Friday's Track of the Day

Decided to go the video route today as i saw this ill MPC peformance by Exile. Here he is doing a track based around Herbie Hancock's classic "Watermelom Man." I really wish I could rock the MPC like he does. This is pretty dope:


Exile - Watermelon Man from Okayplayer on Vimeo.

and just because it led me here, here is a bonus short track called "Bounce":


Exile - Bounce from Okayplayer on Vimeo.

And lastly because Exile mentioned it, here is the promo for "DJ Dusk's Rootdown Soundclash." This is a must see. I was bobbing my head the whole time. I think the Thes One vs. Will I Am battle is the best due to the sick beats and great showmanship but they are all solid. Ch-Check it out:



After watching that again, I may have to re-watch the dvd, DAMN!

Friday Track of the Day

I love this song. It's "Backstrokin" by the Fatback Band. A funky ass track with some funny lyrics. "Lookin' for the good stuff, why don'tcha tighten up on your backstroke..." Just Listen:

Vote for Change!

I tried to embed a video but it wouldn't work, so click
here and peep Saul Williams' take on the election.

The Choice is Yours 2008

Yea, it may be a little cheesy but Dres of the Black Sheep remade their hit track in support of Obama, check it out and vote. You know the deal, make the right choice.

Happy Halloween!

Hockey Mom Gets Booed!

Just watch:

Hip-Hip Hooray!! Continued

This is a piece from ESPN's Sunday Countdown last week by Kenny Mayne about "Hip Hip Hooray," the quality isn't all that great (kinda like the 'Skins performance this past week). But it's worth the watch...

Vote Obama!

Hip-Hip Hooray!!

Gotta love the new Redskins cheer that Jim Zorn brought to the team. Here Antwaan Randle-El leads the team after its victory in Philly. I get a kick out of his little jumps, it makes me think of Popeye :

Vladimir likes the Redskins too...

Hail to the Redskins!

now watch this entertaining video especially the choreographed moves 1:20 in:

Ow!

Pay attention when you are behind the goal at a soccer game...

Friday Track of the Day - Featurecast

Featurecast is an artist from the UK who produces some pretty ill funky breaks. He has released a handful of singles recently on a few of my favorite labels, Goodgroove, Bomb Strikes, and Funk Weapons. I was recording the 12"s I have to mp3 and decided I was due to drop a Friday Track of the Day so here it is...

This track is "Stomp" off the Bomb Strikes release. Its an evil mix of a Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar riff, bangin' drums, and rap vocal snippets:



And as an added bonus here's a link to a couple of mixes he's done. I strongly recommend "Exceptionally Raw Stuff"

He plays at the Eighteenth Street Lounge tomorrow night (8/2).

M.O.P. vs. Sesame Street

Boy Did It Rain Last Night...

Last night, DC United played the Houston Dynamo at RFK Stadium. It was a game that had originally been scheduled for June 4th but was postponed after about 15 minutes of play due to torrential downpours and the field being flooded. So it was rescheduled for June 22nd, unfortunately there was a power outage in the stadium that day and the game once again had to be rescheduled for the next night. Last night, Wednesday June 23rd.



The game was delayed in the 54th minute with Houston up, 1-0. After a 2 hour and 54 minute rain delay the game was continued @ 11:40 pm with Houston winning 2-0 around 12:20 am.


(stolen from behindthebadge.com)

Friday's Track of the Day

Since I'm in Mexico I figured I'd drop this ill cover on you all. This track is called "The Mexican" and is remade by Marc Hype and Jim Dunloop with Sara Bourgeois on the vocals. They are a German duo who have released a bunch of really good tracks, most of which come out on the Melting Pot Music label. The original track is a B-Boy anthem by an English group named Babe Ruth and this is a worthy cover. With harder drums and slightly different instrumentation (Dunloop is a keyboard player and the original melody is guitar), this track really bumps:

Man on Wire

Last week I went to check out the SilverDocs, an annual documentary film festival in Silver Spring, MD. Tey played all sorts of films over the course of a week and I went to see one called "Man on Wire." It is a story about a French wire walker who puts a wire up between the two World Trade Center towers and walks between them. The documentary shows his planning and pulling off of "Le Coup" and it's quite a good story with lots of archival footage and decent reinactments. I've heard it's going to get a wider release in July in the US so be on the lookout for it, it's definitely worth seeing.

