That Jay-Z and Kanye West are the current kings of hip-hop was undeniable even before they released their joint album, Watch The Throne, last year. As solo artists, each rapper has produced enough hits to sell out the O2 on their own and with Watch The Throne the pair have delivered a collaboration that stands alongside any of their individual albums with ease.

It was the most grandiose record of the year; all boasts and braggadocio, backed up by the best lyrical flows hip-hop currently has, not to mention production from the RZA, Swizz Beatz, Q-Tip, The Neptunes and West himself. The album’s premise was simple; no younger MCs should even think they have a claim to hip-hop’s throne let alone attempt any challenge to the current kings. And after laying down the gauntlet on record, Watch The Throne had to go on tour.

But rather than bringing the bombast of the record into an overblown stage production, the Watch The Throne show was a far more scaled down affair; entirely relying on the lyrical dexterity of the two MCs to keep the crowd entertained.

The pair more than delivered; trading rhymes across the arena on two rising platforms as they stormed through hits not just from Watch The Throne but from their respective back catalogues too.

During their time on stage together (the other leaves as one performs their solo hits) Jay-Z’s elder statesman status was assured. He appeared more confident than his younger partner throughout the night, letting his guard down just once; during a rousing rendition of Empire State Of Mind. As he rapped about the city he loves, the pride he feels for New York City was written all over his face. As the crowd screamed the song’s chorus at the top of their lungs, Jay-Z seemed to be smiling not at the adoration of his fans, but simply at the thought of NYC. He stared at the enormous screens behind him projecting images of New York, turning his back on the crowd as they sang to him.

A similar moment of sincerity came later on from Kanye West as he performed a track from 808s and Heartbreak, the autotune-heavy album he released in 2008. The track in question, Heartless, is a tale of heartbreak that on record comes across as cold and detached thanks to the studio autotuned vocals. However, on stage West sounded pained as he screamed out ‘how could you be so heartless?’.

With solo hits providing such veracity from the two stars and unprecedented bravado being boasted through their joint tracks, the show reached its crescendo with an audacious display of grandiosity to close the show. Playing what is arguably their biggest hit from Watch The Throne, the pair performed Niggas In Paris an incredible four times in a row, each time to an ecstatic crowd whose applause grew more rapturous with each performance. The kind of confidence it takes to end a show that way can only come from those sat sat atop a throne.

Long live the kings.

In response to the Jamaican government’s refusal to allow Black Power supporter Dr Walter Rodney permission to re-enter Jamaica after his trip to a black writers conference in Montreal, The Rodney Riots began on the 16th October 1968.

Concerned about the effect this Guyanese civil rights thinker would have in Jamaica, the government declared Rodney, a lecturer in African History at the University of the West Indies, to be an undesirable person.

But the very move the government made “to save the nation” (as The Gleaner, a Jamaican daily broadsheet, put it) was the very thing that sparked chaos.

Taking part that day in the demonstrations and looting was one Winston Hubert McIntosh, known to most as Peter Tosh. He placed himself behind the wheel of a coach, drove it towards a local shopping precinct and rammed it through a glass storefront. All around him people piled in to loot what they could before climbing on board the coach as Tosh backed out and ferried them all back to Trench Town.

Both the police and army were dispatched to quell the violence that was spewing out onto the streets of Kingston, causing millions of dollars in property damage. People were killed and many were injured.

These random acts of violence and destruction had the government spooked. But scarier still was that protesting alongside Tosh and the Trench Town activists were middle class students. This was unprecedented. Between them they had been heard to chant slogans pertaining to Black Power, a movement that was causing ripples not just in Kingston, but across the world.

On the very morning that the Rodney Riots began, 1,500 miles away, African American athletes and Olympic medal winners Tommie Smith and John Carlos were to be seen giving the Black Power Salute as the U.S. anthem played at Mexico City’s Olympic Stadium.

This silent gesture was one of the strongest political statements in the history of the Games. It was not, however, a welcome gesture. The athletes were booed as they stood down from the podium and subsequently ejected from the US Olympic team.

