Hardships goes gospel ! Jenny Wilson Featuring Tensta Gospel Choir are giving three exclusive shows in January:

6 jan – Dramaten, Stockholm.
16 jan – KB, Malmö.
17 jan – Lorensborgsteatern, Göteborg.

Idle Warship is a musical trio composed of Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli, Philadelphia singer Res, and Canadian singer/rapper Graph Nobel.

click here to download

1. Momma May I f. Blaqstarr
2. Metro (Res)
3. Screamin’ f. MC Chris)
4. LA Famous
5. Steady
6. Try It On
7. Party Robots
8. The Warship
9. Fyah (Graph Nobel)
10. World On Wheels Remix (Saul Williams f. Talib Kweli)
11. Girls On The Dance Floor (rmx)
12. Bedroom Lights
13. Go Brooklyn f. Skyzoo
14. Black Snake Moan

Lesungen, Diskussionen und Performances, die über den herkömmlichen Begriff von Lyrik hinausgehen, will das Literaturhaus Wien bei den 11. Erich-Fried-Tagen von Donnerstag bis Sonntag vermitteln.

Nach der offiziellen Eröffnung durch Kulturstadtrat Andreas Mailath-Pokorny (SPÖ) steht der amerikanische Spoken-Word-Poet Saul Williams auf der Bühne.

“Die Freiheit den Mund aufzumachen” steht am Freitag ab 15.00 Uhr im Zentrum einer Podiumsdiskussion, bei der unter anderem die Autoren Robert Schindel, Barbara Hundegger und der albanische Autor Visar Zhiti der Frage nachgehen, “ob Lyrik nach wie vor eine gesellschaftspolitische oder kritische Instanz zukommt”.

Michaela Falkner, Ann Cotten und Michael Lentz nehmen im Anschluss an der von Josef Haslinger moderierten Diskussion “Es ist was es ist. Spielarten der Poesie” teil und sprechen über Perspektiven und innovative Formen der poetischen Präsentation. …

Höhe- und zugleich Schlusspunkt ist am Sonntag die Verleihung des mit 15.000 Euro dotierten Erich Fried-Preises 2009 an Esther Dischereit, Juror Josef Winkler hält die Laudatio. / ORF

These little dudes, The Bots, rocked before our set at The Roxy on Friday.  Mikaiah (vocals/guitar) is 16 and Anaiah (drums) is 12.  It’s good, raw, pure punk music.  A lot of fun sharing the stage with them.

Peep their myspace page.  Can’t wait to see what they do in the next 5 years.

Thanks for letting me use your distortion pedal, that was clutch.

-Räusche

Mr. Williams (photo credit: unknown)

Was blessed to see Mr. Saul Williams perform again, this time at The Independent. Saul is the real deal. A gifted poet with a background in acting, he blends his talents into musical performance art.

The Evolution Continues

I’ve experienced the evolution of his shows over the last ten years, from quiet low-light poetry sessions, to flamboyant hip-hop-soul-rock concerts accented with his famous prowess for spoken word. Here’s Saul going from old-school to new at the show:

And here he is slipping into a performance of his master poem, Coded Language:

Check out more Saul here.

Hope you’re feeling inspired. Now grab your favorite pen and get to scribbling…

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Saul Williams, one of the most bad ass post punk rockers out there! This is an unreleased track off Niggy Tardust(in stores now) check it out after the cut.

Saul Williams is an amazing and deeply spiritual artist. He transcends most preconceptions of what an artist is period! An American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam. I’m currently reading his thought proving book, The Dead Emcee Scrolls, 2006, MTV/Pocketbooks ISBN 1-4165-1632-8.  If you’re a lover of the written word and hip-hop culture then I advise to get this book and more importantly to check this man out if you haven’t done so already…

Listen to Saul Williams’ The Government right here

Watch Saul Williams’ List Of Demands below.

