Expect a treasure trove of New York’s most stylish and in the know folks at this one. Kraftwerk pioneered sound and style and heavily influenced the birth of hip hop. From Soulsonic Force to the urban sounds of Freestyle, Kraftwerk’s impact on modern music is unmistakable. Taket this rare opportunity to see the magic live in one of the most incredible settings in the World.

From MoMa.org:

Over eight consecutive nights, MoMA presents a chronological exploration of the sonic and visual experiments of Kraftwerk with a live presentation of their complete repertoire in the Museum’s Marron Atrium. Each evening consists of a live performance and 3-D visualization of one of Kraftwerk’s studio albums—Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Techno Pop (1986), The Mix (1991), and Tour de France (2003)—in the order of their release. Kraftwerk will follow each evening’s album performance with additional compositions from their catalog, all adapted specifically for this exhibition. This reinterpretation showcases Kraftwerk’s historical contributions to and contemporary influence on global sound and image culture. Read more
Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider began the Kraftwerk project in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1970, setting up the pioneering Kling Klang studio, where all of Kraftwerk’s albums were conceived and composed. By the mid-1970s the group had achieved international recognition for their revolutionary electro “sound paintings” and their musical experimentation with tapes and synthesizers. Their compositions, which feature distant melodies, multilingual vocals, robotic rhythms, and custom-made vocoders and computer-speech technology, almost single-handedly created the soundtrack for our digital future. Kraftwerk anticipated the impact of technology on art and everyday life, creating sounds and visuals that capture the human condition in the age of mobility and telecommunication. Their innovative looping techniques and computerized rhythms, which had a major influence on the early development of hip-hop and electronic dance music, remain among the most commonly sampled sounds across a wide range of music genres. Furthermore, the use of robotics and other technical innovations in their live performances illustrates Kraftwerk’s belief in the respective contributions of both people and machines in creating art.
In recent years, starting with their performance at the Venice Biennale in 2005, Kraftwerk has been invited into the visual arts context, festivals, and museums, most recently performing at Lenbachhaus Kunstbau in Munich. In contrast to all former presentations, where Kraftwerk videos, visuals, or the “robots” were presented in a museum context but performances were staged as concerts, MoMA is realizing a groundbreaking new display: the first synthetic retrospective to present, simultaneously and in one location, Kraftwerk’s complex layers of music, sound, videos, sets, and performance as a total work of art.
A presentation of Kraftwerk’s historical audio and visual material is on view at MoMA PS1, April 10–May 14, 2012.

Purchase Tickets Here

Here are a couple of our favorite Kraftwerk songs:

Artist: Timbaland
Show: E! True Hollywood Stories

From Rap-Up.com:

“I’m not covering up shit. The truth shall set me free,” said Timbaland, who bared all during his E! “True Hollywood Story.”

The super-producer took viewers on his path to becoming one of music’s most influential figures and revealed some secrets including the time he contemplated suicide after his drastic weight gain and his love for Aaliyah.

The 45-minute episode also featured commentary from Timbo’s friends and collaborators including Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Pharrell, Keri Hilson, and his wife and parents.

Hall & Oats Biography from AllMusic.com:

From their first hit in 1974 through their heyday in the ’80s, Daryl Hall and John Oates’ smooth, catchy take on Philly soul brought them enormous commercial success — including six number one singles and six platinum albums — yet little critical success. Hall & Oates’ music was remarkably well constructed and produced; at their best, their songs were filled with strong hooks and melodies that adhered to soul traditions without being a slave to them by incorporating elements of new wave and hard rock.

Daryl Hall began performing professionally while he was a student at Temple University. In 1966, he recorded a single with Kenny Gamble and the Romeos; the group featured Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell, who would all become the architects of Philly soul. During this time, Hall frequently appeared on sessions for Gamble and Huff. In 1967, Hall met John Oates, a fellow Temple University student. Oates was leading his own soul band at the time. The two students realized they had similar tastes and began performing together in an array of R&B and doo wop groups. By 1968, the duo had parted ways, as Oates transferred schools and Hall formed the soft rock band Gulliver; the group released one album on Elektra in the late ’60s before disbanding.

