Gil Scott-Heron 'The Godfather of Rap' is Back !!

Just caught this 10 min piece which played-out on BBC 2's Newsnight programme the other day......Gil Scott-Heron is back with a new album on XL Recordings...


"He was the man who invented rap, "the black Bob Dylan".As lanky as a basketball player, he delivered jeremiads against racism and poverty, but with such nonchalant poise that he might have been a Harlem Globetrotter. The phrase 'the revolution will not be televised' has entered the language Jazzy grooves and deft lyrics took his records into the pop charts in Britain and the United States.

Alongside fellow music luminaries Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley, he successfully campaigned for the civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King to be recognised with a public holiday in the US. But then something happened to Gil Scott-Heron. The records dried up. He stopped touring. He was arrested and jailed over possession of cocaine and rumours circulated about his health.

When I mentioned Gil Scott-Heron to friends and colleagues, the ones who remembered him at all had the same question: "Is he still alive?" (BBC Website)



"Gil Scott-Heron was doing rhyming and spoken word over a back-beat as long ago as 1970," Russell explains. "The music that became hip hop and rap - that's what he was doing. He is undisputedly one of the people who invented that type of music. And it's gone on to be incredibly important, and affect the culture in an enormous way."



Here's a link to his promo material of his new album CLICK HERE



Gil Scott-Heron now on XL was @ Bowery Ballroom to see labelmates/remixers? The xx (now a trio).....

"When I got to the xx show at Bowery Ballroom last night (11/11), I was told by someone reliable that Gil Scott-Heron was planning on joining the headlining UK band on stage for some songs - both with them and on his own for a few. At first I thought that was completely random. Then I realized that the xx's label XL Recordings recently announced that they signed Gil. They'll be releasing "I'm New Here", his first album since 1994's "Spirits", on Jan. 11, 2010. And according to jamespenycate, "The XX are remixing the entire Gil Scott Heron album". You can listen to four song clips, and watch video of Gil in the studio, at imnewhere.net.

Ends up Gil didn't join The xx on stage, though I saw him there after the show and apparently he did sound check with them (it's unclear why the change of plan). Ends up Baria Quresh didn't join The xx on stage either. The band performed as a trio and XL confirms that Baria's hiatus is permanent.

Fellow UK musician Jon Hopkins opened the show with a set of solo electro that had him pushing all kinds of buttons on stage to the delight of those that bothered to check him out. "Hopkins's third album, Insides, was released by Just Music in conjunction with Domino Records on May 5, 2009." (Quote from the www.brooklynvegan.com)

Thought i'd post a few Gil Scott-Heron classics for those who don't know :-

"The Bottle"



"We Almost Lost Detroit"



"Johannesberg"

More from..... The Jackin' Zone

“The Jacking Zone: DJ International”



Was checking Boomkat Records 14 Tracks feature and noticed that this week they are concentrating on the exact era that I have been focusing on myself.....take a look:

This time on 14tracks:

"From 1985 up to the early 90's, D.J. International was one of the most influential record labels in Chicago - and subsequently - the world. Alongside the slightly better known Trax imprint, they released some of the all-time classic House tracks from artists like Larry Heard, Chip E, Mike Dunn and Steve Poindexter. At decadent crucibles of dance music like Ron Hardy's Music Box and Frankie Knuckles' Powerplant, crowds of Hispanic, African American and Gay dancers were ingesting the latest Italo imports mixed with European EBM, British synth pop and classic disco edits. DJ International picked up and released the productions of those clubs patrons, churning out a succession of the most futuristic, ruggedly effective and influential dancing music of the last 50 years. The drug/technology interface at play would inspire tracks like Steve Poindexter's 'Work That Motherf*cker', making use of newly democratised technology to recreate the essence of hypnotic tribal drumming, while producers like Larry Heard aka Fingers Inc would make strangely elegant future-soul music that continues to amaze to this day. Now in 2009, a new wave of producers are turning to this stripped and functional aesthetic as inspiration for a new generation of dance music. Long live the Jack! ......."

1) QX 1- Inject Me Love - Mike Dunn in disguise crafting one of the best deep-house tunes ever.

2) Chip E - Time To Jack Raw - minimal and fierce tracky jacker from the legendary Chip E.

3) MIKE DUNN / CARL CRAIG - Magic Feet (Carl Craig Remix) Detroit gets involved! A killer jack track.

