Music for Perfect People

A few weeks ago, I posted about  the J.Period and K’Naan collaboration that celebrated the works of Bob Marley and Fela Kuti. Now released is the third installment in the Messenger series and the tribute this time is paid to singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.

Episode #3 celebrates America’s reluctant Civil Rights song leader and poetic voice, Bob Dylan. Dylan’s own struggle with his status as a “Messenger” is well-documented: he shunned the tremendous expectations placed on him during the 60’s, preferring to see himself as a songwriter rather than a social leader. Nevertheless, the impact of his music is undeniable and, over 40 years since Dylan’s arrival, J.Period & K’NAAN set out to show his continued relevance, both socially and musically. On The Messengers #3: Bob Dylan, J.Period remixes and re-invents Dylan’s music for the hip hop generation, while K’NAAN channels Dylan’s poetic voice with heartfelt and compelling lyrics. The result is an unprecedented and truly unique mixtape offering. Also features: DJ Preservation and bassist, Brian Satz.

J.Period + K’Naan – Messengers: Bob Dylan – [DOWNLOAD HERE]

Related Posts:

• MESSENGERS :: Tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan MIXTAPES by J.Period + K’Naan
• [MIXTAPE] DOWNLOAD :: J.Period, John Legend & The Roots – ‘Wake Up! Radio’ [ft. Common, Q-Tip, Nneka, K'NANN, Blu + MORE!]
• K’Naan’s ‘Wavin Flag’ Named 2010 World Cup Official Song
• Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival 2009
• Morning News SmackDown 4.3

Read the following information below regarding the delicious mixtapes from J.Period and K’Naan .. the two have paid tribute to some wonderful musicians through these sweet works. I have included the press release from August 18th along with the the descriptions and download links for the mixes .. I highly suggest you listen to these in your spare time.

New York, NY (August 18, 2009) – Some artists are defined by their environment. Some redefine their environment. Still others push the boundaries of convention so fully that their influence is felt around the globe, and across generations. Their music compels us not only to dance but to think, not only to celebrate but to strive, not only to listen but to truly hear. Fela Kuti, Nigeria’s eminent musical activist; Bob Marley, Jamaica’s emissary of struggle and unity; and Bob Dylan, America’s reluctant Civil Rights song leader, are three such artists.

These are “The Messengers.”

Today, August 18, 2009, acclaimed DJ/Producer, J.Period, and rising Somali-born MC, K’NAAN, are pleased to announce a unique and powerful remix project, paying tribute to the lasting legacy of these musical giants. Weaving afro-beat, reggae, ska, folk music and rock into this genre-bending musical experience, The Messengers stretches the boundaries of hip hop—and the mixtape genre itself. Remixing the classic work of Fela, Marley and Dylan, The Messengers captures the timelessness of their sounds and the continued urgency of their messages. The result, as fans have come to expect from J.Period, is like no mixtape you’ve ever heard.

The Messengers arrives on the heels of K’NAAN’s sophomore release, Troubadour (A&M/Octone Records), released January 2009. Having already made a powerful mark with his breakthrough debut, K’NAAN’s Troubadour debuted at #32 on Billboard’s Top 200, continuing his rapid rise on the world stage. Filled with eloquent and thought-provoking lyrics in the tradition of great folk singers and protest songs, the album also features all-star collaborations with Damian Marley, Mos Def, Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Adam Levine & James Valentine (Maroon 5) and Chubb Rock.

