The Very Good Agency

Death of a Muse – a tribute to J Dilla

J Dilla may have already passed from this world, it appears however, that it will take some time before his impact on the musical community leaves us. Inspired by ‘LA Weekly’s’ interview with J Dilla’s mum (a.k.a. Ma Dukes) following his passing, Solillaquists of Sound, on ANTI-/Epitaph Records, have decided to return to his mother, a token of the impact J had on so many during his short life.

For those of you who don’t recognise him by name, it is not uncommon, but perhaps you may know him from Slum Village, or perhaps some of the tracks that he has made with repeat collaborators Common, Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, The Roots, Hi-Tek, Kanye West, Madlib, Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, ?uestlove, D’angelo, The Pharcyde, QTip, De La Soul, Janet Jackson and A Tribe Called Quest just to name a few. Honestly, while familiar with some of his work, until researching for this article, I had no idea what an impact J Dilla has had on my life throughout his career.

The song “Death of a Muse” which features J-Live, Chali-2na and Ma Dukes herself, has been posted online for a minimum donation of $2 for anyone wanting to support Ma Dukes current situation, brought about by the illness and surrounding hardships of her late son. As well as losing her son, Ma Dukes was left with serious hospital bills, and even lost her house during the time that she took care of J, in his final stages. This honourable gesture will see 100% of proceeds go to Ma Dukes, and hopefully alleviate some of the emotional as well as financial stresses that have since seen her health decline also.

www.insound.com/madukesdonation

Having heard of this plight at www.okayplayer.com , I was compelled to show my support by downloading this track. Having heard the song, I was compelled to run and get my credit card, and post this message to anyone who was a fan of J Dilla, or even just a fan of community and humanity. Let’s not forget also in amongst the circumstances that brought the track into existence, that ‘Death of a Muse’, is also just a really great track.

J Dilla – Won’t Do

DiViNCi, of Solillaquists of Sound told Sean Kantrowitz at www.okayplayer.com “We’re honored to be helping Ms. Yancey. She’s the type of person that makes you proud to be a human being. Despite all that she’s been through, she’s a rock of unwavering strength, faith, and humility. That gives us all the more reason to do our part to see that she receives everything she deserves.”

If you would like to hear or download this track and support the cause, go to:

www.insound.com/madukesdonation

Or to check out more from J Dilla, Check out:

www.myspace.com/jdilla

www.stonesthrow.com/jdilla

and finally, if you have a true appreciation of lyrically conscious Hip Hop, be prepared to be amazed by his discography at:

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Dilla

…bs

Tags: hip hop, Jazz

The Good, the Bad and the Queen

If you like cinematic violence and vengeance, then you may know that Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western “Dollars” trilogy featured Clint Eastwood as the man with no name. The today’s informational update deals with a band with no name, a project that has become known as “The Good, the Bad and the Queen”, which is the title of the album they created. Some in the music business have called it a super group, which is a convenient way to describe a collective of people who have all been in other bands.

Each member has had previous success as part of another group, or in the case of Drummer Tony Allen as a hugely influential solo artist in his own right. Just to let you know the team I will quote from pitchfork, who summed the band up in their usual droll but pretentious style, as “On bass, Clash veteran Paul Simonon. On guitar, Simon Tong, late of the Verve. On drums, the unimpeachable Afrobeat master Tony Allen. Behind the boards, somewhere, the ubiquitous, beloved Danger Mouse. And Albarn himself on top, his ego and voice the would-be X-factor that ties these disparate kindred souls together.” So yes I is a slightly odd mish-mash of talent, but their collective creativity has created a great sound.

To explain, the project began around the time of the demise of Damon Albarn’s previous band Blur, when he connected with Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. Guitarist Simon Tong got on board and they went to Mali, Africa to collaborate in 2004. The result was not completely productive and did not produce any released recordings, but after getting back to London Albarn got former Clash bassist Paul Simonon into the mix, and things went from there. By 2006 the group released the single “Herculean” and performed live for crowds around London. On April 4, 2007, “The Good, The Bad & The Queen“ became the first EMI album to be made available for download in the new DRM-free, high quality MP3 format.

