LONG LIVE NELSON MANDELA

Probably Nelson Mandela's last public appearance in this country. He is to be the guest of honour on Friday (27 June 08) at a huge party in Hyde Park to celebrate his 90th birthday.

The worlds most respected and beloved president who turns 90 on July 18, will be feted by world dignitaries and celebs including former US president Bill Clinton and Hil, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, princes William and Harry and actors Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker. Amy (Wil she Won't she) Winehouse. The event will be hosted by Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett. Oprah's going to be there. The roster will include a truly star studded line-up led by Queen, Leona Lewis, Annie Lennox Dame Shirley Bassey, Simple Minds and Razorlight are also booked to perform alongside Sugababes, Andrea and Sharon Corr, Eddy Grant, Italian star Zucchero and Spanish group Amaral. And an ex child soldier who is now a big thing on the rap scen: Emanuelle Jai (who Mr Mandela persoanaly requested appear at his birthday bash.... What an honour for the young man) The now internationally famous Soweto Gospel Choir will be doing a special set for their former president.

Nelson Madeba Mandela will be joined by an audience of some 46,664 (his old prison number which has been adopted as the name of the Aids charity that he is the patron of.

There is a rumour that there are a number of artists who are being kept as secret participants as a birthday surprise for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the audience. speculators recon that among these are: Miriam Makeba Hugh Masekela the spice girls, Eminem, and U2. Mr Mandela has said that he is looking forward to the event and that although he is retired he cannot resist the opportunity to use the event of his 90th birthday to raise funds for the charitable organisations that bear his name. He said "We have a bargain - I am going to London and they will host a concert in Hyde Park, which will raise awareness of our continuing work and much needed funds."

If you are going along then take as many pictures as you can share them with us here at Mixit.TV; have a really great time and remember it is all in a great cause.

Alexzanda Gordon-King
There now follows a personal statement from myself to uncle Nelson:

PS: Thank you Madeba! Thank you for at long last breaking your self enforced silence on the criminally repugnant activities of your next door neighbour: Mugabe and his detestable cabal. I salute you my President for having said that you have retired and will no more comment on international affairs ; you stand up. You stand up and say STOP! You are standing up and making it clear that Mugabe's behaviour is not acceptable to us, whether it be Africa or anywhere on the planet. You say loud and clear that it should not be tolerated. I hope and trust that your brother leaders within the continent will now band together and follow your example and say: STOP MUGABE Enough is enough! How could a man I/we had admired so long have sunk so low and made/ make us all look so bad/feel so bad? Long Live Mandela I say! Long live Mandela.

BLACK MANalishi?

Black Manalishi! Black Man a whaa? Black Manalishi! And if you haven’t heard of them let me tell you that these boys are off the leash and coming to get you. They are the real deal rock for real bluesRock RockBlues mix up mash upside you head Don Dada of undiscovered rock. You know what? I only came across them very recently and I don’t understand why they are not HUGE. Now I’m no Rock or Rock’n’Blues expert but Black Manalishi have got a vibe that is so Rock funky that it don’t really make sense to call them a Rock band. In fact I really don’t know what to call them. Colin Murray, BBC Radio 1 dubbed them: "Rock n' f*ckin' roll!!!" Yeah! kinda ses it for me. They're Purple, they're Cream , they're Free all rolled into one. And whether you think you are a rockNblues, bluesNrock, ClassicRock fan or not; you gotta admit that they have got it going on. Zep were the 70's and led that shit back then; Manalishi are the milenium and as HARD as any ROCK an a hard place you gonna find yo'self in.

I was sitting in my mates car on the way to the studio when he pulled out the mellow CD that I was enjoying and said “Tell me what you think of this” So he put it on. And I thought hoy hoy what the fuck’s he up to he knows I’m a RnB, Blues, Folk, Reggae, Jazzy Kinda guy, what the hell is he doing assaulting me with this hard rock bizniz for. So I’m kinda sceptically listening to this rock ting and then it starts morphing into Whhaaay whats going on here ting and I find myself nodding and bobbing and saying OK. And now I’m a little bit embarrassed because the first track has finished and it really wasn’t that bad. So we’re into track number two and it’s getting even better. By the time the third track kicks in I’m Head banging and jumping up and down in my seat and saying yeah! yeah! And he’s just smiling and ses: they’re not bad are they? And I goes: "they’re better than not bad mate. They're ****** **** ******** ******* * ********* ".

