Today is Mary J. Blige’s birthday. Let’s celebrate!
I was already thinking just yesterday about posting this song, so now my hand has been forced by fate.
Like a dog tied to a rolling cart: “fate leads the willing, and drags the unwilling”. So let’s roll to the Car Wash together (you don't really have a choice).
Above is the original of “I’m Going Down”, covered to great effect (to say the least) by Queen Mary.
It is on the soundtrack to “Car Wash”, which is excellent, all the way through.
Not only does it have those mood-setting 2:00 long bits, for playing in the background of movie scenes, it has more standard songs with lyrics too. Pointer Sisters on “You Gotta to Believe” (“in something/ why don’t you believe in me?”)
The songs are all credited to Rose Royce and Norman Whitfield; ‘Rose Royce’ sounds like Rolls Royce, a funny little pun, which I just realized. “RR” is actually a group, not a stage name for a single person; this helps explain the wide variety of songs here, because it is not just a single writer plus one female singer, but a whole group plus the guy who wrote “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”.
--I just realized, there is way too much good stuff on this album, and way too many songs that I am thinking of to pair with each song... I gotta split this into more than one post!--
So just one little bit more, of related news…
I own the movie “The Wash”, starring Dr. Dre and Snoop Lion.
It even has Eminem in it, as a crazy person… really flexing his acting chops there…
I think I bought this when TLA closed up its Center City shop. Still haven’t watched it yet. I’m pretty sure it is a rubbish movie, but, some things, you just have to own.
"After Sex" is actually on the soundtrack of another movie I own/haven't seen yet... music on that film done by none other than Curtis Mayfield.
Another song off my IPod: Jive Talkin', by Los Bee Gees. Oh sure, you want to knock the Bee Gees. Yeah yeah, you think you are too slick for all that. "Pfff", is what you say. Well, I say, "Pffffff" back to you, sucker. Listen here:
I am now back in Portland, and listening to my IPhone's mp3s. A very loose collection of stuff made it onto my phone's IPod. I'll post up those songs which I think you all could make friends with: post them as I hear them, more or less.
Here is one such tune, and very appropriate to start off with:
Evidently, this is the theme song to "Welcome Back Kotter", which I have never really seen. Which means that, while you can get multiple videos of "theme song" length -- including one with footage from Grand Theft Auto!? and another from Final Fantasy VII!?! -- I could not find any longer* version. (Note that the above video does not even mention the name of the artist who sang it!: John Sebastian. I'd be insulted- but then, he's prob dead.)
S'okay- all I really needed, which is included in both short videos, are the lines:
"Well, we tease him a lot/ 'cos we got him on the spot; Welcome Back."
* !Newsflash! This Just In! My Mom has just cracked an egg of knowledge all over the place: back in the 70's, some theme songs were written special for the show. "Kotter" is such a theme. So, the original version is the above short version! And what I have on my IPod is a later version, which they lengthened some, to 2:40-ish. So while the above videos for John Sebastian's "Welcome Back" are odd -- deeply odd -- they do in fact give you the original version.
Elton Britt: The Wandering Cowboy. His band probably is not wandering too far; there is plenty of honky-tonk organ in this. Surely, you can drag your slide-steel, your banjo across the country- but not your Wurlitzer. "My Organ is too BIG!"
This is my record's cover: (I sort of wish this was the cover:)
Jose Melis Plays the Latin Way. His album before this is titled Senior Prom! Don't know much of anything about this/him yet.
Beatles '65, Older B's stuff. I can't hardly be bothered to listen to most Beatles' stuff, for various reasons. This, however, is good. Chuck Berry covers, Birth-of-Rock-n-Roll kind of stuff, which, if you've been downloading my mixes, you know is my passionate attachment lately. ("IF?") I think the first Beatles Anthology has different versions of a lot of these songs.
Lou Rawls Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho! and an Al Green Xmas album. The Rawls is solid- even behind a veil of ignorance (...) you would recognize that. The Rev. Green's Xmas, though, is basically a bag of coal. I would wear the hell outta that suit above, btw.
Richie Havens Mixed Bag Quite Good, one of the real discoveries of this music-spelunking trip.
