Sundaze, (06)

Hello, time for some Ambient, IDM to Sundaze both these albums are just a treat that will let you get on with it, and at the same time offers a nice break wheneve you feel like it.

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Pulseprogramming - Tulsa For One Second (03 ^ 97mb )

Pulseprogramming is centered around Joel Kriske and Marc Hellner, but the group is a multimedia entity, including art directors (John Schacter and Hans Seeger), a video artist (Eric Johnson), and a poet (Joel Craig). Kriske and Hellner originally based the group in Portland, OR, but they eventually set up shop in Chicago. The first self-titled album -- predominantly a work of ambient IDM -- was released in 1999 on Chicago's Aesthetics. A pair of limited-edition albums followed in 2001, the first of which saw the group move closer to song-oriented material, with use of beats and lyrics adding new facets to the group's productions.

Blooms Eventually, video



Tulsa for One Second followed in 2003, continuing the group's move toward traditional songwriting while maintaining abstract qualities throughout.Pulseprogramming have toured the U.S. twice, once independently, and once with L'altra. Last year, they headlined the aesthetics showcase at Sonar and were featured on John Peel's BBC show. "Tulsa For One Second" is a really wonderful exercise in sound, rhythm and melody, a mix of West coast lo-fi indie rock and the Chicago post-rock scene with a healthy dose of European electronica.This is music for serious listening and enjoyment.
You could start by checking out the video's



01 - Blooms Eventually (5:25)
02 - Here Give It Here I'll Show You (3:56)
03 - Stylophone Purrs And Mannerist Blossoms (5:58)
04 - All Joy And Rural Honey (3:42)
05 - Off To Do Showery Snapshots (4:11)
06 - Don't Swell Up Your Glass Pocket (4:02)
07 - Within The Orderly Life (4:31)
08 - Largely Long-Distance Loves (4:45)
09 - Bless The Drastic Space (7:40)


Off To Do Showery Snapshots, Video




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Multiplex - Mixt (02 * 121mb)

Multiplex is Canada and UK-based duo Christian and Roland Dormon, brothers who produce music on separate sides of the Atlantic, creating and then swapping music files for the other to finish. This creates a unique dynamic for making music, as both Christian and Roland elaborate. "Multiplex recordings are far from the standard studio format, as we build up the tracks on two sets of music equipment, in two countries, with two biased opinions of what the final result should be. But instead of fighting for control of the studio and the mix, we surrender control of our ideas to each other, which has worked well so far. This sort of music is about creating new things, like synthesised sounds using software, new ways to compose and new ways to build the mix."
Despite sounding like a movie theatre, Multiplex masterfully create slow building ambiences that have you craving more. The Dormon brothers perfectly understand the principle of “less is more”, rarely cluttering the production with complex programming and allowing plenty of room for the compositions to breathe.

With Mixt, the brothers Dormon have managed to assemble a tantalising list of contributors for this hugely ambitious remix project for their Multiplex material. The material is of an almost unbeleivably high standard here - ranging from the opening texture and cinemascope scene-setting of Herrmann and Kleine, through to Funckarma's vocoded electrosizzling twinkles, to Mitchell Akiyama's sublime static ambience, Kettel's immense fractured breaks and chops and Phonem's dissected laptop microscopic inspection.



01 - Unknown Control (Herrmann & Kleine Remix) (2:57)
02 - Always Within You (Funckarma Remix) (5:29)
03 - Neuteq (Neuteqed By EU) (4:54)
04 - Secrete (ISAN Remix) (5:11)
05 - Vortak2 (Monolake Remix) (5:21)
06 - Patients (Mr. Projectile Remix) (5:21)
07 - Bevel (Animals On Wheels Remix) (5:38)
08 - Patience (Mitchell Akiyama Remix) (5:32)
09 - Sunrayv.22 (Kreidler Rework) (4:53)
10 - Mainline (Spark Remix) (3:05)
11 - Greet (Kettel Remix) (6:51)
12 - Lextik (Doydy Race Remix) (4:34)
13 - Environments (Fuxa Remix) (3:33)
14 - Rock Robot (Lackluster Remix) (4:33)
15 - The Monitors (Phonem Remix) (4:53)
16 - Angles (Jakob Thiessen Remix) (4:43)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Rhotation, (06) Into BPM

Hello at the start of the sixth rhotation i have to say, i planned to post a little less but somehow end up doing more, well we'll see how long i can keep this up, specially vinyl ripping is time consuming. Enough moaning time for today's attractions..yes mostly female , but thats beside the point. However after last weeks Acid House we jump 15 years ahead and find electro which finds its inspiration from 20 years ago, confused ? Don't be. And if you think miss kitten or electric indigo like to be tarted up..ouch , still those days created a tall shadow as i mentioned this week in my Eight-X 84 post.

Miss Kitten and the hacker formed a great duo that (i think) should have deepened their musical relationship, their first and only album here proves my point, there's more to it then just the Sinatra snub. The opinion on Client is devided, tarted up (uniformed) 'dangerous' streetwise gals , may be to clownesk to come across and the opening lines of the album in strong dialect are too obviously seeking street credibilty, thankfully that accent falls away. Electric Indigo 's mix shows she knows her business very well, check it out.

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Miss Kittin & The Hacker - The First Album (01 * 99mb)

From his start in the hardcore techno to the massive success he found with Miss Kittin, Michel Amato aka The Hacker is one of todays most talented and innovative French artists. With Electro (Kraftwerk) to New Wave (The Cure and Depeche Mode for ever) as a musical background he was also familiar with the French rave of the early 90’s. In 95, under the name The Hacker he makes his own music in a classic Detroit style with Jeff Mills in mind. His first tracks are released on Ozone and Interface. Three years later he found his own label Goodlife Records with his friends Oxia and Alex Reynaud, but still releases tracks on other labels. The tones of his debut album “Melodies En Sous-Sol” (spring 2000) surmise his musical dreams where you can hear New Order, Dopplereffekt or the hardcore of PCP.

