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photo & text by nacrowe
SATCHMO: MY LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS (DA CAPO, 1954) as its title succinctly states, is a memoir by JAZZ great and AMERICAN cultural icon of the first order LOUIS ARMSTRONG concerning his humble beginnings in NEW ORLEANS at the turn of the century up to his departure for CHICAGO to join fellow NEW ORLEANIAN musician KING OLIVER and his CREOLE BAND.
to call his early life humble is really putting it mildly, since you get the sense fairly quickly how destitute and poverty-stricken his area of NEW ORLEANS was at that time. surviving most have been absolutely brutal. ARMSTRONG throughout the book offers only a few details here and there concerning the lengths at which him and his mother MAYANN and half-sister MAMA LUCY resorted to for food and shelter, his bigger concern was shedding light on the strength and support of the overall black community at the time. in fact, this memoir is really a love letter to those people and that period of time before he became famous. that community extends mainly to the small arts community at the time which played in JUKE JOINTS and brothels in NEW ORLEANS. as a young teenager ARMSTRONG would play at brothels in the famed section of STORYVILLE (before it was shut down by the UNITED STATES NAVY and local law enforcement) both for the clientele in lounges as well as in more intimate settings, providing a kind of soundtrack to the night's illicit proceedings. what is interesting is the absolute lack of philosophizing or judgement placed on the participants. these are all people attempting to survive doing what they have to do, and for that they are worthy of his respect, even in retrospect. ARMSTRONG also elucidates on the extreme violence that was a part of life during that period. in a sense, most of it had a sense of honor about it. participants in such pugilism only engaged in dirty tactics when provoked by others to do so. again, the motivation for such scrapes were due to arguments concerning money or women, often in gambling houses or brothels. ARMSTRONG tells about women arguing over men resulting in death and physical disfigurement as teh result of ugly brutal fights utilizing razors. again and again, ARMSTRONG does not denounce these people and their actions, instead thankful that his focus was solely on music and providing for his mother and sister. he had priorities regarding the survival of his family which were not shared by others that squandered their earnings or made poor choices. a great, quick read which really gets at the heart of a community that shaped the new AMERICAN century. NEW ORLEANS was and is a jewel of AMERICAN CULTURE and i am glad this book exists. well worth checking out. SIDE NOTE: if you are in NYC definitely check out LOUIS ARMSTRONG's house in CORONA, QUEENS. it is one of the most emotionally moving places i have ever been as it provided ARMSTRONG his first and longest-lasting home. on the road most of his life, his last wife as part of agreeing to marry him made him promise to settle down in a new home. the modest house in QUEENS is fairly mundane with no real frills of a man of his enormous stature. he was just part of a community that really took him in as one of his own. its the perfect coda to this memoir which depicts his love and adoration for his youth in NEW ORLEANS. his grave in nearby FLUSHING is similarly unadorned and absolutely befitting a true man of the people. i'm pretty jaded and i get teary-eyed thinking about his love and embrace of NYC and how the city loved him right back. 
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parodies by nacrowe
with summer just about over it seemed like a good time as ever to look back at all my favorite bands that played on WARPED TOUR over its 25 year run. many of these bands i saw live and some were gone way too soon for me to get the chance. for me the WARPED TOUR will always be synonymous with being a teenager running free in the summer.
join us tonight at 8PM EST for an all new episode of DEER GOD RADIO on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC. past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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click HERE for NUTMEG's latest streaming CLASSICAL-ISH radio show on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC where she plays a playlist to help her recuperate from her recent surgery. as she puts it, "I’m broadcasting back in bed after needing emergency surgery to re-attach my retina. I may not be able to read what I’m playing for you but it’ll be lovely and darn interesting (frankly), as per usual."
don't forget that you can also access other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and DEER GOD RADIO here at our website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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back in the mid 2000s my brother and i went to see JOHNNY MARR & THE HEALERS play a tiny legendary, now defunct, club in HOBOKEN called MAXWELL'S. opening was this guy with a guitar and some kind of rhythmic electronic looping mechanism. it was JONATHAN BATES and his solo act at the time called MELLOWDRONE.