4) Steve 'Silk' Hurley - Jack Your Body (Original Club Mix) - One of Chi-town's finest instructional workouts and most memorable basslines.
5) STEVE POINDEXTER - Work That Motherf*cker (Original Mix) - Brutalist dancing gear for the real jackers!

6) JM Silk - Music Is The Key - The very first release on D.J International courtesy of Steve "Silk" Hurley.
7) Paul Johnson - Third Dimension - Pumping raw tracky style. Get Get down.

8) E.S.P. - It's You - Infectious melodic simplicity and a classic vocal = a treasure.

9) FINGERS INC - It's Over (Dub) - Original deep house soul from Larry Heard!
10) The It - Donnie - Larry Heard, again. A deep underground staple. Track down the Ron Hardy mix!

11) Fast Eddie - Acid Thunder - Burning acid lines and sinister synths make a true Chicago classic.

12) Kenny 'Jammin' Jason - Can U Dance - Kickin' - Body music with Italo-inspired synths.

13) Drew Sky - Razzmatazz - A brilliant example of the Disco influence over Chi-Town house music.

14) Farley Jackmaster Funk & Jessie Saunders - Love Can't Turn Around - The first house single to make the UK charts back in 1986.

'The Call It Acid' Film

Since my post on the 24th September - 20 Best: Acid House (Created By Fact Magazine), I've been checking loads of Acid house from my library and my fellow crate digger GARY-C has been pushing through a load of links to me, which are just too good not to post - so check these out, beginning with the exciting news that a documentary film has made which showcases this era and music - check it....

FEATURING:

Adamski, Alfredo, Kid Bachelor, Carl Cox, Colin Faver, Frankie Foncett, Trevor Fung, A Guy Called Gerald, Larry Heard, Marshall Jefferson, Jazzy M, Graham Massey, Derrick May, Mark Moore, Paul Oakenfold, Robert Owens, Steve Proctor, Danny Rampling, Evil Eddie Richards, Jesse Saunders, Pete Tong, Noel Watson and many others....





"The UK -1988 - the birth of one of the most long-lasting cultures and musical genres since Rock 'n' Roll itself – Acid House. In two years it was to outgrow the underground clubs of London and see millions of Thatcher’s children dancing through the night and shouting ‘Mental’ at massive illegal warehouse parties and outdoor Raves, attended by tens of thousands, they called it ACID HOUSE.

Driven by a media hate campaign, the British Government acted against this new culture by pushing a bill through Parliament that would outlaw these illegal parties. Millions of pounds were spent funding a special Police Unit, whose sole purpose was to crush this movement, never before has the UK seen such a reaction against a youth culture . In response, the Ravers formed The Freedom to Party Campaign who’s slogan was ‘Let the People Dance’, but by 1990 the police’s tactics got heavy handed and the Government at last won the war against Acid House - the illegal party scene was all but stamped out.

THEY CALL IT ACID is a feature length documentary which plots the emergence of this culture from its musical roots in Chicago and Detroit, to the melting pots of Ibiza, London and North England where these elements were brought together by a small number of DJs, musicians and promoters. Fed up with the 80s society that they were living in, they created the illegal Acid House party scene. Far from being just a culture of music, fashion and drugs, Acid House broke down long-lasting barriers in the UK, bringing together black and white, rich and poor and groups of previously opposing football hooligans. 12 months from its conception it was to bring on board millions of people and through the 90s spread worldwide, with the birth of the super club, massive licensed outdoor Raves, Dance Music festivals and the rise of the super star DJ, many of whom are now world famous.

Narrated by Robert Owens, one of the most distinctive voices of House Music, with a seminal soundtrack compiled by DJ ‘Evil’ Eddie Richards, one of the UK’s foremost House pioneers, THEY CALL IT ACID features over 60 interviews with both the originators and followers of the Acid House scene and the Police and Politicians who opposed it. Featuring unique film from many of the first illegal clubs and parties as well as never-before-seen footage of Police raids as they clamped down on the scene.

The Hippies had 'Woodstock', the Mods 'Quadrophenia' and the Punks 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle - 'THEY CALL IT ACID' is the story of Acid House, the birth of Rave, the culture the Government failed to crush!" Excerpt from Film HOMEPAGE.

CHECK THIS FOR A LITTLE DEMO -

TB-303 loves the TR-909 too