Tuesday 30 October 2007

More has come

Following on from the recent post about the Maori Resistance, pinch here
for The Guardian´s take on events, which appeared today.

Much thanks to all those that came out to Espacio La Casa in La Orotava and supported Beatal, our little fiesta for Radio Pimienta, which was naturally broadcast live. Those present or tuned in, witnessed some cracking tunes covering a Global Flow from Dab Maia, jazzed-up flavours from Eddie Souzzo, choice breakbeats from BFunk!, and MAD delivering the dancehall, drum an´ bass steppers. During everyone´s set i was pestering them, "What is this, who is this?" That´s says it all.

Just jammin´ with BerroFunk at Beatal /Radio Pimienta.


To the gente that came out the following week for the open-air rain-soaked fiesta that was part of the Festival de Cortos, also in La Orotava, nice one for staying right to the end despite the rain and cool temperatures. Thanks to G´sus for putting in the good word.

A good friend as hooked me up with a shepherd who added some vocals and bells to the Arando track that i´ve got up on myspace. I´ve just given a rough version to Tacorontesemueve for their YouTube video centered around the Nov. 24 manifestacíon regarding the destruction of homes and land which is running at a fast pace. Should be up and running from tomorrow.
PEace

Monday 22 October 2007

Our man in Aotearoa - Beatal - 09.10 Playlist


Who is that man? People have been asking since putting up the picture above here and here

The news of a recent police raid in Aotearoa (commonly known as New Zealand) drifted past me, then i thought about it and checked a bit more....
When Fun-da-mental first visited that country for the Big Day Out festival we were warmly embraced by DTL, his brother George Nuku, Stinky Jim, bFM Radio, and Tame Iti, to name a few.

Tame Iti is a major component keeping Maori issues at a forefront. His actions within the community have done much to rile the Paekhi (white) establishment, but first and foremost maintain a level of pride and knowledge within a community/people that have been on the receiving end of the worst that can be heaped on a people.
We were told that he attempted to directed his people away from in-fighting that came to the world´s attention through the film Once Were Warriors - Your brother is not your enemy, the enemy you should be directing your energy towards is over there, sitting pretty.

On one occasion he bared his buttcheeks as the Queen Lizbeth gave a speech in his neighbourhood. The Maori affinity with the land is no joke, and is something that either the Paekhi don´t, won´t, never will care to understand, or they believe that it is their divine right to be champions of ´uckery and feel that the world is theirs for the taking.

When Maori are born, the placenta is buried in the ground, reinforcing their connection with the Earth. To have the head of the British Empire come down and give blah blah to the willing ears is an assault too much for those that matter.

I asked a friend there what the scenario is like at the moment, and he described it as "odd, the cops have rightly had a ton of shit of late so its well strange that they've gone on some kind of activist roundup which is what it looks like...but if theres only a few firearms charges i suspect shit will go down majorly. There's a lot of talk but NO politicians (bar one fruitcake) have said a word, which is again odd."


Resistencia del Pueblo Tuhoe



Te Mana Motuhake o Tuhoe


Tame Iti / Open Project


George Nuku / Moko

You can also check an interview with George Nuku here.

Beatal / Radio Pimienta
Saturday past, (20.10) we folks at Radio Pimienta opened the doors to all and tried an early Saturday evening thing with live broadcasting of sets by Dab Maia, BFunk and Eddie Souzzo, as well as MAD, host of the Mextura2 program and myself. High grade musical joints covering the Global beats, Afro-beaks, Jazz jumpers and Ecletic sounds swirled in the air among new and old friends. We definitely have some quality selectors here, despite the deluge of punchy-punchy house that gets played in 99% of the venues here in Tenerife. Look out for more events of this nature should you be in Tenerife.

The radio gig of October 9th fell on the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto Guevara, so grabbed a few tunes with revolution in mind....which actually is normal for my sets, but you get the idea should you read on, or be an irregular listener to the program.

