Grime, U.K. genius.

Alright, a new week (or so), so here's a couple of guys who have been tickling my musical fancy lately.

Lady Sovereign!


I have one question; When did she get so cute? Seriously folks.

So she's part of a London scene called Grime, kind of a combo of hip-hop, UK garage, and house music. Good stuff.

Here's some more, this dude's name is Akala. Sorry for the terrible video


This stuff is some of the best rap I've heard in a long time. It's got great, complex beats, amazing lyrics, and boy can those guys flow. (Damn I'm white.)
Still though, here's one more, then to another topic.

Dizzee Rascal - Old Skool


If you like what you hear, I suggest you check out the wiki page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Grime_artists these guys are all amazing.


So, on to Kool Keith, founder of the Electromagnetic MCs. He also goes by Dr. Octagon, and Dr. Dooom. Just great. Anyone who calls themselves the Back Elvis has got to be delivering something worth note, and he does not disappoint.



damn, just so good.

This is all really what I look for in rap. These guys (and girl) all have strange, complex lyrics, beats with some real musical quality, and great style. And they're all just sort of weird, and everything comes together so well.

So since this was so dedicated to hip-hop, next week will either be metal, or folk music, I really haven't decided.



And I was Tagged by the lovely Claire, so off we go;

1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you
dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.

2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

LET'S DO THIS!

What is your current obsession?
Lady Sovereign! When did she get so cute?
(check the above video)

What wore you today?
School, canisius, and tooooo much Diablo 2


Do you nap a lot?
I'm really not too much of a napper, but every once in a blue moon.

Who was the last person you hugged?
My friend Claire (faboomadness.blogspot.com)

What’s my favourite dinner?
Macaroni & cheese, when I make it.

Or Roast beef. Just so good...

What was the last thing you bought?
Pizza. Which I'm eating. Sauce is on my keyboard.

What are you listening to right now?
Lady Sovereign! Again, she got cute!


Kool Keith!


What is your favourite weather?
Light breeze, around 70 or so. Boring summer weather.

What's in your bathroom cabinet?
-Pills
-Toothpaste
-Thermometer
-My old plugs


Say something to the person/s who tagged you.
Claire; Not a huge fan of the shoes, sorry!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be?
Manhattan, most likely. Or Chicago.

Favorite vacation spot?
Either New York, or anywhere sunny.

What is your favourite tea flavour?
Jasmine Pearl, with lots of honey :)

What would you like to get rid of?
This nagging pain in my stomach...too...much...pizza...

What did you want to become as a child?
First it was psychologist, now I'm pretty well settled on rock-star-psychologist.

What do you miss?
Nothing specific really, better days I'll say.

What are you reading right now?
Lies My Teacher Told Me. I can't remember the author, and the book is in my backpack.

What's your favourite brand of jeans?
No specific. Any that fit well.

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)?



Would I live my life differently to how I do now?
Not really. I make mistakes, but at least I know how to handle them. If I changed how I lived, I'd probably lose that.


My question is:

If you could learn anything, from anyone in history, who would it be?
Bass, from John Entwhistle of The Who.
Best there ever was.

Auto-Tune: Herald of the Musical Apocalypse?

Auto-tune: Herald of the apocalypse?

We've all heard the auto-tune before.

It's that wonky machine that made Cher's song "Believe" so damned interesting.



Expect here's the important part;

When Cher used the Auto-tune, she used it to make one of the weirdest harmonies ever, by singing in third intervals to the auto-tune corrected voice.

Then there's the man I believe to be the not-so-metaphorical horseman of pestilence in my musical apocalypse.

T-Pain.


Hey T-Pain! I hate you!

Yeah. I said it. The auto-tune works by taking whatever you sing, and correcting the pitch to preset notes, which is an imperfect science, so thats where we get the electronic sound from.

This is fine when used sparingly, like Cher's hit, or Snoop Dogg's "Sexual Eruption"

But T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and all the other rappers who are using it to build whole albums, and create their own "Style", need to just go away.

The problem is, anyone can use an auto-tune. You can just speak into it and it works.

Here's an example.



Kanye is actually just yelling at the guy, but the auto-tune is making him sound like he's singing.

This is it's demonic capability.

BRING BACK THE BLUE NOTE!'

So I'll leave you with some good music, and some rappers who HAVEN'T SOLD OUT.

Phi Life Cypher - "Babylonians"


Mr. J Medeiros - "Constance"


Ohmega Watts - "Stay Tuned"

Is The "e" Necessary?

Firstly, if my last blog confused you, count yourself in the majority.

secondly, MASTODON!



