It’s been a pretty busy season for Brooklyn’s punk rock band Game Rebellion. With the release of their EP Sounds Like A Riot (January 25th), that was celebrated at Santos Party House in NYC to a crowded and fully charged-up audience — the band has been non-stop ever since. I got the chance to speak with Game Rebellion after their show at Le Poisson Rouge last week. If you haven’t seen these guys yet, I cannot stress how awesome their performance is. From the girls loosing control and jumping Netic and Yohimbe on the stage, the audience moshing each other in a chaotic slam dance, to the tight display of musicianship – Game Rebellion truly rock out! Watch the video below where they talk about the meaning of Game Rebellion, artist struggles, how deep the Game rolls and their musical integrity. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with these guys. One thing that is abundantly clear, the ‘Game is Rebellious’ and they do indeed, ‘play by their own rules‘.

Thanks again to Alaric Campbell for capturing some amazing images, which were taken at their EP release party at Santos Party House. If you’d like to see more Game Rebellion, visit Muphoric Sounds YouTube Channel here.

For some reason, I had been missing all of Little Dragon’s performances in New York City. I even tried to catch them in the UK this past summer, but flights were not in sync either. This past Saturday, I finally got it together and took myself down to Le Poisson Rouge.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a show and the band sounds better than the actual CD. Lead singer and percussionist, Yukimi Nagano has this amazing vocal style and range, that has you entrapped, hanging on every note. It’s effortless beauty to your ears. Watching Yukimi perform is like watching a child playing in the sunshine with open arms, spinning till they fall into a pool of laughter. At one point, she got down in the audience and danced with us. Band members Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass), and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards), together create magic, and Yukimi is their vocal muse of sheer happiness. Why hadn’t I seen them sooner?!

If Little Dragon are in your town, here’s your marching order: GET YOURSELF A TICKET! They put on an incredible show, and are truly a band enjoying what they do. Although I wanted to see them perform “Twice” from their debut album and “Thunder Love,” from Machine Dreams, I left the venue completely satiated. Watch “Constant Surprises” from the show below and enjoy!

Big thanks to Alaric Campbell for the great photos!

Making the rounds to promote Joy Jones’s debut album, Godchild with Bugz in the Attic producer Daz-I-Kue, the audience were eating out of their hands. Daz-I-Kue definitely brought a taste of London to New York, with his signature future soul sound. Opening her stage with the first song off her album, “Joyride” which uses the always interesting sample of “Space” by Galt McDermont (Hair composer), Joy Jones took control with her backing vocalists in tow. It’s always refreshing to attend shows where the artist takes the time to talk to their audience, posing questions  to make you think. Joy’s burning question was, “Who’s experienced real love?” Sadly, there wasn’t a wave of cheers, but more an admiration of the love she was declaring for her husband, who was busy videoing the show on his camera. Godchild certainly has stretched Daz-I-Kue as a producer, with his used of smooth soul/jazz sounds fused with African tremors, clearly keep future soul alive.

Joy Jones is no stranger to the genre either. Originally from Los Angeles, and raised by West Indian parents, she attended Duke University where she studied biology and cultural anthropology, then moved to London and attended the University of London to study medical anthropology and found her ground in music with Bugz in the Attic producer Daz-I-Kue. Godchild is a labor of love, where Joy explores her heritage and her personal experiences through her music, coupled with a production that flows seamlessly.

With a tight band and energetic background singers, the crowd swayed and sang along as she gave us a taste of her own personalized joy. I highly recommend you see her when she comes to your town. Check out some of her songs below and make a stop over to iTunes and get yourself a copy of Godchild from Future Soul Records.

