Focus Group Tested to Appeal to Everybody

Everyone has to buy, borrow, or illegally download the new DEVO album, "Something For Everybody."

I don't dig the vocals that much, they're a tiny bit over the top, but I can't be mad at it. It's sick. One of their refrains is just a repetitive chant of "Don't taze me brooo, don't taze me brooo." Nothing wrong with that.

New Stuff

I haven't posted in a while because I've been mad busy. I transferred from illustration into painting because I wanted to abandon my pursuit of a job for the pursuit of anxiety attacks.

My two sisters had a baby, and he's the best:

His name is Josiah Daniel, (Daniel being my little brother's name; he's been rubbing it in my face). I will go on record right here to say that I will duel my own brother to the death in order to guarantee that I am the better uncle. That includes you too Jeff, Steve and Chris. TO...THE...DEATH.

Also I somehow got into doing a little bit of DJing, throwing parties, and getting rowdy. My only wish when I'm djing is that I get two sloppy drunks to make out in the bathroom. If I can inspire that with music, I'm changing the world one step at a time.

Also, one last thing:

Emmanuel's Really Bad Advice for Kids (dot blogspot dot com)

WOOOOOOAAAAH.

New Gil Scott Heron album.
Wow.
Watch in HD:

Gordon Voidwell, PT. 3

As you may remember I posted about Gordon Voidwell a few times. For those of you not in the know, he's a funkafied killer.

He just released a free internet mixtape, for which I did the hilarious album artwork. If you're in New York you can catch him at the CMJ music festival on Thursday with Das Racist.

MIXTAPE LINK

The Blueprint 3

Jay-Z has released the Blueprint 3, which I am convinced is the REAL return since the Black Album. Yeah, 'Kingdom Come' had some shit on there that was pretty terrific, but also huge pitfalls, and 'American Gangster' was as good a foray into a movie soundtrack/concept album, but this is the real deal.

I've heard a lot of criticism about this album so far, a lot of people do not like the direction that Kanye West's production has taken since his own "808's & Heartsbreaks," which I chalk up to a matter of taste. Some good criticism has been directed to some awkward guest choruses on the second half of the album, and although I feel a bit blasphemous for saying this, Timbaland completely dropped the ball on his tracks. The second half of the album is less cohesive, and that makes it a heard sell for perfect. But with all that said, this is a very solid album (and since I have come to like Kanye's new style, I could go as far as saying 'Great' album).

What I haven't heard talked about is Jay-Z's thematic change. With 10 multi-platinum albums under his belt, and pushing 40 years, Jay-Z has done something that no other rapper has been allowed to do in the public sphere: Grow up. Most rappers consider it a gift to be given until they are 30 years old before falling out of favor with their mainstream audience. Jay has not only weathered that storm, but continues to innovate in his lyrical style and flow, which has kept him creatively relevant, but now he proves that he can also be completely socially relevant and mine the experience of being a mainstream rapper for the benefit of his listening audience.

To quote Jay-Z, "I'm talking about life and all I hear is "Oh yeah, keep talkin' about crack!"

'What We Talking 'Bout' has been seen by many reviewer's as Jay-Z rehashing his past and dealing with issues like his split from Dame Dash and Jaz-O, but few have commented on the general overview of the song, summed up in the the lines,

"Ain't nothing cool about carrying a strap, about worrying your moms or burying your best cat. Talking about revenge when you're carrying his casket, all teary eyed, about to take it to the mattress."

Jay-Z is taking a stand against the messages rappers are sending to their community throughout this album. He's challenging the community of artists to stop making light of violence, to stop following trends, to stop buying into materialistic portrayals of Black men in America (which is not to be blamed on rappers), and to act like adults. (To be blunt these are messages directed toward rappers, which is better than directing them at the consumer, because he realizes that there is a chain of command). He says, "Look, Cristal: Racist. Rims: Flashy. Etc. Etc."

No, Jay-Z is not the first 'conscious-rapper,' and not even of this generation. You've got great examples like Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, etc. But what Jay-Z has is the experience and transformation. His message becomes more meaningful because he has been playing the other side of the equation. You're school teacher is always going to tell you "Don't do drugs." But the effect is much greater when the ex-drug-dealer is telling you "Don't do drugs."

One of the stand out moments on the album is when Jay-Z addresses the urban adage of "You either rap, play ball, or slang crack." To paraphrase, he says that by rappers spreading this idea they are just perpetuating the trend of young kids thinking these are their only options.

Jay-Z's Blueprint III is "Talking about about music, not about rap." But more than that is focuses on a viewpoint that until now has been yet to be heard in the mainstream; reformed gangster rap.

