JACK BLACK AND NACHO LIBRE

(An only partly music-related post)

I have always greatly enjoyed the actor Jack Black. He's got a childlike innocence and a gift for physical comedy that I find very appealing. And he seems to be a big music lover. In a recent New York Times magazine interview, he praised the Raconteurs, the Strokes, and Radiohead. He was brilliant in his scene-stealing role as an obnoxious record store clerk in High Fidelity. And despite its rockist bent, School of Rock is one of the best movies ever about music, in particular about music as a liberating and non-conformist force.

So I'm pretty psyched to check out any flick that Jack Black is in. When I saw the preview for Nacho Libre, it looked hilarious and a must-see for me. But my first thought was also, "How the hell are they going to pull this off and not be totally offensive?" Given Hollywood's long and shameful history of minstrelsy, white actors taking non-white roles is not such a good look these days. But I was determined to reserve my judgement. After all, white performers like Danny Hoch -- and more frequently, non-white performers like Sarah Jones and Anna Deavere Smith -- play characters of all different races, and their work serves to challenge racism rather than reinforce it.

Unfortunately, the movie was hugely disappointing -- hardly any laughs! -- and what little humor exists is derived from the unlikely spectacle of seeing Jack Black play the part of a wide-eyed but good-hearted Mexican with a funny accent. Okay, he's supposed to be half-Scandinavian or something, but still. The rest of the all-Mexican cast are basically caricatures. Sure, it's a slapstick comedy, so it's meant to be cartoonish. But all together, the film felt pretty uncomfortable to me, if not flat-out racist. And it's just unfunny. Steer clear!

Hopefully, Jack Black will come back hard with the Tenacious D movie. (I'm not giving up on you, Jack!) His comedic talents were severely underutilized in the recent King Kong remake -- which was even more racist than Nacho Libre, but that's another story -- so Nacho was a step in the right direction in the sense that he was back to his outrageous self. Too bad it sucked...

NEW CODY CHESNUTT VIDEO

DIRECTED BY MICHAEL GONDRY

What a nice song and interesting animated video. It is actually adapted from footage from the Chappelle Block Party movie.

But when -- when?? -- is Cody going to finally live up to his true potential and give us a real album?

FELA NEWS

I know this is months and months away, but how ill does this this look? Red, Hot, and Riot Live: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti at Brooklyn Academy of Music on Dec 1st and 2nd, featuring Amadou & Mariam, Cheikh Lo, dead prez, Keziah Jones, Les Nubians, Meshell Ndegeocello, Yerba Buena, and more to be announced. Also including "a week-long series of Afrobeat concerts at BAM Cafe and other surprises."

I still bump this 2002 Fela tribute/AIDS fundraiser album constantly. But I've never had a chance to see any of these artists perform the songs live. This is going to be effing historic. I'm sure the lineup is going to get quite a bit bigger, considering that other contributors to this comp included Femi Kuti and his band Positive Force, Tony Allen, Macy Gray, Taj Mahal, Baaba Maal, Talib Kweli, Blackalicious, Common, Roy Hargrove, Archie Shepp, Nile Rogers, Jorge Ben, Manu Dibango, Bilal, Kelis, Bugz in the Attic, and more.

And let me just tell you right now, if D'Angelo comes out for "Water Get No Enemy," it's over, I'll have died and gone to musical heaven.

Afrobeat lovers, note: Antibalas is performing at Central Park Summerstage this Saturday the 1st. And speaking of all things African, this weekend is the annual African Street Festival in Brooklyn at Commodore Barry Park near the Navy Yard. More info here.

THREE BRAND-NEW MAINSTREAM, HOT97-TYPE

HIP-HOP BISCUITS I'M DIGGING

1. Busta Rhymes' whole The Big Bang CD, but especially "New York Shit," which is supposedly produced by DJ Scratch, but is in fact almost the exact same track as Diamond D's 90's classic "I Went For Mine." The flute loop still sounds nice as hell.

2. New Clipse (feat. Pharrell): "Mr. Me Too." Man, it's good to hear Malice and Pusha again. Supposedly a proper album (not a mixtape) coming soon -- finally!

