SO I really don't have an excuse as to why I have stopped posting for so long, I'm kind of in a state of indolence, which isn't all that bad, but it's just hard to get things done. Further more, TENDERLEGS is back on my list of current and constant 'things to do' so for anyone who is still dropping by, keep coming because, although I'm not making any solid statements, I'm assuring that I will be posting on here very often. I am happy to once again utilize this as an outlet to share some of my insight, humor, and of course the beloved MPfreezies with whomever wants it.
This is now a sOlO pRoJeCt ran by, yr boy truly, so expect a more broadened pallet of eclectic music choices, unbound by 'whats hot' blogsphere buzz and streaming FM bullshit. I try to provide blog raiders and music lovers with the most cultured and veritable sound boutique free to range from funky to classy to down right annoying. So if your reading this, thank you for devoting some of your precious time to read my little blog.
Time is golden now, so that you spend it here is, in itself, a major compliment.
The man is an amazing photog. He captures images from all around and all are, to say the least, astounding. He posts a new picture every day on his blog, so check it and rep it. here are some that I enjoyed;
As I stated in a previous blog, beloved stand-up comdian and actor Bernie Mac passed away on Saturday. Today another talented man was lost. 70's soul singer/songwriter/composer Issac Hayes (best known for his original theme song for "Shaft" and the voice of "Chef" on South Park) was found unconcious next to a running treadmill, and brought to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 65.
Maybe it's the militant inside of me, but I swear if another upstanding, successful black man in the industry dies, I'll have no choice but to suspect foul play. This is ridiculous.
King of Comedy that is. Chicago raised, Bernie Mac was hospitalized in early August for pneumonia. He died after his condition grew 'critical' and passed away Saturday August 9th.
Lets remember..
rest in peace Bernard Jeffrey McCullough 1957-2008
So theres a lot of really cool cats in the underground hip-hop scene right now and I'm going to be introducing a lot of them to you in the next couple of weeks. Among all the LA based beat droppers that have been producing some real dope music, is this one man music show who goes by the name of Blockhead. Born Tony Simon in Manhattan New York, has produced several EP's and singles, Three solo albums including Downtown Science which is a beautiful/ominous inner city broken love affair, clearly the emotional highpoint of his work. He's also widely known for production work for a lot of Aesop Rock's records, some dating back to 1999, and others that are more present, such as one of their latest releases None Shall Pass.
He's evolved into one of underground hip-hop's heavy hitters, and one of the best producers out there, mainstream or otherwise. Regardless of all that, he is still very over-looked! That of which I don't understand. Music these days seems like a competition as to who can exploit themselves the most, and sadly enough, dedicated artists with real talent, such as himself, often go unappreciated because they refuse to make a mockery of themselves, and give up the last bit of dignity that the term "artists" has left. Make sure to hit up his Myspace and show some support, tell em' who sent you.
Mp3: Blockhead - Cheer Up Your Not Dead Yet [Zshare] Mp3: Blockhead - The Hucklebuck Slice [Zshare]
A new album is set to release Sept. 23rd by the ridiculously diverse """"indie rock"""" band from New York, TV on the Radio. Since they released their latest album in 2006, Return To Cookie Mountain, just about everyone flipped the fuck out over these guys, and those who didn't simply, and obviously, don't know whats up. I would try to describe the sound thats created when these guys come together, but I would be limiting them to something so general as a description, and thats not like TVOTR at all. Saying that they are any certain genre[s] would be saying that they've done something thats already been done before, which is not the case. There more likely to be labeled as emotions, rather than genres; feelings and vast concepts.
I've practically been married to TVOTR since 2004, when my friends sister [haha] would play their Young Liars EP, which they released a year before in 03, almost everytime I was at their house. I immediately fell in love. Most of their music isn't made for mass consumption or wide appeal, I believe it is simply made to please themselves, and those who understand their point of view.
They've grown as artists tremendously since their first album OK Calculator, which was just a bunch of tracks of them fucking around [basically] and mouthed beats and hums that sometimes overlap, they kind of had the best of both worlds when they released that album, hence all the whistling and mouth produced sound effects they can pull it off as a joke album, simply sarcasm, to avoid any negative commentary on, what some would call, a poor quality/poorly produced album, but in a sense it's kind of fucking genius. They didn't take it too seriously but a few songs from the self released album are actually really good, in example; Me-I, Los Mataban, Yr God, and their 16 minute stream of disorganized sound - On A Train. WHICH I found out is actually really pleasing to the ears when you are on a train.
