realm's word

Readers, fans and general browsers... Realms Word has been on a long break. With 2009 ending and the new decade beginning, it's time to get back on it, most especially as this year is full of musical promise, not to mention some new technological gadgetry that in my opinion, could seriously revolutionise the DJing.
In my heart of hearts I live in hope that we will be seeing some major comebacks, most notably D'Angelo. We know Maxwell will be releasing 'Summers' from his blacksummersnights trilogy but I'm positive that other big things are on the horizon. Anthony David's new tracks have so far instilled a feeling of anxious anticipation and some amazing collabo's have been banded around.. Slakah tha Beatchild who in my opinion has a huge future, has been in the studio with fellow Canadian and long lost vocalist Glenn Lewis.
Some big names in music and on the technology front, Apple are due to release a tablet of some description. For those who dont know, imagine an extra extra large iPhone. The applications of this are of course wide spread. However when related to tthte creation of music and DJing, imagine a virtual turntable application using Apples' patented touch screen technology. This is of course theoretical as no such application exists nor the release of such a device is yet official, but rumours tend to hold great truth an the DJ world is always looking for something new.

I cant wait and am certainly looking forward to seeing where this year leads us.

Realms Word is back, people!

When I was 11 years old, All-4-One covered a song and it was a global hit.
The song... 'I Swear'. I don't know a single person who doesn't either know or love the track. I listened to the LP on rotation for a long time and to this day know every single word to the album. They were in direct competition with Boyz II Men.

All-4-One had more success with 'I Can Love You Like That'.

Both hits were cover songs of country singer John Michael Montgomery. It seems that Rhythm and Blues works well with country music - just ask Whitney Houston who had major success with 'I Will Always Love You'.

All-4-One seemed to do most of their best commercial success whilst covering other writers' songs.

But they're back in a big way now, mature and a polished act.
'No Regrets' sees the group make a very welcome return, albeit they are making typical soulful ballads, but who cares...any group who've given so many people years of musical happiness from such classic previous material, deserve your attention and the new LP delivers.

Support good music, buy the album.

I mentioned a while ago that Toni Braxton is due for a return this year - one of my first ever posts in fact.

Well, seems that true to form, songs are being 'leaked'.

Leaking songs seems to be artists way of providing a viral form of free PR.... let the world have some free music and think it's exclusive. The idea works.

Thanks to our friends at Honey Soul, here are two of the forthcoming songs.

I like them both and they really are vintage Toni.
No doubt she's making this album for the same reasons as the last album - she's broke. As I understand it, Toni makes music for the sole purpose of being able to eat, which is fair enough - although a bit of passion for the art form wouldn't go amiss.

Here you go are the two new tracks and a couple of classic Toni cuts for good measure:

I’m not biased when it comes to the geographical origin of my musicians, nor am I patriotic for my home country, England. That said, let’s take a look into British Soul and why it stays true to Soul roots.

Clearly, soul as a genre does not originate from the UK and is certainly a more niche market for the UK than it is in the States. With smaller audience numbers comes less money, with less money in turn comes less desire for newcomers to make it and so the cycle continues and the filtration system is ongoing. What this has done for the UK soul scene is in fact a blessing, in my opinion. You see, those Brit Soul ‘originators’ from the 90’s era are all still around – not half bad for ‘copycat’ Soul artists. The reality is that yes, influence was taken from USA based music, but where did the USA music take influence from? It certainly didn’t just appear out of nowhere and given the USA’s relatively short history as a country, their music in fact is a blend of various cultures – Europe, Africa and more. So the UK Soul scene is therefore not a copycat and comes with full credibility. Writing this, and thinking about the pre-millennia music, the amount of talent in the UK – a small island – is quite frankly, astounding.

Beverly Knight, who last night launched her latest album, first cut an LP in 1995. Bands such as Soul II Soul and The Brand New Heavies have both recorded some benchmark tracks and solo artists: Seal, Omar, Sade and Mica Paris all continue to make fine music. Other contributors such as the late (GREAT!) Lynden David Hall, Des’Ree, Maxi Priest, Incognito, Tony Momrelle and Young Disciples also get major credit, not to forget Jamiroquai. What makes me most proud is that every artist listed above stuck to their original game plan, making great music and conforming as little as possible to the media hype which so often places strain on musical integrity.