3. Ray Cash (feat. Scarface): "Bumping My Music." Apparently, this guy is from Cleveland. He sounds kinda Southern to me, but comfortable in lots of different styles. I'm surprised I'm liking this as much as I am. Usually, rapping about rap and rap history comes off corny, but not here.

THE CONTROVERSIAL CONTEST FOR

BROOKLYN'S 11TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

On a rare non-musical note, I want to weigh in on this controversy, which has been brewing for months but today landed on the front page of the New York Times. Briefly, here's the background. The boundaries of the 11th district were established by the 1965 Voting Rights Act, legislation that was designed to empower minority voters. The region encompassed a large swath of Central Brooklyn (including areas of Brownsville, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights), as well as part of Park Slope. In the 90s, the lines were redrawn, expanding into Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, and more of Park Slope, all mostly white neighborhoods. But even today, whites make up only 21% of the district, blacks 59%.

The 11th seat has a fabled history in that it was originally held by the first black woman elected to Congress, the much-revered Shirley Chisholm (who passed away last year). And since the district's inception four decades ago, its majority black electorate has been represented in the House by one of its own -- first Chisholm from 1968-1982, followed by Major R. Owens, who has been in office ever since but is retiring this year.

There are four candidates vying for the rare open spot: City Councilman David Yassky, City Councilwoman Yvette D. Clark, Rep. Owens' son Chris Owens, and State Senator Carl Andrews. Yassky is the only white candidate, and he has spent much more money on his campaign than his three black opponents. One likely outcome is that Clark, Owens, and Andrews will splinter the black vote, and Yassky will win. Unsurprisingly, the Brooklyn Heights resident has been criticized as opportunistic and out-of-touch with his non-white constituency, and some black politicians have demanded that he drop out.

This is not a simple case of right and wrong. I don't think Yassky is an evil dude or a racist. He seems to have done pretty good work as a City Councilman. And he is at least somewhat aware of the complexities of the situation. In the Times article, he claims that he thought long and hard before deciding to run about whether he was honestly going to be able to represent Brownsville as effectively as Park Slope.

But it was his choice, and now he's gotta take the heat for it. Of course race is going to be a huge issue. He would be naive to expect otherwise. In a perfect world, it wouldn't make a difference what race Yassky was. But the truth of the matter, as Rev. Al Sharpton has pointed out, is that blacks are so underrepresented in all spheres of state and national government that it would be a huge loss to give up this important seat, not to mention one with such an historic significance in black politics. "We can't afford not to keep a voter-rights seat in the hands of who it was designed for," says Sharpton.

I live in the 10th not 11th district, and I am not black (for the record, I am Jewish, as is Yassky), so the outcome of this race is not going to affect me directly. But I think Sharpton's argument makes a lot of sense. I like Yassky, and he'd probably do a fine job -- but I refuse to dismiss his black critics as tunnel-visioned or reverse racist simply because they are making race an issue here. Agree? Disagree?

Ps: Since this is a musical blog, after all, here's a related musical question. Name the artist and song: "Reagan is the prez, but I voted for Shirley Chisholm."

RADIOHEAD TRIBUTE ALBUMS

Oddly, not just one but two Radiohead tribute albums are coming out within six months of one another. The first, Exit Music: Songs for Radio Heads was released on the venerable BBE label in April. It's quite a hit-or-miss affair, but there are some gems, especially Bilal Oliver's exquisite cover of "High and Dry" (Bilal, where are you?), which my wife listens to on our iTunes about 10 times a day!

But now I just read in the most recent Village Voice that the Easy Star All-Stars, the dudes behind 2003's surprise hit Dub Side of the Moon (a track-by-track reggae rendition of Floyd's ultra-famous 70s space-rock classic) are back with Radiodread, their version of the quintessential 90s album OK Computer. And, according to the Voice piece, the most successful track on the record is Toots & the Maytals' re-imagining of "Let Down." Oh man, I gotta hear that! Other big-name contributors include Horace Andy, Morgan Heritage, Sugar Minott, The Meditations, Israel Vibration, and Frankie Paul.

