My favorite track on the new Erykah Badu album New Amerykah is the Madlib production “Healer”:

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It’s the world premiere of a new Chris Brown video! “With You” is the 3rd single off Exclusive.

“With You” - Chris Brown World Premiere Video

Burial is such a unique artist and his music almost defies classification in any genre. His music hovers somewhere between dub, experimental electronica and psycho-acoustic phenomena. It leans more towards dub and dubstep, but often times sounds like dub played on a slow speed. Burial unearthed his sophomore album of experimental dubstep on Hyperdub last week, titled Untrue. His self-titled debut, released last year, was praised by music critics of all different tastes - even dubbed Album of the Year by The Wire magazine. ([More →])

Eric Clapton is a man of action. When he first attended a London art show 10 years ago that featured 3 graffiti artists - Quinones, Stash and Futura - he was quick to show his appreciation for the artwork. Clapton purchased a few pieces from the show, then commissioned the artists to do custom paint jobs on a few of his guitars. A full decade since that London art show, Clapton still does not hesitate to endow the arts. When Lee Quinones recently decided to sell a collection of his paintings he calls his “dirty-dozen,” he fired off an email to a few fans of his work to let them know it was available for purchase. Eric Clapton - our man of action - hit Q back 10 minutes later with a reply like “Lee, they’re mine.” Clapton followed through with $120,000 USD for the lot. ([More →])

Macy Gray has a new video for “Everybody” off her new album Big. The video was shot on the Santa Monica Promenade and depicts Gray calling for action and participation. People join in declaring their own message of empowerment, involvement and participation. Gray is also calling on everybody to participate by posting video responses on youTube. So far, there have been great responses from Common, will.i.am, Lauren London, and Baron Davis. ([More →])

Maybe Posh Spice being dazzled by Stevie Wonder’s performance at the Beckham’s welcoming party was just the nudge that ol’ Stevie needed. Today he announced he’ll hit the road for the first time in more than 10 years! He will touch 13 cities on his US tour, from San Diego on August 23rd to Boston on September 12th. ([More →])

The same day that Joni Mitchell releases her next album, Shine on Hear Music (the Starbucks label), Herbie Hancock will release his new album, River: The Joni Letters on Verve. Hancock’s new album features illustrious guests Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner, Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, with accompaniment from Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Vinnie Colaiuta and Lionel Loueke! Snap! ([More →])

When I reported on the funky music scheduled for the ESPYs on Sunday, I was a little surprised to see that Macy Gray is involved. It seemed like a foreshadowing of something more to come. After all, it’s been four years since she had something new to sing until this spring’s release of Big. It was foreshadowing. Macy Gray announced her north american tour schedule today. ([More →])

Wow, Gnarls are THE MAN! Gnarls Barkley wants to give you super cool rare shizzle for FREE! ([More →])

Alicia Keys has postponed her forthcoming album until October, and now has tentatively set a date for release. She wowed a worldwide audience this past weekend at Live Earth, and you can watch her performance of new material from the new album! ([More →])

Marie Daulne aka Zap Mama will release another gorgeously funky and smooth-as-Sunday-afternoon album this summer. The Belgium beauty is finishing up Supermoon which she describes as a more personal and intimate document than her previous works. ([More →])

Just days ago, Live Earth organizers announced the addition of Shanghai to the concert roster, thereby bringing the total number of cities that will host Live Earth Concerts to nine! But today, sadly, that number is back to eight, as Istanbul canceled the concert for their city. Official statements say that local businesses did not want to get involved with the high profile event out of fear of environmental organizations. I guess local Turkish industry is a big contributor to global warming and did not want to end up under the microscope by mis-aligning its brands. The lack of local sponsorship led to the cancellation of a live event, however, the Live Earth organizers will still set up 8 giant screens in Istanbul (one for each concert) to project live footage from other concerts around the globe. Wow! Is that going to be like 8 big drive-in movies? That would be wicked! I think this says a lot about the power and influence that has been achieved by environmental NGO’s in the last decade.