Here's an interview from the Sundance Film Festival where it won both the Grand Jury and the Audience Prize in the World Cinema category:

Mix of the Week

Here's a downtempo beats mix I did quite sometime ago. It is the 2nd in a mix "series" I was working on. I don't think I ever did a recording of the first half. It was recorded almost exactly 2 years ago to the day. There isn't really a title for it so I'm gonna just call it "Downtempo 2" and maybe someday I'll put together a first one again, I actually have the records for that in order still. It is primarily downtempo tracks and hip-hop instrumentals with some hip-hop tracks and rare groove to end it out. Tracks are all good, mixing sometimes isn't. Oh well, hope you enjoy anyhow.

Euro 2008

So for some reason I've been watching the UEFA championships for over a week now and haven't mentioned it once. So just quickly...

Go Holland!



Gotta love the Orange. They are due for a big win, hopefully this is the year! It's been a really enjoyable tournament to watch. Good games, great goals. Thank you ESPN for getting all the games on tv.

And some music to enjoy with a game: "Qualified" by Soul Patrol, done for the World Cup in 2006:

Friday's Track(s) of the Day

I'm going to Guanajuato, Mexico tomorrow for a week so here are a couple of Rufus Thomas covers dones by Mexican bands. They are classic tracks that you'll recognize: "Push & Pull" and "(Do) The Funky Chicken"





Posts will be popping up over the course of the week so stay tuned...

DC Area Beat's Spectacular

Time to rep some beats from the DC area. First is a track by See-I called "The King" and this is a remix by Magic Fly. It came out on a 10" 6 months ago or so. See-I is a live reggae group from DC featuring some members of Thievery Corporation (vocalists Roots & Zeebo, guitarist/sitar player Rob Myers, and saxophonist Frank Mitchell). They rock the house when they perform and supposedly have an album coming out in the future.



Next is a track that just came out that is by a few different artists. It is titled "SBC" by the All Good Funk Alliance vs. Neighbour featuring Wax Romeo. AGFA hail from Virginia (yea, I know it's not DC, that's why I put "area" in the title of the post), while the other 2 dudes are from Canada (most def not DC, more like BC). All artists involved are into the funky breaks sorta sound. I tend to like the AGFA sound a bit more than the others but here working together they create a nice little track.



Going on vacation Saturday. More on that tomorrow as I drop a gem or two on you for Friday's pick... and don't worry, I'm gonna try to get some posts up while I'm away, I think I can pull it off.

Editor's note: Audio's not working, will try to get operational later this afternoon

Editor's note II: Maybe it is working, just slow to load

Natalia Clavier (and more ESL releases)

Natalia Clavier is the newest artist to release an album on the ESL music label. She is from Barcelona via Buenos Aires. Her debut album, "Nectar," featuring help from Federico Aubele and production by the Thievery Corporation's Eric Hilton came out this past Tuesday and, while it features no suprises musically, is very solid. Instrumentation is what you'd expect with some hip-hop/ downtempo beats, acoustic guitars, and airy spanish female vocals. A nice release with a great calm vibe to it. She has been featured on all of Aubele's previous albums and especially heavily on "Panamericana." Highly recommended for fans of ESL Music releases. Here's video of her and Federico performing "Diario de Viaje" during an acoustic set from his first album "GranHotelBuenosAires"



Oh, and I just saw that ESL has two other releases that just came out, a Federico Auble live acoustic set and, even better, a new Ocote Soul Sounds album. Ocote Soul Sounds are a group that do a fusion of a lot of different sounds but to put it simply I would say it's laid back latin funk. I should picked that one up the other day. Maybe tomorrow...

Friday's Track of the Day

This track came out last year but I just picked up the 12" today @ DJ Hut. It's the B-side to Marco Polo's single from his album, Port Authority, and it's a track called "Nostalgia" featuring lyrics by Masta Ace. The beats on that classic hip-hop steez, with a nice guitar loop and boom bap drums, and the A.C.E. kills it. A good track for the summertime.