Like most people, at first I thought the whole concept of Dub Side of the Moon was a silly joke, a gimmick. But I gotta admit, I ended up enjoying the hell out of it, and now I'm geeked to hear Radiodread.

Easy Star co-founder and producer Eric Smith had some interesting things to say about the unlikely juxtaposition of two very different sounds: "There is a lot of suffering and pain in reggae. It's a struggler's, it's a sufferer's music. The casual fan sees reggae as a summer, spring-break-type music, and that's really far from what it's about. We like some of the darker areas of reggae, and one of our concerns with combining those two was, we'd have a really, really dark album on our hands."

The more you think about it, the idea of Jamican musicians covering Pink Floyd and Radiohead is not all that weird. To state the obvious, there is one thing that Dark Side of the Moon and OK Computer have in common -- they're extremely stoner-friendly. (As a side note, I still haven't heard the Bob Dylan reggae tribute, Is It Rolling, Bob?, though I must say the title is brilliant. Does anyone know if it's any good?)

Radiodread is scheduled for a late August release. And Thom Yorke's first solo release, The Eraser, is out July 11. The band recently had a two-night stand at MSG (I missed it!), and their North American tour (with openers Black Keys and Deerhoof) continues through August. No word on the next Radiohead album.

PRINCE UPDATE

In my previous post about the euphoria of Prince's suprise cameo at the Maceo Parker show in Brooklyn last week, I lamented that I was probably missing out on some legendary after-party. Well, wouldn't ya know...

Actually, nothing happened the night of the Maceo performance, cause Prince had to be up bright and early for the "Good Morning America" taping in Bryant Park with Sheila E and his protegee Tamar. I was aware of the GMA gig, but I'm not so completely nuts that I would get up at the crack of dawn and haul my ass to Midtown to make a 7:00am concert for a cheesy morning news show (that ain't rock n roll, man!) just to hear three songs: "Get on the Boat," "Redhead Stepchild" by Tamar, and "Let's Go Crazy." (This is what it looked like.)

But I would have given my left testicle to have been at the tiny, trendy Butter restaurant in Manhattan that night, where Prince gave a 3-hour after-party (from 1am-4) for only about 125 extremely lucky individuals, members of his NPG Club and assorted celebrites including Jay-Z & Beyonce, Nas & Kelis, P Diddy, Lindsay Lohan (ugh!), and Paris Hilton (double ugh!). There wasn't even a stage in this joint, everyone was on the same level, as if Prince were performing in your living room! The Roots' ?uestlove joined his idol on drums for the finale, a medley of "Ecstacy" [Barry White], "Be Happy" [Mary J], and "The Bird" [The Time], and the show ended with Prince leading the crowd in a series of 80s dance moves.

Here's the full setlist: "Peach," "Te Amo Corazon," "Forever in My Life," "Everyday People" [Sly], "The Ride," "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" [Aretha], "Love Changes" [Melissa Morgan], "The Chain" [Fleetwood Mac], "Come Together" [Beatles], "When a Man Loves a Woman" [Percy Sledge], "Redhead Stepchild" [Tamar], "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" [Sly], "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)" [Wild Cherry], "Partyman," "Anotherloverholenyohead," "3121," "Lolita," "Satisfied," "Black Sweat," "Kiss," "Joy in Repetition," "If I Was Your Girlfriend," and the aforementioned finale.

(Much of the above info comes from the website www.stereogum.com.)

Ps: Just to make you feel better, those few lucky audience members did have to pay a whopping $312.10 to get in. ($121.03 if they ordered online tix in advance.) Cash only. Sure, three Benjamins doesn't mean much to Paris Hilton, but who among us normal folks can afford that?! (FYI, the weird price points are deliberate -- notice they only use the numerals 1,2, and 3, as in 3121.)

EASE OFF OF DANGER MOUSE'S NUTS FOR A SECOND

AND GIVE CEE-LO SOME PROPS!

This is something I really need to get off my chest. Yes, I admit the Gnarls Barkley CD is very very good. For me, it's running neck-in-neck with Ghostface's Fishscale for album of the year so far. In fact, in terms of its unexpected mainstream appeal, it's perhaps the most exciting record since Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. However, I find it upsetting that the vast majority of the phenomenal media buzz has been focused on just one half of this talented duo, Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse, at the expense of his partner, the soulful visionary Cee-Lo Green.

