November 29, 2003 (2) Comments

Thing I learned from from MS-ELL's Under Construction:
Hiphop, get back to your roots--but only if you're carrying platinum adidas.

Things I learned from MS-ELL's This is Not a Test:

It's okay to not have a cellular phone ("Wake Up"), but I better get a G-Unit like, three minutes ago ("Toyz").

If you are thick, Missy's lawn wouldn't even have you ("Pass That Dutch"), but if you are from the South, you're just big-boned so feel free to stay and get freaky ("Pump it Up").

MIXED MESSAGES!

November 26, 2003 (0) Comments

Yes, it is true: I grew up in Wyoming. It is a cultural island, that place, a vast, perfectly square island with secrets to be gleaned from beneath dust and tumbleweeds, where arrowheads and dinosaurs jut up from the earth like pirate booty, but little else. In Wyoming, Bell Biv Devoe provoked a great spiritual awakening, and late-night stolen moments with Dave Kendall on MTV's 120 Minutes were straight-up boarding the fast train to nirvana.

This is not entirely true; dance teachers imported from Denver (tres sophistique!) brought with them exotic and coveted Salt 'N' Pepa, Stacey Q, Shanice singles--entire albums by Pebbles! I LOVED PEBBLES. To which they choregraphed in appropriate measures of funk for sixth graders--vigorous, upbeat, nothing too provocative, but still, there were a lot of snakey body rolls so we got away with a moderate amount of gyration. We were like miniature cheerleaders, O.G. Sparkle Motion (no disrespect to Tiny Lucky), dressed in red sequined leotards, hair crimped and sprayed heavily, to imprison the slightest flyaway. We performed at University of Wyoming basketball halftime, rubbed vaseline on our teeth to keep us smiling. Fifteen JonBenet Ramseys in a V formation. (Apologies if that was too morbid. But her photos, with the excess of mascara, the caked-on lipstick cherry red with innocence--we wore it, too.)

I am fully digressing. My parents weren't music fanatics. The only tape I ever remember my dad owning was Prince's Purple Rain, which I stole. My mom listened exclusively to old mariachi records. I am not kidding. This seems really cool now, but then it was excruciating if not mortifying; an 11-year-old does NOT want to hear mariachis all the livelong day, especially when her role models (see dance teachers, above) are rather more partial to Taylor Dayne and Nia Peeples, and the occasional rarer dance 12" like "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express, which, after recalling it and looking it up on allmusic.com, was apparently the gateway to acid house hegemony. Shame on S'Express. To my young performing dance troupe ass, it meant a good beat and probably eight full measures of the Running Man.

Okay this is also not entirely true. The two records I stole from my Mom's record collection that WERE NOT mariachi records:
1. Linda Ronstadt with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra
2. Harry Belafonte sings the Blues

In about 1991-92, I started doing mailorder--Dischord, Simple Machines, Merge, etc-- and would often get letters back: "We don't get much mail from Wyoming." No kidding! Nobody gets much mail from Wyoming; the entire state's population is 500,000 people.

Cheyenne, Wyoming had an excellent public school system, but it was a small town so all we could really figure was how to get out.

I can't think of it too fondly, that place--where you might imagine that much wide open space would be ripe with possibility, it was isolation; it was stifling. However, there is one thing I truly and dearly love about Wyoming: its propensity for a good Old West Festival. When I lived in Laramie, there were Jubilee Days, but Cheyenne Frontier Days--the last full week in July, every year since God was born or at least since 1897--is the Daddy of 'Em All. The world's largest rodeo, the world's most debauched carnival, the world's least changed parade (I can still hear the goosey horns of Model-T Fords, driven by midlife crisis men who came from great Pioneer lineage). Pancake Breakfasts (where my violin teacher ditched the Suzuki songbooks and played it like a damned fiddle, where still more midlife crisis Pioneer lineage men flipped griddle cakes and doused chunks of ham in a goo of real maple syrup). (30,000 pancakes, FOR FREE. You cannot beat that.) The "Indian Village," where Native Americans keep storytelling and dance traditions--tribes unspecified, but it was presumed they came down from the Rez at Ft. Washakie (we are talking about Wyoming; our team in high school: the Central Indians).
There were concerts there, too--the dominant popular music in Cheyenne is radio country hits--and for two years they had lower-tier rock shows, where I saw Night Ranger and Jefferson Starship (just Starship, perhaps). But in the third year, Belinda Carlisle was scheduled to play. Instead, she canceled and PETA protested the rodeo, as it is indeed barbaric and unnecessary to lasso and rope a calf; then again, not much has changed there and I think someone could probably think up a good argument as to why lassoing and roping a calf is a necessary element of Frontier survival.

