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Olatunji drums up "Passion"
In 1959, the American music scene brewed such works as "The Sound of Music," Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans" and Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue."
Meanwhile, Nigerian-born drummer Babatunde Olatunji had taken up residence in New York City and was crafting the first album of traditional West African drumming and chant to be recorded on this continent. His album "Drums of Passion" opened the door for so-called "world music" in the United States. Olatunji would inspire, and eventually work with, John Coltrane, Carlos Santana and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.
Six years after Olatunji's passing, his bangy, clangy, joyous "Drums of Passion" has been reissued in a 2-CD, 50th anniversary legacy edition, with bonus tracks, from Columbia Records.
The set is, as Olatunji shouts on one track, "Oyin Momo Ado" -- "sweet as honey."
Olatunji drums up "Passion"
In 1959, the American music scene brewed such works as "The Sound of Music," Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans" and Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue."
Meanwhile, Nigerian-born drummer Babatunde Olatunji had taken up residence in New York City and was crafting the first album of traditional West African drumming and chant to be recorded on this continent. His album "Drums of Passion" opened the door for so-called "world music" in the United States. Olatunji would inspire, and eventually work with, John Coltrane, Carlos Santana and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.
Six years after Olatunji's passing, his bangy, clangy, joyous "Drums of Passion" has been reissued in a 2-CD, 50th anniversary legacy edition, with bonus tracks, from Columbia Records.
The set is, as Olatunji shouts on one track, "Oyin Momo Ado" -- "sweet as honey."
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Be prepared for the inevitable zombie invasion
As anyone with half a brain knows (that would exclude zombies), the world will not end through nuclear war, ozone holes or economic meltdown. Instead, the world will end when nuclear war, ozone holes or an insanely bad economy turn 90 percent of people into flesh-eating zombies.
To prepare for that day, check out "Zombie Holocaust: How the Living Dead Devoured Pop Culture" by David Flint. The book charts the history of "one of our strangest and most pervasive fictional archetypes ... and examines the cultural basis of its strange endurance." (Editor's note: Fictional? Yeah, right.)
Zombie king George A. Romero is here, of course, but so is hot-babe zombie Julie (played by Mindy Clarke) from "Return of the Living Dead III," as well as chapters on Europe's zombies, "gorehound" flicks and even some scholarly stuff on zombie ground zero -- the island nation of Haiti.
"Zombie Holocaust" is out now in paperback from Plexus Publishing.
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Jaydiohead radio heads to 'Net
What would happen if some rookie recording engineer got his digital tracks mixed up, and he clicked and dragged some street-wise rhymes by rap king Jay-Z onto some of the spacey, arty guitar-scapes of Brit rock band Radiohead?
Find out the answer at jaydiohead.com. That's where New Yorker DJ Minty Fresh Beats has posted his Jigga/Thom Yorke mash-ups, including "99 Anthems" -- a mix of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (from his "The Black Album") and Radiohead's rumble-filled "The National Anthem" (from "Kid A").
"Dirt Off Your Android" mashes "Paranoid Android" from Radiohead's "OK Computer" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" from "The Black Album."
According to jaydiohead.com, Jay-Z has Twittered his approval.
Be prepared for the inevitable zombie invasion
As anyone with half a brain knows (that would exclude zombies), the world will not end through nuclear war, ozone holes or economic meltdown. Instead, the world will end when nuclear war, ozone holes or an insanely bad economy turn 90 percent of people into flesh-eating zombies.
To prepare for that day, check out "Zombie Holocaust: How the Living Dead Devoured Pop Culture" by David Flint. The book charts the history of "one of our strangest and most pervasive fictional archetypes ... and examines the cultural basis of its strange endurance." (Editor's note: Fictional? Yeah, right.)
Zombie king George A. Romero is here, of course, but so is hot-babe zombie Julie (played by Mindy Clarke) from "Return of the Living Dead III," as well as chapters on Europe's zombies, "gorehound" flicks and even some scholarly stuff on zombie ground zero -- the island nation of Haiti.
"Zombie Holocaust" is out now in paperback from Plexus Publishing.
LISTEN
Jaydiohead radio heads to 'Net
What would happen if some rookie recording engineer got his digital tracks mixed up, and he clicked and dragged some street-wise rhymes by rap king Jay-Z onto some of the spacey, arty guitar-scapes of Brit rock band Radiohead?
Find out the answer at jaydiohead.com. That's where New Yorker DJ Minty Fresh Beats has posted his Jigga/Thom Yorke mash-ups, including "99 Anthems" -- a mix of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (from his "The Black Album") and Radiohead's rumble-filled "The National Anthem" (from "Kid A").
"Dirt Off Your Android" mashes "Paranoid Android" from Radiohead's "OK Computer" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" from "The Black Album."
According to jaydiohead.com, Jay-Z has Twittered his approval.
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