Sunday, December 21, 2003
Who is the Velvet Underground of soul music?
Images courtesy: Amazon.com
While I was chillin' at the Unity is Strength dub reggae party (the third Friday of every month at HOLY JOE'S, 651 Queen W. for those who want to know) in the T.dot the other night, I got on the topic of Donny Hathaway with my homegirl Anousheh and made the analogy that he was the Velvet Underground of soul music.
It's often been said of VU that few heard their music but those who did went on to form their own bands. Like this proto art-punk 60's New York act, Hathaway is grossly underappreciated in the mainstream. People frequently name-check Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder as icons of soul music, but Hathaway is often left out even though he's considered hugely influential in his genre by critics and afficianados and an inspiration to many who heard him and went on to become artists themselves.
Are you a music nerd? Take the quiz here and find out.
Damn, these Hollertonix dudes are everywhere now. Looks like they'll be spinning here in Toronto on New Years Eve but I'll be out of here by then. Looks like I just missed my peoples De La Soul by one day too.
Local T.O. alt. news and entertainment weekly Eye savaged the Musiq album with a 1 1/2 star review, unfairly in my opinion. Granted, dude is no D'Angelo but Soulstar is a surprisingly strong listen to my ears. They did love the Kelis album though which, surprisingly, is getting only middling to good feedback from critics and listeners from what I've read so far. To me, Tasty is one of the albums of the year and I'm madder than a muh'f--ker that I left my copy of the CD in NYC at my girlfriend's apartment and can't listen to it. Luckily I'll see her in a couple of days for the holidays and she can bring it with her although I like it enough that I've been considering buying a second copy so I can hear it right now.
Eye's counterpart Now crushes Raekwon's The Lex Diamond Story with a 1 star review. Haven't heard the whole album yet but, based on the stuff I've heard on mixtapes, this seems way off the mark.
Is it me or are magazines like King, Complex and YRB doing a better job at covering urban culture and urban music than "music-focused " books like The Source and Vibe? Also, I've long bought import "style" 'zines like The Face, Trace, Dazed and Confused etc. because they did a better job of covering the newest freshest ish internationally and in the US, especially if you're into stuff on a slightly more progressive or alternative tip. But, with the rise of the aforementioned titles and others like Fader and XLR8R, it's getting to the point where spending $10-11 on import mags to get up on the cool underground stuff is becoming almost irrelevant.
Watch this blog to crib some of the best stuff from this month's issues like King's hilarious "30 Greatest Hustlers of All Time" (#1 on the list? The "Playa President" Bill Clinton.)
Finally, another blog alert: check out Kizhett for coverage and commentary on music, TV, movies sports and more.
