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Posts Tagged The Roots

Archive

March 1, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 161

The Roots, undun (2011) I still remember vividly when this album was released – and I spent a weekend driving around with it in the car, marvelling. I was off to, of all things, a CCR tribute show, and my soundtrack was this – the new album by The Roots. I would go on to […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 2011, LP, Record, The Other Side, The Roots, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 161, Undun, Vinyl ·

Archive

June 30, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 285 

The Roots, The Tipping Point (2004) A mate told me he had a copy of this on vinyl – he liked it, but didn’t think he’d be playing it all that often and did I want to take it off his hands? I did! I really did. And yet in this way of the world we […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 2004, 2xLP, Guns Are Drawn, LP, Questlove, Record, The Roots, The Tipping Point, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 285, Vinyl ·

Archive

May 5, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 408

Elvis Costello and The Roots, Wise Up: Thought – Remixes and Reworks [EP] (2013) Being a big fan of both Elvis Costello and The Roots I was –  instantly – a fan of the Wise Up Ghost album, even got a second crack at interviewing Elvis Costello in the accompanying press-rounds (always a treat). So […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 10", 10" vinyl, 2013, Antibalas, Chico Mann, Cinco Minutos Con Vos, Cinco Minutos Con Vos (Karriem Riggins Remix), EC, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello and The Roots, EP, Karriem Riggins, LP, Menahan Street Band, Remix, rework, The Roots, The Vinyl Countdown # 408, Vinyl, Wise Up: Thought – Remixes and Reworks, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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August 17, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

My Life In Seven Songs

Song 1: Once In A Lifetime, Talking Heads The drums push forward, the bass pulls back and this isn’t really a song, it’s a bunch of ideas falling over themselves, cascading, oscillating, evading melody in favour of finding a groove. The words are catchphrases, evangelical, delightful. A tune existing in its own space, in its […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 7, Aphex Twin, Guns n Roses, Lenny Kravitz, My Life, My Life In Seven Songs, Netherworld Dancing Toys, Seven, Seven Songs, Talking Heads, The Cure, The Roots ·

Archive

June 27, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Got Live Cos I Want It: 10 Important Live-in-Concert Albums In My Life of Listening

I know I’ve written about live albums before – several times, and I always will, I love live albums! – but I thought I’d give you a list of the ten live albums that I consider the most important. That is to say important to me, these lists are a chance for me to remind […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 10 Important Live-in-Concert Albums In My Life of Listening, Absolutely Live, B.B. King, Big Swing Face, Bill Withers, Buddy Rich, Concert, Cook County Jail, Erykah Badu, Frampton Comes Alive, Got Live Cos I Want It, Got Live Cos I Want It: 10 Important Live-in-Concert Albums In My Life of Listening, Jay-Z, Live, Live Album, Live At Carnegie Hall, Live At Leeds, Live At The Regal, Live At The Village Vanguard, Live In Concert, Live In Cook County Jail, Live Magic, Peter Frampton, Queen, The Buddy Rich Big Band, The Doors, The Roots, The Who, Wynton Marsalis ·

Archive

April 25, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Taking The Power Back: Ten of the Most Important Hip-Hop Albums in my Life

We all know that lists are subjective – that is the point of them. So I’ve decided to do a series of top ten albums across genres. They’ll appear sporadically. And rather than call them “Top Ten” I will call them ten of the most important – sorry if that sounds pretentious. It’s not meant […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 36 Chambers, Alphabethead, Antipop Consortium, Beastie Boys, Beats, De La Soul, DJ, DJ Shadow, Dr. Dre, Electricity, Fear Of A Black Planet, Genius/GZA, Hip-Hop, Ice Cube, Illmatic, Jay-Z, Licensed to Ill, Liquid Swords, Lyrics, Madvillany, Madvillian, Matthew Shipp, N.W.A., Nas, Public Enemy, Rap, Samples, Taking The Power Back: Ten of the Most Important Hip-Hop Albums in my Life, Ten of the Most Important Hip-Hop Albums in my Life, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan ·

Archive

April 11, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Driving in America: A Soundtrack For Your Voyage(s) in The United States

Music is with me every step of every day – and on my first visit to America I was amazed to see Grateful Dead CDs in every house that I visited. I figured it to be a bit like finding Dave Dobbyn or Crowded House or Bic Runga or Exponents CDs in New Zealand homes. […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged A Soundtrack For Your Voyage(s) in The United States, America, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Driving, Driving in America, Driving in America: A Soundtrack For Your Voyage(s) in The United States, Driving Music, Eye of the Hawk, Grateful Dead, Holiday, Jef, Music, The Roots, Travel, USA ·

Archive

March 30, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

It Was The Best Gig Ever # 13: The Roots, San Francisco 2012

Me and my brother-in-law drove down to San Francisco – left the rest of the family back in rural California, decided to take a couple of days out for ourselves. The aim, at first, was to see The Cult. But we drove down with no tickets, no accommodation, and turned up to find it sold […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 2012, America, Best Gig, DJ Set, Holiday, It Was The Best Gig Ever, It Was The Best Gig Ever # 13, It Was The Best Gig Ever # 13 The Roots, Questlove, San Francisco, San Francisco 2012, The Roots ·

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December 5, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

Cody ChesnuTT’s Bizarre and Brilliant Headphone Masterpiece: A Weird But Classic Debut (Double) Album

Released in 2002 it was Cody ChesnuTT’s debut – arriving, seemingly, out of nowhere, the album is a Big Serve: 36 tracks, two discs, everything from Brother With An Ego which is less than 15 seconds long – through to 6 Seconds which lasts for around four and a half minutes. Cody ChesnuTT became known […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged A Weird But Classic Debut (Double) Album, Cody ChesnuTT, Cody ChesnuTT’s Bizarre and Brilliant Headphone Masterpiece, Cody ChesnuTT’s Bizarre and Brilliant Headphone Masterpiece: A Weird But Classic Debut (Double) Album, Demo, double-album, Funk, Headphone Masterpiece, Hip-Hop, Home Recording, Soul, The Headphone Masterpiece, The Roots, The Seed ·

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October 15, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 615

Warpaint, The Fool (2010) For me with Warpaint it really all started here – yes, the EP before this debut album is great (and I got to that after) but it was The Fool that sold me on the sound of the band after the promise of some of the early, vital/viral YouTube clips. Such […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 2010, 2xLP, double-album, Drive-By Truckers, Heads Up, LP, Record, The Fool, The Roots, The Vinyl Countdown # 615, Undertow, Vinyl, Warpaint ·

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January 10, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

Questlove: Soul Train – The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation

Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation Questlove Harper Collins Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is one of the greatest drummers around and with a trainspotter’s knowledge across so many styles and genres of music – as both player/participant and as observer/listener – he’s already proved himself a talented writer across a range of […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Ahmir Thompson, and Style of a Generation, Book, Book Review, Coffee-Table Book, Dance, DJ, Don Cornelius, Drummer, Music, photos, Picture Book, Soul Train, Soul Train - The Music Dance and Style of a Generation, Soul Train: The Music, The Roots ·

Archive

November 9, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 796

The Roots, …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014) My least favourite album by The Roots – easily. But a bad Roots album is still good, right? Well, er, nearly…in the case of this there are really only a couple of decent songs (rather worrying, especially when one is actually a Nina Simone song they’ve […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 2014, Black Thought, http://offthetracks.co.nz/the-roots-and-then-you-shoot-your-cousin/, LP, Nina Simone, Questlove, Record, The Roots, The Vinyl Countdown # 796, Theme from Middle of the Night, Tomorrow, Vinyl ·
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