Charlie Rich Silver Fox. Check the sweet Fox Logo! Does a very odd 'medley' on the first side. In which he discusses his bio (including his many musical shifts- from Jazz, to Rock 'n' Roll, to Country), cracks a few 'jokes', etc. In between the spoken bio bits, he plays newly-recorded versions of his most famous songs, usually just the chorus and a verse. Why does he do this? I haven't the foggiest, frankly.
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway A little mellow for my normal listening tastes, but real slow burn soulful heavenly stuff. Perfect for relaxed cooking, doing the dishes, a light summer rain outside, etc. (I know all that does not sound like high praise, but I'm trying to describe the mood that would make you put this record on- it is much more enjoyable than washing the dishes.) Unfortunately, the first two tracks- on both sides- are all warped to hell. So I can only listen to about 60% of this album. Pffffffff.
I'm your Sponsor; I Buy-Buy-buy (records). Charlie and I went to Slought Foundation. Both of us, not to put words in his mouth, were underwhelmed by the exhibit that we went to see. But both were 'whelmed' by the other exhibit, archival footage from '60s of teachers/students in the British education system. Sounds boring; my apologies- to split the difference, here are some exciting records that I bought while we were in West Philly.
Isaac Hayes Live at the Sahara Tahoe. Cover has cutout folds; they open like the doors of the theater; opening, of course, onto a picture of Isaac Hayes on stage.
Better still, inside, is this spread.
(Sidenote- one really nice thing about being a little sick, is all the soup and tea you get to consume. Not generally a big fan of Minestrone soup, but I am killing a bowl of it right now at the cafe.)
Eric "Slowhand" Clapton: On White/ Something I might could maybe try to sell. White vinyl; 'Cocaine' and other big songs on there; promo/DJ/radio copy, so maybe 'rare'.
Vicki Sue Robinson 12". Still sealed, which, normally, who fucking cares. But... used copies of this 12" sell for around $10-$40 online, although I'm not entirely sure (is this a reissue, explaining why it is sealed? etc). I don't particularly want to get into the hustle of selling/swapping records, but eventually... it probably will have to happen. If I do start selling records, I will take the title of this blog for a motto... "I Ain't Square, I Just Like To Share". Vicki Sue Robinson is well known for "Turn The Beat Around".
Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta. Not that impressive. More fun is Jay Z's recent line, at a show, that his mother was going to be so proud of him, because Steive Wonder was sticking around some festival, just to hear Jay Z's set.
The Stylistics: Round 2. Great Album Cover. Perhaps only one song that I really like on it though; that is the song to which you've been listening.
I've already written the second half of this blog- check out this space on Monday for the continuation...
Listen to a track from ze mix: "Spirit In The Sky", by Norm Greenbaum.
(if you want a higher quality sound, listen to the YouTuber below; below has weird, weird religious stuff in it though- creepy, but we want summery, not creepy. Above is literally a guy recording him playing it on his den's jukebox: it has a certain je ne sais quoi, oui?)
Summer Madness ~O~ Kool & the Gang chilled out, nice way to start the mix. Sampled by Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff, for "Summertime"; Jazzy will be at the Roots Picnic...
Reunion ~O~ Bobbie Gentry Whoa now, an odd-ball, to get you intrigued about what your genius musical guide will pull next. A handclapped, bottle-smackin' little rhythm, a bit like 'Iko Iko'. First words, no joke: "Momma can I huh, Momma can I huh huh, can I Momma won't ya please let me Momma can I huh". About a family reunion: a little charmer, sweet funny little thing. Looks sumthin like this, but from deep down South
Summertime ~O~ Billy Stewart Cover of sorts of a song from Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess". Evidently, during that show, they sing at among other times, during a craps game. Upbeat, lots of little darting guitars. Horns, man, horns. Tongue rolls, like so: 'dddddddddah!'.
Spirit In The Sky ~O~ Norman Greenbaum aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! If I were a DJ, like a pro who gets $, it would be an uncommon night out when I didn't play this. Right? My goodness, just listen to your ears! I'm killing you, just killing you, with this track right now. Big stomping drums. You could play this at 'A Flyers Hockey Game', and I bet they would win. A woman singing backup, in a falsetto. Can women even sing falsetto? This one can!
