As bloggers rave about “the death of rock”, artists are finding new ways to utilise technology on stage – challenging the role of the guitar as popular music’s greatest fetish. Our columnist Joe Muggs takes a closer look at the transformation of the performance in digital times – citing frontrunners like Gaslamp Killer, GoldieLocks and Flying Lotus.
Within five minutes of Flying Lotus’ set on the Red Bull Music Academy stage at Movement on Memorial Day, it was obvious why he was closing down the stage for the weekend. Flying Lotus (born Steven Ellison) came in with a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality. After rumors that he might be late (no one wanted to see his much anticipated set reduced), Ellison arrived like he had something to prove.
As drab and predictable as much of today’s R&B is, soul music—the good stuff—is getting its due time in the sun, due in part to the popularity of artists like Adele, Cee Lo Green and Raphael Saadiq. These are powerful singers who understand the importance of the almighty groove; artists who know that a pocket is more than just something sewn into your pants to hold your bankroll. But what about what’s bubbling beneath the mainstream?
That’s where Andreya Triana comes in. The self-taught songstress from South East London released her debut full-length, Lost Where I Belong, at the end of last year to rave reviews from all sorts of critics. Though she’s quick to protect her pedigree as a soul singer, her tracks have received the remix treatment from electronic luminaries like Flying Lotus, TOKiMONSTA and Mr. Scruff, and her association with tastemaking label Ninja Tune has endeared her to a wide range of ears. We met up with Andreya to chat about her forthcoming album and perused some of Austin’s local fashion traders (Big ups to the cool kids at Process, champions of the dirty south, for letting us use their backdrop). In the end, I got a story and she got a fancy pair of black boots.
In the continuing spirit of our big 2010 send-off, we’d like to present you with another Top 10 list that celebrates the best of what music had to offer this past year, this time in the form of music videos. Some of these are beautifully stunning creations, many of them will cause you to LOL, but whatever their intent, chances are you’ve wasted a substantial portion of your work day checking them out at some point over the last 365 days. We just thought we’d pick the best and put ‘em in one place.
2010 was a banner year for music in general, and it’s now clear that the doomsayer rumors about the inevitable implosion of the industry were greatly exaggerated. Being a dedicated devotee to the mid-’90s, true-school era of hip-hop, it was great to see that the resurgence of supreme lyrics and raw beats started by Raekwon’s excellent OB4CL2 continued all the way through 2010. Overall, it seems a taste level and “hunger for more” has crept back into the music game, and as you’ll see in my Best Of list, I give massive props to quite a few deserving overachievers. It’s fun being a music fan again and let’s hope this trend continues into the new year. What are you waiting for? Pop the lid below to see who rocked my eardrums the hardest this year.
Another week of glorious pop-rock…Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, where you been all my life?…Flying Lotus releases the Pattern + Grid World EP…Tegan and Sara give us a retrospective; Klaxons stop teasing us after three years since Myths of the Near Future and take us into the void, and all the while Thievery Corporation is stealing more of your listening time.
Abe Vigoda – Crush
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – iTunes Session
Flying Lotus – Pattern + Grid World
How To Dress Well – Love Remains
The Hundred In The Hands – The Hundred In The Hands
John Legend & The Roots – Wake Up!
Klaxons – Surfing The Void
Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s – Buzzard
Maroon 5 – Hands All Over
Matt Costa – Mobile Chateau
Michael Franti & Spearhead – The Sound of Sunshine
Midlake – Fortune EP
Opeth – In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall DVD/CD
Shit Robot – From The Cradle To The Rave
Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
Tegan and Sara – The Complete Recollection (1999-2010)
Thievery Corporation – It Takes a Thief
If Miles Davis‘ “Kind of Blue” is the gateway drug to Jazz music, than Bitches Brew is the overdose. If you’ve heard the album than you know what I’m talking about, and if you have not yet experienced this rule-braking genre-bending dark odyssey, you’re probably not ready yet… 40 years ago, Bitches Brew transcended the genre known as jazz (transcended is too soft a work) and blew peoples minds. In honor of this landmark album, Sunset Junction Festival will host a remix/re-creation live performance featuring J.Rocc from Beat Junkies, Miles’ nephew/drummer Vince Wilburn Jr. and other special guests. ChinaShop Got the inside scoop from Vince himself and here is what he had to say.
I have photographed Steven Ellison, a.k.a Flying Lotus, 5 or 6 times in the past 2 years. It was during the first set of his which I photographed that I noticed Flying Lotus had certain, “tell”, as they so call it in poker. Just before the baseline is to drop through the floor, into the basement and most likely end up in the water table, he would pause as if floating Wylie Coyote style in mid air. Just hovering there above his Eve bitten clamshell which contains the soles of well worn Samiyam 8-bit beats and most likely photos of a black tee clad Thom Yorke.
For the past twenty years, Brian Gillespie has sat behind the decks serving up an educated selection of deep, melodic techno, funk and obscure jazz alongside his signature ghetto-tech blend to the Detroit scene. As part of the deejay duo Starski & Clutch (Gillespie as Starski, DJ and producer Todd Osborn as Clutch), has expanded his brand to a fresh audience after an eclectic set on the Red Bull Music Academy stage last Sunday afternoon. But as a representative for the Red Bull Music Academy in Detroit, many don’t realize that the same determination Gillespie puts into searching for records, he also piles into “helping give young, local talent the resources to [experience] the same exposure in a year that would normally take five, 10, 15 years.” Beginning in Berlin in 1998, The Red Bull Music Academy is built to cater to and foster budding talent. While burgeoning musicians, deejays, singers and producers attend, waves of established and often legendary artists come to visit and educate — think ?uestlove, Madlib, Melvin van Peebles, Chuck D, Carl Craig, Caribou and many more. Held at a mixture of exotic locations around the globe, the Red Bull Music Academy is an opportunity for young talent to get lost within their craft, to hone their skills live and begin building a name through one of the most accomplished music programs to date. But the reach doesn’t end there.
It’s not easy to describe the sounds of Tokimonsta. An initial impression could you leave in a world as “melodic and sentimental” as the artist herself is cute (see above picture). And even though the 24-year-old Tokimonsta’s catalog is somewhat brief, that initial impression could leave you locked into the wrong idea. Within seconds, this Los Angeles-based, self-proclaimed “jack-of-all-genres” can pull a rough, rugged and hip-hop heavy dose of remixed beats out of her bag and no, she won’t hesitate to use ‘em. “I love listening to varied genres,” says Tokimonsta, “so I wanted something with guitars. I wanted something with soul. I wanted lots of hip-hop in it mixed with that electronic, sonic value. As you create, you realize that the years and years of listening to music expel themselves into whatever music your making.” Kicking things off on Monday afternoon, this is the sort of eclectic thrill that Tokimonsta brought to yet another unique weekend performance on the Red Bull Music Academy stage. ChinaShop caught up with the 2010 Red Bull Music Academy attendee to grab up all the details on how this young deejay came to hone her craft and gain some notoriety with some help from Flying Lotus, the adversity she faced early on in the LA hip-hop community and the broad musical tastes that help keep the audience always guessing. We had a chance to catch up with Tokimonsta at this year’s Movement Festival and this is what she had to say: