Review: Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket

It may seem unusual to attempt to lump a band like Black Eyed Peas into a funk genre. They’re certainly more funk than most bands out there in the pop world. But what would would happen if the Peas were stripped of their Top 40 personas and allowed only to do funk music? What would the result be? The answer is Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket.

Not to be confused with the Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown or Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket (BODB) took all of the fundamentals of what worked for the Black Eyed Peas and applied it to their own sound. Strong lead female vocalist? Check. Rapper who has good flows and humorous rhyming sensibilities? Check. Good beats with thumping dance hall bass booms? Check. About the only thing they don’t have is the promotional power which is a crying shame.

The album opens with Photonic Amplifier People which rings in introducing you to their strong female lead Sarah Seminski aka Lil’ Shrimp. Her vocals and strong and clear and an important part of what makes Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket marketable to most jazz funk audiences. Photonic is a classic upbeat funk shoutback that other acts like Brand New Heavies mastered so well and BODB seems to have pefected the formula.

What draws the Black Eyed Peas comparisons are songs like Mic Smoke that features in-house lyricist Big Daddy Disco who’s rhymes are accentuated by Lil’ Shrimp laid over simplified Top 40’ish keyboard riffs. And then the reverse on songs like Blue Dream where the focus is Lil’ Shrimp and then added rhymes are brought in from Big Daddy Disco. It’s as if Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket stole the Peas playbook and then perfected it.

The typical instrumentals and slow jams are notably absent which strays from the normal successful formula of their predecessors, but it doesn’t detract from the strength of the album collection. Every song has its strength and very few have weaknesses.

The main strengths of the album are the vocal efforts delivered by Sarah Seminski. Her style will draw comparisons to a young Teena Marie and that comparison will be very evident to critics in songs like You Make Me Feel and Sin Lamento. Her vibrato is smooth and tasteful without the need to scream or draw attention to itself. She does what she’s supposed to do and does it well.

The band makes no qualms about being pot-friendly with songs like Chuck Norris that speaks about packing bongs and Lite That Spliff that sings about legalizing it. And there are more mentions where those came from.

 

The most humorous track definitely goes to Emotional Rollercoaster that is the album’s only slow song, but almost doesn’t qualify because it’s a very tongue and cheek back and forth booty call sung conversation that ofers up some of the most ridiculous pick up lines you’ll ever hear.

The band itself is very tight and strong. The horns are polished and prominent. The drums are clean and in the pocket and the keyboards are perfectly infused. It’s rare to hear a band this size work so well together short of the famed Parliament.

All of the album’s tracks are strong and filled with funk front to back. Fans of the Brand New Heavies, Teena Marie, and even Black Eyed Peas will certainly appreciate this offering. Check out the tracks below for a small taste of what they offer and then head to their website to snag a copy for yourself at http://www.bigoldirtybucket.com.

Visit the full CDBaby site page here or check out the clips below.

http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F2155224&show_artwork=true

 

Review: Big Ol' Dirty Bucket

It may seem unusual to attempt to lump a band like Black Eyed Peas into a funk genre. They’re certainly more funk than most bands out there in the pop world. But what would would happen if the Peas were stripped of their Top 40 personas and allowed only to do funk music? What would the result be? The answer is Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket.

Not to be confused with the Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown or Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket (BODB) took all of the fundamentals of what worked for the Black Eyed Peas and applied it to their own sound. Strong lead female vocalist? Check. Rapper who has good flows and humorous rhyming sensibilities? Check. Good beats with thumping dance hall bass booms? Check. About the only thing they don’t have is the promotional power which is a crying shame.

The album opens with Photonic Amplifier People which rings in introducing you to their strong female lead Sarah Seminski aka Lil’ Shrimp. Her vocals and strong and clear and an important part of what makes Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket marketable to most jazz funk audiences. Photonic is a classic upbeat funk shoutback that other acts like Brand New Heavies mastered so well and BODB seems to have pefected the formula.

What draws the Black Eyed Peas comparisons are songs like Mic Smoke that features in-house lyricist Big Daddy Disco who’s rhymes are accentuated by Lil’ Shrimp laid over simplified Top 40’ish keyboard riffs. And then the reverse on songs like Blue Dream where the focus is Lil’ Shrimp and then added rhymes are brought in from Big Daddy Disco. It’s as if Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket stole the Peas playbook and then perfected it.

The typical instrumentals and slow jams are notably absent which strays from the normal successful formula of their predecessors, but it doesn’t detract from the strength of the album collection. Every song has its strength and very few have weaknesses.

