Stories of AIDS is a truly inspiring organization based in Malawi, Africa. Much like Red Hot, they have recently released a music album to raise money for AIDS charities. But their album is a little different. The beautiful songs on the album are directly inspired by people ‘s lives that are affected by AIDS/HIV.

Each song is inspired by a narrative told by a specific, affected individual whom they have met and recorded their life story. The stories were then crafted into songs, often having direct lyrical quotations from the narrators themselves.

The stories reflect a range of  backgrounds and personal relationships of people living with HIV/AIDS. Each song is designed to musically capture the story and personality of the individual. Through the songs, the listener can learn about a range of issues, which reveal the kaleidoscope of social contexts and dynamics of Malawi’s AIDS epidemic.

Profits from the album will be invested in several programs, being set up by Talents of the Malawian Child. Through these programs, TOMC will give AIDS orphans and vulnerable children self-esteem and real economic opportunities through a career working in the arts.

To purchase the album & learn more about Stories of Aids please visit their website here.

Sesc Pompeia is a well-known venue for music lovers in São Paulo, Brazil, especially if you are into new Brazilian pop, Samba, and Independent music. “Sescs” are full stop, public clubs provided with facilities such as swimming pools, restaurants, theatres and, art galleries. They are located throughout the city as well as in the countryside. Sesc Pompeia is one of my favorite spots. It is located inside a refurbished barrel factory redesigned, in 1977, by Brazilian modernist architect, Lina Bo Bardi, who reinforced its crudeness by leaving almost untouched its nude red bricks walls and inner rock pavements.

Last week, the venue housed the second edition of the, an initiative from Ilhan Ersahin, owner of Nublu Club in Brooklyn, New York. The festival celebrated its second year of promoting the encounter of Brazilian and international artists. This time, they brought in the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra for a breath-taking closing. On the first evening of the festival, the excellent line revealed an instrumental jazz band, Marginals, and the MC Rodrigo Brandão, creating a mixture between jazz, hip hop and Afro-Brazilian chanting.

The highlight of the night was the joining of New York musician, Wax Poetic, and Brazilian singer-composer, Tulipa Ruiz. While Wax Poetic is a well-known trip hop act with a good number of fans in São Paulo, Tulipa Ruiz is still an unknown singer – at least in the US and Europe. Her debut album won ‘Best Brazilian Album’ by Rolling Stone Brazil in 2010, appeared in several 2011 best albums lists, and got a four star review from The Guardian. Kids may even remember her major hit “Efêmera”, featured in Fifa Soccer 2011 telecast, along with Vampire Weekend, Phoenix and Gorillaz. In the last two or more years, Tulipa (who is also a illustrator) could be heard all around the country, from TV shows to underground magazines. David Byrne is one her most famous fans.

It was a refreshing experience to listen her sharp singing voice, supported by a rock-dub band with two electric guitars, bass, and drums. The song “Assim, Assim” was composed on her road trip from São Paulo to the Sesc unity of Ribeirão Preto, in the countryside, that co-host the Festival. Wax Poetic played the baseline for Ms. Ruiz in the van, who had only one hour to come up with the lyrics for the song. Even better was the new Tulipa sound that Wax Poetic brought into the mix. They stepped into a family affair (Tulipa’s band includes her father on electric guitar and her brother on bass), adding sensational reggae balance and dub echoes. The performance highlighted the singer’s ability to combine her usual vocal sweetness with a somewhat angry, funky, psychedelic beat.

Watch below: Tulipa performing “Assim, Assim” with Wax Poetic  (even before the most tuned-in Brazilians fans)

It’s February 14th, a recognized holiday that we all know and love so much, Valentine’s Day! But it is also another very important holiday, National Condom Day! And we all know love is not just in the air on Valentine’s Day. Statistics from well known condom brand, Durex, say that condom sales are about 25% higher than normal around Valentine’s Day. And according to NBC News, more prescriptions are written for Viagra around Valentine’s Day than any other time of year, and more at-home pregnancy tests are sold in March than in any other month. In other words, there is no better time to practice safe sex! And great news – there is now an NYC ‘Condom Finder App’ compatible with Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows phones. It picks up your current location and leads you directly to the contraception. Whether you grab some chocolate and rose petals on your way is completely up to you. So on this special day, spread love and care to those you love…but nothing else.

Happy Valentine’s Condom Day!

