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saleintothe90s · 6 years ago

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337. 88 Things about 1988, part 9 the last part

(part 8)

71. Koosh Balls

72. USA Today tries a TV Show (9/12)

It only lasted until January of 1990. Wow did they waste a lot of money on it:

Bureaus for the daily half-hour satellite show (there will also be a one- hour weekend edition) are being set up in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., London (where British politician/fiction writer Jeffrey Archer has just been signed as correspondent), and in Roslyn, Va., where USA Today (the newspaper) is headquartered.

It`s costing plenty.

''We`re budgeting $100 million for three years,'' said Steve Friedman. ''You might as well do it right or not at all.'' 1

Wasted 40 million for a show that aired in the middle of the night in some markets:

The magazine-format program, originally titled "USA Today: The Television Show," debuted in September, 1988, on 156 stations, many of them running it in the coveted slot just before prime time. But now, the number of stations has dwindled to 84, with many airing the 30-minute show during hours only insomniacs could appreciate. 2

I found one episode from June 28, 1988.

73. Dale Earnhardt becomes the Intimidator with his black, red and grey #3 car

Before 1988, he drove a blue and yellow #15 Wrangler car.

[I love that apparently there is Dale glitch art gifs on Tumblr]

74. The “Geraldo Fight” (11/3)

This is the only thing I remember about Geraldo’s talk show from the late 80s and early 90s, and seeing the footage always scared me, because to five year old me it was like, “oh no, the man from the TV is hurt.”

Geraldo Rivera's nose was broken and his face cut during a skirmish yesterday midway through the taping of a program entitled ''Teen Hatemongers'' on his television talk show.

The violence broke out after John Metzger, a 20-year-old guest representing the White Aryan Resistance Youth, insulted a black guest, Roy Innis, calling him an ''Uncle Tom.''

''I'm sick and tired of Uncle Tom here, sucking up and trying to be a white man,'' Mr. Metzger said of Mr. Innis, the national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. Mr. Innis stood up and began choking the white youth and Mr. Rivera and audience members joined the scuffle, hurling chairs, throwing punches and shouting epithets. 3

The Beastie Boys even referenced it in the song “What Comes Around.”

75. B.D. Wong raps about Driving School in Crash Course (made for TV movie)

I only just learned about this clip from the ThirtyTwentyTen Podcast. I just know for a fact that the lyrics are laughably lame:

“...going to Michigan state to be a football player, we can hardly wait! Make us proud Dr. J.J., we will watch you on TV scoring touchdowns on Saturday, or saying ‘to be or not to be’!”

(and yes that is Mac from Night Court, Charles Robinson!)

( Newsweek, December 26, 1988)

76. Massive 6.8 Earthquake hits Armenia (12/7).

It is unknown how many people died in the quake, some estimates are around 25,000+ people.

77. Governor Bill Clinton speaks at the Democratic National Convention

Bill was just supposed to speak for 15 minutes and endorse candidate Michael Dukakis. He spoke for 33 minutes! People booed! People cheered when he said “in conclusion”!

78. Duncan Hines Tiara Cakes

A dessert you had to buy a special pan for just to make it. Once they were discontinued, what were you gonna do with that shallow fluted pan?

79. Oprah’s Lil’ Red Wagon of Fat

Oprah regrets it now, but back in 1988 she lost a sloo of weight by starving herself for four months. So on her show she wheeled out 68 pounds of animal fat in a wagon.

80. These amazing carousel stamps

81. Holidays at the World Trade Center

82. The troubled Forest Fair Mall opens in Fairfield, Ohio (7/11)

[this is what the movie theater looked like a year after opening, source]

(Shopping Mall Museum)

As some know, I was the assistant editor at deadmalls.com for years. So I tried my best to find a dead mall that opened 30 years ago--and boy did I find one, one of the most amazing lookin’ ones. (Here’s my ex friends at deadmalls walkin’ though it in 2017)

But yes, this dead mall has flying pigs as decorations! They look like they were added sometime in the late 90s/early 00s? This mall was struggling just two years into operation, and was under redevelopment in 1992. The history of the mall was like, down, up, down, DOWN, nearly abandoned. The Wikipedia is actually pretty good.

83. Michael Dukakis and his tank (9/13)

Okay, so it wasn’t HIS tank, he was just there for a photo op during the presidential election. Boy looked redic!

I’m going to let Josh King, the author of Off Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide handle the summary for this, because it's great:

(more info from Josh here)

84. Chevy Chase hosts the Oscars (4/11)

...and it was his second time hosting! I know.

85. “Let the River Run” from Working Girl

Wow, lots to unpack here with this music video.

The Reebok Freestyle Hi-tops with the big white scrunchy socks! I’m so mad that these shoes don’t come in wide width. They’re soo narrow.

This. outfit. I want it. I tried to find a similar one to wear this holiday season but came up with zilch. Couldn’t find a white skirt on time, or a blouse like that.

Nora Dunn looks 20 years older than she was in this movie. Joan Cusack’s hair is my dream big 80s hair.

Melanie Griffith clearly does not want to be there.

The women in the office after the “bony ass” scene.

86. Santa’s Car

Who knew that Santa drove a hatch and lived in Maine.

87. Max Robinson Dies (12/20)

Robinson was the first African American to anchor network news in the United States. He shared hosting duties on the ABC Nighty News with Peter Jennings and Frank Reynolds in the early 1980s. Sadly alcoholism derailed his career, and he passed away from AIDS.

88. 35 Students from Syracuse University die on Pan Am Flight 103

(news coverage 1 , 2)

To this day, Syracuse University has an extensive collection and memorial dedicated to these students. There is also a heartbreaking .pdf titled “On Eagles Wings” that profiles every passenger and Lockerbie resident who died that night.

1. Beck, Marylin, “USA TODAY SET TO MAKE TV NEWS,” Chicago Tribune, une 25, 1988. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-06-25-8801100627-story.html

2. Kaye, Jeff, “Why There's No Tomorrow for 'USA Today' : Television: The cancellation marks another setback for GTG Entertainment, which had three programs dropped last year,” Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1989. http://articles.latimes.com/1989-11-24/entertainment/ca-215_1_usa-today

4. “Geraldo Rivera's Nose Broken In Scuffle on His Talk Show,” New York Times, November 4, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/04/nyregion/geraldo-rivera-s-nose-broken-in-scuffle-on-his-talk-show.html

#88 things about 1988 #1988 #pan am 103 #max robinson #working girl #carly simon #let the river run #joan cusack #chevy chase #reebok freestyle #santa claus #michael dukakis #forest fair mall #world trade center #stamps #oprah

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 5 years ago

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How Music Stuff Works: Sampling

For quite a few years, I have dabbled in creating mashups on my computer. I will take rap acappellas and combine them with instrumental versions of popular songs. I will then post this music for anyone that wants to hear on SoundCloud. In my mind, everything that I was doing seemed relatively harmless. Yet, I learned that I was committing copyright infringement because I did not have clearance. For the most part, the only thing that would happen to me was that my music will be taken down. I remember one time I got an actual email from the representatives of Jay Z for using one of his songs. Yet, I began to think about these questions about copyright, samples, and how it actually got to be this way. This would be a good exercise for me anyway, so I do not start doing something with my mashups that might take me to court.

Let me start at the beginning before I get too far ahead of myself. The first use of sampling was in the 1940’s with a technique called musique concrete. This was a technique where an artist would record sounds to tape, splice the tape, and then rearrange that tape to create what was called a sound collage. Composers began to experiment further with the technique, which led to the release of the first fully electronic soundtrack for the film, Forbidden Planet in 1956. These early sampling techniques were also used quite a bit to create soundtracks for television shows like Doctor Who. In the 1960s, music producers like Lee Perry began using samples, where they would utilize pre-recorded reggae sounds, then DJ over it. If Lee Perry sounds familiar to you, then you probably heard his name in a Beastie Boys song. They were always making references to early figures that influenced hip-hop. The beginning of sampling as we know it today really began with the introduction of the Fairlight CMI Synthesizer, which was released in 1979. The interesting thing was that the term sampler was meant to describe the technical process of how the machine worked, and not what it was being used for. The reason why the Fairlight was such a big deal emerged in the fact that it now made sampling music simple. In my personal opinion, this had the same affect as the cotton gin did in the south in the 1800s. Soon enough, other synthesizers were coming out that were significant improvements and much cheaper.