The main strengths of the album are the vocal efforts delivered by Sarah Seminski. Her style will draw comparisons to a young Teena Marie and that comparison will be very evident to critics in songs like You Make Me Feel and Sin Lamento. Her vibrato is smooth and tasteful without the need to scream or draw attention to itself. She does what she’s supposed to do and does it well.

The band makes no qualms about being pot-friendly with songs like Chuck Norris that speaks about packing bongs and Lite That Spliff that sings about legalizing it. And there are more mentions where those came from.

 

The most humorous track definitely goes to Emotional Rollercoaster that is the album’s only slow song, but almost doesn’t qualify because it’s a very tongue and cheek back and forth booty call sung conversation that ofers up some of the most ridiculous pick up lines you’ll ever hear.

The band itself is very tight and strong. The horns are polished and prominent. The drums are clean and in the pocket and the keyboards are perfectly infused. It’s rare to hear a band this size work so well together short of the famed Parliament.

All of the album’s tracks are strong and filled with funk front to back. Fans of the Brand New Heavies, Teena Marie, and even Black Eyed Peas will certainly appreciate this offering. Check out the tracks below for a small taste of what they offer and then head to their website to snag a copy for yourself at http://www.bigoldirtybucket.com.

Visit the full CDBaby site page here or check out the clips below.

 

Concert Review: Orgone – Atlanta, GA 6-18-2012

Don’t forget to check out our exclusive interview with Sergio here! 

Los Angeles based band Orgone is relentless when it comes to touring. The band has been non-stop in its quest to bring the funk for well over a decade and they don’t seem to show any signs of stopping that trend as they hit a club called The Masquerade in Atlanta, GA on June 18th, 2012 with opening act, the Atlanta based J. Lloyd’s Mashup.

J. Lloyd’s Mashup was insanely surprising as they ripped through a blazing 50 minute set filled with great upbeat jazz funk. The band is a chameleon of sorts with frontman Jonathan Lloyd on trombone and in this particular set, one lead vocal.  Every instrumentalist was superb as they trickled through various original songs and a couple covers.  The most surprising was when Jonathan opened his mouth to sing Work To Do from The Isley Brothers. Everyone was taken aback as his vocals were crisp, clear and soulful somewhere between Paul Carrack and Gavin DeGraw. If there was anything negative with their performance that night, it’s that he only sang one song with those gifted pipes.

J. Lloyd’s Mashup‘s are becoming increasingly popular since they are a culmination of some of the best instrumentalists in the region who all join together simply for the love of creating music. We’ll be in waiting for any recordings that happen to rise up as a result of their work. We recorded the entire Atlanta show (as well as Orgone’s) and they have given us the blessing to release it for you which we will do very soon and truth be told, you must hear it. And for those in Atlanta, keep out a watchful eye for them to do shows in the area.  This particular Mashup consisted of Jonathan Lloyd – Vocals/Trombone, Anton Harris – Tenor Sax, Khari Cabral Simmons – Bass, Chris Burroughs – Drums, Nick Rosen – Keys, Nick Johnson – Guitar, and Rock Most – Turntables.

20 minutes the later, the stage was taken over by Orgone who performed their first two songs in minimal lighting to set the mood. Lead guitarist Sergio Rios was literally drenched in sweat before those 2 songs were even completed. Fast forward through the evening and you would be surprised that he was still conscious with as much body fluid as he lost during the entire performance.  His energy during the entire show is non-stop as he moves and grooves through each song as if his body is weaving in and out of the melodies.

Their constant touring has also landed them in unique situations such as placement in Bonnaroo 2012. But many don’t even know that collectively, the group has performed on tracks by Cee Lo Green, Alicia Keys, Estelle, Anthony Hamilton, The Pharcyde, Macy Gray, Booker T. Jones and many more. So to find them among some of the greatest performers of our time isn’t unusual for this group.

Sporadically joining them on stage for tunes throughout the night was their new vocalist Niki J Crawford who has only been on board for under 2 years, but her presence is well received by the audience. Her vocals are VERY reminiscent of the clean stylings of N’Dea Davenport of Brand New Heavies fame. There are no empty spaces and her beautifully crafted vocal melodies are impeccable. Not to mention that her stage presence is stunning. She commands your attention from the time she steps on the stage until she has sung her last note. While it’s my job to find the errors, there simply are none with Niki.

Additionally brilliant are the Orgone band members that have played together for so long that they know all of their mannerisms. So much so that when J. Lloyd did a guest sit-in on a song, Sergio immediately noticed that the trombone style was not the same delivery and peeked back to see what had changed.