Party Lights ~O~ Claudine Clark Another Killer. Old rock/RnB. Girl is watching all her friends go to the party across the street, but Mom won't let her go! "There goes Jenny and Sue, and Bobby and Mary Lou, oh-oh-oh there goes my boyfriend too!" "Party lights, red and blue and green; everybody in the crowd is there, but you won't let me make the scene!" Real rapid fire snappy snare drums. Piano tinkling, and some peppy-ass horns make an appearance.
In the Summertime ~O~ Mungo Jerry A pic shall suffice:
If Not For You ~O~ Olivia Newton John A pic shall suffice:
Summer Breeze ~O~ Isley Brothers Told you about last time.
Two Tickets To Paradise ~O~ Eddie Money "Oh, what?!?! Hit me again with that Eddie Money, Son!" (That's you talking, after this song drops. You are driving, in a Camaro, f'real. Top off- on the car, you jokester... "I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here, I've got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we're gonna disappear. We've waited so long, waited so long.
I've got two tickets to paradise, Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight, I've got two tickets to paradise [guitar solo- 32 bars]"
That's you singing it at karaoke, and really, it made our night.
I Fought The Law ~O~ Bobby Fuller Four A pretty jaunty guitar in this song; really jaunty when you consider that the first lines are about 'breaking rocks in the hot sun'. We'll just bracket the rocks, okay, and focus on the sun, you feel me? A million famous people covered this song for a reason; that is, a reason beyond its sassy 'F-the-P' attitude- it is a funtime summertime spectacular. I bet even cops like this song.
Summer ~O~ War Return to Mellow. Almost all of War's stuff is proper for a summer mix; guys rocked a Texan melting pot thing; soul, Texana, sunbaked, relaxed. More horns, lazzzzzyyyy ones. "Summer: my time of year". Well-said, War, well-said.
aaaaand here is the creepy-video-version of Norm Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky". I think someone kidnapped her daughter? And this someone may be the state of Missouri? And Jesus is angry about it? Or what?
Another selection offa that "Summer Showerz" mix. This one is the Isley Brothers, who I have been ultragillin' as of late. Charlie and I are a two-man fan-club.
Oh yes, now that you mention it, this is a cover of Seals and Croft's "summer breeze", but this version is much better. Better, I say, than that yacht-rot version. Who would you trust to tell you about summer, these guys
or these chumps
(that's called a 'rhetorical question', because I already know the answer. Since I know all answers, does that make all questions rhetorical, when posed by me? HA, tricked you: the above was also a rhetorical question BOOM)
The above is a representation of what this mix is like: all laid back 'vibez'. The Isely Brothers' song is a good li'l snapshot of the general feel of the mix as well. Just a reminder, here is the tracklisting for this really stellar, star-studded mix.
Summer Madness ~O~ Kool & the Gang Reunion ~O~ Bobbie Gentry Maggie May ~O~ Rod Stewart Summertime ~O~ Billy Stewart Spirit In The Sky ~O~ Norman Greenbaum Party Lights ~O~ Claudine Clark In the Summertime ~O~ Mungo Jerry If Not For You ~O~ Olivia Newton John Summer Breeze ~O~ Isley Brothers Two Tickets To Paradise ~O~ Eddie Money I Fought The Law ~O~ Bobby Fuller Four Summer ~O~ War
Now, I stand by my comments above (about the waybetterness of IBs over S&C), but I will let you in on a li'l secret that undermines that claim: Croft goes by the first name of DASH. Jus' sayin'. (although his real name is Darrell, so, you see, right???)
Another great song, just ripe for summering. Get ready, btw, for sum summer stooping. Unless I get some emergency transfusions of cash, this will be a very "can't afford to go out drinking" summer. So you'll have to join me at mine (...or yours...) for "free beer". I call beer bought from the distributors, "free beer". It's so cheap, relative to bars, that you practically make money drinking it!. That's right, my economic plan: "Drink yourself to prosperity; Spend yourself sober." (it's complicated) But where'd all the money go, oh, where? Well, recently, it went to late heating bills (boring), and mo' wax, aka more vinyl (exciting). Including this little gem....
