Blog: Bananaspam!

Newly reactivated label Strut, a British imprint famous for its Disco Not Disco compilations amongst other tasty disco comps, has recently released "Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980–1986." Out of commission since 2003, the German label and distributor, !K7 has breathed new life into it as a new partner in 2008. Compass Point was a studio built by legendary Island Records owner Chris Blackwell. He founded the independent Island imprint in the late 50s and moved it to the UK in the early sixties after realizing the huge business possibilities in selling Jamaican music to the immigrant [...]

The amazing and under appreciated German duo of Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius aka Cluster paid a visit to Northern California over the weekend. They are continuing to peddle the minimalist space dusted lullabies that originally laid the foundation for space rock and electronic hybrids from the early 70's to a continued relevance with old fans and new audiences alike. They have been frequent collaborators with Brian Eno, Conny Plank and Neu!/Kraftwerk alumnus, Michael Rother. San Francisco was the conclusion of a 3 day stint of Northern California shows, which started [...]

Tuff Love by Royce slipped by a lot of people when it was released in the summer of 2006. The album is on the Galapagos 4 label and the Chicago outfit is remarkable for the subtlety it displays in fusing disparate elements from that city's rich musical heritage, with soul, indie rock, IDM, hip-hop, funk and house touches rolling around each other fluidly throughout. However, the beauty is that this fusion feels effortless. It seems to translate the worlds that separate Can from the Shins and Tribe from the Sea and Cake. Tuff Love [...]

M.I.A. stopped off in San Francisco on May 21st, as part of her 2008 US tour, playing to a packed house at the Concourse at SF Design Center, a 3,500 person capacity venue that was sold out and brimming with enthusiastic fans. Opening for her were local hip-hop party animals Hottub, and M.I.A.'s dj, Hollertronix deck technician Low B. Hottub, took the stage first, and knocked out a solid thirty minute set of feel (really) good hip-hop party jams. 808 bass hits emanated from a stage occupied by the finessed (we might be missing an "a" but the [...]