Peter Wade Blog

Check out 88 Keys’ discography - he’s been in the trenches for years producing Hip Hop. He’s about to drop his first solo album “The death of Adam” which features Shitake Monkey, Kanye West, Bilal, J Davey, Michelle Bell and more.

Look out for Shitake’s track “The Friends Zone” with Electric Pete (Peter Wade), Johnny Rodeo, and Chuck Brody on the mic…

* Black Star - “Thieves In The Night” - Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star
* Mos Def - “Love” - Black On Both Sides [gold]
* Mos Def - “Speed Law” - Black On Both Sides [gold]
* Mos Def - “May-December” - Black On Both Sides [gold]
* Mos Def - “Champion Requiem” - The New Danger
* Talib Kweli - “Right About Now” - Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD
* The Pharcyde - “Choices” - Humboldt Beginnings
* The Pharcyde - “The Uh Huh” - Humboldt Beginnings
* Beanie Sigel - “Watch Your Bitches” - The Reason
* Foxy Brown - “That Dude, That Chick” featuring Mos Def - ?
* 3LW - “High Fashion (Be Yourself)” - A Girl Can Mack
* Musiq - “Babygirl” - Juslisen [platinum]
* Musiq - “Juslisen: Intermission” - Juslisen [platinum]
* Musiq - “Dontstop” featuring Bilal - Soulstar [gold]
* Musiq - “Her” - Soulstar [gold]
* J-Live - “Got What It Takes” - The Best Part
* J-Live - “Don’t Play” - The Best Part
* J-Live - “Play” - The Best Part
* Schoolz of Thought - “Perpetual Motion” - From Thought To Finish
* Schoolz of Thought - “eVERYthHINGSaLLrIGHT (rIGHTnOW)” - From Thought To Finish
* Schoolz of Thought - “It’z Going Down, Now (Feel Good)” - From Thought To Finish
* Consequence - “Rock-N-Roll (remix)” - A Tribe Called Quence: 1995 - 2004
* Consequence - “Doctor, Doctor” - Take ‘Em To The Cleaners
* Consequence - “Train” - Take ‘Em To The Cleaners
* Consequence - “The Hulk” featuring John Legend - Take ‘Em To The Cleaners
* Hip Hop For Respect - “A Tree Never Grown” featuring A.L. Skillz, Fre, Kofi Taha, Rubix, Invincible, Wordsworth, Tame One, Jane Doe, J-Live, Grafh & Mos Def - Hip Hop For Respect
* DJ Spinna - “The Scott Steinway Trio (Montreaux ‘76)” - The Beat Suite
* Macy Gray - “Why Didn’t You Call Me?” (remix) featuring Grafh - How Life Is
* Grafh - “Keeps It Gangsta” - Keeps It Gangsta 12″
* Grafh - “Gimme That” - Keeps It Gangsta 12″
* Lyricist Lounge - “Bi-Sexual” featuring Jane Doe - Underground Airplay Version 1.0
* Lyricist Lounge - “Intro” featuring De La Soul - Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1
* Lyricist Lounge - “Bathroom Cipha” featuring J-Treds, Kwest, Thirstin Howl III, I.G. Off & Hazadous - Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1
* Joe Budden - “Cold World” featuring Musiq - ?

Jennifer’s spanish album is due out in March, look for Peter Wade’s name under the hood…

Yoko Ono Makes Exclusive Appearance at Borders(R) in 2 Penn Plaza for CD Signing

Who: Yoko Ono

What: Yoko Ono signs copies of her new CD, “Yes, I’m a Witch.” The
album, which released today, features collaborations with such
artists as The Flaming Lips, Shitake Monkey, Cat Power, Le Tigre, The Apples in
Stereo, Peaches, The Polyphonic Spree and Hank Shocklee.

When: Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m.

Where: Borders - Penn Plaza (33rd Street and 7th Avenue)
2 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10121
(212) 244-1814

Why: Committed to enriching lives through entertainment and knowledge,
Borders offers customers the opportunity to meet their favorite
authors and musicians in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
Fans of Ono will have the chance to meet the icon in an intimate
setting and be among the first to be able to purchase a copy of the
CD and have it autographed.

