After a 15 year hiatus, Gil Scott-Heron, the legendary poet and musician returns with a new album entitled “I’m New Here”. The album is entirely produced by Richard Russell, founder of the pioneering XL Recordings record label. The label has been home to host of forward thinking artists such as The White Stripes, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Dizzee Rascal and also the label that released the debut album by M.I.A. - Arular. Gil will join the rank with I’m New Here also being released on the independent label.
Judging from the song “Me and The Devil” the album seems to have a dark tone to it, with heavy influences from various forms of electronic music the label is known for. An interesting direction Gil has taken, a sonic departure from his last album Spirits which featured production by Ali Shaheed Muhammed of A Tribe Called Quest.
The song “Me and The Devil” is actually Gil’s take on a blues song by the pioneering blues singer and guitarist Robert Johnson. The song also includes a passage where Gil recites one of his own masterpieces “The Vulture”, which is features in his book of poems “Now and Then“.
Don’t you just love “Best Of” lists? Well 2009 is just about over and you expect to see a lot more of these lists in just about every publication. Not only is the year almost over, but the first decade of the new millennium has also come to an end. Rolling Stone has compiled a list of what they deem are the best songs of decade: 2000-2009.
Of course this list will be heavily debated for sometime, that is if Rolling Stone still has relevance and influence in the world of music. The top 5 songs on their list are:
1. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
2. Jay-z – 99 Problems
3. Beyonce – Crazy In Love
4. Outkast – Hey Ya (Which I was almost certain would have been #1)
5. M.I.A. – Paper Planes
So many albums and so many songs have come out in the past 10 years it’s hard to even fathom how they come up with these lists.
What’s missing? I’m surprised Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California didn’t make the list. Also, Norah Jones…with as many grammy’s as she’s won, how does she not have one song on this list? And umm…Usher??? Seriously…no Usher?
Following his previous documentary Sicko, where he took on the the failed US health care system, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore continues to question the problematic issues of America in his next film. This time Moore takes on the top tier corporations of Wall Street involved in one way or another with the government’s $700 billion bailout.
Filming started just 6 months prior to the global economic meltdown and will “explore the root causes of the global economic meltdown and take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as “the biggest robbery in the history of this country”.
In the current climate of the right wing vs. left wing, democrats vs republicans and the wealthy vs the working class, expect this film to ruffle some feathers when fingers are pointed. Congressmen, Senators and State Reps as well as executives from AIG, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch are all game.
The official trailer, complete with the sounds of the M.I.A. anthem “Paper Planes” (No… it’s not called Swagger Like Us):
michael moore, bowling for columbine, sicko, fahrenheit 9/11, documentary, roger & me, bank of america, goldman sachs, aig, barack obama, george bush, emergency economic stabilization act of 2008,
