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Monday, May 5, 2008
Late night musical guests this week
Monday
Jimmy Eat World - “Late Show with David Letterman”
Rascal Flatts - “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
Thrice - “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”
Michael Starr - “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”
Tuesday
Steve Winwood - “Late Show with David Letterman”
KT Tunstall - “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
Galactic - “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”
Lyfe Jennings - “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Jason Aldean - “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”
Wednesday
Dirk Arthur - “Late Show with David Letterman”
P.O.D. - “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
The Duke Spirit - “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”
Lil Mama - “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Mike Doughty - “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”
Thursday
Panic at the Disco - “Late Show with David Letterman”
Trace Adkins - “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
Gavin DeGraw - “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Friday
Carly Simon - “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
Tokio Hotel - “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”
Ludo - “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
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PPT’s ‘Denglish’: Dallas soul, English style
PPT came onto my radar back in 2006 when I caught the Dallas power trio at a showcase at Antone’s. Their unique brand of hip-hop-soul-funk fusion was unlike anything I’d heard before. Their performance style, full of high-energy falsetto harmonies and goofy charm, was ridiculously infectious. I instantly became a fan.
The group, consisting of three independently established established artists, Pikahsso Allen Poe, Picnic and Tahiti, was signed to Idol Records which released their well-received debut platter “Tres Monos in Love” shortly thereafter. Nearly two years later, on the heels of a SXSW performance they dropped their sophomore offering “Denglish,” a concept CD featuring Dallas music delivered in an English accent. With a wicked sense of humor, lush production full of rich instrumentation and an endless abundance of tight harmonies, it’s one of the most oddly adventurous urban releases to come out of Texas, or, for that matter, anywhere in years.
We caught up with Pikahsso through the e-mail to chat about hip-hop and humor, undersung Dallas funk and “Denglish” muffins.
Music Source: What’s the story behind “Denglish”? How did you come up with the idea to do a British themed-Dallas music album?
Pikahsso: Well, basically it went like this: At the end of 2006, Picnic made a beat that put us in the mind of Pet Shop Boys and groups of that nature. Now when we heard it we just started getting in the mind frame of “wow this is some British type sound” so we just kind of started playing around with the accents and being silly. Then after Picnic’s house burnt down, we were sitting around at a studio still vibing on the idea, and I said, “Hey we can call it ‘Denglish’ to let people know it’s like life in Dallas from a black British/English perspective.” We wanted it to be the welcoming mat to our city of Dallas Texas.
The Denglish thing goes deeper than the put-on accents. Sonically, I hear everything from new wave to psychedelic Beatles sounds on this album. Were you fans of English music already or did you put in study time while writing this album?
Yes, we are fans of the Beatles. If you look at the cover you can see what we visually tried to pull off from an African American hip-hop perspective. We listen to the Rolling Stones, Parliament, Cameo, A Tribe Called Quest, Earth Wind And Fire, David Ruffin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Green Day, Bobbi Humphrey, N Dambi, John Coltrane, Cab Calloway, Sun Ra, The Pharcyde, Big Daddy Kane, Thomas Dolby, Moby, Centro Matic, Bavu Blakes, UGK, Manhatan Transfer, Weezer, Black Moon, and many more. It’s more than just three black guys rapping and singing in British accents. We want to circumnavigate the world around our city and give [our listeners] a crash course on Dallas and to let people know we are no joke on the mic when it comes to spitting them molten lava flows. But [the album is] not made for people who take it way too seriously. It’s an album that’s made to have fun, stimulate the mind, make your speakers knock and bring the world together in harmony. And to let people know that Dallas does have creativity of all sorts.
With anything in life you have to study the craft and the greats that came before you to be a better artist.
Have you heard any feedback from actual British friends or fans? Do you have plans to tour in England?
I’ve had several [friends] I know that bought it. They seemed to like it, but you can never tell. I will say this, we sell pretty well overseas and on iTunes a lot of downloads are starting to come from over that way. So hopefully that’s a good sign of BIG things to come.
