Blog is a Mix Tape

song for sunday: twisted

2008-03-23T19:37:50Z

Ultra Nate

The standout is TWISTED, an atmospheric, acid-jazz track that bears the stamp of its producer 4 Hero, but once Ultra pours her sultry, soulful vocal into the mix it is all hers. Given a fair shot -- and the right promotion -- TWISTED could be the one that takes Ultra into the urban mainstream, placing her alongside the Erykahs, Lauryns and Mary J.'s. Of course, the great irony of her career is that after 10-plus years of riveting, thoughtful, provocative music that meshes, bends and spans several musical genres, she is still commonly referred to as a "dance diva". Stranger than fiction, indeed. Whatever they may call her, the rest of us know that Ultra will always be in a league of her own.

- Evolution: an Amazon.com User Review, 04.24.01

I turned 33 (I think) last week. I honestly was debating with myself whether I was turning 33 or 34 or perhaps 32 all over again. I find time very fluid of late. It passes. It doesn't. Months move at a lightning quick pace but days can seem to go on forever. Moments linger. I occasionally dream the future. Deja Vu is common. I'm convinced I've had conversations before yet I know I haven't but, yet, maybe I have.

I've always been fascinated with time travel stories. It's probably why I love this current season of LOST. I imagine time travel is exactly like how they are portraying it. A sense of being in multiple moments at once, every instance of time sitting on top of each other. The future has already happened. The past is here with us. Twisted.

I don't celebrate my birthday any more. SXSW is my gift to myself. Honestly, every day is that gift. I have no other responsibilities other than taking care of me...and I do. My money, my attention, my time belong to only me and I do with them what I will. So why should I celebrate my birth? I'm celebrating me the other 364 days (plus one more in 2008) of the year. The only thing my birthday stand for this year is a time for quiet reflection and envisioning that future.

Tracy and his family made vision boards at the beginning of this calendar year. So, this week, I've been doing the same. I cut out words, images, and sounds from the magazines around my apartment and today I'll be placing them -- collage style -- on a cork or bulletin board. It is what I predict for myself for the next year.

I like words so there are lots of phrases:

"We Love the Web"
"Party to Learn"
"...and culture"
"Investing in positive social change is easier than you think."
"Listening to My Life"
"Respect the Planet"
"Hesitation Can Wait"
"Reserved. But Not Tame."
"A Simple Kind of Life"
"Frisco"
"We Are The People We've Been Waiting For"
"Soul Chameleon"
"Record Your Visions"
"Black Girls Rock!"
"Carpe Whatever"

There are places:

The Hollywood Bowl
A Spank Rock Party
A San Francisco Parade

There are people:

Jay-Z (in Africa)
Lightspeed Champion
Wale
Justice

There are things:

a Paul Frank watch
a stylish formal tux...rocked with fitted dark jeans
a how to on getting promoted
The Wire
Headphones

And from this, I see my past, present, and future.

Twisted.

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last.fm says...

2008-01-24T10:05:50Z

Throw Some Ds

Parson

Do you dubstep? Last week, amongst a lot of old favorites (Death Cab for Cutie, N*E*R*D) was a cavalcade of dubstep artists in my weekly recommendations so I spent most of my eMusic dollars getting familiar. Amazon had been heavily recommending 200 and 10 Tons Heavy ever since I lost my mind over Burial and they were both available on the E, so this is where we are. Much like my affair with UK Garage in the early part of this century, it's an instant attraction. I may not be down with British films but I dig me some London club bangers.

Top Artists for the Week:

▲ 6	1	Jazzanova	37
▲	2	wale	34
▲	3	NER*D	27
▲	4	Notorious B.I.G.	25
▲ 32	5	MF DOOM	22
▲	6	Nina Simone	19
▲ 3	7	Feist	11
▲ 39	7	Death Cab for Cutie	11
▲ 6	9	De La Soul	10
▼ 6	10	Björk	9

Top track of the week was Jazzanova's Theme from Belle et Fou - "The Bows" but I've already posted from that album so I'll give you Ten Cent Blues by Eisley. Eisley's sophomore full-length, Combinations, underwhelmed in 2007 but this track is nice.