We’re playing Friday November 13th at the Roxy with Saul Williams. It’s apparently a delicious affair.

-New Kingdom

Head over to the Loft on W. Peachtree Tonight  11/4/09.    Yes.

-black girl.

That video above is evidence that something eternal happened last night at the Saul Williams show.

It was a case of my brain processing one thing while my heart processed another.

During what I believe was the song “A Penny for a Thought”  I misunderstood the lyrics in a way that surprisingly served my soul and comforted my mind and heart.

It was an unusual show in that the energy of Williams wasn’t quite at his normal level, which is still pretty intense compared to most artists.

That said, I had a hard time finding an emotional entry point into the show. 

But then, towards the end of the show, he played what I believe was ”A Penny for a Thought,” but I’m still not sure. 

In any case, there was a verse that caught my ear as Williams kept repeating it:  “Even death is a part of life…Even death is a part of life..”

And each time he repeated that verse the doorway to the emotional entry point I was looking for opened wider and wider.

So I stepped in.

And then it hit me. 

For the last three days, my wife and I have been mourning the death of her Uncle John who died last Thursday after his battle with brain cancer.

One of the reasons it’s been hard for me is because I got to know Uncle John’s love for live music earlier this year when I interviewed him for Live Fix about meeting Kid Rock backstage.

And naturally, that conversation and John’s death have been on my mind and heart in some pretty heavy and profound ways.

So during the Saul Williams concert I believe something eternal happened because this morning as I was writing this post I looked up the lyrics to “A Penny For A Thought” and realized that the actual lyrics were “Seven mountains higher that the valley of death/Seven dimensions deeper than the dimensions of breath..”

Now, I’m pretty sure I heard Williams sing “…even death is a part of life..”

But what I think was eternal and even spiritual about last night was that, for whatever reason, I heard what I needed to hear so that I would find some level of comfort and clarity as I grieve and process John’s death.

Whether I misheard the lyrics or not, what happened last night my friends was an eternal aspect of live music. 

And I think it was one of the most beautiful moments I’ve had at a concert in recent memory.  I didn’t plan on having it.  I just happened. 

Writing this post makes the whole experience even feel predestined or preordained in a way. 

It was as if God knew I needed to hear Saul Williams croon those words right into my heart.

So, as I mention in the video,  I encourage you to take time to listen for moments like I had last night when you go to your next show.

Have you ever had an eternal or “misheard” moment during a concert?

The Afro-Punk tour has arrived in Chicago.

And poet/actor/emcee Saul Williams is leading the funky freak charge to the Double Door tonight.

If all things go as planned, I should have a special treat for you once the show is over.

But you’ll have to be patient to see what that treat is.

The concert of memory inside my head

Since our minds store everything we experience in one way or another, I’ll be thinking about the last time I saw Williams in an intimate club like the Double Door.  I deemed it a  BAAD show.  Because my pre-show interview with Williams changed the concert experience for me.

But I don’t think this one will be because I won’t  be interviewing  him beforehand.

This time around I’m expecting Williams to create some new concert memories and bust out some new songs from his “album in the works.”

And I’m sure in one way or another he’ll show off his multi-colored sonic arsenal of funk, punk and hip hop; and leave us grasping  and gasping for more.

Follow along on with me on another Live Fix Experiment via @chriscatania

Looks like The Knife…check. Instrumentals sound like Bat For Lashes…check. Voice is similar to Antony Hegarty…check. Well, this can only mean one thing. This is Dearling Physique!

They have a charming and theatrical bird/man for a frontman. His visuals and movements combine with the music and make you feel like you’ve left the venue and gone to a world that could only be thought up by Stanley Kubrick or David Lynch. His voice is hauntingly good. The rest of the band looks like a group of cool new wavers. Out of all the local bands, I can’t think of any others who give a performance quite like Dearling. You’ll be seeing a lot more from them.

