#folks be thinking 30 is the new 80 like what era are we living in the 1700s

[onlyzhuyilong]

#1st gif he is mentioning he’ll be 36 this year #2nd gif he’s saying 没有 (meiyou) #listen Long Ge once you hit 36 you break even in years of being a baby to adult (18) and full adult (18) 18+18= 36 means you’re not old #zhu yilong #朱一龙 #朱一龍 #주일룡 #please stand by for the queue #my gifs #folks be thinking 30 is the new 80 like what era are we living in the 1700s

[inner--islands]

Interview with Inner Travels (July 2016)

1. What are some recent inspirations?

Singing bowls! Just starting to record with them. Watched a special on Mickey Hart recently, then I bought “Spirit Into Sound.” Also, in heavy rotation: Laraaji, Iasos, Frank Perry, Karma Moffett, Craig Kupka, Lino Capra Vaccina, Deuter, Pulse Emitter, SunPath, Hiroshi Yoshimura. Many, many others. And it’s summer, so the changes in nature around me. The green-ness.

2. What is your relationship with live performance? Do you play Inner Travels shows?

No shows yet. I’m open to the possibility, but you know, I’ve never actually performed live. Well, once, for my music theory class in college. Think there were maybe 30 to 40 people in the class. I played Yamaha DD-6 drum pads through a guitar amp, with a friend who played bass, guitar and sang. There was a saxophonist. We didn’t practice or jam before the performance. I remember being so nervous, then proud of myself when it was over. Don’t think the rest of the class liked it, though.

3. Do you have to be in a certain mindset to record Inner Travels music?

I explore sounds or musical ideas, see where that takes me. I’ll record something I like, build off of it from there until it sounds complete. Frequently, explorations yield unfinished results, but that’s fine because whenever I’m playing, I’m learning. Also, it’s therapeutic for me to play. Meditative.

4. Do you see your work as part of a certain tradition or community?

It’s my take on the New Age tapes and LPs from the 1970s and 80s. Some of the keyboards and synthesizers I use date back to that era. Others just sound like they do. Always believed in the DIY spirit. To me, making music at home seems freer. I also try to pursue a much older tradition – music as a healing force.

5. What guided the transition from Riotmeadows to Inner Travels?

A desire to create a more peaceful, healing music. Riotmeadows was a mad-scientist project. Although I used nearly every idea I ever wanted to use – making sample-based music on a computer, exploring lo-fi textures, smashing genres together – I grew out of the script I had created for the project. My desire increased to make electronic music much more simply, organically. In this world, I want to leave a much more positive type of music that helps people. That’s the focus of Inner Travels, and it remains so today.

6. How do you see the trajectory of Inner Travels, from “First Light” up until now?

Everything from “First Light” to “Phases of a Forest Moon” is one era. The equipment used to make that music was primitive, as far as synthesizers go, but I wanted to prove that intent far outweighs the limits of the equipment. To me, they don’t sound like they were made with Casios and Yamaha Portasounds – they were. And everything from “Bakasyiong” to “Clear Seeing” feels like a longer journey with smaller, more sophisticated equipment. Albums feel less like collages now. Songs are getting longer. Trances getting deeper.

7. What is your relationship with the phrase “New Age?” I see a lot of folks gravitate towards different aspects of that phrase. I’m wondering how you see it.

My relationship with the phrase seems to only now be expanding from where it began – with the music. I’ve always been very, very into music. Growing up in the 80s, most people I knew, most music reviews I read, used the phrase “New Age” negatively. To describe something as being strange or cheesy. So, naturally, that was how I would have described the first New Age album I listened to back then, if anyone would have asked. When I got older, I listened to New Age music after experiences with other musical styles, so I understood it better. New Age music wants you to feel good. Music is such a powerful force, but never had I felt something this positive in it before. Plus it embraces the electronic sounds that I’ve always loved. The experiments.

8. Your music seems very driven by image and landscape. Are there any special places that you would want to record new music in?

Thanks! For me, the music creates the imagery and landscapes. This summer, I want to record music outside. I need to make more field recordings, though, so that’s at the top of my list. It’s really wonderful to just sit in a park, the woods, by a lake or a river and just listen to the world going on around you in your headphones. One problem around here now is traffic noise. I live in a very gorgeous area, but it’s hard to capture the songs of the birds when cars and trucks interrupt them every minute. So now, I’m looking for more secluded nature spots. Anyway, back to recording music, the ultimate for me would be to record music inside of a cave. Or a cathedral.

9. Why do you make space for music in your life?

It’s my passion. Oh, there was a time when I packed away all my instruments and cut back my trips to the music stores because I foolishly thought I could forget it all. But a life without that stuff is just not for me.

10. Words of wisdom you like to recall in times of need?

The universe provides.

Inner Travels is the work of Steve Targo, based in Pell Lake, Wisconsin. In May he released Clear Seeing, his first album with Inner Islands.

#dialogue

[rametarin]

I’ve feared this for a while

The news that the new guy behind manga and anime wants to cleanse Japan’s media depresses me.

In my pre-teens, girls were really.. negatively affected, mentally, by the body issues and complexes that said the girls in comics were just sex objects and the boys that liked comics were just being willfully indoctrinated in ‘male gaze’ patriarchy boot camps.

It was the same problem when you read WH40K stuff or played Pokemon in front of clergy in the late 80s/later on, the mid 90s. Your Christian friend might throw a fit about ‘satanic monsters’ or your feminist friend might get on a soap box to hear themselves talk about how enlightened and ‘critical’ they were, or browbeat you into their little fantasy that “having this conversation with somebody” was improving society. Y’know, to give themselves a little ideological dopamine rush.

So you had to be very careful what girl you tried to relate with about liking comic books, or else out would come the accusations that comic books were just jingoistic right wing brainwashing books that objectified women and upheld sexist societal standards. That meant many boys feared sharing their interests or collections for fear of being seen as a Worthless Boy to many girls. Whom were keyed, either willingly or trained by their queen bee friends putting the fear of ostracism in them, to parrot that party line.

But then something amazing happened...

Japanese media hit US shores. And it was cute. It was feminine, often to the point of androgyny and neotony. The depictions of girls were often hyperfeminine and cutesy, often bordering on the infantilized.

BUT. it was in this.. AMAZING cultural and art donut hole! Because the American radfems could speak ad nauseum about old white men being sexist and hateful and misogynist oppressive pieces of shit, cogs in a white supremacist cultural war machine...

But white girls cannot speak over non-white minorities to decry other cultures as sexist, oppressive and wrong. You noticing any parallels with Islam right now, in the hearts of many people that claim they’re “leftists,” and, “progressive,” and therefore cannot be sexist or racist? Oops.

And then oh look, more VISIBLE, FAMOUS femake MANGAKA and more integrated women in DECADES of establishment! Cutesy female-led incorporations of sexy things!! Oh NO!! They’re in that junior radical feminist blindspot; you’re not even supposed to ASK about the hypotheticals of if GIRLS sexualize themselves in media, because, “well girls in media wouldn’t do that, that’s just a disgusting boy thing. :^) So I refuse to even answer that. Until the industry and status quo in comics changes, it’s a boy’s club.”

Well here the Japanese manga community is! Featuring GIRLS, telling SEX JOKES and being scantly clad and SEXY and having FUN and being innocent and joyful! oh look and it’s written and drawn by MINORITY. WOMEN!!!! From one of those oppressed foreign non-white cultures!!! Where women doing stuff professionally is VERY progressive and also an undeniable contribution of women doing anything! Look how puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure this is! It’s everything you radfems claim you want! EVEN MINORITY REPRESENTATION!!!

Radical Feminism of the time FUMED at this thing in the periphery being both sexual and EVERYTHING they CLAIMED they wanted from media in order for it to be good, but they bit their tongues. Because all the girls that started to enjoy Sailor Moon, learned about the censorship of Japanese media by foreign companies to market it in the west and how Japan had more mature, ‘pure’ depictions of female nudity and saccharine sweet sexuality, and they were growing deaf and dumb to the radfem’s rhetoric.

And.. I really can’t underline enough. If you’re in your mid-late 30s now, you SAW the visible shift. From when comic books became taboo and the girls got angry about being infantilized, made into sex objects, everything sex related had a negative light that, “boys didn’t respect them for their MIND an SOUL,” and other gripes all evaporated when Sailor Moon’s blonde meatball ass swung in like a Japanese wrecking ball, like a Lisa Frank notebook heroine come to life.

And comics and fiction and the culture became FUN again. No more walking on eggshells, no more avoiding being painted in that disgusting negative light by radfems pretending they cared about equality so much as defining radical feminist largesse as “equality” and selling it to less deep down the rabbithole women as egalitarianism.

And now the very seat of that shining culture is under attack by insiders that are carrying the foreigner mindset. Entire manga studios are being build and founded under Black Lives Matter and Privilege Theorist mindsets. Anime itself is under attack as a social culture by these fucking assholes.

So, 3rd party studios won’t have to add in those disgusting, stupid jokes in Dragon Maid about “the patriarchy,” deviating from the dialogue of the original just to be propagandic platforms. They’ll platform and edit the original material by sympathetic “critical lenses” wearing editors and silver spooned CEOs.

I’m going to be honest. I’m going to be sad to see Japanese media get the same ridiculous standards and sentiments of censorship in the west. A moratorium on blood, mention of death, and any scene with a NIP SLIP will be seen as juvenile, childish, perverted, and objectification of the female body. Bugger the fact you can have all these things and it’s perfectly healthy, but no, “we MUST ENSURE OUR SOCIETY IS FREE OF BAD THINK! MEDIA IS SOCIETY’S PSYCHOLOGY! PSYCHOLOGY MUST BE PURE OF BAD THINK, ELSE SOCIETY’S SIGNING OFF ON THIS BEHAVIOR!” Bullshit.

We all remember growing up with anime and manga in an era when everything even hinting at sexuality and violence was behind a few layers of bubblewrap and judgemental eyes. Everything more mature than Carebears highlighted and stigmatized so overbearing parents could tell if it had anything their little Johnny or Sarah shouldn’t even have agency over knowing, as long as the parents could have it. It was a cultural and mental refuge. It was where you could have your nip slips and innocent sexuality without judgement or accusations of being a disgusting person.

And more importantly it changed a lot of girls opinions or prevented them from swallowing that party line and going deeper down that rabbithole altogether.

Imported Japanese media returned a sense of both youthful innocence as well as tolerant maturity to western expectations of art and illustrated literature and I argue bridged that gap between the dark and gritty for-adults 90s stuff parents wouldn’t let kids even know existed, and.. fucking Carebears.

We still have webcomics for anything-goes, anyone-can-access, but that will come under threat next. Just you watch. Demanding anything with a nipple or even a mention of sexuality must be behind a government watched paywall so you can’t even access it without committing theft or fraud that the government can punish a person or their guardian over.

I really, really, really do not want the Japanese to experience the sort of horrible social climate that I remember looming when radical feminism sold itself to the girls as progressive, and made men depicting women inherently oppressive and evil. Where it sustains itself on the hysteria and personal emotional insecurities and complexes of millions of women normalizing that into a societal expectation that they then fear being judged by.

It was truly an absolutely miserable period of time to grow up as a comic fan and as a person, because the stigma was biting. And the contrast between the warm, open, free, inviting and friendly waters afterwards?.. Like going from swimming in cold arctic lemon juice to tranquil tropical seawater.

The existence of Japanese manga and what it did to the social climate of comic and cartoons fans cannot be understated enough.

I mean, yeah, at the time, folks like Joss Whedon helped with Buffy and shit, but we don’t talk about him and people like him. It was the 90s.

[onestowatch]

Lollapalooza 2021: 15 Ones to Catch (Who Aren’t Headlining)

Lollapalooza is officially one week away, and wow does that feel good to say. As one of the first music festivals to welcome us back to festival season after a far too long hibernation, the annual festival, hosted at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, is set to bring the musical stylings of Tyler, the Creator, Miley Cyrus, Foo Fighters, Megan Thee Stallion, and plenty more. But, unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are that you’re already more than familiar with the artists set to headline. So why not figure out who to see while you’re waiting to scream along to Call Me If You Get Lost.

From collectives who are moving beyond the need for genres to music that is just as likely to make you cry as it is laugh, these are 15 ones to catch (who aren’t headlining) at Lollapalooza 2021.

Peach Tree Rascals

When & Where: Sunday, 2 p.m. at Bud Light Seltzer Stage

Peach Tree Rascals’ Lollapalooza set has been a very, very long time coming. The Bay Area–bred collective has been steadily making waves with their genre-bending approach to indie-pop that calls to mind a more idyllic, lovesick BROCKHAMPTON (an act you should most definitely catch as well). And despite emerging a growing fan-favorite in the last couple years, the aforementioned rascals have yet to play a show, ever. With a headline tour that was canceled due to COVID, Lollapalooza will officially be making history as the first-ever Peach Tree Rascals set.

Tate McRae

When & Where: Saturday, 5:15 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Tate McRae’s rise through the pop stratosphere has felt meteoric. First gaining fame at the young age of 13 for being the first Canadian finalist on So You Think You Can Dance, McRae has certainly come a long way to stand as one of the most promising voices in pop. With a vocal range more than powerful enough to deliver haunting dark pop ballads like “you broke me first” one moment and stand side-by-side with Khalid on the summer bop “working” the next, there are no two ways about it. McRae is a pop star in the making and this is your chance to catch her before her inevitable headliner status.  

Marc Rebillet

When & Where: Saturday, 9:00 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Part-time meme and full-time artist, Marc Rebillet creates music with an unmatched comedic timing. It’s a comedic genius that has led to him getting a 24-hour ban on Twitch—for taking his shirt off in the middle of a stream, an act which I’m guessing Lollapalooza will be more than forgiving of giving his penchant for performing in a bathrobe. The self-described improvisational artist creates all his songs from scratch, resulting in an experience where no two live shows are quite the same. Come for the comedy, stay for the absolute dancefloor bangers.

Dayglow

When & Where: Thursday, 3:45 p.m. at Lake Shore Stage

Dayglow is sure to bring a smile to your face and put a pep in your step. Apologies if I sounded like my grandparents there, but there’s no denying the sonic sunshine that is Dayglow’s rapturous brand of indie-pop. Paying homage to the dance-inducing melancholy of ‘80s pop duets, it’s difficult not to get swept up in the Austin, Texas–bred artist’s hypnotic vision. It’s the sort of euphoric music that feels almost tailor-made for the return of festival season—drenched in sunny rays and brimming with infectious sincerity.

Giveon

When & Where: Friday, 4:45 p.m. at T-Mobile Stage

Before his breakout moment on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” Giveon was already charting his path for R&B domination. With an angelic and haunting baritone, each R&B rumination carries with it a palpable weight—an emotional turmoil that is only elevated by the minimalistic soundscapes which allow the proper space for his transfixing voice to fully shine. For a crash course on Giveon, check out a compilation of his two standout EPs, When It’s All Said and Done… Take Time. Or better yet, experience the magic of Giveon live.

Ashe

When & Where: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Ashe creates effortlessly timeless music, blurring the line between the nostalgic songwriting of Fleetwood Mac and a modern-day folk-pop star. The sentiment is best expressed in her critically-acclaimed debut album, Ashlyn, which demonstrates the Los Angeles artist’s peerless songwriting acumen, toeing the line between rapturous euphoria one moment and deeply affecting storytelling the next. If you need a good laugh or cry, do not miss out on Ashe.

Sir Chloe

When & Where: Sunday, 12:45 p.m. at T-Mobile Stage

Fronted by Dana Foote and comprised of Teddy O’mara on guitar, Palmer Foote on drums, and Austin Holmes on bass, Sir Chloe’s music exists in the nebulous void of haunting dark pop and heart-rending alternative garage rock. The New York–based indie rock band originally started as a college project, birthed in the music halls of Bennington College, and now they’re set to take Lollapalooza by storm. With an impressive debut album, 2020’s Party Favors, under their belt, this set feels only the beginning for the bewitching indie outfit. 

jxdn

When & Where: Sunday, 3 p.m. at Bud Light Seltzer Stage

jxdn is the latest artist to make good on pop-punk’s continued resurgence. The first signing to Travis Barker’s DTA Records, the breakout singer-songwriter has found a fan in not only the blink-182 star but in Machine Gun Kelly, who jxdn is set to tour with this fall and makes an appearance on his debut album, Tell Me About Tomorrow. With an acclaimed debut album in the books and some of pop-punk’s biggest stars behind him, jxdn is sure to deliver a Lollapalooza debut for the ages. 

AG Club

When & Where: Friday, 7:45 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

AG Club, an abbreviation of avant-garde club, is a genre-less music collective that shares a lot in common with fellow Lollapalooza must-see act, Peach Tree Rascals, including a collaborative single. But don’t get things twisted, this Bay Area collective has their own vision in store for you. With a brash, in-your-face attitude, AG Club is likely to draw comparisons to the Saturation era of BROCKHAMPTON and glory days of ASAP Mob, but with their introspective, omnivorous approach, they deftly manage to emerge as an act all their own. If you want to go where the party is, don’t miss AG Club.

Tai Verdes

When & Where: Friday, 1:45 p.m. at Bud Light Seltzer Stage

Where would we be without TikTok? I, for one, would be without my preferred form of short-form entertainment and the world be without the infectious pop-R&B stylings of one Tai Verdes. Originally working at Verizon before his breakout single, “Stuck in the Middle,” became a viral hit on TikTok, Verdes is now one of the most promising and rapidly rising acts in music today. And with his debut album, TV, the viral star proved himself no one-hit-wonder, delivering a collection of tracks that span a range of emotions and genres that we cannot wait to experience live.

Dominic Fike

When & Where: Thursday, 7:45 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Dominic Fike is a musical chameleon. First breaking out with his unassuming radio hit “3 Nights,” to only jump into the absolute vibe that is the Kenny Beats–assisted “Phone Numbers,” and culminate it all with the genre-spanning debut album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong, Fike is an artist whose limitations seem limitless. It’s a notion that plays out in his breathtaking live show, reworking his hits with an insatiable appetite until they’re songs that exist only in that singular moment. Fike’s is set you will not want to miss.

Oliver Tree

When & Where: Thursday, 9 p.m. at Grubhub Stage

Alternative auteur Oliver Tree is nothing if not unpredictable. Flaunting his signature JNCO jeans and an impressive professional razor scooter pedigree, the inimitable artist delivers on an infectious blend of alternative, electronic, hip-hop, and pop that defies any simplistic classification. And with his debut album, Ugly Is Beautiful, now out in the wild after a much-hyped cancellation and subsequent surprise release, Tree has more than his fair share of music to pull from. Plus, given his penchant for going in and out of retirement like he’s trying to break a record only known to him, it’s probably best not to miss this set.   

RMR

When & Where: Sunday, 2:45 p.m. at Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage

RMR originally made headlines with his breakout single, “RASCAL,” a transfixing country trap ballad that saw the rapper donning a black balaclava and Saint Laurent bulletproof vest while rapping over an interpolation of Rascal Flatts’ “Bless The Broken Road.” Since then, the anonymous rapper has been spotted hitting the town with Sharon Stone and embracing his penchant for melodic trap in the Westside Gunn, Future, Lil Baby, and Young Thung–loaded Drug Dealing Is a Lost Art. Existing at the fusion of trap country and melodic rap, RMR’s Lolla set is one you’re not likely to forget anytime soon.

Chiiild

When & Where: Sunday, 12:00 p.m. at Lake Shore Stage

Nostalgic and novel, Chiiild’s self-described brand of “synthetic soul” is nothing short of intoxicating. Setting its own sauntering pace, Chiiild’s unique take on R&B and soul takes on a cosmic energy, as if floating through a wormhole with nothing but a single cassette deck on hand. It’s a testament to the Canadian band’s all-encompassing approach that draws upon not just R&B and soul but psychedelia, jazz, indie, and pop to craft a sound that is all their own. Take a trip on Sunday, and meet us at Chiiild.

All Time Low

When & Where: Thursday, 6 p.m. at Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage

Because teenage you wasn’t old enough to convince your parents to let you see All Time Low the first time “Dear Maria, Count Me In” was trending.

#lollapalooza #lollapalooza 2021 #tate mcrae #peach tree rascals #marc rebillet #dayglow #giveon #ashe #sir chloe #jxdn #ag club #tai verdes #dominic fike #oliver tree #rmr #chiiild #all time low

[mittensmorgul]

The Tumblr Beta Version: an objective analysis

I was tempted to just type “it sucks.” And while that is an objective analysis, it’s not exactly helpful. I’ve sent several requests to @staff and @support to restore my account to the old tumblr dashboard format, and received the same automated reply twice now. I’ll copy/paste it here so everyone is on the same page:

(lol, I had to go back and edit this, because apparently the beta version doesn’t display block quotes on the dash. So I’ve also put the block quotes in italics... hopefully it’ll display properly... note after editing: nope, it doesn’t display italics either... how the heck am I supposed to differentiate quoted text? I’ll start each quoted bit with an asterisk, I guess...)