Peter Tosh may have been imprudent in his method of protest, but all around him, signs pointed towards something indisputable. Things were not equal. They were not right.

The anger inside of Peter Tosh had been building for many years; as a child he was asked to sing at his local church a hymn that included the lyrics; “Lord wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” He was nine years old and it filled him with disgust.

Personal, national and international events had conspired together to create anger and frustration within Tosh about these iniquities.

“The truth has been branded, outlawed and [made] illegal. It is dangerous to have the truth in your possession. You can be found guilty and sentenced to death.”
Peter Tosh.

In 1977 Peter Tosh released Equal Rights, a rallying cry against what he called the ‘shitstem’, his declaration of rage against the injustices he had seen all around him.

It was his finest studio album, cementing his position as one of the most outspoken artists of the 70s. And although he’d suffered at the hands of the ‘shitstem’ many times before, the album notably called not for revenge but for justice. Revenge is personal, justice is political.

Setting out his stall with a version of ‘Get Up, Stand Up’, Tosh makes it clear that equal rights will not come without a fight. He follows this call to arms with ‘Downpressor Man’, a warning to any and all oppressors of him and his brethren. “You can run but you can’t hide” Tosh sings, ominously.

At no point does this record relent from its militant message. “Don’t underestimate my ability,” he sings on ‘I Am That I Am’. And on ‘Stepping Razor’ (the Joe Higgs song Tosh claimed as his own before a legal battle forced him to credit Higgs) he lets it be known in no uncertain terms just how dangerous he is.

He sings on the title track of the album that he doesn’t want peace, but that he needs “equal rights and justice”. It’s here that he asserts his message most powerfully. By dismissing peace so easily, he maintains that what’s needed won’t come without a fight.

What Tosh hopes to achieve is made clear in the album artwork. Six identical images of Tosh’s face, head turned and wearing a beret and his trademark goggles, are repeated on the cover of the record, calling to mind both propaganda posters during wartime and those of political leaders fighting for office. Look closer and you see that the edges of each image are perforated like a sheet of stamps; the idea of CBS designer Andy Engel.

Those whose images grace postal stamps generally are not singers, they are typically the leaders of countries. It would appear that this is where Tosh saw himself; as a leader of people, leading the fight for equal rights.

But as much as the album is informed by Tosh’s struggle for justice, it is influenced equally by his faith. Tosh had been exposed to the teachings and way of life of the Rastafari as far back as 1963, and by the time he released Equal Rights he was a convert. Both ‘African’ and ‘Jah Guide’ make music of his beliefs. Dealing with identity in the former track, Tosh makes clear that to be black is be African; one of Marcus Garvey’s key teachings. In ‘Jah Guide’ Tosh delivers a rousing justification for the upcoming fight for equal rights: “Jah guide I through this valley.” His path was righteous.

“Every form of victimisation is universal, not only in Jamaica.”
Peter Tosh

Herbie Miller, Tosh’s then-manager and production coordinator has said that the struggle to liberate southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa) was a key influence on the album: “The theme of this whole record is to do with that particular struggle, of the Africans in Africa, and the Africans outside Africa.” He said that Tosh had wanted to document this particular struggle with “machine-gun lyrics in a suite tying together songs that all related to those both within and without Africa.”

The final track of Equal Rights, ‘Apartheid’, opens with the sound of gunshots. Eight years before the Artists United Against Apartheid were put together by Steven Van Zandt, Peter Tosh was singing that there were “certain place in Africa, black man get no recognition. You got to fight against apartheid”.

Peter Tosh was murdered in 1987. He didn’t live to see the ending of enforced racial segregation in South Africa, nor Nelson Mandela’s election as the country’s first ever black president in 1994.

Thirty-five years have passed since Tosh called for equal rights and justice. During that time an African American has become President of the United States, Desmond Tutu has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his outspoken criticism of the apartheid regime, and closer to Tosh’s home, an organization called Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) has been established. Since 1999 JFJ have fought for respect, freedom and the right to a peaceful existence for citizens of Jamaica.