Yoko Ono has inspired an entire generation of musicians currently
challenging the status quo and pushing the boundaries of sounds and
ideas. On the new album, “Yes, I’m A Witch,” some of these
groundbreaking artists have come together to create a startling new
type of collaboration that draws upon the forward seeking sounds of
Yoko Ono’s original music together with the distinctive
personalities of her collaborators.

Additional
Information: To ensure Ono is able to meet as many fans attending this
event as possible, there is a limit of five copies of “Yes,
I’m a Witch” per person to be autographed and she will not
be able to personalize her message. No other CDs or
memorabilia will be signed. No posed photographs will be
allowed at this event and no recording devices, including
cell phones will be allowed at the autographing table.
Copies of “Yes, I’m a Witch,” are available for purchase at
Borders.

Media
Contact: Media interested in attending this event will need to submit
requests by Thursday, Feb. 8.

yes, i’m a witch
ONO to release Yes, I’m a Witch On Astralwerks Records Feb 2007

Featuring collaborations with The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Antony, Spiritualized, Peaches, Hank Shocklee, The Apples in Stereo, The Sleepy Jackson, Le Tigre and many more

Press release: “Millions are familiar with the name Yoko Ono. For some it conjures long held preconceptions, for others, the injustice of misinformation made fact. “Controversial”. “Manipulator”. “A witch”. But far too few associate Ono with the forward looking music she’s made throughout her career.

Despite this, her music has been heralded, embraced by, and inspirational to an entire new generation of musicians - themselves currently challenging the status quo and pushing the boundaries of sounds and ideas.

Hence the new Astralwerks release, Yes, I’m A Witch, a totally different kind of collaboration with some of today’s most exciting musicians.

Each artist was given her catalog to listen to, and upon selecting a cut, was provided with the vocals and whatever other instrumental elements attracted them from that cut. Almost all the artists chose just the vocals. They then produced entirely new musical tracks that make it clear just how ahead of her time her compositions and performances were, and how they remain so.

The result is a freewheeling and inspired set of songs - all held together and defined by the voice and sensibilities of a person few have given themselves the opportunity to listen to without bias.

The set includes contributions from The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Antony of Antony and the Johnsons, The Apples in Stereo, The Sleepy Jackson and many more. From the melancholic duet of Ono & Cat Power, evoking the most luscious new version of “Revelations” ever heard - to the droned out psycho version of Jason Pierce of Spiritualized’s “Walking on Thin Ice”, these bands have crafted their own take on the original queen of punk. While Peaches and Le Tigre deliver their high octane yet simpatico versions of “Kiss Kiss Kiss” and “Sisters O Sisters”, Antony takes it down a notch with his own melodramatic version of “Toy Boat.” Throughout the set, the passion and kinship between these artists and Ono shines through.

Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips leader, on his collaboration:

To be able to play with a track as uncompromising and confrontational as John and Yoko’s “Cambridge 1969″ is ,for any curious artist, a rare treat. We took Yoko’s primal screams and John’s moaning feedback and turned them into a kind of Ornette Colemanesque melody…I fear we may have de-fanged rocks’ most disturbing performance/art/jam… thanks - Wayne…2006

Ono recently scored two #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play hits and Astralwerks will release a new compilation of Ono dance remixes in March 2007.

Yes, I’m a Witch

1. Witch Shocktronica Intro / Hank Shocklee 1:47
2. Kiss Kiss Kiss / Peaches 3:18
3. O’Oh / Shitake Monkey 3:39
4. Everyman…Everywoman / Blow Up 4:02
5. Sisters O Sisters / Le Tigre 2:47
6. Death Of Samantha / Porcupine Tree 4:36
7. Rising / DJ Spooky 4:37
8. No One Can See Me Like You Do / Apples In Stereo 3:56
9. Yes I’m A Witch / The Brother Brothers 3:49
10. Revelations / Cat Power 4:22
11. You And I / Polyphonic Spree 3:27
12. Walking On Thin Ice / Jason Pierce (Spiritualized) 5:07
13. Toy Boat / Antony (Antony And The Johnsons) and Hahn Rowe 4:25
14. Cambridge 1969/2007 / The Flaming Lips 5:36
15. I’m Moving On / The Sleepy Jackson 5:01
16. Witch Shocktronica Outro / Hank Shocklee :32
17. Shiranakatta (I Didn’t Know) / Craig Armstrong 3:09

