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 Spinna 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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.