The layered attacks of Orgone‘s music is what has garnered them such a rabid following. They start with infectious beats supplied this tour by the afro donned Sam Halterman and master percussionist Stewart Killen. Then Sergio Rios adds his signature guitar riffs while bassist Tim Glum laid on thick bass lines. Then come the luscious jazz melodies of piano boss Dan Hastie.  Then to add to the mixture, you get trombone from the cowboy outfitted Darren Cardoza and new trumpet player Lucky Brown. Add the rich vocals of Niki J. Crawford and it’s an insanely addicting funk flow.

The band dipped into all of their library including Sophisticated Honky, Funky Nassau, Sandstorm and a handful of new songs from an album called New You that is yet to be released (which we discuss in our exclusive interview with Sergio). The flow of the entire night was perfect with no sleepy moments and a perfect blend of song arrangement and mood vibe control.

All in all, we have to give this show a 5 out of 5 afros. If Orgone comes through your neck of the woods, you simply must take in the show. Just know that if it’s on a weeknight, they have no sympathy for you if you have to work the next day. When the funk train is rolling full steam, you simply can’t derail such a beast.

 

Audio: Questlove’s Bonnaroo Superjam w/ D’Angelo

Photo from Funk It blog

Questlove put together the jam to end all jams at Bonnaroo and we were so busy with local concerts that we didn’t have time to post it. But now that our head is back above water, we wanted to share this amazing adventure with you thanks to the awesome brothers from another mother at the Funk It blog. We love them.

The Roots drummer Questlove comes out of his shell to introduce the players for his amazing superjam event that would blow away the attendees of Bonnaroo and forever talk about for months to come. He began the show by informing everyone that Bonnaroo had given him carte blanche to pull together whatever he wanted to and he said that he wanted to put together a time machine of sorts. The result was amazing.

Then he began the introductions. Captain Kirk Douglas on guitar. James Poyser on keyboards. Frank Knuckles on percussion. It was beginning to sound like a Roots show. Then the intros continued. Pino Palladino on bass guitar. Eric Leeds on saxophone. Jesse Johnson on guitar. P Funk’s Kendra Foster on vocals. And then to top it off, D’Angelo on vocals. At that point, the crowd fell off. You could hear gasps and various OMG’s throughout.

What transpired afterwards was an amazing show filled with tunes covering Jimi Hendrix (Electric Ladyland), Ohio Players Pride & Vanity, Funkadelic‘s Funky Dollar Bill and much more. View the setlist below courtesy of Funk It.

But the most amazing thing of all? You can download it here for free. The entire show. Free.

We would also like to send much love out to the Funk It blog that captured it all and provides it in various formats (tracked, untracked, and different formats), photos of the rehearsal and also has links to previous superjams here.

THE SETLIST: (courtesy of the Funk It Blog)
Intro >
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) [Jimi Hendrix] (including Go Back 2 The Thing & Superman Lover [Johnny Guitar Watson] teases) >
Pride And Vanity [Ohio Players] >
Players Balling (Players Doin’ Their Own Thing) [Ohio Players]
Funky Dollar Bill [Funkadelic] >
Hit It And Quit It [Funkadelic] >
What Is And What Should Never Be [Led Zeppelin]
Babies Making Babies [Sly & The Family Stone] >
Hollywood Squares [Bootsy Collins] >
Mother’s Son [Curtis Mayfield] (including Chicken Grease tease)
Power of Soul [Band of Gypsys]
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window [The Beatles]
My Summertime Thang [The Time] >
Jam (including Fire [Ohio Players] & other teases)

 

To all of our fans, show some love to the Funk It blog if you don’t already.

 

Audio: Questlove's Bonnaroo Superjam w/ D'Angelo

Photo from Funk It blog

Questlove put together the jam to end all jams at Bonnaroo and we were so busy with local concerts that we didn’t have time to post it. But now that our head is back above water, we wanted to share this amazing adventure with you thanks to the awesome brothers from another mother at the Funk It blog. We love them.

The Roots drummer Questlove comes out of his shell to introduce the players for his amazing superjam event that would blow away the attendees of Bonnaroo and forever talk about for months to come. He began the show by informing everyone that Bonnaroo had given him carte blanche to pull together whatever he wanted to and he said that he wanted to put together a time machine of sorts. The result was amazing.

