photo & text by nacrowe
i was only ten quickly approaching eleven when the seemingly OMNIPRESENT culturally dominating juggernaut that was the CRAZYSEXYCOOL (ARISTA, 1994) release by LEGENDARY ATLANTA R&B vocal trio TLC was released in the mid-1990s. seemingly everywhere i went as a kid in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, from local skating rinks to friend's birthday parties to theme parks (DISNEYLAND, KNOTT'S BERRY FARM and SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN) and summer camps, played "CREEP" and especially "WATERFALLS." those two songs in particular are part of the INDELIBLE SOUNDTRACK of my childhood and that era of POPULAR MUSIC in general.
the female singing TRIUMVIRATE is a pretty COMPACT and POWERFUL template in R&B (i.e. THE ANDREW SISTERS, THE RONETTES, THE SUPREMES, MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS, DESTINY'S CHILD, THE POINTER SISTERS), much like the VERITABLE power trio in ROCK N ROLL (i.e. NIRVANA, CREAM, RUSH, MOTORHEAD, ZZ TOP, THE POLICE, DINOSAUR JR, GREEN DAY). in essence you have a solo vocalist who is MELODICALLY SUPPORTED by SYMPATHETIC vocalists providing high and low HARMONIES and/or COUNTER-HARMONIES to fill out the SOUND. most of those aforementioned R&B GROUPS had such a prominently FEATURED singer like BEYONCE KNOWLES, DIANA ROSS, MARTHA REEVES and RONNIE SPECTOR with largely INTERCHANGEABLE backup-singers, as was famously the case with THE SUPREMES and DESTINY'S CHILD and their lineup shifts in particular. in contrast, what was COOL and UNIQUE about TLC was that all three members (TIONNE "T-BOZ" WATKINS, ROZONDA "CHILLI" THOMAS and LISA "LEFT EYE" LOPES) functioned as both FEATURED and harmonically SUPPORTING vocalists who provided the particulars of a given song. now it is ARGUABLE that LEFT EYE, with her IDIOSYNCRATIC SINGING / RAPPING STYLE and notoriously UNSTABLE high profile relationship with then-ATLANTA FALCONS wide receiver ANDRE RISON, may have been the member with the highest profile but within the COLLECTIVE, but functionally she was an equal to T-BOZ and CHILLI. i cant think of another three-piece FEMALE singing GROUP that functioned in this manner since these types of arrangements seemed TAILOR MADE to market and provide evidence of a future VIABLE solo career for a featured vocalist. one of the consequences of this MUTUALLY-SUPPORTIVE arrangement is that the GROUP chose to actively promote causes that were IMPORTANT to their COMMUNITY, the most NOTABLE example of such is the promotion of SAFE SEX and the importance of CONDOM USE in the fight against HIV/AIDS transmission during the promotional campaign for their debut album OOOOOOOHHH... ON THE TLC TIP (LAFACE, 1992). fighting the stigma of an inherently TABOO SUBJECT (as HIV/AIDS in a pre-MAGIC JOHNSON era was considered a scourge on the HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNITY) in the BLACK COMMUNITY and specifically the HETEROSEXUAL POPULATION was both NOTEWORTHY and undoubtedly COURAGEOUS. and it is something that id argue would never have happened had TLC just been an industry vehicle for the introduction and promotion of a potential future star, it was just too CONTROVERSIAL and UNMARKETABLE a topic for such a purpose. to me, TLC was all about the personalities and the MUSICAL INTERPLAY of its three members. in an odd way its a similar dynamic, in a different genre, to enjoying the likewise INVENTIVE MUSIC of the WU-TANG CLAN. on CRAZYSEXYCOOL tracks like "RED LIGHT SPECIAL" and "CREEP" you have INFECTIOUS paeans to FEMALE SENSUALITY, not in a COARSE or VULGAR manner, but in SUPPORTIVE, SELF-EMPOWERED mode that is highly UNUSUAL, especially at the time. "DIGGIN' ON YOU" likewise celebrates the INVIGORATING, much SOUGHT-AFTER moment of recognizing mutual ROMANTIC attraction. too often this topic in POPULAR MUSIC, especially from a FEMALE PERSPECTIVE is reduced to the women having to flaunt or DEBASE herself in the process, both explicitly in the presentation or more implicitly in the lyrics. here TLC showcases that moment from a position of EQUAL footing, as if a MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIP is in the process of blossoming. and obviously there is also "WATERFALLS," an UPBEAT song about thoughtfully considering ones actions before taking a DANGEROUS shortcut led by AMBITION, i.e. the ALLEGORICAL lyrics surrounding 'chasing waterfalls' instead of sticking to the more calm 'rivers and lakes that you're used to.' as the MUSIC video makes explicit, possible shortcuts include DRUGS and INFIDELITY and the PAIN, DAMAGE and SUFFERING incurred is not just on the individual, but the FAMILY and larger supporting COMMUNITY. its profound stuff and again, indicative of a COHESIVE GROUP in charge of their ARTISTIC and social messaging in a fashion fairly UNSEEN in their peers, past or present. CRAZYSEXYCOOL is undoubtedly an ICONIC 90s R&B album that is well worth revisiting and checking out again. id even argue its an ESSENTIAL release from the era, irrespective of genre. RIP LEFT EYE.
