Gorilla vs Bear: Tales of the American Dream?

Kanye or 50? Who's gonna outsell who? It's going down on 9/11 and aside from the record industry pulling a stripped down version of the East vs West beef that sparked sales in the late 90s (yea we all know how that one went down...), there's something else that's been intriguing me about this whole showdown.

What I can't help but notice is that, despite the seemingly different personas 50 and Ye come to represent: one of a gangsta and the other the baller by way of college dropout, when it comes down to it, both make music that seem to celebrate the American Dream.

Fiddy, in all his G-Unit/Glaceau glory, is about coming up in a world that doesn't give a shit about poor disenfranchised youth of color via any means necessary (ie moving keys, robbing fools). He's a hustler, he's a gangsta but he's made it. Look no further than his latest single "I Get Money" to understand what he's about. 50 has always been about playing into America's fear and fascination of Black males. It's almost like he's laughing "all the way to the bank" by owning his image and making millions from playing into a stereotype. Aggressive, hypersexual, criminal makes for some cool marketing. Essentially, we have Fiddy saying I've made it out by turning a negative thing into $$$.

In the other corner, Kanye. From the beginning, 'Ye has been about his whole "college is for suckas" shtick and how he's made it through the fire (or wire). His latest album, Graduation is all about the celebration and flossin you do once you've made it (Glory, Can't Tell Me Nothin, Flashing Lights come to mind). Where Fiddy puts forth a ghetto poor rags to riches story, Kanye comes at it from a middle class to riches perspective. Honestly how many kids in the hood are actually going to face the problem of dropping out of college, let alone apply to college? Like 50, Ye plays the role of the underdog that's made it. Both flaunt the fact that they made it despite the hate and adversity.

So is it me, or does this whole having two monumental pro American Dream Black figures drop on September 11th seem not so much like a coincidence? It's like some weird form of patriotism has swept popular black music. Discuss!

Rock The Bells SF

Presenting the 2nd Annual "Noch Can't Go" Festival

The Detour Festival hits LA again this October:


Unfortunately, I will have to miss out on the fun again because I couldn't talk my cousin into moving her wedding date to a non-fun weekend.

Therefore, I must once again experience the music vicariously through one of you. Tickets go on sale this Saturday. Oh yeah, and make sure you check out Justice, for both our sakes.

It's Kinda Like the Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz Thing...

...but not really. It's more like only having two copies of the Pink Floyd.

One of the admins on the Keep Music Alive forums posted this little ditty, stating that two separate copies of Radiohead's seminal Kid A "will sync up and compliment each other" if played 17 seconds apart. Interesting concept, right?

Even though I'm one of the masses who's guilty of Thom Yorke idolatry, I still kinda find this hard to believe. Granted, it is a really cool idea that I wouldn't put past a genius like Monsieur Yorke to use.

I'll admit I haven't really played with this in depth and thus haven't really tried to incorporate the nuances of the songs in my bitching, but here's the thing: any song should sync up with itself approximately 17 seconds in. It's called rhythm.

Seriously, though, if somebody can attest to the aforementioned nuances, by all means, blow me. Away. Blow me away.

Because it Sounds Nice...

As the saying goes, what's the point in having a hot girlfriend if you can't properly f&ck her?

Okay, fine. I just made that up. But after listening to my wonderful collection of mp3s and CDs off of crappy speakers for the past 8 years, I finally did it and invested in a brand new set up.

Meet my new means to getting laid...

Apparently, its purpose is to add surround sound to an existing Sony Bravia HDTV. Although I don't have such a TV, I did want to utilize the digital goodness for what we all know it was meant to do... play music.

Imagine this system in a room roughly 10x14 with two speakers on high shelves, one under the bed, one on the bedside table, two on my desk, and the subwoofer under.

You know what you get? That's right. Stephan Jenkins practically sits in my room as he sings to me. And that, my friend, was worth getting ripped off by Amazon.

Can You Rap??

Looks like the kids are bringin' their A games to this blog shit. While I have nothing significant to add xept that I will be going to Rock The Bells this weekend (show review andpics to come no doubt)... I leave you all with this tidbit...

Crazier Than a Fish with Titties!

It's back! Oh, happy day!


Beginning today with chapter 13, a new chapter will be released daily on IFC until the story hits 22:

R.Kelly - Trapped in the Closet.

Spiffy page, huh? Okay, so chapter 13 is a bit slapstick, but I'm sure the story will return to its normal, poignant self in no time.

All the Party People... Come On!

Q: How does a Seattle indie band gain some electronica cred?

A: Tell everybody they're from Europe, or specifically, Mannheim, Germany, as the case happens to be for the members of United State of Electronica.

So the story goes: these guys started up a fake electronica band at a Seattle nightclub, and the overwhelming response led them to take this thing more seriously. So seriously, in fact, they released a full-length album in 2004:


The opening track, "It Is On!", is quite bitchin', but the consensus is that the song doesn't really take off until after the vocoder shit ends, and the female vocals take center stage. So, if you're a busy music executive, fast forward to 1:17.

United State of Electronica - It Is On!

Album number 2 is expected to be out later this year or early next year. In the meantime, hit up their official website. There are other mp3s available plus some fun live videos.

T. Pop

Unable to leave a-pop alone, I've got another chunk for you to chew on. This time, we're snacking on Taiwan. New Yorker is a new pop band that just put out an album in 2007 called Make You Happy. The title track:



The lead singer, Mei, actually works at the music shop where I used to practice and take drum lessons. Pretty nice girl. Unfortunately, the album suffers a little from being too pop. I guess it's a so-so-ness in the songwriting. One thing that kind of sticks out is that the vocals tend to try to carry the music. It works on some tracks: "Let It Be" and "Make You Happy", but sort of falls flat for others: "Kiss Kiss" and "Oh! My God!"

But still, this is a decent album. Not really standard Taiwanese pop, but belonging more to a new kind of independent pop status. It's a little rough around the edges, but it's not bad. I'm looking forward to future albums.

New Yorker - Make You Happy
New Yorker - Let It Be

Recap of Chicago Festivities

Flight to Midwest America: $355
Hotel stay: $155
Concert ticket: $195
Corn on the cob: $3

Memories to last a lifetime: Priceless...

Cheeseburger, I know, but I've always wanted to write something like that.

After making the horrible decision to not attend Coachella (I blame momentary retardation), I was determined to make up for it by traveling the distance to attend the next big thing. I was also excited to visit Barack Obama's hometown. Barack the Casbah.

I'll list my favorite three performances.

Blonde Redhead.

She sat on a giant fake horse on stage. Yes, it was black felt.

Silverchair.

Oh, grunge. How I missed you. And man, did Daniel Johns age or what?

Daft Punk.

The energy, oh, the energy. I felt like I was staring at a giant Brite Lite setup on speed.

Despite the heat... then the rain (wtf!?!)... then the heat again, the journey was well rewarded. Although I've been anti-big-venue and anti-outdoor in the past, and although this adventure put a big a$$ dent in my wallet, it was well worth every penny and every minute of every delayed flight. I'm going again next year... and you're coming with me.