half a decade ago NOISEY had an INCREDIBLE series of interview videos moderated by THE QUIETUS founding editor JOHN DORAN (who also writes for THE GUARDIAN, THEWIRE , VICE and METAL HAMMER and creates programming for the BBC) called THE BRITISH MASTERS that got at the heart of what made a certain cadre of LEGENDARY ENGLISH musicians and songwriters of varying genres so IMPACTFUL and EFFECTIVE.  included in the mix were participants like TRICKY (MASSIVE ATTACK), JOHNNY MARR (THE SMITHS), COSEY FANNI TUTTI (THROBBING GRISTLE), JOHN LYDON (SEX PISTOLS, PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED), MARK E SMITH (THE FALL), ROOTS MANUVA, PAUL SIMONON (THE CLASH), BRYAN FERRY (ROXY MUSIC), DAMON ALBARN (BLUR, GORILLAZ), NEIL TENNANT (PET SHOP BOYS), VIV ALBERTINE (THE SLITS), GARY NUMAN (TUBEWAY ARMY), LIAM GALLAGHER (OASIS), GOLDIE and BRETT ANDERSON (SUEDE) among others.

my sense is that there is a certain mix of PAROCHIALISM at play in BRITAIN whereby it is SMALL and DISCONNECTED enough from nearby EUROPE to cultivate an INDEPENDENT arts scene without much outside influence.  conversely and completely counterintuitively ENGLAND's recent past as a colonial power allows it to have a DIVERSE cultural population that manifests in organically UNIQUE cultural products that reflect such.  just a look at the guests chosen for this series one is confronted with a myriad of sub-genres including PUNK ROCK, HIP HOP, INDUSTRIAL MUSIC, SYNTH POP, POST PUNK, BRITPOP, DRUM & BASS and TRIP HOP.  each represents a specific community, lifestyle with an attendant set of values that renders all of them uniquely BRITISH.

the cultural references utilized are now a bit dated, but THE BRITISH MASTERS still very much holds up and is well worth investigation.  definitely worth checking out.

i recently came across this rare promotional cassette release by the MULTI-FACETED NYC DANCE-INDUSTRIAL-PUNK-JUNGLE-METAL-ELECTRONIC band MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE that was meant as a bridge between their upcoming FRANKENSTEIN GIRLS WILL SEEM STRANGELY SEXY (ELEKTRA, 2000) album and their previously self-released INDEPENDENT TIGHT (UPPITY CRACKER, 199) release.  as such, the BITCHES (ELEKTRA, 1999) sampler has three songs from each release, namely "BITCHES," "CLARISSA" and "SEVEN ELEVEN" from FRANKENSTEIN GIRLS and "TIGHT," "PUSSY ALL NIGHT" and the METHOD MAN cover "BRING THE PAIN" from TIGHT.

ive never come across any MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE release on cassette out in the wild so this was quite a find (i.e. good luck finding either TIGHT or FRANKENSTEIN GIRLS), so i will use this review as my opportunity to speak on what made the band so SPECIAL on those early pair of releases.  my introduction was the band's debut TIGHT that i was exposed to shortly after moving to KUWAIT my junior year of high school via an AMERICAN classmate who had seen them open the previous summer for SOULFLY.  a tape of his copy made its way around to everyone in my circle of friends and that winter my family took a trip to GREECE where i found the follow-up FRANKENSTEIN GIRLS at a record store in ATHENS.  also on that trip my record haul included the first few DEVO albums just to give you an idea of where my head was at during that period.  once relocating to NEW JERSEY in the early 2000s, my brother and i saw MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE somewhere around twenty times in and around the tri-state area over a three-to-four year period.  they were like our GRATEFUL DEAD of sorts.

basically MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE sounded like nobody else sonically or lyrically.  their music would seemingly spontaneously shift dramatically in start stop spurts and trigger SAMPLES, BLAST BEATS, ARPEGGIATED KEYBOARD RUNS, FUNKY BASS LINES, etc.  it was music for the ADD set and those with absolutely no attention span as the hooks would just keep coming nonstop.  lyrically singer and main songwriter JIMMY URINE painted a world that enveloped everything from NERD CULTURE (i.e. COMICS, DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, VIDEO GAMES) to GANGSTER RAP to BLACK METAL and everything in between.  his persona was one of arch MOCKERY at all forms of authority, concepts of COOLNESS or INDUSTRY GATEKEEPING.  he represented very much an UNDEGROUND of DISAFFECTED and UNAPPRECIATED masses and chances are if you were unable to appreciate his HUMOR, then it was likely pointed at you in the first place.  enter FRED DURST who wanted to sign them to FLIP RECORDS way back in the day and at a LOS ANGELES showcase performance in front of record executives the band did a rendition of "I HATE JIMMY PAGE" that instead became "I HATE FRED DURST."  point taken.

its not that the band didnt have its supporters.  their sound was so uniquely UNPREDICTABLE and REVOLUTIONARY that, in my opinion at the time, made everyone else sound conventional by comparison.  this during the height of NU METAL with its emphasis on HYBRID sonic TEXTURES and supposed EXPERIMENTATION.  thus despite never enjoying a hit record to their name, MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE were championed by a diverse set of peers over the years, some they collaborated with and others repeatedly toured with, including everyone from LINKIN PARK, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, LORDS OF ACID, TAKING BACK SUNDAY and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE to THE DRESDEN DOLLS, COMBICHRIST, KORN, THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE and EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTENEN among many others. 

because their sound was so MULTI-FACETED it in essence became GENRE-LESS (which still seems to the modern definition by today's standards more than two decades later), it seems such was their downfall commercially.  they didnt fit neatly anywhere on the highly formatted radio playlists, irrespective of the push by a major label or highly successful peers.  subsequent releases seemed to be either attempts at pairing back and streamlining the formula, ie. YOU WILL REBEL TO ANYTHING (METROPOLIS, 2005) and IF (THE END, 2008), or revisiting and full-tilt revitalizing it, i.e. HOW I LEARNED TO STOP GIVING A SHIT AND LOVE MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE (UPPITY CRACKER, 2013). 

its a shame that such an EXHAUSTIVELY CREATIVE band never got their commercial due by a lame public that didnt understand them.  what makes matters worse is that URINE is still in the midst of lawsuit regarding the sexual assault of a minor back in the late 1990s.  as a fan its impossible to know what to believe.  obviously if such accusations are true then URINE deserves his reputation to be sullied and his sentence appropriate to the crime.  but its been a waiting game for a few years now as such plays out in court and its hard to know whats north or south on the subject.