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photo & text by nacrowe
when i consider the MUSIC of NILE RODGERS the word that keeps coming to mind is JOY. his KINETIC, UPBEAT and monstrously CATCHY RHYTHMS and COMPOSITIONS that he has architected not only for himself and his LEGENDARY band CHIC but also in COLLABORATION as a PRODUCER and CO-SONGWRITER with the likes of DAVID BOWIE, MADONNA, DIANA ROSS, INXS, THE B-52s, GRACE JONES and DURAN DURAN is the sound of EXUBERANT CELEBRATION and the good things in life. which makes it all the more COMPELLING that his life narrative, especially related to his TRAUMA as a child and young adult, is such a HARROWING and borderline TRAGIC affair with NEGLECT, MENTAL HEALTH, DRUG ABUSE and POVERTY affecting his early life. both sides of the coin are discussed in an OPEN and NONJUDGEMENTAL manner that is both DISARMING and GUT-WRENCHING in his RIVETING memoir LE FREAK: AN UPSIDE DOWN STORY OF FAMILY, DISCO AND DESTINY (SPIEGEL & GRAU, 2011).
RODGERS as a kid led a PERIPATETIC existence as a young child, being left to his own devices on both coasts by a string of relatives who were loosely given custody of him as his BEATNICK mother led her DRUG-ADDLED life largely unencumbered by the responsibilities of MOTHERHOOD. being a CURIOUS and INTUITIVE learner from a young age, RODGERS discovered the power of MUSIC when he was in LOS ANGELES, where he learned to read MUSIC and play the flute and clarinet in junior high school. this ability to both read and write compositions, as well as comprehend and implement SOPHISTICATED JAZZ INVERSIONS and VOICINGS of popular CHORD PROGRESSIONS would prove incalculably useful in his later career as a musicians, SONGWRITER and PRODUCER of the first order. after switching to guitar in high school, RODGERS progressed quickly as serendipitously the range of the instrument matched that of the woodwinds he was trained on years earlier. later relocating to NEW YORK CITY, he got involved with PROGRESSIVE politics at the time (including the BLACK PANTHERS) and played small clubs in GREENWICH VILLAGE which eventually after years transitioned into work as a session and back-up musician on the CHITLIN CIRCUIT. in this MUSICAL COMMUNITY he eventually found his musical counterpart in bassist BERNARD EDWARDS, whom he would form CHIC with years later. one of the interesting aspects of this memoir is how RACE played a part in RODGERS life and how he adroitly navigated such in his career. when CHIC started out they were rejected by labels when they learned the band was BLACK, and thus UNMARKETABLE to a WHITE RECORD-BUYING PUBLIC. taking inspiration from KISS and ROXY MUSIC, RODGERS surmised that if himself and EDWARDS laid back in the RHTHYM SECTION and let others (i.e. singers) form the popular image of the group to the PUBLIC, then such would counteract this RACIST BIAS in the music industry. and it worked. later on he would face similar headwinds with songs and whole records being rejected by the labels of COLLABORATING artists (i.e. DIANA ROSS and DURAN DURAN) for sounding too ETHNIC. its INTRIGUING that DAVID BOWIE and a pre-global fame MADONNA had enough industry clout to counteract such PREJUDICES. cant make this stuff up. another intriguing thread throughout the memoir is the fracturing and dismantling of one's IDENTITY and COMMUNITY through DRUG ABUSE. RODGERS is a HIGH-FUNCTIONING DRUG ABUSER, mostly COCAINE and ALCOHOL, with a high tolerance throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but eventually such corroded away both his ABILITIES and warped his literal grasp of REALITY. he hit rock bottom after being confronted with a recording of a live performance showing him to be quite TERRIBLE which countered his IMPAIRED MEMORY of said event. he thought he was hot shit that night. falling into fantasies of PARANOIA and HOSTILE DELUSIONS, he put himself into rehab and got better over time, putting his life before his work for the first time. TRAUMATIC triggers such as the UNEXPECTED sudden PASSING of EDWARDS did not cause him to relapse, thus breaking the cycle that he inherited from his FAMILY. specifically his FATHER who used DRUGS for years until his DEATH to escape the INTENSE PAIN of RODGERS' MOTHER refusing to marry him. at the close of the memoir we briefly learn about his CANCER diagnosis, which we now know years later, long after the publication of this book, that he came out (barely) on the other side of. music during this period, which also included an ALZEIMER'S diagnosis for his BELOVED MOTHER BEVERLY, was his vehicle for finding meaning in existence and literally celebrating life with his extended MUSICAL COMMUNITY. finding that COMMUNITY and its status as a SURROGATE FAMILY is another COMPELLING aspect of this memoir. for someone that was so severely NEGLECTED as a child, the rise of CHIC was specifically POWERFUL as it tapped into a likewise NEGLECTED segment of the POPULATION that intersected UNDERGROUND BLACK, LATINO and GAY SUBCULTURES. when