One last note. For all of the positive messages Jay-Z is spreading around he still is slipping up on when it comes to images of women in the Black community and women in general. Hopefully on the next round of positivity and revision Beyonce will say, "DO you think our daughter would want to hear that? Do you think any woman would want to hear that?" But, like I said, it's a big step in the right direction, and it's already looking like it might crush the autotune, so that's a good sign.

THE EVOLUTION OF JAY Z: 15 Years ago


TODAY: (Empire State of Mind ft Alicia Keys)
mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:435686

Enjoy

You're just going to need to trust me on this one

My four least favorite words on the internet... (no, not "chubby chasing nazi-babies)...

"Embedding Disabled by Request"

Prince singing and dancing the Batdance.
Happy Wednesday. (Credit goes to Lizzy Shramko for this one).

Forget what I just posted. HOBNOX!

THIS IS THE REAL DEAL.

It's too bad I can't play around with it any longer, since the library is closing, but this is blowing my mind. Oh, it's also free.

Oh shit.

This thing.

Click it.

Click it.

Click it.

It is fun.

Saturday at the Library

Spending another Saturday afternoon catching up on the internet and stealing the majority of it's bandwidth to retrieve remixes. and by retrieve I mean download. But don't worry, it's all legal. ALL OF IT. Amazing.



I am sunburned, which is a rare occurrence, but yesterday Meg, Peggy & her little brother Sam and I went to Beavertail State Park just outside of Jamestown. It was very beautiful; a lot of tide pools, big waves, and large rock formations. Sam and I discussed these rocks as he just did a unit in his science class and I took geology last winter (which was one of my favorite classes of the year). Then Mega and I fell asleep on a rock for an hour, which explains the one-sided sun burn I have (she's better off-she uses sunscreen).

The search for jobs has taken a hilarious turn as I've applied to be both a fish monger and a cheese monger. Interestingly enough I will smell terrible after work no matter what I do. Then, if I get hired to work at the Nature Lab I will have the trifecta of terrible smells: Fish, Cheese, Dead Animals. It seems that a pattern is presenting itself. Maybe I should apply to work on a flower farm, you know, even things out a bit.

Time to continue the music downloading; I DJ'd a party with Kamal and Jeremy for the last day of class this summer, and it went pretty well... (well, I suppose there were a few minor problems...) But Jeremy is going to try and make it a regular gig during the school year, and I figure people don't wan to hear the same songs in my set every month, so I have to get creative.

Alright, see you in a few days internets.

First Matter of Business

First matter of business when I get to Rhode Island: SAMPLE TIME



I've never heard of this band before, but this is a great song. What can I say, I really really dig the 80's.

Fearless Young Orphans Protecting Earth's Entire Galaxy

BIRDY NAM NAM - THE PARACHUTE ENDING - CLIP OFFICIEL



That Birdy Nam Nam video is sick. I love how well it is synched to the music, but that it doesn't seem contrived. It also makes me when to see Battle of the Planets. My cousins and I used to watch that in Mexico growing up, and we'd have different colored bandanas which were out "visors." This one was me:



It's funny that when I try and talk about cartoons I used to love as a kid with people my age we can never relate, because in Mexico it always took us about ten years to catch up to pop culture. So although I'm an 80's baby, I grew up in the 1970's (relatively speaking).

I actually went...

To Soundset yesterday. I got a call from my man Dan and he said MF DOOM had us for the guest list, so not only did I not have to pay for a ticket, but I also got the VIP pass. It was fun, got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time, saw Alex slinging MNNICE shirts to about half the crowd, etc. etc. Didn't really watch many of the music acts, seeing as I've probably seen them all perform at least five times, but I did get to catch Pharcyde, which was great. When they closed with "Passing Me By" I just about lost it. Had a little too much at the after party so I had to stay at Cantebury Park for about two hours after it was over drinking coffee with compulsive gamblers in the card room. Overall a pretty sick day.

Things I want to write about without clever titles (AKA Quick and the Dead weekend)

A few weeks ago I went to the 'Quick and the Dead' opening at the Walker Art Center. It was sick. The last show to go up there was Elizabeth Peyton's 'Live Forever,' which has probably gotten more groans than any other show I've seen at the Walker. I liked it, the paintings were different and decent, and lent a familiarity to celebrities unlike other portraits, but overall it was nothing that got me riled up. I overheard someone say "It seems like she didn't necessarily have the most talent, but the best connections." Isn't that true in all arenas of life?

The QATD was super sick though. Conceptual art, which used to be the bane of my narrow minded existence, was a breath of fresh air. I went in, and my mind started thinking, and connecting, and thinking, and connecting. (Quick note, I just paused writing and took off my head-phones because I heard a really loud motor noise - turned out it was my dad, snoring, who is staying at my apartment for my sister's graduation). The Quick and the Dead is filled with pieces that deal with time and space, the type of art Einstein would have really dug (maybe). It includes a wheel which is frozen into a block of ice everyday, several time capsules, an interactive sound room, and on and on. It was curated remarkably, because it packs deep thought, aesthetics, humor and plain ridiculousness into a few galleries and then waits there patiently, ready to slap you in the face.