Ten Cent Blues

Eisley

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song for sunday: the 2007 album that haunts me

2007-12-16T16:33:57Z

Archangel

Burial

if it's the reclusive life that Burial seeks, he might just be his own worst enemy, because his new album, Untrue, bests Burial's fans' wildest hopes for the followup. Burial was a worthy, sometimes thrilling record-- an impressive debut-- but it sometimes lost focus, particularly when it attempted to carve out something closer to "proper," clubwise dubstep. But Untrue maintains the style and the vibe of the first album and yet does it better. It's a deeper album-- richer, more complex, more enveloping. The irony is that almost nothing has changed. Burial still makes his beats (at least, so he claims) with relatively lo-fi audio editing software, eschewing the comfort of sequencers and MIDI clocks. His string sounds, which on Burial let many a critic to call his music "cinematic," sound as unabashedly canned as they did last time, and his manipulated vocals-- warped, time-stretched, pitch-corrected-- are just as unabashedly emotive.

-Pitchfork Record Review (8.4/10), 11.13.07

I've only had this album for a week so I'm not ready to call it "Album of the Year" but it just might be. It's haunted me since the day I bought it (8.99 in the Amazon mp3 store, also available on eMusic) and I find my mind constantly returning to its complicated rhythms. Right now, it falls as #3 on my 2007 album chart.

It's just that good. When listening to this track, I want to sing along. I randomly break out in dance. I head nod. I listen intently. I listen casually. I listen all the time.

I haven't sat with the album enough to form a compelling review and maybe I'll get to that later. For now, I just want you to enjoy as I am.

Ghost Hardware

Burial

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Best Random Finds of 2007

2007-11-24T20:10:25Z

Lay Your Head Down

Keren Ann

I've noted -- probably on twitter since I rarely post things longer than 140 characters these days -- that I have way more music released this year than I have in years past. With podcasts, music blogs, my emusic subscription, amazon.com mp3 downloads and monthly amoeba runs, I'm awash in music. Hell, I even tested out urge for 6 months this year. As I do chores this morning, I'm listening to my Best of 2007 playlist in preparation for my end of the year music posts (yes, I might actually write things here in full interesting sentences that you may even care about). These two finds, Keren Ann, above, and Big Sir, below, were both random podcast finds. I'd never heard of either artist before and, in truth, I haven't sought out other music of theirs since but, today, I was reminded why I gave each 5 stars.

Blutrausch (Smooth Interlude)

Big Sir

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Vox Hunt: Latest Read

2007-02-26T15:04:38Z

Book: Show us the latest book you bought, borrowed or received.

Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation

Marc Fisher

Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time

Rob Sheffield

Just purchased via amazon last night. A kind of reading double feature.

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Books: The Power of Now

2006-12-31T00:37:36Z

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library, 1999). Books were a major part of my gift giving this year and, being slightly amazon.com obsessive, I used their gift guides to inform my purchases. The guides provided by magazine editors were especially helpful and despite myself, I bought a hell of a lot of the suggestions from O. When I received the box in the mail, I realized that all of the items I had purchased had intended recipients except for one: The Power of Now.

I cracked the binding and read the first line of the introduction:

I have little use for the past and rarely think about it.

Whoa. In most conversations I have that are about life and how to live it, my lack of interest in the past is a common theme. Matter of factly, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I guess I bought this for me." I don't consider myself new age-y at all and struggle with the terminology Tolle uses -- it's hard for me to get down with the "pain-body" and "portals" -- but I do understand the interconnectedness of all things. That this book about the Now found it's way to me now didn't seem "special". It just was.

The book itself is okay. It's significance for me has been in it's ability to get me to focus more on the spiritual concepts I already believe in even if I don't cotton to the namby pamby language. It affirmed some things. It provided some tools for staying in the moment which, as my work life has changed and become more challenging this year, has been a struggle. I'm not usually one for stress but have found myself stressing more as I adjust to new demands. The Power of Now (and my vacation) have helped calm those tendencies.

I'm not a self-help guy and I doubt you will find me grabbing up tomes of spiritual enlightenment often in the future but for the serenity I felt as I closed this book today, I'm grateful.

I recommend this if you're willing to check your cynicism at the door. I know. It was difficult for me, too. But, just for this following "Eureka!" quote, it is worth it: