A Crater in the Clouds

NiT GriT - NiT GriT

2010-05-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not an avid listener of dubstep, and I'm not entirely sure I know what actually qualifies as dubstep, but I'm just going to assume that if it has a dark, heavy sound to it with deep, wobbly bass, then it's dubstep. I've never listened to this artist before today, and I haven't even finished listening to this album that I'm posting, but it meets my limited understanding of the genre. More importantly, my ears seem to approve, as the songs are helping me think of things other than the near soul-crushing Spurs loss to the Suns that has put us in what history tells us is an insurmountable hole to recover from. So, whatever, just listen to the stream here and buy it if you so choose.

<a href="http://nitgrit.bandcamp.com/album/nit-grit">"Prituri Se Planinata" by Stellamara (NiT GriT Remix) by NiT GriT</a>

Cosmogramma//Spurs vs. Suns, Game 1

2010-05-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

Album of the year? NBA team of the year (champs)?? HUGE yes to the first question, no doubt in my mind, but the second answer has yet to be revealed. If star gazing could get you anywhere in life, hopefully it would help the Spurs raise another banner in the rafters, or at the very least, get them past the Phoenix Suns and into the "Galaxy in Janaki."

Song of the Moment - "Runnin'" by The Pharcyde

2010-05-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a classic track from The Pharcyde, produced by none other than the late great J Dilla. Enjoy!

Brain Transplant . . .

2010-05-01T23:52:00.001-07:00

Is a success!

Take - "Incredibright"

2010-04-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Great new stuff from Take's new album Only Mountain. 'Nuff said.

The Tropics EP

2010-04-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Love this stuffff. It was released on vinyl 3 weeks ago. It' so beautiful. Listen to the entire EP (7 tracks) right here:

<a href="http://shop.svetlanaindustries.com/album/svet002-the-tropics-ep">Clutch by Svetlana Industries</a>

Android Love Mayhem!

2010-04-17T06:45:00.001-07:00

Android Love Mayhem

Manu Ginobili: A Spur For Years to Come

2010-04-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's official, folks, Manu will remain a Spur for the next three seasons. Manu was in the position to be a free agent this summer, but of course the Spurs ownership and front office did have some marbles amongst them and shot for El Contusión and his unborn twin boys, (the future of the Spurs, I have no doubts) to remain in San Antonio by offering $38.9 mil/3 years, the maximum amount we were allowed to spend for him. It was crucial to make sure we extended Manu's contract now (or sooner) because we couldn't allow him to test the waters of free agency, where I'm completely certain he would be offered BIG money. I know his near 40mil might seem big enough, but when teams like New York have been completely and unabashedly cutting players and trading for players with expiring contracts in order to throw massive checks at the numerous skilled, high profile free agents like Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, Rudy Gay, etc., it's a good idea to make sure the Manu Ginobili gets cut out of that moneypool.

So, this is the news that any sensible Spurs fan was hoping to hear. Without Manu, our current team has no future. No one in the entire league can play like Manu. Just watch one of his highlight videos.

As Kobe has said, "[He's] a bad man," and we couldn't let our bad man become anyone else's bad man. We just couldn't. He is, after all, "The Man with no Swagger."

Song of the Moment - "The Saddest Song" by Morphine

2010-04-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some music that's likely as new to you as it is to me. This band is the essence of cool. Don't let anyone else tell you different. Morphine forgoes the typical rock band arrangement and instead have vocals, a 2-stringed guitar with bass guitar strings, drums, and baritone/tenor saxophones. If that doesn't pique your interests, there's no hope for you in my world.

Fuck it, they're good enough for my song of the moment to be more than one song.

Also, these songs are from their first album, Good, which critics rank below their other albums, basically stating that it lives up to it's title. If there's any hint of what's to come after this album from their opinions and our friend, the English language, just know that my ears are eager for more.

Spurs 102 - Cavaliers 97

2010-03-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hey LeBron, we had some fun together in 2007, didn't we? Ah, the memories.

Last night, the Spurs edged out a win in a statement game against the top team in the league, winning percentage-wise, which happens to have some guy with the last name of James. I've never liked it when people's surnames are given names. Do you? We still have a tough road ahead of us in the regular season, but I think people around the league are certainly not counting us out of contention for the time being. I know I'm not.

Also, there was an impressive dunk by Matt Bonner, and if I find a video of it, I'll edit it in here ASAP. There's nothing like witnessing that, haha, and it's even better than the first one this season against the Raptors.

GO SPURS GO!

New Poem

2010-03-25T21:01:00.001-07:00

I wrote this two days ago while listening to "Neuköln" by David Bowie. Bowie plays the sax admirably, and I love saxophonists like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Pharoah Sanders. I knew this would come someday, and here it is.