Got my computer working again...

Yesterday evening after too much time messing around with my computer I finally got my audio interface for my computer working again. I had messed around with it to varying degrees over the course of the last year with little luck, yesterday I did everything I had tried before plus I switched some cabling and moving some PCI cards inside my computer. Well, none of that worked but I essentially limited it down to a program error. So I downloaded some updated drivers and that worked for a bit. So as a test, I recorded a whole record in one hour long take. The record was the one on my turntable, "Cicero Park" by Hot Chocolate (I picked this up in a quick dig last week for $0.25, it was a good day where I got about 8 records for $1.50.) Not really that spectacular an album but it does have a couple of decent tracks, one of which has been sampled in the hip-hop realm. I can't place the exact track that used it but it has a west coast sorta vibe to it. Let me know if you can place who sampled it.



Getting my computer to work gave me a natural high...
More tracks to come in the future if my computer holds up. I sure as hell hope it does.

DC United Game last night

Game didn't happen, it rained too much. The Barra Brava & Screaming Eagles had alot of fun though. And it was fun to watch them for a bit from under cover cuz it poured like crazy. Game to rescheduled and I'm looking forward to sitting in our actual seats because they are right behind these crazy people:

Top 5 DC United Goals of All Time

The title says it all, I remember watching the #2 goal on tv before I really became a huge DCU fan, as it was the first season of MLS. It was pouring rain for the whole game and the field was such a mess, it was hard to see anything because the cameras were wet. What a game! The start of a dynasty.
I like the Freddy Adu goal too, he pulls a nice move to get by one defender and just burns down the field.



Goin' to RFK tomorrow night to see them vs. defending champs Houston Dynamo. I'll be sitting just behind the Barra Brava so it'll be rockin' and rollin' and I'll be lookin' for a win. DC UNITED!

Worst First Pitch Ever

Just for laughs.
Here is Mariah Carey throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game in Japan recently. What a horrible throw, I can't even fathom how she threw this so badly. Oh well, at least she got all dolled up for it:

Touch Screen Turntable

Now here's some real crazy ish.

From the web:

The ATTIGO TT was created by Scott Hobbs, a student at Dundee University studying innovative product design. For his final year project he’s created a touch screen turntable that lets DJ’s loop, sample and scratch wave forms just as you would a record. The size of the touchtable is approximately the same as a standard turntable, making the physical interaction nearly the same. Where this takes off is in the flexibility and features included right at your fingertips, no longer locked up on a computer screen. The ATTIGO TT is currently a working prototype, and Scott is looking for manufacturers to partner with.


Final Product // ATTIGO TT from Scott Hobbs on Vimeo.

DJ Shadow played by live bands

The other night I was listening to a great compilation of Melting Pot Music releases and a re-done version of DJ Shadow's "Organ Donor" came on. The original version and subsequent "extended overhaul" remix are excellent tracks but it's really neat that an artist did a live instrument version of it. It's pulled off really nicely, complete with cowbell solo instead of turntables. The group is called Lefties Soul Connection and they are funk group from Amsterdamn. Here is a live video of them performing the song somewhere:



Also related to this is an even cooler phenomena. The high school jazz band playing DJ Shadow tracks. Boy do I wish that in high school that my band director was cool enough to help arrange some dope beats into music that can be played by a band. I mean jazz bad was fun and all but this would have been amazing. Here is a group called the Shadow Percussion Project playing a few selections off of DJ Shadow's first debut opus "Endtroducing..." I came across this sometime ago but it is still some cool stuff:



And a couple of years later:



Brian Udelhofen, you are the man.

Woah!

I'm gonna go ahead and call this some next level ish. Watch the video below and check out some of the other works he's done. This was made by an artist named Blu:


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Everybodies Hatin' LeBron!!

