The Very Good Agency

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

The Roots to retire from touring

One of the hardest working live acts around is finally looking at settling down. That’s right; word on the street is that the world’s top hip hop band, the legendary Roots crew, will soon be taking up a residency on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon. Having re-written the books on how to make hip hop, and, more importantly, put on a show, The Roots have developed a cult following amongst not just hip hop fans, but music fans in general.

It’s an unfortunate reality that lot of hip hop shows these days suffer from poor sound engineering; distorted vocals, and basslines that drown out everything else. The Roots, however, have mastered the art of performing live. Appearing on stage with Black Thought on the mic, undoubtedly one of the best emcees in hip hop history, a guitarist, keyboardist, beat boxer, backup singers , and the almighty afro-ed one, ?uestlove on the drums, The Roots put on shows that send chills down your spine.

America’s cult television talk-show, The Late Show , will be taken over by Saturday Night Live Star, Jimmy Fallon, in 2009. Fallon will replace Conan O’Brien, who is moving into Jay Leno’s spot on The Tonight Show. In a recent interview (posted on youtube but quickly pulled) ?uestlove said that The Roots would be retiring from large scale touring and become the house band from March 2009. Its a big move for the band, but he realises it’s the right time to do it; “I see the possible chance of this being a ‘bigger’ move … but on the real? I don’t know if I want to be 40, on the road and single no more. And with the kids my group has now getting older … it’s harder for the guys to leave more than it was when the kids were 2 and 3. And I can’t even start to go on that path till a woman takes me seriously. And ain’t no one taking a man serious who is in his own home for only three months out the year. I been in my crib since 2006 and I still ain’t unpacked everything yet.”

I personally, have never seen The Roots live, and therefore jumped at the chance when they were announced as one of the headliners for the 2009 Good Vibrations festival; they have been at the top of my list of ‘acts I gotta see’ for years. After hearing this news I’m now counting my blessings, as it seems this may be the last chance to see them for quite some time, if ever again, down this end of the world. So get your tickets now for your chance to witness the legendary Roots crew live on stage, the Sydney festival has already sold out and the others won’t be far away!

You can check out  more from The Roots at:

www.theroots.com

www.myspace.com/theroots

and get your tickets at www.googvibrationsfestival.com.au

…cracked

Tags: Funk, gigs, hip hop, Jazz, Old School, Soul

Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry, Be Awesome!

You might remember Bobby McFerrin from his smash hit in 1988 ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, or maybe from one of the TEN Grammy awards that he has received over his career, but like me you may not have given him much thought lately. From a musical family with his father Robert Sr Mcferrin being the first African American to be a regular in the New York Symphony Orchestra, it is no surprise that Bobby embarked on a musical pathway, the result of his exploration however cannot be understood by any influence or guidance he may have had, creating new realms of possibilty for artists to follow. On Saturday evening I was introduced to a video of a 2005 performance ‘Live in Montreal’ he held showing off his amazing talent for creating vocal pieces of art that defy logic and possibilty. His ability to fluctuate between four vocal ranges, combine accapella sounds with the beat he creates tapping on his chest, and the use of polyphonic sounds in which he creates 2 and 3 part harmonies from one vocal box are just extroadinary, and as for the musical pieces that he creates with these talents – they are just breathtaking…

Check it out:

Bobby McFerrin – Drive

As if his vocal talents aren’t enough, in 1994 Bobby Mcferrin was appointed creative chair of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and has made regular tours as the conductor for symphony orchestra including those from San Fransisco, New York, Philladelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and London.

Not much needs to be said when you have seen his performances, so I will leave those of you who are as inspired as I am can check out more of Bobby at:

www.bobbymcferrin.com

…bs

Tags: Blues, hip hop, Old School, Poetry, Soul

Ladi 6 – Time Is Not Much

Those of us that have followed Ladi 6’s progress as an MC and hip hop vocal artist throughout the years will be pleased as hell to hear that she has now completed a solo record. Her debut album “Time Is Not Much” has just been released for the NZ market on October 27th. Since her days starting out with Sheelaroc (an all female hip hip crew), then with Verse Two (who supported acts like The Roots and De La Soul) and the many collaborations with all kinds of NZ groups and artists like 50 Hz, Shapeshifter and Fat Freddy’s Drop (FFD); Ladi 6 (A.K.A Karoline Tamati) has always shown amazing potential and guaranteed finesse. She certainly knows how to control the microphone, adding just the right vocals or rhyme whatever type of track. There’s also a positive message of looking to the future and achieving the goals we set our minds to. To her credit she has numerous awards, has been touring for 10 years and frequently sells out shows. The official website (which is pretty funky itself) describes Ladi 6 as “The New Zealand soulstress and our Queen of hip hop”, I can’t think of any better label for someone of such talents.

