Last night I went to the first festival of alternative music in Cuba; at a hip hop concert in the Pabellón a week or so ago we had met this guy with a head full of white silvery mohawk/dreads who is an artistic director of concerts and shit, and all into the alternative scene, who told us about it, because he was directing it.

First: alternative music means something different in Cuba than back in the States. It means anything that is not salsa or reggaetón (or merengue or bachata or son or afrocuban/Caribbean in any way). This includes hip hop, rap, rock, emo, metal, reggae, house, electronica. For example, the guy we met at that hip hop concert looked kind of like a punker (he was old too, his hair was naturally white) and we started to talk about music, and he started to trash reggaeton, so I asked him what he thought of the hip hop group that was playing (because in my mind hip hop and reggaeton are similar, both induce a lot of ass-shaking), and he said it was great, you know, alternativo.

Second: the alternative scene is pretty small in Cuba, so all these people hang out in the same crowd. This seems a little incongruous and weird to me (in a positive, kind of funny way, of course) because generally rockers, hip-hoppers, and electronickers give off pretty different vibes, and here they all group themselves together into one—alternativos—and hang out together. Cool, I think, but once the scene gets bigger, it will probably not last. They mostly seem to be unified in their vehement hatred of reggaeton (and indifference to salsa).

Third: Alternativos also call themselves “underground” sometimes. I think this is because 1) they are a little anti-establishment, they have only recently started to be recognized as an art form by the government (the Cuban government is a heavy sponsor of culture and art, and does a surprising wonderful job for a Communist regime), and sometimes the lyrics and messages in music are a little controversial and say bad things about the system; and 2) most of the rest of Cuba is pretty conformist culture-wise, everyone dances salsa and listens to reggaeton/other Latiny islandy things, dresses in a similar style, so these people are pretty anti-conformist too, and you can recognize them with just one look, dreads and afros and random strange articles of clothing worn is a strange way are pretty common.

Anyways this concert was an award ceremony of sorts, for up and coming alternative artists who had submitted works in different categories of alternative music. It was pretty shoddy and put together (it’s Cuba), and there were probably not more than 100 people in the audience, but maybe it was historic (?). Some parts of it were pretty entertaining, at least. My friend’s favorite act was this metal group called Hypnosis who were wearing all red and black and all had long hair down to their butts (blonde or black, one girl had braids that made her look medusa-like) and they kept on head banging very seriously, so that all their hair would cover their face, anyways it looked pretty funny and you could tell they were all really into it and gave it their all. My favorite act was a hiphop/rapper called La Rueda who was this short and skinny little mulatto who had a huge beard and looked a little Arab (maybe because of the beard, maybe because he actually was) and he was also wearing this turban, and his acceptance speech was pretty bomb, and he rapped about discrimination and sabor while hopping around like a maniac, so much that he lost his turban and long dreads down to his butt came tumbling out, swinging around the stage. The best part was that he had two accomplices too, who were all very weird too, turban wearing, jumping around and doing flips and one of them kept on shouting the lyrics in the main guys ears with him (he wasn’t miked, so I can’t imagine it was for anything more than show) and it was just so entertaining because here were these weird guys hopping around the stage like crazy 4 year olds on speed, shouting about people discriminating against other people to a pretty thumping beat.

After the show we went to talk to our white mohawk-dreaded friend and congratulated him, and he was like oh man so many things went wrong and we reassured him that it was great, even though you could obviously tell that things had gone wrong. Yeah alternativos!

Pop/Rock
Melhor Álbum:  Michael Jackson, Number Ones
Melhor Grupo Pop: Black Eyed Peas
Melhor Cantora Pop: Taylor Swift
Melhor Cantor de Pop: Michael Jackson

Country
Melhor Álbum Country: Taylor Swift, Fearless
Melhor Grupo Country: Rascall Flats
Melhor Cantor Country: Keith Urban
Melhor Cantora Country: Taylor Swift

R&B/Hip-Hop
Melhor Cantor de Soul/R&B: Michael Jackson
Melhor Cantora de Soul/R&B: Beyonce
Melhor Grupo de Soul/R&B: Black Eyed Peas
Melhor Artista de Hip-Hop: Jay-Z
Melhor Álbum de Hip-Hop:  Jay-Z, Blueprint 3

Melhor Artista Contemporâneo: Taylor Swift
Melhor Rock Alternativo: Green Day
Artista Revelação: Gloriana
Artista do Ano: Taylor Swift
Melhor Trilha Sonora: Twilight Soundtrack
Prêmio de Excelência: Whitney Houston

Indieghetto si presenta con sei parole e un refuso: “Hip Hip Covers from indie artists” (da myspace).
Si tratta praticamente di un karaoke fatto da artisti più o meno conosciuti o sconosciuti: video con fondali urban style, arrangiamenti ridotti all’osso e canzoni hip hop o hip hip, scegliete voi.
E così la canzone più tamarra dell’estate, “I Gotta Feeling” dei Black Eyed Peas, diventa all’improvviso ascoltabile se rifatta dai Twin Atlantic.

