"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens".

Arrived in Jo'burg on Thursday & have already been able to hook up with one of my dearest sistah-friends, the Diaspora's finest Dudu, who left for Germany & then India today [there are no coincidences, folks!].  Work at my beloved PR agency starts on Monday 1 September. I also haven't done much for my M.A. thesis these last couple of weeks, so hope to get into it again & come up with a great schedule during this week off.
Just a little update on me, lots of mails awaiting me in my account but am currently still settling in, trying to get rooted here as I have constantly been on the move for the past two years or so. So, will get back to everyone on a mre personal basis asap but wanna give me time to figure things out right now & find a certain amount of inner peace first.

It's a blessing to be here. Not easy & nothing is for free in Jozi. But my struggles here are easier for me to cope with than the ones in the European bubble. Will write about that as I move along.

As I won't be online much till the beginning of September, here's a special date soon soon in Joburg.

Jo'burg Gets Pretty Jazzy: Joy Denalane @ Joy Of Jazz

Dear N (who always makes fun of her German accent) informed me that Joy Denalane, German's Soul Diva, will be performing at the Joy of Jazz Festival which takes place 28 - 30 August in Newtown. Other great artists are going to be my beloved Simphiwe Dana, Lira (who's rocking it live!), the legendary Yvonne Chaka Chaka & the incredible young saxophonist Joshua Redman. Ms Denalane will perform on Friday 29 August but check out the programme & the other artists here.

& as I have featured Simphiwe Dana already (I just can't praise her enuff), here is some music from the other artists:

Joy Denelane feat. Hugh Masekela: Im Ghetto von Soweto (Auntie's House) -
with subtitles cos her German songs are just so much more powerful than the English once from Born Raised album that was clearly produced with the American market in mind.

Lira: Ixesha -
Her biggest hit, Feel Good, can't be compared to the energy & presence she has on stage. Ixesha & its video represents her much better (in my humble opinion).

Yvonne Chaka Chaka: I'm In Love With A DJ -
Music from a different era but get your groove on to Chaka Chaka's first hit (she was 19 at that time), folks!

Joshua Redman: Jazz Crimes -
Jazz crimes for jazz lovers! Who isn't feeling this?

und wir mittendrin. Am 02.08.2008 lud RPR1 zum alljährlichen kostenlosen Rheinland-Pfalz Openair. Da wir uns erst einige Wochen zuvor von Shaggys überraschend guten Livequalitäten überzeugen konnten, haben wir uns gedacht für umme kann man sich das definitiv nochmal antun.

Außer Shaggy gab es natürlich noch einiges anders zu sehen. Die ersten die mir wirklich im Sinn geblieben sind, waren Madcon. Da ich nur den einen Hit aus dem Radio kannte hab ich nicht sonderlich viel erwartet...sie haben aber echt guten Rap gemacht...wusste zu gefallen :)

Zu Jenniffer Kae und Vincent kann ich mich nicht wirklich äußern weil es einfach nicht meine Musik war.

Dann das erste persönliche Highlight für mich...Joy Denalane. Und ich wurde enttäuscht...sicher hat die Frau eine fantastische Stimme...aber das alleine reicht nunmal nicht um ein gutes Konzert zu geben. Bühnenpräsenz=0...schade eigentlich...dazu kommt das kein einziger Freundeskreis Track kam.

Dann spielte Shaggy eine gute und überraschend unangepasste Show und wusste mal wieder zu überzeugen...und das in dem Alter.

Naja Fanta 4 hab ich dann nur so nebenbei gehört, klang aber ganz ok.

Big up auf jedenfall an RPR1 für dieses Event...bei gutem Linup nächstes Jahr gerne wieder.

Die Bilder findet ihr hier:

http://picasaweb.google.com/biertier1988/RheinlanPfalzOpenair

Das sind bisher die aktuellsten Bilder, aber mit Buccaneer, Ill Inspecta und dem Urban Summer Festival ist ja einiges los in nächster Zeit.

Dazu liegen hier noch haufenweise alte Bilder von u.a. Maxi Priest, Bunji Garlin, LP International uvm. rum. Jeden tag Updates garantiert ;)

Bless!