So, what keep the UK’s soul scene pure? Clearly, the 1990’s were dominated by Brit Rock and the emergence of Hip Hop, not forgetting the wave of Boy and Girl Bands. Music was taking a new direction and the Jazz, Funk and Soul derivative genres were given room to breathe, cross pollinate and bloom without ulterior motive. Acid Jazz became prevalent and cool vibes emanated from the quiet corners of the UK’s music scene – those ‘in the know’, knew something. Thankfully, good music always gets its reward and some UK Soul got critical acclaim, filling the pockets of the necessary record companies and subsequently allowing the Brit Soul scene to be credible enough in the music industry for major labels to sign up artists.

Yet today we still see these artists maintain their original essence, for this I personally am thankful and respectful of, not to mention full of admiration for the hard work and perseverance.

Enjoy a selection of UK soul music and other derivatives on my Happy Friday Spotify playlist album... clearly Spotify limits the options, but there are a few gems there... simply open Spotify, and paste this into the search bar: spotify:user:gavvyb:playlist:4zhIG7Z21pZ4j0UzxZ7VXY

Anyone alive and conscious in the 90's will have at minimum heard the music from songstresses 'Brownstone'.
Tracks like 'If you love me' and 'Grapevyne' put them instantly on the map but after some group politics, the trio's shelf life was hit hard, never to fully recover, try as they did.

For the full story, hit up Wikipedia to get a full insight.

Today I've been on a 90's nostalgia frame of mind and with thanks to YouTube who in my opinion doesn't get the thanks that it deserves - lets be honest, how lucky are we to be able to access all this old lost video footage - I've got some nice old-skool (ish) vids for your mind.

Enjoy....

CRAZY vocals from Brownstone..


Ginuwine for your mind


Blaque Ivory - who are apparently recording NOW, ready for a 2009 release!!!!!!


702

Yes, I’ve given Vikter Duplaix enough ‘props’ on this blog.
But given my recent disappointment after a certain new album by another of my most favoured Neo Soul artists, I’ve decided that I wish to keep positive.
After all, I’ve written of my acceptance for artists who are ‘indie soul’ and make the crossover to mainstream – everyone’s got to eat.

More on the above matter to follow, no doubt.

For now, it gives me great pleasure to see that one of my bestest artists has provided a soothing relief to his fans fears by allowing for a FREE download of his newest track which continues to follow his non conformist form of music. Thankfully, Vikter Duplaix couldn’t care less about conforming to mainstream sounds, instead opting to be himself.
I know Vik is recording a new album and the single ‘Electric Love’ makes me think that I won’t be disappointed upon its immanent release. Although, I thought the same thing when I heard a snippet of Eric Roberson’s ‘Borrow You’ a few weeks ago...
‘Yes! A good new album this way comes’ my mind told me.

Alas last week, my ears disagreed, regretting to inform my brain that ‘Music Fan First’ was a massive let down, despite a few decent tracks. I don't blame Eric Roberson, he deserves commercial success. I'm just disappointed as a long term fan.

Eric Roberson review to follow, if I can bring myself to go through the hurt of listening to it once again – having done this a few times over the last week, I’m inclined to give it a miss, along with the October gig of Erro which I had intended on attending.
Sigh... It seems that I've managed to contradict my earlier statement, Eric Roberson clearly upset me enough to discuss him on a post initially intended to inform of another artists newest effort. Apologies. I digress, by nature.

Go to Vikter Duplaix’s website for a free download of his great new single... you won’t be disappointed, this I can assure you.

Click on www.vikterduplaix.com for the free download.... then buy his album when it's out.

Hi Folks! After a busy week where the posting is admittedly somewhat lacking, it is once again Happy Friday.
This is however, not the Happy Friday post.
This morning I felt the need for something abstract, upbeat, contemporary and jazzy. Most would say that it’s not an easy task. I beg to differ. The difficulty in such a task is having the artistic creativity to compose and construct such an unforgiving musical concoction.

Step up step up IG Culture. I’ve been a fan for some years now and am more than happy to pronounce my admiration for him – a true master of his trade.
Now press play on this and continue reading...

Trust me when I say that the creation of fusion music is no mean feat. Aside from having to satisfy a variety of audiences who are by nature, sceptical of manipulating their beloved art form, but to stay within the limits of normality so that you do not ostracise all audiences is a whole other kettle of fish.
IG Culture has been doing his thing for a long time now, be it solo, as part of a group, as guest producer for other artists or any other way he sees fit.
He tends to surround himself with the right people which in turn allows his music to remain grounded and maintain its original integrity.
I’d like to hear him live and I plan to as soon as he’s around next.
It doesn’t matter which of his albums you buy first, they’re all good. Take a listen to his broken beat style and judge for yourself. Then perhaps go find some stuff by the New Sector Movement for a slight flip on styles.
If this is too much for you, but you’re intrigued by the genre, perhaps take a look at Mark De Clive-Lowe who makes great music, albeit slightly more user friendly for broken beat first timers.