However, just last month in Florida, USA, an unarmed black teenager named Trayvon Martin was shot dead by George Zimmerman, a non-black vigilante, because he “looked suspicious”. Trayvon was walking home to his family carrying a bag of sweets. The case is reminiscent of the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence whose death sparked an inquiry that exposed institutional racism in the UK.

Equal Rights is passionate and critical of the world Tosh saw around him, with observations that resonate to this day. Self-produced and recorded with a team of musicians including the rhythm-section powerhouse of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare who credit their international career to their work on Equal Rights and the subsequent tour to support the album. It is Tosh’s masterpiece.

When recording his Red X tapes, which were intended to form the basis of a never completed autobiography, Peter Tosh said: “I am here to play the music and to communicate with the Father spiritually so I can be inspired to make music to awaken the slumbering mentality of people.”

Equal Rights does just that.

Originally published on The Quietus.

Unlike Lambchop’s previous albums, which were all based around group performance, Mr. M is very much a studio creation. Lush strings arrange themselves into an ambient psychedelia around Wagner’s beautiful lyrics as he ponders life, and inevitably, death. It could all be schmaltzy in another pair of hands but in those of Lambchop’s only core member it’s sublimely heart-wrenching.

The latest round of acts have been announced for the Great Escape Festival 2012. Over 140 acts will be joining the Africa Express Soundsystem and Maximo Park this year including Reverend & The Makers, Riz MC, Clock Opera and many more. To view the full line up for this year’s festival, click here.

For those unfamiliar with the festival, below is a video made at last year’s festival:

And here’s a Spotify Playlist of some of the bands I’m most looking forward to seeing this year.

At 22 Hamburg resident Alexander Ridha began DJing under the name of Boys Noize. In the years that followed he set up his own record label, was three times named the Best Electronic Artist on Beatport and remixed everyone from N*E*R*D and Nelly Furtado to Daft Punk and David Lynch.

This compilation of the best remixes Ridha’s released between 2004 and 2011 are as thrilling as listening to 2manyDJs’ As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt.2 for the first time.

The ‘Summer Mix’ of the Chemical Brothers’ ‘Swoon’ and the re-working of Feist’s ‘My Moon, My Man’ sees Ridha transform the most well known tracks into original and unique compositions entirely of his own.

The lead singers of both support bands at the Duke Spirit show were very obviously ‘in a band’. You could have spotted them having a fag outside, or stood at the crowded bar, and known without any doubt that they were in a band. The front-man of Alice, the first band on stage, was wearing an oversized white shirt (half unbuttoned), with skinny jeans and pirate-style facial hair. The lead singer of Sissy And The Blisters was also sporting a pirate’s beard and moustache with his Kasabian-like haircut and skinny jeans.

Dressing differently is part of rock’n’roll. David Bowie being more than enough evidence of this. However, for every persona-changing outfit Bowie wore, he had all his incredible music to back it up. You can wear whatever you want when you’re in a band, but if you don’t have the music to back it up, you’re just a fool in fancy dress.

This is the image conjured up when watching Alice, a rock band with no obvious influences not because of their unique, game-changing sound, but because of their dull, lifeless songs. Sissy And The Blisters were, by comparison at least, a much stronger group. Featuring two guitarists but no bass player, the band had a bluesy-lad-rock sound to them, which could explain their front-man’s haircut.

How Leila Moss and the rest of The Duke Spirit looked could not have been less of an issue. Whether they looked good or not, had great haircuts, outfits, facial hair or whatever, didn’t matter. In fact, I didn’t think about what any of them were wearing until I came to write this review, and I still don’t remember. Their show was one of such brilliant rock and roll that not one thought went towards their look. It was all music.

Taking in tracks from each of their albums and not heavily drawing from any one record made for a fan-favourite set. And apart from one or two thank yous, there was hardly any talking between songs. Instead, the band opted for a bombardment of the heavy riffs and driving beats they’re known for. Packing in more music into their hour-long set than you’d think possible.