Wow, this track is straight funny. It's by Brian Scalabrine, a forward for the Boston Celtics, and boy does he rip LeBron a new one. Well actually it's by some dude from Canada named Justin Everest Skeets who is pretending he's the player but no matter it's fire. Too funny. The track is called "'Scal Says," and it's over the Pharoahe Monch "Simon Says" beat (not suprisingly).It's great (and ig'nant), I've listened to it 3 times in a row now. Actually make that 4 (with the 5th coming up soon). The best part is the "Boobie" Gibson line. But overall some good references to LeBron are thrown in. Too much.

Now for your enjoyment, here's the track with the lyrics below:



Fuck LeBron up!
Go ahead and fuck LeBron up!
Throw your bows up in his face (Why! Why! Why! Why!)
Celtics in the house hurtin’ fuckin’ cry babies
LeBron, suck on your Boobie (Giiiiiiiibson)
Yeah I said it — suck on your Boobie
Boston will end shit that the Wiz done started
Add Jay-Z and LeBron to the dearly departed

Y’all know the name
Brian-Scal-a-breen-ee, ain’t a damn thang changed
You think ya sliced bread, but your shit be overrated
I’m a hit ya so you hard, Mom will feel it inebriated
I’ll elevate the pain, with a long-term goal
Use five fouls on ya face, and one on your soul
You make millions throwin’ dust, I ride stationary bikes
But when I’m in Long Beach, then my shit be tight
And when I’m on the court, one-point-eight points, son
Extrapolate over forty and who da real Chosen One?
So get nervous LeBron, cuz we bringin’ da harm
While you chewin’ on your fingers, I’m bitin’ off your arm

Fuck LeBron up!
Go ahead and fuck LeBron up!
Throw your bows up in his face (Why! Why! Why! Why!)
Celtics in the house hurtin’ fuckin’ cry babies
LeBron, suck on your Boobie (Giiiiiiiibson)
Fuck I said it — suck on your Boobie
Boston will end shit that the Wiz done started
Add Jay-Z and LeBron to the dearly departed

(Yo, where you at Queen?) Wes, let me see him
Notorious for cryin’ from a love tap to the chin
Veal took over the beef, put him in a mausoleum
And the pain won’t stop comin’ til after eleven PM
Bark the KG, pierce like Paul
Kick you in the back, stick you for your ESPY award
In front of Beyonce, Jay, your 1st and 2nd born
Make your coach get on the horn call Commissioner David Stern
So he could persuade me to squash it, I saw naw he started it
He forgot what playoff basketball is
And playoff ball is you about to Witness-es-es
Your face meetin’ my elbow or my fist-es-es
Wicked good hits, that’s what Beantown say
You holdin’ up the series, now get outta the way

Fuck LeBron up!
Go ahead and fuck LeBron up!
Throw your bows up in his face (Why! Why! Why! Why!)
Celtics in the house hurtin’ fuckin’ cry babies
LeBron, suck on your Boobie (Giiiiiiiibson)
I said — suck on your Boobie
Boston will end shit that the Wiz done started
Add Jay-Z and LeBron to the dearly departed

I'm From DC!!

Just gotta put it out there. Peace to Jamie for the link...

Favela Rising

Favela Rising is a documentary about a "favela" (slum) in Brazil and the violence, drugs, and mayhem that the residents live in. But most importantly, it is a story about a group of people rising above the fray and becoming respected citizens of the area by creating music and bringing the youth together to teach them about music and other socially positive aspects, thus helping to bring an end to much of the negative that surrounds them. The music group they form is called Afro Reggae and the sound is a mix of rap, rock, reggae, electronic, and samba music. Check out live performance of, "Nenhum Motivo Explica a Guerra (There is No Motive for War)," the single from their second album (or download the album version here):



The movement is led by Anderson Sa, a reformed drug dealer, who is an amazing person. He becomes a revolutionary leader after many friends and family are killed in a massacre and gains the respect of so many people both in his, and other, favelas, something that is near impossible to achieve. This documentary is quite powerful and definitely worth watching. Some tough scenes but overall the uplifting idea that music can change an area is great and makes this an amazing story. Keep your eyes out for it, it may be tough to find at your traditional sorta rental places. I bought it outright so if you're fiendin' to see it let me know. Check out the trailer:

Pic I Like

Nothin' to report. I think my AC @ work has shit the bed, gettin' pretty warm indoors. Was going thru some pics on my photobucket account and felt like posting this. That is all.

