TAG: Gospel

Mar28

Alice Russell – Heartbreaker Part 2(Gospel A capella) Video Drop & Tour Dates (Video)

With a forthcoming album on the horizon, newly announced set of tour dates, and a return to the Tru Thoughts label that introduced her to the world, Alice Russell sent us a treat to keep her in our ears.  (Like, we even needed that.)

Hot of the heels off the Steve Glashier helmed video for Heartbreaker, comes Heartbreaker Part 2, an A Capella joint with a full Gospel Choir video directed by Bertrand Vacarisas, mixing up the sounds of Gospel spirituals and her own powerfully emotive takes on ‘broken relationships.’  Visually pairing the track with the Gospel sound, almost lends a different sort of subtext to the …

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Feb06

James Blake – James Blake (Review)

James Blake

James Blake

Released by Atlas / A&M Records


22 year old classically trained pianist James Blake finally releases his self-titled debut album. Following his critically acclaimed CMYK and Klavierwerke EP's, he stays true to the sound of Klavierwerke where he first displayed his vocal abilities, but except from that obvious similarity, this album takes a leap away from his post-whatever sound. “Purists” might be disappointed, but those with an open mind will now embrace him even more. It’s a compact album, 11 tracks over 38 minutes, that will immediately makes you search for the repeat button. His ...
Mar04

Next Stop… Soweto – Township Sounds From The Golden Age Of Mbaqanga (Review)

Township Sounds From The Golden Age Of Mbaqanga

NEXT STOP... SOWETO



With Next Stop... Soweto, Strut trace some of the amazing music that often only appeared on short run 45s at the time; rare lost gems deftly culled from the '60s + '70s South African "township jive sound." Featuring music recorded primarily for the local market, the album takes the listener far beyond the accepted township jive template into fusions with jazz, gospel, rumba, funk and traditional mining songs. It delves into the golden age of mbaqanga. Jazz had been a fixture in South African music since the ‘50s and jive (or mbaqanga) initially emerged a decade later as a fusion combining elements of rural Zulu music and harmony vocal styles with Western instrumentation. You can hear influences from American R&B and '60s rock and surf, in the same way ska and rocksteady developed in Jamaica. And if you like desert blues from Sahara, you will also like the fusion of mbaqanga.