Canned Thinking

Passion of the Weiss: The Making of Danny Brown's "XXX"

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:21:00 +0000

When I was younger, I remember reading the XXL Classic Album features where they'd delve into the origins of standards like Only Built 4 Cuban Linx or Reasonable Doubt. I listened to Detroit rapper Danny Brown's album XXX more than anything else last year. I don't know what more I can say about it that I haven't said elsewhere. So as a fan I spoke with Danny and every producer on the project to explain their musical contributions and the storyline behind the album track by track. I'm really proud of this piece and honoured by the great response I've gotten from SPIN, Prefix Magazine and Danny's own Tumblr.

Click Danny's thesis statement to read the whole thing.

The Hybrid was dealing with teenage pregnancy, welfare and drug abuse — it’s way more socially conscious. The process was just to make a cohesive-sounding project and show my range. XXX wasn’t about that, because I felt like I already proved that. It’s about the moment. The pressure was different because there were a lot more people paying attention to my music, so I had to think differently. XXX is me experimenting and seeing how far I can push listeners with what I do. Before I didn’t think I could really do [rhyming] patterns like Elzhi, Eminem, dudes like that. They probably got rhyming dictionaries or thesauruses and whatever. I just got like two grades of regular hood nigga vocabulary and tried to play with that. I figured out a way to do it.

And listen to the album if you haven't heard it already right here.

Passion of the Weiss: The 50 Best Hip Hop Songs of 2011 (#25-1)

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:35:00 +0000

Very proud to present the second half of Passion's top 50 rap songs of 2011. I wrote about Yelawolf's "Hard White (Up In The Club)" (#18) and Open Mike Eagle's "Nightmares" (#8). Click the writeup for "Nightmares" for the whole thing. Please share if you dig, there's even a zip file of all 50 songs.

Somewhere between Devin the Dude, Nate Dogg and Ish from Shabazz Palaces, Open Mike Eagle is the wry observer in the back of the class. The inverse of a million rap songs about dreams (including the one three spots prior) “Nightmares” isn’t solely aspirational nor is it a concept track. It’s a statement of purpose and a litany of astute complaints, demands and observations. Mike wants shag on his floor chart carpeting, and old guys singing four part harmony. He doesn’t call out lying-ass rappers but reminds us that the written life has always been synthesized. It’s designed to deceive. His new friends want to talk sneaker colors but Mike is too busy playing rap Nostradamus: the countryside will flood with tourists eager to see real families while gangbangers will turn to MPC samplers.

Passion of the Weiss: The 50 Best Hip Hop Songs of 2011 (#50-26)

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Like we always do about this time. First half of Top 50 raps of '11 up now. Wrote about Fat Trel's "Rollin" (#49), Rittz's "Rattle Back" (#46) and Killer Mike's "Ric Flair" (#42). Above, the video for Ka's "Cold Facts" (#35), one of the most overlooked tracks this year. Ka strips gritty NY raps to the bare essentials, a barely-there guitar loop and dead-eyed staring into the project abyss. Can't wait to hear his album.

Click my take on "Ric Flair" to read the whole shebang. #25-1 on Monday, spread the word.

Ric Flair was a loud, flashy wrestler with irrepressible charisma, a taste for expensive clothes, and an unexplainable hold over women. He was in a lot of ways the first rapping wrestler. Killer Mike’s track is not the first rap song dedicated to Ric Flair (Cam’ron has that honour) but in many ways Mike taps into what Ric represented to rap music: unstoppable braggadocio. Three verses sum up what makes Killer Mike great: a blend of wisdom (“Long as you chase money, you ain’t gotta chase women”), big balling “(getting buried like a pharaoh”) and ignorance (“got two Nickis menaging for the Gucci”). The stomping drums and soulful crooning backing Mike makes it sound like a inauguration address, Killa Kill addressing the people from behind a golden podium. Just some game for a student from a teacher, and you’d be wise to pay attention. Wooo.

Passion of the Weiss: Matthews On Mathers - The Eminem Show

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Wrote about The Eminem Show for my regular Matthews On Mathers column at the Passion. Read and tell me what you think. Album doesn't hold up like Slim Shady LP or the MM LP (which also sound dated) but it's an interesting listen.

