me llaman calle

_posted in dayedayerocks | music | 13 December 2007

this morning i asked my coworker, oscar, to help me translate manu chao's me llaman calle.

the video itself is lovely, but what really does it the way he uses language. the translation has none of the beauty it holds in it's original tongue.

i am a machine of the city
they call me a whore and a princess

strange thing, the song felt familiar. there's a point in there song where he says, "a whore and a princess" and i instantly thought of a film a recently saw, princesas.

new music wednesday = this thursday

_posted in music | new music wednesdays | 01 November 2007

just one new joint for this week... oh snap! does that mean new music wednesdays are back... hell to the yes! word to yo mama... ok.. im done...

i present the inevitable rise and liberation of niggy tardust! collaboration at its best...

back in the day, during my spoken word days, my coffee house cool days i interviewed
saul while he was at morehouse and i was at gsu... fell in love with that cat, the moment he opened his mouth...

a cover of sunday, bloody, sunday... can i love any man more than i love saul right now?

he's lived up to the image and then some over the years... and niggys tardust takes it to another level... saul and trent reznor? shut the fuck up... perfection!

enjoy...

saul williams: the inevitable rise and liberation of niggy tardust!

_soundcheck: saul williams: the inevitable rise and liberation of niggy tardust!

max roach...

_posted in music | 16 August 2007

max roach

1924 - 2007

max roach wikipedia entry

misunderstood

_posted in dayedayerocks | music | 03 August 2007

the ones that make it always ain't the talented
some dreams get lost never to be found again

$newMusicWednesday = false;

_posted in music | new music wednesdays | 17 July 2007

no new music wednesday this week... i have a terrible stomach ache and stress is kicking my ass...

but next week will be all about america latina. so get your dancing shoes on and be prepared to throw down...

the countdown begins...

_posted in africa | music | 13 July 2007

who's going to go see femi kuti at hob on sunset thursday? who you ask? ME! thats who. the count down has begun.

this is going to be the concert of the year for me, until tinariwen in november. fickle heart that i have, moving from one greatness to the other...

antero had the nerve to say he's not interested in seeing femi and how he's never been into afrobeat, except for fela. he attributes this lackluster view of afrobeat from some lame taking him to go see antibalas. alright, lets get a few things ironed out.

antibalas is to afrobeat what phish is to rock. they are a jam band that sucks on cd. as well as jam bands that are a shadow of the form they have claimed. thats about it.

to his credit antero does enjoy the awesomeness of fela, as he should since he is a well cultured human being (like that antero?). but i'll be damned if i'll let antero pass up on seeing one of the great afrobeat performers every to grace the shrine. now in a perfect world i'd be at the african shrine in lagos listening to femi.

so be prepared for regular emails and calls antero. you have been warned, so i suggest you resign your self (and why does it have to be this way) to seeing femi, while drinking over priced beer at the house of blues.

thus africa...

_posted in africa | music | 11 July 2007

yet again... africa... my heart pines for you...

i've been rocking tinariwen almost thrice a day with a lot of femi kuti thrown in for good measure.

speaking of tinariwen... they will be in los angeles and san francisco in november. i'm that far gone that i'm definitely making the los angeles show and hoping i can afford the san fran jazz festival. one day i'll see them play at the festival au desert .

speaking of concerts this summer... there are some amazing things going on for the free no less... the only thing better than free is stolen... the temple bar of course isnt free, but im so reluctant to even put it out in the universe, because i don't want to end up there and find its packed, but in all fairness you should know who's going to be there... damn me and my fairness... anyone interested in going to these shows let me know...

