Dance Gets Nice Again: Lord Tippatone Hifi with Selector Jah Wise in Brooklyn 11/20/09

Nov 27, 2009 Features, Reviews

Words and Photos by Quoc Pham

As I am writing this post over thanksgiving, I realize that we should be thankful for all the artists, musicians and individuals who helped shape our musical culture and affected many of us in a personal way. With the passing of Alton Ellis and Michael Jackson just to name a few, this year has been especially tough  and it reminds us why we should appreciate those who remain as living legacies of musical eras which must not be forgotten. Last Friday, I was fortunate to attend a dancehall party in Brooklyn called “Dance Gets Nice Again”.  The dance featured legendary selector Jah Wise from Tippatone Hifi, one of the most important sound system of the early reggae era. Held in a small venue called the Culture Barn – essentially someone’s garage – the party had an intimate feel with an eclectic audience of old timers alongside hip kids vibing to the sound of pure foundation reggae music.

The late 60’s were undoubtedly one of the most prolific period in modern Jamaican history. The blooming of the local recording industry and a string of international successes in the charts set the stage for Reggae to become a bonafide world class music. During this transition period, sound systems were naturally at the center of the action. As the dominance of the previous decade’s two giants – Coxsone’s Downbeat and Duke Reid’s Trojan – started to fade, a new generation of sound systems arose and  competed fiercely for the island’s sonic supremacy. Among these, Lord Tippatone Hifi emerged as one of the top two sounds, rivaled only by King Tubby’s Hometown Hifi. With Jah Wise at the control and Big Youth on the mic, Tippatone ruled the dances from its home turf of  Spanish Town to the island’s countryside where the sound would regularly travel.

Well into his fifties and with a deep musical knowledge that emanates from his enigmatic personna, Jah wise is the quintessential sound system man.  His record collection is legendary and he allegedly owns the world’s two most exclusive specials:  Bob Marley’s only known recorded dubplates in praise to  a sound system. Jah Wise first joined the Tippatone crew as the “boxboy” – the kid transporting speakers and equipment – before quickly becoming the sound’s top selector and eventually its ambassador. Besides his musical career, Jah Wise is also a renowned artist whose artwork  can be seen gracing many landmarks including the facade of  Lee Perry’s infamous Black Ark studio. He also appears painting Horsemouth’s motorbike in the 1978 feature film “Rockers”.

That night,  I had the opportunity to meet an individual  who has had a profound influence on an entire musical culture.  It was a humbling experience and this is what I’m thankful for this year.

If you recently had a similar experience worth to be thankful for, please share in the comment section.

Tags: Brookyln, Dancehall, Events, Quoc Pham, Reggae, Sound system, Tipppatone

Beaterator: Rise of the Machines

Nov 20, 2009 News

It’s no news that technology has taken over many aspects of our lives. For the past week, I have been literally slave to a little device called “droid” which I compulsively check every ten seconds for a meaningful update to my virtual life.  I realize that we can now do a lot of things without the hassle and inconvenience of real human interactions. One of this things is making music and it’s behind the latest craze in music related video games such a Rock Band and DJ Hero.

Rockstar Games, the company behind the widely successful Grand Theft Auto franchise teamed up with Timbaland to create Beaterator, a mobile studio/beatmaker game geared toward music enthusiasts, aspiring producers and bedroom DJs.  Since they needed some music creds, Rockstar hired the ultimate music cred authority a.k.a Waxpoetics  to produce a series of short promo videos which resulted is this slick clip of Chico Mann using the game on a PSP. Coincidentally, the footage at the end of the video was taken during last saturday’s SLF Co sponsored Booty Crisis event.

With Droids and Beaterators infiltrating us,  it is now clear that the future of the human race is compromised.  We better start organizing the resistance…

If you’re not familiar with Chico’s infectious blend of electro afrobeat, I highly recommend checking out  his debut EP Manifest Tone vol.1 on kindred spirit records.

Tags: Afrobeat, Beaterator, Chico Mann, Video Games, Waxpoetics

Interview with Planet Rump at Booty Crisis, 11/14/09 – Brooklyn

Nov 19, 2009 Interview, Reviews

Interview and words by Linh Truong, Photos by Quoc Pham

Before the co-sponsored Sound Liberation Front event Booty Crisis at Public Assembly last Saturday, I got a chance to talk backstage with Planet Rump – the monthly party’s founders and resident booty shaker – about the Casio, breaking boxes (the metaphorical kind), and just getting down with your funky ass self.

SLF: How did Planet Rump come about?