Sul canale youtube di Indieghetto si trovano tutte.
I coverizzatori: The Rifles, I Blame Coco, Kate Nash, Beans on Toast, Jay Jay Pistolet…
I coverizzati: Outkast, Specials, Eminem, Missy Elliot, Warren G, M.I.A….
Che cosa sia considerato Hip Hip e cosa indie non è propriamente chiaro…

I love @replies

Yes… it’s another tweet about…ME. First it was Rob Thomas, and next? One of the stars of “Crash” on Starz Channel, Jocko Sims.

Jocko plays Anthony Adams aka Panic, Dennis Hopper’s right hand man in the show. There, he plays an aspiring hip hop artist. What’s kinda cool? Reality sort of imitates art. In fact, he actually recorded a single for the show called “Head Up,” which you can apparently purchase on iTunes.

Anyway. In real-life, he’s the producer behind this aspiring kid rapper, Kiowa Tucker – or “K.O.” as he likes to refer to himself (Yes, KO as in knock out. Yes, he’s like 13. But he’s got skills! Or is it, “skillz?”)

Future of hip-hop?

OK so I interview Jocko, desperately trying to not let my Trojan pride get in the way (unfortunately, he Bruin-ed his life and attended UCLA.)

Awkward moment? I’m giving him a “Crash” quiz and at the end he asks if there’s a question about him! Fail, there isn’t! But in my defense, I didn’t write the quiz, I just administered it.

To be real though, the interview was super fun… great banter, ESPECIALLY once we started talking Twitter.

I feel like Twitter really bridges the gap between celebrity (Jocko) and normal person (me.) Anyway, I call Jocko out on the fact that he never tweets. He says it’s hard for him to think of stuff to tweet, and to remember to tweet it. I tell him that I, too, used to be a hater…until I discovered Twitterfon. Since he has an iPhone, I suggested that he download “Twitterfon” (now known as Echofon) because well… once you have Twitter on a mobile device, you become addicted. It’s really not that cool when you have to like, log onto a computer just to write your 140-character-or-less thought.

Anyway…we now follow eachother on Twitter, and well it’s been over 2 month since our interview, and he’s only tweeted 13 times since then! Ridic. I’m definitely going to at least @reply him and send him this blog entry. Maybe he’ll tweet more after this?

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5 @ 7 :    Musique

Vous avez peut-être un bon petit rouge ou blanc à offrir, mais vous faut-il de la musique pour une bonne ambiance?

Dépendent de ce que vous visez comme ambiance ou clientèle, voici une petite liste d’artiste à avoir en main lors de votre 5 @ 7.

Musique TRIP HOP/LOUNGE :

Belleruche

Selon LastFM : «Leur album « Turntable Soul Music » sorti sur le label Tru Thoughts, est un véritable petit bijou de soul électro mélodique et chaleureuse. Leurs gouts musicaux pour DJ Vadim, Nina Simone, Hendrix se retranscrivent dans leur musique à la fois poétique et énergique accompagnée d’une voix inoubliable. Vous allez adorer ce savoureux mélange de funk-soul-hip-hop scratché d’humour et de tendresse.»

Waldeck

Voir l’article sur Waldeck par Rodeo : Artiste de la semaine : Waldeck. Sinon, c’est excellent, un son un peu swing dont les mélodies restent définitivement dans la tête.
Wiki : «C’est avec son 4^e album, Ballroom Stories, que Waldeck a été plus largement reconnu : certains extraits ont par exemple été utilisés pour des publicités et génériques d’émissions.»

.

Parov Stelar

Selon wiki : « Il a commencé a travailler sous le nom de “Plasma” ou sous son vrai nom pour le label Bushido Rec. C’est en 2000 qu’il prend le nom de Parov Stelar et créé le label “Etage Noir Recording”, label auquel il est toujours à la tête aujourd’hui. En live, il se fait accompagner de quatre musiciens, le “Parov Stelar Band”, et est lui même un DJ accompli.

^{Il vagabonde entre le disco et le jazz, mêlant les cuivres et le sampling.»}

Définitivement un excellent DJ aux sons plus allemand (Européen) qu’américain.

Quantic

Selon Wiki : Quantic est un pseudo de l’artiste Will Holland :«Quantic est le nom de scène utilisé par Will Holland, DJ, musicien et producteur de musique anglais vivant et travaillant en Colombie. Son style musical est un mélange de sonorité latines légèrement modernisées et couplées à de l’électronique. Will Holland joue sur la plupart des instruments entendus dans ses productions : guitare, basse, contrebasse, piano, claviers, sax, ainsi que tout type de percussions.»

Les mélodies sont très bien construites et le rythme est plus inspiré du hip-hop que de l’électro house.

