acclaim among the indie hip-hop scene and on student radio in NZ.

Here is the vid to the song called “Letters to the Editor” off the Matchsticks EP:

Word is they coloured each frame by hand, that shit takes time people! Tommy Ill also has his own blog (on a corporate news website, but ohh well still good!) which just informed me that he has a live album that can be downloaded for free! To quote the man himself: “It’s got a few unreleased tunes you may not have heard, some weird versions of songs from Matchsticks/Toast & Tea Kettles, and a few suprises too. “It’s called ‘The Day we became models’, a title which he promises to explain later. So why wait? Go find that shizz now if you’re keen! (links below as always…)

The Free D-load

Tommy on Myspace

Happy downloading faithful readers!
…Yossarian

Tags: Comedy, hip hop, New Zealand Artists

Reggie Watts – God Bless Youtube

If you like like chilling out on youtube looking for interesting loop based performers, crossover artists, or just creative randomness, then your going to like Reggie Watts. spending a little time playing on youtube with some of the artists that we work with exposes me to some amazing talents, whether they be in their bedroom or onstage, and youtube even helps for the transition of some of these artists from their bedroom to the stages. Video’s can be altered to change reality, but there’s no trickery behind Reggie Watts, it’s seems to be the product of many nights alone in the bedroom potentially for long periods of time… and man I think it’s worth it:

Reggie Watts – Out of control

So you look a little further and find that Watts not only makes improvisational music, but also comedy. Winner of the ‘Annual Andy Kaufman award’, now awarded by Andy’s father and long time manager George Shapiro, following much recognition from the ‘Edinburgh Fringe Festival’, he now plays regular club and festival gigs around his hometown Brooklyn and America rolling his talents into a completely random and soulful comedic musical set.

If your short for time while your reading this, skip to 5min 24 seconds in this video for a taste of the funniest and tightest rap I have seen in comedy… Damn!

You can check out more of Reggie Watts at:

www.reggiewatts.com

www.myspace.com/reggiewatts

…bs

Tags: Comedy, Funk, gigs, Gospel, hip hop, Soul

Flight of the Conchords

New Zealand is known around the world for a few things, Lord of the Rings, Team New Zealand , Sir Edmund Hillary, and now… Flight of the Conchords.

From their humble beginnings in the NZ television and music industries, New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, now have their own American HBO comedy series. Scoring their American contract after doing an HBO comedy special, they are now moving on to a second series making them the first New Zealand comedians to do so.

‘Part time model’ from Flight of the Conchords HBO series

Receiving a string of highly celebrated awards around the world for their performances, television show, and albums, the 2008 Grammy award for ‘best comedy album’ means Jemaine and Bret have now become New Zealands ambassadors to the world. Not many people realise that Bret a.k.a. Video Kid is also a member of New Zealand dub reggae group The Black Seeds

The Black Seeds – So True

It’s really no surprises that Jemaine also has his own side projects, recently releasing Eagle VS Shark, a downbeat comedy portraying the blossoming relationship of two nerds while Jemaine’s character ‘Jarrodd’ returns to his hometown to seek revenge on his old high school bully…

Jemaine Clement in Eagle Vs Shark

You can check out more from Flight of the Conchords at:

www.conchords.co.nz

…bs

Tags: Comedy, New Zealand Artists