My Top Records of 2011

Another year, another raft of time defining songs and albums that we shall remember until our dying day:

Two Pianists: Gil Scott Heron and Ray Bryant

The shuffling of the mortal coil for even the most obscure musicians will usually result in posthumous praise previously unknown. Part of it is in tribute by fans the other by apologists looking to  endorse someone they had previously passed on listening to.

The death of Ray Bryant is unlikely to gain too much column space though his reputation as a fantastic jazz piano player is without question. His most established work would be the late 50′s/early 60′s recordings with Sonny Rollins and Dizzy Gillespie on Sonny Side Up and his own solo record Con Alma. Though a master at playing most jazz piano styles Ray is considered mainly for this bebop era.

Gil Scott Heron was many things and though his contrived final LP for XL had little substance it has at least turned on a new generation to sample his stellar work from the 70s and 80s. Winter In America, First Minute Of A New Day and Pieces Of A Man are equally brilliant records and alongside his often quoted words were beautiful grooves courtesy of Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band. Not only were Gil’s talents as a singer, writer and activist he was a mean Rhodes piano player. During the Midnight Band’s heyday Gil could be seen stalking the stage, delivering his words before stepping to the side to let his phenomenal band jam before getting back on the Rhodes. Later on when a Rhodes was not available he would take to the stage with the Yamaha DX7, a synthesizer with a notorious (if slightly tacky) Rhodes patch.

Though Ray would not retain a modern audience as well as Gil did they were both influential in their own way. Gil like many others is considered the Godfather of Rap [sic] for his political outspokenness and his style of singing and speaking over a beat. Apart from that his work on the keys has been sampled in hip hop and beyond. Subconsciously the first Gil Scott Heron joint I fell in love with was the live version of Home Is Where The Hatred is which I had first heard sampled by Kenny Dope on Moonshine. Similarly with Ray Bryant though his bebop material was his most famous the funk classic Up Above the Rock became a crate digging classic as immortalised by Kool G Rap on the 1992 track On The Run.

Ray and Gil were two different musicians from different eras playing different music however they were both rich products of blues and jazz. They like many others now play for that big blues, soul, jazz and funk band in heaven whose collective talent outweighs anything available on this earth.

Though both artists peak work would be considered by many as for the past and not now it is funny how some of their greatest music will be used again and again in the future.

Rest In Peace to Gil Scott Heron and Ray Bryant who both passed away in the last few weeks.

Kid Hood lives…

Twenty first century internet communication is surely something huh? The long deceased Kid Hood’s only known recorded output had been the Scenario remix with the Tribe however the people at TROY have come with this very interesting solo cut taped from the Stretch & Bobbito show on WKCR back in the day. Pour a 40 for Hood and thanks to TROY and Philaflava.

Rap Review: Kool G Rap – On The Run

Kool G Rap’s On The Run from 1992 tells the story of a ‘flunky’ (Mr G Rap’s words not ours) who is moving ki’s and funds for the mob. He details the temptation of wanting to make a break for it and quite simply take the money and run. If successful he will have enough dough to last a lifetime and no more dirty mafioso work. If caught it’s Mr G Rap’s life and most likely his families as well.

For those that don’t know the work of Kool G Rap he is one of the toughest looking motherfuckers in rap history. You look at the marks on his neck, that gruff voice and it beggars brief that someone would be mad enough to order a hit on him. In future records he would boast of a wealth in the trillions (Lifestyles Of The Rich & The Famous) and beating a woman up in front of her own Father (Hey Mr Mr). With the song On The Run however we see him at his most timid anxiously panicking in the dilemma of taking the money and running.

Of course the mob heat is extinguished after G Rap is caught by them the morning after his switch. Not only does the quoted Luciano family fancy their chances against such an ominous figure like Kool G Rap they come after him in a fucking limousine. After taking the mob out our hero notices a stomach wound. That doesn’t stop him from confronting the surviving family member in this case a remorseful Don pleading for mercy. G Rap ain’t buying it and puts the motherfuckers brains on the sidewalk. The End.