“Promise Land”

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“Hollywood”

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We often forget that Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, is a musician first, then a singer/songwriter second, primarily because of his outstanding songwriting skills and heartfelt delivery. Each member of Radiohead have their roles carved out, so after hearing about Thom Yorke’s rare solo performance at the Latitude Festival in England on Sunday, July 19th, fans had to take note.  Playing both the guitar and piano in a 12-song set, teasing the audience with new Radiohead music and previously unreleased song, “Present Tense,” Radiohead fans were happy to have made the effort to attend the show. Thom’s performance at the Latitude Festival, was scheduled at noon. He humored the loud cheering audience with, “Shhh, people are still sleeping,” and joked after performing “Present Tense,” that the song would end up on YouTube (he wasn’t wrong!). Check out the footage, in care of Prefix Mag.

Revive Da Live was founded back in 2006 by show promoter, producer, and musican Meghan Stabile, to remind us of how important jazz is to popular music – it’s not only for academic consumption. The last event was at Le Poisson Rouge and was a journey through “Hip Hop: 1942,” which featured the Revive Da Live Jazz ensemble and guest emcees, with band and participants fully clad in 1940s regalia in remembrance of the classy era. Past artists have included Bilal, AG from Showbiz and AG, Guru, Jeru da Damaja, Large Professor, to name a few.

If you’re in the New York area, the second installment of Revive Da Live is tomorrow night, again at Le Poisson Rouge. This concert is entitled, “Hip Hop 1953″ and will highlight jazz standards through 1953 through 1970. The roster is big! Paying homage to one of hip hop’s greatest producers/DJs, Pete Rock, and featuring emcees Akrobatik, J-Live, Stimulus, and female rapper, Eagle Nebula. The show’s goal is to remind us of our jazz history which inspired some of our legendary Hip Hop anthems.

For tickets, go to Le Poisson Rouge’s website. Should be a hot event!

You think it’s all about attending seminars and meeting record executives that make the WMC. In fact, it’s quite the opposite and is truly dependent on your musical tastes. The WMA I experienced was more impromptu and respective of my musical preferences, which are more underground. On the cusp of losing your mind with all the dance/trance music that permeates the South Miami Beach airwaves, a la Spring Break/Girls Gone Wild style, when you do find your scene, it’s a breath of fresh air.

This year’s Delano events featured K’naan, whose performance highlight was bringing Matisyahu to the stage for one song. Matisyahu is incredible live. I’m waiting to see what K’naan will grow into. He shows much potential with his message of the struggle, but the media frenzy is causing my side way looks.

The Raw Fusion events at Jazid were my highlights, featuring a large roster of artist such as DJ Spinna, Rich Medina, Daz-I-Kue (Bugz In The Attic), Mad Mats (Raw Fusion), Kissey Asplund, Erik Rico to name a few. From Taylor McFerrin doing his hereditary human beat box to DJ Spinner mixing up broken, Fela, and dub beats, had us all jumpin’ and funkin’. Attitudes were left at the door.

So here’s a shout out to a few of the people I met over the weekend who were happy to talk about their projects, share music, and opinions. Looking forward to gracing Muphoric Sounds with their flavor – Kissey Asplund, Taylor McFerrin, Yellowtail, Mad Mats, Ayro, DJ Chicus, and Bopstar.

We love Erik Rico! This particular song will have you jumping out of your seat to dance like a lunatic. Soulful vocals, a fierce electronic broken beat progressing into a feel good soulful house type tune. What more can I say? Erik Rico was first discovered by American Idol’s Randy Jackson, who was then the VP of Columbia Records. He briefly wrote and produced under the corporate structure to eventually leave in pursuit of total creative freedom. His recently launched label, Life Note Music will host a slew of artist in the Broken Beat genre, collaborating with Daz I-Kue, Yam Who?, DJ Spinna, Ron Trent, Aybee, Grooveman Spot, Opolopo, Remarkable Current Crew, Rep Life, Cecilia Stalin, Kissey Asplund, and Sumie Nagano down the pike. Releases are scheduled to hit this spring.

To get more of Erik’s style and energy, and if you’re in the New York area, he will be doing two dates next month — one at The Shrine in Harlem on April 10th and Sin Sin in Manhattan on April 11th. Be sure to check him out! But for now you can jam to “SO Much Greater” below.

“SO Much Greater” by Erik Rico

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