So I never felt right there, in Wyoming, and never felt that right anywhere for a long time after that. But I saw Willie Nelson. That counts for something.

November 26, 2003 (0) Comments

Our Swiss correspondent, Ethan Swan, sent holiday wishes this morning:

"The China-men built the railroad, the Indians saved
the Pilgrim/And in return the Pilgrim killed em/
They call it it Thanksgiving, I call your holiday
hell-day
(from Stillmatic)"

Ethan used to play in a superb Portland punk band called Emergency, which pre-dated last season's "no-wave explosion" by about four years and, Ethan being somewhat of a no-wave/artpunk archivist, wrote better songs than most, too. They released a split w/Numbers, back when nobody knew who Numbers were, on Ethan and Paul Dickow (ex-Emergency, current Strategy, Nudge, DJ P-Disco)'s label Archigramophone.
(Other Recommended Archi-Titles: Mesozoic-era Nice Nice, Mome Raths [before that crappy PDX yuppie jazz band swiped their name], and especially Washington DC's Meltdown, who had a major influence on Erase Errata and were perhaps the best high school punk band that ever existed. We should also give them credit for being a high school punk band in the mid-'90s without employing a pun moniker, like "The Sleazecake Factory" or "Melinda Sclerosis" [apologies to Robb, Steph, and Bob formerly of Laramie, WY.])

November 25, 2003 (0) Comments

PINK's TRY THIS: Haven't listened to it yet because was met with the unequivocal gasface from my boss, Steve Humphrey, who pretty much likes anything poppy (not that he has the soul of an auctioneer, but he can break bread with a good hook) BUT, Pink writes her thank yous in emoticons, says to embrace the freak you are, says "To Women Everywhere: The revolution starts at home" which taken literally would mean I really need to tell my housemate to stop resting his feet on my FitBall. It makes my pilates stink.

November 22, 2003 (1) Comments

RECENT OBSERVATIONS to be included in my forthcoming book on spirituality and rap/r&b liner notes:

G-Unit's BEG FOR MERCY: Young Buck thanks God, 50 Cent, and his mother, in that order. Three thank you's later, he thanks his mother again, perhaps because he feels bad for ranking 50 Cent before her, assuming she isn't one of the people who believe 50 is the second coming of Christ (and who are those people, anyway--Eminem's CPA?). In the first acknowledgement, Monsieur Buck thanks her for "breedin' a soulja." The second time, he addresses her by her first name, Audrey, denotes that she's "my mother" in parenthesis.

Timbaland & Magoo's UNDER CONSTRUCTION PART II: Tim thanks "GOD, ALL THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN GOD, AND GOD'S CHILDREN. TO ALL THE CHURCHES OF GOD IN CHRIST, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS." (Caps Tim's.) Magoo thanks God, despite that he "may not approve of my music." Also, Magoo does one of my favorite things --communicates a message to someone via liner notes, that would be more efficiently/expediently accomplished by simply using a telephone or the internet. In this case, he tells Ginuwine aka Santiago, "I need your 2way." So Ginuwine, if you happen to pick up this album and read the extensive liner notes (your thank you is halfway through a long paragraph), please, give Magoo a call. Dude needs your 2way.

Jay-Z's THE BLACK ALBUM: Appropriately, Monsieur Carter thanks a higher power first. Not so predictable is that he's non-denominational, parenthetically noting that God could also be called Allah or Jehovah. (That's right, acknowledge yr namesake, Young.) He then goes on to speculate upon said higher power's gender: "(male, female, or simply energy.") This ambiguity is perhaps due to the fact that Jay may indeed BE God, the "nigga blasphemy," as he calls himself in "What More Can I Say?" He might front like he's not--in "Moment of Clarity" he credits God for giving him everything--but all over the record, he belies/blabs his own truth, since the entire thesis of the thing is that Shawn Carter is a self-made man, and must retire to give all the lessers a fighting chance to come up (in the style of Jesus and Tupac). Witness: Jay-Hova is his own damn Jay-Hova. Simply Energy!!