the backlash against "DISCO" happened it cut deeply as it seemed WHITE AMERICA was aggressively assuming back the reigns of cultural hegemony from this UNDERPRIVILEGED MINORITY POPULATION. the RACIAL OVERTONES of the DISCO SUCKS movement were likewise pretty EXPLICIT for those that that chose to pay attention. most record buyers didnt and RODGERS career suffered, until he re-marketed himself and BOWIE resurrected his career. i personally find the whole discussion around DISCO FASCINATING as it is a stain that continues unabated to this day, with the music being disavowed as being largely INTERCHANGEABLE and DISPOSABLE fluff with little to no AUTHENTICITY, as opposed to the SOPHISTICATED MUSICALITY and TECHNICAL EXECUTION that was at its core. never mind the fact that dancing served as an escape and place of REFUGE and CELEBRATION of IDENTITY for all of these UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS. it is still quite an UNRESOLVED dynamic that i take great interest in reading about and learning from. LE FREAK is an CAPTIVATING memoir that very much exposes the steep hills and EXTREME low depths of the valleys of RODGERS' WELL-LIVED life. this book is a RARE achievement and one of the more COMPELLING memoirs ive read about a musician since starting this blog. i'd put it right up there with KEITH RICHARDS' likewise EXCELLENT LIFE (LITTLE, BROWN & CO, 2010), PATTI SMITH's JUST KIDS (ECCO, 2010), HENRY ROLLINS' GET IN THE VAN: ON THE ROAD WITH BLACK FLAG (2.13.61, 1995), JOHNNY MARR's SET THE BOY FREE (DEY STREET, 2016) and PETER HOOK's SUBSTANCE: INSIDE NEW ORDER (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2017) memoirs. it makes sense that RODGER's legacy includes influencing an ECLECTIC range of NOTABLE musicians from DAFT PUNK, JOHNNY MARR (THE SMITHS), THE WEEKND, ORANGE JUICE and PRINCE to ROBERT WYATT (SOFT MACHINE), LADY GAGA, QUEEN, JUSTIIN TIMBERLAKE and PHARRELL WILLIAMS. LE FREAK is absolutely worth checking out for fans of the history of AMERICAN cultural and musical history. i'd even argue it is ESSENTIAL. photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
sometimes its just fun to watch people discuss shop, whether they be PAINTERS or CARPENTERS or RECORD PRODUCERS or FILMMAKERS or MUSICIANS as the case may be. SHRED WITH SHIFTY finds lead GUITARIST CHRIS SHIFLETT, primarily known for his two plus decades of service with the DAVE GROHL-led MODERN ALTERNATIVE ROCK institution that is the FOO FIGHTERS as well as noteworthy PUNK ROCK bands like NO USE FOR A NAME and ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES, interviewing various other GUITARISTS about their TECHNIQUE, COMPOSITION, PHILOSOPHY and INSPIRATION(S) for playing. the PREMIER GUITAR-sponsored VIDEO SERIES and PODCAST appears to be the visual cousin and continuation of his informal longtime WALKING THE FLOOR audio podcast series that covered much of the same ground. NOTABLE past SHRED WITH SHIFTY participants in these video interviews include NILE ROGERS (CHIC), RIVERS CUOMO (WEEZER), MIKE MCREADY (PEARL JAM), BLAKE SCHWARZENBACH (JAWBREAKER) and ALEX LIFESON (RUSH). its an eclectic, INTER-GENERATIONAL and MULTI-GENRE blend that mirrors the interests of the host, himself an INDEPENDENT PUNK ROCK veteran that plays in arguably the most CONSEQUENTIAL ROCK N ROLL band on the planet, who also has a budding side career as an ALT COUNTRY TRAVELING SINGER-SONGWRITER.
personally i tend to pay more attention to the PUNK ROCK / CLASSIC ROCK end of his interviews rather than those with the BRAD PAISLEYs of the world (no disrespect to their GUITAR CHOPS and COMPOSITIONAL PROWESS). i am able to follow the CONVERSATIONS and understand the TECHNIQUES being employed and exploited in these discussions, but i wonder at times about the user-friendliness of such for BEGINNING GUITAR PLAYERS. it makes me rethink who the audience is for these EXTENDED VIDEO PODCASTS, because it would seem on the surface to be beginning or INTERMEDIATE MUSICIANS. yet there is no GUITAR TABLATURE provided or VISUAL ASSISTANCE on how what being played corresponds to a guitar in REAL-TIME, which would be beneficial to PLAYERS of all levels. maybe the engagement of the DISCUSSION is the real objective here, buts its DIFFICULT to ascertain since so much of the actual content revolves around the playing itself. for my purposes, i enjoy watching SHIFLETT and his GUESTS having FUN talking shop and exploring the diversity of thought that goes behind CONSTRUCTING a MEMORABLE part in a fan-favorite song that has stood the test of time (i.e. guitar leads from PEARL JAM's "ALIVE," RUSH's "LIMELIGHT," WEEZER's "ONLY IN DREAMS" and NILE ROGERS / DIANA ROSS' "I'M COMING OUT". there is real value in that and i look forward to each new episode irrespective of the GUEST involved(with the exception being the MODERN COUNTRY ARTISTS whose music is not my cup of tea). SHRED WITH SHIFTY is most definitely worth checking out.
parodies by nacrowe
the internet is an INTERESTING place.