Sampling has influenced almost every genre of music, but it was hip-hop in the early 1980s that it influenced the most. Everything that hip-hop aspired to become was complemented with the use of samples. DJs and MC’s would like to take old funk and R&B records to create tracks. The reason for this was the presence of drum breaks in those albums. At first, artists were only taking little bits and pieces of the music from the past due to the fact that there was a limitation on the technology. In 1988, the Akai MPC was released, which probably had the single most impact on anything in hip-hop throughout its entire history. This instrument allowed artists to now use entire songs as samples, instead of bits and pieces. The other reason why this was so groundbreaking came in the fact that you did not really need any music knowledge to create the music. Anyone could do it.

Throughout the 1980s, sampling became increasingly more and more popular with major artists. One of the first to do it was Stevie Wonder in 1979, while the band Big Audio Dynamite introduced sampling to the main stream in rock and pop in 1985. Big Audio Dynamite was led by a former clash member Mick Jones. Artists in hip-hop begin to create albums composed entirely of samples. One of the most popular samples used in the 1980s was John Bonham’s drum beat in the song “When The Levee Breaks.” This was used in the Beastie Boys track “Rhyming and Stealing.” One surprising fact that I learned was that Fab Five Freddy, who used to host Yo MTV Raps, created the most commonly used sample in the 1980’s. Another sample that was used quite frequently emerged in the Amen track. NWA used it quite prominently in Straight Outta Compton. The original artist was never compensated one cent for the use of the sample. In the early to mid-80s, sampling was much like the wild west, where everyone was taking original music for their own repurposing. At first, sampling was not this out of control because they had certain unwritten rules about what you could use and what you could not use. For example, you could not use anything that was currently released and on the charts. Yet, the thing that happened was artists began to get younger, and they began ignoring the rules because there was lots of money to be made. One of the first artists to release an entire album filled with samples was the Beastie Biys with Paul’s Boutique, which people today call groundbreaking and visionary. The funny thing when asked about the samples on that album a few years ago. Mike D said that it would probably cost $1 billion to make that album today. The reason for that was that the original creators of the samples were now looking for compensation as record companies began to realize money could be made from hip-hop songs.

Using someone else’s work as your own has legal implications obviously. The interesting thing to me was that it took the music industry so long to actually start to take people to court. If you want to use a sample, you need to get legal permission from that artist in what is called clearance. The first lawsuit that occurred was when the Turtles sued De La Soul for using a sample from one of their songs. The case was settled out of court, but it signaled what was to come. In 1991, songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan sued Biz Markie for using material from one of his songs. The court ruled that Biz Markie had infringed on his copyright, which meant Sullivan had a choice, either money or removal. He chose the latter, so Biz Markie’s record company had to remove any copies of the albums from stores. Some people have said that sampling in hip hop is the equivalent of a guitar to rock ‘n’ roll. Some writers have further said, this decision was as if a musical instrument had been removed from the hands of the artists. Some artists outside of hip-hop would argue that you cannot take away a musical instrument from someone who doesn’t know how to play one. This moral, philosophical argument would go on to dominate hip-hop for its entire existence. Hip-hop still struggles with this question of whether or not hip-hop artists are musicians. As time passed, hip-hop artists found it increasingly more and more expensive to use samples in their songs. Today, the only artist that can use significant portions of established songs are popular ones because they can afford to do so. New artists are faced with the question, which some say has become a case of asking themselves what can I use and what can I get away with. If a hip-hop artist thinks he can get away with something because the original artist has passed away, then just look to the Marvin Gaye example. His estate did not allow Robin Thicke any leniency. Experts argue that it has completely stifled for creativity. Some practices today have been used as workarounds for copyright infringement. One such artist that has taken advantage of a workaround is Chance the Rapper. He has used streaming services like Spotify and SoundCloud to use songs with uncleared samples, but he is able to get away with it as he is not receiving any royalties for the music. This has become one of the things that new artists have to do. They give away their music for free, but then make all their money through their live shows. Another workaround is when an artist records their own sample of a song, then samples the cover. This would be a great idea, but the problem is there is absolutely nobody in hip-hop that knows how to play an instrument. I am not being critical here, but only speaking the truth. Sadly, there has been absolutely no incentive whatsoever within hip-hop to learn how to play music. As far as legal challenges to samples being used in songs, the number of musical notes it takes matters very little. I remember hearing about one case where it was four or five notes. I guess Vanilla Ice was very lucky that “Ice Ice Baby” was even allowed to be released. That is in a way funny, but very true.

I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but the music business is incredibly complicated where nothing makes sense. This idea and question of whether these hip-hop artists should be allowed to freely sample anything they want is a tricky one. I understand that there is a certain artistry to doing rap songs and remixes. Yet, the thing I cannot wrap my head around is the fact that it is a reinterpretation, not completely new. Another analogy would be if you remember when Steve Fisher took over as head coach of Michigan basketball in 1989. He did win the national championship, but the one criticism was they were not players that he recruited. I see the same thing with these artists using other people’s songs. For me personally, I will always side with the original creator. I have written novels before and I am currently writing a new one. I would not want anyone using my words, characters, plot in any way, unless I agreed to it. If your primary instrument of making songs is something that essentially acts as a copy and paste button, then you may want to go into a different direction. The problem is that currently in hip-hop, producers and even the artist themselves, have gone the complete opposite direction of where it should be headed. I believe that hip-hop artists should learn to play music. Instead, all of these artists and producers have made the decision that creative and catchy samples are really not that important. For the most part, hip-hop and rap is suffering from an immense identity crisis right now. All their songs sound the same. And so it goes.

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myriadmuzik · 6 years ago

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http://myriadmuzik.com/beastie-boys-book-review-beastieboys-beastieboysbook/ @BeastieBoysBook full review! @BeastieBoys

Hip-Hop as a genre only being in it’s mid-forties gives little to a list of current groups that survived the torrential journey that is the career of band; Public Enemy, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called quest – though their 18 year hiatus may disqualify them for this exclusive list- are among the only bands in Hip-Hop that continued to innovate and maintain stability through the 80s to the present day. As a product of the youth of the genre their story is as close to a chronological unfolding of the evolution of the genre as it is a telling of their personal evolution.

The Beastie Boys began as a Punk Rock band, founding members Mike D & MCA actually met at a Bad Brains show, the punk attitude is always on display throughout their entire career but reevaluated through the lens this book cleans allows new comers to clearly see the band’s intent even amidst their most disingenuous ‘Licensed To Ill’ phase. Ad Rock calls it the “become what you hate” theory, Punk tends to turn concepts on their head, poke holes in facades, and mock the unquestioned accepted norm. The Beastie Boys proved that this can backfire as ‘Licensed To Ill’, their landmark debut album (selling more than 10 million copies) was more tongue-in-cheek than literal, the Punks were poking fun at jock culture, party life and macho-ism (the album’s original title was “Don’t Be A Faggot”- something they make note to apologize for in the book and also further explain that that was a satirical title based on the overly masculine jock ideology) fortunately and unfortunately for the band the public did not know this. This created immense success but also internal identity issues for the band, ex-communicated drummer Kate Schellenbach (who gets her own chapter in the book specifically to explain this crisis) states “I think it still holds up as one of the funniest comedy records of all time. But I was in on the joke- sadly most of the world wasn’t, and eventually even the Beasties forgot it was a joke.” The book does a great job in displaying the 3 MC’s true character prior to their debut and also their remorse for their behavior during that era. A product of it’s time it is also evident to note that this book dedicates a lot of time to expunging any inappropriate behavior – that any diehard fan knows is well documented(still on Youtube)- from the story. Tell-All books wont be as “Tell-All’ in today’s era and the band consciously or subconsciously lets this be know when they devote a whole section to feminists explaining why the Beastie Boys weren’t misogynistic, ironically, during their most misogynistic phase, a section that in and of itself is a give away to the fact that they obviously were. The reasons given are somewhat perplexing, (one said they just knew they were nice middle class boys at heart, another said that they were cute and let them have a pass) all reasons that in ‘cancel culture’ today may even get the defender in hot water. Had the story ended here due to the vacuum of moral absolutism MCA would never have helped thousands of Tibetan Monks escape and raise awareness of a global genocide to a public that was completely ignorant to a massive humanitarian crisis, another testament not only to the band’s evolution but the spiritual and personal evolution of every human being.

