The Very Good Agency

De La Soul – 20 Years Plugged in

Introducing De La Soul or explaining where they have been over the last 20 years seems a little unnecessary, in fact if you’ve not yet heard of them I think that you should go and sit in the corner and do your own research… or you can see them on their 20 year anniversary tour that stops through Australia and New Zealand in May

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De La Soul Press Kit for ‘3 Feet High and Rising’

Australian Shows

Fri April 26 – Metro City, Perth
Fri May 1 – The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne
Sat May 2 – Groovin The Moo, Townsville
Sun May 3 – Big Top, Brisbane
Tue May 5 – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Fri May 8 – Shores Complex, Adelaide
Sat May 9 – Groovin The Moo, Newcastle
Satu May 16 – Groovin The Moo, Bendigo

New Zealand Shows

Tue May 12 – SFBH, Wellington with DJ Marek
Wed May 13 – Lake Wanaka Centre, Wanaka with Sunshine Soundsystem
Thu May 14 – The Bedford, Christchurch with Stinky Jim and Sticky Fingaz
Fri May 15 – The Powerstation, Auckland with The Misfits of Science and DJ Sir-Vere

De La Soul – arguably the greatest hip hop group in the world’s history… It’s hard for me to say if The Very Good Agency would exist without them, or if I would be the person that I am today…

too much… honestly

see you in the front/fifth row if you manage to get a ticket before they sell out

You can check out more of De La Soul at:

www.myspace.com/delasoul

…bs

Tags: gigs, hip hop, Old School

Pete Philly and Perquisite take some Q&A

Following a considerable amount of touring throughout Europe, Asia, and the world over the past two years, Very Good friends Pete Philly and Perquisite have finally taken a break to work on some solo projects in 2009, but don’t worry… they assure us that they will be back with another album in time for 2010 … ish. Having been nominated again for ‘best alternative group’ by 3FM in the Netherlands, and an Edison award for ‘best song’ in ‘Mystery Repeats’, they continue to produce quality ish like the new video for Q&A which was directed by ‘Nokia Trends Lab’ winner, Lucinda Sedoc, and was shot entirely by using a cell phone!

Check it out…

Pete Philly and Perquisite – Q&A

Aside from this, Pete is currently rehearsing for his lead role in ‘The Man From Nowhere’, a theatre play by Kasper Kapteijn, which premiers at the ‘Melkweg’ in Amsterdam April 15th. Perquisite on the other hand is creating the soundtrack for the upcoming Dutch film ‘Carmen Van Het Noorden’ which also stars Mc’s GMB, Duvel, Jiggy Dje, and Turk.

With a couple of shows in South Africa, and a couple in America coming up, probably one of the better known spots to play in the world is the ‘South by Southwest’ festival, where Pete and Perq will be playing March 18th right before Beyonce’s little sister Solange Knowles hits the stage… two of my fabourite artists playing consecutively… what a dream come true huh ??? yeah well maybe not, but Pete Philly and Perquisite will be sure to drop some heat anyway.

You can check out more of Pete Philly and Perquisite at:

www.petephillyandperquisite.com

www.myspace.com/petephillyandperquisite

…bs

Tags: Funk, hip hop, Music video, Soul

4 3 2 1 – the K-OS YES! countdown is over

Countdown is up people! K-OS (a.k.a Knowledge of Self) has finally released his fourth studio album entitled ‘YES!’. (can I get an amen people)

After 3 amazing albums to date (‘Exit’, ‘Joyful Rebellion’, Atlantis Hymns for Disco’), we can expect another mash up of every style and sound experimented with to date, and of course his own banging flavour that puts him on the top of so many playlists around the world. K-OS confesses on his official web-site “I’m a historical opportunist who’s grown up on everything from Dylan to Marley to KRS-One… I’ve never seen myself as just a hip hop artist”, well as far as I know, this may be the best way to describe him to newer appreciators of hip hop in reality, as this is what true hip hop is really all about.

Here’s a wee taste of the new album…

K-os – 4 3 2 1

Can’t wait to get my hands on this album, and thankfully now I don’t have to.

If you haven’t had the chance to check him out before, you can catch up at our previous articles.

Looking forward to hearing the remixes he has included in the album too, should have attracted some pretty interesting submissions knowing the fan base he has around the world i’m sure.

Good times people.

You can check out  more from K-os at:

www.k-osmusic.com

www.myspace.com/kos

…bs

Tags: Funk, hip hop, Soul

True Live – Found Lost

Listen up kids… because following ‘The Shape Of It’, one of the greatest Australian hip hop albums of the decade, Melbourne six piece jazz, hip hop, classical, crossover group True Live have announced their new album release ‘Found Lost’.

With the album hitting the streets on April 4, True Live will play in Melbourne tomorrow night (March 10) if you can make it to ‘The Toff in Town’, before undoubtedly touring more extensively post release to give all of their new and old school fans a chance to catch their energetic live show (which is really responsible for this group’s massive reputation after a relatively short career so far). Maybe it’s the classical training and wealth of experience that these guys have that brings such a raw energy to their performance, or maybe it’s the breath of fresh air they promote from such an array of influences, but who really cares where it came from, all I care about is that feeling you have every time you walk away from one of their gig’s that you have worn your legs out from bumping to the madness they always inspire in any crowd.

True Live are unlike any other Australian crews really, and with the rumours i’ve heard surrounding the new release suggesting MC Rhyno has twisted their sound, with a heavier reliance on vocals as well as his traditional smooth rap style, maybe the new True Live will even be unlike True Live… if that can make sense? hmmm anyway…

here’s a look at the old True Live, and you can go from there I guess

True Live -Keep Myself Awake

nice huh

You can check out more from True Live at:

www.myspace.com/truelive

…bs

Tags: Australian Artists, Funk, gigs, hip hop, Soul

I-Nation Festival 2009 about to go off

People……. If you can remember/scroll back to an article on this site from last year, about the New Zealand musician/producer/all round nice guy: Mr. Oakley “O.G.” Grenell, then you might have already heard of ‘I-Nation’. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I would like to inform you about this legendary annual music festival held in Whitecliffs, North Canterbury. This years line up includes Very Good favourites like Tiki, The Little Bushman, Ladi 6 and members of shapeshifter.

I-Nation was described as “the outdoor party of the year” by one NZ magazine, which is a pretty big statement these days, with the amount of outdoor parties going on in NZ. So it basically goes down (and off) out in the bush with a mean-as sound system and family-friendly environment. As the official website states: “This year the legendary valley of Whitecliffs just 45mins west of Christchurch will once again host some of Aotearoa’s finest talent in Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Jungle, Funk, Soul & Breaks.”

There is less than three weeks to go and tickets are selling fast for the gig, which is expected by the organisers to sell out. If your not in the area to catch it, make sure you at least check out the website! It has some cool stuff, full information on all the artists, maps and a full run-down off the whole situation really.

Ticket Info:

$85 Tickets plus BF available from Cosmic Corner Stores NZ-wide or $100 Limited Gate Sales available upon entry.  Tickets can also be purchased online from www.cosmiccorner.co.nz/tickets – Children under 15 free with ID if accompanied by a parent or guardian.

When/where it’s at:

…Yossarian

Tags: Dub, Festival, Funk, New Zealand Artists, Reggae, Roots, Soul