This first album, made the statement that The Hacker was the new messenger of the French Electronic scene. Nevertheless it’s another project that will put The Hacker on the international stage. He creates some fun 80’s electro-pop with his friend Miss Kittin (real name Caroline Hervé). She is an electronica vocalist and DJ, born in Grenoble, France in 1973. Caroline studied both contemporary and graphic arts. As time progressed, however, she found herself developing an interest in musical genres ranging from classic, jazz, funk, and disco to english pop. Finally finding her sweet spot in electronic music in 1991, she raved all around the country before doing her first mix in april of 1993. .In pursuit of other opportunities, after she and The Hacker recorded "Frank Sinatra" for DJ Hell's label, Kittin left France in 1996 and relocated to Geneva, recorded some EP's with the Hacker until they released their first album on fan DJ Hell's label Gigolo.. In Germany the success comes immediately with “Champagne” and “Intimités”. They are booked everywhere with Miss Kittin appearing as a dominant nurse and The Hacker cold as ice behind the machines and decks. With the beginning of the Electroclash in 2001 they become hype all over the world ! Parties everywhere, talked about by Karl Lagerfeld and Elton John amongst others, The Hacker is one of the most sought-after producers remixing for Mark Almond, Fischerspooner, Air and Nizer Ebb.

In 2002 after their U.S. tour, Michel and Caroline decide to take a break from their project. The Hacker takes this opportunity to create new tracks to release on 12” such as The Beach on Mental Groove and Dance Industria on Tiga’s label Turbo. He collaborates with Kiko and Alexander Robotnik, Millimetric & David Caretta, toured all over the globe as deejay and starts working on his second album “Reves Mecaniques”.



01 - Life On MTV (4:23)
02 - Frank Sinatra (3:54)
03 - Walk On By (5:19)
04 - 1982 (5:17)
05 - Stock Exchange (5:45)
06 - You And Us (6:15)
07 - Flexibility (10:56)
08 - L'Homme Dans L'Ombre (4:15)
09 - Slow Track (2:56)
10 - Nurse (5:14)
11 - Stripper (4:58)
12 - DJ Song (3:03)
13 - Walking In The Sunshine (5:13)
14 - Frank Sinatra 2001 (4:53)

Here Kitty Kitty
The H@cker

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Client - Client (03 * 99mb)

Client are a futurist British musical group from Rotherham, England, members were formerly known only anonymously as Client A and Client B, to the extent that their faces were not shown on any publicity photos; it has since been revealed that they are Kate Holmes, formerly of Frazier Chorus and Technique, and Sarah Blackwood, lead singer of Dubstar. Kate Holmes is married to Alan McGee (founder of Creation Records). They were the first signings to Andy Fletcher's (of Depeche Mode fame) Toast Hawaii label.

Client retains a strong penchant for the lost days of synth pop, when the likes of the first Human League albums were all the rage. Further inspirations according to Client B include "decadent artists..." Their first single, "Price of Love," mimics the robotic, bloodless vibe of that era backed by an intensely catchy melody. A second single, "Rock and Roll Machine," attempts a less pop-oriented groove that focuses on the seedier side of their persona. Client have toured extensively throughout Europe and Asia, they are most popular in Germany where they have had most commercial success. They combine Scandinavian airline hostess uniforms with glamour-girl aesthetics and harsh electronics to create a sound reminiscent of early forays into electronic sound manipulation and New Wave. Their uniforms have become their trademark. In September of 2004 the duo returned with City. A third member, Client E (Emily Mann), joined for the third album, Heartland, this album also marked a change of label as it was released by Metropolis.Meanwhile E is no longer a Client.



01 - Client (3:12)
02 - Rock And Roll Machine (3:42)
03 - Price Of Love (3:52)
04 - Happy (4:01)
05 - Diary On An 18 Year Old Boy (4:18)
06 - Civilian (2:30)
07 - Here And Now (3:44)
08 - Sugar Candy Kisses (4:17)
09 - Pills (4:22)
10 - Leipzig (4:29)
11 - Love All Night (5:06)
12 - Civilian coda (hidden) (1:41)

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Electric Indigo - The New Electro ( 03 * 124mb)

The color electric indigo is used to symbolically represent the sixth chakra (called Ajna), which is said to include the third eye. This chakra is believed to be related to intuition and gnosis (spiritual knowledge). Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye generally associate indigo, in auras, with an interest in religion or with intense spirituality and intuition. People with indigo auras are said to be in occupations such as computer analyst, animal caretaker, and counselor, hmm i take it we should add DJ to that list.

Electric Indigo ( Susanne Kirchmayr), DJ and musician, has rocked clubs, raves, and festivals in 34 countries. Her name stands for an intelligent interpretation of the terms "techno" and "party". She started her DJ career in Vienna in 1989 with jazz and funk sets, but soon found her style in the Detroit and Chicago techno sound. In her Berlin years (1993-1996), she was responsible for purchasing and communication for the legendary record dealer Hard Wax. In 1998 she created female:pressure, an international database for female DJs, producers, and visual artists who work in the fields of electronic music. Female:pressure is a web-based resource of female talent from around the globe. A number of her own productions were scattered throughout the late '90s and early 2000s for labels like Disko B and Mental Groove.

"To call her the most important woman in the Austrian electronic scene would be an insult: Electric Indigo long ago reached a level where conventional gender definitions are obsolete. As a DJ, she enjoys international rank, and as a producer she¹s becoming even more influential." (Sven Gaechter, Editor-in-Chief of Profil magazine and DJ)

If you'd like to hear her in action tonight (17/11) she's at Object 1, thats in Irkutsk which lies in the middle of Siberia, how cool is that ? No worries she's back in Vienna the end of the month..



01 - Smash TV - Nobody (Barbara Morgenstern Remix) (3:39)
02 - Lab Insect - Arianne (1:57)
03 - Anthony Rother - Krieg (4:39)
04 - Justus Köhncke - 2 After 909 (3:45)
05 - Konkord - Konsens (2:21)
06 - Mannix - Can't Forget Her (Tobias Schmidt Remix) (3:17)
07 - S.R.I. - Trax Pt. 1.3 (3:51)
08 - Smith N Hack - No Gimmicks, No Flash (2:26)
09 - Mount Sims - How We Do (1:08)
10 - My Robot Friend - Understanding Your Man (Steril Remix) (3:31)
11 - Black Noise - Smoke & Mirrors (What You Thought Mix) (1:58)
12 - Urban Bushmen - Casablanca (The Hacker Remix) (1:54)
13 - Electric Indigo - Dirty Floor (5:33)
14 - David Carretta - Automotion (3:35)
15 - Savas Pascalidis - Automatik Lover (2:24)
16 - Oliver Kapp - Lush Life (2:26)
17 - Jeff Mills - Actual B1 (AX-009c) (2:10)
18 - Mannix - Sequence Harmonie (David Carretta Remix) (3:50)
19 - Electric Indigo & David Carretta Comin' At You (4:14)
20 - Chris Korda - Gridlock (3:59)
21 - DJ Minx - Sophisticated One (2:35)
22 - DJ Mannix.E.Walter - L.U.H. (2:49)
23 - Ferenc - Sino Estilistra (1:12)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Poem: Ed Roberson