Apache, by Sugar Hill Gang
Oh, this song. Oh, man oh me oh my. First, it uses a similar bong/drum break to The Incredible Bongo Band's Apache, which itself is sort of similar to The Shadows' Apache... Dude, you think my Summer Prosperity Plan is complex? Check out the involved history of this song. Interesting, but impossible to sum up. Really, you should always be going to that blog, Soul Sides, because it is just the jam. Old Soul, great rap, dropping knowledge without being boring or snooty or pedantic, and always giving you links to the cuts. It is as essential as this blog (well, more, actually, but still).
Right! Well, anyhow, in hip-hop and drum and bass (my deepest musical love- 'drum and bass' aka 'jungle' aka 'DnB'- which none of my friends ever like that much. No 'junglist crew' for me! Not enough of my friends are rude bwoys, turns out) many many songs have sampled drum breaks from various versions of Apache. Lots sampled the guitar line too. You'll see why- the bongos that this song opens with are solid all by themselves, let alone the other versions of that beat that are dropped throughout the track. Now, if you are one of these young pups, you will recognize the song not from (nearly infinite) DnB and H-H songs, but from Switch's track. This song was huge from a summer or two back. We still can hear it, on that rare occasion that we Make Time.
Here's the original Switch track... (you gotta wait til 2:02 for the guitar line to drop! It's a dance track after all). Called "A Bit Patchy", as in, APatchy=Apache.
Here is an M.I.A. remix of Switch, introduced by Diplo, who M.I.A. used to date, but doesn't now, and mixed into the end of Kitsune track..... I told you this sampling stuff gets complicated!
(jump to about 1:15 on this one if you want to hear "A Bit Patchy" coming in clearly)
Well, I've gone and done you another solid. Whipped up a precise blend of parts that together join up to make a Voltron-like colossus:
Summer 'Showerz': LoveLeigh Days
("showerz" refers the "singalong in the shower" nature of all the songs; "Leigh" refers to a friend who prompted me to finish this mix. THX!)
So, specifically summer, particularly shower jamz. Summer songs are feelgood, but perfect summer songs have to be melllllooooow too.
Not sure how feelgood mixes with ultramellow? Then listen to Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness". You'll see.
Above is from the official Philadelphia Mural thingy, visible from the El tracks in West Philly. I see this on my way to work. More info, deets etc. (like how you could have gotten a tattoo designed by ESPO, the dude what did that mural).
Just like the summer. You are feeling nice in the summer, but you know, low-key like.
A perfect example of that perfect mellow feeling is perfectly evinced by the classically perfect first song, which is Youtubing above.
Summer Madness, by Kool & The Gang. This song was looped, 'slightly transformed' (like Voltron!), for Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff's "Summertime".
So, now we've picked up on a recent theme, of great older songs outtfitted with a little rappin'-freshness. Oh yes, surely you recall my last post, on Biggie and his Other Brothers (The Isley Brothers), whom he sampled for "Big Poppa". I'll probably drop some more of those, about songs in different forms.
Note that The Isley Brothers are included on this mix too- a clear nod to Leigh, who praised them recently.
Summer Madness ~O~ Kool & the Gang
Reunion ~O~ Bobbie Gentry Maggie May ~O~ Rod Stewart
Summertime ~O~ Billy Stewart Spirit In The Sky ~O~ Norman Greenbaum
Party Lights ~O~ Claudine Clark In the Summertime ~O~ Mungo Jerry
If Not For You ~O~ Olivia Newton John Summer Breeze ~O~ Isley Brothers
Two Tickets To Paradise ~O~ Eddie Money I Fought The Law ~O~ Bobby Fuller Four
Summer ~O~ War
Please note that the symbol, lovingly crafted by myself, in betwixt track and band: looks like a sun, yeah?
ahahhahhahah I'm unstoppable hahahahahahahah
The O'Jays in Philadelphia (the above is the lead-off song from this album)
Jonathan Richman : Not to be Loved, So Much as to Love (awwww.... what a romantic...)
Patsy Cline
Prince and the Revolution: PURPLE RAIN !!! I already have this on vinyl, of course, but got it for cheap on CD too. The record comes with the epic poster at top of pic below
Some more Harry Belafonte [ 1) Read the blurbs on that magazine cover 2) Doesn't Harry Belafonte look like Devon there? ] On record and CD- the CDs are, embarrassing enough, the Reader's Digest Edition. So some grandparent died, left these to their unwitting offspring, who unloaded them on the GoodWill, much to the GoodLuck of myself.
