Gonna take some time to work on some writing, maybe go through the backlog of DVDs I haven't had a chance to watch yet. I won't leave you totally high and dry though, so here's a video. It's a short compilation of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day bumpers. Up until Comedy Central stopped the marathon, I spent a lot of my Thanksgivings bouncing between family and the TV to catch as much of the 30 hours of MST3k episodes as I could. I owe a lot of my love of b-cinema to this series, and I still watch it pretty regularly. Enjoy!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Things I'm Thankful for this Holiday
Been a pretty rough year for the kid, but I've still got quite a lot to be thankful for. If you'll indulge me, I'm going to forgo the Throwback this week and just list some of 'em.:
I am thankful for Rock Band, as it is the only place I am allowed to sing Master Exploder out loud, in public and be praised rather than mocked.
I am thankful for my mama, and her sweet potato pie recipe...that in all likelihood is not hers, but she won't break her neck trying to correct me.
I am thankful for Questlove's recollection of dearly departed friends that just happen to be legendary beatmakers.
I am thankful that the aforementioned legendary beatmaker left behind so much classic material.
I am thankful for my friends and family. Particularly friends that send me things like this video to provide me with cheer/boundless rage (to the dearest Laurie, the two are apparently interchangeable).
I'm thankful mostly that despite everything that's gone on, I'm alive and well to celebrate another Thanksgiving. Hopefully yours was as enjoyable as mine, and if you didn't tell somebody how thankful you are for their presence in your lives, remember that you don't need a particular day to do so.
I am thankful for Rock Band, as it is the only place I am allowed to sing Master Exploder out loud, in public and be praised rather than mocked.
I am thankful for my mama, and her sweet potato pie recipe...that in all likelihood is not hers, but she won't break her neck trying to correct me.
I am thankful for Questlove's recollection of dearly departed friends that just happen to be legendary beatmakers.
I am thankful that the aforementioned legendary beatmaker left behind so much classic material.
I am thankful for my friends and family. Particularly friends that send me things like this video to provide me with cheer/boundless rage (to the dearest Laurie, the two are apparently interchangeable).
I'm thankful mostly that despite everything that's gone on, I'm alive and well to celebrate another Thanksgiving. Hopefully yours was as enjoyable as mine, and if you didn't tell somebody how thankful you are for their presence in your lives, remember that you don't need a particular day to do so.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The South needs something else to say.
The latest news out of Atlanta involves the fracas that Shawty Lo's crew got into with Grand Hustle artist Alfamega at the 2008 Dirty Awards (The Dirty Awards? Seriously folks?). While I can't help but get some enjoyment out of all the ignorance that's come out of the reports (the Hip Hop community has its new version of Chuck Norris, or rather Josh Homme, with twice the fearsomeness and not an inkling of the talent), I can't help but feel a little sad for the South's music scene, as least as far as Hip Hop is concerned.
In 1995, Outkast stood up to accept their Best New Artist award at the Source Awards in front of a hostile crowd that was already keyed up from mounting tension between the Death Row and Bad Boy Records camps. They were booed on their way to the podium. Salt-N-Pepa were the presenters for the award and they even announced the name of the winners with obvious disappointment in their voices. There was no love in that room for the South at all, it seemed. Then, in a move that would make me proud to be a Hip Hop head from the South from that day forward, Dre (no 3000, Three Stacks, or anything back then) proclaimed without fear that "...the South got something to say." Outkast used this soundbyte in the song "Chonkyfire" to close the album Aquemini:
The album ended up taking The Source's coveted Five Mic rating, a perfect score. Now, much like The Source has fallen into a state of irrelevant disarray, the South is the same mess of bickering, in-fighting and lackluster music as everywhere else. I'm still a proud Southerner, no doubt. As time goes on though, I'm having to reach further and further back to explain why.
In 1995, Outkast stood up to accept their Best New Artist award at the Source Awards in front of a hostile crowd that was already keyed up from mounting tension between the Death Row and Bad Boy Records camps. They were booed on their way to the podium. Salt-N-Pepa were the presenters for the award and they even announced the name of the winners with obvious disappointment in their voices. There was no love in that room for the South at all, it seemed. Then, in a move that would make me proud to be a Hip Hop head from the South from that day forward, Dre (no 3000, Three Stacks, or anything back then) proclaimed without fear that "...the South got something to say." Outkast used this soundbyte in the song "Chonkyfire" to close the album Aquemini:
The album ended up taking The Source's coveted Five Mic rating, a perfect score. Now, much like The Source has fallen into a state of irrelevant disarray, the South is the same mess of bickering, in-fighting and lackluster music as everywhere else. I'm still a proud Southerner, no doubt. As time goes on though, I'm having to reach further and further back to explain why.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Free Stuff: Fokis' A Walk Through MySpace Vol. 1
I told you guys about this project last week and now it's here.