After Gulliver’s breakup, Hall concentrated on session work again, appearing as a backup vocalist for the Stylistics, the Delfonics, and the Intruders, among others. Oates returned to Philadelphia in 1969, and he and Hall began writing folk-oriented songs and performing together. Eventually they came to the attention of Tommy Mottola, who quickly became their manager, securing the duo a contract with Atlantic Records. On their first records — Whole Oates (1972), Abandoned Luncheonette (1973), War Babies (1974) — the duo were establishing their sound, working with producers like Arif Mardin and Todd Rundgren and removing much of their folk influences. At the beginning of 1974, the duo relocated from Philadelphia to New York. During this period, they only managed one hit — the number 60 “She’s Gone” in the spring of 1974.

After they moved to RCA in 1975, the duo landed on its successful mixture of soul, pop, and rock, scoring a Top Ten single with “Sara Smile.” The success of “Sara Smile” prompted the re-release of “She’s Gone,” which rocketed into the Top Ten as well. Released in the summer of 1976, Bigger than the Both of Us was only moderately successful upon its release. The record took off in early 1977, when “Rich Girl” became the duo’s first number one single.

Although they had several minor hits between 1977 and 1980, the albums Hall & Oates released at the end of the decade were not as successful as their mid-’70s records. Nevertheless, they were more adventurous, incorporating more rock elements into their blue-eyed soul. The combination would finally pay off in late 1980, when the duo released the self-produced Voices, the album that marked the beginning of Hall & Oates’ greatest commercial and artistic success. The first single from Voices, a cover of the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” reached number 12, yet it was the second single, “Kiss on My List” that confirmed their commercial potential by becoming the duo’s second number one single; its follow-up, “You Make My Dreams” hit number five. They quickly released Private Eyes in the summer of 1981; the record featured two number one hits, “Private Eyes” and “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” as well as the Top Ten hit “Did It in a Minute.” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” also spent a week at the top of the R&B charts — a rare accomplishment for a white act. H20 followed in 1982 and it proved more successful than their two previous albums, selling over two million copies and launching their biggest hit single, “Maneater,” as well as the Top Ten hits “One on One” and “Family Man.” The following year, the duo released a greatest-hits compilation, Rock ‘N Soul, Pt. 1, that featured two new Top Ten hits — the number two “Say It Isn’t So” and “Adult Education.”

In April of 1984, the Recording Industry Association of America announced that Hall & Oates had surpassed the Everly Brothers as the most successful duo in rock history, earning a total of 19 gold and platinum awards. Released in October of 1984, Big Bam Boom expanded their number of gold and platinum awards, selling over two million copies and launching four Top 40 singles, including the number one “Out of Touch.” Following their contract-fulfilling gold album Live at the Apollo with David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick, Hall & Oates went on hiatus. After the lukewarm reception for Daryl Hall’s 1986 solo album, Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine, the duo regrouped to release 1988′s Ooh Yeah!, their first record for Arista. The first single, “Everything Your Heart Desires,” went to number three and helped propel the album to platinum status.

However, none of the album’s other singles broke the Top 20, indicating that the era of chart dominance had ended. Change of Season, released in 1990, confirmed that fact. Although the record went gold, it only featured one Top 40 hit — the number 11 single “So Close.” The duo mounted a comeback in 1997 with Marigold Sky, but it was only partially successful; far better was 2003′s Do It for Love and the following year’s soul covers record Our Kind of Soul. The issuing of “greatest-hits” albums reached a fever pitch during the 2000s, with no fewer than 15 different collections seeing the light by 2008. Live records were in proliferation as well, with the A&E Live by Request release Live in Concert hitting stores in 2003, a reissue of their Ecstasy on the Edge 1979 concert (titled simply In Concert this time around) in 2006, and the Live at the Troubadour two-CD/one-DVD set in 2008. As far as proper studio albums go, the 2000s were lean, with only three releases — the aforementioned Do It for Love and Our Kind of Soul, topped off by Home for Christmas in 2006.