Live Earth website

On the bright side, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias have signed on to perform at the concert in Hamburg. That brings the full Hamburg lineup to this:

CHRIS CORNELL
ENRIQUE IGLESIAS
JAN DELAY
JULI
KATIE MELUA
LOTTO KING KARL
MANÁ
MANDO DIAO
MARIA MENA
MIA
MICHAEL MITTERMEIER
REAMONN
ROGER CICERO
SAMY DELUXE
SASHA
SHAKIRA
SILBERMOND
SNOOP DOGG
STEFAN GWILDIS

Shakira video for “No”:

German portal for Live Earth online

Info about Shakira and Iglesias from the Live Earth press release:

Shakira is a two-time Grammy Award-winning and eight-time Latin Grammy Award-winning Colombian singer, songwriter and producer and has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Her 2001 English language breakthrough, LAUNDRY SERVICE, sold more than 20 million albums and made her a global sensation. In early 2005, Shakira released the Oral Fixation project: Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2 have sold a combined 15 million copies worldwide to date and earned five Latin Grammys, including Album of the Year, six Latin Billboard Awards, two Almas Awards, and numerous other awards around the world. She also just completed her Oral Fixation Tour around the world that included 120 sold-out dates. In 1995, Shakira created the Pies Descalso Foundation aimed at helping Colombian children who are victims of violence. She was also instrumental in the creation of Alas, an orgaLEarthnization of the Latin world’s biggest stars who are working to bring awareness to the social and economic conditions of children in Latin America.

Enrique Iglesias, the Madrid-born, Miami-raised singer, has sold more than 40 million albums and has topped the charts and gone platinum with both English and Spanish language works. Iglesias won the Grammy for Best Latin Performer in 1997 and the Latin Grammy for Best Male Pop Album in 2003. His new album, Insomniac, was released last week, and the single “Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)” has jumped to the top of the US, UK, Mexico, Sweden, Netherlands and other charts. Iglesias is the most successful Spanish-language singer in the world with 17 #1 Billboard Latin hits, more than any other artist in history. His albums have gone gold or platinum in more than 30 countries.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have been rocking out in the Daptone studios again. With Sexy Results! 100 Days, 100 Nights is the third full album from the soulful funksters and will be available as of September 25th on Daptone records.

100 Days, 100 Nights Tracklist:

1. 100 Days, 100 Nights
2. Nobody’s Baby
3. Tell Me
4. Be Easy
5. When the Other Foot Drops, Uncle
6. Let Them Knock
7. Something’s Changed
8. Humble Me
9. Keep on Looking
10. Answer Me

Over the last few years, different members of the Dap-Kings ensemble have been adding their funk powers to other live acts on tour and in the studio, such as Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Ghostface Killah, Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, They Might Be Giants, Lily Allen, and Amy Winehouse.

The Dap-Kings are:

Binky Griptite, Guitar, Emcee
David Guy, Trumpet
Bosco “Bass” Mann, Bass, Bandleader
Neal Sugarman, Tenor Saxophone
Tommy “TNT” Brenneck, Guitar
Fernando “Bugaloo” Velez, Congas, tambourine
Homer “Funky-Foot” Steiweiss, Drums
Ian Hendrickson, Baritone and Tenor Saxophone

Special Guests:

Eric Kalb, Drums
Cochemea “Cheme” Gastelum Baritone Sax
Otis Youngblood, Baritone Saxophone
Todd Simon, Trumpet
Al Street, Guitar

Tour Dates:

6/13 New York, NY - River to River Festival (Sharon Jones with Booker T. & the MG’s)
6/14 Brooklyn, NY - Metrotech Center (Sharon Jones with Booker T. & the MG’s)
7/14 Brooklyn, NY - American Roots Festival (Kingsborough College)
7/15 Ottawa, Ontario - Ottawa Bluesfest
7/19 Calgary, Alberta - Calgary Folk Festival
7/26 New York, NY - Castle Clinton (River to River Festival)
8/2 Aspen, CO - The Belly Up
8/3 Telluride, CO - Telluride Jazz Festival
8/4 Denver, CO - The Gothic Theatre

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Links

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings mice bass
Dap-Kings Artist Page on Daptone
Daptone Records