From the KollabNY Fam:

Dear Kollaboration Friends,

As Kollaboration New York gets closer to the show on Saturday, June 27, 2009 one thing is certain. New York is the place for dreamers. Among its stoops, skyscrapers, and subway stations, there is an unmistakable undercurrent of dreams realized, on their way, taking shape. Getting closer.

In our pursuit of helping realize dreams, KNY has been blessed to receive the moral and artistic support of the New York music and entertainment community. A few local artists (not necessarily competitors) spent weeks to help put together this video in celebration of our mission. This project is a collaboration in the truest sense of the word. An homage to New York City, its dreamers, the pursuit of dreams...

To getting closer.



For details about the event, see Marilla's original post here. Tickets go on sale next week here.

Two of our favorite artists, Taiyo Na and Magnetic North, are touring Boston! If you're in the area, go check them out, and listen to their collaborative single "I Got My".

Magnetic North & Taiyo Na Boston Tour (2.20 -2.21.09)

Friday, February 20, 2009
8 pm
$3
East Meets West Bookstore
934 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139
http://bostonprogress.org/
(Limited seating, so come early)

Saturday, February 21, 2009
7 pm
$8 advance / $10 at the door
Boston University
alpha Kappa Delta Phi and BU China Care Fund present...
The Fourth Annual HOPE: A Cultural Freestyle 2009
Also featuring Kevin So!
871 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02155
http://people.bu.edu/buccf/

Saturday, February 21, 2009
8 pm
No admission fee (NU ID +1 guest)
Northeastern University
Curry Student Center Ballroom
360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
http://www.northeastern.edu/aac/events/aahw.html

PaperDoll, who performed at CultureShock, is headlining the "Bronx Underground Revolution" at Bruckner Bar (1 Bruckner Blvd) in the Bronx next Saturday. The show is 18+, $7 cover and $5 if you print out the flyer below:

The American Red Cross in Greater New York is hosting its first ever benefit concert!!! Being held in the SECOND LARGEST auditorium in the city at Brooklyn Tech High School on Saturday, March 7th 6:00-9:00pm.

Admission:
Tickets are $10 (in advance) only because this is a charity event.
At the door $12

PERFORMING GROUPS:

AJ Rafael
Vocals, keys, ukulele, guitars, drums, and song writer. Music that touches your heart.
http://www.myspace.com/ajrafael
http://www.youtube.com/ilajil
#78 - Most Subscribed (All Time) - Musicians
#99 - Most Viewed (This Month) - Musicians

Jay Legaspi
Guitars, drums, singing. A sweet guy and "sensitive to a T and the rest of the alphabet"
http://www.myspace.com/JayLegaspi

Keating Underground
R&B, funk, blues and jazz

Ft. Mark "ong bak" Consolacion (bass guitar), Felipe "Maki" Cruz (lead guitar), Kevin "ka-i boy" Francisco (drums), Gemini "the gem" Quintos (vocals), Emil "sax" Tangco (saxophonist)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keating-Underground/6393196935

Magnetic North
Ft Derek Kan (aka Direct) and Theresa Vu (aka T-Minus, TVu)
Hip Hop/ Rap.

Debut Hit Album "Drift Away" OUT OF PRINT!
Produced by Sketchbook Media and Wong Fu Productions
New Album "Within the Rhythm"

Performed at International Secret Agents Concert 2008, hosted by Wong Fu Productions and Far East Movement.

Performed at Charity Cirque Masquerade, sponsored by Rival Entertainment.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Magnetic-North/29777375832
http://www.myspace.com/magnetichiphop

Stone Forest Ensemble
Ft. Jie-Song (Emcee and Electric Violinist), Krussia Kalnev (Beatboxer), Varuni Tiruchelvam (Cellist), and Joshua Benson (multi-faceted percussionist)

Kollaboration Grand Champion as crowned in 2006

Jie-Song took 2nd place at Amateur Night at Legendary APOLLO THEATER of Harlem

http://www.myspace.com/sfenyc

*Pre-show from 6:30-7:00PM

DIRECTIONS: Take B, Q, R, M to DeKalb Ave (closest) OR N, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic- Pacific St
(Only one stop away from Manhattan)

For more information, visit the Facebook event.

