Picked this record up today because it was an integrated band in the mid 70's on a label from none other than Waco, TX, my hometown. Well a little googling revealed that Andrae Crouch and the Disciples weren't in fact from Waco, and weren't nearly as obscure as I had hoped. In fact, if I had looked a little closer I would have noticed Billy Preston and Larry Carlton both lent their hands to the record in the studio (which was actually in Hollywood.) Andrae is the brother of Stanley Crouch, famed jazz critic and notorious denouncer of Miles' electric period as well as hip hop in general. (I have a bit of an antagonistic take on the man.)

But Light Records, a joint venture with fellow Waco label Word Records, was a Waco label that specialized in early pop influenced gospel music. Word eventually sold to ABC and moved to Nashville, now boasting artists like Amy Grant on their roster. That's about as white as you can go after beginning as a soul inflected black gospel label. After going defunkt in the 80's, Light was resurrected as a modern gospel label that still exists.

The Future of Music?

A team of sound designers and engineers working at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona Spain have developed an entirely new approach to electronic music creation. The instrument, called the Reactable, is described as a "multi-user electro-acoustic music instrument with a tabletop tangible user interface." The Reactable is played by placing a selection of different objects that emulate various parameters of synth construction, onto the table surface. Moving, rotating, and altering the touch sensitive video display around each object modifies the sound!

You can watch the reactable in action here. Trendhunter.com also reports that Bjork is using the instrument for her upcoming tour.

How is is not criminal to even nominate Nick Lachey for anything, but Mos Def can't get on stage and say something that has relevance to the political state of the union without walking off in handcuffs?