It was fated that one day they’d collaborate. Audioslave (and former Rage Against the Machine) guitarist Tom Morello and Boots Riley, rapper for the Coup, are two of the most stridently radical musicians to ever plug in. Get ’em together and you get Street Sweeper Social Club, 11 songs and nearly 40 minutes of unremitting agitprop set to thunder beats and monster guitar riffs.
Every song rails against something: bosses, politicians, capitalism, materialism, the System. Virtually every song advocates the violent overthrow of oppressive forces, the gathering of guns, the whole ain’t-taking-shit-NO-more thing.
Unless you’re planning to cause trouble at the next G8 summit, this kind of rhetorical and musical onslaught can wear your ass out. But give Morello and Riley big ups for commitment — and big up Stanton Moore for providing the crushing funk-rock grooves.
Rap-metal is a worn-out subgenre, and to some extent the Morello/Riley team (along with drummer Stanton Moore) sags under the weight of stylistic orthodoxies. There are only so many new ways to approach a heavy guitar riff, only so many variations on funk-rock beats. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Eric Snider on May. 19, 2009, at 4:23 pm
He was the bespectacled white kid from the suburbs trying to sit in with musical legends in New Orleans. But instead of getting the cold shoulder, drummer Stanton Moore was welcomed on the bandstand by any number of prominent players. And the crowd dug him, too.
Stanton Moore Trio, Thurs., May 28, 8 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City. $10.
“To tell you the truth, when I was coming up and they’d let me sit in, the regulars at the bar would be, ‘Listen to the white kid,’” Moore says by cell phone on his way to a recording session in the Crescent City. “They’d be dancing and egging me on. They were real supportive.”
It probably wouldn’t have gone quite so well if young Stanton had sucked. But from an early age, he committed to learning the distinctive, tricky and at times peculiar nuances of the New Orleans drumming style. (See his video demonstrations at the bottom of this post.)
“I had a great guy who taught me the basic rudiments,” Moore says. “But it was a real challenge to go from that to learning from [storied NOLA drummer Johnny Vidacovich] to loosen up. But I was determined. I really worked on how to loosen it up and apply it to my drum set.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 18, 2009, at 2:55 pm
Dozens and dozens of acts will make it onto Tampa Bay area concert stages this summer. Here’s our best bets, in a wide range of genres.
Stanton Moore The bespectacled founder of NOLA funk purveyors Galactic is widely regarded as one of the best drummers currently drawing air. This show has him in a trio setting with estimable guitarist Will Bernard and keyboardist Robert Walter. The small ensemble allows room for Moore to strut his Crescent City-honed skills. Expect expansive jamming and finely honed interplay. (Video: Stanton Moore Trio performing at Emerald Lounge in Asheville, N.C., Sept. 10, 2008.) (May 28, Crowbar, Ybor City)—Eric Snider
Sunday, May 31 WMNF Jazz Jam feat. Sam Rivers/PBS/World Afro-Cuban Ensemble/Infinite Groove Orchestra/Impromptu/Trio Vibe/others TBA Tampa Bay’s community radio station has been putting together more jazz events of late — thank you for that — this being one of the more ambitious. Saxophonist Sam Rivers, 83, was once a front-rank player on the New York (and thus international) avant-garde scene. He’s settled into legendhood well, living in Orlando and taking gigs as he pleases. A potpourri of locally-based acts rounds out the bill. (May 31, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —ESRead the rest of this entry »
