Soweto Kinch has a problem. He wants to be part of both the hip hop and the jazz scenes. While the jazzers have embraced his take on the bebop/hip hop nexus, as witnessed by Kinch’s nomination for Album of the Year by the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards, the hip hop community remain largely indifferent. (more…)
Beatmag’s woman in New York, ‘Shooting People’ director and film festival stalwart Ingrid Kopp, gives us the rundown on some music cinema treats coming our way…
I can happily declare that SXSW in Austin, Texas is my favourite film festival in the world. Held every March, and known better in the UK as an industry-heavy music festival, it actually brings together film, music and interactive elements in a way that always generates a great atmosphere of creativity and excitement. There is always some healthy cross-fertilisation between the different elements and the film fest pays tribute to its music sibling with the 24 Beats Per Second strand which spotlights music documentaries. Here are a few of the best I saw this year.
With Beatmag Games guru Khalid Mallassi
Def Jam: Icon
(Xbox 360 / PS3)
Def Jam: Icon
(Xbox 360 / PS3)
Yo, streets is watchin’, son! See being as I’m a successful rapper and shit; when I ain’t stacking my papers, sitting pretty in my crib on the hill or generally staying as far away from the ‘hood that made my ass rich in the first place, I like nothing better than whuppin’ another over-paid, so-called gangsta rappers ass, yo! That what this game is all about, partner! Us rappers is as tough as we say we are in our music, son! (more…)
Top 5
Things I remember about living in Saudi Arabia
Being Nicked
The houses my friends and I lived in were all detached, but with shared walls separating the boundaries of the gardens. As everything was built on a US-style grid plan, it meant that the nimbler members of the gang were more than happy to follow my suggestion, one bored afternoon, that we discover how far away from my back garden we could get without touching the floor. (more…)
The freshest forgotten albums of yesteryear. Not the usual fawned over suspects but albums that ‘net-trawlers and second hand record shop aficionados may come across and should snap up now.
This month Guy Oddy harks back to an American classic…
Beatmag’s rundown of the best to throw your hard-earned money at.
Sound 10
Beatmag Album of the Issue
1. Pepe Deluxe
Spare Time Machine (Catskills) (more…)
SINGLE OF THE MONTH
Fireworks Night
When We Fell Through The Ice (Kartel/Organ Grinder) (more…)
Adam Locks meets Claudia Brücken in London to discuss Propaganda and her projects since (more…)
Pepe Deluxe hit their third album haemorrhaging sonic inventiveness and heavy, heavy funk. The Finnish band, led by Beatmag regular contributor James Spectrum (AKA Jari Salo) and JA-Jazz (AKA Tomi Paajaanen) have mutated from a sampladelic big beat frolic into a proper band with a sound rooted in the ‘60s and ‘70s, notably paying tribute to the spirit of prog. (more…)
In a place like Brighton, UK, one must choose words carefully lest they offend those with sensitive ears and a petty nature. Call a macho hetero ringmaster in this town and he’ll likely become a snarling knuckle dragger quicker than you can say nut-job. Not many emcees within the hip hop circle will allow such a transgression either, but to be fair not many of them write about morphing into owls, offer the sale of ice creams “with an animal in” or dress up in a top hat, a red shiny coat with a cane to accessorise. (more…)
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