c h i l l

BBE Music is thrilled to announce the release of Modern Love, a diverse compendium of specially commissioned cover versions of rarities and classics in tribute to David Bowie.

Featuring an array of artists such as Jeff Parker, We Are KING, Meshell Ndegeocello, Helado Negro, Khruangbin, Matthew Tavares, Nia and more, Modern Love seeks to champion Bowie’s lesser-known connection to soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel. The prominent jazz influences throughout Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, were a key inspiration for curating this collection of reimagined Bowie songs with these artists. The resulting album is an eclectic tribute featuring a group of artists who not only fit together creatively, but who, like Bowie, straddle different worlds musically, with soul and jazz at their core.

Modern Love offers a fresh look at Bowie’s trailblazing career, aiming to highlight the often overlooked relationship between his back catalogue and musical genres traditionally pioneered by artists of color. The project was curated by music executive and DJ Drew McFadden, alongside BBE Music founder Peter Adarkwah. “I felt that the connection between Bowie and R&B, jazz, funk, gospel and all things soulful, had never really been explored before — at least not so much in covers, which tend to lean more towards rock and pop,” says McFadden. “Certainly, there’s been plenty of Bowie covers over the years, but none that have really tapped into what seems to have been a big part of his core musical
style and direction.”

Modern Love is an interactive sonic map. Here, seventeen artists make their way into the varied regions of his sundry catalog and circle back with seventeen unique re-imaginings of both his cornerstone and lesser-known tracks. Some, in atmosphere, feel like a sly alternate take from original sessions (Khruangbin’s ethereal, funk infused version of “Right” from Young Americans); others nod at the source, then wink before diving into the deep waters of another musical stratosphere (Sessa’s sexy Tropicalia-drenched “Panic in Detroit” from Aladdin Sane). Still others take tunes down to the studs and then re-arrange the moody interiors: Meshell Ndegeocello’s pensive “Fantastic Voyage” from Lodger and Tavares’ clever take on “Heroes” which is restructured into a kinetic hardbop-esque backdrop, fronted by ice-cool, held-back vocals. The bullseye these artists aim for is Bowie’s fearlessness. “Fame was an incredible bluff that worked,” he once reflected. “Very flattering. I’ll do anything until I fail. And when I succeed I quit too.”

Modern Love packs us off on a journey that balances on risk’s sharp blade. Track-to-track, it explores what happens when a musician throws out notions of should and safe and stretches beyond the known. These artists use Bowie both as a guide and a prism: A way of being and seeing. Their offerings, widely divergent, explore the inheritance from an artist who freed himself from labels, genres and, consequently, pigeonholes. While he was at it, he decimated fixed notions about territory (or terra) itself; boundaries hemmed-in his creative process, but his essence remained free to roam. He may have vanished in earthly form, yet, as he also promised in the lyrics of “Modern Love,” But I never wave bye-bye . . .” This compilation assures us that his spirit swirls around us. His force is alive to all of us and, here, it is summoned with an incantation that celebrates possibility.

Khruangbin - Right

Freedom Fables

Morning Light (feat. Ria Moran)

Written by Daniela Bojorges-Giraldo
Published by Big Deal Beats / Gold Room Special Music / St. Panther Publishing (BMI) (Administered by Words & Music)
Produced by St. Panther
Instruments by St. Panther
Recorded at St. Panther’s Apartment in East Los Angeles
Engineered by St. Panther
Mixed by David Nakaji at Slick Suze Sound in Los Angeles, California
Mastered by Daddy Kev at Cosmic Zoo

Artwork by St. Panther & Angela Giraldo

Lyrics:
I was stolen by the way you say my name
Watched all my problems fade away
Away, come back here another day
Away, come back here another day
Away, through these gray blue skies
 
It’s been a long time I don’t want to call and tell you why
Why my life is upside down and I really don’t got no time
You say “where she at right now?” I can’t tell you all the time
Even if I could right now, I can’t scrap no reasons why
 
Watched all my problems fade away
Away, come back here another day
Away, watched all my problems fade away
Away, through these gray blue skies
 
I can’t tell you why, why why
I can’t tell you why, why why
I can’t tell you why, why why
I can’t tell you why, why why
 
I can’t tell you why, why why
I can’t tell you why, why why
I can’t tell you why, why why
I can’t tell you
 
I was stolen by the way you say my name
Watched all my problems fade away
Away, come back here another day
Away, come back here another day

Problems

available now on brownswood bubblers three and also forthcoming on emanative// time which drops on april the 5th 2010

Turn Your Lights On

[Intro]
(Ahh… drifting in the glow)

[Verse A]
Steady as a rising current,
Pulling dreams into my hands.
Every step becomes a signal,
Every breath redraws the land.

[Pre-Chorus]
Friction fades into a shimmer,
Lines converge and start to bend.

[Chorus]
I am magnetic—heart aligned,
Feeling truth in every sign.
Moving closer, tuned and clear,
Side by side, we stay right here.

[Hook]
Hold this light—let it blaze,
Carry us through shifting days.

[Bridge]
Echoes soften, walls release,
Weighted moments turn to peace.

[Chorus]
I am magnetic—warm and bold,
Pulling stories yet untold.
Every choice comes amplified,
Every motion unified.

[Hook]
Link to link—free and bright,
Rising now in shared insight.

[Outro]
(Fading glow… magnetic flow…)


magneticself

Honeycomb

This Love

04 Yaw - Where Would You Be

smile

u suck

Real Time

Show Me What You Got (feat. Jordan Rakei)

Project E.T.

Married To The Game

Joomanji - Where Are You ? (Love for JL)- Lindsay Olsen - Copasetic

[VERSE I: Lil Cig]

Northside shorty pull up in a drop top
3 AM with the night back drop
popping on pills like I pop cough drops
multi-millionaire all from my laptop
slob on my knob until your jaw lock
came a long way from rocks in my sock
moon walk on the block
while I'm sipping on Wok
took a whole year off and we still on top
still the same boy that came from Jeffer Street
still the best friend that the devil keep
always burning up
triple six degrees
lock Scarecrow in hell and throw away the key

[HOOK: Lil Cig & 40 Blunts]

As the years go by
another day closer to death
time is ticking
hurry x 3

[VERSE II: 40 Blunts]

As the years go by
all the things that you were gonna do
you never did 'em
now you're wondering how come they never listen whenever you're talking
look who the fuck just walked in
time to clear the air
fuck that
I'll be coughing until my coffin
and in my coffin I won't toss and turn
instead I'll rest
I've earned some sleep 
let me dream up sheep
release me into the deep
cover up my head with the sheet
As the years go by
the same fuck girls will be fucking the same fuck boys
as the years go by
the same heroes you once had have been reduced to a toy
as the years go by
the drugs used to be fun
now, they've become a problem
as the years go by
before your life even begun
now, it's coming undone

PUTRID PRIDE

HollowSesh

instrumental is from “the midnight - days of thunder”

BONES & Xavier Wulf - TaintedBliss

CHANCE TO SAY MY PIECE Feat MARCUS GILMORE

producer/writer/arranger/string player/vocalist
available on iTunes and Spotify. hard copies from fat possum records
Booking requests to kadhjamanagement@gmail.com

This Love

Kadhja Bonet

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