On Wednesday, as part of his quarter-long visit (too brief!) at the university's Center for the Writing Arts, Ed Roberson (at right, in Harris Hall) delivered a short talk entitled "Ecopoetics in City Eclogue." I've been recapping various talks I've attended for much of the fall, but I won't try to summarize this one: instead, I'll just urge you to purchase or check out a library copy of City Eclogue, which Atelos Press published in 2003, and immerse yourself in Ed's work. You won't get to hear any of his wonderful anecdotes, such as how he used to regularly swim with the porpoises at the Pittsburgh Aquazoo, or how, when exploring the upper Amazonian jungle in Ecuador, he, his fellow explorers and his Native guides saw that the rainwater was flowing upwards into the valley and they all decided to pitch a tent on the river banks and just sleep, so that they would at least slake their exhaustion even if the water carried them off--to their likely deaths. Thank the gods it didn't. There's also a lot of Newark and urban New Jersey in this collection (and others of Ed's), as well as Alaska, the Caribbean, western African, and all the other places he's traveled, refracted through his ecopoetic sensibilities and singular singing style,w hich once you start listening to it can cast a spell. A few weeks ago after his reading, I suggested that I would post one of his poems that just kept tolling in my consciousness, and so here it is, about the young man with the "mismatched" (or as we used to say, "mix-match") shoes. You can probably guess the young man's outcome, as I did and Ed confirmed; "Standing Strong" is thus an elegy as well, though this is clear, I think, in the concluding stanzas.

STANDING STRONG


He wore the mismatched shoes     he said in style
when one of your boys was gunned     and it could
go either way     and you wanted to say
you were with him step for step still tight.

When I asked what each either of the way
was     he said it wasn't nothing just mismatched
shoes     no more shamanic a dressing up than that
as if he could not see who sees to

wear     what he seizes on as medicine
from here     from standing strong     canonical
incantation and station of the street
for keeping on     his feet washed by the hands

of black angels of pavement     of dark roads
towelled in lynch linen    basins of shadow.


He wore his mismatch with the dead as night
a night like living sun among these shades
of dragging down     hooked up with even darker;
each star     a stare down a bore of light,
each flare of gunshot bull's-eyed    lights a hole
through the gang of hours    from start to finish of


a life    until that blue blocks out a sky,
the night crimes pile their empty chalked off
figurines prizes into a dawn

He wants to walk away from this.
                                          This rough
odd luck how much in his make up brought
-- walking away from rope   irons   the capture –
up through him
                 his hair     the glide to his feet
the tendency to go fu'thuh in life   Somewhere
a couple decent pair of shoes

Copyright © Ed Roberson, from City Eclogue, Berkeley: Atelos, 2003.

Into the Groove (05)

Hello, time for some seventies groove and one of the grooviest in that decade was War a name they got from the man who sort of put them on the map, Eric Burdon, only to disappear into relative obscurity shortly afterwards. Their first get together is represented here as he(Burdon) declares War a driving and trippy Aside followed by a bluesy B side connected by their first hit Spill The Wine, i took the liberty of adding a live recording (aug 69) that initially cemented their partnership "Paint it Black"
After Burdon left s War set out on their own and produced ( well Jerry Goldstein did) a string of hit albums that ended as the decade ended in 78 when disco took over. Afterwards they carried on like the real musicians they are and you can still find them on the road today.

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Eric Burdon Declares "War" ( 69 ^ 97mb)

Eric Burdon was a founding member and vocalist of the Animals, a band originally formed in Newcastle in the early 1960s. The Animals were one of the leading bands of the "British Invasion", and the band had quite a following around the world. Along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, and Gerry and The Pacemakers, they introduced British music and fashion to an entire generation in an explosion of great tunes and outspoken attitude on, and off the stage. Burdon sang on such Animal classics as "The House of the Rising Sun", "Good Times", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Bring It On Home to Me", and "We Gotta Get Out of this Place". The Animals combined the traditional blues with rock to create a unique sound. By 1966 the original members had left, except for Barry Jenkins, and the band was reformed as Eric Burdon and the Animals later going through several line-up changes, the New Animals .This lasted until 1969.

When the New Animals disbanded, Burdon joined forces with funky California jam band War. The resulting album, Eric Burdon Declares "War" yielded the classics "Spill the Wine" and "Tobacco Road". A second Burdon and War album, a two-disc set, The Black-Man's Burdon, was released later in 1970.

In 1971 Burdon began a solo career. Around this time, he also recorded the album Guilty! He has led a number of groups named Eric Burdon Band or some variation thereof, with constantly changing personnel. Burdon rejoined briefly with the other original Animals in 1976 and 1983, but neither union lasted. His popularity has remained stronger in continental Europe than in the UK or U.S. Today he continues to record and tour either on his own, or in front of yet another version of "Eric Burdon and the Animals" as Black & White Blues



01 - The Vision Of Rassan (7:37)
------ Dedication
------ Roll On Kirk
02 - Tobacco Road (13:04)
------ Tobacco Road
------ I Have A Dream
-------Tobacco Road
03 - Spill The Wine (4:51)
04 - Blues for Memphis Slim (13:15)
------ Birth
------ Mother Earth
------ Mr. Charlie
------ Danish Pastry
------ Mother Earth
Xs
05 - Paint It Black (live) (10:26)

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War Greatest Hits ( 76 ^ 98mb)

WAR is one the unsung greatest bands of the 70's, their blend of soul, jazz, funk and latin was unique. They formed out of the ashes of an earlier R&B covers group, The Creators. In 1968, the band was reconfigured and dubbed Nightshift; Peter Rosen was the new bassist, and percussionist Thomas Sylvester "Papa Dee" Allen, who'd previously played with Dizzy Gillespie, came onboard, along with two more horn players. In 1969 they were discovered by producer Jerry Goldstein, he suggested the band as possible collaborators to former Animals lead singer Eric Burdon, who along with Danish-born harmonica player Lee Oskar had been searching L.A. clubs for a new act.