"A Tribute to Saxophone Squiggles"

That ephemeral warmth
Emanating from its golden bell
Begins to wrap around you
While dancing on blade's edge
Only to rise and sink between
The mountains and canyons
Found in the furrows of your brain
And so, a leaf on the pedestal
Gets caught in the slipstream
And from that point forward
It erupts into flame
That is extinguished only
At song's end

FlyLo

2010-03-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

I realized that I don't have any Flying Lotus tunes here. Insanity if there ever was such a thing. Here are two great tracks from his '08 release, Los Angeles, with amazing fan-made videos. "Infinitum" is one of FlyLo's more understated tracks that is beautifully accompanied by Laura Darlington's voice. "GNG BNG" is a "club banger," but of course the only proper way to dance to it is on a bike, as demonstrated here. Enjoy!

Obligatory Blog Post: Another Poem

2010-03-05T22:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I felt like making another post, but didn't want to put any extra thought into it, so I decided to go with a "prefabricated" post. I actually wrote this three days ago and was surprised by its cohesiveness. My poems tend to be short, but jammed packed with images and meaning. At least that's what I want to believe. It may not seem like much at first, but read into the meanings of some of the words. Pretty please?

"A Memory Eclipsed"

They called him
The pinioned prophet
Who had a face like a falcon
He got them moving,
But he had too much time
To cut his teeth
The skies he once captained
Have hairline fractures,
Now haggard,
They are gone

Congrats!

2010-02-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

If you don't recognize this picture, it's the album cover to MGMT's upcoming release, Congratulations. It's like a psychedelic surf version of Tom and Jerry, with Tom having a bad acid trip. Anyway, I pre-ordered the album impulsively. I felt a little off after buying it, actually, because although I like Oracular Spectacular a good deal, I'm not a huge fan. However, after reading their description of the work they put into it, it seems like it should be one of the best albums this year, and there have been/will be plenty of great releases.

My New Guitar or: Look at Me, I Can Play a G Chord

2010-02-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

See? I told you.

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of blues and watched a documentary called It Might Get Loud, which is an interesting take on rock music through the eyes (or ears) of three amazing guitarists: The Edge from U2, Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin, and Jack White from The White Stripes. The concept alone drew me in since they each represent different generations of rock music. Indeed it was interesting. It was really something to see and hear how these guys grew as musicians, and then watch them improvise The Band's "The Weight" over the ending credits. Jack White especially made an impression on me. He emphasized that learning and playing the guitar should be a struggle, as evidenced, among other things, by his desire to play old and/or crappy instruments. Plus, he introduced me to blues musician Son House.

Jack White's favorite song. It's astoundingly simple and ironically features no guitar.

All of that led me to my renewed interest in playing the guitar. I say "renewed" because my background as a "guitarist" began when I was 8 (?) years old. My parents took me to Alamo Music, and I ended up with a 3/4 size classical guitar. Briefly, I took lessons. I honestly don't know what led to this. Aside from the car radio, I didn't listen to music. I don't think my parents pushed me to play since music really isn't much a part of their lives as it is now in mine. Example: they probably have about 15-20 CDs between them, most of which were gifts from me; I own over 200, and my computer tells me that I have over 11,000 songs. Anyway, that stint didn't last long.

Fast forward to when I was 14. By this time, I was mostly listening to classic rock, which, in case you don't know, heavily employs the electric guitar. I thought it would be fun to learn, so my parents bought a Fender Starcaster & amp for me from Costco. I didn't take any lessons this time around, but probably should have. I needed guidance. I needed someone to tell me what Jack White told me, but I wasn't really serious about it and thought it would be a breeze. The guitar eventually became just another toy collecting dust.

Back to the present. Music continues to have an increasing influence on my life, and I can't say what that means for the future. Nevertheless, I decided about a week ago that I wanted to return to the guitar, and this time it would be a full sized metal-stringed acoustic. I began searching on craigslist and ebay without much success at first. I had no responses from craigslist ads, and people would outbid me on ebay since I had decided not to pay more than $65. However, I eventually got an email response on craigslist from a guy named Joe whom I assumed had already sold his guitar. He said he didn't want to lower his price, but wasn't lucky with his responses, and my price was the best offer he had gotten. So, here I am with my Takamine S35 Jasmine. It had no nicks or scratches to speak of until I bumped it on a rock walking back into my apartment. WHY?? I don't even know why I was carrying it that low. The rock was large, but not like a boulder. Anyway, one small nick aside, it really is a nice guitar and was a steal for $65. I love the damn thing. I think she needs a name, but I think the dirty bitch needs to earn it.

Jimmy Page said I could caress my guitar like a woman. Um, how am I doing?

