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A Musing
Jay Electronica. No longer underground?
Mar 9th
I’m a long time listener of Gilles Peterson, close on 12 years now since he joined Radio 1, and way back in January 08 he featured a then unknown (to me) rapper going by the name of Jay Electronica. The guy comes with a flow part MF Doom, part NAS over soundscapes part Madlib part Jaydee. Yeah I know. Big names to be throwing around but seriously, they’re not lazy comparisons, the guy has cajones.
His first “official” single Exhibit A, produced by Just Blaze, is a quality piece of work;
but it’s Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) which got tongues wagging and brought him to Gilles’ attention. A 15 minute track (which kicks off the aforementioned podcast) with snippets of film dialogue, Jay’s raps, based on the soundtrack to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is classy. The following youtube video has nine minutes of Act 1, trimmed due to youtube length constraints, but it’ll show you this guy is special.
All of this stuff is in the public domain by the way. Put your super google technique to good use and you’ll find his discography spread across the blogosphere somewhere. Make his Wikipedia Discography entry your checklist if you wish.
Anyway, it seems Jay is making a break for the overground now (in the UK at least) Already making waves towards the end of 09 in the states, his Exhibit C EP is up on iTunes (and Exhibit A) for you to invest in and with Zane Lowe rinsing it on his show the other night we might finally see him get some wider recognition.
Lets hope so because the hip hop most people be listening to at the moment is not doing the art form any favours. Yeah. I’m looking at you Black Eyed Peas…
The Roots – How I Got Over
Mar 4th
So…a new Roots album is on the horizon. The ninth and no less. Amazon have it down as the 4th April. Lets hope so peeps but for now we’ll tide ourselves over with the title track.
Nice.
D.I.S.C.O.
Mar 4th
Seems there’s a bit of a disco revival on at the moment. By that I’m not talking Boney M, Ottowan and The Weather Girls. It’s all about David Mancuso’s Loft, Nicky Siano’s Gallery and Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage as my reference points. Duck Sauce touched on it a few months back but doing the rounds at the moment are Cécile & Venice with Rimmel;
Moonbootica’s Men Of The Future;
French Horn Rebellion vs Database – Beaches and Friends
and finally Breakbot with Baby I’m Yours
Shame it’s not summer yet as that is the perfect track to soundtrack it. Fair to say it’s gonna be huge.
www.chatroulette.com What NSFW was invented for…
Feb 25th
So…chatroulette.com. What an odd place that is. I first heard about it in an article in The Guardian Technology section. Not for nothing does the article call it the “web’s weirdest outpost”. The site will randomly connect you and your webcam (should you choose to enable it) to a complete stranger’s webcam for an anonymous chat. No login required, registration required, you just click and go. You’ve no idea who’ll you get next. Aside from dodging erections, amongst others I’ve had an half session with a chatty couple getting stoned on a Friday afternoon in Seattle, an Iranian who couldn’t speak English but could converse in Techno, a girl who wanted me get my knob out, a man whose was completely covered in tin foil, a fat man shagging a stuffed raccoon and a toy camel who promised to answer any question I had.
This video, hosted over on Vimeo gives a decent overview;
and watch the following for a wacko sing into it.
If you do get chatting to someone halfway human it can be a laugh. However, I warn you though, if you get entrenched on there clicking next over and over, as someone pointed out over on the Guardian comments section “it’s a day destroyer”.
Saturday is Classic Saturday #26
Feb 13th
A recent dubsteppy remix by Adam F and Fresh made me revist this stone cold classic for this week’s “Saturday is…”. Just do yourself a favour and put it through a decent sound system but remember “Watch Your Bass Bins, I’m tellin ya!”
Dead Prez – Hip Hop (2000)
Saturday is Classic Saturday #25
Feb 6th
With the excellent I’m New Here, Gil Scott-Heron’s first album for 16 years (listen via his website) out on Monday, it’s time to revisit one of his bona-fide classics on today’s “Saturday is…”. When faced with The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Home is Where The Hatred Is and Almost Lost Detroit to name but a few it’s not easy to pick just the one but I’m going with this beauty;
The Bottle (1974)
If that’s your cup of tea you can do worse than pick up the Winter in America album from whence it came. While you’re here check out “Me And The Devil” from his new album for a more modern take on things;
Remember…Keep it classic.
MAME WR No. 10 – 2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge
Dec 14th
2 on 2 was released by Midway in 1995 and is essentially an Ice Hockey version of NBA Jam. I used to throw money into NBA Jam back in the day. Playing as Scottie Pippen or Shaq, that game captured the speed and frentics of basketball. 2 on 2 probably does the same. If you like Ice Hockey… You see, I’m a Brit and we play our hockey on grass. No one is the UK is interested in Ice Hockey (unless you’re from Sheffield and even then you’d be hard pressed to find 2 people in the same room at any one time who actually goes to watch the Steelers). So it is with this mindset I approach 2 on 2.
MAME WR No. 9 – 19XX: The War Against Destiny
Dec 12th
Developed and released by Capcom in 1995, 19XX is the penultimate entry in the 194X series and the final shoot-em-up (for the time being) in this ridiculous challenge of mine. And as the rest of the series before it, it’s standard 1942 going ons but according to Wikipedia this one “takes place before a fictional war (Hence, the 19XX) as a lone pilot tries to defeat an entire army/evil organization from starting another World War, which soon escalates to a nuclear apocalypse.” That sounds an incredibly important mission and ‘evil organisation’ is much more tactful than ‘hordes of Japs’.
The current high score, 4,325,600, is held by Russell Hugo and compared to the rest of the top 10, is pretty high so this could be tricky.
Lets get shooting…again…
Saturday is Classic Saturday #24
Dec 12th
We’re going hip hop in today’s ‘Classic Saturday’. Is it really over 20 years since this dropped?
Sugar Bear – Don’t Scandalize Mine – 1988
All I Want For Christmas Is A Handjob
Dec 9th
Stuck for what to get me for Christmas? I’d like a handjob please…