Andreena Mill is a name that most of us don’t know.
I first came across her when listening to Drake’s version of ‘Closer’ (as mentioned on a previous blog entry).
At 1.26 into the song, Drake says: ‘‘Gimme 20 in the tank on 3, I'm in the Range bumpin Keyshia Cole
Singin off-key like...’’ and then we hear Andreena’s beautiful vocals and then throughout the rest of the track.

Hear for yourself


It was that first vocal hit that got me thinking I should learn a bit more about her.
As you may expect, her affiliation with Drake makes her a Toronto based Canadian and serves as futher proof that Canada’s music scene is not to be ignored.

I will say however, that she’s way more R’n’B than Neo Soul, which is a shame as her vocal ability would take her far, however that’s her prerogative. Vocal talent is vocal talent.

Style wise, perhaps think 702 meets Blaque (Ivory) meets Brandy meets Left Eye.

The following link will take you to her mixtape download, judge for yourself. I’m not saying that I enjoyed her own tracks, but I do think that with the right direction and focus, this girl is talented.

Click Here

I know that this is a somewhat simply post, but I'm too busy to be playing today.

Simply put, whilst working today, I've been listening to a few albums, end to end. This is something that I seldom do, as there are few albums which allow for continual playback without interferences of skipping or leaving out a couple of tracks.

I’m gratefully reminded today of two facts.

The first being the Jill Scott, whilst a talented and consistently good musician, will likely never repeat her 2000 release ‘Who Is Jill Scott?’. IT is flawless, Jazzy, Soulful and full of attitude. Yes she’s done plenty of good work since, but this album was recorded on another planet. Listening to ‘A Long Walk’ for the millionth time since I first laid ears on it (?!) I’m reminded of the sheer amount of work that went into recording the ever changing layers of vocals – every time you listen, you notice a different vocal. Genius, pure and simple.

The second fact was that Hip Hop today should model itself around Kero One’s musical blueprint. Today I pressed play on ‘Windmills of the Soul’ and when that was done, straight onto 2009 release ‘Early Believers’. I don’t tire of his music and there’s simple nothing to dislike.
Granted, there will be people who disagree, but those are the same people who are either listening to Lil Wayne or perhaps Asher Roth, thinking they know and understand what’s actually important the Hip Hop world.
You need to have a flow, you need to have lyrical content, you must move in credible circles, you must think of musical creativity and purity ahead of what will make sub woofers pound... do you follow me?
Kero One is to me, a hope, a glimmer of real light in an otherwise dull musical genre... Hip Hop has been fighting for the full 12 rounds and is in a daze, Kero One should be considered as the smelling salts that wakes the World up and allows Hip Hop to fight another day.
Pressed and released his own first single and continues to release music independently, I’m not doing freebie’s on this post, support good music.

Kero One - Welcome to the Bay (Official Music Video) from plug label on Vimeo.

August 25th 2009.... twelve days.
That's how long we have to wait until 'Mr Neo Soul' - Eric Roberson - releases his next, brand new album entitled 'Music Fan First'. It's a project that Eric/Erro has tried to keep his fans involved in, even sending attendees of a show 2 versions of the same song and asking them to vote which one to put on the album.

No matter what you love about Neo/Nu/Soul, Eric's style will have something for you, be it raw vocal ability, the use of live instruments, lyrical content or for those of us lucky enough to have caught his show, his charisma on stage. I've yet to see any other performer put so much effort and energy into a show and whilst I'll admit that on occasion he may over indulge in Live song preludes and interludes and any other 'lude' you can think of, he has the right, because he may well have single handedly carried the genre since D'Angelo went on hiatus.

The first track I ever heard Erro on (and he went by that name - Erro) was with DJ Jazzy Jeff on a track called 'Rock With You', which is in my view, smoother than silk...take a listen for yourself:


If 'Rock With You' is up your street, you should without doubt pick up his back catalogue of music... start with his most recent album - 'Left', follow its story within which will give you an idea of his past years of trials and tribulations. Once you're into 'Left', go deeper, get 'The Appetizer' and 'The Vault'. You wont be sorry.

I was in fact worried that his new album would be a disappointment, however, his blogging has eased my mind.. You can keep up to date with Eric's daily video blogging in the lead up to his album launch where we hear snippets of each track and the reason behind why he wrote them...his official YouTube page can be found by clicking here.

Realms Word wishes Eric every success for his forthcoming album... support good, independent artists, buy it!

