the freakin' holy grail of hip hop

check this blog post -- Memory Man's House of Tapes

All the way LIVE recordings from the early days of hip hop... featuring incredibly creative mc/crew/dj battles... late 70s--->mid 80s.
personally, this is possibly the coolest thing Ive ever found on the internet..
listening to one of these cassettes.. the old school hip hop nostalgia will overpower you.. esp if you lived through this era ..

big thanks, and a hi5 to U-Tern for the funky old school hip hop cassette rips -the paintjobs on the tapes are nice too -- if only modern hip hop could do a u-ey, this is the real ish- alas, things move forward, not backwards ( or is time circular? like lp wax? )





(above, footage from a cool breakdance documentary "All City" by Henry Chalfant -- part 2 features Vernon Birch's classic cut "Get Up" )

If Music Could Talk - May 25 2008

PODCAST - May 25th 2008

"If Music Could Talk"
every Sunday at 7pm EST on WRIR 97.3 FM (online at www.wrir.org)

some awesome dance music from Madagasgar

on a more tropical vibe today, here are some really cool videos by the Malagasy singer Chila, sa voix es incroixable! im not sure what it is about these videos that i like most, the creativity of video producers on a budget, or the hypnotizing hyper-speed dance tempos.. and the dancers who somehow manage to keep up!

by the way, Chila is just one star among many many other very talented singers from Madagasgar-- she's incredibly popular (in France as well) but she's not the only one who's makin hits.. i just thought i'd post a few in a row by her here since i've just realized how cool she is.

Chila : Walli Wallah


Chila- Zanaka Rafoza


Chila- Vaiavy Chila

David J of Bauhaus "If Music Could Talk"

If Music Could Talk - May 17 2008 - Podcast

*** Part 2 features an exclusive interview with David J - bassist of Bauhaus/Love and Rockets

click the download link to hear both parts

Amitabh has a blog!

yes! it's true....
you can keep up with the legendary Bollywood actor, Big B, Amitabh Bachchan on a day to day basis from now on.. Big B's Blog

Bollywood Night at Cous Cous!!! Sat MAY 17th 2008!

Zeenat Aman

Amitabh isn't the only 70's Bollywood star who has managed to keep his career going into the present.
Zeenat Aman is a legend, and she's still acting! She's been in several movies in the past few years. (interview on KWK part 1, part 2, part 3 - also featuring Hema Malini)
It seems that 70s revival is hot in Bollywood these days (Om Shanti Om's opening scene is a spoof of "Karz" and Aag is the modern "Sholay"). Amitabh turns up in almost every other film I see being released lately.. and he is maintaining a level of energy and creativity in his roles that many actors cant live up to in their later years. Zeenat Aman was living a relatively private life for quite a while, focusing on family etc, but she seems to be making more and more appearances recently. Sometime last August she was apparently beginning work on a lead role in a film called "Monopoly" I'm not sure if it's out yet. She also, just this year, recieved the Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement. She has aged incredibly well. In my opinion, her bold, charming personality ... to use a 60s phrase, her "aura", always added to her intense beauty.. and this aura seems even more evident when i see pictures of her now. She has seen it all-- and she has survived some really heartbreaking tragedies in her personal life. She strikes me as a person who is not only beautiful, but who also has incredible insight and spiritual depth. She played in countless movies throughout the last 30 years, and acted in many different roles- so many roles, each one entirely different. After seeing Satyam Shivam Sundaram, i gained a great deal of respect for as an actress. She is subtle and emotionally complex in this film. Where so often she was cast as the sexy coquette, or the seductive gun wielding femme fatale, in this film she plays the role of a very beautiful, very unlucky village girl. This film, directed by thegreat Raj Kapoor, was percieved as a failure when it was released, but it is now considered a classic. If you've never seen RK Films' Satyam Shivam Sundaram , please find a good quiet two and a half hours to immerse yourself in this beautiful epic film about truth, god, beauty, and "Love Sublime".
Here's a link to one of the most recent articles I could find on Zeenat Aman. Here's another link. And another!

Israel Cachao López

Legendary bassist and founder of mambo music, Israel López Cachao passed away on March 22, 2008 at the age of 89.

(I'm not sure how I missed this earthshattering news for 3 months.)

here is an interview done done at his home with Distrikt magazine from 2006


also, an excellent interview from Desgarga.com

Bebo Valdes y López Cachao - "Lágrimas Negras"


Ahora Si


and here is his obituiary from the NY Times.

PODCAST - Mother's Day show and Stevie Wonder's Birthday

If Music Could Talk -podcast from last night

Happy Birthday to Stevie Wonder (May 13th)

and Happy Mother's Day!

If Music Could Talk - Interview with Evan Garfield from UMOJA ORCHESTRA

UMOJA ORCHESTRA, from Gainesville FLA, will be playing Richmond this Saturday at Zuppa.... Latin/Afrobeat- - it's funky rhythmic danceparty music - hot stuff y'all!

listen to an interview with drummer, Evan, and hear some sounds from their new CD "Abre la puerta" - (If only i could have pronounced that correctly during the show-- sorry! )

on the latest Podcast of "If Music Could Talk" (also every week on Sundays at 7pm EST on WRIR- Richmond Independent Radio -97.3FM -online live stream at www.wrir.org)