A brief history: I first heard of the producer Danger Mouse when he teamed up with the fairly obscure MC, Jemini the Gifted One (remember "Brooklyn Kids"?), on 2003's Ghetto Pop Life. But most folks didn't know who DM was until his Internet-leaked/bootleg Grey Album, a mash-up of Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles' (so-called) White Album. I was curious, of course. At the time, I was loving Sean Carter's alleged career-capper, produced by Kanye, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, etc. And I had grown up with the Fab Four's sprawling masterpiece; album cuts like "Dear Prudence" and "Rocky Racoon" were close to my heart. So I picked up The Grey Album for $4 on Canal Street.

It was aiight -- some of the blends were more succesful than others. All in all, I found it interesting but gimmicky. The critics, however, ate it up. And when The Beatles' label EMI issued cease-and-desist orders to DM, he started making news headlines, too. The young producer's fame skyrocketed, far out of proportion to his experience or talent, in my opinion.

But his next effort, the Gorillaz' Demon Days, made me a believer. Some say Damon Albarn should receive most of the credit for this dazzling recording. Whatever the case may be, DM and the Blur singer created musical magic together. Along with a very diverse lineup of guests, they somehow managed to score a big hit with a very weird and very dark record that perfectly captured the times. It was one of my favorite albums of last year.

(Danger Mouse's recent collaboration with rapper MF Doom, The Mouse and the Mask, was equally bizarre, but less effective, at least for me. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Doom, but I much prefered his work with producer Madlib on Madvillainy.)

Now comes Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere, which will likely be considered an even more revolutionary release, ultimately, than Demon Days. The lead single "Crazy" made musical history in the UK as the first #1 song based on downloads only, and here in the States the tune is fast becoming the "Hey Ya!" of 2006. It really is that good. It's not quite like anything you've ever heard before.

Of course, music scribes are having a field day with this ideosnycratic pop outfit and their genre-bending sound. They certainly make "good copy" with their nerdy looks and their bizarre attire (they've appeared live and for photo shoots dressed as Star Wars characters and droogs from Clockwork Orange).

Watching the excitement for Gnarls Barkley build over the last couple months, for the most part I've been happy to see good music -- forward-thinking, out-of-the-box music -- getting the notice it deserves. But at the same time, something just doesn't feel right. Part of it is my lingering distaste over the undeserved hype of The Grey Album, which would have never created such a tidal wave if it hadn't touched on a familiar Baby Boomer reference point. Part of my discomfort also comes from my (admittedly elitist) conviction that the public is latching onto GB for all the wrong reasons, for the novelty factor, the silly costumes, etc. And then there is the ignorant self-satisfaction of certain Gnarls fans who don't listen to any other modern black music whatsoever (the same crowd that hates hip-hop except for the Black Eyed Peas).

But more than anything, I am resentful that GB's success doesn't seem to be translating to a breakthrough recognition of the sheer genius of Cee-Lo Green...

THE SOUL MACHINE

When my friend Eric -- a pious funkateer who worships at his personal Mt. Rushmore of James/Sly/George/Prince -- first heard the Goodie Mob member's 2002 solo debut, he declared that Cee-Lo might be "the future of the funk."* At the time, I was inclined to agree with him. At least there was no doubt in my mind that something seriously funky was being pumped into the drinking water in Atlanta. In recent years, Outkast had been stretching out into new and brilliant, stanky, psychedelic territory. And now, Goodie's rotund rapper, Cee-Lo, who had always been the standout in the group, with his spiritual lyrics and raspy hooks, had finally let loose his inner freak and created a stunning tour de force, a joyously funky Whitmanesque celebration of himself and his "perfect imperfections."

(* Today, it could probably be argued that the future of the funk lies with electro-funk troupes Platinum Pied Pipers and Sa-Ra Creative Partners, though personally I don't feel quite the same passion for these acts.)

Goodie Mob

Cee-Lo's album was a flop. Even post-Stankonia, the world wasn't ready for such experimenting and openness. But for the few who fell under Lo's spell, it changed our lives. One particular track, "Getting Grown'," about the path to maturity, has continued to serve as a sort of personal anthem for me. On paper, it sounds like pure Oprah cheesiness. But when you hear the song, you'll understand.

