Hollie Smith Amplified.

My review of Hollie Smith’s sophomore album, “Humour and the misfortune of others”, went up on Amplifier today – which also happens to be the best place to find your digital copy.  Read here.

Comatose Karma

Some relatively large life decisions have wrapped me up in a constricting cocoon of stress and uncertainty today.  The Massive Attack concert was a much-needed musical release that immediately chiseled through that cocoon,  blowing it away in a powerful sonic storm.  It was also a jolting and well-timed reminder of exactly how much I need regular music events to keep me balanced. (Concert photo’s here).  (more…)

Weekly Wrap: True silence is impossible.

Massive Attack continue their series of Heligoland short films – the latest is for “Saturday come slow” featuring Damon Albarn on vocals. Directed by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin who transform the song into a beautiful but horrific piece that explains high-volume interrogation tactics used on a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Ruhal Ahmed.  View here, and visit zerodb.org for information on music against torture. ¶ “Incense and Poetry” 60-minute deep house mix from Osunlade available here.  He will be playing at Development’s 4th birthday party in Manchester at the end of March, who have an exclusive interview and deep soul mix available. ¶ David Alvarado’s special blend on “One:2010″ keeps it deep and techy with the right amount of soul. Solid house music. Listen on SoundCloud or download/subscribe to his podcast. ¶ Anti-folk singer Jeffrey Lewis performed at Tabac last night (March 20), much to Bob Daktari’s excitement.  Photo’s here.  ¶

Last but not least, congratulations to Hollie Smith whose sophomore album, “Humour and the Misfortune of others”, shot to number 1 on iTunes shortly after it’s release on Monday 15th March, 2010.   A truly useless piece of writing came from Simon Sweetman – a blogger on NZ news site stuff.co.nz.  Despite having the album over 1 week before it’s release, he listened to it once before lazily putting together a post that: (1) over half of it was a re-post of old information pertaining to Hollie Smith’s first album, (2) using those criticisms as a leaning post to degrade the new album, and (3) couldn’t even deliver a decent title for the post.  I openly criticized his lazy efforts, to which he replied and hid behind the excuse that it was “a blog, not an article”.  While that’s true, it’s a blog that is on a professional news publication and should therefore have much higher writing quality.  I would have no problem if there was some decent writing there, but all of his work appears to be full of weak put-downs and questions posed to readers in a way that sounds like he doesn’t have the ability to make up his own solid opinions.  I’d be embarrassed to have his work appear on such as site.

Mu Mu Land (on your iPhone).

Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, The KLF.  This article from Details magazine in 1991 is a great read on what these guys did (including their history with ABBA).  Their infamous “1987″ album – which came under fire due to the heavy amount of uncleared samples used – has been re-released by Japanese label Re<ords as an iPhone app.  Play it, scratch it, and flip your iPhone to turn the record over.  More info at Sandbox.

Shoe Date #3.

Shoe date number three with Bob Daktari, and unlike shoe date number 2, we actually came away with shoes this time.  We both got a pair Stan Smith editions, and I also picked up some Darth Vader hi-tops.  Bob collected the X-Wing Sambas.  Photo’s below. (more…)

The moody view.

In an event that few ever thought would happen, Kenny Dixon Jr better known as Moodymann participated in an 90 minute interview at the 2010 Red Bull Music Academy.  Interviewed by Benji B from Radio 1 and accompanied by a friend who styles his afro while he lays down his own well-known no-holds-barred perspective on music.

View here or at the RBMA site. (more…)

Photo lesson three.

Depth of Field: The area in front of and behind a focused subject in which the photographed image appears sharp.  Photo lesson 3 on March 1st went through some of the details on the ways to use DOF to enhance photos – either by ensuring all objects are clear, or focusing the clarity on one specific area while using the rest of the photo as atmosphere.
With that, I head into Ponsonby to play.

(more…)

The return of Hollie Smith.

It’s incredibly tragic what record labels have turned into these days.  Unable to keep up with the massive change in consumer habits for acquiring music via the internet, the last 15 years have turned multi-billion companies into hypersensitive budget-conscious messes where there appears to be no room for any shred of artist integrity.  Sell, and sell by the millions – or major labels don’t want you.

Hollie Smith’s “Long Player” seemed like a perfect fit for the legendary Blue Note offshoot Manhattan recordings.  It was a jazz-infused, bluesy piece of work marinated in Smith’s soulful and husky tones, but once again, it appears the mighty dollar and mass-appeal suits got in the way.  Read more details at Peter’s excellent Dub dot dash or a full interview here (NZ Herald).  Thanks to Bob Daktari for the link.

The video for Hollie’s new single, “Mamma”, can be viewed at MoFresh, and her sophomore album “Humour and the misfortune of others” is released on March 15, 2010.