Biography of Ray Parker, Jr. from AllMusic.com:

Guitarist/songwriter/producer Ray Parker Jr. had hits as Raydio (the million-selling “Jack and Jill,” “You Can’t Change That”), Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio (“Two Places at the Same Time,” “A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]“), and Ray Parker Jr. (the number one R&B and pop gold single “Ghostbusters”), and he co-wrote hit songs for Rufus and Chaka Khan (the number one “You Got the Love” from fall 1974) and Barry White (“You See the Trouble with Me” from spring 1976).

Born May 1, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan, Parker started out as a teenaged session guitarist playing on sessions recorded for Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Hot Wax and Invictus Records, whose roster listed Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Chairmen of the Board, 100 Proof Aged in Soul, Laura Lee, and 8th Wonder. He also played behind the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and other Motown acts when they appeared at the Twenty Grand Club. In 1972, Wonder called Parker to ask him to play behind him on a tour that he was doing with the Rolling Stones. Parker thought it was a crank call and hung up the phone. Wonder called back and convinced Parker that he was the real deal by singing “Superstition” to him.

Later, Parker played on Wonder’s albums Talking Book (1972) and Innervisions (1973). Moving from Detroit to Los Angeles, Parker got into session work, playing on sides by Leon Haywood, Barry White, and arranger Gene Page and working with Motown producer Clarence Paul on Ronnie McNeir’s 1976 Motown debut, Love’s Comin’ Down, and he appeared in the picnic scene in the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier comedy classic Uptown Saturday Night.

Deciding to become a recording artist, Parker got a deal with Arista Records in 1977. Not confident on his singing ability, he put together a band that included vocalist Arnell Carmichael, bassist/singer Jerry Knight (who later had his own solo hit with “Overnight Sensation” and as half of Ollie & Jerry, and co-produced hits by the Jets), guitarist Charles Fearing, Larry Tolbert, and Darren Carmichael. However, on record, Parker played most, if not all of the instruments — although Arnell et al. were paid a retainer so they’d be available if Raydio had a hit record and needed to tour.

His first LP, Raydio, went gold, peaking at number eight R&B in spring 1978. The LP included the number five gold R&B hit single “Jack and Jill” (lead vocal by Jerry Knight), “Is This a Love Thing,” and the charting single “Honey I’m Rich.” The hits continued with Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio’s number four gold Rock On (the single “You Can’t Change That” was number three R&B, number nine pop in the spring of 1979); the number six gold R&B Two Places at the Same Time from spring 1980 (“Two Places at the Same Time” was number six R&B in spring 1980); and the number one gold record A Woman Needs Love from 1981 (“A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]” — the first song Parker sang all the way through without trading vocals — held the number one R&B spot for two weeks and went number four pop in spring 1981). Then, the Ray Parker Jr. album The Other Woman held the number one R&B, number 11 pop spot in spring 1982 (“The Other Woman” was number two R&B for four weeks).

One of Parker’s biggest hits and best-loved songs, “Ghostbusters” was initially submitted for the background score of the Dan Aykroyd/Harold Ramis/Bill Murray/Ernie Hudson comedy. Director Ivan Reitman thought that the song should be released as a single. The “Ghostbusters” music video is one of the funniest and most star-studded videos ever made (breakdancing Bill Murray style). “Ghostbusters” parked at the number one R&B spot for two weeks and the number one pop for three weeks on Billboard’s charts in summer 1984. Around this time, Huey Lewis sued Columbia Pictures and Ray Parker Jr. for copyright infringement, claiming that “Ghostbusters” was a ripoff of his recent hit, “I Want a New Drug.” Lewis received an out-of-court settlement.

Parker also wrote and produced hits for New Edition (“Mr. Telephone Man” — Parker originally recorded this with Jr. Tucker for his 1983 self-titled Geffen album), Randy Hall (“I’ve Been Watching You [Jamie's Girl],” the refreshing “Gentleman”), Cheryl Lynn (“Shake It Up Tonight” from In the Night), Deniece Williams (the 1979 ARC/Columbia LP When Love Comes Calling), Brick (the 1981 Bang LP Summer Heat), and Diana Ross (“Upfront” from her 1983 RCA LP Ross).