dude sounded fucking HUGE. just these big emotive choruses that swelled up from these almost whispered barely audible verses. it was like that whole famous PIXIES soft verse / loud chorus dynamic on steroids. my brother and i were pretty blown away by the performance, but then thought about it for a second and decided, "well, he did open for JOHNNY MARR. he's gotta be good." BATES has gone on to front the equally inventive BIG BLACK DELTA in the ensuing years when not working with other acts like M83 and opening for JANE's ADDICTION, NINE INCH NAILS, GARY NUMAN and others. most definitely worth checking out. 
special thanks to BIG BLACK DELTA for engaging with our IG and TWITTER postings today 
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this sucks.
usually i dont write about it when prominent cultural figures pass away, but the unexpected death of RILEY GALE of DALLAS THRASH METAL revival band POWER TRIP hit me pretty hard. maybe its because im about his age. maybe its because METAL is a genre that lacks originality and when you discover a group that is unique you really cling to them that much harder. as a music fan this really sucks. after hearing their second release NIGHTMARE LOGIC (SOUTHERN LORD, 2017) i immediately wrote about it in our ongoing CHECK OUT THIS BAND series of recording artists worth investigating (linked HERE). that record had the groove of PANTERA with the economical riffage and sheer ferocity of early SLAYER and METALLICA. they also had this "no bullshit" aesthetic about them that endeared them to everyone. i was looking forward to their next release. sadly i never saw them live. details surrounding his passing are still forthcoming. thoughts of course go out to his family and loved ones. they ask that gifts in his name be donations to the DALLAS HOPE CHARITIES. RIP brother. 
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BRING ME THE HORIZON has always been a band that does its own thing. from their beginnings in SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND roughly 15 years ago when they were playing primarily METALCORE/DEATHCORE, there was always an inkling of melody in their somewhere that has only blossomed in the years since. at this point in their career they are sonically planets away from where they started, embracing TRIP HOP, EDM, SYNTH POP and SHOEGAZE elements while still absolutely crushing it with huge neanderthal DEATH METAL riffage. its an interesting concoction that is becoming ever more diversified with each release.
what is interesting about their latest single "PARASITE EVE" is how it expresses the sense of isolation, confusion and despair we all feel in this current era of the COVID-19 PANDEMIC. the title even harkens back to a pre-PANDEMIC mindset when people weren't taking it seriously. months later and the UNITED STATES is at 150,000 dead. its insane. there's a great line where frontman OLI SYKES intones "when we forget the infection, will we remember the lesson?" as an AMERICAN i doubt it which makes me feel helpless. i may be proactive in my wearing of masks, social distancing and maintaining good hygiene but not everyone is, some choose different and that is just so disconcerting, sad and just tragic. when this is over AMERICANS will probably go right back to their social media bubbles if they arent there already. upon releasing it the band put out an ongoing series of videos on their youtube showcasing how they put it together while maintaining all those good practices during the pandemic. as someone who has been around recording studios a small amount, it is fascinating how they went about using TECHNOLOGY to track and make decisions in real-time while being in remote locations. its really a testament to their collective talent and vision and especially the PRODUCTION and ENGINEERING CAPABILITIES of composer / programmer / band member JORDAN FISH. even if you are not a fan of BRING ME THE HORIZON, i suggest checking it out just to admire their ingenuity in making it happen in spite of the world seemingly collapsing in on itself. and check out their video for "PARASITE EVE" directed by SYKES linked below. its beyond amazing, im jealous of it. 
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having given up touring in 1966, BOB DYLAN was convinced to return to the road in the mid 70s during the bicentennial with his ROLLING THUNDER REVUE tour, in part to take advantage of the newly lucrative national stateside touring circuit. but things were different this time around as he experimented with minor theatrical elements and the concept of artifice as means of allowing him the psychic space to perform and communicate, ironically, more directly with more honesty. as DYLAN states in this recent the MARTIN SCORSESE-directed documentary ROLLING THUNDER REVUE (NETFLIX, 2019), "when somebody's wearing a mask, he's gonna yell you tell you the truth--when he's not wearing a mask, it's highly unlikely." interesting concept.
