blog.mp3adrenalin.com

Mobb Deep affiliate, Big Noyd, is a veteran when it comes to New York rap music. After being introduced on Mobb Deep’s 1993 single, “Stomp ‘Em Out,” Noyd has been a staple on Mobb Deep projects ever since. That changed, however, when the Mobb signed with G-Unit and he didn’t appear on their project Blood Money.Now, as the Mobb continue to put out projects independently, Noyd seems to be going out on his own, hoping to spread his wings without sitting the shadows of the legendary Queensbridge duo. With his fourth solo album, Illustrious, in stores via Koch Records, the 32-year-old veteran — who’s been patiently waiting for his time to blow — sits down with BallerStatus.com to talk about working on without having Mobb Deep as a crutch, working closely with M.O.P.’s Fame, and why after more than 10 years and three solo albums, he’s still hasn’t cracked the mainstream.Either way, Noyd considers himself a “shining star” and you have to read on to find out why.Everything is good, I can’t complain. I wanted to push the album back just to prepare myself a little bit more. Just to let everyone know, not just New York or the East Coast. It’s out now though, and I’m just doing my little promo run.It’s good. Fame (of M.O.P.) actually produced the first single, called “Things Done Changed” featuring Kira. It’s still that Noyd hip-hop hustle, the hustler grimy music, but the sound done changed. People are enjoying it and I think people are enjoying the collabo with me and Fame doing the joints together.I’ve really been hands on since the latest project. A lot of other times, you know I was in the Mobb Deep camp, the Mobb Deep shadows, so there wasn’t nothing for me to do other then write my verses and that was it. Putting the concepts of the songs together, that was left up into the hands of the producers, which was Havoc and Prodigy. This time, I’m really hands on, so I gotta come up with the concepts, the flows, the style of rhymes, pick the beats… so I’m really hands on. That’s where I’ve really grown from doing, which was different back in the days where like it was left in others hands and all I had to do is write my 16 and I was done. I’ve definitely grown from there.On the business end about it, I got my own studio now, so it’s not like… I’m learning the Pro Tools a little right now. I don’t have to spend all my money in the studios no more. Again, as far as the business, I’m learning the best way to do things is just be hands on instead of having that representative going in and taking meetings for me. Now, I do that all myself. I’ve made changes like that.You mentioned going in and doing more as far as making your songs. So, how it that now? Instead of just worrying about your rhymes, you have all the responsibility now?It’s definitely hard, but they say anything that come easy ain’t worth it. It’s hard because not only did I have the luxury of having people doing it for me, I had great people doing it for me. Nobody can make music like Mobb Deep. Them dudes is so talented. It’s hard, but it’s been good though. It’s been a good struggle because I enjoy doing this. It’s not like a 9 to 5 that’s hard, and you don’t wanna wake up in the morning and go to work. It’s one of those things I don’t mind. I love going to work. It’s been fun learning.You mentioned Fame producing your single, but he also has the “executive producer” title on your album. What kind of role did he play in the creation of your album?I knew Fame for a minute man, but we really never did no music together. I had bumped into him one day at a studio and we had did one song together. It came out so hot that he was like “What you doing tomorrow? What you doing next week? Let’s get in the lab and do some joints.” I was like “I’m with it my dude.” We did like 10 songs and we picked the best four out of the 10 to use for the album. He knew I was working on the album and I had producers come through the studio to play me beats, so he was like “Yo, you mind if I sit in and listen to some beats, you know, help you pick the beats?” That’s how that all started. He helped me pick the beats, helped me write hooks, and helped me everything — from the artwork and everything. He was really hands on. I’d do a hook and he’d be like “I don’t like that, change it,” or I’d do a verse and he’d be like “You can do that better, you can say it hotter than that.” It was like a puzzle we put together and we made sure all the pieces fit.He didn’t necessarily teach me stuff I didn’t know, because I had picked up a lot of stuff from Mobb Deep, but it was just a different way of doing it. It all comes out the same, there’s just different ways about doing stuff. Instead of if I did a hook and it was bouncing, he’d be like “Hold on, that flow is ill, but slow it down.” Little points like that.I came up with Illustrious kinda like meaning a shining star. I’m not a star like I’m selling millions of records or you see me on MTV, like a $100 million and all that, but I’m a star in own right to me. I came a long way in the struggle, in the middle of Queensbridge projects, and for me not to be dead or in jail right now — just to be talking to you right now and having an article in a magazine — I’m a star in my own right.It’s crazy. I got the single “Things Done Changed.” The video is out there. That song, it’s basically just about