Tampa Calling

VINYL:

311 – Uplifter
Free 7″ w/ purchase at Vinyl Fever (while supplies last)!

Amadou & Mariam – Welcome To Mali (2LP w/bonus CD)
Pressed on 140-gram vinyl.

Beck – One Foot in the Grave 2xLP
Expanded 15th anniversary edition of the 1994 album includes 16 bonus tracks (13 of them previously unreleased).

Ryan Bingham – Roadhouse Sun
Produced by Marc Ford, formerly of The Black Crowes.

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends – On Tour with Eric Clapton

J Dilla - J Stay Paid

Faces - A Nod Is as Good As A Wink… To a Blind Horse

Lee Fields and the Expressions – My World
Lee Fields is a bona-fide, 100%, unadulterated, pure, gut-bucket soul singer. Click for more.

Franz Ferdinand – Blood
Upon completion of Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, the album’s co-producer, Dan Carey, began to conduct a dub experiment with the tracks. Carey’s own experience included an apprenticeship of sorts with legendary South London dub specialist The Mad Professor. And thusly, Blood was born. Comprised of eight radical revisions from Franz Ferdinand’s third album, and a bonus ninth track, “Be Afraid.” Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday, March 19, legendary music/film producer and arranger Quincy Jones spoke for 2-and-a-half hours to a packed house at the Austin Convention Center about the state of the music industry, the future of the music business, his first encounters with Michael Jackson, brain science, nanotechnology and the success he has enjoyed around the globe by being a ”Ghetto Gump,” happening to be in the right place at the right time. He also shared some personal anecdotes from his years in the industry. 

Jones recounted how he discovered Oprah Winfrey, having cast her in The Color Purple, a film adapted from Alice Walker’s novel and directed by Steven Spielberg. Walker was apparently hesitant to have such a young (not to mention Jewish) director at the helm, who until then was best known for the sci-fi/action blockbusters Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Quincy was able to convince her that this was the man for the job. Executives even doubted that they could get Spielberg to commit to Color Purple “before Schindler’s List was made.” Spielberg himself asked Jones, “Don’t you want a black director to make this film?” Jones’ reply: “Did you have to go to Mars to film E.T.?” 

During one especially tender moment, during a screening of Ray Charles performing “My Buddy (Quincy)” at Montreaux, the producer teared up and turned away from the crowd.

On the future of the music business, Jones was at a loss. He cited Napster, iPods and other technology for the decline in sales and said there would never be another multi-million-selling record, stating “I got mine,” and that it’s now up to future generations to figure their way out of the box. Yet, he sympathized with up-and-coming artists that find themselves surrounded by ”an entire generation that does not know people ever paid for music.” At one point, he even said he was “open to any ideas” for solutions to new revenue streams and suggested music could monetize itself through advertising similar to television.  

Jones has put forth a new idea, however. This year, he started a petition and at last count has aquired over 240,000 signatures in an effort to lobby President Obama to create a cabinet-level position entitled Secretary of Culture (or Minister of the Arts) - which most other countries already have – a postion that would be tasked with music education and artists’ rights.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS from Jones’ address in five parts after the jump.

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“What a diff’rence a day makes” – María Méndez Grever

The music portion of SXSW has begun and Austin is infested with indie rockers, scenesters, hipsters and musicians from all over the world. The snarky t-shirts and iPhones of the interactive and film portion have been replaced with leather, tight pants and guitar cases. And they’re everywhere.

Try to imagine if every bar, club and art gallery in Tampa and St. Pete tented their parking lots and had full concert lineups on indoor and outdoor stages for 6 straight days. It’s a lot to take in. Not to mention, the stimulation of the local economy here – from stage and equipment rental to groceries and clothing – is staggering.

These Arms Are Snakes at Red Eye Fly. More photos after the jump.

There are many methods of navigating the music portion of “South by.” You can meticulously plot your path, you can wander from bar to bar (if you have a wristband or a badge) or you can do a combination of both. Modes of transport can include car (shout out to Monica Armendazzle), cab, bus, shuttle, bike (they ought to rent these), rickshaw, horse-and-buggy, and finally your own two feet. 

Ivan is in town now, as well as some folks from Creative Loafing Atlanta, so we’ve been coordinating via text. This has worked to avoid overlap and to catch wind of “secret” parties such as last night’s Playboy Party held in a warehouse on E. 12th in which Jane’s Addiction played a surprise hour-long set. Word on the street is that Metallica will be doing a similar stunt tonight to promote their new Guitar Hero game. We’ll see.

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I have been out of touch for a while. I am neck deep in promoting Mohawk Bomb Records’ new compilation, shooting Soulfound’s farewell documentary and getting married. Alas, I am back with a new post that I have been wanting to do for a while in which I get to flex both my music and movie muscles.

Here are my Top 5 actor’s portrayals of some of music’s most legendary characters. There are dozens of great performances that I have not included that are great portrayals of musicians on film. Many of the best ones are not even about real bands like Almost Famous, The Commitments, That Thing You Do!. The point here is to show how foolish it can be to have a musicians as a role model and how entertaining/inspiring it can be to see what some folks have gone through to become household names. Enjoy.

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