just did some rearranging feel free to comment or change it back.
new oasis is coming out early october so im pretty stoked. same old rigamarole about 'best one we've ever recorded' and 'this one really focuses on the groove/rock', you know the stuff every band says about every new album.
anyway im looking forward to it.
here is noel gallagher from what, like 95, doing one of the only maybe 2 completely solo projects hes ever done (still hoping for when the time is right). its a song called 'teotihuacan' and i dare you to find the oasis resemblance, it sounds totally unlike anything hes ever done...except of course production on ian brown's 'keep what ya got' in which noel, so cleverly, used the exact same piano loop and basic chord progression that he did back in this trip hop extravaganza.
sometimes, we as men walk amongst gods.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
new layout, oasis is the greatest band ever
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
DJ Summer Madness @ Backspin
Yrstrly, Edgar J. Saucepot, will be playing some records Saturday at Backspin (E.Saucepot's endorsement, best record store in Austin). 20% off all merchandise, live DJs at all hours, and free beer.
The schedule is here, I'll be playing on Saturday from 3-4 right after Prince Klassen. Eric and Zach from Backspin have laid down an all-vinyl law for the weekend, so I'll be using vinyl for the first time in awhile. Expect some summer jams. Maybe we can go swimming afterwards.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
the harder they come soundtrack by jimmy cliff
the harder they come soundtrack
this is a fairly good vinyl rip of a record dan sold me a while back at his record give away go away party. so i took it to kentucky and got my dad to make it into mp3s and he had the movie, the harder they come on vhs. i didn't watch the whole thing but what i did see was fucking cool. AND he let me borrow it so let's watch it. so basically the only thing i've been listening to since i got back is this record. it's incredible.
the wikipedia page says "In 2003, the album was ranked number 119 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time."
if you don't wanna download the whole album for god knows what reason, here are some of my favorite tracks
sitting in limbo - jimmy cliff
sweet and dandy - maytals
shanty town - desmond dekker
1972 the harder they come
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Obama In Berlin speech text and video
Text:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/full_text_of_obama.php
Video:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/24/obama-in-berlin-video-of_n_114771.html
Golden Shoes in the 200 + 400
400:
200:
This last one isn't actually from the 1996 Olympic games, but it is Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris fighting each other in the Colosseum. From "Fury of the Dragon".
who besides me is up for getting psycheddddd????????
Altanta, 1996: Dominique Dawes, a 9.850 on the floor.
James Brown and the Computer
There are no computers in the offices of James Brown Enterprises. "He's got this strange notion that they can see back at you," Maria Moon, one of his staffers, explained. "I guess he watched too many Russian-spy movies when he was young or something, but he thinks that they can see you and that they can track everything that you do." Mr. Brown put it slightly differently: "I don't want computers coming feeding direct off of me, 'cause I know what I got to tell a computer that it ain't got in there, and I don't want to. If the government would want me to be heading up the computer people, I would give 'em a basic idea what we should put in a computer-not just basic things, you know, but things that will be helpful in the future. We don't have that, but I could tell 'em a lot of things.
-New Yorker 2002, via O
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Slate weighs in on our recent obsession
...basketball hypotheticals
http://www.slate.com/id/2195127/
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Brown Building Rooftop Gig Report
After totally schooling Andrew in a game of 21 (fade away jumpers, skyhooks, floater along the bass line, late-game free throw streak), we made our way to DJ a private party.
Will from Lambert's hooked us up. His roommate was turning 27 years old and wanted to throw a party on the rooftop of the Brown Building downtown (8th and Colorado). It is one of the few condo/loft buildings in downtown Austin that wasn't build specifically as a residential complex, but has been converted into one. A few certified bros might remember this rooftop, Alex Fry's mother lived in the building and he had people over a few times.
If you haven't been to the top of the Brown Building, which is safeguarded by a residential key-card system, it is fucking swank. You're 10 stories up in the middle of downtown, staring at the capitol and it feels like you're really a part of the skyline. Most of the rooftop is gravel and industrial piping etc., except for a nicely furnished wood deck raised about 6 feet off of the ground. Dark stained wood chairs and tables, rope lighting, very classy.
