SOUNDTRACK: &More (Chill Moody & Donn T)-Tiny Desk Concert #835 (March 25, 2019).
&More is a fun, warm, sweet band. And when the Concert opened, they totally rocked. The guitarist had a great distraction-filled sound and the opening riff was terrific–rocking and heavy. Then singer Donn T begin singing and all of the rock left and the song became a gentle R&B song.
That song was “My Own Light.” I found it odd that Chill Moody started rapping midway through, making this a rock, R&B and rap. And indeed, “&More’s music is often about the experience of being black in America, blending hip-hop and R&B with a motivational message and a Philadelphia flair.”
&More is Philadelphia Rapper Chill Moody and singer Donn T, along with their crew.
After the first song he asks hows she’s doing and he tells a story saying big challenges are for people with big destinies. We are all sorely challenged and we need to keep that in mind to improve our future.
She asks how he is, He says it is his birthday. Bob then brought out a concealed strawberry shortcake (his favorite) for his 34th birthday. Its strawberry shortcake. He says, “that’s my favorite jawn right there.” He continues,
Some of you may have a beer. I handed them out I bought them I can guilt you into drinking on my birthday.
His toast: May all things be nice things.
The second song is “Future Come Around’ features Donn T. singing in a deep voice in between fast impressive rapping from Chill. Ty Lemar adds some nice backing vocals. There’s some subtle drumming (Marlon Lewis)
I first discovered &More while sifting through hundreds of Tiny Desk Contest video entries last year. Their standout video was for a song called “WHOA,” which is also the third song they played during their visit to the Tiny Desk. It’s a song that expresses exasperation at current events, when words just can’t be found, and when all one can say is, “whoa!” But despite the intensity of the subject matter, much of what &More, Donn T and Chill Moody play stays positive. You can hear it in the refrain of the song: “The hate you give, won’t stop and let you think; the love you save keeps you on the brink.” The positivity is infectious.
Chill starts the song, “This jawn right here is called, ‘WHOA.'” The guitar (Jake Morelli) is great with some funky bass (Norwood Long III) as well. Dan Rouse: keys
My favorite part was that keyboardist Dan Rouse is wearing a Wawa-inspired logo that says “Jawn.”
Learn about Jawn at Atlas Obscura
It is an all-purpose noun, a stand-in for inanimate objects, abstract concepts, events, places, individual people, and groups of people. It is a completely acceptable statement in Philadelphia to ask someone to “remember to bring that jawn to the jawn.”
I was more taken with jawn than the music, but it is a fun Tiny Desk.
[READ: April 2017] An Unkindness of Magicians
I picked up this book pretty much explicitly because of the title. I have always enjoyed collective nouns, and I love when people come up with new ones. An “unkindness” just seems like a perfect collective noun, especially for a bunch of magicians.
Howard creates an amazing world, one that adjacent to our own. It’s set in New York City, but there is an underworld called The Shadows where magic resides. That magic lives in our world as well. The Magicians are secretive, of course. They walk among us and there are penalties if you reveal magic to the mundane world. But they have bars and social events and, like nearly any secret society, there are Houses.
The Houses are ruled by (most often) a patriarch. Some Houses are very powerful, others less so. But every generation or so, there is a Turning, when the wheels of Magic rotate and someone else may have a chance to rule the Magical world.
Each Turning is usually every generation. But this year a turning has been called unexpectedly early and there has been a lot going on in the magical world recently. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 