but, yeah back in the day MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE was it.  a truly INNOVATIVE band that have only come tom arguably sound more RELEVANT today than back in their heyday.

there is a special pride you feel when you learn a GREAT band or artist is from NEW JERSEY (DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, PARLIAMENT, YO LA TENGO, SARAH VAUGHAN, THE MISFITS, PATTI SMITH, THE SHIRELLES), and such is definitely the case with NEXT-LEVEL BLACKENED DEATHCORE band LORNA SHORE. 

this band is so mind-meltingly BRUTAL with technical tempo shifts that range from PULVERIZING to EVISCERATING and a singer in WILL RAMOS that needs to be heard to be understood.  he is absolutely UNREAL.  i dont even think hes human, he must be half bear, half megalodon or something.  not to mention that the drummer AUSTIN ARCHEY is absolutely relentless with those precision blast beats.  no room to catch your breath at all.

definitely the most INTENSE band ive heard since PIG DESTROYER over a decade ago.  LORNA SHORE is well worth checking out.

parodies by nacrowe

with so much POP MUSIC in the digital age feeling manufactured and the end product of an extended marketing and research investigation, its REFRESHING to come across a TALENTED songwriter with global POP ambitions that sounds like themselves over an extended catalogue. such is the CAMBRIDGE native CHARLOTTE EMMA AITCHISON a.k.a. CHARLI XCX.

i came across the BRITISH singer-songwriter CHARLI XCX when her debut TRUE ROMANCE (ATLANTIC, 2013) came out just over a decade ago.  that release had an UPBEAT energy with a TRIPPY and SURREAL bend to it that was seemingly OUT-OF-STEP with the more outlandish output of LADY GAGA and her acolytes in RIHANNA, MILEY CYRUS, KATY PERRY and NIKKI MINAJ who all seemed bent on out-crazying each other on the visual front for attention.  what set CHARLI XCX apart from this crowd was her focus on songwriting with a slew of memorable tracks in "GRINS," "YOU - HA HA HA," "BLACK ROSES," "TAKE MY HAND," "YOU'RE THE ONE," "WHAT I LIKE," and especially "NUCLEAR SEASONS."  totally dug her debut.

i was teaching in VENEZUELA when her follow-up SUCKER (ATLANTIC, 2014) came out which was more PLAYFUL and direct and less TRIP-HOPy with songs that dealt with SELF-EMPOWERMENT themes.  STANDOUT tracks include "NEED UR LOVE," "BREAKING UP," "BOOM CLAP," "FAMOUS," "LONDON QUEEN," "SUCKER," and most noticeably in the ANTHEMIC "BREAK THE RULES."  these songs had more concise arrangements with MEMORABLE melodies often tinged with SELF-EFFACING HUMOR and BRAVADO to spare.  it also felt AUTHENTIC to her SONGWRITING PERSONA and INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE.  often times with POP STARS you get the feeling that it is all just a theatrical exercise for them, inhabiting on roles in songs that are divorced from their essence as INDIVIDUALS.  cant say that about CHARLI XCX since nothing feels forced or performative on her records.  in that sense she is less akin to that aforementioned list of peers that are in the BRITNEY SPEARS industry mold (minus LADY GAGA who writes her own material) and more in league with the more AUTHENTIC company of SONIC AUTEURS like PJ HARVEY, LORDE, BJORK, TAYLOR SWIFT, AMY WINEHOUSE or even MADONNA.

at least in my opinion.

her hot streak since those two releases has continued unabated with FUN and INTOXICATING album and non-album tracks like "1 NIGHT," "USED TO KNOW ME," "BLAME IT ON YOU," "1999," "GOOD ONES," "BEG FOR YOU," "ILY2," "YUCK," and "5 IN THE MORNING."  but my favorite track of hers bar none is the revelatory non-album single "BOYS" and its INGENIOUS music video (also directed by CHARLI XCX) that basically flips the script on the MALE GAZE.  instead of half-naked women vamping it up suggestively for the camera (a posture and approach she no doubt is familiar with), on "BOYS" there is a seemingly never-ending cavalcade of shirtless men fulfilling female PIN-UP TROPES from EATING PANCAKES, HOLDING PUPPIES, PILLOW FIGHTING, WASHING CARS, LOUNGING IN BED ON SATIN SHEETS, DRINKING MILK and PUMPING IRON to CHILLING WITH STUFFED ANIMALS, RIDING ON INFLATABLE FLAMINGOES, EATING ICE CREAM and WIELDING CHAINSAWS.  all in front of supposedly "feminine" pastel colored backdrops.  of the exhaustive seventy-five men included some notable participants include OLI SYKES (BRING ME THE HORIZON), DIPLO, STORMZY, MARK RONSON, WIZ KHALIFA, CARL BARAT (THE LIBERTINES), JOEY BADA$$, CHROMEO, EZRA KROENIG & ROSTAM BATMANGLIJ (VAMPIRE WEEKEND), MAC DEMARCO, WILL.I.AM (BLACK EYED PEAS), BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (FC BAYERN MUNICH), G-EAZY, FRANK CARTER (GALLOWS, PURE LOVE), TY DOLLA $IGN and JOE JONAS (JONAS BROTHERS).  i just love the fact that the music video is UNAPOLOGETICALLY playing the same game historically imposed on female entertainers by switching up the game and exploiting some quality MALE BEEFCAKE in the process.  feels like a concept that was a long time coming and it is done with more than a healthy dose of INTELLIGENT HUMOR and nudge-nudge, wink-wink SELF-AWARENESS.

im always looking forward to her next release, probably the only POP STAR i feel that way about.  especially now that she has completed her deal with ATLANTIC RECORDS and has all her options seemingly available to her a decade into a STELLAR career.  stay tuned.

embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired a little over a year ago. the playlist includes music from throughout CHARLI XCX's catalogue. enjoy!

back in the day as a pre-teen i heard the first few PEARL JAM releases completely out of order.  as i mentioned before, their third album VITALOGY (review linked HERE) along with SOUNDGARDEN's SUPERUNKNOWN (review linked HERE) were the first two record i ever owned as they were [very cool] christmas gifts from my parents back in 1994.  i was in fourth grade.

my initial impression of PEARL JAM's LEGENDARY debut TEN () album was completely contextualized by VITALOGY.  on VITALOGY, singer EDDIE VEDDER essentially took the creative reigns from guitarist STONE GOSSARD and very much created a sonically and thematically EXPERIMENTAL record that expressed his own personal grievance with being so personally identified with the convoluted ALTERNATIVE ROCK genre.  much like KURT COBAIN with NIRVANA's IN UTERO (review linked HERE), VITALOGY was VEDDER's attempt to determine his own narrative and that of his band and thwart and hopefully transcend audience expectations built up from TEN and VS (review linked HERE).

