Title Image

SISTER FROM ANOTHER PLANET

21 Feb

The Clash @ Bonds, Times Square 1981

One of my favorite "I was there" moments. I was friendly with a short chubby woman who loved rockabilly clothes and boy bands named Louise Byron, who also happened to be a vegetarian caterer (we're talking 1981--rare, even in NYC). The Clash were vegetarians and somehow, Louise got the gig to cater their food backstage. I'd already been helping her with her business, so she hired me help her with this too. I got to see at least 3 of the shows; I remember Grandmaster Flash,...

Continue reading

21 Feb

‘You Can’t Use My Name’: Jimi Hendrix’s Curtis Knight Recordings

'You Can’t Use My Name' features 14 songs the guitar god recorded prior to Jimi Hendrix Experience by Daniel Kreps | Rolling Stone Early recordings of Jimi Hendrix when he was a guitarist in the R&B group Curtis Knight and the Squires will finally be released with the authorization of his estate's Experience Hendrix LLC in a new collection titled You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & The Squires (featuring Jimi Hendrix) The RSVP/PPX Sessions. The 14-track album is due out March 24th. Jimi Hendrix's Last Interview...

Continue reading

18 Feb

The Brother Moves On, My South African Brothers From Another Planet

LISTEN: “Wenu Wetla”(full 16 minutes) from The Golden Wake [MASTERED] by The Brother Moves On. The Golden Wake[MASTERED] by The Brother Moves On (This is a review from the fantastic blog Bold As Love by my music tastemaker-writer-programmer friend Rob Fields. I couldn't do nearly as good a job, so I just made a few updates.) The truth is, this is all Andrea Clarke’s fault. A couple of Saturdays ago, I was listening to Andrea’s show on WBAI, Sister From Another Planet where, for nearly an hour, she...

Continue reading

18 Feb

Pussy Riot Release Eric Garner Protest Song “I Can’t Breathe” w/Nick Zinner & Richard Hell

IT'S ALL POLITICAL, MUSIC, WOMEN

Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina, left, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova at a news conference in Berlin on Feb. 9. (Markus Schreiber/AP) NME Newsdesk Pussy Riot have released their first English language song – a protest song featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner on bass and Richard Hell reading Eric Garner's final words. ...

Continue reading

16 Feb

Deborah Latouche’s Imaginative Styling

ARTS, FASHION/STYLE

For BAMBI: Photograpy Daniel Hermy | Styling Deborah Latouche | Make Up Daniel Hermy using Nars | Hair Stephen Lacey @ Terri Manduca | Model Clara Benjamin @ LA Models Deborah Latouche is a UK stylist who "executes iconic fashion stories with creative vision and ease. Her flare for colour, love of new and established designers and meticulous eye for detail is clearly evident in her work which is always vibrant, exciting and progressive." She illustrates children's books too. ...

Continue reading

15 Feb

‘Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience, 1950s – 1990s’

"High Street Kensington, 1976" | Photograph: The Estate of Al Vandenberg/Victoria and Albert Museum Founded in 1981, the Black Cultural Archives’ mission is to collect, preserve and celebrate the heritage and history of Black people in Britain. They opened the UK’s first dedicated Black heritage centre in Brixton, London in July 2014. Their unparalleled and growing archive collection offers insight into the history of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. The bulk of the collection is drawn from the twentieth century to the present...

Continue reading

15 Feb

Soul on Bikes & Black Chrome | The History of Black Motorcycle Culture

SUBCULTURE/LIFESTYLE

I've always wanted a Harley, since I was a kid. Eyeing one of those Harley Trikes now...

Continue reading

15 Feb

‘Oya: Rise of the Orishas’- Reimagining Orishas as Modern-Day Superheroes

AFROFUTURISTIC, MULTIMEDIA

I've been waiting for this film since the buzz about it years ago. by Tambay A. Obenson Shadow and Act British filmmaker Nosa Igbinedion's "Oya: Rise of the Orishas" is now available to watch in full online. Long-time readers will recall that it's a project we've been following on this blog for about 2 years, since the filmmaker took to crowdfunding to raise money to complete it. A welcomed project that digs into the pantheon of Orishas as inspiration for a superhero-style picture, here's a description...

Continue reading

13 Feb

New South African Superhero Comic “Kwezi” by Artist Loyiso Mkize

AFROFUTURISTIC, ARTS

by Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK [I love that the sister isn't half naked; I'm a fan already.] Check out 'Kwezi', the new comic book series which is getting rave reviews over in South Africa and and now world wide. Created by acclaimed artist Loyiso Mkize, the series is centered on 19 year old Kwezi, a typical South African youngster - immersed in popular youth culture - who develops a connection with his traditional roots,. Mkize says, “It is the journey of a young man. He starts...

Continue reading

13 Feb

Hassan Hajjaj’s ‘My Rock Stars Experimental’ @ The Newark Museum 2/25 – 9/2015

ARTS, MULTIMEDIA

Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars presents a video installation by Moroccan-born, UK-based artist Hassan Hajjaj, along with a related series of photographs, in a salon installation designed expressly for the exhibition. The video, My Rock Stars Experimental, Volume I (2012), recently acquired by the Newark Museum, pays tribute to individuals who—though they may not all be famous—have inspired the artist personally. The video features nine separately filmed performances by an international group of musicians and singers whose influences include hip-hop, jazz, as well...

Continue reading

13 Feb

Blast Off! (I MUST find this book)

by Maria Popova Brain Pickings Visionary Vintage Children’s Book Celebrates Gender Equality, Ethnic Diversity, and Space Exploration “The blackness of space was dotted with stars.” For all their immeasurable delight, children’s books also have a serious cultural responsibility — they capture young minds and plant in them the seeds that blossom into beliefs about what is socially acceptable, what is right and wrong, and what is possible. This weight of possibility is both a blessing and a burden, given the terrible track record children’s books...