Tim Duncan: Keeping the Enemy Closer

2010-02-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

Daedelus - "Righteous Fists of Harmony" Promo

2010-02-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

This dreamy, stunningly beautiful music video is promoting the release of Daedelus' The Righteous Fists of Harmony album with his song "Fin de Siècle." It's amazing and reminds me of Fantasia. It's being released on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label, FlyLo being one of my favorite artists and having his much awaited album, Cosmogramma, out this year as well (May 4th can't come soon enough!), but I digress. I highly recommend watching this in HD and full screen. Enjoy!

Remembering James Dewitt Yancey (aka J Dilla, Jay Dee)

2010-02-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974-February 10, 2006)

It has been four years since rapper/producer/musician J Dilla released his album Donuts on his birthday, and nearly fours years since he passed away due to complications of the diseases TTP and lupus. But what does this matter? Well, if you're a fan of hip-hop, you're a fan of J Dilla, whether you know it or not. An innovative producer of the highest caliber described as "the producer's producer," he ranks amongst the greatest hip-hop has yet to offer, including Pete Rock, DJ Premier, The Bomb Squad, RZA, Dr. Dre, and Rick Rubin. He produced songs for rappers and r&b singers including: Janet Jackson, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Raphael Saadiq, The Pharcyde, Eryka Badu, and Common, to name a few, and often was left uncredited for his work for reasons unknown to me. He was also a member of the Detroit based rap group Slum Village, both rapping and producing with them, before parting ways to work on his own projects.

If you're someone like me; however, you don't needed to be reminded of Dilla's greatness. You most likely experience a bit of it every day or week as you listen to your music collection. People that normally don't listen to hip-hop have certainly heard bits of his tunes as well since some were used in bumps in Adult Swim. Here's a bump paying tribute to him with snippets from Donuts tracks:

Now, I'd like to explain how I was introduced to Dilla. I started off like most, not knowing of him, but certainly knowing his work. Most likely the first songs I've heard from him were for Busta Rhymes. I've always loved Busta and his emphatic rhymes. From there, I think that Dilla-wise, I listened to some Common tracks from his Electric Circus album.

This album was Common's most experimental release, in part due to Dilla's contributions. They were so unique that I began to wonder, ever so slightly, who created them. I looked at the credits of the CD's liner notes, and saw "Jay Dee" included for many of the tracks. In my ignorance, I thought this was the JD known as Jermaine Dupri, who's an incredibly less skilled rapper/producer (this is why Yancey changed his moniker to J Dilla). I managed to know of Dupri's lack of skill since the guy was pretty mainstream, so I was shocked to "learn" this, but eventually forgot about it. As time went by, I discovered him online and was blown away by how much he was involved in. To say the least, he's one of my favorite music artists out there. He has even had a few posthumous albums released, including last year's Jay Stay Paid, which was pretty amazing. Here are a couple of my favorite tracks off it with fan-made videos:

I'm not sure where to go from here, so I'll end this entry with my favorite song by Dilla, "Nothing Like This" (such a fitting title), from Ruff Draft that has another awesomely creative video:

He's just so "astronomicalnomicalnomical"

P.S. - Here's an article that describes Dilla's life and legacy much better than I have:
http://j-dilla.com/biography/

Axe Cop (Webcomic)

2010-02-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

One of my friends posted this on his facebook, and now I'm hooked. This is a hilarious comic that, as described, is written by a 5 year old and illustrated by his 29 year old brother named Malachai and Ethan Nicholle, respectively. It's actually pretty well written, which makes me wonder if the kid had any help writing it. I'm not going to attempt to describe it, because that will take away from zaniness of it all. Enjoy the first entry below!

Axe Cop

The Whole World Is Punxsutawney's Bitch

2010-02-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

You are now staring into the unflinching gaze of a global tyrant.

Who ever thought the fate of the world would fall into the claws of a dastardly little varmint named Phil on a yearly basis? Almost every year, he's professed an undying love for winter. The statistics don't lie; this fat little rodent has plagued us annually with wintry gloom. It must be stopped.

Song of the Moment - "Montague Terrace (in Blue)" by Scott Walker

2010-01-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

A fan-made music video of one my favorite songs. Just listen, dammit.

The little clock's stopped ticking now
We're swallowed in the stomached rue
The only sound to tear the night
Comes from the man upstairs

His bloated belching figure stomps
He may crash through the ceiling soon
The window sees trees cry from cold
And claw the moon

But we know don't we
And we'll dream won't we
Of Montague Terrace in blue

The girl across the hall makes love
Her thoughts lay cold like shattered stone
Her thighs are full of tales to tell
Of all the nights she's known

Your eyes ignite like cold blue fire
The scent of secrets everywhere
A fist filled with illusions
Clutches all our cares

But we know don't we
And we'll dream won't we
Of Montague Terrace in blue all in blue

JAN 06

2010-01-22T08:05:00.001-08:00

It's Poetry Appreciation Time!