Bounding about the stage, with her voice pitch perfect throughout, Leila Moss owned the room from the moment she set foot in it. The rest of The Duke Spirit didn’t put a note wrong throughout, it was a set of pure professionalism. Not one thing distracted from the music. It was non-stop rock’n’roll.

Listening back to their albums today, one thing is clear; The Duke Spirit are a live band. No matter how good each track on each record is (and they are), all of them take on a life of their own on stage. Leaving me rather disappointed as I listened to their records at home.

I already want to see them live again. I don’t care who’s supporting. Or what they’re wearing.

Originally published on Brighton Noise.

Unlike PiL’s other ‘80s live records, Paris Au Printemps and Live In Tokyo, which were both made out of necessity (the former to fund Metal Box, the latter to test digital recording methods), Live At Rockpalast was never intended for release on record. Instead, recorded in 1983 for a German TV program in front of a live audience, the show has taken nearly 30 years to make it onto disc. At this point in PiL’s career, both Jah Wobble and Keith Levene had parted ways with the group, leaving Lydon and Martin Atkins with a just handful of session musicians to tour with. And while Wobble’s absence is noticeable, Lydon’s personality more than carries the band through resolute and seditious versions of ‘Religion’, ‘Public Image’ (performed twice) and a preview of the then forthcoming ‘(This Is Not A) Love Song’.

Being upstaged by your support act has to be the worst thing that can happen to a headline act.

At the Green Door Store last night, S.C.U.M were supported by Bo Ningen, who put on such an impressive 30-minute set that it outshone S.C.U.M’s hour-long show at the top of the bill.

Bo Ningen are a Japanese four piece based in London, each androgynous member with hair over their eyes and down to their knees, making it hard to distinguish the male and female members of the group. Pushing their way through the crowd to make it onto the stage was the only warning for what they were about to do.

Static and feedback reverberated around the cobbled stones in the Green Door Store before Bo Ningen exploded into a set pulling in elements of post-punk, krautrock and metal that had people moshing within seconds and head banging moments later.

But as soon as it had begun, it was over. After a fast paced 30-minute set they packed up their gear and pushed their way back through the crowd. And now it was time for S.C.U.M.

Expectations were high. They were the headliners after all. But following on from the energetic Bo Ningen was, to say the least, a tough gig.

Musically, S.C.U.M can’t be faulted. Their rhythm section is tight, holding together grooves that allowed synths to dance around the beat, creating Horrors-like psychedelia that was at times laid back and relaxed, and at others uptight, on the verge of tipping over into something more expansive. But it never did.

Thomas Cohen’s vocals were barely audible. On Again Into Eyes, their debut album, his lyrics are given prominence, making it all the stranger that his Brian Molko-like voice was so hidden behind the wall of sound emanating from the stage.

The crowd hardly moved throughout the whole set and Cohen seemed bored from the beginning while the rest of the band remained fixed in their places, eyes to the floor. All in all, S.C.U.M were good, but they were upstaged by their support act.

Bo Ningen will be supporting (and possibly upstaging) British Sea Power on Friday 2^nd March at The Haunt.

Originally published on Brighton Noise.

You can now follow Tom’s Listening To on This Is My Jam.

The beta service, which has just gone public, is all about sharing music. But unlike other services, This Is My Jam is all about sharing one song, and one song only. They say:

Choose one song. That song that’s been stuck on repeat, that one you love. Personalize it to make it yours, then share it with the world. This is your jam.

You can find out more about the service here and you can follow me at thisismyjam.com/tomhasson

Jack White has announced the release of his first solo record, Blunderbuss, which will be released April 23.

The album will be preceded by the single ‘Love Interruption’, available for preorder here.

The aim of a film score is to encapsulate the mood of the movie, to add an aural element to fully immerse the viewer in the storyline. The very best of these can stand alone as albums in their own right, like the scores to Grease and The Godfather, or soundtracks to films such as Pulp Fiction or Vanilla Sky. The encapsulation of a mood makes The Internet’s debut sound like a film score, but the mood it encapsulates is hard to grasp.

