Jose Feliciano- Zorba the Greek Geek

I recently happened upon a few records by Jose Feliciano. He's blind, and plays a mean guitar. Like, for real mean. He plays a number of covers (that's what crack instrumentalists do: think about old jazz heads), like the one above. He also used to live near S'Noble in Connecticut.

CONNEXIONS, right?!?!

Oh shit! It's 2:30, and I still haven't finished my syllabus. Lordy! You guys write the rest of this, will you? Thanks. I owe a blog entry dedication to anyone who adds anything to the comments section. Well, anything except for spam comments about hookahs (see here and here).

Racist!

For those of you (few) who still haven't downloaded the mixtapes I've deemed "Pirate Radio"

(dis one is 1)
(dat one is 2)

here is a little sample.



(here's a link to its youtube page...)
This is not the best song on there, but it still is very good (else it wouldn'a gone on the mix!, right?).
I put it up today because I said it might be racist.







You know, the Prof. Gates thing is dying down, Conrad and I disputing about it notwithstanding. Beer either calms or inflames. Seemingly, with Gates/Obama/Crowley, it calmed; with Conrad and I, it inflamed.

Hopefully, the song, along with this blog post, will reinvigorate the debate. Really get America discussing race.
Or, race-baiting will garner me a few more hitz.
I'd be really psyched either way.

Why (might) it be racist? Minstrel show type stuff. Guy goes to jungle, nearly gets cannibalized. Jungle chants, etc. You know, 'that sort'.

It's not a Blog- It's a Blog Lobster (Pirate Radio 2 mix)

Another Mix! This is 'Lost- Pirate Radio 2'!
I posted another mix based upon the TV show a ways back (here). Since I have never seen the show, I had to do a lot of research. This 'research' consisted of thinking about sunny weather, daydreaming that I was a pirate, and swimming some.
Arduous.
Out of that came these two great mixes: highly appropriate for sitting around drinking margaritas, dancing in living rooms, wearing thongs/flip-flops.

You'll enjoy this, I promise.
Download 'Lost- Pirate Radio 2' with just one lil' clicky.

And what do we have on such a mix?
A song sung like a boy, like a girl, like a frog. We might hear this song sometime at Bouffant Bangout.

A song about being protected on the subway by the Guardian Angels. This is a finger-snappin', clap-happy disco tune.

This group is a sort of vigilante city patrol, and they mocked it in Sunny.


[{(download the freshly mixed fresh mix here.)}]

More sunny day, happy time, mellow Calypso. Island music.

A song about being stranded in the Jungle, that, if it weren't potentially racist (cannibals in the jungle?!...), you also might hear at BB-out. Is it racist, or not? You'll have to listen to it and see!

One of those new-wave, dance-punk-before-the-fact, snotty girl song. It says: 'Can I have a taste of your ice cream? Can I interfere in your crisis?'
'No! Mind your own business!'

[{(download it here.)}]


A song that sounds like those Indian Youtube singalongs.

Thanks to Charlie for showing these to me a while ago. GIRLY MAAAAAN!


[{(download it here.)}]

A sort of pseudo-cover of a Misfits song, but by Miss Kittin and the Hacker- you can dance to this one, despite the fact that it's lyrics are all like thus: "Mommy, Daddy, can I go out and kill tonight?".

"It's not a rock:

It's a Rock Lobster!"

Here is the track listing for
Lost- Pirate Radio 2 , complete:

Mind Your Own Business--- Delta 5
Rippin Kittin (Glove Radio Mix) ---Golden Boy With Miss Kittin
Rock Lobster ---B-52s
Ten Speed (Of God's Blood And Burial) ---Coheed & Cambria
Standed in The Jungle --- the Cadets
The Guardian Angel Is Watching Over Us--- Golden Flamingo Orchestra Featuring Margo Williams
New Hollywood Babylon ---Don Cavalli
Water--- The Esso Steel Band & Lloyd Simmons
Anna ---Brute Force Steel Band
Cool running ---Champaign
Ain't got not home --- Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Sunny side of the street --- Big Shell Steel Band
Camilla ---George Symonette


[{(download 'Pirate Radio 2' here.)}]

Billy Bragg, and Steven Wells: A New England, A New Day, A New Way?

A local journalist died recently, and was lovingly yakked about in the local press. He was Steven Wells, and we wrote loud, short-but-they-feel-longer pieces, about music and general goings-on (like knitting, and how much he despised it).



Sounds like my blog, correct?: but he was, admittedly, better. In part, because he was British, so when he swore (often), it was with words like "SLAG!".