Morcheeba

Selon Wiki : «Morcheeba est un groupe de musique britannique issu de Douvres mélangeant down tempo, trip hop, rythm and blues et pop. Il est formé des frères Paul Godfrey (DJ) et Ross Godfrey (guitare et clavier) ainsi que de la chanteuse Skye Edwards.» Le dernier album, Dive Deep est excellent, mais un peu relax à certains moments. Les titres à avoir sont  Enjoy de Ride et Run Honey Run. Le rythme vous prend tout de suite.

Supreme Being of Leisure

Selon Wiki : «Les Supreme Beings of Leisure, groupe d’un nouveau genre, associent programmation intelligente et grouve séducteurs et des parties vocales uniques communiquant un sentiment de nostalgie et de désillusion.»

Très bon CD, l’ensemble est bien fait et pas trop agressif ou électro, je le fais souvent jouer au resto et on trouve souvent un morceau dans les compilations que je fais.

Musique standard LOUNGE/JAZZ :

Gotan Project

Selon musique.ados.fr : «Le pari musical était au départ plutôt risqué : mélanger les sons techno aux musiques latines, au tango (gotan en verlan). A l’arrivée, c’est un pari plus que réussi : Gotan Project est devenu un incontournable des platines. Mais la reconnaissance dépasse les clubs, et la musique de Gotan Project s’écoute aussi bien dans une ambiance lounge que devant sa fenêtre, les yeux dans ses pensées et les images qui y défilent.»

Je ne crois pas mettre ça sur un dancefloor, mais bon, c’est bien dit et la musique est bonne, mais trop entendue quant à moi.

St-Germain

Selon Wiki : «L’univers musical de St Germain navigue entre Acid jazz, nujazz et deep housee. Il sort son premier album intitulé Boulevard en 1995  (élu meilleur album de l’année 1995 par la presse anglaise), suivi en 1999 par From Detroi To St-Germain tous deux sous le label F Communication. Il rejoint ensuite le célèbre label de jazz Blue Note Records pour lequel il réalise l’album Touriste en 2001.»

Touriste est bien fait, Ludovic Navarre (aka st-Germain) est très bon, mais on a vraiment trop entendue.

Zero 7

Selon wiki : «Zero 7 est un groupe britanique de musique électronique orienté down tempo, formé de deux Londonien : Henry Binns et Sam Herbaker: Zero 7 est également très repris à la télévision et au cinéma ainsi que sur des compilation lounge telles que Chillout Project par le DJ philippin Anton Ramos ou les compilations de l’Hôtel Costes.»

Relax et parfait pour une ambiance qui incite la conversation

Musique RAP/JAZZ/LOUNGE :

Wax Tailor Selon Wiki : «Jean-Christophe Le Saoût est un auteur,compositeur, producteur et manager français de musique connu sous le nom de Wax Tailor. Il sort son premier album Tales Of The Forgotten Melodies en mars 2005 après 2 EP dont le genre mélange le trip hop, le hip hop ou bien encore le down tempo, ses principales influences musicales. Son second album Hope & Sorrow sort en 2007 puis son troisième In the Mood for life en 2009.»

Excellent et très bien travaillé. Mon album préféré : Tales Of The Forgotten Melodies

Voir l’article de n0668 : n0668.wordpress.com/ 2008/11/20/wax-tailor/

US3

Selon Wiki : «Us3 est un groupe de jazz-rap britanique fondé à Londres en 1991. Leur musique est élaborée à partir de samples des classiques du label Blue Note. L’album Hand On The Torch, à mi-chemin entre jazz et hip-hop, sort en 1993.»

US3 sont les puristes du jazz-rap, c’est probablement les fondateurs du lounge trip hop d’aujourd’hui (on pense à quelques morceaux des Beastie Boys aussi).

RJD2 Selon Wiki : «RJD2, de son nom Ramble John Krohn, est un musicien hip-hop et producteur né à Eugène en Oregon le 27 mai 1996. Il fait partie du label Definitive Jux et a produit des chansons pour de nombreux artistes. Il fait partie du groupe Soul Position avec le rappeur Blueprint. Dead Ringer. Cet album le propulse dans une catégorie d’artistes parmi lesquels on peut compter DJ Shadow ou Prefuse 73. Plusieurs titres de Dead Ringer seront utilisés à la télévision, et dans des spots publicitaires.»

Un son un peu plus hip-hop que les autres, mais excellent

The Fort Knox Five

C’est un groupe de musique et une maison de production. Il font du très bon travail et les autres groupes du label sont fidèles au style; un style allumé, clair, funk au son hip hop.

Selon Wiki : «Fort Knox Five is aEshington D.C.-based recording artist consisting of Steve Raskin, Jon Horvath, Rob Myers, and Sid Barcelona. They have released their music on their own independent label The Fort Knox Recording. Their music style mixes elements of funk, Reggea, hiphop and Electronica.»

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