“Power … Me Kobe Swiss and Mos vibing in the studio”

-Kanye West

I don’t have many moments in my life where music just “gets me” and makes me howl like a werewolf in my room.  Listening to snippets of Blakroc‘s yet to be released album has done just that.  You like the Black Keys? Well good.  You like Mos Def?  That’s good too.  How about Q-Tip, or RZA, or maybe even a little bit of Raekwon and Billy Danze on the side, just for measure?  Yeah.  Well how about all of them smack dab in one album?  Album releases Black Friday.

I’ll just let this speak for itself.

(RZA doing his thing.  The video is from endlessly45′s channel.  He has all the episodes as does Blakroc’s website linked above.  Definitely worth watching every one of them)

No surprise here, many of you have heard of Bon Iver.  Lead singer Justin Vernon is a gift.  An uncanny voice that has an uncanny ability to soothe even the worst days and sometimes make good days a little worse.  Credentials?  How about he had a terrible disease in his liver, his band broke up, his relationship shattered, so he decided to go to a cabin in Wisconsin and recuperate.  Hence the birth of the album “For Emma, Forever Ago”, recorded on Shure SM57 and a Silvertone.  That’s good enough for me.

Last night I was privileged to witness a performance second to none.  Ray LaMontagne and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, opened by Jenny Lewis and Bliezen Trapper (both of which were superb).  Ray has the voice of something that is far greater than human.

Ray + Band + Orchestra + Great Crowd = Unbelievable.

Live from Abbey Road: Ray Lamontagne, filmed and recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.