Friday, July 14, 2006
Throwback Friday #17.
See, the way I see it, there's always an upshot to behaviors generally looked down upon. And dare I say, the good thing about staying up for hours upon hours is that you get so much more thinking done. Too much sleep leads to a, though perfectly understandable, specific regiment to which every normal human being must prescribe to at some point. But for now, I'll be happy with this time to dwell. On many ideas. Among them: why the hell I'm awake taking pictures of the Queensboro Bridge as the sky bleeds a purple dusk pre-sunrise (you'll get a glimpse tomorrow.
I blame Brooklyn. My future home. Where in exactly is yet to be decided. If it isn't Bushwick or somewhere relatively close, somewhere south of Prospect Park for sure. I'm keeping my options open. Regarding the recent heat wave, I wish for every place I visit to have waterslides going out of the windows of the prospective rooms, leading to a deep, cold, clean pool. I know I'm just speaking complete crazy, but sometimes it takes a certain kind of crazy to be level with your readers, y'know?
::clears throat::
Non Phixion broke up today. The reason? Goretex's inepitude, straight up. No reason to beat around the bush, its all true so I don't have to be put on trial here for my views. I look forward to seeing future projects from the Uncle Howie camp.
But I digress, the real matter at hand is schooling those here who haven't been put on to how dope Necro's production can be. When he isn't busy typing in ALL CAPS and being an all-around outspoken emcee ("I Need Drugs", anyone?), he's actually a very skilled crate digger that deserves his props for sure. Case in point, for this week's Throwback Friday...
Osanna - Preludio (sendspace link)
Non Phixion fans know the deal here. Sampled masterfully by Necro is the sounds of Osanna, an Italian progressive rock group who came out with this track in 1972 for the soundtrack of a movie called Milano Calibro 9, a little known gangster film. Along with the cinematic orchestration, this composition hosts jazzy flute riffs and guitar effects that definitely scream progressive. It's an interesting cut, for sure.
Non Phixion - The CIA Is Trying to Kill Me (sendspace link)
Obviously, notwithstanding, Non Phixion display their own prelude to anarchy on this fan favorite cut from the group's only official album, The Future Is Now.
Here's to hoping for another Sabac solo album, personally. This La Coka Nostra stuff just seems bland in execution as far as the concept goes if you ask me.
Cheers,
~*E*~
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Radio Refreshments #6.
Sugar - If I Can't Change Your Mind (sendspace link)
What's it gonna take to find a decent external host. Until further notice, due to minimal but nonetheless substantial criticism through IM, fileforge is getting the gasface for not performing to the full potential.
Today's Radio Refreshments brings back a very special gem. Bob Mould of the seminal indie outfit Husker-Dü tried his hand at a solo career after disbanding the group in 1988. Eventually, he found himself spearheading the creation of a new trio. Led by Mould, Sugar released their debut album Copper Blue, in 1992.
The song I have posted was the flagship single, a hit in the UK and certainly a refreshment for the radio, even to this day. Dare I claim, no one really checks for this outing as Mould's defining musical prowess these days...I however think this song is of the perfect singalong caliber. If this was on the karaoke list, I would do it every week or something, I swear, hah! I'm saying yo, it's almost like a throwback to 60's pop. Or maybe it is entirely. You decide.
I should make a confession though. Regardless of hearing the song come up on the local radio station, the first time I actually heard the song, I didn't actually hear the music. I think I actually saw the video...in the nearby Filenes while shopping for summer clothes, I'd bet, during the middle school years. It looked like the video anyway, goddamnit.
In any case...
Cheers,
~*E*~
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Smokin' on Arizona.
DJ Syl - 9th Wonder's Samples Mix (Volume 5) (fileforge link)
Who would have thought you'd be gracing these pages again, man.
This is 17 minutes long. Geez...for the record, he plays both the sampled and the sampling back to back. The creation was stemmed from this thread, and thus why Syl decided to make a Volume 5. Yeah, it's safe to say that after this, it will be tough to get a 9th track up on Throwback Friday again.
HEY! Someone tell me if fileforge isn't working for you goddamnit! This is why I conduct experiments. It seems to work for some, and not for others.
Cheers,
~*E*~
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Headphone masterpieces # 12.
Don't let the bread get to ya head...The Presuppositions of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP):
1. Communication is the response you get no matter what your intention.
2. There is a positive intention for every behavior.
3. Everyone has all the resources they need.
4. There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.
5. We are making the best possible choices at the time.
A lot of people seem to have a hard time believing I'm for real. I'm going to prove a lot of people wrong after this weekend. But I can assure you I'm only proving myself so I can make things better.
You know, I remember when I spent a weekend at a Zen monastery. It was quite possibly the most amazing weekend of my life because for one instance of time, one simple weekend, I became completely aware of myself, my actions, and my thoughts. I had just broken up with a girl who I still wasn't completely over, and for the first time ever I actually managed, for once in my feeble little existence, to not care about women at all. Hard to believe, but true.
Self-awareness? Check. Happiness? Check. Self-confidence? Mmm...check. So what was missing from the equation? What corner wasn't covered? Adaptability. Because I came home to my house back at college, and this was being done to my room (sorry for that waste of space I call a chipmunk). I managed to take it in stride. I took it very well and to this day I laugh about it. Nonetheless, how I handled it then reflected how I handle anything that comes my way unexpectedly now. In other words: I'm still a pushover. And I don't seem to care at all.