The Eminem Show dropped in 2002 at the height of boy band fever and effectively ended the boy-band era in the U.S. by selling 1 million copies in its first week.After a short intro, we hear “White America”, where Em thoughtfully dissects the machinations that allowed a poor white kid from 8 Mile to dominate TV and radio. The partnership with Dr. Dre that took him from underground curiosity, to where “every fan black that I got was probably his in exchange for every white fan that he got/like damn, we just swapped.” Em’s presence on Dre’s 2001 was crucial to re-establishing the super producer’s commercial relevance, with “Forgot About Dre” and “What’s The Difference” re-minting Dr. Dre as an A-lister. And so baby blue eyes and blonde hair made Eminem a star.

Exclaim!: Where I Play - Moka Only

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:53:00 +0000

I was honoured to speak with Canuck rap legend Moka Only about his studio setup and recording process for Exclaim! He's an intensely creative, curious guy and made for a great conversation. Hit the excerpt below for the whole thing.

Moka is entirely self-taught and prefers to play his instruments live, with the exception of the sampler. "I usually start with the sampler, because I like to establish drums first," he clarifies. When starting a beat, he usually brainstorms a lyrical idea or theme and works from there. Ideas typically arrive while skateboarding, and Moka dashes home to record the keyboard or guitar figure, possibly even sampling his initial recording to create a beat. He often writes on a keyboard, seeking a main melody and a bridge piece that deviates from the main groove for variation. Rather than waiting for inspiration, Moka quickly decides whether a song will be an instrumental or have lyrics. The average song takes him an hour to record, from making the beat to mixing the vocals.

Exclaim!: Danny Brown & Black Milk - Black & Brown

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:23:00 +0000

Danny Brown is having a hell of a year. Just months after signing with A-Trak's Fools Gold imprint and dropping the acclaimed XXX mixtape, Danny links with Detroit producer Black Milk for the Black & Brown EP. Black Milk plays to his partner's strengths, supplying mesmerizing, Madlib-esque compositions that complement Danny's quirky flow. There's no real subject matter, just hard, funny punch lines about sex, violence and drugs.

Video for the title track is dope too, even if it's basically the vid for "Killin' Me Softly" on a budget.

I also gave my thoughts on Wale's Ambition and The Extremities' The Mint Condition. Check it.

Passion of the Weiss: The Greatest Producers of All Time, Honourable Mentions

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Over at the Passion, we're working on a comprehensive list of the Top 50 hip-hop producers that starts tomorrow. We left out a lot of big names, that's what the honourable mentions are for. In the third part of our Honourable Mentions, I wrote about Dan the Automator, Sir Jinx, J-Swift, Rockwilder, Clark Kent, DR Period and Redman. Click through my Red piece to read about the rest of the producers and check out the other pieces, they're excellent.

There was a recent Redman compilation entitled Funk From Hell, and I couldn’t think of a better phrase to describe the Funk Doc’s production work. Where Dr. Dre imagined P-Funk as gangsta party music for 70s babies, Red digs out funk’s rawest and darkest elements to create something dusted. His best beat work blends discordant vocal sample loops layered with sticky, murky, bass-heavy funk and thumping drums. It’s fitting that Red recorded the largely self-produced Dare Iz A Darkside on an extended acid trip. See how “Rockafella” samples played out records like “Flashlight” and “I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You” and still sounds like nothing else? That’s real swamp rap for your stanking ass.

I recommend you watch the video for "Whateva Man" again.

Exclaim!: Redman/Mad Child/In The Raw Concert Review

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:04:00 +0000

Caught Redman with the diminuitive cracker Mad Child on Sunday and they tore it down. Red has an incredible amount of energy and enthuiasm for a 41 year old, he just looks like he's having a good time 24/7. Most importantly, he played "I'll Bee Dat"...but not before he led the crowd in shouting "Fuck you Redman". God bless him.
Click the excerpt below for the whole megillah.

"How many of y'all remember '92?" Red inquired before launching into "Time 4 Sum Aksion," prompting instantaneous moshing and fist-pumping. Newer Red/Method Man tracks "City Lights" and the Saukrates-assisted "A-Yo" got equally warm reception. Red then demanded the audience shout "Fuck you Redman" before deigning to play the chest-rattling punchline fest "I'll Bee Dat."

