Libary porn

"There are books so alive that you’re always afraid that while you weren’t reading, the book has gone and changed, has shifted like a river; while you went on living, it went on living too, and like a river moved on and moved away. No one has stepped twice into the same river. But did anyone ever step twice into the same book?" Marina Tsvetaeva. 

Spent a happy 35 minutes browsing this site and then realized that its charm is also a harbinger of nostalgia to come, being on the cusp of this ConDem sanctioned library cull. SUX.

Odd Future - "I am a fucking unicorn and you're not gonna tell me that I'm fucking not"

I think comparing Odd Future to Insane Clown Posse is both fitting and reductive. This article by Mehan Jayasuriya makes solid points on how difficult it is to place Tyler et al in a context of lineage (gross out punk? horrorxcore hip hop? not-yet formed self-perpetuated future genre?) and how doing so can be disruptive, and have the potential to reveal strains of cultural bias in music criticism. I think Caroline Ryder of LA Weekly got close to it when she said the crew are operating under "influences they don't even know they have yet", which I think is true for a number of artists/bands/genres these days.

The ICP mention reminded me of Jon Ronson's interview with the evangelist juggalos from last year, which is well worth checking out if you haven't already.

Expressos in shot glasses, NYC 2011

 

Jamie xx & Gil Scott Heron - We're New Here

Big, simmering vibes pon this one. Reviewed, for The Guardian Film&Music.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/17/gil-scott-heron-xx-review

New York, New York

Sourcing food/music recommendations for first ever trip to the Big Apple this week and discovered this: Gza, recommending the best veggie hot spots in NYC and discussing the merits of smoking over edibles.

"Ya see? It's too strong, it's a different high. I mean when I used to do the edibles I couldn't even drive a car! Now, I smoked for a lot of years and used to drive on long trips with 3 or 4 blunts and I was cool with it. But with those edibles, uh uh, I couldn't eat two red velvets and drive a car!"

Lady Gaga and teh gayz

Deciphering Gaga's hollow, fame-hungry marketing strategy v.s authentic feminist/queer icon has become something of a hobby of late. Pats on the back to Palmer for calling her out on what we were all thinking (for the record, I like my Amanda salt-free), and to add, here is a pertinent piece on Gaga's shady gay advocacy by the ever-ready Mr Everett True.

Shad - 'Keep Shining'

Because I blogged about how good the track was when the LP dropped and now there's an equally dope video to accompany it.

"We can't divorce misogyny in hip-hop from the institution of misogyny in the larger world" - Akala interview

My December interview with Akala has finally found its way online. We talked about MTV hegemony, the student protests, class divides, the power of (mis)education, and how he taught Konnie Huq to MC. Read all about it here.