Click on the picture to go to his site where you can get a download link for the LP if you give up your email address. No spam, I promise, you'll just get occasional emails on Fokis' projects, and be the first to peep videos and tracks from him.
Click on the picture to go to his site where you can get a download link for the LP if you give up your email address. No spam, I promise, you'll just get occasional emails on Fokis' projects, and be the first to peep videos and tracks from him.
Kanye's New LP: Convince me to drink the Kool-Aid
808s & Heartbreak drops today, and after months of leaks and opinions flying back and forth I'm still firmly in the not excited camp. I think my main problem is that the folks who are hopping on the bandwagon are citing reasons that don't jibe with what I've been hearing.
There are those who say that the album's different and innovative. Now, keep in mind that I haven't heard the record in its entirety so my opinions are just going off of the songs that've been floating around the internets (Welcome to Heartbreak, Robocop, Love Lockdown, and Street Lights are all I've heard at this point), but I will concede that the album is different. Innovative? I'm not too sure. To my ears it sounds like a New Wave or Indie Dance/Pop record and given the popularity of artists like Santogold, M.I.A., and J.U.S.T.I.C.E in recent years (particularly amongst the Hip Hop community) it doesn't sound like he's trumping those folks aside from the fact that he's Kanye. The name recognition gets more people looking and in turn more people analyzing the work (just like me, natch). It's different because it's different than the rest of his catalog. The album being different isn't so much a problem, as I feel like Hip Hop fans are being pushed to really champion this album as a work of Hip Hop when the guy who created doesn't even consider it as such.
There's also the matter of Kanye embracing the much-maligned autotune vocal effect. The very fact that it's been used and abused this year by nearly every popular R&B and Hip Hop artist of dubious vocal ability is troubling enough. You've got a guy who's supposed to be setting trends when he comes out. With his previous albums, so many producers and artists copied after him it was ridiculous. What started with an autotune laden feature on Young Jeezy's single "Put On" exploded into an album full of the crutch that T-Pain hath wrought. Now unlike T-Pain and the host of other people that use this thing, I honestly believe Kanye has something different in mind than simply covering the fact that he doesn't have the greatest singing voice in the world. Perhaps, given the themes of heartbreak and loneliness that run through the album, the cold mechanical nature of the vocal effect is suppose to juxtapose with the raw emotion that Kanye is putting out there for the listener. That's a fresh use of the autotune if that's the case. Still doesn't mean it's exactly a treat to listen to.
Which brings me to the idea that the album should be respected simply because Kanye's being emotionally vulnerable in a way that's unheard of for a Hip Hop artist. Without bothering to go back to the argument that this isn't a Hip Hop record, I'll concede that Kanye should certainly be commended for being brave enough to channel what has to be a helluva hard time into music, and going with what he feels his heart pushed him toward. All that said, it's not the first time that Hip Hop's had artists who put their hearts on their sleeves in such a way. There's examples from the underground, sure: Slug from Atmosphere built his career off of baring emotion from the Lucy Ford EP onward. Jean Grae's laid it all out there for her listeners, not only in song (the painfully raw My Story from Jeanius details her personal experience with abortion), but as a person as well. Admittedly, mainstream Hip Hop isn't exactly awash with folks willing to bare their soul on record, but not too long ago one-half of one of the most heralded Hip Hop groups of all time released a concept album based around the ups-and-down of his own love life. Andre 3000 took a lot more Ls back when Speakerboxx/The Love Below came out than Kanye has over 808s, but they're both personal pieces of music where the artist uncompromisingly follows what it is they want to do.
Which is why I still respect Kanye as an artist. Despite any shade that might get thrown at him from folks like me, he chooses to push ahead with his vision. For that reason alone his music will always get my attention, if not my outright adulation. Hopefully once I actually sit down with a purchased copy of 808s & Heatbreak being able to hear it as a complete work will change my mind. For now though, I'll be in the corner with the haters, wishing T-Pain had never decided to turn into a "sanger."