when i did my 120th EPISODE of DEER GOD RADIO back during the height of the pandemic in april of 2021, i chose to highlight a SMALL but highly INFLUENTIAL record label responsible for some of my FAVORITE HIP HOP artists of all-time in MF DOOM, MADLIB and the producer J DILLA. it was part of an ONGOING series featuring the ROSTERS of various (mostly INDEPENDENT) RECORD LABELS including at that point LIKE-MINDED firms such as 4AD, DOMINO, STAX, GREENWAY, SUB POP and CHESS and has gone on to include DFA, CARPARK, MATADOR, WARP, NACIONAL, DISCHORD, SARGENT HOUSE, FAT POSSUM, STIFF, FOOL'S GOLD and METAL BLADE to date. for all of these SHOWS i created parodies of their respective LOGOS to say "DEER GOD" instead of their actual name. these are of varying quality but made in GOOD FUN and on SOCIAL MEDIA i routinely tag the LABEL to both let them know about the SHOW and the NONPROFIT RADIO STATION MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC as well as make them aware that i am utilizing, but absolutely not profiting off of their INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. what is intriguing to me is that up until this point, for three years i had gotten pretty good responses from some of the ARTISTS and LABELS that i parodied and highlighted on my BI-WEEKLY RADIO SHOW. in fact, in the two years since (and over 200+ total episodes), never anything remotely NEGATIVE happened until STONES THROW, which i will readily admit saddened me. and its not like they did anything particularly intense, just mocking me with two new versions of their circular LOGO stating "WRONG FONT" and "BUT THANKS" on TWITTER. and point taken, DEER GOD has seven letters while STONES THROW has eleven, so the font wasn't completely a one-to-one facsimile. i was just surprised that they would PUNCHING DOWN at someone promoting their LABEL and ROSTER. i took the time and effort to create a playlist of their ECLECTIC ROSTER and talk during a two-hour SHOW about why their LABEL mattered to me, and they effectively SHIT ON ME. or rather the sadly inevitable VILE comment section thereafter did. if it was a direct message from STONES THROW id have been in on the joke and laughed, but there is something about making it public and having their fans make judgements about me that kinda soured me on their whole operation. which is UNFORTUNATE. they are a RELEVANT underground LABEL that continually promotes unknown artists of an ELEVATED artistic caliber in spite of the whims of the industry at large. but i guess they are also pretty ELITIST in the process as well. my experience being case in point. or maybe i am just too THIN-SKINNED. probably. anyway, below is the EPISODE in question if interested. investigating MADLIB, MF DOOM and J DILLA is most definitely worth your time for the uninitiated. REST IN PEACE DANIEL DUMILE and JAMES DEWITT YANCEY. photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
this is something i recently came across that i thought was PRETTY COOL. ROLLING LIVE STUDIOS is a HOLLYWOOD RECORDING STUDIO and EVENT SPACE that specializes in PODCASTS, LIVESTREAM EVENTS and all things DIGITAL in a ONE-STOP-SHOP platform. they even have an APP! back in 2020 during the pandemic they did a charity fundraiser for SAVE THE CHILDREN by celebrating what would have been DAVID BOWIE's 75th birthday with an all-star pay-er-view LIVESTREAM EVENT that included the likes of LIVING COLOUR, COREY TAYLOR (SLIPKNOT), DAVE NAVARRO (JANE'S ADDICTION), TAYLOR HAWKINS (FOO FIGHTERS), YUNGBLOOD, DURAN DURAN, NOEL GALLAGHER (OASIS), MACY GRAY, GLEN MATLOCK (THE SEX PISTOLS) and BILLY CORGAN (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS) and ALICE COOPER among many others.
LEGENDARY COLUMBIA RECORDS A&R man, RUTGERS ALUMNUS (my alma mater), MTV VJ and 120 MINUTES host, as well as LONG-TIME MUSIC FAN and TIRELESS PROMOTER of all things ALTERNATIVE ROCK, MATT PINFIELD sat down with several of these artists for SHORT-FORM interviews about their ADORATION of all things BOWIE for a promotional segment called ROLLING LIVE WITH MATT PINFIELD. definitely worth checking out as well as his ONGOING PODCAST series IN A LONELY PLACE WITH MATT PINFIELD. i know the dude had some health issues in recent years so just sending out all my LOVE and GOOD WILL from one former RUTGERS radio DJ to another.
parody by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating the late LEGENDARY BRITISH singer-songwriter AMY WINEHOUSE!
​ ​​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. 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!
parodies by nacrowe
i am in love with TIMBALAND's UNIQUE and INNOVATIVE process of developing song ideas.