Unfortunately the bartender (open bar provided by birthday boy) was late, so we were in a big hurry setting up, and in addition to that we had some, cough, equipment problems. Things got started late, but luckily the birthday boy didn't arrive until an hour after his party was supposed to start so it was all good.
I played hip-hop white people like and got a lot of compliments from rich white men wearing polo shirts tucked into jeans. I got one or two terrorist fist jabs in appreciation of my selections. The crowd stunk of money, and as Will put it nicely as he left at the end of the night, "In case I didn't preface it before, most of those people were actually douchebags." They were pretty nice to me, but I really had trouble telling them apart. This isn't some hipster snobbery, all thirty or so men at this party, with the exception of one or two in expensive t-shirts, looked exactly the same. Early in the party I was pressed by one of these young professionals to point out the guy who I had given the rooftop keycard to and I realized that I had no idea, they all looked the same.
The women on the other hand were phenomenal. It was like a meeting of the Trophy Girlfriends of Austin Club. These were girls who go to the gym, if you know what I'm saying. And then after the gym they go to boutiques and buy tiny cocktail dresses. And then they go to parties like this one. And then they end their night untucking the polo shirt of a man who carries a money clip thicker than my wrist. I learned that girls like this love Rhianna, but not Beyonce.
The highlight of the night had to be playing "Mo' Money Mo' Problems". Staring at young, beautiful, rich people on a downtown rooftop is really an optimal place to listen to that song, second only to the deck of a yacht. My regrets of the evening include failing to infiltrate the Trophy Girlfriends of Austin Club and forgetting to play "Money Ain't a Thing" by Jay-Z.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Nights Out on the East Side and A Rousing Game of 21 with Nat Baldwin
Hello there fellow adventurers. I would like to recount some highlights of my weekend for you. Let's start with Friday. I had just worked the first 10 hour work day of my life (more of those coming next week, yuck) and dazedly returned home around 5:30. Dinner was served and provided me with my commentary for the evening. I won't get into it, but let's just say I had a stomach ache, and it was my own damn fault for A. having poor communication skills, and B. using way too much butter to fry pasta. I tried to solve my problems by drinking beer. It sort of worked, but mostly not. We had an early X-Rays practice because among other reasons I wanted to get down to Progress Coffee for the Brazos/Nat Baldwin/Weird Weeds show.. Brazos is playing every Friday this month there and with the exception of the 25th when we play Hole in the Wall, I plan on attending all of them. It's always been known to me that that crew has got it goin on musically speaking, but on Friday lets say my reaction was less "you guys got it going on," and more "holy fuck, this is amazing, what the fuck."
Weird Weeds opened the show and were great as always. I have seen them a ton this summer---they have been playing for free most Monday nights at the Moose Lodge, which happens to be very bikable from my house. Its on EM Franklin, right north of MLK, and if you get a chance to see them there its a great time. The Moose Lodge is supposedly "members only" (and 2 of the Weird Weeds are members) but in actuality it is not members only. Most beers are 2 dollars, not just lone stars, and it is just a really great laid back atmosphere. There are tables which is cool, and a piano that more than one week someone ends up hopping on. Anyways, yes, its a great room.
Next Nat Baldwin played. It was just him solo on the stand up bass this time. I really enjoyed it and listened to it much differently than when he plays with a full setup. Nick Hennies said something about him using a "german grip" on the bow, so if you are interested in hitting up wikipedia to see what that means, I would be supportive of that. I am wondering right now sort of, actually., even though he explained it to me. What I really liked about tthe set is that you could hear all the harmonics off the bass. It was like essentially 5 notes at all times, across the full spectrum of pitch, and tons of glissandi and really controlled harmony. Really badass.
Then Brazos played. They blew my mind. You really need to go check them out. It was probably my first time seeing them in 6 months at least, but I'm going to catch them a number of times coming up here, so thats good. I suggest(ed already) you do the same.
So then a bunch of people all went down to The Broken Neck where I had never been before and where SUNSET was playing. The show was awesome. It was the first time I had seen a 2 Rhodes alignment and it was really cool. One thing you gotta say about Sunset---they are willing to carry a dickton of heavy equiptment to bring the rock. I scored a burned copy of The Glowing City off Mark Ashworth in San Francisco and listened to it on repeat nearly the entire 9 hour Greyhound ride down to Santa Barbara (which is to say....5 times since the disc is 80 minutes long). That record is stunning. I hope whats going on in Austin right now breaks, and honestly I dont see why SUNSET and Brazos wont. They really are talented above the rest.