The duo’s laid back electronica is reminiscent of The Dust Brothers’ score to Fight Club, though where that was able to stand alone as an album regardless of the film and feel like it could accompany your own mental collapse and not just that of Edward Norton’s character, Purple Naked Ladies sounds like it needs specific visual accompaniment to allow the listener to relate to it in some way.

Opening track ‘Violet Nude Women’ is an instrumental that would fit perfectly over the opening credits of many films while ‘Cunt’ could soundtrack any film’s ‘dream sequence’ with ease. ‘Love Song -1′ and ‘Visions’, two of the best songs on the album, are so short they sound as if they were edited to fit a scene rather than to work as part of an album. That these could potentially fit into any film demonstrates how removed it all sounds.

If one mood is created by The Internet on this album then it is that of detachment, leaving you feeling that there it is incomplete in some way. Were the album to be the score to a film it could have been possible to relate the music to something more tangible. As it stands, Purple Naked Ladies is a good album let down by its lack of any real emotion or feeling.

The SMiLE Sessions by The Beach Boys

No, it’s not an album. But without any doubt it is the best thing to be released this year. Despite ‘not being finished’, the genius of Brian Wilson is more than evident here.

Skying by The Horrors

As far as real albums are concerned, this is number one. Three albums in and The Horrors have created a near perfect album of pop-psychedelia.

SBTRKT by SBTRKT

Taking dubstep and placing pop-sensibilities around it has helped make SBTRKT’s self-titled debut the album of 2011 that you can listen to on a Saturday night and a Sunday morning.

Timez Are Weird These Days by Theophilus London

The best rapper of 2011 is definitely Theophilus London. With his first official album (various mixtapes have been making the rounds online for a while now) London has developed his music by tightening up production and delivering the smartest lyrics in hip-hop this year.

Ritual Union by Little Dragon

The Swedish band’s third album is the most effortless album of the year. Wonderful melodies cascade around playful lyrics and offbeat drums from start to finish without the band ever seeming to try.

Let England Shake by PJ Harvey

When PJ Harvey won the Mercury prize this year, everyone was in agreement: Let England Shake is an incredibly melodic, touching and beautiful album exploring Englishness both past and present. It deserved to win.

Watch The Throne by Jay-Z & Kanye West

Although 46 minutes of ostentation from two of hip-hop’s titans doesn’t exactly sound like a great album to release during an economic downturn, Watch The Throne is a fantastic album demonstrating why Jay-Z and Kanye West really are the kings.

The English Riviera by Metronomy

While this Mercury nominated album sounds otherworldly throughout, it also sounds undoubtedly English. With their third album, Metronomy are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam by Ghostpoet

Another Mercury prize nominee, this is the smartest hip-hop album to come out of the UK this year. Dub/dubstep-influenced beats and sparse soundscapes provide the perfect setting for Ghostpoet’s lyrics on modern life.

Angles by The Strokes

The criticism leveled at this album has been constant: it’s nothing new, it sounds like The Strokes imitating The Strokes, etc, etc.  But sounding like The Strokes isn’t a bad thing and while there’s no ‘Last Nite’-type single to speak of, it’s an assured record that deserved far more attention than it received.

You can listen to all of these records on a Spotify playlist here.

Alternatively, listen to my favourite track from each album in another playlist, here.

Have a great 2012!

This is everything that’s happened on Tom’s Listening To over the last twelve months:

Mike Skinner retired The Streets – at just the right time.

Radiohead released The King Of Limbs, and I reviewed it on Twitter:

Hurts said hi.

The Gully Gallery (aka Calum Torbett) produced a music video.

Ron Sexsmith finally bloomed.

The Strokes released an album that sounded like The Strokes.

Amazon.co.uk sold one of my favourite compilations ever for under £4.

I got annoyed by someone called ‘I Am Voyager 1′.

The Beastie Boys made the best music video of the year.

I really enjoyed listening to the new Fleet Foxes album.

Not content with just making an amazing video, the Beastie Boys then released a fantastic album in the best packaging of the year.

Tyler, The Creator released a good album, not a great one.

Friendly Fires missed out on rave culture.