the much admired VIRGINIAN R&B / HIP HOP producer often begins his development process with SPONTANEOUS RHYTHMS he concocts while beatboxing, slapping a nearby table or somehow other manipulating a PERCUSSIVE BEAT on the spot. often in this UNADORNED form the elaborate POLYRHYTHMS he is renowned for are already well-established, which is quite INCREDIBLE. if a PATTERN is worth pursuing further with a client he will then transpose such onto a DRUM KIT, SYNTHESIZER, DRUM MACHINE, KEYBOARD PATCH or some other EXOTIC INSTRUMENTATION in a process of refinement. the results of this process are ELABORATE RHYTHMS that feel ORGANIC and deeply connected to the HUMAN EXPERIENCE. KRAFTWERK this is not. his music, despite whatever INSTRUMENTATION is implemented, has a GROUNDED and ELEMENTAL feel to it. the HUMAN BODY is an INSTRUMENT with a STEADY BEAT that we are all attuned with. and it makes sense on some level that a RHYTHM that is conceived utilizing such an ORGANIC foundation will connect with others in spite of later embellishments and production trickery. it should be stated that often this process is tailored to the needs of the client in mind with TIMBALAND collaborating with them on the spot and SPONTANEOUSLY in the moment. its a COLLABORATION that cannot be more DIRECT, with no filters such as instruments or even lyrics in the loop. just two sets of ears and eyes following each other as their mouths manipulate and explore new MELODIC and RHYTHMIC AURAL PATTERNS together. if that description comes off sounding a bit INTIMATE, my argument is that such a process of CREATION actually is. TIMBALAND is known for repeatedly working with a small stable of GIFTED artists over the years, from MISSY ELLIOTT, AALIYAH (R.I.P.) and LUDACRIS to RIHANNA, JAY-Z and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. i think this fact that he is selective with which recording artists he collaborates with because the key to his CREATIVITY is that deep sense of one-to-one CONNECTION. its hard to say if that level of INTIMATE CRAFTSMANSHIP is replicated elsewhere in the music industry, where lots of producers are seeking to entertain the wants and needs of potential clients rather than creating something UNIQUE and INNOVATIVE. doing such risks failure. TIMBALAND seems alright with such a trade-off unlike most of his peers. INTENSE, ELABORATE, POLYRHYTHMIC beats are not in vogue at the moment in HIP HOP, much like the LYRICISM and conceptual frameworks that carried CELEBRATED past albums from ICE CUBE and A TRIBE CALLED QUEST to PUBLIC ENEMY and TUPAC SHAKUR. like all things with culture, itll eventually cycle back. my hope is TIMBALAND will be part of that next renaissance of ELEVATED ARTISTRY in HIP HOP. here is hoping. ​embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired in late 2020 during the pandemic. the playlist includes music from throughout TIMBALAND's ECLECTIC and PROPULSIVE production catalogue. enjoy! photo & text by nacrowe
i thought the premise was INTERESTING: a book that recounted the life narratives of several women who raised sons and daughters that went on to become NOTABLE and INFLUENTIAL musicians. in practice unfortunately it came out a bit INCOHERENT and TEDIOUS, almost like reading a book report.
that is not to say that i have anything against the late VIRGINIA HANLON GROHL, mother of DAVE GROHL of FOO FIGHTERS / NIRVANA fame. like her, i was an high school ENGLISH teacher so inherently i feel a sense of obligation in and of that connection to support my fellow brethren. teaching is an identity and is something i have not been able to shake in the intervening years (this blog included), so i understand intimately that deep need to NURTURE, EDUCATE and ELEVATE others. as such, you can palpably feel the LOVE and EMPATHY that went into creating FROM CRADLE TO STAGE: STORIES FROM THE MOTHERS WHO ROCKED AND RAISED ROCK STARS (SEAL PRESS, 2017) and the intensive process of intelligently relaying the disparate paths of women in raising and unconditionally supporting musicians like MICHAEL STIPE (R.E.M.), MIKE D (BEASTIE BOYS), AMY WINEHOUSE, WARREN HAYES (GOV'T MULE), DR. DRE (N.W.A.), TOM MORELLO (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, AUDIOSLAVE), PHARRELL WILLIAMS (N.E.R.D., THE NEPTUNES), HAIM, ADAM LEVINE (MAROON 5), DAVE MATHEWS, MIRANDA LAMBERT, ZAC BROWN, JOSH GROBAN and KELLY CLARKSON among others. one issue is that the narratives tend to bleed into each other and taken together become a bit PREDICTABLE (i.e. tales of ENERGETIC, RAMBUNCTIOUS kids that discover music or an instrument as a preteen and then become uninterested with formal their studies, yet maintain a near compulsory self-ingrained drive to create and explore music well into high school and beyond). there are variations to this script but those pre-teen years seem to be the through line in the lives of most of these musicians which makes EMOTIONAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL developmental sense. i appreciate how GROHL utilizes her own narrative with her son to anchor down a base narrative to compare all others to. that was a smart organizational device. another issue is that the premise of this book very much downplays the role of fathers and men in the lives of their children. unquestionably women play a gargantuan part in the EMOTIONAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL and INTELLECTUAL development of their children, but men play some role as well. even in ABSENTIA as with the handful of musicians from divorced, single-parent households. i thought it was an COMPELLING choice to at least not pay lip service to the contributions of the fathers that were an ACTIVE part of their child's lives, but then that is outside of the conceit of the book. which is silly in retrospect. i suppose that was beyond GROHL's capacity as a mother to intuitively speak AUTHENTICALLY about being a mother and not a father. i am just point out the UNFORTUNATE omission. far and away my favorite running feature of this book were the TOUCHING vignettes that GROHL wrote about her son that touch on his early years, musical development and later career highlights. these vignettes very much take you behind the scenes on his INCREDIBLE career trajectory from the perspective of his mother and how the choices she made regarding his upbringing and education impacted such, pre and post-fame, during high and low points therein. through such you get the sense that UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, SUPPORT and SECURITY is what she provided to a son that participated in an industry that is notoriously SAVAGE and CUTTHROAT. if anything, this sense of being a one-person support network is a common dominator of all these mothers. somewhere in this book GROHL makes mention of the fact that she has nothing but TRUST and FAITH that teachers will find ways of bridging the curriculum and lesson activities to the varied interests of their students. this was something she took great pride in as an educator. case in point she allowed her students to rap a scene from a SHAKESPEARE play rather than act out the actual lines of the play in class to great aplomb, so much so that decades later she was sent the original handwritten lines of the rap as a gift and token of appreciation. this is undoubtedly a prime example of the MAGIC of the classroom and the potential for TAILORED instruction by a CONFIDENT, ENGAGED educator. what GROHL makes explicit soon after is her lack of TRUST and FAITH in school administrators who are distanced from the classrooms and student populations they are set out to advocate on behalf of. amen sister. the later was my experience in no uncertain terms, which is SAD and UNFORTUNATE. and this is the related bigger point, the fact that our schools are FAILING students whose TALENTS and INTERESTS lay just outside the purvey of the curriculum. many of these mothers had intensely CREATIVE sons and daughters who just got by in school and saw the whole experience as TEDIOUS and a DISTRACTION from their true calling in life. DAVE GROHL didnt fail in his attempt to pass high school. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM FAILED HIM in not being able to support his gifts much like his family did. pointing that SYSTEMATIC FAILURE is such an ASTUTE observation. this was undoubtedly my biggest takeaway from this book, which hitherto such seemed to not have a larger agenda. i should have known and expected such from a seasoned educator and colleague. ye of no FAITH that i am. GROHL in essence managed to neatly sum up all my deep FRUSTRATIONS and HEARTBREAK over the education system in a TIDY little bow. book report, indeed. RIP VIRGINIA HANLON GROHL
parodies by nacrowe
ive already written here about the fact the best live show ive ever witnessed, and its not even close, was PRINCE at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN in 2004 on the MUSICOLOGY LIVE 2004ever tour. pretty sure it was the last time he explicitly tour playing "the hits," but yeah, i had like eighth row seats or something. dude was beyond INCREDIBLE. but ive written about that before (linked HERE).
