W♥M

Trick-Hop

Read More Tricky Tricky (MySpace) is all over the place. Originally from the UK, he's lived in London, New York City, Los Angeles. After prettymuch singlehandedly creating the hip-hop genre through his pioneering work with Massive Attack .…

TRICKY
trickysite.com

I've been in this business long enough (especially because of my particular interests in British bands), that when U.K. bands reschedule or cancel shows - it's because of the United States' strict Visa policies. And yes, that's exactly what happened to Tricky, who had to recently reschedule his U.S. dates. All pre-sold tickets will be honored in the same city (even if the venue has changed), but if the new dates does not work for you, refunds will be available at the point of purchase.

With that out of the way, let's talk about Tricky's latest album, False Idols, which came out late last month. Expect to hear songs from the album on the rescheduled tour dates:

10/01 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
10/02 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10/03 Boston, MA - Royale
10/05 Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall
10/08 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10/09 Chicago, IL - Metro
10/12 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
10/13 Houston, TX - House of Blues
10/14 Austin, TX - Emo's
10/17 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
10/19 Treasure Island Music Festival
10/23 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
10/25 Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit

Read More RZA Before Deltron, there was RZA as Bobby Digital. RZA is obviously influenced by genre movies (from Blaxploitation to oldschool Kung Fu movies) and he uses that as a character called "Bobby Digital".…

THE WU-TANG CLAN
wutang-corp.com

The entire Wu-Tang Clan (minus the ones that are no longer on Earth) is back in the studio with RZA for a new record this Fall. In the meantime, the group released "Family Reunion" to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

The song will be available as a Limited Edition 7" Vinyl, featuring the main song and the instrumental on the flipside (for all you DJs). The 500 vinyl will ship on or before July 23rd, and, of course, the digital is unlimited.

RZA offers this wisdom, "May the Wu reunion inspire family reunions throughout the world."

Check out the Wu-Tang Clan on their family reunion tour:

06/14/13 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
07/05/13 - Quebec - Festival d'Ete International
07/06/13 - 80/35 Festival 2013 - Des Moines, IA
07/07/13 - Ottawa - RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest
08/30 - 09/01 - Chicago - North Coast Music Fest

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Shaolin Kung Fu

New to Shaw Brothers movies? These are my favorites: THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978) March 2, 2010 Dragon Dynasty THE BELLS OF DEATH (1968) July 3, 2007 Image Entertainment FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS (1982) March 13, 2012 Tokyo Shock

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS
www.ironfists.com

You know I love my Kung Fu movies, so when when I saw the trailer to RZA's "The Man With the Iron Fists" movie, I had mixed feelings about it. I knew RZA was a Shaw Brothers fan (having created the Wu-Tang Clan and naming all the rappers after characters from Kung Fu movies), but after finally watching his movie that I really respect the man for his love of the Kung Fu movie genre.

Is "The Man With the Iron Fists" a great movie? Well… it's not the best Kung Fu movie, but for what it is: I was entertained. I can see where RZA was inspired by old Shaw Brothers movies (in particular those Venoms movies, including "Crippled Avengers"). I wish RZA just stay true to the source period - which meant no rap music in the soundtrack (this was also another problem I had with Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" usage of hip hop and rap music in a western!) and no Americans (so sorry, but RZA's character shouldn't have existed in this world - along with Jack Knife).

I guess my advice to you is that you shouldn't spend any time analyzing the plot or wondered how a man can use his iron hands (surely you didn't ask those questions in those incredible Chang Cheh movies), then you'll have a really good time. It's a popcorn movie; just expect a lot of martial arts action.

Look, I'm just happy that more people are interested in Kung Fu movies, I am hoping to see more Shaw Brothers movies on Blu-Ray, as of this writing only 10 titles are available (and I own 7 of them!)

You can buy "The Man With the Iron Fists" on DVD and Blu-Ray on February 12th.

If you can't wait for the DVD, might I suggest checking out the soundtrack. You can stream the songs on Bandcamp, and if you're a massive fan - there is the deluxe edition with includes five CDs, vinyl and posters, etc.

I feel I should explain the 'monk' thing below. Legend has it that it was the Shaolin Monks who developed Kung Fu to defend themselves.

RARE MONK bandcamp.com Rare Monk is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. They said that they like to mix sax and violin to "rock jams" to make danceable songs. Their full-length album, Sleep/Attack will be out February 26th. They actually didn't send me the cover artwork, so I'm using the cover of their previous EP, Death By Proxy.

OLD MONK freeoldmonk.com You remember Old Monk. Lara can't get enough of them. Turns out NME loved them, recently featured singer Josh Carrafa's "Music History in GIFs blog" on their website. Now that I have your attention, Old Monk will be playing at Pianos (with Maude, Tropical Ooze, Vulture Shit, Black Forest) in New York this Saturday (01/19/13).

MONKS OF MELLONWAH monksofmellonwah.com Sydney's Monks of Mellonwah recently won "Best International Rock Act" at the Los Angeles Music Awards last November. The band also recently wrapped up their first ever U.S. tour, ending last month (December), playing mostly along the west and east coast. Monks of Mellonwah's latest EP is called, Neurogenesis, and featured their single "Neverending Spirit" (the music video was picked up on MTV's network.)