*Thanks for reaching out about the beta dashboard.

*We're currently testing it out, and your account seems to have been selected to take part in the test. Thanks for your patience while we work on it! At this time there is not a way to opt out of testing. You may see your Tumblr experience return to normal as we continue testing.

WE CAN ONLY HOPE.

*In the meantime, check out some of the new features available only in the beta dashboard:

OKAY TUMBLR, IF YOU INSIST, though I would MUCH rather have back all the functionality I personally invested into this website through xkit... you know... making the site ACTUALLY FUNCTIONAL. Let’s see what this beta version has given me instead of functionality:

*Change Palettes: Go to the person icon, then click "Change Palette." You'll find the classic Tumblr blue, dark mode, and a few other color palettes for your dash.

So I tried out all the color palettes. In addition to the ones mentioned here, there’s one that’s trying to look like a green screen terminal that gives me flashbacks to the early 80′s. There’s a reason we stopped using green screen terminals... Another one is “canary yellow.” It’s very yellow. The “classic tumblr” isn’t actually classic tumblr... all the post boxes are dark blue with grey type, not white with black type. And all the other colors are the insanely bright fluorescent of the new Dark Blue standard tumblr scheme. Which means links are practically invisible unless I highlight them. It’s migraine inducing. The one theme with a light colored background is called “Concrete” or “Cement” or something like that and even that only works for about half an hour before the migraine aura really kicks in. I just want my Old Blue via xkit back. You know, what tumblr actually used to look like. I don’t want any of these horrible color palettes. None of them work for me.

*The new "meatballs" menu: This is where you can copy the post link, unfollow the Tumblr who made or reblogged the post, or report a violation to our Community Guidelines.

I could do all of this from the user menus with xkit, too. I don’t regularly report violations or have the urge to block people I have chosen to follow. Why on earth would I want to do any of this? And why would I want these features located directly beside the post link copy feature? 

You know what I do miss? I miss the xkit timestamps feature. I didn’t have to hover dangerously close to the KILL IT WITH FIRE meatballs menu in order to see when a post was made, and in this era of disinformation and misinformation spreading around this site faster than Covid-19, being able to see when a post was ORIGINALLY created is a far more useful feature than an easier way to block people. For reference: I currently have three blogs blocked. Two of them are pornbots. One is a nazi. If I don’t want someone’s content on my dash, I don’t follow them. This “feature” is entirely useless to me.

*A quick note: Pagination is not supported in this beta test, but we're collecting feedback to send to our engineers.

THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST. This beta test might actually be tolerable if I wasn’t trapped into endless scrolling. If I could page through my dash, refreshing it every ten posts or so. You know why? Because once I scroll about 30 posts down my dash, tumblr starts overheating my laptop under the load of ALL THOSE POSTS. Things start malfunctioning-- it takes longer and longer to load new posts the farther I scroll. And the keyboard navigation (both page down and hitting J to advance to the next post, and even just using the down arrow to scroll as I read a long post) freeze and stop functioning. One of my laptop fans has actually begun to malfunction.

You know why this wasn’t a problem on the old version? If the data load got to heavy, I could open a post in a new tab, click view on dash with xkit, and voila! Brand new tab! I could close the malfunctioning tab and everything would be refreshed to normal! But without pagination, THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Also, after reblogging a few posts, the beta version of this site breaks, and doesn’t open a post tab to add commentary or even tags. It just... reblogs the untagged post with no warning whatsoever. You know... that’s really really not cool. I tag EVERYTHING. Well, almost everything. The tags are the only way to keep track of the 40k+ posts on my blog. And warn people that I am posting potential spoilers, or other specific content. It’s REALLY inconvenient to have to either immediately go to my blog to edit the post and add tags, or even comments. The alternative is to scroll up to open individual posts I want to reblog in a new tab, and then reblog directly there. Ironically enough, THOSE pages actually open with xkit installed, and everything (surprise!) functions perfectly there.

It’s perfectly reasonable to understand why this specific issue has limited the number of posts I reblog. Reblogging content should not be this much of a hassle. Creators have been complaining for a while that reblogs have drastically slowed down, and I think making it even more annoying and difficult to reblog posts will not help this problem.

Also, with xkit enabled, there’s a function that auto-loads images as you scroll, so the images are always visible BEFORE they appear on screen. I don’t have to look at the colored boxes and wonder if this is a post I’ve already seen or something I should sit and wait for. Don’t even think about watching tumblr videos. Loading priority is given to the ads that you cannot pause or dismiss, so that video loads and plays in choppy two second bursts instead of being given priority. Since that’s the content I am actually here to consume, it kinda makes me want to do the opposite of patronizing anyone who advertises here with graphically intense ads. And then when you scroll away, with xkit, gifs and videos you’ve scrolled past STOP loading and playing, which I think might be contributing to the intensity of the resource hogging that’s literally melting down my laptop.

And for reference, I have a pretty decent little gaming laptop. A blogging platform shouldn’t be driving it to the brink of frying itself. I didn’t realize just how much xkit worked to streamline this and provide basic functionality to this site.

*And lastly, if you're an XKit user, know that the XKit team is working hard to update things on their end to make it compatible with the beta dashboard.

And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what I’ve lost without xkit. And this is a really REALLY garbage response to user complaints. “Oh, yeah, sorry we made our site suck even worse, but those nice people who do our jobs for free will surely fix our garbage soon!”

Dear wonderful people at @new-xkit-extension, I love you, and I miss you, and while I wish xkit worked with this beta version I’ve been forced into living with, I truly feel for y’all who are trying to deal with this nonsense on behalf of all of us.

And to the folks at Tumblr... maybe try to just... make your site actually more like xkit. You know, actually functional. None of these special new features are useful or functional to me. I respectfully request for a fourth time to be removed from this inane beta test.

Give us OPTIONS. Let us display ALL THE TAGS without having to click a button. Let me have back my Activity+ that actually allowed me to interact with people from my dash! That showed me real-time inline notifications in a way that I could reply to with a single click! Bring me back to my column of open messaging conversation icons so I have easy access to the people I talk with throughout the day instead of closing them all every time I refresh the page. I already feel socially isolated in freaking quarantine, please stop shutting off all my avenues of communication!

Let us have pagination! I mean, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to force heavy users of this site into a beta version that doesn’t allow us to opt out until your engineers had actually figured out how to make it work in a very basic way.

*Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with!

YES. PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THIS BETA TEST NOW. I have let you know exactly what I want from this site. I just want it to ACTUALLY WORK. For someone who spends 12+ hours a day on this site, this beta test version is NONFUNCTIONAL. PLEASE ALLOW ME TO OPT OUT. I AM LITERALLY BEGGING YOU. I WILL ACTUALLY PAY YOU CASH MONEY TO ALLOW ME TO OPT OUT OF THIS AND GO BACK TO HAVING A FUNCTIONAL BLOG AGAIN. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!

PLEASE! 

I AM OFFICIALLY AT THE END OF MY PATIENCE FOR ENDURING THIS NIGHTMARE.

(one final quick note... I’ve only been back on my dash long enough to make the parenthetical edits-- i.e. adding italics that don’t display and then adding the asterisks at the beginning of each section of quoted text, and already my laptop is overheating again. For reference, I originally typed this entire post from within my tumblr inbox page-- which still functions normally with xkit-- and spent over an hour on it. My laptop was fine the entire time. Clearly the issue is this beta version of the website. I will never forgive tumblr if y’all fry my literal only portal to the outside world at this time. PUT ME BACK TO NORMAL NOW. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING AND ENTIRELY UNACCEPTABLE. Thanks)

(oops apparently i lied... when the asterisks and the previous final note failed to display, I thought that seemed suspicious, and realized that I literally needed to refresh my entire dash in order to see edited changes. Funny how xkit enabled me to do that in real time, which is just another bit of functionality I’ve lost with this beta program. Please guys, this is really, really not working for me at all, just put it back.)

#tumblr problems #staff #support #xkit #was this good enough for you? because I am totally done with this if that wasn't completely obvious #please end my suffering

[secretradiobrooklyn]

Get In Moses Edition | 2.13.21

Secret Radio | 2.13.21 | Hear it here.

art by Paige, liner notes mostly by Evan, *means Paige

1. Chantal Goya - “Tu m’as trop menti”

From the movie “Masculin feminin,” a DVD we borrowed from Tim. This is the film where Godard was whispering the lines into a headset of the actor, so they were learning their lines literally as they were saying them. This is the opening song. Not particularly Valentine’s Day, in that it’s about lying too much… but still there’s a dissatisfaction that is undeniably a part of French romance.

2. Human League - “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”

Such a square song! But the keys hook is so immortally beautiful, with its crucial warble. The rest of the song is sweetly and innocently ‘80s. It reminds me of being in art class in high school, fully participating in the aesthetic crimes of the era. 

3. Marijata - “Break Through” - “Afro-Beat Airways”

Analog Africa is just now releasing a repress of this long sold-out collection. I’d listened to it before, but I guess that was before I knew about Marijata (thanks again, Jeffrey!) because it was a shock to discover a track by one of our very favorite Ghanaian discoveries. So far as I knew, Marijata only released one album of four songs — which is fantastic — and then eventually started backing a guy named Pat Thomas. Those records, unfortunately, are nowhere near as vital and fascinating as their own record. So finding this song was a welcome revelation! I should also say that, no surprise, the whole collection is a banger from front to back, and will definitely show up again on the show.

4. Philippe Katerine (avec Gérard Depardieu) - “Blond”

This strange guy is a kind of joker songwriter in French pop, as far as I can tell. This song is all about what one can get away with if one is blond. He’s a really fascinating character, a tiny bit like Beck maybe, in the sense that he seems to have made a successful career of taking unexpected directions. He’s also an actor, working with Claire Denis (!), Jonathan Demme and Gille Lellouche among many others. He was also in “Gainsbourg - A Heroic Life,” which is an excellent movie that we highly recommend. (We had no idea who he was when we saw it at the St. Louis Film Festival.) Also, he appears to be married to Gérard Depardieu’s daughter, which would seem to explain this particular guest star.

- The Texas Room - “Cielito Lindo” 

Several years ago, a producer in St. Louis put together the amazing album known as “The Texas Room,” which brought together immigrants from all over the world who currently lived in St. Louis. That meant Bosnians, Cameroonians, Mexicans, and native-born Americans… including Andy Garces, a fellow Paige went to high school with — His mom was Paige’s voice teacher as a matter of fact — who recorded this strange and excellent version of “Cielito Lindo.” The release party for the album was one of the greatest nights we spent in that or any city, dancing our faces off to all kinds of music. At one point the Bosnians got so excited they took over the room, shouting along and hoisting up their guy in the air. Basil Kincaid did the art for the album, and I think that’s the night we finally met. We have one of his collages on our studio wall right now — right over there!

5. The Modern Lovers - “I’m Straight” *

When we got the current SK van (circa 2015) we were super excited because we could finally bring out other musicians on the road and we could also have folks from other bands that we were out with jump in the van with us for a stretch. That February we were on tour with Jamaican Queens, and our friend Andy Kahn came out with us to play guitar. Not only is Andy a rad musician and great guy to be around, but he was an excellent road DJ. Somehow I made it to 30 without getting into The Modern Lovers (I know, crazy!) Andy has great taste and had a well appointed iPod so he was the official van DJ pretty much right away. He put on this record one day and I just lost it. The thing is, after that I was like “Play ‘Roadrunner’ again!” all the time. When I hear this record I still think of that tour. Andy in the back seat DJing, Ben and Erik jumping in the van to come with to Baltimore, graduating to “truck” in the Holland Tunnel queue, so much snow, host Bentley, “Go cats?”, Aaaaaahhhhh!

6. Frances Carroll & the Coquettes - “Coquette / When I Swing My Stick / Jitterbug Stomp”

I think we learned about this band last year, when Coquettes drummer Viola Smith died at 107 years old (in Costa Mesa, not Silverlake, Paige would like you to know — her bad). The video link below is highly recommended — the whole band swings hard, and the interaction between them and Frances Carroll is well worth the watch. They were considered a curiosity at the time, being an all-female band, and man they could play. Viola Smith in particular had an insanely long career, playing from the 1920s straight through into 2019! She played with Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb, and in the original Broadway production of “Cabaret.” Her particular innovation was having two toms at shoulder height, on either side of her head, which she would roll and ricochet shots off. Very cool style, never copied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFDD_NxtKZ4

7. Pierre Sandwidi - “Boy Cuisinier”

Born Bad Records is one of the world’s coolest record labels, with a huge array of vintage discoveries as well as African albums as well as contemporary pop and noise bands. “Boy Cuisinier” is off Pierre Sandwidi’s album with them. It bears some definite relation to Francis Bebey but takes its own turns just as often. Sandwidi hails from Burkina Faso, known as the Upper Volta when he was growing up. We’re just now learning about him and his scene — I confess I didn’t even know Upper Volta was African; I thought it was Slavic — so I wouldn’t be surprised if some more Voltaic music shows up here soon.

8. Evan Sult avec Tracy Brubeck  - “The Cats Won’t Stay In”

Paige’s mom Tracy called while we were in the middle of the show, and they paused to have a conversation about, you know, whatever — the snowstorms, the neighbors, the news. She was on speakerphone so that we could all talk, and eventually I just started taking notes as fast as I could. This is the result. I find it fascinating. That’s Paige singing lead on the Marty Robbins tune.

9.  Kil Monnower Alimunna, Grup Hindustanbul - “Tadap Tadap” 

Years ago I saw the movie “Monsoon Wedding” by the director Mira Nair. It really stuck with me, particularly the gorgeous opening credits in maroon and orange and sky blue. I was trying to tell Paige about that sequence, so just in case we could catch a glimpse of those colors, we watched the trailer. This song is the soundtrack to the trailer. It’s really an amazing track — so Indian, of course, but with definite Western points of contact, like when it goes to the major chords unexpectedly in the post-chorus, which sounds practically American. And the final outro minute or so is full of delayed, reverbed vocals in a psychedelic style, til it reaches the strange and intoxicating sound that he makes with his voice as the song fades into the distance.

- Martial Solal “New York Herald Tribune” - “A bout de souffle” soundtrack 

10. Gillian Hills - “Tut Tut Tut Tut” 

Gillian Hills, probably more famous for “Zou Bisou Bisou.” This track is great, listen for those syrupy slides and harmonies. I just learned that she is English, and the music video for this song is definitely shot in Angleterre. Full of famous red phone booths (now famous little free libraries.) When we were doing this week’s show I asked Evan “Is this song too obvious?” He said no, it wasn’t too obvious. If you know why I’m asking, then you know. So is it? 

11. Jacques Dutronc “La Compapade”

We’ve been into Jacques Dutronc for many years now, because he’s a brilliant French songwriter and composer. But this one track has been a baffler for many years now. It shows up out of nowhere and sounds like… what? What the hell IS that? Is it African? It sounds African, but — is it? Is it just some strange lark on his part? Paige was apprehensive about playing it on the show, even though we both really enjoy it, because we couldn’t tell if it was somehow demeaning to someone. But eventually I argued that we don’t know what the hell most of the singers are saying in the songs we play, or which cultural taboos they’re transgressing, and the same is true in this case. If it is somehow offensive to anyone, I hope it’s clear that wasn’t our intention. But… I don’t know. I don’t think it is. I think it just comes from a cultural heritage and context that is French in a way Americans cannot understand or appreciate. In any case, it’s an amazing performance and recording!

12. K. Frimpong & His Cubanos Fiestas - Me Da A Ɔnnda”

Research into African rock and styles eventually brought us to K. Frimpong and His Cubanos Fiestas, which has turned out to be a satisfying step into the Ghanaian highlife/Cuban scene. I love the keyboard hooks in this one and the way the patterns just roll on and on with each other like a river, in no hurry but pulled forward by their own currents. He was also a visual artist — his art appeared on the cover of last episode’s Nyame Bekyere album. This was also the first time I’ve encountered the character “Ɔ” in the wild. I have zero idea how it is pronounced.

13. They Might Be Giants - “Birdhouse In Your Soul” 

“Not to put too fine a point on it / Say I’m the only bee on your bonnet / Make a little birdhouse in your soul.” I remember when I first realized that was a feeling I was feeling — hoping to build a birdhouse in the soul of another, to be inside one another in a little protected place. The rest of the song is a nerd-rock dream palace I love as much as any other nerd, but the chorus is where I discovered an emotion I hadn’t suspected was there when I first heard and fell for this song and this band in high school (thanks, Jeremy Peterson!). 

Paige adds: This song is blowing my mind. I don’t like writing lyrics, my ratio of melodies and harmonies to lyrics way out of whack. Evan brought this song back into our lives this week when Sleepy Kitty was asked what our favorite love songs are on a real radio show. We’ve been listening to it a bunch since Thursday and damn, these lyrics are good. It’s really reminding me that you can write about ANY.THING. Blue Canary in the freakin’ outlet by the light switch. Looking at the lighthouse picture. It’s a clinic. I learned something, and I can go home. 

On the original topic, I love thinking of this as a love song. If you hear a love song, it’s a love song. It’s a love song.

14. Sleepy Kitty - “Tu veux ou tu veux pas” *

I took two years of French in high school and missed out junior and senior year because of a scheduling lulu that made 3rd and 4th year French conflict with advanced painting which was the primary reason I was taking French in the first place. I’m still not over it. Years later, I’m at Electropolis (in my memory) and I hear this Brigitte Bardot song on Tim’s excellent sound system and I can understand…most?…some…of it! I fell in love with this song and with French again and started stumbling, scrabbling at it again. We started working up this cover. Thank you Suzie Gilb for helping with the pronunciation. We did a 7” of this song and it’s a rare SK track with me playing trombone on it. 

15. The Velvet Underground - “I Love You” *

I don’t really have much to say about this track except that it reminds me of flying to Germany because I got the 5 Disc set with all the extras on it a few days before leaving for a high school foreign exchange program. I was so happy to have those discs to absorb on the long flight, and come to think of it, it really inflected the whole trip.

16. Secret Song - “African Scream Contest”

The genesis of our love for African rock/funk/whatever (if for a moment we don’t count the profoundly influential “Graceland”) is the immortal collection “Legends of Benin,” put out by Analog Africa. As soon as we dug further for our favorites from that collection, we found “African Scream Contest” vols 1 and 2. I was drawn to the second one because it had a killer track by our hero Antoine Dougbé, but eventually spent as much time with the first volume. Both are absolutely fantastic. Part of what I love so much about them is learning how much of an impact James Brown and his band had on African music, which is super apparent throughout these collections and especially this track. The drums and the grunts and the hard stops and the horn blasts — it’s all there. 

One of the finest elements of these records is the hidden track at the end, tucked five or so minutes back from the last song. These are often some of the hottest tracks on the album, well worth the wait, and this mystery song is no exception. Unfortunately, though, that means we don’t know who made this track or what it’s called. Oh well — that only makes it cooler!

- Adrian from Brooklyn

17. The Beatles - “Dizzy Miss Lizzy”

We watched “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week” recently (totally worth a watch), and we were struck all over again by how insane their lives must have been at that time. Yes fame, yes sudden fortune, yes global supremacy, yes yes yes — the thing that I can’t get over is the shrieking, and how it wasn’t just present at their shows, it was EVERYWHERE THEY WENT, AT ALL TIMES ON ALL DAYS, EVERY SECOND THEY WERE OUTSIDE. How completely unsettling that must have been, to be the center of that howl, day after day, year after year. 

18. The Fall - “Sing! Harpy”

Dedicated to Adrian from Brooklyn and all those young women and men losing their minds over the Beatles so completely that all they could do was shriek, even at shows where the crowd’s sound completely obliterated the sound of the band they so desperately loved and came to hear. 

(This is also some of my favorite violin playing in any rock music, right up there with “Boys Keep Swinging” and The Ex’s “State of Shock.” I would LOVE to work with a violinist in this mode.)

19. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - “Gnon a Gnon Wa”

So intense! That constant chord strike throughout the song is a kind of high-note drone that we find ourselves drawn to. It kind of reminds me of the sound of a casino, where you walk in and all of the machines are chiming the same note, promising to just take your mind away and keep it safe until you need it again.

- Tommy Guerrero - “El Camino Negro” - “Road to Nowhere”

20. Black Dragons de Porto Novo - “Se Djro” What a slinky number! I love how spare the instrumentation is, but how much power is contained in that one guitar part. This is side A of a 7” put out on Albarika Store, the label that T.P. Orchestre called home for many albums. 