<3

1. A Whitney Houston Tribute

In light of the passing of Whitney Houston, one of music’s most loved divas, Grammy night was not only for talent recognition, but for honoring and remembrance as well. There’s no question that Whitney’s voice was one of a kind, but Jennifer Hudson certainly did it justice. The tribute was remote, classy, and Hudson’s rendition of one of the icon’s biggest hits “I Will Always Love You” was truly beautiful. As they say, there was not a dry eye in the house. Though Whitney Houston’s death is tragic, her legend lives on within the music industry and in the hearts and minds of her beloved fans.

2. Bon Iver’s Grammy Snag

Indie Rock’s favorite artist, Bon Iver, walked away with two golden trophies, including the anticipated Grammy for Best New Artist. During his acceptance speech he admitted he was “uncomfortable, but with a sense of gratitude” to be up on stage receiving the award. However, though he might not be ecstatic about his new mainstream cred, it does remind us that amidst the glitz and glamour, the Grammy Awards does honor purely talented musicians. To someone who has been a crucial part of Red Hot projects and a good friend, congratulations to Justin Vernon, your is was well-deserved.

3. Skrillex VS. Deadmau5

A big winner of the night, leaving with 3 awards, is the increasingly popular DJ, Skrillex. But rather than emphasize his accomplishment, this RH highlight focuses on his post-winning antics. A friend of Sonny Moore (aka Skrillex) is fellow dubstep DJ, Deadmau5, who was also nominated for 3 Grammy categories but sadly, did not walk away with any. However, there are clearly no hard feelings in the electronic music community. After receiving his awards, Skrillex sent a playful text to his pal reading “u mad bro?” With that, Deadmau5 immediately had the three words, plus Skrillex’s phone number, printed onto a T-shirt which he then wore on the Red Carpet. During a pre-show interview via the TV Guide channel, Skrillex looked down at his phone and then admitted he had already received 320 missed phone calls from the crafty prank. I guess it was a win/lose situation for Skrillex. He got 3 Grammys, but will definitely now need a new phone.

4. Alicia Keys & Bonnie Raitt Honor Etta James

Another tribute takes a spot on our top Grammy moments list. Though Nicki Minaj’s performance is certainly one for the books as she floated in mid air, we are going to shine a spotlight on the Etta James tribute performance by Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt. With Alicia on piano and Bonnie on acoustic guitar, their version of the soul queen’s signature tune “Sunday Kind of Love” could not have sounded more perfect. It was soulful and bluesy with just a bit of sensuality, just how the late singer would have done it herself.

5. Adele’s 6 Grammy Sweep

As our Red Hot 2012 Grammy predictions foresaw (along with every other somewhat knowledgeable music listener), Adele carried away the award show effortlessly, winning all 6 Grammys she was nominated for. And of course, we are glad she did! Though she seemed a bit nervous and shy when accepting her first Grammy, by number 6 she was outgoing, witty, and entertaining. But who wouldn’t react effervescently when winning the prominent trophy for Album of the Year? Her adorable speech, amazing post-surgery performance, and clean sweep certainly take the cake for this year’s 2012 Grammy Awards show memorable moments.

Opponents of Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay marriage bill, celebrate on Feb. 7, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Yesterday marked another milestone in the struggle for marriage equality in the United States.  The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage — Proposition 8 — was unconstitutional.  This was a momentous moment for the thousands of volunteers, marriage equality activist, and gay and lesbian couples that worked tirelessly over the past two years to shed light on the gross infringement Proposition 8 made on the civil liberties of California’s 37 million citizens — gay and straight alike.  But after the victory cheers settled, the reality of the court ruling set in.

California’s Court of Appeals spoke out against Proposition 8, but their ruling was so narrowly written that it seems to many legal experts the decision will be the final words on the matter.  The 2-1 ruling was pointedly limited to California, and focused on the unconstitutionality of a citizen vote reneging the rights of individuals already granted by state legislation.  This was not a decision that cast a wider net on the issue of marriage equality  – specifically whether or not it is constitutional for the United State’s Government to deny gay marriage federal recognition.  What would force marriage equality onto the National stage, would be a ruling by the Supreme Court.  Unfortunately, it looks like California intentionally tiptoed around the broader issue of “equal protection under The Constitution” in order to keep the case off the Supreme Court’s docket.