There are those who say that the album's different and innovative. Now, keep in mind that I haven't heard the record in its entirety so my opinions are just going off of the songs that've been floating around the internets (Welcome to Heartbreak, Robocop, Love Lockdown, and Street Lights are all I've heard at this point), but I will concede that the album is different. Innovative? I'm not too sure. To my ears it sounds like a New Wave or Indie Dance/Pop record and given the popularity of artists like Santogold, M.I.A., and J.U.S.T.I.C.E in recent years (particularly amongst the Hip Hop community) it doesn't sound like he's trumping those folks aside from the fact that he's Kanye. The name recognition gets more people looking and in turn more people analyzing the work (just like me, natch). It's different because it's different than the rest of his catalog. The album being different isn't so much a problem, as I feel like Hip Hop fans are being pushed to really champion this album as a work of Hip Hop when the guy who created doesn't even consider it as such.
There's also the matter of Kanye embracing the much-maligned autotune vocal effect. The very fact that it's been used and abused this year by nearly every popular R&B and Hip Hop artist of dubious vocal ability is troubling enough. You've got a guy who's supposed to be setting trends when he comes out. With his previous albums, so many producers and artists copied after him it was ridiculous. What started with an autotune laden feature on Young Jeezy's single "Put On" exploded into an album full of the crutch that T-Pain hath wrought. Now unlike T-Pain and the host of other people that use this thing, I honestly believe Kanye has something different in mind than simply covering the fact that he doesn't have the greatest singing voice in the world. Perhaps, given the themes of heartbreak and loneliness that run through the album, the cold mechanical nature of the vocal effect is suppose to juxtapose with the raw emotion that Kanye is putting out there for the listener. That's a fresh use of the autotune if that's the case. Still doesn't mean it's exactly a treat to listen to.
Which brings me to the idea that the album should be respected simply because Kanye's being emotionally vulnerable in a way that's unheard of for a Hip Hop artist. Without bothering to go back to the argument that this isn't a Hip Hop record, I'll concede that Kanye should certainly be commended for being brave enough to channel what has to be a helluva hard time into music, and going with what he feels his heart pushed him toward. All that said, it's not the first time that Hip Hop's had artists who put their hearts on their sleeves in such a way. There's examples from the underground, sure: Slug from Atmosphere built his career off of baring emotion from the Lucy Ford EP onward. Jean Grae's laid it all out there for her listeners, not only in song (the painfully raw My Story from Jeanius details her personal experience with abortion), but as a person as well. Admittedly, mainstream Hip Hop isn't exactly awash with folks willing to bare their soul on record, but not too long ago one-half of one of the most heralded Hip Hop groups of all time released a concept album based around the ups-and-down of his own love life. Andre 3000 took a lot more Ls back when Speakerboxx/The Love Below came out than Kanye has over 808s, but they're both personal pieces of music where the artist uncompromisingly follows what it is they want to do.
Which is why I still respect Kanye as an artist. Despite any shade that might get thrown at him from folks like me, he chooses to push ahead with his vision. For that reason alone his music will always get my attention, if not my outright adulation. Hopefully once I actually sit down with a purchased copy of 808s & Heatbreak being able to hear it as a complete work will change my mind. For now though, I'll be in the corner with the haters, wishing T-Pain had never decided to turn into a "sanger."
Monday, November 24, 2008
Free Stuff: Illogic's EP One Bar Left
I brought you the title track from this EP on Wednesday, and now the whole thing is out.
Illogic - One Bar Left EP Produced entirely by Ill Poetic
Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I've certainly missed hearing Illogic since the amazing Celestial Clockwork so it's bound to be a treat (You should cop it at that link if you don't already have it). Diabolical Fun coming this Spring from Weightless!
Illogic - One Bar Left EP Produced entirely by Ill Poetic
Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I've certainly missed hearing Illogic since the amazing Celestial Clockwork so it's bound to be a treat (You should cop it at that link if you don't already have it). Diabolical Fun coming this Spring from Weightless!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday Night Films
Gonna be pretty lazy with the film news this week, so pardon the kid. Some follow-up about the Oldboy remake that Stephen Spielberg and Will Smith are looking to put together. One of the writers from I Am Legend, Mark Protosevitch, has signed on to pen the film, and in the cop out portion of the news, Will Smith told Film School Rejects that the rights that Spielberg acquired were for the original Oldboy manga and not the Chan Wook Park film. So no need to worry about Smith and Spielberg having to go anyplace outside of their respective comfort zones, but it's a cop out as most people who know about the manga (and I'm willing to bet this includes Smith and Spielberg) were brought to it from the movie. So you know the movie's going to be in mind when they undertake this.