21. Helen Nkume and Her Young Timers - “Time” This is (so far) the closest we’ve gotten to reggae on WBFF. I know nothing about the band or the music other than their fantastic name and sound — oh, and the fact that she is known elsewhere as Prophetess Helen Nkume. She appears to be Nigerian, or anyway her record label is. I love the guitar hook on this song, it just sneaks in and steals the show.

22. Anne Sylvestre - “Les Gens Qui Doutent”

23. Parvati Khan - “Jimmi Jimmi Jimmi Aaja Aaja Aaja Re Mere” A lucky find! Someone in one of my Facebook groups posted a video from this album, so I took note and returned later to check it out. This is from an Indian movie called “I’m a Disco Dancer” that looks like a real kooky thrill. The actors appear to have only the vaguest sense of what “disco” might be — or what a guitar might be, for that matter. It kind of looks like someone saw a single photo of a disco night and extrapolated a whole movie from it. Nonetheless, Parvati Khan is entrancing in the song and in the video, and we HAVE to see this movie, with or without subtitles. The smoldering look alone really requires investigation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdJQSUcK_Y

24. Nancy Sit - “Love Potion #9” * One thing I’ve always known about Evan is that he doesn’t like the song  “Love Potion #9.” When we stumbled across this, I thought it was awesome but I didn’t want to make Evan listen to a song he doesn’t like on Valentine’s Day! Evan says this song has little to do with “Love Potion #9” which makes me wonder, Evan, what’s the part you don’t like about “Love Potion #9”?

Evan adds: I honestly can’t remember what my issue with this song was. I swear, it was like… it was around the time of “Melt With You,” which I also found inexplicably irritating (and still do). I suspect now that there was an inept cover version that first steered me wrong… but luckily there’s a strange Chinese version to steer me right again! Oh life.

- Michel Legrand - “Solange’s Song (Instrumental)” - “The Young Ladies of Rocheforte”

25. The Velvet Underground - “I’ll Be Your Mirror” * This is the song that I said was the best love song of the western world on the real radio. I think it’s so beautiful and so adult. I don’t even know if I would have thought of this as love song a few years ago. When first got into the V.U. I thought it was a pretty song – a neat song, but I didn’t really know what it meant, what it could mean. What’s funny is when I think of this song, I have a Lou Reed version in my head – his voice, the harmonies. When I revisited the Max’s Kansas City live version (which as far as I know is the only one besides other more recent live versions and surely what I’m thinking of?) I realized that the version in my head is essentially that one but cleaned up, remastered, different EQ, and as far as I know entirely imagined.

Evan adds: (Paige has been playing this song recently around the apartment. I don’t even have to tell you how lovely it is.)

*p.s. If you want to hear the piece about musicians talking about favorite love songs on KWMU it’s here: https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-02-11/listen-love-songs-to-keep-you-warm-on-cold-winter-nights

Super fun getting to talk about this stuff and in such good company!

[dherzogblog]

songs/20

Happy Holidays Everyone! I started making these yearly playlists in 2001 as an attempt to connect with friends in the wake of 911. It was just before the dawn of ITunes, and way before social media. We were not in touch like we are today. I burned dozens of individual cd’s one at a time, printed up customized jewel case covers and snail mailed them all out. It was an annual month-long labor of love. Over the past few years, streaming music has made it much easier and faster to compile and distribute, and frankly much more fun. I still look forward to putting the playlist and blog together and sharing it with all of you. Particularly this year as it gives me a chance to connect with so many friends I haven’t seen in quite some time. It was a tremendously challenging year for all of us. I was grateful to have had my family here in LA the entire time, we remain healthy and well. The west coast Herzogs know just how lucky we have been. The next year will not be without its own challenges, but I'm hopeful we are able to move past this pandemic and the exhausting events of the past 4. More than that, I look forward to seeing each and every one of you in 2021. Until then, be safe, be well, and be good to one another. Enjoy the music.

ox peace, dh

Los Angeles CA. December 2020

Khruangbin - Time (You And I) Don’t ask me to pronounce the name of this eclectic trio from Texas, but this dubby disco tune had me returning to its chilled out groove often during the last few decidedly “un-chill” months. Dreamy and funky, the groove takes me back to NYC’s early 80′s club scene and Ze Records releases from the likes of Kid Creole and Coati Mundi.

Anderson .Paak- Lockdown Scenes from the front, June 2020

.

Bill Withers (1938-2020)- Use Me The legendary Bill Withers left the playing field at the top of his game in the early 80′s, hardly heard from again. And while he didn't pass from Covid, his healing pop hymn Lean On Me seemed to be everywhere as people found music to help them cope with the challenges of the pandemic. Withers left behind a legendary and enduring group of hit songs that moved easily from soul to folk to pop, not to mention the subtle rolling funk of this one.

Black Pumas- Fire Strong debut from an unlikely Austin duo that garnerd both buzz and grammy nods. The critics are calling it “psychedelic soul”. Not quite sure that nails it, but like the artists coming up next, they’re carving out new ground while drawing inspiration from classic sources.

Gabe Lee- Babylon

Marcus King- Wildflowers and Wine

Charley Crockett- Welcome to Hard Times

Three artists that are literally changing the face of Country and Americana music. Soulful, authentic and diverse, reaching back for inspiration but always looking forward. If you like this sort of stuff they are all worth checking out. Each album is filled with quality songs.

Low Cut Connie_ Private Lives Philly’s Low Cut Connie are back at it with a double album that plays like the soundtrack to a boozy night at your favorite bar. Sweaty, funky and not a little bit messy. If Peter Wolf and Bruce had a kid it would be this blue eyed soul boy. Adam Weiner grew up in the shadow of the Jersey shore and can't help but have a bit of that E Street hustle.

Willie Nile- New York at Night One of New York’s beloved adopted  son’s dropped this love letter right into the jaws of a battered metropolis driven to its knees by the pandemic. It was heartbreaking to listen as the “city that never sleeps” came to a full stop. Somehow I still found myself coming back to it, imagining night’s ahead, when NYC is back on its feet and I’m roaming its streets. Looking for music, a beer, or maybe just a slice, and fueled by the irreplaceable energy and promise of the greatest city on earth.

The Long Ryders- Down to The Well Americana pioneers the Long Ryders reunited last year for a surprisingly solid album. This single sounds like it could have been recorded during their 80′s heyday featuring their trademark Byrds like jangle and harmonies, but the lyrics mark this song as unmistakably 2020.

The Speedways- Kisses Are History UK power pop outfit reach back to the the 60′s on this sweet slice of retro pop perfection.

Billie Joe Armstrong- That Thing You Do

In the early days of the pandemic we had all our kids (+ a significant other) at our house for a few months. It worked out great and we were luckier than most. The biggest issue was keeping enough food, weed and wine around.  There were some great nights with amazing meals, followed by gathering around the TV together. We re-watched The Sopranos, binged Billy On The Street, and revisited some of our favorite movies. One night we went back to a old family favorite, Tom Hanks’ underrated love letter to the one hit wonders of the post Beatles era, That Thing You Do!  I’ve seen the movie several times and it never fails to please. A true feel good film and a perfect Kodak snapshot capturing a simpler time in American pop culture. 

While we watch the unlikely chart topper’s The Oneders  fizzle as fast as they rose to fame, its not really the point. The movie is really an old fashioned love story. Playing like a perfect hit song you can listen to over and over, full of both hooks and heart. I always thought the title track, written by Fountains Of Wayne leader Adam Schlesinger  (who we lost to Covid), brilliantly captured the British Invasion sound every group wanted after The Beatles stormed America. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong must agree. During the pandemic he cut an album’s worth of cool covers including a faithful version of this one.

Gerard Way (W/Judith Hill - Here Comes the End A tale of discovering music in 2020:  Heard this on a Netflix trailer for the series The Umbrella Factory. Turns out it is performed by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) who also writes the comic book the series is based on. (got all that?) He’s joined on this searing garage/psych rave up by the talented and versatile Judith Hill doing her best Merry Clayton.

Hinds- Spanish Bombs I’ve been following this Madrid based, all female outfit of punky garage rockers for a few years now. I think they are pretty great. This track, recorded for a Joe Strummer tribute bursts with an unbridled joy the stone faced and politically minded Clash could never muster. I bet Joe would love it though

The Secret Sisters- Hand Over My Heart Have enjoyed their harmonies for some time now. This one gives me vague Wilson Phillips vibes and I don’t really mind. 

Tame Impala- Breathe Deeper I know I’m supposed to like this guy, all the cool kids do, I’ve even seen the band at Coachella. Over the years very little of the music has stuck to me, but the pandemic offered a bit more free time to dig into this funky dubby, chilled out jam, and it stuck with me. Not to mention that 2020 was all about deep breaths.

Ledisi (feat.Corey Henry)- What Kind of Love Is That Ledisi is back with some slinky, sultry R&B and jazzy vocals

Dinner Party- FreezeTag An R&B/Jazz collective featuring Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder and Kamasi Washington use sweet soul on heartbreaking and all too familiar tale..

Toots and The Maytals- Time Tough  I’ve written an awful lot about my love for Reggae over the years. Right after Bob Marley kicked the door down for me, Toots showed me around the house. Ska, rock steady, and roots. He was true reggae royalty and sadly we lost him to Covid, just after he released what would be his last album. Check my Toots tribute blog and playlist.

Mungo’s Hi Fi- The Beat Goes SKA! These clever UK roots reggae collective never fail to surprise. This kitschy Sonny & Cher cover managed to make me smile every time I heard it. No mean feat in 2020

Stone Foundation (feat. Durand Jones)- Hold on To Love Frequent collaborators with Paul Weller  (he appears on a track on the album), Stone Foundation are back with another batch of their UK soul revival stylings. This one features Durand Jones ( of Durand Jones & The Indications) on vocals and some great reggae style horns at the top.

The Pretenders- You Can’t Hurt A Fool Can’t resist a good torch song, especially sung by the smokey voiced Chrissie Hynde. Was kind of shocked at how many good songs were on this album.

Shelby Lynne_ Don’t Even Believe in Love Sultry country soul and one of her strongest albums in awhile.

Jaime Wyatt- Neon Cross Outlaw country has a new bad girl. And in case you didn’t think she was serious, she enlisted producer Shooter Jennings (and his mom Jessi Colter on one track) to help make her point. 

Daniel Donato- Justice 25 year old guitar prodigy call his music “cosmic country”.  Ok, now I’m listening. You should be too.

The Jayhawks- This Forgotten Town 30 plus + after their debut this Twin Cities alt country group led by founding member Gary Louris continue to deliver. They find their inner Neil Young on this one.

Lucero- Time To Go Home God I wish I was in a bar right now listening to this, even if I might be crying in my beer.

John Prine (1946 -2020)- Lake Marie We lost so many this year, but this one really stung. A true American songwriting treasure, who was still making great music against all odds right up to his untimely passing. His songs are known for their simplicity, and economy of words. but this one goes against the grain. I’m still not exactly certain what it’s about. Sorrowful and haunting, yet somehow uplifting and redemptive. I heard him perform it live here in Los Angeles a just over a year ago and it has stuck in my head ever since. There is surely a place in heaven for the great John Prine.  He sang about it on his final studio album in 2018. Ironically it became the last song on his last record.

Thanks for making it this far....

***Play the entire songs/20 Spotify playlist HERE!***

[popculture-etc]

Kenny Rogers, Adam Schlesinger,...coping with 2020

Worst year ever although there were some good.

It’s too early yet for me to do a quick look back on what 2020 is like here as we’re only going to be in the first of December tomorrow (it’s Nov 30 here) but I just have to as two losses this year broke me. Kind of, well, especially the second one.

You see, before East Asian pop, Jpop and Kpop, Western pop culture was my thing. It still is and this pandemic has made me go back to that recently starting with...the Beach Boys (their westcoast sound caught me, hook, line, and sinker and I wasn’t very fond of the Beatles to begin with...to be completely honest) I’m currently chillin’ to right now, as I write this post. I’m really weak to the westcoast sound. Beach sound/s in general, rather. I’m a big fan of the beach where nature goes, for one. Since some time, a few years ago, deep chill and tropical house music has been my go-to when I want to chill or calm myself down after an outburst of sorts and I put them on when I just feel meh, especially on Fridays. When I dream of being by the sea, the beach or in some island on my own. I live in a country with a lot of beaches and the Visayas here is basically island region Philippines, lol. Like most people, I listen to music according to mood just like the way I dress according to mood. And...it’s no wonder, really that I’m so into the Beach Boys now. RIP the Beatles. My dad played some songs of theirs on the guitar or so but the hold they have on me waned later on and I just think now how overrated they were back then. They did have good songs but when talking of good music, as in really good that it retains the same sound style or so, it’s the Beach Boys for me. Brian Wilson is the man despite his issues and personal struggles.

Anyway, we’re going quickly off tangent. I’ll save the Beach Boys fangirling for another day. lol.

I grew up with western pop culture rife all around me thanks to my American, cowboy country and folk music listening dad, my Carpenters-loving mom and then, college-aged aunts who’d made me see the Titanic film more than my fingers could count---the third is clearly an exaggeration but well...some of it is true and they were why I got into American films like Pretty Woman (we have this in good ol’ VHS in our family home, my grandparents’ in Jasaan), Mannequin, Ghost etc. in the late 80s, coming into the early 90s. So, tired of all the kdrama and uninteresting kvariety shows on tvn and the rebranded local channel, Kapamilya (long story for what we formerly know as ABS-CBN, the nation’s a mess right now and our gov’t’s just...ick!), I’d retreated to my cave and got into old tv shows I’d watched as a kid instead like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and it’s been, well, moving on from there. I’m checking out Twin Peaks later. I’ve been watching old Hollywood films too. Some revisits on this include: Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, and especially A Streetcar Named Desire will always and forever be my favorite. Very young and cute and good looking Marlon Brando, ugh. I have some others in the stash which include Bonnie and Clyde I’ll be getting into much, much later, maybe over the weekends and holidays. In sum, I have a long history with western pop culture, especially America’s, more than I have with Japan’s and South Korea’s. The latter being very, very recent so it doesn’t really compare as much.

Let’s get right down to it...

So 2020 had us lose Kenny Rogers to natural causes on March 20 in a hospice and after, Adam Schlesinger to COVID 19 complications on April 1. I know the latter as the songwriter of The Wonders’ That Thing You Do from the film sharing the same song title. I know Kenny Rogers well because my dad listens to him over and over in the car. In pretty much the same way, I know the words to Islands in the Stream by heart and I accept and revere it as one of the best, if not THE BEST country-pop duet songs of all time between Kenny and Dolly Parton...as far as country and pop music in the US of A’re concerned, of course. Miley and Shawn Mendez’s cover of it I’d seen recently was alright but nothing still beats the OG one, as always. With music, it’s just, really always the case.

Kenny departing from us March this year was alright. He was well cared for in a hospice and at the right age too, to leave us and this mess of a world behind for the afterlife. Sounds grim but not really. Heh. He died of natural causes so we know he was at peace and accepted then that his time has come. Fans and long-time listeners of his should also be at peace with this knowledge. I don’t consider myself a fan but since he’s been around so much because my dad plays his songs in the car often, I’m the same. I’ve accepted his passing away early this year. He’s lived his life well and given us good music to listen to should we like to remember him and his works and celebrate his life and legacy doing so.

Schlesinger’s case was way worse because, well, COVID 19. And it’s well...I guess we all saw it coming, me included, that I’d just learned, watching the one of many national English news on ANC that ‘pandemic’ is the word of the year according to Merriam-Webster. Timely, huh? Yep. Predictable, really. Sarcasm noted here.

So if someone ever asks what 2020 was about, we only have to say that according to Merriam-Webster, it’s the global (COVID 19) pandemic. Short, not-so-sweet, succinct, and grim. Yep.

This one, Schlesinger’s case, is something I still find difficult to accept. He was only 52 years old! He was at the prime of his life and had some projects still he was working on at the time of his passing so WHY?! I suppose that’s all of us who followed him and his extensive work on tv, film, the stage and his own band, Fountains of Wayne when we heard news he’s passed away due to COVID 19 complications. It’s definitely me now though I learned of it late. Heh.

To cope with the sadness of losing Schlesinger, gone too soon at 52 years old and with an impressive Hollywood tv, stage, film resume to his name since and his own band’s, Fountains of Wayne (FoW) really good discography, by the way, I’ve been listening to FoW’s Welcome Interstate Managers---all of the contents of said album/record---and That Thing You Do’s OST with the Beach Boys’ Sounds of Summer Best of in between. My favorite song on Welcome Interstate Managers is the sarcastic take on real life as an everyday worker in sales, Bright Future in Sales. As much as I like chill sounds where music goes, I like me some music with lyrics jolting us back to grim reality in much the same way I like films (indies, mostly, or lesser known short and full-length ones) that tackle social issues not frequently discussed in public or so but we are aware are there, still plaguing much of today’s society. I live for cynical, satirical, ironic, and even hyperbolic stuff about real life actually. It may be why I’m so entrenched and attached to the era where we all hated ourselves---the 90s. Although one would say much of that sentiment or feeling did carry itself to the 2000s, though. I don’t know about you, but until now, I still hate or have heavy dislike for myself and everything else around me, especially our gov’t or current admin here in the Philippines, and people in general so I don’t think it ever really goes away. And going off tangent again for the nth time today.

Anyway, my 1996 was That Thing You Do on HBO in our household...on and off along with other 90s films like The Craft, Clueless, Jawbreakers (I think this still plays in Cinemax from time to time) so of course losing Schlesinger also was...rather, is hard. He’s done so much and he was supposed to be working on more and he’s left such a deep mark here for us, avid fans of American pop culture...I suppose, even the casual ones. Aside from his That Thing You Do, I’d also seen Josie and the Pussycats at some point. I don’t remember when, where...though I did watch some episodes of the cartoon on Cartoon Network (CN) so of course, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the film of it as well. He worked on a track or some tracks there, too. 

2020 sucks. COVID 19 sucks. This global pandemic sucks. But at least there’re films, tv shows, music, stage musical plays turned movies (Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick...Boom! is coming to us soon with Andrew Garfield in the lead---I’m wary of Garfield being a forgettable actor since The Amazing Spider Man because Dane Dehaan was what made that for me, to be quite honest so I’m not so sure of him being Jon here and as a self-respecting Larson fan since Rent, I’d rather they casted Neil Patrick Harris/NPH since he was in the London stage for this way back anyway...) to keep us entertained and fine until then. What would it take for ‘rona, and I’m not talking about the American Corona beer here that’s really popular in the west coast, to go away? I, like the rest of you in self isolation or quarantine, tend to think so but I don’t think we’ll have any answer to that until the vaccines are well underway by spring next year. Or at least, that’s what health authorities and scientists tell us anyway. I get reminded of it often in the news and I only tune in to that once in a while now because even that, following that daily, breaks my mental faculties down due to stress and pressure and all and I can’t have that when I still have so much, at the back of my mind, to do.

But anyway, time to conclude this one with one of my favorite The Wonders songs, All My Only Dreams just to end on a good note, better than the last paragraph’s ending at least and to remember Schlesinger as well that we’d lost this year along with plenty others we’d met in passing who’ve also left this world especially due to COVID 19 complications. I know we know a lot of those. For me, it’s a distant relative or family member I’d known since young but don’t have particular fluffy bunny feelings for because of some things that happened between the guy and me growing up in the NCR/Caloocan City to be exact. There’s also my good friend and former co-worker’s only remaining parent, her dad and a few more, I’m sure. So I hope 2021 would be better but I doubt it...very much. It’s still looking pretty dim, grim and bleak from here, where I’m currently standing in 2020.

Before we really end though, COVID 19 is definitely not a hoax. It hasn’t been since the first cases started in Wuhan, China. It’s just, only been getting worse and still continue to claim lives and spread to more people even those at home. So as someone who comes from a household of mostly medical workers or health care workers here, we should really be very careful about and around it. Let’s take the necessary health protocols seriously like wearing a mask out and maybe the face shield too and always keeping the sanitizers, alcohols in our bags among others---hygiene and sanitation, disinfection. It may come off really anal of me and I am not anal (I don’t like people with Type A personalities in the first place, lol...I’m just a very cautious Virgo, really, and a Type X---mix of Type C and D personalities) but seriously, SERIOUSLY, I can’t stress this enough, COVID 19, the virus SARS-COV2, that causes it is real. Very real and once it’s in your system, it can go the fatal, deadly way or just the mild and you’ll recover later anyway way. It’s not picking which people should die next and which should not, really. It’s really just there making a mess of things that are already messy since the beginning. My point being, it’s just better if we don’t spread it or are careful enough not to contract it with following health protocols set by health experts, scientists to help us get by this...pandemic. 

Well here’s to 2020 being over soon and 2021 creeping in on us soon enough. 

P.S.