Mit Dir (Com você)

Geh jetzt (Vá agora)

Höchste Zeit (Tá passando da hora)

1ste Liebe (Primeiro amor)

]]> http://dmsr.wordpress.com/?p=191 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:25:12 +0000 richardjamesuk1981 http://dmsr.wordpress.com/?p=191 Best Albums Of 2007 (in my opinion)

If anyone gets upset by these reviews, sorry but we are all allowed an opinion in this world so these are mine. I respect musicians from all genres but one thing I disrespect is when people come up with garbage and it is bought by people who are

1 Lazy to discover music
2. Read awful magazines NME (no musical ears), which recommend music to jump on the band wagon whereas I love music from the heart.

So if you wish to argue at my list I don’t mind but be warned you better have a good argument otherwise I will shoot you down in flames.

I have no bias and all these have links to the relevant acts for you to discover.

Now some albums were only released in the UK this year which is not great for people who know any of these albums in the US so I apologize. Some are not easy to obtain either so this takes effort but you will be thoroughly rewarded when purchased.

Included in this list are albums which have not impressed me and they will have comments written about them on a later date.

1. Keite Young-The Rise and fall of

I first heard tracks from this artist back in March 2007 and was impressed on the tracks I heard but in the back of my mind I was wondering if this would be another good musician who can’t come up with a decent soul album…Dwele anyone? And so on.

Now since listening to the album since September release date I have been proven wrong at last and we now have an album which I can listen to alongside D’Angelo and Maxwell albums. Within the genre of “Neo-Soul” or Soul/R &B the last few albums from artists have been as a whole quite poor, with maybe only two decent songs on the album at best and a lot of filler pretty much matching the R & B genre for a hit single but formulaic album structure. Keite defies this with an album of quality tracks with ranging subjects and a lot of musical influences Soul, Rock, Gospel and even some catchy melodies (something the neo –soul genre has seem to passed up on along time ago).

What I love about this album is not just his voice but the contrast between songs, Shine for example sits well with If We Were Alone (a exceptional slow –jam ballad with N’Dambi) and Masks (A introspective song about peoples lives-Imagine something from Sign of the Times period by Prince or Stevie wonder in fact!) and E.N.S(Gospel influenced ballad) and U Got It ( A Clintonesque weird joint) but all these tracks are contrasting in character, texture and genre in some cases but all have one thing in common the talent projecting them. At last an album worth buying within this genre.

As Keite can play all his own instruments he reminds me of Prince then the critics shortcomings, he sounds like Bilal crossed with Al Green which to me is weak as a compliment, as Bilal hasn’t written songs as good or on the same level as Keite anyway. But his voice against the rock element really reminds me of early Prince (oh when he did write decent albums anything before the 90’s, but especially the albums prior to Purple Rain) trying to crossover and since Terence Trent D’Arby/Lenny Kravitz there isn’t many Black artists who have tried to do this accept one comes to mind Cody Chesnutt who failed with a long-lo-fi album and at least The Roots improved his track The Seed.

So if any album I wish you to buy from this list would be this one, I believe you would be shocked how this talent has been missed by Broadsheets and the like, only problem if you live in the UK you can only buy it from Amazon.co.uk as it hasn’t been officially released here until February (still hasn't happened, I wrote this last year originally)

If you live in the US you have no excuse….simply as…Keite obviously has a myspace and here is the link http://www.myspace.com/keiteyoung

2.. Alicia Keys-As I Am

Another outstanding album from Ms Keys-in fact I think her best overall album yet, and I wasn’t looking forward to it as I particularly didn’t like the song “No-One” and thought “Stop over-singing”.

However this album has a quality and a surprise one at that, it is so steeped in old-school values (when I heard this album I thought of Roberta Flack, Patti Labelle and other legends within the Soul genre) compared to other releases by R&B starlets, for a start it’s a good album throughout apart from some slip-ups (but we will ignore them tracks and stop doing the pissing intros-they are annoying and unnecessary), its not too long either so it keeps the listener interested-any longer and it would have lost it’s appeal.