The creative evolution of the Beastie Boys obviously shows in their music, 3 completely different incarnations span over their first 3 LPs, but the creativity spills out into their book as well, which is just as innovative, unique and clever with all the anti-minimalism they are known for. ‘Beastie Boys Book’ reads like a combination between a popular blog, an AOL Instant Messenger chat room, a comic book, and a Monty Python script. Due to the fact that the Beasties may be the oldest currently active (releasing music as recently as 2011) group in Hip-Hop other than Public Enemy who’s debut didn’t come out to after ‘Licensed To Ill’ was already a success, we get to read the story of Hip-Hop itself unfold with all the humor and idiosyncratic wit of the Beastie Boys. Save for them we would only get this first hand account of one of the most unique genre’s unfolding from a journalist’s viewpoint, not a participant’s. Old friends chime in to correct accounts, Rick Rubin clarifies details about his college dorm room, Spike Jonez takes over to detail the beginning of the Beasties costume phase, Mix Master Mike radios in from outer-space, and even 3 mystery men detail time at a summer camp with MCA pre-fame. ‘Beastie Boys Book’ is one of the most unique autobiographies ever written, Mike D and Ad Rock take turns authoring chapters (til it seems like Mike D got tired and just let Ad Rock take over for chapters on end at times), the fact that MCA’s perspective is missing is sad but adds to the mystique of perhaps the band’s most intriguing member, a producer, video editor, humanitarian, avid snow boarder, photographer, and more. Though the band always acted and came across as one single entity, due to MCA’s views on life and his complex theories on religion and suffering -not to mention the most obvious 180 degree switch out of the 3 members – leads one to beg to hear his take on the career and journey of the band more than anyone else’s. This is immediately acknowledged by Ad Rock before the book even starts. Nonetheless we have a book on a band who’s perspective on Hip-Hop covers “The 80s, the 90s, 2000s and so” written almost 40 years after the band formed.

Another anachronistic trait of Hip-Hop pre-1994, when some would claim Illmatic forever altered the course of album production, is in-house beat making. Public Enemy had the Bomb Squad, De La Soul had Prince Paul -as an overseer mostly-, KRS One had BDP, and even Slick Rick was making his beats. What most don’t know is that Chuck D was part of the Bomb Squad, De La made all their beats on their first 3 LPs (and a good portion of them afterward), KRS One worked on his production as well along with Scott La Rock, and Slick Rick had his on production mis-credited to more famous producers during the making of his debut LP. Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-tip alternated on beats until wonder-kid J Dilla joined The Ummah after their 3rd LP. Most “Golden Era” Hip Hop was created this way, the band did everything, Ad Rock one Sway In The Morning states in a relatively recent interview how “weird” it is that bands and artists today aren’t involved in their production and even their album artwork. Hip-Hop and Punk grew up as long lost brothers (that weren’t so lost, they were actually neighbors) and the DIY (Do It Yourself) attitude was evident in both mostly as a necessity. Both were so far from mainstream the only assistance they could get in bringing their ideas into fruition was the assistance immediately at hand or their own personal impromptu learn-on-the-fly personal assistance. This kind of culture leads to extremely unique sounds and visions from each band, why the Beasties sound and look nothing like Public Enemy, Run DMC, Slick Rick or any other act of the “Golden Era”. Rick Rubin plays the role Prince Paul would play 3 years later for De La Soul, in a time when “producer” did not have the same meaning it has today, “overseer” would be more fitting. All with some sort of musical knowledge and talent (they started out as a Punk band all playing their own instruments) the Beastie never get the full credit they deserve as beatmakers and producers. Fast forward 20 years to the Kanye Producer/Rapper days and doing both is accepted and heralded -even if Kanye is the first one to bridge the gap-. Had the Beastie Boys come out in 2006 instead Ad Rock would have had an interesting and lucrative side career as a super-producer, producing hits for his contemporaries. The self proclaimed “Benihana chef on the SP12 (popular drum machine used at the time)” who “chop(s) the fuck out the beats left on the shelf” was the innovative mind that programmed the Go-Go style percussion pattern on “Hold It Now, Hit It!” the break out single of “Licensed To Ill” that was funky enough to get 3 unknown white rappers clout in the all black Hip-Hop world of the 1980s. “Hold It Now” was played in clubs and spread like wild fire, as soon as Russell Simmons heard it he told them to release it and rushed to press up copies. The Beasties get credit for the tidal wave they sent through music with their persona and hits but never enough for the soundscapes they created underneath those hits. “You be like ‘HELLO NASTY!, where you been? It’s time you brought the grimy beats out the dungeon!'” Ad Rock later states on their 1998 masterpiece “Hello Nasty” an LP when the band was fully formed, now flawlessly integrating instrumental tracks, hardcore tracks, break beats, dub and alternative rock into one album. MCA and Mike D as well had their weapons of choice when it came to beat making, MCA created a room-long tape loop of the open drum break from “When The Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin which ended up becoming their opening track on their debut. MCA would later strip down a song on their last album and re-do the entire record from drums to bass without the rest of the band’s knowledge, or Nas’- the guest feature on the song- till they were ready to mix the record and finalize it. Ad Rock’s Roland 808 would also be used for many of the early Def Jam productions as well, strange how a Hip-Hop record label didn’t even have a drum machine for their artists till the Beastie Boys came along.

Important overlooked gems like this are essential in understanding the significance of a band and ‘Beastie Boys Book’ does a great job of shedding light on these without glorifying or overstating. Though this book is massive, diehard fans will notice some stories that can be found on interviews on YouTube that don’t make it to the book. The more juvenile or gossipy ones like the stories of their egging spree on the public once they moved to LA which is covered in the track “Egg Man” on “Paul’s Boutique” but could be taken as fiction until one sees an interview where a more matured Beastie Boys are looking back on that album and discussing each track and then they go into detail about how they literally were egging random people around town. The more gossipy stories go back to beefs with Russell Simmons, literally dissing him on records as late as 1994’s “Ill Communication” and even subliminally on “To The 5 Boroughs” and also MCA’s fling with Madonna while the Beasties were opening up for her on her first major tour. These stories are either omitted or reduced to seem innocent and wholesome, perhaps a part do to their obvious growth as people or due to a different climate in admittance to one’s past missteps or inappropriate behavior today. They do mention going on tour with a giant inflatable penis, which would be hard to breeze by such a perplexing detail like that anyway. Sure the Beasties have a lot to be ashamed of but what adult isn’t ashamed of their behavior as a teenager and a 20 year old later? They tapped into the youth of America through satire (that was not so easily picked up on) and connected with the collective teenage mind through commonality, nothing that should be looked down on or that is shame worthy, they spoke their particular truth at that time. Their work later would prove their true intent as artists, they would go on to speak up against sexual assault at festivals during acceptance speeches at award shows, racism, anti-Muslim rhetoric, oppose overt exploitative advertisement, and always give credit to the legends who came before them in a culture they were aware they were guests in.