It's on...

One hour to tip-off, DC has responded. Game 6 it is on!



Stand up DC!! Go Wizards! Beat LeBron. Let's Go!

Sleeveface

So I've seen these done a bunch but didn't know there was a website devoted to doing this:



As you can probably tell, it's a cool concept that can be pulled off well with the right record sleeve and overall idea.

Check out more @ Sleeveface.com

Also, it just doesn't have to be faces:



Now I need to go home and start digging thru records for a good one to do. Maybe one day I'll post one.

Mixtape: Julie Parrty Mix

Here is a mix I mentioned putting up here last week. It is an old mix I made for a friend's birthday party in 2002 (the party was on 12/16/02, to be exact). It's a mix of classic hip-hop jams (I called it "Julie Parrty Mix") and from a quick listen I can say that the tracks are good but the mixing and scratching are somewhat suspect. But whatever, I am still posting it up here for everyone to check out. Like the title says it was made for my friend, Julie, who passed away early this month. This isn't meant as a sentimental mix of songs by any means, really just wanted to revisit the mix given the circumstances and figured it was now or never. I went by DJ Naive at the time but call it a mix by Jayemzee. So here is it, check it out, please forgive any sloppiness, and enjoy. And remember, live and love life to the fullest as Julie did and I'm sure she wants us to do now.



Side A Tracklisting:

Fugees - Nappy Heads (remix)
The Pharcyde - Soulflower (remix)
The Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies
A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario
House of Pain - Jump Around (Pete Rock remix)
The Beatnuts - Watch Out Now
Erick Sermon & Redman - React
Jay-Z - I Just Wanna Love U
Ol' Dirty Bastart - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Dr. Dre (w. Snoop) - Nuthin' But a G Thang
Dr. Dre (w. Snoop) - The Next Episode
Notorious BIG - Hypnotize
2Pac & Digital Underground - I Get Around



Side B Tracklisting:

Zimbabwe Legit - To Bead or Not to Bead
Naughty By Nature - Hip-Hop Hooray
Black Sheep - The Choice is Yours (revisited)
Redman - Time 4 Sum Aksion
Young Black Teenagers - Tap the Bottle
Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance
DMX -Born Loser
A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
Notorious BIG - Juicy (Pete Rock remix)
Ed O.G & the Bulldogs - I Got to Have It
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - A Touch of Jazz (inst.)
3rd Bass - Pop Goes the Weasel
Slick Rick - Children's Story
Run-DMC - Peter Piper

Finally, this is a start in a few mixes I've made that are in digital (or can be in digital) format. More to come next week. I wish my computer recording program wasn't on the skitz because I would love to make new ones. One day...

The Roots do Go-Go

Well, it may not be 100% Go-Go but its definitely got that go-go swing to it...



This is the last track off of the new album "Rising Down" and it features DC's own new hip-hop sensation Wale (pronounced "Wah-lay"). I have to admit I am really not familiar with his work but I do have an older mix by him that I am going to give a listen to sometime very soon (as in, once I dump it on my ipod, so tonight or tomorrow.) You can download that here:Wale: 100 Miles and Running

So back to the Roots track. I had heard about this track before the album dropped and the Roots labeled it "go-go influenced" hip-hop. I agree it's not go-go but damn, the influence is strong. After the chorus intro, the instrumental starts and definitely has that live go-go feel. Then Black Thought drops a few lines and, boom, all of a sudden the head-nodding go-go beat starts. I can hear it banging on the streets of DC, from the cats on the buckets around the Verizon Center (and Georgetown back in the day) to the radio to spots in between. Hell yea. That is nice. Thank you Roots for droppin' some go-go and giving a District area artist a chance to shine.

I'm gonna do a post dedicated to the Godfather of DC Go-Go, Chuck Brown, sometime soon so stay tuned. Peace.