No Bird Sing are a newer hip hop band. They have a guitarist, a drummer, and a rapper. That’s right. There is no DJ. Though their whole set reminded me of Atmosphere’s “Guarantees,” they made me want to listen. I like the stripped down sound that it provided. It lets you concentrate on his lyrics, and those lyrics are good. He likes A Clockwork Orange. That’s good enough for me to want to like them. I’m sure they’ll be playing around a lot more too.

-

Then we had American Fangs. They are from Texas. I know people drink “purple drank” down there, but I don’t think these fellows do. Their sound is fast-driven pop-punk. They were good in the sense that they played together well. They were energetic. I could see them as a band opening for P.O.S.’s band Building Better Bombs.

-

The next set came out looking like lost members of The Misfits. CX KiDTONiK & Diallo were very engaging with their hump-girls-on-stage set. They were super energetic and very funny. It was fun and entertaining to say the least.

Saul Williams turned into a character named Niggy Tardust for the show. If you couldn’t already tell, this was a play on words from David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. Williams was looking very glam too. He and his band gave a great performance. It’s good to see a hip hop artist go in the direction he has. I wonder if any of it came from his recent working with Nine Inch Nail’s frontman Trent Reznor. Either way, it makes me like him all the more.

Maybe it’s the music I’ve been listening to and the books I’ve been reading (currently, PKD’s Dr. Bloodmoney), but I’ve been feeling very doom & gloom recently. Not depressed, but despairing of humanity. I was at the Saul Williams show at the Opera House tonight and he hit that nail right on the head. Played a new song called “Patience” that captured the anxious fatalism that’s been on my mind of late.

In the city that never sleeps, love is always on the mind. Those passions come to life in New York, I Love You – a collaboration of storytelling from some of today’s most imaginative filmmakers and featuring an all-star cast. Together they create a kaleidoscope of the spontaneous, surprising, electrifying human connections that pump the city’s heartbeat. Sexy, funny, haunting and revealing encounters unfold beneath the Manhattan skyline. From Tribeca to Central Park to Brooklyn the story weaves a tale of love as diverse as the very fabric of New York itself

I’ve been writing poetry for about 4 years now.  And in those 4 years I’ve grown immensely.  I went  from writing introspective musings, to socio-political, pseudo-rants, to writing about everyday scenarios of the human spirit.  And as I begin the next, much-needed step in pursuit of all that an Antioch MFA offers, I can truly say there is one poet that has had more of an impact on my development as a writer that any other.  Though I haven’t read him in a long time, Saul Williams inspired me to write.  He took me to a far away world, allowing me to examine mans’ shortcomings and evolution, as well as my own spiritual quest.  Saul Williams gave me the eyes to examine, the guts to experiment, and the heart to beat the pace I desired.  While I don’t read Saul much these days- instead digesting Hoagland, Simic, O’ Hara, had I not read Saul Williams, I would’ve never read any of the others.  Here’s to you Saul…

Es ist ein lustvoll extrem weitgespannter Begriff von Poesie, den die Besucher des 10. Poesiefestivals Berlin in der Akademie der Künste und an anderen Orten kennen lernen können. Es sind Veranstaltungen, die in den schillerndsten Farben der Lyrik funkeln sollen.

Da tritt der Lautpoet, Spoken-Word-Künstler, Schauspieler und Musiker Saul Williams auf, der südafrikanische Dichter Keorapetse Kgositsile, die Sängerin und Musikerin Chiwoniso Maraire, der polnische Dichter Adam Wiedemann oder die kanadische Performance-Dance-Company Volcano. Man wird sagen können, dass hier die Poesie zum literarischen Vulkan wird, der den schönsten Wortzauber ausspeit. / Berliner Morgenpost 27.6.

Akademie der Künste: Hanseatenweg 10, Tiergarten. Karten: Tel. 230 99 30, Informationen: Tel. 48 52 450, heute bis 5. Juli, Programm: www.literaturwerkstatt.org