Billie Armstrong of Greenday upped a cover of That Thing You Do as a tribute to Adam and the youtube live of the Wonders coming together again to pay tribute to and celebrate Adam’s life may still be up on the ‘tube. I have yet to see the latter but enjoyed the former. They are just so...sweet and precious. Ugh. Adam Schlesinger, gone too soon indeed. :(

PPS

Another songwriter/contributor in the TTYD OST passed away last year, too. Rick Elias. Cause of death is brain cancer. I had a friend from college, young and so full of life and dreams, who passed away due to the same thing so I’m kind of aware how this goes. Ugh. Cancer sucks. All of these are just so...sad. Depressing, actually.

#Adam Schlesinger #Kenny Rogers #american pop culture #USA #United States of America #That Thing You Do #Fountains of Wayne #music #entertainment #Hollywood #loss #COVID 19 #2020 #2020 is the worst year ever #what's next 2021? #A year in music #a year in american pop culture #a year in american rock and roll and pop music

[junker-town]

Here are 9 of the most badass animals ever to swim

Art by Tyson Whiting

Say hello to some horrifying sea monsters

This article was originally published on SB Nation a while ago, but was always intended for a Secret Base-y audience. So if you haven’t seen it yet, here you go!

The Earth has some very cool aquatic predators swimming about. Thanks to their intelligence and pack-hunting techniques, orcas are, perhaps, the most dangerous hunters ever to swim the ocean. Saltwater crocodiles are bulletproof murder tanks. And the great white shark, of course, needs no introduction. But now that we’re talking about terrifying underwater murder-beasts, why just settle for just the ones we have around now?

Underwater murder-beasts have a long and distinguished (pre-)history, and I thought it would be fun to introduce y’all to some new pals. TO THE IMAGINARY TIME MACHINE!

Temnodontosaurus eurycephalus

Grumpy croco-dolphin

Ichthyosaurs evolved 250 million years ago. In the aftermath of the Permian extinction, which killed off a frankly horrifying number of creatures, a group of terrestrial reptiles took to the depleted seas. Fast-forward a little bit and you have primitive ichthyosaurs, creatures so well adapted to oceanic life that they ended up looking like a cross between a crocodile and an extremely ill-tempered, extremely large dolphin.

Fast-forward even further, to the early Jurassic (175 million years ago), and you have Temnodontosaurus eurycephalus. It’s not the largest ichthyosaur ever to grace the seas, but it’s up there, and it’s a far more developed predator than its giant forebears. Somewhere around 30 feet long, T. emnodontosaurus was a powerful swimmer with strong jaws, well-equipped to chow down on other Jurassic swimmers. One closely-related species possessed the largest eyes of any known animal, perfect for hunting in deeper oceanic waters; another has been found with the remains of a different ichthyosaur in is stomach.

This monster considered 13-foot oceanic reptiles a delicious snack. It was also fast. Spare a thought for the poor ocean-going creatures minding their own business before one of these huge assholes rams into them from below at speed, opens those long, toothy jaws and turns them into lunch.

Deinosuchus hatcheri

Dinosaur hunter

Take a saltwater crocodile. Actually, it’s probably best not to. They are, after all, 20-foot, 2,000-pound apex predators more than happy to eat anything they come across, including you. Salties are strong, fast and surprisingly smart. They are at home in the open ocean as well as along the coast. Like all crocodiles, they’re ambush predators who use water as cover to attack their prey. Unlike most crocodiles they’re capable of jumping clear out of the water to get to it. They have the strongest bite of any living animal.

Right. Now that you have a saltwater crocodile in your head, make one, oh, twice as big. Yeah, like that. Decently boat-sized. Terrifying teeth in terrifying, dino-crushing jaws. Armored skin thick enough to turn aside more or less anything.

Your terrifying vision is Deinosuchus hatcheri, a crocodile adapted to more or less the exact same situation as a modern saltwater but in a world inhabited by giant dinosaurs. During the late Cretaceous (80 million years ago), North America was split by a shallow sea, the Western Interior Seaway. D. hatcheri was present on both the western side of the seaway (a slightly smaller species dominated the east), happily chowing through dinosaurs who were foolish enough to get too close.

Anomalocaris canadensis

Nightmare Shrimp

So far we’ve had a dolphin analogue in Temnodontosaurus and an actual crocodile. Cool, but nowhere near the sort of weirdness the past can provide. So let’s go to the deep, deep past, revealed wonderfully by the Burgess Shale. Here we shall find the NIGHTMARE SHRIMP.

One of the problems with studying the very earliest phase of animal life — we’re talking half a billion years at this point — is that it’s squishy, and squishy is not of much benefit when it comes to preserving fossils. Thanks to a fluke of geology, the conditions that produced the Burgess Shale were also capable of preserving soft tissue, giving palaeontologists a rare chance to look into what the seas looked like during the first days of the animal kingdom.

They looked extremely weird. The fauna found in the Burgess Shale was almost obnoxiously uncategorisable. One famous example is the worm Hallucigenia, which so confused everyone involved that it was reconstructed upside-down for the better part of a decade. Another is Opabinia, which looks sort of like a five-eyed miniature vacuum cleaner. I promise I am not making this up.

Anyway, all these critters were apparently food for the ocean’s first proper predator.

With good eyes set on flexible stalks and a surprising turn of speed, Anomalocaris canadensis cruised the Pre-Cambrian seas in death-shrimp mode. It was a full meter long, dwarfing most of its companions in the Burgess Shale. It was also delightfully strange-looking. It is so odd, in fact, that when it was discovered its various body parts were assigned to several different animals.

A. canadensis would be higher on this list if we could be sure of what it actually ate. Long-held to be a trilobite-hunter, recent studies have shown it would probably have had to restrict itself to soft-bodied prey due to relatively flimsy mouthparts, and therefore could only have actually eaten a trilobite just after a moult. But it’s much more fun to imagine this guy roaming the seafloor chomping down on everything, so that’s what we’ll do.

Disclaimer: an old friend of mine is a paleontologist who specializes in the Burgess Shale fossils. I did not contact him for this story, because I am consumed by envy whenever I so much as think about him.

Cameroceras

Spiky death-squid

Back in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic, cephalopods were armored critters, much like our modern nautilus. The most famous of them, and one of the most widely known extinct animals ever, is the spiral-shelled ammonite. Since they had hard shells, they’re extremely common in marine strata. They also got surprisingly large. The biggest-known ammonite was two meters across. Imagine that thing trying to swim.

Ammonites weren’t the only armored cephalopod prowling the ancient seas, however. The orthocones were straight-shelled versions, and some of those got really, really big. Like Cameroceras. Current estimates put Cameroceras’s shell at upwards of six meters long. That’s three average-sized men stacked on each others’ shoulders.

Somehow this monster was still able to get about in the Ordovician seas. It’s quite hard to imagine it chasing anything around, so it presumably surprised trilobites etc. at nighttime or dug it out of the mud, but since paleoecology is at least in part about imagination, right now I’m enjoying Cameroceras retracting its head deep into its shell and pretending to be a cave before trying to eat whatever entered. It wouldn’t be quite big enough to swallow the Millennium Falcon, buuuuuuuuut ...

Carcharocles megalodon

The shark that eats planets

Megalodon needs no introduction. The great white shark has a profound hold on popular culture, but its long-gone big sister isn’t far behind. Megalodon made even the most vicious shark in today’s seas look like a toy. Since sharks are mostly soft tissue, they don’t fossilize as well as we’d like, but their teeth do, and Megalodon’s tell a terrifying story.

Megalodon died out only relatively recently. It wasn’t quite contemporaneous with human beings, but its extinction was recent enough that there are plenty of folks willing to tell tall tales of how it might still be swimming somewhere in the depths of the ocean. If it was, probably best not to get anywhere near it — a Megalodon may have had a bite force of up to 10 times the strength of a great white. That’d be a bad day.

What were those huge jaws for? Whales. Apparently, these things liked to swim up from underneath its prey and bite through their chest to reach their internal organs. The ability to kill a whole-ass whale with one bite is honestly horrifying, even if whales in Megalodon’s day were a little smaller than the current batch of great rorquals.

Jaekelopterus rhenaniae

Sea Scorpion

Did you know ‘sea scorpions’ were a thing? Sea scorpions were a thing. Since eurypterids (to give them their proper name) went extinct hundreds of millions of years ago, we don’t have very good comparisons for what these things were like. So let’s get creative. Let’s take a lobster. Despite their ferocious armament, lobsters are relatively placid creatures. They’re not averse to grabbing a fish here or a mollusk there, but they’re not built for hunting. Let’s make the required tweaks.

We need to add eyes. Let’s make them big and sensitive and set for stereoscopic vision, which allows those pincers to be used more effectively to grab prey. Let’s make them better swimmers, too — we’ll add some paddles for agility and short bursts of speed. Let’s make their claws spikier, just for sheer scare value.

Oh and let’s make them 10 feet long and perfectly happy to eat you alive. Now you have a Jaekelopterus. Aren’t you glad they’re dead?

Dunkleosteus terrelli

A, uh, fish-tank

When evolution first came up with bone, it got a little bit carried away. Well, a lot carried away. The era of armored fishes is one of the most fabulously strange in the entire history of the planet. (A personal favorite of mine is Lunapsis, which looks like a fish had a baby with Batman’s utility belt.) With bone-plated heads and upper bodies, these fish probably didn’t swim very well, but who cares? They looked cool as hell, and with that body armor they were well protected against predators.

Which, as it turns out, is the sort of inspiration nature needs to come up with some better predators*. Enter Dunkleosteus, a monster armored fish with a set of jaws which could rip straight through the armor of any other fish slowly swimming through the Devonian ocean. Known to be 20 feet long, it didn’t really have teeth so much as a huge bony beak, which honestly makes the whole contraption even more frightening, like some sort of mobile oceanic guillotine.

*I’m being overly teleological here. Forgive me. Nature, of course, does not ‘come up with’ anything.

Mosasaurus hoffmanni

For whatever reason, the fauna of Cretaceous period got big. Really, really big. On land, we had Tyrannosaurus Rex. In the skies, azhdarchids the size of small aircraft coasted from thermal to thermal. And in the shallow seas, we had another monster: Mosasaurus.

Mosasaurus was essentially an enormous — estimates have it as almost 60 feet long — ocean-going lizard. Its legs were replaced with bladed paddles for maneuverability and it had a powerful tail for direct propulsion. Mosasaurus ate everything it could get in its mouth, which was a) double-hinged for extra capacity and b) already pretty capacious to begin with.

It would have hung around near the surface of the ocean, where there was an abundance of prey. Mosasaurus could have waited for other marine reptiles (such as Archelon, the largest turtle known) to come up to breathe, grab low-flying pterosaurs on fishing expeditions, or simply have picked off the many large fish that swam the Cretaceous seas.

Livyatan Melvilli

Moby-Dick’s even-scarier dad

In 1820, the Essex was lost in the southern Pacific Ocean. The ship had been sent out to hunt for sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus, since you asked), but soon had the tables turned when it was attacked and sunk by a ferocious bull. Of the 20 crew, only eight survived, and the incident went on to inspire a famous book about whales which you may have heard of.

What you probably haven’t heard of is Livyatan. Modern sperm whales are enormous creatures, but very rare boat attacks aside, they’re only really dangerous to their favorite prey, deep-swimming squid. But not so long ago, geographically speaking, there were also a group of ‘macroraptorial’ sperm whales. These didn’t eat squid. Instead, they competed with Megalodon to hunt other great whales.

Livyatan’s teeth are some of the most awe-inspiring fossils in the world. The biggest ones are 12 inches long and look like artillery shells. Estimates have Livyatan as sitting a touch smaller than its modern friends, but those teeth indicate that it would have been significantly more vicious, fully capable of cutting a sperm whale into very bloody chunks.

It’s not clear whether or not Livyatan hunted alone or in packs, like a modern killer whale, but it had the power and size to be able to plausibly compete with Megalodon even solo. The crew of the Essex found out that a bull sperm whale could be a formidable opponent; one suspects Livyatan would have left even fewer survivors.

[asterinjapan]

Peach cental

Good evening from the city of peaches!

Today was a travel day, but it was the least cumbersome of all my travel days, so I still had time to Do Stuff. So I’ve been busy, and I’m definitely going to bed early considering I have already reserved a train ticket for tomorrow at 8:30, haha.

So, from Fukuoka to Okayama! Here we go. As it turns out this entry got long, so apologies in advance...

I got up early to have breakfast in peace, had a very quick check-out, and proceeded to make my way to the station. I think this might be the first day my legs are legitimately protesting, and that’s mostly because I had to drag my suitcase with me. Thankfully, my hotel is pretty close to the station, and the entrance for the shinkansen trains is nearby as well. Of course, I was way too early, so I watched the Nozomi (the fastest of the shinkansen, which I can’t use with m JR pass) come and go before my train showed up, the Sakura.

It was a little under two hours to Okayama, passing Hiroshima and Fukuyama on the way. Fukuyama castle is a literal stone’s throw from the station, but I noticed the main tower was partially covered, so I’m glad I went to see that one last year already!

After a smooth trip, I arrived at Okayama station and all but went deaf upon exiting, because there were all kinds of events going on. Today is a national holiday (Health and Sports day I think), so I guess that had something to do with it. Also, it’s hot! I was already regretting my warm pants, but what can you do.

I’m staying in the same hotel as last year, which is very easily found from the station anyway, so that was only a quick trip. In the lobby, I took out the necessities for my ‘daily backpack’ and then asked if I could leave the rest of my luggage here, as I was too early for check-in. Thankfully I could, haha, because I had Plans that would be significantly troublesome if I had to drag my suitcase with me.

So, out of the hotel I went, following the Momotarou street down to Okayama castle! Okay, two things: Momotarou is everywhere here. He’s a character from a folk tale, in which an elderly couple found a giant peach in the river and upon cutting it open, a boy jumped out. They raised the boy as their own and he ended up becoming a hero, as he teamed up with a dog, pheasant and a monkey and went on to defeat ogres. His name is Momotarou, which basically means ‘peach boy’. The story is more or less set in the region – there’s a prince called Kibitsuhiko whose story might have inspired Momotarou, and the shrines dedicated to him can be found in Okayama. I talked about this for a bit last year too, when I stayed in Okayama for the first time. Anyway, this has a predictable result: peaches and Momotarou everywhere. So down from Peach boy Road, onto the castle!

I visited the castle last year with my friend, but there was a little something we didn’t get to do, so I was taking this chance to rectify that.

Upon arrival however, it turned out there was a festival of some kind going on. Fun atmosphere, but it did mean it was pretty busy, hmm.

Into the castle I went anyway! They want you to start the tour on the top floor, so I meekly followed that advice and made my way down. The Thing I wanted to do would start again at 1 PM, so I took my time exploring the different floors and reading the Japanese signage (not a lot was translated except for titles, but I found the general guide boards pretty easy to follow). There was also a special exhibition with works by Masago Kimiya, who has an affinity for drawing historical figures from the Three Kingdoms and Warring States eras. I had no idea what to expect, but these works were beautiful! They look more like glamorous photos than the stylized portraits from back then, and to top it off, the hall told the story of Ukita Hideie, who completed the castle after taking over from his father. He was a big name, actually. (History lesson to follow!)

The little states making up Japan until 1600 were at constant war with each other, called the Sengoku (Warring States) era. Attempts to unify the country were made by Oda Nobunaga and then Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hideie sided with them and ended up being one of Hideyoshi’s five counselors, along with a guy called Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yeah, there he is again, That One Guy. Anyway, after Hideyoshi was assassinated, Ieyasu took control and two camps emerged: the one on Ieyasu’s side, and the loyalists to Toyotomi, including Hideie. At the decisive battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Ieyasu’s side won, unified Japan, and Hideie was to be punished. He fled to what is now Kagoshima until he was eventually betrayed and exiled to the island of Hachijojima, Tokyo, where he lived out his life until his 80s (!). His wife, princess Gou, stayed loyal to him and kept sending him support (like food, since rice barely grew on the island) until she passed away.

Later the castle went to the Ikeda clan, and it was being maintained until the Meiji Restauration in 1869. The Meiji government wanted to break with the samurai era and actually tore down a lot of castles, although it left Okayama castle alone, filling the outer moats and leaving the rest as it is. In 1945, bombers destroyed the castle as yet with the exception of the Tsukimi Yagura (watch tower for moon watching), and so the current reconstruction is from the 1960s. The lion-fish on top are gilded now, but in the old days, the main keep had gilded roof tiles too. It was thus also known as the Golden Crow castle, since the exterior is mostly black.

Whew, so far for a lot of history, haha. Can you tell I really like this castle? I definitely do. So much so that I read up on it, haha, although the exhibition hall was also very informative and had information in English.

On the second floor, there were some photo spots and the Thing I wanted to do: dressing up as a feudal era princess! Okay, look, the kimono on display is really pretty and the dress up is free, come on, I’m not gonna pass up on that opportunity. I had to hang around here for quite a while, as I was about an hour early, but once it was time, I was first in line! And wow, they’re not playing cheap here even though this is free. I got dressed up in a fancy kimono, got to pose all over the special room, got a wig on, got dressed up in another fancy kimono, and overall really got to make the most out of this experience. I checked my camera; there are literally a hundred pictures on there! One hundred! Wow.

So that was a really fun activity and I’m really glad I came back for it. I got a castle parfait at the café (with peach, of course, I was surprised they even offered strawberry as a different choice), and then went back outside again. I think the festival had a stage for a Momotarou something or another, geesh…

I made my way back to the station, foregoing checking into my hotel as I had another destination in mind: nearby Kurashiki!

You might remember last year’s floodings which hit Japan hard. Kurashiki was one of the cities hit, and so we didn’t end up visiting despite how close it is. So now for a second attempt, I took the local train bound for Kurashiki, which took like fifteen minutes. Told you it was close, haha.

Kurashiki is mostly known for its Bikan historical area, which is the old merchant quarter from back when the city became a river port and was so important it was placed under direct control of the shogunate. Many of the buildings are 17th century style wooden warehouses, now filled with restaurants and shops for the most part. There are also some curious museums nearby. (There was also a little shop with a board outside for figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, and that’s how I found out that both he and Keiji Tanaka hail from Kurashiki, haha. The more you know!)

I mostly went for the views, which were definitely a treat once I found the Bikan historical area: the description ‘Venice of Japan’ is surprisingly apt. There are tourist boats going through the canal area and they’re beautifully framed by the willows here. It’s also apparently a very popular backdrop for cosplayers, since I saw a TON of people dressed up as their favourite characters and posing for pictures here, haha. Guess that’s what I get for going on a holiday. It was fun to see though!

Nearby was Ivy Square, also aptly named as it contains buildings overgrown with ivy. It was the area where the first modern cotton mill of Japan was built, and the company from back then is actually still active.

I only wandered around here for a short bit though, and then found one of the little museums I mentioned. I hopped into the Momotarou Karakuri museum! Yep, peach boy strikes again. Karakuri apparently refers to a type of doll, which I did indeed see here, but the museum itself as a strange mix between optical illusions and a museum of Momotarou memorabilia. Not the first combination I would have thought of myself, but the staff was enthusiastic and led me through the illusions (all Momotarou/peach themed of course), encouraging me to try them out and taking a picture with my head through a giant peach, so now I can pretend I’m Momotarou myself, haha. Granted, the illusions weren’t super new, but they were very open about that (‘trick first invented 150 years ago’ listed), and it was still fun going through them. Next was a delightfully trippy little maze full of ghosts and ogres, since Momotarou had gone on a quest to defeat the ogres after all. I got better scares out of this one than out of the self-proclaimed haunted house in Huis ten Bosch, Sasebo some years ago, haha.

I was then led upstairs, which was very interesting as this was the museum part, showcasing all knids of Momotarou goods dating back hundreds of years in some cases. There was also a little English book with the story on display, and apparently they made a Mickey Mouse set at one point with Donald, Goofy, and Chip and Dale as the animal companions, haha.

This was a nice little break. Parts of it were definitely aimed at kids, but that didn’t make it any less fun.

 I had another museum planned, but I was getting rather tired, so after a quick round on Ivy Square, I walked back to the station. This time just taking the main road, because I had tried to take the shopping street route on my way here, but I somehow managed to – uh, mess up on going right ahead and had to google Maps my way out, oops. So the walk back to the station was significantly shorter, ahem.

After a matcha latte at the station, I went back to Okayama and decided to reserve some tickets for trains. Of course I had to secure my one-way trip to Tokyo, as that one will take about 4 hours, yikes. I should arrive at Shinagawa station around 12:30 now, plus half an hour added to get to Ikebukuro, so at least that’s not the entire day wasted on trains, haha. Although the shinkansen are super nice. There’s enough space for me to put my luggage in front of me, although it can get a little cramped for hours on end.

And then my second ticket: tomorrow, to Matsuyama! This is also quite the trip, over 2.5 hours, but it’s just one train, so I can hop on, doze off, and hop out at the terminal station, haha. I wanted to visit Matsuyama last year, but due to the same floodings, it was impossible at the time. And so I wasn’t going to wait much longer and made it my first daytrip from Okayama this time.

