Academik

Check out the latest podcast for a trip down memory lane with 9 of the best film scores, and 9 songs associated with those special moments in some of our favorite movies.  Post your comments here on which songs are from which movies and if you get the answer right, you’ll be able to continue your week with pride and satisfaction of being both a musical and cinematic renaissance (w)o)man.

Tracklisting:

Sweet Dreams are Made of Seven Nation Army - DJ Poly
Smack my Sexyback - Bass211.com
Young Folks Rehab - DJ Topcat
Toop Toop Groove - Loo & Placido
Promiscuous Lola - DJ Earworm

Feel Good Roboto 2 - Victor Menegaux
Hella Dare You To Smoke - Party Ben
Close to Konichiwa Bitches - A Plus D
Pour Some Hot Sugar On Me - A Plus D
W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. - Wale

Check out each of these artist’s pages for some crazy mashups - these are the top people in the scene right now and they’ve got a ton of banging tracks.

Come support your favorite blogger/podcast/friend on August 30th at RX Gallery.
Hip-Hop, Mashups, Remixes, Dance, Electro Pop, Electro House…deliciousness all around.

Wale is one of the best new hip-hop artists on the scene. Mastered by Nick Catchdubs, his mixtape “100 miles and running,” is a great way to start your weekend, your morning, or your workout.

I will admit that the first time I listened to the album I was nonplussed. The beats could have used a little work: the melodies needed more depth and layering. I had heard his flow and running commentary on pop culture, D.C. hype, and self-promotion all before. But I had jumped to conclusions.

After listening to this mixtape, in its entirety cranked up in my headphones, I got hooked. All the things that I wasn’t smitten with suddenly became idiosyncrasies that worked perfectly for the song. The extra time to let the songs marinate in my head really helped me appreciate it. This isn’t some pop album that you’ll fall in love with for a minute and then leave behind - like a good woman it grows on you, you can’t help but love her even more after the 15^th listen. That says something.

Wale is the next best thing in hip-hop, no exaggeration. You give this guy access to the same resources as Kanye and Jay-z and he will turn out some amazing tracks. He’s a simmered down intensified version of a lot of the artists in the pop hop world, but he’s got the reality check of most backpack rappers like Common and Kweli. He admits that his cars are pieces of junk, but he rocks fly sneakers. He has wit to spare, flipping off jokes like Ludacris, “My climate is way higher than Lindsey Lohan’s nostrils on powder”, Wale raps on WALEDANCE. He knowingly pokes fun at the lame aspects of hip-hop. It’s a nice change.

He ridicules the stupid excessive trends that have come on, but at the same time salvages the original core of some trends that were worthwhile. For example he rips on the frequent use of lil’ and young in artists names, as well as the excessive breathing that rappers throw on the breaks in tracks. The hyperventilating that is supposed to convince us that talking fast is the hardest thing they have ever done. Isn’t that their day job? He lacks pretension and really, Wale’s just having fun – and that’s what makes him so easy to love (he’s not a businessman or a business, man). Something that seems lost since the early days of hip-hop (De La, Tribe, Pharcyde…).

The mixtape samples current hits and turns their beats into simple infectious background for Wale’s flows - twisting them just enough to make you wonder why the original artists didn’t think of it first. A few examples: Lily Allen’s “Smile”, Justice’s DANCE, The Gorillaz’ “Dirty Harry”, and Amy Winehouse’s ubiquitous “Rehab”. The Gorillaz is one of my favorite tracks - intro’d by an unassuming simple commentary on the eternal conquest for a Grammy and local representation for DC. Out of nowhere the beat hits and your hips assume a life of their own. DC Gorillaz (produced by Best Kept Secret) moves then from a straightforward sample of the original beat, to a chopped and screwed version.

Smile is slimly affected in comparison, but it fulfills a completely different purpose. Wale turns Smile into a conversation between Lily Allen and himself about her schadenfreude, cheating antics, and his desire for a lil Lily lovin’. He makes this sugary pop lollipop lighthearted and listenable. His two-person dialogue gives the story a more theatrical quality. Meanwhile most of his peers don’t seem like they have even listened to what the song is about when adding to a pop track, i.e. T.I. on “My Love”. Wale is paying attention to the subtleties of the pop realm, not putting down the genre.

You can feel this admiration for his reworking of pop hits because every website that recommends 100 Miles and Running provides a different sample song. No one agrees on just one hit from the album because too many of the songs stand out. Some of my favorites are tracks DC Gorillaz(2), ,Breakdown(3), Ice Cream Girl(4), WALEDANCE(12),Good Girls(13), Work(14), Smile(16), and Rehab(19).