made up of archival footage from the period as well as recent and vintage interviews, the film finds DYLAN trekking across a continent anew that was in the midst of experiencing the death throes of the VIETNAM WAR, bitter intergenerational discord as well as political uncertainty with the fall of PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON. it was quite a time in AMERICAN HISTORY and for DYLAN, long-heralded with an unwanted VOICE OF A GENERATION tag by his proponents, he chose explicitly to present himself within the context of a band concept on stage solely armed with new songs that made use of such. if you look closely youll notice such members of the band including T-BONE BURNETT and even guitarist MICK RONSON, straight from his time with DAVID BOWIE after the SPIDERS FROM MARS had broken up. pretty cool stuff. now im not a big DYLAN fan, most of the his work i am familiar with is firmly in the FOLK tradition and comes off as musically repetitive and unimaginative. lyrically hes a genius but as a musician i thought he sucked. sue me. the music here is definitely more BLUES-based and at times comes off quite powerfully with a loose ROCK AND ROLL feel. dare i say with songs like "HARD RAIN" he actually grooves. who knew? and "HURRICANE" is arguably the highlight of the film as it touches on DYLAN's sense of social justice and the redemptive and transformative power of music. maybe its time for me to dive into his catalogue again. on a slight side note for cinema dorks, SCORSESE deftly intercuts shots of the mime BAPTISTE from the FRENCH WWII classic THE CHILDREN OF PARADISE, which is the ultimate switch-and-bait film of all time. the movie begins with the curtain opening after the credits, cluing you right from the jump that this is not what it seems. the film is highly allegorical with everyone wearing masks, some literal and others covered by aristocratic behaviors deemed acceptable by the rigid FRENCH class system despite diabolical motives. even the film itself, which was made under NAZI occupation, is viewed by many as a coded rebuke against their new superiors. so anyway, if ever there was a film to reference about speaking truth while being physically obscured, THE CHILDREN OF PARADISE is it. sorry, i'm a film dork. the film itself utilizes performance footage, both rehearsal and in concert, meant to be included in a panned obscure film from the period by a failed scandinavian arthouse director. while some of the behind-the-scenes footage seems listless and meandering on first glance, it also gives you an intimate look at the hangers-on of DYLAN and their goal of being in his good graces. as exhausting as it is to hear these people dribble and drabble on, pontificating about bullshit, you can only imagine how much worse that would be if this was your party and you were the object of their affection. i get it now why he's a recluse. which brings me a bit to the structure of this film. at the beginning the interview with modern-day DYLAN breaks down on the first question and essentially he just says he's gonna talk about what he wants to. there is no purpose to the film or bigger revelation about life in general in this film, instead DYLAN argues it is all about creation and making things. when the original scandinavian director asks dumb straightforward questions to DYLAN before and after going on stage, again we are left to empathize with him not wanting to butcher the experience on stage into words. language devalues lived experience and as a community we are experiencing this journey once again. again as he states in the film "thought will fuck you up." i should also mention that on this journey as tour mates and collaborators were such luminaries as JOAN BAEZ, ALLEN GINSBERG, JONI MITCHELL, ANNE WALDMAN, PETER ORLOVSKY, SAM SHEPARD and ROGER MCQUIN. interesting film worth checking out and revisiting. 
photo & text by nacrowe
nostalgia is a weird thing.