how things have changed over the years in hip-hop. How we went from gold chains to diamonds on our necks, or shell toe Adidas to Nike boots, you know what I mean? That song is one of the concepts.I got another joint that’s on there that’s called “We Gotta Get It Done.” “Get It Done” is basically like no matter what we do, we got young adults looking up to us, and we gotta get it right. Like you don’t wanna accept the role of being a role model, but you are, so you gotta get it right. You gotta let kids know that not everything glitter under the sun. You gotta show some type of positive, like you’re not talking about shooting guns just to be like doing it. You gotta show some type of respect to the children, so this way not everybody wanna grow up to be thugs or end up dead or in jail.Then there’s a lot of other joints that’s that gutter, grimy Queensbridge lifestyle music, it’s just the sound changed a little bit. The vocals are still about my homies on the block still grinding it out, trying to make it out the hood… still getting money and still about these bitches that be flirting at the clubs. It’s still about the long chains, hanging down to my d—, you know what I’m saying? We still keeping it gutter, but we making it a little more live. You’ll definitely wanna see me perform this live.As you mentioned earlier, you wanted to get out of the Mobb Deep shadows this time around, and I noticed there is no Mobb Deep on this album, which is usually not the case. Can you elaborate as to why you didn’t work with them this time around?Everything is good. Those are my brothers for life. I know from the outside looking it, people might be like “What’s up with Noyd and the Mobb?” But, everything is great. Those are my brothers before rap, and without rap, you don’t even know. Like my mother and Havoc’s mother are like sisters. Rap music will never come between us. I just wanted to do something a little different, like step out of the limelight of the Mobb and show people I can stand on my own two feet and put all the light on Noyd as a solo artist. That don’t mean in the near future, we won’t work together.I was just with Havoc today, I passed him the album, the acapellas, because he’s gonna start doing remixes for them already. We wanna be ahead of the game, we don’t wanna wait until a song blows up and then do a remix. No, we getting remixes ready now. He’s doing new beats to all the acapellas for the songs. We doing remixes, getting N.O.R.E. and Capone on some of them. Get Cormega on some of them. We still making music to this day. I wasn’t on Blood Money, but that was just 50 [Cent] trying to get Mobb Deep established with G-Unit. The plan was, once they get established on G-Unit, then we bring the whole camp. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell what it was expected to sell with G-Unit and things didn’t work out the way that it should.I don’t got the Mobb on this album the way I usually do. I just wanted to do it different, so people didn’t get the same old Noyd album. Something new and different.He got that extension recently, so he be out for a little bit. What can I say? No one wishes they brother gonna go to jail. That’s almost like worse than being dead. The vibe is good. He’s holding his head. P’s a strong dude.What we doing now is just — since he’s working on H.N.I.C. 2 — usually you do a couple videos, but he’s doing one for every single song because he won’t be here to shoot any others. We really just trying to make the best of it.When he go in though, he gonna be alright ’cause he’s a strong dude. There’s not too much positive to bring out of it, but sometimes there is.You’re a veteran in the game. You’ve been doing it for over 10 years, but for whatever reason, you’ve been unable to really break to the next level. Why do you feel that is?It has to do a lot with my situations man. My first deal with Tommy Boy, my first solo album… I had one of the biggest deals, next to AZ back then. I did “Give Up The Goods” and I got signed to Tommy Boy for $350,000 and that was back then, so it was a lot of money. With that situation, it came out an EP, instead of an LP because I f—ed around, pulled out the hammer, shot somebody, got attempted murder and had to go to jail for a while. So that f—ed up that situation.I came home, I did a deal with Landspeed. I came out with “Shoot Em Up, Bang Bang.” I wasn’t able to do a little video or no press because the Landspeed label was shutdown. They got sued by Interscope or something. So, that was another issue with that project.Then, I did my own project, which was On The Grind. I just wasn’t ready for that, at that time. At that time, I really needed a label that would help me reach people that I wasn’t able to reach. I didn’t understand that at the time. I thought that with my name alone, my track record with Mobb Deep, that I’d be able to drop an album on my own. There was a lot more to that though. You need that machine, which is a distribution company sometimes, helping you with their connects. That was an issue. I dropped an album on my own when I wasn’t ready.It wasn’t the music ever. It was just my issues, but hopefully this time around with God on my side, 2008, I got a chance to blow. I just wanna get this album out, get my name out there and hopefully I make some noise in the game, so I can bring my label up.