Can't wait for new Missy, out this Tuesday. Was it Missy who asked someone out via liner notes? Maybe that was Jaguar Wright, or Mya--and also, "Wake Up" is totally thrilling. Chorus: "If you don't got a gun, it's all right.. if you're makin legal money.. it's all right... If you gotta keep your clothes on... it's all right... if you don't got a cellular phone.. it's all right," etc., effectively making Missy a kind of mom of mainstream rap: loving, encouraging, and contradictory.

November 22, 2003 (0) Comments

According to a recent episode of Nova, the earth's magnetic field is dissipating at such a rate that by the next millennium (approx. 20 generations from now), it will be all but gone, rendering us defenseless against fallout from the sun's radiation storms, and essentially burning earth into a crisp. Like Mars.

A more immediate concern: we're overdue for a "magnetic flip" (the reversal of magnetic fields that would make the South Pole North and the North Pole South). The earth's magnetic field flips, on average, every 250,000 years, but there hasn't been a flip in 700,000 years.

Most of the world's animals' migratory practices rely on the magnetic field. For instance, the loggerhead turtle has tiny magnets in its body which guide it to the shore where it laid its eggs. The pelican has a magnet in its eye, which produces a constant spot in its vision indicating the location of the north pole, enabling it to navigate the horizon and find land.

As for humanity, well... for one, our entire power grid is reliant upon the continued existence and stability of the magnetic field as it currently exists.

My favorite quote from the program's website: "Most of us like stability in our lives, especially when it comes to planet-wide phenomena, such as the daily appearance of the sun or the periodic change of season." Let us present an award to the creators of Nova for understatement.

November 20, 2003 (0) Comments

from raptivism records:

RAPTIVISM TO DISTRIBUTE HEALTH DVD FEATURING ERYKAH BADU, COMMON, dead prez, etc.

NEW YORK, NY. (November 18, 2003) Raptivism has announced plans to distribute "Wholistic Living For The Hip Hop Generation" for the first time on DVD format. The film, produced over several years by Brooklyn-based activist Supa Nova Slom, features candid conversations with Badu, Common, and stic.man from dead prez on diet and health practices.

Slom states,"it's a blessing and a prayer answered to collaborate with Raptivism Records on bringing forth the DVD edition of the holistic wellness movement. I feel our partnership will edutain the hearts and minds of the hip-hop generation the world over. Revolution is in the healing and we don't stop, heal hip-hop."

"We're really excited as a company to do this first-of-a-kind DVD release, targetting the dietary health of the hip hop generation," said Vincent Merry, President of Raptivism Records.

WLHHG will be available internationally in January 27th, 2004.

----

I just keep thinking of the funny interview w/Andre 3000, Erykah's ex, in YRB mag, where the writer's all like, "Erykah turned Common into a hippie!"

Anyway, according to Ashok, my hook up man over at raptivism, they will be discussing a new diet in the video called "Chlorophyllian," which apparently involves green foods. I can get with green foods, they are recommended by my colon therapist, she has an entire shelf in her fridge dedicated to them.

ADDENDUM 11/25/03 (not a new entry because I would then have to retitle this weblog "COMMON & ERYKAH," existing exclusively of dumb stuff about their relationship but so anyway--I was at the gym reading the Oct 2003 issue of Honey Magazine, which is actually a pretty decent magazine, all things considered, with mini-articles about politics and presidential candidates and an article titled "Sexual Assault /= Ho," about how the author overheard women vilifying Kobe's alleged victim for being a ho, and how that's terrible for obvious reasons--a kind of editorial pep talk for the sisterhood. So anyway, in regards to the issue of Erykah and Common being hippies: Wendy Williams, the radio gossip lady, interviewed Common the month before and he'd said he and Erykah never ever had sex. So this month she was interviewing Erykah and asked her, straight-up, do you and Common ever have sex? And Erykah responded [paraphrased], "Actually, we don't, I am involved in a three-way relationship with M1 and stic.man from dead prez, and the only person I sleep with is Andre 3000." She discussed this for the whole interview until the gossip lady figured out she was b.s.ing her. The moral of this story: it is rude to ask people you don't know about their sex life, and it is funny when they tease you for doing so. The other moral is that when I spend a lot of time at the gym, I learn gossip about celebrities. Cause it's no fun to read texts on the cross trainer, people! You could puke or something.