The Playlist (a really cool blog where they focus on movies from a music standpoint, particularly the involvement of music supervisors on a film) reports that X-Men: First Class is going ahead, written by Josh Schwartz, a writer responsible for Gossip Girl and The O.C.. Ladies and gentlemen, I can't and I won't stand for this. I'm not a huge stan for the X-Men, as a fictional universe it's got plenty of problems, and if this were called X-Men: Year One, Young X-Men or something else original, I wouldn't bat an eye. The problem is that they're taking the name for the movie from one of the comic books that actually get the X-Men concept right.
Written by Jeff Parker, the stories all center around all the OG members of the X-Men in their first years as a team. It cuts out all of the fat out, the super complicated plotlines, the contrived angst and just concentrates on fun stories. Gets the whole growing up different thing down, with a lot of classic comic book action (in a good way). I know it's early, but I have a feeling we're going get a lot crappy music, pretty white kids with problems and lukewarm super-power effects. Kinda like a movie that's dropping this weekend that I'll get into in a second. Anyhow, go cop the First Class books at your earliest convenience, 'cause not only do you get great stories up front, you also get adorable backup features by folks like Colleen Coover. As an example, here's Marvel Girl dealing with some baby ducks:
Click for full size.
If the movie contains this, I take back everything I said.
If you haven't already seen them, there's some nice trailers out this week: The Wrestler, Coraline to name a couple. Two more caught my eye this week: The Wilson Yip helmed Ip Man a bio-pic about the man that trained Bruce Lee in Wing Chun. Donnie Yen stars in the lead.
The second is for a Blaxploitation homage/spoof called Black Dynamite. There's really nothing I can say that the trailer doesn't do perfectly. Go here to peep the NSFW trailer, and to learn more about the film. The one-sheets in particular are pitch perfect.
Huh. Not quite as lazy as I'd planned. Well, now I'll leave you with what is the first installment in a series: Why 'Let the Right One In' kicks 'Twilight' in the Teeth.
When sunlight hits vampires in Twilight, this happens.
When sunglight hits vampires in Let The Right One In, this happens.
Have a good weekend, folks.
The Playlist (a really cool blog where they focus on movies from a music standpoint, particularly the involvement of music supervisors on a film) reports that X-Men: First Class is going ahead, written by Josh Schwartz, a writer responsible for Gossip Girl and The O.C.. Ladies and gentlemen, I can't and I won't stand for this. I'm not a huge stan for the X-Men, as a fictional universe it's got plenty of problems, and if this were called X-Men: Year One, Young X-Men or something else original, I wouldn't bat an eye. The problem is that they're taking the name for the movie from one of the comic books that actually get the X-Men concept right.
Written by Jeff Parker, the stories all center around all the OG members of the X-Men in their first years as a team. It cuts out all of the fat out, the super complicated plotlines, the contrived angst and just concentrates on fun stories. Gets the whole growing up different thing down, with a lot of classic comic book action (in a good way). I know it's early, but I have a feeling we're going get a lot crappy music, pretty white kids with problems and lukewarm super-power effects. Kinda like a movie that's dropping this weekend that I'll get into in a second. Anyhow, go cop the First Class books at your earliest convenience, 'cause not only do you get great stories up front, you also get adorable backup features by folks like Colleen Coover. As an example, here's Marvel Girl dealing with some baby ducks:
If the movie contains this, I take back everything I said.
If you haven't already seen them, there's some nice trailers out this week: The Wrestler, Coraline to name a couple. Two more caught my eye this week: The Wilson Yip helmed Ip Man a bio-pic about the man that trained Bruce Lee in Wing Chun. Donnie Yen stars in the lead.
The second is for a Blaxploitation homage/spoof called Black Dynamite. There's really nothing I can say that the trailer doesn't do perfectly. Go here to peep the NSFW trailer, and to learn more about the film. The one-sheets in particular are pitch perfect.
Huh. Not quite as lazy as I'd planned. Well, now I'll leave you with what is the first installment in a series: Why 'Let the Right One In' kicks 'Twilight' in the Teeth.
When sunlight hits vampires in Twilight, this happens.
When sunglight hits vampires in Let The Right One In, this happens.
Have a good weekend, folks.
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