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. (OTCBB: FUGO) todayannounced the release schedule of 14 new English music albums to bereleased by April 29, 2008. These albums will be released through the Fuegomajority owned English label Echo-Fuego Music and distributed in NorthAmerica by Koch Entertainment Distributor, one of the leading distributorsof music and entertainment content in the world. Music genres for these newreleases include Rap, R&B, Country, Rock, Soul, Hip Hop Instrumentals andDance.

New releases in stores by February 5th are KRS-One “Adventures in Emceein”and Ahmir “The Gift.” In stores by February 19th are Marcus Allen “Get toKnow Me” and “Hip Hop Dance Party - Volume One” by various artists. Instores by March 4th are NoXcuse “Xtra Flex” and Eriq J’Mar “Always Eriq.”In stores by March 18th are Jeff Maddox “That’s What Love Does” and RamSqad Raw “Keep it Real.” In stores by April 1st,are Euricka “Heavy As AFeather” and Da Massic “Dat-Man-So-Sick.” In stores by April 15th areDonald Connor “Paparazzi” and Positive K “Back to the Old School.” Instores by April 29th are Jeff Johnson “The Southpaw Outlaw” and DJ NoRap”Phantom.”

All Fuego Entertainment Music International (FEMI) releases are availablenow for full CD purchase and individual track download. New Echo-FuegoMusic releases will be available upon release for full CD purchase orindividual track downloads on our website at www.fuegoentertainment.net.Two free tracks for download of all FEMI and Echo-Fuego new releases aremade available on our website for all Fuego Plus Silver and Gold levelmembers.

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. is engaged in the production, acquisition,marketing, sales, and distribution of entertainment products. For moreinformation, please visit Fuego Entertainment athttp://www.fuegoentertainment.net

This press release contains statements, which may constituteforward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the PrivateSecurities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Those statements includestatements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of FuegoEntertainment, Inc., members of their management, and assumptions on whichsuch statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that anysuch forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performanceand involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differmaterially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements.

The Dylanesque folk of Catch the Wind was all that most American pop fans had heard of the young Scottish singer known only as Donovan before he took his own peculiar spin on psychedelic pop to No. 1 in 1966 with Sunshine Superman.
A second million-seller, Mellow Yellow, soared to No. 2 with vocal help from Paul McCartney. That same year, the Beatles hit with Yellow Submarine, to which Donovan, McCartney’s friend and neighbor, contributed the lyric, “Sky of blue and sea of green.”
But the biggest adventure he shared with the Beatles was flying to India in 1968 to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It’s in India that Donovan would write another psychedelic classic, Hurdy Gurdy Man, while helping John Lennon develop the style of acoustic guitar that would play such a prominent role in the sound of The Beatles.In the 40 years since then, he’s only gotten deeper into transcendental meditation while the albums he recorded in the ’60s have provided inspiration for the likes of Beck and an entire new folk movement often labeled freak-folk.
The singer looks back on his friendship with the Beatles and discovering the inner light, while looking forward to a day when meditation brings an end to war:In the four-CD Donovan box set, Try For The Sun, you write, “I knew I would challenge hypocrisy and greed, present the Bohemian Manifesto to a delusioned world.” Do you feel you’ve accomplished that?Well, I challenge all the time. When I came out of school, I was very well prepared by my father and my bohemian pals to realize that poetry was going to be the herald of change, and I needed to be part of that. We all did.
As the years progressed, one realized that surely there must be an answer to all this suffering and angst. And 2008 is the 40th anniversary of the trip to India, which I took with the Beatles, one Beach Boy, and the jazz flautist Paul Horn, and discovered this extraordinary method that had been lost to the world called meditation.
So my songs changed from direct challenge to presenting the possibility of entering the inner world. Challenging hypocrisy and greed could, you might say, be a young bohemian’s work. But as you grow into older Bohemia like me, you start looking at what is the actual reason for this suffering.It was to George and I the obvious way of the future. In the ancient Vedic texts, they spoke of a fourth state of consciousness. And once you have it, you will overcome all fear, all doubt, and you will become a superman and a superwoman unto yourself.Superman, yeah, yeah. A friend of mine, I said, “Look, now they’re making feature films of comic books.” He’s a writer himself, and he said, “America is discovering its heroes.” The comic heroes are actually based, or many of them, on true mythological characters from antique literature. Now, Hercules is Superman, doing enormous feats of strength. And I guess I was linking that to Nietzsche’s Superman, the future Superman, one of super-intelligence, super-consciousness and super-understanding rather than super warfare, super-overpowering of other humans.I decided in 1965 or early ‘66 that pop music was going to be my way if I could actually create a quirky new kind of pop where I would put in the possibilities of following the mythological journey of your own life but you could actually think of it, very simply, as a fun, dancing song. So I started to make these seemingly harmless pop songs. And so did the Beatles.Oh no, it was easy to explore it because I’m an experimentalist. It was conscious. If you take a seemingly ambiguous lyric from a haiku poem - first, there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is, which is a kind of a secret question to Zen monks - and Mickie Most produces it and we do it in two minutes, 57 seconds, I was fascinated when I realized that by putting in these lyrics, I was introducing an audience to a concept that would lead them to think, “What is this about?”
And in ‘66, most people my age were basically only reading cereal boxes.Yeah, yeah, yeah. I went to see him when he came to Ireland. And it was very cool. There’s very much a lot of gypsy stuff in Devendra, just like me. I walk out there, the light comes up, and then I play guitar (makes guitar noise), and then when I sing, I’m actually looking at the audience going, “I’m in town. I’ve just arrived.” Devendra does it, too.
The most powerful moment in music is when one voice walks to the microphone and picks up one instrument and the whole audience centers in. It’s in our blood, to want to listen to this one voice and one instrument because we know it’s going to be personal.

