UTEP Basketball Update/Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté – Ali and Toumani

First off, the UTEP basketball team ended up losing the C-USA tournament and Houston went on to pull off an upset to gain the automatic bid. I’d like to say that I had a feeling this would happen since we had one conference loss the whole season and it was against…wait for it…yep, Houston. But hindsight is 20-20 or something or other.

Either way, we got the shaft from the tournament committee. We received a #12 seed and play Butler in the first round; in fact, us and Utah State were the last at-large teams to get in the tournament. But not only is Butler a very good team but they were in the top 25 for most of the season and had quality wins against Ohio State, Xavier and Siena, to name a few. But hey, one of their four losses was against UAB, a team we beat twice during the year, except from the loss to Houston we were riding a hot streak and it’s the NCAA tournament and anything can happen. The game is this Thursday, March 18 at 2:55 PM our time – I smell a chance of leaving early from work this day?


Now onto music: please check out the new album by Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté, simply titled, Ali and Toumani. It’s the second and seemingly last album for these two guitarists as Touré passed away and is sadly, no longer around. Not only do they weave their way around these guitar-based instruments with superb ease but their strong sense of melody and harmonics is astounding. It’s refreshing to see them attempt slower, gentle tunes and then rip into highly-energetic jubilant songs: bottom line is that it is an amazingly beautiful album. Below is the digital single, “Kala Djula,” that World Circuit offered for the aforementioned new album. R.I.P. Ali Farka Touré

We missed the beginning of Surreal Week today but I should be there tomorrow to watch some shows but for those that were there for The DA’s show at The Garage on Saturday, was that awesome or what?

Local News: UTEP Basketball and The Royalty

An update: the UTEP men’s basketball team is now 22-5, with an impressive 13-1 record in conference. But bigger than that news is that they are now #21 (ahead of Baylor, Maryland, Texas A&M and Texas) in the coaches poll and #24 in the AP poll!

We play a resurging Marshall (22-7 [10-4]) team that is fighting for a good spot in the conference tournament, on Wednesday night and that game is away. Then we close with a home game against second-place UAB (23-5 [11-3]) and like I mentioned earlier, we beat them in a thriller at their home court so they will be seeking revenge. It will be testing and surely, a huge challenge but we can do it!

Nick and I were at Take II on Saturday night to attend The Royalty’s CD release show. If you haven’t heard them yet, they are an awesome band that hails from our very own El Paso, Texas. They’re definitely channeling some kind of doo-wop/Motown style but with a crisp pop/rock vibe. If anything, they’ve completely taken over my car stereo with their terrific album.

The show was an astounding experience – they sound tight and honed in one their strengths but even more impressing, their chemistry seems to pour into the music with stunning ease. A band that has some pure potential, The DA, opened and their experimental style was excellent as well. And both deserve plenty of myspace hits, recognition and support, so check them out. Below is their official video for "Chinese Fire Drill", above are pictures I took of the show from this past Saturday, their CD is only $10 (hope they vinyl is coming out soon) and their next show is March 13 at the Percolator @ 9PM – Bryan

Basketball and Electronic Music

You see, there’s just too much to be glad about nowadays. For one, the UTEP Miners’ basketball team is a C-USA best 10-1, with an overall record of 19-5! This is amazing for a program that saw two promising coaches come and go and which was on the rebuilding side for the past few seasons. Randy Culpepper was always a star but this time, they’ve amassed quite the team. This is one that should make the NCAA Tournament and they deserve our support. Gonna try to make it out to their last two home games, next Saturday Feb. 27 against lowly Rice and the closer, Saturday, March 6 against UAB. The latter is a good team that we beat earlier in the year on their home court but we can do it!

Next, electronic music: a genre that I fully respect and admire now. Back when I was still just a budding music listener, electronic music felt so cold and stale. There was a harsh disconnect but luckily, I’ve broken through. So many artists to name, 2010 has already started off with three amazing electronic albums. We have the new one by Hot Chip which is utterly moving, the new one by Pantha Du Prince who is a master craftsmen and now, Four Tet’s latest There is Love in You. It’s minimal, almost ambient techno but it’s also superb. He was been touted by the likes of Radiohead as a premier beat-maker and this new album is no slouch.

Here is a youtbue video to a brilliant song off the album, “Love Cry.” It’s made by a street photographer who captures the pictures and then finds music to match it with. The music is the star but the photos are a great montage too:



Enjoy and if you like what you hear or read, or even if you hate it, let us know! - Bryan