Category Archives: Fore & Aft

Fore & Aft: Echoplex II

By Black | Published: March 17, 2010

A few weeks ago, I wrote what might have been an overly academic piece about a musical dialogue between The-Dream and R. Kelly. Soon after, I went in search of tracks on which the two might have collaborated. The most pertinent of what I found is the first track on “The Demo”, from R. Kelly’s [...]

Posted in Fore & Aft | Tagged 12-Play, R Kelly, The-Dream | 1 Comment

Fore & Aft: Echoplex

By Black | Published: February 24, 2010

“Ella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay”. Or so goes the biggest line of the biggest single of 2007. The deviously catchy delivery tactic of that echoing artifact sunk its hooks in so deeply that over the last few years, we’ve heard its success replicated far and wide by both the original songwriting team of The-Dream and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and [...]

Also posted in mp3s | Tagged Bed, Beyonce, Echo, J Holiday, Kelly's 12 Play, Put It Down, R Kelly, Single Ladies, The-Dream | 5 Comments

Walk On By Part 2

By Gold | Published: February 22, 2010

I just can’t get over losin’ you And so if I seem, broken and blue Walk on by, walk on by Foolish pride, that’s all that I have left Thanks to a wonderful teacher in high school, I was fortunate enough to be exposed to the entire Stax singles catalog almost immediately upon becoming interested [...]

Posted in Fore & Aft | Tagged Al Bell, Al Jackson Jr., Arthur Conley, Bar-Kays, Booker T, Carla Thomas, Charles "Skip" Pitts, Eddie Floyd, Harold Beane, Harvey Joe Henderson, Hot Buttered Soul, Jeanne and the Darlings, Johnny Taylor, Macy Skipper, Marvell Thomas, Mel Stuart, Memphis Horns, Michael Toles, Otis Redding, Peter Guralnick, Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave, Shaft, Staples Singers, Stax Records, Steve Cropper, The Happy Song (Dum Dum), WattStax, William Bell, Willie Hall | 3 Comments

Walk On By

By Gold | Published: February 14, 2010

I’ve been digging into the Stax again lately and am just floored by Steve Cropper’s versatility and style as a guitarist. His stuff on ANY given Otis Redding song would be the high-water mark for any other session musician’s career. Not that he was just a session musician, mind you. Hardly a journeyman, Cropper stuck [...]

Also posted in mp3s, Videos | Tagged Burt Bacharach, Isaac Hayes, Stax, Steve Cropper, Walk On By | 10 Comments

Fore & Aft: Drinking Songs

By Black | Published: February 1, 2010

Fore & Aft is a new series dedicated to exploring the ways hit songs influence other hit songs, for better or for worse. In my household, one of the more polarizing songs from last year was the Jamie Foxx/T-Pain collabo “Blame It On The Alcohol”, a little ditty celebrating drunkenness as an excuse to do [...]

Also posted in mp3s | Tagged blame it on the alcohol, jamie foxx, say ahh, t-pain, trey songz | 5 Comments

Warzone

By Black | Published: January 25, 2010

I’ve recently reunited with my record collection after three years living without it. On the one hand, the mass of vinyl has caused some difficulties in living space organization with all the other things I’m reclaiming from storage. But it’s pretty awesome having them back. I remember growing up with my Dad’s large home-made modular [...]

Also posted in Videos | Tagged Dead Prez, Pete Rock, Warzone | 3 Comments