Points worth noting includes the line “Packin’ Gucci bags like I was goin’ on a World Tour” which is contradicted when a Louis Vuitton bag is used instead in the video. The significance of the video is that it uses the Untouchable mix of On The Run, not the version used on the 1992 album Live and Let Die. In my modest opinion the Untouchable mix is far superior as it uses the super nice Ray Bryant sample from Up Above The Rock…

Big Match Disappointments

“Don’t even think about going anywhere”, “They just don’t do nil-nil”, “It’s not in their language it’s not even in their DNA”…

As the ultra globalisation of Football continues unabated there is always the fear amongst right holders, sponsors and others involved that the viewer is going to switch over. Whether it be switch over to another match, another programme or to a new 21st century distraction there is monumental pressure during big matches for broadcasters and presenters to emphasise the plus points of each half.

Regardless of years of big match experience the people that conclude “it was always gonna be a bit scrappy” are the same people in the media that start the show hailing this very regular meeting of footballing superpowers as “unmissable”.

The marriage of big matches and “humdingers” rarely work out. If you want to see two top sides go at it you either get a damp squib or a nervous affair as tense as customs police interrogation. The closest you are likely to get to big match excitement is one superpower humiliating another superpower. Great for the neutrals and victors but the other teams players, management and fans would rather have their moms show the world their baby pictures.

World Cup matches are always a great example for big match disappointment. Take the 1994 Final in America between Brazil and Italy. FIFA’s big chance of leaving a lasting impression of Soccer on the United States. As a youngster watching the game my two favourite players Romario and Baggio were fighting it out to decide who was the greatest in the world. Unfortunately my only memory from normal and extra time was Pagliuca kissing the Italian post after a close Brazil free kick. The rest of England’s only memory from the match and (sadly) Roberto Baggio’s career was the divine ponytail missing the decisive penalty.

Not only did the big match prophecy tarnish the brilliant Roberto but the Americans even without their big match experience knew the final wasn’t gonna be all that. Yes almost 100,000 people were in the Pasadena Rose Bowl that day but what did Bill Clinton do? He sent his Vice President Al Gore to hand over the trophy. The CIA knows things no one else does. They aren’t gonna fall for that Big Match bullshit and waste the Presidents time.

 

Vice President Gore wonders what the fuck he is doing in Pasadena. Romario wonders if an absent Bill Clinton is gonna fancy partying with some soccer moms later.

The bigger joke is when it comes to England in the World Cup. Which tends to go two ways:

1. Bore draws/uninspiring wins against decidedly weak opposition before…
2. Embarrassing defeat in the knock out stages or for those old enough to remember defeat on penalties.

Last year’s World Cup was no exception. Football fanatics and fair weather friends drinking in pubs hours before kick off, money spent on England merchandise all getting caught up in the big game excitement before being brought down to earth like a priest finding out that God doesn’t exist. This time there was no damp squib or tense affair. It was the classic superpower humiliating other superpower. So much for big game excitement and all that optimism.

This big match naivety can be expected when your girlfriends little sister is getting excited about the big match. However those big Champions League nights in slick HD with the fancy sponsors logo’s can still make the most hardened football cynic’s mouth water. Since the expansion of the European Cup in the 90s big matches between the usual Spanish, Italian and English sides are no longer a rare treat but a regular fixture which some say takes away the prestige of these occasions. However big match disappointment goes hand in hand with the European Cup. For all doubters one only needs to go back to the year of 1991 and the dazzling spectacle expected by the mighty Olympique Marseille vs Red Star Belgrade. Just look at the build up:

“This is surely a night for the sparklers”. Cough…

I’m bumping these right about now

Crap Album Covers: United Dance: The Designer Collection

Before the era of American Apparel’s suggestive adverts there wasn’t a major amount of publicly flaunted nipple action in modern day convenience products. The emergence of lads mags in mid nineties Britain however helped the increase of under dressed women in the public retail space. The clubbing world would later adopt the sex sells policy as time went on. Who could forget the glossy UK Garage fliers with pictures of Tyra Banks on a Sports Illustrated shoot? Or those crap Ministry Of Sound compilations with two page 3 girls posing in nothing but those shit sony MDR headphones?

Yes those are tits

However once again drum and bass was one of the early pioneers of this trend and once again we can accuse the music of helping to degrade society. I am ofcourse talking about the cover of Ultimate Dance’s Designer Collection CD replete with it’s bikini clad models on the front cover. As a teenager I stumbled upon this CD, gave the track list a cursory glance then put it back. Several years later I saw the ‘DJ friendly’ vinyl of this and only then did it hit me. Yes those bikini’s were painted on and those innocent ladies on the cover weren’t so innocent after all.

