WHITNEY HOUSTON

First of all, Whitney Houston is one of my favorites.  The clarity of her tone, the playfulness, the power, the feeling, the songs, those huge notes.  Sometimes I just sit and marvel and think “damn, I wish I could do that.”    She was, is and will continue to be a beautiful, inspirational, motivational woman, singer and artist.  The Whitney Houston cassette was a fixture in the car on childhood road trips and I used to stare at that album cover cuz I just thought she was beautiful.  Listening to the various “All-Whitney Tributes” playing on the radio today is a reminder of the near inescapability her music in the first half of my life.  She had SO MANY DAMN HITS!  In the ’80s and ’90s she was just always there…

Which leads to the second point.  I have no particular judgements on the alleged causes of her death or the lifestyle choices that led to it.  Because ultimately there is no one who will really know what it was like to carry the weight of being “WHITNEY HOUSTON” the biggest female artist in the world, 24/7/365 for all those years.  And there’s very few in the world who can even really begin to relate.  But I imagine that having that kind of expectation and pressure weighs the spirit down and it’s a hard rock to get out from under.  So to those feeling cynical I’d say to think about that.  Try and understand and love and find the bonds that bring us together rather than judging and finding things to separate us from each other.

I know there’s a lot of sadness out there but remember: With music, life goes on.  R.I.P. Whitney Houston and thank you for giving so much good music.  We loved, love and will continue to ALWAYS love you…

P.S. This video below is my personal favorite Whitney joint.  Great video too.  What’s yours?

MEHDI

Hey hey. 

I know that this isn’t really “news” anymore, but I’ve been waiting to say something about this until the words came naturally and the time felt right.  And today feels about right.

So what can I say? Mehdi was one of the sweetest dudes I knew.  Genuine as fuck and just enjoying life… The look of happiness on his face while he was DJing was one of the best examples of living in the moment that I can think of.  That’s the mark of an artist.  That’s what I wanna be like.  The picture above was taken at Santos Party House and it was truly a great night.  Pedro and Mehdi ripping into it, just owning the room playing the best music in the world.  An incredibly drunk Kid Cudi kept on hopping on the mic and just rambling, had me cracking up.  Pedro kept calling me JT cuz of that stupid hat. :) 

And then the last time I saw him was at Le Bain.  Mehdi, Pedro and Stretch playing hip hop for the last hour… So much fun.  I would go see Mehdi every time he was in NY and it never disappointed.  He was a friend, probably my favorite DJ in the world and a great producer as well. 

Here’s a couple things.  One is a clip of my favorite Mehdi song, “Tunisia Bambaata” from the Pocket Piano EP:

The second is a little mixtape/mini-album something or other that Pedro sent today.  It’s made up I guess of outtakes/ideas that Mehdi made while working on the Lucky Boy album.  It’s a real nice listen and a good way to remember a good dude.

DJ MEHDI “Loukoums” by edbangerrecords

That’s all for now.  Like my friend Beni said, be like Mehdi.  Keep smiling, trust the music and live your life to the fullest…..

RADIO SILENCE… PRE-2K LIFE… NEW MUSIC FROM BL’EVE

Since returning from all my travels I know it’s been pretty much dead on the wire… Apologies to anyone who might have missed me.  I’m still here, I’m still good and I just been taking a step back from it.  Not the music, mind you.  I’ve been writing songs and singing all day.  Got some new joints I’m excited to record.

Rather, taking a step back from… blogs… Twitter… Facebook.  It’s like living a pre-2K life (ok not really cuz I got a iphone and all that but you get the idea).  Those who enjoy them that’s great I ain’t saying to stop… but it was all just starting to sound like noise to me.  I felt like it was getting in the way of really being able to hear my own thoughts.  So I just cut it off and I haven’t really looked back since.  I ain’t saying I won’t be back.  Hell, I might be back tomorrow, who knows?  But for now, this life, this vibe, this speed feels really ice and I’m gonna keep on cruisin’ right about here.

There will be new music and videos and photos and all that down the line too.  Don’t worry.

For now, I’d like to share a new track from my friend BL’EVE called “Strawberry Fields.”  It feels really right on a rainy NY morning.  Hope that it feels right for you too, wherever you are:

Peace for now,

M

TWO FOR THE ROAD…

Hey hey,

Sorry that it’s been a minute.  Readjusting to civilian life.

