Music Report

Hello there. You’ve stumbled into the friendly confines of the latest edition of the weekly Music Report.

(Aimee) Duffy is another white British soul singer attempting to emulate Amy Winehouse’s success in much the way her labelmate Adele has. Fortunately, once we are able to see past the mimicry, Duffy has a rich sound and decent looks to offer. Duffy will appear at Jersey City’s All Points West Festival on Friday, August 8th.
http://www.iamduffy.com/
http://www.apwfestival.com/

In album releases, Steinski (Steven Stein)’s essential two-disc career retrospective album entitled What Does It All Mean: 1983-2006 came to the market this past Tuesday courtesy of Girl Talk’s record label Illegal Art. Steinski has been the epitome of underground thanks to the nuisance of copyright law. Steinski is probably best known for his “wildly influential” old school sound collages, and he is arguably one of the first to incorporate off-the-wall samples into his mixes including Looney Tunes material and Groucho Marx bits.
http://www.steinski.com/blog/links_to_my_downloadable_mixes_streaming_radio_shows_and_whatnot/

Also on Tuesday, Dallas’s I Love Math released their sophomore effort Getting to the Point is Beside It. I Love Math isn’t the electronica act their name might suggest. In fact, it’s a side project by members of Apples in Stereo and Old 97s featuring a combination of the pop-rock and alt-country styles of its constituents. Refreshingly, I Love Math return to the basic ingredients of the craft eschewing the overproduction so common today even in the indie scene.
http://www.myspace.com/iloveilovemath

This summer, the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival returns July 10-12. With a $10 “donation” you can partake in KRS-ONE, DJ Premier and Brooklyn’s own Buckshot at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park on Sunday the 12th. Buckshot has been doing the Underground thing since ‘92 with groups Boot Camp Clik and Black Moon but has since earned elevated notoriety via two collaborations with producer 9th Wonder, Chemistry and The Formula, in recent years. And if you missed Kidz in the Hall’s record release show at S.O.B.’s recently, they return as part of the Paid Dues Festival at the Nokia Theater June 4 with Buckshot, GZA, Murs, Blackalicious and others.
http://www.brooklynbodega.com/brooklynhiphopfestival.htm
http://www.myspace.com/buckshot
http://www.guerillaunion.com/paiddues/

On the music video front is Kanye West’s second video for “Flashing Lights” which is rumored to be prequel of the original video. Regardless, it is fairly interesting creatively with an unconventional frame rate and style.
http://therapup.rawkus.com/2008/05/flashing-lights-unreleased-video.html

The New York leg of the JVC Jazz Festival is not far hence thus I will recommend two shows it will bring to town:
• The first is the Mos Def Big Band where we find the MC and actor now also a conductor. Sat Jun 28, 8pm Carnegie Hall.
• The second is Maceo Parker, a funky alto saxophonist who played the house down at Duke University’s Page Auditorium. He’s performing Wed Jun 18, 8pm at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple.
http://www.festivalnetwork.com/events/details.php?ID=4