LABEL NEWS

1.) In a recent post, I mentioned that San Francisco’s Ubiquity Records is one of those rare labels that only puts out good shit. If it says “Ubiquity” on the cover, it’s guaranteed quality. Not only do they promote talented, creative new artists, but they reissue classic soul, jazz, and funk from the 60s and 70s for their Luv N’ Haight division (named after the There’s a Riot Goin’ On song, of course).

Check out all the great stuff Ubiquity has on deck for 2007 (scroll about half way down their home page). I’m especially excited for Detroit producers Platinum Pied Pipers’ follow-up to their excellent 2005 debut Triple P and for a full-length (finally!) from LA-based producers Sa-Ra Creative Partners. For those who aren’t familiar with these names, think futuristic electro-funk. Other artists to check for on the roster include Ohmega Watts and Darondo.

2.) This is fairly old news, but it can’t hurt to remind folks that Stax – the legendary Memphis soul label (Otis, Sam & Dave, etc.) – has been reactivated and has a lot going on in 2007 as part of its 50th anniversary. They’ve signed Angie Stone and (re-signed) Isaac Hayes, and they’re planning on mining the archives and putting out assorted deluxe editions and the like, plus a 2-disc 50-song Stax anthology.

But first up, I believe, is an Earth, Wind & Fire tribute album featuring covers by Chaka Khan, Me’Shell N’degeocello, ?uestlove, and others. (A word of caution, however: tribute albums like this look great on paper, but they are notoriously hit-or-miss.)

SAY WHAT?? RECENT QUOTES IN MAGAZINES

1.) There’s a story in the latest Vibe (sorry, no link) about why the Native Tongues crew fell apart in the late 90s. The article is hard-to-follow and not very enlightening, especially considering the writer says he spent the past 3 years (!) interviewing everyone for the piece. But from what I can glean from the various quotes, the falling-out was basically the usual case of money and fame coming between family. It sounds like the beef began when the Jungle Brothers caught feelings after A Tribe Called Quest jumped ship to Rush Management. (DJ Red Alert was the original manager of both groups, and he was largely responsible for launching their careers.) Reading between the lines, the JBs were also probably envious of Tribe’s success with The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders, both of which went platinum. It’s unclear to me where De La Soul fit in to all the drama, but apparently Posdnuos and Tip and Afrika – the three dominant figures in the three dominant Native Tongue acts – were always having creative and financial differences. Finally, if I’m reading this correctly, there was some conflict when the Black Sheep came out, because their silly but misogynistic vibe was at odds with the rest of the camp. Like I said, it’s all very confusing and the article just seems hastily assembled. These guys deserve better. Of course, I hold extremely warm and nostalgic feelings toward all of these artists, as I’m sure do many of my readers who are of the same age. Thankfully, by the end of the Vibe story, one gets the sense that for the most part the Native Tongues have put the problems of the past behind them and are all “cool again,” as Mike G of the Jungle Brothers puts it. But wait a minute. Check out what his partner Afrika has to say…

AFRIKA: I want everyone to know the truth about the Native Tongues. They have been trying to erase the Jungle Brothers out of the books, when I was the one that started the whole thing. This has been going on for years. There’s a reason we haven’t been able to do a Native Tongues reunion: It’s because there are house niggas and real niggas. The Jungle Brothers are real niggas. Maseo has always been good people and a real dude. But Q-Tip and Pos, I don’t know.

Daaamn! That’s some harsh shit. Now, who knows, maybe Afrika has a good reason to be so pissed off. But c’mon, both Tip and Posdnuous have pretty damn solid reputations. When have you ever heard anything bad about either of them? (Treach from Naughty by Nature was mad at Pos for a second until he realized he had misinterpreted one of De La’s lyrics as a diss.) Again, what do I know? This magazine certainly doesn’t give us the whole story. But the way I see it, there’s a reason that Tribe and De La are two of the most beloved hip-hop groups of all time and that Tip and Pos still rank on a lot of people’s lists of favorite MCs. Yes, the Jungle Brothers’ Straight Out the Jungle and Done By the Forces of Nature are classics and highly underrated, but then they took an L with J. Beez With the Remedy and they never recovered. They just became more and more irrelevant. Afrika seems to think they fell off because his Native Tongue fam sold him out. But couldn't it also be that he’s just not as nice on the mic as Tip or Pos? (Or Phife or Dres or Latifah or Monie or Chi Ali. Ouch!)

2.) The article about George Clinton in the latest GQ (again, sorry no link) is much more thorough and revealing than the Native Tongues piece. But damn if it doesn’t make George look pitiful. It was very sad to read…

What’s the longest, since you got into [crack], that you’ve gone without doing it?
“About two hours.” He laughs. “No. A week. Three days, four days, five days.”
And that’s been the past couple of decades?
“Yeah.”

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME SAD AT THE MOMENT...

1.) The INS/ICE continuing to fuck with Slick Rick. Check out the whole saga in this new Village Voice piece. I’m not suggesting he should get special treatment just because he’s “The Ruler.” But it’s obvious that deporting Ricky Walters makes no sense whatsoever. NY courts understand this and have judged in his favor numerous times over the past decade, but Florida has the strictest immigration laws in the country and it was in that state where he got into trouble. It now looks like the moment Rick feared – to quote one of my favorite tracks by him – is finally here. If the court rules against him, as is predicted, he’ll have to leave his wife, his family and friends, and everything he’s ever known (he came to NYC from the UK as a kid).

But as Julia Reischel, a reporter for the New Times Broward Palm-Beach, points out in this well-written and comprehensive article (which was picked up by the Voice), the upcoming legal battle has broader ramifications for immigration law in general. The gist of it is that Rick is being tried for the same offense twice. Double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional. But in our post-9/11 world, a whole different set of rules apply to immigration law.

