TAG: funk

Jun21

Live Review: Janelle Monae @ Apogee’s Berkeley Street Studio (06.19.10)

Janelle Monae and her tight band were playing for about 150 lucky people in an intimate setting at legendary producer Bob Clearmountain’s Berkeley Street Studio in Santa Monica. It was a KCRW’s invite-only performance, and a part of Morning Becomes Eclectic.

 The mood was already set with free beer and wine when the band entered the stage. Surrounded by Roland keys and Marshall Amps, Janelle and two backup dancers entered stage Illuminati style with hooded cloaks. The beautiful intro of “Suite II Overture” from her major-label debut The ArchAndroid led into the irresistible “Dance Or Die” which is possibly my favorite song of 2010. The energetic “Faster” follows seamlessly and merges with “Locked Inside”. Then they bring it all down, Janelle and guitarist Kellindo Parker share the stage and performs the …

Jun15

Introducing: Bad Rabbits

I took the 30-minute T ride (subway for you non-Bostonians) from downtown Boston out to the outskirt neighborhood of Allston/Brighton, got off at Harvard Avenue, made my way off the main roads, and wove through a few back alleys and a parking lot into a warehouse primed for the set of any Hollywood horror flick. It’s the kind of venue that is every bit as uninviting from the outside as it might sound. However, on this night (like many other nights), it is inevitably packed beyond capacity. 300-plus music lovers are losing their minds for the wildest group in Boston. Who exactly? Bad Rabbits.

May28

Peven Everett – Beyond The Universe (Review)

Peven Everett

Beyond The Universe

Released by Studio Confession/Tribe Records


Chicago’s Peven Everett is an extremely talented songwriter and musician, able to genre jump from R&B, Soul, Funk, Hip Hop and contemporary House. The musical phenomenon writes and performs all of his music, and is fluent in most major instruments. His “new” album titled Beyond The Universe is a Studio Confession production on Tribe Records. This collection of soulful grooves offers spiritual and uplifting bliss, packed with heartfelt vocal performances on love, attraction and inspiration. But it also offers another trend of Peven; recycling tracks. A year ago he ...
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May19

Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid (Review)

Janelle Monae

The ArchAndroid

Released by Bad Boy / Wondaland


I’m supposed to be a writer, yet I’m at a loss for words. I’ll try as best I can to explain what I’ve just experienced. Like most great albums, this one is kind of like a drug-trip. You know you’ve gone to a place unlike any you’ve ever visited before. You were aware of the strange emotions and consciousness expanding effects while you were on the drug, yet when you try to explain it to those who've never tried it, words seem to fail. Then again, maybe my feeble brain ...
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May11

LMNO & Kev Brown – Selective Hearing Part 2 (Review)

LMNO & Kev Brown

Selective Hearing Part 2

Released by Up Above Records


Long Beach native James Kelly and DC-based Kevin Brown have teamed up once again under their pseudonyms LMNO and Kev Brown, respectively, in an appropriate and highly anticipated return to their highly original and collaborative brainchild (and homage to) James Brown. Their original work was unleashed onto the world in 2008’s well-received and inventive Selective Hearing, a soulful serving of stylized beats and eloquent rhymes. With quality cuts like “The Beat Tape” and “The Cause,” James Brown threw down a debut of impressive caliber that established both LMNO and ...
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