Rock ‘n’ roll used to be dangerous. The statement sounds almost absurd as soon as it leaves the lips. But still there was a time when Elvis’ hips and John Lennon’s activism seemed like greater threats to national security than the population of C Block at Guantanamo Bay.

Sure, the excitement is still there. But let’s be honest: Things have changed. If parents are still going to freak over little Johnny listening to The Jonas Brothers, they probably have bigger problems than little Johnny listening to The Jonas Brothers. But while rock music by and large has made a move toward more theatrical and arguably “safe” aesthetics, some still bravely practice the past.

Here are four records from 2007 that prove just that. Coliseum, “No Salvation”Remember when Anthrax was more than just a substance that could kill you? Probably not, but don’t worry, neither do Coliseum. But while “No Salvation” may tremble and bleed with the kind of 100 MPH attack of speed metal perfected by bands like Anthrax and Metallica in the ’80s, these boys clearly took some notes and then promptly started re-writing the book.

Tunes like the punishing “Seven Cities” carry on the speed metal torch but hold high their influences of metal-core heroes like Converge. But what really gets the jaw dropping and ears pounding are cuts like the epic “Profetas,” which employs both the urgency and ire of The Refused while crafting a metal riff so sharp it’d scare Black Sabbath.

Pissed Jeans, “Hope for Men”If music were manners, Pissed Jeans possesses all the class of a schizophrenic off his meds. Screeching, writhing guitars slam face first into walls of static and apocalyptic bass distortion. Buzz saw crafted riffs shred gruffly through droning, drugged-out madness (”Scrapbooking”). It wouldn’t be naive to assume “Hope for Men” doesn’t contain much at all. But when you jam this much punk, hardcore and noise into one small package, that’s to be expected.

Singer Matt Korvette barbarically channels everyone from Iggy Pop to David Yow of The Jesus Lizard on tracks like the primal attack of “I’m Turning Now.”

I’m not here to cheer or grieve the end of 99.7 KY.

I know some of the folks who were made unrestricted free agents last week when Entercom dissolved the iconic rock station, and I feel genuinely bad for them.

Otherwise, I’m neutral: I don’t spend much time with commercial radio.

A lot of the negative comments that have been posted on KansasCity.com and Back to Rockville in reaction to KY’s demise are a bit over-the-top and personal, as if the DJs broke some public trust. If you’re angry at anyone, make it the people who really decide what gets played on the air — and it isn’t the on-air personalities.

Most classic-rock formats never expanded their playlists beyond one era. If Zeppelin was classic rock in 1980, why isn’t Nirvana classic rock in 2008? Or Violent Femmes or the Pixies? Did they ever play the Ramones?

The format also didn’t acknowledge that younger bands — Wolfmother, the White Stripes, the Libertines (to pull a few off the top of my head) — were making music that fit the classic-rock format. Did KY play those bands? I assume not, but I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure the station played the Black Crowes, but why not the Hives or Rancid?

I don’t think the music it played killed KY. Younger kids are catching on to the golden years of rock. I had lunch recently with a guy who has been in the radio business (off-air) for decades. He was telling me his son is getting into the classic-rock canon through the video game “Guitar Hero.” I’ve seen the same thing: high school kids singing along to “School’s Out” or “Carry On Wayward Son” while their buddy navigated the rhythm guitar progressions on-screen.

This weekend I judged at a high school debate tournament in Liberty. Between rounds I watched some of the boys basketball game. During one time-out, the PA played “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and the student section erupted.

The best classic rock music isn’t outdated; in fact, I think it sounds better than ever. Having heard so many dull and barely adequate hard-rock bands over the years, I have developed a fresh appreciation for the genius of Led Zeppelin — the perfect synthesis of violence and precision, beauty and fury. Why would a station ever not play them?