Anyway, after checking in to my hotel, I went back to the station for dinner, lamented the fact that one of my favourite restaurants from last year was closed for renovations along with a big part of the food court, found a different restaurant, and promptly ordered their super cute Halloween plate, haha. And now I’m back at the hotel for tonight!

 I suspect my report and photos will be up a little late tomorrow, ahem. Have a good evening, see you!

#report #japan 2019 #report: japan 2019 #report: travel #places: okayama #places: kurashiki

[deafarcher]

Christmas in New York will see the death of all your dreams - almost certainly this refers to Fairytale of New York by the Pogues https://youtu.be/j9jbdgZidu8 

I like Christmas and wish it was a year-round event, also I am kind of stoned. - I wish it could be Christmas every day by Wizzard https://youtu.be/IJPc7esgvsA  (personally I think it’s awful)

I am determined not to repeat previous relationship mistakes. Last Christmas by Wham!  https//youtu.be/E8gmARGvPlI amongst many others, its a common theme.

Nana is going to dance, you might as well embrace it instead of sitting in the corner trying to look cool - I’m stumped on this one, I admit. Call the Brit squad?

I wish it would snow (but it won’t, it’s going to rain) - could be a number of different songs

Haven’t we had enough wars already? So this is Christmas (War is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono https://youtu.be/QHLd7HQfZfA

But what if the star of Bethlehem was a space craft? Weird one, probably Don’t let the Bells End by the Darkness, mostly for the music video, unless my fellow Brits have other ideas https://youtu.be/VQhuoY5h2kE

It’s Christmas for huge hairy recycling fanatics who live in secret on Wimbledon Common - Wombling Merry Christmas https://youtu.be/_JhVkWNHaU4  The Wombles was a family TV show in the 70s-80s about a group of creatures who lived on the common and ‘made good use of the things that everyday folk leave behind’ and were basically ahead of the curve on recycling

And of course ‘We are unsure if an area of the world that was Christian centuries before Britain is aware of the date (but we mean well)’ this is Do they know it’s Christmas by literally everyone you’ve never heard of in the form of Band Aid, Band Aid 20, or Band Aid 30. (Pun unintended). It gets rereleased every so often because the original was a charity record for the East African famine in the Live Aid era. https://youtu.be/j3fSknbR7Y4

#lokitheliesmith #christmas #thank you!! :) #submission

[numbfacemedia-blog]

Ghetto Correspondants (feat. Frankie Diamonds TV).aif transcript powered by Sonix—the best audio to text transcription service

Ghetto Correspondants (feat. Frankie Diamonds TV).aif was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the latest audio-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors. Sonix is the best way to convert your audio to text in 2019.

Yup.

You know, the vibes, hashtags and hot takes PI cars back in the building. Another week I'll bring you a whole fucking which a mental was good was going, nor was shaking on the line right now. Got my homie. Good, good content creator right here. This guy's got he's got all the hot takes. I want to.

I want. Welcome the homie Europe. You're awake. Also known as what is it, Frankie Diamond's TV.

Yeah, Frankie Diamond's TV. That's Frank G. Amongst my YouTube. Bet y'all. I'll say, what's up? I mean, nobody could really say was soft, but sounds like. You know, it's crazy. I'd just finished watching. I got the hookup, too. Really? Yeah. Well, let's jump right into the shits.

We should take our forty seven minutes. I can't get back from my last night.

You know what I've been noticing? Like you are wanted like cause I thought it was just me. But you're like one of the more critical commentators when it comes to black art. Well like you're very critical about it.

Yeah. Because I mean I support black businesses, but I think it's quality first. I mean, I'm not gonna. I'm all about entrepreneurship and black ownership, but we've got to have good quality, too. We can't just I'm not going to just support you because, you know, just because we the same skin color, we got to have equality. Got to be a point to write. Right.

I don't have Stockholm syndrome or whatever. But at the same time, because I got off Friday morning right now, still still good at a couple of checks and all that. You know, I'm a go to movies and check out guy.

I got to look up to what it was I selected.

It's you know, I just do us. Yeah. You know, they don't never put us out like the Avengers all over the place. So I was like, do I really want to pay twelve fifty to see. I got to look up to. And the first one was pretty shitty because I mean in 98 I was a kid, I thought it was good. But when you watch you watch is now 20 years later you might notice it's pretty spot. It's a shitty man.

It was so good comedy but it definitely was. It was it like up there? Hollywood like, come here.

The only thing about this one was the camera quality was better, right? Yeah. Masterpiece.

Got some money. I mean Romeo.

Yeah. Had a lot of cameos. Some of them was like real pointless. But I mean I checked it out. It's just I just was like, yo, I'm sorry, Percy. I just couldn't do it. No, no. Nobody is saying on the media's job. Will shoot. Right.

Magazines with their money put their money in the pockets of the people who created it. I haven't gone to see it because I don't.

I don't do movie theaters. Well, okay. I act like I'm a German phobe. And then ever since I saw the movie Outbreak, I've never wanted to go to a movie theater ever since. And so you'd be hard pressed to find me in a movie theater. Last movie, I think I went to see was the none this. Yeah, it is chick allowed to talk me into going to see this damn movie fucking waste of my time. Wow. Yeah. Much like a date, but masterpiece. When he was on a breakfast club speaking about this, he was saying how, you know, they do put black movies in select theaters, especially something of this magnitude. And then how?

The deal that they have is like you can stream it. So I think you can stream it on like you to ninety nine. Yeah. So as like it might be worth it to pay for me to pay that just to see it because I mean I do. Even if the movie is trash, I'll still put the money into the pockets of the black creators.

Well you put it like that because we all pay to see shitty white movies too. All right. You put it like that. But I mean, for me to go to a theater normally like about seeing The Avengers, like I'll be seeing some real blockbuster shit when I go to the movies.

I don't just go to see.

Or some shit is just to me is is meant to wait for TV. Netflix. One, two, three movies.

You just streaming online for free. Right. But a real. It was a real I mean it was it was I for what it was by me.

And I met Breakfast Club and it was really powerful. But to as. I thought he would do something more serious. I don't think he was requesting I got the hookup.

I don't know. As I was saying, he wanted that. I have no idea.

I mean, especially since the first see of reason. The first one was so dope, in my opinion, was because that was the boom of the cell phone era. So I get this. Cell phones weren't really out like that. Like that if you are a drug dealer. Right. You had to have some money to have a cell phone. And now that cell phones out like that is like I feel like they should have had another medium to work with. But, you know, they did what they did. I'm not. I'm not too critical on it myself.

I mean, I they did talk about gentrification, but I mean, he should have made some more serious.

But why hasn't a rapper with that kind of platform and profile and all of that make a movie about gentrification or talk about some real issues that's going on with black folks setting and just entertainment causes like a lot of us are obsessed, obsessed with escapism. Right now, we like to run away from our reality because it's so harsh. We want to deal with, you know, music and this and that and all this other.

Just why I'd be so hard on niggas like black celebrities like, yo, ya gotta get out of this escapism. The average kid can't be the next Jay-Z. Who doesn't? It's like Stephen a Smith. And I've always said he's a cone and all of this. But Stephen Smith made a cold about a month ago and it was really sad. You know, the average kid can be more like myself before he can be the next Jay-Z or the next Drake or the next Kobe Bryant. So, yeah, because not for nothing.

Kobe Bryant and Drake were more or less developed, I guess. Yes, they were kids like you will be. I'm sure his dad had him. Yeah, they would a ball as long as he could stand.

And oh, he played his dad play ball in the league. And then Kobe was when I was dad taught him first hand. He went to Italy. Right. He called basketball fucking prodigy. But I mean those are one in a million. Every kid on the court think they gonna be the next LeBron Kobe. But most likely they're not as he's being able to get back, stop training your kids just to be an entertainer.

Because I mean, even if you do get into the entertainment business, you can be in and out like you could be Trinidad James.

It don't last that long if everybody's so nice.

The shelf life for an artist or an actor is not like I mean, an actor can go a little longer than an actual music. Art is like a recording artist. You can get you can get about 10, 15 years time as an actor.

You can get about 20, 30.

I mean, look at look at the narrow and fucking Jack Nicholson and some of that, if you're right. Thank you for your resume. Niggas o niggas in the 80s. Right. It's crazy. But it's like I don't even see kids wanting to be doctors and lawyers and cops and shit no more. Everybody, you just want to be a rapper, a singer, a dancer, an actor, some kind of entertainment.

And I'm like, wow, because I'm flashing this day.

When I was a kid that we did a show and tell and all that niggas wanted to be regular, you know, careers. I'm like nobody said in the 90s when he was kid. I want to be a rapper.

Granted, there wasn't too there was like that one kid that always wanted to be a rabbit. It was always one or two.

Yeah. Yeah. Now you 30. Yeah.

Because the degree of difficulty is so low in hip hop right now. And I can't blame anybody for thinking make a rap because you turn on the radio or you go to the club after the shit is so trash and so watered down. That's why everybody thinks they can do it now. When I was growing up and I heard Nas and Biggie, I didn't think I could do that shit. They was doing this shit was impeccable.

Yeah, it was. It was a different time in and then the art was different now. You know, the art is just is instant. You know, like how everything else out here is instant. And the reason is like that is because what. How long does the album last these days? What was the last album that you played over?

I actually you know, to me, this first started a year. I thought 20, 19 was. Compared to last year, only albums are really fucked with this year for real. I like the babies album. Real bump in it. Yeah. Yeah, I do. I go online. Freddy gives a mad lib. I call that a masterpiece. I'm still playing that. That album is dope.

Jimmy. Jimmy. Jim Jones. SHAPIRO. I thought that fire.

I thought it was, too, but it didn't get as much replay, I guess, because replay value, I think really.

One week now. One week. Yeah. So what one would I.

So let's say let's judge these these albums we're talking about on replay value. So the replay value on what Freddie Gibbs and Mad lives that back then I could play that.

Oh yeah. That's just me personally. I just like the round. It's like production and I just I'm a fan of Freddie and. Now big trick. Put the album out last heard. That's pretty dope. I heard I couldn't get past the first nine tracks.

So how many tracks is on it?

It's like 18. And that's the one thing about you. I'm like, yo, put the replay value so low. Like Chris Brown put out an album two weeks ago. Got 30 tracks. I don't have tops at 30.

Sure. Don't say niggas a whole year to listen.

Exactly. You say you listen to this shit the whole day at work.

But you know, the baby album was just recently value on that because I've never listened to him. I heard him on a song on a radio. Yeah. What does that dad do? She'll get her that track. I was like, oh the nigga actually can read it if you like to me when I hear like a new artist today, I'm thinking all them niggas are like singing, rapping with the auto you like, and it's fucked up that I don't even give niggas the benefit of the doubt.

I'm the same way I did. I did a video on YouTube on a double excel freshman list and I should add on, maybe it was. How many of them was it like? Not. I might as shit shitted on six them and it was like, Oh, you got to check out Randy Rich. You got to check out Sierra Wag or you got to know. And I still haven't gotten around to it. But I mean, some people that try to tell you and sometimes you'll be surprised when these cats can read. Right. You know, I look at some of you know, when I look at that list, when it first came out, you had J.

Cole, Kindred, U.S. heavy hitters on that. I'm like, ls like Blue Face. Come on.

Oh, yeah. I know you think he gonna be around the way he's spending his money and the fact that he's with Birdman. I probably give him a year. Damn, he got two girlfriends. You know, so mean. Oh yeah. He definitely in need. Become another song that you can't that that lifestyle with two girls and that that the honesty is getting kind of old. So I mean I still kinda that she was all like after the first month that had no replay value.

Yeah. But do you go out to the clubs and shit like that. Nah man I'll just go to the clubs.

They still playing songs that songs that came out February March. So I'm still I still hear it every now and then.

But yeah I don't, I don't think I hate to be that negative and say so much so I gotta put this much time and that. But I don't think he's gonna be around 20 years from now.

Oh hell no. If you had to pick out of artists from this. The last 10 years. Who do you think should be around in 20 years?

Well, you make it as far as adding 10 onto what's going on right now or you talking 20, 30, something like 24.

Yeah. Add add 10 on to what's going on. Yeah. So right now.

See, the thing about that is I can say J. Cole, I can see Kendrick Agassi. But the way rap is, the older you get the day phase you out eventually.

I mean a over 35, 40 years old on the radio, unless it's like Z, obviously J got to you got the NSA in his back pocket and you think that's what's keeping him afloat?

Oh, hell yeah. Hell yeah. Know you've got Rick Ross. Rick Ross. Probably the only thing I could think of a 40 that still gets play. You know, long a string.

We've got to give it up to Ross though. Even though my folks don't want to give him is his.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But he knows a lot and Jay niggas hear the niggas got hear four beats. Yeah. And his flow is impeccable man.

He's nice. He's nice. I don't like him as a character. This is I kid and I've never denied it. But he's Molly the only person I could think of over 40 that you hear on the radio. So to answer your question, I don't know honestly, because what I want him to get a release date.

Finally, he's even teasing his name, calling it OK.

Go on, push it back to August. But I don't know, Mac, as they date this business, it's not designed for you to be in. It's a 20 year strong and still be relevant usually to people that are relevant to people who are doing movies, television. They had to move on to another outlet of entertainment because in hip hop, when you get like, look at Mickey.

Mickey is almost 40. They they think they done what they watched their as well.

You know, what was Nick Faldo? And I sat back and I watched the whole situation between her and and how that Remi shit and then her album and the Cardi shit played out. First of all, Nicki did in. She didn't embrace none of the younger artists. You know, I'm saying like Dre. He was known for that. Like the young nigga coming up. Even if even if we were like not him niggas is wack. Drake made it it hot trigger.

Why did he would ride the wave? Right. Right. But me goes with the head. How to song it to somebody you know who did that? Like who? Yeah.

You know who was famous for that before? Drake. Daisy. Yup. Maybe he will go down south. Get on the south niggas BS and we blow the shit hard. Yeah but if Jay wasn't on it niggas wasn't fucking with it.

Jay if you pay attention to his career, he stood next to whoever was hot, right. It's all career rather was Biggie DMX.

He did join us, but he did the juvenile ha remakes. He did.

He went on tour with City as because Hos wasn't dead.

He didn't let his ego get the best of you know, he did those kind of album, you know. I mean, he always did that. I think that was Cameron's downfall. Cam does hands. Mosquito Cam wouldn't be number two to anybody like the Harlem nigga shit.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm kind of you know, it broke my heart when I see Dame Dash go out like that.

Oh, man. Yeah. The problem is because Dame wanted to be too real. Why? And there's nothing wrong with being real. But in this industry, you've got to understand. Yes, a lot of snakes around here. And if your ball would be bored with it, but that only you got to throw niggas under the bus, because what happens now is motherfuckers want to blackball you. The niggas with all the money and the power can somehow bury you even if you do money.

I think he felt confident to do that because he's already blackball you. All right. He's a Monique status. When you've already been black, you ain't got nothing else to lose. I was disappointed because it was really building up like a new foundation. He was really building up steam. He had his YouTube and all of that. And then all of a sudden you apologize. And I think it happened right after he did. The Rock Nation Barbecue.

Yeah, right. Yeah. You're known as cleaning Lady Gaga.

God. People got on me about that. I was like, yo, man. They've done a shit. But I read it when I did it.

And it was cool. It was beautiful. But at some point, when did he. We'll get together and put the money together and put an agenda, I say let's do some push the call.

You're breaking up. You got to sit still. Yeah. You good now? But you started breaking up, OK?

I was saying, like the Rock Nation shit. I'm like, at what point do everybody stay? Get together and put their money together? I say, yeah, let's do something for people and push this shit forward. Russell, take a photo watching, looking cute for the gram. I'm like, yo, that shit is old now. I mean, that's not black excellence.

That's just a bunch of niggas taking pictures and shit with bottles and minnows. And I mean, I was like, that's my issue.

That's totally my issue. The fact that all of these motherfuckers get together, it's like, what is the purpose of these brunches other days? Like you said, photo ops like it. I haven't heard like one deal that somebody was like, yeah, we was at the Rock Nation Brunch in Bam! This idea came up while I was at the Rock Nation Brunch and bumped into Solid Soul. He was like, Yo, let's make some happen. You never hear that.

No, no, you don't. And people don't hold it. We don't hold them accountable. So you can say anything because everybody is so caught up in the celebrity, in their escapism.

You're just like, oh, shit, did he took a picture with Jay. Right. Yeah. And Jim Jones and hard gave another speech. Yeah. I'm like, okay.

But like what point do we start? Like some of these cats are from the most poorest neighborhoods in cities across the U.S.. And I'm like they've all let these cities get took over with gentrification. And I'm like, that's why I fuck with new sneakers and if she was trying to fight it.

Marshawn Lynch, who used to play in the NFL, is out there in Oakland. Try to fight that shit buying property. I'm like, what did J do for Marcy Wooden puzzle do for Harlem?

And he could go on and on and I'm like, yo, yo, niggas aren't really doing nothing right but job, you know, y'all got benefit offered a third about selling all stories, but I'm not doing anything and putting that money back into that. So that's what my issue with most black celebrities really be. I love my black people, but I mean, I'm a color how I see it, as you should know.

And that was that was my issue with. What is it, the fucking little mermaid shit.

What's going on at the know end about it myself with my co-workers telling me they got the BlackBerry. I was going to play a Little Mermaid.

Yeah, one at Holly Bailey. Yes.

I'm always going to be the main character area. Yeah, I think she's gonna play Ariel.

I mean, you can hey, I could sit there and tell you we was the first people here on this earth and I could give a history lesson. I'm not gonna do all that. But I mean, shit. It is what it is. I mean, I was telling my people said, Yo, The Lion King.

Forget the fact that it's in Africa. Most of the people that played the voices on those characters are black people.

This is a cartoon format, so you can't really see it. So, I mean. What's the big deal about this black girl playing a fucking mermaid is a fiction movie.

Well, it I don't think I see my take on this because I was very critical about this. And even to this day, like me, my girlfriend was talking about the other night and I just get so heated by it because we have the quote unquote woke people who talk about like we don't want pandering from our politicians.

Right. We choose who we want to let pander us like this Black Mermaid is to me, if you asked me, I think is a form of pandering, because why else would black people lie? If the Little Mermaid wasn't black, I don't think as many black people will be excited about it to go out and see it. They know how to get us to spend our money.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Just like the Black Panther movie. That movie made all that money and writing it from it and making sure a million. Yeah, we think it's shit. Niggas was coming to the movie theaters and Dashiki. And Kim Jaffe Joe for outfits and all that Lincoln shit.

And that's not an argument like we let these companies pander to us much and we be like, oh yeah, nice. That is a victory. This is we. We finally get representation. I can see characters that look like a life some more.

It's a moral victory. It's like I told them about Obama. Rather as Black Panther. Laughter. It's like the Cleveland Browns, right? They've been sorry for like 40 years. If they make it to the playoffs, even if they lose about 20 points, it's a moral victory just because they finally got to that point. JOHNSON We may get not as kicked for so long. Black people, any little thing of progress is like a of it.

So, I mean, that's why I said this is like this is like basically a seat at the white man's table. You're not allowed to sit at the table. You can sit in the same room, but not at this table. We'll give you a steak, but you gotta eat. Just take off the floor. Did you and I was having this debate with people like do your not see the what's going on here? Like your claim me all so well, but I don't even see the bullshit and everybody. Oh, we fucked. We finally got a black mermaid. We ain't got shit.

And you know what's crazy about the whole world? Why? People know that we're more intelligent. We got more resources of information now, so. Right. They know the whole won't culture. That's why I don't even use the word word. I think that commercialized the whole state. Well, turn when Childish Gambino had that song last year with us on a rare Bone Jovi book. Stay well. Shit. Yeah. So it's like they know a lot of us are waking up in a morning. So why people are waking me up earlier. So now I just gotta step their game up and they're still able to confuse you, manipulate you and yada, yada, yada.

So I called it conscious. But I mean, you have to really think and a lot of most others don't want to say that is on the beach. Oh, how to say by somebody else. Exactly. You know, I don't have an opinion of their own. It's always going to be more seats.

You know, I was always going to be my father wasn't leaders that you hit it right on the head. And by the way, the world has to work, you know? Yeah. Because the problem is, if it takes too much effort to think, you know, family and we as bleep, we're already behind the eight ball. So we are here struggling every data to make ends meet. We are here, you know, trying to keep your kids out of the street like you got too much other shit going on to actually sit down and do some studying. So any little like you said, a little more victory is a win in our book, but I think is bullshit like bullshit.

And then I don't like how to look. I was someone you watched a shot on HBO on Showtime now really watch TV.