Conclusion: If you are driving a car this summer, or going to a party, or working out, or just working, or trying to wake up, or trying not to go to sleep then you should have this mixtape – it’s free! It will liven up your life, make your friends appreciate you more, give you better luck with the opposite sex, and create envy for your vibe. Get this album before your friends do. Get on the front of this wave; it’s going to be huge. It’ll Wale on the nation.
- Quinn

You remember the first time that you heard Kanye West and you thought, woh, this is dope. I haven’t heard productions like this in a while. Where Chicago’s Kanye took old school samples and re-worked them to create his sound, D.C.’s Wale takes the latest and greatest producers/beats and flows over them on his latest mixtape, 100 miles and running. Enlisting one of the moment’s hottest producers/remixers, Nick Catchdubs, to mix the tracks, Wale rhymes over Justice’s DANCE, Gorillaz’ Dirty Harry, Camp Lo’s Luchini (my ringtone) and works with producers like Mark Ronson, Judah, and Best Kept Secret.

His rhymes range from played out bling to funny pop culture references to insightful lines on human behavior. My favorite so far is on WALEDANCE, “Acquire more bras than Zachary Morris, y’all all screech to me, you’ve unleashed the beast, and I’ll play you little brothas like Lisa, shit.” He doesn’t take himself too seriously which is nice considering how many huge egos there are in the game (Kanye, Diddy, Jay-Z, Nas).

Check out the mixtape here and his MySpace. Standouts are DC Gorillaz, Daytona Squared, and WALEDANCE, but listen and make your own decisions.

Placebo is one of those bands whose tracks i stumble upon from time to time and think to myself, really? placebo did this? cool.
Brian Molko’s vocals (try saying that three times fast) are some of the most easily recognizable across the entire rock/electro genre, the blending of instruments, effects, and synthesizers forms a melodic and macabre mix that many other groups have not mastered nearly as well. While their androgenous/glam image has not scored well with many American fans, their last tour in the UK sold out in one weekend, and David Bowie asked them to play his birthday party. That’s success in my book.

This week I stumbled across a mashup of Placebo’s cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up the Hill” with New Order’s “Love Comes Quickly” along with a few snippets of the original Kate Bush song. This song has been on repeat for days now in ye olde iPod and was the inspiration for this week’s podcast.

Check it out here : http://mog.com/Mike_the_Knife/blog_post/88650

Albert Hammond Jr., Arcade Fire, The Submarines, Camera Obscura, Alexi Murdoch - 5 bands, 2 songs each, all Indie goodness. Ranging from Indie Rock to Indietronica to Singer/Songwriter - this week is filled with some of the latest and greatest from the indie world along with a few selections from years passed. http://www.academik.org for a full playlist.

Tracklisting:

Everyone Gets a Star - Albert Hammond Jr.
Scared - Albert Hammond Jr.

Black Mirror - Arcade Fire
Neon Bible - Arcade Fire

Peace and Hate - The Submarines
Ready or Not - The Submarines

Happy New Year - Camera Obscura
Pen and Notebook - Camera Obscura

Breathe - Alexi Murdoch
Love You More - Alexi Murdoch

Click here to find out how to listen!

Thursday morning I’m heading to work as usual.  I descend the bus at Stockton and Grant and proceed on my leisurely stroll to the office.  There’s a Mont Blanc store at the corner of Maiden Lane and Grant that’s been under construction and so when I see a number of construction workers outside it’s no surprise…

One of them is fumbling with a stack of blueprints and right before I get to him he emphatically spits out “Fuck!”.  He looks up at me in a Navy Blue suit and tie and says “Sorry.”  A little perplexed at his need to apologize for speaking, let alone to me, I walk past thinking nothing of it. After I pass him and I am about to turn the corner I hear, “I thought that was the mayor…”

v

Perhaps… ?

So as I am embroiled in a battle with my employer and the IRS concerning taxes (read more here) I have once again come to the conclusion that antiquated systems are keeping us from reaching our full potential. What do I mean? The tax system in the US is RIDICULOUSLY complicated - overcharging those who can’t afford accountants or don’t have the education to understand it, and rewarding those who know how to manipulate it - how does this make any sense?

This takes me back to a previous realization that outdated entrenched systems keep us from moving forward. Telcos. Copyright law. our Oil-based economy. Healthcare. Taxes. They’re all systems that were set up a long time ago and then bandaged over and over again to catch up to modern times and now there is so much money invested in them that the people who are winning from the status quo are impeding our national progress.

These exploiters are spending millions of dollars to keep their system in place instead of spending those millions on R&D and the implementation of newer technologies. Telcos pilfered billions of dollars from the US government to build a high-speed fiber optic network in the 90s - then bailed and told the government it was too expensive. Link Here

The oil companies consistently battle alternative sources of energy (while highly publicizing their piddly forays into alternative energy) and higher fuel efficiency standards (thanks for sticking up what’s in our best interest congress & is there a reason why US car manufacturers have the worst fuel economy?). The price of oil affects the price of nearly everything that we consume because transportation costs and oil are directly linked : whether it’s gasoline for your car, food from your grocery store, your purchase from Amazon.com, or a CD from Best Buy - it’s price factors in the cost of fuel for the transportation that gets it to you. With virtually everything based on this one natural resource (that according to the Department of Energy 70% of our imports come from Canada, Mexico, Suadi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria in order of magnitude) why are we not putting everything we have into alternative fuel research - because the status quo is great for oil comapnies and they’d like to keep it that way.