I predicted that Beyonce would be the highlight of Glastonbury 2011 (I was right).

Gil Scott-Heron died.

Beyonce released her 4th album – and called it ’4′.

Glastonbury Festival was yet again, incredible.

Amy Winehouse died.

Both DELS and Ghostpoet put on a great live show.

I got a bit sarcastic when reviewing a Nicola Roberts single.

Bombay Bicycle Club released a good album, though not good enough.

Some Danish punks made quite an impression with their 24 minute album.

Everyone else listened to ‘Video Games’ while I listened to ‘Blue Jeans’.

Lou Reed and Metallica released an album…

My hard-drive died but I got over it by listening to this:

Kate Bush returned.

The Horrors covered Beyonce.

M83 made an incredibly good album.

Coldplay made an album fit for festivals.

Justice got me dancing again.

Cher Lloyd made a much better album than I had expected her to.

Scroobius Pip was quite good live.

The Fall were amazing live.

Summer Camp made someone cry.

Wild Beasts were boring.

Low were adored.

Merry Christmas

In 1974, at 14 years old, my father went to see Pink Floyd at Wembley. Along with his friends he stood on his seat and cheered loudly as the band came on stage but was immediately given a stern tap on the shoulder by a Floyd fan who said; “Sit down you lot, they’re not that kind of group!”

At that point in their career, they were a band to be appreciated. You certainly didn’t dance to them. And although I never got to see Pink Floyd live, watching Low at The Old Market made me imagine what they would have been like.

Although there was a brief applause as they came on stage, the room quickly descended into silence. As the band tuned up, we waited. Three people were waiting at the bar but none were ordering; the bartender was filming the dark stage with her phone and they had their eyes fixed firmly on the group anyway.

When the Minnesota band did begin to play, the audience didn’t make a sound. Everyone in the sold out Old Market simply stood there and appreciated what was happening in front of them. With a set drawing heavily from their 2011 album, C’mon, the band gave more than enough to be admired.

In 1974 Pink Floyd were playing The Dark Side Of The Moon live, note for note. The structure of the album demanded that it was played in such a way on tour and people accepted this. The beauty of Low’s live show is that they were able to take each of their songs and make them feel unique to that performance.

Their wonderfully soulful harmonies wrapped themselves around the solid rhythms of Mimi Parker and Steve Garrington while front man Alan Sparhawk played his guitar as if each note had been made for this venue and this crowd alone.

The biggest noise from the crowd came when the band left the stage at the end of the evening. They weren’t just appreciated. They were adored.

It’s the morning after Wild Beasts played in Brighton and I’ve just put their 2011 album, Smother, on the stereo.

I might as well be back at the Concorde 2.

Note for note, this sounds exactly the same. To complain about a band playing their songs so that they sound like their songs might seem strange but I wasn’t the only person thinking this. When asked by his friend what he thought of the show, the man stood next to me in the crowd said; “I love Wild Beasts, I really do. But close my eyes and I might as well be sat at home listening to the CD.”

The band is clearly talented (you don’t get a Mercury nomination for nothing) but do nothing to show off this talent. Each member seemed shy and hid behind their instruments. Hayden Thorpe, the bands’ front man, was the main offender. When facing the crowd he mostly kept his eyes shut and when playing keyboards he’d only have been able to see the crowd out of the corner of his eye.

When the band’s guitarist spoke to the crowd before singing lead vocals on a track himself, it came as quite a shock. Asking us if we minded him playing “an old song”, Fleming came across as a much more natural front man than Hayden Thorpe, who didn’t say a word to the crowd all night. From this point forward it was hard not to view Thorpe as more of a secondary member of the band than the front man of a Mercury-nominated group.

By no means was the gig a bad one though. As I mentioned above, the band is clearly talented. Each note was played as perfectly as you hear it on record, which can be tricky when you’ve spent a long time in the studio recording each part of a track separately.

A big boost of confidence and bit of movement on stage would make the band far more of a live draw. As it stands however, I’m more than happy to keep listening to the CD at home.

Originally published on Brighton Noise.