Smooth on the outside, crunchy on the inside and guaranteed to make you cry! Meet Onion ….. an up and coming three piece rock band whose sound fuses together an eclectic mix of funk, rock, metal and surf. Heavily inspired by guitar based rock Onion are in their own words “all about riffage” and have been busy over the past 9 months making a name for themselves across the Berkshire area. Onion have also recently recorded their first professional quality EP ‘Pull the Strings’ at Bossman Studios, Swindon, with producer Joe Lawrence (who has worked with engineers such as Jim Warren (Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Nine Inch Nails) and Adam Whittaker (Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson).  The EP was released in early August this year with fantastic artwork created especially for the band by master craftsman Tom Shepherd (see www.inkyhollow.co.uk). In the interview below the band discusses what they have been up to recently, their influences and their plans for the future. Check after the jump for exclusive Onion performances and if you like what you see and hear then the EP is available from their MySpace Page or their website – which is also doing a nice deal on Onion t-shirts!!

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Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch is the name of the album that showcases the latest creative endeavours from our friend, DJ, producer and author Richy Pitch. Reflecting two years spent in Ghana, Richy has collaborated with many local musicians, adding his own unique vibe to distinctly West African instrumentation. Check out exclusive footage of songs from the album being performed live, as well as an intimate discussion with Richy, who is accompanied by the international artist M.anifest. Together they discuss their musical collaborations including the album and the making of the song and video for the original track “Blackstar”.

Check out the Blackstar video and live performances from the Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitchy album after the jump…
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This is what we are talking about! Playing for Change is a multimedia movement to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. Check their cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” by a group of diverse Global Citizens! Cheers for putting us on to this one Albert!!

R.I.P. Guru of Gangstarr.

Check the social commentary in the rhymes. A true poet. He will be missed.

If you speak Swahili; can you please let the rest of us know what usinibore means?  This exceptional music presentation is by the coyly-named creative collective Just-A-Band from Kenya and taken off their sophomore album 82. The lyrics convey a poignant message of individual self-empowerment “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do – I can change the world“. Just-A-Band are unconventional in the sense that they have a photographer and an animator in their ranks so that they make all their own videos for their music, which has an eclectic fusion sound. Their website and infopack do not provide as much insight into their story as we might like but we’ve been able to gather a few tid-bits about them which can be found in the featured videos below.

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There is campaign currently being waged in the UK to get Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” to be Christmas Number One and it is hard not to support such a move when the motivation has arisen from the grassroots. Basically some music fans fed up of being on the receiving end of another X-Factor ballad ruining their listening pleasure set up a Facebook page to get RATM to Number One. Indeed the campaign has been such a success that Rage are currently leading X-Factor winner Joe McElderry by about 10,000 copies… and the song could hardly be more appropriate with the infamous lyric opposing conformity used as the title for this article. Check out the video below where the band themselves explain why they think the campaign is a good idea. What a shame the BBC could not allow RATM to vent their frustration live on air, even if it was eight in the morning. Indeed the idea that Rage would agree to be censored by the BBC, particularly on this song, for this cause and not sing the lyrics they have written is laughable. Go on RATM, take the power back!!!!!

Download the single now from itunes to show your support!

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The next recording artist mentioned was King Tim III who is credited by some with releasing the first rap recording on 12” vinyl with the Fat Back Band in 1979.
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