Then he began the introductions. Captain Kirk Douglas on guitar. James Poyser on keyboards. Frank Knuckles on percussion. It was beginning to sound like a Roots show. Then the intros continued. Pino Palladino on bass guitar. Eric Leeds on saxophone. Jesse Johnson on guitar. P Funk’s Kendra Foster on vocals. And then to top it off, D’Angelo on vocals. At that point, the crowd fell off. You could hear gasps and various OMG’s throughout.

What transpired afterwards was an amazing show filled with tunes covering Jimi Hendrix (Electric Ladyland), Ohio Players Pride & Vanity, Funkadelic‘s Funky Dollar Bill and much more. View the setlist below courtesy of Funk It.

But the most amazing thing of all? You can download it here for free. The entire show. Free.

We would also like to send much love out to the Funk It blog that captured it all and provides it in various formats (tracked, untracked, and different formats), photos of the rehearsal and also has links to previous superjams here.

THE SETLIST: (courtesy of the Funk It Blog)
Intro >
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) [Jimi Hendrix] (including Go Back 2 The Thing & Superman Lover [Johnny Guitar Watson] teases) >
Pride And Vanity [Ohio Players] >
Players Balling (Players Doin’ Their Own Thing) [Ohio Players]
Funky Dollar Bill [Funkadelic] >
Hit It And Quit It [Funkadelic] >
What Is And What Should Never Be [Led Zeppelin]
Babies Making Babies [Sly & The Family Stone] >
Hollywood Squares [Bootsy Collins] >
Mother’s Son [Curtis Mayfield] (including Chicken Grease tease)
Power of Soul [Band of Gypsys]
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window [The Beatles]
My Summertime Thang [The Time] >
Jam (including Fire [Ohio Players] & other teases)

 

To all of our fans, show some love to the Funk It blog if you don’t already.

 

Concert Review: Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band – Atlanta, GA 6-15-2012

Don’t forget to check out our exclusive interview with Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band here!

When you first hear the name Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, you immediately think, “These guys are marketing geniuses.” But more importantly, you would ask yourself if they have the chops to back it up. Luckily for the Southeastern United States, they do.

The night began on June 15, 2012 at Terminal West at King Plow with opening act Soul Mechanic. While their set started off nervously, they eventually stepped into their groove and showed off their musical prowess. All 4 members of Soul Mechanic are extremely talented musicians. The type of musicians that are so comfortable with their instruments, that they’re simply feeling them and losing theirselves in the delivery. They were also graced with a couple of members from YMBFBB during a cover of Sly Stone‘s Thank You.

Soul Mechanic is funakfied goodness wrapped up into an almost Dave Matthews Band vibe delivering quirky rhythms, funky intricate bass lines, snappy drums, technical guitar riffs and smooth sax fills. Their strength is in their instrumental prowess more than the vocal deliveries and if they built out their vocal harmonies (which are woefully absent), their rise will be meteoric.

By the time Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band (YMBFBB) hit the stage, the crowd was ready. Each member of YMBFBB has a laid back feel, but bassist & vocalist Al Al really gets into the marketing of the band with his over the top outfits. Tonight he donned a half shirt, a black sun visor with a black doo rag that draped all the way down to the back of his knees, and black jeans mangled and accessorised front and back. The remaining members played the safe t-shirt and jeans route with exception to the lovely Mary Frances who performed as the lady in red for the evening and J.P. Miller who opted for a light colored slacks.

The night was filled with their funk hits covering their 10 years in the business and was well accentuated with a wealth of new material from their new Doin’ It Hard album including the 10+ minute psychadelic trip that is Shadows & Sunshine. The band loves to relish in the free form and live in the melody as opposed to sticking to a song’s standard arrangement.

Vocal deliveries were solid throughout the evening with Al Al settling into his new songs more comfortably than even on recordings. He is also much more comfortable in doing the sound effects like chatter and laughter and becoming the “character” of the band as compared to guitarist JP Miller‘s “straight up” guy. Mary Frances delivers some great knock-out-of-the-park performances including a smooth adaptation of their new song Lovin, but everyone seems most in their element during instrumentals where they can merge with their instruments and not have to focus on the vocals.

The evening clocked in at almost 2 full hours and for a lot of lucky fans who stayed after the show to dance, the band came back out yet again 20 minutes after their set ended and performed a 3 song set of Dr. Dre songs. At that point, the crowd was insatiable, but was very much quelled once YMBFBB chewed them up and spit them back out.

All in all, we found that it was well worth the price of admission to take in their healthy dose of funk. We also captured a lot of the moments on our Facebook page including dozens and dozens of photos and some video clips (including the long 12+ minute Shadows & Sunshine).