After witnessing Nightshift in concert, Burdon took charge of the group. He gave them a provocative new name, War, and replaced the two extra horn players with Oskar. To develop material, War began playing marathon concert jams over which Burdon would free-associate lyrics. In August 1969, Burdon and War entered the studio for the first time, and after some more touring, they recorded their first album, 1970's Eric Burdon Declares War. The spaced-out daydream of "Spill the Wine" was a smash hit, climbing to number three and establishing the group in the public eye. A second album, The Black Man's Burdon, was released before the year's end, and over the course of two records it documented the group's increasingly long improvisations.

Burdon's contract allowed War to be signed separately, and they soon inked a deal with United Artists, intending to record on their own as well as maintaining their partnership with Burdon. Burdon -- citing exhaustion -- suddenly quit during the middle of the group's European tour in 1971, spelling the beginning of the end; he rejoined War for a final U.S. tour and then left for good.

War had already issued their self-titled, Burdon-less debut at the beginning of 1971, but it flopped. Before the year was out, they recorded another effort, All Day Music, which spawned their first Top 40 hits in "All Day Music" and "Slippin' Into Darkness". The follow-up album, 1972's The World Is a Ghetto; boosted by a sense of multicultural harmony, topped the charts and sold over three million copies, making it the best-selling album of 1973. Deliver the Word was another million-selling hit, though it had less of the urban grit that War prided themselves on. War consolidated their success with the double concert LP War Live, recorded over four nights in Chicago during 1974.

Released in 1975, Why Can't We Be Friends returned to the sound of The World Is a Ghetto with considerable success. The bright, anthemic title track hit the Top Ten, as did "Low Rider," an irresistible slice of Latin funk that became the group's first (and only) R&B chart-topper, and still stands as their best-known tune. 1976 brought the release of a greatest-hits package featuring the new song "Summer," which actually turned out to be War's final Top Ten pop hit. A double-LP compilation of jams and instrumentals appeared on the Blue Note jazz label in 1977, under the title Platinum Jazz; it quickly became one of the best-selling albums in Blue Note history.

In 1977, the band switched labels, moving to MCA for Galaxy; though it sold respectably, and the title track was a hit on the R&B charts, disco was beginning to threaten the gritty, socially aware funk War specialized in, and it proved to be the last time War would hit the Top 40. After completing the Youngblood soundtrack album in 1978, the original War lineup began to disintegrate.

Things started to go downhill for the group in the late 70s when bassist B.B. Dickerson left and another member, Charles Miller, was murdered. Various line-up changes followed but the original magic was lost and the group were not as successful, eventually becoming just a touring act. Papa Dee Allen collapsed and died on-stage of a brain aneurysm in 1988, leaving Jordan, Hammon, Oskar, and Scott as the core membership. Interest in War's classic material remained steady, as they have been heavily sampled by hip-hop artists creating a new generation that discovered the music of War. The band continues to tour, although with only one of the original members.



01 - All Day Music (3:59)
02 - Slippin' Into Darkness (3:41)
03 - The World Is A Ghetto (3:59)
04 - The Cisco Kid (3:43)
05 - Gypsy Man (5:14)
06 - Me And Baby Brother (3:24)
07 - Southern Part Of Texas (3:51)
08 - Why Can't We Be Friends ? (3:48)
09 - Low Rider (3:07)
10 - Summer (6:23)

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War - Youngblood (OST) (78

What you have here is War getting back to basics. Even if most of what you're hearing is manufactured blatant improv.
Flying Machine (the chase) is mere confirmation of that. Charles Miller's nostalgic flute flashes back to his brilliance of the early days, making you forget any weak moment on this soundtrack. War would never again sound this fresh or relevant.
A pity that the movie didn't do the soundtrack any justice, there are some great tracks here that deserved more exposure.



01 - Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets) (10:30)
02 - Sing A Happy Song (4:01)
03 - Keep On Doin' (3:44)
04 - The Kingsmen Sign (2:28)
05 - Walking To War (2:40)
06 - This Funky Music Makes You Feel Good (6:18)
07 - Junk Yard (2:30)
08 - Superdude (2:34)
09 - Youngblood & Sybil (1:41)
10 - Flyin' Machine ( The Chase) (7:32)
11 - Searching For Youngblood & Rommel (1:42)
12 - Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets) Reprise (1:27)

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War , Bambaata mixes (48mb)

A Late addition to War's Into the groove post, the link between War and previous Into the groove post ft Africa Bambaata, but here it is

01 - Low Rider (Arthur Baker remix) (7:53)
02 - Galaxy (5:39)
03 - Low Rider (Arthur Baker house party mix) (6:25)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Eight-X (05)

Hello, more vinyl rips today, those that followed the Eight-x posts might have guessed i'd arrive at 1984 this week, obviously i can't pass on the book that brought us Big Brother, Newspeak , Room 101 and government sanctioned torture things that these have become a reality though not as complete , i know we have the internet to thank for that. Well George Orwell saw thru the way governments create terror and the control they strive for..at the time he just changed 48 in 84 it wasn't a timed prediction yet here we are in 2007 and the outlook for 1984 in the coming 5 years shouldnt be taken lighthartedly.

Back to the real 1984 obviously people then felt that this grim tale hadn't come about and the music that year was upbeat and energetic, lots of hits that have carried over the years, most notably the topsellers that year, which are usually ballads of a kind..this time had just one in the top 5..i just called to say....Dance Hall Days, Dancing in the dark, Girls Just Want To Have Fun I , Like a Virgin, Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, People Are People, Let's Go Crazy, Shout, Radio Ga Ga, Relax, Skin Deep, The Reflex, Shout To The Top, Your Love Is King just to list some of that years hits.

There were a lot of good albums too, my first offering really broke thru with the Beatbox maxi single in 83 , a year later they released an album around it, it was unlike anything in the market then-hi production values and hard beats softened up by the that year inescapeble chillout moments in love. 84 was the year of ZTT, lots of productions became big hits and Trevor sure blew his Horn that year. Felt maybe a dark horse here, good in the press and recognised as a musical highlight of the eighties, commercially they never found footing . Here's their second(mini) album luscious, minimalist and hypnotic, unfortunately the guitarist, Maurice Deebank, dropped out after that. The remaining decade Felt released another 8 albums after which they pulled the plug on Felt.

Recordlabel trouble is a feature of my next offering, this time it was the band that was responsible, they switched from the independant Y-records to the major league, Arista. Recording of Jamscience had been well underway and Arista refused to buy out Y records this would turn out badly for Shriekback as they had a brilliant back catalogue there which would have made them and Arista plenty, now it got released to frustrate their official releases, lot's of bad blood at Y records. Anyway i present here the two versions that were released of Jam Science the screw you version by Y which contains the raw originals of six of the tracks that would turn up in the more produced and concise Arista version, plus two unreleased tracks. These troubles have caused Jam Science to be unavailable on CD thusfar, so here 's both in digitised format.

1984 obviously saw the release of a movie from the infamous book starring Richard Burton in his last great role. The choice for the providers of the soundtrack surely raised some eyebrows as The Eurythmics made quality popmusic and were at the height of their popularity. It may come as a surprise to you but i consider 1984 my favourite Eurythmics album , a little less Annie and just one hit kept the album fresh. Well not much made the final score, Orwell's book expresses a sense of loss the loss of human emotion and natural evolution, which are replaced by a mechanical world of machines, monotony and melancholy. As such the album does have a mechanical, cold quality to it. Its not very available on cd and hasnt been remastered like the rest, another mistake by those recordcompany heads that just don't get it .

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Art Of Noise - Who's Afraid Of The Art Of Noise

The roots of Art Of Noise lie in Malcolm McLaren's 1982 single Buffalo Gals, and the Duck Rock album that followed it. McLaren foresaw the rise of hip-hop and recruited producer Trevor Horn to record his musical vision. At this point Horn was working with the aid of a close group of collaborators: Anne Dudley - pianist and orchestral arranger, JJ Jeczalik who was a dab hand with the emerging Fairlight technology, and engineer Gary Langan. The team produced for McLaren a high-tech pastiche of the most fashionable black music styles of the time(see Eight-X (03)). The experiments of Dudley, Jeczalik and Langan on this project led to the formation of Art Of Noise.

Art Of Noise were unleashed on an unsuspecting public in 1983, with the debut EP Into Battle With Art Of Noise. The groups' identities would have remained a complete mystery if the record hadn't credited Dudley, Horn, Jeczalik, Langan and Morley as their composers. Paul Morley contributed ideas and delivered the bands non-image to the press and media: their early appearances on TV were dominated by anonymous figures in masks, their videos featured pianos being bisected with chainsaws, their publicity photos were lovingly shot pictures of spanners

In 1984, the Close (To The Edit) single crashed into the UK top forty. 1985s The air of mystery surrounding the band meant that they could, in a famous mixup, receive an American magazine's award for best black act of the year - not bad going for five middle-aged, middle-class, white English people... 1985 saw Dudley, Langan and Jeczalik depart for China Records, taking the name with them. It was the beginning of the Art Of Noise as a band. The 'new' Art Of Noise had many pop hits – mostly as collaborators, with the likes of Duane Eddy (Peter Gunn, 1986); fictional TV presenter Max Headroom (Paranoimia, also 1986); Tom Jones (a cover of Prince’s Kiss, 1988) . Disbanding in 1990, the trio went their separate ways, with Dudley in particular achieving success. A Brit award for her work on the Phil Collins vehicle, Buster was followed by an Academy Award for her score for The Full Monty. Jeczalik made the studio his home, mixing and remixing artists as diverse as Stephen Duffy and Shakin’ Stevens, and Langan (who had left the group after In Visible Silence) produced the likes of ABC, Spandau Ballet and Ronan Keating.

In 1999 Horn, Dudley and Morley reformed Art Of Noise with the addition of Lol Crème. The result of this collaboration was The Seduction Of Claude Debussy, an album created around the work of the titular French modernist classical composer, built on hip-hop beats and drum and bass, with vocal contributions from actor John Hurt and rap pioneer Rakim. It owed nothing to anything the Art Of Noise had ever done before.



01 - A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid) – 4:41
02 - Beat Box (Diversion One) – 8:28
03 - Snapshot – 1:00
04 - Close (to the Edit) – 5:41
05 - Who's Afraid (of the Art of Noise?) – 4:19
06 - Moments in Love – 10:11
07 - Momento – 2:11
08 - How to Kill – 2:41
09 - Realization – 1:41

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Felt - The Splendour Of Four ( 84 ^ 76mb)

Formed 1979 by Lawrence Hayward who recorded the first single 'Index' on his own and soon dropped his surname in fear of getting associated with another popular Hayward who isn't fully named here out of respect.

The first string of releases through Cherry Red Records featured soundscapes dominated by the playing of classically trained guitarist Maurice Deebank and audible influences by Television and the Velvet Underground. For some reason despite critical acclaim and a #1 indie single ('Primitive Painters') they never made it big but even were denied major support from Wea Records (through Blanco Y Negro). In March of 1982, Cherry Red released Felt's debut full-length album Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty. While the album received little notice commercially, it received high marks from the independent music press. Despite the critical success, the band underwent personnel changes. Tony Race, who had joined the group after it signed with Cherry Red, left Felt and was replaced by Gary Ainge.

The Splendour Of Four sound is mellow, melodic, understated, lovely . . . it's the instrumental passages that work best, not to detract from Lawrence 'Lawrence' Hayward's breathy, (Lou) Reedy vocals and beautifully imagistic lyrics. In March of 1982, Cherry Red released Felt's debut full-length album Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty.In 1984, Maurice Deebank released a full-length solo album titled Inner Thought Zone also released on the Cherry Red label. Deebank, like Gilbert, did not like to be directed by Hayward. Their relationship as Felt group members had always been difficult because of their musical differences. Deebank decided to produce the solo effort to allow an outlet for some of the music he was forced to hold back while with Felt

Ignite the Seven Cannons was the follow-up LP to "Primitive Painters." The full-length LP was released in September of 1985. Guthrie produced the album with the 4AD formula, and The Cocteau Twins were at the controls. Afterwards, Deebank left the group, but Hayward found another skilled musician to replace him. Martin Duffy had filled in on keyboards for the album and joined Felt full time in 1985. While Felt played a few shows in support of Ignite the Seven Cannons, Cherry Red was busy releasing a compilation album. Felt's next album, Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death, was issued in September of 1986 on the Creation label. Duffy's organ added a '60s sound that worked well with Hayward's songs.

Forever Breathes The Lonely Wordfound Hayward back at writing lyrics and crafting some of his best Felt songs. The album was released in fall 86 on the Creation label. The song "All the People I Like Are Those That Are Dead" became a favorite on college radio and is now considered a classic to Felt fans. Felt followed with two more LPs in 1988 on the Creation label: The Pictorial Jackson Review released in March, and Train Above The City in July. Felt's swan song was the full length LP Me and a Monkey on the Moon released in November of 1989 on the El label. Hayward had to move to Mike Always' El label because Creation was not able to release the album before Hayward's self-imposed deadline of ten years, ten albums.



01 - Red Indians (1:54)
02 - The World Is As Soft As Lace (4:15)
03 - The Optimist And The Poet (7:49)
04 - Mexican Bandits (3:44)
05 - The Stagnant Pool (8:23)
06 - A Preacher In New England (4:11)
Xs
07 - My Face Is On Fire (3:03)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Shriekback - Jam Science (84 ^ 97mb)

Shriekback formed in the early 1980s , Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), Carl Marsh (guitars/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of the Gang of Four (bass), were joined by Martyn Barker on drums in 1983. The first Shriekback release was the six-song EP Tench (82), followed in 1983 by the album Care, also on Y, which featured "Lined Up," the song that put Shriekback on the map for many people. Care was picked up and released in the U.S. by Warner Brothers, with an altered running order and two different tracks, including "My Spine (Is the Bass Line). Although Care was critically acclaimed and garnered a fair amount of airplay it was not enough for Warner Brothers, who dropped Shriekback and deleted Care shortly after its release. As a result, the follow-up, 1984's Jam Science, was released only in Europe. Toward the end of the Jam Science sessions, Shriekback became a quartet with the addition of drummer Martyn Barker; however, they quickly became a trio again when Carl Marsh departed midway through the recording of their third album. Oil and Gold sold well in its U.S. release on Island Records. So did the follow up 1986's Big Night Music, thanks to director M Mann's use of their music in his succesful films and the many background soundclips in Miami Vice. Shriekback seemed on the brink of unlikely stardom, Allen departed before the recording of Go Bang! (1988), which is what they did after what easily is their weakest release ever.

That appeared to be the end of Shriekback, who dropped out of sight in the late '80s and early '90s. But Allen, Andrews, and Barker reunited in 1992 to record the excellent Sacred City, which essentially picked up where Big Night Music left off. There was another long silence after that, but as of 2000 some form of Shriekback was apparently still in existence; an album called Naked Apes and Pond Life was released, In 2003 followed by Having a Moment , Cormorant (2005) and this year Glory Bumps latter two on Malicious Damage Records which does make it a little harder to get, add to that it's overpriced, i doubt the boys have learned their lesson here, the music industry maybe very unreliable but squeezing your fans is bad business.



01 - Hand On My Heart( 3:50)
02 - Newhome (3:39)
03 - Achtung (4:19)
04 - Partyline (3:30)
05 - Midnight Maps (4:07)
06 - Mercy Dash (4:04)
07 - Under The Lights (3:16)
08 - My Careful Hands (3:51)
09 - Suck (5:28)
10 - Hubris (3:51)



Shriekback - Y Jam Science ( 84 ^ 83mb)
Y1 - Under The Lights (4:01)
Y2 - Building Up A New Home (3:55)
Y3 - Hand On My Heart (4:38)
Y4 - International (3:28)
Y5 - Putting On The Pressure (4:25)
Y6 - Party Line (4:11)
Y7 - My Careful Hands (4:20)
Y8 - Midnight Maps (4:10)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Eurythmics - 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother) (84 ^ 89 mmb)

What to say about Annie And Dave , another time.. as i said in my intro i consider this my favourite Eurythmics album.



01 - I Did It Just The Same (3:28)
02 - Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty Four) (3:56)
03 - For The Love Of Big Brother (5:02)
04 - Winston's Diary (1:21)
05 - Greetings From A Dead Man (6:06)
06 - Julia (6:32)
07 - Doubleplusgood (4:35)
08 - Ministry Of Love (3:44)
09 - Room 101 (3:45)


***** ***** ***** ***** *****
All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

NaNoWriMo + Sabathia Wins Cy Young + Funny Note

I haven't forgotten: yes, it's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), 13 days into it. Are you trying this? Do you know anyone who is?

This evening I heard an animated radio report on a group of locals who were really getting into it, though their focus was less on fundamentals of (good) novel writing--for a realist novel, some of these would be a plausible and compelling central idea or theme, a plot or plots sustainable over a long narrative space, vivid, believable characters, a guiding metaphor or figures, consistency and subtlety in voice, skillful narration and point-of-view shifts, etc.--than on the 50,000 word target. 50,000 words, that was and is the mantra. Usually when people mention the number of words in a book, I respond with a blank look, since I seldom think of books in such terms. My form of reference is: how long is it? How many typescript or printed pages is it? What novels is it comparable to in size? Is it as big as War and Piece or Finnegans Wake or as brief as The Old Man in the Sea or S.S. Proleterka?

The emphasis on length seems so, well, American. Quantity over quality every time, and the novels resulting from this keypounding--well, with extensive revision I imagine a few of them might turn out to be passable works worth exploring. The whole situation brings to mind the cases of the extraordinarily prolific, few of whom, save Georges Simenon and Alexandre Dumas Père, are not known for their emphases on literary excellence of any demonstrable sort. Mary Faulkner (908 books)? Lauran Paine (850+ books, and she's still alive so.....)? Prentiss Ingraham, who supposedly wrote a 35,000 word novel in a night (600+ books)? Jozef Ignacy Kraszewski (600+ books)? OK, I'll stop, but you get the picture. If you reasonable completed books--not just novels, say, but any kinds of books at a quicker pace than a month, you could enter this rarefied crowd. Perhaps some of the NaNoWriMos really are already on their way.

Another way to think about it is that this month, in addition to helping sponsor young writers' programs, does get people energized about writing--not that that's really a problem, in my experience, but perhaps it is somewhere--and perhaps better yet, some of them may start READING and engaging in other non-passive activities. Since most people write on computers these days, too, all the new novels won't result in felled forests, though electric plants are going to take a beating. And then I must admit that I try to practice my own version of this, which I call Personal Novel Writing [Every] Day (PeNoWriDa?), which entails a minimum of 3-5 new sentences (and a maximum of however much I can write), every day, no matter what. (And this week's what is 18 student short stories that have to be read, marked up and appended with comments--4 for my intro class, 10 for my advanced theory and practice class, 2 for my graduate class, 2 more for graduate thesis students, and a PhD chapter for another student, as well as a review of a colleague's work.) All the prose starts to mash together, ther'es no other way to put it. Nevertheless, the daily routine does work. Even if I scrawl the sentences at 8 am or 2 am--whenever I can get them down....