The new album was recorded at the Drop studio in Wellington’s Lyall Bay, home to the Fat Freddy’s Crew, who also have an album on the way (watch this space for a future post). The production duties were handled admirably by the talents of Parks (Ladi 6’s partner) and Mu (From FFD), who both seem to know a good bassline when they create one. Others involved in the project included family members Tyra Hammond and Scribe who added their vocal skills, along with some of  New Zealand’s top musicians including Julien Dyne, Chip Matthews, Jo Lindsay and Riki Gooch.

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Ladi 6 – Walk Right Up

Ladi 6 and friends are about to go on a NZ tour to promote the release after returning from their highly successful tour of Europe and the UK. Down below are the upcoming gigs for those of you that may be in NZ or Australia over the next few months. So check her live show out if you can, but if you aren’t nearby and want to know why people call her NZ’s premiere female vocalist and compare her to Erykah Badu, then listen to her single “Walk Right Up” and as usual take a look at the myspace profile for a sneaky listen and possibly (if you’re a good capitalist) purchase stuff!

Confirmed Tour Dates:
31 Oct The Toto Bacco Room, Auckland
1 Nov Flow Bar, Hamilton
5 Nov Missy’s Kitchen, Wanaka
6 Nov Subculture, Queenstown
7 Nov Backstage, Dunedin
8 Nov The Civic, Christchurch
14 Nov Phat Club, Nelson
15 Nov San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington
20 Nov The Espy, Melbourne
30 Dec Rhythm and Vines, Gisborne
4 Jan 09 Days Like This, Sydney
16 Jan 09 Big Day Out , Auckland

So to find more about the new album and Ladi 6’s career so far… check out:

Ladi 6 Official site

Ladi 6 on Myspace

“Dreams can come true and I knew
knew not to believe you
and I flew away from the flock
now no one can stop me.”
(More Than Fake – Ladi 6)

Seek No more…Yossarian

Tags: Funk, gigs, hip hop, New Zealand Artists, Soul

Andy Bull – Small Town Girl National Tour

Nice…

That’s what I thought when I checked out the Soundlounge website to see if there was anything worth seeing while i’m working on Australia’s Gold Coast for two weeks. If you’ve spent any time on the Gold Coast of Australia before, you may be well aware that the place is starved of any identifiable culture (with the exception of surf culture), alternative entertainment, and unfortunately decent venues or clubs to enjoy a night out seeing a live artist or band in a comfortable environment. (it is worth noting that you have The Cooly Hotel in Coolangatta, an hour drive to Byron Bay NSW to The Great Northern Hotel, or an hour the other way to a few places in Brisbane).

Nice, because there was an Australian artist that I hadn’t yet heard, who I was immediately feeling, and yet unable to pigeon whole into a style, or compare to an artist gone by.

It turns out the fact that I hadn’t heard of Andy Bull is more indicative of my level of interest in mainstream media then his success as of late. Andy has been receiving plenty of attention from radio and television recently, mostly for his catchy, tidy, and even poppy (for once in a good way) little track that his current tour is named after “Small Town Girl”, and he is even signed to Universal, which just trips me out given their usual artist roster. Check it out:

Andy Bull – Small Town Girl

Andy began his musical life as a young child, playing on the parlour piano and pump organ his keyboard enthusiast father had collected through his travels in the 1970s. At just 24 today the singer, songwriter and piano player has gone from playing club shows to his hometown crowd in Sydney, to signing to ‘Island Records’ Australia, recording at New York’s legendary ‘Electric Lady Studios’ and Sydney’s ‘301 Studios’, as well as touring the country with Little Red and The Holidays. With such a variety of genres involved in the pieces I have heard thus far including folk, soul, jazz, pop, rock, blues, and even touches of hip hop, it’s going to be interesting to see the direction his career takes over the next few years as he further developes his already funky, definitive sound

If your in NSW, unfortunately this time you have already missed that leg of his tour, however for those of you who are not, the following dates are set to play over the next 2 weeks, which I will be fortunate enough to enjoy on the sunny Gold Coast Thursday at ‘Soundlounge’ (thanks guys), before returning to culture rich, beachless and rainforestless Melbourne (there’s always a trade off).

Thu Oct 23rd          Soundlounge, Gold Coast

Fri Oct 24th            Solbar, Sunshine Coast

Sat Oct 25th           The Troubador, Brisbane

Wed Oct 29th         Toff in town, Melbourne

Thu Oct 30th          Karova Lounge, Ballarat

Fri Oct 31st            Jive Bar, Adelaide

You can check out more of Andy Bull at:

www.andybull.com.au

www.myspace.com/andybull

…bs

Tags: Australian Artists, Blues, gigs, Jazz, Soul