There is no denying what a triumph yesterday was, and how many stood up with pride to take part in the celebration of equality for gay and lesbian couples in California.  Every fair-minded decision is another step along the road to full equality. But I would feel remiss if I didn’t also wish for comprehensive decisions that forced the Supreme Court to rule once and for all on the constitutionality of  gay marriage.

LA Times Article.

Today is the day! A day to raise AIDS/HIV awareness in your African American community, that is. HIV/AIDS is still an issue, but with aid, love, and sharing of information within black communities, those who suffer from it can be helped and its spread can be prevented.

National Black AIDS/HIV Awareness Day began in 2000 by five leading organizations: Concerned Black Men, Inc. of Philadelphia; Health Watch Information and Promotion Services, Inc.; Jackson State University – Mississippi Urban Research Center; National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council; and National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. The statistic that almost 20,000 Blacks in the United States test positive for HIV every year, was a call to action. And still is today. This day, February 7^th, 2012, marks the 12^th year of NBAAD. It focuses on national HIV testing and the spread of knowledge amongst black communities. Their four specific focal points are education, testing, involvement, and treatment. So educate each other, get tested, get involved, and help provide treatment for those who need it. There is no better day to get involved!

Please read more about National Black AIDS/HIV Awareness Day at the official website.

As a guy, when we hear the word circumcision we cringe. We start to picture sharp knifes and long needles. Well now are nightmares can be put to rest. Due to studies showing that circumcising adult men is one of the most effective “vaccines” against AIDS, reducing the chances of infection up to 60 percent. Health experts are trying to find new ways to make the process faster, cheaper and safer.

Circumcision is believed to protect men because the foreskin has Langerhans cells. Langerhans cells are the part of the immune system and alert the body when a virus is entering the immune system. Because of this Langerhans cells are the first to be attacked by HIV’s.

A normal circumcision is a small operation in which a surgeon gives the patient anesthesia and then removes the foreskin of the penis. But one of the new ways circumcisions can be done is with a rubber band.

The new product is called PrePex. It uses a rubber band against a plastic ring to crush the foreskin cutting off the blood flow. Within a few hours the foreskin dies and, after a week will fall off or be clipped off. Tests have shown that patients felt little to no pain. On a scale from 1 to 10 most said 1 while the ring was placed and 3 when it was taken off.

This will help reach the goal in Africa to circumcise 20 million men by 2015. Which is no small feet. So far only 600,000 men have had the operation. With this new method of circumcision it will reduce the amount time spent on each patient and increase the amount they can do each day. This is one step closer to AIDS/HIV prevention in Africa and around the world.

For more information, please visit the original NY Times article: here.

By Red Hot Producer Paul Heck

About 8 months ago, David France and Joy Tomchin, the director and executive producer of the film “How To Survive A Plague,” came to meet with us at the Red Hot offices.  We had an idea of what their film was about (the early days of AIDS Activism) but did not really know what they wanted from us, but we were happy to meet with them to see what was up.

David spoke about the film and showed us a 10 minute selection of cuts from the film. We were all so blown away by the story they were trying to tell and the eloquence of their approach, that we agreed on the spot to do whatever we could to help them with the film.  This lead to Red Hot becoming the Music Supervisors on the film.  Beco Dranoff, John Carlin, and myself teamed up to address different aspects of the job.

A part of our approach to the job was to introduce David and his team to the music of Arthur Russell, a cellist/composer who lived in NYC and made beautiful experimental and diverse music in the 1970s and 80s, before dying from AIDS related causes in 1992.  Our idea was to have Arthur Russell’s songs act as a musical voice in the film, as he was a gay man living in downtown Manhattan in exactly the same time frame covered in the film. David and his team started to get into Arthur’s music and began to see the expressive potential for weaving Arthur’s songs into the film. Red Hot reached out to our friends, composers Stuart Bogie and Luke O’Malley, to work on the original film score and to reinterpret different Arthur Russell songs so they could fit into the fabric of the film. Stuart, Luke, and members of their band, Superhuman Happiness, worked together with us to come up with new versions of Arthur Russell songs. Songs like “That’s Us/Wild Combination” and “Keeping Up,” appear thematically through out the film.  Also in a stroke of great luck and timing, we were able to have Kronos Quartet record some original arrangements written for the film by Stuart and Luke.  All in all we had an incredible time working with the whole “How To Survive A Plague” team — and are incredibly proud to be a part of this powerful film.