Kicking It In Rock Creek Park

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:52:00 +0000

Been busy with a few reviews lately, but I'm most proud of the one I wrote for Oddisee's Rock Creek Park. It's without a doubt one of the strongest records I've heard this year, a warm autumn bike ride through hazy memories of growing up. Even if you're not from D.C., you'll feel this one.

Oddisee makes beats like the Impressionists created oil paintings: sampled snippets tucked into lush live instrumentation and broad swathes of strings mingling with nimble bass lines. From the roller disco groove of "Uptown Cabaret" to the horn-powered Chicago soul of "Skipping Rocks," he makes it all sound of one place. Rock Creek Park is perfect for the late autumn haze, but like any fond memory, it'll only improve with time.

A few other recent reviews: Cormega - Raw Forever
Boss Hogg Outlawz - Serve and Collect III
The Away Team - Scars & Stripes

Bad Bad Leroy Brown

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:04:00 +0000

I'm bad at updating this, life happens.
Proud of this feature on Toronto's own Badbadnotgood, which you can see in this month's Exclaim! I also recently reviewed Exile's 4TRK Mind and had a very interesting conversation with J-Live, where he touched on the differences between teaching and rapping, pause tapes and being a triple threat.

I also reviewed Tha Carter IV, which hasn't grown on me since I last played it. My opinion still stands a month and a half later, what do you think?

Over at XXL, I gave Evidence's Cats & Dogs a solid L rating. Honestly, a solid record but nothing life-changing.

In other news:
Danny Brown's XXX is definitely in my top 5 for '11 now, happy to stand by the Mark of Excellence I gave it back in August. Can't believe how much dude has progressed in two years. Is there a better song to blast at 2am than "Bruiser Brigade"? I haven't heard it.

Catching Up

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 06:29:00 +0000

Photo Via Spacesick

A few recent pieces, since I haven't checked in here in a while.

over at XXL, I reviewed Laws' mixtape Yesterday's Future and the Cali Swag District's Deeper than the Dougie mixtape
Interviewed Alex aka Dirty Beaches and Eddie Argos of Art Brut at Passion of the Weiss
Reviewed Miracle Fortress' Was I The Wave? at POTW
Covered NXNE for POTW. Fun but exhausting. The White Eyes are the truth.

Also been blogging for my new gig at Good World Games over at our Tumblr. Try our 1st game MyConservationPark today and tell me what you think!

Exclaim! Music School: Where I Play - Muneshine

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:27:00 +0000

Some genuine summer jam material for these 29 plus degree days. I wrote about local emcee/producer Muneshine's home studio for Exclaim!'s June issue. Click the excerpt below to read the whole thing.

Muneshine wistfully recalls the first beat he ever made, a flip of the Beatnuts' "No Equal," constructed the day he bought his MPC. "I chopped up parts of that beat, trying to learn how to use the MPC and create something new with samples." Even before that, Bakker vividly remembers early attempts at beat tapes using the "pause" and "record" buttons on his boombox. These days Muneshine operates slightly more modern equipment: what he describes as a "piece of shit" PC, two laptops and an Ozonic MIDI keyboard controller. He constructs his songs with Adobe Audition and employs Reason for engineering purposes, while inexpensive Rokt KRK monitors supply surprisingly potent bass.

Plus: reviewed Animal Farm's Culture Shock for Exclaim!
I also recently started writing for XXL's Reviews section. Here's what I've written so far:

Tyga - Black Thoughts 2
Outasight - Figure 8 EP
XV - Zero Heroes
Trae Tha Truth - Undisputed
Ace Hood - Body Bag
Fiend - Behind Limo Glass
Fabolous - The Soul Tape

Became a commodity because I'm W-H-I-, T-E

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Thu, 05 May 2011 00:29:00 +0000

Wrote about the Marshall Mathers LP for my Matthews on Mathers column over at Passion of the Weiss. Click the excerpt below for the whole megillah.