‘Beastie Boys Book’ not only is a great read, it is an innovative endeavor in it’s scope and approach. You will literally laugh out loud, you will get a peek into the inside jokes we have heard on record but never knew we didn’t even understand. “Pray Mantis on the court and I can’t be beat/Yo Tip what’s up with the boots on your feet?” MCA raps to Q-Tip, “I got the timbo’s on my toes and this is how it goes” Q-Tip responds on the 1994 song “Get It Together”. A funny non-sequitur it seems at first until the chapter explaining Q-Tip’s appearances at their G-Son recording studio that was fixed with a skate ramp and indoor basketball court. The Beasties explain how Tip would play Basketball with one of the members of the Jungle Brothers in full Hip-Hop (of the time) attire: Dashikis, gold chains, headbands and even Timberland boots, all while being on magic mushrooms at times and missing numerous shots. They don’t even mention how this story relates to the line but any true fan would connect the dots and find how self-referential the Beasties really are, carelessly rapping lyrics that they themselves would only understand, proving that an artist true to their self will reach the world quicker than one catering to what the audience is expected to want to hear. Also further solidifying the fact that though they are a commercially successful band they are always just 3 friends enjoying life, we just happen to be enjoying the art that comes out of that friendship.

Rating 10/10

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airadam · 5 years ago

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Episode 126 : None More Black

"These evil streets don't sleep..."

- Pharoahe

Here's an idea I've been holding for a while - an episode showcasing Hip-Hop tracks that took a rock sample or influence! I thought it'd be an interesting one to select and mix without reaching for the most obvious standby picks, and we've got tracks spanning almost thirty years at the extreme ends. Don't worry, the guitars come along with plenty of bars and beats!

Links for the month... Michelle Grace Hunder - wicked music photographer!

The Flyest Xmas party on Dec 20th, featuring The Soul Twins

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Ice-T ft. Jello Biafra : Shut Up, Be Happy

One of those tracks that seems more relevant now than ever, this was the opener on Ice-T's underrated 1989 album "The Iceberg". A great marrying of elements, as Jello Biafra of the punk band Dead Kennedys delivers a totalitarian announcement (based on his own "Message From Our Sponsor" over a Black Sabbath loop. I couldn't put this anywhere but as the intro to the episode!

Camp Lo : 82 Afros

Kicking the pace up a touch, we move straight into a killer Camp Lo cut from the "Black Hollywood" LP, with Ski cooking up a banging rock-based beat. The kick and snare are straight boom-bap, but the toms add an unexpected extra element on top of the distorted guitar and vocal sample. Cheeba and Geechi might be known for their smooth styles, but this is just one demonstration of the fact that they can get busy over any kind of beat.

J-Zone : Moonwalk / Gel N' Weave Remix (Instrumental)

I was struggling to find just the right instrumental for this spot, but went back to "The Headband Years" to find this beat from a producer who could make a beat our of almost anything. He's full-time on his funk drumming now, but has a great catalogue of Hip-Hop that can't be fronted on.

Kobaine : Ko.Bain

This is an artist I know very little about, as as far as I'm aware this is his only release to date, a nice little contribution to the 2002 "Subway Series Vol.1" compilation on Major League Entertainment. I got this on digital release which had no credits included, so I'm not sure who produced it - I can imagine it being a Nick Wiz or Tribeca track though.

Agallah : Ag Season

Brownsville's Agallah has often channelled the rockstar vibes in his career, and this woozy-guitared track from "Bo : The Legend of the Water Dragon" sounds entirely natural for him. Self-produced as always, it's short, rock solid, and to the point.

Fabolous : Breathe

Fifteen years old, already? This was a huge single for Fabolous, taken from his "Real Talk" album, and is one of his best-known tracks even after all these years. Just Blaze laced him with a beat based around Supertramp's "Crime of the Century", and got a surprise when Fab told him he'd written his lyrics around the "breathe" vocal sample on the track...because that's not what it said! However, on hearing the bars, Just went back and made some changes to align the audio with what Fab thought he heard!

Ras Kass ft. Killah Priest : Milli Vanilli

Ras Kass' "Quarterly" was collection of tracks he released once a week, finally brought together in late 2009 - and there are some great cuts in there. Here's one, with Veterano's beat sounding like a cybernetic heavy metal group trying to destroy the speaker stack! Ras cuts through it regardless, and special guest Killah Priest (fellow member of THE HRSMN) matches him bar for bar as always. The hook of course channels the then-recent Lil Wayne track "A Milli", which was a heavily-used beat for freestyles around this time.

Body Count : C-Note

This was one of the shorter and gentler tracks on the debut Body Count album, but was always one of my favourites - Ernie C makes that guitar cry for real. Ice-T's metal project was waved off by some doubters in the beginning, but the music was solid from their first appearance on the "OG: Original Gangster" album and they're still killing it to this day.

Bumpy Knuckles : Swazzee

This one is so aggro, you have to love it. Seriously, you'd better. Bumpy Knuckles is in fine form on this guaranteed weight-training motivational track from "Konexion", taking out sucker MCs, snitches, haters, and pretty much everyone else. The hook is reminiscent of an old Sly Stone cut, and Knockout's beat is ferocious - precise, measured drums with the harsh guitar over the top. Bumpy might be the king of the third verse but a track like this lets you know he can handle the first two just fine!

Public Enemy : Go Cat Go

The "He Got Game" soundtrack was unfairly overlooked by too many heads, but is an absolutely worthy entry in Public Enemy's long and storied discography. Chuck D's political awareness and love of sports (he actually wanted to be a sportscaster at one point) combined for a really interesting listen. Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto and Danny Saber of Black Grape cover this one in heavy guitars which would drown out most MCs, but not Chuck! As the album subtitle says, this one is about the game behind the game...

Boogie Down Productions : Ya Slippin

It's hard to think now of BDP being a crew with a future in doubt, but this is how it was back in 1988 as "By All Means Necessary" was released, not long after the murder of founding DJ Scott La Rock. KRS might be young here but he rhymes with the confidence of someone who left home as a child to become an MC, survived homelessness, and achieved his goal. He scolds weak MCs like "The Teacha" he is, and gets down on the production too - the rock heads will recognise this guitar sample a mile off!

Pharoahe Monch : Got You

Shout out to Vicky T for reminding me of this tune! The lead single from the "Training Day" soundtrack is one where I think the radio version (as heard here) surpasses the original. Monch perfectly encapsulates the essence of Denzel Washington's character, who is one of the classic movie villains of modern times - and strikingly, is based on real police.

[J-Zone] Boss Hog Barbarians : Celph Destruction (Instrumental)

Zone again, and while it one didn't come to mind immediately, the aggressive sonics of this instrumental get it the nod here. The Boss Hog Barbarians (J-Zone and Celph Titled) album is an absolute tribute to ignorance (intentionally), but if you can deal with that then it's an excellent addition to your collection.

LL Cool J : Go Cut Creator Go

Another 80s classic hard rocking track, from LL's "Bigger And Deffer" album. It's the kind of track we don't get now - the MC just bigging up the DJ. DJ Cut Creator was with LL from the very beginning, and was the one who actually helped him to get him name known, so it's nice to hear the appreciation. The scratches still stand up today and cut through even the loudest of the guitar samples on the track!

Sly Boogy : Fatal Mistake

Sly may not have put anything out for a while, but the San Bernadino native did drop a few nice tracks in the early 2000s. This one has him totally disregarding the common standards of Hip-Hop song structure, opening up with a thirty-two bar first verse just to show he's not playing. DJ Revolution provides the cuts, and production is courtesy of a then-emerging Jake One. This actually doesn't have a rock influence, but is here because of how well it goes with the next instrumental...

[Rick Rubin] Jay-Z : 99 Problems (Instrumental)

The combination of this and "Fatal Mistake" is one I discovered while doing a mix years and years ago, and wanted to bring out again when the opportunity arose! You probably all know the vocal version of this track, which appeared on Jay-Z's "The Black Album". While working with the legendary Def Jam co-founder and producer Rubin, Jay said he wanted something like the flavour he used to give to the Beastie Boys and this was the result - a meshing of several ideas that came together perfectly.

Public Enemy : She Watch Channel Zero?!