i get it. its comforting for people to have an unrealistic memory regarding the past. they delude themselves into believing that the past was this halcyon period where people were more authentic and pure, probably due to a lack in modern technology. its a misguided revisionist delusion of hipster proportions and, of course, it is bullshit. in his expose on the scandals of the stars of early cinema at the beginning of the 20TH CENTURY in HOLLYWOOD BABYLON (PAUVERT, 1959), cult filmmaker KENNETH ANGER essentially eviscerates any quixotic notion regarding the purity of that period. it salaciously examines the supposed exploits of major players from that era including CHARLIE CHAPLIN, FATTY ARBUCKLE, CLARA BOW, MARION DAVIES, BUSTER KEATON, JEAN HARLOW, MAE WEST, ERROL FLYNN, LUPE VELEZ, LANA TURNER and the supposed various misdeeds carried out by them or their affiliates, including rape, murder, drug abuse, "communist" infiltration, violence, theft, etc. rereading this book, which was originally published in 1959 but then subsequently banned for over 10 years (my copy is the 1976 first edition DELTA repressing), reminds me of TMZ. although that may be a slight insult to TMZ since on balance they usually report facts accurately. their interpretation of such may be suspect. i dont know if HOLLYWOOD BABYLON is accurate and i have my doubts, but at the very least it is a gossipy window into a touchstone of AMERICAN culture, the entertainment industry, which tends to operate on different rules of morality than mainstream society. i guess power and influence does that to you, even way back then at its infancy during the pre-PRODUCTION CODE era. as a cinephile, ive always found it interesting when we collectively give celebrities a pass for grave misdeeds, whether that be MEL GIBSON (anti-semite), JERRY SEINFELD (dated a teenager when he was 39), STEVE JOBS (denied paternity of his daughter), PEYTON MANNING (tea-bagged his female personal trainer), JOHN LENNON (abandoned his child) or even ALBERT EINSTEIN (racist against asians). perhaps projecting our dreams and emotions on humans is futile act since inevitably they will let us down and mirror our own fall from perfection. they are human after all. and maybe that was ANGER's aim with his notorious book of gossip from a previous generation, to showcase their humanity. and to kill nostalgia. 
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating the EXTREME METAL / HARDCORE PUNK crossover genre known as METALCORE.
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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years ago i spent a week the summer before i started graduate school at childhood friend's place in MONTREAL. what a gorgeous enchanted city, especially during the summertime. i'd never been to CANADA, only made fun of it my entire waking life at that point. besides eating smoked meat late night at the famous SCHWARTZ'S DELI and hanging out with my friend's peers and acquaintances, what i remember most fondly is watching this reality show KENNY VS. SPENNY (CBC, 2003-2010) on repeat.
it blew my mind. first off, i hate REALITY TV as a matter of principal. i just feel that they are mindless dribble and the worst kind of voyeurism since they elevate attention-seeking cretins hungry for 10 minutes of celebrity. but this was different. the show is basically two friends (KENNY HOTZ and SPENCER RICE) that have a competition each week. they agree on a challenge and then the person that loses said competition gets humiliated by the other at the end of the show. KENNY is basically the devil incarnate, always trying to find loopholes to the rules and taking advantage of his friend SPENCER, who is likewise a stand-up yet gullible figure. some of these competitions are brutal, such as:
this show was on network television (CBC no less) and it was easily, scripted or not (i still dont know), the most mean-spirited thing i have seen on television to date. for the DEAD OCTOPUS episode KENNY slips SPENCER LSD and convinces him that he is being chased, resulting in SPENCER lying in a fetal position crying for help. for the KISSING THE MOST WOMEN episode KENNY decides to kiss SPENCER's sister in front of him. for the 10 MILE RACE episode KENNY knew SPENCER was more athletic so he got him away from the track where they were to race at a predetermined time by having SPENCER's mom convince her son that she got cancer and needed him at the hospital. the cruelty is absolutely boundless on this show, which blew me away because its CANADIAN. out of 80+ episodes i must have watched 50 over a few days. i was obsessed. it was a weird trip because at some point on television there was a televised debate for some public office where one candidate said to the other that he "disagreed intensely based on firm principles." it was so CANADIAN because they didn't demean one another. fast forward a few nights of watching KENNY VS SPENNY and my opinion of CANADIANS has permanently shifted. plus deep down i know im more SPENCER than KENNY, sadly. im telling you, this is the most debased, depraved, irredeemably cruel show i've ever watched. I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT. 
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SOL PEREYRA is an ARGENTINE singer-songwriter now based in MEXICO whose music is decidedly INDIE POP, being that they are usually upbeat with electronic flourishes. having been a part of JULIETA VENAGAS' touring band for a number of years, she moved to MEXICO in pursuit of her solo career.
like ANA TIJOUX, she is fiercely political and incorporates left-leaning themes into her music. definitely worth seeking and checking out. 
parodies by nacrowe
i am by no means a fan of modern COUNTRY MUSIC, as i make abundantly clear in this throwback episode dedicated to the GOLDEN AGE OF COUNTRY MUSIC.
what gets me about the old stuff is the lack of bullshit. lyrically JIMMIE RODGERS, ERNEST TUBB and HANK WILLIAMS are so cutting and raw that its hard not to respect them as songwriters, even if rhythmically the music is rather lacking and lifeless relative to their BLUES contemporaries. even if you are like me and not a fan of the overproduced, underwritten schmaltz that passes for modern COUNTRY MUSIC, this set list will hopefully provide you with some rays of hop for the genre as a whole. you have to remember that it was this tradition that cross-pollinated with BLUES that gave way to ROCKABILLY and early ROCK N ROLL. enjoy. 
