Zzymzzy Quartet Plays for the Dems
2008 June
On election night - the June 3 primaries - the Zzymzzy Quartet played for the County Democratic Party in a private room off Election Headquarters at the SD Civic Center Concourse. As always, ART HURTS' artists are relentless in their pursuit of novel gigs.
Hello World!
2008 May
Welcome to the new virtual home of ART HURTS Records! There's tons of improvements: the photo archives on artist's pages, the "miscellanea" links on album's pages, the videos, calendar, and store now all powered by Google, the improved audio streaming, and of course the new woody look.
Though the new website is just now online, we've included the highlights of ART HURTS news articles from 1999 through 2008 below.
Beston To Play Ace Ventura 3
2008 April
Beston's money-maker "On & Up" will be featured in the upcoming sequel Ace Ventura 3, thanks to the talents of Tyler Bacon at Position Music. Beston and Rafi Benjamin haven't worked together since producing the album On & Up, but with the windfall from AV3, they are again in the studio collaborating on ART HURTS' next big thing: an Afro-Electro-Cubano project called Faba Loba.
Los Obamaleros Promote Obama Through Cumbia
2008 February
ART HURTS teamed up with Raya Records' Rafi Benjamin to produce the catchy "Cumbia de Obama" and try and rock the vote for Barack Obama in the upcoming Texas Primary. Check out the song and video here.
Flimz Release Debut CD To Rave Reviews
2007 November
Beston Barnett was happy to help out playing bass for San Diego's Mom-Power duo The Flimz' debut CD, which has received great reviews from the North County Times, the Union Tribune, and the San Diego Troubadour, in which Phil Harmonic wrote: "I really can't say enough about how effective and touching these songs are, especially about how the two voices reach inside and take your heart for a delicious, emotional ride on the roller coaster of life."
Beston Plays at Release of 7th CD
2007 January
Click here to see Beston playing his song "in a beautiful place with high mountain air" from his latest solo release, loneliness and freedom waltz together through the night. The video was taken on December 2, 2006 during the CD release party at Twigg's Green Room. Rafi Benjamin and Jon Kruger opened the show.
Juju Duarte Reviewed on Afropop Worldwide
2006 October
Juju Duarte's debut CD with ART HURTS, Da Rua Dos Ossos, has received a great review from Afropop Worldwide's co-producer Banning Eyre. It's always nice to get a positive review, but to get one from somebody who really knows his stuff is pure joy. Banning writes, "If you long for the unvarnished, folksy side of roots samba - that magic mix of urban and rural - without a trace of artificiality or packaging, this one is for you." Da Rua Dos Ossos has also been reviewed positively by The Beat and World Music Central.
Curious Melodies… Receives Online Reviews
2006 May
Curious Melodies from the Lost Travel Diaries of Sir Albus Manchild, a new modern jazz concept album from the Beston Barnett Quartet, has now received three online reviews, two at AllAboutJazz.com and one from JazzReview.com. To sum up, C. Michael Bailey found the recording "prophetic" and "superbly composed and played", Jim Santella enjoyed the travelogue aspect of the narrative, writing "Sinbad the Sailor might have experienced some of these sounds," while David Seymour didn't really like it so much, but still writes "You gotta hand it to the man, he's got chops, and he's got balls."
Bolga Zohdoomah at the Wild Animal Park All Summer
2006 April
Everyone's favorite local Ghanaian band will be performing at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido every night this summer. Catch their shows at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 in the area with the Cheetahs, Giraffes, and Lions known as the "Heart of Africa," May 26 through September 4.
Beston Releases 4th CD: So Very Near
2004 October
Beston celebrates his latest release with an intimate listening party at the ART HURTS Garage, October 23 at 8pm. In the folk music tradition, there will be wine, candles, and (unaccountably) a good stereo system.
Bolga Zohdoomah Plays for the Feds
2003 August
Bolga Zohdoomah continues to bring the light of Ghanaian afropop into unsuspecting locales when the six piece band performs for the "Worlds Fair" company picnic of the local divisions of the FBI and DEA on August 22.
Sterns Distributes The Old Highlife
2003 March
Roadmaster and Agyemang's album The Old Highlife has been picked up by Sterns Music, the largest distributor of African music in the world. Available in U.S. stores on March 4, The Old Highlife has already hit #19 on the African music charts in the United Kingdom. With any luck, Sterns will also be distributing our upcoming Brazilian record from Juju Duarte, Da Rua Dos Ossos.
Beston Wrestles On MTV!!!
2003 February
Beston's song "Falling in Love Again" recently aired on MTV during "Tough Enough", a reality show which tracks pro-wrestlers in training. Apart from proving that there are clearly unforeseen target audiences for ART HURTS' music (we had totally overlooked cape-wearing teen jocks in our market studies), it's also amazing because it's not the first time Beston and reality TV have crossed paths. The song also played during an episode of NBC's "Meet the Folks" in mid 2002.
Beston's CD Release Party: On & Up
2002 August
Beston's third CD, On & Up will be dropping with much pomp and circumstance, saturday at the Rhythm Lounge in San Diego. The album, produced by CBBB-man Rafi Benjamin, features many of the Kitchen tunes you know and whistle to yourself, plus some new ones, all suped up and boiling off the disc. Ten dollar admission includes the new CD - friggin cheap!
Beston and The Kitchen will be joined by:
Travessias do Pagode - Brazilian street samba
members of the Critical Brass Brass Band - New Orleans funk
DJ Taraf Tafari - endangered grooves
Saturday, August 24, 2002
- 9 pm -
Rhythm Lounge
3048 Midway Dr.
(just north of Rosecrans in the Point Loma area of SD)
Roadmaster & Agyemang on AfroPop Worldwide
2001 November
Several tracks from Roadmaster & Agyemang's The Old Highlife were recently featured on the long-running, nationally syndicated NPR show AfroPop Worldwide. DJ Georges Collinet, who has been hosting this landmark show for thirteen years, called The Old Highlife "sweet new music from Ghana."
Beston: Hip-Hop Artist of the Year
1999 December
Since his song "Dark Disguise" (from the album Chrysalis) sat at #1 on MP3.com's Hip-Hop charts for nine months of the year, Beston has been named MP3 Hip-Hop Artist of 1999! Many thanks to the hundreds of thousands of listeners whose repeated downloads made "Dark Disguise" a hit.