Healthcare! Wow what an awe-inspiring disappointment that is. While providing better care than most nationalized healthcare systems for middle and upper class patients, many of our poorer brothers and sisters are slipping through the cracks. Due to the heavily weighted system we’ve put in place for Healthcare Insurance providers, normal people get screwed with ridiculously priced services ($80 for a 10 minute consult at my family doctor). It’s known to most people that doctors make a good amount of money, especially if they have their own practice, but what you may not realize is that the doctors are paying ludicrous sums of money to insurance companies to cover them. And what are insurance companies saying, “We [their clients] are using health care services more and more. Not only is medical technology improving, but people are visiting more specialists, more often.” (Blue Cross Website) As the baby-boomer generation grows older, those costs are going to go through the roof. Add to that the problems generated by Americans lack of exercise and bad diet and it’s no wonder we’re going to the doctor so much.

What we need is a revolution. John Edwards is calling for a nationalized healthcare plan which I think is doomed to failure due to the litigiousness of our society - if they can limit tort settlements (breach of agreements entered into involuntarily; IE suing your doctor for making a mistake) to non 7 digit numbers then we might have a shot, but even then… I had a friend in the UK who had 6 months to live and was on an 8 month waiting list to have the surgery that could heal him. Talk about an ineffective system. I know there’s a better way, but too many people are happy with the status quo to make a change.

Back to my original point about taxes - think about the number of people employed as tax accountants and IRS officials - now imagine what would happen if the United States had a flat tax or a stratified flat tax on net income. poof! Hundreds of thousands of jobs would disappear. Definitely not something the IRS or H&R Block want to hear, but is it right for a country to burden its citizens with this? Why doesn’t the government make it as easy and straightforward to pay our taxes as possible - this would make it much easier for them to collect and monitor the entire process and yet I feel like we’re still in the New Deal here, making up jobs so that people have work regardless of its cost to the taxpayer. AHHHHHhhhh!!! I will be filing my 1040, 1040SE, 2106, and 1040C-EZ sometime soon, or some variation there-in.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, don’t let antiquated systems (or mindsets) stand in the way of progress.

Images above taken from following:
Zebra Field from Flickr: Liumorse
Iranian Oil Field from Flickr: The Original Mozzy
Syringe from Flickr: Wakalani
IRS Logo from Aerojockey.com

technorati tags:telcos, oil, healthcare, AntiquatedSystems, outdated, economy, US

Blogged with Flock

A colleague mentioned relationships in the US are different than in France. Apart from the myriad of obvious reasons this is true I asked him to explain. “Americans marry their best friends. Europeans marry their lovers.” I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I don’t know if I have an answer, but I’ve definitely got some ideas…

In America I was brought up to believe that men and women are essentially equal. Sure there are the general observations about women being more emotional than men, men being physically stronger than women, women having longer endurance than men, and perhaps even being able to take more pain than men (not taking into account Jack Bauer). But all of this is generally irrelevant because we don’t interact with general ideas of each other - we interact with people who come in all shapes, sizes, mentalities, abilities.

What equality really means is that every man and woman has the same possibility to become something. CEO, homemaker, entrepreneur, athlete, accountant, musician, artist. Whether they attain these positions or not is up to them. There are too many physiological differences between us to really be considered the same -I mean seriously, women have the ability to create life inside of them, birth them (squeezing a watermelon out of a hole the size of a lemon), and feed them using milk their bodies make! I have a penis. End of story.

But this idea of equality has changed our vision of gender roles and relationships… Simply by having the option to become anything we became something else. We have, in some ways, convinced ourselves that we are alike, regardless of our physical differences and our instincts. This re-interpreted vision of ourselves has had a direct impact on the way we view relationships.

The reason I bring this up is that I spoke with a woman who said she married her best friend (seemingly ideal) and eventually just got bored and they divorced after 8 years. This is something I’ve heard several times, but never really explored until now. I wonder if the ebb and flow within a natural relationship is necessary to retain interest? Perhaps somehow by marrying someone that you are so close to, sharing everything with - you actaully take away some mystery in the relationship and thus some of the interest and attraction as the years pass.

I say there are three things that must be present for a good relationship: physical attraction, mental attraction, and chemistry. People throw around that last one a lot, but I think it boils down to sexual tension and the way in which we parlay our physical attractions to each other. There should be a good amount of all three in a healthy relationship. By placing an extremely high priority on mental attraction (or how well we connect) and downplaying the physical / sexual side of the relationship, perhaps we upset the delicate balance of the relationship… I just don’t know.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this because my mind is certainly not made up.