Just when I write that new soul is not nostalgia comes an album that does as much as possible to prove me wrong. The album is the debut by Ryan Shaw , This Is Ryan Shaw . Shaw is a 26-year-old Georgia native, who, according to his bio, has been singing in church since he was 3. He moved to New York and cut his teeth singing Motown standards at the Motown Café, amongst other gigs. He was discovered by producer Jimmy Bralower (Cyndi Lauper) singing at a club in the East Village. Brolower got him a deal [...]
My first street fair in Brooklyn. It ran up 5th Avenue in Park Slope. A far superior street fair to anything I've been to in Manhattan. It was one of those "it's wonderful to be alive" days. Left: The view from 5th Avenue walking north. Right: The Domincan food was [...]
I love powerful and unabashedly sensual women, so discovering the music of Betty Davis has been a treat. Betty was a pioneer in the 60's and 70's – an untamable musical and cultural spirit who, according to Carlos Santana, "(She) was the first Madonna, but Madonna is more like Marie Osmond compared to Betty Davis. Betty Davis was a real ferocious Black Panther woman. You couldn't tame Betty Davis." In 1968, at the age of 23, Betty Mabry married the then 46-year-old Miles Davis. He was smitten by her youth, beauty and sex appeal, [...]
Nostalgia: A sentimental longing for something in the past (Webster's) There was an item in Jon Pareles' New York Times review of last week's Amy Winehouse show that I haven't been able to get past. He wrote that if Winehouse was a "purely an old-fashioned soul singer, she'd just be a nostalgia act." I couldn't help but think when reading that line, why is someone who draws upon soul "nostalgic," and bands like the Strokes, who draw upon 70's New York punk and proto-punk bands like Richard Hell & The Voidoids, aren't? Why [...]
I think this is what Plato had in mind when he was writing "The Ideal Of The Good." The bass playing itself is profound enough to inspire it's own entry.
The Staple Singers were one of the most luminous acts of the soul era. Anthems like "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There" embodied much of the hope and struggle of the civil rights era. As one of the leading lights of the Staples Singers, Mavis Staples has been one of the mainstays of soul music for over fifty years. Her new album, We Won't Turn Back , is one of the better albums I've heard so far this year; a post-Bush, post-Katrina demand for change. Ry Cooder's production adds a darker [...]
Bobby Womack is one of those great artists who, while well known and loved dearly by soul aficionados, is less known elsewhere. There aren't any streets named after him, and there haven't been any Lifetime Achievement Grammys for him. It's a shame, because for decades, Womack has been one of the great threads running through American music. Starting in Gospel, his family's group the Womack Brothers was discovered by Sam Cooke and signed to Cooke's SAR label in the early 60's. Renamed the Valentinos, they put out some seminar sides of the [...]
This is easily the best thing I've read on the whole Imus/Hip-Hop "controversy." I wish I had written it.
After falling in love with the songs he produced on Amy Winehouse's album, I've been looking forward to Mark Ronson's new album, Version. It doesn't disappoint. Featuring re-arranged covers of songs varying from Coldplay ("God Put A Smile On Your Face) to Britney Spears ("Toxic"), Ronson does a brilliant job of creating a modern soul (while still infused with hip-hop) context for the songs, providing a sleek and sexy urban vibe while remaining substantive in feel. This is dance music that you can sink your teeth into. Ronson's real skill is making these [...]
It's dark, rainy and gloomy. I've got a ton of work to do today - and dear readers, I've got nothing to say. So rather than just pontificate about any old thing that I can drum up, here's some music that's fitting the day, and my mood. Download: Lou Reed - "Perfect Day" (acoustic demo for Transformer ) Download: The Beatles - "Revolution" (acoustic demo for The Beatles ) Download: Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road" (acoustic demo for [...]
A Deeper Shade Of Soul
Avicii – Two Million
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
H&M Lookbook Mujer y Hombre Otoño 2012.
Amanda Mair