Accident Waiting To Happen - Billy Bragg

[[[ I'm putting a YouTube clip below, because you can maybe only listen to 30 seconds of the above, correct? If you don't have an Imeem.com account at least, correct? Be Honest: has anyone actually got one? (...comments plz...)I do, obv, but do you guys? Or are you all just hearing mini-tiny-itty-bitty clipz? ]]]

So, this qualifies the 'local' aspect, but he'd been here a while and made a life for himself. In fact, he must have deliberately chosen Philly, because he used to be mad famous in England, writing for NME and such. One day he picked up and came here, quite making his mark.
Anyhow, he was famous enough (and impassioned enough, and liked enough) that Billy Bragg wrote about him upon his death.
Now I love Billy Bragg; when I still had a list under the MUSIC section on my Myspace page, he was on there. You understand the relative significance of this, yeah?



(Above is the YouTube version to listen to -IF- you've never heard the song before; if you've heard it a bit, listen to the one at the bottom. It better shows his camaraderie with his audience [funny, because he's a Socialist, get it, Comrade?], his folk and punk roots when he makes them singalong, and how he's funny/charming. These would all be reasons why he and Steven Wells were on friendly terms...)

I won't launch into a grand description of him here, for these reasons:
1) Dude's pretty big- and you are a big girl/boy- so you can figure it out on your own
2) I may write more about him later, maybe vis a vis my "Slept On" series, where I discuss 'really-favorite' music that I never hear my friends talk about

Dig?



Here are some lyrics from that song:

"I was twenty one years when I wrote this song
I'm twenty two now, but I won't be for long
People ask when will you grow up to be a man
But all the girls I loved at school are already pushing prams

I loved you then as I love you still
Tho I put you on a pedestal
They put you on the pill...

I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a new England
I'm just looking for another girl

I loved the words you wrote to me
But that was bloody yesterday
I can't survive on what you send
Every time you need a friend

I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
Is it wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care"

heh

Pirate Radio- "Lost" and Found Sounds

I have put together two mixes based on the TV series, "Lost."
DOWNLOAD "Lost- Pirate Radio One.zip"
Now, I've never seen this show. I just want to cash in on its popularity while I still can (before everyone realizes that it just is not that good).



My favorite character (again, haven't seen it: this is all overheard hearsay) is one John Locke. Why my favorite?
He uses a machete,
He has been in a wheelchair,
He has no hair.

I would do all these things: I would roll around viciously swording all those who dared not step out of the way of my wheeled chariot (and my head is shaved already!).

He also will defend his property, which I guess means something to those of you who read philosophy.
But as (philosopher) Locke tells us, the natural right to property, in civil society, may come with contractual limits. For instance, a DVD I bought at the dollar store informed me that my right of ownership, granted to me by my purchase, in fact "excludes the use of this DVD at locations such as clubs, coaches, hospitals, hotels, oil rigs, prisons, and schools."
Okay!

On to the mix: since I never saw the show, only two things are guiding the selection:
1) that something about the title/band name/ evokes something "Lost"-y to me: islands, water, fighting, Weird Science, etc.
2) that the songs would be fun enough that, even if you didn't know them, if you heard them in the background at a party, you would like them. So they must be 'party' songs, like funtime partytime, not like dancing partytime. Some you can dance to, though; it is not contractually forbidden.

Whereby a wonderful radio-like mix is made.
(This is the actual contract that I and my computer signed. Computer being digital, it signed it electronically, with a PIN.)

!TRACK LISTING!
for "Lost- Pirate Radio One.zip"


1) Hey There, Little Insect ?? ? ?? Modern Lovers
Funky little ditty. 'Monologue on Bermuda' coming up on a near-future blog (it's by Jonathan Richman, lead guy for ModLovers).
(because islands have insects?)

2) Jailbreak ?? ? ?? Thin Lizzy
Lyrics: "sirens wail, tonight all systems fail; hey you good-lookin' female: c'mere"
(because trapped on an island is roughly jail?)

3) No Fun ?? ? ?? The Stooges
Clapping- pretty much the most fun Stooges song, oddly enough.
(because would being on an island, even if there are polar bears and limbo contests and you get a really good tan base, really be that fun, after a few weeks?)

(download mix here)

4) In The Mouth A Desert ?? ? ?? Pavement
(sand=desert; islands have sand, right?)

5) Perfidia ?? ? ?? The Ventures
Off the sensational follow-up to "Vol 1. Original Hits". Off the 'present' side of the vinyl, not the 'past' side. Apparently, the 'present' is about '62. Surf rock classic. The Ventures covered "Apache"; a later cover by The Incredible Bongo Band is one of the most sampled songs ever. RESPEK!
(because surfing is what islanders do? Also, because this song sounds like sun?)