After hearing the outstanding Unplugged album I was always looking forward to the third major album release from Alicia Keys, and in fact I don’t think her potential has even been reached yet. On this album the songs are original for once and are not trying to sound like an old rectro song, i.e. Fallin (uses the “It’s a man mans world” theme musically), A Woman’s Worth( Isley Brothers Jam) You don’t even know my name (the main ingredient sample) and so on.

Nothing is wrong with that and sampling an old song is great but re-using it to make it fresher and more interesting is better. Alicia here on this album has come with an emotional diary which you feel is about her life and her thoughts and feelings, not her influences so much, “the diary of” was supposed to reflect this but didn’t to my ears anyway.

Some of the songs here are not as assessable as her previous efforts and some critics say the album is flat, but I think that is an unfair judgment as the album has more going for it musically then say the commercial R & B out this year. I don’t mind this but the average listener might who is used to her previous efforts. But Alicia doesn’t even use a really big R &B producer (for me gladly) apart from some collaborations lyrically and songwriting wise by Linda Perry and Marsha Ambrosius respectively and a great song written and performed with John Mayer-one of the highlights on the album. It is mainly an in-house affair (like previously but more so here),

The tracks I particularly like on the album are Lesson Learned (the track with John Mayer), Superwoman, and Like You’ll Never See Me Again, Wreckless Love, I Need You (The Last two you could imagine from the last album the Diary of)

http://www.myspace.com/aliciakeys

3. Dee Dee Bridgewater-Red Earth Malian Journey

Dee Dee Bridgewater has always been an exceptional vocalist ever since her days in the late 70’s, her solo albums Bad for Me and Just Family for example has great quality songs. But in later years covers of jazz songs have not interested me to purchasing her albums as much.

This album has in fact changed my mind... Dee Dee Bridgewater is first and foremost a groundbreaker, her interpretation on traditional jazz is Unafraid and uninhibited, these attributes make her very interesting.

Dee Dee Bridgewater's 2007 project, Red Earth-A Malian Journey, is a journey both forward and back.
A combination of mixing Malian voicing, music and traditional instruments with American Jazz and penning many of the lyrics, Bridgewater has crafted one of her most important jazz and especially musical statements to date. The rhythms throughout are stunning. With a percussion section of 5 or 6 African instruments throughout played by native Malians, and with jagged contrapuntal rhythms over 9/8, 7/8 and 8/8 meters.

Before this album was initiated Dee Dee made a decision to find her African roots back in Mali. As a listener of this album I am glad she did. As this album is of exceptional quality, and for once a jazz album which is original and not trying to be a formulaic covers album…In fact on first listen it is an album I could imagine Oumou Sangaré doing.

The songs on here are amazingly in depth and compelling highlights include "Afro Blue" which is more percussive version than her 70's classic, Mama Digna Sara Ye" (Mama Don't Ever Go Away), a track co written with Malian diva Ramata Diakité, and the covers of Nina Simone’s "Four Women" and Eugene McDaniel’s "Compared to What" come across as great testaments to this album about the human condition.

If you buy the DVD edition (which I would highly recommend) the DVD along side this release explains her journey and solidified her resolve to further investigate African music after her Grammy nominated and winning projects including the first of all double Grammy® Award-winning tribute Dear Ella after the death of Ella in 1996 and the later albums of Live at Yoshi's, This is New, and J'ai Deux Amours, incorporated more global sounds and influences.

If you loved the albums by Paul Simon-Graceland and Youssou N’Dour’s solo albums especially Guide (the Wommat) and Egypt then I would highly recommend this, it won’t be to every ones taste but if you love African music and jazz this CD by Dee Dee Bridgewater is the best of its kind in a long time…
http://www.myspace.com/deedeebridgewater

4. Mayra Andrade-Navenga

Well I first heard about this talent through a friend, and usually my friends are not good at recommending music, they try but the usually fail.

However I was glad to be put onto this album, though it is hard to obtain.

