Sunday, May 28, 2006
Illadephia Weekend and Bonnaroo musings
Posted by Mark Mays on Sun, May 28, 2006 at 7:55 PM
Somehow I managed to miss ?uestlove¦s big DJ set at Kaz's place. He tells me it was hot. Anyone else care to weigh in? I almost managed to miss The Roots/Blackalicious concert last night, however, thanks to the very kind and understanding Bo, a security worker at the club, I was able to witness greatness. Note to City Hall and that nameless booking company, be nice to the people who give you free publicity every week. You wouldn't like us when we're angry.
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The band was on fire, tight, funky, jazzy, flipping from Michael Jackson covers to their classics. That's the one maddening thing about The Roots live, though; with the volumes of their own work, why include covers of the overrated Tupac and 50 Cent in your encore? I know, that's postmodernist hip hop humor at play, and I got the joke. It was funny when I heard them do a bit of "In Da Club." Now it's getting annoying. I wanted to hear "Concerto!" Still, they wrecked the stage. I'm putting in my vote for Black Thought as one of the top 20 live performing MCs ever. Forget the lame MTV list.
All this scratching is making me itch. There's more hip hop and hip hop-ish coming our way when Bonnaroo happens. The selections are pretty impressive; the Quannum contingent comes back AGAIN with Lyrics Born and Blackalicious, and they're bringing king of the floppy hat, Common. Atmosphere's last record was on my top ten; Slug really transversed the "underground" rapper stance and found a voice.
Sasha is a good pick for the DJ freaks and dance music fiends. Try to catch Soulive, they play a modern jazz that¦s influenced by funk, rap, and break beat.
Reggae will be well represented, if not in stature, at least in quality. Damien Marley will appear, doing his rootsy dancehall that's infected with rap stings (Welcome to Jamrock!). Steel Pulse are legends. Amadou and Miriam aren't reggae, however their music is the foundation of reggae roots. The biggest pleasure may be your discovery of The Refugee All-Stars. Naught to do with Lauryn Hill, they are the focus of a documentary that the wise Brian Gordon booked at the recent Nashville Film Festival. Their music is as close as Nashville may get to the dulcet tones of from my favorite reggae band, Culture. If I had to choose between Costello and the Refugees for Bonnaroo . . .
{{popup roots_japan_close.jpg roots_japan_close 288x400}}roots_japan_close
The band was on fire, tight, funky, jazzy, flipping from Michael Jackson covers to their classics. That's the one maddening thing about The Roots live, though; with the volumes of their own work, why include covers of the overrated Tupac and 50 Cent in your encore? I know, that's postmodernist hip hop humor at play, and I got the joke. It was funny when I heard them do a bit of "In Da Club." Now it's getting annoying. I wanted to hear "Concerto!" Still, they wrecked the stage. I'm putting in my vote for Black Thought as one of the top 20 live performing MCs ever. Forget the lame MTV list.
All this scratching is making me itch. There's more hip hop and hip hop-ish coming our way when Bonnaroo happens. The selections are pretty impressive; the Quannum contingent comes back AGAIN with Lyrics Born and Blackalicious, and they're bringing king of the floppy hat, Common. Atmosphere's last record was on my top ten; Slug really transversed the "underground" rapper stance and found a voice.
Sasha is a good pick for the DJ freaks and dance music fiends. Try to catch Soulive, they play a modern jazz that¦s influenced by funk, rap, and break beat.
Reggae will be well represented, if not in stature, at least in quality. Damien Marley will appear, doing his rootsy dancehall that's infected with rap stings (Welcome to Jamrock!). Steel Pulse are legends. Amadou and Miriam aren't reggae, however their music is the foundation of reggae roots. The biggest pleasure may be your discovery of The Refugee All-Stars. Naught to do with Lauryn Hill, they are the focus of a documentary that the wise Brian Gordon booked at the recent Nashville Film Festival. Their music is as close as Nashville may get to the dulcet tones of from my favorite reggae band, Culture. If I had to choose between Costello and the Refugees for Bonnaroo . . .
