Recently the new stunning remix album “We’re New Here” was released.This album sees Jamie Smith (Jamie xx) from The xx remixing thirteen tracks from the fascinating original “I’m New Here” album sessions by Gil Scott Heron. The above video shows the remix of the ‘NY Is Killing Me’ track.
Read also an earlier posted article about Gil Scott Heron’s ‘NY Is Killing Me’ on the Warmenhoven & Venderbos blog. Sad news is that Gil Scott Heron passed away on May 28, 2011.
The xx are an English indie pop band, formed in London in 2005. The band’s members (Jamie Smith, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim) met while studying at Elliott School, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. In September 2010 they won the Barclaycard Mercury Prize. The xx recorded their debut album, with the title xx, in a small garage that was part of the XL studios, often at night, which contributed to the sleek, whispery nature of the album. The above music video shows their beautiful track called Islands.
The below Podcast contains the song called ‘Intro’ by The xx.
David Bailey is an inspiring, unique and remarkable photographer who shot fascinating fashion and celebrity photos. In 1959 he became a photographic assistant at the John French studio, and in May 1960, he was a photographer for John Cole’s Studio Five before being contracted as a fashion photographer for British Vogue magazine later that year. Along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, he captured and helped create the ‘Swinging London’ of the 1960s: a culture of high fashion and celebrity chic. The three photographers socialised with actors, musicians and royalty, and found themselves elevated to celebrity status. Together, they were the first real celebrity photographers, named by Norman Parkinson as “the Black Trinity”.
Last year a retrospective of his most iconic photographs with the title “Pure sixties. Pure bailey” was on show at Bonhams. Fifty years on from a decade that changed our cultural history, his images celebrate a period of spontaneity and decadence, capturing the glamour and hedonism of the era. Among the famous faces immortalised by Bailey’s lens are Mick Jagger, Michael Caine and the Jean Shrimpton. In the below video interview he had an interesting talk with Sarfraz Manzoor about Picasso, body language and his dread of photographing modern celebrities.
Some of David Bailey’s photo’s are currently on exhibition at the NRW Forum Düsseldorf. This exhibition carries the title Zeitgeist & Glamour and will run until May 15, 2011. Read more about it in this article on the W&V Blog.
Flying Lotus (FlyLo) is an experimental multi-genre music producer and laptop musician from Winnetka, California. His music is a fascinating mix which contains experimental hip hop-, jazz and electronic music elements. The third album made by Flying Lotus was Cosmogramma, it was released in 2010.
Flying Lotus about the album: “I’m really into old jazz traditions and I felt Cosmogramma was my jazz record in a sense. In that spirit, for anyone who’s bought the album, we’ve made something they can use to get new tracks and alternate takes from the original Cosmogramma sessions as a gift from us. We’re making a big fuss…”
The above video shows an already older but still inspiring “Jazzy” session for the BBC show of Gilles Peterson and carries the title INFINITY “Infinitum”. Artist performing during the session where: Flying Lotus, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Thundercat, Ravi Coltrane, Rebekah Raff,Andres Renteria, Gerry Gibbs, Andreya Triana. The video was filmed by Theo Jemison and edited by Strangeloop and is shot at the BBC Maida Vale Studio London.
In the above podcast from BrainFeeder you will hear more work by Flying Lotus in the “A Decade of Flying Lotus” mixed by Gaslamp Killer. Flying Lotus on the Podcast mix: “I felt it was time to let go of some things that have been gathering dust. Some old things, and some new things, I tried to pick out tracks that I know yall haven’t heard yet so there should be surprises around every turn.”
Selah Sue, is an amazingly talented Belgian musician and songwriter with a voice which pierces right through our hearts. In January 2011 she won the award for “Best female solo artist” at the Music Industry awards 2010. Her first album is a fascinating melting pot between electric rock, organic hip-hop and soul-funk. The song “Raggamuffin”, which can be viewed in the above video, is her first single. “This track symbolizes me” she explains. “It shows my soulful and singing side, but also my hard side, between rap and ragga.