Still in her early 20s, Mayra Andrade has an outstanding vocal talent and the album is just musically amazing. Her sound has a cool confidence and languid with a sad-edged charm. Mayra originates from the Cape Verde islands, off the coast of Senegal, and Andrade has also traveled with her parents from Cuba to West Africa, and is currently based in Paris. You can hear this within the influences of the music.
The mixtures of Brazilian music then added to her musical mix as well (does help her percussionist and guitarists are Brazilian), her use of varied rhythms, including traditional rhythms from Cape Verde i.e. funana and batuku, is matched against lyrics in Cape Verdean Creole and French-I actually researched a lot of this after buying the album.

I am not going to lie, I don’t even understand the French language, but her voice and melodies are simply too beautiful to ignore-and I hadn’t even seen her yet in the flesh when she performed in London I saw in late September/Early October with Angelique Kidjo

She eclipsed Angelique Kidjo….That is how good she is…

So I especially was in awe. Theirs is plenty of variety here, thanks both to her exploration of these different styles and settings but the overall mood remains both thoughtful and relaxed.

If you love the Buena Vista Social Club then I would highly recommend this and this is a future star in world music

The key-cuts to me are the following Dimokransa, Comme S'il En Pleuvait, Navenga, and Lua

http://www.myspace.com/mayraandrade

5. Radiohead-In Rainbows

This album is probably the best since Ok Computer (not my favourite album but I respect it) where the band have struck a happy balance between innovation and accessibility, between rock and electronica.

Although the main fuss surrounding Radiohead's seventh album was prompted mostly by the way in which it was delivered download only, “pay as much as you like”

I will admit I didn’t pay anything, not to being a tight “MF” but because Radiohead albums can be patchy, however I will be buying this on physical CD within the New Year, so there LOL!

Lyrically, this album is more in tune with Thom Yorke’s solo album The Eraser, which are sketches of suburban paranoia, and the eerie sense of things not being quite right.

Thom Yorke’s voice also has a new-found tenderness, in fact beautiful (I forgot how great of a singer he is) and not so much rage as before (Paranoid Android), 'All I Need' and the luxurious 'Faust Arp', are examples where he sounds like a man emerging from a lifetime of despair.

The opener "15 Step" has an all skittering drum patterns and dub-style bass which makes you reminisce of the electronica of Kid A, the sound soon gives way to a more guitar-based sound. This album is not as musically heavy as previous albums, but for me and I think generally the tunes are far more focused and passionate

"Bodysnatchers" is based around a hypnotic, distorted bass riff, and another song I enjoyed and reminded me to listen to Radiohead is the beautiful string-drenched "Nude” a true Radiohead classic which could sit on any previous album.

I would recommend this to anyone, who loves Radiohead but wants to explore the cross between Electronica and Rock...

http://www.myspace.com/radiohead

6. Joy Denalane-Born and Raised

A talent which seems to have not been that successful this year and surprisingly I don’t know why, this album is as good or even better then any of Mary J Bliges later albums.

Anyway, this album in the US came out in mid 2006 originally but it was only officially released here in the UK during Spring to no fanfare a tall, I can’t understand why Sony did not promote this a tall and I didn’t hear these songs in clubs, which to me is poor, especially when you consider what junk their has been released this year in the genre and to me this album is so much better then many other R&B albums out this year.

Joy Denalane has gotten barely a fraction of the attention that singer Joss Stone has received in the U.S., and after Joss Stone latest dud album, Denalane is arguably far more talented, polished and emotional interesting.

But the main reason I like Joy Denalane, unlike some modern vocalists, she doesn't over sing her songs, nor do her vocals lack genuine emotion.

This album has some great quality R&B songs with really strong melodies and great simple arrangements i.e. Let Go, One In A Million and the collaborations really standout i.e. Heaven And Hell feat Raekwon and Change feat Lupe Fiasco is a buoyant, upbeat number that talks about something many people can relate to: rising up, overcoming adversity and making the world a better place

If anyone who likes Mary J Blige or grew up on the party music of the last decade might not like or not understand Born & Raised. But anyone who's a fan of Amel Larrieux or Alicia Keys would probably enjoy this CD.

http://www.myspace.com/joydenalanemusic

7. Burial-Untrue

Burial’s acclaimed 2006 debut got a lot of excellent press.

