27 October: Armed to the Teeth

New Swollen Members album comes out this week.

Warrior - Swollen Members

New swollen members video

Swollen Members - Warrior (Feat. Tre Nyce & Young Kazh)

Madchild

Back in Australia and getting excited about the new Swollen Members album coming out in October.

Video of Madchild talking about his drug addiction.

M.I.A. goes huge at the Grammys

U2 was upstaged by one of the most unusual spectacles in the history of the awards, as M.I.A., the outspoken Sri Lankan-British rapper, performed while nine months pregnant — indeed, she had been due to give birth on Sunday. She joined the rap dream team of Jay-Z, T. I., Kanye West and Lil Wayne, whose song “Swagga Like Us” samples M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” which itself had been up for record of the year.

Gyrating across the stage in a sheer black costume with her protruding belly wrapped in black and white polka dots, she shared the stage with four of the most popular rappers in music, although most eyes in the arena were surely on her for much of the performance.

New Lily Allen

Looking forward to picking up the new Lily Allen album, It’s Not Me, It’s You - she is so good at being a pop star that I really want to like it.


Great article in today's NYT. She really gives great interview:

At the restaurant Ms. Allen rejected the maitre’d’s offer of a discreet corner table; we were seated in the middle of the room, facing the door. She walked in as if she would turn a few heads, and she did.

Dinner was lavish and fun. Ms. Allen is the right kind of girl to drink wine and talk about boys with. There is, especially in her case, a lot to say. “I don’t really go for hot guys,” she said. “I go for old men, as you may have noticed.” In the car on the way over, she’d devoured a Look magazine her driver bought because she was on the cover. “Agony over married lover!” read the headline, detailing her latest holiday fling, with Jay Jopling, 45, a recently separated gallery owner and buddy of her father’s. (Yes, she acknowledged, she has some daddy issues.) Does she mind that her relationships are so gossiped about?

“It’s ironic because I’m not very good at them,” she said. “I’m good at having sex.”

She had more to say, but nothing that could be printed here. This is the kind of irresistible frankness that has gotten her, time and again, in trouble. But as she grows up and builds her creative niche, Ms. Allen seems unlikely to manage being buttoned up. (At the end of the meal she went over to greet Lucian Freud, the 86-year-old artist, sitting nearby. What did he say? “He said he wants to. ...” Ah, unprintable.)

Elements Tour - Swollen Members, Z-Trip and more

Went to the Elements Tour at The Forum last night with M and W. The best night out I've had in a long time.

Jungle Brothers
Mike Gee - who's looking a little older than he did in 1989 - still has what it takes, although most of his material was unfamiliar to me. A small crowd at this point (he was first up) - so there was little atmosphere - but he demonstrated his skills and a great big smile.

Swollen Members
These guys were who I was there to see. They have a huge live reputation and I was far from let down. In fact it was one of the best performances I've ever seen. And they gave the impression they could (and may well) do it every day of the week. Prevail in particular had incredible energy and just so clearly loved being on stage and performing. The crowd were incredibly enthusiastic and there was great interaction between the band and the crowd. Prevail possibly spent more time surfing the crowd than he did on stage. Madchild was perhaps a little muffled and low-energy: he may well have been partying too hard on the tour.

The performance was absolutely jaw-dropping. The crowd was singing/rapping along to every song - and every track they played was good - and the energy had to be felt to be believed.

Some [horrible phone camera] photos.

Z-Trip
An incredibly skilled DJ, master of the mash-up... I can't say much that hasn't previously been said. Except perhaps that the heavy reliance on mixing in hard rock and heavy metal tracks left me cold - I could appreciate the skills, but given that I hate hard rock I still couldn't feel it. Some great moments - in fact, most of the stuff that wasn't heavy rock mixes was great. And Soup from Jurassic 5 was criminally under-used... did he have an easy tour or what?

Interesting lyrical mashup

Jerusalem, if I forget you,
fire not gonna come from me tongue.
Jerusalem, if I forget you,
let my right hand forget what it's supposed to do.

They tried to make me go to rehab but i said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when i come back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but i won't go go go

Joseph descended sold as a slave,
thrown into a dungeon cause he wouldn't be swayed
Interpreted pharaoh's dreams and Egypt was saved
stock piled food for seven years of rain
then sold to all the nations when the drought came
Joseph rose to power and the yiddin stayed

They started to build and success was made
Pharos getting worried let's make them pay bound in chains
First born was sent down to their graves
Moshe was saved and a prince he was raised
Hashem spoke to him hears a message to relay
Take my Nation from Mitzrayim (Egypt) I see the suffering
Hard hearts ego breaks take sparks and make way

Sweet reunion, jamaica and spain
Were like how we were again
I'm in the tub you're on the seat
Lick your lips as I soak my feet

Then you notice lickle carpet burn
My stomach drops and my guts churn
You shrug and it's the worst
To truly stuck the knife in first

I cheated myself like I knew I would
I told ya I was trouble, you know that I'm no good
I cheated myself, like I knew I would
I told ya I was troubled, yeah ya know that I'm no good

Amy Winehouse

I must be having a jewish recording artist phase. Following on from Matisyahu, I've decided Amy Winehouse is very listenable. Particularly Rehab.

Matisyahu

My next obsession, I think, will be Matisyahu - the orthodox/lubavitch hiphop/reggae artist and nominee at the 2007 grammy awards. I must be jumping on the bandwagon pretty late, because there's a fully-formed wikipedia page.

I'm not as yet fully convinced by the Message in a Bottle cover, but Jerusalem rocks.

See official website here.