So head there to experience what the Booty Band has to offer and check out an upcoming show. Visit their site at http://www.bootyband.com to find out where they’ll be, buy some merchandise, and get your funk on. Plus it’s highly suggested to head to Amazon.com to pick up their brand new album Doin’ It Hard.

We give this concert a 4 out of 5 afros.

 

Concert Review: Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band – Atlanta, GA 6-15-2012

Don’t forget to check out our exclusive interview with Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band here!

When you first hear the name Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, you immediately think, “These guys are marketing geniuses.” But more importantly, you would ask yourself if they have the chops to back it up. Luckily for the Southeastern United States, they do.

The night began on June 15, 2012 at Terminal West at King Plow with opening act Soul Mechanic. While their set started off nervously, they eventually stepped into their groove and showed off their musical prowess. All 4 members of Soul Mechanic are extremely talented musicians. The type of musicians that are so comfortable with their instruments, that they’re simply feeling them and losing theirselves in the delivery. They were also graced with a couple of members from YMBFBB during a cover of Sly Stone‘s Thank You.

Soul Mechanic is funakfied goodness wrapped up into an almost Dave Matthews Band vibe delivering quirky rhythms, funky intricate bass lines, snappy drums, technical guitar riffs and smooth sax fills. Their strength is in their instrumental prowess more than the vocal deliveries and if they built out their vocal harmonies (which are woefully absent), their rise will be meteoric.

By the time Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band (YMBFBB) hit the stage, the crowd was ready. Each member of YMBFBB has a laid back feel, but bassist & vocalist Al Al really gets into the marketing of the band with his over the top outfits. Tonight he donned a half shirt, a black sun visor with a black doo rag that draped all the way down to the back of his knees, and black jeans mangled and accessorised front and back. The remaining members played the safe t-shirt and jeans route with exception to the lovely Mary Frances who performed as the lady in red for the evening and J.P. Miller who opted for a light colored slacks.

The night was filled with their funk hits covering their 10 years in the business and was well accentuated with a wealth of new material from their new Doin’ It Hard album including the 10+ minute psychadelic trip that is Shadows & Sunshine. The band loves to relish in the free form and live in the melody as opposed to sticking to a song’s standard arrangement.

Vocal deliveries were solid throughout the evening with Al Al settling into his new songs more comfortably than even on recordings. He is also much more comfortable in doing the sound effects like chatter and laughter and becoming the “character” of the band as compared to guitarist JP Miller‘s “straight up” guy. Mary Frances delivers some great knock-out-of-the-park performances including a smooth adaptation of their new song Lovin, but everyone seems most in their element during instrumentals where they can merge with their instruments and not have to focus on the vocals.

The evening clocked in at almost 2 full hours and for a lot of lucky fans who stayed after the show to dance, the band came back out yet again 20 minutes after their set ended and performed a 3 song set of Dr. Dre songs. At that point, the crowd was insatiable, but was very much quelled once YMBFBB chewed them up and spit them back out.

All in all, we found that it was well worth the price of admission to take in their healthy dose of funk. We also captured a lot of the moments on our Facebook page including dozens and dozens of photos and some video clips (including the long 12+ minute Shadows & Sunshine).

So head there to experience what the Booty Band has to offer and check out an upcoming show. Visit their site at http://www.bootyband.com to find out where they’ll be, buy some merchandise, and get your funk on. Plus it’s highly suggested to head to Amazon.com to pick up their brand new album Doin’ It Hard.

We give this concert a 4 out of 5 afros.

 

Erykah Badu Flames Flaming Lips: PICS

One doesn’t have to know Erykah Badu personally to know that a) she’s a force to be reckoned with, and b) you do NOT want to be on her bad side. Too bad that The Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne made a horrendous bad judgment call and got a swift reality check from Mama Badu.

Erykah Badu and The Flaming Lips have always had an amicable relationship with each other and sang each other’s praises often. No surprise that the two then got together to collaborate on a cover of the Roberta Flack song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face from their Heady Fwends album, which has a very risque accompanying video.

The video featured Erykah Badu in a tub along with her sister Nayrok as a body double for the nude scenes. The video featured her in a bathtub with water and then Nayrok took over when Wayne insisted on shooting full nudity in a tub of gooey glitter and, um, fake semen.

The problem arose when a version of the video was released on Vimeo by Wayne Coyne that was not approved by Erykah and needless to say, she was beyond pissed. Not only for releasing a video that she did not approve, but also because Wayne then followed it up with tweets that showed nude photos of Erykah Badu and Nayrok (photos below).

