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Featured Label: Ghostly International
ew Villager, Deastro (whom I reviewed earlier this year), Michna (Featured Here), and Matthew Dear; as well as, artists like Doug Lee, Freegums, and Mike Doyle. Recently, Ghostly International assembled a two disc compilation album entitled, Nocturnal Suite. For those unfamiliar with the label, and its style, it gives a great sample of the artists. On the label’s website, you can hear short clips of each of the songs (click here). For every…
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Featured Label: Numero Group
Amongst the growth of repackaged soul (Lee Fields & Sharon Jones) and revitalized reissues, is a record label doing its own thing: Numero Group. Numero Group is not a record label signing artists, it’s a crate diggers’ dream occupation of reissuing lost gems. I stumbled upon a write up of the label at Aquarium Drunkard, where they were highlighting a group called 24-Carat Black. At the Numero Group website they have a smattering …
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Featured Label: Warp Records
Warp Records has become a staple of good electronic, artistic, experimental, and new wave music since the early 90s. This is not Arista, or Def Jam with pop hit, one time wonders. While some of their artists have topped charts, most of their music remains known by DJs and music collectors. Like most hustlers in the music industry, the label’s first two releases by LFO (not “Summertime Girls” LFO) and Nightmares on Wax were sold…
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Sila & The Afrofunk Experience Interview: Starting with a Dream
We all know the “cliché” of “follow your dream,” but when that cliché manifests itself into a reality—well, then it’s no longer a cliché. Sila’s dream of becoming a celebrity musician began as a youngster growing up in the mountains of Kenya. Chasing after his dream, he found himself in the Bay Area closer to realizing it with his Afrofunk band. After releasing his sophomore album Black President completely DIY, then receiving …
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Featured Label: Tres Records
lpable. C.R.A.C. Knuckles: “Buy Me Lunch” Big ToneBig Tone, born Anthony Jackson, a Detroit rapper with LA lyrical realism. Having worked with some of the best, like J Dilla, Big Tone came out with his sophomore album The Art of Ink, which is filled with a blend of soulful and funky beats. Giant PandaGiant Panda, still a symbol of remembering traditions without forgetting progression, is composed of childhood friends Newman and Ma…
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Best Albums (Shows and Songs) of 2011: Patrick Kelly’s Picks
For the best albums in 2011, SF Critic will highlight each of our staff’s picks, rather than an accumulative 25, 50, 1,000 best album list. About: Patrick Kelly has been photographing and writing since almost the beginning of SF Critic. If you ever meet Patrick, which if you’re ever at a show in San Francisco you likely will, he always has this big grin across his face. One of the wonderful things about Patrick, besides his photogra…
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Valuing Music: Returning To “The Core”
Do you value an album less if you choose to download it for free rather than purchase it? If you purchase one album at $7.99 and another album at $3.99, do you value the more expensive album more? Jessica Suarez, formerly a writer at Stereogum, recently wrote a piece on the notion of album prices and their construed values for New York City public broadcast company, THIRTEEN, entitled “Remixing Metaphors: Music and the Value of Cost.” The art…
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Si*Se Interview with SFCritic
Here is my recent interview for SF Station with Si*Se. Si*Se: “The Chain” (Cover) 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. The first group signed to David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label, Brooklyn’s Si*Se watched a smooth beginning turn difficult as it navigated the music business and later bounced f…
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Music Labels and Blogs in 2011
A friend recently asked me if I wanted to start a music label. I asked him if he was crazy. The conversation ended there. Today’s major labels like the British EMI are reminiscent of the 1997 film Titantic, as the boat sinks and Leonardo Di Capro hangs on to a wood plank before freezing to death, while his love Kate Winslett survives to tell his story. Hold on to dear life labels, the big ship you sailed is going down! Kid Cudi : “5…
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In and Out of Control: An Interview with The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes emerged in 2001 from the acclaim of Rolling Stone’s editor, David Fricke, and were later described by the magazine as the “Next Wave” of contemporary music. Four albums later and a bad record label situation, the Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, are now touring in support of their new album, In and Out of Control. The lo-fi sounding group, have never been afraid of comparisons, as their name is a …
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