lately ive gone down the PRINCE rabbit hole again. he is one of those handful of artists the i double back to when i start to feel jaded about music. and im probably speaking about new music here in that sometimes stuff feels like a COPY OF A COPY OF A COPY. which i acknowledge technically that describes everything that has or will exist since there are only so many chord progressions, but you get the idea. PRINCE was seemingly endlessly INVENTIVE and had the COURAGE and DRIVE to just go and do it. he didnt care about gatekeepers or critics, just was completely on his own tip and followed his muse to where it led him. and its really hard not to respect that. people speak of freedom, but mostly we limit ourselves within comfortable established social confines. with him i just hear pure ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. he was an original of a breed that i can only point to a few other examples: LITTLE RICHARD, GEORGE CLINTON, MILES DAVIS and SUN RA. all dudes that did their thing despite consequences ranging from very real threats of physical danger to looking ridiculous. in SPINAL TAP there is that classic line about there being a "very fine line between stupid and clever" and these artists were never on the stupid side, but they definitely did risk it at times. it just feels to me like everything CULTURALLY IS SAFE right now. and i dont mean in some type of whining, cry wolf ELON MUSK / DAVE CHAPELLE "woe is me" cancel culture screed about the state of discourse on the internet. i mean that artists are not taking CREATIVE CHANCES that may unsettle their base and the STREAMS, MERCH SALES they depend on to make a living in this increasingly FRAGMENTED DIGITAL MARKETPLACE. sure there are modern artists like THUNDERCAT, MIKE PATTON, FLYING LOTUS, BJORK and so on that create increasingly divergent recordings that challenge their audience, but they are few and far between. maybe that was also the case. as PRINCE once said after playing a few bars of ELVIS PRESLEY's "JAILHOUSE ROCK" at that 2004 MADISON SQUARE GARDEN show, "you cant be no king if you aint no prince." truer words never spoken. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC dedicated to PRINCE. enjoy!​
parodies & text by nacrowe
i find myself always returning to the music of MARVIN GAYE. there is just something so SOOTHING and AUTHENTIC about it. there is a sense of being emotionally overwhelmed by the MOOD and POSITIVE SENTIMENT of an artist you knew damn well had suffered a great deal. listening to GAYE almost feels like a SPIRITUAL CLEANSING or a PURIFICATION RITUAL of sorts. im well aware that his music as well as all of that from MOTOWN and TAMLA RECORDS was rooted in GOSPEL, and therefore the JUDEO-CHRISTIAN belief in RENEWAL.
im not even remotely religious, but you dont need to be to appreciate GAYE. aside from his SEDUCTIVE crooning and the undeniable GROOVE of his music, there is the socio-political messaging of his later work that was very much influenced by the senseless daily atrocities and steadily amassing body count of the VIETNAM WAR. the price was paid by the poor and those of the inner city. its hard not to see parallels to today with our seemingly hopelessly entangled web of tribal POLITICAL STRIFE and manufactured MONETIZED HATRED of our fellow citizen. it feels real bad right now and listening to GAYE for me brings about an irrational belief in something seemingly improbable: HOPE. hope that things will cool down and this political moment will melt away. like i said, i dont believe that will come about during my lifetime, but when listening to GAYE it feels emotionally like a tangible possibility. enjoy this show dedicated in his honor from july of 2021.
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating the HIP HOP music production career of cultural icon PHARRELL WILLIAMS!