The music wasn’t KY’s problem. The repetition was, and that’s the problem with nearly all commercial radio. Most stations have a playlist of less than a few dozen songs. If they add one, they drop another. Even if they’re playing music half the time they’re on the air, say, 84 hours a week, that’s way too much repetition.

But that’s how Top 40 hits are made: by coercion. You bombard listeners with a song so much they submit to it. (“Hey there, Delilah!”) It’s also how listeners are cultivated: You assure them implicitly that every time they tune in they’ll hear something familiar. Some people don’t like surprise or risk or change. They like habits and routines. They take comfort living in a deep, warm rut.

Even if it excluded music recorded after 1990, KY could have entertained those listeners and cultivated more by enriching its playlist. If you play the Eagles, why not the Flying Burrito Brothers? If the Stones, why not the New York Dolls or MC5? The Stooges? It’s not because the DJs didn’t want it; it’s the suit-and-tie guys, consultants, etc.

As for the wider question of stations playing “new” bands or independent artists: Radio long ago surrendered the illusion that it breaks or promotes new artists. Songs that get on playlists get there for reasons that have little if anything to do with a DJ’s personal tastes. There’s a lot of quid pro quo behind it (concert promotions, etc.) and other “incentives” that small bands and small labels can’t offer.

It’s not completely surprising that the Army wants to hire a band to tour its bases jn Afghanistan and Kuwait.  The armed services get all kinds of folks, to entertain the troops.  "But it’s the way that they solicit for rock bands that makes the whole thing hilarious," Stephen Trimble notes. 

First, a summary of what the Army is seeking:

Professional Celebrity Rock Music Band, group not to exceed seven people for tour of FOB’s [forward operating bases] in Kuwait and Afghanistan for February 4-13 2008. The band should be an active rock band, with a music genre consisting of Southern Rock, Pop Rock, Post-Grunge and Hard Rock. At least one member of the band should be recognizable as a professional celebrity. Protective military equipment, such as kevlar, body armour, eye and ear protection will be provided when the group is travelling on military rotary or fixed wing aircraft.

Then, there’s the highly-calibrated method the service will use to evaluate these Professional Celebrity Rock Music Band applicants.  The contract will be awarded based on "Past Performance, Contractor Capability, Contractor’s Experience, Celebrity Status of the Proposed Artists, and Price. Contractor Capability, Experience, and Price. The celebrity status of the proposed artist is slightly more importantthan these 3 combined, and all 4 combined are slightly more importantthan Price."

And how will each of these criteria be judged?

Let’s look at "Factor 4, Celebrity Status of the Proposed Artists."

In other words, the bigger the name, the better the proposal.  A Paris Hilton-fronted band wins out over, say, one from Kim Deal. K-Fed’s new project trumps Wilco or Rancid.

Or does it?  Let’s examine "Factor 2, Contractor Capability."

Northern Liberties Sat., Jan. 19, 8pm. $5. With Slumlord + Spades. Tritone, 1508 South St. 215.545.0475.
www.tritonebar.com

Northern Liberties are like a mini goth-punk cottage industry, spanning comps and
7-inches, live EPs and a DVD limited to 23 copies. Their third album Ghost Mind
Electricity is a thudding, low-end-heavy journey through sorcery, unborn
children, cremation and dead deer made all the more unsettling by the trio’s guitar-less
setup and drummer/singer Justin Duerr’s half-detached, half-crazed missives, akin to
those of Wilderness’ James Johnson. If there are metal tinges to “Silver Fire,”
“Changing” is quiet and even pretty. This may be their best showing yet, but the way to
experience Northern Liberties is live, where the crunching and munching of bone is right
in your face. (Doug Wallen)

Drink up Buttercup Tues., Jan. 22, 8pm. $8. With Cheers Elephant, Love Songs for Robots, Coltrane Motion
+ Sisters 3. Khyber, 56 S. Second St. 215.238.5888. www.thekhyber.com

Describe a band with the words “Beatles” and “pop” and people think they’ve got
nothing to worry about. A little music hall piano, a clever turn of phrase, a few
well-placed power chords, and there you have it: a pleasant but nonthreatening evening.
Well, Drink up Buttercup may belong to the Beatles pop family, but it’s made of more
aggressive stuff. Signature song “Mr. Pie Eyes” rides a primal punk-ish lurch, all four
band members slashing away at the same iron-giant-toppling riff. And when “Seasickness
Pills” comes up, singer James Harvey works maniacally, guitar rampaging, tambourine
banging and mike cowering before him. Visceral, exciting, theatrical, yes—but “Penny
Lane” it definitely isn’t. (Jennifer Kelly)