Alas, Cee-Lo dropped a notch in my estimation on his follow-up, Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine. By any other standard, it was a wonderful, playful record. But it was a good deal less daring and more radio-friendly than its predecessor. (It did, however, feature a very strange and spellbinding, uncharacteristic DJ Premier production on "Evening News" -- check it out!)

So to get back to the subject at hand, in my opinion Gnarls Barkley is a thrilling return to form for Cee-Lo. It is quite different than his solo work, but like Perfect Imperfections, it feels like a huge breath of fresh air. And for people like me who have been championing Lo ever since I first heard his verses on Outkast's "Git Up, Git Out" and Goodie Mob's "Cell Therapy," it is satisfying to see him finally make it big.

But despite the success of Gnarls Barkley, I can't shake the feeling that for most of the audience, Cee-Lo is not the star of the show, even though he's the one behind the mic. This impression was reinforced by a huge glowing profile of Danger Mouse in New York Times Magazine (!) this past Sunday, in which music journalist and bestselling author Chuck Klosterman wrote: "Gnarls Barkley is really just one person, and that person is Burton. Cee-Lo is essential, but he's essential in the same way Diane Keaton was essential to Annie Hall." The Woody Allen reference isn't as much of a non-sequitur as it sounds. In the interview, DM himself talks about his love for the filmmaker and his desire to become a musical auteur like his idol.

Let me be clear. I don't have any beef whatsoever with Danger Mouse. I don't think describing oneself as an "auteur" is necessarily pretentious. I like that the man takes his art so seriously. And I was pleased to hear him clarify in the article that the product that made him famous, his Grey Album, was really just a throwaway, a goof that was widely misunderstood.

And I could certainly argue that the buzz over Danger Mouse's can be seen as something positive, a reflection of our distinct post-millenial musical culture. DM would never have received this kind of attention ten years ago. His popularity is a direct result of the visibility of artists like Pharrell and Kanye, who put the role of the producer in the spotlight. This has been a healthy development. It used to be that your average listener would never imagine that the singer/rapper/frontman might not be the most integral part of the overall sound.

But Cee-Lo is integral to Gnarls Barkley, and I do have a problem with Klosterman's characterization of him. Granted, it is a piece about Danger Mouse not about GB. But it is clear that the rock writer doesn't know a lot about the singer and he doesn't make much of an attempt to understand him. Bizarrely, the casual reader comes away from the article with an image of Cee-Lo as basically a thug-turned-good. While this may not be inaccurate, it is very simplistic and doesn't come close to painting a full picture of the man. Not to mention the fact that, whatever checkered past Lo may have, his colorful new-age vibe -- he wears his hippie badge proudly -- certifies him as probably one of the least thuggish individuals in the entire rap world.

But there is something more at play here than Klosterman's shoddy research and the current obsession with the producer as auteur. My impression is that the core audience for Gnarls Barkley is white hipsters who have read about the group in magazines and on websites. The truth is that these folks are more likely to relate to a geeky, light-skinned (though both his parents are black) knob-twiddler from suburban New York, who name-checks film composer Ennio Morricone, than a big, bald, tattooed gospel growler who emerged from the Dirty South rap scene. But sadly, by gravitating toward the familiar, these listeners are missing what's right in front of their noses: someone who, given the chance, could blossom into the Al Green or George Clinton of our generation.

Okay, I think I've made my point. But what is going to happen to Cee-Lo? There will definitely be another Gnarls Barkley album, according to Danger Mouse. And Cee-Lo has future projects in the works with Southern producer Jazze Pha and, most exciting to me, with Jack Splash of Plant Life, who shares Lo's penchant for freaky individualism, though of a much more self-conscious LA variety.

Jack Splash of Plant Life
While it is safe to say that, as the proverbial man of the moment, Danger Mouse's next effort (whatever it may be) will reach the ears of many, this is not necessarily the case with Cee-Lo. Gnarls Barkley has undoubtedly raised Lo's stature, but individually he has yet to approach the tipping point.