MODULOKTOPUS facebook.com Ending this roundup is a band not called anything remotely monk-ish in name, Boston's Moduloktopus. I had to follow up on this band because they recently mixed Bruce Lee's philosophy in their latest song, "Formless" (in collaboration with Michael Gold.) I've heard Lee talk on various documentaries over the years, especially with the recent "I am Bruce Lee" still fresh in my mind.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

News for the Week of 5/4/2008

RZA as Bobby Digital - B.O.B.B.Y RZA Tour Dates June 10-Houston, TX@Warehouse Live June 11-Austin, TX@Emo's June 12-Dallas, TX@Palladium Ballroom June 14-Denver, CO@ Cervantes Ballroom June 15-SLC, UT@ Urban Lounge June 17-Tucson, AZ@ Rialto Theater June 18-Phoenix, AZ@The Brickhouse June 20-LA, CA@Henry Fonda Theater June 21-San Francisco, CA@1015 June 23-Portland, OR@Hawthorne Theater June 24-Seattle, WA@Showbox June 25-Vancouver, CAN@Richards June 27-Calgary, CAN@Sled Island Fest June 30-Minneapolis, MN@First Avenue July 01-Chicago, IL@House of Blues July 02-Pontiac, MI@Crofoot Ballroom July 04-Ottawa, CAN@New Capital Hall July 05-New York, NY@Webster Hall July 07-Philadelphia, PA@Trocadero July 08-Washington, DC@9:30 Club

Before Deltron^[W♥M], there was RZA as Bobby Digital. RZA is obviously influenced by genre movies (from Blaxploitation to oldschool Kung Fu movies) and he uses that as a character called "Bobby Digital".

I got a press release that he's going to release a new Bobby Digital CD called Digi Snacks in July 2008 (Wikipedia lists this as Digi Snax).

Excerpt from press release:

Described by his colleagues, admirers, and even haters alike as a "mad scientist," Robert Diggs, aka RZA, comes across more like a relentless warrior. And like any good warrior, he's on a mission...an honorable quest to infect all he comes across with a positive polarity. "You taste everything every day. You go through these different shifts of positives and negatives throughout your whole day," he explains. "I just make more of a fiction thing around it, metaphors in all different ways. That's all I'm doing. You get the Manga, you get the Martial Arts, you get the Sci-Fi, you get the Blaxploitation, but you still get your real life because I'm a real person."

There's also a tour date listing to promote the album in June to mid-July. I am including the tour information here.

PS, you have to give props to RZA for commissioning comic book artist, Bill Sienkiewicz, as cover artist for his debut album, Bobby Digital in Stereo. I am a big fan of Sienkiewicz's art style, from his Stray Toasters series to his more famous work, Elektra: Assassin, with Frank Miller.

Black Kids - Hit the Heartbreakes Black Kids Tour Dates  May 5 - Omaha, NE at Waiting Room* May 6 - Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry* May 7 - Chicago, IL at The Abbey Pub* May 8 - Detroit, MI at Magic Stick* May 9 - Toronto, ON at Lees Palace* May 12 - Boston, MA at Paradise* May 13 - Brooklyn, NY at Studio B* May 15 - Washington, DC at Black Cat* May 16 - Philadelphia, PA at Pure* May 17 - Baltimore, MD at Sonar* May 18 - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom *with CUT COPY

I also noticed that Black Kids is releasing Partie Traumatic on Columbia Records on July 22^nd in the US (although the album will be released July 7^th elsewhere else on Almost Gold Records).

We've previously mentioned Black Kids here on W♥M, so I am excited to see that they've signed to Columbia Records.

According to the press release, they are "currently being recorded in London by Bernard Butler".

That's the Bernard Butler from Suede. Britpop fans should have known that.

Apparently, they are getting a lot of attention in the UK, where they've been living lately:

So far, in 2008 Black Kids have been included in the 2008 BBC Sounds Poll and tipped as Ones To Watch by the NME (amongst others.) They have headlined a Vice Tour with Ipso Facto and Friendly Fires, done support tours with Kate Nash and Sons & Daughters, and sold out shows at London's Water Rats and two ICA headline dates – all before releasing a single.

Catch them on tour with Cut Copy in April through May, before they become too famous and then you can say, "oh I knew them when..."

I wanted to quickly mention that I'll be at random concerts in Minneapolis - so if you want to meetup and say hi, send me an email!

 

 

I'll be checking out: Wild Sweet Orange (myspace.com/wildsweetorange) are from Alabama and are on a long tour from May to mid-June. They're stopping in Minneapolis at the Fine Line Cafe, which is a pretty quaint place.

I was told that if you get the $75 (prices probably varies?) ticket deal, you're also served dinner with a table with a nice view of the show. Although I don't know how distracting that would be, eating, talking to the waitress, and trying to watch the show...

I'm also trying out this widget for Wild Sweet Orange, let me know if it works out. If you are interested, there's actually some tour information and stuff about the band.

 

Oh, also, Japan's Boris is on tour in the States, with their recent release of Smile... See press release for more information.

Excerpt:

With major features in North American mags such as Alarm, Metal Maniacs, Decibel, Exclaim, Metal Edge, Pitchfork, Outburn, Crustcake, PaperThinWalls, Thrasher, Unrestrained and more hitting, not to mention the countless amazing online reviews from all styles and genres of webzines, the massively-viewed "Statement" video and wide array of other glowing coverage, this is easily the most well-received Boris release to date, and shows the ever-morphing musical diversity of the band spreading thousands of listeners more than their doom metal beginnings.

That's it for now, more news next Sunday!

05/04/2008 12:46:48 vu my♥posts weheartmusic.com