¡Viva el pulpo!

R.I.P. Paul the oracular Octopus, you made us Spain supporters so happy this summer!

Here's the best of the Paul the Octopus tribute songs:

Bomb a drop

Quality beat purveyors Turntablelab are taking over DC tonight with a great lineup:


































When this globaltropical favorite drops, you'll know why you went...


...Vybz Kartel "Yuh Love" on Dre Skull's Smoke Machine riddim.

L'Union Fait la Force

A few pictures from last Friday. A jam-packed Josephine paying tribute to those who lost their lives and those still suffering from the effects of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Early in the evening, a gentleman from the Haitian embassy in DC spoke a few words about the situation in Haiti, how 92% of government buildings in Port-Au-Prince had been destroyed and the country was in dire need of technical personnel. He urged those willing to help to consider flying down to Haiti on the government's expense to work on the rebuilding of the country. More info on the Greater Washington area Haiti relief efforts is on the GWHRC webpage.

Thanks to Sarah, Emmanuel, and Jad from the World Bank, Jorge from the Interamerican Development Bank, and all those who contributed to getting such a large number of people to show up and show their support.

Choosing the right music to play at fundraising event of this type is a touchy subject, but we decided that it would not be irreverent to play some joyful konpa, rap kreyol and kanaval tunes from Haiti among our usual fare. Some timely tracks we played out included Capleton's "Haitians" [uzershare], Twista's "911 (A Freestyle for Haiti)" [uzershare], and Lil' Flip's "Feel It N Da Air (Tribute to Haiti)" [mediafyre], plus some amazing Kanaval 2010 tunes from T-Micky, Mawon, King Posse, Project Boyz, BC, Vwadezil, Surette, Carimi, Tempo, Ti Kabzy, Krezi, Passion Kompa, etc. that may sadly never be performed they way they were intended...

Brought to you by Global Tropical TV

Nas and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Only the Strong (snippet) - Pass the Mic @ZanzibarDC 121209 from Global Tropical TV on Vimeo.

Missed about 20 seconds of the end of the song - the camera mic cut out some of the track's nu-Metal guitar stylings, which is just as well.


Big Youth chatting easy over the Satta and Real Rock, while Kool Herc and Waterfall look on.


Rakim on top form on "Microphone Fiend", with a bionic Junior Gong in the background.

I love the similarity of their poses.

Distant Relatives double-header this Saturday

Ultra heavy lineup this Saturday, first at the National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium, then at Zanzibar:

(from the Nat Geo events page)

Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley present “Distant Relatives”

WATCH ONLINE

Tune in for free and watch live online starting 7 p.m. ET on December 12, 2009 at Natgeomusic.net.

SEE IT IN PERSON

Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley explore the origins of the deeply-rooted reggae and hip hop genre, tracing both sounds back to African music. They will debate and celebrate the implications of this culture’s impact on the global community with a panel of pioneers—from DJ Kool Herc, DJ Rakim and DJ Red Alertto Jamaican dancehall legend, Daddy U-Roy, King Jammy, and moderator Sway Calloway of MTV. The event at National Geographic is being filmed for an upcoming documentary.

This event is now sold out, but it will be streamed live and broadcast online for free starting 7 p.m. ET on December 12, 2009 at Natgeomusic.net.

Tickets are still available for the after-party and open-mic show at Zanzibar, a Washington, D.C. nightclub, that will feature all event participants. Doors open for the after-party at 9 p.m.