Okay, I'll be back. I don't blame you, but it's like I was telling my course.

Say, yo, Chicago has become the new city for like black exploitation. Like back in the day, all of the hood movies took place in New York. Right? Or you, L.A. like Compton. Watch Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn. It's like Chicago is now, you know, because all the homicides are murder. It's like the last five, six black movies I can remember watching took place in the south side of Chicago. They are just exploiting Chicago and all of the horror stories that people are really going through and making money off of it in these movies in my day, not put nothing back into the city or the neighborhood. It's like you got the Barbershop 3. That was about Chicago. Yeah, the shop which I watched. That's about Chicago. Another cat was all breakfast club. He's got a show about Chicago. You've got the beats on Netflix with Davis and Anthony Anderson.

Part of my dad is exploiting the city and talking about these issues and my body are doing for these people.

All right. I'll be thinking deeply because it's like all when there's money to be made. That's when they'll do it. If your city got bad enough, they'll start doing movies about it, too.

And your people are gonna get shit on my desk.

That's like exploitation of one on one to me. But that's what they're doing right now. They've been doing it for years. But Chicago's just happened to be that city right now that they don't write in.

And it's not going to and is not going to change, because I would think if you're doing that right, like you're gone and you're exploiting these cities, like remember how when they had the wire.

Yeah, Baltimore. And they were I used you live in Baltimore.

Yeah. But they were using people from the neighborhood to you know, there was sprinkle amended with the with the there the actors and that's how we should be black put money in the pockets of these people in cities like don't just come here, set up shop and then, you know, shoot, just shoot them. Bounce now and bounce. You leave everything dilapidated. You ain't even attempt to help one family.

No. That's what Spike Lee did with the shot reaction. Like he just came in and he shot the movie. He didn't do his real study on a coaches or a lot of people from Chicago was like, yo, let's not talk now, eat.

That's not how we eat out. You know, in a spike Lee's funny to me because I'm in a few years ago, he got so frustrated he couldn't win an Oscar. He was at the Academy Awards. Hey, it is a racist. Well, she you know, then take a one award this year.

I think it was that I met a guy and did what he had done, some weird suit to write some Willy Wonka shit.

I think it was hugging them like, thank you for finally accepted me.

I see this as once again, Megan, who has won a seat at the table. Yeah, they really do. I said this before, right? In this I said this years ago, this is in reference to beyond, say, because people put beyond say up on this pedestal, right. And the reason that her fans drive me crazy, right. Just just wait for her fans. Drive me crazy because they put her up there on his pedestal. Right. You can't say nothing bad beyond say never has a bad pitcher. She never has a bad day like. She's just perfect, right? Yeah. But when she doesn't get an award from these academies, it's like, oh, they don't respect greatness and they don't do this. It's like what does like if you got 10 million followers, I don't know how many followers she got. But let's just throw this out there. She got 10 million followers, right. That's 10 million people that are willing to do anything you say at any moment. Like he's my father. They dropped all kids to go pick up your fucking boobs.

But you kind of started that shit when he interrupted Taylor Swift. Exactly. I started to hold Beyonce.

They must have everything. And she's the best and all of that. But you'll be RC came to my city last year and did her and Jay-Z did the tour and I did it at the football stadium on a run.

You know, get a run, whatever the fuck it was called. And they don't you know, they let kids out a half a day. Early school girl got out like eleven o'clock. So they knew the traffic was gonna be that bad. Well I missed it. Yeah. For the army like Beyonce, they got the whole school shut down.

Right. But back to my point. Right. Why do you need an award to let him know your value? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like, what do you go on social media? You see that more focused treat you and your husband like fucking royalty. Yeah. What the fuck do you need this award? Then they want that validation. They want the white man is validated all on it. I'm allowed in your club. That's what pisses me off about this wolk shit. We are so fucking hell bent on being woken in black excellence. Does black excellence that still the white man's approval and his like. And this is no disrespect to any white people because, you know, a lot of times on his podcast people think that be going on some light super pro black shit that I'd like hate white. It has nothing to do with that.

The the thing is that.

Our people don't need to be valid, like white people who look for black people validation power.

They know how to get our dollar here. They don't. They don't care. If you would nominate Brad Pitt at the BDC, you would. Yes. If I watch I don't watch the Grammys.

I stopped watching it years ago. I don't watch the Oscars. I don't watch none of these fucking shows. I didn't watch the beauty awards. I mean, I don't watch. I don't know that white validation or whatever long it should be. I don't need somebody to meet my people.

Who was the best hip hop artist to be? Had those panels as a bunch of old white guy.

I know. What? What? Well, yeah.

Well, my goal, my Apple music is going to tell you the heavy rotation in my shit, a bunch of old white guys are gonna tell you who is the best rapper you know about my man.

Don't let folks get mad and then let it all on and tweet. Slate, dig. How about we add to that point earlier we were saying about the Rock Nation Brunch. We have all these millionaires within our own fucking. Scuse me, I own ethnicity or whatever race, culture, whatever you want to call it, we have all these motherfuckers with this money. Why do they not take their money and pull it together and do something for our people? Like everybody praises Tyler Perry, right, for that for his ownership speech and. All right. And all that. I should put my focus be overlooking a lot of the snakes, should they? He do. Yeah, actually. All right. The simple fact that Hill Hill, you know, a lot of his movies have a stereotype of how they depict the black man.

Oh, yeah. That definitely for Colored Girls was a horror movie. I mean, I couldn't blame any woman if you watched that and she didn't want to date a black man again. They made us look like. Right. Monsters and shit. But, you know, I will get him somewhat of the best student.

That was a that was based off a book. So it wasn't like he wrote it.

But he still chose to put it out as a black.

And that's fine with me. I got no problem with that. But what I do have a problem with is balance. Yeah. If you won't make us look crazy. Lindsay Tanner was looking great to be good. Are some great men out here.

But like what you were saying about putting their money together and I was gonna do a video on this false black ownership levels to this shit. We got a lot of millionaires. We don't have a lot of billionaires. We only got five. One of them recently. I could've sworn Dr. Dre made a billion before James even maybe unplugged. When I did it, I was there.

He said that they preemptively jumped the gun with that speech or title because his they sold the stock, I think beats by Dre.

The company itself was worth over a billion dollars some Welker.

But so yeah, we got Jay now and we got Bob Johnson really got five billionaires. Oprah. Roger Smith. Yeah. Now. And Byron Allen, I believe is a billionaire. But we have levels to this ownership ship. We got a lot of millionaires. We don't have a lot of billionaires. I mean, when Puffy and Steph Curry and Em was talking about buying the Carolina Panthers. Right. Every sports team is worth over one hundred billion dollars. You couldn't buy that on your own. You'd have to get minority stock ownership and everybody had to pulling together. Right. But it's a lot of false right now. I love Ice Cube as my nigga, but they're putting him as the spokesperson at the big three.

He isn't he doesn't own the company.

He's a he's one of the best way owners. Yeah. He's the face that promotes it because he's a celebrity. But he doesn't own it completely.

He's like it's like him in two or three other dudes. Right. And I say, Magic owns the Dodgers. No, magic has 50 million or minority ownership. The game is worth 50 billion dollars. So you do the math. He owns it. He's a he's one of the many owners.

But the way they sold it to us is that, oh, magic on the Dodgers or on Jay Z on the net when he only owns 2 percent.

They've got a rule like J.C. rule in the NBA now where you can't own less than 2 percent.

Right. And also, we got a lot of minority owners. Oprah sold her network. A lot of niggas don't know that. She don't relish more. Yes.

He sold 70 percent of it to Discovery. Discovery brought this shit up.

Well, you know what that is, though, right? That's that big bag. Take little bank shit.

Yeah. Yeah. And I still call it the own network. So they write it well because writes it they change the name of it. They're gonna lose, they're gonna lose subscribers as a premium channel.

So they take they to deceive you like odes to Oprah's shit. Right. Or watch it. Yo Oprah. I've got nothing to do with that.

No. It was like I was this point in this. Years ago, two friends of mine, as you know, I used to live in Vermont and people in Vermont take their pride in their local brands in Green Mountain Coffee, which is a great coffee company. They make amazing coffee. You know, used to be a local brand, but is now owned by Coca-Cola. A lot of people were upset. I don't support it because Coke owns it and is, you know, corporate conglomerate bullshit.

You know, I'm saying all of that shit in what I said to somebody is big bank take low lobbying drink. In order for this company to survive, they're gonna have to sell or that company is going to go under because what's going to happen is the competition's going to force you up. It's like hustling. Nigga, if we got dope on the same block, right? I'm up the street. You down the street.

My traffic is a little more flowing because I got a better product. Oh, so what you do, you go on upping your product because you got more money, you upping your product.

You don't have to cut it as much because now you've got twice as much as I do and you're able to undercut me with the price. So what's going to happen? Nigga, you think they go. They were paying eight dollars up the street. They could pay six. What? Down the street. They only get. It's simple mathematics, but people get so caught up in this. Oh, it started small. We got to keep it small is like no body starts. A company with the hopes of there is just going to be us far for for.

I mean, look at look at Amazon to start edition in his garage. And they did Amazon Prime. Day to day life just like Amazon has taking over Wal-Mart. Like you're you wipe out everything and you're just gonna be online by it.

Yeah. So, yeah, it started out as a just awesome garage sale shit.

Niggas started selling books. Yeah. You're selling books. Textbooks. Yeah. Book. No. Isn't it. You could buy a thing from build those motherfucking socks.

Anything on that. Anything. Anything in there. Killing it. Did you see.

Since we're talking about this, why does sceptics in fake ownership. Did you see Dapper Dan on the Breakfast Club.

I heard most of it. I've seen a little bit of it. Yeah. Dapper Dan. I was glad I did that. It's all about to happen there.

So he basically was on there. And it was it was interesting, right? I'll tell you why. Because he started off by saying, you know, the reason that he's working with these companies is because he wants to get global and he knows that.

If he just makes it for Harlem, nigga is only gonna stay in Harlem. He can only go as far as those Harlem walls to let him.

So if you want to be in China, you gotta fuckin appeal to that, right?

You gotta have the the big the big corporation back into those stores now. What Charlemagne was asking him is, well, what can we do that with a Sean John or FUBU or any of these other black companies?

He was saying, what did he say? He said that we don't put that value in our own clothing. And basically, like, we will spend money on it, but it doesn't mean anything to us.

You know what it is? It's like, OK. I'm excited. I used to watch Rock, all that, you know, urban fashion. But you would think the most I pay for a charge on. I was like a hundred and twenty.

Back to you. Yeah. But you wouldn't pay. The average black person is not going to pay. Let's say. OK, a pair. Gucci flip flops is 250, right? Yeah. Would you pay to fifty nine? You probably wouldn't.

But you can make is that a pay 250 for those Gucci slice but wouldn't pay to 50 for let's say some Shaun John slash background. The Rockaway side is awesome. Any urban brand you could think of is just beach. We don't, we're programmed to think less of ourselves. So. Than that top dollar. Fendi.

Prada, Louis. We don't put any value. Did we were to spend that kind of money on a hood naked T-shirt? Right. I'm sick because this is one of us. But when it comes to that and you know, it's easy when you walk into those stores you could sell, you've got to know your financial status. A lot of black people don't. They think they middle class. But if you live in check that check. You're not middle class, man. You know, I mean, you know, on a map, you, you know, say you getting by, but you're not middle class. But you go into a Gucci store. It's clear. It's not designed for poor black folks. It's because, like, they don't play Gucci stores in the hood.

No, they put them in the suburbs on outlets or big malls. They don't put Louis in. They put that stuff far away from you as possible. They're letting you know this isn't to you. But we own it and eat it up and buy it anyway. And I'm like, why are you on niggas? I'm not paying to for those sandals. I'm sorry. Yeah, okay. I don't care how much money I got. I don't care what logo you got on this ship. I got it.

And I think just what it is, too, is more or less the the pill, too. Right. Because when you look at Sean, John, a lot of people if you notice now, at least I know with our generation like the that age bracket, a lot of us, we don't like the big logo. You don't like? We don't want. We don't. I'm not a billboard for you. Like, I would love the wisdom, Sean. John, if it didn't say fuck it. Didn't have a signature across the front of me.

You know, I'm saying get like a little logo or design.

You know, the saying less is more is very true. Like Nicki, you don't have to do all that shit like you don't get polo.

I got a little time. I was just about to say that thank goodness I got on a polo t shirt right now and a little horse is down at the bottom in the corner. That's all.

You know, the rest of the shirt is just itself. And you got that little logo.

That's all you need in. And we eat that shit up because. Yet we place. We we help increase that value.

Stop. Oh, no. Yes. Oh, you just think every day, even though you think this shit is better than you look. Like I say, you like Dapper Dan saying you don't put that much value into your own shit. I would never mean I'm not a bit into the European fashion shoot, but I know niggas who are they would not pay nearly as much. So is there any urban clothing I could think of? Like tr still got a cool, right?

I think so. Yeah. Not thinking. I think. Yeah. I think it. But I know he also got that hustle gang won.

Yeah. Yeah. But niggas would not pay more than 40 dollars for a hustle game shirt but they pay two hundred for a Fendi shirt. So I mean it's this is the way it is. There's been too much push for a hundred years of programming.

You can't embrace it. So.

Right. And because you they put it on a runway we see like some model in it. Yet I see. It's like good New York Fashion Week.

That's fucking trash man is what they do.

And they end up with the hottest celebrities in it.

That's I like you. I just didn't like how dapper Dan made it seem like we're only as good as this ratio or our square blocks. Like all of these companies have the potential to go far. It's like just like how you got Gucci to work with you because you said that they're paying homage. Nigga helped them fucking bring up another company. Tell them to fuckin underwrite one of these companies like help your people like buy your Napoli damn well for self right now.

Yeah. He's always been on for self because isn't his brand was Kate. It's always like a say back in the day was drug dealers and rappers. Right. Going to your store. Regular people are Harlem couldn't afford that shit. Yeah. Yeah. And so and now his resurgence and she's trying to go after the people that got money. This just goes back to what I put to the Gucci stores in the suburbs.

And they don't put that shit in the hood because they know people in the hood can't afford it. So dad trying to go for that. You know, that brand of people who got it to spend it.

So he's always been about that. He never gave up. You know, the better for us now. You know? Yeah. The money then. Yeah. But if you had the money, if you'd call him black dapper Dan and I have a best for blacks in a sec as he comes from poor black.

Yeah. It's awesome. Poverty.

The niggers. He told his story about how they used to fuck it and had to rob supermarkets for food.

The nigger said he went back to high school at twenty three.

I mean, it's just it's it's just the same man. When I see what we do to our own people was like, we're they. None of us give a shit, but we plain we give a shit. You don't think it's only Kevin is like, you know it, which is a good Segway into this whole ASAP rocky thing. Oh, God, it's only a it's because of the conversation that can be had, right? Yeah. Cause remember, I mean, two totally different cases. But Freddie Gibbs was locked up in Austria for day. I said I don't think it's a rape. It was there for that, right? Yeah. We talked about this like niggas dating because it was it like for one this does too. I have two takes on as well. Anytime there is a rape accusation.

Niggas won't touch it even if they know your character. Lightning. We could grow up, be buddies hand in hand if you or I get one of those charges is like shit.

I don't know. We got we did in fact like that happen for free. Right. This was amazing to me. Oh damn, you have one.

And I was like when I was young. That's why when I was watching that 6 post. Good. It's kind of hard for me to watch. Yeah. When I was younger, I was like 13. I got accused. Shit like that.

Wow. Yeah. Really? When you as a man. I was a boy. Yeah. People don't give you the benefit of the doubt when you are shit. Yeah, you're right.

Especially if light is like my fault. I grew up with you now. Not for nothing. Niggas already know their homeboys that it creeps. You know, I'm sayin like you noted, nigga, that if they said he'd make this nigga design, you might look at him sideways. Be like, nigga, I seen you at a few parties, nigga. Try and put your arm up this big box so you know. But when that happened to a friend of mine, I was like that. I don't even sound like him. Why would the fuck gone? And then, you know, come to find out the chick ly because she was fucking around her. Do she want to do to notice she was cheating and all that bullshit. Right. You ruin a nigga name over some bullshit. Same thing with Freddie Gibbs. Now I don't know Freddie give personally, but through his music and the way he carries himself. I never saw that being his character, you know, saying like this something like you've never seen him with chicks and videos where he's like 7 to chicken eyes and doing all his extra shit. Now if I see that, I'm sorry. I don't care what type of man you are. I'm going to second guess. If a woman says that you did something to her. If you had these these type of images. I'm just saying, like, I'm going to when I see me eat me, I'm looking out.

I get what you're saying. And I see it that way, too. But my take is we had the meat to our souls.

A lot of girls our age is one explosive. What's come up is one to come up in a check.

So, I mean, right now, you really know. I try not to think about it. When somebody gets into a situation like that on my. I don't notice a knock. That's what I'm saying.

That's the other side of it. So now was like lone rape accusations. You don't want to touch you like love you myself.

That's why I didn't talk about it. The only thing I said about a sap was that I remember when he was like, Yo, all lives matter.

Yeah, he was. Can't relate to Mike Brown. I can't relate to Eric Gardner. He gave he basically gave everybody who's asked cuz yell out. He in trouble. He down and out. If you want everybody's support. My mom and look look at you now. Like what guys.

Does he really want everybody's support or does he just want to come. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Because we've never heard from him. Nobody had him on the phone like yo ease up on a phone, talk to the people you know if you want to fuck.

Yeah. Everyone's given him their support.

I know y'all tend to forget he didn't he wasn't really rocking with us like that. Basically it's like us other nigga Travis got. Yeah. He said on Breakfast Club he was like yeah. My brother wasn't pretty big too. All right.

The cops did what they had to do in a year from Texas. And he was getting up to do with me or some shit like that.

So some of these niggas basically get money and I forget where it come from because he gets so disconnected from black reality when you got money. First thing we do. We get money. We go to the suburbs and get around white people. Right.

And act different. Yeah, we get the fuck away from my own. And now a sad. Rocky is fill in that nigga. You still nigga.

Yeah, he got that. Even if you went to bands, you're still a nigga mob. That's what this is is the moment it was his.

See, the thing about his statements is he was wrong for that. I totally agree. Like that was fucked up. Like you should've just been like, look, man. No comment.

Or like, don't say nothing less is more like don't say nothing. Especially if you have something negative to say negative. Your mom always said being nice to say, don't say nothing at all. No. This nigga. He said that that was fucked up. Now I want to know what the hell is going on. Because if there's some, like, racist shit, like bring em out, why we you know, like as black people, we should not want to see a black man in jail. I don't give a fuck, which is why unless you did some heinous shit. Now, if you'd like out here killing babies and raping women like they could go to jail, fuck you. Okay, I'll do it like you while you always belong in jail. But. The says some some some off the wall shit. I need you, God. We won't hold you to that. No, we ego forget, but yeah. I don't want take some with him.

Threaten to leave. I'm just right. I'm not going out of my way like I'm not writing these paragraph captions on this.

I'm not doing all of that. Hey, you know, thing pieces out of me.

Yeah. I mean, God bless you. But I'm not. I'm not doing all that. I'm not. I'm not hanging up signs and I'm not getting tattooed and I'm not doing all that.

But because from from then that's crazy. Some might get a free ASAP tattoo, right?

Not now. I've seen niggas with Wi-Fi signals tattooed on a net. What? Yeah. Yeah. It's like using old niggas is getting like wildfire niggas you just bored by yo.

What do you want? Nigga, give me a likable nigga. I ran out of room to get I personally day man.

Men shouldn't get tattooed on a ledge. If you're gonna get tattoos on your legs, that means you've run out of room from the right stuff. Some niggas have ran out of room literally. So now they're getting started. Shit, I'm not your young niggas. Gotta relax.

It depends on the tat. Like. I'm all for the body are like I like turtles, but it depends. Like I'm gonna leave. Don't don't touch it face. Like that's just the dumbest thing.

Dad, what are you doing now? You know, I don't know how much kind of job security. You go ahead. I think he's really thinking about this. You know, the end. No, I'm not thinking about what they're going to do 20 years from now. Well, if they can be so nice them on to something, I don't plan on being here. It's going to cause riots.

Really, a lot of them aren't planning on it, which is really sad.

Oh, I forgot to Segway into this earlier. What do you think about that? Appreciate.

Oh, man, this ain't the first time that Jermaine Dupri says some off the wall shit in an interview in this fucking era. Like once again. Nigga, you shouldn't have said anything. And I think the problem is he said too much. He should've just said a lot of them sound alike, which I get. There are some women, you know, like the whole twerk generation shake. Yes. Which is fine. I'm all for women's empowerment. You can go catch me singing on it as shit, but do they all like you? I have no problem with it, but. JD put his foot in his mouth because he shouldn't Asian is that they all sound like strippers rapping because in now all of a sudden that sounds like an attack.