The irony in all this, is, of course, the prank that was done to me can not feasibly follow the listed presuppositions at the beginning of this entry. Small potatoes; the sophomoric intentions were meant ultimately to be playful, but also to overthrow the weekend of spiritual work I had just immersed my soul into. I'm not sure if any good can come out of those "intentions".
I have a lot of petty shit that happens to me. But as someone very close to me always says, "When it rains, it pours". At the same time, I indeed believe I am luckier than most. I have believed this for several years. And the more I say it, the more it is engrained in my brain, unable to be contested.
That all taken into account, do my actions really take a part in how lucky I am? Or have I just been allowing events to take place and fall right into my lap? I feel like I've been lucky without any intiative. And if there has been, it's been to a minimal but notable extent. I wonder...if I initiate more, will the luck continue to build, or will I finally become stuck working the normal mechanics in a sea of novices. I suppose at this juncture that I am afraid of what NLP will do...that it might be what was necessary all along to eventually silence my critics and leave the doubters without questions.
Bonobo - Nothing Owed (live) (fileforge link)
It wouldn't be an entry to think about, without some thinking music.
Cheers,
~*E*~
Friday, July 07, 2006
Throwback Friday #16.
Larger than my graduating class = truth.First, let me try something new.
The Fania All-Stars - Cha Cha Cha (fileforge link)
Let me know just how fast that works. Might as well be the best file host out there, but we'll see. Props to DJ Premier Planet for introducing me to it.
Hokay. This song comes off of the collective's apparently least memorable release, their first album through Columbia Records, Delicate and Jumpy (1976). Their namesake comes from their start on Fania Records. As it stands, the group outlived the label, as they continued performing into the 90's past the the label's 30th anniversary. They are considered a seminal group in popularizing salsa, especially in New York (the label's homebase). Only to find a wider market outside of New York did the All-Stars sign with Columbia.
Tapping into the timelessness, a producer by the name of Victor Padilla, aka V.I.C., unearthed "Cha Cha Cha", and looped it for a track on Soundbombing 3, featuring Kool G Rap and some back up from Capone and Noreaga. For more information on what V.I.C. is all about, Matt once again has got the hook-up (second time this has happened!) for those sleeping.
Kool G Rap w/ CNN - My Life (Remix) (fileforge link)
Excellent use of the sample. The vocoder (supplied by G-Wise) is kinda cheesy, but I suppose when you're past your prime and you're aiming for commercial success while still needing to maintain your classic reputation (no one in the Juice Crew was fuckin with G Rap when he first started, not even Kane), tracks like this are supposed to offer a good perspective on evolution. Still, as NORE refers to G Rap in the beginning: "Godfather of gangsta, ghetto, project, complex, co-op, hip-hop." He clearly branched out early on.
Cheers,
~*E*~
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Radio Refreshments #5.
Off the dome, I can only name four James songs, all of which I heard on the radio constantly growing up. "Laid." "Say Something." "Born Of Frustration." And, of course, "Sit Down," our focus on this Thursday's return to form for Radio Refreshments.
James - Sit Down (sendspace link)
With the help of typical trusty online research, I offer you some interesting trivia: James's frontman Tim Booth wrote the song in homage to two women who greatly inspired him: Patti Smith, and an author by the name of Doris Lessing.
It's actually kind of interesting to see what kind of impact such strongly feminist writers had on Booth. Smith, for example. Quote: "The first time I heard 'Horses', I was a 17-year old English public schoolboy. That evening I was told that my father was dying and might not make it through the night. Unable to sleep, I sneaked through the dark corridors, past the prefects, and into my study. The first words I heard through the headphones were:
"His father died
and left him alone on the New England farm.
All the black funeral cars left the scene
and the boy was left standing there.
It was if someone had spread
butter on all the fine points of the stars
cos when he looked up they started to slip ..."
Needless to say, Patti Smith had a profound impact on Tim's writing and clearly it shows in "Sit Down", dripping with the archetypal loss of innocence. Another quote: "Sit Down is about me feeling so alone in my 20s and reading books by a writer called Doris Lessing which made me realise I wasn't. It was about being awake at 4am and having no-one to talk to."
Interestingly enough, one of Lessing's most well-known novels, The Golden Notebook, is the namesake to the token bookstore in my hometown. It all connects somehow, doesn't it?
It would make sense at this time to post the lyrics to this song, but instead, I'll let you listen. Honestly, I feel the lyrics are just great, even disregarding the back story entirely. With the back story, however, I would suspect that a new level of depth has surfaced. SO NOW YOU KNOW!
Cheers,
~*E*~
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Headphone masterpieces # 11.
Denny Zeitlin - Requiem (sendspace link)
More ill piano compositions to let you kick back, close your eyes, and get taken away. I've been on a roll with this shit lately, I feel.
Went to a Hooters for my first time today. Needless to say, I left the pathetically yet rationally empty establishment feeling extremely let down. The food was adequate (to be nice about it), but it was the service, and the...aesthetics...of the service, which bummed me out most. Oh well. Better off going to a Sushi Samba or something.
Aaalright. Play this song as you ride a Q train over the Brooklyn Bridge at 9:30 am. Hah. See, now I'm starting to get too specific. Too much information!
Cheers,
~*E*~
