The Grammy nominations were announced earlier this week. The regulars like Beyonce, Kanye West, Jay-Z and U2 were all nominated in their respective categories. Among the R&B nominees this year is The Foreign Exchange in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category for their song “Daykeeper”. I’m usually pessimistic about award shows in general because rarely do the deserving artists win or even get nominated for that matter. However, to see Phonte, Nicolay – independent artists with very little urban radio support get nominated is pretty amazing. Whether they win or not remains to be seen. But if this nomination brings some exposure to the the great music they’ve been making and continue to make, that is still a success.
Congratulations to Phonte, Nicolay and the entire Foreign Exchange collective on their nomination. The Grammy Awards will be announced January 31st, 2010. We wish them the best of luck and we’ll continue to support them on our blog.
As long as The Foreign Exchange is performing, no one can ever even think about showmanship being dead. The eight-piece band that took the stage of B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grille on Oct. 23 moved the crowd in a way that few acts are capable. And it all started at 1 a.m. As such, you would think a show starting that late would lend itself to a somewhat less-than-energetic audience. But that was simply not the case – I mean, this is New York City we’re talking about.
Welcome to the weekly rundown where we (soulsupreme and Marty) provide you with our top ten headlines for the week that was.
Phonte/Nicolay don’t want you to buy City Lights 2: Shibuya from iTunes. We shouldn’t be surprised since iTunes has pulled shit like this before. But it’s still a damn shame that they have messed up this release. Just make sure to hit up Amazon, Rhapsody, e-Music, etc… to pick this one up. I (Marty) have spun it a few times and it’s absolutely worth the money. And be on the look-out for a review this coming week.
Jay-Z – Answer the Call concert @ MSG. Incredible concert for a worthy cause. Jay-Z and a number of guest appearances from the likes of John Mayer, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Kid Cudi & Rihanna. They, put simply, rocked MSG for the 9/11 benefit concert.
We’re almost there. Sept. 15 is swiftly approaching and that’s when all of us will be graced by more of that smooth and organic music from Nicolay and Phonte, who shares songwriting credits on many of the tracks. Also featured on several tracks on here is songstress Carlitta Durand, who you may know for her gorgeous vocals on past Little Brother hooks. And from what we have heard from her and her boys so far on City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya, this album is likely to be just as fantastic as we all hope. Also, for those of you who cannot wait, we have here a sampler of seven tracks featured on the album. Hit the jump to see just which tracks you’re hearing and a bonus picture of the CD.
As we continue to worship The Foreign Exchange, we give to you the video for one of my favorite tracks off Leave It All Behind, “House of Cards”. You might think a song packed with such passion would present quite a task to direct, but Matt Koza does an excellent job of doing just that, as he puts together quite a beautiful visual landscape to compliment this wonderful song. After you peep the video, head over to Nicolay’s blog to check out how they are celebrating the 5-year anniversary of the release of The Foreign Exchange’s debut LP, Connected, including a live BBC Radio set from back in the day.
In the past six years Nicolay and Phonte have definitely put their stamp on black alternative music. I first heard Nicolay back in 2002 on Little Brother’s – ‘Whatever You Say’ (12″) on a track called “Light It Up”. Read the rest of this entry »
We have continued to follow Nicolay’s Off the Shelf blog series almost religiously over the past few months, and today he hits us with another excellent track, this time from the homies Ilwil. This song goes back all the way to Nic and Ilwil’s days on the OKP boards, sending mp3’s back and forth over the internet. I will let Nic tell the story in his own words after the skip, but for now give the track a download and enjoy!
![nicolay shibuyasampler Download: Nicolay City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya [Sampler]](http://potholesinmyblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/nicolay-shibuyasampler.jpg "nicolay-shibuyasampler")
We have continued to follow Nicolay’s 
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