Desmond Williams | |
---|---|
Born | Jamaica |
Origin | New Jersey |
Genres | Electronic, Dub, Reggae |
Occupation(s) | Musician, producer |
Instrument(s) | Keyboards, bass, guitar, singing |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | RAS, ESL, Rhythm & Culture |
Desmond Williams is an American electronica musician, as well as a record producer and was the chief sound engineer for the Eighteenth Street Lounge Music record label. Born in Jamaica and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, Williams has been known for his remixing and producing style.
In 1993, Williams began working with Scientist. Together, they did a great deal of experimentation with new digital audio techniques, as well as mixing live events for such artists as Third World (band), Supercat, Freddie McGregor, etc. In 1995, they co-produced an album for Sugar Minott entitled International for RAS Records. At this time, Williams also was the house sound engineer at the Takoma Station Tavern Jazz club in Washington, D.C. At this time he did sound for almost every Reggae and Jazz band in town, including Chuck Brown, Little Bennie, Sugar Bear from E.U., Black Sheep, and Carl Malcolm.
In 2000, he was hired by Thievery Corporation to work with their fledgling studio. William performed many tasks for Thievery Corporation and the label, ESL Music. He was the head engineer, co-producer for many of Thievery Corporations tracks, played bass, guitar, and keyboards for most of the tracks on the Thievery albums, The Mirror Conspiracy , Outernationalist and Richest Man In Babylon , and was responsible for basic production work on many of the Thievery Corporation remixes.
In 2000, Williams created his initial EP, Theme from a Dream . In 2002, he released his debut album, Delights of the Garden . [1] After leaving ESL Music in 2003, Williams co-founded the Washington, D.C. based Rhythm & Culture Recordings record label with then partner, Farid Ali. He released an EP entitled East West Highway , and collaborated with Philip Brooks, formerly of Avatars of Dub, to form a group called Browntempo (a phrase he coined to describe their music). Browntempo had one release on Rhythm & Culture Recordings.
In 2007, William collaborated with Morel of Deep Dish for the release of his cover version of the Nirvana track, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This version was included in the limited edition Heart Shaped Box Box set, which included unreleased Nirvana tracks, live tracks and notable cover versions of Nirvana songs. This is an excerpt from The Daily Swarm's article about the 5-CD box set - "The music encased inside is 3 discs of 50 songs performed by Nirvana, plus another 2 discs of covers, including renditions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Paul Anka, Scala, Tori Amos, Patti Smith, and Desmond Williams; tracks by Charlie Hunter Trio, Steve Earle, Herbie Hancock, Sinéad O'Connor, and Stereophonics; and multi-song sets of Nirvana songs done as lullabies and orchestral scores. 500 numbered boxes were made."
In 2008, William collaborated with Vaughn Benjamin of the Midnite reggae band and released an album titled Kayamagan.
In 1996, he had a son, by he name of Imani, who is currently making music, classified in genres such as Hip Hop, and R&B, and Neo-Soul, under the name of "IiMZ".
Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, before recruiting Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Despite a short mainstream career spanning only three years, their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream. It was Nirvana's biggest hit, charting high on music industry charts around the world in 1991 and 1992, and was number one on the charts in Belgium, France, New Zealand and Spain. It was met with wide critical acclaim, and described as an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X. Although Nirvana grew uncomfortable with the mainstream and commercial attention the song brought to them, listeners and critics continue to praise "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as one of the greatest songs of all time.
Hormoaning is an extended play (EP) by the American rock band Nirvana. It was released on January 27, 1992, through DGC Records and Geffen Records. It was released in Australia and Japan only, during the band's tour there.
Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop and Brazilian music, including bossa nova.
With the Lights Out is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. The title comes from the lyrics of Nirvana's 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
"Come as You Are" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by frontman and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the third track and the second single from the band's second studio album Nevermind, the single released in March 1992. It was the band's second and final American top 40 hit, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, and second UK top 10 hit, reaching number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The single reached the top 10 in eight countries and the top 40 in eleven further countries.
"Rape Me" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in September 1993.