Let's be real - the sexism is heavy on this track! It'd be entirely reasonable to argue that spending all day watching sports on TV isn't any better than soap operas, but that's just my opinion :) 1988's "...Nation of Millions..." yields this song which had an interesting connection - sampling the group Slayer, who were produced by Def Jam founder and major PE supporter Rick Rubin.

Lacuna Coil : The Game

Going pure rock on this selection from this veteran Milanese gothic metal band! I actually learned about this group from "Guitar Hero" of all places, and "Our Truth" led me to the 2006 "Karmacode" album that included this track. It always reminded me a little of "Channel Zero", and while the guitar riffs are definitely fire and the drums bang, it's the combined and contrasting vocals of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro that can't fail to grab your ear.

RJD2 : Exotic Talk

Prog rock meets Hip-Hop sensibilities as RJD2 twists and turns, chilling things out in parts before bringing the thunder crashing back in. Definite standout from 2004's "Since We Last Spoke".

Z-Trip : Rockstar

We close with a standout track from the "Return of the DJ, Volume II" compilation, with Phoenix's Z-Trip putting together a masterpiece of DJ/producer song construction. The sample list is long, and since I don't know what was and wasn't cleared, I won't give anything away here!

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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thesnhuup · 6 years ago

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Pop Picks – October 15, 2018

What I’m listening to:

We had the opportunity to see our favorite band, The National, live in Dallas two weeks ago. Just after watching Mistaken for Strangers, the documentary sort of about the band. So we’ve spent a lot of time going back into their earlier work, listening to songs we don’t know well, and reaffirming that their musicality, smarts, and sound are both original and astoundingly good. They did not disappoint in concert and it is a good thing their tour ended, as we might just spend all of our time and money following them around. Matt Berninger is a genius and his lead vocals kill me (and because they are in my range, I can actually sing along!). Their arrangements are profoundly good and go right to whatever brain/heart wiring that pulls one in and doesn’t let them go.

What I’m reading:

Who is Richard Powers and why have I only discovered him now, with his 12th book? Overstory is profoundly good, a book that is essential and powerful and makes me look at my everyday world in new ways. In short, a dizzying example of how powerful can be narrative in the hands of a master storyteller. I hesitate to say it’s the best environmental novel I’ve ever read (it is), because that would put this book in a category. It is surely about the natural world, but it is as much about we humans. It’s monumental and elegiac and wondrous at all once. Cancel your day’s schedule and read it now. Then plant a tree. A lot of them.

What I’m watching:

Bo Burnham wrote and directed Eighth Grade and Elsie Fisher is nothing less than amazing as its star (what’s with these new child actors; see Florida Project). It’s funny and painful and touching. It’s also the single best film treatment that I have seen of what it means to grow up in a social media shaped world. It’s a reminder that growing up is hard. Maybe harder now in a world of relentless, layered digital pressure to curate perfect lives that are far removed from the natural messy worlds and selves we actually inhabit. It’s a well-deserved 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and I wonder who dinged it for the missing 2%.

Archive

September 7, 2018

What I’m listening to:

With a cover pointing back to the Beastie Boys’ 1986 Licensed to Ill, Eminem’s quietly released Kamikaze is not my usual taste, but I’ve always admired him for his “all out there” willingness to be personal, to call people out, and his sheer genius with language. I thought Daveed Diggs could rap fast, but Eminem is supersonic at moments, and still finds room for melody. Love that he includes Joyner Lucas, whose “I’m Not Racist” gets added to the growing list of simply amazing music videos commenting on race in America. There are endless reasons why I am the least likely Eminem fan, but when no one is around to make fun of me, I’ll put it on again.

What I’m reading:

Lesley Blume’s Everyone Behaves Badly, which is the story behind Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and his time in 1920s Paris (oh, what a time – see Midnight in Paris if you haven’t already). Of course, Blume disabuses my romantic ideas of that time and place and everyone is sort of (or profoundly so) a jerk, especially…no spoiler here…Hemingway. That said, it is a compelling read and coming off the Henry James inspired prose of Mrs. Osmond, it made me appreciate more how groundbreaking was Hemingway’s modern prose style. Like his contemporary Picasso, he reinvented the art and it can be easy to forget, these decades later, how profound was the change and its impact. And it has bullfights.

What I’m watching:

Chloé Zhao’s The Rider is just exceptional. It’s filmed on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which provides a stunning landscape, and it feels like a classic western reinvented for our times. The main characters are played by the real-life people who inspired this narrative (but feels like a documentary) film. Brady Jandreau, playing himself really, owns the screen. It’s about manhood, honor codes, loss, and resilience – rendered in sensitive, nuanced, and heartfelt ways. It feels like it could be about large swaths of America today. Really powerful.

August 16, 2018

What I’m listening to:

In my Spotify Daily Mix was Percy Sledge’s When A Man Loves A Woman, one of the world’s greatest love songs. Go online and read the story of how the song was discovered and recorded. There are competing accounts, but Sledge said he improvised it after a bad breakup. It has that kind of aching spontaneity. It is another hit from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, one of the GREAT music hotbeds, along with Detroit, Nashville, and Memphis. Our February Board meeting is in Alabama and I may finally have to do the pilgrimage road trip to Muscle Shoals and then Memphis, dropping in for Sunday services at the church where Rev. Al Green still preaches and sings. If the music is all like this, I will be saved.

What I’m reading:

John Banville’s Mrs. Osmond, his homage to literary idol Henry James and an imagined sequel to James’ 1881 masterpiece Portrait of a Lady. Go online and read the first paragraph of Chapter 25. He is…profoundly good. Makes me want to never write again, since anything I attempt will feel like some other, lowly activity in comparison to his mastery of language, image, syntax. This is slow reading, every sentence to be savored.

What I’m watching:

I’ve always respected Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but we just watched the documentary RGB. It is over-the-top great and she is now one of my heroes. A superwoman in many ways and the documentary is really well done. There are lots of scenes of her speaking to crowds and the way young women, especially law students, look at her is touching. And you can’t help but fall in love with her now late husband Marty. See this movie and be reminded of how important is the Law.

July 23, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Spotify’s Summer Acoustic playlist has been on repeat quite a lot. What a fun way to listen to artists new to me, including The Paper Kites, Hollow Coves, and Fleet Foxes, as well as old favorites like Leon Bridges and Jose Gonzalez. Pretty chill when dialing back to a summer pace, dining on the screen porch or reading a book.

What I’m reading:

Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy. Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson tells of the racial injustice (and the war on the poor our judicial system perpetuates as well) that he discovered as a young graduate from Harvard Law School and his fight to address it. It is in turn heartbreaking, enraging, and inspiring. It is also about mercy and empathy and justice that reads like a novel. Brilliant.

What I’m watching:

Fauda. We watched season one of this Israeli thriller. It was much discussed in Israel because while it focuses on an ex-special agent who comes out of retirement to track down a Palestinian terrorist, it was willing to reveal the complexity, richness, and emotions of Palestinian lives. And the occasional brutality of the Israelis. Pretty controversial stuff in Israel. Lior Raz plays Doron, the main character, and is compelling and tough and often hard to like. He’s a mess. As is the world in which he has to operate. We really liked it, and also felt guilty because while it may have been brave in its treatment of Palestinians within the Israeli context, it falls back into some tired tropes and ultimately falls short on this front.

June 11, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Like everyone else, I’m listening to Pusha T drop the mic on Drake. Okay, not really, but do I get some points for even knowing that? We all walk around with songs that immediately bring us back to a time or a place. Songs are time machines. We are coming up on Father’s Day. My own dad passed away on Father’s Day back in 1994 and I remembering dutifully getting through the wake and funeral and being strong throughout. Then, sitting alone in our kitchen, Don Henley’s The End of the Innocence came on and I lost it. When you lose a parent for the first time (most of us have two after all) we lose our innocence and in that passage, we suddenly feel adult in a new way (no matter how old we are), a longing for our own childhood, and a need to forgive and be forgiven. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll understand. As Wordsworth reminds us in In Memoriam, there are seasons to our grief and, all these years later, this song no longer hits me in the gut, but does transport me back with loving memories of my father. I’ll play it Father’s Day.

