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It’s a song that interpolates Mountain‘s “Long Red” performed at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, but is Lana Del Rey have what it takes to make the interpolation work for her? Hear it, see it, feel it.
Or something.
BTW – whoever produced this song did the interpolation wrong. What Leslie West is saying is “you got that?”
El Gant Iron Eagle from Lemur Media on Vimeo.
“Iron Eagle” is the new video from rapper El Gant, a song taken from his latest mix tape, Rule By Secrecy. I love the blues rock vibe of this song, which is fitting with the lyrics.
If you want to check out Rule By Secrecy, you can download it for free by going to DJBooth.net.
From one of the best projects of 2011 is a music video from Gods’illa, this one featuring vocalist Maimouna Youssef as they tell us why “You Don’t Have To Be A Star” to be in their show.
If anything, I’m guilty of fearing vocal jazz. I think because so many people are doing it, and to my ears it comes off like “a lot of people are doing it wrong”, but are they? It’s not so much wrong, as it’s that they’re doing it badly, so with a bit of hesitation, I put Anne Walsh‘s Go (self-released) into the CD player and wondered what I’d hear. The cover has her looking like she’s dressed to go on vacation to an exotic location, and inside, she’s sitting on a suitcase in front of a bungalow, location meant to be unknown but I see an island that looks a bit like Chinaman’s Hat on the east side of O’ahu, with a building I’m unfamiliar with. Then I see Smith and I’m going “she’s out in the sun, I hope she put on some suntan lotion, maybe SPF 120″, I’m being cruel before I hear a note. Then the music of “Cinnamon & Clove” begins and it puts me in Rio. Then I hear her voice and I’m going “oh!”, as in “oh, this is not bad.” For me, it’s my signal to metaphorically unpack and listen.
What I like about Go is that it’s an album that jumps around and explores different styles of jazz, assisting in helping to accent Walsh’s voice, which is never forced nor does she try to exaggerate in order to overdo it. She knows her capabilities, and she truly gets into these songs as if she wrote them, which helps the listener to make them believe “I could be there too” or “I know exactly how that feels”. Her approach in songs like Cole Porter‘s “So In Love”, Richard Stekol‘s “Je Vousem Beaucoup”, and the title track by Wayne Shorter is easy but not overly smooth, you want to hear what she does, how she does it, in the hopes of bringing you home at the end of each song.
As is customary, most of these songs are covers but there are two Walsh originals, “Spring’s Unfold (For Mary & Fran)” and “Cascade Of The Seven Waterfalls”, and it would be interesting to hear how others interpret these songs, as they are quite good. With Walsh, it would be interesting to hear her do a few more contemporary songs, but not in a way where she’s trying to be R&B, dubstep or whatever, that wouldn’t work. Take one or two songs and bring them into her world with her approach to them. The songs were arranged by producer and pianist Thomas Zink, so credit him as well for what this album sounds like, one that I have no hesitation in recommending for those who enjoy vocal jazz. There’s the term “dentist jazz” when it comes to music that is bad, but Go is an album that is definitely not that.
The Good Sin hails from the 206, and if you’re not up on your U.S. phone area codes, that’s Seattle. He’s been around for awhile offering some great material, and so has producer 10.4 Rog, whose own work has been something worth keeping an eye and ear out for. They released an EP earlier this year called Late, which impressed those who were already fans, but especially those who were unfamiliar with him. “The Crown” is the second video to be made from Late (the first was “Bad About You“)
If the video has moved you enough to want to hear more, the Late EP is available for free on The Good Sin’s page at Bandcamp. For more work from Rog. head to 104rog.bandcamp.com or his Soundcloud page.