While it was a video shoot she willingly participated in that he was showing and photos from the photo shoot that he himself had taken and she was aware of, the problem stemmed from rough cuts that Erykah felt were in poor taste and that she felt were simply opportunistic. In response, Erykah Badu lashed out out Wayne in what is the verbal equivalent of a violent beatdown.

The Flaming Lips claimed full responsibility thinking that it would quell the onslaught, but nothing is more severe than a woman scorned. They posted that  “It has outraged and upset a segment of fans and we apologize if we offended any viewers!!!” They continued, “This is a Flaming Lips video which features Erykah Badu and her sister Nayrok and is not meant to be considered an Erykah Badu or Nayrok statement, creations, or approved version.”

Needless to say, the damage was done. Here is Erykah Badu’s very long and way over 140 character tweet to Wayne Coyne that will haunt him for years to come.

@waynecoyne then… perhaps, next time u get an occasion to work with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGh version of the video u PLAN to release b4 u manipulate or compromise the artist’s brand by desperately releasing a poor excuse for shock and nudity that sends a convoluted message that passes as art( to some). Even with Window Seat there was a method and thought process involved. I have not one need for publicity . I just love artistic dialogue . And just because an image is shocking does not make it art.
You obviously have a misconception of who I am artistically. I don’t mind that but…
By the way you are an ass.
Yu did everything wrong from the on set .
First:
You showed me a concept of beautiful tasteful imagery( by way of vid text messages) .
I trusted that. I was mistaken.
Then u release an unedited, unapproved version within the next few days.
That all spells 1 thing ,
Self Serving .
When asked what the concept
meant after u explained it , u replied ,”it doesn’t mean anything , I just want to make a great video that everyone is going to watch. ”
I understood , because as an artist we all desire that. But we don’t all do it at another artist’s expense .
I attempted to resolve this respectfully by having conversations with u after the release but that too proved to be a poor excuse for art.
From jump,
You begged me to sit in a tub of that other shit and I said naw. I refused to sit in any liquid that was not water. But Out of RESPECT for you and the artist you ‘appear’ to be, I Didn’t wanna kill your concept , wanted u to at least get it out of your head . After all, u spent your dough on studio , trip to Dallas etc.. Sooo, I invited Nayrok , my lil sis and artist, who is much more liberal ,to be subject of those other disturbing (to me ) scenes . I told u from jump that I believed your concept to be disturbing. But would give your edit a chance.
You then said u would take my shots ( in clear water/ fully covered parts -seemed harmless enough) and Nayrok’s part ( which I was not present for but saw the photos and a sample scene of cornstarch dripping ) and edit them together along with cosmic, green screen images ( which no one saw) then would show me the edit. .
Instead, U disrespected me by releasing pics and rough vid on the internet without my approval. (Contract breech )
That is equivalent to putting out a security camera’s images of me changing in the fitting room.
I never would have approved that tasteless, meaningless, shock motivated video .
Our art is a reflection of who we are . I have no connection to those images shot in their raw version. I was interested in seeing an amazing edit that would perhaps change or alter my thoughts . Never happened .
You also did the same thing with the song itself which displays crappy “rough “vocals by me . I let it go , perhaps iiiii was missing something, I thought.
I Should have followed my first mind back in studio when recording the vocals “your way”.
( Red flag.) It was uncomfortable.
For that I am at fault .
Consequently, brother, As a human I am disgusted with your what appears to be desperation and poor execution. And disregard for others . As a director I am unimpressed . As a sociologist I understand your type. As your fellow artist I am uninspired. As a woman I feel violated and underestimated.
Hope it works out for ya ,Wayne.
Really i could give a shit less.
Still love your live show tho.
And , you’re welcomed.
Lesson learned .
By the way I have guested in very few videos. But I have always been given the opportunity to see the edit and contribute to it when my roll is substantial. Not this time .
I guess u feel it better to apologize than ask for permission and be refused . Hey, Love u man, but your ways are not very nice .
O, And on behalf of all the artists u have manipulated or plan to manipulate, find another way .
These things have been said out of necessity.
And if you don’t like it
you can KiSS MY Glittery ASS .
O and Nayrok told me to tell u to kiss her ass too .
Almost forgot.
Peace

Ms. Badu

Below is the offending video and it must be premised that it is very NSFW (Not Safe For Work). The actual video was pulled by Vimeo, and we have nothing but love for Erykah and if she demanded it get taken down, then we have no plans on posting it even though we located a copy that we could show you, but won’t.