So interest in his second album was high already, Burial returns with a more complete and haunting soundtrack to the urban inner-city landscape, imagine a soundtrack which is coming home from a night out more then music out in a club, it has a direction of loss (in some cases an average music listener wouldn’t get into it) and the album could speak of Britain today especially London, with all its gritty, dirty, messy, impersonality.

This is mainly done through music- but the sensual feeling is one trying to articulate the lifestyle of the majority of people living in this country - their hopes, fears, faults and virtues.

Very similar to My Demons-DJ Distance in some respects but a lot lighter in texture, the album reflects and restructures the disparate styles of dance music's past decade especially 2step/Garage, he is an elusive hyper dub pioneer which is slightly different to Dub step and more towards 2step.

The album’s sound is mournful, epic, and magnificent and underpinned by eerie, growling bass lines and overlaid with spectral female vocals.

The highlights are Archangel, Near Dark, Untrue and Endorphin

This is an album, which grows with every listen, and should win the future 2008 Mercury Music prize.
http://www.myspace.com/burialuk

8. Boxcutter-Glyphic

Dub step ("hyper-dub" it has so many names but you get the drift!) is a new sound from London to the world's ears but it has been developing for the last 5-6 years under the music world's noses.

Most artists have great tracks in their genre but this musically is the best album from a dub-step artist, purchase the album or by other means-it isn't easy to download so buying it would be best and it is to support an artist with his own label.

The sounds used (samples) and textures are beautiful and musical yet haunting (this is darker then some dub-step out there but it is not so light as Burial's –Untrue album). The use of real –drum sounds also makes this album very punchy.

I acquired this album back in July

If you want an electronic and love dub this album would be a best bet, not too chilled out I would highly recommend this, you won't be disappointed.

http://www.myspace.com/boxcutter

9, Raul Midón-A World Within A World

State Of Mind-being my favourite album of last year; I was expecting a developing second album and hoping this album would be my favourite of 2007. This album doesn’t disappoint me musically in a lot of ways but in one way it does, it is not as “Intimate” as State Of Mind, and that is its key disappointment, if I heard this album first my opinion would be different.

In some cases this album has been made too radio friendly in places, but I understand why?

As to sell albums you have to have songs that can promote the album to the average listener, Supermarket Mums being one example.

On the live circuit Raul is very successful but sales on the album has been disappointing I can gather (I think due to EMI/Blue Notes lack of promotion and accessibility to obtain the album, in the UK it has been very minimal/non-existent in some cases, but everyone I know who I recommend to the first album buys it, so why can’t a big company do the same) and it is shocking in fact because of the talent this man possesses and the quality of his songs, when Raul first was on Jools Holland “Later” back in late 2006 he shock the audience so much with his performance of State Of Mind (he basically made the other musicians on the show open mouthed in awe-I was told by a BBC employee).

The tracks are as strong melodically as before on the previous album and has examples of these are “Pick Somebody Up”, “All The Answers” and we have some acoustic intimate feel on tracks such as “Ain’t happened yet” (an amazing accapella track), Tembererana ( A native-argentine folk song-which Raul wrote himself), Song for Sandra (about the death of his Mother when young).

Overall though this an album that is still very strong and I would recommend anyone who bought the first to obtain this album as Raul songs are still outstanding, however I can’t wait for the next one to see where he develops.

http://www.myspace.com/raulmidon

10. Talib Kwelli-Eardrum

Unlike 50 Cent and Kanye West, a Hip-Hop album which is not selling out to the pop market.

Eardrum has some very interesting lyrical and musical tracks on this album, mixing old school sounds with new perspectives in Hip-Hop.

Though the album is way too long though I believe that to be it’s biggest flaw and I think this would have been better at only 13 tracks not 17 or more if you have the US version and in some cases it is more like a mix tape (which I like but to the average listener into commercial Hip-Hop this would not be interesting enough)

However the highlights to me are the following Hostile Gospel Pt 1 which is a powerful song with Talib spitting his trademark honest, hard-hitting lyrics including about the state of the music industry and especially Hip-Hop as a genre. Give Em Hell is talking about religion and how it is portrayed especially in the form of hatreds, especially the US version of trying to frighten the nation with a bad portrayal of the Muslim religion.