Continue reading

12 Feb

London’s Pirate Radio Pioneers

MUSIC, SUBCULTURE/LIFESTYLE

by amfmLondon amfm.org.uk Tracing the history of London's original dance music stations through clips, music and contemporary news reports and interviews. The beginning It seems crazy now, but in 1980 there were just three stations playing popular music in London: Capital Radio, Radio One and BBC Radio London. Even worse, the music licensing agencies restricted them to playing records for 12 hours a day or less. On Sunday evenings Radio One closed down at 7pm and Capital Radio had classical music followed by...

Continue reading

11 Feb

Jah9, Princess of the new wave of conscious reggae has a LOT to say.

by Andrea Sister From Another Planet There are certain artists who aren't really noted for their singing prowess. Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Mos Def, even music icons like Nina Simone, Bob Marley and Fela aren't what you'd call "singers' singers". But they are revered for their delivery, poignancy, prolific and often progressive and political lyrics, moving and inspiring millions of people. Janine Cunningham, known Jah9 is a new(er) artist I believe falls into this category. She started out as a spoken word artist in her native Jamaica, and like many before her evolved to...

Continue reading

10 Feb

‘Songs In The Key Of Life’: A Comic Strip Tribute

THIS. by Keith Knight Cuepoint Magazine Who the heck hits their artistic high 18 albums in? Follow Keith Knight on Twitter @KeefKnight Follow Cuepoint: Twitter | Facebook WRITTEN ON FEB 2 BY Keith Knight Award-winning Gentleman Cartoonist. Currently booking his police brutality cartoon slideshow. Show love: https://www.patreon.com/keefknight ...

Continue reading

10 Feb

‘Dust & Grooves’ Book: The Secret Lives of Vinyl Hoarders

MUSIC, SUBCULTURE/LIFESTYLE

(Someone understands :: sob ::) by April Greene | Cuepoint Magazine Questlove and other obsessive record collectors are chronicled in Eilon Paz’s "Dust & Grooves", a photography and interview project Although I’ve known Dust & Grooves founder Eilon Paz since he moved to New York from Israel in 2008, and have been a follower, fan, and contributor to his documentary project about vinyl record collecting since nearly its beginning, I don’t know everything. I hadn’t known that he only got one of his choice interviews because the 2010...

Continue reading

10 Feb

Black Like Basquiat: Jean-Michel & the Black Kids Downtown

ARTS, SUBCULTURE/LIFESTYLE

(This is an intimate piece written by one of my many prolific and famously unknown friends, Jennifer Jazz, about some of our soon-to-be-very-famous friends. She really captures the spirit of that magic time.) by Jennifer Jazz | AFROPUNK People are always coming and going to Felice’s. There are writers Luc Sante and Darryl Pinckney and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. Felice Rosser is the Woman-in-the-scarf in Jim’s short film Permanent Vacation and obviously the inspiration behind the character Bargatta in Darryl Pinckney’s novel High Cotton. There’s...

Continue reading

10 Feb

Alviniconcha Strummeri: Deep-Sea Snail Named After Joe Strummer

(Courtesy of Anders Waren / Swedish Museum of Natural History) 'Punk rock' snail named for the Clash's Joe Strummer by Deborah Netburn Los Angeles Times Scientists have named a spiky shelled, deep-sea snail after Joe Strummer, the late lead vocalist and guitarist from the famed British punk band the Clash. The researchers say the name highlights the "hardcore" nature of the snail, now known as Alviniconcha strummeri, which lives in one of the hottest, most acidic environments on the planet -- right up against hydrothermal vents in...

Continue reading

10 Feb

The Female Engineer Behind Some of Pop’s Greatest Hits

Emily Lazar: setting the controls for the heart of the sun. Photograph: Becky Yee Standing out as one of the only women in a male-dominated industry, Emily Lazar is the engineer behind the sound of everyone from Björk to the Killers. by Mona Lalwani |The Guardian The walls of The Lodge studio are lined with classic platinum records and music memorabilia. A David Bowie poster hangs next to a guitar signed by Lou Reed and a classic jukebox sits by a vintage eight-track player....

Continue reading

9 Feb

Fela Kuti’s Long-Lost Debut Recording From 1960

Fela Kuti with British jazz great Johnny Dankworth in 1962. Photograph: PR by The Guardian 'Fela's Special', his debut from from 1960 is included in the compilation 'Highlife on the Move'. (I can really hear how Calypso came from Nigerian highlife music). Long before he became the king of Afrobeat, and one of the most inspirational figures in African culture, Fela Ransome-Kuti was already a recording musician. His early recordings were in the highlife style, the first modern popular music of Ghana and Nigeria. Fela’s Special,...

Continue reading

9 Feb

‘My Body Full of Stars’: Afrofuturism Project Explores Black Mythocracy Through Essay & Music

AFROFUTURISTIC, MULTIMEDIA, MUSIC

by Jennifer Sefa-Boakye | OkayAfrica Irish-Nigerian writer and sociologist Emma Dabiri recently reached out to us with a new project she’s been working on about Afrofuturism. The multi-media piece, My Body Full Of Stars, explores the use of Afrofuturist aesthetics in music as a tool for rewriting history and imagining the future. Consisting of an essay by Dabiri and an hour-long mixtape curated by music journalist and producer Ian McQuaid, the project presents a sonic framework that allows for Afrofuturist readings of music from the continent and across...

Continue reading