6) Eisbär ?? ? ?? Grauzone
punk-funk, new wave, whatever you need to call it. Sorta awesome. I got this actually in Germany: how about that?
(because 'Eisbär' in German means 'polar bear', and wasn't there a polar bear one time?)

7) This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) ?? ? ?? Talking Heads
I got this song off a free promo CD that Gary gave me; ehm, it was "She's just not that into you", I'm afraid to say. But this and 5 other really good songs on it. So I took it.
(because the island must be 'the place', whether 'the place' is purgatory, the future, or whatever? Have they even told you what the island actually is yet?)

(download mix here)

8) You Can't Hide From Yourself ?? ? ?? Teddy Pendergrass
Classic Philly soul. RESPEK!
(Cos where are you gonna hide on an island, huh? Riddle me that!)

9) I Think We're Alone Now ?? ? ?? Tommy James and The Shondells
By the band that brought you the ultrafamous "Crimson and Clover" (over and over...). This song, you will remember from your misspent youth- Tiffany covered it!
(cuz, 'cept for the other people there, you are abandoned by all humanity? Except maybe DARPANET or whatever it's called?)

10) Cocoanut Water, Rum, and Gin ?? ? ?? George Symonette
Calypso, which is about the most fun music ever. This songs claims that this drink will cure diseases, make you rich and attractive, and also get you drunk. I partially believe him.

11) Tide Is High ?? ? ?? The Paragons
Another song covered when you were just knee-high, by Blondie this time. This is the old-style reggae, uprock sweetness. Just a delight, a delightful delight.

(download mix here)

12) Sailor Man ?? ? ?? Turbonegro
I gave you a little fireside chat about this song already, here.
(b/c Sailors go to, and get you to, islands? and PIRATES!)

13) Survival of the Fittest ?? ? ?? Mobb Deep
This is an absolute classic hip-hop track; quoted sampled homaged etc in many many tracks. A few classic lines:
"You scared to look, you shook, cuz ain't no such thing as halfway crooks" (EPIC)
"worse come to worse, my people come first"
and, mais oui, the chorus lines: "Survival of the Fittest - Only the Strong Survive"
(Because, there are no welfare programs in the State of Nature, and you cannot get voted immunity on the "Lost" island?

Smack My Bass Up- Larry Graham, his Bass Badassery, and You

I got a new setup for taking records and putting them onto my computer. I won't bore you with technical details, but it will sound even better now.
One of the first albums I ripped using this newfangled high-tech methodology was Larry Graham's band 'Graham Central Station'.

The album I got is called "Now Do U Wanta Dance?" and it's first track is called "happ-e-2-c-u-a-ginn", NJK, which should have clued me in: he used to be in Sly and the Family Stone. Remember, they have that song "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)".



Evidently, this guy Larry Graham invented the slap bass, which is a pretty big deal. If you ain't hearda it, you are decidedly UNFONKY. You can hear some fonk here, where he and his band cover Al Green's "Love and Happiness". The bass, which Larry plays*, is big and right up front. You've already heard it, right?, funkily plunking away.

* Larry plays a bunch of instruments, and other than this (and another) cover, he wrote, produced, and arranged all the songs. He is evidently very proud of this (he should be), because on the back of this album, there is a 'TYPOGRAPHICAL NOTE' that clarifies: "There was a misprint on the last album: all songs WERE NOT WRITTEN by Steve Henderson. ALL songs were WRITTEN BY LARRY GRAHAM".
I'm approximating the note: I didn't bring the record to the cafe with me (regret).


Here are some more things that happened in Portland.


(This didn't happen- read below for details- it's an engraving by Albrecht Dürer- he's famous-like.)

At Stumptown, I drank coffee from $300 beans. I'm approximating again: they were $15 an ounce (you do the math, SQUARE!)! I don't know why they cost so much. I paid regular coffee price for a mug. It tasted good, but then, so do their $12/lb coffees. For $300+/lb, that coffee had better won some tasting awards. No: It better have won the damn Olympics.

I got these reading materials in Portland. (I now feel like I am filling out '15 books 15 minutes' on Facebook again.)

Par Lagerkvist- the sibyl
Never heard of, Nobel Prize winner

Graham Greene- quiet american
Kurt Vonnegut Jr- cat's cradle
Gregory Dicum- Window Seat
Pictures of the landscape, as you see it flying over in a plane. Shows you how to identify things, like former glacier movements, military installations, barrier reefs, etc. The writer and designer of the book had connections at Wired magazine, so the book has all these interesting cool looking diagrams.

BUSTED magazine
Wherein random mugshots of people arrested in your county are posted. You can read it at my house, next time you are there. (Lot of meth-related arrests and DUIs: Go Oregon!)

