Music

My Story on Billy Cobham’s Thailand Debut

May 11, 2006

I’ve got a story in today’s International Herald Tribune/Thai Day (Thai Day is a Siam-specific IHT section) — it’s a review of drumming legend Billy Cobham‘s first-ever concert in Thailand. The story’s not (yet?) online, sadly. If you’re reading this from the Kingdom, pick up a copy of the paper; for those of you outside Thailand, well, you’re outta luck. But here’s my lede:

When the drummer for the opening act launched into his manic solo Tuesday night at the Thailand Cultural Center, he may well have felt intimidated by his proximity to greatness. That’s because not far away – lounging backstage, perhaps, or seated serenely in the wings — drumming legend Billy Cobham was in the house. When Cobham later took the stage and struck up his band for what would be his inaugural Thailand performance, he displayed not only his staggering percussive genius but also his subtle aptitude for marshaling disparate sounds from around the globe.

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Jacko Steps Out in Black Women’s Robes

January 25, 2006

Let your freak flags fly, is what I say. When in Bahrain, as the saying goes. Perhaps his burka was at the cleaner?

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Some Links

January 5, 2006

Some stuff of note:

– I’ve posted three new items over at Gridskipper of late.

– Here’s a license plate my brother Colin and I saw here in DC the weekend before X-mas. I wanna know who’s in charge of VA vanity plate obscenity screening. Someone is sleeping on the job. (Weird side note: a bumper sticker on this car featured the word “abortion” with a line through it and said “Slavery: it was legal, too.” Um, okay.)

– Culture Bully’s 10 Favorite Mash-ups of 2005 looks promising. (Especially the Flaming Lips/Snoop Dog joint.)

– This came out before X-mas, but it’s still interesting. Andres Oppenheimer asks: “Will Bolivia’s Morales follow good or bad role model?”:

Bolivia, which has an estimated 55 percent indigenous population, will enter a new era of majority rule following last weekend’s landslide election of Evo Morales, a leftist coca growers’ leader of Aymara descent. The big question is whether indigenous-ruled Bolivia will follow the steps of South Africa or Zimbabwe.

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Chronicles of Narnia Rap Video

December 19, 2005

The most recent Saturday Night Live was largely lame, but it did feature a fantastic Chronicles of Narnia rap video.

(Via BoingBoing.)

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But What About Biggie?

November 7, 2005

WorldNetDaily:

WASHINGTON – Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA, has introduced a bill to provide for the “expeditious disclosure of records relevant to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur,” the rapper murdered in Las Vegas in 1996.

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Back Dormitory Boys: They’re So Hot Right Now!

November 1, 2005

Because my earlier post about the red hot* Chinese lipsynching teenagers is inexplicably ranked second in Google for a “Back Dormitory Boys” search, I’ve seen an explosion of visitors today — over ~~1.000~~ 2,100 (and rising) of you ~~suckers~~ esteemed readers have landed on newley.com.

So I figured, what the hell: here’s even more info on the dorky boy-band wannabees from beyond the Great Firewall of China. (I think this uptick in BDB-related inquiries is related to the fact that they’ve been featured on Good Morning America or The Today Show or somesuch thing.)

To re-cap:
– Back Dormitory Boys peform “I Want it That Way.”
– BDB video compilation (several of their “hits”).
– “Good Morning America” story on the BDB.
– BDB Technorati search.
– BDB Google Blog Search.

Knock yourselves out.

*Note to The Back Dormitory Boys: don’t let this sudden Interweb fame go to your heads. Mahir Cagri and William Hung were once big shots, too. Nothing gold can stay, my friends. Nothing gold can stay…

Back+Dormitory+Boys

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Jay-Z to Buy Arsenal Football Club?

October 10, 2005

This is too cool to possibly be true. Of course, “major stake” doesn’t necessarily mean “controlling stake.”

Jay-Z, Arsenal

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Uprising on Fraternity Row

October 5, 2005

The Onion:

WILLIAMSBURG, VA—In an unprecedented effort to fight injustice, reggae music legend Bob Marley, dead since 1981, rose from his grave in Jamaica early Sunday to free his most devoted followers, American college fraternity members, “from the bonds of oppression.”

Marley’s recordings, which originally raised awareness of the Rastafarian faith and the plight of underprivileged Jamaicans and Africans, have taken on an even deeper meaning as the Greek fraternal system, a maligned, misunderstood minority group itself, has fervently embraced the driving, soulful music.

(Via Ben P.)

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Coldplay

October 2, 2005

I went to see Coldplay at Nissan Pavilion Friday night. Great show — I’m a Coldplay fan but I’m not a hard-core enthusiast; thus, I didn’t know what to expect from the evening. But it was really quite an amazing performance. The grand scale of it all reminded me a bit of seeing U2. And Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow — aka Chris Martin, Coldplay’s frontman — is a charismatic performer. We had great seats, and when Martin took to the audience at the end of the show I snapped this pic (as all the ladies in the house swooned):

Coldplay

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Pop Music Around the World

September 27, 2005

Here’s a delightful SF Chron article from Michael Wolgelenter about various strains of Western pop music — good and bad — he’s discovered in far-flung corners of the world.

I had a similar cross-cultural sonic experience last year in a town on the rural east coast of Taiwan. I was in a bar and listened in amazement as a Taiwanese band launched into a pitch-perfect cover of Mexican rock outfit Mana’s power ballad “Corazon Espinado.” The singer even had the Spanish lyrics down. Here’s a pic of the group: