tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594Sat, 21 Sep 2024 11:57:41 +0000"You know those jams in the park? They produced the spark. Made me feel words how I read books in the dark. I always took it to heart, loved the art..."http://caninemind.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)Blogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-5969820863598275424Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:22:00 +00002012-09-10T23:22:12.172+01:00 http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-5543676308274838812Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:38:00 +00002008-02-18T21:42:59.683+00:00Jackers! To the person or persons who jimmied my locks, blew out my windows, and straight-up ransacked my car on Springfield Avenue: Thank you for demonstrating excellent musical taste. Joke’s on you. Seriously – this isn’t an attempt to ironize myself out of the fact that my car got run while I was up the block speaking about brotherhood, community empowermenthttp://caninemind.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-jersey-drive.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-6518196786125708412Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:19:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:47.026+00:00A CanineMind Exclusive In their Wu-fever, our hapless antagonists also missed my advance copy of One Be Lo’s The R.E.B.I.R.T.H. (Subterraneous Records). Lo’s latest might not have been worth a grand theft auto charge, but its second half was at least worth a listen while they were rooting through my shoeboxes. Lo initially broke through in 2000 as One Man Army, one half of the Michiganhttp://caninemind.blogspot.com/2008/02/hip-hop-review-one-be-lo-rebirth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2633592487785457769Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:11:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:47.161+00:00The policing of the art form has been so thorough and enduring that it’s become possible to see hip-hop as just that: an agent, or better, a target, that has a life over and above the individuals that practice it. (More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2008/02/articleessay-americas-most-policed-art.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-5923927558976902404Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:05:00 +00002008-02-18T21:11:43.559+00:00Not that I haven't seen some ridiculous, insane, and otherwise gravity-defying moves in NBA dunk contests past, but were Bertolt Brecht and Eugene Ionesco the creative consultants for this year's? Absurd doesn't begin to describe it.Gerald Green's "Birthday Cake Dunk"Dwight Howard's "Superman Dunk"Yul.http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2008/02/jam-session-of-absurd.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2888160129423053876Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:42:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:47.332+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayerI guess since this is okayplayer, we all want to “keep it real,” “stay true to the essence,” and “battle the evil legions of Soulja Boy-ification,” etc. etc. But do we really want to be Dead Letter Perfect? Chicago’s own Soulstice says yes, emphatically and repeatedly; I – a devotee of hip-hop as a living language – beg to differ. (More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/12/hip-hop-review-soulstice-dead-letter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-276071532215014447Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:53:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:48.148+00:00With all the helium-voiced alter egos, metal mask-wearing supervillians, and ghosts of underground legends teeming around Stones Throw Records, beatmaker-slash-rapper Oh No faces some stiff in-house competition for listeners’ attention. He’s managed to carve out his own niche, though, with a fun and fearless approach to the art and a knack for outside-the-box concept projects. Oh No followed-up http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/11/interview-no-limits-interview-with-oh.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-4270307942376271527Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:31:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:48.313+00:00Meta-roboto-literati, oh my!From the Autumn 2007 issue of Opticon 1826.http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/11/essay-future-of-poetry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2366346226620623883Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:31:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:48.688+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayerTypical.Ndegeocello that is, whatever that is.(More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/music-review-meshell-ndegeocello-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2007541052960933993Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:33:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:48.869+00:00"Give a dog a boneLeave a dog aloneLet a dog roamAnd he'll find his way home."Well, I have. The past few months have been an absolute and uncharacteristic whirlwind. Stops in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany -- unshaven, with all of my possessions (sans a razor) in the green backpack I've been carrying around since high school -- kept me on my feet every moment my dissertation didn't http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/summer-recap-whole-world-like-t-where.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-4199382481332697298Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:09:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:50.593+00:00After getting hit with Ta'raach's The Fevers and Black Milk's Popular Demand within the first two months of new year, I thought 2007 would be a great year for hip-hop. Boy, have I been disappointed. Since early February, a slew of hotly anticipated releases (by myself and/or others) have dropped and, in my opinion, few have matched the hype, or even approached vaguely close. The major offenders (http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/music-welcome-to-doghouse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-4419460897862016589Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:06:00 +00002007-10-02T00:09:49.177+01:00Answers by me, questions and editing of the answers by another.Q: How did you find this job?A: I had just been fired from a valet parking job at the local aquarium. As it turned out, causing vehicular damage is a turn-off for a lot of employers. Thankfully, my driving skills weren't a big problem for the Beach Control.Q: How old were you when you started?A: I was eighteen, fresh out of high http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/interview-with-myself-tom-wolf-keeping.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-3336679418297817731Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:59:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:50.816+00:00Paul Turner passed on in June 2007 after fourteen seasons as Harvard University's field coach. I considered him a major father figure and counted him among my closest friends and trusted confidants. In what could only be an understatement: He'll be deeply missed. The following was prepared for a memorial booklet produced by The Friends of Harvard Track & Field, but written more to be spoken.