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ABSTRACT: THE ART OF DESIGN is an ongoing NETFLIX series of documentaries that highlights exemplars associated with various fields of design. in this entry i am focused on the episode related to the inventive, progressive creative work of the modern DANISH architect BJARKE INGELS.
before watching this episode my prior entry point to his work was a critique by THE LIFE-SIZED CITY YOUTUBE series which criticized a pedestrian bridge to his new corporate complex in COPENHAGEN which serviced no target demographic and in fact made nearby major intersections less efficient. so there you go, my only bias. i've never been to DENMARK and have never seen INGELS' work in the flesh. what the episode presents is a young, ambitious architect that has an inclusive YES IS MORE mentality towards commissions and input by shareholders. his designs seem inventive, modern and slightly ostentatious, yet apparently are made on the cheap utilizing lesser unconventional materials. i haven't been to DENMARK, but i have been all around EUROPE and what always struck me was this dual sword represented in the idea of tradition. this focus on tradition can be manifested in art, music, food, clothing and architecture and can either be stifling to creativity or a springboard. you get the sense that DANISH culture is rather reserved and its buildings highly practical with a certain uniformity that belies the homogeneity of its people. INGELS comes off as almost AMERICAN in both his ambition and sheer bravado. i mean the dude, made a ski slope on top of a power plant. i have no idea if this guy is a PRITZKER level talent or an ambitious yet reductive, over-hyped upstart. not sure i really care either way whether or not he is a naive at best or a charlatan at worst, which seems to be the consensus of his detractors. his cost-effective, multi-use spaces provide a bit of poetry towards infrastructure concepts that are long overdue stateside. his energy and commitment to sustainability and efficiency as well as fun is sorely missed in outdated, eyesore AMERICAN infrastructure targets like airports, train stations and community centers. we need rejuvenation. something to capture our imagination. just like our democracy and adherence to market capitalism, our architecture is outmoded. we need to get on that. rejuvenate. put a ski slop on a goddamn power plant already! 
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filmed at a time when BLUR had reconvened with all original members after nearly a decade apart for a pair of comeback shows at LONDON's HYDE PARK, NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN (PULSE FILMS, 2010) finds the the band describing their journey as a band.
and what a journey it has been. BLUR is obviously a preeminent cultural force that found its root in the 1990s BRITPOP scene along with other groups like PULP, SUEDE, ELASTICA and of course, OASIS. in a familiar arc to many a successful INDIE band, they started out playing small clubs and then found incremental successes up until their breakout release PARKLIFE (FOOD, 1994) which found them playing large stadiums to new crowds they felt alienated from. the two big players in the story are DAMON ALBARN and GRAHAM COXON, the two main songwriters and their reaction to fame, not necessarily each other. ALBARN is shown to be rather workmanlike and very ENGLISH in his attitude of barreling through obstacles and suboptimal situations. he gets pegged as being careerist but i think he is just someone that wants to fulfill his potential and do everything in his power to make his creative efforts successful. in COXON you have a more sensitive, introspective presence (with every bit the equal creative force to his partner) who used alcohol as his way of dissociating from large crowds and screaming girls. its a unique dynamic that was bound to find that partnership eventually grind to a halt, which it did during the recording of THINK TANK (PARLOPHONE, 2003), when COXON failed to show up. not to get too much into the weeds of business speak, but ALBARN was hurt in that there was an opportunity cost to his involvement with BLUR. he could be doing other projects that interested him but made the record out of loyaly to his longtime mates. the fact that COXON didnt give him that same respect was crushing. and it shows because ALBARN went on to create the massively successful GORILLAZ as well as various eclectic projects that saw him working with AFRICAN musicians and members of THE CLASH and FELA KUTI's AFRICA 80 band and producing various projects. his post-BLUR career saw him spread his creative wings. COXON put out a series of INDIE / POWER POP albums in the vein of PAUL WELLER and conquered his substance abuse issues and the underlying coping mechanisms. both seemed happy with their position. the HYDE PARK SHOWS for this documentary were a one-off for the fans. except they werent in the end. after this documentary they did were scheduled to do some one-off shows in JAPAN in 2013, but those were cancelled and they found themselves in HONG KONG. so they did what any band does when they are waiting to play, they recorded. these ideas were done in a studio and forgotten about. that is until COXON took up the mantle of creating instrumentals that he sent to ALBARN. at this point ALBARN had a full plate and BLUR was not a priority. but the instrumentals were promising and in a sense it revitalized his creative relationship with COXON, who did the heavy lifting, something he failed to do on THINK TANK. THE MAGIC WHIP (WARNER BROS, 2015) is an iconic BLUR album which is up their with PARKLIFE and their best work. it remains to be seen if this is their last effort but now it really feels like an adequate end to their journey. this documentary was interesting but incomplete. the story is only 2/3 the way through. if you are a fan of BRITPOP or ALTERNATIVE ROCK in the 1990s this is required viewing. 