Israeli Jazz Fest Mon., Jan. 21, 7:30pm. $15. Through Jan. 24. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St.
215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com

Is there “Israeli jazz”? The artists in this four-night showcase may bring the sound
of their native country into the mix, but they’re not neatly unified, nor in a bubble
apart from the innovative swirl of the current New York scene. Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur
has deep roots in the bebop tradition. Eli Degibri is a fierce saxophonist with major
sideman gigs (Herbie Hancock, Al Foster) and the fine recent CD Emotionally
Available to his credit. Alon Yavnai is the pianist of choice for Cuban
jazz master Paquito D’Rivera. Anat Cohen, who rocked Chris’ back in November with her
sensuous clarinet, will appear with her brother, trumpet phenom Avishai Cohen.
(David R. Adler)

An American Chinese Thurs., Jan. 17, 9pm. $8. With Aderbat, Bon Savant + Peasant. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201
Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684. www.johnnybrendas.com

Riding the wave of freak-folk and orchestral rock (think Devendra Banhart and Sufjan
Stevens) while paying homage to psychedelic outfits of eras past are Philadelphia’s own
An American Chinese. The seven-piece ensemble plays whimsical, wanderlust tunes with
witty lyrics, while avoiding the pretentiousness that makes such groups a bore live.
With their heavy use of percussive instruments, An American Chinese play well with
dynamics and layers—the contrasting male/female vocals are the highlight of most tunes
and add to their enigmatic sound. Fancy-pants adjectives aside, they still rock. Their
songs are quirky, catchy and memorable, and their stage presence is both engaging and
endearingly low-key. (Katherine Silkaitis)

Poi Dog Pondering Sun., Jan. 20, 7:30pm. $20. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400.
www.worldcafelive.com

Chicago’s long-running, heavily populated folk-ethnic-jam collective has been pared to
an acoustic quintet for this tour, but since almost everyone in the band plays three or
four instruments, it’ll still likely be jubilantly, elaborately orchestrated. Poi Dog
founder Frank Orall crosses genres the way Mendel experimented with sweet peas, infusing
jazz, funk, world and rock music with a lighthearted, easygoing lilt. He’s enlisted
Susan Voelz (who’s also Alejandro Escovedo’s favorite fiddler), as well as longtime
collaborators David Max Crawford and Ted Cho for a handful of small band dates; a full
ensemble tour will follow in March. By that point there’ll be a new album—the first
studio recording in five years. (J.K.)

Misha Mengelberg Quartet Fri., Jan. 18, 8pm. $17.50-$25. International House, 3701 Chestnut St. 215.895.6546.
www.ihousephilly.org

The godfathers of Dutch progressive jazz, pianist Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han
Bennink came to Philly last March with their famed Instant Composers Pool Orchestra. Now
they return with a quartet for the second installment of the Ars Nova Workshop’s “Out
There” series. The group includes two Americans: trumpeter Dave Douglas, one of the most
feted and prolific artists of our day, and Brad Jones, the solid bassist, a veteran of
groups led by Douglas, Marc Ribot, Don Byron and many more. In 2001 this lineup gave us
Four in One, a subversively swinging date packed with tunes by
Mengelberg and Monk. Their reunions are rare, always worth catching. (D.R.A.)

Wyclef Jean has never been an easy one to peg musically. But his restless spirit in the studio is better focused on his latest CD, Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant. Disparate styles — metal rock, reggae, Southern rap, even Indian music — are streamlined into a vibrant, unpredictable mix. His sixth solo album, Carnival pulses with glints of the different sounds he heard while circling the globe over the past few years.

“It’s like when the great jazz musicians traveled and brought different rhythms back to the States — like Quincy Jones or Dizzy Gillespie did back in the day,” Jean said last week from a tour stop in Las Vegas. “That’s what I wanted to do with this album. It was about opening the mind. I wanted to show that there’s more music than what’s on the block.”

But the Haitian-born, Brooklyn, N.Y.-raised musician, who headlines Rams Head Live tomorrow night, didn’t abandon his beloved ‘hood fans. Polished bass-deep rhythms and his quirky rapping and singing still anchor Carnival’s 14 tracks, which feature several high-profile guests. Among them are rappers T.I. and Chamillionaire, hip-hop soul queen Mary J. Blige, jazz-pop chanteuse Norah Jones and pop legend Paul Simon.

New controversy, however, could steer attention away from the solid album. Over the weekend, news surfaced that Jean and other urban pop stars — including 50 Cent, Timbaland and Blige — have been implicated in a steroids investigation, according to a report in the Times Union of Albany, N.Y. A spokeswoman for Jean’s label, Columbia Records, had no comment.