Ghostface Killah: Fishscale (which I already owned- bought even, which adds insult to the injury of losing it: so I rebought it, rebooted it)
Jackie Wilson
A vinyl compliation called Super Girls! Three slabs of vinyl with all sorts of girl bands on them... epically delightful!
(Notice that there are 3 of Triplicate Girl in this SuperGirl comeek...)
More Brook Benton
Teddy Pendergrass (Rest In Power: Jan 14 2010) He is ALSO Philadelphia-based like The O'Jays, although I got this in Oregon. So maybe Philly is not the only place to get that hott Phillee Sound...
(b/c its chorus says "No Tears for the Creatures of the Night: No Tears!")
I got this song on a mix CD that AKA Music put out years ago. (Just last night, a secret meeting of philosophers convened at Oscar's, and we decided that this was, for all of us, the only record store in Philadelphia that we really liked.)
Most of the band's songs don't sound like this, I'm told. This is antsy-dancey post-punk. A really fast keyboard line cranks out of it; mucho post-macho guitars. So, while it is a tough little number, you don't have to be, or even want to be, a tuff-guy to appreciate it.
It would sound great on the soundtrack to a remake of Fritz Lang's M, about which I just watched a videoblurb on NYTimes.com. M is one of my favorite movies ever; I am bad at putting together lists of things (top, worst, year-end) but I can always remember that this movie would go on the list.
But here comes a list: things I bought/got for Xmas. (CHRIStmas is not my birthday; don't worry, you are not the only one who gets confused about this.) I'm only going to list media: you are hopefully none too concerned with the colors, brands, and number of socks that I received (black and browns; Gold-Toe and Dockers; five thousand-ish, FYI) because I asked for precisely such sundry necessaries.
[Partial list: more to come...]
Books
The Essential Davidson (!!!!!!!!!!!) by Donald(oh...) Davidson (Famous!) Man of Reason by Genevieve Lloyd (Feminist!) A Collected Marquise de Sade (Fisting!) The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions by Kenji Kawakami (Funny!) Therapy of Desire by Martha Nussbaum (Fundamentals on Freedom From disturbance!) Origins of Greek Thought by Pierre Vernant (Foucault's Friend!) The Odd One in: On Comedy by Alenka Zupančič (Freedom = Funny!) Introduction to Kant's Anthropology (Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents) by Michel Foucault (Foucault!)
OH PART TWO!!! As I just posted, new things happened (which is, of course, the same old story: new things Just Keeping Happening). I got some new-old books, all with great titles (hopefully, they read well too): Middlemarch, by Georg Eliot. (Georg is a GIRL!, by the way.)
Diary of a Madman, and other stories: Gogol. This is the actual cover of the book that I bought: used, very, I'm sure you can see. N. Gogol is well-known for his novel, Dead Souls, ahem:
An Even Better song, everyone's new favorite Joy Division song, is below. Be a deary and listen to both, why don't you? You ask: why put both then? I reply: because the theme of today's blog revolves around TITLES- that is what 'titular' means, you little dirty- and so I was compelled to post the song enTITLEd "Dead Souls". You recognize the decisive and deciding logic now, I'm sure.
More Books. Thomas Mann's Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man.
Flounder, by Günter Grass. The Flounder of the title is a character: a talking fish.
I started watching movies again. Recents: Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter, and Hour of the Wolf (another great title); this movie is a little more serious than the other. It is directed by Ingmar Bergman, and deals with Love, Art,
and Madness.
Oh, how very Euro.
Both were worth watching. Well, JJ VS FD is worth it, if you are me (you aren't) and were sick (you might have been). Don't tell me if you were- I don't want to hear about it. I get enough detailed descriptions of my students' illnesses, thx.
Lots of news on my end. Really important stuff has been going down, such as: New Toilet and Toilet-related Environs! New Records! New Books! New Lifestyle: watching movies! ----- I'll be talking about these in a two-part installment. Exciting, this serial blog action, correct? -----
The above Willie Hutch track, or jam I should say, is in the vein of the Supafly and Black Caesar jams I posted back a little bit. (back a bit'tle?) It's from his album, "Mark of the Beast" (nice title...) But on the toilet front (even though this song is decicedly and decisvely NON-TOILET), I got a new toilet the other day. Mine was cracked... don't know how. But now I am repainting my bathroom, which means that we have to say goodbye to the bathroom art. No more classic chalk line-drawings, a la the Lascaux caves.