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MO' META BLUES: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO QUESTLOVE (GRAND CENTRAL, 2013) is a cleverly structured memoir by AMIR "QUESTLOVE" THOMPSON about his experiences and opinions surrounding the music industry and his extended association with PHILADELPHIA, both as a founding member of THE ROOTS and the NEO SOUL scene that originated from their extended family of collabotors. the book gets meta in that QUESTLOVE chooses to allow his co-writer BEN GREENMAN as well as his long-time manager RICH NICHOLAS (who died of LEUKEMIA within a year of publication) to provide extensive commentary throughout the narrative; in essence his memoir is partly an extended argument about what content makes for a compelling memoir.
this dialogue also seems to parallel, in part, his ambivalence towards HIP HOP and its relationship to commerce. there is much discussion about the merits of the two poles of the genre, one being the down to earth tradition that almost serves as an empowering, consciousness-building, almost educational vibe rooted in the work of the NATIVE TONGUES movement. the other being the aspirational, glamorized world of money and power instituted by the likes of BAD BOY RECORDS and their premier artist, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. this fission is exemplified in QUESTLOVE's memories regarding the 1995 SOURCE AWARDS that saw the WEST COAST / EAST COAST feud boil over in public. QUESTLOVE recounts that NAS was up that year for his debut ILLMATIC, which was the epitome and high-watermark of a classic concept of HIP HOP, the idea of a skilled lyricist repping his community over beats that were engineered and labored over to perfection by skilled producers. he was up against THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. for record of the year for READY TO DIE, which showcased him in music videos with yachts, cars, jewelry and women over beats that were lazily and obviously sampled by PUFF DADDY. BIGGIE won and an era of BLING took over that largely disconnected the music from the audience. THE ROOTS constantly felt the tug and pull of each and that struggle specific to that era (late 90s and the early 00s) perpetuated itself among them and many others until KANYE showed up and basically (somehow) combined the two. it can be argued we are still living in the KANYE era. one aspect of this book that annoyed me was the lengths to which QUESTLOVE was preoccupied with reviews by music critics. that caught me off guard, since i always picture THE ROOTS as being the spearhead of a certain conscious subset of HIP HOP artists that occupy a creative space outside of the explicit struggles commerce. other groups like THE FUGEES, DEAD PREZ, PHARCYDE, DE LA SOUL, OUTKAST and A TRIBE CALLED QUEST come to mind that seemed more concern with message and artistry than what a middle-aged white guy a world away from the scene thinks about your album. struck me as very peculiar as it went against what i believed about their brand as fiercely independent artists. this memoir dulled that edge a bit, made me realize that they were not immune from the pressures of the industry attempting to homogenize them, as INTERSCOPE RECORDS executive JIMMY IOVINE seemingly did with their lackluster effort THE TIPPING POINT. i saw them play years ago at teh ROSELAND BALLROOM and they seemed indestructibly powerful and absolutely immutable. interesting to learn that behind the scenes they felt outside pressure to conform to be more like conventional artists like JAY-Z who don't have their cache and drive towards social justice. i also think this book came out three years to early, as the election of DONALD TRUMP altered incalculably not only the political and cultural landscape, but also the trajectory of JIMMY FALLON's late night gig. at the time of publication FALLON did not have the reputation for being a comedic and political lightweight that he now does. THAT would have been interesting to hear QUESTLOVE speak his opinion on, given his front row seat to the proceedings. also the celebrated figure of PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA is forever transformed by the election of his successor. i would also would have loved to hear QUESTLOVE speak on that topic as well, but alas this book came out in 2013. interesting book that very effectively communicates the powerful crosscurrents jst beneath the surface in HIP HOP and how such influence artists. highly informative, expertly constructed and very readable. definitely worth reading if you have the interest or inclination. 