Although Carnival Vol. II is musically progressive, thematically Jean looks back. He revisits the carnival concept of his 1997 solo debut, Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring the Refugee Allstars. The album spawned three hits, including “Gone Till November,” and went platinum. He had attracted a fraction of the audience that bought The Score, the 1996 hip-hop classic Jean recorded with high school pals Lauryn Hill and Prakazrel Michel (aka Pras), collectively known as the Fugees. That album sold 18 million copies worldwide and helped launch the platinum-plus, Grammy-winning solo careers of Jean and Hill.

But unlike Jean, the New Jersey rapper-songstress has yet to deliver on the promise of her celebrated 1998 debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Her behavior (missed shows, disjointed interviews) has become erratic since the mammoth success of her first solo album, which sold more than 8 million copies and won five Grammy Awards. However, two years ago, the notoriously mercurial artist surprisingly reunited with Jean and Pras, and a Fugees album was in the works. But the project is on hold — indefinitely.

“I’m putting a lot of great vibes out there, man,” Jean said. “I hope Lauryn gets her act together, you know what I’m saying? It’s my dream to produce another Fugees album. When that’ll happen, I don’t know, man.”

In the meantime, Jean has kept busy as a producer (he was behind Shakira’s ubiquitous 2006 hit, “Hips Don’t Lie”) and a recording artist. On his other efforts — namely 2000’s The Ecleftic, 2002’s Masquerade and 2003’s The Preacher’s Son — he partnered with a diverse range of artists with varying degrees of success. On his last album, 2004’s dazzling Welcome to Haiti: Creole 101, the 35-year-old performer stepped away from pop altogether and gracefully explored the rainbow-hued music of the Caribbean.

But Carnival Vol. II is a full-fledged return to the global urban-pop of his 1997 debut. This time, the expansive musical scope is better realized, and the illustrious guests are well-used. Their voices rise like other instruments in the dense mix as Jean mostly raps and sings about different aspects of immigration issues.

“That’s an issue that’s close to me,” said Jean, who at age 6 moved with his family from Haiti to Brooklyn. “America was named after an immigrant. So why can’t immigration laws be fair? We all deserve to be here.”

Lyrically, the album isn’t preachy or didactic. Subtly at regular intervals, the artist makes references to refuge and protection. For instance, in “What About the Baby,” a standout duet with Blige, Jean croons the line, “I got love for Miami all day/But if my Cubans get to stay/Why you turn my Haitians away?” “The message unifies it all at the end of the day,” Jean said. “We’re all everyday people. This world is one big carnival. We should embrace more than fight each other, you know?”

Jean partly credits his renewed spirit of universal love and rejuvenated musical imagination to his 2-year-old daughter, Angelina, whom he and his wife adopted when the Haitian girl was 3 months old.

“It gave me a fresh breath, man,” he said, and you could feel he was smiling on the phone. “She’s made me feel young again, invincible. She gives me a reason to live, a reason to want to see this world be a better place, man. I can do my part with my music.”

rashod.ollison@baltsun.com

More articles

Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun

The Brit Award nominations have been announced, with pop acts Take That, Mika and Leona Lewis dominating proceedings.

Does the shortlist reflect the best of British music in 2007?

After being ruled by rock acts for the past two years, pop music has regained the upper hand at the Brit Awards.

Fifteen years after their first prize at the ceremony, Take That are favourites to scoop glory on awards night on 20 February.

Their nominations include best British group, where they join Girls Aloud in a face-off with indie heavyweights Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs.

“That’s fine, we’re all popular, people are buying the records,” says Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson, who said he was a fan of Take That and Girls Aloud. “These awards should go to people who are popular.”

Meanwhile, the Arctic Monkeys are the sole rock representatives in the battle for best British album.

Their competition includes Leona Lewis, the X Factor winner whose album Spirit beat the Arctics’ own record for the fastest-selling debut in UK history.

The Daily Telegraph’s rock critic Neil McCormick said it was “one of the most awful-looking lists of uninteresting, unexciting talent I’ve ever seen”.

“To see Leona Lewis in album of the year is just depressing beyond comprehension,” he says.

“She’s had one decent single, she’s a TV reality star, it’s really got nothing to do with the shape of music in the year.

“But it does kind of show you it wasn’t a very good year for music and therefore these pop characters were the only ones that emerged newly and freshly out of the year.”

Stuart Clarke, talent editor for industry bible Music Week, said there was no shortage of good new music in 2007 - but there were not as many big sellers.

“So when you do get artists like Leona and Mika and they sell particularly well, they dominate to an extent,” he says.

“But certainly compared to the year before, pop in 2007 felt like it was very much on the up. Leona’s [released] a great, amazing album.”