Here’s a couple little bits to keep you going.

First, here’s a video from my show at Check Yo Ponytail 2.  No live audio, but if you wanna see what it looked like, here’s your shot!

CYP2 presents: Analog Chic from IHEARTCOMIX Records on Vimeo.

Also from time to time I like to share little bits from friends who are doing good things.  So in that spirit, here is a wonderful remix of a Zowie track from a good friend, AKA JK

Bite Back (AKAJK Remix) by zowiemusic

Be good y’all, speak soon!

SOCIAL CLUB LIVE VIDEO/PARIS PHOTOS… EN BOUILLABAISSE

18. Photo by Vivian Corado

PARIS WAS A BLAST.  We were there for just under a week.  I got to do so much cool sh*t and see so many wonderful things, see friends, play a concert at the beautiful Social Club, do a performance on the radio… It was the best.  Truly a wonderful time and I’m so thankful for the opportunity.  I’ll be back!  Below are some videos from the gig at Social Club…

AND HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS… around Montmartre, at the Louvre, at Social Club, at the Eiffel Tower… A little bit of everything, all photos as usual taken by my beautiful fiancee, Vivian Corado…

Arrival (Sur Le Metro).  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Patisserie.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Montmartre.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

L’Hotel.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Avec L’André.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Social Club.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Social Club 2.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Melee.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Head.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Food.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Shoulders.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Melee Part Deux.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

La Nuit.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

PARIS LAST STAND

Photo by Vivian Corado

»»»»»»»

Photo above is from Paris Social Club on Friday night.  Show was fantastic.  A beautiful crowd, a beautiful club, a beautiful night… I can think of no better way to make my live debut in Europe.  Thanks so much.

Tonight I make my last stand, an appearance on the Laura Leishman Project on Le Mouv radio.  I’ll be performing a 3 song acoustic set.  I’ve never done an acoustic set so it should be a lot of fun.  Tune in if you can!  If not I’ll try to figure out how to get it up here later.  No guarantees though. ;)

NOW OUT INTO THE STREETS.

XX

LIVE VIDEO/PHOTOS FROM CHARLOTTE, NC

So last week I went on a little mini-tour with Dances, hitting up Charlotte, Miami & Philadelphia.  The Future Gospel Road Show.  The parties were a blast.  Thanks to all who came out.  It’s been wonderful getting back out there in front of people.  Here are a couple of live videos from Charlotte:

Is That Your Girl?

Fire It Up

And here are a few still photos from the same show.  All shot by my lovely fiancee Vivian, of course.

Dances With White Girl.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Bartface.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Crazy Eyes.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Singin.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Preachin.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Shoutin.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Yeah.  Photo by Vivian Corado.

Hopefully I’ll be coming to your town soon!  Keep an eye out!

M

P.S. My “Home Video” for “Is That Your Girl?” has been seen by over 1200 people, in the last week, are you one of them?  If not, watch it here, the audio quality is a little nicer than the other live stuff… and keep an eye out for Home Video #2 next week!

Is That Your Girl? (Home Video #1)

HUSSLE CLUB 7”/A GREAT THING TO DO 2NITE IN NYC

My good friend Terry from Hussle Club (the Downtown Prince of Darkness) is putting out a 7” on Mishka, part of their #gravewave series, which features (or is gonna feature) “dark” bands doing an original on one side and a cover on the other. 

His record features his original “Loose Tights” on one side and a cover of The Cult on the other.  It’s a tight record and you should definitely cop one. 

I’ve seen Terry with a full band before but this will be my first chance to see him do the Hussle Club thing solo.  Looking forward to it and expecting great things… Here’s the invite: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=136340739759555&index=1

I found this video from the show that I went to last spring… (not shot by me though).  It might’ve been their first?  Anyway, it was a great show.  Enjoy!

GO DOWNLOAD THE NEW NINJASONIK MIXTAPE…

Your friends and mine, Ninjasonik released a new mixtape, “When Anxiety Attacks” yesterday.  It’s available as a free download at ninjasonik.com so there ain’t no excuse!

As you may know, Telli (from Ninjasonik) guests on my track “Is That Your Girl?” and his verse is straight fire.  I’ll be making a big announcement about the release of that one later this week, so stay tuned!