Being BlessedGil Scott-Heron,I'm New Here,XL RecordingsMet a woman in abar. Told her I washard to get to know,but damn near im-possible to forget.-- Gil Scott-Heron,"I'm New Here"(Bill Callahan)After years spent struggling with substance abuse andprison time, singer/songwriter/poet/proto-rapper GilScott-Heron emerges broken, but far from unbowed.If anything, broken might be a stretch: his voice is deeper andricher than before; rough around the edges—and through thecenter—but not ragged or pitiful. On the contrary, his first al-bum in 16 years is a blues album. And a very good one at that.***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****If I

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Anglo Ethio SuiteMulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics, Inspiration Information, StrutEgyptian bandleader and vibe playerMulatu Astatke (Ethiopiques 4) joinsforces with Stones Throw house bandthe Heliocentrics (Out There) forthis amazing jazz-funk throwdown.In their career, the British nine-piece has also backed DJ Sha-dow, Madlib, and Melvin Van Peebles, while Astatke (or Astat-qé) found a new audience when Jim Jarmusch sprinkled selec-tions from his repertoire throughout 2005's Broken Flowers.If Inspiration Information, which isn't to be confused withthe fabulous Shuggie Otis record of the same name, doesn't makeyou tap your feet or nod your head,

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Mountainof SoundSleepySun, Em-brace,ATP Re-cordingsFrom the first few notes of tribal opener "New Age," I knew Embrace was for me.The driving rhythms of Love & Rockets meet the mystery ofLoop in this San Francisco sextet's glorious lysergic stomp.***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****Embrace this dark place where I stand, and sing.Oh sing into me, then I'll live another day.-- "Duet with the Northern Sky"***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****You can barely hear it on record, but live on stage, the twin in-fluences of folk and blues rise to the surface, and they more clear-ly recall Jefferson Airplane, the Rolling Ston

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Movieof theMonth:Part 15PASSING STRANGE: THE MO-VIE [***1/2](Spike Lee, US, 2009, 135 mins.)***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****She swore, i' faith, 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange; 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful.-- Shakespeare's Othello (1603)***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****Some rock operas become movies, like Hair and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Less frequently, a director will film one exactlyas it began—on stage. Spike Lee (School Daze, Crooklyn) takesthe latter approach in transforming Stew's Tony Award-winningPublic Theater-to-Broadway production into a feature film.Drawing from his life story, th

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February Reviews These are the reviews and other pieces I'm working on this month.Amazon DVDs: The People Speak (Extended Edition) and The Life & Times of Tim - The Complete First Season [two-disc set]. Amazon Theatricals: Saint John of Las Vegas (reimagin-ing of Dante's Inferno with Steve Buscemi), The Ghost Writer(Roman Polanski directs Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan),and A Prophet (Jacques Audiard's best foreign film nominee).Still playing: Broken Embraces, Crazy Heart, The Ima-ginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Invictus, Me and OrsonWelles, Where the Wild Things Are, and Youth in Revolt.Siffblog: Police, Adjective, For the Love ofMovies - The Sto

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