As loyal subjects of Realms Word, today you've surpassed yourselves and have in fact achieved a record amount of daily hits to this blog since...ever...
And so, as ruler of this Realm, I thought I'd reward you with some nice Michael Jackson remixes that, well, you just cant find in any old place.

I've already said my ode to the King of Pop which you can find via clicking here..

If you're a DJ, you may like a couple of these and if you like to do as I do - play people rare songs and then not specify where you got them so that you have the upper hand - you're in for a treat.

Click the link and download!!!!


I'm signing out for the day but will be back soon...

Michael Jackson, rest in peace.

Dj Rahdu, thanks :)

In the immortal words of an old UK Saturday morning kids TV show... M.I.M.O.... Miss It, Miss Out.

The 'Happy Friday' compilation was downloaded by 50 lucky people, after that cut-off point, I took it down.

Keep your eyes peeled next Friday, as I said, it's a gift. First come, fisrt served...once 50 go...the link is deactivated.....

So, make sure you subscribe to the RealmsWord RSS feed and keep up to date with what's happening and when!

Happy Friday!

Realm

Starting a tradition requires innovation.
Someone, somewhere at one point in time coined a phrase similar in meaning. Only, their version was written differently and will be remembered for years as being an insightful, profound piece on language.

I on the other hand am not innovating here, I’m enlightening and sharing my love of music with you in recognition of the fact that it’s Friday.

From this point forth, every Friday will come with a Download treat of some sort.

This week I bring you a compilation of audio files from the likes of:

Lynden David Hall (RIP)
D’Angelo
Reel People
Yolanda Johnson
Erykah Badu
J. Rawls
Middle Child
Sharlene Hector
T3
Laura Izibor
Brotherly
Eska Mtungwazi
Rudy Currence
John Forte
Van Hunt
Ebrahim
Nneka
Eric Roberson
Dj Jazzy Jeff
Raheem Devaughn

If you know all of those artist, you’ll love this....

If on the other hand, you know a few, but there are some question marks next to a few... well... take a listen.

Remember, the music industry is changing. By all means download and listen to this compilation.
But remember, to continue making music for us to enjoy and to keep food on their tables, artists need to sell music, so I implore you – if you enjoy this, go and buy the music.

Happy Friday people, happy damn Friday!

Today Realms Word says Happy Birthday to Renee Sebastian.

Summer 2008 included a pleasant surprise. With the intention of seeing UK soul man Nate James perform at the Jazz Cafe, I happily stumbled across someone new (well, new to me) – it turned out to be Renee – who’s soulful, sometimes playful and always high energy performance managed to turn the heads of pretty much everyone in the venue (Jazz Cafe).

A talented Singer, Songwriter, Dancer, Performer and Clothes Designer.
Renee manages to capture the soulful sound and seamlessly mould her abilities to ballads and up tempo tracks all invariably with meaningful and often witty lyrics... as heard at the beginning of her track ‘These Are The Signs’.


Keep your eyes and ears alert, as the UK is sure to see a great deal more from this one!

Be sure to check out her site for more information – it say’s everything I would’ve said myself

Click here for her official site
and
Click here for her clothing label

Q: What do you get if you cross a Canadian-Indian, Jamaican, French and Swedish genetics?
A: Kinny
You can pigeonhole her heritage as much as you can pigeonhole her music. That’s the best way you can describe her style – yes, she’s a Neo Soul artist so to speak, but in reality she’s a great deal more.
Take a journey through her album ‘Idle Forest of Chit Chat’ and you’ll hear music which has taken influence from, well, everywhere.
Her confidence in delivery is perhaps a derivative of paying her dues on the Live scene – only singing to live, unforgiving audiences can allow you to produce a solo debut of such individual style and confidence. She takes on raw funk tracks in collabo with the likes of the Quantic Soul Orchestra who add their trade mark instrumental sound – Kinny duly steps up to the plate.
She exudes this expressive attitude consistently – being soulful, angry and cheeky all at once, whilst seeming to ride beats with effortless grace. In some cases her timing makes me feel like she laid her vocal down first and the musicians used her acapella as a metronome to record their respective instrumentals.


Elements of contemporary jazz resonate throughout the entire album and no one song sounds the same.

I don’t feel it’s necessary to go on, suffice to say that you should hear for yourself, and as luck would have it, this link will take you to a place where you can get your own album sampler... just remember to delete once you’ve heard it and buy it yourself, support the artist.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been listening to her music for years and I still struggle to pronounce her name – even with my South African colleagues help, I still can’t say it in the correct way. However I’m sure Goapele wouldn’t be offended, watch this video and you’ll see and start to assume as I do, that her demeanour is as pure as her voice.