Anyways, The Broken Neck was like my childhood fantasy, if I was a skateboarder (which is what my real childhood fantasy was). It was a giant clubhouse (aka warehouse space) with apartments in it and a giant half pipe and bands playing and it was a big party. There were people skateboarding the whole show, it was great, and you could tell the SUNSET crew was having a great time. It was my favorite show of theirs I've ever seen. So yeah, The Broken Neck. Its the shit.
---Unordered list---
Venues in this town that have lots of shows and are good to see shows at::
The Moose Lodge
Rancho Relaxo
Progress Coffee
The Broken Neck
Carousel Lounge
Beerland (only place downtown)
Hole in the Wall
I would assume Natrix Natrix house, although its so far south I have never made it there
* * *
Friday night at the show Nat had mentioned something about finding a game of basketball the next morning before his trip up to Abilene. The JCC ended up being the spot, and the crew ending up being myself, Julian and my brother Daniel and we played a couple games of 21. Then I retired to the pool and those guys played a full court 4 vs 4 game I think with some late arrivals.
So you're probably wondering: whats the inside scoop on Nat's game? It's an old story all over the press that he was MVP of a championship high school team who turned down scholarship offers to pursue music. Well I've come to report: while a new focus may have robbed him a quick first step, boy can still ball. First thing, he's got a great stroke. Everytime he would score a bucket he would nail all 3 free throws afterwards and they all looked great and exactly the same. Around the basket he could finish, and he could sink long jump shots. For me at least, his game was really mostly beautiful to watch because he has a great basketball IQ. He was rarely using more energy than needed, but often seemed to find himself in the right spot for rebounds. He knew when to drive and when to pull up (although against us he could have done both most of the time) and won 2 out of the 3 games, despite giving up significant inches against all of his opponents. And I will say I witnessed a nasty split of a double team too, so don't let it be said he lacks ball handling skills. I'm sure if I had stuck around for the full court game I would have bore witness to a different part of his skill set too. Anyways, yeah it was fun. For those of you wondering, I did manage to score 3 baskets over the course of the 2 games..
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Big Willie
I wanted to make a little response to Ervin Berlin's previous post about Will Smith.
-In case you didn't know, Nas has writing credits for lyrics to the single "Big Willie Style" as well as three other tracks on that album. Take a moment to imagine him brushing the blunt ash from his clothes as he wrote arguably the biggest crossover hip-hop hit of the 90's.
-I'm not sure that Will Smith was ever supposed to be a sex symbol. He was always marketed as a rapper and actor that white people could feel incredibly comfortable with. He didn't use profanity, didn't talk about drugs, didn't talk about sex. He was just really charismatic and fly in a non-intimidating way. I don't think there are any overtly sexual references in "Miami", but you're right, maybe those back-up singers are supposed to add some sexxappeal.
-For the record I owned DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's fourth album Homebase as a child. My favorite song was "You Saw My Blinker". Wikipedia tells me it's one of the only two songs on the record that uses a curse word. I really liked it because of that curse word. The song tells the story of a woman who crashes into Big Willie's car as he's driving. The chorus goes "You Saw My Blinker, Bitch!"
-I'm also really all about the song Summertime, despite the incredibly canned video. Hidden Beach Recordings do a great RnB cover of it, which I would post but I've only got it on vinyl. Also here's a pretty great remix of it by UK producer Yam Who? . Play it at your cookout.
Ain't No Stoppin' Summertime (A Yam Who? Remix) - Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Sunday, July 6, 2008
How even as a middle schooler did I not realize that Will Smith is the most ridiculous rapper of all time?