“Stan” was the obvious crossover success. Hell, it even won Elton over with its looped strum, melodic bass line, Dido chorus, and the tale of a crazed Eminem fan whose detailed letters went unanswered until Stan decides to re-enact “97 Bonnie & Clyde” with his own wife. It remains emotionally resonant because of Em’s attention to detail (a signed Starter cap for Stan’s little brother, self-referential allusions to his Rawkus work) and a kinetic pairing of sounds and music. We hear the pencil scratching as Stan writes to Em and rain sound effects on the third verse as Stan calls Em from his car.

My favourite track from the album below, and the source of the this post's title. The first verse on this, my god. From a technical perspective, the run of "es" rhymes is astounding but Em was also seriously funny back then - none of this "window pane/pain" business.

Everything Was Going According To Plan, Man

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 04:05:00 +0000

That line above breaks my heart every time I hear it. RIP Subroc.
I wrote about Stones Throw's crazy deluxe remastered reissue of Operation: Doomsday in the May issue of Exclaim! Yup, it comes with a DOOM lunchbox, take a gander.
Peep the "?" video above on the direct link for some cool director's commentary from director Piston Honda.
Apparently the original DOOM mask was created by Lord Scotch aka KEO aka Jonathan Lethem's brother (read The Fortress of Solitude, it tells Scotch's story), using a mask from Kane from WWE. Something like this, probably.

Pitchfork's Ian Cohen summed up Operation: Doomsday pretty well if you haven't heard it. Read Icy On Purpose, basically.

It's just slang rap democracy

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:54:00 +0000

Just reviewed Raekwon's live show over at Exclaim! Rae was one of the few rappers who returned to where he started and it benefitted him. Was surprised to see a lot of people there knew all the words to the OBCL2 material. Nice to see. Click the excerpt below to read the whole thing.

"How many of y'all fuck with real hip-hop?" Raekwon shouted as he took to the Ritual stage a few minutes past midnight. Clad in a military jacket and a Yankees cap, the Wu-Tang MC began his set with his star-making verse from "C.R.E.A.M.," which the energized crowd shouted word for word. Backed by a DJ and hypeman, Rae blazed through a succession of early Wu highlights, from the murky bass of "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" to his vivid opening verse on "Can It All Be So Simple." Every few songs, the DJ cut the beat and Rae freaked it a cappella to the delight of the crowd. The hypeman commanded the audience to chant Wu-Tang and they complied without hesitation, throwing their W's in the air.

Highlight of the night: seeing a girl recite Ghostface's absolutely filthy verse on "Jihad" verbatim. That's probably someone's wifey, damn!

Passion of the Weiss: "The Death of the Saviour Emcee"

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Wrote a longer piece at Passion about hip-hop's obsession with finding a saviour for the genre. Quite proud of this one. Click the excerpt below to read the whole feature.

What revisionist rap fans forget is that the Roots were lamenting the state of the genre in ’96, a year which brought us ATliens, All Eyez On Me, The Score, Hell On Earth and Reasonable Doubt. Nas was supposed to save purists from pop-rap in ’94 but two years later, Jones became part of the problem with It Was Written (at least in their eyes.) Fast forward a few years later, and rap hit the peak of its commercialism. At the height of the jiggy era, the East Coast rap scene was hungry for a popular rapper who rapped well about something more resonant than cash, money and hoes. Bad Boy owned shiny-suit-and-ties rap over 80s pop tracks, while Ruff Ryders delivered aggressive club bangers, but select fans felt like there was something missing. Purist fans expected a lyricist who would make no concessions to commercial appeal.

Plus: Just reviewed Blueprint's new album Adventures in The Counter-culture for Exclaim!, click the excerpt for the whole shebang.

Blueprint's sophomore album has been a long-time coming, arriving six years after his 2005 solo debut, 1988. The Columbus, OH rapper/producer has kept busy in the meantime, teaming with RJD2 and fellow OH resident Illogic in the groups Soul Position and Greenhouse, respectively. With Adventures in the Counter-Culture, Printmatic makes a conscious move beyond boom-bap as a solo artist.

"Keep Bouncing" is one of my favourite tracks off the album. Don't sleep on the video chica in the bookie visor either.