Return to Cookie Mountain is purely hits, each song is really awesome, I"m pretty stuck on that album- that and the Young Liars EP, 5 tracks of pure gold. I can't even begin to ponder what Dear Science, is composed of but I have already assured myself that it's going to be an hour of mind blowage of epic proportions. I doubt I'll leave my house much, and if I do, it's me and my ipod haha. So don't forget, mark your calendars- Sept. 23, you better cop that shit! & also, for those of you like myself who live in Los Angeles, they'll be playing the Wiltern November 6th, for those of you who live up north- September 20th at Treasure Island Music Festival along with Hot Chip, CSS, Foals, and Goldfrapp...........oh, and Justice. Check it or deck it.
OK Calculator; Mp3: TV on the Radio - Me-I[Zshare] Mp3: TV on the Radio - Yr God[Zshare] Mp3: TV on the Radio - Los Mataban[Zshare] Mp3: TV on the Radio - Pulse of Pete[Zshare]
Young Liars EP; Mp3: TV on the Radio - Mr. Grieves[Zshare] Mp3: TV on the Radio - Young Liars[Zshare]
Return To Cookie Mountain; Mp3: TV on the Radio - Province[Zshare] mp3: TV on the Radio - Tonight(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)[Zshare] mp3: TV on the radio - I Was A Lover[Zshare]
Every day I ask myself one question: am I happy? And everyday the answer varies, depending on whatever events might have troubled me, or got me excited on life. Some days I think I couldn't be happier or more content, and other days I wonder why I'm even here. I might as well be a vegetable. But, when I honestly reflect on my life, I can't complain. My life is superb. I love who I am, and what my experiences have cultivated for me. I have an awesome apartment, friends, roomate, and job. I have a car, and my parents support me (to an extent). I get to experience Los Angeles and all it has to offer (believe it or not, there's actually intelligent things to do around here besides get sweated on by drunk 20-something-year old creepers to the thud of the crappiest mashup you think your ears have ever had the misfortune to hear). I've met awesome people who know awesome people that I feel I can genuinely collaborate with on multiple levels. Admittedly, these people are few and far in between, so I'd like to make more worth-while companions. Preferably people who don't embody the negative stereotype of LA. I'm trying to get out more and take chances with new things, as to avoid a monotonous routine. I'm not quite ready to pack up and go, but that's usually the kind of itch I get when I feel my daily life has grown stale. I wanna stick around, and see what happens, or rather, be the one to make it happen.
Recently, my partner Sean, and I had our very first yard sale with GRAPE SODA VINTAGE, with Collective Souls. It was quite an endurance getting there, let me tell you. However, I am proud to say that once we did get there, everything fell into place, just as I had anticipated, and went off without a hitch! Turnout was great, tunes were bumpin, and everyone was there! Definitely looking forward to next months sale. And in case you haven't seen my most recent VLOG, thanks again to everyone who showed up and particularly to David, Olivia, Jonathan, and Sean G. for helping us set up! Look out for our Etsy store we'll be opening up to sell our more exclusive vintage pieces and original jewelry made by David (If you've seen me rockin a feather earring, that's the kind of stuff you should expect to see!)
My roomate, Veronyca, also has a reason to celebrate, as she just got back from her east coast tour and performance at HEEB'S Diamond Days festival in San Francisco, with her band. Shout out to JEFF, as they just got signed to an indie record label. She's also planning on living in San Fran for a while. Big things coming I hope!
Speaking of my roomie, Thursday night, we went to the UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade) Theatre in LA. Interestingly enough, Jeanine Garofalo (Whom was pointed out to me by Vee as the "scary girl from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion") was there and Dave Foley ( One of my gay heroes, from Kids in the Hall. I don't care if he is Canadian.). Her former teacher and his improv group had a show, which consisted of allowing audience members to shout out text messages as the start of their sketch. Clever indeed. And the next trio, Convoy, was straight out of Oregon and even more hilarious. Maybe it was the Jack Daniels, or the it's just the black in me, but I had to have been the loudest laugher in the room. I don't know, I just get a tickle in me when I'm in that 'theatrical/acting' mode. I get sort of aroused even. It inspires me. There's also a myspace show (on Wednesdays, click UCB link for full schedule) in which audience members volunteer to have their myspace profile projected and used as material for improv. Apparently, they get some real nut jobs who are more than willing to expose their 'myspace-self' and have their naivety about who they really are completely washed away. A sight I would pay good money to see myself. I wish I had time to be in theatre again. At least I still have my auditions. Granted, most of the jobs don't really get me 'off' artistically, but hey, it's money in my pocket. Thank jeebus I finally have a job where I can go to them, and I have an agent who works hard for me. It's nice having that unrelenting support. Makes my life a lot more pleasant.
