Band to Watch: Shabazz Palaces Make Heady, Atmospheric Hip-Hop
Jul 26, 2011 Music Avenue Leave a comment | Tags: Palaces, Shabazz Palaces
Shabazz Palaces Image by Leif Podhajsky
Paul Rodgers packs in the hits at Pacific
Jul 26, 2011 Music Avenue Leave a comment | Tags: Paul Rodgers, Rodgers
Time has been kind to Paul Rodgers. While many of his contemporaries have lost most (or all) of their voices, ultimately becoming parodies of their youthful rock-star selves, Rodgers talents and looks have hardly changed since I first caught him fronting the Firm in the mid-80s. I went to that show specifically to catch Jimmy Page, who performed several solos while seated and played terribly – but I came away awed by Rodgers talents as a singer and frontman.
At Pacific Amphitheatre Wednesday night, the 61-year-old Brit, who fronted Free and Bad Company in the 70s as well as a resurrected Queen this past decade, celebrated his long career with a heavy-on-hits 15-song set before an enthusiastic crowd.
Those on hand who love hard-hitting classic rock were in the right place to be sure. H
Promo Review: Donatello – ‘Traffic’ ep (Mirabilis)
Jul 25, 2011 Music Info Leave a comment | Tags: Ep Mirabilis, Mirabilis
Mirabilis Records
Release date: 19th July 2011
Lithuanian DJ & producer Donatello hits us up with a fantastic new release on Mirabilis Records – Donatello ep.
First up – Traffic is a strongly emotive track with gritty, stabbing synths and a bustling bass motif. Layered over this are intensely warped instrumentals and pads which draw you into a landscape of pure sound – Rapidly leading you toward some restless but righteous epiphany.
Like walking in slow motion through peak-time traffic on an insanely hot day, the dust, the sounds, the cars speeding past, the smells all hitting you in one hugely potent sensory explosion – Traffic is one of those thought-provoking progressive movers I will listen to again and again.
Second track on the ep Magic Secrets is another fine example of Donatellos brooding sound. Read full post…
Guard done with levee patrol
Jul 25, 2011 Music Info Leave a comment | Tags: Levee, Levee Patrol
The City of Omaha wanted the levee watchers from the Nebraska National Guard to stay.
Officials had asked Gov. Dave Heineman and his adjutant general to keep Guard members monitoring the city’s 13 miles of levees through August.
That help meant the city could focus its efforts elsewhere and be spared some of the costs of the metro area’s flood fight.
But in a letter from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, the state said it believed the city was capable of monitoring the levees itself and that Guard monitoring would end Sunday.
“We certainly were disappointed,” said Marty Grate of the city’s public works department.
The good news, if any, he said, is that the city’s in a better position to take this on than at the start of the flooding.
That’s because Omaha has moved from construction of flood protection measures to monitoring.
U2 Documentary to Debut at Toronto Film Festival
Jul 24, 2011 Music Avenue Leave a comment
Bono of U2 performs at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Mike Coppola/Getty Images
From the Sky Down, a new documentary about the making of U2s 1991 classic Achtung Baby by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, is set to premiere with a gala screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8th. Guggenheim, the director of An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for Superman, compiled the film from archival footage of the band recording the album at Hansa studio in Berlin and brand new interviews.