Roots Rising
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-nyyQrmiQ0 336 278] The Roots – Rising Up (feat. Wale & Chrisette Michele) (Video) It’s been a long time since I’ve exclaimed “that’s my JAM” but after hearing this record I did not walk, I ran to get my hands…
Darkness and Born to Run at the Count Basie Theater
Photo from Yahoo (AP) When I first checked out the set list and Backstreets review of last night’s Boss show to benefit the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, I had to do a double take to make…
Idle Idol Thoughts
Okay, let’s pretend I watched American Idol, and I need to chime in… Did anyone else besides me experience such a high level of unadulterated, pure joy while watching Jason Castro forget the lines to “Mr. Tamborine Man“? Oh, such…
Listen Up: American Babies
Seems like 4 out of every 5 new bands I discover these days are from Brooklyn, NY. Here’s another one: Tom Hamilton’s American Babies. This tune caught my ear recently, I think on Sirius. Influences range from Ryan Adams to…
Hot Stuff: Santogold
A few months ago I caught some buzz on Santogold as someone to check out. At the time, her record wasn’t out, and I simply forgot about it. This week I found a slip of paper (amongst many) on my…
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: May 2, 2008
For most people, Friday’s just the day before the weekend. But after this Friday, the neighborhood’ll never be the same. It was back to the daily grind this week (day job, well, during the day and Mr. Home-Improvement-Man in the…
The Art of Zen
Gavin Rossdale has no delusions about the risk of going it alone after being the frontman of alt-rockers Bush. “There’s such a minefield of people who have gone from bands that had success to the solo thing,” says Rossdale. “There’s…
Transforming Hip-Hop: Flobots
It’s been awhile since a tune I heard on the radio made me sit up and pay attention but that’s exactly what happened the first time I heard “Handlebars” by the Hip-Hop collective Flobots. Socially conscious and politically charged and…
