Step into a World (Rapture's Delight)
Saturday, November 8, 2008 : 4:40 AM : 0 comments
In my mind, when I first heard hip hop, I loved it. That's how I tell the story anyway. Like I heard Tribe, instantly gravitated towards it, and become a fan of the entire genre. Then again, upon really thinking about it, that's not the story at all. If I really want to date when I got into hip hop, it was probably college. I mean, my musical life started at Meatloaf, wound around 10,000 Maniacs and Yanni, and firmly planted itself with Alanis and Jewel. No rap anywhere to be seen.But rap was around me even if I wasn't paying attention. I can recall in middle school, the only two girls of color (one was black, the other Middle Eastern/mixed?) would go around reciting "You never know she could be earnin' her man / And learnin' her man, and at the same time burnin' her man" all day long. I had no idea what they were quoting until years later, when I finally pieced together how early they had caught onto Dr. Dre and Snoop. Or how late I had.
And then at this Chinese family retreat in '94, a younger kid from L.A. would bring his boombox into the ping pong room and put Warren G's "Regulate...G Funk Era" on repeat. Even then it didn't strike me that this was something I had to have in my life. It was just background music.
The thing I did know was that I loved Rakim. I loved the way he looked, the way he talked, and the way hearing the bass on "Don't Sweat the Technique" made me feel. I guess it made me want to dance, even if I didn't know how. It helped that the song was paired to a basketball video (NBA Jam Session, 1993) I watched religiously. Due to this video, I sought out Rakim and Eric B. albums but didn't get any further into rap -- aside for a bit of Heavy D.
In a way, everything else I encountered didn't have quite the same appeal. Near the tail end of high school I met friends who did have some rap experience but they were into Tupac or Wu-Tang, artists who were not my preferred rap taste, even though I hadn't really consciously developed my palate yet. According to Pandora, I was looking for "tremendous bass, swingin' beats and boastin' lyrics," which I didn't find again until I heard Tribe and Gangstarr in college.
After that, it was love at third (or fourth or fifth) sight/hear. And then a subsequent rap explosion. And it was probably all due to a girl -- a definitive crush at first sight. Once, while hanging out in the getting to know each other stage, she asked what type of music I liked. I said, "hip hop." Totally duplicitous in retrospect but I rolled with it, especially after both she and her friend commended me for my fine answer. I made a hasty exit before we could get in-depth about exactly who I liked. "Um, Rakim?"
Over the next few days, I completely raided the school library, checking out everything in the rap section and proceeded to crash course my way through Hip Hop 101. By then I realized that the posters on her dorm room door meant something. This was her (rap) cheat sheet. I took extra care in listening to The Roots and KRS-One. If I liked what she liked, maybe she would like me! There was also a Master P poster on her door but I couldn't get through any of his CDs. Even puppy love has its limits. Ugh. Na-nah, na-nah.
I'm cringing telling this story, because it represents a moment in time when I explicitly went out of my way to study a girl's tastes and then emulate them, in an attempt to get them to like me. I suppose lots of people do this but it's still wholly embarassing nonetheless. I hope I haven't been this blatant since. Actually, there's a whole host of embarassing stories surrounding this girl, and there was no happy ending to compensate. Not even close. Well, except for the hip hop I guess.
Labels: Music
Mux It Up
Monday, October 27, 2008 : 1:06 AM : 1 comments
Doing a mix tape just isn't the same anymore. The barrier to entry has gone down too much, the ease of transferring songs between two people has ruined it forever. That's how I feel about the current state of mix tapes anyway. Then again, maybe that's just me and creating a mix tape is still magical if you do it with passion. I can't recall the last mix tape I made or received, although it's something I used to do all the time. Mix-CDs actually. When tapes were still in vogue, I was way too uncool to present (new) music to anybody. "So, here's a tape looped with 'Kokomo' and 'Don't Worry, Be Happy.' Hope you love it, because I love you..."I'm still in possession of a mix tape that I've been hoping to pass to someone for over five years now. I haven't seen her in all that time but it's supposed to sum up a summer's worth of memories. "Cool Like That: Two People's Instinctive Travels in the Paths of Labor" Maybe I'll just be holding onto this thing forever. That's kinda sad no?
Another reason why making mix tapes just isn't the same is because creating the covers aren't as much fun anymore. Why spend time designing the CD cover when it'll most likely be ripped to a computer and then set aside? A mix tape loses something in the translation when it doesn't take two hours to burn and three versions of the CD sized paper to have everything lined up perfectly.
Then again, the sentiment of a mix tape can never be changed. It's something you make to make the other person think of you. It's taking ownership of certain songs so that when they hear it, even years later, they'll always think of you. Mix tapes are super devious if you think about it. I may have to bring it back...
Anyway, here's a mix tape from 1999 that I made for somebody. It had the best cover ever. A (traced) version of the Bad Boy logo, changed to a female with pigtails. I titled it "Ready to Cry." Little did I know how appropriate that would be.
Here's the mix tape in individual form, .rar form, and also the track list. Oh, and on favtape too, although it sucks because you can't upload your own tracks like with muxtape, meaning you can't get some songs on your mix if they don't already have a copy. I miss muxtape.
I miss a lot of things.
Labels: Music
A Heartbreaking Work
Friday, October 24, 2008 : 12:34 AM : 1 comments
I just wrapped up the last few pages of Rob Sheffield's "Love is a Mix Tape" and I gotta say, it's got me feeling sad and blue. I don't know why I never read the thing -- what a great title -- or ever spent more than twenty seconds flipping pages but the book is amazing. I guess I avoided it because I thought it was all about music and when I looked at the mix tape songs that introduced each chapter, it was all music I'd never heard of or didn't really like.What I didn't realize was that the title was absolutely literal. Rob's mix tapes are all about love and more specifically, love for his wife, who died tragically a few years after they got married. Sheffield's writing is very intimate and poignant and his thoughts on falling hopelessly and madly in love, and then losing that love would hit close to home for anyone. Plus the way he talks about music is outstanding (he's a music journalist), even though I didn't know 90% of the songs he was referencing.
Seriously, this book was sad sad sad but in a breathtaking wonderful way and I'm delighted to have read it. It's like unbearably heavy and light at the same time. Here's an excerpt where he describes his wife, Renee.
"Girls take up a lot of room. I had a lot of room for this one. She had more energy than anybody I'd ever met. She was in love with the world. She was warm and loud and impulsive. One day, she announced she had found the guitar of her dreams at a local junk shop. I said, 'You don't even play the guitar.'
She said, 'This is the guitar that's gonna teach me.'
Unlike me, Renee was not shy; she was a real people-pleaser. She worried way too much about what people thought of her, wore her heart on her sleeve, expected too much from people, and got hurt too easily. She kept other people's secrets like a champ, but told her own too fast. She expected the world not to cheat her and was always surprised when it did. She was finishing her MFA in fiction, and was always working on stories and novels. She had more ideas than she had time to finish. She loved to get up early in the morning. She loved to talk about wild things she wanted to do in the future.
She'd never gone two weeks without a boyfriend since she was fifteen. (Two weeks? I could do a year standing on my head.) Before she met me, her wish list for the next boyfriend had contained three items: older than her (I failed that one), rural (that one, too), and no facial hair (I would have needed six months' notice to slap an acceptable sideburn together)."
-Love is a Mix Tape-
Said the Shotgun to the Head
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 : 3:49 PM : 0 comments
As a long time admirer and fan of Saul Williams' work, I was delighted to come across his piece titled "An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey." In it, he provides his answer to a question she posed: "Are all rappers poets?" Excerpted below."Because of the competitive stance that all emcees are prone to take, they, like soldiers begin to believe that they can show no sign of vulnerability. Thus, the most popular emcees of our age are often those that claim to be heartless or show no feelings or signs of emotion.And below is a short piece from one of Saul's poetry books. He's gotten some attention recently for having one of his music tracks used in a Nike commercial. I was amazed to hear his work coming through my television attached to a sneaker ad but the song's energy was powerful, just like his is.
The poet, on the other hand, is the one who realizes that their vulnerability is their power. Like you, unafraid to shed tears on countless shows, the poet finds strength in exposing their humanity, their vulnerability, thus making it possible for us to find connection and strength through their work. Many emcees have been poets. But, no, Ms. Winfrey, not all emcees are poets. Many choose gangsterism and business over the emotional terrain through which true artistry will lead. But they are not to blame."
-Saul Williams-
"our relationship
seemingly
falling apart
at the seams
but our grandmothers
were both seamstresses
for a reason"
-Saul Williams, She-
Years ago, my friend Babbs gave Presidential Candidate Al Gore a copy of Mos Def's Black on Both Sides during a taped MTV appearance at Ann Arbor. He urged him to listen to it and to open his mind to the idea of hip hop as a form of social statement. Unfortunately, the full text of the e-mails is no longer online but you can read about what happened here."I wanted Gore to recognize people through hip-hop. Hip-hop to me isn't just an 'art form.' It's so much more than that. Hip-hop is experience. ... I think Black on Both Sides is extremely representative of the universal message of hip-hop ...and hip-hop as a proactive response to social injustice ...'Mr. N---a' and 'Mathematics' are two tracks he could learn a great deal from, to see why racism is still a very salient issue."