all that to say that when i first came across STRAIGHTFORWARD and ENERGETIC TEN tracks like "WHY GO," "PORCH," and "ONCE," i was basically waiting for a plot twist that never came to pass.  also, the ANTHEMIC singles "ALIVE," "JEREMY" and "EVEN FLOW," though incredible WELL-CONSTRUCTED and no doubt PASSIONATELY EXECUTED, still seemed cut from a TRADITIONAL songwriting playbook.  there were even extended guitar solos!  initially the songs that really hit me hard as a pre-teen were the more INTROSPECTIVE and SOLEMN numbers like "BLACK," "OCEANS," "GARDEN," and especially what i consider the best track on the record (and maybe their career) "RELEASE."  the way that song builds and crescendos is bordering on SPIRITUAL, which perfectly matches its lyrics about being able to transcend one's circumstances.  for me these tracks and the future emotionally RESONANT character studies they prefigure (like "DAUGHTER," "CORDUROY," "INDIFFERENCE," "OFF HE GOES," "NOTHING MAN," "OF THE GIRL," "ELDERLY WOMAN BEHIND THE COUNTER IN A SMALL TOWN," "NOTHING AS IT SEEMS," "BETTER MAN") are what set PEARL JAM apart from their ALTERNATIVE ROCK peers.  yes, its based in a tradition, but that includes CONTEMPLATIVE world-weary songwriters and craftsman from the FOLK, GOSPEL, R&B, BRITISH INVASION and even PUNK traditions.  its all in there.

sonically my favorite PEARL JAM album (how could it not?) will always be VITALOGY, but TEN is quite an AFFECTING achievement which makes sense given its history.  most of the tracks pre-date VEDDER's involvement and the original INSTRUMENTAL frameworks were concocted by GOSSARD and bassist JEFF AMENT of the recently dissolved MOTHER LOVE BONE, along with friend and fellow guitarist MIKE MCCREADY, in the wake of the death of singer ANDREW WOOD.  VEDDER, especially on the more MELANCHOLY tracks, very much tapped into something CATHARTIC that was being purged.  its a record that is a confluence of different voices in the band that would last another album cycle before VEDDER essentially took over.

needless to say, TEN is a great album that is worthy of all the acclaim its enjoyed for the past three decades.  well worth checking out.

the severe TRAUMA and PAIN involved with sustaining a major LOSS, along with the GRIEVING PROCESS thereafter, can be a seemingly ALL-ENCOMPASSING and an immeasurably TORTUROUS experience.  i cant even begin to imagine or empathize with the sheer depths of SORROW that musician ALAIN JOHANNES went through when he lost his wife and CREATIVE collaborator NATASHA SHNEIDER to CANCER in 2008.

if you are unfamiliar with the name JOHANNES, you may be more familiar with his work writing and supporting ALTERNATIVE ROCK juggernaut QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE as well as THEM CROOKED VULTURES, MARK LANEGAN, PJ HARVEY, ARCTIC MONKEYS and CHRIS CORNELL's early solo career among other NOTABLE projects.  interestingly, while still in high school in LOS ANGELES he led an INFLUENTIAL group called WHAT IS THIS? that had fellow classmates and future RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS musicians HILLEL SLOVAK, JACK IRONS and FLEA as members.  after meeting SHNEIDER, he started a new duo called WALK THE MOON and then later, after the PASSING of SLOVAK from a HEROIN OVERDOSE a few years later, IRONS left the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and joined JOHANNES and SHNEIDER in a new group called ELEVEN.  more so than his high profile gigs, ELEVEN is the DEFINITIVE project of his career as a musician given the deep TELEPATHIC and almost ALCHEMICAL INTIMACY that he shared with his wife on a PERSONAL, EMOTIONAL and MUSICAL LEVEL.  that INTENSE RAPPORT is understandably why he felt so severely BEREAVED and spiritually ISOLATED from the world and his formerly whole self.

having lived an extremely PERIPATETIC existence myself as a child moving from hemisphere to hemisphere, there is something about being a THIRD CULTURE KID that makes you extremely ADAPTABLE with the uncanny ability to make HOME anywhere.  yet at the same there is a ROOTLESSNESS that takes hold, the idea that you may be a citizen of everywhere but in reality NOWHERE.  i implicitly understand that perspective and how finding such a POWERFUL partner intrinsically grounds you on so many levels, many unspoken and unconscious.  JOHANNES being a polyglot and having lived in eight countries growing up while not knowing his birth father feels even to me like a heavy BURDEN to bear.  it makes sense that he grew to be such an EMPATHETIC songwriter and sought after musical collaborator.  its all very in keeping with truly being a THIRD CULTURE KID.

the documentary UNFINISHED PLAN: THE PATH OF ALAIN JOHANNES (GRAVITAS VENTURES, 2016) is very much centered around that AGONY and his road to finding SOLACE and MEANING anew in the world, even after the DEATHS of his partner, his mother and his birth father.  participants in this film include close friends and collaborators including every member of SOUNDGARDEN (i.e. CHRIS CORNELL, KIM THAYIL, BEN SHEPHERD and MATT CAMERON) as well as JOSH HOMME (KYUSS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THEM CROOKED VULTURES), MARK LANEGAN (SCREAMING TREES), DAVE CATCHING (EARTHLINGS?, RANCHO DE LA LUNA recording studio) and ALEX TURNER (ARCTIC MONKEYS).  what i found interesting was that JOHANNES discovering CHILEAN roots and being immediately embraced by their artistic and musical communities was both grounding and a REJUVENATING wellspring of HOPE, OPTIMISM and INSPIRATION in his life during what was undoubtedly a BLEAK PERIOD.  that warm embrace of a country he had no connection to outside of being born there and speaking the language provided a sense of CONNECTION when i can only imagine his instinct was to RETREAT and ISOLATE himself.  its all very moving and in keeping with what i have experienced about the people having lived in SOUTH AMERICA.

ultimately music is about CREATION and CONNECTION.  its such a uniquely human enterprise in that regard.  the greater community that supports such endeavors (musicians, recording engineers, concert promoters, independent radio, fans) at least provide a framework for REINTEGRATING oneself not only with a global audience, but with themselves and their own emotions.  this film in my opinion is more about that search for CONNECTION and MEANING in spite of tremendous GRIEF and PAIN, rather than the TRAUMA itself. 

music can do that.  or at least start the conversation.

RIP NATASHA SCHNEIDER, HILLEL SLOVAL, MARK LANEGAN & CHRIS CORNELL

SO REAL IT HURTS (SEVEN STORIES PRESS, 2019) is a compendium of CAUSTIC SCREEDS written by the VISIONARY NO WAVE musician and TRANSGRESSIVE author LYDIA LUNCH on everything ranging from WAR, CHILDHOOD, SLEEP, DEMOCRACY, MOTHERHOOD, DEATH, AIRPORT SECURITY, ADDICTION and writers HUBERT SELBY JR and HERBERT HUNCKE among other topics. 

to state that these essays are well-written is a major understatement as LUNCH is HYPER-LITERATE in her ability to voice with pinpoint VERBAL AGGRESSION all the woes of society that beguile and assault her.  in fact, her writing style is so unrelentingly ABRASIVE and AGGRIEVED that the experience of reading her work is one of CLAUSTROPHOBIA and SUFFOCATION.  you are basically entering a BASE realm where all the MUCK of existence is analyzed for all of its HYPOCRISY and TRUE DEBASED NATURE.  its not that she is necessarily wrong in her assessments of RETROGRADE VIEWS held by ORDINARY AMERICANS towards WOMEN, MINORITIES or anyone consider OUTSIDE OF SOCIETY, it is just that i dont want my face shoved in it.  and forcing her readership to wallow, inhale and imbibe the FILTH OF OUR PRIVILEGED EXISTENCE is LUNCH's speciality.  much like with her EXPERIMENTAL musical excursions with TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS, her writing is an OUTRIGHT CONFRONTATION.  a PREMEDITATED ASSAULT even, meant to jolt us out of our SOLIPSISTIC DAYDREAMING and force us to acknowledge our COMPLICITY in the DEBAUCHED state of national and global affairs.

at least that is what i think she is getting at.  it doesnt appear to be UNADULTERATED NIHILISM, there does seem to be a purpose to the EXTREME BILE and VITRIOL being spit at the reader.

im glad i read these essays, but im likewise relieved i dont have to do it again.  im EXHAUSTED.

it is difficult to stress how VITAL the MIXING PROCESS is within the overall PRODUCTION of music.  its all well and good to track clean INDIVIDUAL RECORDINGS of all your PARTS and INSTRUMENTS, but if the listener cannot appreciate the final product due to everything competing with each then its all for naught.  NAIL THE MIX is an ongoing subscription-based online audio school that basically gives participants all the stems of a song to MIX at home, only to learn from the MIXER on the project to explain via a livestream or prerecorded video how the end results were achieved.  which is pretty cool.

for someone like me that is not an AUDIO ENGINEER, learning how the sausage is made when it comes to MUSIC PRODUCTION is still very much endlessly FASCINATING.  a few years ago the longtime LEGENDARY BRITISH METAL publication KERRANG! took Q&A's from participating MIXERS and republished them under the MIXING MASTERS tag for their readers.  participating MIXERS include DAVE OTERO (CATTLE DECAPITATION, CEPHALIC CARNAGE, TETRARCH), ERIK RON (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, GODSMACK, SAOSIN, I PREVAIL, BLACK VEIL BRIDES, PANIC! AT THE DISCO), MACHINE (LAMB OF GOD, CLUTCH, VISION OF DISORDER, I AM THE AVALANCHE), KRISTIAN "KOHLE" KOHLMANNSLEHNER (ABORTED, CREMATORY, POWERWOLF, BENIGHTED), SAM PURA (STATE CHAMPS, THE STORY SO FAR, HUNDREDTH, BASEMENT) and KURT BALLOU (CONVERGE, KVELERTAK, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, TORCHE, HIGH ON FIRE, TRAP THEM).  its absolutely EDUCATIONAL and a PHENOMENAL new leaf worth turning even for avid fans of the genre with no background in MUSIC PRODUCTION.  definitely worth checking out.

much like its follow-up BACK IN BLACK (review linked HERE), the seminal CLASSIC ROCK album HIGHWAY TO HELL (ATLANTIC, 1979) by AUSTRALIAN ROCK N ROLL icons AC/DC is a transitional record.  it is the last record BON SCOTT is featured on before his untimely death and also is the first record to feature producer MUTT LANGE.

at the behest of their label ATLANTIC RECORDS, it marks their first creative effort with LEGENDARY ZAMBIAN-born producer LANGE after being forced to abandon their previous production team of GEORGE YOUNG, their brother, and HARRY VANDA.  the results are obvious, HIGHWAY TO HELL on tracks like "GIRL'S GOT RHTHYM," "SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES," "TOUCH TOO MUCH," "WALK ALL OVER YOU" and the title track "HIGHWAY TO HELL" all have a BEEFIER LOW-END that contributes to their trademark STOMP hitting that much harder as it accentuates the SWINGING PUSH-AND-PULL DYNAMICS of MALCOLM YOUNG's PERCUSSIVE DOWNSTROKES and drummer PHIL RUDD's ever-so-behind-the beat UPSTROKE snare hits.  the result is a pure GROOVE that empowers the record with a FORWARD MOMENTUM and POWER that was only hinted at on previous releases.  as such HIGHWAY TO HELL is a DEFINITIVE AC/DC record for the ages inasmuch as its CELEBRATED and emotionally charged follow-up.

as for SCOTT, his trademark SWAGGER and BRAVADO is on full display throughout the record.  when i he states at the close of "HIGHWAY TO HELL" that "im goin down / all the way / im on the highway to hell," there is a sense of UNADULTERATED INTENTION and AUTHENTIC COMMITMENT that is unquestioned, much like the similar LYRICAL SENTIMENTS of other ROCK N ROLL badasses of the period like LEMMY KILMISTER, PHIL LYNOTT, OZZY OSBOURNE or IGGY POP.  SCOTT really was a rare breed and his death seemingly marks an end to an era.  because of his LOOMING PRESENCE, its difficult to dissociate the record from his fate much like listening to IN UTERO or UNKNOWN PLEASURES or READY TO DIE or DOUBLE FANTASY.  its all baked into the cake at this point, but unlike those aforementioned albums, HIGHWAY TO HELL is pure celebration of a VIGOR for adventure and a LUST FOR LIFE that was uniquely BON SCOTT.  it stands forever as an eternal declaration of such and has been universally lionized ever since.  as for me, i have to be careful because when driving listening to this record, my speedometer has a tendency to ever so subtly creep northward. 

unlike SCOTT, i dont want to be on that highway to hell.  i just want to get home in one piece.

