Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Julianne Shepherd = Another Awesome Music Writer

Hit up VIBE for her clear window into the making of Keyshia Cole's video "Let It Go" (ft. Missy Elliott) - you'll feel like you were there. And I personally can't wait for her autobiographical movie coming out.

my fav quotes:
K.C.: "It's easier to be yourself than try to make up somebody. A lot easier."
M.E.: "...My main thing is to get the girls dancing, cause once you get the girls dancing the guys will always follow. When I go in the clubs now, the records are so hard it's like even the girls are like, [barks] 'THROW YA HANDS UP!' People ain't really havin fun with it no more, so that's my main thing - trying to get people back in the club."

AMEN.

Sasha Frere-Jones = Awesome Music Writer

this article on R. Kelly & Double Up is great:
Unbound - The New Yorker, 7.2.07

Think I Just Made Up My Mind About Congestion Pricing

Some Subways Found Packed Past Capacity - NY Times, 6/26/07

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Hypnosis via Dance

I just watched this week's Wed. episode of So You Think You Can Dance, and there were a lot of great routines tonight (loved Dave Scott's choreography especially this week) ... BUT - I still can't stop thinking about this Mia Michaels routine performed by Lacey & Kameron last week. I can't stop watching it either. I can't stop getting chills from it. It's mesmerizing...

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

It's Weird How My Music Moods Change...

Earlier this week I was listening to a lot of African musicians... Angelique Kidjo's new album (which is not as good as Ojaya! but still has a couple of gems on it like Sedjedo and her remake of Ravel's Bolero which she calls Lonlon), Fela & Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti (who's performing at S.O.B.'s soon!) ... etc. etc.

The bouncy, fluid rhythms and vowels have been a really good match for how I've been feeling inside ... go, go, go ... tons of good stuff going on - stay happy, no worries, just keep bouncing and moving and everything stays light... keep pushing darkness away... i'm imagining myself bopping down little fears and concerns like that carnival game where you mallet the groundhogs back into the underworld. Just keep popping them underground, and they don't exist. I love all this music... but the truth is, at some point, I have to slow down. Come face to face with my groundhogs and listen to what they have to say about cold, wintry spells.

So I've switched my Rhapsody to start listening to singer-songwriters -- some "blue-eyed soul" (for the record, I hate that term ... ) And it's weird -- in a different mood, I might find Jonah Smith, and much more so, Dave Barnes - too cheesy. In fact the first time I listened to Dave Barnes I thought he was cheesy and saccharine. But right now, this music feels more real. More aligned with my breathing. More in tune with how I feel inside. Positive, yes, but a little vulnerable. Still grooving and nodding my head, but a little more slowly - a little more self-consciously. A good thing? Ask me tomorrow. I might be back to blasting Clipse.

See BrooklynRocks for a link to listen to My Morning Scene by Jonah Smith

Link to Itunes to hear a sample of Angelique Kidjo (feat. Ziggy Marley) on Sedjedo

Seun Kuti's myspace

Monday, June 11, 2007

We Did It! 2007 Lake Placid Half Marathon

I'm hoping that one of the event photographers managed to snap a quality pic of Rich & me and Jeremy & Shoko cruising through the Lake Placid Half Marathon this past Sunday, because we all rocked it. Ladies & gentlemen, Rich & I are living proof that this whole training business works. 10 weeks ago we were wiped out after only 6 miles & yesterday, we ran (well, jogged) over twice that (13.1 miles to be exact) ... and it was actually fun! Even without my IPod shuffle! (They said no electronic devices... what!? I didn't even know if my legs would keep moving without tunes in my ears... but I had good non-musical company yesterday, and the time/miles actually flew by.)

Go us!

BTW, those are ski jumps - not massive water slides - in this pic of Lake Placid. Seeing those things up close, I gotta say ski jumpers are one brave breed.... or just, um, ... insane?

Friday, June 8, 2007

When Kindness Falls Like Rain, It Washes Me Away

I think I have listened to this Counting Crows song, "Anna Begins", fifteen times this afternoon. I've been in love with it since it was first released in 1993, and the bridge still "washes me away" just about every time I hear it. Adam Duritz is a brilliant songwriter. Even with all his fame, he has managed to maintain the ability to write honestly. He's not afraid of making himself vulnerable. I so admire that.

Listen to the song here -- but at least the first time, try to ignore the photo montage... while creative, I find it a little distracting...

Monday, June 4, 2007

Bryan Gaynor is My Latest Hero

He has scoliosis, but he still threw down on "So You Think You Can Dance". What an inspiration. Check him out below.

I also had forgotten since last season how much I platonically just adore choreographer/guest judge Shane Sparks...

Friday, June 1, 2007

R. Kelly Vs. Lily Allen

yes, yes, I know... R. Kelly would die if he read this post title - being compared side-by-side Ms. ... British, Myspace-wonder, white, feminist... Allen. But I'm sorry - I don't think it's JUST the common reggae influence that makes these two songs sound so similar to me. Can anyone back me up on this? Musically (obv. not lyrically), I think "Freaky in the Club":


is this summer's new "Smile":

Why Couldn't He Be Here to Knock On My Door & Give Me A Check?!?


Just saw 84-year old, still-working Ed McMahon outside my building. He is filming something outside of Tom's Restaurant for the NY Lottery. He has lost weight and is super friendly.