Hella Solutions blog: "Document. Share. Inspire."

LKJ! Yes! The dub poet stopped touring with his band many moons ago – at least in the States. Just as special, even probably more so, is to catch him during one of his live poetry readings – which you can still do once in awhile. Back in 2006 I was lucky enough to do so and I recorded it. It’s actually my first such attempt at recording a live show (at least with MINIMAL equipment).

The download link is below. Here is the playlist:

1. Intro (1:26)
2. Dread Beat an Blood (2:07)
3. Five Nights of Bleeding (6:11)
4. It Noh Funny (4:55)
5. Sonny’s Lettah (4:42)
6. Reggae fi Dada (5:03)
7. New Craas Massakah (5:28)
8. Tings an Times (6:49)
9. Mi Revalueshanary Fren (5:19)
10. Reggae fi Bernard (5:04)
11. Reggae fi May Ayim (4:16)
12. Hurricane Blues (3:20)
13. New Word Hawdah (4:02)

Download HERE.

http://rapidshare.com/files/334921571/LKJ_Live_2006_Bootleg_October_12__2006_1.zip

audio sample, concert recording audio download, concert recording, dub poetry, LKJ, rapidshare

There is a great video documentary you should check out called, The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

Daniel Johnston is a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, revealed in this portrait of madness, creativity and love. The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a stunning portrait of a musical and artistic genius who nearly slipped away.

In the mean time you can check out a bootleg recording I did of a live show I caught of him recently in San Francisco. It’s a simple recording and I offer it to say that if you like what you hear you should DEFINITELY buy his music from your local record store. You can download the complete show HERE (http://rapidshare.com/files/310254103/DJ_Live_Bootleg_091122.zip).

audio sample, concert recording bootleg

I’ve spent the past few days in and around Phoenix, Arizona working with a group called Campaign for a United America Hip-Hop Project. The group itself is based out of Chicago, IL but has been working here to connect with the vibrant, grassroots hip-hop scene. Why hip-hop? Well, it’s one of the largest voices of the youth and one that has consistantly spoke against authoritarian abuses of power. And while not always “political” it is most often a deeply personal expression. But then, as the popular saying goes, “the personal IS political.”

Anyways, I was documenting the organizing efforts of the young people in Phoenix as they organized a hip-hip concert in support of human rights and in opposition to the recent anti-immigrant violence from Sheriff Joe Arpaio (for more visit the Imagine2050 blog). It’s been a whirlwind ‘tour’ here and I look forward to going over my tape once I get back home tonight. Below is a link to a VERY rough little “promo” piece I threw together for the event. Check it!

Click HERE to listen.

Click HERE for original posting.

Maximum respect to all the folks I met out here! Seriously, you all give me a ton of hope!!!

Action, Activism, audio documentary, audio sample, concert recording, entertainment, podcast

I attended the 2008 “Exhumed to Consume” show last night featuring my favorites Carcass and Suffocation. Suffocation kicked ass live as they always do. Unfortunately I missed Aborted but Carcass was solid. Carcass took some fun verbal stabs at Bay Area “classic” band Metallica and gave some much deserved praise to another local fav, Exodus. I recorded the show but I’m still working on leveling the sound out for the Suffocation part (man, those guys crank some serious bass). Anyway, to hear a little montage of in-between Carcass songs – including a loud boo from the crowd in the direction of those supporters of corporate money, Metallica – check out this short clip.

audio sample, concert recording

Yesterday (12/24/06) I went to the Christmas Eve service of the Rock of Ages Church in Witbank. I met earlier in the week with the Pastor of the church and got permission to bring in some mics and record his service. Unfortunately, I forgot the cable to transfer audio from my MZ-M100 or I’d post some clips. Anyway, the church is located in an old building that looks like it might have been a car garage. It is one large space that holds around 250 seated and about 50 standing comfortably. There is a stage to one side of the space where the pastor, choir and band are. The congregation is seated in three large groups on the front and two sides of the stage. The floor is a black, hard rubber/plastic substance of some sort. The church sits along a dirt road with a few houses around it and all are next to a fairly large township mainly that is made up largely of shanty houses and a few small sections of average, small, brick houses.