What I’m reading:

The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin. I am not a reader of fantasy or sci-fi, though I understand they can be powerful vehicles for addressing the very real challenges of the world in which we actually live. I’m not sure I know of a more vivid and gripping illustration of that fact than N. K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award winning novel The Fifth Season, first in her Broken Earth trilogy. It is astounding. It is the fantasy parallel to The Underground Railroad, my favorite recent read, a depiction of subjugation, power, casual violence, and a broken world in which our hero(s) struggle, suffer mightily, and still, somehow, give us hope. It is a tour de force book. How can someone be this good a writer? The first 30 pages pained me (always with this genre, one must learn a new, constructed world, and all of its operating physics and systems of order), and then I could not put it down. I panicked as I neared the end, not wanting to finish the book, and quickly ordered the Obelisk Gate, the second novel in the trilogy, and I can tell you now that I’ll be spending some goodly portion of my weekend in Jemisin’s other world.

What I’m watching:

The NBA Finals and perhaps the best basketball player of this generation. I’ve come to deeply respect LeBron James as a person, a force for social good, and now as an extraordinary player at the peak of his powers. His superhuman play during the NBA playoffs now ranks with the all-time greats, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, MJ, Kobe, and the demi-god that was Bill Russell. That his Cavs lost in a 4-game sweep is no surprise. It was a mediocre team being carried on the wide shoulders of James (and matched against one of the greatest teams ever, the Warriors, and the Harry Potter of basketball, Steph Curry) and, in some strange way, his greatness is amplified by the contrast with the rest of his team. It was a great run.

May 24, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I’ve always liked Alicia Keys and admired her social activism, but I am hooked on her last album Here. This feels like an album finally commensurate with her anger, activism, hope, and grit. More R&B and Hip Hop than is typical for her, I think this album moves into an echelon inhabited by a Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On or Beyonce’s Formation. Social activism and outrage rarely make great novels, but they often fuel great popular music. Here is a terrific example.

What I’m reading:

Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad may be close to a flawless novel. Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer, it chronicles the lives of two runaway slaves, Cora and Caeser, as they try to escape the hell of plantation life in Georgia. It is an often searing novel and Cora is one of the great heroes of American literature. I would make this mandatory reading in every high school in America, especially in light of the absurd revisionist narratives of “happy and well cared for” slaves. This is a genuinely great novel, one of the best I’ve read, the magical realism and conflating of time periods lifts it to another realm of social commentary, relevance, and a blazing indictment of America’s Original Sin, for which we remain unabsolved.

What I’m watching:

I thought I knew about The Pentagon Papers, but The Post, a real-life political thriller from Steven Spielberg taught me a lot, features some of our greatest actors, and is so timely given the assault on our democratic institutions and with a presidency out of control. It is a reminder that a free and fearless press is a powerful part of our democracy, always among the first targets of despots everywhere. The story revolves around the legendary Post owner and D.C. doyenne, Katharine Graham. I had the opportunity to see her son, Don Graham, right after he saw the film, and he raved about Meryl Streep’s portrayal of his mother. Liked it a lot more than I expected.

April 27, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I mentioned John Prine in a recent post and then on the heels of that mention, he has released a new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, his first new album in ten years. Prine is beloved by other singer songwriters and often praised by the inscrutable God that is Bob Dylan. Indeed, Prine was frequently said to be the “next Bob Dylan” in the early part of his career, though he instead carved out his own respectable career and voice, if never with the dizzying success of Dylan. The new album reflects a man in his 70s, a cancer survivor, who reflects on life and its end, but with the good humor and empathy that are hallmarks of Prine’s music. “When I Get To Heaven” is a rollicking, fun vision of what comes next and a pure delight. A charming, warm, and often terrific album.

What I’m reading:

I recently read Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, on many people’s Top Ten lists for last year and for good reason. It is sprawling, multi-generational, and based in the world of Japanese occupied Korea and then in the Korean immigrant’s world of Oaska, so our key characters become “tweeners,” accepted in neither world. It’s often unspeakably sad, and yet there is resiliency and love. There is also intimacy, despite the time and geographic span of the novel. It’s breathtakingly good and like all good novels, transporting.

What I’m watching:

I adore Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth, and while I’m not sure his Shape of Water is better, it is a worthy follow up to the earlier masterpiece (and more of a commercial success). Lots of critics dislike the film, but I’m okay with a simple retelling of a Beauty and the Beast love story, as predictable as it might be. The acting is terrific, it is visually stunning, and there are layers of pain as well as social and political commentary (the setting is the US during the Cold War) and, no real spoiler here, the real monsters are humans, the military officer who sees over the captured aquatic creature. It is hauntingly beautiful and its depiction of hatred to those who are different or “other” is painfully resonant with the time in which we live. Put this on your “must see” list.

March 18, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Sitting on a plane for hours (and many more to go; geez, Australia is far away) is a great opportunity to listen to new music and to revisit old favorites. This time, it is Lucy Dacus and her album Historians, the new sophomore release from a 22-year old indie artist that writes with relatable, real-life lyrics. Just on a second listen and while she insists this isn’t a break up record (as we know, 50% of all great songs are break up songs), it is full of loss and pain. Worth the listen so far. For the way back machine, it’s John Prine and In Spite of Ourselves (that title track is one of the great love songs of all time), a collection of duets with some of his “favorite girl singers” as he once described them. I have a crush on Iris Dement (for a really righteously angry song try her Wasteland of the Free), but there is also EmmyLou Harris, the incomparable Dolores Keane, and Lucinda Williams. Very different albums, both wonderful.

What I’m reading:

Jane Mayer’s New Yorker piece on Christopher Steele presents little that is new, but she pulls it together in a terrific and coherent whole that is illuminating and troubling at the same time. Not only for what is happening, but for the complicity of the far right in trying to discredit that which should be setting off alarm bells everywhere. Bob Mueller may be the most important defender of the democracy at this time. A must read.

What I’m watching:

Homeland is killing it this season and is prescient, hauntingly so. Russian election interference, a Bannon-style hate radio demagogue, alienated and gun toting militia types, and a president out of control. It’s fabulous, even if it feels awfully close to the evening news.

March 8, 2018

What I’m listening to:

We have a family challenge to compile our Top 100 songs. It is painful. Only 100? No more than three songs by one artist? Wait, why is M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” on my list? Should it just be The Clash from whom she samples? Can I admit to guilty pleasure songs? Hey, it’s my list and I can put anything I want on it. So I’m listening to the list while I work and the song playing right now is Tom Petty’s “The Wild One, Forever,” a B-side single that was never a hit and that remains my favorite Petty song. Also, “Evangeline” by Los Lobos. It evokes a night many years ago, with friends at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA, when everyone danced well past 1AM in a hot, sweaty, packed club and the band was a revelation. Maybe the best music night of our lives and a reminder that one’s 100 Favorite Songs list is as much about what you were doing and where you were in your life when those songs were playing as it is about the music. It’s not a list. It’s a soundtrack for this journey.

What I’m reading:

Patricia Lockwood’s Priestdaddy was in the NY Times top ten books of 2017 list and it is easy to see why. Lockwood brings remarkable and often surprising imagery, metaphor, and language to her prose memoir and it actually threw me off at first. It then all became clear when someone told me she is a poet. The book is laugh aloud funny, which masks (or makes safer anyway) some pretty dark territory. Anyone who grew up Catholic, whether lapsed or not, will resonate with her story. She can’t resist a bawdy anecdote and her family provides some of the most memorable characters possible, especially her father, her sister, and her mother, who I came to adore. Best thing I’ve read in ages.