Seriously. I was guided by an article on slate.com to watching Youtube videos of "Summertime", "Gettin Jiggy Wit It", and yes, "Miami." Maybe it was because I wasn't allowed to watch MTV. Maybe my mom was sheltering me from the evils of MTV so I wouldn't see how ridiculous Will Smith looked. I am just blown away by the formulaic background vocals that don't really fit with the rest of the track and appear in all three tracks. I think Will Smith isn't believable as a sex object, and the producers knew it so they bolstered "Miami" with (equally not believable?) sexy background vocals "bienviendiedo a Miami" and not to have its eyes not rolled at "ay Papi"
SUMMERTIME:
I was looking for this other video that I couldn't remember where rappers are having a cook out in the park and its much more believable as not just a media image, but this is the closest i came up with
More "big willie style"
(compare with "remember the time")
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
my mind playing tricks on me
chopped and screwed my mind playing tricks on me by geto boys
chopped and screwed my mind playing tricks on me '94 by scarface
lyrics
original, such a good video!!
lyrics
Intro: Scarface
I sit alone in my four-cornered room staring at candles
Oh that shit is on? Heh
Let me drop some shit like this here, real smooth
Verse One: Scarface
At night I can't sleep, I toss and turn
Candle sticks in the dark, visions of bodies bein burned
Four walls just starin at a nigga
I'm paranoid, sleepin with my finger on the trigger
My mother's always stressin I ain't livin right
But I ain't going out without a fight
See, everytime my eyes close
I start sweatin, and blood starts comin out my nose
It's somebody watchin the Ak'
But I don't know who it is, so I'm watchin my back
I can see him when I'm deep in the covers
When I awake I don't see the motherfucker
He owns a black hat like I own
A black suit and a cane like my own
Some might say, "Take a chill, B"
But fuck that shit! There's a nigga trying to kill me
I'm poppin in the clip when the wind blows
Every twenty seconds got me peepin out my window
Investigatin the joint for traps
Checkin my telephone for taps
I'm starin at the woman on the corner
It's fucked up when your mind is playin tricks on ya
Verse Two: Willie D
I make big money, I drive big cars
Everybody know me, it's like I'm a movie star
But late at night, somethin ain't right
I feel I'm being tailed by the same sucker's head lights
Is it that fool that I ran off the block?
Or is it that nigga last week that I shot?
Or is it the one I beat for five thousand dollars
Thought he had 'caine but it was Gold Medal Flour
Reach under my seat, grabbed my popper for the suckers
Ain't no use to me lyin, I was scareder than a motherfucker
Hooked a left into Popeye's and bailed out quick
If it's goin down let's get this shit over with
Here they come, just like I figured
I got my hand on the motherfuckin trigger
What I saw'll make your ass start gigglin
Three black, crippled and crazy senior citizens
I live by the sword
I take my boys everywhere I go, because I'm paranoid
I keep lookin over my shoulder and peepin around corners
My mind is playin tricks on me
Verse Three: Scarface
Day by day it's more impossible to cope
I feel like I'm the one that's doing dope
Can't keep a steady hand because I'm nervous
Every Sunday mornin I'm in service
Prayin for forgiveness
And tryin to find an exit out the business
I know the Lord is lookin at me
But yet and still it's hard for me to feel happy
I often drift while I drive
Havin fatal thoughts of suicide
BANG and get it over with
And then I'm worry-free, but that's bullshit
I got a little boy to look after
And if I died then my child would be a bastard
I had a woman down with me
But to me it seemed like she was down to get me
She helped me out in this shit
But to me she was just another bitch
Now she's back with her mother
Now I'm realizing that I love her
Now I'm feelin lonely
My mind is playin tricks on me
Verse Four: Bushwick Bill
This year Halloween fell on a weekend
Me and Geto Boys are trick-or-treatin
Robbin little kids for bags
Till an old man got behind our ass
So we speeded up the pace
Took a look back, and he was right before our face
He'd be in for a squabble no doubt
So I swung and hit the nigga in his mouth
He was goin down, we figured
But this was no ordinary nigga
He stood about six or seven feet
Now, that's the nigga I'd be seein in my sleep
So we triple-teamed on him
Droppin them motherfuckin B's on him
The more I swung the more blood flew
Then he disappeared and my boys disappeared, too
Then I felt just like a fiend
It wasn't even close to Halloween
It was dark as fuck on the streets
My hands were all bloody, from punchin on the concrete
God damn, homie
My mind is playin tricks on me
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