On Web Culture

Source: Peter Stuckings

Groove Armada is the music stylings of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay who together make electronica infused with funk, soul, house, disco, dub, dancehall…it’s a long list. Famous first for their tuneful track ‘At The River’ which got thrashed by a bunch of bland chillout albums and featured on their first album, Vertigo (1999). Vertigo is a fantastic album, when it came out Elton John famously bought 1000 copies to give to all his friends. Groove Armada then had a short stint as Elton’s opening band.

The evolution of Groove Armada’s sound can be best summed up by the name of their second album, 2001’s Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub). It was clear the Armada had worked out their crossover appeal from lounges to dance floors would not only work (witness Fatboy Slim’s reworking of ‘I See You Baby’) but would also pay quite handsomely.

If, like me, you thought Groove Armada disbanded, you would be wrong. They are back with an album this year, Soundboy Rock and are playing Auckland venue the St James this coming Tuesday night the 27th of March. Those attending can expect an uplifting, adrenalised live show with a bigger emphasis on playing live than you get from a lot of electronic acts. Unusually, I read on their blog Tom Findlay discussing how these days he goes on tour but doesn’t actually join the band on stage saying there’s no need for it “…the visuals are so spectacular and the band are so cool that I just don’t feel it’s necessary”.

Talking about Soundboy Rock Groove Armada said recently “It’s the best one we’ve done, no question” [sonybmg.com.au]. Which perhaps they are always going to say but judging from a tune on their myspace page from the album, a downbeat track called ‘Paris’, the Groove is on.

Residents of the city of North Shore in Auckland were stunned on Sunday when a guest on the popular Ouur Show on UPFM made a unprovoked pointed remark about the superficiality of its residents.

Standing in for regular host Ralphie, Dave Underwood proceeded to infer on-air that all people in North Shore city care about is how they look, saying that it was very serious if someone looked down at you for the way you were dressed.

Leaving UPFM studios after the show, Mr Underwood attempted to explain away his behaviour by saying he “had been sitting in the sun for most of the day” and “just wanted to sound cool on radio”. An outraged bystander walked past Mr Underwood without even looking at him.

Present at the time of the incident, regular host Mr NSU said he thought Mr Underwood had “probably had Lift Plus instead of Red Bull, anyone could make that mistake” and called Mr Underwood “a citizen with a heart of gold”. Mr NSU is however said to be considering legal advice.

Additional Sound Links.

Iranian Holocaust claims rebutted

…Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opened a two-day conference yesterday to question whether the Holocaust took place … Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust a myth. At his initiative, the Iranian foreign ministry’s institute for political and international studies is hosting a conference that has drawn 67 foreign delegates from 30 countries. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the objective was “to raise various opinions about a historical issue.”

“If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt,” Mottaki said.

Via TheStar.com

Why they deny the Holocaust

…As a child growing up in Saudi Arabia, I remember my teachers, my mom and our neighbors telling us practically on a daily basis that Jews are evil, the sworn enemies of Muslims, and that their only goal was to destroy Islam. We were never informed about the Holocaust.

Later, as a teenager in Kenya, when Saudi and other Persian Gulf philanthropy reached us, I remember that the building of mosques and donations to hospitals and the poor went hand in hand with the cursing of Jews. Jews were said to be responsible for the deaths of babies and for epidemics such as AIDS, and they were believed to be the cause of wars. They were greedy and would do absolutely anything to kill us Muslims. If we ever wanted to know peace and stability, and if we didn’t want to be wiped out, we would have to destroy the Jews. For those of us who were not in a position to take up arms against them, it was enough for us to cup our hands, raise our eyes heavenward and pray to Allah to destroy them.

Via LATimes.com