Groovallegiance

Finally managed to track down a copy of Mingus' "New Tijuana Moods". I used to have this damn album! It's as off-kilter as I remember. I loves Mingus. So dark. And this one is so crazy! I can't believe it was recorded in like '57. I heard the world didn't change from black and white to color until like '66!

Another recent find: "Ege Bamyasi" by Can. Something about the cover told me this was a classic, and even though it's pretty much gibberish noise-rock I'm digging it. Also who'da known this was the source for Kanye's "Drunken Hot Girls"? I always figured he just smoked a fat one with Mos and started singing randomly, and some divine act of providence kept the Auto-tune off. Of course the original doesn't seem to have the same subject matter, but it's even weirder.

My biggest crack right now is the weird beat machines from Reaktor 5. Newscool especially with its dot matrix display and real-time controls. Nothing productive has come out of it but it sure is fun. Of course the actual creation of instruments in Reaktor continues to be a pain for me, but I'm slowly catching on.

And I like Ys: Books I and II on virtual console. a LOT. I never thought just running into enemies with no attack button could be so much inane fun! Plus the music and the giant dungeons are excellent and thrillingly oldschool.

Is McCain a maverick, or just senile? He's gonna shake up Warshington? Heheh.

Zounds

Tick tick tick...

Lil' Ainjil

In the spirit of myself, I picked up some pretty old-school comics collections. And I'm talking daily comics: Modesty Blaise and Krazy Kat. I've been into Modesty awhile in book form ever since accidentally discovering her presence in Pulp Fiction. The comic looks so far like it'll be a little fluffier than the books, but should be pretty enjoyable anyway. I've been telling people left and right that Modesty is like James Bond only way cooler. Fleming had nothing on Peter O'Donnell. 

Krazy Kat meanwhile is indeed krazy. Absolutely insane. If it has a plot it's pretty simple: the cat is in love with the mouse, the mouse likes to throw bricks at the cat, the dog (cop) likes to catch the mouse in the act and throw him in jail. It is basically an excuse for the most bizarre sense of humor (and language), trippy landscapes and open-ended pacing of about any comic strip I've read. Watterson said this was a big influence on him; I'm not sure how, since it's much more work to read than Calvin, but whatever! It's friggin' cool. 

Musics: Back into Fantastic Damage for the first time in a long while. Really liking the post-apocalyptic hip hop these days. While summer is great for reggae and lollipops and whatnot, the heat can also make you fiend for something loud that has something to say. Exactly what El-P has to say is hard to know, since his voice is still drowned in the wall of sound, but the FanDam Plus instrumentals definitely feel like they're missing something. 

Then there's the Sly & Robbie comp Funky Nassau, which I've been wanting to get for months and finally tracked down. Very compressed productions somewhere between the Ark and the 1980 Downtown scene. ESG meets Junior Mervin. For the most part very cool and kind of oddball. And the first track from Remain in Light is on there, so kudos to that for probably my favorite synth solo ever (not counting my owns). 

Also picked up another producer comp (more and more of these): Mizell which is 70s Blue-Note cheese. Probably not respected when it came out, and if I play it around some people I know it still won't be respected, but there's definitely some funk on there. I also noticed sample sources for Black Moon, Organized Konfusion and Madlib and I'm sure there are more in there too. 

Fucking have to get Pro Tools, can't cope with just M-Audio, so I'm going for LE. We'll see how big a hole that makes in my shrinking pocket. Shame that this comes right when Arturia's doing a 2-for-1 deal. 

Ledger's on the edger; so I hear. Can't wait. And on Tuesday: Rydia and Cecil. So much to live for. 

Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy

Deconstruction, decantation, incantation, incandescence. 

I picked up Herbie's Mwandishi, probably the least accessible record I've heard by him. It's ill. 15/8 time on a blazing opening track, and the Rhodes is not shying from delay. The album stays trippy the rest of the time but slows down a lot. Since most of the Herbie I've been listening to recently is the Future Shock/Sound System/Perfect Machine trilogy, I'd almost forgotten he plays piano. 

I also just this minute downloaded Fat Albert Rotunda. Nothing against Headhunters but this is a breath of funky fresh air. Very lighthearted and get-down-y. Mwandishi came right after this, inexplicably.

The new Roots album (Rising Down), just like the last one, makes me fiend for all things Illa5th. I've been shuffling their whole catalog on the dillPod, and get this: I'm always the sort of naysaying critic who complains that groups just aren't as good as they used to be, but every old Roots track I'm hearing is just making me want to hear their raging new shit. Quite the opposite of what I'm used to. The past is the past. They are kicking down doors now and have been for awhile. It's the closest thing to Public Enemy 20 years later. Can't get enough.

Finished my Desktop Production project, cover of Hendrix's "Third Stone From the Sun". I was annoyed at this mostly native Logic instrument mix for being cheesy and not nearly as trippy as I wanted. But voila! Add the CS80V, the Phatty, and about 12 straight hours of OCD work, and it actually does the trick. Quote from my prof Peter Bell:

"Hey Walker, This is great. It brought back my misspent youth! I love all the extra rhythmic psychedelic ambience etc. and the trippy solos. The whole thing made me grin ear to ear. Nice job on the sounds, the mix, the mastering, the concept, the mushrooms (just kidding). There's a TON of work into this one, and it paid off... Nice! (Or should I just say Far Out)"

Mission accomplished. 

-W (reclaiming my initial!)