2009-11-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

I feel like posting a poem by one of my favorite poets, Wallace Stevens, whom I discovered due to my high school Latin teacher name dropping him while we were translating . . . Ovid? Anyway, in my American literature class, we're just getting to modernist writers, and my professor there also name dropped him. I was disappointed to find out that we wouldn't be reading any of his poems, but this has simply led to me reading more of his poems on my own. Here's one that I consider to be my favorite, at least for now.

"The High-Toned Old Christian Woman"

Poetry is the supreme fiction, madame.
Take the moral law and make a nave of it
And from the nave build haunted heave. Thus,
The conscience is converted into palms,
Like windy citherns hankering for hymns.
We agree in principle. That's clear. But take
The opposing law and make a peristyle,
And from the peristyle project a masque
Beyond the planets. Thus, our bawdiness,
Unpurged by epitaph, indulged at last,
Is equally converted into palms,
Squiggling like saxophones. And palm for palm,
Madame, we are where we began. Allow,
Therefore, that in the planetary scene
Your disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,
Smacking their muzzy bellies in parade,
Proud of such novelties of the sublime,
Suck tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk
May, merely may, madame, whip from themselves
A jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
This will make widows wince. But fictive things
Wince as they will. Wink most when widows wince.

Now, I thought I would try to interpret it here, so I postponed finishing this entry, but the truth is I still don't know if I can, so I'll leave it uninterrupted by my squiggling thoughts.

Song of the Moment - "Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer

2009-11-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Such an upbeat song; I lurvs it! I don't care much about the lyrics right now, except for the chorus. The chorus is definitely the best. It's all in the delivery.

Now kid I know I haven't been a perfect man
And I've avoided doing things I know I can
But if I learned one thing the tattoo on my arm
Will burn into my thumb It would be that

You must stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done

Now Old Man Schlemming was a formidable foe
The Ambling Alp was too at least that's what I'm told
But if you learn one thing then learn this well
In June you must get past yourself
They'll run but they can't hide

You must stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done

And when those thunder clouds are cryin
(in the sky, in the sky)
And when those fireflies keep shining,
(In your eyes, in your eyes)
Keep your eyes on the shine,
keep your minds on the line,
Keep your feet and slide
(into the sky, into the sky)

Now the world can be an unfair place at times
But your lows will have their compliment of highs
And if anyone should cheat you
Take advantage of or beat you raise your hand
And wear your wounds with pride

You must stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done
Stick up for yourself son
Never mind what anybody else done

*This song can be acquired free (legally) for the time being at the band's official site: http://www.amblingalp.com/*

Spur of the Moment - Matt Bonner

2009-11-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

After our 131-124 win against the defensively challenged Toronto Raptors, there were many high points to celebrate. Richard Jefferson's 24 points, 8 rebounds, & 7 dishes, and not to mention a couple of dunks. Ginobili's line of 36 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds & 4 blocks. Seriously? 4 blocks? Sounds like we didn't need Theo Ratliff, a respectable Sultan of Swat, if there ever was one in basketball. Then there was George Hill's more than impressive stand-in performance for TP9 with 22 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and only 2 turnovers. McDyess had 7 points & 10 rebounds while being the only Spur tonight with credible interior D. Even the rookie DeJuan Blair, while hampered by 5 fouls (2 of which being totally, completely, absolutely bogus calls. An 8 year old would cry injustice here), put forth a commendable effort with 6 points & 7 rebounds.

But no, I didn't choose any of them as my favorite performer tonight, against better judgment. I choose the Red Rocket. Or, shall I say, the newly christened "Hoagie Hammer," for his love of sandwiches and--what's this?--a drive to the hole for a jam, and an authoritative one at that!

Damn, that Raptor defense is decidely porous, and not getting one iota of mercy from this "binary toxin"

Hmm, I probably shouldn't try making any more esoteric biology jokes. But seriously, their cytoskeleton has done been had.

Anyway, Bonner also had 18 points, 4 boards, & 2 assists, an impressive line in its own right. But really, all I care about is the dunk. Why, you ask? Sure, he's 6'10", and I'm sure he's had his fair share of dunks in high school and maybe college. But for his 3 seasons and counting as a Spur, his role has been as a 3 point shooter, and I can say that I'm 95% confident that he hasn't even have the gumption to attempt a dunk, much less pull one off. In his own words from his recent Planet Fitness commercial appearance, it was a "wicked awesome" way to help remedy our 2 disappointing losses in Utah & Portland just last week.

GO SPURS GO!