So what’s it all about? No stranger to side-projects and oddities, Albarn has worked with some legends (including Dan The Automator) since his time in blur, not only as one of the masterminds behind animated band The Gorillaz. It’s definitely an intriguing sound, which is a bit of a mixture of other styles, that can be quite haunting and paints an atmospheric picture of modern life in London, or any chaotic urban area. As with most culture it is based in it’s on time and space, but also looks at the broader picture of society, in a dirty, brooding post-911 “War on Terror” world. I enjoy dark, claustrophobic and cryptic lyrics like these from the song Herculean:

“And the medicine man is here 24/7
You can get it fast in Armageddon
Everyone is on the way to heaven
Slowly”

Each individual member brings their own skills to the mix, Albarn’s song writing and lyrical abilities are honed and at the forefront. The drumming and general beats are brilliant. Allen’s skills turn, what could otherwise be thought of as simplistic songs, into something to keep you guessing, so good you’d think he was a drum machine. While most tracks can stand on their own two feet, it is the sort of album created to be listen to, as one collective output, on your headphones while you wait for public transport whisk you away to another place.

-Video: Nature Springs-

By the way: If you are keen to hear about Damon Albarn’s next project with Tank girl creator Jamie Hewlett, look out for Monkey: Journey To The West!

To find out more about “The Good, the Bad and the Queen” album, check out these sites:

Official Site

Offical Fan Site

Myspace Site

“Drink all day coz the country’s at war
You’ll be falling on the palace walls
I can’t be any more than I say
In the flood you’ll get washed away
When the sunset world begins”

(The Kingdom of Doom -TG TB & TQ)

By the good/Bad…Yossarian

Tags: Collaborations, Dub, Jazz, Soul

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

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

Pendulum Swings for Bushmen

Wellington artist Warren Maxwell has been involved in some well respected musical projects in recent years. He was the lead singer of Trinity Roots a now defunct dub/roots group that broke up in 2005, some would say at the height of their success. They only released two albums that were highly acclaimed and built them a dedicated (but mellow) fan base. Since then Warren has been playing sax (as Fulla Flash) with his mates in Fat Freddy’s Drop a funky jazz/dub group who received attention originally for their great live performances, with lengthy Jam sessions and solos that can last as long as they have to. They have toured around the world and were noticed by some big names in the music biz, even getting the remix treatment on the odd occasion.

Maxwell’s latest group is the Little Bushmen, is a four-piece group based again in New Zealand’s capital, who are being described by some as psychedelic blues. Now whether this is a new genre or just a convenient pigeon-hole, will be decided by the test of time, as terms like this only seem to become relevant or not in hindsight. With their influences listed with names like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and John Coltrane you can get an indication of the musical well they are tapping to power their engine. Experimental and moving it is music that takes you on a journey with many stops along the road. They have so far released two albums which are are available to be purchased on CD and by downloadable MP3 format, this can be found by going to their myspace site, as the official band website is not completed yet. Debut album ‘Onus of Sand’ was released in 2006 and was followed this year by the second album ‘Pendulum’.  The band describe their sound sum and themselves up with the following quote:

“Love, Hate, Turmoil, Moonbeams, Politics, Family, Pegasus & The Universe. All of the above with the lights off. Unashamed self indulgence resulting in sated emotional exhaustion… beautiful.”

After several successful tours of New Zealand earlier this year the boys have confirmed three tour dates for their upcoming Australian Tour in October, and will possibly add other shows in Byron Bay and other locations to be confirmed. Here are the current gig dates:

Sydney: Metro With Blue King Brown & Guests
October 25th

Stradbroke Island: Island Vibe
26th October

If you are in these areas and like to hear something you can sink your teeth into, I recommend you get along check them out and support artists seeking to push the envelope!

You can check out more of Little Bushmen at:

Official Myspace Page

Amplifier Interview

…Yossarian

Tags: Dub, Funk, Jazz, New Zealand Artists, Roots