Michael Leonhart and the Avramina 7 – Seahorse & The Storyteller
Talk about a mouthful of a name. It’s a daunting title but you know what? Seahorse & The Storyteller shows some very highbrow, expertly crafted psychedelic funk from a behind the scenes industry veteran who obviously doesn’t give a crap about marketing, positioning or placement. Give this guy a listen and you’ll shake your head in shame at RJD2 who failed miserably at creating this kind of psychedelic R&B sound on The 3rd Hand album. On the other hand, (yes, it’s a pun), it’s possible that Michael may have even jacked the sound from poor old RJ just to show him up?
Well, probably not, since Michael Leonhart is not an upstart by any means. He’s an extremely accomplished jazzman who’s orchestrated works with shot callers like Busta Rhymes, D.J. Spooky, David Byrne, Henry Mancini, James Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Levon Helm, Mark Ronson, Mos Def, Natalie Merchant, Q-Tip, Raekwon, Yoko Ono, and oh so many more.
Although it’s still early in the year, I feel this album may become the most overlooked album of 2010. Do ears a favour and uncover this funky gem of a disc that heavily draws influence from artists like R.D Burman, The Beatles, Fela Kuti, and 60’s psychedelia. It’s out on Truth & Soul Records, also the home of El Michel’s Affair (whom have performed as the Wu’s backup string band), and The Phenomenal Handclap Band.
How To Make It!
The hottest show on tv right now is How To Make It In America. It pretty much sums up the life I would be living while I was working with Formatmag had I been actually living in NYC and not posing as Brooklynite from my Kensington Market home. However, for all you Estonian readers out there who may not know (and I know you are reading!), there are quite a bit of similarities between Toronto’s Kensington Market, and NYC’s Lower East Side, and Brooklyn.
Red Dead Revolver – Gentlemen & Vagabonds
More news from Rockstar Games and the Red Dead Revolver camp.
Big Tingz for Poirier
Poirier’s been pumpin out the pwnage with ‘Running High’, a new double disc coming out March 30 on Ninjatunes and a music vid / track on the new Crooker’s album, ‘Tons of Friends’ seen above. Poirier album pre-orders come with a poster too. Sweet!
Click here to score a download of the latest, ‘Let Them Hate’ feat. YT with Mungo’s HiFi remix.
Tay Zonday – Musicolio
You saw it here (almost) first! From the maker of “Chocolate Rain”.
Rock Star Required
As you can see from the Chuck’s the model is sporting, these Fidelity Denim jeans from their Fall 2010 line are clearly rock star required.
Quadron ‘Slipping’
Check out who all the industry bigwigs are buzzing about. Here’s Denmark’s Quadron.
As Seen in Now Magazine
I made it into Toronto’s Now magazine for the 3rd or 4th time thanks to the godly Zach Slootsky of TakeMorePhotos. Foreshadowing? Only time will tell.
On a sidenote, I felt bad for dissing Toys Are Just to Now’s approx. 355,000 readers in the GTA, (even though he did suck) but then my sweet, book-loving, Ph.d candidate friend Jen Polk, (aka @historyjen, contributor to Sticky mag) told me he was a douche to her once and vowed to never see him play.
Although I do not know her well, these are harsh words for a girl who I could never imagine hurting a fly, so her comments were not taken lightly. As a result I don’t feel so bad. Karma is a bitch.
Times Neue Roman @ CMW
Times Neue Roman are an 8-bit-electro rap duo made up of Arowbe Arowbe Arowbe (lyrics) and Alexander The (production).
“Even while breaking every rule of song writing and conventional structure, TNR’s popular potential is confirmed by recent placements of their single “Roq Roq” on the EA Sports video game, Fight Night: Round 4 and other songs on TV series like CSI: Las Vegas, A&E’s The Cleaner, MTV Presents: Summer Sessions and 11th Hour.”
I snapped up this vid during the up-and-coming duo’s 2am performance at the legendary Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto. They’ve got a few music vids as well, here’s the latest, Est. 2019. All others viewable on their Myspace.
Speech Debelle Talks Therapy @ CMW
Speech took home the coveted UK Mercury prize for best emerging artist of 2009. This was her first time performing in Canada to an open-minded audience. You can read my full writeup on AOL Spinner here.