-Brian Babb-
Labels: Music
Light My Candle
Saturday, July 19, 2008 : 10:03 PM : 1 comments
My love for musicals is well documented. I went (and am still going) through an obsessed with Wicked period. Recently though I've been listening to a lot of Les Mis and fiending to watch that and Phantom again. Actually, someone I met said that Les Miserables was her favorite book of all time so I should check that out first. Victor Hugo is way underrated.The thing with musicals is that it's sometimes seen as a semi-highbrow, somewhat feminine form of entertainment. Which is ridiculous because musicals are designed for everyone. It's not exactly a cultural experience like the ballet or the opera might (perceived to) be. It's just pure entertainment. Everybody loves to sing -- even if secretly -- and the pleasure you receive from obsessing over a musical's soundtrack is something that all fans can relate to. I used to insist on listening to the soundtrack beforehand so that I could have an idea of the lyrics before I saw the actual show.
But that can detract from the experience sometimes. For first time viewers of Wicked, for example, I think it's so much better to just go into it without having heard anything. My difficulty in going in blind has been an inability to properly process the words and plot of the musical at the same time. I always feel like I just missed something. That's been resolved a bit as I'm more capable of paying attention to both the action and the lyrics. Practice and experience I guess.
I wish I'd seen more musicals. I've seen most of the big Broadway-ish hits. In chronological order it's been Phantom, Cats, Les Mis, Miss Saigon, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, Tommy, Rent, Chicago, Lion King, Wicked. I really couldn't get into Miss Saigon or Chicago (even though I really enjoyed the movie) and I lean toward the Andrew Lloyd Webber classics because to me that's what a classic musical is all about.
Fave Five Musical SongsDid you know there's a Spider-Man musical in the works? Julie Taymor of Lion King fame will be directing it. The first reading just happened recently, with Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess as Mary Jane and Spidey respectively. So basically it's Across the Universe 2.
For Good (Wicked)
Think of Me (Phantom)
A Little Fall of Rain (Les Mis)
Defying Gravity (Wicked)
One Song Glory (Rent)
I think I need to go rent the Phantom and Les Mis film adaptations. For some reason, I can't really get into movie musicals. Moulin Rouge didn't strike a chord with me. Rent as a movie was semi-awful except for the fact that most of the original leads were involved. You would think that having easy access to a musical would be a dream come true. That's proven to be not usually the case. I do have to plug the movie Once here though, since it's sort of a movie musical and really endearing and sweet -- adjectives that I'd never be described with.
Labels: Music
The Ghost Whisperer
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 : 4:49 AM : 0 comments
While I can't say it's been a highly anticipated album, I have been waiting for Scarlett Johansson to get her much hyped (and vilified) album out. The big question was "Can she sing?" Well, if you've seen Lost in Translation, there's hints that she can give a charming vocally on-and-off performance -- but that's with her on-screen. Then her version of a jazz classic, Summertime, seemed to indicate that she could translate her awesome raspy talking voice into something special (or at least interesting) musically.Her album has been out for awhile now and after taking a few listens I have no idea what to think. The original advance song had me all confused until James explained to me what Tom Waits was all about. If you're going into this thinking it's a traditional "singing" album then you're going to be mighty disappointed. Since I don't get Waits at all, I can't really give much of a review. The critics seem to like it though. Some of it just sounds to me like tepid karaoke.
The better question might be "Can she act?" Sure, she's been nominated a few times for Golden Globes (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation, Match Point) but awards mean nothing. How many movies has she been in that made you think "Damn, she was really great in this!" Even if she is one of my esteemed Top Ten, it's hard not to cringe when watching her sometimes. It seems like she's much better in period pieces and hard to stomach when given regular girl roles (In Good Company). I wish she'd do something like Ghost World again, where she could be a little sarcastic and caustic, where she had actual character.
Here's a song I'm obsessing over: Jay Brannan's Soda Shop. It's on the Shortbus soundtrack and while the film may not quite be for everyone (read a review to see what I mean), the soundtrack is pretty damn good. Plus the Manhattan-themed intro to the film is just incredibly beautiful and well done.
Labels: Music
Soul Food
Sunday, March 23, 2008 : 9:43 PM : 0 comments
It's hard finding new music to listen to right? I'm still on Pandora's jock but it's nice to look elsewhere right? Apple commercials only come out every few months, after all. Enter Aurgasm, or rather, it's been around since 2004 but I just found out about it."Aurgasm specializes in everything not under the American rock umbrella -- music such as: downtempo, folk, nu jazz, chanson, scandinavian, jazz, cuban, brazilian, electro, soul, jump blues, bluegrass, film score, and electronica."The site's founder, Paul Irish, is out to share "the best music you've never heard." Paul debuted a new embedded mp3 player on the site recently and it's pretty awesome. The playlist functionality makes it really easy to hop around to different songs. I also don't know how Paul makes the page load more posts when you scroll to the bottom, but I sure like it.
In just a few minutes of browsing, I already love Justine Electra, Club des Belugas, Kat Flint, Daphne, Asa, Kira Neris, and a whole bunch more. Ridiculous. I feel like Willy Wonka just invited me in for a tour.
Labels: Music