GRAND PERFORMANCES
Friday, August 03 - 8:00 PM: Afro Cuba Calling!
Saturday, August 04 - 8:00 PM: Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective
Friday, August 10 - 12:00 PM: Vieux Farka Toure
Friday, August 17 - 12:00 PM: Alex Cuba
Thursday, August 30 - 8:00 PM: Kronos Quartet

SKIRBALL CENTER Sunset Concerts @ 7pm
Thursday, August 9 @ Taper Courtyard : Vieux Farka Toure

TEMPLE BAR
Friday, August 10: Vieux Farka Toure
Saturday, November 3: Tinariwen

ROYCE HALL : UCLA : 8pm
Saturday, December 1: Youssou N'Dour
Saturday, February 16: Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
Wednesday, March 12: Angelique Kidjo

_soundcheck: tinariwen: aman iman

new music wednesday

_posted in music | new music wednesdays | 11 July 2007

i'm not to sure how i feel about this week's music. andrew bird is interesting. i wonder, though, if he does himself a disservice by being too daring in his approach. each on of his albums is unique, yes, but you don't know what to expect. oh! the grandeur! definitely has a django reinhart feel, while his other albums are atmospheric or instrumental, violin heavy. im not about knocking creativity but i'm not sure if i could jump from album to album with him.

andrew bird: andrew bird and the mysterious production of eggs
andrew bird: armchair apocrypha
andrew bird: oh, the grandeur!
andrew bird: the swimming hour
andrew bird: weather systems
blanche: if we can't trust the doctors
erin mckeown: we ill become like birds
great lake swimmers: bodies and minds
the photo atlas: no, not me, never

_soundcheck: tinariwen: aman iman

back breaking work...

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 09 July 2007

listen.

alan lomax is one of my musical heroes. imagine what he could accomplish today with the technology available. these were all recorded by lomax over the many years he spent traveling the world and recording music in its natural setting.

what i love most about these is the fact that you hear the realty of the situations. work songs or chain gang songs are a great example of culture passed from generation to generation. it's call-and-response at its best. this is not only the forefather of gospel music, but most importantly the blues. many blues musicians brought those work songs into the juke joints and made them their own.

so today is all about the work/chain gang songs lomax recorded. notice the ambient noise, the pick axes hitting the ground, the sound of singing in a tunnel, the genuine voices and the realty of back breaking work. damn if i don't get home sick when listening to old black men singing.

you may have to adjust the volume here and there because some of the files are definitely lo-fi. enjoy.

Don't You Hear Po' Mother Callin': Hollie Dew, Bull, and Group
It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad: 22 & Group
Black Woman: BB & Group
Whoa Buck: CB
Jumpin Judy: Tangle Eye, Fuzzy Red, Hard Hair & Group
Old Alabama: BB & Group
John Henry: Ed Lewis
Early In The Mornin': John Lee More & Prisoners
Rosie: unkown, Alan Lomax

fife and drum...

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 06 July 2007

mos def has a fife and drum hook on his most recent album and it solidified his musical god status for me. i marvel at current musicians who take the time and effort to find the roots of music. this is another one of those deep deep generational arts that date back to well before we were sharecroppers. the belief is slaves, who had no instruments, created the fife from bambo or wood. the most famous fife player in america was othar turner. he died at 94, just a few years ago. this music proves that a person can be a complete master of his craft.

the electric blues.

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 06 July 2007

once the migration to the north started black musicians who were playing on acoustic guitars starting playing electric guitars. once they left the deep south musicians, who started out strumming like the others on his old school guitar, took up playing with electric blues. the availability of electricity changed how the blues could now be played. once you're in an environment that lends itself to a new form of a genre, stand back.

muddy waters, bb king, howlin wolf, elmore james... these guys rock it hardcore.

lady sings the blues...

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 06 July 2007

listen.

i just love the explicit advisory on this record.

this week's monday morning blues is all about the ladies. the history of these women is phenomenal. they are considered the ones who put the blues on the map. in some instances they were making the most money out of all the black performers. in the 1920s no less.

so the songs are in chronological order as best as i could research them. they range from 1923 - 1988.

these women are not playing... from sexual innuendos, men who aint no good (yes, dirty mother for you is a dirty motherfucker... o....k... to just plain old being tried... they make you shake your head and say "yes, girl... tell it girl..."

my top three, for obvious reasons, sloppy drunk blues and 3 o'clock blues and pussycat moan.

there will be a part two, because there are so many ladies not listed here... enjoy, cause i did.