parodies by nacrowe
tonight's new episode of DEER GOD RADIO at 8PM EST on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC is all about the expansive, singular, psychedelic, epoch-defining music of JIMI HENDRIX.
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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click HERE for another episode of THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC where Reed and Vince are live from separate remote locations. this episode they present another killer playlist while talking a little shop. next episode apparently will find them back at the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC studio in STATEN ISLAND as the space has recently partially reopened amidst the pandemic.
as always, you can access all past episodes of THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW via the DEER GOD website as well as those of MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, DEER GOD RADIO and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
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i remember back in the mid 2000s when the NYC ROCK REVIVAL was still a thing and there was a whole heap of bands supposedly inspired by NO WAVE and POST-PUNK, most notably the YEAH YEAH YEAHS, THE STROKES and INTERPOL. to me those musicians didn't expand or contextualize those influences much.
unlike LOS ANGELES' SHE WANTS REVENGE who seemed to have many of the same cues in mind but their sound was decidedly more cinematic and sinister in scope. you got the sense that vocalist JUSTIN WARFIELD took those same inspirations and translated them into a noir-inflected sonic landscape in the tradition of RAYMOND CHANDLER, JAMES ELLROY and JAMES M. CAIN, all authors equally take with the seedy, putrid underbelly of LOS ANGELES. in other words, SHE WANTS REVENGE is a soundtrack to mutual exploitation. definitely worth revisiting and checking out again. 
photo manipulation by nacrowe
listening to the greater discussion these days regarding ONLINE / REMOTE / HYBRID LEARNING is something i find interesting due to the fact that in a previous life i was an english teacher who worked abroad in international schools (specifically in VENEZUELA, JAPAN and MYANMAR) and utilized such. my experiences obviously were played out long before the current pandemic, which unfortunately shows no signs of abating and has made such a classroom a necessity.
what drew me to online learning was a sense of student accountability. when i was studying at TEACHERS COLLEGE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY there was this program run by a professor called the STUDENT PRESS INITIATIVE. the basic idea around such was to locate at-risk youth, usually students already incarcerated with the juvenile detention centers and have them write. volunteers would tutor them and eventually they would create a product that would be published yearly by the prestigious COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS. it was meant as a means of empowering students through writing. as published authors these kids would speak at forums and ultimately take pride in their work and those of others. the basic concept of leveraging the university to empower at-risk youth always stuck with me. when i began teaching abroad i found myself in communities that were fiercely collectivistic. this meant my students were largely motivated by the opinions of their peers and family, unlike AMERICAN kids that are generally individualistic. my idea was to publish their written work, all of it. no tests or quizzes, but written papers and projects from class. the act of making it public for their classmates to see up the ante. usually i was attempting to reinforce basic literary, research and communication skills and by publishing such i leveraged the community against the individual. by and large it worked. at TEACHERS COLLEGE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY there was also much promotion of project-based learning as opposed to testing. learning comes from the adaptation, modification and implementation of concepts rather than rote memorization of such (this pragmatic approach goes back to JOHN DEWEY). unfortunately now everything is the later and not the former. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES given that i was overseas, i'd often have students write articles about their community, especially those people would not think to interview. in MYANMAR my students interviewed and wrote articles about ORPHANAGES, FARMERS, TAILORS, TEA LEAVE MERCHANTS, JADE MERCHANTS, BOUTIQUE OWNERS and ARTISANS within the community. these articles were then sent to friends of mine that taught in other countries and had their students read and write follow-up questions. what was amazing was that my students and those that asked the questions both employed english as a second language. if you are interested in checking out all the different projects i did in MYANMAR, they can be found HERE. its one thing to have kids use quotes in a project, its another to raise the stakes and let them know that if they misquote their subject than they are effectively denying them their own voice. my kids took it very seriously because of such. DATA-BASED SURVEYS id also have them take surveys of their classmates, utilizing data. this sometimes dovetailed with concepts in their math class and we'd do some cross-curricular activities for both classes. very cool stuff. in VENEZUELA i had a newspaper elective where students did everything from MOVIE REVIEWS, NEWSPAPER STAFF INTERVIEWS, TRAVEL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS to ARTIST/ARCHITECT PROFILES for the school newspaper EL MOSQUITO. my biggest accomplishment was getting students to buy in to participating in surveys that were the basis for all EDITORIALS. the whole enterprise reinforced literacy, reading and even NUMERACY. im still very much proud of it. VIRTUAL ORAL PRESENTATIONS for many parents there was a big emphasis on students being able to speak english well. i addressed this by having students use their phones to record them explaining part of a project. i had parents come in for one-on-one meetings in MYANMAR and the voice of their son or daughter speaking english clearly from a recording brought them to tears. examples of this are HERE, HERE and HERE. VIDEOS
below are two examples of videos my students in MYANMAR made for two different projects.
the first had them write and sing new lyrics to a popular song about something they learned that year, in the case of "ADD IT ONLINE" they sang about the final step in the WRITING PROCESS, which is PUBLISHING. they also all turn into ZOMBIES in the video and eat me alive. the other video finds some students doing a S.T.E.A.L. (SPEECH / THOUGHTS / EMOTIONS / ACTONS / LOOKS) character analysis on the DISNEY character WALL-E. whats awesome about doing these videos is that i could use them in other classes in the future. i was essentially stockpiling material for future students to utilize and have fun with. as you can imagine, i miss teaching in ways i cant even verbalize. i literally could go on about online learning but i think you get the idea. unfortunately the way the education field has been going in recent years (away from project-based learning towards rote memorization), i am similarly glad to be out of the profession. if you are interested in browsing the two website from my teaching days in VENEZUELA and MYANMAR, EL MOSQUITO is linked HERE and my class page for MYANMAR is linked HERE. enjoy! 
photo manipulations by nacrowe
i discovered the SHOW US YOUR JUNK! series on the EARTHQUAKER DEVICES youtube channel a few months back and what it does a great job of presenting is the gear used by musicians and producers in their studio setups.
obviously EARTHQUAKER DEVICES is a company and yes, their pedals are mentioned along with those of their "competitors," but what you learn very quickly is that the equipment on display is merely a canvas and that these producers, many of them prominent musicians from bands like SONIC YOUTH, DEVO, CONVERGE and DEERHOOF are the artists that contextualize these sonic textures in tapestry unique to their sound and aesthetic. if anything, the pedals here are useful in that they help bridge the gap between conception and execution. they are essentially a tool. but i have to say, there is equal if not vastly more time dedicated to non-EARTHQUAKER items in this series. just saying. much like RIG RUNDOWN goes after the gear setup of a touring musician, SHOW US YOUR JUNK! is dedicated to the recording setup, which in my opinion is far more interesting having spent time around my cousin who is a recording engineer in our former studio at the KREISCHER MANSION. everyone has their own technique and philosophy regarding what makes a compelling sound, which is a topic of endless fascination for me. how does the producer engage with the artist and bring about their creativity. what microphones, preamps, boards do they tend to use? what is the room ambience like at their studio? for me this series is a great introduction to what makes each of these producers tick, which only makes me dive back into their production discographies that much harder. maybe even make a radio show or two about them (cough, cough, KURT BALLOU and STEVE ALBINI, cough, shameless plug). by all means check them out below or watch the rest HERE. 
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May 2022
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