Nasty Ness: We landed here on Earth.
Miss Strawberry: Crashed our spaceship.
DJ Tantric: It was an accident.
M: We’re from the Planet Rump, and we were going on a funky space odyssey, and then we ended up here. We were, like, what are we gonna do, we really gotta get back to Rump – it’s like the funkiest planet in the universe.
D: Then we saw there was a need for us.
M: We saw a lot of funky people, a lot more lame people, so we decided to bring the funk of the universe, channel it through our bodies…
N: Earth isn’t ready.
D: And it’s not about materialism, it’s not about something you need to have to bring the funk. It’s about harnessing the funk within you. You could be wearing some Tevas, you could be wearing some Keds, you could be wearing some Fruit of the Loom. It doesn’t matter because anyone can get funky with anything you want, and that’s how our music works.

SLF: Why Brooklyn?

N: Because this is where the trends begin.
M: And Brooklyn needs it the most. We got a lot of shoegazers here, a lot of too-cool-for-schoolers.
N: A lot of conformists.
D: A lot of people who just want to buy something to make them cool, but they don’t want to be cool on the inside.
M: But we know that this is the media platform of the world, and we just want to be at the center of it all. Get the message out there that love, peace, and funk are the only things you need.

SLF: Why use the Casio as your main instrument?

D: The Casio embodies pretty much the principle of you don’t need anything to be funky.
N: Keep it simple.
D: We play little baby toys from thirty years ago, and we can blow people’s minds away harder than someone with the most updated products of blah, blah, blah production. I mean, you don’t need to buy something to be funky.
N: You can be yourself.
D: And we’ve done a lot with those little toys.
M: That shit BOOMS!
(laughter)
D: And we work with some sound generation tools that don’t actually play notes. Like, we don’t even need notes. We don’t even need a scale or melody or whatever. Yeah, we do that a little bit, but creating bass tones generated out of some sort of nonsense…we’re playing in between the notes, and the sounds are cool. That’s what works with us.

SLF: How do you get the ideas behind your songs? What’s the creative process?

N: We take our real-life experiences from going out and being ourselves every day and just enjoying life. We take real-life scenarios, and we make it something tangible.
D: We don’t really stick to any genre or anything. We’re just playing music. And we can embody anything about anything by just playing music. You don’t have to pigeonhole yourself into a certain box. We try to play across all boundaries, and some of our songs embody a lot of different elements of other types of music.
N: Like, why be negative? Why not just make something positive out of everything? Just put it on display and build your self-esteem.

SLF: Is that the whole idea behind Booty Crisis?

N: Hell yeah!
M: Definitely.
D: Booty Crisis is, like, the boundless booty party where you can have anything, and we’re sort of exposing people to things that they were sleepin’ on. Whether it’s Chico Mann or Hiro Tha Jap or DJ A-Ko from upstate New York. There’s a bunch of people out there right now dancing to a DJ from upstate New York, and they don’t know it.

Tayisha Busay

SLF: What’s the process of choosing the acts in the lineup?

N: If we don’t like them, then they don’t play.
D: It’s group knowledge, but we’re all specialists in different ways. So, we get to combine our strengths – sort of like a big net – and bring in people. If we can agree on it, see what the benefit is, and how we can draw people together with our own scene, then that’s what we do.
N: And that’s the most important thing.
M: It’s gotta be fun. It’s gotta be positive. It’s gotta be boomin’. It’s gotta be danceable. Electronic is what’s hot right now, and we love that.
D: Enough with the diva entitlement thing. We just bring people who wanna bring the funk.
N: If I can’t rock out to it, then I’m not gonna book ‘em. That’s it.

SLF: What’s the act tonight that you’re the most excited for?

Planet Rump: (in unison) All of them!
M: They’re all amazing.
N: I’ve been to all of their parties, and they all blew my mind.
D: And if we’re lucky, they’re all gonna be friends at the end of the night. We got Latin- Cuban-Afrobeat music. We got Japanese dance music. We got Israeli, Brooklyn-based dance music. We got us. And everyone’s gonna love each other.

Chico Mann

SLF: So, it’s gonna be one big group hug afterwards?

N: Of course, it’s already one big group hug. Everyone here is a friend. There are no enemies here. It’s all love.

SLF: What are your plans for Planet Rump in the future?

N: Planet Rump is more than just a group – we’re an entity.
D: It’s a movement. So, we’re booking acts and getting momentum with that. We’re cutting an album right now. One of our guests Chico Mann is a good sounding board because he doesn’t live in anyone’s world or anyone’s box. He’s a good person to talk about a lot of things like that. We’re gonna keep moving in a different direction. Use some different elements of different music, and see where it takes us.
N: As long as we keep having fun.
D: Nothing less than sexy.
N: If we’re not having fun, how could anyone watching us be having fun?