Down Hearted Blues: Bessie Smith
Blues Ain't Nothing Else But!: Ida Cox
Sloppy Drunk Blues: Lucille Bogan
I Been a Bad, Bad Girl: Ozella Jones
Boy Friend Blues: Memphis Minnie
Dirty Mother For You: Memphis Minnie
Conjur Man: Memphis Minnie
Beggin' the Blues: Bessie Jones
Wang Dang Doodle: Koko Taylor
3 O'clock In the Morning Blues: Ike and Tina Turner
63 Year Old Mama: Koko Taylor
After You Get Rid of Me: Katie Webster
Pussycat Moan: Katie Webster

there are some things...

_posted in music | 06 July 2007

you just don't do. one of those things is an attempt at remaking fela kuti's sorrow tears and blood in some sudo neosoul/r&b bullshit... for some reason bilal thought it was ok to do this. one, fela is the president. two, he cant even try to reach that standard of musicianship. three, afrobeat is afrobeat for a reason. and believe me i tried to listen to bilal's song a few times and it actually made me sick to my stomach. i will never again listen to bilal for this blasphemy. never. again.

thursday = new music wednesday this week...

_posted in music | new music wednesdays | 05 July 2007

yes sometimes its nice to keep it short and sweet...

africando, ketukuba
animal collective: here comes the indian
brandi carlile: the story
dan deacon: spiderman of the rings
pharoahe monch: desire

_soundcheck: pharoahe monch: desire

monday morning blues no.1

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 02 July 2007

listen.
Well here's the playlist for monday morning blues. there are some examples of old school and new school versions. new school being electric guitar. enjoy.

It Serves You Right to Suffer: John Lee Hooker
Country Blues: Muddy Waters
Traveling Riverside Blues: Robert Johnson
Cross Road Blues (Take 1): Robert Johnson
Standing at the Crossroad: Elmore James
Bo Diddley: Bo Diddley
I'm a Man: Bo Diddley
You Can't Lose What You Never Had: Muddy Waters
The Sun is Shining: Elmore James
Black Betty: Leadbelly

The best way to listen to the playlist in iTunes is to save the m3u file and then make a playlist for the file. This way all the songs will automatically play one after the other, otherwise you'll have to manually play each song. I really cant say how other players will deal with the file. In the future this may be a flash player, but I did squat this weekend and didnt get around to it.

on the rumba river

_posted in africa | film | music | 27 June 2007

if you're in los angeles, i suggest you take your lovely self over to the Mann Theater near the corner of Westwood and Linbrook on 28.June at 7pm to see On the Rumba River.

africa, music, film... three things that make for a happy daye. watch the trailer... watch an excerpt from the film. and i dare you to not sway in your seat.

it follows wendo kolosoy, the congeles rumba legend.

_soundcheck: john lee hooker: it serves you right to suffer

meeting the devil at the crossroads in the delta at midnight...

_posted in music | new music wednesdays | 27 June 2007

robert johnson is definitely on of the greatest bluesmen ever, not just in his time. the legend says he met the devil down at the crossroads on a midnight down in the mississippi delta to sell his soul for his skill on the guitar. its stuff of legend.

i opted for the old old school bluesmen, although i am a fan of muddy waters, bo diddley, elmore james and the rest of the electric guitar blues set, but theres something about a man and his acoustic guitar with that scratchy old school recording that make for some damn good blues listening. and its always nice to hear the original versions from the men who created them or in some cases work songs brought in from the fields and the chain gangs or from the front porches or old folk songs carried down through generations. i swear it makes me miss the south, particularly my great grandparents home in vidalia, georgia. yea, i said it vidalia, home of the sweet onions. my great grandmother was the queen of good old fashion southern cooking... how i miss those days of biscuits, rickety doors, turn of the century bed frames, bedpans (yea i said, the bathroom was through the greatgrandparents bedroom- so it was bedpans or holding it till the morning and the side room was detached from the house- so it was bedpans or holding it till the morning, get my point), gardens, ants in the back house, black and white photos of family long gone hanging on the walls, tales of mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, cousins, etc who were slaves, and the smell of old age and wisdom.

these are some of my favorite old school bluesmen. there were so many to choose from, but i think i did good. i may create a monday morning blues category just cause monday is nothing but the blues... it has been proclaimed, monday morning blues playlist will begin the first monday in july.

blind willie johnson: dark was the night
john lee hooker: it serves you right to suffer
john lee hooker: plays and sings the blues
leadbelly: king of the 12-string guitar
robert johnson: complete recordings
skip james: devil got my woman
skip james: complete early recordings
son house: alan lomax library of congress

bush taxi mali: field recordings from mali
mokobe: mon afrique
gill landry: the ballad of lawless soirez
head like a kite: random portraits of the home movie
polyphonic spree: fragile army
the white strips: icky thump

thanks to antero for putting me on to the bush taxi mali... i want to have its babies. and topher im digging the polyphonic spree.

_soundcheck: usher: confessions

new music wednesday

_posted in music | new music wednesdays | 20 June 2007

i use to watch the tv show, xica da silva, even though i didnt understand one word of it... i found it really interesting, as i find most of the telenovellas. i was delighted to find the song xica da silva, on the brazil '70s compilation disc, sung by none other than miriam makeba, mama africa. she's been one of my favorites since my introduction to south africa... she may have been the first african artist that i was aware of... thanks to antero for putting me on to hallelujah chicken run, cause shit if that's not the best name for a band... theres a nice little mix again this week... i think next week will be all about the blues... cause i've been really tired and blue for some reason... it could be the heat or the downtime... but whatever it is ive yawned about 30 times in the last hour... and all i want to sleep for the whole summer...

berg sans nipple: form of
berg sans nipple: life if (in four parts)
francisco aquabella: hitting hard
hallelujah chicken run band: take one
imitation electric piano: blow it up burn it down kick it 'til it bleeds
imitation electric piano: trinity neon
john legend: once again
miriam makeba: pata pata live in paris
the shins: wincing the night away
various artists: african playground
various artists: brazil 70s 10 samba funk bossa nova tracks
madlib: the other side los angeles

_soundcheck: john legend: once again

common... not even...

_posted in music | 12 June 2007

yes i am very excited about the new common album, finding forever... if there is one hip hop artist that i will always be down for... him and the outkast, no doubt...

_quote 1

if rap was harlem, id be james baldwin...

_quote 2

your career is a typo mine is written like a haiku

_soundcheck: common: like water for chocolate

hipster hell

_posted in los angeles | music | 09 June 2007

last night at the ima robot show i observed some of the worst examples of hipster known to man... los angeles style hipster... as autumn put it, "the only thing a guy is allowed to wear to a concert is a tshirt and/or hoody and a pair of jeans, none of the bullshit im seeing right now." here here sister!

there were a gaggle of girls with headbands, short short tennis shorts and banded socks that came up to just below the knees and wristbands. basically they looked like old school bjorn borg.. i wanted to piss on them...

there were too many guys with bandannas around their necks or covering the bottom half of their face. do you own a horse? or colt 45? are you a bankrobber from circa turn of the century? NO!? then dont fucking ever do that again... oh and a few threw in fedoras to make it just right...

if you wear shorts or a skirt that stops just below your point of entry, then i consider you a complete whorebag... thats just my take on it all...

and no i dont like going to concerts with 12 year olds or maybe they were 17 i dont know. they were all so short. and no im not interested in how long you and your sleazy looking girlfriend can make out, cause it actually made me want to throw up that you kissed for 15 minutes (yes i timed it) nonstop. thats fucking nasty.

_soundcheck: ima robot: ima robot

gregory makes me want to be in love...

_posted in dayedayerocks | music | 05 June 2007

oh how amazing was gregory isaacs last night... i danced... i drank... i... well... you know what else i did...

talk about smooth... talk about the "cool ruler." hell yes he is... almost 60 and straight pimped it... fly pink shirt half tucked in, under a blazer and an NY cap pimped to the side... man only west indian men can pull that off... just so smooth and just so much style... something about that 1970s west indian look that just screams sex appeal... it was nice hearing some patios last night... made me homesick!

man... talk about lovers rock and baby making music... gregory is the man...

on another note... coworker linked me to the awesomest cards...