Yeah. It it sound like an attack on Okada. It sounds like an attack on. I guess he was trying to go and make the stallion, too.

Yeah. Yeah. All the girls that I've been I will say there was a Muslim and some people were like, well, Foxy and Little Kim was doing that.

So yeah, but they were like the only two. Trina came later. You had more diversity from the female rappers back then. You had Lauryn Hill, you had ease, you had Queen Latifah, M.C. Light. I think now is just all of them.

Now, you do have female rappers that don't do that strip club gimmick. Right. But thing is, if you're not talking that agenda, they're not going to play you. Right. We have heard of Rhapsody. Yeah. Yeah. She's dope. But she goes she looks like a dyke and she's not talking the talk shit. They don't play her. They don't write her.

Because you've got to go out of your way to listen to the other side. That is comfortable with yet or is upset. Now seeing that I'm like one Jermaine, like you're a part of the same business.

You know why these girls are doing all of this? Is that job. Don't push the girls who do the alternative. You just gotta push the Lauryn Hill types anymore. You only push to make Stallion City Girls Cardi B get up. And that's why all these girls, they want to get that bag. So they gonna do what it takes to because they know what it takes to get high because they're not gonna play.

Remy was supposed to be caught. Nikki's replace me. Yeah, but really didn't push their sex like they wanted. And Remy is a little rough around the edges. You know, jump in a little time. Scottie was the more sexy, safe, safe pick. Yeah. So Damon plays Cordy with Nemo and Nick even really got out. She did to sheet this shit and she illness initiated. Right. But they replaced, they slide, they played chess and they skipped over Remy and Sam Corey just called it that agenda that they wanted. So it's like to him to be in the industry, you know, you ain't done, bro. You know what any of these girls do on that.

You were part of the business and Jermaine Dupri is part of that. He's from that cloth of this circle of friends. Did you you said always, always never liked him.

I respect them. But Jermaine Dupri made all his money off the little kids you know about criss cross the bread.

He was with TLC that none of them made any money. That's why the brand works for Ricky Smiley now. Yeah, which is sad, really. I mean, if she's happy, does dope, but legit. Yeah. I feel like said she was the first female platinum audits. Right.

Like you should you should be a little more ahead. And see, that's the part to like. Do we want. Do we want female rappers to be like super lyrical or do we want them to have some sort of sex appeal to like because the sex appeal like that should look good. I'm sorry. I don't look good.

One of my favorite was Eve because I thought he was a mixture of both. She had syphilis. She wasn't as sexy as Cam or whoever, but she had a sex appeal. And she also like the kind of like the cute girl next door look she doesn't like. And then she also had good content and she could rap and she could hold it down with X and all of them niggas. The you could make songs, even though that made the first three albums was dope.

Okay. Nobody said like he was dope. Now I can say whatever by her now you know. But she was dope as a rapper. I like that. I mean, I mean but me like Nicki, I could never relate to Nicki Minaj. I thought her music was catered towards gay dudes and girls. You know, I'm just not going to run around in my car listening to you talk about sucking dick all day. But, you know, it depends. This is the diversity is all I want. I mean, everybody should have a choice, should be options as many rappers as we've got now. It should be way more options than it's ever been. But instead, everybody's doing the same thing.

They are in and I and I think, like you said, that whole agenda of my fucking.

We want. We want to strip club music. We want to talk music like that's cool. Like you said in the club, certain there are certain songs that need to be played in a club. Like if I go to a club and a plane, all fucking hard core liberal cool shit.

I would be like, not as safe as Spock. If you came in a club and I was playing gangster, fuck you, you tried to run.

And this is no disrespect to gangster, but every every group hip hop artist has their place. Yeah. And they'll do it right. We need to stop thinking. Just because just because I think you hot doesn't mean the rest of the world supposed to agree with me like nigga. I think before I listen to my fucking caches, not too many my folks know about caches that I'd be like, you're listening. Hi. I going around being like, yo yo. I'm listening to cash out niggas. What? Because that shit ain't for everybody.

And then when they start listening. So if you like what I've been listening to what they want. Exactly.

And it's a competition of who can be dope, eh? Once again, we. This is the whole fucking wide acceptance because now we're trying to chase this, quote unquote, invisible. Invisible trophy that they're, you know, waving in front kids at the end of the day. What did these women what did these female rappers going to get like was the ultimate goal other than they trying to secure a bag, make sure they got their family secure? All of that nigger. What are you out here reaching for? Cause there's no trophy at the end of the fucking row. Yeah. You see Redlands.

Yeah, exactly. It's no longevity because I'm like, you know, when you look at sexy girls now, I will say Nicki made herself empire and she's gonna be comfortable financially.

So life's right. Something happens. Lil Kim is doing reality shows. How little Kim? She fumbled bag.

You know, what's your favorite? Lil Kim in my home. You saw about this the other day. Niggas was a little Kim's like no, like favorite Lil Kim like version.

Which era niggas is tall. Oh, yeah. Kim like she was Jordans and shit like. What do you like. I like ninety nine to two thousand Lil Kim. Some other matrix. K I you know face the surgeons right now. I told my albums, I'm told them about face was.

Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was the second album. That was a face of the way she transformed herself. One second. Right. Right. I did not hardcore Lil Kim. Ninety six nine.

She was she was pretty. She was sitting on the album cover when she got an album cover man got niggas through a rough period in time.

My cousin stood at one point, you know, in his day. He's had a lover over like 20 years. I said, dead nigga, I will not take that, that I share price stuck to the wall.

You could take the thumbtacks I saw.

She is still like it just doesn't know on any day. That was my favorite version of Kim. Kim was Dukes. I don't know how she looked like fuck.

She's like an Asian lady. Like a fat Asian woman.

Sure. I want them bitches of Mob Wives New York to do surgeries, not about poll taxes.

So I don't know. She just she don't look. She looks like a clown. Right. So in and I don't know.

Like who? Who. Who's to blame for women in our culture? Our black women? Going overboard with the plastic surgery and surgery is shit.

Cosmetic surgery, yeah, because black women look at look at Phylicia Rashad.

Somebody is me along. Some of these girls like I was posting somehow listen. And I'll be posting cougars all the time on my Instagram. I'm like, yo, these girls did nothing. These women did nothing to their faces. Still beautiful.

So when I look at like Vivica Fox and my Vivica was like my crushes kid, she didn't need to do any of that shit. She did it. I made some things about it is something is telling them they need to because Hollywood puts so much pressure. That's what I'm saying to look a certain way. You've got to have your lips this size. You ask gotta be the size, your waist. And that's why I do it now. Why do girls do it? You know, I don't know. Girls in the hood getting fake ass injections.

What was she saying, Resa? It's the same thing. Like they're going for some sort of idea of what men want. And we as MIT black men like niggas, you know, I swear to God niggas would if I let me let me take my time with this. This is why you're flustered, right? So these women, when they were younger and they dated like niggas loved you for who you were. Niggas weren't like, yo, you know, I'm saying, you eat your ass ain't fat enough. You got niggas don't do this. This is other women that are critical to women to win. I was like, oh, I got to get the fat ass because this bitch over here. She pulled this nigga. But they don't realize all of these niggas that they trying to quote unquote, pull out niggas that are treating them like cards, like yo, bitch, you good for a couple of years and I'm gonna call you out. Yeah. I mean, did the young hot tinder Roni, they care more about what the women think than and then what we did. Exactly. And then they tell us we ain't shit right now. I loved you the way you were before this. And here you go. Fucking chopping, screwing your body. And now I got a fucking build a bitch.

Yeah. You got a leg up bitch. Right. It's like.

And then where we're shallow because we tell women, oh, that's too much in his life is my body. I should do what I want. Yo, I was thinking I was some. Oh jeez. Yesterday, right. My father got a cigar shop and like all. Oh, jeez, go through it. Yes, sir.

Yeah. And I was over there yesterday and the dew said some to me that was so fucking dope. And I hope this shit sits on a lot of young men's heads out there.

He said that God gave woman God gave this. God gave women. Here.

God gave women eyelashes, eyebrows as titties, body boom. If she isn't happy with what God gave her, why would she be happy with what you think you could give her? And that was the dope I should have. I sat there like that, this nigga really just said, and it just made so much more sense because if they're not happy with what they have. Nigga, what the fuck? I'm offering you definitely going here.

I wouldn't even deal with a girl. Listen to that chick. Is you never. She's never gonna be satisfied.

No, you won't be out here. Mad as hell wondering why? Why you can't keep a woman or what? You know, I'm saying it's like dating in that twilight zone.

That's why I like a little Caesar saying Lil Kim used to run around the house bugging out. Actually, niggas I know was too big on those.

Too big just while I lie, I just said fuck it and only if it is rolling in his grave.

Damn well shit. I mean we we touched on a few things we can see here. Go back and forth all day long cause nigga I'll be on your mom. Fucking ya g ly yo this nigga crazy you.

I said yeah. Follow me on. I said listen Frankie Diamond's TV saying so to you too. Frankie Dallas TV were were.

Give him this. What if you still on Twitter.

Now I'm on it, but I'm not on it. I mean about what at this point it's. I use it for information sources at this point. I just know. I don't know. Man dead on there so long. There's just nothing new to me. So I don't really suck with Twitter like that. Fair enough. Enough. It's kind of boring to me. Now is the same old shit, same all ignorant as niggers and random nudes and shit on a time line. Yes.

You know, Twitter is one of us. Yeah, exactly.

Is this a dark holes? A guilty pleasure. Whatever you want to call it. Well, thank you again, homie. You're away in the building. Yo, make sure y'all follow the homie.

He's got some great takes. Content is hilarious if you love the randomness that I'll be throwing out here. You definitely gonna love listening because he's way more critical on the black coat culture than I am. Y'all think that I'm talking about.

Yeah. Frankie Davis TV matters. Follow me, man. Appreciate you having me on. I've got to come back as a guest. Did any any time correspond in a song?

Hell, yeah. I'm I'm I'm I'm going to work on something to make this a thing because I'd reach out to a lot of people and we have such great conversation. But, you know, everybody's in different parts of the world and we've got technology that that shouldn't be an excuse that niggas can't fucking link up. So we gonna make some happen. I'm a reach out. Definitely. Stay in touch. It's always good to you guys out there. Thank you all for listening. Tune in in another episode. Hash tags in hot takes.

We'll be back next week. Peace.

I work.

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#podcast #hashtags x hot takes #numb face media #antdamnit #fat liver jones

[drrubberfunk]

Earlier in the year I was asked to contribute to the excellent ‘Dusk Dubs’ mixtape series, and jumped at the chance. They have a nice format of asking guests to provide music that has a special place in their memories and in their souls - ‘...music that moves them, that invokes images of sunrises, sunsets, good times and good people’. 

I thought it’d be a nice way to compliment the other ‘My Life At 45′ themed mixes that I’ve done this year, with a selection of music you’d be likely to hear playing at my house over the last 30+ years, with tracks featured in full, mixed end to end, and a little story to go with each track. 

Here’s the full tracklisting, and photos of some of my well-loved vinyl that the tracks were recorded from - hope you enjoy this laid-back late summer stroll through my record collection, and My Life At 45!

1) Peddlers - ‘Whole Lot Of Sunlight’, from the 1970 Philips LP ‘Three For All’.

I picked this up in Avid Records in Oxford in the late nineties, I got a lot of good stuff from them around that time, picking up cheap classic soul, blues and jazz LPs, bargain priced late ‘80s / early ‘90s 12” singles that I’d missed the first time round and just taking a punt on interesting looking sleeves, or bands I’d heard about in sampling cirlces. ‘Suite London’ was the hot crate digger’s favourite from The Peddlers, but the production on ‘Three For All’ is right up my street, with wonderful hammond playing and a killer drum sound. It’s a great album from start to finish. I’ve used tracks on a few mixtapes in the past 20 years, but not this particular one, and with an apt title, it seemed like ‘Whole Lot Of Sunlight' was a nice way to kick off my late summer Dusk Dubs selection!

2) Joe McDuphrey Experience - ‘Solar Waves’, from the 2002 Stones Throw 12” ‘Experience EP’.

Madlib made a big impression on me when I first started producing with a sampler and a second hand Hohner Pianet. I really enjoyed this era when he was mixing live instrumentation with the straight up MPC sample business. ‘Solar Waves’ has it all - lolloping drums, wonky synths and tasty electric piano - a super laid-back groove, and is one I rediscovered in my collection recently. Plus, I’m a sucker for coming up with a bunch of aliases to cover all the roles you might play on a record - Madlib is the undisputed champ at that.

3) Paul Weller - ‘That Spiritual Feeling’ (New Mix) from the 1993 Go! Discs promo 12” GOXDJ 102.

My first proper music industry job in the mid nineties was as a radio plugger, and we shared an office building with Go!Discs - home at the time to Portishead, David Holmes, The Beautiful South and Paul Weller, amongst others. There was a little shared kitchen area with a photocopier, and I was busily copying press releases one afternoon on about my 3rd day in the job, when I heard someone making a drink behind me. Turning round I was confronted by Mr Paul Weller himself, impeccably dressed (with an AMAZING tan) stirring his cup of tea. ‘Hello’ he said, ‘I’m Paul - nice to meet you’.

I managed not to swoon or drop my photocopying and introduced myself as the new boy. I worked on radio promo with him across various album projects for the next 4 years, culminating with a week on a tour bus with Paul and his crew doing sessions at radio stations across the country. Story for another time maybe … Anyway - also in that little kitchen area at Go! Discs was their stock cupboard, which I rinsed for releases I’d missed in the years prior to my starting work there. ‘That Spiritual Feeling’ was originally on his first solo release ‘Into Tomorrow’ in 1991, but got remixed and added to this promo, as well as appearing on the ‘Sunflower’ 12” (taken from ‘Wildwood’) It’s got the instantly recognisable JBs on it, with a classic horn arrangement backing up a kinda hypnotic 2 chord groove that just rolls and rolls. I can listen to it for hours.

4). Rhianna - ‘Word Love’ (4 Hero Soul Mix) from the 2002 Sony Soho Square promo 7” XPR 3600.

4 Hero were killing it in the early ‘00s as their productions evolved from the breakbeat mastery of the ‘90s into the wonderfully orchestrated arrangements that saw them covering ‘Les Fleur’, and bringing their deft touch to an increasing number of quality remixes. I don’t think this version of British soul star Rhianna’s ‘Word Love’ - which I loved in it’s original form - ever made it to a commercial release, but it’s something I’ve played out a lot over the years, and it always gets great comments and a bunch of info requests from the crowd.

5) GangStarr - ‘Jazz Thing’ (Instrumental Mix) from the 1990 CBS promo 12” XPR 1571.

I saw Mo Better Blues at the cinema in Australia in November 1990 and bought the soundtrack on cassette the next day. Brandford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard have a superb dialogue across all the tracks, especially on the Canonball Adderley-esque title track. However, Gang Starr’s ‘Jazz Thing’ blew my tiny teenage mind, and I became a bit obsessed with it over the next few years, the samples, the cuts, the live loops - especially after my new college mate Pete made me a tape a year or so later with two extra versions from the 12”, including this, the Instrumental Mix. I finally tracked down my own copy of this import promo in the Soul & Dance Exchange in Notting Hill in the late nineties, and it’s lived in my record bag pretty much ever since.

6) John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Peter Green - ‘Greeny’, from the 1969 Decca LP ‘The World Of Blues Power’.

Everyone my sort of age with some records is bound to have one or two liberated from their parent’s collection, and this was an album I discovered in my folks collection in about 1987, not long after buying a drum kit. I’d been rinsing their Beatles albums since I was a kid - singing along to ‘Drive My Car’ and ‘Octopus’s Garden’, but the World Of Blues Power seem a bit of alien concept until I gave it a good listen as a teen. There’s some classic pyrotechnic stuff from rising Brit Blues stars like Eric Clapton and Paul Butterfield, alongside US veterans like Champion Jack Dupree and Eddie Boyd, who’d moved to Europe in the ‘60s.

Always understated, Peter Green’s playing on ‘Greeny’ is perfect; simple and catchy as hell, but with complete mastery of his instrument.

7) Stanley Clarke - ‘Blues For Mingus’, from the 1979 Nemperor LP ‘I Wanna Play For You’.

This was another ’90s bargain from Avid Records in Oxford, but I first heard it when babysitting in the late ‘80s. The couple who’s kids I was deemed suitably responsible enough to be left in charge of were very happy for me to listen to their small but perfectly formed record collection, and many happy evenings were spent with a pile of C90s taping all sorts of classic jazz and blues. Took me the best part of the next 20 years to find my own vinyl copies of them all mind you. The uptempo jazz rock that Stanley Clarke was known for in the ‘70s is featured throughout the part-live ‘I Wanna Play For You’ album, but this downtempo small group number perfectly encapsulated my idea of what a jazz club gig should sound like; dark, smoky and soulful.

8) Al Green - ‘Lay It Down’, from the 2008 Blue Note LP ‘Lay It Down’.

Is it controversial to call this my favourite Al Green album? I mean, you can’t deny the classic ‘60s and ‘70s hits, but for me, this Questlove produced LP is right up there in terms of songwriting and production. I could have happily featured any of the album tracks here, but went with the title track for the silky strings and restrained playing from Questlove. Something as a drumming producer myself I’m less good at ;)

9) Matt Deighton - ‘Hey, My Mind’, from the 1995 Focus LP ‘Villager’.

This whole album is stuffed full of timeless sounding songs, it's one I’ve listened to alot over the years and comes complete with alot of happy memories.

Just before I got the plugging job, I’d been working in promotions for (the original) Virgin Radio in London, driving a branded vehicle around town all day. Seems mad and pointless in 2020, but it was fun in 1995, I was young, it seemed to be sunny all the time, I had a free 4WD and it paid quite well. I used the station’s copy of ‘The White Book’ - an entertainment industry directory that cost a small fortune back then - to look up the addresses of my favourite record labels, and spent most days knocking on their doors in an attempt to blag some free records. One of these labels was Acid Jazz, and, having announced which station I worked for, I was rushed in to meet their head of marketing and plied with records and CDs, before someone eventually asked ‘so, what is it you actually do at Virgin again?’. I bluffed my way through the next 10 minutes and agreed to have a chat to the producer of the evening show about getting a session for Matt Deighton. Matt was the singer and guitarist with Mother Earth, of whom I was a big fan, and was currently promoting a new solo album ‘Villager’ - Mother Earth had been a guest on the Virgin show before, and so the producer said yes to a session. I’m sure she would have booked him anyway, but she graciously let me set it up with Acid Jazz, gaining me some vital industry kudos and connections in the process.

10) Money Mark - ‘All The People’, from the 1998 Mo Wax / A&M LP ‘Push The Button’.

Mo Wax were one of my favourite ‘90s labels, having been introduced to them by a college friend sometime in ’93, and I think I tried unsuccessfully blagging my way onto their mailing list in my Virgin days, but later on, after the A&M deal, I had better luck getting occasional freebies. ‘Mark’s Keyboard Repair’ was the record that the genre lo-fi was invented for, with the mix of bit-crushed samples and live vintage keys, but ‘Push The Button’ is a brilliantly rounded record, with some great pop songs. Session legend Jim Keltner is playing drums on this track, which I’d forgotten about until I was reading the sleevenotes while recording this mix - his playing with the likes of Delaney & Bonnie, BB King, Leon Russell, Bill Withers, Eric Clapton and all of the Beatles on their various solo projects has been a big influence on my drumming style over the years. Records I’ve never heard of but have bought just because Jim Keltner is on drums is an extensive section of my collection.

11) Bedouine - ‘Summer Cold’, from the 2017 Spacebomb Records LP ‘Bedouine’.

Spacebomb are one of my favourite contemporary labels, with a studio sound and ethos that I aspire to greatly as I enter my third decade as a producer, and I’ve been picking up their releases since hearing label owner, and talented artist, Matthew E. White interviewed on 6 Music back in 2015. LA Based Syrian born Bedouine put out one of my most listened to albums of 2017 (and since!), and I would have featured any of the tracks in this mix, but something about the found sounds at the end of ‘Summer Cold’ seemed to work very nicely with the start of the following song from Emily King. Bedouine’s vocal and guitar sound is wonderfully distintive, and beautifully enhanced by the sympathetic Spacebomb Horn and String arrangements - get yourself the LP!

12) Emily King - ‘Distance’, from the 2015 Making Music Records LP ‘The Switch’.

I didn’t listen to many new records while I was producing Izo FitzRoy’s debut (track coming next!) - I think I thought I’d find it distracting, I suspect that wouldn’t have been the case, but once Izo’s record was in the can, I gorged on releases I’d missed and found things that have become all time favourites. Most of them seem to be by women with a very different sound to Izo, but equally captivating writing and energy. Emily King is one of those artists, along with Bedouine, Jane Weaver and Aldous Harding amongst others. ‘Distance’ is such a great song, and I love Emily’s voice and guitar playing, plus the production and feel too - ticks all the boxes for me.

