Quite the band being assembled upstairs. Today we say goodbye to one of the uber talented musicians of our lifetime and one of New Orleans’ finest, Allen Toussaint. More words HERE via the New York Times. Rest in peace Mr. Toussaint.
Been listening to this song on repeat all week. If you are not familiar with Shura, you need to be. The British R&B musician is about to hit it big in 2015.
TGIF and this Friday we head across the pond for some righteous new music courtesy of Clement Marfo & The Frontline. The seven member posse led by Marfo is a mixed bag of fun incorporating everything from hip-hop, rock, funk, pop, R&B, soul, ska and more. Think energy and excitement when listening to this London group and look out for big things in 2012.
Below is the video for the current single “Overtime” but click HERE to listen to “Shock & Awe” my favorite so far.
10th anniversary of Bonnaroo is in the books and I’m ready to get tickets for next year. Being a Bonnaroo rookie, it was all about taking in as much of the experience as possible. After an afternoon waiting for everyone to fly in, rent the truck and an off the reservation experience at Walmart, we were on the road. Some 60 miles and one wrong turn later, we arrived. After finding the RV and unpacking enough food and booze to feed the entire stage crew for the festival, it was time to get the party started. Meandering through the festival grounds at night it was hard to capture just how big the Bonnaroo fields are and how over 100,000 people flow in and out. The first time you see it during the day, your jaw drops at the sight of an entire city being created in virtually the middle of nowhere. If that’s what it takes for people to get along, be polite and just have a good time, I can live with that.
I also learned that no matter what bands you plan to see, you can go ahead and throw that plan out, it just isn’t going to happen and that’s a good thing. Getting a chance to pop in and out of shows, listening to some new bands (and some old), wandering around the festival grounds and just kind of going with the flow seemed to be just fine. Photos will be coming soon (I promise) but here are some of my highlights from Bonnaroo X.
My First Show: The Walkmen
My Final Show: Apache Relay
Best What Stage Show: The Black Keys
Best Which Stage Show(s): G.Love/Warren Haynes
Best Tent Show: Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Best Overall Show: Walk The Moon
Biggest Surprise: Childish Gambino
Best Legend Show: three way tie – Robert Plant, Dr. John, Gregg Allman
Random Moment Of Awesomeness: blue blinkers dropping from the sky for Arcade Fire’s set
Overall Stage With The Best Performances: On Tap Stage – shows included Band of Heathens, Apache Relay, Chancellor Warhol, Mat McHugh, Pimps of Joytime, JEFF The Brotherhood, Bobby Long and more
Most Entertaining Show: Lil Wayne for the fact that at least 40,000 festival goers/hippies knew all the lyrics to his songs – you had to be there to understand where I’m coming from
Most Disappointing Moment: Terrible sound quality for the Buffalo Springfield show made it almost impossible to listen to (this saddened me more than anyone will ever know)
Next Big Thing: Walk The Moon and Apache Relay
Top Party: the overflowing sea of madness for Girl Talk at 2:30am
Oddest Show That Was A Blast: Primus
Funky Good Time Show: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Band I Was Sad To Miss: GIVERS
Angriest Performer: Eminem
Best Intro: Lewis Black for Warren Haynes
What Would Have Been Great: a late night set from a headlining DJ
Top Roo’er: Guy trying to make the “World’s Biggest Glow Stick” (if you saw/met him, you know what I’m talking about)
Top Sports Bar Moment: Game 6 of the NBA finals was like the March Madness scene in Vegas (video coming soon).
Best Festival Eats: Bear Creek Farms’ hand cut French fries and Gravy
Best Broo’ers Festival Beer: Ashville Brewing Company’s Ninja Porter
Best Place To Cool Off: the cinema (if no line to wait)
Biggest Waste of Time: anything that involved a line
Shocker Of The Festival: no rain
Worst Part: Dust everywhere and if you didn’t have a bandana, you were SOL
Clutch Move: renting a pickup truck
Tip For Next Year: less junk food and more healthy food, bring laxatives and don’t go off the reservation
More Tips: flip flops are your enemy, dust sucks, that fountain water is filthier than Vegas’ Rehab, expect rain, drink water and more water
It’s a great day as a good friend of mine and fellow music lover, Angela (@IMWITHTHEDEEJAY), becomes the first guest blogger on Do You Hear The Music and shares her first Coachella experience in words and video. Angela has one of the coolest blogs I’ve come across and always has fun, interesting and inspiring posts as well as the latest and greatest from DJ Vice. Check out the below and then visit her blog and follow her on Twitter.
Coachella 2011.
I’m no stranger to packed crowds, pounding beats and rhythmic drum patterns and quite candidly house music, nightlife and large crowds make me feel at home; so much so it’s why I started my blog, rightfully titled: IMWITHTHEDEEJAY. No further explanation needed.
Going to Coachella for the first time alongside DJ VICE proved to me that this festival truly has something for everyone. I was quite surprised just how many DJ sets were scheduled during the weekend line-up and thus spent a lot of time checking them out.
What impressed me the most about Coachella was the variety of music ranging from indie, house and dub step to R&B and hip-hop. I learned about some new artists, such as Leftfield, while also appreciating artists I was already familiar with even more after hearing their songs live combined with their stage presence (Chromeo, The Strokes, Cut Copy).
Here is a short video I put together to share some of the highlights on my experience and exactly why I plan to go back every year. Enjoy.
My Best and Worst of Coachella 2011
best surprise moment : Usher & Paul McCartney on stage during AfroJack’s house set
worst moment : the moment I felt the urge to pee & knew I was going to hold it ALL night! Yuck on portable bathrooms.
best performance to dance to : Cut Copy & Chromeo
best performance to jump for : AfroJack
best performance overall : Kanye West
best songs: “Original” Leftfield, “Needy Girl” Chromeo, Swedish House Mafia “Save the World”
most overused house song : “Awooga” Calvin Harris
most disappointing performance : Tinie Tempah
best fashion piece I saw : crochet white fringe vest with white glowsticks tied to each piece.
worst fashion: going barefoot
best overall: the great choice in music – you can’t even manage to hear everyone you would like to because there are so many stages & performances.
worst overall: DUST = allergies, scratchy eyes, watery nose and a layer of film all over you.
Don’t bring next year: Any “professional” DSLR camera – they won’t let you in with it.
Pack next year : bandana & anything glow in the dark!
(via the AP and Business Week)
NEW YORK
MTV is taking its inaugural O Music Awards to Las Vegas.
The network announced Tuesday that its planned show honoring digital music and fandom will take place at a “mystery location” in Las Vegas on April 28. The hourlong live show will stream online and on mobile.
The show includes categories like “must-follow artist on Twitter” and “best fan cover.” Fan voting will decide the awards. MTV says 1.9 million votes have been cast.
At the Vegas event, rapper Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege of the hip-hop group Chiddy Bang will try to enter the Guinness World Records for longest freestyle rap.
Other scheduled performers will include Lupe Fiasco, Lil B, Matt & Kim and Mumford & Sons.
