Father, Son & The Music of Michael Jackson

Feb 14, 2013 | ,

The Jackson 5 kind of looked like me. Sung nothing like me, fortunately. Reflected a life I thought fun and colourful. My father still has the Off The Wall record. It is my favourite Michael Jackson album - musicianship of the highest order. I do appreciate it more now that I’m older. It wasn’t always that way. My favourite used to be Thriller. I remember when Thriller came out. I was 10, going on 11. I got a ‘Michael Jackson’ haircut. I remember the Thriller video – a betamax – doing the rounds. I remember getting the jacket. I remember the Billie Jean performance at Motown’s 25th...

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Aloe Blacc – Billie Jean Cover

May 14, 2012 |

Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, known as Aloe Blacc, exists on the fringes of the mainstream music industry. If it wasn't for the friend of a friend passing on a copy of his 2010 album Good Things, he would probably wouldn't have registered on my radar. The song he is most known for is I Need A Dollar, which is also the opening title track for the US television series, How To Make It In America. Catchy and relevant, I Need A Dollar is one of those songs that just lingers with a hook that takes some doing to get out of your head once it lodges itself in there. It seems he started out as a...

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The Future Of Soul Music Is The Past

Aug 28, 2011 |

When one looks at / listens to the soul and R&B music that has been released in the last year, one cannot help but notice how much seems to be drawn from and inspired by eras of old. Melodic, rich and soulful, artists like John Legend & The Roots went the whole way, releasing an album primarily of covers of songs by everyone from Bill Withers to Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. R. Kelly, with the album Love Letter, finally showed us why he is considered by some one of the greater songwriters in the last 15 or so years and Raphael Saadiq continues to pay musical homage to the musicians that inspired him with an expansion on the Motown sound of his previous album.

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Soundtrack to a Lifetime (CP)

Jan 23, 2011 |

Written on September 22nd, 2009 Do you ever sit and wonder what music will sound like in 10 years from now? 20 years? With all the talk that television and cinema are going to dwindle in popularity, do you ever wonder what you will be watching in the future? Do you ever look at your parents and wonder what they really think about the music you are passionate about today? If your parents are over 50 years of age, they were probably born into an Africa with no (or very few) cars, no television, no telephones (let alone cellphones), no computers, no electricity, no running water in homes, etc....

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