With a track record for game-changing remix projects (his recent collaboration with Q-Tip yielded over 600,000 downloads), J.Period’s ever-expanding highlight reel boasts remixes for heavyweights from Mary J. Bilge to The Roots to Kanye West, as well as original production for blockbuster films and video games. Commissioned by labels, artists and lifestyle brands for his groundbreaking promo campaigns, J.Period has not only elevated the mixtape to an art form, but consistently proved its viability as a potent promotional tool. Each release raises the bar, and with The Messengers, J.Period proves that his musical ear and signature documentary style are at home in any genre.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Episode #1 pays tribute to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Nigeria’s eminent musical activist and arguably the most influential artist to emerge from Africa this century. Join J.Period & K’NAAN as they pay tribute to Fela by remixing and reinventing his classic work! Guest MC’s include: Zumbi (Zion I) & Bajah (Dry Eye Crew) from Sierra Leone.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE 1

Episode #2 of J.Period & K’NAAN’s The Messengers celebrates Jamaica’s global emissary of struggle & unity: the great Bob Marley. Weaving Marley’s life story with K’NAAN’s own story of struggle, J.Period remixes iconic tracks like “Shot the Sheriff,” “Stir It Up,” and “Belly Full.” Also features: Kardinal Offishall, Steele (Smif’N'Wessun), Sierra Leone’s Bajah (Dry Eye Crew) & Netic the Rebel (Game Rebellion)!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE 2

Episode #3 of J.Period & K’NAAN’s The Messengers celebrates America’s reluctant Civil Rights song leader, Bob Dylan. Features exclusive remixes produced by J.Period. Also features: DJ Preservation + bassist Brian Satz.

Episode 3 .. COMING SOON ..

Related Posts:

• MESSENGERS: Tribute to Bob Dylan
• [MIXTAPE] DOWNLOAD :: J.Period, John Legend & The Roots – ‘Wake Up! Radio’ [ft. Common, Q-Tip, Nneka, K'NANN, Blu + MORE!]
• Streaming :: Fela Kuti’s banned “Na Poi”
• LISTEN :: a rare radio interview with Fela Kuti [1970]
• K’Naan’s ‘Wavin Flag’ Named 2010 World Cup Official Song

Confirming rumors he had a bunch of material ready, Bob Dylan has announced his new album Together Through Life will drop on April 28th.  You can preorder the album here.  According to Hidden Track David Hidalgo of Los Lobos plays accordion on the album. 

In other Dylan news, Rolling Stone has announced the initial lineup for Dylan Fest 2009.  This year will feature performances by two Strokes members (Fab Moretti and Nikolai Fraiture), Sammy James (Mooney Suzuki), Matt Romano (Little Joy/Albery Hammond Jr. Band) and others.   The show will take place at Mercury Lounge on May 21st.  Tickets are on sale today at noon.

Don’t fuck with Lil Wayne.  The heavily tattooed rapper/rocker has been dropping lawsuits like he used to drop free music the last couple days.  One lawsuit is against BCD music group who has released a series of mixtapes including unreleased Weezy songs.  The second suit is against Quincy Jones’ son QDIII, who premiered his documentary The Carter at Sundance this year.  Apparently QDIII promised Lil Wayne final cut priveliges on the project, but included a bunch of material Wayne had demanded be taken out.  From the sound of it, the film portrayed Weezy as a crazy person, which is a total misrepresentation.

Hip Hop DX is reporting DJ Premier might be working on albums with Blaq Poet, MC Eiht, and…KRS-ONE this year!  Premo mentioned in an interview recently that he and KRS have discussed putting out an album tentatively titled The Return of the Boom Bips.  Stay tuned for updates.

Related Posts:

• *List of FREE NYC Park Shows*
• LISTEN :: ‘RE:GENERATION’ tracks from Skrillex x The Doors, Pretty Lights, DJ Premier, and The Crystal Method
• VIDEO :: The Strokes – “Call Me Back”
• LISTEN/DOWNLOAD :: Kimya Dawson – “Walk Like Thunder” [ft. Aesop Rock] + Tour Dates w/Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz
• ALBUM STREAM :: The Strokes – ‘Angles’

Jenny Lewis has announced a new string of tour dates stretching from April to July.  You can see a full list of tour dates over at Daily Noise.  Fans of the red headed songstress can also look forward to Welcome to Van Nuys, a documentary film about the making of Lewis’ album Acid Tongue. 

The first single off Bob Dylan’s upcoming album Together Through Life will available for free download at bobdylan.com from midnight tonight through midnight tomorrow.  Together Through Life is set to be released on April 28th.