Black Thought & Danger Mouse

But what are Danger Mouse's future projects, and are they really guaranteed to be hits? One would think so. But let's take a look at what the producer has on deck. According to the Times article, "he already has plans to release albums with Black Thought from the Roots, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse and Blur's frontman Damon Albarn."

Roots devotees like me have been hungering for a Black Thought solo joint for years. The news that he's pairing up with Danger Mouse is something of an underground hip-hop wet dream. Does this mean that the premier hip-hop band's dexterous but enigmatic MC is on the verge of stardom? Somehow I doubt it...

FIVE BRAND-NEW MUSICAL BISCUITS

1. "Just" by Mark Ronson feat. Andy Greenwald, from the Radiohead tribute album Exit Music: Songs for Radio Heads. This is an entirely different and blissfully funked-out version of the dark classic from The Bends. Ronson enlists the horn section from Brooklyn's The Dap-Kings.

2. "Meet Me in the City" by The Black Keys, from the Chulahoma EP of covers of obscure bluesman Junior Kimbrough. The way the shimmering guitar washes over you in this song will make you smile.

3. "Bullshit" by The RH Factor with D'Angelo, from Distractions. This isn't in the same league as anything on D'Angelo's two classic albums, but we'll take whatever we can get from him these days. (I'm sure I'll discuss the sad saga of this tortured genius in another post.) This is D with Roy Hargrove.

4. "Vein of Stars" by The Flaming Lips, from At War With the Mystics. Their whole outer-space shtick comes across as a bit too obvious sometimes, but the band's trippy vision is perfectly executed on this track, where the spacey instrumentation (synths & wah-wah guitars) just accentuates what is already there: a simple, haunting vocal melody accompanied by nice acoustic strumming.

5. "Ghetto Story" by Baby Cham, from the upcoming Ghetto Story. I don't even own this, I just hear it on the radio all the damn time. The beat is incredible and the lyrics are vivid and brutal. It appears to be the "Welcome to Jamrock" of 2006.

ANDREW THOMPSON


Please support my friend Andrew Thompson. He is funky and eccentric, to say the least. He sounds like a mix between Stevie Wonder and Colin Hay from Men at Work. He is on Lewis Recordings, the same label as Boston rapper Edan. Check out Andrew's website. Peep his debut video and his new one. And if you ever have a chance to catch him live, don't miss it. The songs get a more rocking treatment, which suits Andrew well. And when he closes his set with his most likable and high-energy number, "We're in Business," an unforgettable and hilarious funk workout about robots, he is joined onstage by a dancing oompa loompa-like figure in a silver cardboard robot suit!

MORE SUMMER MADNESS
(JUNE FREE CONCERTS IN NYC)


The staggering number of free summer outdoor shows throughout the five boroughs is one of the true highlights of living in NYC. And this year is better than ever! It's almost too much to keep track of, unless you're as anal as I am and painstakingly enter the dates into your Outlook calendar. But never fear, I'm here to make things easy for you. Some live biscuits that I am especially looking forward to...

1.) Me'Shell NdegeOcello at Madison Square Park on 23rd St, next Wed the 21st. I was really feeling her 2003 album Comfort Woman. Never heard the jazz album she put out last year. New record coming in the Fall, apparently.

2.) Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival with Big Daddy Kane, Lupe Fiasco, The Procussions, Rhymefest, Maya Azucena, Strange Fruit Project, Sleepy Brown, Panacea

Next Saturday, the 24th, at the Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO. Cool venue. Right under the BK Bridge. I used to live around the corner, but I've never been to an event there. Speaking of venues in that area, does anyone remember the Anchorage, the amazing cavernous space inside the base of the bridge? They used to have parties there, pre-9/11.

I may actually have to miss the Hip-Hop Fest, as it falls on the weekend of my anniversary. (I missed last year's show at the BK Brewery, too.) But I would recommend checking this one out, if you can. BDK still kills it on stage. He's got that old-school, larger-than-life presence, like KRS. And you just can't go wrong with classics like "Raw," "Set It Off," and "Warm It Up, Kane." Also, I read in the Brooklyn free paper 24-7 that Kane would "be joined by some Brooklyn MC's on stage -- but he wouldn't name names prior to the show." Hmm, Biz? Masta Ace? (6/25 FOLLOW UP: GUESTS INCLUDED BUCKSHOT, SEAN PRICE, KWELI, CL SMOOTH, JUST-ICE, CRAIG G, SCOOB LOVER.)