Rewind. A few other recent writeups for Exclaim!:
Pharaohe Monch - W.A.R.
Cunninlynguists - Oneirology
Raekwon - Shaolin Vs. Wu Tang
Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Spring Mixtape at Passion of the Weiss

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:55:00 +0000

Yeah, there's still snow on the ground here, but I'm looking towards warmer days. So I compiled a spring-themed mixtape with the help of my fellow writers at Passion of the Weiss. My choices were Laura Veirs' "July Flame" and Portastatic's "I Wanna Know Girls". Artwork by the talented Dan Love, mixed by the homie Son Raw. Click the tracklist below to download the whole tape and read the writeups.

1. Dorothy Ashby – “Canto de Osana”

2. 2Pac – “It ain’t Easy”

3. Ernie K. Doe – “Here Come the Girls”

4. Blurry Drones – “A Prayer for Elliot Spitzer”

5. Bob Marley & the Wailers -”Selassie in the Chapel”

6. Money Mark – “Pinto’s New Car”

7. Laura Veirs – “July Flame”

8. Portastatic – “I Wanna Know Girls”

9. The Black Seeds – “One By One”

10. Of Montreal – “Faberge Falls for Shugie”

11. Ikonika – “Look (Final Boss Stage)”

12. Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Forever Heavy”

SonReal Interview at Exclaim!

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:27:00 +0000

The March issue of Exclaim! is out now, take a look inside for my review/interview with Vancouver rapper SonReal about his tape Where's Waldo. Click the excerpt
below to read.

SonReal has held Vancouver, BC down for several winters, but still hasn't received the props he deserves. New mixtape Where's Waldo? should correct this oversight. Bangers from Rich Kidd and Classified and borrowed beats from the likes of J Dilla complement the Vancouverite's nasal cadence nicely. And Son is the rare rapper who flows deftly without compromising melody, effortlessly jumping from double-time raps to sung hooks.

Also: reviewed Ghostpoet's new album Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam over at the Passion. Spoiler: it's pretty great. Especially love the single "Cash And Carry Me Home". For those days when you wake up with 3 tons on your forehead and odd stains on your shoes. Vid's brilliant too.

Best hand gestures in a rap vid?

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 03:20:00 +0000

Or was it J.Cole, who does some borderline Tourettes level motions

I've never been a huge Clipse fan. I'm ambivalent about Malice, who's just not as good as Pusha T, despite having a damn near identical voice. I just don't feel like he brings a lot to the table besides being "the other guy".
Pusha is a incredibly precise rapper, both in delivery and lyrics, almost to the point where I have trouble liking him. Even Rakim had a "Mahogany" in him, a song got to be a bit more human. "The Funeral" succeeds for me mostly based on the video. They're dancing in black suits You can hear the hunger in their voices, that urgency in the sampled vocals, but Pusha and Malice's hand gestures and expressions weirdly make it for me. They're almost choreographing their plans for the afterlife. The Neptunes had beats back then, trust.

Speaking of which, besides sharing Neptunes production, the vid for "Bouncin Back" similarly centres around a funeral procession. There's still a kind of redemptive joy in just being alive even when death is literally marching down the street.

Check Your Newstands, Ask Yo Paper Boy

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 21:29:00 +0000

I'm in this month's issue of XXL, in a piece on the best mixtapes of '10. Flip to pg. 125 for my take on Joe Budden's Mood Muzik 4.

For my money, the best jawn off MM4. Fast forward to 4.55 for the Royce verse. "The sober me is more nervous than Waka Flocka in a voting booth". Mannnn.

Talib Kweli Interview at Exclaim!

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:48:00 +0000

Recently interviewed the BK emcee via email (I can't front) for Exclaim! Click the excerpt below for the whole interview and my review of his new album Gutter Rainbows. Spoiler: it's pretty dull. I'm all about that 80s Brooklyn bump on "I'm On One". The new style.

