Matter fact, this takes the video embed to a whole ’nother level. It’s called Fabplayer, and it’s from the Dutch music website Fabchannel.com.
What’s so cool about it? Well, unlike the 10-minute time limit of a YouTube clip, the Fabplayer that you see embedded below contains a full-length concert... the whole thing, right there. You can push play and let it roll and order out for pizza.Or, cooler still, you can click your way forward or backward through the set list; Fabplayer shows you all the song titles.
And the digital video quality is superb!
The Fabplayer application was launched six months ago, but I haven’t seen it embedded on any American blogs. Not one. Maybe we can stir some shit up with this thing... right here. Starting today, with the first in a series of Friday Concerts.
Fabchannel has an archive of 700 concert videos, recorded primarily in the Netherlands. Most of them are bands I never heard of. (Most of ’em are European, for one thing.) And it skews towards rock.
But I’ve found enough familiar artists with some groove to ’em that I can keep this concert series going for the next 12 weeks or so. (Talking about some Living Colour, some Amp Fiddler, some Swamp Dogg...)
Which brings us to the Brand New Heavies. Remember BNH? I was checking them out when they first put the funk back in it, in the early ’90s. Happy to see they’re still funkin’. And with N’Dea Davenport back in front!
This concert was recorded two months ago at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. It’s a hot show. Oldies like “Never Stop” and “Dream Come True” hit the spot, but I especially dig the current material: “Sex God” could’ve been a Kid Creole and the Coconuts track; “Right On” has the Heavies in full-on J.B.’s mode. And N’Dea wails and rocks the hell out of “I Don’t Know Why I Love You.” If your time is tight, make a priority of checking out those three tunes.
You’ll probably say, like me, “All praise is due to Fabchannel!” (Unless you encounter technical difficulties, in which case please let me know.)
Now, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado I bring you... the Brand New Heavies:
11 comments:
thanks, ubm. i love the brand new heavies. i was also really into loose ends and soul II soul at that time. and of course, sade. what a great period for music in the late 80's early 90's.
Good morning, UBM...
Love that embedded shit! Thanks for the link and the BNH concert...
A few years ago I sang in a 10 piece R&B/Funk/Brass band out in Cali, and we used to do 2 BNH songs, Dream On Dreamer and Brother Sister....we opened a New Years Eve show for Manhattan Transfer and Chaka Khan...
Thanks for bringing back some good memories!
Wow. Thanks for the heads up-that website sounds incredible, and I love the BNH. Also thanks for the shout out for Amp, I dated him a bit many, many moons ago...haha
Cool! Now if only keepvid.com could add this to their list of direct downloads. :)
Never a big BNH fan, I was more into Loose Ends and Soul II Soul, too. However, I did recently download Gang Starr's "Trust Me" ft. N'dea Davenport.
btw, re: "I Don’t Know Why I Love You," is that the same song the Jackson 5, and Stevie Wonder did back in the day? (Michael sings the heck out of it!)
UBM,
Thanks for the heads up. I love the Brand New Heavies; nothing against Siedah Garrett, but they really aren't BNH without N'Dea Davenport on the mic.
BTW, love the blog. Can't believe it took me until I saw you made Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 list for me to visit; I should've been here a long time ago.
Jena6: Good catch on “I Don’t Know Why I Love You.” Yes, it’s the one co-written by Stevie Wonder.
I’m unfamiliar with the song, but in watching the Heavies work it out, I said to myself: “Damn, this sounds like some Motown from around 1972.” I figured they just did a real good job capturing the flavor of the era... ;^D
Anyway, N’Dea kills it. Even if you don’t want to check out the rest of the concert, why not give the Fabplayer a whirl and see if you can click forward to that particular track. (I’m curious to know if this app is as easy-to-use and lovable as I think it is right now.)
Also, it’s funny... when I saw BNH 15 years ago, N’Dea Davenport didn’t knock my socks off. (Neither did the band.) They’ve got it pumping strong right now, though. I’m downloading the “Get Used to It” album as we speak...
Invisible Woman: I love Amp's music. I was hyping him up on this blog a few weeks ago.
So you be datin' Funkadelics, huh? ;^D
UBM, I just listened to it. And yes, she works it out! It's just an awesome song, period! I have both, Stevie's and the J5's versions on my mp3 player. My sister and I fell in love with the song after hearing Michael sing his little heart out. He rips it!!! (Stevie's version is more subdued.)
I asked my sister who she thought would do a good cover of this song and she said, "Mary J. Blige."
Oh, snap! I just discovered that David Ruffin covers the song too. His arrangement sounds like something the Four Tops would do, though. (Not that that's a bad thing.)
Thanks for the introduction to this new site, BUT I am having problems with it. Thats not that amazing or unusual, cause I am really inept when it comes to computers! LOL
L
Hey Lola. Sorry to hear about the tech difficulties, but grateful to be informed. Depending on my connection, I get a lot of stop-and-go with the video stream... which sucks when you're watching a song you like.
I'm no tech expert either. And I welcome any and all tech-related comments from anyone who has checked out the Fabplayer.
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