​RIP MALCOLM YOUNG & BON SCOTT

recently discovered the DANISH PROGRESSIVE METAL band VOLA while at working listening to MESHUGGAH on SPOTIFY.  at some point  it started playing similar artists and what i noticed straight-away with VOLA's song "SMARTFRIEND" was their similar BRUTAL sense of CRUSHING RIFFAGE that interweaved with the RHYTHMIC COMPLEXITY of several instruments playing different layered PATTERNS at the same TEMPO.  just like MESHUGGAH.  where they differentiated themselves were these SOARING CHORUS MELODIES courtesy of singer ASHER MYGIND.  just stopped me dead in my tracks.

VOLA is an INTRIGUING band since one minute they are GOJIRA reincarnate and the next MINUS THE BEAR.  the range of DYNAMICS and SONGWRITING PROWESS is pretty INCREDIBLE.  definitely worth checking out.

parody by nacrowe

i was first made aware of the BIRMINGHAM INDIE ELECTRONIC duo BROADCAST via a coworker at a bookstore i was employed at shortly after undergrad.  the dude a few years older and acted a bit WEIRD to me, which in retrospect may have been due to some insecurities related to my having attended and completed college.  something he didnt pursue.  whats interesting is that he was my first real encounter with a "hipster" as he refused to listen to anything remotely CONVENTIONAL or MAINSTREAM.  youd have thought being around college radio people (having had my own show for two years) would have given me some manner of experience with this type of person, but no.  turns out the college radio people were a pretty DIVERSE, OPEN-MINDED bunch of MUSIC NERDS.  like me or so i thought.

what was interesting about this coworker was the music he was into, which in retrospect was rather BULLETPROOF if not slightly ARCANE at the time. INDIE groups i hadnt come across (probably because i didnt read INDEPENDENT online music blogs) like STEREOLAB, THE MAGNETIC FIELDS, GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, DANIEL JOHNSTON, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, PIZZICATO FIVE, THE HIGH LLAMAS, MERZBOW, AIR, BELLE AND SEBASTIAN, NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL, THE APPLES IN STEREO and of course, BROADCAST.  the from his discography i was familiar with included THE FLAMING LIPS, THE JESUS LIZARD, THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS and OF MONTREAL.

what drew me to BROADCAST was the HAUNTED, CINEMATIC feel of the music and the EMOTIVE vocals of the late TRISH KEENAN.  this was music that felt like it was composed while watching one of those early-to-mid 1960s ANNA KARINA led JEAN-LUC GODARD films.  there is a deep sense of URBANE SOPHISTICATION and deep INCONSOLABLE SORROW that is unique to BROADCAST.  its an absolutely INTOXICATING dynamic and persists throughout their discography.  i wouldnt call them DEPRESSING, but their is an INTROVERTED posture to their music that feels mired in that SUNLESS, cloudy emotive state while maintaining some psychological distance from it.  its a feeling that is incredibly well-articulated while not resorting to cheap pity or blame.  almost as if this wave of grey DREARINESS is a state of being or consciousness.

much like AMBIENT artists like early APHEX TWIN or SEAFEEL or EXPERIMENTAL sound artists like BRIAN ENO, i can drift off listening to BROADCAST and feel fully enveloped in their aural landscapes of experiential GLOOM.  seems like a valid response to the state of the world as any other expression ive come across.  helps me acknowledge and confront such on an unspoken, unarticulated emotional level, similar to listening to JOY DIVISION or DRAB MAJESTY.

cant recommend BROADCAST with any more VIGOR or PASSION.  they were a truly great band that deserves more attention and accolades.

embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired a year ago. the playlist includes music from throughout BROADCAST's all-too-brief recorded catalogue. enjoy!

BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE (JIVE, 1996) is an INTRIGUING A TRIBE CALLED QUEST album in that it marks Q-TIP's growing PSYCHIC and EMOTIONAL DISTANCE from the project in the wake of producing and all around masterminding what are now considered STONE-COLD HIP HOP classics MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS (JIVE, 1991) and THE LOW END THEORY (JIVE, 1991).  this record is basically where he handed some of the reigns over to outside producers, including the relatively UNKNOWN, up-and-coming DETROIT production whiz JAMES YANCEY, a.k.a. J DILLA.

when i got into A TRIBE CALLED QUEST in high school i listened to their records completely out of order.  so BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE was actually the first of their albums i became acquainted with, and the hands down the track that stood above all others was the LAIDBACK, J DILLA-composed "GET A HOLD."  it has this HARD-HITTING beat that is pulled way, way back and has this undeniably LAZY, BREEZY energy that is absolutely CONTAGIOUS.  between that beat and hearing Q-TIP likewise stretch out the syllables in "com-for-tab-le" in the verse, i was hooked and basically sought out the rest of their discography in short order.

taken as a whole, this album suffers in comparison to its two aforementioned predecessors.  funnily enough BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE reminds me of similar predicaments by bands like METALLICA, JANE'S ADDICTION or WEEZER whose above average late career work is totally OVERSHADOWED by their TRANSCENDENT earlier material.  its not that its subpar, its just that it is competing with PERFECTION.  and a not fully engaged Q-TIP relegates this album and its follow-up THE LOVE MOVEMENT (JIVE, 1998) to the same cultural forgotten territory despite EXCELLENT singles.  interestingly enough, their final album WE GOT IT FROM HERE... THANK U FOR YOUR SERVICE (EPIC, 2016) released almost two decades later is a return to form and is arguably their FINEST hour.

​is BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE worth checking out?  of course.  A TRIBE CALLED QUEST is arguably the GREATEST HIP HOP group of all time [my opinion], so everything they released is worth listening to, even the solo albums.  "MOTIVATORS," "PHONY RAPPERS," "1NCE AGAIN," "THE JAM" and of course "GET A HOLD" are all STANDOUT tracks.  but id venture that this record is best enjoyed as a supplement to their more CELEBRATED and universally REVERED earlier albums.  it gives you a sense of their creative arc as a unit and what it sounds like once such an entity begins to break down.