_soundcheck: gregory issacs: RAS Portraits

"i still dont know what love means"

_posted in music | 18 September 2006

just got home from the troubador... ray lamontagne... perfect... celebrity sighting... laurence "larry" fishburne sans hot wife gina torres...

but not a rose for emily

_posted in music | 07 September 2006

i just got home from a fucking rocking show at the avalon. the plan was to get a chance to see the woogles (on the rolling rock and roll tour), but i showed up later than i planned. thanks to buffi and patrick for letting me know about the show and for putting me on the list...

the lineup was great to say the least; the holograms, mooney suzuki, the woogles, phantom planet* and THE ZOMBIES!

THE ZOMBIES. AMAZING! AWESOME! GREAT! LOVELY!
never thought i'd ever get a chance to see the zombies preform... wow! and i loved that rod argent would explain the next set of songs or drop a little history about a song or the group... and watching colin blunstone sing "a rose for emily" man im done! im going to bed with a smile on my face tonight...

_*
im a wes anderson fan therefore ive seen rushmore and thought jason schwartzman was amazing... ergo my interest in his other project, phantom planet. yes, i use to sing california out loud when i heard it... i was still living in atlanta thinking about moving out to l.a. and thought, "theme song!"

phantom planet is a great example of musical tastes gone bad and then reclaiming their rightful snobbish nature. phantom planet is on my rubbish list with matchbox 20... YES! i liked matchbox twenty... like i said, sometimes you can just lose your mind, be it your whole mind or just that part in charge of musical tastes.

night monkeys...

_soundcheck: the zombies, odessey and oracle

driving around in a jcb

_posted in music | 05 January 2006

nizlopi's animated video and song made me smile a lot... i love it...

jcb music video.... you even download it from itunes... it's created by the same kids (monkeehub) who did the acoustic radiohead creep

_soundcheck: damien rice, o

old people are awesome

_posted in music | 30 December 2005

sigur rós's hoppípolla made me smile... a lot... i love the look of victory they all have at the end... old people are awesome... and it made me think of my grandmother...

and the rule is, you think of her you call her... so this afternoon was made even better by jokes about my five year old badass (but very witty) cousin, old lady giggling and the most important person in the world saying, "i love you." couldnt get any better than that...

_soundcheck: sigur rós, ágætis byrjun

a house of cosbys AND the black eye peas are shit!

_posted in music | web | 27 December 2005

it's been a minute since i checked out waxy.org and damn if he didnt make today just fucking awesome!

one.
a cover of the worst fucking song ever by probably one of the worst groups ever! and i am convinced that fergie is a dude... in drag... she's horrible...

two.
anyone who makes a whole cartoon series around cloning bill cosby, and then calls it house of cosbys is a god... a god i tell you, as in he is omnipresent and necessary... the theme song alone makes me happy in my secret place...

_soundcheck: deltron 3030, the instrumentals

"it's in the direction of yes"

_posted in music | 16 December 2005

one thing i miss about home is the atlanta bands... and the earl... and cheap liquor at a live show... but that's part of the growing pains of moving to a new city... don't get me wrong, los angeles has tons of clubs and tons of concerts, but the one thing i had in atlanta that i don't have here... friends who are in bands... ive got one friend who's rocking it out in a band here, but it's still not like back home...

having said all that... i add the the selmanaires to my list of favorite bands, as well as one of my all time favorite atlanta bands... i opened my mailbox tonight, no sight of that awaited freelance paycheck, but some great fucking music... you know you want it... so make your way over to international hits and BUY this cd... cause they so deserve the support...

_soundcheck: the selmanaires, here come the selmanaires

i'm on dat kryp-to-nite to the throat of your daughter

_posted in music | 18 November 2005

alright, too often me and the sp have conversations about how much i HATE rap... HATE southern dirty down south lame ass rap... don't get me wrong, me and the kast, as in the outkast, have had nothing but a straight love affair from day one... and that's because dre and big boi and everybody they deal with is tight, shorty... you heard... and the last "HATE rap" rant, put me on to this... cause yes, i slept on the whole big boi presents... didnt even know it existed... loving this shit... with all my southern georgia peach heart... cause yes, i am on that kryp-to-nite and its the shit... as chris said, "I've never been so proud of being from the dirty dirty."

