The Very Good Agency

CunninLynguists – where you at?

CunninLynguists… can I get away with saying that? You can if you’ve heard of this three piece hip hop group consisting of Deacon The Villain, Kno and Natti (a later addition) from the southern states of America. Listening to Braille‘s new album ‘The IV’ recently, I have been treated again to some of the production wizardry from Kno. Now 3 years since the release of their third album ‘A Piece of Strange’, I found myself asking… Where you at CunninLynguists?

Originally hearing their album ‘Southern Underground’ released in 2003, these guys marked a new generation of southern hip hop for me, which these days is too often full of childish hip pop (obvious exceptions like Outkast exist). CunninLynguists take a playful stance when making observations about the world, shedding light on the more serious things in life, while focusing on the simple pleasures in life. Working with some of the other more conscious and politically active names in hip hop including Cee-Lo, Immortal Technique, & KRS-One, Cunninlynguists have also shared the stage in 2008 with Australia’s own Hilltop Hoods for an

American tour. With some of the fastest raps, intriguing samples from all genres of music, sharp playful wit, and picture painting stories, CunninLnguists manage to cover most of the emotions that hip hop explores, and they do it with soul.

Soul and Gospel play a big part in CunninLynguists music, vocally and structurally, they even had an angel feature on one of their tracks ‘Seasons’ (Lauryn Hill). Their southern gospel influence is what truly separates them from other artists, the soul influences that stand out in both their music and lyrics creates an authentic vibe to their experiences, putting you in their shoes in such powerful pieces as ‘Rain’ and ‘Love’ feat. Tone Deff.

7 Years

4 albums

2 Official mix-tapes

1 Awesome group

CunninLynguists – KKKY

You can check out more of CunninLynguists at:

www.myspace.com/cunninlynguists

…bs

Tags: hip hop, Old School

Omar Musa – Australian Slam Poet

I stumbled across this article the other day and thought it’s worth noting that the Australian scene is opening up more to the art and culture of hip hop. Omar Musa took out the title and $5,000 as the prize money for the Australian Slam Poetry championships.

Good to see poets coming up locally…

you can check out more if Omar Musa at:

His myspace

…bs

Tags: Australian Artists, hip hop, Poetry

What About Me – 1 Giant Leap

The first post I am making for 2009, (oh yeah, Happy New Year people!) is a documentary series comprising of a TV series, film and album, created by two visionary filmmakers. Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto travel the world with the goal of creating the biggest global music jam in history in ‘What About Me’.

The movie(s) tells of their journey travelling through 50 locations to create a universal piece of music, while interviewing some of the world’s leading actors, musicians, and activists. Departing from the typical Hollywood model, the two filmakers also take the time to interview some of the world’s unsung heroes they met along the way, “weaving original musical collaborations with soul-searching conversations and stunning imagery.”

‘Collective insanity’ is one commonality these film-makers have touched upon as they interact with people from all walks of life. That although we as communities have different music, lifestyle, opinions, and cultures, we are all instinctively drawn towards the same emotional, practical, and spiritual needs, in order to survive and co-operate as societies.

‘What About Me’ – Series Trailer

The DVD is an album of 11 short films each featuring a piece of music and a theme and a twelfth feature-length film that plays the films continuously. The double DVD will also contain the seven TV episodes as a companion to the short film. With artists such as Michael Stipe, Will Young, Brother Speech of Arrested Developement, Carlos Santana, Maxi Jazz, Alanis Morissette and K D Lang among many others, this art work is sure to be worth a watch for appreciators of music and humanity, if that’s not too broad.

You can check the series out for yourself at:

www.whataboutme.tv

and for those of you in Australia at the moment, ‘What About Me’ will be airing on ABC during January and February.

Special thanks to www.ilikemusic.com for the interesting review they posted on this series.

…bs

Tags: Documentary, Political, World Music

Not such Good Vibrations

The unfortunate news has come that the legendary Roots Crew have pulled out of ‘Good Vibrations Festival’ due to committments in America in February, 2009. As one of the headlining acts for the popular festival (which is already sold out in Sydney), hip hop fans as well as most who have had the pleasure of experiencing their unique blend on contemproary jazz and hip hop will definitely be dissapointed with thisdevelopement, especially given that this was said to be the final tour we can expect to see them doing on our shores for at least the next 14 months. (see recent article on Roots ending touring)

On the positive side of things, Jam Music has somewhat made it up to fans by securing Q-Tip, front man for A Tribe Called Quest, a.k.a the brother abstract, to replace them on the bill. From his days in A Tribe, myriad of collaborations, and two solo albums, Q-Tip is a suitable replacement for The Roots being one of the forefathers of modern hip hop. For me personally having seen The Roots three times before, and never having had the fortune to catch Q-Tip, I feel the organisers have made the best out of a bad situation that all concert promoters have to face at some stage in their careers. Bumping Tip’s new album ‘The Renaissance’ a lot recently, I know that we are in for a great show from an equally heralded artist who

we otherwise wouldn’t have been likely to see on our shores soon. I’m guessing at the end of the day all of the people who signed up for their last opportunity to see The Roots live show won’t be as forgiving as I am though, as I can confirm the rumours that The Roots have one of the most powerful, dynamic, and theatrical shows I have ever seen…  straight up.

If you’ve got your ticket, and your a ‘lil sad… pucker up kid, find someone willing to give you a hug, and just think… with Q-Tip and The Pharcyde reuniting… Good Vibrations is almost becoming a little Rock The Bells tour for Australasia… and there’s some dude called Wale who has a few nice beats, but seems a little gangster for my liking.

Q-Tip – Getting Up

…bs

Tags: Festival, gigs, hip hop, Jazz

Fat Freddy’s Drop a few Singles

The crowd pleasing dubbed-out funksters Fat Freddy’s Drop (FFD) are back in New Zealand, somewhere near a Wellington studio, putting the finishing touches on their upcoming full length album after completing their hectic European tour. They will hopefully be confirming in January the release date for this; in the meantime the new single “Pull The Catch” is available now on limited edition heavy weight 7″ vinyl. They have also just put out a free download of the recent single “The Camel”. Which you can down load from:

‘The Camel’ MP3 Download link.

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You can also check out the video in the youtube link below, it includes vocals from soul singer Alice Russell, who has toured with Fat Freddy’s in the UK and Australia. At 4 minutes and 16 seconds in length, the song is only slightly longer than your average single, but still well short by Fat Freddy standards. There is no rushing through songs at a Fat Freddy’s Drop gig, where a set of a few hours may only consist of a handful of songs. Although, this may sound more like one continuous mix of melodic niceness, with jam-outs that last as long as they have to. But you can always be assured of a blend of dub, jazz and all things nicely funkified! So if you’re feeling adventurous check out their website, where much merch can be procured for a price.

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The Camel

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FYI Gigwise: You’ll be able to see FFD if you’re in the big WA at Freemantle New Years Day 2009, with special guests DJ Vadim and Yara Bravo.  Freddy’s then wing their way to Sydney to play at Days Like This (January 4th) where you can catch the likes of Public Enemy and many more. Then on Saturday 24^th January 2009 Christchurch, NZ. Where they will play at Sounday, an all day music event happening at North Hagley Park, which also features Dj Vadim and Nathan Haines!

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Fat Freddy’s Official Site

Fat Freddy on Myspace

Camel Single Download

It’s time I changed my view…Yossarian

Tags: Funk, Jazz, New Zealand Artists