I placed a Sony MB-M100 Mini-Disc recorder connected to a PZM mic at the back of the room near the churches sound board. I didn’t have any time to test out locations for setting this mic up so my hope was to try and get the best overall sound from the service.

I had with me my Sony MZ-M100 connected with the Sennheiser “shotgun” mic with pistol style grip. I walked around the church and recorded from about every angle possible. The main problem I ran into was that it was sooo loud that I couldn’t tell what I was getting. The only time I could tell was if I stepped outside and stood a few feet from the entrance. I ran on hope for most of this job – hope that I’d get something usable between the two recorders.

After waking up around noon, I got to listening to the discs and found that I got some very usable audio. I think the strongest sections are of the songs that were performed, some sections of the Pastor preaching (in a truly Southern Baptist style and with great shout outs from the congregation). The Pastor only mentions HIV/AIDS briefly during one section where he is telling people that to stay strong no matter what ails you (something like that…I have only listened briefly for quality not content). So, I’m trying to figure out how I can mix this audio into the project. Spirituality, g-d and the church are not major players in this piece although they are brought up so I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to incorporate. It’s just that, well…this is a strongly “g-d” church service and everything is about g-d and my project isn’t necessarily taking the angle of a “g-d” paradigm. Spirituality does have a role; anyway I didn’t expect anything different and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to record there and the audio will be used in some shape or form. One idea I am thinking about is to insert some of the preaching and songs and then bleed into a mix of them with some beats and use them to connect sections of the project (I’ll have to get the help from the legendary KGB – a local DJ friend – for assistance on doing this).

I give many thanks to Pastor Zulu and his congregation for giving me the opportunity to record the service. It was an honor!

audio equipment, concert recording

Here is another sample of one of my first live concert recordings I did earlier this year. I used one of my inexpensive eBay purchased mics (the Y-Stereo) for this recording of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s presentation of “Godfellas.” Great show, funny cut from the gig, okay recording. It was tough to record because 1) I had forgotten to bring headphones so I couldn’t hear the sound as it was recording and 2) the show was outside. On top of that the SFMT’s sound system would wash in-and-out at times and get overdriven when they yelled (this was fine for the show but the subsequent recording suffers a bit…but then, it gives it that true bootleg sound). Further, I was seated about 150 yards from the speakers and crowd noise creeps in a bit. So remember ‘kiddies’, always bring your headphones and getting good placement is key! Anyway, give it a listen. It’s a really funny piece and only a 5 meg. download.

http://rapidshare.de/files/35420584/SFMT06_MC_Constantine.zip

audio equipment, concert recording

This is my first live concert/event recording. I was seated about 12 feet from a stage speaker with the mic on my lap. I did some basic “equalizing” of the sound and splitting of tracks using the Roxio 9 audio editor. I wouldn’t call the sound quality excellent but it isn’t half bad and I’m actually really impressed with it considering the mic I used and how I had it placed…and the fact that this was simply a man on a mic (not a full band).

Linton Kwesi Johnson
Poetry Reading

Recording Date: October 12, 2006
Club: 142 Throckmorton – Mill Valley CA

Equiptment:
Panasonic Electret Condenser Capsule with a SONY – MZ M100 HIMD MINIDISC RECORDER.

you can download the show from RapidShare:

http://rapidshare.com/files/43356404/LKJ_Live_2006_Bootleg_October_12__2006_142_Throckmorton_-_Mill_Valley_CA.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/43356095/LKJ_Live_2006_Bootleg_October_12__2006_142_Throckmorton_-_Mill_Valley_CA.part2.rar

(use WinRar to combine and open the archive — www.rarlab.com)

concert recording