Legendary Roots Crew
Well, my faith in live music has been restored again after seeing:
A) Goldfrapp's short but super set in the London Oxford Street Virgin Megastore. I couldn't quite work out how a band of four people could make such an earth-shattering racket, until I discovered that reclusive synth genius Will Gregory was hiding off-stage making special noises with his electric playtoys.
Apparently, the signing session got a bit ugly, but I escaped unscathed, and Will even imparted a few words of wisdom to me: "Never throw away an old synth". I'm about to sell one on ebay - does that count?
B) The Roots - last night at Shepherd's Bush Empire. I cannot overestimate how fantastic this gig was. The band played for two-and-a-half hours, and covered every genre I can think of; from classical to reggae, soul to metal, doo-wop to drum'n'bass - all from a hip-hop band.
The guitarist, Kirk Hudson, did things with his instrument that are probably illegal in several countries. And ?uestlove is quite simply one of the best drummers in the world - even when he's opening a bottle of water with one hand!
Not to mention (yes, there is more!) the 15 minute tour of the best breaks and beats in music, where the band segued seamlessly between Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock" and Amerie's "One Thing" via "Push It", "Crazy In Love" and NORE's "Nothin'".
?uestlove has a DJ set at the Jazz Café on Friday and Saturday. It's hardly the full Roots experience, but I'd check it out if I were you.
The Roots: Official website
The Roots forum
Jazz Café: ?uestlove DJ sets on Friday and Saturday
A) Goldfrapp's short but super set in the London Oxford Street Virgin Megastore. I couldn't quite work out how a band of four people could make such an earth-shattering racket, until I discovered that reclusive synth genius Will Gregory was hiding off-stage making special noises with his electric playtoys.
Apparently, the signing session got a bit ugly, but I escaped unscathed, and Will even imparted a few words of wisdom to me: "Never throw away an old synth". I'm about to sell one on ebay - does that count?
B) The Roots - last night at Shepherd's Bush Empire. I cannot overestimate how fantastic this gig was. The band played for two-and-a-half hours, and covered every genre I can think of; from classical to reggae, soul to metal, doo-wop to drum'n'bass - all from a hip-hop band.
The guitarist, Kirk Hudson, did things with his instrument that are probably illegal in several countries. And ?uestlove is quite simply one of the best drummers in the world - even when he's opening a bottle of water with one hand!
Not to mention (yes, there is more!) the 15 minute tour of the best breaks and beats in music, where the band segued seamlessly between Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock" and Amerie's "One Thing" via "Push It", "Crazy In Love" and NORE's "Nothin'".
?uestlove has a DJ set at the Jazz Café on Friday and Saturday. It's hardly the full Roots experience, but I'd check it out if I were you.
posted by mrdiscopop at 11:13 AM
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