In The Mood featuring Kanye West (the downside as his rap is lazy) but as a production by Kanye West -probably his best produced track this year, is a subtle song over a jazzy beat and is another highlight of the album, with Roy Ayers featured on vibes.

Soon the New Day follows this pattern with a beautiful chorus featuring Norah Jones and has a great message of introspect about the life of prostitution, and women acting like this in a less blatant way plus how people react in that world, each verse tell a story of the girls and the culprits.

Anybody who likes The Roots or Mos Def I would recommend this album to them, as commercial Hip-Hop generally has had some very poor releases this year and for me I would recommend people to this or the underground sound.

http://www.myspace.com/talibkweli

Other recommendations

Bjork-Volta

Jill Scott-The Real Thing

Shape of Broad Minds-Shape of Broad Minds

4 Hero-Play With The Changes

Baby Shambles-Shotter’s Nation

Tinariwen-Aman Iman

Britney Spears-Blackout

Wu Tang Clan-8 Diagrams

Nosiettes-Whats The Time Mr Wolf?

Block Party-A Weekend In The City

Feist-The Reminder

Re-Issues

Marvin Gaye-Here My Dear (Deluxe)
Marvin Gaye-In Our Lifetime
Eddie Kendricks-The Thin Man Solo album Vol 1 & 2
Betty Davies-They Say I’m Different
Sly and The family Stone albums
Roni Matlock-Love City
Ramp-Come Into Knowledge

Albums which disappointed me-these will be explained on later date

Rosin Murphy-Overpowered
Kayne West-Graduation
50 Cent-Curtis
Jay Z-American Gangster
Common-Finding Forever
Dizzee Rascal-Maths and English
Kano-London Town
Macy Gray-Big
Jamie T-Panic Prevention
M.I.A.-Kala
Klaxons-Myths of the Near Future Klaxons
Kate Nash-Made Of Bricks

Once again, this is not the post I planned for today.  However, this is probably a good way to round out Women's History Month. Normally, I would give ya'll some rudimentary collage of pictures and some videos. I just don't have it in me today.

I am coming down with a case of the nasties and I can tell it's going to be a bad one if I don't nip it in the bud. I don't even know if getting that 'Tussin down in it is going to work. Ya'll pray that it does. A sista is on the move. I got a date with Sy Smith tomorrow night and will be up in NYC this weekend enjoying Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The show has got to go on.

I came up with the idea for this post while riding home today, berating myself for the fleeting thought I had last week that it would be "nice" if I got sick again like I did a couple of years ago when I lost 12lbs in three days.  I couldn't hold anythingon my stomach, not even water. Folks, be very careful what you let enter your mind.  Lizz Fields' excellent album, By Day, By Nightwas caressing my ears and I got to thinking about how I wish I could hear more of the soul sistas (and brothers) with true talent on the radio instead of the bs they play fifty eleven times a day.

I don't have the energy for that rant.

Anyhow, here's a list of female soul singers that I enjoy. Not an exhaustive list BY ANY MEANS. It's just what I captured from the 'pod and my Myspace friends list. I didn't even go through my cd's. We would have been here all night!

• Algebra Blessett
  myspace | 'Behind the Groove' interview
• Angela Johnson
  myspace
• Ashley Phillips
  website | myspace
• Brown Baby Girl (female member)
  website | myspace 
• Carol Riddick
  website | myspace | interview on Honeysoul
• Choklate
  website | myspace | interview on Honeysoul
• Conya Doss
  website | myspace | interview on Honeysoul
• Deborah Bond
  website | myspace
• D'Nell (female member)
  website | myspace
• Goapele
  website | myspace | interview with Honeysoul | "Closer" post
• Hil St Soul (new album hit stores 4/29!!!)
  myspace
• Jaguar Wright
  website | myspace
• Joy Denalane
  website | myspace | interview on Honeysoul
• Joi
  website | myspace | interview on Honeysoul
• Ledisi
  website | myspace |interview on Soul Bounce | "Take Time" post
• Leela James
  website | myspace
• Lina
  website | myspace
• Lizz Fields
  website | myspace
• Lizz Wright
  website | myspace
• Liv Warfield
  website | myspace
• Marie Tweek
  myspace
• N'Dambi (the beautiful inspiration for my profile pic)
  website | myspace
• Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
  website | myspace | concert review
• Stephanie McKay
  website | myspace
• Sy Smith
  website | myspace | interview on honeysoul
• Teedra Moses
  website | myspace | concert review | "Cut Buddy" or "Celibacy Blues" post
• Trina Broussard
  website | myspace
• Vivian Green
  website | myspace | "Affected" post 
• Yazarah 
  myspace | concert review

