First Musical Pick of 2008

Though released in October 2007, I've only just purchased 100 Days, 100 Nights. What a great CD! This is my first excellent find of the new year. If you like Amy Winehouse, you'll love Sharon Jones. The Dap Kings are the same backing band. Sharon is a female James Brown and Otis Redding rolled into one. Below is:
1) a review from Amazon.com
2) the video for the title song
3) the Dap Kings' My Space web address

From Amazon.com
In the new millennium, soul has become big business again. But despite succulent re-issues from labels like Astralwerks and Light in the Attic, the resurgence of seasoned soul sisters like Bettye LaVette, and the volcanic popularity of new-soul crooners like Amy Winehouse, the champions of the new generation's purist strain are Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. After the often upbeat, always exciting sounds of 2005's Naturally, the band's next outing comes off as a slightly more tempered affair. The title track opens with an indefatigable statement of purpose, dropping into a late-stage, sub-halftime groove so Jones can fully "take [her] time" lamenting her missing man. Elsewhere, her voice effortless treads the heights and depths of its range with timeless aplomb ("Be Easy," "When the Other Foot Drops, Uncle," "Answer Me"). The Dap Kings themselves have reached a pocket-digging near-perfection, recent collaborations with Kanye West, Lily Allen, and the aforementioned Winehouse, yielding the sounds of a band at the top of its game. At times, these tracks court the uninspired flavor of the wholly derivative, but in all, 100 Days, 100 Nights makes for a very welcome addition to any avid listener's contemporary soul music library. --Jason Kirk

Album Description
Although singer Sharon Jones first began attracting attention during the late '90s, her smoky, soulful voice and blistering grooves harked back three decades earlier to the heyday of funk, evoking the music of James Brown protégés like Marva Whitney and Lynn Collins with uncanny precision; not surprising, given that the veteran Jones was well into her 40s by the time she began earning wide recognition. On their own independent Daptone label, the band has sold over 50,000 copies of their first two records (not to mention over 20K vinyl 7’s) without any major label support or promotion. The Dap-Kings have been highly sought after, working with artist such as Amy Winehouse, Kanye West, Mark Ronson, Hank Schocklee, Kenny Dope, Lilly Allen, and Rhymefest.

http://www.myspace.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! You know what happens on Imagination D

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

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