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Rappers Mos Def, Chuck D and Flavor Flav. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images for Vh1)When Cameos Steal the Show
New hip hop and R&B tracks are filled with guest appearances, with rappers Lil' Wayne and Jay-Z popping up frequently. On today's show: find out why cameo spots have exploded in hip-hop. Also: In the late 60's, Peter Walker released a pair of seminal experimental acoustic guitar records that incorporated Indian raga sounds. Then he sort of disappeared, settling in Woodstock, NY. Now, almost 40 years later, Walker is returning to the more experimental style he helped to create and joins us today with a live performance. Finally: Soundcheck's CD Picks of the Week.
Guest Appearances Gone Wild
Lil' Wayne appeared on more than 70 tracks and mixtapes last year. And Jay-Z will guest on an upcoming Coldplay song, repaying singer Chris Martin for appearing on the rap mogul's "Kingdom Come." With guest appearances quickly becoming the norm and not the exception, we ask New York times pop critic Jon Caramanica why cameos are so prevalent in hip hop.
Soundcheck blog: When hip hop cameos reach the point of diminishing returns
Soundcheck's CD Picks of the Week
Juana Molina – Un Dia (One Day) – Domino Records
Twenty years ago in Argentina, way before the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, there was a comic news program called La Noticia Rebelde, or Rebel News. One young actress featured on the show was Juana Molina, a rising star on television. But Juana dropped acting a few years later – for her country’s dismay – to pursue music. Now she is one of the most innovative singer-songwriters to come from Argentina who experiments with pop, electronica, beats and loops. Her music sounds really deep and dreamy, but somewhere in the underline you can hear her old sense of humor. -- picked by Gisele Regatao
Elbow - “The Seldom Seen Kid” (Geffen)
Our next CD pick of the week comes from Elbow, a band from Manchester, England, that won this year’s prestigious Mercury Prize for their album “The Seldom Seen Kid.” The Mercury honors great – and sometimes under-the-radar -- albums from British and Irish artists, and this year’s short list of nominees was impressive. On it were vets like Radiohead and Robert Plant and next-big-things like Adele and Laura Marling. But Elbow topped them with an expansive Britpop album that positively torpedoes that new Coldplay. Here’s “Grounds for Divorce” from The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow. – picked by Joel Meyer
Rachel Unthank and the Winterset: The Bairns
Our final CD pick this week is one of the Mercury Prize also-rans. And it’s amazing they were even nominated. Rachel Unthank & The Wintersets are young musicians playing very old music from Northumbria, a region of England rich in folklore and folk music. Rachel, her sister Becky, and their band have released an album called The Bairns, on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. Some of the songs are very short and very spare, a reminder of how they originally sounded. But most are arranged in strange and beautiful ways, as on this song called “I Wish.” -- picked by John Schaefer
The Return of Peter Walker
In the late 1960s, guitarist Peter Walker studied raga with Ravi Shankar and released two raga-inflected folk music. In the 1970’s he settled in Woodstock and disappeared from the music scene. He has now being re-discovered by a record label and is into Flamenco. He joins us with a live performance.
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See Tori Amos Live!
Join us Tuesday, Dec. 9 at The Greene Space
Singer and pianist Tori Amos joins us to talk about reworking and reinventing seasonal carols on her new holiday album. And, she performs for a live audience in The Greene Space! Click the link for ticket info.
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