Haven't heard anything by Chicago-based Kanye protegee Lupe Fiasco other than the single "Kick, Push", a skateboarding ode, which I love! Sure, it sounds like it's ten years old, but the simplicity of that chorus -- "and so he kicked, push, kick, push, kick, push, kick, push, coast . . . and away he rolled" -- just gets me for some reason. I've never been into skateboarding at all, but I'm digging this fond tribute to Lupe's subculture, so I can only imagine how the skaters must be loving it.

* Note: You can't just show up at the Tobacco Warehouse. You need to first register at brooklynbodega.com, then pick up your free ticket at Halcyon, the record store in DUMBO.

3.) Brazilian Girls at Pier 54, Tues the 27th. I love these guys. Loved their album. How can you not love a band with a song called "Pussy Pussy Pussy Marijuana"? Saw them at Summerstage last year opening for Femi Kuti, and even in the pouring rain the audience was grooving. (Interestingly, at that show, there was a mass exodus of hipsters after the Brazilian Girls finished their set, while the headwrap crowd came to hear some Afrobeat. What does it say about me that I loved both?)

If you miss the show in June, you can also catch the Brazilian Girls on July 11th in Fort Greene Park (my hood!).

THE ROOTS AND GUESTS AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL


The previous post (below), the one about Prince popping up at the Maceo Parker show in Prospect Park, reminded me of a similar episode I witnessed last month at the Roots coming-out party on DefJam/benefit for J Dilla (RIP) at RCMH. For months, ?uestlove had been hyping the bill as an historic, all-star extravaganza with special guests up the wazoo, a hip-hop/neo-soul wet dream: a combination of Chappelle's Block Party, the Roots' legendary LA post-Grammy shows, and the old Black Lily jam sessions at the Wetlands in NYC. The two-day event was divided into one night of raw hip-hop (Common, Kweli -- and Nas!) and one night of more female-friendly but equally dope grown-folks music (Erkah, Mos). I opted for night #2. But if $ wasn't an issue, I would have easily hit up both.

Doesn't sound like I missed too much on night #1. Due to some bizarre flake synchronicity, virtually all of the secret special guests on board failed to show or arrived late. To the best of my knowledge, AWOL guests included: Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface, Raekwon, Dave Chappelle, Erykah Badu, and probably others. Let me say that again. Nas was there, Common and Kweli were there. Even Kane was there. But ?uest was expecting Kanye. Chappelle. Erykah. Ghost & Rae (performing their classic CubanLinx shit, including "Verbal Intercourse" with Nas!)

No surprise, some fans were baffled and disappointed. In the Roots' defense, these fans failed to recognize that even a solo Roots show beats about every other rap performance.

The next day, ?uest was somber and somewhat resentful at having been let down by the other performers. And surpisingly, he was quite revealing in his posts on Okayplayer.com, where concertgoers grilled him with questions, conspiracy theories, and worse.

As the Roots' leader and spokesman, all eyes were on him to avoid a repeat performance. Or better, to utterly fucking silence the critics with one of the most successfully executed all-star nights of good music in recent memory. My wife and I arrived just as the first act hit the stage. A haunting African singer set a thrilling mood. Babaa Maal from Senegal. Then, an unamplified sound emerged from the rear corner of the music hall. A full high-school drum line, replete with horns and all kinds of percussion, marching down the aisle, ?uest leading the troupe, Black Thought holding a megaphone, spitting "Duck Down." Nice. (Okay, the drum line entrance isn't entirely original, but it definitely took care of business.)

I'm not going to chronicle the entire concert, but let me just say that -- in addition to Angelique Kudjo, J. Davey (me not such a fan), Mos, and Erykah -- unexpected highlights included Slum Village, Jazzy Jeff, the previously mentioned Babaa Maal, Bilal doing a Radiohead cover, a comedy set by Chappelle. And, of course, the new president of the label, HOV.