​ ​​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. 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! photo & text by nacrowe
usually film soundtracks are a cash-grab, but the iconic use of class AMERICAN GOSPEL, R&B, ROCKABILLY and even SURF MUSIC in PULP FICTION (MIRAMAX, 1994) by director QUENTIN TARANTINO transcends this sad industry practice. and i mean right from the jump with opening credits utilizing DICK DALE's "MISERLOU" to genius effect. it is probably the most effect use of music in film since JOHN WIILLIAM's score in STAR WARS (TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX, 1977) and even BERNARD HERRMANN in PSYCHO (SHAMLEY, 1960). i'd put it right up there. full disclosure: my favorite score of all-time is PETE GABRIEL's evocative and global tapestry of score for THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (UNIVERSAL, 1988), but in terms of popular appeal and cultural impact i will yield to WILLIAMS and HERRMANN.
in a film that is high referential and more than subtly tips its hat to multiple genres, most prominently FILM NOIR and FRENCH NEW WAVE, the fact that such a wide-range of music styles feels authentic to the narrative and the chaotic world it inhabits is a testament to TARANTINO's skills as both a director and a curator. not once in the film does the music take you out of the moment, if anything it transparently embeds you further within the dark seductive depths of depravity that these four concurrent storylines regarding hitman, boxers, gangsters, petty thieves and hangers-on spiral around. it is a real sonic achievement. the only other director that i feel has a similar gift for effectively utilizing popular music in way that transforms it from its original context and bends it completely to the will of multiple memorable scenes is DAVID LYNCH and films like BLUE VELVET (DE LAURENTIIS, 1986), MULHOLLAND DRIVE (ASYMMETRICAL, 2001) and LOST HIGHWAY (ASYMMETRICAL, 1997). TARANTINO's music curation is also a key part of an overall cinematic aesthetic that has a sense of play in how it thoughtfully re-contextualizes the cultural baggage associated with disparate elements that also include dialogue, set design, editing, camera movements and even casting decisions. his movies are almost just as much about his love and meta involvement in the process of filmmaking as it is about the actual film itself. and that nerdom and intensely interior nature of his films are what make them so much fun and invigorating for movie junkies. and his use of music in PULP FICTION is a master class in said genius id recommend the music of this soundtrack, but my inclination is to encourage anyone to see their use in the film first.
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating the sublime music of legendary R&B/SOUL singer MARVIN GAYE.
​ ​​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. 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! photo & text by nacrowe
R&B singer SADE is one of those artists that is a bit of a litmus test for me in that if you cant appreciate her music, i want nothing to do with you. essentially because that would would make you soulless and are effective dead inside. in estimation, SADE is the very embodiment of cool sophistication and effortless sensuality and DIAMOND LIFE (EPIC, 1984) is her high watermark on record. with songs like "YOUR LOVE IS KING," "HANG ON TO YOUR LOVE" and of course "SMOOTH OPERATOR," it is hard not to be caught under the spell of her voice.
i think it was probably my last year of high school or first year of college where effectively i sought out music that vastly different than what my friends and i listened to at the time, which was mainly derivative of ALTERNATIVE ROCK, PUNK, METAL and HARDCORE. this is the period that TRIP HOP, SHOEGAZE, BEBOP, KRAUTROCK, BRITPOP, ALTERNATIVE HIP HOP and FUNK really started to come into the picture. in that context SADE really stood out since her vibe was decidedly laid back and came from a SMOOTH JAZZ background that i was totally alien to. probably still am. in fact, SADE is such a singular artist that i cannot think of another similar artist as beloved in her genre. in less capable hands, her music couldve easily stumbled into MUZAK, and not in a good way. i really think its the sensuality of her voice that makes DIAMOND LIFE and subsequent releases so intoxicating. to this day if i am ever feeling stressed, listening to SADE is something that always calms me down and makes me self-reflective. so for me the music of SADE is absolutely essential. most definitely worth further investigation. side note: its pretty cool to learn that SADE was born in the NIGERIAN city of IBADAN, which is just north of LAGOS where i lived in the mid 1990s while in middle school. there is a famous university that dates back to the BRITISH COLONIAL period in IBADAN, as well as a golf course that i caddied for my mom at numerous times. there was also the INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TROPICAL AGRICAULTURE (IITA) located in IBADAN that was where new strains of plant life was experimented on by scientists from international governments and corporations alike. for all of us visiting from LAGOS, IITA served as a weekend retreat complete with swimming pools, tennis courts and restaurants. it was from here that a friend of mine from school almost got caught up in a roundup of political opponents of then-military dictator SANI ABACHA, who were summarily executed. they missed such by a few hours apparently. regardless, it is always a pleasure to learn about new connections with places you have a history with. now i have a new association with the town of IBADAN. parodies by nacrowe
join us TONIGHT at 8PM EST for an all new episode of DEER GOD RADIO on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC with a playlist celebrating the work of legendary R&B singer MARVIN GAYE.
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already, make sure and download the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! parodies by nacrowe
join us TONIGHT at 10PM EST for an all new episode of DEER GOD RADIO on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC with a playlist celebrating the legendary MUSCLE SHOALS session musicians out of rural ALABAMA.
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already, make sure and download the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! photo & text by nacrowe
honestly i only really came to appreciate this record a few years ago when i was teaching 6th graders in MYANMAR. this school was AMERICAN but i wasnt teaching AMERICAN or foreign kids, instead it was the sons and daughters of local business, political and military interests. the school was relatively new, less than 10 years old and was initiated to capitalize on what was assumed to be foreign corporate interest in the region as it became further democratized and open to foreign investment. sadly with recent events that optimism and hope seems to have been severely trampled upon.
