Monday, January 30, 2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
automaton.
a video.
starring jamiroquai.
ROLLING STONE: Jamiroquai Announce New LP 'Automaton,' Unveil Title Track Video
starring jamiroquai.
ROLLING STONE: Jamiroquai Announce New LP 'Automaton,' Unveil Title Track Video
Thursday, January 26, 2017
truth hurts.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"The outlandishness of Trump's crowd size and vote count claims are enough to make one wonder if he's delusional, and it's tempting to chalk up his attacks on the press to his wounded ego. But the experience of other countries suggests his campaign of disinformation and delegitimization is more nefarious. Norms protecting freedom of information, speech and the press are essential for a functioning democracy; to Trump, they are a threat. Populist dictators get away with extralegal and unconstitutional acts by claiming authorization from "the people." The first step in that anti-democratic effort is to make sure people with inconvenient facts and contrary ideas are silenced, discredited or erased. That's what Trump is doing now. Don't stop paying attention."
ROLLING STONE: Trump's Anti-Democratic War on Facts and Free Speech
words.
"The outlandishness of Trump's crowd size and vote count claims are enough to make one wonder if he's delusional, and it's tempting to chalk up his attacks on the press to his wounded ego. But the experience of other countries suggests his campaign of disinformation and delegitimization is more nefarious. Norms protecting freedom of information, speech and the press are essential for a functioning democracy; to Trump, they are a threat. Populist dictators get away with extralegal and unconstitutional acts by claiming authorization from "the people." The first step in that anti-democratic effort is to make sure people with inconvenient facts and contrary ideas are silenced, discredited or erased. That's what Trump is doing now. Don't stop paying attention."
ROLLING STONE: Trump's Anti-Democratic War on Facts and Free Speech
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
a moment of clarity.
words.
"... it’s important to think about how we phrase and position what’s happening in our minds. Is Meryl Streep the bravest most queen-like woman in Hollywood for her speech, or is she just doing what every single one of us with a platform (this site included) should be doing in dark times? Are federal employees who disobey a gag order on basic science “going rogue,” or are they taking principled stands for the good of the public and the republic when their bosses are the ones caving to a rogue government?
The idea of “going rogue,” or even being the biggest badass ever, implies that the norm should be to follow dangerous rules. Instead, we need to make standing up, being spunky, and maybe even incurring risk into our concept of the “normal” and preferred set of behaviors. Obviously this is easier said than done, but our language is a good place to start. So is our mindset. We can’t just praise the Badlands tweeters, awesome as they are; we may soon have to be them, especially as threatened policies like anti-immigrant executive orders and pipeline orders come and begin to affect our communities.
We have to ask the question: if we received a gag order in some aspect of our life, would we defy it to share the truth? And if not, how can we shore up our own courage?"
FLAVORWIRE: “Rogue” Tweets Aren’t Really Rogue; They’re a Model for All of Us
"... it’s important to think about how we phrase and position what’s happening in our minds. Is Meryl Streep the bravest most queen-like woman in Hollywood for her speech, or is she just doing what every single one of us with a platform (this site included) should be doing in dark times? Are federal employees who disobey a gag order on basic science “going rogue,” or are they taking principled stands for the good of the public and the republic when their bosses are the ones caving to a rogue government?
The idea of “going rogue,” or even being the biggest badass ever, implies that the norm should be to follow dangerous rules. Instead, we need to make standing up, being spunky, and maybe even incurring risk into our concept of the “normal” and preferred set of behaviors. Obviously this is easier said than done, but our language is a good place to start. So is our mindset. We can’t just praise the Badlands tweeters, awesome as they are; we may soon have to be them, especially as threatened policies like anti-immigrant executive orders and pipeline orders come and begin to affect our communities.
We have to ask the question: if we received a gag order in some aspect of our life, would we defy it to share the truth? And if not, how can we shore up our own courage?"
FLAVORWIRE: “Rogue” Tweets Aren’t Really Rogue; They’re a Model for All of Us
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Monday, January 23, 2017
take the time.
starring ronald bruner, jr. & thundercat.
PITCHFORK: Ronald Bruner Jr. Enlists Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Mac Miller, More for Debut Album
PITCHFORK: Ronald Bruner Jr. Enlists Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Mac Miller, More for Debut Album
Sunday, January 22, 2017
words.
FILE UNDER: a moment of clarity.
for your consideration...
"I have listened to all the blame foisted on the Clinton campaign for doing this or that wrong, or the media for not exposing Mr. Trump, or for giving him too much airtime. I don’t buy it. Hillary Clinton’s campaign wasn’t that bad, and Mr. Trump was exposed enough for any thinking adult to see exactly what he is.