Ono
Yes, I’m a Witch
[Astralwerks; 2007]
Rating: 7.4

Given Yoko Ono’s reputation as an artist, a first glance at the tracklist of Yes, I’m a Witch can seem almost comical. Not that I want to try it, but I’m guessing that if you cornered indie kids (or music critics) on their lunch breaks and asked which bands might profitably be given Ono vocal tracks to build whole new songs around, it would not occur to many to suggest the Sleepy Jackson. Cat Power and Le Tigre might seem like good ideas, given a little prompting; the Polyphonic Spree, not so much. And yet not only do most of these acts turn in interesting work– the quaver in Ono’s voice will rub up against anyone’s production in fascinating ways– but they’re strikingly appropriate: It’s Ono’s reputation that has the issues.

The presumable aim of this collection, after all, is to make Ono’s case as a vocalist, songwriter, and thinker to more potential fans. And the truth is that Ono’s already appreciated– maybe even pigeonholed– as a “difficult” musician: icy shrieker, primal screamer, conceptual artist, and the source of the 6xCD Onobox, which I have actually witnessed strike more fear in people’s hearts than the 50-disc Merzbox. Cloud the air further with the disgusting level of mockery and abuse she gets for the sin of having been so cool that even John Lennon was bowled over, and it’s easy to forget how much of her work was only incidentally challenging, how much of it was in every sense conceived as popular music. It’s not just in the relatively straightforward form of most of her songs– whether it’s ballads, blues, disco, or new wave, the instrumental backings are usually more in danger of sounding too conventional– but in the sentiment, too, and the audience it imagines. Between Ono’s thinking and Lennon’s global reach, both found themselves in a position to address ideas– even challenging and intensely personal ones– at a listener they could nearly conceive of as the whole known universe.

Which means most of the content of Ono’s music is carried by that singular voice, the one thing that gets carried over onto this collection– that fragile, difficult vibrato that says “Yes, I’m a witch” and “My dear sisters, we must learn to fight” and “I can talk hip when I’m dying inside” and “Even with your warmth and closeness/ The feeling of loneliness hangs over like a curse.”

Truth is, there’s not much the interpreters here could do to meddle with the effect of that voice and those words, apart from wrap it in more contemporary packages– at worst, the work they do just distracts from the clarity of the originals. Still, so many do really pleasant things: Shitake Monkey translating the groovy Central Park stroll of “O’Oh” into its perfect down-tempo house equivalent, Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce throwing out the frigid disco of “Walking on Thin Ice” and turning it into a guitar-strangling feedback epic, or Porcupine Tree and Cat Power both keeping it spare and modest, hanging back and letting ballads speak for themselves. The Ono/Cat Power pairing is the most revelatory connection here, especially when Chan Marshall slides politely up and sings along. No one goofs up, really; not even Peaches. The biggest surprise is that Le Tigre could take a cheerleadery sock-hop song called “Sisters O Sisters” and somehow suck the life out of it– which is what tends to happen here, interestingly enough, when people are trying too hard to be abstract and unconventional.

And that’s the odd thing about this collection: If it provides people with a bridge into appreciating Ono’s work, it won’t be by making it more accessible. Plenty of the original songs are more conventionally listenable than their reinventions– the perky Talking Heads-style new wave of “Kiss Kiss Kiss”, for instance, is probably more immediate than the Neptunes-sounding electro mix Peaches turns in, leading off an first third that feels almost like a Piracy Funds Terrorism blend of Ono + everything. Which means something very nice for anyone who eases into appreciating that voice through this collection: Digging into the Ono catalog will be an easy joy, not difficult at all, far more warm and inviting than the world’s mean-spirited caricatures of her would suggest.

-Nitsuh Abebe, February 07, 2007