DJ Carl Hamm's Blog *~*~*~*~*~

Bye Bye BUSH!!

Tamil Song - En Anbe - from Satyam

I love the chilled out hip hop influenced rhythm of this song, and also the added melodic touch of what sounds to me like Japanese "shamisen" - the sort of harp/banjo sounding instrument.. the movie sequences are a little overdramatic for my tastes, but i love this song..

music : Harris Jeyaraj

here's another cool one from the same film - song : "Paal pappali"

watch the film on youtube here

If Music Could Talk - Jan 11 2009 - full moon fever and reggae rockas

PODCAST LINK

this past sunday, I was feeling really inspired by a documentary i watched over the weekend.. Reggae Nashville, originally entitled "Deep Roots Music", narrated by the late great Mikey Dread, dread at the controls,... so i decided to play lots of reggae during this show.. there are so many incredible reggae recordings out there that i havent even heard yet.. an island just full of talented singers and djs.. big respect to jamaica! and much love and respect to the late legend, Mikey Dread.. (during this podcast, you can hear a radio drop from him that was done especially for this show a year before he passed away)

also, the show starts out with another quirky soulful full moon mix of jazz, electronic breaks, african rhythms, soul, and blues...

music speaks...

(from the documentary i mentioned ) --- :>

Buraka Som Sistema - Sound of Kuduro

killer cut from Buraka Som Sistema "Sound of Kuduro" featuring featuring DJ Znobia, M.I.A., Saborosa and Puto Prata.

some SICK breakdancin hellacopta twirls in this one... jeez!!

the most hard core riddim ive heard for a while...

Slumdog Millionaire wins Golden Globe's Best Motion Picture award!!

(above: l-r - Danny Boyle, Freida Pinto, Dev Patel )
( below : Freida Pinto )

Slumdog Millionaire wins big at the Golden Globes -
Best Motion Picture - Drama
Best Director - Danny Boyle
Best Screenplay - Written by Simon Beaufoy
Best Original Score - AR Rahman

click here to see the rundown of awards - and click the movie camera icon there to see a replay of the ceremonies!!

Read an article about it on BBC

Bollywood Night in '09

start the new year off right!! one week after new years eve's "Mercy" soul dance party at Cous Cous (highly recommended), keep things movin in the right direction with Bollywood night!! on Jan 10th, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - What an incredible movie... last week i said during the show just before i played 3 cuts off the soundtrack.. "i havent seen it yet, but i want to.." well, just like that.. the next day i was driving to work and a local theatre had just started playing this film.. so i saw the 4pm showing the very next day! what a coincidence.. funny, this film is all about life's magical coincidences.. DESTINY.. such a deep movie.. so heart wrenching and beautiful.. the day i saw it was really cold, dark, and rainy, so when i left the theatre to go back home afterwards, i had to sit in my car and cry for about 10 minutes... something about this particular story.. and the heartbreaking stories of these slum kids.. the betrayal, and merciless exploitation.. and then, the triumph of true love... it just really got to me.. its great when a movie is so powerful that it makes you open up and reflect on life in a broad sense.. this movie did that... i felt such anger and disgust at the way poor children are expolited all over the world.. used for criminal labor, or forced to be sex workers... parts of this movie brought me close to nausea.. and then, there were other scenes that were just so true, and poetic.. and subtle, and real... destiny, and true love really do prevail, or at least, i hope they do..
According to the director, this story could have happened anywhere.. so it's "not about India" really specifically.. but I was really glad to see a film that shows another side of India, at least through different eyes than the Bollywood Glitz i'm normally exposed to..(and enjoy so much) the more varied perspective i get, the more i realize, i really just need to go to India and see for myself..
anyway, seems like this movie is flying pretty low under the radar as far as i can tell.. which makes me feel even more lucky to have stumbled upon it the very next day after i played the soundtrack (A.R. Rahman's latest masterpiece) on my radio show... these little coincidences in life are so amazing.. Watch the TRAILER, HERE