Folks like Russell Simmons and Will Smith have stood up for Rick in the past, and he is going to need their help again. By bringing national attention to this story, perhaps we can’t alter the outcome of the trial but we can certainly shine some light on the issue of immigrants’ rights.

2.) Me missing the Amy Winehouse show at Joe’s Pub. The British soul singer had two sets at this intimate venue last night. I tried to buy tix (which were only $12!) a few days ago, but they were already sold out. Winehouse has a reputation for being fabulously drunk and sloppy at her shows, but folks on Okayplayer today were raving about her performance. She was backed by the Dap-Kings (damn!), who usually play with Sharon Jones – I’ve often praised them on this site. And I’m sure they brought a great, full sound, with their brass section and all. Apparently, it was a very “industry” crowd, with lots of music bigwigs in the house, including Jay-Z, Mos Def, Joss Stone, Nona Hendryx, Dr. John, Alice Smith, Citizen Cope, Tamar-Kali, and Mark Ronson, who produced much of her new album. Speaking of which, Back to Black is going to be released in the States this spring (it is currently #1 in the UK!) and I give it my highest recommendation. It was one of my favorite records last year, and if you don’t believe me, take it from ?uestlove, who ranked it at #2 in his list of top albums of 06. Winehouse performed almost the entire CD last night, and she even did a cover of Lauryn’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).” Aargh.
3.) Alice Coltrane’s passing. Seriously, when is it going to stop?
4.) This Chuck Klosterman book I’m reading, Killing Yourself to Live. Ugh, this was a dissapointing read. It's about his cross-country trip to the sites of dead rock stars, which is a cool premise. But there are just too many corny, self-indulgent passages about his love life, and all his cutesy pop culture references get tiresome. I guess I like Chuck better when he’s writing within some established parameters, such as a magazine interview. And don’t even get me started on that article he wrote for the New York Times magazine about Gnarls Barkley, which really pissed me off. Needless to say, Klosterman is much more on point when he sticks to what he knows, classic rock and modern/indie rock.

I do sometimes very much enjoy Klosterman’s writing. I admired a bunch of the pieces in his latest collection, Chuck Klosterman IV, especially his Spin interviews with Jeff Tweedy, Bono, Radiohead, and others. Oh, and there’s this hilarious conversation with Robert Plant, where Plant basically disses all heavy metal, even Black Sabbath, and says he regrets being considered in any way responsible for this genre of droning sludge that Zeppelin supposedly influenced. I found this quite interesting, because I’ve always felt there’s a liveliness, particularly in Zep’s rhythm section, that is completely different than Sabbath or other bands associated with metal. And I remember reading how Bonham and the boys were infatuated with James Brown and Motown, so I guess that makes sense. But I digress.

5.) Mos Def’s musical career arc. I’m not going to say anything more about this, it’s just too depressing.

6.) Mixtape DJs getting arrested. What!? This story is crazy. People like DJ Drama are totally legit. They're not bootlegging or making counterfeit CDs; they're giving the people what they want (exclusives, freestyles, etc.), and this is a practice that the artists and record companies support. So what's the problem? And why this sudden and extreme response from the RIAA?

7.) How safe and calculated Hillary Clinton’s every move is.

8.) The “surge.”

RIDIN' DIRTY IN THE WHITE HOUSE

This news item cracked me up. The Chicago Tribune reported that during a press conference on Tuesday about the Iraq speech that Bush gave last night, ABC's chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz's cell phone went off -- and her ring tone was "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone. LOL!



Press secretary Tony Snow stopped his speech, looked at Raddatz, and said "Play that funky music, white girl!"

WELCOME TO 2007!

Happy New Year, folks. I don't know about you, but I've already left '06 behind and am enjoying some exciting '07 music.

There's the new album, Myth Takes, by the dance-rock outfit called !!! (pronounced chik-chik-chik). I really dug their 2004 release Louden Up Now and its single "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)." The new record officially comes out in March. Check out this great track from it, "A New Name." Kinda reminds me of the Police.

Then there's the release later this month by the Good, The Bad and The Queen, the supergroup composed of Damon Albarn (Blur, the Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (the Clash), Simon Tong (the Verve), and Tony Allen (drummer for Fela Kuti). I'm really liking this, but I have a hard time seeing it doing that well in the States, despite Albarn's success with the Gorillaz. The record just strikes me as very very British, like some of the Kinks' late-60s albums.

Then there's the free (yes that's right, free!) collaboration between Talib Kweli and producer Madlib called Liberation, which is available here on the Stones Throw website and on Kweli's MySpace page. Madlib is one of my favorite producers, probably because he is so jazz-oriented (not surprising, considering he's Jon Faddis' nephew) -- but he's often paired with mediocre MCs. But Talib sounds better than ever here. He's really on a roll this year; starting his own label, Blacksmith Entertainment, seems to have given him a huge boost of energy and inspiration. He's dropping an official new album, Eardrum, soon as well, and everything I've heard from it sounds great. While his old partner Mos Def seems to have reached new depths of suck-itude (trust me, don't even bother with Mos's new Tru3 Magic), Kweli is looking to have a great 2007.

But the '07 album that has got me more geeked than any of the above is something called Octopus by the UK group The Bees (sometimes referred to as Band of Bees). That's them in the photo at the top of this post. I'd encountered some of their stuff before and liked it, but the tracks I've heard off the new record (available in March in the UK, not sure when it's coming out in the States) are off-the-hook! They have a hugely appealing soul element, lots of horns, and I love the vocals. Check out these two amazing songs: "Listening Man" and "Got To Let Go."

Lots of exciting biscuits in 07! Which ones are you looking forward to?