lefreeakblog

I found out last week that next month's much anticipated Killers & Manics gig in Birmingham has unsurprisingly been postponed. So with no new gigs to write about, I thought I'd post a review I did several years ago of one of my favourite recent gigs. Nile Rodgers Pres.the Chic Organisation @ The Forum, London - 14th June 2013 It may have been my friend's love of his music that brought me here - a friend who neatly summed up Nile Rodger's contribution to pop by stating; "He's produced almost every song you've ever danced to!!"; But what brought most other people here, especially the surprisingly large number of young people who were almost certainly not born when Chic were in the charts, was without doubt the song of the summer Daft Punk's "Get Lucky", a track so Chic it could be 1979 all over again! The young crowd was entertained early on by legendary disco DJ Nicky Siano who posed with Nile to take a photo when the lege...

Thundercat It Is What It Is    Brainfeeder Virtuoso bassist stretches his songwriting chops to create a coherent groovy classic OSTENSIBLY a jazz fusion bassist, Thundercat - Stephen Lee Bruner to those who know him personally - is now ready to take things to the next level after being on the fringes of greatness for awhile. Born into a family of musicians and picking up the bass at the age of 15, he first found some limited success in LA punk band Suicidal Tendencies before releasing his debut solo album in 2011. He has then started working with a series of musicians along side his solo career but it wasn't until he played and became "the creative epicenter" on Kendrick Lamar's 2015 masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly that he really came to prominence. He then released his 3rd album Drunk in 2017 to widespread critical acclaim. It Is What It Is follows in a similar vein to its predecessor but comes with improved songwriting and better grooves. It is also more pal...

Little Richard, who passed away yesterday, was nicknamed The Originator", "The Innovator", "The Architect of Rock and Roll". Taking early secular rhythm and blues, and merging gospel, (jump) blues and boogie woogie, he injected his own fun wild personality and wrote catchy, high-octane songs on piano, that were sung and performed with so much energy and gusto it thrilled audiences particularly across the United States. Songs such as "Long Tall Sally", "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Rip It Up" and "Tutti Frutti", which was ranked by a range of musicians No.1 for Mojo Magazine to find out the "Top 100 Records That Changed The World": Soon many of his contemporaries were covering his songs, including Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Bill Halley; Elvis called him "The Greatest". His influence soon also passed into the sixties too where artists such as Elton John, The Rolling St...

Zombie was perhaps the finest single moment of Tony Allen, who passed away last Thursday. I'll never forget the first time I heard "Zombie" in 2004. I was about to see Femi Kuti play at London's Barbican as part of the festival Black President: the Art and the Legacy of Fela Kuti , curated to celebrate his father's legacy. My date had stood me up at the 11th hour and I found myself on my own in the venue, having never heard of Fela Kuti; it was my date's idea but I was keen to go having visited South Africa the year before and fallen in love with African music. There was no support act (you don't support a Kuti!) but a short documentary instead played. The music that accompanied the opening was "Zombie" and I'll never forget it when the lights went down and those opening notes, the sax and first kick beat filled the auditorium: Described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived", Tony Allen spent a li...

Tame Impala The Slow Rush     Modular Island Records First album in 5 years from Australia’s finest export Kevin Parker has been one of the most talented musical auteurs of the last ten years. His musical concept Tame Impala, where he writes, produces, sings and plays everything á la Prince has built momentum ever since their debut Innerspeaker  was   released in 2010. This, their fourth LP and follow up to 2015’s brilliant  Currents  has been years in the making, with two singles released over a year ago, whilst last minute delays meant a 2019 summer release did not happen; perhaps initial inspiration was hard to find after recent success - both professional and personal, he recently married his finance - as  Kevin Parker eluded to when he spoke to  the  New York Times recently :  "Part of the thing about me starting an album is that I have to feel kind of worthless again to want to make music". Like it's prede...