I've been planning on writing a critique on conceptual art and why no one likes visiting art museums, because I think that the general public hates it, as I did, before I learned anything about it, and I think that it is a valid point. No one ever wants to acknowledge that you have to be 'in he know' to understand and appreciate conceptual art, and therefore a lot of museum-types like to stick up their noses and pretend they're better for understanding the complex issues and concepts in the art, when really all they've proven is they have had a lot more of an explanation than the average visitor. Conceptual art is great, for everyone, but it is no good unless you know the history or story behind a piece.

Anyway, the point it, QATD is a good show because it has a lot of explanation (at last) which often does not accompany the artwork at my fine establishment. Therefore it is applicable to the masses.

So, back to me.

I went, saw it, it was sick, had a free drink, slammed two more because I didn't realize how early it closed, and got yelled at A LOT for taking secret pictures (like the film of that horse up there). Then I ran into my boss Witt at the coat-check on the way out, and he told me to hitch a ride with him to a Skoal Kodiak show on the Westbank. So, I said, "Fuck it, alright," and hopped in the Scion with him and his three friends.

Upon getting to the Westbank I realized I was going to look pretty stupid in a punk house/unlicensed venue dressed in my Calvin Klein blazer, so I took it off, along with my tie. Upon exiting the Scion, however, I realized I was now freezing. We walked through the ghetto-in-the-sky and hopped a fence, then meandered through a few yards and finally found the secret venue. When we got to the door we were informed that Skoal Kodiak was not playing, and Witt got really bummed, but then cheered up when he remembered we still had stuffed about a case of beer into our collective pockets, so we decided to have our drinks and watch the acts that followed.

At this point I made my way to the bathroom, where I passed my friend Anna from high school, said hello, and then stepped into this room, which was funny enough that it warranted taking pictures:
Have you ever been in the middle of taking a shit and wanted to start cooking waffles? Have you ever said to yourself, "You know what would be efficient of me? Taking a piss while doing the dishes."
That's correct. Toilet/kitchen, rolled into one.
Then this band played. I know you can only see this guy, but there were two others, played some pretty solid punk, but I was enthralled in overhearing a conversation a man behind me was talking about. So enthralled, that I Twittered it. Thank god, too, because it allowed me to remember this hilarious quote:

"Well, you know, not too bad for fifty."

"Yeah, I'm fifty and hanging out with all these teenagers. (Laugh)"

"Well, you know, I wouldn't guess you were fifty, you've got a full head of hair."

"Yeah, well, it's like, you can have a really big penis, or a full head of hair. And I've got a full head of hair."

And then we left the show, except slightly more intoxicated. So this time, when it was my turn to hop the fence over the parking lot, I ran up, planted my foot securely, vaulted over the top, and flew majestically through the air... and then landed on my tailbone on the concrete, while simultaneously twisting my ankle. At this point, Witt said, "Oh, yeah, I'm tired, I live in Nordeast, find your own way home."

Awesome. So he dropped me downtown, and I sat, cold, at the bus shelter, and waited. And waited. And waited. Then I checked the bus schedule. It turned out that the last bus stopped running at 1:11, and it was now 2:45. So I started walking.

I made it all the way to the Walker Art Center, before I turned around and spotted a taxi, which I flagged down, and it brought me home for a cool $8. When I awoke, I couldn't walk. The moral of the story? Go see the new exhibit, punk venues are not clean, and don't drink and jump.

Aaron & The Sea

Aaron & The Sea came out with a new LP titled "Seconds and Shapes." It bangs pretty hard. I was lucky enough to be able to do the artwork for it, and it turned out pretty sick if I do say so myself. The process was funny, from drawing hilarious napkin sketches, to doing a painting, scrapping the painting, and stripping it back down to the level of napkin sketches and a pared down palette. It affirmed that, yes, I do want to do illustration as a career. Because it's fun, but I also get a tangible outcome.

Here is the CD, all done:

Oh, if anybody else needs artwork, hollatchaboy.

Broke Ass

I unnecessarily hopped a fence a couple of days ago and fell on my ass. Don't drink and hop. Now I have a bruised tailbone, which is painful, and hilarious.

Anyway, that's not what I'm going to talk about.

I just listened to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me..." which is a radio show on NPR. It's great. It reminded me that about three or four months ago I planned on writing about podcasts to subscribe to. Here are my picks:

1. NPR - The Story
I really like hearing people's stories. Creative non-fiction you might call it. Well, there is a guy on Chapel Hill by the name of Dick Gordon who interviews people about their interesting stories. Awesome blog. Find it at thestory.org from American Public Media.