At one point, the above drawing morphed into the one below...
Here is Jeffrey's thoughful contribution: Like normal Jeffrey Stuff, it appears to be merely scatological. Now, it is that, but it also has other aims: The Eternal Question, "Why do 'I' Exist?" has been thoughtfully integrated into the three headed Penis Monster. Thus, the Penis Monster has achieved its own species of eternity.
Willie Hutch has achieved his own species of eternity, through sampling. He's been amply sampled by West Coast hip-hop producers; horns, a little swagger and swing, a lightly dark cinematic feel. Tracks called stuff like "Vampin'" and "Mack's Stroll". If I were a producer, I'd be into it. He wrote songs all over the place; he partly wrote the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There", which is so very a stone cold classic. (If I were a jungle producer, I would have sampled a little of The 5, and lots and lots of Diana Ross and the Supremes; just getting that out there.)
Roughly on the topic of me being a producer (I would be so good at it: true, obvious- I'd be decisive, you see?)- There is one more, as-of-this-moment final AMX mix in the pipeline. It is giving you the soulful tunes a la Pulp Fiction. Soul comes in two varieties here: sad old country and soul jams. Quick heads-up: James Brown, Ricky Nelson, Dionne Warwick, Al Green, and of course, my recent favorite, Jerry Butler. It'll devastate ya; decisively, naturally.
(I've tried an experiment: I'm writing two blogs simultaneously, so that you will have shorter posts, and more of them. We'll see if this works. They are opposed twins, so we'll call them Romulus and Remus. One was posted a few days back, this one today.)
The Above: another nearly randomly selected old CD, one of a growing number from Pennsylvania's own "Collectables Records", who reissue stuff only BenG has heard of. I'm going to mail away, at Box 35, Narberth PA, 19072, for the free catalog, and see if this label is still in business: I'll post the results. The copyright on the CD in front of me is from a decade ago, so we shall see.
Originally, the songs on this CD, "The Ad-Libs and Friends" were on the Red Bird and Blue Cat labels. I got this on a recent buying binge at AKA Music in Old City, next to the bookstore that throws out books every recycling day, around midnight. This practice of recycling their 'never gonna sells' is what produced the immensely popular "Philadelphia's Most Eligible Bachelorettes" magazine/pamphlet/catalog/ephemerus. Hard to select an appropriately summery song off this CD; not for lack, but rather because of a surplus, a surfeit, a surprising number of happy, clappy jems. I mean, how to choose between "Ooh Wee Oh Gee", "Gee Baby Gee", "Merry Christmas Baby", "The Boy from New York City", "Sugar Boy", and "Iko Iko"? With awesome music comes awesome responsibility, I've been known to say.
The initial attempt was to select the uppermost summerishly one, because part of how I am opposing Oregon and Pennsylvania here is that it so often rains in Oregon, and is sunny in Pennsylvania. ALWAYS. (This is not the very most interesting, or accurate, distinction: that's why I made other distinctions too.) Summery like flask-flip-flops:
But then I decided to give up on that task- so many so summery songs!- it would be like selecting my VERY BEST BLOG EVER, which, since all are
s o ! g o o d,
would be a task for a Deified Romulus. Instead, you get this minimal bidness, Beyonce-style riddim, lil' flex of a track. Dense chiming little percussion, an utterly purified bassline, no fluff there. This one gets honors for those reasons, and also because it musically has the most in common with the last post (though still not much), and is a bit of a surprise, innit? You know what the rest of the disc sounds like- doo wop. This is the oddball of the disc, and when in doubt, "Even or Odd?", we go with odd.
So maybe this battle should be about whether, now that I have more time for new-music magazines and more inclination to be on the internet (the internet was avoiding me before), would you care to have more "new now" bands like Salem, or stick to the "old odd" tracks like "Kicked Around"? This blog ain't a democracy- that leads to chaos, naturally and inevitably- but it is a bit of a Republic. (Remember your 'lessons' from last time about Machiavelli?) Which means that you, the plebs, the common unwashed uncouth unknown -but not unknowing- masses, do get some say. At the least I am curious what motivates and gratifies you, so that I can better control you. (halfsies kiddies)
THUS SPEAKS YOUR DICTATOR: I COMMAND YOU TO SPEAK in the comments.