13) Izo FitzRoy - ‘Heads Held High’, from the 2017 Jalepeno Records LP ‘Skyline’.

This was one of my favourites from Izo’s debut that I produced and played on a few years ago. A great lyric and performance from Izo over a groove that we worked hard to sound like a mix of samples and live instruments, but was in fact all recorded and produced in my studio at home. Initially Izo and I were writing on some tracks that I’d already recorded with a view to them going on a Dr Rubberfunk album, but it was pretty clear after we’d written a few things together that she had so many great songs that the project needed to be an album for her. Even at a few years distance, I’m still really pleased with how the record turned out, with a ’studio sound’ I can call my own, and one that I’ve been able to carry over to my recent ‘My Life At 45’ LP - on which Izo turns in another couple of killer performances!

14) Urban Species - ‘Blanket’ featuring Imogen Heap, from the 1998 Talkin’ Loud LP ‘Blanket’.

Along with Acid Jazz and Mo Wax, Talkin’ Loud were another label I was madly collecting everything they released throughout the ‘90s and beyond. Having DJ’d in support of Urban Species at my college in 1994, I was already a fan, and their second album ‘Blanket’ is one of my all-time favourites by any artist. It features two great collaborations with Terry Callier, and two with Imogen Heap, including the title track featured here. Great writing and production, I was very influenced by this record as I started working with vocalists. Always love the guitar solo over the fade out too - if it exists, I’d love to get my hands on the full version without the fade!

15) Routes In Jazz - ‘Out In The Jungle’, from the 1992 Concious Records 12” CON 999.

Another sure shot from my days as a nascent DJ at Froebel College in West London in the early ‘90s. I was fortunate to have the support and encouragement of a couple of older students as I joined the Student Union and started organising events, and one of them - Lee - actually let me borrow his records a few times to play out with. Cheers Lee! This was one he used to play in warm up and bar sets, and I loved the double bass loop and ear worm horn sample (I never have worked out what it’s from), so had to get a copy. In some ways it’s a very 1992 record, but has stood the test of time in terms of production as far as I’m concerned.

16) DJ Krush - ‘Yeah’, from the 1994 Mo Wax LP ‘Strictly Turntablized’.

Early Mo Wax classic, from before all this sort of thing was considered ‘trip hop’, it was just killer instrumental hip hop as far as I was concerned, and DJ Krush, along with DJ Shadow, was right up there, leading the way. Another big influence on me when I eventually got a sampler - tough drums: check, swinging bass sample: check, jazzy horn and vocal samples: check. Love it.

17) Freak Power - ‘My Heart Sings’, from the 1994 ‘In Dub - The Fried Funk Food EP’, bonus album with some vinyl editions of the ‘Drive Thru Booty’ LP

They say never meet your heroes, but having meet and worked with both Norman Cook and Ashley Slater, the creators of the Freak Power project, I’d have to disagree. Naturally, if you’ve read through the tracklisting this far, you’ll have worked out there’s another showbiz story to go with this selection, and there is, but I’m saving it for another time, ‘cos it’s LONNNGGGG. Suffice it to say, ‘Turn On Tune In, Cop Out’ was a massive tune in ’93, and when the album dropped the following year I was straight down the record shop on release day. I wasn’t expecting a bonus ‘Dub EP’, much less one with almost unrecognisable remixes of the album tracks, but I was very happy to have it included. Some of the best downtempo beats Norman has made I think, and the drum programming on the second half of this track had me scratching my head in my pre-sampler owning days and wondering how the heck it was done. Fabulous sample choices, and nice and long too - handy for those DJ set comfort breaks.

18) John Martyn - ‘Sunshine’s Better’ (Talvin Singh Mix), from the 1996 Go! Discs promo 12” SSB1.

Talking of long tracks, here’s 10 minutes plus of John Martyn and the balearic classic ‘Sunshine’s Better’ reworked beautifully by Talvin Singh. John was another of the artists on Go! Discs when I was plugging for them, and I think it’s widely accepted he was a challenging character at that stage of his career. Still an amazing songwriter and performer though, and sounding as good as ever on the album ‘And’ from which ‘Sunshine’s Better’ is taken. Phil Collins on drums too.

19) Incognito - ‘Out Of The Storm’ (C’s Planet E Mix), from the 1996 Talkin’ Loud promo 12” TLDJ54.

If you were putting together a downtempo set in ’96, and you had ‘Sunshine’s Better’, you needed this Carl Craig mix of ‘Out Of The Storm’ for sure. Hip hop drum loops, swirling synth pads, a wobbly flute sample and some perfectly placed little bass guitar fills and turnarounds made this perfect in so many ways. I was VERY excited to get a promo copy, and definitely felt I had ‘arrived’ as a DJ when this came through the letterbox one morning. old DJ voice “Those were the days.” LOL.

20) Freddie King - ‘Gambling Woman Blues’, from the 1977 RSO LP ‘Freddie King (1934-1976)’.

In case you were worried I’d skipped over my love of the blues with just one track, here’s a less well known number from Freddie King, recorded during sessions with Eric Clapton and his band in the early ’70s, just a few years before King’s untimely death in 1976. I’ve got plenty of albums by the ‘Three Kings’ (Albert, B.B and Freddie) and they all had some very funky moments in the late sixties and early seventies. This posthumous compilation album was also in the collection of the family I used to babysit for, another tape that had pretty much worn out before I could track down my own vinyl copy, which, as you can hear, has been well played too. Again, a track that seems to fade just as it’s getting going, but fear not - there’s a 20+ minute version on some of the popular streaming services.

21) Donny Hathaway - ‘What’s Going On?’ from the 2014 ATCO Records LP ‘Live At The Bitter End 1971’.

I heard Gilles Peterson play tracks from this album on his 6 Music Show on Record Store Day in 2014. RSD often falls on my birthday weekend, so I thought I’d treat myself to this re-issue (with previously unissued tracks) of Donny Hathaway’s 1971 shows at the Bitter End on Bleecker Street in New York City. Although there aren’t many artists that can make a convincing go of covering Marvin Gaye, Donny is definitely one of them, and ‘What’s Going On?’ sounds just as relevant today as it ever did. I felt it was an appropriate choice, given the state of the world today, my love of black music and the fact that my whole music career is based on it. Once more, for the people at the back, BLACK LIVES MATTER.

22) Wes Montgomery - ‘Sun Down’, from the 1966 Verve Records LP ‘California Dreaming’.

3 quid from, you’ve guessed it, Avid Records. Bargain. I listened to an absolute ton of blues guitarists in my late teens, but it was a few years later that I started going sideways into jazz guitar, falling in love with the soul jazz / acid jazz sound of Grant Green and Ivan ‘Boogaloo Joe’ Jones, before finding the earlier generation - the likes of Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery. Tricky to pick between them to be honest, but it seemed this upbeat and optimistic big band number from the 1966 ‘California Dreaming’ album by Wes Montogomery, a mixture of contemporary pop covers and jazz standards, with Herbie Hancock on piano, and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder - two more heroes of mine - was a good way to close out my Dusk Dubs choices.

#lp #7 #dusk dubs #dr rubberfunk mix #my life at 45 #vinyl collection #record collection #mixtape #vinyl mix #soul #jazz #blues #funk #singer songwriter #wes montgomery #donny hathaway #freddie king #eric clapton #incognito #carl craig #talkin loud #acid jazz #mo wax #john martyn #freak power #dj krush #routes in jazz #urban species #izo fitzroy #emily king

[cowboyarc]

tagged by @lostnoise​ ty!!

1. do you prefer writing with a black pen or a blue pen? black pens, because in english they always asked us to use blue. and english was awful for me so no blue :p

2. would you prefer to live in the country or in the city? city, i lived in the bumheck middle of nowhere for 18 years and hated it.

3. if you could learn a new skill, what would it be? oooh, i really want to get better at the guitar, or learn to sword fight.

4. do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? Yes, but very very little.

5. what was your favorite book as a child? I dont remember having a favorite book? but my dad had this whole story written out and he’d use that to tell me bedtime stories. it was so cool.

6. do you prefer baths or showers? Showers, i am get anxious in baths? i feel weird just sitting there.

7. if you could be a mythical creature, which one would you be? d-r-a-g-o-n-s. in my dads stories that i mentioned above? there was an elf that was a half-ling and could turn into a dragon.

8. paper or electronic books? I dont read much? but definitely paper.

9. what is your favorite item of clothing? a ramones t-shirt my dad bought me on a business trip once. (its the rocket to russia album)

10. do you like your name? would you like to change it? I friggin hate my name, i wanna change it so bad but i dont know to what.

11. who is a mentor to you? i um.. dont have one?

12. would you like to be famous? if so, what for? I don’t know if I want to be famous, i’m very private person, but i guess if i had to maybe like a jenna/julien type of deal? like his aries kitchen series.

13. are you a restless sleeper? Very Much Yesss, I’m move so much.

14. do you consider yourself to be a romantic person? no... i’ve never had the opportunity to be?

15. which element best represents you? I’d say fire. maybe?

16. who do you want to be closer to? probably a couple of people? i dont talk to many people? but physically? my best friend i miss her a lot.

17. do you miss someone at the moment? my best friend, audi and alex and thier dogs, and my pops.

18. tell us about an early childhood memory. a lot of my childhood wasn’t the greatest? so i dont remember a lot of it? but i guess the bedtime stories my dad would tell

19. what is the strangest thing you have eaten? fried kool-aid with powdered sugar from the south carolina state fair.

20. what are you most thankful for? um.. being able to have a place to sleep/and food?

21. do you like spicy food? ohhhhh yes, its all i grew up on. audi’s ma is chinese and she cooked the best food all the time. and gave me sooo much.

22. have you ever met someone famous? Not that i remember

23. do you keep a diary or journal? i’ve tried several times, but i stop pretty fast, because i have nothing to say or the way i write starts to piss me off.

24. do you prefer to use pen or pencil? Mechanical pencils

25. what is your star sign? Aries babbey.

26. do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy? Crunchy? um... i know that maybe the crunch would be hard on some peeps teeth, but not in my house.(crunchy)

27. what would you want your legacy to be? i dont tend to think that far ahead.

28. do you like reading? What was the last book you read? i wish i did? its really hard for me to find a book that will hold my attention, and audio books are not a fun time for me because some sounds/voices i cant handle like that.

29. how do you show someone you love them? im definitely more of physical/small gestures kinda person. i’ll buy/make them little gifts, or offer cuddles (if they’re cool with touch) that type of stuff

30. do you like ice in your drinks? very little if at all, i only drink water, hot tea/coffee, and i dont like iced tea/coffee at all so.

31. what are you afraid of? um... nothing really that i can think of

32. what is your favorite scent? im very sensitive to smells, but i really like this sandlewood body wash i have.

33. do you address older people by their name or surname? soooo... i grew up in the south-south. so it was always yes ma’am, no sir, mr. smith, ms. jones. like even if someone was like call me betty or whatever it was weird to do that. but i’m slowly getting away from that since i moved away.

34. if money was not a factor, how would you live your life? I’d really like to help people, not sure in what capacity but yeah.

35. do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? i did grow up about 40 mins from the ocean and would go there all the time. the water was gross and i wish the waves had been better, i’ve always wanted to surf proper. so ocean i guess.

36. what would you do if you found $50 in the ground? probably see if someone comes back for it? prob give it toward food or something for someone

37. have you ever seen a shooting star? did you make a wish? okay so audi’s house was prefect for star gazing and we’d do it all the time and we saw a couple over the years, and got torn up by misquitos.

38. what is one thing you would want to teach your children? dont want kids, but i’ll prob be a godparent eventually so just to be happy and comfortable with themselves.

39. if you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? I have several but the next one I want to get the doom symbol with my pop’s birthday (probably in roman numeral cause that look best) and whenever he passes his death date. a little morbid but ive always wanted that cause its his fav game.

40. what can you hear now? animal crossing, netflix (hannibal) and my smuckers pb&j wrapper lol (strawberry ofc)

41. where do you feel the safest? uh... my room sometimes?

42. what is one thing you want to overcome/conquer? a lot i dont wanna talk about.

43. if you could travel back to any era, what would it be? the 70s/80s to go to some concerts i guess

44. what is your most used emoji? im on pc so i have no clue, but the shaka sign 

45. describe yourself using one word. sarcastic

46. what do you regret the most? there was a girl and we didnt have a lot of time together because i was leaving and i hurt her i think, i apologized later but that doesnt make it okay so yeah i hope shes doing okay.

47. last movie you saw? I watched the new animated Scoob! movie. i loved itt, scooby doo is my shit always.

tagging: i dont know i dont wanna bother folks, if you see this and it catches your fancy :)

#tag game #about snaps #thanks this was fun and i really had to think about some of them #long post

[johngarrisonmusic]

Tour Diary Part 2

Arrive at JFK fully expecting a thorough, Trump era inspection and interrogation. However, I breeze through immigration and even have a nice conversation with Errol, my inspector. Although his authority muscle was flexed a little when questioned what music I was playing. “I play bass for James Blunt” I reply. “Who?” he says “That’s Showbiz” I quip……..!!!! An icy stare falls onto the once happy face of Errol. “I only like rap” are his final words as he stamps my passport and shouts “Next”

June 26

3 hours sleep. 4am lobby call. It’s Good Morning America live performance today of “OK”, Blunt’s new single here in the States. This track is quite personal for me as they are releasing a version of the track that I remixed along with James, as the main version to radio here in the States.  You need to have many strings to the bow to make a living in music these days. We’re all in a daze as we check our hire gear. God knows what time our crew arrived but all the gear is set up and ready to go.  Writing this a few days later and I can’t remember much about the performance but the label and management all seemed happy. I think. Or maybe I dreamt that…!!!

Jet lag and the general buzz of being in New York means an attempted snooze doesn’t happen. So Pembers (keys), Kristoff (drums) and I go for a power walk around Central Park. Gotta take the opportunities to stay in shape on the road. Something I’ve learned over the years. And failed at mostly..!!! Central Park is such a wonderful place.  It never fails to impress. A perfect way to pass a few hours off.  Days like this I feel very privileged to be doing what I do.

We then head off to another TV studio to perform on the Seth Myers Show. The studio is bloody freezing. It’s always the way with US TV shows. God knows why. There must be a reason. No idea what that is though. But it’s full jacket wearing performance for this show.  Which is odd as it’s 27oC outside.   A planned big night out in NYC is thwarted by jetlag that eventually kicks in too hard to ignore. Early night for us boring folk. How very un rock n roll…!!!

June 27

5am wake up. Not for any particular reason. Just jetlag. But that’s ok in NYC. I go out and wander the streets for 4 hours interspersed with coffee breaks. I still love this city. I lived here for 2 years back in 2006/7. It still feels like home. There’s an energy that emanates through the floor here. You can feel it coming out the walls of the buildings and skyscrapers. Everyone is here for a reason. There is a focus here that brings out the creative side in everyone who has one. I still love it and today I soak it up.

We are performing on Kelly and Ryan TV show today.  Another freezing studio. A trailer filled with farmyard animals is parked right outside our dressing room. The odd ‘Moooo” and Baaahaaaa” interrupting James’ vocal warm up are highly amusing breaks to the tedious boredom of TV world. Still no idea why they were there as they never appeared on the show…!! Slightly gutted that the very cute Kelly is on holiday.  It’s always a treat for the eyes playing on her show.

The boredom is abruptly shattered when we are told we have to lose 30 seconds of the track. We have already soundchecked so it’s a strategic edit arranged, board meeting style, around the table with no way of checking. Times like this we are thankful we are a fully live band with no backing track. We visually cue the changes live on air while being broadcast to millions. It’s times like this you know you are alive. It works. No time to stress or panic. We nail it. 3 mins dead. Everyone is happy. And we are done for the day. With nothing but a fight tomorrow, there is a palpable air of excitement amongst the band.

We head downtown to my favourite Italian restaurant in NYC called Emilio’s Ballato. It’s an old school mafia style Italian that I was introduced to when I lived here. Emilio is a terrifying, yet lovable character who sits at the door. Always does. Has done for decades. You only have to imagine a mafia style Italian restaurant owner with a gravelly voice who has to occasionally pop out to “take care of business” to know what he looks like. The mental picture you have now……. That’s Emilio.   The first time I came here, Sting was sat at the first table with Jay Z and Rhianna. It’s that kinda place. Emilio Jnr takes us to a table and explains the menu in his “baddabing” way.  It’s so cliché one or 2 of our party suspect it’s all a show. But I know for a fact it is not. The family back in Sicily send over the ingredients twice a week. All 3 of Emilio’s sons work at the place. It’s the real deal. And it’s awesome.

Tonight we are all on the guest list of the Imelda May gig at Webster Hall. Pembers, our keyboard player, is Imelda’s player too. He depped out the last 2 Imelda gigs as they clashed with the Blunt tour.  But coincidence means we are all here in NYC. The band are amazing and Imelda’s voice soars in this place. A great old school sweaty gig. We hang out with the band at an Irish bar around the corner after the show. God knows what time we finished but it was a long hazy walk back to the hotel. 

Goodbye NYC 

June 28

Flight to Kansas today. We arrive to find they have not sent the mini bus that we asked for, but a car….!!! For 12 of us. So we squeeze in 3 cars with gear and bags on our laps. It’s not all glamour…!! 

June 29 It’s the first day of our Ed Sheeran support today. Kansas City the first show. Still  jetlagged. I’m up and wide awake at 5am. I decide to check out Kansas. I set off on a head clearing 90 minute walk. In the space of a few minutes, the sky turns apocalyptic black and I’m suddenly in the middle of an almighty downpour and a violent thunder storm.  Flash floods come hurtling down the street. It’s actually pretty scary. But awesome too. Mother nature flexing her muscle and reminding us how insignificant we all are. Trash cans hurtling down the street. I run back to the hotel and watch the storm from the safety of my hotel window. 

A post shared by JohnnyVic (@satellites_johnnyvic) on Jun 29, 2017 at 5:38am PDT

The tour bus pulls up outside our hotel. Always a hugely exciting moment. There’s something about American tour buses. It’s probably subconsciously linked to the childhood dream of touring the States that most musicians had at some point. But also just how cool the busses look. This is home for the next 2 months.

We get to the venue.  The Sprint Arena. Sold Out 16,000. We meet Ed and all the crew. They are all super nice and friendly which is a welcome relief. It’s not always the case. The support act can occasionally be treated as a lesser entity. But not here. I think the fact James is such a big name in his own right helps. And the fact James and Ed are friends. Ed co-wrote some of the tracks on James’ new album and we even recorded one of them at Ed’s house earlier in the year.

We soundcheck the whole set. It feels a bit weird. Ed does his thing with just an acoustic guitar and a loop pedal. And rarely sound checks. So seeing all our full band gear on his stage feels a little intrusive on his minimal set. But again, Ed’s crew are all super helpful and asking if we need anything.  We iron out a few issues from the rehearsals and drop a song as we creep over our allocated 40 mins.

My Bass Set up.

James and I then play a quick 3 song set unamplified on acoustic guitars for 25 competition winners. We haven’t worked out the songs before on acoustics so it’s very much on the fly. But they all seem thrilled.

Ed pops in to wish us luck as we all do our vocal warm ups. We go on.

It’s a younger crowd than we are used to. It’s quite clear pretty early on that a few of them have no idea who James is. I guess it is 12 years since his debut album was no.1 here in the States. But rather sweetly, you can see a lot of the crowd are holding their phones with the lyrics on and are attempting to sing along. So cute.

James announces “most of you were probably conceived to this song” as he strikes up the opening chords to the world wide smash that is “You’re Beautiful”. You can see the penny drop in the audience. And in a scene reminiscent of an 80’s style cheesy high school movie, the crowd slowly all get to their feet and whoop, with fists in the air as they all realise ‘it’s that guy’. It’s an amazing moment. And from that point on it’s an amazing show. James gets all the 16,000 to their feet as he piano surfs during the outro of our set.

We all come off and have a post gig huddle. It’s a success. There’s always a slight element of doubt before a support gig. But those doubts are put to bed tonight. Ed pops in before his set and pours us all a mandatory Tequila.

Ed hits the stage to an ear splitting shrill of 16,000 very excited people. It’s an amazing spectacle. Just a man and a guitar with a loop pedal. He is a master of his craft. Everyone is on their feet. From the hardcore fans at the front to the reluctant parents on the very back row, Ed has them all in the palm of his hand. With just the occasional look down at his loop pedal multi track set up, the accompaniments he makes on the fly with his voice and beating the guitar body for percussion, it’s seamless. And mighty impressive.

#ed sheeran #james blunt #nyc #kansas #johnnyvic #john garrison