November 20, 2003 (0) Comments

Though many will mock and many others already have, I have finally purchased the DVD of ex-Source writer Mike Elliot's hiphop love story BROWN SUGAR, starring Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Queen Latifah and Mos Def, with many cameos including Method Man, Kool G Rap, Dana Dane, and that retired wrestler Chyna, who is a giant fan of hiphop, which is something I learned watching the director's commentary of the film.
Yes, it is a best-friend romance vaguely in the tradition of "When Harry Met Sally" (sans hysterics), and yes, it features the cardboard dude who's in all the Terry MacMillan book-based movies, and yes, Mike Elliot also unleashed MTV's disappointing "Carmen: A Hiphopera" and the moderately unnecessary "Like Mike." But I ask you, when was the last time a movie was based entirely on a rhyme by COMMON SENSE?

That's what I'm talking about. Keep on hatin', haters.

November 18, 2003 (0) Comments

I'm gonna take it down a notch and direct all two readers of this Movable Type Weblog to a brilliant and utterly sobering spread in the UK Guardian, which consists of letters written by Britons to George W. Bush, on occasion of his upcoming state visit to GB. The playwright Harold Pinter put it best:

"Please wash the cucumber sandwiches down with a glass of blood, with my
compliments."

November 15, 2003 (0) Comments

I am completely positive the coolest place to be in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE (barring certain moons) last night was the Reed College Student Union. Giant b-boy battle ensued, with crews from Portland (Moon Patrol, Misslefist, some others I didn't recognize, plus independent breakers like Huy Pham), Seattle and Tacoma. We stayed for two hours and missed the outcome, but I'd bet $49493 Seattle's Massive Monkees crew took it. They have won every b-boy battle I've ever seen them in, and last night they had this one guy (maybe Geronimo?) who can go straight from the uprock into this total aerial Matrix shit.

Also check out PDX b-boys who held the battle, Amplified Techniques

(still under construction, but it's Huy's website, he teaches classez 'n' stuffs)

November 15, 2003 (0) Comments

Just received gigantic package of Dischord reissues--Minor Threat DVD, Shudder to Think, Soulside, Don Zientara from the incredibly futuristic 2002--the pictures of MT in the liner notes of the DVD floor me, how they were just five tiny tiny boys with their baby bald heads--they are pure embodied potential. Imagine being 15, and putting into action your every prescient thought, every sugarsnap pea of an idea, with the horizon of possibility unfurled and gleaming or, even more likely, not even envisioned because projection often has little to do with raw action-- this is the real possibility of change, ideas bigger than people, but people are the ideas. Even still, 23 years later.

November 14, 2003 (0) Comments

AFter the extreme pleasure of hearing Vito Acconci lecture on his transition from being America's most masturbating conceptual artist ("Sea Bed," 1972, eight hours a day, for five days) to designing a camoflauge memorial to the WTC (a building that "already looks exploded", so that terrorists will fly by) (not designed in bad faith, by the way... dark humor is more like it, and incredible humanity wrapped in the actual functions of the exploded building--his art is very populist), and hearing the beautiful rhythmic tics in his stutter (this conceptual city atop a trash heap in Tel Aviv "overlooks... over... overlooks the Medi- the Medi- the Mediterranean") (but in a Bronx brogue and wearing sunglasses), I have decided that I am a mermaid.

Also, I would like to say word up to the Penny Press boys Curt and Mikey for making me this PENNY PRESS MOVABLE TYPE WEBLOG and also point out that the previously mentioned Monsieur Acconci started his career by writing poetry, and questioning the different ways the words could travel across the page, the page being a field to be journeyed across. Today, Penny Press movable type weblog; tomorrow, tapdancing atop the Empire State Building! Everything is totally possible, you just have to figure out how.