New Portishead!!!! Album & Live Recording

It's been too long. Finally the new album, Third, dropped today. I copped the vinyl over the weekend and gave it a spin last night for Monopoly Monday. The album is decent but most defintely needs some more spins before I really pass judgement. I will say that it is a little bit more experimental than past works with a few instrumental only cuts but overall it still has that moody beats sound with Beth Gibbons haunting vocals. Glad to have it and looking forward to more listens.

This morning I was trolling the 'net and came across a live recording from Coachella which was just this past weekend. Here is the single from the album, Machine Gun, live. It is a very agressive track with digital "machine gun" sounding snare hits:



Finally, here is a link to the whole show on .zip format. it is a good mix of new and old and the quality is not too horrible though it could be a bit better: Portishead Live @ Coachella '08

Enjoy!

Jay-Z Disses DeShawn

boomp3.com

Jay-Z decided to jump into the fray even though he "so big (he) ain't gotta respond." I knew those he and LeBron were boys since they hosted an all-star game party together this year but who would've thought that Sean Carter would make a track backing up LeBron and dissing DeShawn and, in reality, wouldn't this be more a diss towards Soulja Boy. Classy stuff about spending the night with DeShawn's girl and being offended by being mentioned, (didn't LeBron make the whole Jay-Z/ Soulja Boy comparison?) What I find to me the most offensive is this track made its debut at a party for LeBron at a club in DC on Friday night. Supposedly Damon "I haven't played this series" Jones got on the mic and started saying some pretty dirty stuff afterwards. This prompted Caron Butler to exit the building as he felt offended in his own town. Man, LeBron is a bitch,I can't stand him. He gets too many calls, takes too many steps, and is generally a crybaby when things don't go his way.

Soulja Boy vs. Lebron James

Now onto something a bit more upbeat, I would even say it's funny...

So Soulja Boy feels that LeBron James has disrespected him. This all started last month when Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson called LeBron "overrated." Now as much as can't stand "King James" this is not so true and he is really a beast on the court. But I can't get mad at DeShawn for trying to get under the guy's skin as the Cav's seem to have the Wizards number in the playoffs (not this year hopefully), but back to the story...

So in an interview afer Stevenson's remarks, BronBron was asked about the comments and said this, "it's kind of funny. It's almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy. It doesn't make sense to respond." Well I think thats a response, its dissing Stevenson. But Soulja Boy also took it as a diss to him. He has this to say just the other day about it, "Someone from Interscope Records called me and sent me the quote, I looked and didn't really think much about it. LeBron said something like he was Jay-Z and DeShawn [Stevenson] is Soulja Boy. I took that as [disrespectful]." So clearly he wasn't happy in that regard but went on to say, "this makes me feel like a very important individual. I'm in the middle of this conversation in the playoffs, and that makes me feel good."

I guess I'm happy if Soulja Boy is happy. Shouldn't we all be?

For real though, I like the fact that someone basically said that Soulja Boy is a blip on the screen and not worth real artists time because his 15 minutes are just about up. With such great lyrics like "supaman dat ho" and telling kids to tell people "yahhh, trick, yahhh" when you want them to go away, I don't think that he should have even gotten 15 seconds.

So thanks LeBron, even though you dissed DeShawn thanks for getting at Soulja Boy too, even though thats too easy.

So its been a minute...

Life's been interesting in the past couple of weeks. Things have been kind of turned upside down but are working there way back around. A friend passed away recently and blogging kind of felt like a waste of time, really nothing seemed to be important enough to b.s. about. The friend was Julie Granum, someone I had known for pretty much forever as I have been best friends with her brother Jamie since about kindergarten and my sister was one of her best friends since they met at a similar young age. Really tragic as Julie was truly a one of a kind person who had the most amazingly postive outlook on life, such a great soul. Someone who will be truly missed by the many people whose lives she touched in so many ways. So happy, loving, caring, so many adjectives to describe her and all of them positive but I feel that word cannot properly describe her. She will be missed so greatly.

I am in the process of converting a tape to digital that I had made for a birthday party for her in 2002. Nothing really sentimental with regards to the track selection but I figured if i was going to ever listen to the mix again now was the time. So that will appear up here before the end of the week...