RIP PHIFE DAWG.

i was made aware of the widely-revered AUSTRALIAN CINEMATOGRAPHER CHRISTOPHER DOYLE while taking a film elective sophomore year of high school.  it was a cinema appreciation class where an english teacher at the boarding school i was attending in MASSACHUSETTS essentially had students watch his personal favorite films, things like BILLY WILDER's SOME LIKE IT HOT (UNITED ARTISTS, 1959), INGMAR BERGMAN's WILD STRAWBERRIES (AB SVENSK, 1957), ORSON WELLES' CITIZEN KANE (RKO, 1941), MICHAEL CURTIZ' CASABLANCA (WARNER BROS, 1942), ROBERT WISE's WEST SIDE STORY (UNITED ARTISTS, 1961) and so on. 

it was in this educational context that i found myself absolutely floored by the EMOTIONALLY EVOCATIVE look, tone and feel of the VISUAL ARTISTRY present in WONG-KAR WAI's CELEBRATED film CHUNKING EXPRESS (JET TONE, 1994).  to me that movie felt like a love letter to all things HONG KONG, the tight-knit VIBRANCY of its PEOPLE, the FOOD, the ARCHITECTURE.  despite the seeming OVERWHELMING scale at play in describing a city of that scale, it is an INTIMATE portrayal of young people navigating their way through the narrative of their personal lives, an internal geography just as complicated as HONG KONG itself.  that INTIMACY is due to the uniquely LYRICAL nature of DOYLE's COMPOSITIONAL and TECHNICAL DECISIONS regarding his craft that come from a place of EMPATHY and RISK-TAKING on set.

as DOYLE himself explains during an interview in the recent documentary concerning his career, LIKE THE WIND (PINNACLE FILM & MEDIA, 2021), his goal is to manifest ​"what is intended as opposed to whats written."  there is a near infinite ways in which a scene can play out on camera that require an unspoken collaboration between the subject and the artist, the actor and the cinematographer.  UNSCHOOLED, UNBIASED and verifiably UNSHACKLED by CINEMATIC CONVENTION given his unique background as a transient AUSTRALIAN that left his homeland to discover adventure and artistic nourishment in CHINESE culture first in TAIPEI and later HONG KONG.  given his lack of cinematographic training and status as a foreigner working in the greater CHINESE film industry, his PERSPECTIVE and CHOICES regarding use of LIGHTING, SHUTTER SPEED, MOVEMENT, ANGLE and so on is completely SINGULAR unto himself.  that JOY and EXUBERANCE in the EXPERIMENTATION and familial TRUST between collaborators is what makes his films work.  and utterly UNIQUE relative to HOLLYWOOD projects.  it is why he was unable to find a similar artistic voice when called upon by WESTERN directors; the process was different and the scale and occupational stratification of the crew bogged the process down.

the nearest analogue i can find to DOYLE is the director JULIAN SCHNABEL (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, BASQUIAT, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) who was a RENOWNED painter before he got behind the lens and has a similarly EPHEMERAL and highly LYRICAL VISUAL STYLE and VOCABULARY.  for SCHNABEL, if something works on camera he is aware of it immediately.  if not, like DOYLE, he makes other choices in the moment until it works and showcases an EMOTIONAL TRUTH that was intended but UNSPOKEN in the script.

LIKE THE WIND very much gets at that STRANGE dynamic whereby it takes the creative efforts of a foreigner to make art that is truly LOCAL and NATIVE to its environment.  reminds me of what E.B. WHITE once said about there being three NEW YORKS:

in essence there is no verifiably TRUE or AUTHENTIC anything.  all PERSPECTIVES regarding a culture or location are equally VALID.  sometimes it takes some distance to truly appreciate what is in front of oneself by someone who is less emotionally connected or familiar it on a daily basis.  such acknowledged distance from his subject and the COURAGE to implement a vision and perspective regarding such is DOYLE's gift to HONG KONG and by extension WORLD CINEMATIC CULTURE, as much as he seemingly despises such accolades.

MYCELIUM WASONII (ANTHOLOGY EDITIONS, 2021) by BRIAN BLOMERTH is one of the more UNIQUE graphic novels i have come across in recent years.  its narrative centers around VALENTINA WASSON, the pediatrician wife of R GORDON WASSON, and her influence on her husband's PIONEERING investigative work related to PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOMS.  being RUSSIAN, she was raised with knowledge related to which FUNGI was edible and which was not and turned her husband on to the topic.  this led them both to research the history of, including corresponding with ENGLISH writer ROBERT GRAVES, and popularize the traditional applications of MUSHROOMS in world cultures, including INTENSE PSYCHOACTIVE experiences.  such revolutionary research during the first half of the 20th century even landed VALENTINA on the cover of LIFE magazine before her death in 1958 from CANCER.  the WASSON name was proposed as the name of a new species, but such was overruled.

in a sense, MYCELIUM WASONII is a cultural correction to the historical record that seeks to give credit to the influence of VALENTINA in the field of scientific research related to PSYCHEDELIC FUNGI, which is still very much a MODERN concern given advancements in the PALLIATIVE application of such.  as is the case with other NATURAL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES, much MISINFORMATION and CULTURAL FABRICATION is rampant.  in terms of the actual narrative at hand in MYCELIUM WASONII, the message transmitted is a SOBER and ANALYTICAL as a couple that connected over the topic sought to present investigative data for the public to utilize and scrutinize.

in artistic terms, BLOMERTH presents ANTHROPOMORPHIC hound-like creatures in a plainly drawn but vividly colored FANTASY world.  the panels are very much IMPRESSIVE in how BIZARRE and PHANTASMAGORICAL the visions of the couple were under the influence of MAGIC MUSHROOMS.  some panels are WARPED, DISSOLVED or turned over and the use of color is both STRIKING and BEAUTIFUL.  BLOMERTH does such an bold job of showcasing multiple HALLUCINOGENIC VISIONS that it almost overshadows the narrative.  what grounds everything is the sense that such trips are done under the guise of a local guide and that they showcase the INTENSE INTERCONNECTEDNESS of us to each other and the NATURAL ORDER.  rather than aiding us to escape reality, MYCELIUM WASONII seems to espouse that said visions are a portal to a deeper understanding of the one we are all already bounded by.  its an INTRIGUING story of historical value that is expertly executed and quite the visual / literary achievement.  definitely worth checking out, even if you are a square like me relative to the topic of PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES write large.

came across recently this LONG-FORGOTTEN LIVE PERFORMANCE series that MTV AUSTRALIA put on back at the turn of the millennium called COLD LIVE AT THE CHAPEL.  over its three seasons there were performances by the likes of COLDPLAY, THE DANDY WARHOLS, FOO FIGHTERS, NEIL FINN, GOOD CHARLOTTE, THE LIVING END and BEN FOLDS among others.

its interesting watching DAVE GROHL sharply dressed playing in a suit.  the story goes that he got arrested driving drunk on a SLOW scooter after a traveling festival gig for BIG DAY OUT.  he ended up pleading no contest and had to have a suit to wear to court, thus the suit on this filmed episode in the early 2000s.  with that scooter conviction still on his record, GROHL apparently to date has to explain such to customs officials  every time he has entered for the past 20 years.  pretty RIDICULOUS.

for me, a live performance series like this is INTERESTING in that it is a snapshot of what television producers thought was MARKETABLE at the time, including LAMER acts i chose not to embed videos of including NICKELBACK, TRAIN, WHEATUS, FUEL, TONIC and LIVE.  some of this aged well and others not so much.  definitely worth checking out though.