Candy Bombers - Andrei Cherny
About the Berlin airlift. Haven't heard? When the Russians blockaded Berlin, almost setting off Russia/USA violence in the middle of the Cold War, America airlifted necessary supplies into Berlin. Including (not limited to) candy/raisins for children, and a power plant. Really, all the tools and materials for a WHOLE POWER PLANT. If you ever get bored in life, remember that shit like this goes down all the time. Don't be lazy; read something; bye-bye boredom. Then you'll know that the kids affectionately called the pilots 'RaisinBombers', and extended this later to all Americans.

Technologies of the Self
Papers by Foucault and others who took this course from him.

Wax Poetics
Philly Issue! Philly International records, and such!

I'll share fun details out of this, as I read it! That's Teddy Pendergrass above, looking luxe.

Akira: two random collections of Akira comics.
A small small fraction of the over 1800 pages it eventually came out to.

Albrecht Dürer. Lots of pictures. He is famous for his engravings (but you knew that). A funny medium to be immortal in - good for you, Albrecht: good for you.
Click on them for larger versions, if you're into that sort of thing.

I Made it Good to Myself (but Michael Jackson did not, b/c he's dead)

Got back from Portland, where the weather was about as good as it has been lately in Philadelphia. Surprisingly, I only got two (2) (!) CDs while I was there. I meant to go by Everyday Music, still my favorite ever CD shop, but didn't really have time. (Didn't get to Prineville's Neat Repeat either).
That's okay, for two reasons- 1) saved $40-80; 2) I can go in a few weeks if I go back for the Beer Festival: odds are about even on that.

Make It Good To Yourself - James Brown

BREAKING NEWS: James Butler has reported that E! has reported that Michael Jackson is reportedly dead! Reports are reporting that it was cardiac arrest (aka a BROKEN HEART!).
(not to be selfish, but does this mean that I can finally claim the title of King of Pop?!?!? ALL HAIL the NEW King of Pop!!! Three Cheers for meMeME!!! YEA ME!!!)
Related reports report that Farrah Fawcett also finally succumbed to her long bout of cancer... ANAL cancer!
NJK! Look it up!

(related connection: a famous beer expert is also named Michael Jackson, and is also dead. It's a F A C T ! Also, James Brown is dead- sad but true!)


Got them (them: James Brown "Black Caesar" sdtk.; Jesus & Mary Chain hits/best) at some resale shop near Alberta, or near Mississippi (ask Emily which it was).

You know that James Brown is called "the Godfather of Soul", of course. What you DID NOT KNOW is that he gave himself this nickname via the score/soundtrack he did for "Black Caesar". "Whuh?", you say. Cos' "The Godfather" came out around the same time, and since both movies deal with godfathers/Caesars/gangsters, he piggybacked on the other, already successful, movie. So sayeth the liner notes. IT BE FACTUAL!

While I was there, these things happened:
I almost hit a bear with my parents' car. On a mountain, obviously: my parents don't live (quite) that far out.
Talked firearms etc. with Jeffrey et al ("reasonable people", the lot of them).
I mass-texted a rape joke. It met with laughter (text laughter) (in most cases).
I got a flat on another person's bike. (For consistency's sake, yet retaining a certain air of variety via a clever inversion, I got two flats when I returned, on my own bike while going to a house which is not my own.)
I received a subpoena* for James Brown.**


it says: 'my heart tells me that you will not listen to my words and this is the cause of my tears and my cries'. This sums up my blog.

*subpoena, like Caesar, is hard for me to spell. I'll never get to be the new King of Latinists if I can't get them right!
**this DID IN FACT HAPPEN, although when I lived in Portland before. One of the children who mugged Adriel when I was with her was, evidently, named James Brown. "Godfather of Soulful Muggings"? "Hardest Working Boy in tha Game"? Maybe even "New King of Robbery"?

Sidenote: I am listening to some of the mixes posted earlier on this blog, and man, THEY ARE GOOD! Find the list of blogs with full mixes HERE.

Got it?, Good!

As a treat to myself, I got me some more records, all of which are top drawer: they all get top billin'.


Audio Two - Top Billin'



One of them is this bad bad bad beat. An ol' skool hip-hop classic, I mean classic cut. On the Youtube comments, someone rattled off 4 big songs they knew that sampled this song- the drums, I imagine- and someone else dropped a few more on there.

A bunch of the other songs posted as this on Youtube are not the song; remixes (by Youtube users, not real remixes), other songs entirely (they will make you take the songs down sometimes, they = copyright holders, and people often put up a new song and leave the name of the old), and one version that was so very quiet, you couldn't hear the bass go

....boooooooooom.....

which, on this version, you can.