After flight delays from Wellington on Friday, folks in Melbourne had a long wait into the early hours of Saturday morning for their highly-anticipated live Flying Lotus experience. By the end of his show that long wait seemed worth it for both the die-hard FlyLo disciples with their arms stretched out towards him on the stage… Continue reading Flying Lotus Live In “Melben”
E is for Electronic Music Infiltration
‘E’ in Beaver’s A to Z of Fusion goes to the sounds of electronic music for their like-it-or-not, rapid infiltration of almost every type of music in just about every part of the world since their beginnings at the end of the 19th century. A Shallow History of Infiltration The history of electronic music is long… Continue reading E is for Electronic Music Infiltration
D’Angelo – A Messiah of Sorts
Have you spent the last 14 years since D’Angelo delivered Voodoo – waiting, watching, desperately hoping for the artist then-dubbed the “R&B Jesus” to bring us new music, to deliver Black Messiah? Not me, or at least I didn’t think I was. Voodoo kept me in good company that whole time and still now gives me as much listening… Continue reading D’Angelo – A Messiah of Sorts
Fatima, Her Band & Alexander Nut
2014 was a momentous year for Swedish-born, London-based soul singer Fatima. After some time lending her vocal talents to the music releases of other artists, Fatima got together with some Eglo Records producers and then some more (Floating Points – Theo Parrish – Computer Jay – Knxwledge – Scoop DeVille – Oh No – Flako) to record and… Continue reading Fatima, Her Band & Alexander Nut
Tony Allen’s Film of Life – 2014 Music Supreme
“Thank you for listening to my music” Tony Allen says humbly in the opening track of Film of Life. The Nigerian-born, Paris-based drummer/composer/songwriter/musical director best-known to Afrobeat lovers as its co-founder and pioneer alongside Fela Kuti for a long time thereafter, continues ‘Moving On’ by reminding us of past album titles from his long and legendary music career which are… Continue reading Tony Allen’s Film of Life – 2014 Music Supreme
Hiatus Kaiyote – Sonic Architects of Magnificence
A few things became manifestly clear to me during Hiatus Kaiyote’s headlining set at Byron Bay’s Sonic Architects’ National Conference last weekend. The first was that the musical evolution of this Australian future-soul group is a magnificent one to experience, best live. Old songs performed from the debut album Tawk Tomahawk sounded fresh – dynamically recomposed to create… Continue reading Hiatus Kaiyote – Sonic Architects of Magnificence
Mullum Music Festival 2014 – A Town Alive With The Sound of Music
Any place in the world where you find its streets and buildings are alive and buzzing with the sounds of music is a blessed thing, right? Well blessed be any folks in Mullumbimby during four days once a year when this small and otherwise quiet town near coastal Byron Bay is filled with the sounds… Continue reading Mullum Music Festival 2014 – A Town Alive With The Sound of Music
The Gold Standards of Prince
It’s Prince. You all know who he is. You all know what he’s done in his long and at times “crazy-amazing” music career. By now you either love all of Prince’s music, hate it or a bit of both. So I guess you already know that four years since the last, Prince has recently released… Continue reading The Gold Standards of Prince
Lamine Sonko & The African Intelligence
Melbourne is a rich melting-pot of people and cultures from all over the world. Its vibrant music scene is a reflection of that fact, and so too is the make-up and music of Lamine Sonko & The African Intelligence. Band leader, musician, vocalist and dancer Lamine Sonko, rich in his own family history of music,… Continue reading Lamine Sonko & The African Intelligence
Soulfest Brisbane – Shit, Damn, Motherfucker
One week after Brisbane Soulfest I’m still buzzing on a musical high, slowly absorbing and relishing the goodness of the experience it was. Festival folks in Brisbane were delivered exactly what they went to Soulfest for: 10 hours of non-stop soul, r&b and hip hop music from a long-list of quality Australian-based and international artists performing tag team on 2… Continue reading Soulfest Brisbane – Shit, Damn, Motherfucker