...I know that Mr. Trump was elected, in part, because too many people were still hurting in this economy, from the terrible disruptions of their lives and their communities over the last 25 years. I have been poor and desperate myself, and I know what that feels like. In their giddy rush to globalization and the paper economy, too many liberal — and conservative — leaders have made the same mistake that they made in Vietnam, when they tried to palm that misbegotten conflict off on the poor and the working class. They have forgotten — again — that this great nation will endure and will prosper only if we all prosper together.
Yet that is no excuse for what we did last November.
...Today’s passive, unhappy Americans sat on their couches and chose a strutting TV clown to save us.
What they have done is a desecration, a foolish and vindictive act of vandalism, by which they betrayed all the best and most valiant labors of our ancestors. We don’t want to accept this, because we cannot accept that the people, at least in the long run of things, can be wrong in our American democracy. But they can be wrong, just like any people, anywhere. And until we do accept this abject failure of both our system and ourselves, there is no hope for our redemption."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The America We Lost When Trump Won
for your consideration...
"I have listened to all the blame foisted on the Clinton campaign for doing this or that wrong, or the media for not exposing Mr. Trump, or for giving him too much airtime. I don’t buy it. Hillary Clinton’s campaign wasn’t that bad, and Mr. Trump was exposed enough for any thinking adult to see exactly what he is.
...I know that Mr. Trump was elected, in part, because too many people were still hurting in this economy, from the terrible disruptions of their lives and their communities over the last 25 years. I have been poor and desperate myself, and I know what that feels like. In their giddy rush to globalization and the paper economy, too many liberal — and conservative — leaders have made the same mistake that they made in Vietnam, when they tried to palm that misbegotten conflict off on the poor and the working class. They have forgotten — again — that this great nation will endure and will prosper only if we all prosper together.
Yet that is no excuse for what we did last November.
...Today’s passive, unhappy Americans sat on their couches and chose a strutting TV clown to save us.
What they have done is a desecration, a foolish and vindictive act of vandalism, by which they betrayed all the best and most valiant labors of our ancestors. We don’t want to accept this, because we cannot accept that the people, at least in the long run of things, can be wrong in our American democracy. But they can be wrong, just like any people, anywhere. And until we do accept this abject failure of both our system and ourselves, there is no hope for our redemption."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The America We Lost When Trump Won
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
deferred gratification.
a video.
starring ani difranco.
ROLLING STONE: Watch Ani DiFranco's Tender 'Deferred Gratification' Video
starring ani difranco.
ROLLING STONE: Watch Ani DiFranco's Tender 'Deferred Gratification' Video
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
freetown sound.
starring blood orange and his boiler room weekender set.
PITCHFORK: Watch Blood Orange’s Full Boiler Room Weekender Set
PITCHFORK: Watch Blood Orange’s Full Boiler Room Weekender Set
troubled times.
a lyric video.
from green day.
ROLLING STONE: Watch Green Day's Trump-Trashing 'Troubled Times' Lyric Video
from green day.
ROLLING STONE: Watch Green Day's Trump-Trashing 'Troubled Times' Lyric Video
Friday, January 13, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
odelay.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"Whether you have approved of the Obama presidency as a matter of policy or not, it is impossible to argue that Obama was not a man of principle. Whether you agree with individual decisions or the content of his rhetoric, it is impossible to argue that he did not conduct himself with dignity and respect and that he did not lead the country with those values as a guiding light.
I have not always agreed with the president’s positions or tactics, and this feels normal to me. Freethinking people are bound to disagree occasionally, even if a vast majority of their values align.
...none of those differences in opinions about strategy injured in any way my profound respect for the characteristics of the man we came to take for granted: bracingly smart, exceptionally well educated, literate in the grand tradition of the great men of letters. He was scholarly, erudite, well read and an adroit writer.
And he was an orator for the ages. We got so used to elegant, sometimes masterly speechifying, that I will admit I sometimes tuned it out. We had an abundance of riches in that regard.
But listening to the president’s farewell address, I was hit with the force of a brawler that the decency and dignity, the solemnity and splendor, the loftiness and literacy that Obama brought to the office was extraordinary and anomalous, the kind of thing that each generation may only hope to have in a president."
...Obama wasn’t perfect, but neither is anyone — you or I — and neither was any other president. But Obama is a good man and a good president. Some would argue that he was great on both counts.
We will remember that — and miss it — when Trump’s whirlwind of scandal, conflict, crudeness, boorishness and vindictiveness barrels into Washington."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ode to Obama
words.