I'm trying an experiment: I'm writing two blogs simultaneously, so that you will have shorter posts, and more of them. We'll see if this works. They are opposed twins, so we'll call them Romulus and Remus. One is posted today, the other soon after.
I first was going to have one of my oft-postponed "X-Battles", where I pit two songs in band-to-band combat. This battle then morphed into these twinned posts; which then morphed into a different X-Battle. There are a series of battles running here: Oregon X Pennsylvania; (both posts) Rain X Sun; (next post) New band X Old band (aka blogbuzz vs reissues); (next) New band doing a Cover X the Original; (this post) Scuzz production X Cleanroom production (both).
Now, we will have drugged drugged drugged band SALEM trying to outdo the BOSS himself (who is probably really sober) .
Above is Salem covering Bruce Springsteen's great "Streets of Philadelphia". Salem has an EP called "Yes I Smoke Crack". Here is a picture of an historic building in Salem, Oregon, with a crack in it:
This band Salem is probably named after Witch-Trials Salem, but Salem is also the meth-addled capital of Oregon. (I'm more concerned with getting things stolen in OR than PA: meth = stealing, and meth is not much of a drug out here in PA, because meth also = country.) Salem the band sound like (recently legalized) Absinthe mixed with Oxycontin instead of sugar; like cough syrup mixed with boxed wine; like My Bloody Valentine mixed with the Knife and with strains of chopped and screwed Southern/Midwestern hip-hop : CHOP the pill; and unSCREW the wine. Oregon is the only state with a two-sided flag. The flag, other than that, is very boring, and why are the letters all crooked??. Salem is the capital of Oregon- and you ask, "Why not Portland, which I've actually heard of? Or at least Eugene, which has a big ol' university in it?" Almost all state capitals are the not-biggest city, and this is done on purpose: it is to counteract the very real and very natural power (economic, cultural, geographical) that cities possess more of than do rural areas. This discrepancy occurs even when the cities hold significantly less people in them than the countryside.
(In Oregon, it is a rough balance, #-wise, between quasi-libertarian rightists and "Little Beirut" leftists: left lives in cities, and so has the upper-hand. IT'S A FACT!!)
Placing the capital outside of the largest city helps to strike a balance of the "naturally opposed humours"; the haves and the haves-less. I steal this idea from Machiavelli. It occurs in both "On Principalities", his most-famous text (aka "Da Prince"), and his "Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius" and is key to uniting his championing of both quasi-tyrannical power and quasi-democratic republicanism.
--this is Prince on a high-school b-ball team:
Ahem! But, see, Rome's battles, with external enemies and with itself (have X have-less; city X country; Citizen X slaves), are appropriate here: Rome itself was a productive clash of discipline (the Boss- how long has he been around? about as long as Rome itself: this requires discipline), and the insanity of a dark violent youth: what do you think propelled and compelled them to take their many older neighbors as enemies, again and again? What do you think pushed citizen against citizen, time and again? (It wasn't drug disputes.) What do you think drove Rome, with little rhyme or reason (but with plenty of instrumental rationality), to move from ruling nothing, to ruling 7 hills, to ruling from England to Africa to India?. So Rome itself must be understood as a clash between Salem and Bruce Springsteen- this much has obviously been established- and the question is, who gets the greater share of the legacy?
Music; musing; must-haves.
The curatorial agenda. Sealing up a void whose vacuity was a source of distress to no one. The seed I am most likely to sow is a certain jargon. Built on tilt. The center of a new universe of counterfeit. Increasingly random and increasingly increasing.
THE SNAPBACK, ISSUE 1
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I created Soul Sides 20 years ago because I wanted an outlet to write about
my favorite records. The blog era feels bygone — and I clearly stopped
regularl...
Hotel Bar Sessions, Ep 31: Whose History?
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The HBS hosts sit down with Dr. Charles McKinney, Jr. to talk about whose
history is (and isn't) being taught.
Following on the heels of a recent and ...
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