I recently decided to reintroduce her debut album ‘Even Closer’ into my regular play list after remembering how good it was and how much I love the track ‘Closer’ which I’m still able to play on loop without feeling any need to change tracks.

Interestingly, if the tabloids are anything to go by, strangled-cat-voiced pop singer Rihanna’s been dating Drake... the pre-pubescent, Ginuwine look-a-like Canadian kid who in my opinion is taking his clear talent in Rap delivery and ability to write good lyrics in the wrong career direction, opting for the fame route and seemingly headed for the ‘dark side’... has in fact NOT butchered Closer and made a pretty nice version on his now year old mix ‘tape’ ‘Comeback Season’.


Perhaps Goapele’s affiliation from the get-go of her career with Oakland’s Hiero collective, who I very much like, is another reason why I enjoy her music.

She, in my opinion, is Sade in her vibe but with an added twist of ‘beat’ appreciation.
Well the good news is that she's making a sweet, calcium filled comeback with her forthcoming album 'Milk and Honey'... and from the looks of things, it's going to be a good one...

Milk and Honey - Goapele from goapele on Vimeo.

It seems like I've an increasingly 'old man' outlook on the world and at the tender age of 25, It's somewhat worrying.

When it comes to Hip Hop however, I feel that my age puts me in a decent position to have the odd moan, given that myself - Realm - and she -Hip Hop - are of similar (ish) ages. Whether you think that's justification or not, quite frankly is immaterial, those who know me will testify to the fact that I believe I'm always right.

There has been little to make me feel as if Hip Hop has much much to offer me any more. Like any fan, I've watched it fall into a state of seeming perpetual disrepair pretty much since it's initial conception - and I'm not naive enough to misunderstand why, everyone needs to eat and so the money takes over, that's the world we live in.
However there is the odd occasion that makes me think otherwise.
It seems that there are those artists who thankfully keep the light shining bright and with the global/international creative minds adding to the 'new wave' Hip Hop, there does seem to be some hope left. I personally think that the likes of Dj Mitsu The Beats are amongst those kindred spirits who recognise how Hip Hop should sound as we continue into this new millennium.
Readers will know that I'm a Neo Soul kinda guy, which will also tell you that Hip Hop for me needs to have some sort of credibility either in it's lyrical content, instrumental or both (preferably).

Who better to personify my point than Wes Ellington Felton... son of infamous Jazz pianist Hilton Felton (may he RIP, 13/02/2007), Wes has the pedigree and comes from the Washington DC movement who collectivey are firmly fixed on the Neo Soul circuit with the likes of Raheem Devaghn and Sy Smith making waves. The album has spacey beats, meaningful lyrics and guest appearances from some of my current individual artists of the moment - Bilal Salaam, Chronkite (Raheem Devaughn) and Yahzarah (Purple St James).

To understand my sentiment about the disrepair of Hip Hop, listen to 'Breathe A Bit'.

If you like this album, be sure to check out the Crossrhodes albums - the group to which Wes belongs.

This isn't an album review, judge it for yourself... I've put a link to a place where you can download a version of Mr Felton's fantastic 'Distraction City'. Once you've got a taste, please DELETE IT and BUY the album - support good Hip Hop.

I don't have much time to spare today - I'm in the middle of ten things, but as an early week gift, I (with great thanks to Honey Soul - see links tab on the right and check out her fantastic site)give you a very nice mix tape by the man, Vikter Duplaix.

Vikter is best known for his spiritual, soulful and sexy brand of House music. Although it's not possible to put him in any one category. Take Mark de Clive-Lowe's ability to construct uptempo beats and mix in some abstract soul.

Now, splash on some sweet smelling cologne, pour some smooth Bourbon on ice and make sure you're wearing a trilby hat - THAT'S how you prepare for his music.


I'm pleased to say that Vikter will be releasing a new album in the not too distant future, when? Not quite clear, but I look forward to it, 'Bold and Beautiful' was a spiritual experience.
To keep abrest with Vikter, be sure to check out his MySpace.

Now do yourself a favour and hear Vikter Duplaix 'in the mix'...he writes, sings, produces and DJ's... click here for the download

And just for good measure, my personal fave Vikter track... the illusive Manhood Remix... it's hard to track down any online posting of it, but this YouTube video by dancer Tovu gives you a decent idea of how the song sounds... check out decent online MP3 retailiers to find the proper MP3 file of this remix, perhaps someone like 7Digital will be helpful.. I know iTunes does not have it (I have it on Vinyl, of course!).