October 1st, 2010

REAL BAD PEOPLE, DOING REAL BAD THINGS.

this article in the new yorker scared the fuck out of me. you hear of shady backroom dealings and dirty money buying influence, but this is some of the worst i have ever read. i had been asking my american friends what the deal with this out of nowhere tea party nonsense is and none of them really had a clear answer. well, this is just one of the many righter than right projects this family has been pouring money into. and for all you anti semitic pyschos who think jews control everything, why don’t you go do something about somebody who actually looks like he does?


September 17th, 2010

omar s

playing a party tonight with omar s. i have a feeling it’s going to get a bit out of control with over 400 confirmed guests.

September 10th, 2010

DEF JAM INC.

i find myself reading a lot more non fiction these days. there’s something more gratifying when learning about actual events and real people, rather than made up stories. it’s especially intriguing when delving into the history of significant contemporary cultural phenomenon’s closer to my own generation. this latest biography on def jam records certainly was an inspiring tale of big dreamers making the nearly impossible happen and changing the world in the process. similar to what berry gordy did in detroit with motown, rick rubin and russell simmons made history happen with not much more than guts and instinct. a great book with intricate details on the record biz. makes you want to make hits!

just a side note: it’s tragic the days of the self made record mogul are finished. i find it ironic that stealing music has become completely acceptable even at the upper echelon of music producers and dj’s. what’s so shortsighted about this is that very few new artists or producers will ever have the chance again to really reap a proper reward for their potential hit, whereas whole micro economies once burst forth from just that one big record. it’s a shame that because of this, lesser and lesser quality of music is being produced as the real struggling musicians can’t keep financially justifying the effort. and then the music you hear on the radio and in the clubs just keeps getting worse and worse by the year. it’s gotta change.

September 6th, 2010

BILAL

if ever there was an argument that music can sometimes sound so sublime that it almost translates too ornately to be understood by just anyone, this would be bilal’s gift and his curse. this brilliant musician/singer/songwriter in the truest sense of the word, is stuck in a record industry that doesn’t know how to market him properly if not market him at all. his last album, an r&b masterpiece “love for sale”, was shelved. this is a blight on humanity where 95% of commercial music is fit for the garbage dump. my anger is not so much at all the people who think stealing music is somehow their right, but more the tragic consequences of their actions that lead to a future where only pop stars and top 40 hits have been released for us to listen to.

September 4th, 2010

Derrick May talking about 25 years later.

it is pretty amazing to me that disco only lasted a mere 5 or so years. various other forms of dance music spawned from disco in the early 80’s, another 3 or 4 years. then comes electronic music from chicago and detroit, which certainly had disco roots itself, and this is still going strong after 25 years. i suppose the dance music genre finally morphed into something that within its standard, could consistently remain groundbreaking, without over commercializing itself and self imploding.

September 3rd, 2010

TRUTH IS LIGHT presents…

it’s the end of summer. i’m back in my home post building flood and finally getting lots of work done. we have updated the site and I am pleased to debut this new series of 45’s. keep checking back here for the latest updates and when they will be available as they are all in various stages of production. 7001 is ready to ship.

August 6th, 2010

POLE

an interview with the man behind all the newest mastering. truth is light 10, 11 and all the 7’s. i am grateful for all the amazing work stefan has been doing for the label. he has taken things to a new level of sonic perfection.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1232

July 29th, 2010

Detroit: Murder City

a super well researched indie documentary on the history of detroit gangs. just as henry ford revolutionized manufacturing with the factory assembly line, making detroit one of the first thriving metropolis’, the chambers brothers revolutionized selling crack by using the same theory of mass production. in taking the sale of illegal product off the street corner to more secure houses and buildings, they became industry titans in their own right much the same way detroit’s automobile manufacturers had before them.   just a side note, new jack city was a detroit story based off the chambers brothers, not a new york story.  thanks to lucas for this one.

July 18th, 2010

and the band played on… politics, people and the aids epidemic.

i don’t think there’s a bigger blight on the US governments collective consciousness post slavery than how it handled the pending aids catastrophe beginning in the late 70’s and exploding throughout the 1980’s. the history of this disease and how it was mishandled is absolutely one of the most astounding stories i have ever read. one of the most intriguing aspects of this book is the perspective of scientists trying to analyze and confront a gay sexual revolution that had really only just begun. from a hetero man’s liberal notions of sexuality, i found myself nostalgic for a time of sheer hedonistic rituals that i wouldn’t have even been a part of anyway. it was more of a grieving of the last era of action without consequences.
here is an excerpt:
“Intimacy disappeared and, before long, people were wearing outward signs of sexual tasks, hankies and keys, to make their cruising more efficient, and the bathhouses became virtual convenience stores for quick cavorting, 7-elevens for butt-fucking… The trouble was that, by definition, you had gay male subculture in which there was nothing to moderate the utterly male values that were being adulated more religiously than any macho heterosexual could imagine. Promiscuity was rampant because in an all-male subculture there was nobody to say “no” – no moderating role like that a woman plays in the heterosexual milieu.”
AMAZING.

July 15th, 2010

africa is still here.

there’s not much denying that most contemporary music’s time signatures and even more specifically, dance rhythm’s time signature of the 4/4 came from africa. african drum rhythm’s have played a key role in various story telling and dance rituals for centuries. even the drum’s introduction into america came via the slave trade, but was eventually banned because slaves could communicate over long distances with other slaves in a language or code unknown to their slave owners. we don’t hear of much new music coming out of africa, but you shouldn’t count them out by any means because of limited marketing. Konono n°1 for example was a fantastic new discovery from Crammed Discs and now Honest Jon’s has just released a new compilation called Shangaan Electro. I don’t even know where to start with this amazing phenomenon, but in keeping with the idea that talent is talent no matter what tools you have to work with, buy this new release so we can keep hearing real artists do real shit.

http://www.honestjons.com/shop.php?pid=36711

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