what i always appreciate about the EVOL (SST, 1986) record by SONIC YOUTH is how their NO WAVE-inspired DISSONANCE is seemingly channeled inward creating an INTERIOR emotionally-charged AURAL LANDSCAPE.  when i first heard the record in my late teens it felt like the soundtrack to all of the INTERNAL CONFUSION, DOUBT and INSECURITY i was experiencing at a key transitional period of my life. for me its that profound sense of INTERIORITY that marks this record.

some would argue that SONIC YOUTH during this period was a bit MEANDERING and MELODICALLY INCONSISTENT on key tracks like "SHADOW OF A DOUBT," "TOM VIOLENCE," "EXPRESSWAY TO YR SKULL" and "GREEN LIGHT," but for me this hesitancy to fully commit to TUNEFUL, RECOGNIZABLE SONG STRUCTURES is what makes it such an IMMEDIATE, ENGAGING listen.  its almost as if the band through IMPROVISATION is exploring and mining an EMOTION in real-time.  much as the work of artist RICHARD KERN, whose work is used for the EVOL cover art, blurs the line between PORNOGRAPHY and ART, VULGARITY and AESTHETIC REFINEMENT, even EXPLOITATION and AGENCY; such is the same with SONIC YOUTH and their COMPLICITY on allowing the audience to view them in a moment of VULNERABILITY.

i can recall listening "SHADOW OF A DOUBT" in SACRAMENTO my senior year of high school a few months after leaving my family abroad in the MIDDLE EAST and living with a relative to close my high school career.  at the time i felt SOCIALLY ISOLATED and CULTURALLY DISTANT from my new classmates and community.  that song in particular made all the big questions surrounding LOVE, DEATH, SEX, ART, PAIN and FATE seem like the same thing.  if this is it then life is not worth it.  makes total sense that DARK WAVE band BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL covered that song in the early 2000s with a similar interpretation in mind.

SONIC YOUTH and their strong embrace of DISSONANCE and ATONALITY is a tough sell for listeners used to MELODIC COHESION and TRADITIONAL SONG STRUCTURES.  but such difficult creative constraints and artistic risks are what i appreciate about the band, plus the music mirrors how i experience life in general.  such being CHAOTIC, RUDDERLESS with no clear purpose.  EVOL is pure expression of that NIHILISTIC SENTIMENT and is a cultural and artistic touchstone for me in general when life is moving in that direction.  other subsequent records proved to be more MELODIC, COHESIVE and expertly constructed, but EVOL to me is very much about a vibe and state of mind, an INTERIOR SPACE that EMOTIONALLY envelopes to the point of SUFFOCATION.  required listening in my opinion.

the DRIVING, UPBEAT and EXPANSIVE sound of AUSTRALIAN ELECTRONIC DUO BAG RAIDERS hits a very close spot in my heart to similar-minded artists in CHROMEO and EMPIRE OF THE SUN, who all are UNAPOLOGETIC about making FUN, POSITIVE music (and being more than a bit RIDICULOUS in the process).  i dont believe there is anything ironic about it, unless im not in on the joke, but its refreshing to listen to music that is SILLY and ENERGETIC and FULL OF LIFE.

im absolutely fond of listening to BAG RAIDERS and definitely feel that they are most definitely worth checking out.

parodies by nacrowe

not sure whats been going on in the DEFTONES camp post-COVID with their unceremonious firing of bassist SERGIO VEGA (QUICKSAND) after years of service following the untimely passing of original bassist CHI CHENG, not to mention founding guitarist STEPHEN CARPENTER's outing himself publicly and repeatedly as a VACCINE DENIER and CONSPIRACY THEORIST to the point that he wont tour in EUROPE(?).  its getting a little RIDICULOUS.  having lived in the CULTURAL BACKWATER of SACRAMENTO briefly my senior year of high school, im all too aware that sometimes with some people you can take the person out of SACRAMENTO, but you can't take the SACRAMENTO out of the person.

its all very confusing for what has to be one of modern AGGRESSIVE music's most BELOVED and INFLUENTIAL groups who have long outlasted the shelf life of their peers in the 1990s, influencing 2000s METALCORE and POST-HARDCORE for starters.  they are one of the few groups whose albums get ever more WEIRD and EXPERIMENTAL as they push forward with each new release (only other example i could thing of in modern ALTERNATIVE ROCK / INDIE ROCK was THE FLAMING LIPS).  maybe that is the growing influence and maturing songwriting arc of frontman CHINO MORENO over the past 30 years, but it is something to behold.  the band has long been a balance of seemingly opposing forces with a singer that channels HARDCORE, POST PUNK, NEW WAVE and ALTERNATIVE ROCK influences ranging from THE SMITHS, DURAN DURAN, FAITH NO MORE and the BAD BRAINS to a guitarist that straight up cosplays on his instrument like he is the sixth member of the IMPOSSIBLY HEAVY SWEDISH PROGRESSIVE METAL outfit MESHUGGAH.

but it works.  and has for decades.

my hope as a fan is that with all the seemingly ERRATIC activity coming from their camp as of late, that there isnt something deeper, more FOREBODING going on.  if anything they have been the model of CONSISTENCY and QUALITY CONTROL throughout ever step of their career and discography.  not one bad or subpar album.  DEFTONES have spoiled us as fans and for that i am GRATEFUL.  i just want the gravy train to remain in motion unabated, but im concerned.  it feels like something is up.

embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired around the 20th anniversary of 9/11 during the pandemic. the playlist includes music from throughout DEFTONES' revered catalogue. enjoy!

its readily apparent that INDUSTRIAL METAL pioneers FEAR FACTORY were on a creative roll when they created OBSOLETE (ROADRUNNER, 1998) in the late 1990s.  they always had next-level CRUSHING METAL staccato riffage a la DINO CAZARES as well as VOIVOD-inspired lyrical fever dreams of a FUTURE DYSTOPIAN STATE controlled by ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE through the creative mind of singer BURTON C. BELL, especially on the much CELEBRATED previous DEMANUFACTURE (ROADRUNNER, 1995) album.  but OBSOLETE took these sci-fi themes and punishing sonic BRUTALITY, not to mention the songwriting, to an entirely new plateau on tracks like "EDGECRUSHER," "FREEDOM OR FIRE," "SMASHER / DEVOURER," "HI-TECH HATE" and most memorably throughout the EPIC centerpiece "RESURRECTION."  this was music believably written by a FUTURE SINGULAR CONSCIOUSNESS somewhere between MAN and ROBOTS lamenting the loss of HUMANITY.  there is a leve of thematic and musical COHESION on this record that arguably was never matched again in their discography, despite other SEMINAL efforts like their follow-up release DIGIMORTAL (ROADRUNNER, 2001).

