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Hip hop blues lurking in the mist... The great swaying downbeat drift of Exchange has me thinking about the way the whole trip hop impulse seems to stretch back into time, beyond even the post punk and soundsystem soul of the 1980s into the glory days of the original soul music: the 60s and 70s. … Continue reading Walk Under A Full Moon’s Light
Sons Of The Subway Walk Under A Full Moon's Light // All these rugged sounds in discordant harmony, swirling like shadows in your mind, extraterrestrial raggabeats/trip hop broken down/post punk noise/machine soul riddims, The Dust Brothers/Black Grape vision and rock 'n roll in full effect — Captain Beyond and the MC5 and The Stooges and Blue Cheer — Paul's … Continue reading Rugged Sounds
B-Boys wander solitary on the streets of Chiba City How can I be sure in a world that's constantly changing? Maxinquaye and Bristol, dragging breakbeats and bass from the dark side, dubbed-out shadows within and traces of the jungle bizzness in the mix. Mtume on the neon plane, slow-motion boogie equations drawn up in the … Continue reading Hip Hop Blues
All Is Full Of Love: At The Edge of House and R&B In the hazy shadow of r&b's ultraviolet hip hop inflections, its mirror image lingers like a haunting moment still hanging hazy in the air. Amid these discotheque dreams half-remembered, its pulse still beats a song of uptempo longing. One day Jamie passed the … Continue reading Soul Machines
Machine soul by the roadside boogie and city lights beyond... Dusk falls on Murray Hill, cloudy skies bathed in moonlight and the city lights below. In this secluded enclave hemmed in by hills on all sides, geology has its way with the streets, the buildings and the power lines, all arranged carefully around its ever-changing … Continue reading Machines On Murray Hill
Scenes from the grid Rolling vectors spill across the shimmering surface of the game grid, your vessel moves silently over the face of the waters. Lost in the slipstream of Tron 1982, new wave post-disco Radio Clash bizzness mashed into Mtume's Green Light. Plant life blooms between the cracks in the bassline of Veridis Quo, … Continue reading Machines On The Grid
The Bay.. The Bowl... The Universe This time of year — when late autumn begins giving way to the dawning chill of winter — often takes me back to the year 2001, when I spent my days going to community college out in Grossmont and shelving books at the Clairemont Library to make a little money. Then, I'd spend … Continue reading Students Of The Future
Remember when summer vacation would stretch deep into the heart of August, those long, hot days when steam would rise from the asphalt and intermix with the urban haze? One summer in particular stands out, the summer of '95 to be exact, when for a few weeks my brother and I sanded and refinished my … Continue reading 2600 Dreams
It's a 7/20 type thang Summer in full swing, electronics in the system, the bug in the bassbin. Triggered breakbeats and rhythm boxes in full effect. Theme From Hot Burst by Yage unfolds in fractals of digital color (exclusives from Earthbeat — compilations, the art form of the 21st century). Jumpin' & Pumpin' grooves rotate on spinning … Continue reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A couple thoughts occurred to me over the course of last week's endeavors, including the whole Island Disco post and the trio of concerts (especially the Jarre show) that I was lucky enough to attend. These were thoughts that I didn't get a chance to work into the other pieces, even if they may have … Continue reading …One More Thing