No BS About BSS

BSS at Coachella, courtesy of AOL Canada

Buraka Som Sistema roll into Toronto tonight with their intense kuduro fusion, riding an ever growing wave of delirious testimonials about their live show. Apparently Coachella will never be the same.

Today, AOL Canada published my article about them. As you might expect from me, my take on their story is less of a "next big thing" POV, and more about relating it to, as Guillaume Decouflet aka Khiasma says in the article, "music as the result of immigration".

But tonight at the El Mocambo, it's all about music of mass gyration.

Who Wants Yesterday's Papers?

I've been terribly delinquent in updating my "It Was Written" links.

It's more current now, and lists most of the features I wrote last year for Exclaim, Eye Weekly and AOL Canada,


Please go for a browse 'pon the right hand side.

Reading Rainbow

It's the end of the month - time to look back on a busy May's worth of published material.

May turned out to be soulful. The biggest word count I got all month was for a career profile of Al Green for Exclaim. I feared his story had already been told numerous times, leaving me little to work with. But the further I got into the research, I found that there were a number of well-trod stories in his career, but few overall summaries. The obvious one is contained in the liner notes to his Anthology, but that's more than ten years old and there's more to tell since then. I found fewer dull spots in his discography than I expected, which made this article a listening pleasure.

Also in Exclaim, I wrote a profile of Feuermusik. I love those guys - great musicians & great people. Of all the adjectives that could be applied to the controlled sax and bucket frenzy of their new album "No Contest", 'soulful' ranks high. I also wrote about Feuermusik for Paste Magazine a few months ago, but haven't been able to find the piece online. If anyone comes across it, please let me know....

Over at AOL Canada, my overview of the impulses shaping the soul music of Toronto was published yesterday. I didn't actually pitch this article but I'm glad it came my way. Zaki Ibrahim, LAL and Ivana Santilli happen to be releasing discs all at the same time, so there seemed to be a natural thread to this piece. I've got to confess it was pretty easy to write; it's an article that I feel personally attached to in terms of the content. When speaking with Santilli, with whom I'd gigged once or twice many years ago, it felt like old times. Her recollection of the early 90s was very much like my own experience, and, as the article shows, also very much like those of Rose Kazi and Nick Murray from LAL. I'd never talked to Ibrahim before, but she picked up on all those sentiments in describing her favourite aspects of Toronto. Needless to say, everyone's criticisms of Toronto were also pretty similiar.

Finally, because I didn't post about this weeks ago, here's a profile of modern roots star Queen Ifrica for Eye Magazine.

...one more thing that didn't make the print edition of Exclaim this month - here's an interview with Aidan Baker about the new release from polyrhythmic noise alchemists ARC.

Jim Shady

I kid you not, Jamie Lidell referred to himself as "Jim Shady" druing my interview with him. I promised to put that nickname it in the writeup I did for AOL Canada, but alas, I couldn't do it.

His new disc, Jim, isn't as wild and wacky as his previous one, but I still like it a lot. It's short (<40 minutes), sweet and soulful without sounding too retro.

Mr. Lidell would be someone I'd love to have a pint with. We'd probably have lots more to talk about since he works with so many Canadians (co-producer Mocky, pianist Gonzales and Peaches are all represented on the new disc).

He's touring with a band that includes a sax player (and sometime Anthony Braxton sideman) named Andre Vida who plays two horns at the same time, a la Roland Kirk. Jamie turns out to be a huge fan of Rahsaan as well; I think this bodes well for another round of exciting shows for which Lidell is renowned.

Clean Up Man

One reason I've been so delinquent on the playlist blogging... OK, my current excuse for being so delinquent on playlist blogging is that I've been busy with other writing. Here's a roundup of what's been going on.

Been doing some reviews and tings for Eye Weekly. I spoke with Hamiet Bluiett a few weeks ago, and have reviewed quite a few discs over the last few weeks, too. This link should keep things fresh for the faithful AI reader (and myself if/when I lose track).

Have also been doing some work for AOL Canada. Here's a story on Tinariwen, following up on my piece in Exclaim in April. Exclaim also put them in the Top 20 Pop Rocks list for 2007 (written by Michael Barclay, who has a great interview with the band on his blog), and has a review of their live show in Toronto last month. There profile has grown Grateful Dead-style in the interim and they're trodding the boards thru North America once again like the road warriors they are.

Also on the Exclaim front, its end of year issue has been out for a few weeks. I wrote about the excellent new disc by local Afrobeat and beyond heroes Mr. Something Something. There is also a profile of one-of-a-kind classical/breakbeat/etc. musician John Kameel Farah. As editor of the Groove and Destination Out sections, I was very pleased to see the writers come up with these choices for the year in review.