Conscious rappers don't age well and Gutter Rainbows, Talib Kweli's fifth solo album, doesn't shake this preconception. Fresh off last year's solid Reflection Eternal reunion, Kweli is largely on autopilot over terrycloth production and soft batch R&B choruses; the best songs here energize Kweli by linking him with hard beats. "Tater Tot" is a compelling audio cinematic about an Iraq veteran, while Marco Polo's swirling strings and trumpets on "Palookas" set up fierce spitting from Talib and Sean Price. Kwe flows lovely on "I'm On One," Khrysis's beat rolling and knocking like '80s Brooklyn. Kweli and Jean Grae connect for verbal manslaughter over the ominous organ rolls and bumping bass of "Uh Oh." The warm, sincere "Friends and Family" sees Kweli warmly reflecting on his rap career thus far. Treat Gutter Rainbows as a dry run for Prisoner of Conscious, his next studio album, and it goes down much easier.

Also reviewed Ghostdeini's new record here. "Black Tequila" is the jam.

Slept-On Records of 2010 at Passion of the Weiss: Starlito & Cotton Jones

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Been quiet round these parts lately while I've been busy with school and freelancing. Recently penned some writeups on underrated albums from last year at the Passion. Here's my take on Starlito & Burn One's Renaissance Gangster, click on the quote below for the whole spiel:

After years of commercial pressure, Lito throws out punchline after punchline, his laconic drawl expertly weaving through Burn One’s warm, country-fried production. Lito carries the album without a single feature, largely. “What Was I Thinking” ably showcases Lito’s unconventional flow and writing over the same David Porter sample RZA rocked for “Duel of the Iron Mic”: “Lito Israel/they Palestine/that’s why some of his raps come off like battle rhymes.” He then refers to his red haired weed as Madeline.

Also wrote about the excellent Cotton Jones record, Tall Hours In The Glowstream. Below, a lovely performance on the record's standout song, "Somehow To Keep It Going". Serious Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood vibes.

Plus: reviewed the Golden Dogs concert Thursday for Exclaim!
Spoiler: it was a fantastic gig.

Catching Up

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:29:00 +0000

the flow curry/opposite of a snow flurry

How dope is this El joint?

Speaking of which, been on a kinda midwest grind lately. Interviewed Twista and Elzhi for Passion of the Weiss. Both really interesting cats who put me up on a lot of Midwest history, house, the Hip Hop Shop, et al. I also spoke to Black Milk about Album of the Year for Exclaim!

An excerpt from the Twista piece about house music and Midwest rap I found especially interesting:

Do you think the tempo of house music had something to do with the Midwestern rap style?

For sure. Especially in Chicago. People don’t know this but all of my lyrics that’s considered double-time lyrics will fit over house-tempo type tracks. So if the beat is boom-boom-boom-boom-boom [Twista imitates a typical house beat], I can still do [rapping double-time] “look at the dudes owe me, dad a do do me”. It’s the perfect rhythm to fit on the same thing. So it definitely had a big influence.

I've been neglecting this spot while school's taken priority, but I've kept writing elsewhere. Let's get up to speed:

Exclaim! just put threw up their 2010 Year In Review (cop that new issue!) I threw in my thoughts on Lisbon by the Walkmen and Shad's TSOL.

Wrote about Kanye's new record as part of Passion's expansive roundtable. Part brilliant, part madness, with more Chris Rock than is probably necessary. Read all the writeups, they're great.
Scribbled a lil something on shows by Josh Ritter & Basia Bulat and White Cowbell Oklahoma & Big John Bates. The latter is something every human should experience at least one; I don't want to spoil anything but WCO's stage show involves a wonderful combinations of a chainsaw, fire and Jager
Popscene feature on the Verve's first record. Sounds so good on a rainy day.
Reviewed Tony Allen, Teebs and Ghostpoet records
Plus reviews of Majestik Legend's The Great Escape, Big L's Return of the Devil's Son, Curren$y's Pilot Talk 2 and Celph Titled & Buckwild's Nineteen Ninety Now.

___________________________________________________________

Whew, think that's about it for now. Stay tuned for my own Top 25 for the year.

The Periphery In The Center: Or Why We Laugh At Admiral Ackbar Jokes

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:47:00 +0000

The other day I had a few friends over for dinner and we ended up watching an episode of Robot Chicken. This is an 11 minute sketch show commercial minus commercials, using elaborate stop motion animation with action figures and occasionally claymation. The show recently did a Star Wars special, which doubled the length of the program to an even 22 minutes. The sketches in Robot Chicken can run anywhere from 4 minutes to 30 seconds and typically center on some form of pop culture reference. The Star Wars episode is essentially double of what you’d get in a standard episode, and stretches this formula even thinner.