CRACK THE SKYE! (hence the comment about the "e")



And Adam, don't argue semantics about the "e" comment, because I know you will.

I got the album last night, listened to it all this morning while waiting at the hospital to get my leg x-rayed.

Amazing. Five stars. It's so damn good.

Here's "Oblivion", sorry that the sound quality isn't great.



I'm a big fan of Mastodon, and this really elevated them to in the top 5 for me.

On another note, here's Taco (yup, that's his stage-name) with 1982's, Putting on the Ritz, his rendition of the classic



Hope the black face doesn't offend, that made the original video very controversial, and this is the uncensored version.

Adam; I already listen to Primus, and I'm not a Gentle Giant fan. (Don't bring it up to my dad, he's virtually obsessed with them).

And leaving on a nice Irish note, here's The Tossers with "Sibhoan"



Enjoy you ungrateful bastards.

With answers, come questions.

So what does it all mean?

I don't mean this in the huge, existential way, but in a more casual tone.

What does it all mean.


A wise man once said something of relevance.

Significance.

Take your pick.

'Cause he's dead.



Who do we blame?

-Ourselves?
-Others?
-Human Nature?



What do we call it anyway?
Everything?
Nothing?
Anything?
Something?

Virtual Insanity.

The concept, not the song by Jamiraqui. However you spell that.


What now?

Do I saddle my imaginary horse? (A female miniature horse named: Harbinger of Doom)

Ride off into a not-quite-as-glorious-as-it-always-looks-on-screen sunset?



Who gets credit?

The Producer of this picture?
The Writer?
The Director?
The Creator?

No. The Actor.

The Actress.


For putting together a performance so very stunning.


Significant to some. Less to others. Where do you stand?

The Obligatory Inauguration Day Post!

Yup!

So we watched the inauguration in school today.

"Simple Things" with Itzhak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma was really awesome,

Aretha Franklin seemed to be missing energy in her voice.

Was I the only one who though that John Roberts messing up the Oath was really funny?
Apparently he decided to forgoe his usual notes, and look what happened.

And if Roberts made Obama mess up the Oath does that mean...He's not bound by the Constitution???

That would be hilarious.

Other news, Dirty Sally. R.I.P.


The Scissorjoggers, born like three days ago!

Yeah, we decided thats actually a better name, more indicative of our style. coolio.



sweet.

I got me some skinny pants.

I'm thinking that's all the news I have.

Guess who can see his leg?

I can!

This is old news for some, but I got my cast off, and my leg was deliciously awful looking when it first came off, I'll post pictures eventually.

Think three months worth of dead skin building up. Haha.

I've been doing a lot of writing lately in the Japanese scale, which is a really busy scale.
To whom it may concern, it goes: 1,2,3,4,#4,5,6#6,7.

It's kind of crazy sounding, but I like it.



This makes me ROTFLOLMAOOMG.

So, I've decided that when I get older, I'd like one of those classic studies that fathers in old movies always have.

I mean, fully decked out in wood, and old leather, all warm colors so that it looks really antique, with a fireplace, and a liquor cabinet with cigars I'll never smoke.

And then, on the mantle, I want a mounted animal head, but I don't hunt, so I've decided i'd like a...snuffleupagus!



Oh yeah. I'll tell people they're not too difficult to hit, you just have to believe that you can.

that works for me.


Apparently, Adam has been asked my Kenmore West to write a satirical article, so he and I are going to do a review of a movie, we're thinking The Spirit, but let me know if you have any suggestions. I heard it was terrible, which is a damn shame. Frank Miller has had help on all his previous movies, and this is done all by himself, and I guess he failed.

Too bad.

Still can't wait for THE WATCHMEN!



That's Rorschach. He's crazy. Read the graphic novel before you see the movie, because:

1) It's awesome.

2) They've had to make a decent amount of changes to make it work, so you'll never know what you're missing.

Tomorrow, Claire and I go to Canisius to talk about our college courses in Religious Studies, Boo Yah! (I haven't said that since like 1997)

Until later!

Tagged.

So I've been tagged, and I have to list 6 things about myself, and then tag 6 people.

Unfortunately, I don't know 6 people who blog, so that part can suck it.

1. My bass has three blue strings, and one black one, somewhat accidentally.

2. My girlfriend made me, for a present, a porcelain bunny with a bondage mask on.

3. My cast is red and blue striped, and the request for that confused the hospital staff.

4. One of my blankets has Betty Boop on it.

5. I have an original late 50s Stetson Fedora, it's epic, but needs a ton of repair.

6.  Over the course of the last month and a half in a cast on my right leg, I have lost all of my right shoes.