Tags: Afrobeat, Booty Crisis, brooklyn, Chico Mann, Concert Review, Interview, Linh Truong, Planet Rump, Public Assembly, Quoc Pham, Williamsburg

SLF’s DJ Lil Tiger with DRM and Meta and the Cornerstones @ Dubwise Session 24, SAT 11/21 in Brooklyn

Nov 18, 2009 News

For the reggae lovers among us, Sound Liberation Front’s DJ Lil Tiger will be throwing down vintage dub and reggae at Bastard Jazz’s acclaimed Dubwise Sessions this weekend in Brooklyn:

[[ DUBWISE SESSIONS 24 ]]

SATURDAY | 21 NOV 2009

@ Studio BPM
237 Kent Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
between Grand and N. 1st

More info at buhbomp.com or on the facebook invite page:

The night will feature a performance by Senegalese afro-fusion reggae artist Meta and the Cornerstones, and tunes selected by DRM and DJ Lil Tiger:

When you first meet Meta, of Meta and the Cornerstones, he emits pure musical talent and a humble spirit in his 6.3ft slim frame. Then, when you meet the band members of the Cornerstones you realize that you are in the presence of a group that is about to change the dynamic of Reggae music forever.

Born in Senegal, West Africa, Meta Dia grew a deep love and true appreciation for all types of music. As a child, while listening to his mother play Gregory Isaacs and Bob Marley on the radio his appreciation for Reggae music was founded and the desire to be a musician. In Dakar, Senegal, Meta is known as a pioneer for the voice and culture of Hip Hop. He began performing on the streets and stages of Dakar at the age of 14. In the year 2000, Meta formed his first group, YALLA SUUREN (God Bless) and gained celebrity recognition by the media. YALLA SUUREN was nominated as the BEST HIP HOP/REGGAE group by the French Cultural Center in 2000.

Moving to the USA in 2002, he began to collaborate with artists such as Sean Blackman, hip hop pioneer Toni Blackman and many others. He formed the band Meta and the Cornerstones with some of the best musicians in New York City: Adrian Djoman(bass); Shahar Mintz (solo guitar); Ayo Kato (Keyboards) and Chris Eddleton (Drums), Daniel Serrato (Guitar) who brought their musical influences of the Caribbean, Africa, America, Asia and Middle East into the mix.

Meta’s powerful writing skills, his phenomenal singing voice takes you back to the roots of Reggae music as he infuses his songs with hip hop, rock, soul and African influences performing in English, French, Wolof and Fulani. Meta and the Cornerstones have gained great respect and recognition in the USA and internationally. In 2006 he made a roaring statement when he performed alongside Steel Pulse & Luciano at the 2006 Annual Reggae Salute. In 2007 he was personally invited by International Superstar and Senegalese born artist Youssou N’Dour, to perform at his Annual ‘African Ball’ concert at the Nokia Theater, NYC.

The afro-fusion reggae of The Cornerstones and Meta’s soulful, soaring voice creates a soul-pounding spiritual experience for the audience. Meta is creating something bigger than music, transcending oceans, borders, and languages. The power of what he is contributing is unifying and humbling. Meta and The Cornerstones have something big to offer whoever is listening.

Here’s some live footage of Meta in action:

Tags: Bastard Jazz, buhbOmp, Dancehall, DJ Lil Tiger, DRM, Dub, Meta and the Cornerstones, Reggae, Studio BPM

Chico Mann @ Public Assembly, 11/14 – RSVP now!

Nov 8, 2009 News

In collaboration with our friends Planet Rump and DJ Afro-Marc Productions, Sound Liberation Front is proud to bring you this month’s Booty Crisis on November 14th at Public Assembly. This is a monthly dance party thrown by Planet Rump, and it showcases some of the hottest and freshest electro-funk acts around – guaranteed to move your body into a pleasure-inducing dance seizure that may take days to recover from.

Headlining the night is the electro-Latin-Afrobeat act Chico Mann (http://www.myspace.com/chicomann) dropping funky synth beats and vocals, paying equal homage to vintage 70s and 80s electro-freestyle and Fela Kuti at the same time. Always a crowd pleaser, Planet Rump (http://www.myspace.com/planetrump) will be bringing their Casio-loving, electro-funk hip hop act to the masses, and Tayisha Busay (http://www.myspace.com/tayishabusay) will keep the party alive with ass-shakin’ girls on synths, drum machines, and vocals. Rounding off the lineup are Hiro Tha Jap (http://www.myspace.com/hirothajap) and DJ A-ko (http://www.myspace.com/akoisyourfriend), two DJs spinning dance grooves that will keep you moving all night long.

As if this dance party could get any better, there will be a special National Breakin’ League (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/nblinfo) showcase, so you can check out their B-boy magic in all its glory on the dancefloor.

RSVP for the event by emailing info@soundliberation.org, and you get in at a reduced price of $7.

Saturday, November 14th
10pm
$10

Public Assembly
front room
70 N. 6th St. (between Kent and Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(718) 384-4586
L to Bedford
http://publicassemblynyc.com/events/view/1195

Videos:
Chico Mann **BRAND NEW VIDEO**: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0C8kZ9MeaY
Planet Rump: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0NNXLmVrk8&feature=related
Tayisha Busay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzPImWVQbS4
Hiro the Jap: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&contributorid=12209217
National Breakin’ League: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLNbnCeb2No&feature=related