If you haven't already, get into these artists. Purchase their albums. Support real music.

Again, this is not the list. It's my list and it's not exhaustive, by any means. Please feel free to add your favorite underrated female soul singers in the comments. I am always looking for new inspiration. Look out for more posts using songs from artists like these.

Als „Band mit WG-Charme“ beschrieb das Hamburger Nachrichtenmagazin Stern einst die Stuttgarter Hip-Hop-Gruppe Freundeskreis.
Das war zu Beginn des neuen Jahrtausends; intelligenter, wortwitziger Sprechgesang stürmte die Charts und Menschen, die kürzlich noch in Kellerstudios ihre Songs produziert hatten, brachten es plötzlich zum BRAVO-Starschnitt.
Diese Zeiten sind vorbei; der Großteil der deutschen Hip-Hop-Landschaft hat heute eher den Charme einer Betonwüste und intelligenter, wortwitziger Sprechgesang ist weniger in den Charts als auf der roten Liste vertreten. Und so wirkt die erste Freundeskreis-Veröffentlichung seit acht Jahren fast messianisch – auch wenn es sich hierbei um ein Best-Of-Album handelt und der Großteil der Stücke folglich bereits bekannt ist.
Dennoch: Mit ihrem Release zum zehnjährigen Bandjubiläum haben Freundeskreis eine Komposition vorgelegt, die ein Bollwerk gegen den allgemeinen Verfall deutscher Hip-Hop-Kultur darstellt und den Titel „CD des Jahres“ somit mehr als verdient hat.
Neben einer beigelegten Dokumentations-DVD gibt auch der Tonträger selbst einen interessanten Einblick in der Schaffensgeschichte der Schwaben: Da trifft die einstige Single „A-N-N-A“ mit ihrem Kuschelrockpotential auf einen Song wie „Sternstunde“, dessen Textinhalt man selbst nach tagelanger Lexikonlektüre nur partiell versteht – da hilft auch die überaus sinnige Erklärungsleiste der in Freundeskreis-Texten verwendeten Wörter im Booklet nicht viel.
So wird zwar den meisten auch weiterhin bei Zeilen wie „Bald stürmen 144 mit geballter Faust von Gibraltar aus das europäische Haus“ ein Fragezeichen auf der Stirn geschrieben stehen – doch dafür findet man etwas, was in der gesamten Musiklandschaft nach wie vor eher Mangelware ist: Anregungen zum Nachdenken.
Dies gilt auch für die beiden neuen Stücke: „FK 10“,oberflächlich ein klassischer Comeback-Song, besitzt eine tiefgründige Message; gleiches gilt für „Das Prinzip Hoffnung“.
„FK 10/ Freundeskreis 1997-2007“ ist aber weit mehr als ein vertontes Adorno-Werk – Freundeskreis machten und machen Popmusik; man covert Rio Reiser, lässt Udo Lindenberg mitsingen und featured Gentleman oder Afrob.
Diese Verbindung von Message und Musik macht „FK 10/ Freundeskreis 1997-2007“ für mich zur CD des Jahres – allein weil die internationalistische Hymne „Esperanto“ auch 2007 noch brandaktuell ist.

Philip Aubreville

Dieser Artikel wurde außerdem im “Szene-Magazin” - der Jugendbeilage der Grafschafter Nachrichten veröffentlicht.