It’s not worth it and doesn’t come with her blessings. However, as far as we’re aware, she was okay with the photos that we’ve posted below and the pics that were still posted on SPIN as of this post.   If she is against them, we’ll immediately pull them at her request.

 

George Clinton Fights For Parliament & Funkadelic

Funk pioneer George Clinton is on a mission to win back the rights to some of his best-known work from the 1970s and ’80s. It’s a situation many artists have found themselves in — partly because of the complicated copyright laws that govern their work.

In the late ’70s Clinton’s bands — Parliament and Funkadelic — racked up four No. 1 R&B hits, including the anthem “One Nation Under a Groove.” “Atomic Dog” topped the R&B charts for four weeks in 1982 and was released on an album Rolling Stone named one of the 100 greatest albums of the decade. In 1997 Clinton and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and his music has been sampled more than just about anyone’s — with the exception of the late James Brown.

But these days Clinton has had to turn to the Internet to raise money. “I thought that was a very good idea because lots of people are collecting the old records that we have,” he says. “And it’s a good way to get new records out.” He raised more than his $50,000 goal in a recent campaign at Indie Gogo, which he’ll use to restore and preserve his bands’ original recordings and rebuild his studio.

He says his next step is a legal defense fund. The fund isn’t just for his bills. “All the members of the band have music they are trying to get back, or copyright renewals,” he says. “They have to fight different publishing companies and different record companies for the royalties.”

Clinton himself has filed multiple lawsuits against Bridgeport Music Inc., a company that owns the rights to about 170 songs written by Clinton and other members of his bands. The company says Clinton signed over his rights to the music in 1982 and 1983. But Clinton disputes that, saying his signature was forged.

Richard Busch, an attorney for Bridgeport, told NPR, “Bridgeport has no comment as it relates to pending litigation. As it relates to past litigation, any challenges, to the best of my knowledge, Bridgeport has prevailed each time.”

Clinton’s attorney, Jeff Thennisch, says his client did have a relationship with Bridgeport when the record label was the music publisher for a number of Clinton’s songs in the ’70s and ’80s. But, he says, “There was a falling out between George Clinton and Bridgeport Music which resulted in a number of different court cases and different actions in various parts of the country.”

One of them resulted in a 2001 ruling from a U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Fla., saying that Clinton does not own any publishing rights to any of the music he wrote between 1976 and 1983. In 2005, a federal judge in Los Angeles returned the ownership of the master recordings of four Funkadelic albums from the 2001 case — including One Nation Under a Groove and Uncle Jam Wants You — to Clinton. Still, Bridgeport retains the publishing rights to the songs on them.

Last year Clinton filed another suit against Bridgeport, and others who have been selling CDs that include music from the master recordings on those albums.

Jodie Griffin, a staff attorney at the nonprofit Internet and copyright organization Public Knowledge, says if musicians lose their copyrights, it’s hard and costly to get them back. “It is a system designed to favor the more powerful, better informed, more lawyered party,” she says, “which is almost always the record label.”

Under the 1909 version of copyright law, there are two terms of protection for the copyright holder: an initial 28-year period, then a 28-year renewal period. The 1976 Copyright Act expanded the renewal term from 28 to 47 years, and Griffin says that renewal term was extended again in what’s known as the Sonny Bono Extension Act in 1998. Now, the renewal period is 67 years.

“If we’re giving those protections out, and the benefits aren’t going to artists,” says Griffin, “it kind of defeats the whole point of why we’re doing it.”

But Griffin says copyright assignments made on or after Jan. 1, 1978, can be terminated starting next year for some authors or their trustees. This means under certain conditions, a musician can reclaim a copyright now held by a record company. It will be interesting to see how music companies respond.

“Artists have started to file their notices of termination,” Griffin says. “So it looks like people are going to take advantage of this — but it remains to be seen which record labels or publishers will fight it.”

Griffin says people should remember that copyright law also affects side musicians and songwriters. She says it will become clearer over the next few years whether some of the ongoing music industry practices, such as record labels claiming authorship of their artists’ sound recordings, are legally accurate.

Clinton says he intends to use the Internet to get his new music out independently. For now he’s dealing with lawyers, and performing a lot — at the age of 70. Clinton says he hopes to see Congress step in and streamline the copyright law so it will be easier for artists to protect themselves.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

This article reposted from WBUR here.

 

Concert Review: The Fixx, Atlanta, GA

They’re baaaack! The band that ruled the roost in the 80’s still has plenty of chops to spare. Check out the tons of photos here.

