Celebrate the eco-active spirit of California that John Muir helped to establish in our great state with O Zone, September 30th, when the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) will come alive with an evening of food, cocktails, music, performances, and eco-friendly activities that will inspire you to take action to save the environment. Learn how making small changes can have big consequences on conserving our natural world and discover ways to empower the adventurer/explorer/eco-pioneer in you. 

Don't miss the Mustache and Beard Contest! OMCA is in search of the "Best John Muir Beard in the Bay!" Amoeba will be on hand with all sorts of giveaways and a Beard & Mustache Photobooth!

ALSO: get down to the beats of DJ Platurn who's spinning crucial tunes before headliner The Coup performs! Catch Whiskerman in an Oak Street Plaza acoustic set! Get in the gallery for an acoustic set with Conspiracy of Beards!  

   

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Special thanks to my man Rickey "Uhuru Maggot" Vincent for supplying the Amoeblog with his enlightening Top Ten Funk Sessions of 2010 list that includes the likes of Bernie Worrell's SociaLybrium, Nick Rosen, and Punk Funk Mob. In addition to his Top Ten, Vincent has included some "also digging" additional picks.

Rickey Vincent, who was interviewed about his favorite topic here last year, literally wrote the book on funk music.
Vincent's acclaimed music history book Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of The One (St. Martin's Press), which won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, is the ultimate guide to funk music and its rich history.

Rickey Vincent, who many know from his long-running, popular KPFA 94.1FM radio show The History of Funk (10pm-midnight Fridays) knows more about funk than anyone I know. Not surprisingly, as well as being an author & journalist, he is also an educator on the subject and has taught classes at both City College of San Francisco and SF State University.

Vincent's 2010 Top Ten follows:



Another year and another wide ranging collection of funky discs have come my way, and I’m going to share my favorite ones from the year. The best criteria I can give is that these discs have been playing in my iPod nonstop since they came out. Simple as that.

Many of the artists performing at Coachella 2010 have performed live and/or shopped at Amoeba, including John Waters, Dave Grohl, Boots Riley, Aterciopelados, Sia, Vampire Weekend and more!

Check out their instore performance videos, interviews, and What's In My Bag? features right here in Part 1, and get a little insight into these artists' inspirations, what they listen to, and their music! To see Part 2, with Steve Malkmus of Pavement, Zoe, The Soft Pack and more, go here!

Dave Grohl of Them Crooked Vultures - What's In My Bag?

John Waters - Interview

In 1993 when Boots Riley and The Coup (Pam the Funkstress and former member E-Roc) first caught the attention of the hip-hop world with their socially & politically charged debut Kill My Landlord (Wild Pitch), hip-hop had already passed its political Afro-centric wave. 

It was when gangsta rap, with Dr. Dre and The Chronic leading the way, was fast becoming the prevalant hip-hop flavor, remaining so ever since. But none of that bothered the ever-outspoken, individually minded Raymond "Boots" Riley one bit, not then nor in the 16 years since. Boots as both an artist and acitvist has remained a refreshingly consistent voice of rebelliion; one constantly questioning authority, in particular the capitalist system of the country in which he lives.

Last week I caught up with Boots by telephone to talk with him about Black History Month, Barack Obama being in the White House, the relationship between police & minorities in the aftermath of the Oscar Grant case, and of course music, among other things. Riley was in LA in the studio sitting in on the finishing stages of mixing an album for a forthcoming release of an exciting-sounding side project by The Coup frontman, which is detailed further in the conversation that follows.

Amoeblog: So what is this new album side-project you are finishing up right now?

After having the plug pulled prematurely on the concert he was a part of last Saturday at the Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Food Festival in Norfolk VA where authorities charged him with "abusive language" (apparently for uttering the lyrics "What the fuck" during one of his songs),  Boots Riley of The Coup has issued a statement saying that the local authorities' charges against him are "racially motivated."

The obscure local Virginia law, on the books as # 18.2-416, has never before now been applied to a performer, nor has it been enforced against anyone in over 25 years.   But yet the city of Norfok is determined in pressing forward with the charges against the visiting Oakland emcee.

"City Officials claim that they are making the statement that profanity will not be tolerated," said Boots Riley in a prepared statement sent out yesterday by his label. "Obviously, since no one has been charged with this in 26 years, profanity IS tolerated. The statement they are making is that the culture and the people they feel I represent won't be tolerated. I was already off stage; the man they asked to leave the stage was Trombone Shorty, another Black man who looks nothing like me."

"This happened at 10PM, and it was far from a 'family' atmosphere, most of the audience was intoxicated after drinking at the festival's bar -- 'The Missing Kidney.' There was also a VIP section where free alcohol was distributed by the keg. Anyone who has been to a music festival on a Saturday night understands the scene. I did not leave the park afterward, as was claimed by FestEvents, the organizers of the Bayou Boogaloo Festival. I stayed and debated the validity of the charge with police and festival promoters. It is clear that this is part of a larger debate that has nothing to do with profanity, one that is being dealt with nationwide. That debate is about racism, gentrification and the ownership of public space."