(http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/speechessay-wisdom-of-paul-turner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2640133650127470347Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:55:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:50.957+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayerI think I’m bleeding inside my chest.(More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/soul-review-rick-james-deeper-still.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-554871128533783805Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:49:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:51.238+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayerZarathustra: “Everything goeth, everything returneth; eternally rolleth the wheel of existence. Everything dieth, everything blossometh forth again; eternally runneth on the year of existence.”Collie Buddz: “Finally, the herb come around!”Zarathustra: “Yo, could we do something else?”(More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/reggae-review-collie-buddz-collie-budz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-4131511108251139935Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:16:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:51.534+00:00Photo copyright of T.M. WolfLate-spring/early-summer has been hectic for your favorite man of letters. 14,400 miles in the air in May between Mumbai, London, and Virginia? Excellent. Perusing the arcades of Paris in fine Benjaminian style? Magnifique. Linking up with some old friends? Great.Keeping pen to paper? The best. The nature of my writing has been changing quite a bit over the last few http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/06/mayjune-on-grind.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-3959824053965963044Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:00:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:51.699+00:00POPMATTERS -- Hip-hop, as any number of industry executives, gaudy videos, and endlessly self-referential rhymes will tell testify, is big business. And yet, even with its fabled rise “from ashy to classy” – leapfrogging from ghettos to rural hamlets and back again, from New York to Los Angeles, Atlanta to Houston, and all points in between – hip-hop has retained its status as Public Enemy #1: http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/06/article-americas-most-policed-art-form.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2859300661711094298Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:01:00 +00002007-06-26T23:33:48.669+01:00Ah, the perils of inside jokes. They start out funny, but after a while, as more and more knowing glances, elliptical comments, and general jackassery pile-up, they generally collapse under their own weight into powerful, sociability-destroying black holes. I've been involved in my share:1. "50 CentGate" (Spring 2003): It's rare that you'll hear me say I "hate" anyone. Hate is a very strong word,http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-mc-hammer-pop-ya-collar-bw-essay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-6581404934981894854Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:00:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:52.043+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayer.comIn keeping with the obsessive-compulsive “cultural should” that jackhammers repeatedly in the back of my brain, I’ve accumulated a tidy stack of cultural objects I “really should” consume. Among the items in the aforementioned stack include: 1. Bartleby the Scrivener 2. The collected works of Stendahl 3. Madame Bovary 4. About 800 pages of Rem Koolhaas http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/06/soul-review-super-cool-california-soul.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-6555611859234433069Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:47:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:52.311+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayer.comTo say that I had a love/hate relationship with college would be a gross understatement: I LURVED and *haaaaa-teeeeed* virtually every moment of it, sometimes simultaneously. But rarely during my two-year period of post-baccalaureate self-questioning, self-recrimination, self-satisfaction, and various other “self-”modified activities did I ever think I had http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/06/world-music-review-angelique-kidjo-djin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-1955787621699498737Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:51:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:53.101+00:00Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention up until now, but I believe that Prague and Vienna are home to Western Europe's most violent statuary. Most statues I've seen usually involve a god playing a lyre or growing a beard, or an admiral fondling his piece-nez and leering sullenly. Prague and Vienna are filled almost entirely with statues of hulking brutes stabbing, maiming, clubbing, http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/04/april-prague-spring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2669740867037859562Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:50:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:53.229+00:00Detroit is still haunted by the ghost of the assembly-line worker, whose endless welding, pounding, and riveting fed a nation’s insatiable appetite for mass-produced tangles of steel and glass. Odd, then, that the former home of Ford’s legions has also produced a smallish clique of rapper-producers who have been steadily but quietly manufacturing boutique beats for the underground public. The http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/04/detroits-art-hop-taraach-and-black-milk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-2013548207521513175Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:40:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:53.370+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayerBeHonest:Howmuchlawngercoodeyeritelikthisb4youdstopreedin’?iwuldimagineitculdbe “qte”or“charming”forlikealineor2butitgetsreallyannoyingreallyqwikly,likeeye’mcoveringupforalakof interestingcontentbyhyperstyl-eye-zingmywriting. Translation: When is Musiq going to stop stylizing and start singing? (More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/04/soul-review-musiq-luvanmusiq.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-6101260881593879206Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:36:00 +00002008-12-13T01:16:53.476+00:00Originally reviewed for okayplayer“No idea’s original / There’s nothing new under the sun / It’s never what you do / But how it’s done.” – NasEff the “anxiety of influence.” After a few spins of Ryan Shaw’s This Is Ryan Shaw, I’m more concerned about the boredom of influence. (More...)http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/04/soul-review-ryan-shaw-this-is-ryan-shaw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29182594.post-1642010423491190299Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:02:00 +00002007-04-29T16:14:54.102+01:00The first time I heard this song -- sitting in a two-door hatchback screeching on two wheels through Northern London -- I thought I heard a harmonica. I quickly dismissed that thought as some sort of hallucination brought on by far too much Nigerian cinema. Imagine my surprise when I found the video. Dude - is - playing - a - harmonica. Is that what's really hot in the streets? Maybe it should be.http://caninemind.blogspot.com/2007/04/video-dbanj-why-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom Wolf)0