One of my favorite tracks on this album is “Higher,” which is one of the least “Denglish” of the bunch. Were there times when the concept and the accents started to feel constrictive?
“Higher” is the Aeonz joint on the album. The Aeonz is like a musical hip-hop collective of dope organic artists out of the south and Texas. PPT, Strange Fruit Project, Verbal Seed, Deloach, Thesis, E’ence, Browlion, Pumah, Bavu Blakes, Chucky Sly, Money Mone — we’re like the Texas version of the Native Tongues — from Dallas to Fort Worth to Austin to Waco. The music we create is so beautiful.
Doing the ‘Denglish’ record was a challenge for me with some of the harmonies. To be honest doing the British accents was probably harder for me than Picnic or Tahiti. I’m not gonna front. At times it felt odd, but me, being the kind of person I am, I love a challenge. I hate anything that comes easy or that anyone can think of, so the finished project was a beautiful canvas. It takes time to make a masterpiece. I think everyone who gets the CD needs to take a close listen and think that these are three guys from the South who had the balls to try something way different and not go with the norms of this cookie cutter, stagnated music industry.
Speaking of Dallas music in general, why is the Dallas hip-hop sound so different from the Houston sound?
Dallas music is different from Houston, I think, because it hasn’t been heard. We are like the forgotten city, the ones the industry has looked over, so people who stumble upon this Dallas funk get blown away. But Dallas is a city of innovators like Erykah Badu, The DOC, N Dambi, Six 2, Tum Tum, Big Tuck, Tevin Campbell and The Polyphonic Spree. Even Vanilla Ice came from the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. They made a major impact on the national music scene but nobody knew. So we kinda got it in our souls naturally to be different down here. The world just don’t know it yet.
Let’s talk about the movie. Another nod to the Beatles, it would seem. Where did the idea for that come from and what kind of a budget did it take?
Tahiti came up with the idea of the “Denglish” movie which, by the way, comes on a DVD when you get the CD. He got his inspiration from the “Hard Days Night” Beatles movie. It’s a film short, basically adding that extra icing on the cake to let people know these dudes don’t take themselves too seriously and they are really getting into the characters. They have a sense of humor, which I feel is really missing from today’s hip-hop songs and albums. We basically put it all together on shoe string budget. Picnic had the cameras, some of the shots were done by Daniel Nanasi, and Tahiti did the directing and editing.
The production on this album is really impressive. Did you do most of it in house?
The bulk of the production was done by Picnic who teamed up with Glen Reynolds of Chomsky on the Guitar. Corey Watson played Guitar on the CD. Aisha played the flute on “To Me Mums.” S1 of Strange Fruit Project did the “Higher” track. Richmond Punch played the violin on “Save It For Another Day” and “Masterbook Theater.” But Picnic laid most of the foundation and found the perfect selection of musicians to help bring the “Denglish” monster to life and Glen Reynolds the guy who’s also featured on American Weirdo was like the co-pilot. This album would not be what it is musically if not for Picnic and the supporting cast so please let the world know they names.
When will your Austin fans get a chance to check out Denglish live?
Well I’m going be doing some stuff with Bavu Blakes at the ACL festival coming up in September. I’m on the hook on his Smiley Faces song off the Extra Plair EP. We plan to do some shows with Matt Sonzala of Austinsurreal.com, and we got some in-store performances coming up at Waterloo. The best bet is to log on to the myspace page at myspace.com/ppt3 or myspace.com/pik for more information.
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White, Shue night at the Longbranch
Guitarist Jack White and actress Elisabeth Shue (“Leaving Las Vegas”) showed up together Friday night at the Longbranch Inn on E. 11th Street following the Raconteurs set at Stubb’s. Well, maybe “together” is too strong a word. Both are married to others- White to model Karen Elson.
Shue was with husband Dave Guggenheim, the director (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “Deadwood”) currently making a documentary about White and other guitarists. A Longbranch employee said the White group chilled for about an hour and a half.