i taught ENGLISH and i was always hesitant about utilizing AMERICAN cultural concepts as the basis for lessons. i was teaching the language and not necessarily the culture if that makes any sense. there were times i let that slide and as was the repeated case with music, especially JAMES BROWN, ARETHA FRANKLIN, LOUIS ARMSTRONG and RAY CHARLES. anyway so there i was teaching a typical class on HALLOWEEN, which the school promoted as an event, when i asked the class if they'd ever seen MICHAEL JACKSON's "THRILLER" video? they hadnt. well i fixed that immediately. i nixed the last half of class just to watch it twice. the kids were transfixed. the music, the choreography, the melody, the howling. from knowing nothing about MICHAEL JACKSON to dancing in the hallways and their next two classes (sorry!), they very much got the gist of the true spirit of HALLOWEEN. so yeah, even 30+ years late on a culturally neutral, unbiased and unsuspecting audience full of preteens (the most critical of judges i would argue), that video still resonated like it did in the early 1980s. i was shocked. but there you have it. does the THRILLER (EPIC, 1982) have some corny songs on it. absolutely. the PAUL MCCARTNEY duet "THE GIRL IS MINE" is beyond lame and cringe-worthy. the RICHARD CHEESE 2005 version with STEPHEN HAWKING is way better. "BABY BE MINE" and "HUMAN NATURE" are likewise pretty strikingly bad. however, that hook on "P.Y.T. PRETTY YOUNG THINGS" still kills as shone with its repurposing to similar intoxicating effect on KANYE WEST's "GOOD LIFE" track off of GRADUATION (DEF JAM, 2007). of course "BEAT IT" and "BILLIE JEAN" are iconic stone-cold classics that dont need any vouching on my behalf. probably my favorite song on the record is "WANNA BE STARTIN' SOMETHIN'" which has a very "ROCK WITH YOU"-vibe from his previous outing OFF THE WALL (), my personal favorite record he did. anyway, regardless of my opinion of this record and the merits of its individual tracks, this album crushed with pre-teens nearly 40 years after the fact in MYANMAR. i think that speaks for itself. it just devastates me that this opening of dialogue between cultures that i experienced seems to be on the way out just at the moment it was getting started.
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating classic DOO WOP.
​ ​​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. 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! photo manipulation by nacrowe
after i graduated from undergrad i took a job at a bookstore and one of the other clerks was really into underground music. stuff id never been exposed to previously. bands like STEREOLAB, PAVEMENT and GALAXIE 500. that was cool and interesting and all, but the real revelation was what he was into in terms of HIP HOP, having clued me into the likes of MADLIB, MF DOOM and J DILLA. i believe those three are what many consider the preeminent artists from STONES THROW RECORDS. just the energy, creativity and dynamism of those three artists was the closest i ever got to the qualities that previously led me to my all-time favorite HIP HOP acts: the WU-TANG CLAN and A TRIBE CALLED QUEST. as with anything, you get jaded by what you know, and then new artists get the wheel going all over again. STONES THROW is a label in my opinion in constant search of new sounds and new experiences.
OUR VINYL WEIGHS A TON: THIS IS STONE'S THROW RECORDS (GATLIN PICTURES, 2013) is documentary that looks into the artists supported and curated by the innovative label and its founder, CHRIS MANAK, a.k.a PEANUT BUTTER WOLF. peers such as a A-TRACK (FOOL'S GOLD RECORDS) TALIB KWELI, KANYE WEST, COMMON, MIKE D of BEASTIE BOYS, EARL SWEATSHIRT, QUESTLOVE, FLYING LOTUS, TYLER THE CREATOR, J-ROCC and SNOOP DOGG are interviewed in this film along with past and current and roster-mates such as MADLIB, MF DOOM, J DILLA, DAM-FUNK, MILD HIGH CLUB, JAMES PANTS, MAYER HAWTHORNE, ALOE BLACC, GUILTY SIMPSON, J-ROCC and BARON ZEN among many others. in essence this film is bout WOLF and his eclectic musical tastes and how he fearlessly throughout the history of his label sought to put out music he believed in. even when considering the threadbare profit margins of independent labels, before and after the digital file-sharing revolution of the early 00s, there has always been a base marketing template followed a desired demographic chased. yes the iconic records both solo and collaborative by the likes of MADLIB, J DILLA and MF DOOM will largely define the label to many an indie music appreciator and vinyl junkie alike, but there been just as many records with, as FRANK ZAPPA used to say, "no commercial potential." STONES THROW is responsible just as much for FUNK, R&B, experimental NOISE ROCK and SHOEGAZE INDIE ROCK records. the through-line essential is WOLF and his musical taste, for good or ill. i feel that during a time when labels are attempting to optimize their profits by seeking music that will stimulate the most widespread of demographics, it is refreshing that there is someone out there whose basic requirement for inclusion is the quality of the work itself. WOLF doesnt appear to be chasing a market, if anything he is cultivating a consumer base that will grow to appreciate his offerings and give an unbiased listen, irrespective of genre or other considerations. i think for artists that is all you can really hope for: exposure to an engaged audience and a community of supportive peers. if only that was the norm in the music industry. photo manipulation by nacrowe
CHICANO BATMAN is an eclectic INDIE ROCK outfit out of LOS ANGELES that has a real killer feel-good, laid-back vibe, almost like an after hours lounge band with killer FUNK / R&B chops and deft LATIN JAZZ percussion. the more i listen to them, the more i can suss out their affinity for 60s PSYCHEDELIA, POWER POP, PROG ROCK and all things CLASSIC ROCK with a distinctively diverse ANGELEÑO edge.
to my ears they sound totally original with a relaxing ambience that makes them the perfect antidote for the comedown from an energetic night out. definitely worth checking out. |
NICHOLAS ARCHIVES
March 2024
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