If Music Could Talk - Jan 4 2009 -some brand new (2008/9) Indian soundtracks with some older hits in there too

PODCAST LINK

(don't miss Bollywood night this Saturday at Cous Cous, 900 W Franklin Street, in Richmond VA!! starts 10:30 - FREE!)

last podcast of 2008 - If Music Could Talk - Dec 28, 2008 - Beautiful music from Brazil, and lots more

PODCAST LINK

Astrud Gilberto

i found two used Astrud Gilberto lps today at the record store, took them home, put the first one on ( "The Shadow of Your Smile" ) and.. fell into a trance..

such a brilliant voice.. the subtle understated vocalization of these melodies.. each one as soulful as a prayer.. like silver threads woven between the sensuous saxophone lines of her accompanyist, Stan Getz.. her unmistakeable "Rio" accent made even the most familiar lyrics sound new and poignant.. if a flower could sing, it would sound like Astrud Gilberto..

when she first began to gain popularity everyone wondered... where did she come from? (from Rio of course...) ...according to wikipedia, her first recording was "on the influential album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. She had never performed professionally, and sang on the recordings at the suggestion of her husband, João Gilberto (they divorced in the mid-1960s)." She states in an interview posted on her website, remembering the session where she sang "the Girl from Ipanema", "I'll never forget that while we were listening back to the just recorded song at the studio's control room, Stan said to me, with a very dramatic expression: "This song is going to make you famous"."

i wonder what's she doing now since 2001's "Jungle" Cd? she has apparently "taken a break" from touring but never officially retired... (ps: I found the answers here)

below, a rare video version of "the Girl from Ipanema" complete with a 60's glamor gal fan club audience.. and best of all, it's Christmas!

(in this movie, the cornball classic teen flick "Get Yourself a College Girl", Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz both appeared as themselves. The film also featured appearances by the Animals,The Standells , the Rhythm Masters, Jimmy Smith, Roberta Linn, The Dave Clark Five, and a major role played by Nancy Sinatra )

If Music Could Talk December 21 2008 - Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

here's last week's PODCAST LINK featuring several odd Christmas songs, some other miscellaneous favorites of mine... and some great Arabic pop to totally mix it up...

"If Music Could Talk" Dec 14, 2008- special guest: producer Tye Jones of SoulFire music

PODCAST LINK

listen to this show and hear some exclusive tracks by local artists Miss Gina & DJ Manifest as well as tracks from a various artists comp from the Summer of Soul series which was put together by Tye Jones to showcase his label, Soulfire Music- based right here in Richmond VA.

the first hour was a mishmash of funk , soul, jazz and hip hop...

ENJOY!

Watch the 1982 Bollywood Classic "Shakti" online

WATCH HERE (17 parts)

Directed by Ramesh Sippy, Music by R.D. Burman
Starring Dilip Kumar and Amitabh "Big B" Bachchan (also featuring Raakhee, Smita Patil Amrish Puri) 1982

Dilip Kumar .... Ashwini Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan .... Vijay Kumar
Raakhee .... Sheetal Kumar
Smita Patil .... Roma Devi
Amrish Puri .... JK Verma
Kulbhushan Kharbanda .... K.D Narang
Dalip Tahil .... Ganput Rai
Ashok Kumar .... Police Commissioner
Satish Shah .... Satish
Anil Kapoor .... Ravi Kumar (Vijay and Roma's son) (Guest appearance)

film description from wikipedia

with subtitles! : )

Smita Patil remembered

December 13th marks the date (22 years ago) when Smita Patil passed away, tragically at such a young age (31)

click here to read Amitabh's recollection of Smita Patil and also how he reacted to seeing Smita's son, Prateek Smit Babaar , acting in the recent film Jaane tu ya Jaane Na.

another link also here

Here is a song which features her and Naseerudin Shah - Karoge Yaad To - a bittersweet poem