Jokes are made about Admiral Ackbar, this tiny wheeled robot in the first movie, and the alien who says something incomprehensible to Han Solo in the cantina bar. If you have any idea what I’m talking about, congratulations, there’s a mini industry dedicated to you! Family Guy just did two full length episodes remaking the first two Star Wars movies. We mutually recognize these tiny, meaningless fragments of cultural zeitgeists like Back To The Future, Star Wars, and now Avatar. And largely we laugh out of recognition. This is not inherently a bad thing but I feel that more than ever, Western entertainment is structured around providing recognition, simply recognizing something being enough to justify spending time with media. Glee’s success is in no small part due to the number of recognizable songs performed on screen. Avatar is getting a retrospective rerelease a year after its theatrical release – so that, as my roommate pointed out, they can incorporate 20 minutes worth of CGI backgrounds. Has our collective recall diminished to the point that we’re willing to accept the same thing reconstituted over and over again?

Back to Family Guy for a minute. Here’s a show whose comedic formula largely boils down to a series of cutaway gags loosely connected by a few strings of plot. These jokes most rely on a strong familiarity with Western pop culture of the last couple of years. The show was cancelled a few years back before gaining a cult audience on DVD. Fox brought the series back and it became ubiquitous. Creator Seth McFarlane then created a new series, American Dad, with a cast of variations on Family Guy’s characters: the boorish, ignorant father, the prudish, well-meaning wife, the socially awkward son, the talking baby/alien. American Dad even uses the same cutaway gag formula. A few years later, peripheral character Cleveland was granted a spinoff, The Cleveland Show. There are now three shows on TV created by the same man with roughly the same humour, voiced by mostly the same people. Have you met someone who’s actively a fan of American Dad over Family Guy? Or openly prefers The Cleveland Show to Family Guy? They’re minute variations on a theme. But again, the humour is based on recognition. A quote from a 80s movie used in a different context. A tongue-in-cheek reference to a minor celebrity. Or even more modern: an allusion to a recent internet meme. When Wikipedia evolves into a mandatory brain implant, we will have no trouble remembering why Brian the talking dog was dancing and singing while dressed as a banana.

And I’m not excluding myself from this either. I love Community, a show which practically demands fluency in pop culture of the last 3 decades to understand what the character Abed is talking about.

What impact is this going to have 5, 10 years down the line? Pop culture parodies are not new – check the Sinatra parody in this Tex Avery short from 1948, mocking his skinniness around this time (starts 3 minutes in):

But we’re definitely coming closer to culture as ourobouros, the snake eating its own tail in an endless cycle. Humour is increasingly dependent on a sense of knowing (Nitsuh Abebe talks about this trend in indie rock much more eloquently than me) and I’m concerned that it dissuades people from writing in a way that appeals to a sense of surprise, instead of appealing to the familiar. More to come on this in a bit.

The Lonesome Crowded West at SupremeMag.com

noreply@blogger.com (AaronM) — Tue, 18 May 2010 09:54:00 +0000

I've got a new writing gig over at SupremeMag.com, an excellent online hip hop magazine. My first piece deals with the generational gap in hip-hop, riffing off this rather embarrassing Ice Cube/Jay Rock situation. Click the excerpt below to read the whole piece:

Generational beefs in hip-hop are nothing new. From Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J, to KRS-One and Nelly, the cross-generational beef forces a changing of the guard. Younger, hungrier rappers beef with more established rappers to grab a spot for themselves. The feud between XXL Freshman Jay Rock and Ice Cube is just the most recent example. The Watts-born Rock took issue with a statement on Cube’s blog, where the former NWA emcee reprimanded L.A. emcees “who can’t make a name for themselves so they need help from the O/G’s”. Jay Rock fired back on Twitter, claiming that by not naming names, Cube had dissed all of the up-and-coming rappers on the Left Coast. Rock went to assert that he had made a name for himself and wasn’t looking for a co-sign.

While we're talking Cube, take a second to remember just how good son was at his peak.

And read this excellent remembrance of Amerikkka's Most Wanted while you're at it.