i came to be aware of FEAR FACTORY when i saw their BLISTERING set at OZZFEST 99 in support of OBSOLETE from the previous year.  what caught my attention was the RIDICULOUS precision of their live set.  this was the era of NU-METAL and guitars that were positioned in the frequency range of basses and employed simple guitar riffs that were meant to establish a GROOVE.  the result was a muddled sonic affair.  in contrast, FEAR FACTORY was almost a throwback in terms of aural heroics to the right-hand PERCUSSIVE tightness and GALLOPING, rhythmic dexterity of RENOWNED THRASH guitarists like JAMES HETFIELD (METALLICA), SCOTT IAN (ANTHRAX) and JEFF HANNEMAN (SLAYER).  CAZARES takes that level of precision and melds it with PROGRESSIVE INDUSTRIAL elements that opens a new world of staccato rhythms and counterintuitively, deep GROOVE.  to my ears it outdid similar achievements by the likes of MINISTRY or MACHINE HEAD.  i was a fan on the spot.

its funny that with the currently rolled out advancements in online ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE chatbots like CHATGPT and GOOGLE BARD,  that this PHILIP K. DICK / ISAAC ASIMOV / WILLIAM GIBSON / ARTHUR C. CLARKE / H. G. WELLS future is seemingly at our doorstep and the themes of FEAR FACTORY and OBSOLETE in particular are as RELEVANT as ever.  makes me wonder what an actual METAL album by a COMPUTER would sound like.  i highly doubt itd be as unrelentingly BRUTAL or creatively COHESIVE as OBSOLETE. 

​but who really knows?

there is something special about HIP HOP whereby the artist is an extension of their COMMUNITY.  everyone by definition has to be from somewhere, but in HIP HOP that special role of the artist is often one of defining the STRUGGLES, HOPES and DREAMS of those they came up with in the narratives of their lyrics and being the living embodiment of such for the broader CULTURE.  in some ways its an extension of the GRIOT TRADITION in WEST AFRICA, wherein traveling musicians and storytellers transmitted news and stories by foot from one neighboring VILLAGE to the next, transmitting information as gatekeepers and definers of CULTURAL IDENTITY.  modern MCs, especially that of NASIR 'NAS' JONES, has that level of special relationship with his QUEENSBRIDGE PROJECTS home base and the NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC (TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE, 2014) documentary is an extended meditation on such through the stories transmitted through his debut album ILLMATIC (COLUMBIA, 1994), which many consider the greatest HIP HOP record ever. 

end stop.

i think what this film does an INCREDIBLE job of is present ILLMATIC within a HISTORICAL, POLITICAL and CULTURAL context that is positioned well beyond his QUEENS NEIGHBORHOOD, or even NEW YORK CITY for that matter.  NAS as a person sees his roots in that of his father's side of the family in the DEEP SOUTH where they struggled for generations to get ahead, fighting through SLAVERY and then RECONSTRUCTION & JIM CROW right on through the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT to modern times.  his family utilized music as a coping mechanism as well as a tool to maintain familial cohesion in the face of overwhelming STRUCTURAL RACISM intently designed to pull them apart from each other and eviscerate any sense of IDENTITY or COMMUNITY.  there is a definite through line between this overt utilization of STATE AUTHORITY and related POWER STRUCTURES by white racists in the SOUTH to racially obstruct a community and the modern day STRUGGLES of blacks in NEW YORK CITY in the later half of the 20th century.  you have phenomena like REDLINING, WHITE FLIGHT, the CRACK EPIDEMIC, LIMITED JOB OPPORTUNITIES and UNDERFUNDED SCHOOLS along with the MASS INCARCERATION of black males that results in a long-suffering inner-city community on the decline during NAS' childhood.

NAS himself throughout the film talks about his dual role as being an extension of and expression of his COMMUNITY and it is something he obviously takes great pride in, giving a voice and platform to the QUEENSBRIDGE PROJECTS he was raised within.  there is a particularly POIGNANT moment when he is told about a DANNY CLINCH photograph taken on the premises with people from his specific block, learning that most of them were DECEASED or INCARCERATED in long-term bids.  this included the kids photographed as well.  its reality and it is harsh.  NAS figures he'd be a statistic as well, much like his close childhood friend WILLIE 'ILL WILL' GRAHAM who was struck down right before ILLMATIC was recorded.  its obvious this all weighs heavy on him and that he is SERIOUS about maintaining and being a physical embodiment and manifestation of the POSITIVE aspects of his COMMUNITY.  

this is the broader context for his involvement with the HIP HOP ARCHIVE at HARVARD UNIVERSITY where his lyrics and RELEVANT personal effects will be stored for posterity for future generations for research and educational purposes.  for NAS this immense honor is not about his greatness as an artist per se, but more a vehicle for honoring his COMMUNITY and those that were lost along the way, such as his mother FANNIE ANN JONES, that undeniably were intertwined in his personal narrative. 

it is quite POWERFUL.

it goes also without saying that there were many interview participants in this documentary, including NAS' father OLU DARA and brother JABARI 'JUNGLE' FRET, along with producers associated with ILLMATIC like LARGE PROFESSOR, Q-TIP (A TRIBE CALLED QUEST), PETE ROCK, L.E.S. and DJ PREMIER (GANG STARR).  also present were early benefactors like MC SERCH (3RD BASS) who executive produced ILLMATIC and the record executive FAITH NEWMAN (COLUMBIA RECORDS) who signed him.  also cant go without mentioning the involvement of the local QUEENSBRIDGE mc ROXANNE SHANTE who pushed a gifted but unknown NAS to initially perform and put him and his crew in front of her audience as well as ILLMATIC collaborator, rapper ANTHONY 'AZ' CRUZ.  lastly the many admirers that participated by provided CULTURAL context include that of noted professor/activist CORNEL WEST, DJ MARLEY MARL, BUSTA RHYMES, ERYKAH BADU, PHARRELL WILLIAMS, KENDRICK LAMAR, SWIZZ BEATZ, J COLE and ALICIA KEYS.

in summation NAS: TIME IS ILLMATIC is an EXCEPTIONAL introduction to a staggering cultural achievement as well as the UPLIFTING nature of HIP HOP and its INDELIBLE relationship to the here and now of a particular COMMUNITY.  that sense of poetry rooted in AUTHENTIC experience is what defines the genre and gives it its RAW POWER and ARTISTIC WEIGHT.