The chairman of the Brit Awards committee, Sony BMG label boss Ged Doherty, describes it as a “very exciting list this year, very varied”.

He says: “It reflects what was going on in music last year - you’ve got everything from Mika, Take That and Leona Lewis on one hand all the way through to the Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon and all points in between.”

Several acts were missing, though. Amy Winehouse was barely out of the charts or the headlines in 2007.

Despite having the year’s best-selling album in the UK, it was released at the end of 2006 and earned her nominations last year - meaning she was not eligible this time.

Radiohead, whose In Rainbows was one of the most critically-acclaimed and talked-about releases of 2007, did not qualify either.

The album was not initially eligible for the charts because it was released through the band’s own website.

To be nominated for best British group or best British album, award rules say you must have reached the top 75 by the cut-off date of 26 November.

Radiohead did not reach the charts until In Rainbows got a full CD release on New Year’s Eve - meaning the band may well feature in next year’s nominations instead.

Prince’s hopes of being named best international male were scuppered after he gave his new album away free with the Mail on Sunday newspaper - also not eligible for the charts.

Another theme of 2007 was the number of reformed megagroups, such as Led Zeppelin, The Police and the Spice Girls, who returned to the stage.

They were not considered for best British group because they did not release any new music. They could have been shortlisted for best British live act, but were not.

But Winehouse aside, the list of main Brit nominees is almost exactly the same as the rundown of best-selling British artists in 2007.

And like it or not, the Brit Awards - unlike some other music honours - are largely about rewarding what is popular.

Teddy Thompson swaps folk for pop

Jan 16 2008by Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo

WITH both parents being famous folk rock musicians, it was unlikely Teddy Thompson’s childhood taste for Norwegian poppers a-ha was welcome.

As the son of 70s celebrity couple Richard and Linda Thompson you might think Teddy’s life in music was pretty much mapped out.

But three albums down the line he is slowly creeping away from the family tradition and into poppier climes.

“My parents were never pushy and I never felt any pressure to be a folk musician,” said Teddy, 31, whose younger sister Kamila is also a singer/songwriter.

“I was always into pop as a kid and when I was 13 or 14 I really liked a-ha. They had some great singles – I stand by that – but it really wasn’t up my parents’ alley.”

Teddy heard less music than you might imagine in his earliest years because he was born in a religious commune in East Anglia, to which his parents had retreated to escape the pressure of celebrity.

“I was too young to have anything other than a few vague memories of it,” he said of his time among the followers of Sufi, a peace-loving branch of Islam.

“I remember meals were always a big thing, there were lots of silver trays being carried in, like it was a feast every night. But I remember it being a really happy place to grow up because there were always lots of other kids running around.”

The Thompsons left the commune in 1979 when Teddy was three and from there on he was mostly raised on country music, which explains why his third album Up Front and Down Low is a selection of country classics beautifully arranged for strings.

“I definitely get it from my parents,” said Teddy, usually noted for his introspective lyrics, of his love for Dolly Parton and Co. Very few rock musicians come home and put on rock music because they don’t want to listen to what they have been doing all day.

“So for them it was anything but folk.”

In his mid-teens he began writing songs and at 18 moved to Los Angeles to pursue his own music career, while briefly moonlighting in his father’s band.

“My dad was never the type to look over my shoulder,” he said with a mischievous laugh that was loaded with undisclosed details. It was a quiet tour because they had all done the sex, drugs and rock and roll thing years ago; that tour was more about tea and scrabble for them.

“But I could do whatever I wanted.”

He found a kindred spirit in flamboyant musician Rufus Wainright, also the son of two folk artists and with a famous performing sister, Martha.

“Most obviously both our parents were folk musicians but we are about the same age and our parents split up at around the same time,” he said of their friendship.

“It’s not as if we sit around discussing the fact that we were both at the 1983 Winnipeg Folk Festival.”

Teddy credits Rufus with leading him gleefully astray in the grand tradition of the rock‘n’roll lifestyle but Thompson has calmed down on hard living these days.

“I got bored with feeling really crap all the time,” said the New York-based Englishman. My constitution is not as strong as everyone else’s and I would always be the last one shivering in a corner the following day.

“And you have to take a bit of responsibility for performing because it does affect you.”

With a clear head most mornings he now says he is feeling happier in himself and that fact is guiding his latest songs.

“I was looking at the new songs recently and they are just… happier, more up tempo,” he said, picking his words carefully.

“I think the new album will be much… poppier.”

Teddy Thompson plays at The Glee Club, Cardiff Bay, on Sunday, January 27. Tickets at £10 from 0871 4720 400