It was getting close to curtains when the Roots launched into a mini Hip-Hop 101 of some other folks' songs, including Biggie's "One More Chance." The crowd was eating it up, even more so when the band cut out and the keyboardist, Kamal, started hitting the opening chords of Jay-Z's "PSA."

I began to feel the same tingling as when Prince came out in the park. Please, come on, don't toy with us, if you're playing this shit and don't produce Jigga in front of my eyes in about 2 seconds I'm going to be pissed.

Obviously, the song is crazy dramatic and there was a good raucous feeling in the air as the audience anticipated that perfect moment when it was time for them to yell, "Allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is HOV!!!" This is what it looked like.

Unfortunately, after the brief bliss, followed by "Encore" which was less exciting, it was all over. Like with Prince. Which gets me back to the original point of this piece...

Watching Jay-Z, like with Prince, I found myself thinking, He hasn't even said anything and already the crowd is going crazy. What is that quality in him? Is it the charisma or is it the sheer star power, the recognizability. And poor Black Thought. He is the epitome of focus, breath control, and spine-tingling old-school flow. Why Jay and not him?

I don' t have any answers for you today, but I hereby state: Jay is my favorite mainstream MC, Black Thought my favorite underground.

SUMMER IN NYC!

Cotdamn, I love this city! Okay, to be honest, my passion has waned a bit since I moved to NY almost a decade ago, especially with all the mall-ification in recent years. Brooklyn, in particular, is a different world than when I landed here in '96. Still, I gotta admit nothing compares to the feeling I get on a summer night, walking around in short sleeves with a cool urban breeze tickling my epidermis. I just got home from Prospect Park, where Maceo Parker was performing at the bandshell. Re: the music, ehhh. The JBs are gods, of course. But this isn't 1970 and while Maceo still holds up pretty damn well -- arguably better than the Godfather circa 2006 -- the vibe sometimes get a bit too sanitized for my taste.

Still, I had a good time. The scene at the bandshell is more about the lovely Brooklyn crowd anyway, the couples kissing on their blankets, sipping wine out of tupperware containers, the doobage under the trees, the angelic multicultural children frolicking to the beat. Unless you're fairly close to the stage, the music fades into the background.

At the end of the show, my friend Jose and I were about to make our way to the exit when the band returned for an encore, and I recognized -- even with my awful eyesight -- a familiar figure in a white suit approaching the mike. No, it can't be. Yes, it is. The purple one. Oh shit. We made a bee-line down the corridor of the aisle, and by the time we reached the dense crowd surrounding the stage, the masses behind us had finally caught on.

Prince performed just one song, "Get Off the Boat," the funk jam from his mostly unexceptional latest release 3121. It was fine. (This is what it looked like.) What am I saying, it was effing Prince -- it was great. But like many in the crowd, I imagine, all I could think about was, C'mon, please, don't leave after this. Give us something. Give us "Kiss." Give us "DMSR." But alas, it was not to be. It was over almost as soon as it began.

And somewhere in this fine metropolis, He is probably about to go on stage at a slamming afterparty, while I'm home writing this, thinking about how I've got to go to bed soon cause I have to get up at 7:30 for work. But I'm not disheartened. At least I'm here, in the city of infinite possibilities...

"SIT TIGHT AND LISTEN KEENLY WHILE I PLAY FOR YOU ANOTHER BRAND-NEW MUSICAL BISCUIT . . . "


The title of this blog comes, as many of you probably know, from a beloved line spoken by a DJ at a dance (Prince Buster) in the 1973 film The Harder They Come starring Jimmy Cliff. It is not an exaggeration to say that -- along with the Wailers' Island debut Catch a Fire -- this classic movie and soundtrack introduced reggae to the world. (RIP Desmond Dekker, whose "Shanty Town" is just one of the excellent tracks on this essential compilation.)

But despite the origin of the title Musical Biscuits, this is not a site just about reggae. You can be certain there will also be lots of hip-hop, soul, funk, and rock biscuit banter. If names like Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Lee "Scratch" Perry, DJ Premier, and Cee-Lo Green mean anything to you, we're in business . . .