Jaded, My Tummy

Here's some quotables from the Irish Film and Television Network (IFTN) source:

The feature film will be written and directed by John Ridley, who is best known as the writer of ‘Three Kings’ and ‘U-Turn’. The project is currently in pre-production in Wicklow, with principal photography set to begin in three weeks time in Dublin and Wicklow. The shoot will last six weeks in total.

The film will be set in 1966 and 1967 and cover the period in which Hendrix was discovered in a New York club by Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richard’s then girlfriend Linda Keith. She subsequently introduced Hendrix to manager Chas Chandler who brought Hendrix to London in 1966, where he recorded his debut album ‘Are You Experienced’ and had his first taste of success. Over that period – 1966 to 67 – Hendrix went on to formulate some of the greatest guitar-driven records ever made.

Well, 3 Stacks is my man, and this is probably a near-perfect casting job, assuming that he nails this. I'm not sure if this is the same set of people who were doing the earlier project that got canned—the one where they were deciding between him and Lenny Kravitz to play Hendrix. I'm hoping the fact that it is being made in Ireland with some Irish filmmakers/producers there lends more credibility to the biopic. It might be a bit more interesting and not overly romanticized, since the Experience's recording career started in Britain.

Adam Yauch, aka MCA from the Beastie Boys, passed away yesterday from cancer complications. My heart goes out to his family and the group. I was never a huge fan of the Beastie Boys—well, at least from the '90s onwards—but I know that their importance to hip-hop is monumental. Licensed to Ill (1986) and, my personal favorite, Paul's Boutique (1989), are G.O.A.T. rap albums hands down. I was playing two of my favorite Beasties tracks today and thought I'd share.

"Brass Monkey"


"Paul Revere"

From Billboard news article, "D'Angelo To Give First U.S. Performance in Ten Years at Essence Music Fest":

D'Angelo is making his comeback: The reclusive singer will give his first U.S. performance in 10 years at the 2012 Essence Music Festival. [He] will perform during the festival's opening night. It runs from July 6 to July 8 in New Orleans and also features Trey Songz, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and many others.

Surprisingly, I didn't think I'd be excited at the prospect of D'Angelo returning to the music scene. 10 years without any product or effort to produce one can put a real damper on your fandom, even if said artist has an immense talent. But, I'm secretly (I guess no more) geeked to see what D'Angelo might produce for us. I'm more likely to go see him live in concert though than buy his next, supposedly Jimi Hendrix-influence LP. But, either way I'll be paying attention.

I'm a little late with this posting, though mainly because I didn't have a blog yet. Anyways, this biography of James Brown, The One: The Life and Music of James Brown by RJ Smith (a senior editor for Los Angeles magazine and staff writer for Spin), was issued last month in March and has been on my wishlist since a month before it came out. I recently read a few critics' quotes, and they've got me excited:

"R.J. Smith, a Los Angeles-based music journalist and author of the new book The One: The Life and Music of James Brown, may have come closer than anyone to understanding how James Brown became James Brown."

"The imperatives of biography are to record, to correct and to carve out historical significance, and Smith’s lively account succeeds on all three fronts."

This New York Times review, "Say It Loud: Soul King Explained," is the best one I've read so far. It's the one that got me hyped to buy this in the first place. Janet Maslin, the author, talks about why The One was chosen for the title:

"For starters Mr. Brown’s theatrics will explain why 'The One' is this book’s title. It describes but doesn’t come from Mr. Brown’s stature. Instead it denotes his signature emphasis on the first beat in a four-beat measure. 'The upbeat is rich, the downbeat is poor,' Mr. Brown said, explaining that tactic in typically cryptic but catchy fashion."

So, this is the same "Goodie Mob" (yes I had to use quotations... I took it there) that made "Dirty South" and "Black Ice"??!! I know I'm a little late on this, but I'm heartbroken, as are many other classic Dirty South hip-hop fans who saw them perform their new track, "Fight to Win," on NBC's The Voice. To be honest, as a pop track, this is cool and listenable with Cee-Lo on the hook, but this type of track shouldn't ever find the light of day from a group like Goodie MoB (Remember? The Good Die Mostly Over Bullshit). They mixed spirituality with street tales, crunk with boom-bap, southern bounce with dirty soul-funk.... not this. No, the MoB didn't get the mainstream props that their Dungeon Family brethren OutKast did, but their legacy and influence in developing the Southern hip-hop music is also monumental. Oh well....smh HARD.