I actually just had an audition for a spot in a Target commercial before work, which I think I could've been amped up a bit more, but honestly I just felt like shit this morning. But, I'm satisfied with the way I pulled it off. Mos def. Veronyca says I'm going to get it, because I need the money, and the universe always delivers. I'm gonna be positive and say I got it too, but boy am I going to feel dumb if I don't. Which won't happen. Right? Honestly, I'm not going to be heart-broken if I don't get it though. A lot of people ask me about this business, and how to get involved, but I can tell you from direct experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be. It's really interesting though, to see people who book jobs and are still trapped in this "Hollywood" fantasy land. As far as commercials go, which I tend to go on a lot of auditions for, as do most working actors, it's not necessarily about the talent. If you can smile and take take direction and feel comfortable doing strange and awkward things in front of people, you have potential to get work. It's really about the look that the casting directors are going for. So getting rejected, which will happen most of the time, is never a personal blow. And it's not to say you're ugly either (Good note to the girls: boys generally have an easier time booking jobs. Part of the reason being they don't always necessarily have to be 'good looking'. If you haven't noticed, most guys in commercials aren't what'd you consider to be GQ material, where as girls are almost constantly expected to look like the "girl next door".) Television and film is another story. But I'll save that for another time.
Anyways, now I'm at work until 7, and then afterwards I'm planning on hanging out with my friend CAESAR SEBASTIAN, who is an amazing photographer if you didn't already know. Tonight is Avalon: Busy P, Drop the Lime, you get the idea. Good shit.
And Saturday I have work again, 12-7, and afterwards the greatly anticipated RICKY'S STORY is showing at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax. If you have nothing to do, or your just not in the mood to "Bang", then I highly suggest you see this.
Sunday is work again, same time, and afterwards, no plans....YET. I'm sure that slot will fill in quickly though. Nothing else to touch on really.
Quick shout out to my homie Trevor (aka DJ SKEET SKEET) who's currently on the road with Shwayze on the 2008 Van's Warped Tour. He just sent me a little taste (pun intended) of his Now and Later rmx. Not allowed to post it, but I'm gonna brag and say it's dope already. I actually wanted a NowandLater after listening to it. HA!
I hope you all have a wonderful day, afternoon, or evening. I'm off to create my own affluence and shape my destiny. I can only pray I can say the same for you!
In case you already haven't heard, Estelle Getty passed away on Tuesday at the age of 84. I will fondly remember her as the spiciest of the golden girls, not to mention as my ideal image of the ultimate grandma. That woman let nothing stand in her way, not even Dorothy, her own flesh and blood! That's one bad mamma jamma if I do say so myself.
If you find absolutely no desire to spend money going to see any of the so-called 'summer blockbusters' you might want to invest in one of the Holyfuckingshit gore comedies at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax every saturday night in July at 10 pm.
The latest flick was the 80s underground horror, Street Trash, a hilariously portrayed dark comedy about a 'race' of bums living in a junk yard, and in true 80s fashion, the acting, special effects, and wardrobe is something to have a good laugh at.
It's out on dvd, and definitely ten bucks well spent. Not to mention, drinks, and smores are provided on the smoking patio, in accordance with the summer "camp" theme. Hope to see you there sometime..
As I said in an earlier post, the three artists collabed to make a track called 'My Drive Thru', as a Converse promotional campaign. They've been teasing the public with word of a video in the works and turns out it just dropped on the net as of right NOW.
And also, the inevitable exploitation. MTV jumped on her like she was new, but far from it. Santi White has been unleashing some golden tracks for quite some time now. I remember when she played at the 2007 Neighborhood Festival right after Crystal Castles, and everyone walked away (She put on a great performance though). But much time has past and the demographic that was once so opposed to any type of cultural extreme is now exposing it, and claiming it their own. Supposedly theirs some Santogold MOVIE coming out on their website????????! I don't even know... It's also [conveniently] staring all of her friends, such as Trouble Andrew, Amanda Blank, Some of the girls and boys in Sweatheart, etc. Their also in a bunch of MTV commercials too. But hey, do your thing! Oh, and shes also making a song with some dude and Pharrell called 'Drive Thru' for some Converse Century Celebration. They also drafted a bunch of other people as well such as the guys from Does It Offend You Yeah, MGMT, Yacht, Kid Sister, and to do what, I'm not sure. You can see all that crazy MTV shit I talked about earlier in the video below.
Do you want to dress in the flyest apparel? Well come and party and dance, buy sweet clothes, and get your picture taken! Sunday July 20th, starts @ 10.
Posts