By the time we got to track 11, I was at fever pitch an then the first strains of Jack’s Gone to Hell started to pump from the stereo and I’ve just gone TURN THAT MOTHER ****** UP. And he’s turned it up, the roof is down and now I’m practically tantric-flying of my seat, arms stabbing in the air, head banging to the beat and we’re thrashing down the motorway. Everyone's looking at us as we fly by, thinking what the ***. Some smiling, some waving back and some in just plain shock.

We played it all the way rewinding certain tracks two or three times. Well! Talk about adrenaline? By the time we got to the studio I was so pumped up that I could have taken Tyson.

Now, my point is that any band who can have that effect on a middle aged black man with eclectic tastes but not particularly rock orientated has got to be worth big bucks from the record labels out there. Who are these guys? Are they deaf? Something needs shaking up in the industry if they haven’t snapped these guys up by now.

I’m gonna start a Release the Black Man alishi 4! campaign: Say after me: “Black Manalishi!” “Black Manalishi!”...


http://www.blackmanalishi.com

ELLIOT SHAND'S ACOUSTIC NIGHT AT THE DURELL

You guys missed a party on Sunday! Didn’t you hear me say that Alyson was gigging at the Durell in Fulham on Sunday? Let me tell you something it was phat.! An’ when i say phat I mean bubbling over with music entertainment and drama. The evening kicked off with a Brutus bearded "hellraisin" foot stomper from a brilliant Devonian One man and his Guitar called Ben Godard who really tore through his set and had us all going and what an excellent unique voice this man had he was whooping and roaring and did he bang that guitar? Yep! Sho’ did. He was followed by a big black Canadian singer who is on an international tour at the moment and only in Britain for two days. Damian Alexander, was flying out the the same evening directly from his set on stage to go to Hong Kong. Damian’s style was so unique I certainly have never seen any thing heard anything like him before. If this is what they are doing in Canada these days I better start listening a little bit harder. He was good and I particularly loved his second song which was part ballad part rapoetry Loved it loved it loved it.

The next act I want to tell you about is My Man “Mozes” In fact you know what I am not going to talk about Mozes because I got so much to say about MOZES that I gonna save it all for a blog of his own. And when I talk about Mozes I want to have something up here that I can link you to so’s you’ll understand why I love him so much.

Anyway, back at the Durell in Fulham the Joint was jumping and people were stomping and cheering and This wasn’t only for Alyson who put on a fine set this time singing whilst accompanying herself on keyboards (damned that girl is talented) but the promoter of the gig Elliot Shand got in on the act from offstage when he picked up his sax, crouched down in a wall seat to the left and off the stage. Black cap pulled over his eyes low it was just Elliot and the sax and the sax n Elliot and he blew that M.....F...... and riffed down into some deep dark dirty, did I say DIRTY dirty sex music. Well my dears..... The place erupted in ecstatic applause even before the end of his solo, and Elliot just kind of crouched there half embarrassed half proud peeking out from under his cap and took his applause with a nod and took his applause with a little smile. I think I glimpsed a hint of self satisfaction. It was a great night Elliot and a lovely little piece of sexophone you put down there m’boy!

The banger of the evening came when Alyson did a freestyle singin' straight to rap in the middle of her rendition of aint no sunshine and boy the girl took it to another level reinterpreted the mother and took possession of not only the song but the audience as well. I had invited a few friends over one of which is a big ting in the music biz and he just kept looking at me and making that sign... You know that sign that two close friends don’t have to pre rehearse to know. I loved her and I went YES! YES! THANK YOU LORD! We got a live one here.

Pictures from the Acoustic Session At the Durell Fulham

ALYSON JOYCE (AJ) ALYSON JOYCE (AJ)









ELLIOT

Courtesy Jacko: www.spsphotography.co.uk

Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
ELLIOT SHAND (Or Macio Mrk II as I call him)

Courtesy Jacko: www.spsphotography.co.uk


Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
Elliot, Cleo & Chris


Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
CLEO DUCENT


Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
CLEO & USUS

Macio MRKII aka ELLIOT SHAND

MOZES

MOZES















Cleo and Tom Colvin


















AJ

Thanks to Charles Henry AKA Jacko All pictures
Courtesy Jacko: www.spsphotography.co.uk

Bit of an apology!

Those of you have been reading, it turns out that after a friend of Mixit.TVs did some filming for us, absolutely for free and even gave us a lift - our 'review' of his performance was a little excessively critical - in fact pretty damn rude.


He posted a response in his own blog (which is a good read!) http://camcordermansbirdseyeview.blogspot.com/


So on behalf of Mixit.TV here is a public apology, and if I ever catch up with you, the first rounds on me.

CAMCORDER GUY

You know this gig that I was telling you about at the Durell on Sunday (15/6/08) Well I gotta tell you we turned up there with the intention to film three acts pre-arranged. The acts were Bluesman Tom, Mozes and my favourite girl AJ. Well as it happens we didn’t have our inhouse mixit camera crew (and there’s a funny story that I’ll tell you about another time) So we arranged a last minute replacement who I’m gonna call camcorder guy. Now Camcorder guy was there for one and only one reason and that was just to capture what he could of my three on stage and film an interview with them afterward. Well we started off well enough and he went in sized up the joint took out his camcorder and promptly got to work filming from just off right side of the stage and everything was looking good. We’re about half an hour in and camcorder guy is moving around and getting shots from this angle and keeping the camera going getting shots from that angle and I’m beginning to relax now because he seems to know what he’s doing.

So I've taken my eye off him I'm doin' my thing and networking and briefing here and working n had a mini panic because Mozes is now on stage and I particularly want to capture Mozes ministering to his flock (And yes MOZES IN MOTION is like a religious experience. You gotta see it! Feel it, to believe it) An Mozes is banging away and there's CAMCORDER but NO CAMCORDER GUY!

I've recovered from my mini breakdown and flown out of the main floor floor in a mad desperate hunt for this geezer. Shot through the first bar on to the next one and there he is sitting on a bench talking on his mobile. So I've interrupted him and told him "My man's on stage this is what you are here to record" He's kind of nodded but carries on talking on his phone. I've walked back into the audience area grabbed this poor unsuspecting guy up off his chair plonked the camcorder in his hands and said "Film this! and don't you dare let that camera shake! " He's looked at me, looked at the camcorder inhis hand looked at his girlfriend still sitting there looked back at me and starts filming the show. Ive gone "Thanks mate. I really appreciate this NO shaking now" and walked off back to find out how long my mans gonna be on his telephone call.

The short version of this saga is that Camcorder guy was chatting up the girls when he should have been surveying the acts, having a drink at the bar when he should have been filming interviews with AJ offstage and most comical of all cavorting on stage in the all-in-MUSICIANS/ARTIST's who have appeared on the bill Jam session at the end of the session, when he should have been covering the all-in-MUSICIANS/ARTIST's Jam session on his camcorder!!

So my peop’s we don’t know if we have anything to show you. As I write this I have no footage in hand. I’m not sure if we are gong to have any footage ever; because camcorder guy has gone on the lam, switched off his phone and has been unavailable all day Monday. Thing is you see that camcorder guy has got the two two hour tapes and was supposed to be downloading them to let me have them to put up here for you to get a taste of what a brilliant evening you all missed

If anybody sees camcorder guy on his travels please tell him that there is an audience of a few million possibly billions of mixit viewers out there waiting to see the footage that he shot.
I can’t seem to get it out of my head that I may have missed a trick and that maybe I should have had the camcorder on the guy instead of the guy on the camcorder
Fortunately we had the top notch super duper man a da moment photographic genius extraordinair: CHARLES HENRY (AKA JACKO) on hand to shoot some stills for you. All Hail Jacko! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKO.... take a look at these then:

Promo CD Sales - judges make a bad decision ?

Honestly, I think I must be the only one that thinks the majority of the legal decisions around music are completely insane, normally - big companies going after the little man, often students and kids, I used to walk past millions of bootleg DVD stalls in markets all over the place, but it seems like these aren't as important as students sharing music...

But this latest decision is almost on the side of the little guy - essentially the most recent ruling reports that if you send a promo cd to someone - a demo to someone in the hope that they will like it, give you a deal or something else - they can in fact sell it!

Don't get me wrong - I think there should be a time limit on this, if I had a Beatles one then I would love to sell it, but if someone sent in to us a CD which was marked not for resale, maybe because the content wasn't supposed to be in the public domain just yet... I would be annoyed if we or anyone like us 'sold it on'.

I would be seriously interested to hear what you have to say about this, either here (comment please!) or in the forum...

I have 3 questions

- Should you be able to buy a "not for resale" promo CD?
- Should their be a time limit on the above ?
- Will this harm or hinder people sending out demo CDs?

AJ'S GOT IT GOING ON AND SHE'S GOING ALL THE WAY

Let me throw a name out there. I’m throwing it at you because I know this name is going to be in your ears and on your lips and in the press and everyone is going to be talking about her...
My people I want to talk about Alyson Joyce other wise known as AJ.

Alyson is a songbird of extraordinary talent who hails from Australia and is now residing in London. She is 23 years old, stunning to look at, intelligent, articulate and very very talented. On top of all that the girl can sing. My peops I said AJ. Sings and she sounds like a Nightingale Now let me tell you something: I see lots of bands and lots of singers during the course of my day to day business. Over the years I have seen literally thousands and thousands of hopefuls, and some, not so hopeful as hopeless wannabe’s. I have been pretty good at predicting those acts that would go places and those singers who would make it in this precarious business we call "da music and entertainment bizniz".

I predicted Leoni Lewis would be a mega star. I predicted that Amy Winehouse would mash up the studio, slaughter all before her, leaving carnage in her wake (and boy was I right on that one... go Amy go girl). I predicted that Laura Jones would go large and get world wide acclamation. I was right on these three occasions long before these talents gained record company/media/public recognition and became the mega stars that they are today.

I make another prediction here and now PUBLIC DECLARATION for all the www to witness: Alyson Joyce is going to be a super duper, mega-MEGA singing star and you heard it here first. AJ. You rock. AJ you roll. AJ you more precious than silver and Gold Can't believe you haven't got a deal yet girlfriend? Sack yer manager.

You gonna be a star songbird and Mixit’s coming down to the Durrell in Fulham to catch your act on Sunday 15 June. Can’t wait. You knock us dead like you did last week Y’hearMiChil’? Check Her Out on MySpace

Monkey Radio! – Grooving sexy beats …

It's back up!!!

Those that know me, know I have to spend a lot of time working on the computer, I am work in an office, usually on a website project or two... Anyhow, finding something chilled, easy to listen to online isn't easy... I hate to call it background music but essentially trippy jazz which you can work to (if your a designer and your work is influenced by what you listen to, you will be producing something elegant and curvacious listening to this) .

A few years back I found Monkey Radio – I think the guy behind it was working on one of the earlier versions of Winamp which used to be my mp3 player of choice, although more recently I am using either iTunes (I hate apple, but the shared music library is cool) or Windows media player, although its on my list to discover a better more usable mp3 player, but after disagreements with the RIAA and the extorionate rates they wanted (these are the same people who go after students who have downloaded a bit of music).

Incidentally at Mixit TV we don't have an official positin on pirated music, but we do strongly believe in supporting music, whether this requires DRM, other constraints and archaic laws is always up for debate! please feel free to discuss that one in the forums!

Anyhow, if you want to take a listen to monkey radio, and tell us what you think – the url is http://www.monkeyradio.org/ but you will need Winamp or ITunes to get listen to it …

Course, if you want to find more un-discovered music, you need to check back here soon – (hint at a coming soon on Mixit TV? )!!