The musical content on this double CD is much more straight forward. 96 era jump up jungle with a bonus mix by none other than DJ Hype. The likes of On Fire Tonight, Funkula and Warp 10 are all well known and respected joints from a time when jungle shifted from cartoon spliffy covers to something more risque. Lord only knows what became of the mysterious, sunglasses and body painted ladies on the cover though.

Tags: crap.album.covers, dj.hype, Jungle, tits

The Death of Music: Posh Pop Stars

In a regular feature on A Man Named Omar I shall be covering the problems currently faced by the music industry. The first is the invasion of the pop charts by the posh and privileged.

Though I have little interest in modern music a lot has been made recently about pop music becoming posh. The 60% statistic revealed by Word Magazine showed that not only working at a label is off limits for many but to even be a professional musician requires a public school background.

Tags: music.industry, posh.pop.stars

Stop dick riding Jay Dee

Like all people I was sad to hear of the death of Jay Dee in 2006. As any reader will know I have little time for post 2000 hip hop but along with the earlier stuff by MF Doom and Madlib I thought Jay Dee was nice. I got into him when Welcome To Detroit came out. The Jaylib album was probably my favourite, it’s also the one that has the most swagger on it.

One thing I will always remember about Jay Dee when he was still making music was that he never dropped a real banger with a signature beat on. People now go on about his work for Tribe Called Quest and album tracks of Busta Rhymes but these tracks don’t roll off the tongue. He was also important on the quite good Slum Village album. However I don’t remember in the late 90s seeing Jay Dee get that much love from the Source magazine or even the UK’s Hip Hop Connection. Back then it was jiggy vs non jiggy with maybe a bit of Capone N Noreaga thrown in.

Likewise with the solo records that he continued drop up until his death. Yes shops like Sounds of the Universe in London was well stocked with his records but there were no t shirts or serrato box sets yet. Simply put if you had a passing interest in underground hip hop or digging you knew that he was very good if not brilliant.

What has happened in the last five years though is pretty revolting. Around the world there are tribute nights going with names like “J Dilla saved my life”. People play at them who have very little to do with his life. There are also countless t shirts, special edition albums, box sets and novelty picture disc records. Hipsters name drop him amongst their favourite southern rap kid mc’s before not being able to tell you a single beat that he’s done beyond that Pharcyde record.

The likes of Doctors Orders, Stones Throw and Stussy will argue that this money is going towards his estate to pay for his hospital bills. There has also been several posthumous Jay Dee albums since he died. Can you really be sure every penny is going to his mum? Why couldn’t they just come out when he died and say they need a few hundred thousand dollars, everybody cough up. Where also are some of the reasonably rich rap artists that could have dipped into their pockets to stop this nonsense? Where are also the spineless artists that stole beats off him?

The most sickening thing about this death inspired praise that Jay Dee gets is the hipster/guardian reader types with their spotify playlists who constantly refer to him as genius. Yes Jay Dee had an unorthodox style to making music but so does Pete Rock, DJ Premier and Showbiz. All of these producers I put above Jay Dee and most people that know a thing or two about rap and sampling would too. Yeah we know Jay Dee made beats with extra bars and crazy time signatures. Pete Rock could harmonise five sounds into sounding like it came from one sample. Paul C could make a wack beat sound like an earthquake. Believe it or not hip hop production is more than just James Brown samples for fucks sake.

Either ways the death celebration of Jay Dee is gonna go on as many independent labels have little morals due to declining revenue. Also due to the lack of real talent in music these days people will jump on anything so long as the person has died.

Tags: hip.hop, jay.dee, jay.dilla

Please donate to DJ Kool Herc

This weekend DJ Kool Herc from the Bronx, New York was hospitalised and is now seriously ill. Despite being the creator of what is known as hip hop Kool Herc has not amassed a fortune like other people have from this art form. As we all know America provides little in the form of free health care and with a very small income it is going to cost a great deal of money for him and his family to pay hospital bills.

As the originator of playing extended breaks on records Kool Herc created the spark that has made many thousands of musicians and business people millionaires. DJ Premier has posted the following information how to make a donation to cover his hospital bills.

KOOL HERC PRODUCTIONS
P.O. BOX 20472
HUNTINGTON STATION , NY 11746

or you can wire your donation internationally via paypal to this address:

cindycampbell1@aol.com (his sister)