===

Several MLB 2007 season awards have been announced, and today's was a bit of a surprise. C. C. Sabathia (at left, AP Photo/Tony Dejak), the 6-7, 250(+) lb. left hander for Cleveland, won the American League Cy Young Award for best pitcher over Josh Beckett, who led the Boston Red Sox to this year's World Series championship. Sabathia received 119 total (29 first place) votes to Beckett's (8 first place) 86, in a victory for statistics over hype. The two 27-year-old pitchers had almost identical records: Sabathia was 19-7, with a 3.21 ERA, 209 strikeouts and just 37 walks in 241 innings, 4 complete games, and 1 shutout, while Beckett was 20-7, with a 3.27 ERA, 194 strikeouts and 40 walks in 200.1 innings, with only 1 complete game and 0 shutouts. Sabathia was arguably more valuable to his team's post-season appearance, since only one other fellow teammate (very young Fausto Carmona, who also went 19-7) posted anywhere near as many wins, while the Red Sox had rookie Daisuke (Dice-K) Matsuzaka, who went 15-12 and veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who went 17-12. (The 40-year-old potential Hall of Famer and inveterate right-winger Curt Schilling posted a 9-8 record.)

If you're not a baseball fan, this news probably isn't so significant, but it's interesting to me that in the 51 years of the Cy Young Award, Sabathia is only the second Black non-Latino pitcher to win it in the American League, and only the sixth Black non-Latino pitcher ever to win it. His sole American League predecessor, Vida Blue, won it in 1971, while National Leaguer winners include Dwight Gooden in 1986, Bob Gibson, who received it in 1968 and 1970, and Ferguson Jenkins, who received in 1971. Don Newcombe received the very first first Cy Young Award, when it was given out to one pitcher from both leagues, in 1956. (It is the case that several Venezuelan, Dominican, Puerto Rican and Cuban players of African descent have received the AL Cy Young in the past, with Johan Santana winning it in 2006 and 2004 and Pedro Martínez winning it twice in the AL and once in the NL.) Sabathia is involved with a project to reinterest younger Black Americans in baseball, so perhaps the award and the public recognition that comes with it will inspire potential future talents.

Sabathia had a superb rookie year in 2001, and then mixed years since then, but this season he seemed to be in control of most of his games, except when the post-season rolled around. With his evident talent, and Carmona's, Cleveland may not have to wait much longer for a championship.

===

How things have changed. When I was a considering colleges, I never conceived of visiting with professors and sitting in classes; I'm sure this was possible, and I spent a good deal of time hanging around Washington University's campus (which was my idea and ideal of a university), trying to imagine myself a college student, though when I finally did go to (another) university, the experience was different from anything I'd envisioned and required a huge amount of adjustment. I did not dare sit in any Wash U. classes, though. I think the closest I ever got was when I went to hear a talk, by whom I don't even remember, with my class, just as we'd gone to see a play or two at Webster University (then Webster College, and it was walking distance from my home).

Even as an undergraduate I did not feel comfortable "bothering" (as I saw it) most of my professors, at least until my senior year, and my few earlier forays doing so--one unforgettable time was when I went to meet with Stephen Jay Gould and could barely get words out--struck me with such existential terror that I swore off it unless absolutely necessary. These days amid everything else I do, I periodically host prospective undergraduates and their parents in my classes (they usually ask politely if they can sit in), and meet with them when they come to visit the university. Quite a few of them know by their senior years of high school that they want not only to be writers, but in undergraduate writing programs, so I usually describe our plan of study, writers that visit, and the like.

As a bit of levity, here's an email letter (the writer's name has been removed) that I received yesterday. A reminder: the institution I teach at is in the first suburb north of Chicago....

Dear Prof.,

Thank you for spending so much time with my mother and I on our visit to Brown last week. I was very impressed by the facilities. What made Brown stand out
as the top school in my college search is the English department's fusion of classical genres and other kinds of media. Additionally, the campus is gorgeous and the location accommodates my passion for city life.

I look forward to corresponding with you again about the unique opportunities that the Brown English department offers.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ah, the joys of teaching!

Veteran's Day + Mailer/Cooper/Washington + Troy Smith: Beautiful and "Kind"

Today is Veterans Day, which I nearly forgot because, I'm embarrassed to say, we don't get it (or any other holidays, save the major ones) off at the university. I'm the son and grandson of (deceased) veterans, the godson (twice over) of veterans, the nephew and cousin of many. Some of them fought in wars (World War II, Vietnam, etc.), but most served during the illusory societal calm we like to call "peacetime."

I always think of some of them--my uncle J., for example, who was deeply affected by Vietnam--when I consider the plight of our most recent new veterans, returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. 1/4th of today's homeless are said to be veterans, though they constitute about only 10% of the population. Iraq returnees are suffering from higher rates of suicide, PTSD, and other psychological problems, than the public at large. Until the public scandal broke earlier this year, hundreds veterans at Walter Reed Hospital were living in conditions that would not be fit even for rats, and veterans, like so many other Americans, are experiencing a range of crises, including home foreclosures, bankruptcy, and so on, yet there appears to be little to no response from the people in power in Washington. Today anti-war veterans were arrested at an American Legion event in Boston.

One of the smallest and most important things you can do is try to be aware of the issues longtime and new veterans are facing, and advocate on their behalf to your elected representatives whenever you can. It's easy to salute the troops, champion their sacrifice and valor, and ignore them when they most need our support, so try not to forget them today, or in the future.

+++

Yesterday brought news of Norman Mailer's (1923-2007) passing. For most of my youth and early adulthood he was considered one of the preeminent American writers, or rather one of the MAJOR WRITERS with a capital "M" (also for MALE). His fame came quickly with his first and best novel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Naked and the Dead (1948), but also attended his pioneering works in the then-nascent field of creative nonfiction, such The Armies of the Night (1968) and the infamous and extraordinary The Executioner's Song (1979); he was also of the major literary and cultural celebrities, a liberal, sometimes progressive journalist, critic and commentator on all things American and, misguidedly, many things Black (getting into a verbal sparring match with James Baldwin, among others), one of the co-founders of the Village Voice, a political candidate, a dogged anti-feminist (who stabbed one of his wives in the 1960s), a homophobe and racist who loved to quarrel with Truman Capote, Germaine Greer, Gore Vidal and countless others, and lace his fiction with as much polymorphous perversity as he could, and a larger-than-life personality whose cavorting in the public eye often threatened to eclipse his work. (As far as the fiction goes, it did.)