*Update: We are elated to announce that ‘How To Survive A Plague’ by David France was chosen by Sundance Selects at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival!

Read more about the film here.

It’s Grammy time! An award show recognizing the most talented names in our favorite area of the Entertainment industry, music. So, as many music lovers do, in honor of the this occasion, we at Red Hot decided to play along and pick who we think will win this year’s golden gramophones.

*Disclaimer: Though we are serious music listeners and producers, our 2012 Grammy Predictions are certainly all in good fun.

Ballot

Album of the Year

Adele – 21

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Lady Gaga – Born This Way

Bruno Mars – Doo Wops and Hooligans

Rihanna – Loud

Best New Artist

The Band Perry

Bon Iver

J. Cole

Nicki Minaj

Skrillex

Song of the Year

“All of the Lights” by Kanya West feat Rihanna, Kid Cuddi

“The Cave” by Mumford and Sons

“Grenade” by Bruno Mars

“Holocene” by Bon Iver

“Rolling In the Deep” by Adele

Best Rock Album

Rock ‘N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul – Jeff Beck

Wasting Light – Foo Fighters

Come Around Sundown – Kings Of Leon

I’m With You – Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Whole Love – Wilco

Best Pop Vocal Album

21 – Adele

The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green

Born This Way – Lady Gaga

Doo-Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars

Loud – Rihanna

Best Dance/Electronica Album

Zonoscope – Cut/Copy

4×4=12 – Deadmau5

Nothing But The Beat – David Guetta

Body Talk, Pt.3 – Robyn

Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites – Skrillex

Red Hot Predictions

• Album of the Year : Adele – 21

In an honest set of predictions, the power vocalist pop icon, Adele, would need a broom to sweep away all of the awards we believe she’ll win. However, we’ll give some of the categories to other hopefuls on sheer principle…but not this one. Everyone here at RH agrees that Adele will bring home the prestigious Grammy for Album of The Year. In an age where most of the population no longer pays for music, Adele’s 21 reached a global sale of 17 million copies (as of January 2012). Going 14 times platinum in the UK and 5 times platinum in the United States, it topped the chart in over 26 countries. However, numbers aside, with her soulful melodies and deeply truthful lyrics, the singer tapped into the hearts of every person who played her record and heard her tunes. Adele took over the airwaves, rightfully so.

• Best New Artist: Nicki Minaj

First, we must give musical credit to the incredibly talented, Bon Iver. His self titled album was perfection, in our eyes, and it certainly deserved every bit of the attention that it received. However, Bon Iver has been in our Red Hot lives for quite a while now so ‘Best New Artist’ doesn’t exactly fit. Also, as an Indie Rock icon, a Grammy would be a little mainstream, wouldn’t it? So, we’re going to give this one to Nicki Minaj. Besides the fact that we can’t wait to see what she’ll wear during the acceptance speech, as a female rapper, she came on the scene with a bang. When appearing on tracks with ‘bosses’ like Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane might have been good enough for any other MC, it certainly wasn’t for Nicki. Even before the release of her first album, she became the first artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, simultaneously. Then her album, Pink Friday, sold roughly 1,663,300 copies as of November 201. With her quirky, wild image, Nicki Minaj made a name for herself, and we don’t see her falling behind the scenes any time soon.

• Song of the Year: Adele – “Rolling In the Deep”

We’ve gotta give it to her. Though “All of the Lights” was one of our favorite tracks on the overrated Kanye album, radio stations do need to make money. And they certainly did off the cultural phenomenon, “Rolling in the Deep.” As Adele’s first single in the United States, it sold over 6 million copies and held the top spot on our beloved Billboard Hot 100 list for 7 weeks. But not only could each person in America sing every word of the song, they could also identify its inspiration. For anyone who’d ever gotten their heart broken, the beautiful Adele took their hand…and will guide herself to a Grammy.

Other Categories

• Best Rock Album:

No comment.

• Best Pop Vocal Album: Adele – 21
Keyword – vocal.

• Best Dance/Electronica Album
We are 50/50.
Robyn – Body Talk, Pt. 3 VS. Skrillex – Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites
Reasons: She can break it down & he’s Sonny Moore.

The 2012 Grammy Awards show airs on February 12, 2012. Tune in to see the results!