The band named The Fixx that forever will carry the title as “that band from the 80s that does One Thing Leads To Another” is returning to the road with the funky bass riffs turned up full blast.

While we are well aware that The Fixx isn’t a funk band, it’s hard to deny them the coverage that they deserve when they deliver some of the funkiest bass lines this side of the pond. Songs like The Fool, the aforementioned One Thing Leads To Another, Saved By Zero, and many others have some of the most solid riffs that rival almost any funk tune you can throw at it.

Local radio station Dave FM touted it as the original lineup, but some purists will call out the name of Alfie Agius as the original bass player (and Barret before Agius) even though Dan K. Brown has served as bassist extraordinaire for most of the bands most successful albums including their infamous Reach The Beach (with exception to Agius playing bass on the album’s biggest singles One Thing Leads to Another and Saved By Zero).

Dan took a leave of absence for many years due to health problems that kept him from touring with the band even though his shoes were aptly filled by some good players over the years like Chris Tate.

The Fixx were in rare form at the outdoor event entitled Virginia Highlands Summerfest and the crowd was estimated at a thousand or more. They covered all of their most famous hits you’d expect as well as covering their cult classics like The Fool, Yesterday, Today, and Woman On A Train. The Fool was particularly interesting as The Fixx showed off their psychadelic muscle and gave hardcore fans a 7 minute version of the song.

Lead singer Cy Curnin was unusually spry and in good vocal form even though some were taken aback by profanities that have rarely ever come from the stage at their previous shows including an F bomb. Cy did offer up some of the quirkier movements and hand gestures he’s been known for over their 30+ year career, but very much subdued from his earlier hey-days. And he made sure that he shared his views on politics, the Queen, and British flags made in China.

Dan K. Brown was in great form back behind the bass as he has been for a few years now keeping fat riffs and chunky bass lines in the backbone, but his performance remained stage rear for the entire show. This is similar to what his shows used to be during the 80’s and 90’s where he became known as the “unmoving bass player” who stayed stiff as a board with exception to his hands. That act is gone and replaced with a standard rear-stage performance, but still masterful and well received on songs such as Yesterday, Today and the new Just Before Dawn that allow him to show off his beastly riffing.

Guitarist Jamie West-Oram was spot-on with background vocal duties and atmospheric guitar solos. His trippy solos from the aforementioned The Fool and Woman On a Train were a welcome gift to the fans. And the newer songs were more risky and rocky than their older material which is surprising and refreshing at the same time.

Drummer Adam Woods kept his chops very consistent and smooth throughout the evening as well. Our pre-show discussion with him indicated that he was in good spirits and his time keeping is as impeccable as ever.

Keyboardist Rupert Greenall is getting more adventurous over the years. In past shows that we’ve seen, he always seemed to stick to the script and a tad nervous, but the Highlands performance had him very confident trying new sound patches and effects which mixed things up nicely for the hardcore fans.

The tour is about to go full swing to support a brand new album called Beautiful Friction due out July 17 2012 with samples available on Amazon to check out. They played a few songs off of the recording (see set list below) and all of which were upbeat and more adventurous than their previous  offerings which unfortunately found a very limited audience.

For Atlantans, Adam Woods shared with us that the crew will be back through Atlanta in the Fall and their U.S. tour takes them to the Northeast into Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and even Teaneck, NJ. Then they head west over towards Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois and California. The 2nd Atlanta date Adam mentioned is nowhere to be found on their site, but we hope it materializes on their tour page here.

For fans of this band, they haven’t lost any of their musical spunk from the 80’s and their new songs are clean, crisp and filled with political and religious intrigue as you may have come to expect. What’s even more exciting is that they’re back to their old style with Dan K. Brown back behind bass as the samples they’ve shared are very reminiscent of their critically acclaimed Phantoms album and it sounds as if we can expect more of the same.

And yes, we know it’s not funk, but these guys are pretty damn hard to ignore. Don’t forget to check out the massive collection of photos we took of the show. Check out the tons of photos here.

The Fixx – 06-03-2012
Virginia Highlands Summerfest 

Intro
Red Skies
Take a Risk (New Song)
Driven Out
Yesterday, Today
Anyone Else (New Song)
How Much Is Enough?
One Thing Leads to Another
The Fool
Just Before Dawn (New Song)
Deeper and Deeper
Woman On a Train
Stand Or Fall
Fatal Shore
Saved By Zero
——-Encore——-
What God? (New Song)
Are We Ourselves?
Secret Seperation