2. Learn Jazz Piano with Paul Abrahams- There was a time when I tried to learn jazz piano. I was completely unsuccessful. I did however find this podcast which is good to put on in the background while doing daily tasks. Search for it in iTunes.

3. The Splendid Table: As a college student my diet is terrible, and therefore hearing about awesome food is the best outlet I have, plus there is an interesting segment where people call in with random ingredients and the host comes up with a recipe. I think I might be able to stump her with "An onion, three tortillas, pixie sticks and coffee," which is the food I have to work with. I have to be honest I'm glad it's radio and not TV because she kind of freaks me out.

4. Musicheads with Bill DeVille: We are really fortunate in Minneapolis to have one of the best public radio music stations, The Current. Great music, great DJ's, and great programming like "Musicheads," which offers interesting discussion on new releases. Great way to find out about new music.

5. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me: This description will sound boring, but the show is hilarious. Basically a news-themed quiz show with Carl Kasell. Really, check it out.

Ok, I'm going to put on 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me' for six hours while I do homework.

Now, this blog post requires a little bit of user interaction.
Hit play on the Youtube video. Then close your eyes, wait ten seconds, then scroll down. It's these sort of intricate and convoluted scenarios that make the world fun.


I'm just a bachelor
Lookin' for a partner
Someone who knows how to ride
Without even fallin' off

Timbaland broke onto the scene with Genuwine on this classic 90's bump&grind song, "My Pony." Not only did it forever introduce us to a bass line that sounds like someone burping and Timbaland's super-gated hi-hats, but it also guaranteed that everyone who put this into the tape deck/ cd player/ ipod will be getting a piece of the action.

So go on girl.
Turn down the lights.
Light a few candles.
Slip into that little number, cause I have mine on already.
Ooh, what's this?
A platter full of chocolate strawberries?
I've got the champagne girrrrl.
Let's make this happen:



***
I was originally going to use Biggie Small's "F*ckin you tonight" for this post, but it isn't on Youtube.

Daft Punk: Video Game

The long awaited Daft Punk video game.

Thanks 'I Party Alone,' which is a fucking surreal blog experience.
I'm going to bed.

Everything that is connected and beautiful...

A new Silversun Pickups album comes out in two days. Although I have no money I might have to figure out how to get a copy. Their last album was a surprise hit for my 2006-2007 year, and I would recommend it highly to anyone. I was really hyped to find out about the new album. I took a lot of 3am-6am bike rides to a soundtrack of their albums Pikul and Carnavas. In fact, I will give you a brief list of what might have been a night's bike ride two years ago:

1.Rick James- Cold Blooded
2.Janis Joplin- Piece of my Heart
3.Al Green- Let's Stay Together
4.Noisettes- Sister Rosette
5.Atmosphere- Sunshine
6.Bat For Lashes- Mother Sea
7.Grizzly Bear- Knife
8.TV on The Radio- Ambulance
9.K-OS - Sunday Morning
10.Eazy-E - Ain't Said Shit
11.Prince- Kiss
12.Keak da Sneak, E-40, The Federation- Hyphy Remix

Well, that's a taste. But I remember those specifically. "H-Y-P I'm HYPHY, MAANNN." I really want to go for a bike ride now. But I need to get a new tube for my tire because I demolished it. Well, it's probably good since I need to finish my homework right now...

Also, I finally switched to Firefox, because I got a fuckin' bitch of a virus which would redirect my Google searches to a different site. It rendered my internet explorer useless.

Um... I'm going to go eat a peanut butter sandwich with a glass of milk.

And it goes a little something like this...
DMC and DJ Run,
dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy diddy dum dum...

If you hear any noise, it's just me and the boys

I can't find a place to stream the P-Funk version, but the cut from Kool and the Gang is a good reproduction.



Probably one of my favorite breakdowns ever, the snippet "If you hear any noise, it's not me and the boys, it's ladies night." That shit is so funky. Luckily, I'm not the only one that realized the potential. It definitely makes me smile every time I hear it.

I'm not crazy

Well, not about this anyway. If you're out of my loop you may have missed me pondering the question "Whatever happened to Jordy?" No, not Jordi, but Jordy. I grew up listening to one of his tapes over and over, which I remember my dad gave me. Classic late eighties freestyle music, which is pretty terrible. I also got a Coco-Puffs mixtape at the Zoo Boo at Como park which had covers of popular songs as well as this classic.

But here's Jordy. How fucked up is it that this kid got a record deal at 3 years old and I can't get shit.



Also, what's the story line in this video? Does anyone speak French?