What I’m watching:

The Florida Project, a profoundly good movie on so many levels. Start with the central character, six-year old (at the time of the filming) Brooklynn Prince, who owns – I mean really owns – the screen. This is pure acting genius and at that age? Astounding. Almost as astounding is Bria Vinaite, who plays her mother. She was discovered on Instagram and had never acted before this role, which she did with just three weeks of acting lessons. She is utterly convincing and the tension between the child’s absolute wonder and joy in the world with her mother’s struggle to provide, to be a mother, is heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. Willem Dafoe rightly received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. This is a terrific movie.

February 12, 2018

What I’m listening to:

So, I have a lot of friends of age (I know you’re thinking 40s, but I just turned 60) who are frozen in whatever era of music they enjoyed in college or maybe even in their thirties. There are lots of times when I reach back into the catalog, since music is one of those really powerful and transporting senses that can take you through time (smell is the other one, though often underappreciated for that power). Hell, I just bought a turntable and now spending time in vintage vinyl shops. But I’m trying to take a lesson from Pat, who revels in new music and can as easily talk about North African rap music and the latest National album as Meet the Beatles, her first ever album. So, I’ve been listening to Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy winning Damn. While it may not be the first thing I’ll reach for on a winter night in Maine, by the fire, I was taken with it. It’s layered, political, and weirdly sensitive and misogynist at the same time, and it feels fresh and authentic and smart at the same time, with music that often pulled me from what I was doing. In short, everything music should do. I’m not a bit cooler for listening to Damn, but when I followed it with Steely Dan, I felt like I was listening to Lawrence Welk. A good sign, I think.

What I’m reading:

I am reading Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Leonardo da Vinci. I’m not usually a reader of biographies, but I’ve always been taken with Leonardo. Isaacson does not disappoint (does he ever?), and his subject is at once more human and accessible and more awe-inspiring in Isaacson’s capable hands. Gay, left-handed, vegetarian, incapable of finishing things, a wonderful conversationalist, kind, and perhaps the most relentlessly curious human being who has ever lived. Like his biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, Isaacson’s project here is to show that genius lives at the intersection of science and art, of rationality and creativity. Highly recommend it.

What I’m watching:

We watched the This Is Us post-Super Bowl episode, the one where Jack finally buys the farm. I really want to hate this show. It is melodramatic and manipulative, with characters that mostly never change or grow, and it hooks me every damn time we watch it. The episode last Sunday was a tear jerker, a double whammy intended to render into a blubbering, tissue-crumbling pathetic mess anyone who has lost a parent or who is a parent. Sterling K. Brown, Ron Cephas Jones, the surprising Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia are hard not to love and last season’s episode that had only Brown and Cephas going to Memphis was the show at its best (they are by far the two best actors). Last week was the show at its best worst. In other words, I want to hate it, but I love it. If you haven’t seen it, don’t binge watch it. You’ll need therapy and insulin.

January 15, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Drive-By Truckers. Chris Stapleton has me on an unusual (for me) country theme and I discovered these guys to my great delight. They’ve been around, with some 11 albums, but the newest one is fascinating. It’s a deep dive into Southern alienation and the white working-class world often associated with our current president. I admire the willingness to lay bare, in kick ass rock songs, the complexities and pain at work among people we too quickly place into overly simple categories. These guys are brave, bold, and thoughtful as hell, while producing songs I didn’t expect to like, but that I keep playing. And they are coming to NH.

What I’m reading:

A textual analog to Drive-By Truckers by Chris Stapleton in many ways is Tony Horowitz’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning Confederates in the Attic. Ostensibly about the Civil War and the South’s ongoing attachment to it, it is prescient and speaks eloquently to the times in which we live (where every southern state but Virginia voted for President Trump). Often hilarious, it too surfaces complexities and nuance that escape a more recent, and widely acclaimed, book like Hillbilly Elegy. As a Civil War fan, it was also astonishing in many instances, especially when it blows apart long-held “truths” about the war, such as the degree to which Sherman burned down the south (he did not). Like D-B Truckers, Horowitz loves the South and the people he encounters, even as he grapples with its myths of victimhood and exceptionalism (and racism, which may be no more than the racism in the north, but of a different kind). Everyone should read this book and I’m embarrassed I’m so late to it.

What I’m watching:

David Letterman has a new Netflix show called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” and we watched the first episode, in which Letterman interviewed Barack Obama. It was extraordinary (if you don’t have Netflix, get it just to watch this show); not only because we were reminded of Obama’s smarts, grace, and humanity (and humor), but because we saw a side of Letterman we didn’t know existed. His personal reflections on Selma were raw and powerful, almost painful. He will do five more episodes with “extraordinary individuals” and if they are anything like the first, this might be the very best work of his career and one of the best things on television.

December 22, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished Sunjeev Sahota’s Year of the Runaways, a painful inside look at the plight of illegal Indian immigrant workers in Britain. It was shortlisted for 2015 Man Booker Prize and its transporting, often to a dark and painful universe, and it is impossible not to think about the American version of this story and the terrible way we treat the undocumented in our own country, especially now.

What I’m watching:

Season II of The Crown is even better than Season I. Elizabeth’s character is becoming more three-dimensional, the modern world is catching up with tradition-bound Britain, and Cold War politics offer more context and tension than we saw in Season I. Claire Foy, in her last season, is just terrific – one arched eye brow can send a message.

What I’m listening to:

A lot of Christmas music, but needing a break from the schmaltz, I’ve discovered Over the Rhine and their Christmas album, Snow Angels. God, these guys are good.

November 14, 2017

What I’m watching:

Guiltily, I watch the Patriots play every weekend, often building my schedule and plans around seeing the game. Why the guilt? I don’t know how morally defensible is football anymore, as we now know the severe damage it does to the players. We can’t pretend it’s all okay anymore. Is this our version of late decadent Rome, watching mostly young Black men take a terrible toll on each other for our mere entertainment?

What I’m reading:

Recently finished J.G. Ballard’s 2000 novel Super-Cannes, a powerful depiction of a corporate-tech ex-pat community taken over by a kind of psychopathology, in which all social norms and responsibilities are surrendered to residents of the new world community. Kept thinking about Silicon Valley when reading it. Pretty dark, dystopian view of the modern world and centered around a mass killing, troublingly prescient.

What I’m listening to:

Was never really a Lorde fan, only knowing her catchy (and smarter than you might first guess) pop hit “Royals” from her debut album. But her new album, Melodrama, is terrific and it doesn’t feel quite right to call this “pop.” There is something way more substantial going on with Lorde and I can see why many critics put this album at the top of their Best in 2017 list. Count me in as a huge fan.

November 3, 2017

What I’m reading: Just finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, her breathtakingly good second novel. How is someone so young so wise? Her writing is near perfection and I read the book in two days, setting my alarm for 4:30AM so I could finish it before work.

What I’m watching: We just binge watched season two of Stranger Things and it was worth it just to watch Millie Bobbie Brown, the transcendent young actor who plays Eleven. The series is a delightful mash up of every great eighties horror genre you can imagine and while pretty dark, an absolute joy to watch.

What I’m listening to: I’m not a lover of country music (to say the least), but I love Chris Stapleton. His “The Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” is heartbreakingly good and reminds me of the old school country that played in my house as a kid. He has a new album and I can’t wait, but his From A Room: Volume 1 is on repeat for now.

September 26, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo. It took me a while to accept its cadence and sheer weirdness, but loved it in the end. A painful meditation on loss and grief, and a genuinely beautiful exploration of the intersection of life and death, the difficulty of letting go of what was, good and bad, and what never came to be.

What I’m watching:

HBO’s The Deuce. Times Square and the beginning of the porn industry in the 1970s, the setting made me wonder if this was really something I’d want to see. But David Simon is the writer and I’d read a menu if he wrote it. It does not disappoint so far and there is nothing prurient about it.

What I’m listening to:

The National’s new album Sleep Well Beast. I love this band. The opening piano notes of the first song, “Nobody Else Will Be There,” seize me & I’m reminded that no one else in music today matches their arrangement & musicianship. I’m adding “Born to Beg,” “Slow Show,” “I Need My Girl,” and “Runaway” to my list of favorite love songs.