"Whether you have approved of the Obama presidency as a matter of policy or not, it is impossible to argue that Obama was not a man of principle. Whether you agree with individual decisions or the content of his rhetoric, it is impossible to argue that he did not conduct himself with dignity and respect and that he did not lead the country with those values as a guiding light.
I have not always agreed with the president’s positions or tactics, and this feels normal to me. Freethinking people are bound to disagree occasionally, even if a vast majority of their values align.
...none of those differences in opinions about strategy injured in any way my profound respect for the characteristics of the man we came to take for granted: bracingly smart, exceptionally well educated, literate in the grand tradition of the great men of letters. He was scholarly, erudite, well read and an adroit writer.
And he was an orator for the ages. We got so used to elegant, sometimes masterly speechifying, that I will admit I sometimes tuned it out. We had an abundance of riches in that regard.
But listening to the president’s farewell address, I was hit with the force of a brawler that the decency and dignity, the solemnity and splendor, the loftiness and literacy that Obama brought to the office was extraordinary and anomalous, the kind of thing that each generation may only hope to have in a president."
...Obama wasn’t perfect, but neither is anyone — you or I — and neither was any other president. But Obama is a good man and a good president. Some would argue that he was great on both counts.
We will remember that — and miss it — when Trump’s whirlwind of scandal, conflict, crudeness, boorishness and vindictiveness barrels into Washington."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ode to Obama
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Saturday, January 07, 2017
Friday, January 06, 2017
Thursday, January 05, 2017
Tuesday, January 03, 2017
NICE AS F*CK! : The Albums, 2016.
01/solange/a seat at the table
When you can't even be you up in your home. When you're sick of asking "Where's the peace?" "Where's the glory?" When you're sick of being asked and answering the same questions at the wrong damn time again ("Why you always talking shit? Always be complaining?") and again ("Why you always gotta be so mad?") and still find yourself unheard or misunderstood. When they don't understand what this all means: where we choose to go, what we're meant to know; these feelings that we wear. When you got all this Magic that can no longer and should no longer be contained. When everybody wanna be the teacher, but don't want to go school.
When all of this continues to add to your growing sense of weary towards the ways of the world, and it's keeping you from leaving your mark on the world, it's enough to make you question your purpose in life, or question if you even belong.
"I do..."
"I do", she said, early on. "I belong". So she sought glory by looking inward. She sought salvation in the task of keeping the rhythm, just like the greats did before her, Black, of kin and not. She found beauty in being Black, comfort in her expressions of this pride, the shit that's "for us and by us": that good old soul music; activist and joyous rhythm & blues not too far removed from that of the 70s and early 80s. She fell in her ways, in order to not crumble. Gathered herself and her thoughts in order to be heard clearly, understood. These feelings she wears.
She walked in her ways so she could sleep at night. She spoke up because "you can't pull a plug on us and tell us it's over", not she. She got sick of being asked the same damn questions at the wrong damn time. Being told how to police her grief, wear her hair, when, where, and how she can and should speak up.
So she took a seat at the table and spoke on it. And when they asked her if she belongs, she replied with this, an "I do" so loud and confident and full of magic. So she would not crumble. So she can sleep at night. So that she can make her place in the world with a clear mind and open heart. So that she can keep her head above water in an increasingly tumultuous world. She pulled up a chair and spoke on it so that she can wake up, keep the rhythm, and continue to rise like those who came before her did, and like those of us must continue to do from here on out, til death do us part.
KEY TRACKS: Cranes In the Sky/Mad/Don't Touch My Hair
02/frank ocean/blonde
03/angel olsen/my woman
04/danny brown/atrocity exhibition
05/blood orange/freetown sound
06/kanye west/the life of pablo
07/radiohead/a moon shaped pool
08/anderson .paak/malibu
09/helado negro/private energy
10/car seat headrest/teens of denial
11/beyonce/lemonade
12/a tribe called quest/"we got it from here... thank you 4 your service"
13/nxworries/yes lawd!
14/nice as fuck/nice as fuck
15/childish gambino/"awaken, my love!"
16/rihanna/anti
17/parquet courts/human performance
18/kaytranada/99.9%
19/devendra banhart/ape in pink marble
20/david bowie/blackstar
21/the julie ruin/hit reset
22/jessy lanza/oh no
23/junior boys/big black coat
24/majid jordan/majid jordan
25/badbadnotgood/iv
Sunday, January 01, 2017
NICE AS F*CK! : The Songs, 2016.
01/kanye west, kelly price, chance the rapper, the dream & kirk franklin/ultralight beam
Serenity,
Everything,
Loving.
We know we need it.
And so he sought it out and created it for us in song form.
