When The Night Hits Top 10 on Much Music

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Musicophiles,

No, this isn't a selfish plug for some new project of mine, it's all about my friend and record label protégé Aaron Nazrul, who is making serious waves with his music lately. Back in September Aaron made an amazing music video for When the Night one of the songs from his album Butterfly Man (produced by my uncle Simon Kendall, executive produced by myself). It's a classic East Vancouver block party video featuring all of our friends from the neighbourhood, filmed in the back alley behind his house. If you want to see how we party in Vancouver, you can watch the video on YouTube:

But the real news is that Much Music is now playing the video on rotation, and it has hit the Top 10! For those of you outside Canada, Much Music is our version of MTV, and is a very big platform for Aaron to get his music out. He is currently in the number six position, ahead of: Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, and New Kids on the Block! How did he get there? People can vote for their favourite artists on the web, and I'm hoping all of you will take a moment to vote as well. You can vote as many times as you want and you can vote from anywhere in the world, so let's get him to Number One! Visit the Much Music website to vote.

Aaron and his band are currently on tour in Central America, playing gigs as they cruise from country to country in their tour bus Winnebago. If you want to check out his album or (heavens!) buy it, you can get it from iTunes or order by mail from my website (click "Butterfly Man" under Discography, left side of page):Order Butterfly Man

As for me, I'm writing from NYC, on a short sojourn between gigs on my US tour. I had the singular honour of spending election day here in the States with a great group of very talented people at the Hip Hop Boot Camp in Ashland, Oregon, part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I was pretty proud of my American kin for the history they made that day, plus the entire boot camp experience was amazing.

The festival brought together seven hip-hop theatre professionals and seven professional Shakespearean actors for a series of skills-trading workshops and performances. Apparently some people high up now believe hip-hop is the future of Shakespearean theatre. You don't have to convince me...

In the past three weeks I've performed in New Orleans, Boulder, Worcester, Mass., and at Penn State University. But colleges are off over US Thanksgiving, which means so am I. So I'm just visiting friends here in New York for a few days and relaxing (I know, sounds unlikely) before heading onward to gigs in Portland, Oregon and Birmingham, Alabama (which they pronounce with extra "Ha-yam", not "Birming'm" like in England). Then I go home to Vancouver for the holidays, and spend a few months regrouping before the next round of touring.

I have some exciting projects coming up in 2009, but until I see the ink dry on the paper I'm hesitant to announce anything, so for now stay tuned, and don't forget to lend Aaron your vote.

Can we get him to Number One?

Yes we can.

Baba

Read Shane's bang-on review of Butterfly Man Here

MudSun Mine The Gap - CD Review By Shane Christensen

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Fans of Baba Brinkman will be pleased to discover his new five song EP that includes U.K. rapper Dizraeli, as well as a typically impressive offering from up and coming Vancouver star Aaron Nazrul, who is proving to be a musical jack of all trades.

The collaborative effort goes by the name of MudSun, and this latest production continues to mix intelligence with humour and sarcasm, and also includes relevant political and/or social commentary at the same time.

My musical sensibilities are all over the place, but hard rock and alternative would undeniably be considered my favourite genre. But in saying that, I’m not one of those rockers who loathes or belittles rap. In fact, I tip my hat to some of the rock bands in the past who have included snippets of this musical genre in their productions, because it shows an appreciation for other artists and their craft. And make no mistake my fellow rocker friends, rap can be a craft as far as I’m concerned, as long as it’s done in a manner that is not offensive to any particular group, specifically women.

And because I find this type of mutual respect collaboration interesting and even cool, it is the fusionary rock/rap song Fried Rice that is my favourite offering on this disc. I have the upmost respect for Aaron Nazrul’s musical abilities, and he only reinforces these feelings with this hard rocking/rapping gem that literally throbs through your speakers and subwoofer. Without a doubt, this is the gem on the disc and it’s one of those songs that makes you want to go out and buy the album without even hearing any of the other songs.

But in this case, you won’t be disappointed with the rest of the offerings that include the title track Mine The Gap, which is a perfect example of the before-mentioned art of mixing humour and sarcasm with social commentary, as it muses poetically about the state of the British publics' attitudes towards contemporary Islam and the threat of homegrown terrorism.

How It Is , Tongue N Groove, and Louder are the other songs on a disc filled with a sincere energy and enthusiasm that is obvious to the listener.

So if you’d like to sample a bit of MudSun for yourself, you can see what I’m talking about by checking out their myspace site at the following link, where all five songs from this impressive EP are featured.

Visit Mudsun

Aaron Nazrul – Butterfly Man CD Release (and CD Party at The Media Club Dec 9th)

Attend Aaron’s CD Release Party on December 9th at 10:00 p.m. at the Media Club in Vancouver, B.C.

Lit Fuse Records presents Butterfly Man , the debut folk album from Vancouver singer/songwriter Aaron Nazrul , produced by former “Doug and the Slugs” keyboardist and Genie Award-Winner Simon Kendall , with additional tracks produced by Lin Gardiner of Super G Music and Vancouver’s DJ Darren Woodhead .

Aaron Nazrul (real name Aaron Ross) was a hit at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, winning popular and critical acclaim: “The Golden Voice of the Festival…definitely a talent to watch for in the future.” Festival FM Radio

Aaron’s music combines the raw emotional intensity of Ben Harper and the cultural diversity of Manu Chao, an emerging talent with the voice of a future classic.  Tracks of note are As the Sun Goes Down, Take These Chains, Butterfly Man, and Delivered featuring guest vocals from Frazey Ford of The Be Good Tanyas.
 
The album was inspired by Aaron’s recent travels in South East Asia, and includes songs written during a motorcycle trip through Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China.  Butterfly Man is a slang term in Asia for a restless traveler who never settles in one place, or with one person.
 
The album was Executive Produced by Lit Fuse Records founder Baba Brinkman, who has gained international recognition for his Rap Canterbury Tales performances. Butterfly Man is now available from the iTunes Music Store, with general release in retail stores December 4th.

Web: http://www.myspace.com/aaronnazrul