...so, I admit, I started this off as a "Holiday Gift Guide"-themed post of sorts but scrapped the idea when, suddenly, it dawned to me: why would anyone out there in our readership of tens, when looking for a gift to give, think about listening to the advice of a man and his mostly useless interest in politically progressive hip-hop? Why would you even continue to write this post? Could it have to do with the fact that, after finishing your last final paper, you rejected the most obvious next step (sleep) and instead weighed the idea of writing a blog post?

Reasons to Listen:

-RA Scion (emcee) and Sabzi (producer) mesh extremely well, and it never feels forced

-"Back Home (The Return)," in which Sabzi flips the same sample from "Back Home" and makes it sound qualitatively different. Kudos!

-Who else could release a EP and LP with the thematic strain of the early-20th-century labor struggles of white tenant farmers in the rural South? It also merits this RA outfit.

Highlights: "Trouble Is," "Back Home (The Return)," "Weather Vane," "Nothin' At All"

The Asian Bacon connection: Sabzi's other group Blue Scholars features an emcee, Geologic, who is Filipino. Two degrees!

Q-TIP | The Renaissance

Reasons to Listen:

-Q-Tip makes the album sound like 1994 and 2008 at the exact same time, and every song feels like it belongs where it does. And he's still a solid rapper!

-"We Fight/We Love." Gotta love Raphael Saadiq

-Pop it in and you'll start reminiscing about the "good ol' days of hip-hop," a nostalgic reminder of the Midnight Marauders days when we were 6 and singing along to the Power Rangers theme song

-Tip's hat in the "Gettin' Up" music vid. Few people could get away with that

Highlights: "Gettin' Up," "We Fight/We Love," "Move," "Dance on Glass"

The Asian Bacon connection: The music video for "Move" was directed by Rik Cordero, who is Filipino. Also, to give the non-Pin@ys a chance: "Life is Better" features Norah Jones, who is Desi. 2 x 2 degrees!

INVINCIBLE | ShapeShifters

Reasons to Listen:

-Her lyricism is the densest and cleverest of anything I've heard in like 5 years. On "Sledgehammer!" alone, she alludes to the Detroit Pistons, Peter Gabriel, J Dilla, Fred Hampton, Orville Redenbacher, and Frantz Fanon, and has the line "there goes the neighborhood, like Fred Sanford next door to Ned Flanders."

-Strong, critical, genuinely feminist rappers are few and far between in a world of music industries that put butt & bust sizes first

-She walks the walk, and is a community/youth organizer and educator in Detroit and Ann Arbor!

Highlights: "Sledgehammer!," "Spacious Skies," "Recognize," "Locusts," and everything else

The Asian Bacon connection: ShapeShifters both quotes and features an audio sample from Grace Lee Boggs, who is also a badass Detroit community organizer, and is Chinese. Two degrees! This is pretty easy.

KANYE WEST | 808's and Heartbreak

Reasons to Listen:

-.

Highlights: "Spaceship," "Two Words," "Heard 'Em Say," "Flashing Lights"

The Asian Bacon connection: Kanye often works with Jay-Z, whose album American Gangster was based on the movie featuring Denzel Washington, which also featured Josh Brolin, who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon!

(Good night.)

Held on Friday 5/2, 7 - 9 PM in Lerner Party Space:

Alfa Garcia


Cynthia Lin


Annie Lin


Magnetic North

(photos dutifully ripped off Myspace)

Not as you usually see him (like this):

That's right - Taiyo is not posing for an album cover, but rather is doing what we do too: drinking soup and eating cookies. Per my request, David took this photo during our meeting on Monday (a day after Sulu Series) at Cafe Medina. In between bites, we asked questions about Cowgirl NYC and Taiyo's first studio album.

So when we're not stressing out about everything else (CASPY, NYCAASC, tomorrow's Fallout Central interview), further evidence from this meeting (pictures, a transcript of the actual interview, an album review) will surface.