soul food: marian mereba

i've just come across ethiopian-american songwriter/producer/vocalist marian mereba's 'room for living' remixes EP via okayafrica, and i am digging it. love her voice. 

listen to the remixes above, and check out the original EP here.

soul food: marian mereba

marching to the beat of your own drum

this child is everything i want to be.

marching to the beat of your own drum

soul food: shad's 'flying colours'

no words to describe this dopeness, y'all. i don't know how shad keeps getting better with each album, but he truly does. this is all kinds of magic. and the collaborations are really smart, too. this is a perfect combination of brilliant storytelling and masterful technique.

it is thoughtful, intelligent, sharp, introspective, and it makes you think. it makes you stop everything to listen. and it consistently knocks you over with just how bloody good it is. it has also rendered me unable to review it properly because i keep jumping out of my seat yelling 'whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!! whaaaat!?' and startling everyone around me. i shall therefore leave that to the professionals and go back to my vigorous head-nodding.

soul food: shad's 'flying colours'

video: 'matatizo' by just a band

incredibly powerful video from just a band.



'matatizo' is the first video from the group's sorry for the delay and it's dedicated to the memory of issa juma, the composer of the song, and 'all the kenyans who have their hears and bodies so their children could be free'. via their youtube page, the band urges all to read more about the story behind the video: 'we lived to tell - the nyayao house story'.

video: 'matatizo' by just a band

soul food: 'retrograde' ~ james blake

new goodness from the brilliant james blake.

his voice is haunting. i can't stop listening to this.

'retrograde' 

peace to @ophiona and @mellymelow who shared this track with me at the exact same time. 

soul food: 'retrograde' ~ james blake

soul food: 'green garden' ~ laura mvula

you know who's kind of magical? laura mvula.

i love her voice. i love this track. i love this track LIVE, even better.

'green garden'

'green garden' LIVE

(thank you, @giantpandinha!)

soul food: 'green garden' ~ laura mvula

soul food: 'gods' by maxwell [snippet]

deeply excited, y'all. summers soon come. 

soul food: 'gods' by maxwell [snippet]

soul food: just a band's 'sorry for the delay'

i posted just a band's awesome track probably for lovers a little while ago, and now the full-length album sorry for the delay has been released. it's all kinds of refreshing goodness.

soul food: just a band's 'sorry for the delay'

shad k: it ain't over

oh, shad. how i love you. this is awesome.

from the album 'melancholy and infinite shadness'

download.

shad k: it ain't over

[VIDEO] k'naan: the story of country, god, or the girl

i have yet to wax poetic about this album, as i have about previous k'naan albums, singles, collaborations, etc. i think i'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. but i'm digging this mini documentary about his process and his journey. it's especially interesting that k'naan's trip to somalia resulted in a change in his songwriting that is more reflective, inward-looking and is 'the most intimate music' he's made to date.

here is the video for hurt me tomorrow. 

[VIDEO] k'naan: the story of country, god, or the girl

afrika21 mixtape~ fela kuti + ginger baker: live! remixed

(Photo Credit: David Corio)

In celebration of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s birthday, life, legacy and music Society HAE has teamed up with Nigerian hip hop collective and production company Str8buttah to release “Fela Kuti + Ginger Baker: LIVE! Remixed.”   The DocuMixtape combines snippets of rare interviews with Fela, Ginger Baker and Fela’s musicians with sound bites and remixes of the live recordings from his 1971 “LIVE!” album, which featured The Africa70 Band and Ginger Baker.  Original soundscapes by Teck-zilla of Str8buttah are also present on the DocuMixtape's featured tracks.

“Fela Kuti + Ginger Baker: LIVE! Remixed,” is part of Society HAE's AFRIKA21 mixtape series celebrating The Continent's creative thinkers in the fields of music and art.  

afrika21 mixtape~ fela kuti + ginger baker: live! remixed