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Tom Waits to break Texas vow
Tom Waits announced Monday his “Glitter & Doom” tour will come to El Paso June 20, Houston June 22 and Dallas June 23.
After his friend Don Hyde was badly beaten by La Zona Rosa bouncers during SXSW in 1999, Waits reportedly announced that he’d never play Texas again.
Here are all the confirmed dates:
6/17 Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum
6/18 Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum
6/20 El Paso, TX - Plaza Theatre
6/22 Houston, TX - Jones Hall
6/23 Dallas, TX - Palladium
6-25 Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre
6/26 St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
6/28 Columbus, OH - Ohio Theatre
6/29 Knoxville, TN - Civic Theatre
7/01 Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theatre
7/2 Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
7/3 Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
7/5 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
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Update: ACL Fest grid, single-day tickets coming June 3
Still debating whether or not to shell out $170 for a 3-day pass for ACL Fest 2008? If you’re on the fence about the overall lineup, the full festival schedule will be released May 13 June 3, which is the same day that single-day tickets will go on sale. Of course, there’s a chance 3-day passes will be sold out at that point.
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Los Lonely Boys’ album ‘Forgiven’ out July 1
Los Lonely Boys’ third album ‘Forgiven’ hits the street July 1.
Produced by drummer-to-the-stars Steve Jordan (Keith Richards, John Mayer), the trio’s new effort was was recorded in somewhat unorthodox fashion at East Side Stages in Austin, with the band mimicking its live set-up on a sound stage.
The boys perform an exclusive acoustic set 10:30 p.m. May 24 at Saxon Pub at a Music for Literacy benefit with 100 percent of ticket sales going to the charity. Tickets were sold through Los Lonely Boys’ fan club and are sold out.
The band plays Blues on the Green on July 9.
Here’s the track listing:
“Heart Won’t Tell a Lie”
“Forgiven”
“Staying With Me”
“Loving You Always”
“I’m a Man”
“Make it Better”
“Love Don’t Care About Me”
“Cruel”
“You Can’t See the Light”
“Superman”
“Another Broken Heart”
“The Way I Feel”
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Review: The Raconteurs at Stubb’s
They love vibing off Led Zeppelin’s blues-rock stomp, garagey guitar noise and arena-ready songs because they can play to the cheap seats without falling into too much cliché. The arrangements on their new album, “Consolers of the Lonely,” feels too slick and fussy by half (not to mention that it’s mastered way too loudly). But their show at Stubb’s, which stripped back the songs to their chunky essence, was a wonderful argument for the band recording its next album live in the studio. The Raconteurs have an actual working mojo. (It doesn’t hurt that cameras were filming a documentary — posterity is always a good reason to play one’s best.)
And it is a band. Here, Brendan Benson plays the curly haired frontman while letting professional oddball Jack White be the guitarist with mystique (who happens to sing a whole mess of the songs). The White Stripes’ devotion to primitivism, which began to abate around “Seven Nation Army,” has always been a partial mask for just how good a player White is - he brings a fire to solos that could sound dull in the hands of people who treat the blues too reverently.
In front of a thrilled, might-as-well-have been-sold-out crowd, the band, augmented with a keyboard/fiddle player, tore into the new album’s title track and “You Don’t Understand Me,”. On the latter, White reminded the crowd that a hard-strummed acoustic buried in the mix forces the band to swing that much harder.
The fiddle-driven“Old Enough” and “Top Yourself” roared with a fire absent from the band’s studio efforts, while a new blues let White cut loose. “These Stones Will Shout” and “Steady, As She Goes” were crowd faves, while “Carolina Drama,” a ballad in many chapters, perhaps benefited the most from the absence of production butter.
Pulling off a rock smart and swaggering in equal measure is not easy. Wish I had gone both nights.
(Jack White performs with the Raconteurs Friday night at Stubb’s. Photo by Tammy Perez/For AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
