Made Possible is at once vintage Bad Plus in its striking themes, nonchalant time-bends and full-on collective improv, and proof of this awesome ensemble's continuing evolution. All the tracks are originals, apart from the late drummer Paul Motian's poignant Victoria, and there's some limited, but telling, use of electronics. The opening Pound for Pound is a classic slow-burn, unveiled minimally by pianist Ethan Iverson before he starts answering the inquiries of his right hand line with his left, and winds up in a chord storm driven by David King's implacable drumming. Seven Minute Mind is a dazzling rhythm game for a walking ostinato stabbed and chipped at by repeating single notes. Sing for a Silver Dollar mixes an anthemic melody, abstract-improv bass from Reid Anderson, slow funk and a lyrical ending, while In Stitches is a meditation in broken chords that King quietly develops into a drum'n'bass groove. On the wild collective finale, the group wind up sounding as integrated in free-fall as the Necks.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wyclef Jean got a bike for his birthday! Let's get naked and celebrate!
Lost in Showbiz is now so used to reporting the unlikely ways celebrities chose to celebrate events in their lives it has become sadly jaded about the whole topic. It remembers a distant past, when it was slightly taken aback by the news that Hollyoaks' Jamie Lomas had spent his stag weekend handcuffed to a dwarf who had been blacked up and dressed like The A-Team's Mr T – blacking up a dwarf feeling a little like the kind of thing that might have passed for entertainment in a less enlightened era, eg about 1852 – but that was then.
So it was delighted this week to learn of two events that have restored a certain degree of WTF? to the celebrity celebration. First, we must turn to the 43rd birthday of rapper Wyclef Jean. He has, as you may already know, been having a rather testing time of it recently. A continuing New York attorney general's investigation has found financial improprieties at Yéle, the charity he set up in order to benefit Haiti. The forensic audit found that, of $3m of the charity's expenses, $256,580 went in illegitimate benefits to Wyclef and other Yéle board and staff members as well as improper or potentially improper transactions, including $24,000 for Wyclef's chauffeur services and $30,763 for a private jet that took Lindsay Lohan to a benefit gig that raised only $66,000. There was some good news: apparently the audit thought that it was "appropriate" for Wyclef to charge his own charity $100,000 for an appearance at a Monaco fund-raiser because that was his going rate.
Still, it's the kind of thing that might conceivably put a dampener on your birthday celebrations, so LiS was delighted to see that nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, the rapper marked the arrival of his 43rd year with a quiet dignity befitting a gentleman now entering middle age: by posing for a photograph naked, except for a pair of bikini briefs and what appears to be a slick of baby oil, astride a large Ducati motorbike. Of course, the carping voices were soon to be heard, loudly trumpeting the suggestion that tweeting a photo of yourself on your 43rd birthday astride a large motorbike, oiled-up and naked except for a bikini briefs etc etc was an action symptomatic of a man utterly devoid of any sense of taste or decency. To which LiS can only respond: his bikini briefs matched the stars-and-stripes pattern of his motorbike! What greater evidence of great taste – of aesthetic judgment – do you need? It also liked the accompanying message: "U can't keep a good man down! Keep a smile when they want you to frown!" Good for "u", Wyclef! Don't let "them" make you all "sadface" – say, with a load of gloomy stuff about how the Cité Soleil slum that Yéle was supposed to revitalise remains a slum, while employees of the charity managed to spend nearly $500,000 on food and drink and $375,000 on "landscaping" their office in one year alone! Get the baby oil out and celebrate!
But even the news of Wyclef's birthday celebration is cast into the shade by the saga of Jack Osbourne's stag do. This apparently took place in Las Vegas's Palazzo Hotel – so far, so normal. "I was kidnapped," reveals Osbourne. Well, of course you were. Let LiS guess: you ended up tied to a lamppost dressed like Wyclef Jean in his birthday photo? Apparently not. "My friends flew out some guys from counter-terrorism squadrons in the UK. I was tortured and waterboarded." Oh. Right.
Of course, Osbourne is entitled to celebrate the end of his bachelorhood in whatever way he chooses. Nevertheless, LiS respectfully suggests that if you want to spend your stag night being screamed at and brutalised, there's no need to fly in "guys from counter-terrorism". Simply do as some friends of Lost in Showbiz did, and walk through one of Blackpool's lairier streets on a Friday night in fancy dress, become embroiled in an increasingly frank "exchange of views" with some local gentlemen who seem a little the worse for drink, and enjoy the subsequent trip to casualty, concussion etc.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Hear The D.O.T's new album And That
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Over the last year or so, Mike Skinner and Rob Harvey (previously of underrated Leeds band the Music) have been making music together. This being a Skinner project, of course, the results have mainly been contained in a series of beautifully shot online video diary pieces. Until now, that is, because next week sees the release of And That, the pair's debut album.
Featuring guest appearances from Detroit rapper Danny Brown and Clare Maguire (You Never Asked) and a laidback Balearic vibe on the likes of opener And a Hero, the album contains a mix of dance production and classic pop songwriting.
Have a listen using the widget above and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
South African rapper Jub Jub found guilty of murder
One of South Africa's foremost hip-hop musicians has been convicted of murdering four schoolchildren while street racing, drunk and on drugs, through Soweto.
Molemo "Jub Jub" Maarohanye and his friend Themba Tshabalala were found guilty on four counts of murder and two of attempted murder after their speeding Mini Coopers ploughed into the children as they walked back from school in the Johannesburg township in March 2010.
"The death of the deceased was caused by the accuseds' reckless driving at high speeds while under the influence of drugs and alcohol," said the judge, Brian Nemavhidi. The pair could face life in prison.
A TV personality and music star, Maarohanye appeared emotionless as he heard the verdict, which was broadcast live on television. The mother of one of the victims passed out during the proceedings and had to be carried from the court.