Ear Conditioning
Playlist 09.10.2007

Grounation / Bongo Man
Thomas Mapfumo / Handinbotya · I´m not afraid (Real World)
Joe Strummer / Filibustero · Walker Soundtrack (Virgin)
Ernesto ´Che´ Guevara addresses the UN General Assembly
Fela Kuti / Water got no Enemy
Noam Chomsky / On Terrorism
Dead prez / I´m a African (Sony)

Sizzla / No time fe gaze (Greensleeves)
Dam / Mukadime (Red circle Music)
Company Flow / Patriotism (Rawkus)
Public Enemy / Rebel Without a Pause (DefJam)
The Clash / Washington Bullets (CBS)
BAD SoundSystem / D ke sirve el dub (Sustraies Blai)
The Selector / Celebrate the Bullet (Chrysalis)
The Clash / Let´s go Crazy (CBS)
Fermin Muruguza / Nazio ibiltaria naiz (Metak)
Darando / Let me people go
Herbie Hancock / The Prisoner
Radar / Radar saves Tibet
The The / Sweet Bird of Truth (CBS)
Amit / Swaztika (Commercial Suicide)

Culture Club feat. Captain Crucial / Murder Rap Trap (Virgin)
Mad Tune / Darker Dub
Vivian Jackson / Revenge (Prophet)
Shitmat / Shopliftin´ Gabba (Planet Mu)
The Bug feat. Killa P & FlowDan / Skeng · Kode 9 Remix (Hyperdub)
Carlos Puebla y sus Tradicionales / Hasta Siempre

Thursday 4 October 2007

Keeping Real It American Dream

I am not really aware of the music and lyrics of David Banner....i´ve seen people i respect mention him....(file in memory bank until further notice) then i came across the following clip.
Master P, David Banner and Michael Eric Dyson at the US Congressional Hearings about Hip Hop.

Check this for more on Michael Eric Dyson. He to is new to my sphere, but he´s somebody to take note of for his insight and obvious commitment to bettering where we are. What he saying makes me think of Malcolm as a mover of people to greater heights. He checked misogyny good and proper.

Interesting for me to see Master P here, when i worked for Virgin Records i handled his No Limit label, which was hot as hell at the time. He definitely knew what he was doing. All his albums had the artwork for all the albums slated for the next year and a half....so people knew what the album was gonna look like well in advance, smart cookie. No Limit could release a shit sandwich pressed onto cd and it woulda shipped half a million. He once came over to Europe, accompanying his son, Lil Romeo who had an album out. I found P to be a complete dickhead, throwing his weight around, threatening me with a beatdown from him and his crew....not that he would have needed them, P´s six feet three-four, former basketball player size. The Priority label rep, that also came with P and Romeo didn´t fare much better, he had her in tears on a few occasions. Post-Imus, he wants to put out ´clean´records and take responsibility for what he does. I can´t totally take his senate hearing appearance seriously because of clouded judgment from my dealings with him, which is unfair, i admit. He apparently started his label with the money from an inheritance, well, that was the official story, but a former colleague based in the US kicked that one clearly to the curb in no uncertain terms. Former gangster going legit, that´s how he funded No Limit, and he did very well. But that is the American story, or one of them anyhow. He´s a Jimmy Cagney character, that had a father and a father before him. American breed´s certain ism´s and the media, politicians appear surprised when it comes to bite them on the ass. What a way to spend the day.

Everything David Banner and Master P say when it comes to the conditions of which they speak sit barely 15 minutes drive from the White House and Capitol Hill, and the sentators and representatives on the panel have no idea or avoid caring about their needy that live in the Chocolate Cities.

What´s on the table? Racism, Poor-Inefficient housing, unemployment, crime, historical neglect, oppressive police tactics, and the American Dream, Capitalism.
Loved it when David Banner compares himself to the author Stephen King....you´ll get the picture.