Results tagged “soul”

"What the Devil wants, believe the Devil's going to get. He's going to stretch her out, like the tape in a cassette," Swaby croons menacingly on The Heavy's latest single "Sixteen." A lyric that is both incredibly dirty and radio appropriate. You've got to appreciate that. Big, bad, jungle blues is coming your way from across the pond, people. Prepare, yourselves. The kind that slowly crawls down your spine into your hips and makes you feel evil. You know, the good kind.

The deaths of James Brown or the Wicked Wilson Pickett left a huge gaping hole in the soul universe, but all is not lost Black Joe Lewis is picking up where they left off. Bursting out of Austin with a eight piece set up, Black Joe Lewis and his Honeybears have been drawing fans like flies to a honey jar with their saucy dirty, blues. The songs of their debut album,Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! get to the meat of what life is all about when you're young: being broke ("I'm Broke"), one night stands ("Sugarfoot"), amour ("Bitch, I Love You") and getting down ("Boogie"). Black Joe Lewis was kind enough to talk with us before his show at the Troubadour. Here is some of what was said.

              

It was an old school funk showdown at the Echo on Thursday night. The age old west coast vs. east coast rivalry was in full effect. Not in any sort of negative way, but in a purely competitive spirit. What I wanted to know was which band could out groove the other. Would it be the hometown Boogaloo Assassins with their Latin boogaloo or the funky newcomers from New York supporting their second album with the legendary Daptone Records, Budos Band?

The talented soul man Raphael Saadiq headlined at the House of Blues on Monday night, and I arrived determined to dance until there were holes in my shoes. His latest The Way I See It had been on repeat in my car for most of 2008. Call it neo-Motown, retro boogie, soul revival, whatever, Saadiq had created one of the best albums of the year and I was thrilled to be able to review the show. Then I got to the box office.

              

Four words I never thought I would hear uttered at Club Nokia issued from young woman from the crowd. "I love your accordion!" she screamed. Next to me a drunken man in a plaid fedora raised his hands in double devil horns while stomping his feet. Really I thought that sort of thing was reserved for polka festivals and street fairs, but I guess I was wrong. You might well ask, who was inducing such fervor from the crowd? Ivan Milev and his band (and by band I mean buddy. He was accompanied by the violinist, Entcho Todorov) opened for Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on Sunday night. Two middle aged men in button down shirts announced that they were going to play "Bulgarian soul music," and proceeded to melt the crowd's face off with just an accordion and a violin.

Here's a very strange incident that took place at a house in the Compton area during the Fall of 1976.

                             

Last Thursday, British soul singer Alice Russell MySpace) returned to the Hotel Cafe (MySpace) in Hollywood, headlining an evening that was supported by locals Emi Meyer (MySpace), Lelia Broussard (MySpace), and followed by Jesca Hoop (MySpace). The show was LAist's pick for Tonight in Rock, and included covers of "Seven Nation Army" and "Crazy".

Back in 1996, Mary J. Blige provided vocals to the hook of "Can't Knock the Hustle," the second single off of Jay-Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt. 12 years, 12 Grammys and 70 million records sold later, Jigga Man and MJB are back at it again, co-headlining 25 shows across North America.

There is rarely an audience at an LA club show so fully and intensely captivated as the crowd at The El Rey was last night. Leave it to Dap Kings guitarist / emcee Binky Griptite who is a master at his craft: warming up the crowd and introducing the boogieing Miss Sharon Jones. Jones & the Dap Kings performed for solid two hours, no opening act necessary (although the 60's and 70's dusty and...

Art walks, Food fairs, fashion, and film. It's fall in LA, and for another weekend we can forget about our lack of playoff-worthy baseball teams and professional football and take advantage of our final three weeks of Daylight Saving Time. The fun begins tonight, so you best start the weekend now. Downtown Art Walk Thursday, Noon - 9 p.m.: On the second Thursday of every month, Angelenos stroll up and down Spring and Main...