ELUCID - AUTOMATIC WRITING (VIDEO)
a few months ago i produced this song for my mans and lessondary comrade elucid. some of you may be familiar with him, but if not- it is my humble opinion that you should acquaint yourselves with his music. he’s a fantastically talented writer, and is superbly gifted vocally. i’m always excited to see what he’s going to do next because it’s consistently on another planet.
anyway:
http://www.vimeo.com/ http://vimeo.com/5321693
(edit: the video embed seems to not be working. here’s the direct link: http://vimeo.com/5321693 )
he also included this short writeup about this video:
If I learned one thing from the ‘Automatic Writing’ video experience it would be that there are only two ingredients necessary to accomplish any goal; vision and determination. Somehow the universe throws you in the path of whatever else required for the rest of your journey. This project was a true labor of love and testament to our resourcefulness. What started as late night random idea tossing via instant message (oracles, drapetomania, solar eclipses?!?) quickly morphed into a 4 page video treatment. Shot intermittently during the early months of 2009, without a penny’s investment, Boombaye and I trooped through the streets and subways of New York City in true hip hop/guerrilla style shooting illegally on lo-fi equipment without a proper permit. Five months and a number of sleepless nights later, I’m ecstatic to present this piece to the world. Automatic Writing’s message of self reliance and empowerment resounds even more so with the accompanying imagery.
‘Close your eyes, it feels different here/ Sign of the times, almost in the clear/
I see spaceships on Flatbush, calling me back home/ Resetting the clock to begin again’
Cuing inspiration from my personal musical trinity of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and Afrika Bambaataa, ‘Automatic Writing’ serves as a statement to the building of a new world. A future world. A better world. The idea of midnight trains, chariots, and even spaceships carrying oppressed people away from their suffering are common themes in American Black music. As a people robbed of their past, now living in the present as aliens in a foreign land that constantly seeks to disparage their identity, we have no choice but to embrace the future and the promise it brings.
__
beatheads, extra credit for those who can tell me what i sampled. it’s actually pretty easy if you know your shit.
lessondary up!
MICHAEL JACKSON - 1958-2009
i’ll be perfectly honest.
when TMZ ran reports yesterday that michael jackson had suffered cardiac arrest and died in LA, i was moderately shocked, but largely unmoved. i can’t really put a finger on why, but i’m inclined to believe that so much of my recent experience and familiarity with the man had next to nothing to do with his music; he had been rendered a mere caricature of the iconic figure he once was: largely due to his own raging indiscretion, but ushered along to the stratospherically farcical display it had become by an abnormally intrusive media, even by Hollywood standards.
as i watched CNN for confirmation, my immediate recollection of him was that of a suspected (assumed) child molester, a man who’d possessed at least 5 of the most famous faces in the world- the most recent face being so far removed from the handsome young man who exploded into the world’s consciousness 35 years ago so as to be nearly unrecognizable; in short, a total mockery of the legacy he’d created over the years. it was easy to dismiss his death as the final chapter in a long, sordid story. i was taken aback by how unaffected i was.
then i started listening to his music.
and wiki’ing the incomprehensible breadth and scope of his career. and listening some more.
it finally started to hit me. michael jackson had died.
not just the michael jackson fumbling through interviews, saying all the wrong things in attempts to defend himself, or the michael jackson who couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the disconnect the rest of the world was having with his questionable dalliances with children, or the michael jackson who butchered his face into oblivion.
this was also the michael jackson who was a brilliant singer, one of the most talented vocalists of our time- with a fantastic range, precision vibrato and inimitable emotive skill. the michael jackson whose ability to take a stage and perform has gone unrivaled to this day. the michael jackson inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame TWICE, possibly one of the most important figures in the entire span of the ART FORM, surely vying for the most important in popular music, undisputed in a laundry-list of categories and creator of the musical backdrop for 100s of millions of people spanning nearly 4 decades. feats so awe inspiring, it makes the news of his untimely passing that much more criminal.
i spent about 20 minutes looking for a good image to attach with this entry. i won’t even touch on some of the things i saw, it just doesn’t seem right in this light. not trying to come off as above it; i spent my fair share of my time gawking and laughing at his expense (i even wanted him to go to jail) but the difficulty of the search quickly encapsulated what this man had to endure. i suspect even the most steely, detatched individual would struggle under the tremendous weight of an entire planet being obsessed with your every move. michael jackson was nothing of the sort, from all indication. to assume the attention- coupled with an unfortunate childhood- took its toll on his mind and body in ways we can only speculate on isn’t much of a reach.
in retrospect, everybody who had any contact with michael- whether it be directly, or just thru his music- is fortunate to have experienced his presence here. he had a rare energy he could synthesize and output to the world so that anybody in earshot could understand and enjoy it thoroughly. music outlets built their empires on his back. tabloids kept themselves in business at his expense. and now, we’re left finally to absorb the deafening impact of a genius silenced far too early.
words can’t express.
j smooth of illdoctrine tweeted a video he captured of what i imagine to be an impromptu sidewalk mini tribute to MJ last night:
pretty much.
RIP.
AYO TECHNOLOGY!
technological fails have been the recurring theme this year.
it’s not even funny.
ridiculous.
the most recent fail, my LaCie portable/external, happened late last week; a random, stupid attempt to power the drive off A/C. i can’t even account for the exact details of the fail but a fail is a fail. this not only has my laptop time machine backups, but all of my (9 gigs or so?) Battery 3 factory drums and countless albums i can’t even begin to remember.
the Triggerfinger isn’t completely dead, but it’s got connection issues that make it an absolute bitch to use. it’s just a hassle, and the saddest part is that the MPD32 is a long ways away from being copped. bleh.
so yeah.
but honestly, i’m tired of feeling bad for myself. fate taking shots at the kid but i all i can do is bob and weave son, bob and weave!
bob: i’m starting the process of mixing The Perpetual Contenders.
i wanna do a couple hours a day, just topping it off slowly, then i’ll have it uploaded to bandcamp.com. i hope you go out and at least drop a few cents on a track or somn. i’ll set it so you can name your own price, and then buy tracks separately or get the whole damn album!
weave: finally got the ball rolling with DJ Jamad, and the remix comp should be ready to get your hands on in a few weeks. hardcopies even! i’ll set some shit up here and elsewhere online where you can get it.
so yeah, man. bus don’t stop rolling. a lil dough and i’m back on the scene, crispy and clean.
[sorry to have left you for so long. -ed.]
