This Is Not an Update on The Coup

What's The Coup up to? That's what I wondered this afternoon. They haven't put out an album in a couple years. And it's been longer than that since I last saw them. Upcoming summer shows posted on their MySpace are in California, New York and Washington, DC. It would be great if they made another album and took a mega-tour around the world so we could bask in their righteous thinking people's groove.

Reggie Watts Sounds

The comments on this video keep comparing him to other musicians, so I'm going to resist doing that, even though The Human Beat Box immediately comes to mind. Reggie Watts is really different than anyone else though because he's mixing, singing, and doing percussion just with vocal chords (and gut). He's on tour with Conan O'Brien right now and has a new CD/DVD coming out.

Far Out!

20 Jazz Funk Greats sits at the top of Fried My Little Brain's blog roll and now that I've clicked it I don't know when I'll get to the others. After downloading Donga's SCOM mix I got sucked into Halogen by 10-20 and listened a few times in a row. Then Horrid Red's Transparent Streets while slogging through the dense review. I love it when music writers push themselves instead of posing. And the plain old blackboard background with its constellation of little nicks soothes Internet-weary eyes.

La Charlotte

Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte. This is the springtime of Charlotte, with the release of IRM, her collaboration with Beck, and a quick, first-ever North American tour. After a few shows on the West Coast and Coachella, she plays in Chicago tonight. Then after Montréal and New York, she returns to la Belle France. If you're headed to France in June/early July, you can catch her.

Her dad Serge is back on the scene, too (he's never really off it, even though he died almost twenty years ago). The fictional biography film of him by Joann Sfar, Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque), came out in French cinemas in January. Pater Gainsbourg drew a lot of inspiration from his daughter; one of my favorite songs about her is the dub Shush Shush Charlotte, even though I don't know what un petit gavial is.

King Curtis

Great American pop songs are not what we usually talk about here, but Kanye's Soul Mixshow by A-Trak on Friedmylittlebrains a few months ago is chock full of chopped-up and messed-with goody oldies including Move On Up. It's the perfect song with tight rhythms and yet it rambles, with all sorts of instruments, heralding the era of orchestrated funk. Curtis Mayfield's cotton-candy rock-solid delivery makes it all that much more wow. Set aside the 9 minutes and listen!

emeymya kemban

A lot of musicians consider dressing smart part of their job. Duke Ellington and Rye Rye are two vastly different stylists with decades between them who nonetheless immediately come to mind. The musicians of Mauritania seem the nec plus ultra of sophistication and glamor, though. And they play and sing to match it. In the past we've posted videos from this classy land: the '70s groove of Hadramie Ould El Meydah and a dance party in the Saharan desert.

This time as usual, we know nothing about Emeymya Kemban. But there are a lot of helpful people out there. Do you know anything about this group? If yes, please e-mail! Avez-vous des infos sur ce groupe? Si oui, n'hésitez pas à nous écrire un email! Merci.

The embed code won't come up so you can watch the video here. Then you can watch more Mauritanian musicians perform, too.

Ros Serey Sothea Sways

Apparently there are no videos of Khmer '60s pop star Ros Serey Sothea, so jeffmagic32 decided to animate a photo of her. The result is a spooky, repetitive loop of her gently swaying to one of her hits. There's a lot of information about her here, with scores of mp3s of her songs posted. We've posted some stuff about Cambodian music in the past, about the Cambodia Rocks compilation (and that guy Jeff who gets mentioned is not only the creator of the site with all the mp3s; he's the animator of this video, we think); a great clip from a film of Keo Montha singing; and a thing about John Pirozzi's film Don't Think I've Forgotten.

ORSON & WELLES podcast blog

Music blog Orson & Welles puts out a mixtape once a month – there are eight of them up so far – by different guest DJs and with themes each time. They're mixes of independent label, experimental, new wave, No Wave, electronic, etc. over the past forty years: Étienne Jaumet, This Mortal Coil, Raymond Scott, Lizzie Mercier Descloux, Francesco Tristano... but then basic olde rock like Black Sabbath and the Rolling Stones making an occasional appearance.

RADIO ZudRangMa: Operation Bangkok

Dale from Still Life in Moving Vehicle just told me about the ZudRangMa Records site. Click on Broadcast at the top to listen to RADIO ZUDRANGMA programs from the past two years. If you like old Thai pop, '60s luuk thung, and molam you will be in heaven. I'm listening to show #31 right now and it's unbelievable.

They also spin records at clubs in Bangkok. The next one is 19 March at 808 on RCA (Block C at Rama 9 Road). ไชโย – That means cheers in Thai, by the way. I couldn't resist throwing in some Thai writing now that I've started translating daily astrological forecasts from Thai to English at Super Rich Tiger.

Эдуард Хиль - Eduard Xil

He merrily sings in a honey-colored set of nothingness, but his voice is all over the place. You can almost see the hills and valleys that Eduard Xil might be strolling through. But his shirt and tie match the backdrop. And this lyric-less song negotiates a golden, creamy terrain that is at once smooth and athletic.