It's probably fair to say that Mailer's public stature diminished considerably over the last decade, as fewer people of recent generations knew of his exploits first hand and his recent books were generally not worth the time it took to read and comment on them--the last book of his I waded through, Ancient Evenings, an endless, sex-besotted romp through the Pharaonic epoch(s), came out in 1983, and I didn't buy it, my mother, a longtime reader of his, did--but Mailer did still throw some punches, as when he began writing critical pieces about the W Gang a few years ago in the New York Review of Books. The pugnacious and blistering intellect that garnered his fame was on display in these pieces, though the reality was and is that the people who probably might have listened 25, 35, or 45 years ago to the best parts of his arguments were no longer interested or already agreed with him. His passing marks end of era.

Patricia Spears Jones told me that poet Jane Cooper (1924-2007, at left, from W.W. Norton & Co.) had passed away, so I wanted to mention her as well. Along with Grace Paley, Muriel Rukeyser, and several other notable writers she established the acclaimed creative writing program at Sarah Lawrence College, where she taught for over 40 years. I usually tend to think of her as a lyric poet of life's quieter moments, but she could be bitingly sarcastic, as in her famous poem "Seventeen Questions about KING KONG," in which she critiques her familial relationship to the 1933 film's director, Merian C. Cooper.

Here's another of her poems, from the Academy of American Poets website, the lacerating "Clementene," about that most central of American themes, race (click on the link you can hear her read it as well):

CLEMENTENE

I

I always thought she was white, I thought she was an Indian
because of her high-bridged nose, coin-perfect profile
where she sat in an upstairs window, turning sheets sides-to-the-middle—
There are so many things wrong with this story,
Muriel, I could not tell you—

Her cheeks were oddly freckled, and her hair would be squeezed down
into a compact, small knot at the nape, gray as chicken wire, gray
as the light, unaffectionate glance her eyes would give
if she lifted them from her work.
No child would interrupt her.

She came twice a year to do the sewing, she slept in the house,
but her meals were brought up, so that she dined by the Singer,
now and then staring fixedly across the river. She joined neither white
in the dining room nor colored in the kitchen.
Her wishes were respected.

Later I saw the same light, disconcerting gaze and futuristic planes
in Oppenheimer's face, but she looked most like my grandmother's friend
Miss Gertrude
who taught me to tat. Once we moved north, Mother confided
of the two finest families in Jacksonville, no one could be sure
whose father was her father.

2

Muriel, I never told you, I never revealed how Clementene
died in our house a white woman and was claimed by her black
daughter.

How she flung up her arms in wild grief
so different from Clementene's reserve.

How she hollered and called on Christ Jesus,
flinging her body from side to side at the foot of the staircase.

How the police arrived, it was nine o'clock at night,
long past my bedtime.

How I leaned over the stair rail,
unnoticed for once, as their torches burst in.

It seemed as if tumultuous shadows
crawled through the door, odors of pinestraw, magnolia, river
bottom—

They are carrying a blanketed stretcher.
Now the daughter follows, still whimpering into my mother's small-
boned shoulder.

I had seen how a mother could be mourned.
Now I watch my mother shiver and pull away.

Why, if I was not an accomplice,
did I feel—do I feel still—this complex shame?


Copyright © 1994 by Jane Cooper, from
The Flashboat: Poems Collected and Reclaimed by Jane Cooper.
Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Yesterday was also the 20th anniversary of Harold Washington's death. He was the 42nd and 1st African-American Mayor of Chicago, elected twice, in 1983 and 1987. Harold Washington was and remains a hero to many people all over the country and globe, for his pioneering victories, for what he represented, and for how he governed while in office. I can remember the near-frenzy among family members and friends an entire state away, in Missouri, when he was first elected; I was a senior in high school and his primary win, against a field of other Democrats, and win in the general election, seemed like the opening of a new era. If only it was...

Here is his first inaugural address. And here's my favorite section, the end, where he cites the founder of Chicago, and says to the city of Big Shoulders, "Let's go to work." And he did.

I reach out my hand and I ask for your help. With the same adventurous spirit of Jean Pointe Baptiste DuSable when he founded Chicago, we are going to do some great deeds here together.

In the beginning there was the word. Throughout this campaign you've given me the word. The word is over. Let's go to work.

+++

Reggie highlights a recent appearance by the gorgeous former Heisman Trophy Winner Troy Smith (at right) at a juvenile detention center in his hometown of Cleveland. I'd forwarded the article to a mostly poc-g/sgl sports listserve I'm on, because I felt Smith's actions and remarks were, to put it mildly, extraordinary. What I wrote to the list was this (excerpted):

"I was more interested in how Smith was described and in particularly how he addressed the young brothas in the correctional facility. I may be alone in this, but I rarely read reports of anyone, particularly a young, beautiful, somewhat famous talented Black man still in the public eye, telling other young brothas whom society has decided to give up on that they are "needed" and "beautiful." That a city wants them to come back and participate in shaping its public life? Do you? And that he's brought to the point of tears expressing it?"

Am I wrong? Does this happen often? Does anyone regularly tell young Black men, or young Black women, or young Black people--or young people of any color, especially young people who are poor and working-class, who are already in the cogs of the prison-industrial complex, whose lives may already have passed through versions of Hell and worse, that they are "needed," that they are "beautiful" (and I don't mean in a sexualized-eroticized sense), that they are "wanted," that they are "missed," that without their active participation and engagement society cannot go forward? What would happen if we did this more often? I think of the response Smith got, and of my own experiences, brief though they were, working with young Black and Latino and Asian kids in the New York City schools, and witnessing first hand how they craved someone to show interest in them, to love them, to listen to them, to guide them, to encourage them, to push them, to assure them and challenge them, to let them know that their presence wasn't superfluous, as everything around them was conveying regularly, that they were not subalterns without any possibility of relevance unless they rapped or played basketball or were taking their clothes off. So Troy Smith's actions really moved me, and I was glad Reggie highlighted them. I also wonder, why don't we--since we know our traditional and "mainstream," which is to say, corporate media aren't going to do it, because in their eyes we still do not really exist--make it a regular practice, and make sure that there's some substance to it?