*”I’m mad vexed it’s what the projects made me / Rebel to the grave there’s no way to barricade me.” – Inspectah Deck, Wu-Tang Clan . Yesterday I got through the better part of Beats, Rhymes & Life: What We Love and Hate About Hip-Hop, and found discussion of sampling glaringly missing from the text. … Read more“Sampling: The Redheaded Stepchild of Hip-Hop”
* “He do it for the smelly hubbies / Seeds know what time it is like it’s time for Teletubbies” -MF Doom . MF Doom’s a funny guy, and for some reason, he’s not all that hated. I knew a guy, though, one time, who hated The Roots. It’s highly possible that this is because … Read more“Let the Hated Feel Blessed: Tracking Hip-Hop’s Functional Arc in Society”
Too mighty to be cloistered on an album, this deliberately paced paean to life’s volcanic beauty otherwise not to be captured came in the prime of The Beatles’ power and maturity, 1969. Sounding like he could care less about flowers for hair, a man walking on the moon or even assassinations, Lennon belts out the … Read more“Dolby’s Rupees: ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ by The Beatles”
I just think it’s funny that Kurt Cobain and his biographer were so vehemently opposed to Pearl Jam’s existence, and then who is it but them closing out the movie Hype! Take a look at Mike McCready’s face during this performance and you’ll find that damn building block of happiness — pride, leaving the impression … Read more“Counting the Chips on ‘Pride’”
“They’ve fallen for the Bukowski myth, I’m actually a coward” – “Night Streets of Madness,” Tales of Ordinary Madness, Charles Bukowski . Ok, I’m reading this publication called No Longer Human written by Osamu Dazai in post-WWII Japan, and it’s totally superb. I have a feeling this will be the first in a series of … Read more“No Longer Human as Surrogate for the Bukowski Myth”
Purebred rock and roll differs from alternative rock, and I am trying to redefine one thing and coin another here, by its “pure” reliance on major chords. Led Zeppelin would be one example of alternative rock, since they use minor chords, specifically, the blues scale. Nirvana, as well, is alternative, although, as it’s minor chords … Read more“Tracking Purebred Rock and Roll by Decade”
Detroit is a functional city As long as the Red Wings win. So why is it that I walk Around downtown, at noon, on a Saturday And see not a single person? This is the functional city? . There stands the Free Press building, Now derelict, purposeless Down, we are, countless tales of Raccoon eating, … Read more“The Illusion of Victory”
I was thinkin’ on a tune, but now I can’t remember it. Anyway, it’s verified by the Jesus and Mary Chain song where it’s like, “People die in empty rooms / But we do not need this god almighty gloom.” Maybe it was “Time,” where he’s like “Desperation is the English way.” Anyway, “Spanish Bombs” … Read more“Praying for a Movement in the Light: On the Cultural Hutch on American Grassroots Music”
There is a certain extent to which charms of yore win you favor in the present This is the exact extent to which life sucks Because if the good you did in the past occludes you, the bad you did in the past occludes you too Hence the present be irrelevant, And suck The captain … Read more“Swivel Chair with No Desk”
Audrey was yellow, which in women, shuns with vitality. When someone would cuss in the bar, she’d say “Hey!” And they’d seal it. She could carry on a conversation with anyone though, even the lowliest of the low. I would know, I was ignored by a lot of people, but she’d glue her glistening eyes … Read more“Yellow Fade to Grey, Downtown”