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#President's Corner #SNHUblogs

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jessicakmatt · 7 years ago

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From Kick to Cowbell: What Made the Roland TR-808 Great?

From Kick to Cowbell: What Made the Roland TR-808 Great?: via LANDR Blog

To celebrate the launch of Roland’s first ever Software TR-808, we revisit a few key moments in the legendary drum machine’s rich history… so far.

There are so many reasons to love the Roland TR-808.

Producers, musicians and DJs know how much the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer has influenced music’s past, present and future. The quirky machine and its distinct sounds—from kick to cowbell—have changed music across genres and styles.

But why? How has a simple studio companion released in 1980 become the backbeat to countless anthems? On the heels of Roland releasing the first ever Software TR-808 via Roland Cloud, we explore some of the sounds, history, and idiosyncrasies that make the storied machine an audio icon.

Programming History

As told in the 2015 documentary 808 (You Know Films) the 808 had a big impact on hip-hop’s early years. Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force’s 1982 song “Planet Rock,” produced by Arthur Baker, used the 808 to unforgettable effect, marking a key moment in the 808’s eventual rise.

But the 808 wasn’t an overnight commercial success…

Created in Japan by the late Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi and his team, the 808 didn’t meet initial expectations. Ultimately, the machine was made for just three years until 1983 and only 12,000 808s were ever produced.

“Everything was ‘wrong’ with the 808,” the film’s producer Alex Noyer explains about the rhythm box’s release. “It was destined for failure. It didn’t sound right, it didn’t sound like a drum, two 808s didn’t sound alike. All the critics [called it] a complete UFO of studio equipment. It’s important that it became this iconic instrument. It’s a beautiful underdog story, which to me, is what the music industry is all about. Because no artist really starts as a superstar.“

Over the years the 808 went on to influence genres like house, techno, drum ‘n’ bass, electro, Miami Bass, as well as R&B, pop, rock, trap… the list goes on.

Everything was ‘wrong’ with the 808. It was destined for failure. It didn’t sound right, it didn’t sound like a drum, two 808s didn’t sound alike.

A Drum Discovered

The love people have for the 808, and the fact that so many still use its sounds today, stems from the curiosity and creativity that’s pushed music production forwards for decades. The 808 is a classic example of the gold that simply needs the right eye and ear to be discovered.

“If you think about early synthesizers from an engineering point of view, a lot of people were trying to sound as realistic as possible,” says Matthew Salaciak, co-founder of the Temple record label and avid synth enthusiast. “Mainly the goal was, ‘I’m going to make a synth that can make the sound of a clarinet, can make the sound of a sax, can make the sound of a trumpet; it was all about synthesizing a realistic sound…”

“[The 808] sounded synthesized, too much like a rhythm box. But in the end, those are the sounds that we love and associate with electronic music. It just sounded so beautiful and sat beautifully in mixes. That’s what attracted me to it. I feel like I’m playing not just a drum machine, I’m playing a synth.”

Sounds From Within

The 808’s analog sounds include cowbell, claves, clap, rim shot, toms, maraca, congas, cymbal, hi-hats, and of course the bass drum and snare drum…

“It’s like a giant sweet spot, it can’t sound bad,” says Salaciak about the 808’s kick drum. “You can make it sound super clicky or super bassy, and that’s so insane because you have very little control on what you can manipulate. Those two knobs; the tone and decay, shaped and created so many things in music.”

“The snare has this snappiness to it that sounds like someone’s ripping a piece of paper. It doesn’t sound much like a snare drum, but if you think of an electronic, synthesized idea of a snare drum, this sounds exactly like it… The hi-hat has this beautiful sizzly sound that’s so metallic. Again, it doesn’t really sound like a hi-hat but it fits perfectly.”

The Perfect Workflow

The 808 not only provides the backing beat for your tracks, it keeps them in time as well; A brain for your who studio… In pre-MIDI production the 808 still gave producers the flexibility to link several instruments.

“The most important thing with these electronic instruments was the ability to communicate with each other in a studio setting,” Salaciak explains. “What made the 808 so incredible in the time of pre-MIDI is that it gave whoever who was using it the flexibility of having three trigger outs to clock sequencers and gate synths… I find that was a big influence on synth pop, cold wave, dark wave, and minimal synth music. It allowed people to connect their drums to their synths and create amazing, syncopated basslines and sequences. Which led to lot of amazing music; Like Human League or Depeche Mode’s second album A Broken Frame…”

Programming an 808 on its own is enough to create a standalone symphony.

Pure 808

Of course the 808 doesn’t need accompaniment to shine. Programming an 808 on its own is enough to create a standalone symphony.

Also in Noyer’s film, Richie Hawtin discusses the 808’s intuitive workflow: “Probably my most beautiful moment with an 808 was going back at 8AM on a Sunday morning after listening to Derrick May play in Detroit, and turning on my 808, and making a whole song out of it… trying to make an intense, rhythmic piece out of one machine. In actual fact it became one of my biggest songs; it was Plastikman ‘Spastik,’ which was pure 808.”

808 hits

What tracks defined the 808 early on? It’s hard to say, but Noyer suggests: “From the [songs] we collected, so many are incredibly important, but if someone were to ask me to pick 3 that the 808 was about, OK: "Planet Rock.” It’s the birth of hip-hop and electronic music. “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye, and “Paul Revere” by the Beastie Boys because it’s iconic, and how you can mess with the 808 to that level is incredible”

Tweaking Into Tomorrow

The 808’s pastiche of sounds were eventually twisted, delayed, phased and tweaked so hard, it’s taken on a cyberlife of its own.

“Even through all the reshaping of the ways we use instruments; computers, cloud platforms… people look for the 808 as an 808. It’s incredible that it’s not just, ‘I need a kick drum,’ but ‘I need an 808 kick drum,’” Noyer says. ��People are so passionate about those specificities. The way the 808 lived on beyond its limited run was the use of samplers and all the digital technology that allowed it to live on in sound libraries,” he says. “But from the kick drum to the snare to the rim, all those sounds still sound as peculiar today as they did then. There’s libraries and libraries of those sounds, but those true 808 sounds cannot be beat. The emergence of trap was a testament to that, because there’s such a use of raw 808 and I found that very exciting.”

“It’s transgenre,” Salaciak says. “The basic sound set of the 808 is so perfect that it finds its way into many types of music. It’s fascinating how artists found another way to evolve the sounds so they’re still relevant today. ”For example, with samplers and computers, artists take the sounds of the 808 and manipulate them beyond what the original 808 machine can do, while still keeping the 808 identity. You can’t change the pitch of the snare or bass sound on an actual 808, but in a sampler or computer, you can.”

It’s like a giant sweet spot, it can’t sound bad.

More Than Machine

The loving relationship so many artists have with the 808 is special: “There were a few really gobsmacked moments when you’re talking to musical legends and they tell you about a machine as if it was a member of their family,” says Noyer about 808’s 57 interviews, including Pharrell WIlliams, Phil Collins, Questlove, Goldie, Rick Rubin, and countless more.

“Bear in mind its short run, a lot of artists never really had the experience of using the machine because by then it was integrated into so many other things. For anybody who’s not dependent on the machine, it’s very easy to capitalize on the sound without having to use the interface. With that in mind, we had real childlike reactions. These moments are special… I remember we handed my 808 to David Guetta, he kept it on his knee the whole interview. He was cuddling it. It was interesting, because it’s a rare thing to get your hands on one.”

Learn more about the 808 documentary produced by Alex Noyer of You Know Films, along with writer/director Alexander Dunn, co-executive producer Arthur Baker, and their team.

Get your hands on the first ever Software TR-808 from Roland Cloud

The post From Kick to Cowbell: What Made the Roland TR-808 Great? appeared first on LANDR Blog.

from LANDR Blog https://blog.landr.com/roland-tr-808/ via https://www.youtube.com/user/corporatethief/playlists from Steve Hart https://stevehartcom.tumblr.com/post/172906217419

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