Sought it out in the sound.
A god dream.
In order to keep his faith, feel safe; End his holy war.
Ours, too.
He looked to the light.
Admitted fragility,
Sought assistance.
Found it in Kelly. Found it in Chance, Kirk, The Dream, his Faith.
In these declarations. In this collaboration. In these sounds.
Kindred spirits, on the same quest for completeness.
For those who feel they are not good enough, are too messed up.
For everyone who's said I am sorry too many times.
For those who want to be better, do better, and keep working at it.
For everyone who needed the reminder that Hip-Hop can and forever will inspire and uplift.
Madonna sang a few years back: "I'm not religious, but I feel so moved..."
That applies here.
Still.
And forever, until the end of the time.
Serenity.
An ultra light beam.
This is everything.
This is everything.
02/anderson .paak/the bird
03/solange/cranes in the sky
04/childish gambino/zombies
05/schoolboy q featuring kanye west/that part
06/danny brown featuring schoolboy q/pneumonia
07/frank ocean/nikes
08/beyonce/sorry
09/blood orange/chance
10/jessy lanza/never enough
11/kaytranada featuring syd/you're the one
12/dirty projectors/keep your name
13/britney spears/private show
14/devendra banhart/fancy man
15/angel olsen/shut up kiss me
16/parquet courts/i was just here
17/badbadnotgood feat. samuel t. herring/time moves slow
18/of montreal/it's different for girls
19/nice as f*#k/door
20/flume featuring beck/tiny cities
21/the weeknd/false alarm
22/amber coffman/all to myself
23/bruno mars/that's what i like
24/car seat headrest/destroyed by hippie powers
25/savages/adore
NICE AS F*CK! : The Albums, 2016.
02/frank ocean/blonde
"Be Yourself."
Moms drops a lot of knowledge on that voicemail message to Frank, but it's this point that stands out.
"Don't try to be someone else. Be yourself and know that that's good enough. Don't try to be someone else... Be secure with yourself."
She signs off and waves goodbye and we're back with Frank, "Solo", finding ourselves at the start of a block of songs ["Solo" to "Pretty Sweet"] where Frank lets those words from Mom linger in the back of his head, and echo + color this creative outpouring from his heart.
"Be Yourself."
Those first few rounds with Blonde I was underwhelmed. I wanted an instant attachment. I wanted catchy hooks, call backs to soul giants past, quotable bangers, repeatable love songs. I wanted something to latch onto like I latched onto Channel Orange. I did not want to be challenged or work too long or too hard to find a soft place in my heart for Frank Ocean's Blonde.
And then one day a funny thing happened. That thing where you hear an album differently. Where, for some reason, the connection is finally made, and you get it. You come around.
It happened. Some day. Can't even recall the date or the time, but it happened. I was moved. I got it. I loved "Nikes". Still do. And "Ivy". And the N*E*R*D vibes of "Pink + White", but that day it was all about what I heard and experienced after skipping thru "Be Yourself" again and diving into the songs that followed.
(After a while, "Be Yourself" was just too real to sit through & experience every time)
You experience this throughout the album, but it is during this block of songs where what is truly great about Blonde, clicks. Frank Ocean not trying to be someone else. Frank Ocean having the freedom as a Black Male Artist to be just that, an artist. Not just an R&B artist. Not just a verse-hook-verse-hook, ear worm heavily processed artist, no.
A poet. An old soul. A spoken word artist. A tortured balladeer. A free spirit. Queer. Open. An inspiration.
And all the reasons why he's important. Showcased here. Why we spill so much ink on the musical offerings.
"Be Yourself", she said, Frank Ocean.
And he listened. It took. It's why Blonde is often awe inspiring. This is joy, this is summer. So secure with itself, and a sight to behold because of that.
KEY TRACKS: Solo/Nights/Futura Free
03/angel olsen/my woman
04/danny brown/atrocity exhibition
05/blood orange/freetown sound
06/kanye west/the life of pablo
07/radiohead/a moon shaped pool
08/anderson .paak/malibu
09/helado negro/private energy
10/car seat headrest/teens of denial
11/beyonce/lemonade
12/a tribe called quest/"we got it from here... thank you 4 your service"
13/nxworries/yes lawd!
14/nice as fuck/nice as fuck
15/childish gambino/"awaken, my love!"
16/rihanna/anti
17/parquet courts/human performance
18/kaytranada/99.9%
19/devendra banhart/ape in pink marble
20/david bowie/blackstar
21/the julie ruin/hit reset
22/jessy lanza/oh no
23/junior boys/big black coat
24/majid jordan/majid jordan
25/badbadnotgood/iv
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