The Very Good Agency

Cover Your Artz

Calling all music industry and aspiring musical entrepreneurs… Ever wanted to find a roadie that has perfected the Tarago Tetris packing technique, a sound guy who knows the difference between a male and female jack, a tour manager who can wake up on time or even a multi talented individual who may save you time and money (and sanity) on the road? Well a new business has arrived from some familiar faces from the Australian scene that seeks to solve, or at least alleviate some of these headaches.

While admittedly they can’t vouch for musical tastes and hygiene, accounting for their talents in the world of production is more then enough for tour managers and self managed artists, and if not, they also provide      *Sound engineers – live and studio *Merchandisers *Tour managers *Production managers *Photographers *Lighting designers *Monitor engineers *Instrument techs *Roadies *Instrument repairs *Stage managers *VJ’s *Poster flyer distro *Street teams *Artist branding – logos etc *Poster printing *Tee printing *Web design *Bio writers *Concert video production *CD burning facilities.

Conveniently the team have answered on their website which was launched just last week “What is in it for the amazing production staff? Aside from work that is… Well, work and more work… and did we mention work? By listing your businesses’ skills or services on this one-of-a-kind website, you can get the jobs you want to do. We have much in the works here at Cover Your Artz. Stay tuned for our handy service where you can organise your schedule easily via the website.”

Having been involved in many concerts, tours, festivals, artist launches and the like myself, I can see some great value in this service and will be looking forward to experiencing the convenience and security this is sure to offer.

Whether you are the talent, the tour manager, or just curious…

You can check out the site for yourself at:

www.coveryourartz.com

Amp up the sound of the South

The focus of today’s informational extravaganza is ‘Southern Amp’, an annual New Zealand musical event held in the Main City of the South Island, Christchurch (aka Churchtown). For several years now it has attracted a healthy mixture of both local and international talents. This year’s line-up is no exception with generous portions of polished stones and rough diamonds.  Some of Very Good’s favourites will be in force to entertain the masses, including: Trillion, The L.E.D’s, O.G, The Little Bushmen along with many other acts also appearing.

There are some internationally known groups turning up for good measure, like the The Charlatans and The Dandy Warhols who are included in the line-up of over 40 bands and DJ’s on 4 live music stages.  The stages are: “The Main Stage”, “Ministry of Sound Stage”, “NZ Music Stage” and “The Christchurch Music Stage”, with all this space there is room for acts across the musical divides from Rock to Dance, and Drum n Bass to Indie. In my opinion it’s great that a gig like this can incorporate both established well-known acts, along with up-and-coming local groups, that many may not know yet.

The promo material states that: “Southern Amp is an R15 restricted event and has a strictly limited attendance  of approximately 9000 due to capacity” at the venue. “All stages will be completely  undercover” either inside or under a large tent to protect from the weather if needed. But if the weather co-operates they can “let the sun in and the great vibes out!” Organisers also recommend getting tickets organised as soon as you can, so you don’t miss out on the goodness.

If you live in the South Island of New Zealand or in the surrounding areas, you’d probably agree that we don’t have an over-abundance of musical festivals, but the ones we do have are definitely worth attending. We do have some that have come and gone over the years, but my basic point is that what there is we have to support and treasure. So if you are nearby might be worth getting into gear and rocking with the massive!

Vital Details you may want to know:

Venue: Westpac Arena Festival Park, Chch, NZ.
Date: Sunday 9th of November 2008
Time: 12:00pm to 11:30pm

For more info check out:

Official Southern Amp Site

…Yossarian

Tags: Festival, New Zealand Artists

Typical Cats

Despite their name, the refreshing style of poetry and jazz coming from these three emcee’s and DJ from Chicago is anything but typical. You might catch them dropping playful raps that challenge the limits of story telling, or you might catch them slumping into slow and simple jazz licks, either way all of their incredible vocal flows take you on a journey of rhyming and timing.

Made up of MCs Qwel, Qwazaar and Denizen Kane, with producer/DJ Natural, and assistance from Kid Knish, Typical Cats came together as a group on the WHPK Wednesday Night Rap Show, an independent Chicago radio station on FM 88.5 covering the South Side of Chicago.

The three emcee’s individual lyrical styles have you come away from their albums feeling like there were three solo artists battling each other, but with a unique tamed aggression. Their self titled album brought a lot of attention to some otherwise fairly underground artists. The album put on display the many flavours Typical Cats have between them, floating effortlessly from hard hitting speed rap, to lazy jazz poetry in a half a beat, telling stories with words, piano’s, and anything else they felt like.

It is as hard to describe Typical Cats as it is to find decent video footage of their performances, so the below video will at least give you an idea of their style…

Aside from Typical Cats, these emcee’s make regular noise in the Chicago and bay area freestyle scene. Denizen Kanes’ other project ‘I was born with two tongues’ see’s him spending much time in Oakland where he performs with this spoken word community. Qwel on the other hand has been involved in 16 albums since the release of their debut album ‘Typical Cats’ in 2000, working on collaboration projects with Maker, Jackson Jones, Meaty Ogre, Mike Gao, Silence, and Robust just to name a few.

You can check out more of Typical Cats at:

www.myspace.com/typicalcatscrew

check out ‘Snake Oil’ and ‘Quleoquiallisms for the relaxing simplicity:

www.myspace.com/typicalcats

Tags: Collaborations, hip hop, Jazz, Poetry

The Roots Rising Down?

Okay players, time for another bout of honesty, which may or may not lower your respect for me. I started this article a long time ago, shortly after the release of ‘Rising Down’, the tenth and latest album from Philadelphia hip-hop crew The Roots. It started as an album review, but as I found publicity material in certain publications, I became irritated and this piece has now turned into a dissection of methods used in modern journalism, and how information is disseminated through the mass media  with sensational hype and spin added.

As I see it, rumour and speculation have become the main ways to promote artists and draw attention. After reading an article in the June edition of U.S hip-hop magazine ‘The Source’ (apparently the mainstream ‘hip-hop bible’) I wondered why all information has to be communicated so simplistically.

I will admit the article does attempt to talk about the issues that the album deals with as it quotes ?uestlove, who states “(the album) gives detailed psychological explanations on why and how methods of violence are used in everyday society from justifiable to domestic to national”. The writer acknowledges the themes explored by The Roots can be difficult to explain and that they create music for the sophisticated listener, but the main focus of the piece is on a possible break-up of the band. The evidence used to justify this speculation is that the group has existed for 17 years (so they must have to break up soon), and that only two of the group members showed up for a press conference.

It couldn’t be possible that some musicians prefer recording and touring to attending promotional appearances? Black Thought tries to explain that they have all been touring extensively for many years, and most of the crew members have “outside endeavours” apart from the group, and even possibly lives. This means that media duties are left up to ?uest and Thought to complete, but it’s a bit to early to say the sky is falling. Just because people don’t want to talk about themselves to reporters endlessly, doesn’t mean they lack commitment to the music.

Should I have expected more from a magazine full of adverts for expensive jewellery, cigars and penile enhancement devices? As it’s obviously not just a commercial tool and has the best intentions of their readers at heart…. not!

I can understand that the themes The Roots focus on can be too complicated for the mainstream media to try an analyse for an audience being continually dumbed-down, but if they have to resort to sensationalism why not base it on fact. For example if I wanted to cause a stir, but remain factual, I would draw attention to the video for ‘Birthday Girl’ which stars a teen XXX award winner Sasha Grey, and contains some unusual phallic innuendo. The video was leaked and created attention online, some were confused and some were outraged. The clip could be interpreted in several ways; to me it seems they are trying to draw attention to a culture of increased sexuality that children are being confronted by. It’s a tough pill to swallow but nowadays there is seemingly no age which is too young to be “sexy”.

At least discussing this I am focusing on something real (the video) and debating an actual issue, instead of just filling up column inches with speculation. So what if no member of The Roots has been shot or in an under age sex scandal, it doesn’t mean we have to assume that every album is either a comeback or a send-off. I mean someday they will break-up but it will be for many and varied reasons, but in the meantime they are still making some damn good music.

Find some real information for yourself at:

The Roots Website

“When I spit it’s something like a psychology exam
If you stand where I stood, you could probably understand
How that mic feeling like a million dollars in my hand
It’s the silence of the lamb, go and cop another gram”

(75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction) – The Roots)

…Yossarian

Tags: hip hop

Pete Philly and Perquisite

Amsterdams’ newest addiction Pete Philly and Perquisite have enjoyed yet another amazing month. Yesterday Pete and Perq recieved the prestigious ‘Amsterdamprijs’ award out of the hands of Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen at the ‘Muziekgebouw aan t IJ’.

The award, which is the most important art award of the city, goes out every year to those artists who contributed in a special way to the arts and to putting Amsterdam on the map. On the award the guys have said “we’re very honoured and want to thank the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and the city of Amsterdam for this big recognition. …and of course a big up to everyone that was there yesterday at the award show!”

This award rewards the chosen artists significantly financially as well as the prestige it offers. The award is just the newest of a string of honours the duo have received in the past year, and only acts to solidify Pete Philly and Perquisites’ position as ambassadors of the Netherlands to the world. What a great way to return from recent European festivals Sziget and Lowlands which are pictured below for those of us who were unable to take the day off work… Is there anything these guys can’t do?

Pete Philly and Perquisite at Lowlands Festival

Pete Philly and Perquisite at Sziget Festival

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

www.myspace.com/petephillyandperquisite

www.petephillyandperquisite.com

… bs

Tags: Festival, hip hop, Jazz