N Y donnaH C

Deeplinking now has a link to the article that the Donahue show was all about, check that out here. So after I posted that video, we got over 300 hits and we got linked to almost more times in one day than all previous days combined. So what I'm getting is that the less I actually write, the more interesting this site will be. SWEET.

"Expectations" by Youth of Today

"Vicky Crown" by Murphy's Law

BEST YOUTUBE FIND EVER

So I stumbled across this episode of Donahue from 1986 about the New York Hardcore scene. Jimmy Gestapo (murphy's law), Harley Flanagan (cro-mags), Ray Cappo (youth of today), and Vinnie Stigma (agnostic front) are all on stage or in the audience and they are all ridiculously young.

I especially love the guy they interview in the beginning. "Hardcoh' is from tha hahrt".

Sleepless in New York

I haven't really had much time to maintain the 'box lately, but it's a sleepless night, so I figured I'd take a minute and share some of the melodies that have been floating between my ears lately.

I've been a fan of Cody ChesnuTT since I caught the video for "Look Good in Leather" on late night TV many moons ago. Since his album The Headphone Masterpiece has 36 tracks, it was rare that I'd listen to it all the way through. Lately though, a couple tracks that went under my radar before have been in heavy rotation. The first is "With Me in Mind". I've sat here and tried to explain in words how the production on this song sounds, but none of it really conveys the song. The music is hypnotic and the poetry read over it only draws you in further. I wish I'd discovered this song sooner. He also continues on the electro tip with the toker anthem "Smoke and Love". Of course, it's not just about schmokin reefer. There's also a nice verse about boning - hence the "and love". One of my favorite things about Cody ChesnuTT is that a lot of what he says would be awful if he didn't have such a damn amazing voice. I mean unless you can really belt it out, "Keep on Lovin', Keep on Livin', Keep on Smokin'" is gonna sound awfully trite. Now, this other song couldn't be more different from those last two. "When I Find Time" is straight soulful pop music. This song has everything I could want, clapping (lord knows I love clappin to the beat.), a boppin tempo, and a guitar that shows me what things could've been like if the Allmans had moved to motown.

"With Me in Mind" by Cody ChesnuTT
"Smoke and Love" by Cody ChesnuTT
"When I Find Time" by Cody ChesnuTT

Now some artists definitely benefit from lo-fi aspects of their recordings. Personally, I don't think ChesnuTT's one of them. I love his album, but when I listen to "The Seed" back to back with "The Seed 2.0", I can't help but wonder about how some of his other songs would really flourish with a little slicker production.


Also,

I got an iTunes giftcard for Christmas and I just picked up Dizzee's Showtime, Wynton Marsalis's Magic Hour, "Heaven" by John Legend, "Trompeta y Trombon" by Ray Barretto, and "Tiburón" by Rubén Blades. I gotta say, I kinda like the iTunes music store. I am not saying I'm crazy about the idea of paying for music and not getting the liner notes, but the music store is easily navigable and there's a lot of cool stuff on here. Plus it's a gift card, so I can't say I'm paying. Which brings me to my point,

Can anyone recommend any p2p software? I deleted limewire cuz it was fucking my computer, but I can't afford to buy music on iTunes all the time. Do help.

Focker out.

Quincy, M.D.

I've already expressed my guy love feelings for Phil Spector here, but lately I've been having tingles in my tummy that rival my feelings for Phil. See in between working, commuting to seton hall, and winning Wii skateboard races, I've been doing a lot of listening to Mr. Michael Jackson lately. And the more I listen to his early work, the larger my music boner gets for Quincy Jones.

I think his synths on "Rock With You" might be the closest that a machine will ever get to feeling love. That and "She's out of My Life" have been big in rotation lately. I read on wikipedia that Michael Jackson did numerous takes of the song, but could never finish it without crying. I believe it, that song could bring a tear to Dr. Spock's eye.

Now I know why you humans cry...

"Rock With You" by Michael Jackson

"She's Out of My Life" by Michael Jackson

Oh Hell Yes

Rage is reuniting to play Coachella. I'm not going to Coachella, but it's still awesome. I saw Rage when I was 14 and it was the best thing ever. This post is going to have to stay short, because I just slept through a presentation and I need to get the hell out of my house.

"Renegades of Funk" as done by RATM

Something Nice to Say

Mitch Clem is cool and I love the fact that he's chronicaling his top 5 albums of 2006 in cartoons.

It makes sense, since he's a cartoonist, but I'm still getting a big kick out of them. I'm also getting a kick out of this tune from Ted Leo and his unruly gang of Pharmacists. It's got a really kick in the ass too it, even more so than most of his songs.

"Sons of Cain" by Ted Leo & those wily Pharmacists

This Raekwon / Mathematics collaboration is nice too. Although I might have my doubts about it ever coming out, I continue to get more and more pysched for the next Rae album.

"Trees" by Raekwon the Chef

where was the list

So it is MAD cliche to make a year end list, that is why we didn't have one. OK, so thats not true at all. Come December, the Green Hornet asked if I would write it and we discussed it a good amount...then I just never did it. Good sign of how I go about my schooling right? Well, it could still come. Better late than never, right? But until then here is just a normal post.




Holiday Song - The Pixies

I had loved the 4 main Pixies albums for years, and for some reason never got into the highly regarded EP Come on Pilgrim, and still haven't. But recently I am really enjoying the song from the EP "Holiday Song". Joey Santiago's riff in the beginning is one of his best. Distorted guitar surf rock with freak show lyrics in both delivry and content has never sounded better.



The Holiday Song - James Mercer of the Shins

I won't lie though, the reason I really heard about this song was this very nice acoustic version from James Mercer of the Shins. Is it cool to like the Shins? Who knows, but it is definitely uncool to not like them. (Sorry, there is a minute long outro of talking because this was live on some radio show. Honestly, I've never even listened to it so I don't even know what show it is.)

Heroin Only

About two months ago, Stylus was looking for some new writers, so I sent them my review of Raekwon's "Heron Only" mixtape. They weren't interested, so I figured I might as well let this see the light of day. It's not really written as informally as I usually work, so re-reading it now, it comes off pretty awkward. Oh well.

Around a year ago, I was at a Ghostface show in New York where someone in Ghost's entourage held up a promotional poster reading "Cuban Linx II: Heron(sic) Only". Being a big fan of Raekwon the Chef's first Cuban Linx album, I was naturally excited. Fast forward to the present: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II: Strictly Bricks (the new alleged title) is still nowhere in sight, but a number of teaser mixtapes have dropped, one of the more exciting being Heroin Only released by Rae and his personal DJ, DJ Thoro.

Heroin Only doesn't go too far beyond your general mixtape fare. There are guest appearances (Wu Tang associates and outsiders alike), spoken interludes, and new takes on old beats. Among the guests, Busta Rhymes stands out from the crowd with his verses on "Address Me as Mister" and the remix to CL2's first announced single "State of Grace". Despite having two very different flows, Rae and Busta have always sounded great together, maybe because Raekwon likes to sound off about coke and Busta likes to sound like he's on coke. As for the spoken interludes, they serve as much of a purpose as any mixtape interlude, not much. There's a lot of the Chef reminding you that this is "heroin only", as if to tell you that he's moving on from the coke rap that so many have co-opted from the archetype he laid down on OB4CL. This is more extreme, grimier, and far less glamorous. This analysis would hold up a lot better if the tape was full of gutter beats, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The majority of the beats have a very funky and slick jazz feel (see: "Rising 2 Da Gwap"), so although it might debunk my metaphor theories, Rae's voice sounds completely at home on nearly every track. As for the older beats, there's a great re-working of Nas's "The World is Yours" (re-titled "Chef's World") and a listenable, albeit not as great, reworking of Paul Wall's "Sittin' Sideways" ("Sittin' sideways, boys in a daze" becomes "hit 'em sideways, going for the face").

Some classic tracks are included on the disc, including Wu Tang's "It's Yourz" and "Hollow Bones". Not only are these tracks great songs on their own, but they serve to show how Raekwon's new output can stand up against his past releases, and for the most part, it does. There's nothing that holds much of a candle to the original Cuban Linx, but if I don't have that expectation for the official album release, then it'd be silly to expect it from a pre-release mix tape. But while it may not become Raekwon's crowing achievement, I'll still look forward to "Cuban Linx II" and If the intention behind this release is to keep people tuned in until CL2 drops, then they've achieved it with at least one fan.

"Heroin Only" by Raekwon the Chef

"Chef's World" by Raekwon the Chef

"Rising 2 Da Gwap" by Raekwon the Chef

An even more perfect crime

I've been working 7 days a week and tomorrow I re-enter the collegiate world, after a brief hiatus, so the posting drought is probably not going to end anytime soon. Before I go to sleep though, I had to share this gem that came to my attention tonight. If you're like me, you've wondered, "hmm, well I like the perfect crime #2, but what happened to the first crime???" Well, apparently livejournal has your answer. Check out the link for "The Perfect Crime #1 & The Day I Knew You Would Never Come Back". There's a link to a second song, but it didn't work for me. Maybe it will for you.

I'm a big fan of Rebus Puzzles

Even though I really enjoy Ben Gibbard's voice (The Postal Service and All Time Quarterback are heck of awesome) , I've never really liked Death Cab for Cutie. I'm not sure what it is, I've only ever liked a few songs of theirs and even then I grew tired of them quickly (see: "Tiny Vessels" and "The New Year"). All that being said, I've been enjoying this song "Soul Meets Body" lately. Even though it has a stupid title. I see myself growing tired of this song just like the others, but for now it can have its shine.

"Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie

NYC TV

Although I can't get it at home, I enjoy watching NYC TV when I'm at work. Some of the programming is cool and they always show fun music videos. Tonight I caught TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me" and a Making the Video type joint for Beirut's "Scenic World". I'd never seen either video before and the TVOTR one is awesome. The Beirut video, eh. It's an enjoyable video, but if I was gonna rank these two, it'd catch the number 2 spot.

"Wolf Like Me" by TV on the Radio

It's almost as fun as watching Jump Tomorrow.

"Scenic World" by Beirut

Also,

If you haven't already, head here to download the new Talib/Madlib album. It's awesome, I implore you to listen to it.