Parker left Arista for Geffen and then MCA before returning to Arista because of his relationship with Arista president Clive Davis.

New Editions Bobby Brown talks about his ex wife Whitney Houston in a concert set in her home town of Newark just hours after her funeral.   Although he has done these tributes over the past week he seems a bit more sincere.

From NJ.com:

A gold hearse carrying Whitney Houston’s casket this morning pulled out of Wigham Funeral Home in Newark to head to the star’s burial in Westfield.

Just after 11:10 a.m. today, Houston’s hearse followed behind a black Chevy pick-up truck with a bed brimming with flowers — light purple roses, pink carnations and white lilies among the arrangement.

The police escorted funeral procession left from the rear of the funeral home, turning onto Shipman Street, to head to Fairview Cemetery some 20 miles away.

“We love you, Whitney!” fans called out trotting next to the hearse for about a block as it slowly pulled away. A backseat window displayed a black and white headshot photo of the star.

Barbara Davis waited outside since 8:30 this morning to get a glimpse of Houston. The lifelong Newark resident had already been to Wigham Funeral Home twice last week after news of Houston’s death.

“To be here at her home-going is an honor and a blessing,” Davis, 53, said.

More

Funeral Photo Gallery 1, Photo Gallery 2
Obituary
Funeral Program

We were amazed at the variety and depth of the incredibly soulful funeral services that were held today for the nearly departed Whitney Houston.  Here is a list of the music that was included in the program.  If we forgot any, please send our way. Goodbye Nippy!

Donnie McClurkin – Stand

Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (Actually sung with new lyrics by Kim Burrell)

Alicia Keys – Send Me an Angel

Stevie Wonder – Ribbon in the Sky (Stevie changed the words to this to reflect his feeling that Whitney was  an angel from heaven)

Stevie Wonder – Love’s in Need of Love Today

R. Kelly – I Look to You (composing a song he wrote for Whitney)

Ce Ce Winans – Don’t Cry For Me

The Winans – Tomorrow

Whitney Houston – Yes Jesus Loves 

Jim Reeves – Where We’ll Never Grow Old

Marvin Winans – Let the Church Say Amen

Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You (played in the church when Whitney Houston’s casket was being carried out of the church)

Whitney Houston – Home (from the Merv Griffin show during the early part of his career.  This was played by BET in their broadcast)

Whitney Houston – Jesus Loves Me (although not part of the funeral, this is where Whitney got her start at New Hope Baptist church)

Check our photo recap

Here are the results of this year’s NAACP Image Awards for Recordings.  Jennifer Hudson was the big winner this year.  We agree with most of the winners, but feel Ledisi is still being overlooked for her incredible gift and her great new album.  Cee-lo also deserved to win more awards in our opinion.  This brother has been making serious waves for years and continues to be a breakout star.

Outstanding New Artist

Our take:  Diggy has the pedigree to pretty much do anything he wants in the music business.  What is surprising is that despite this leg up, this kid seems like he’s here to stay because of his talent.

Outstanding Male Artist

Our take:  We love this pick.  Since leaving Goodie Mob and moving onto Gnarles Barkley, this brother has been killing it.  He is single-handedly transforming the music industry with flare and power.  We love and support his music and his message.

Outstanding Female Artist

Our take:  We absolutely love Jill Scott but really believe her album was not as good as Ledisi’s Peaces of Me or even Beyonce’s album, which features one of last year’s best songs, Love on Top.  We believe either of these artists would be a better representation of this past year’s performance.

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration

Our Take:  We love Mary J. and Drake, but the winner in this category has to be Cee-Lo and Melanie Fiona, who clearly owned the airways with “Fool For You”, one of the best songs of last year.

Outstanding Jazz Album

Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary)

Outstanding World Music Album

Outstanding Music Video

Outstanding Song

Our Take:  We’re sorry Kirk Franklin, but Beyonce or Adele clearly deserved this more in our opinion.

Outstanding Album