_my favorite line

from campbellton road, to cross the water, to the throat of your daughter

_lyrics

I be on it all night, man I be on it (day day) All day straight up pimp If you want me you can find me in da [Crowd] AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it) AAAHHH, (I'm on it)

_soundcheck: big boi presents, got purp? vol. 2

three the hard way biatches...

_posted in music | 17 November 2005

Fresh dressed 'cause I shop at Models
Deep in Brooklyn I ride the elevated trains
Used to ride the D to beat the morning bell
At Edward R. Morrow out on Ave L
We be grillin' cheese and flippin' flapjacks
With the diamond stylus we cutting wax
We're the super elastic bubble plastic
Got ethereal material that's straight up classic
You try to vex reject but you should respect
Or we'll have JC send you out a FedEx * 1
So don't start to flex up in the discotheque
Or we'll make you extinct tyrannosaurus rex

_soundcheck: emiliana torrini, love in the time of science

i'm back home in los angeles

_posted in art | dayedayerocks | film | interactive narratives | music | news | photography | the temple | web | 15 November 2005

well, on a bed of california stars is back, since ive been told several times i need to start it back up and i am tired of sending out emails, so here it goes...

two week vacations are freakin' long! i feel like i was in georgia for a whole month. re:birth, my first exhibit, was a blast! pictures are up… hoping to add more once i can track them down.

finally finished reading, on photography by susan sontag, while sitting in airports on saturday (as in the whole day saturday). previous to sontag's passing in 2004, i had only read one of her writings, notes on "camp," which i found to be very entertaining.

there are tons of passages from on photography that do it for me, but i think these are the most interesting...

_first quote

Nobody ever discovered ugliness through photographs. But many, through photographs, have discovered beauty. Except for those situations in which the camera is used to document, or to mark social rites, what moves people to take photographs is finding something beautiful. (The name under which Fox Talbot patented the photograph in 1841 was the calotype: from kalos, beautiful.) Nobody exclaims, "Isn't that ugly! I must take a photograph of it." Even if someone did say that, all it would mean is: "I found that ugly thing. . . beautiful."

if any photographer made the ugly beautiful, it was diane arbus.

_second quote

A photograph that brings news of some unsuspected zone of misery cannot make a dent in public opinion unless there is an appropriate context of feeling and attitude. The photographs of Mathew Brady and his colleagues took on the horrors of the battlefields did not make people any less keen to go on with the Civil War. The photographs of ill-clad, skeletal prisoners held at Andersonville inflamed Northern public opinion-against the South. (The effect of the Andersonville photographs must have been partly due to the very novelty, at the time, of seeing photographs.) ... Photographs cannot create a moral position, but they cnn reinforce one -- and can help build a nascent one.

regardless of one's views on the war in iraq, final salute is a very touching piece, and most definitely an "unsuspected zone of misery." there is a great deal of "appropriate context of feelings and attitude" on both sides of the debate on iraq.

_another quote

Photographs may be more memorable than moving images, because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Television is a stream of underselected images, each of which cancels its predecessor. Each still photograph is a privileged moment, turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again. Photographs like the one that made the front page of most newspapers in the world in 1972 -- a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by American napalm, running down a highway toward the camera, her opens open, screaming with pain--probably did more to increase the public revulsion against the war than a hundred hours of televised barbarities.

(nick) ut cong huynh's image of a "a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by American napalm, running down a highway toward the camera, her opens open, screaming with pain." Winner of the World Press Photo, 1972. a portion of the "hundred hours of televised barbarities."

_in other news

the uc system's investment committee voted to divest from sudan! the recommendation goes to the board of regents in january for an up or down vote.

well it's started... i have no idea where this damn thing is suppose to go or exactly what it's suppose to be... but hey... who doesn’t want lay their “heavy head tonight on a bed of california stars”

_soundcheck: cat power, the covers record