Pamela Carroll Bricker was a jazz singer and professor of music at George Washington University. She was a frequent collaborator and guest vocalist with the group Thievery Corporation, and the voice on their track "Lebanese Blonde", which was popularized by its inclusion on Zach Braff's Garden State soundtrack. She was also a member of Mad Romance vocal quartet from 1983–1989. Bricker was frequently nominated for Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) honors and won as best contemporary jazz vocalist in 1999, 2000 and 2001, and best contemporary jazz album in 2001 for U-topia.
Midnite was a roots reggae band from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, which started playing in 1989.
Singles is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released in Europe in December 1995.
"Aneurysm" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl. It first appeared as a B-side on the band's breakthrough "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single in September 1991. A second studio version was released on the rarities compilation Incesticide in December 1992.
"Smells Like Nirvana" is a song parody written and performed by American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. A parody of Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", it was released as the lead single from Yankovic's Off the Deep End album in April 1992. "Smells Like Nirvana" was written during a three-year career low for Yankovic after the financial failure of his film UHF, but captured the quickly-rising popularity of grunge and Nirvana's success. The song was written to ridicule the fact that many people could hardly understand Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain's lyrics in the original song. After being unable to contact Nirvana conventionally, Yankovic called Cobain while the band was on the set of Saturday Night Live, where Cobain quickly gave permission to record the parody.
The discography of Nirvana, an American rock band, consists of three studio albums, twenty-one singles, five live albums, two extended plays, four compilation albums, and three box sets.
Nevermind, It's an Interview is the only officially released interview CD of American grunge band Nirvana. It was only a promotional release and was never commercially available. Released in limited-edition form worldwide in 1992 by Geffen Records, written, produced and engineered at WFNX Boston by Kurt St. Thomas and Troy Smith, (authors of Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects,. The original interview sessions were recorded by St. Thomas the night of Nirvana's first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1992. It contains over an hour of audio interview with live and studio recordings. The reason for its production was for radio stations world-wide to have a Nirvana interview to play because at that time the band was so popular that it was not possible for them to visit all the radio stations that were playing their music. Copies of the CD are rare and have become collectors items. However, for a limited time, the entire CD was included at the end of the iTunes version of With the Lights Out, Nirvana's posthumous box set. It is listed as:
Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind is a documentary DVD released by Eagle Vision in March 2005, as part of the Classic Albums series. It features interviews specifically for this release with Nirvana band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as Nevermind album producer Butch Vig about the recording of the album. Other interview highlights include Garry Gersh, Jonathan Ponneman and Nils Bernstein, Thurston Moore and Jack Endino.
The Mirror Conspiracy is the second studio album by American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation, released in 2000 by ESL Music and 4AD. All the songs on the album were written, recorded and produced by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, although Pam Bricker contributed vocals to "Air Batucada", "The Mirror Conspiracy" and "Lebanese Blonde".
The Richest Man in Babylon is the third studio album by American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation. It was first released on September 30, 2002 in Belgium and on October 1, 2002 in the United States by ESL Music. The album features contributions from Emiliana Torrini, LouLou, Pam Bricker, and Notch, and features both electronic and live instrumentation. The album combines influences such as dub, jazz, dance music, rap, reggae, and Indian music, and incorporates protest music into the group's sound. A remix/dub version of the album was released in 2004 titled Babylon Rewound featuring the unreleased track "Truth And Rights".
Icon is the second greatest hits album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on August 31, 2010. It was released as part of the Icon series launched by Universal Music Enterprises, which featured greatest hits releases "from 30 major artists spanning rock, pop, R&B and country."
Live at the Paramount is a live video and album by American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 2011. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc as part of the 20th anniversary of the band's second album and mainstream breakthrough, Nevermind.
The Songs of Kurt Cobain is a 5-disc CD box set of music by the American rock band Nirvana, released as a promo only in 2007. The first three CDs feature songs by Nirvana themselves, while the last two discs feature covers by 11 other artists as well as seven "lullaby" and six "string" renditions of the band's songs.