The bad economy coupled with the relative ease of both finding and reading about music on the internet has claimed another victim.  Alpha Media Group has announced the April issue of Blender Magazine, which features Kelly Clarkson on the cover, will be the magazine’s final issue.  Blender.com will remain in business.  

The Dead are playing three free shows in New York City this evening.  If you don’t already have tickets, you probably won’t be going.  The Dead will play an acoustic show at Angel Orensanz starting at 5:00, a full band electric set at The Gramercy Theater starting at 8:00, and a late night show at Roseland starting at 11:00.

Related Posts:

• MESSENGERS: Tribute to Bob Dylan
• MESSENGERS :: Tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan MIXTAPES by J.Period + K’Naan
• Morning News SmackDown 4.3
• Rothbury Makes Me Happy
• It’s Almost Time…

The Rothbury Festival (July 4th weekend in MI) has announced their line up, putting all other festies to shame. Shame and embarrassment.

Some of the artists:

The Dead

Bob Dylan

The Black Crowes

String Cheese Incident

Damien Marley and Nas

Willie Nelson

Ani Difranco

Jackie Greene

Kid Cudi

Any festival that allows me to see both Bob Dylan and Nas has done something incredibly right.

Related Posts:

• LISTEN :: ‘RE:GENERATION’ tracks from Skrillex x The Doors, Pretty Lights, DJ Premier, and The Crystal Method
• MP3 :: Freedom or Death – “If I Ruled the World” [NAS cover]
• REMIX :: Gil Scott-Heron – “New York is Killing Me” [ft. Mos Def]
• LISTEN :: Gil Scott-Heron – “New York is Killing Me” [Nas remix]
• LISTEN :: Two new tracks from Thoko

Uncut.co.uk is reporting that Bob Dylan has an album of all new material set to be released in the spring. Apparently Mr. Dylan was tabbed to write the music for a new Renee Zellweger film and while in the studio he was impressed enough with his musical results that he kept recording and the new album materialized quickly.

I assume the thought of a new album became concrete in this manner:

Bob Dylan: Hey, Hey Jack. Listen to this.

Jack: That’s all right there Bobby.

Bob Dylan: Jack…Fuck Renee Zellweger.  I’m Bob Dylan. I wrote Mr. Tamborine Man. What has Renee Zellweger done. Fuck Jerry Maguire. We’re putting out an album Jack, then I’m going to take a supermodel to a late dinner where i will refuse to order a meal. I will just sit there and chain smoke without muttering a damn word. When her dessert comes I will get up and walk to an empty table where I will sit alone until she finishes. Then I will take her home and make her listen to Saved while we become intimate.

Related Posts:

• CHECK IT :: Tom Waits is working a new album!
• MESSENGERS: Tribute to Bob Dylan
• MESSENGERS :: Tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan MIXTAPES by J.Period + K’Naan
• Pop Shit #11 Come and Lie Down in the Shadow
• Morning News SmackDown 4.3

Last week’s purchases:

Le0 Kottke & Mike Gordon – Clone ($5.99)

I’m pretty sure Leo Kottke is my father’s favorite guitar player. I remember hearing One Guitar, No Vocals a lot as a kid and eventually (after the Zebrahead years) came to love it. I guess I bought this album thinking it would sound like a Leo Kottke album with some good base playing, and maybe some good lyrics from Mike Gordon. It feels more like a Phish album with some really good finger picking going on to me. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just not what I was expecting.

Mos Def – New Danger (7.99)

A lot of the music on this album crosses over from hip hop to blues and rock. The hard rocking songs really turn me off. I actually ran to my cd player to switch tracks when one of them came. With that said, there are some good hip hop songs on the album and Blue Black Jack (ft. Shuggie Otis) is a really cool blues crossover. I’m not sure if the hard rock songs make the album unlistenable, but if I were putting this on an IPod I would definitely edit them.

Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind ($3.99)

I loved this album as soon as I heard it. I think with enough spins it will end up being one of my top three Dylan albums. I couldn’t get enough of Million Miles and Till I fell in Love With You all week. This is far and away the best four bucks I’ve spent in the last year.

TV On the Radio – Live At Amoeba Music – ($1.99)

I used to have a couple of TV On the Radio’s albums on my IPod. For one reason or another, I never really listened to them. I liked this album a lot. I think if I can find another one of their albums for $1.99 I will definitely buy it. Those kids in the skinny jeans, flannel shirts, and stupid glasses definitely got this one right. Perhaps I’ll mention this to the next one that talks down to me at the music shop.

Total: $19.96

This week’s purchases:

Bill Withers – Live at Carnegie Hall ($9.99)

Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue ($8.99)

Total: $18.98

Related Posts:

• $15 Sundays 1.25.09
• LISTEN :: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness” [Das Racist REMIX]
• VIDEO :: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness”
• WATCH :: TV On The Radio’s short film for ‘Nine Types of Light’
• Blaqstarr releases ‘The Mixtape’ [ft. MIA, Diplo, Steve Aoki, Talib Kweli, Rye Rye, Mos Def]

Bob Dylan has licensed one of the most important songs ever written, Blowin’ In the Wind, to be used in commercials for The Co-Operative, which is some type of UK business. The Co-Operative seems pretty interesting, it’s democratically run, it prides itself on business ethics (Nibb High football rules!) and you can purchase a funeral on its website.

Dylan has also shilled for other companies before, including Lincoln, Bank of Montreal and Lincoln.

…..but this is “Blowin’ in the Wind”.

This song was belted out in fields of the South during the Civil Rights movement, now it will be the soundtrack to a million little pixels telling you to buy something you don’t need. I know Dylan is held to higher standards than, well everyone, and that the music industry has now become intertwined with marketing and advertisement, but I still feel disappointed in this news, whether that’s right or wrong.

http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/smokingsection/2009/01/dylan-goes-commercial.php

Link to The Co-operative:

http://www.co-operative.coop/

Related Posts:

• MESSENGERS: Tribute to Bob Dylan
• MESSENGERS :: Tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan MIXTAPES by J.Period + K’Naan
• Morning News SmackDown 4.3
• Morning News SmackDown 3.30
• Rothbury Makes Me Happy

This is the first installment of a weekly column I’ll be writing. I’ll be giving myself $15 every week to go to the record store (usually Tunes in Hoboken). I’ll buy what I can for $15, come back, let you know what it is, give everything I buy a few listens over the course of the week, and then review it in the column the next week. So, next week you’ll get a review of these albums as well as a list of what I buy then. If you’re familiar with any of the albums I buy, drop a note in the column section and let me know what you think about them. Let me know if this column starts to suck, or sucks to begin with, and I’ll think up something a bit less self-centered. Also, as a reward for not drinking this month (and saving A LOT of money on the weekends), I’m going to be giving myself $20 for this week and next week.

This week’s purchases:

Le0 Kottke & Mike Gordon – Clone ($5.99)

Mos Def – New Danger (7.99)

Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind ($3.99)

TV On the Radio – Live At Amoeba Music – ($1.99)

Total: $19.96

Related Posts:

• $15 Sundays 2.1.09
• LISTEN :: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness” [Das Racist REMIX]
• VIDEO :: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness”
• WATCH :: TV On The Radio’s short film for ‘Nine Types of Light’
• Blaqstarr releases ‘The Mixtape’ [ft. MIA, Diplo, Steve Aoki, Talib Kweli, Rye Rye, Mos Def]

Bob Dylan – The Times They Are a Changin’

Today’s Song of the Day is dedicated to President George W. Bush

Related Posts:

• MESSENGERS: Tribute to Bob Dylan
• MESSENGERS :: Tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan MIXTAPES by J.Period + K’Naan
• Morning News SmackDown 4.3
• Morning News SmackDown 3.30
• Rothbury Makes Me Happy