In closing, here is a video of one her favorite songs. It was played to close out the funeral and is really quite wonderful. Julie, I (and so many others) will miss you. R.I.P. Much love and peace from now until eternity. Until we meet again..............

The Roots are coming

Sunday April 2oth is gonna be a good day. Not only is it 4-20 but there is a big concert happening on the mall right in front of the Capitol. The headliners are the one and only Roots crew and rumors are starting to spread that "friends" of the Roots will be there too. Mos? Kweli? Common? Erykah Badu? I don't know but any show featuring the Roots is bound to be good and adding anyone else to lineup can only make it better. There is also going to be a DJ set by Thievery Corporation which should be cool as well. If only it was a live Thievery show I would have to say I found heaven, but oh well, no, just dj'ing. Other artists are performing as well, mostly local, but Toots and the Maytals is gonna be down here as well. So all the DC heads, this is a must see. The JTL crew will mos def be down there enjoying the day and the music. Hope to see some of you there. Oh and did I mention it's free!

Bush Gets Booed (YAY!)

Here's a video of the great George "Dubya" Bush getting booed before he throws out the first pitch at the Nationals new stadium. Classic. I must say, when I watched this live the other night I got quite a kick out of it. So enjoy, cuz I did for sure and I wish I could have been there to join in. This almost makes me want to support the Nats, not yet tho. Go Red Sox!

MPC Beast

So I've generally avoided anything Anticon related as it is generally the epitome of nerd rap. I've heard some of the artists in this crew on occasion it's pretty painful to hear them rap, let alone some of the beats are really out there. I am a fan of Sage Francis but he is not really down with this crew anymore.

So back to the point, I saw this video and had to share it, it is Jel, a producer and rapper from the group, Themselves. I can't say I know much more about it except that it's all live and really dope...



and here is another one, not quite as impressive but the angles are pretty cool...

tape deck dj'ing

so i came across a link to this video on another blog and i had to get it up here. this dude is sick and started doing cassettes when he couldn't afford turntables. this is truly some next level 'ish. nuff respect...



and then this other short video with a guy cutting it up with just a shoebox tape recorder modified with a cut off switch, nice:




i wanna get myself some boomboxes or other tape recorders and start tearing them apart so i can try my hand at this, but i think i'll stick to the regular old technics.

"Don't get chumpatized"

Watched a great documentary last night that I would recommend checking out. It was called King of Kong: a fistful of quarters. Check out the trailer on the website. If you are a child of the 80's or love video games in general its worth seeing this film. Well done with a good story behind it, and one of the characters last names was Mitchell (too bad he didn't come off as too good a guy, oh well) So yea, check out this doc, peace to Tiny for being "king of documentaries" and having seen it already so I knew it was gonna be damn good. And remember kids, "don't get chumpatized..."

DCU

DC United started play this past week with a 1-1 tie against Jamaica's Harbour View FC in the CONCACAF Champion's Cup. The 2nd game in the home/away series is Tuesday night at good 'ol RFK Stadium, and they need a win to advance to the next round. I was given tickets to go for free (yes!) so I look forward to attending and cheering on the black and red, and hopefully finally securing myself a DCU scarf. I can't wait for the game and I also already got my tickets for the MLS regular season opener on April 5th. I'm hoping this season ends better than last and I also hope I can make it to alot of games this year. The price is right and the atmosphere is great. I would most def recommend attending some games. If you wanna go to one let me know cuz I am always down for a game. Big things happening in '08. DC UNITED!

My 1st Blog Post

welcome to my blog, i will be talking about things i come across in my daily life, which means most of it will be related to music and sports. i am a vinyl lover and try to buy a few records (at least) a week and i have thousands of them at home. i am also a big sports fan with an allegiance towards dc area teams (redskins, wizards, dc united) with the only exception being that i am red sox fan (i lived in boston for a while and drank the water, but i am not a huge baseball fan.)

mostly i am going to talk about dc, sports, my love of vinyl, and other misc. things that i find interesting. i'll try to link to cool things on the web, add some audio worth hearing, and maybe even putting some links up to d'l good music. plus i can relearn some html encoding and whatnot that's always good to know in this digital age.

hope you enjoy checking out my blog, so here goes...