Friends of the Stars: May 2006

The Amen Break

Ok, so this isn't about Country, Folk or any kind of music you might associate with what we do but nevertheless this is a facsinating video about how a 6-second drum break on the b-side to a 1960s 7" came to shape much of the greatest new music heard in the last 25 years - from HipHop to Jungle and beyond.

I make no apologies for talking about this as Hip Hop was my first love. I was 14 when I heard 'Bad' by LL Cool J and very soon owned a copy of Public Enemy's '...Nation of Millions..' LP. This music was the first I took seriously, pouring over album sleeves and liner notes, studying lyrics and so on. Music, it seemed, could be about something, rather than just a pleasant noise to sing along or dance to.

Pretty soon after my HipHop epiphany I began working in 2nd hand record stores and my musical horizons broadened....I discovered Metal, Krautrock, Reggae, Dub and, of course, Country and Folk. Still, HipHop stayed with me and certain records that came out in the genre grabbed me just like LL had done all those years ago. For instance, 'Illmatic' by Nas remains, in my opinion, one of the best records ever made in any genre, let alone HipHop

Anyway, enough context. Here's the video.

Enjoy

Interview with Roots Music

We recently were interviewed by Roots Music.

The interview can be found on the Roots Music page and has links to a couple of songs from Lighting and Electrical

The new edition of Roots Music also has piece on Tom Petty featuring extracts from his new book

Ta

How To Get Ahead in the Music Business #1: 'Best'

Ok, so we're probably the worst people you should ever listen to when it comes to making good choices, informed decisions, the right move etc etc etc

NB: Don't be under any illusions.

Our preternatural ability to shoot ourselves in the foot is and has been quite literally astonishing to date (2000- 2006...and counting)

However, we've noticed a few things in our time, and here's one of them:

Everybody in or around the music business insists on signing off emails with the word 'Best'.

Why this is hasn't escaped us. We've boiled it down to the following....

1) Everyone in the music business does it
2) Therefore everyone wishing to be considered part of the music business does it.
3) See 1)

Best,
Friends of the Stars