Live from SunFest, it’s… me…

Hey there. I’ve been helping the new site pbpulse.com cover SunFest this week. I don’t think I’ve covered a wider variety of music in my life, and it’s kind of exciting.

Pbpulse.com started out with a rough patch — slammed with server traffic — but they’ve at least got their SunFest coverage.

I’m hoping that they get back completely on their feet soon — but then, as I helped build it, I’m pretty biased.

Here are a few links to what I and Post writer Leslie Gray Streeter have covered so far:

Sly & Robbie, reggae pioneers

Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, Pennywise, punk and more

Citizen Cope, soulful rocker

Collective Soul/Randy Bachman

James Taylor

Black-Eyed Peas back together with a Boom, a Boom and a Pow

Finally, a great shot of the Peas... hey! Move that camera!

Finally, the Peas are back in the same pod.

Over the last two years, you’ve seen various members of the Black Eyed Peas all over the place. Fergie performed her solo album The Dutchess and appeared in movies; Will.i.am got out the vote for President Obama, released a solo album and produced.

But in returning to the fold, all of the Peas — which also include rappers Apl.de.ap and Taboo — began working their music and style in a different way.

The best example is the band’s brand new single, “Boom Boom Pow”, an extremely danceable song that is nowhere near out of place at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, where the band debuted the song on stage Friday.

“‘Boom Boom Pow’ is a part of experiments I’ve been doing,” Will.i.am said in a news conference before their performance. “I wanted to make a song that was basically one whole verse, and in mid-song pull in an whole new beat, inspiring DJs to play the song the full way.”

It was a highlight of the band’s brief but well-received performance at the festival, the centerpiece of the Winter Music Conference — a week-long electronic music celebration that brings together some of the top DJs in the world.

“The DJ is the most important thing in music today,” Will.i.am said. “When we released ‘Boom Boom Pow’, with the straight version, the a capella version and more, we wanted to give DJs the tools to help ‘Boom Boom Pow’ reach all different kinds of areas.”

“The song is based in the kind of clubs where we know it will live,” Fergie added. “People need something that makes them feel good right now.”

“Boom Boom Pow” is the first salvo of the upcoming The E.N.D. The band members say the new album’s sound is more along the lines of electro, a high-energy sound that also pulls them away from the poppier elements of the Peas’ last two LPs.

“The sound kind of reminds me of what hip-hop was like in 1980,” Will.i.am said. “It’s celebrating the kind of sound of what is happening in the world.”

Gettin’ all up in Ultra Music Festival

Finally, I get my festival on.

I missed out on my chance earlier this year when Langerado was called off for 2009 — and honestly, I’m kind of glad. The festival picked the wrong venue (Miami’s in-the-middle-of-the-city Bicentennial Park) and seemed to lose its way with its core audience a bit.

But the Ultra Music Festival seems to have a handle on what it provides. Unlike Langerado, Ultra’s choice of Bicentennial Park fits it to a tee. As the centerpiece of the World Music Conference, Ultra has its place in the city. Langerado’s more laid-back style has its place more in the country.

Friday, the first day, has more bands than the second day. Both days, however, are pretty much about the men and women on the decks — DJs. And some of the best DJs in the entire world: Carl Cox. The Prodigy. Paul Van Dyk. Tiesto. Roni Size with Reprazent. BT. Crystal Castles. Cut Copy. Mstrkrft. Hercules and Love Affair. Deadmau5. And on and on and on.

The music acts are excellent as well — Bloc Party, Santogold, Ting Tings, Shiny Toy Guns, even Black Eyed Peas.

Definitely worth a visit down south. I’ll be there…

Tinsley Ellis: Still at the blues

I’m not sure if I’ve followed Tinsley Ellis or if he’s following me.

A cool Southern blues guitarist, Ellis first came to my attention when he was starting out in Georgia and I was in school in Athens, Ga. He’d play a local club, and I’d hear about how he’d take his guitar outside and play for the guys who couldn’t get in.

Well, he’s still at it. He plays quite a bit down here, and people know him for his showmanship and his technical skill.

He’s playing Friday at the Back Room in Boca Raton.

Please to enjoy “To the Devil a Dime”:

Get spaced out with EOTO

Sometimes it’s good to just let the mind go.

To zone out at the planetarium light show as psychedelia plays. To find yourself in and out of the music with Thievery Corporation or Brother Bean (local band, worth a look.)

EOTO, the electronica duo formed by Micheal Travis and Jason Hann of the String Cheese Incident, takes you out to those outer reaches. Or at least the outer reaches of Miami’s Purdy Lounge on Wednesday, Delray’s City Limits on Friday and as part of Locofest at the Palm Beach International Raceway on Saturday.

EOTO’s peg is that everything is improvised. They just go off on a tangent and dare you to follow them. Worth the trip, it seems, every time.

New video for Raphael Saadiq’s ’100 Yard Dash’.

But it’s embed-disabled by “request”. Dang. Well here’s the link…

And here’s the live sound of Mr. Saadiq… excellent video from SoulBounce.com:

Every Dr. Dog has his day — at Culture Room

 

Dr. Dog in concert (Photo by Paolo Proserpio)

The time has come for Dr. Dog to take the lead.

Dr. Dog is one of those bands that other bands would fear opening for them, because the quintet’s three-part harmonies and boundless energy are very hard to follow.

I had the chance to see these guys at Langerado last year, and this Philadelphia band is a lot of fun. Their music has bounce. 

It’s just worth a trip to Culture Room on Friday to check them out.

Cowboy Junkies: Celebrating a great achievement

Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies

I heard The Trinity Session for the first time in college.

Margo Timmins has one of the most truly haunting voices ever. And this album, released in 1989, enveloped it into a warm country sound that the band fell in love with when they toured.

This year, the band released Trinity Revisited, a 20th anniversary celebration of their achievement — featuring such luminaries as Ryan Adams and Natalie Merchant.

Cowboy Junkies will be bringing their wonderful sound to the Lyric Theatre in Stuart. And while their whole career will be on display, the special feeling of The Trinity Session will likely be at the center.

From that album, my personal favorite song — “Misguided Angel”:

Langerado 2009 is dead.

Damn.

http://www.langerado.com/2009/langerad09.php?sec=13&id=86

A quick one: Beat that, Keller!

Wednesday’s the day for good music ’round these parts — The English Beat at Culture Room and Keller Williams at City Limits.

The English Beat was one of the truly great ska bands, combining a very pure Jamaican sound with the pop sensibilities of Dave Wakeling. However, Wakeling’s move to the U.S., coinciding with nostalgia, have created a Beat on both sides of the pond. Wakeling heads up The English Beat on U.S. soil, while original members Ranking Roger and Everett Morton are part of The Beat (which has always been the band’s name inside the UK) when they play British dates. It’s a sort of inadvertent two-pronged ska attack. Or skattack.

Keller Williams’ innovative songwriting and guitar work have made him a live favorite and collaboratin’ fool. Not surprisingly, his newest album is a collaboration with other artists in a live setting. If you see Keller, you’ll see a man who can take a show in a lot of different directions.