Sunday, August 29, 2010

Where It Comes From: Southern Gospel







SACRAMENTO in the house!!!

Mon Cœur

Aujourd'hui, mon cœur est triste
comment mon cœur les douleurs, comme un petit oiseau dans la rue, une mémoire qui a été écartée
vous êtes le vin, je suis le pain de la masse,

Saturday, August 28, 2010

South Sac Story

There was one time when I shared a house with a prostitute.

I moved out of my house in Oak Park at seventeen. I was in school full time at Sacramento City College, and
working in a retirement home serving food. I had a one bedroom apartment downtown on N st. It was fu-uh-nky. Homeless people would sleep in the hallways inside the building. When I left for swim practice at 5am, I was always tempted to bring a blanket down with me to tuck them in as I passed by. I kinda wish I had. I have rarely regretted those kind of actions.

Eventually, I couldn't afford to live there anymore. By then, I had made friends on the swim team with nearly everyone, but especially to two girls in particular. One girl was a single mom who lived across the street from Sac City. The other was the lone Mexican on the team. She and I hung out a lot. She was from Los Angeles and would tell me stories about drug dealers who drove around in Ice Cream Trucks. And I would tell her about the whorehouse that was next to the candy store in Courtland. We had quite a bit in common. Ha.

When her cousin who lived across the street from her decided to rent out two rooms in her house so she could make rent, I happily volunteered. Another girl had the room next to me. She was a curvy, young black woman with an infant. The baby rarely cried. He was very solemn in the eyes and and a small, week voice when you heard it. One afternoon she was out in the living room with her baby. I held him in my arms. Soft dark curls adorned his small head in large whirls. He calmly accepted me, and even smiled up at me. I was inexperienced holding any infant and didn't really give him the support for his neck that I should have. He was strong, though. The mother stood in the kitchen, talking on the phone. Minutes later, she had changed into shirts and shorts and had the baby bundled up. A large white van pulled up and she climbed in, putting the baby behind the passenger seat. A man slammed the van door shut. I didn't see him, just his lanky arm.

I asked her later and she told me. Quietly. She asked me not to tell the woman we rented from and I didn't. She was very shut down and numb-looking around the eyes. But she also spoke of it all with a nonchalant acceptance. I had seen that not-home look before, in the eyes of my mother. I had no illusions that I was any different than this girl, just luckier. Chances are, if she and I compared stories, there would be more reason for me to be in her shoes and her in mine.I had always seen people running "the game" in the neighborhoods around me. But this was the only time I had lived with a certified player in the game. I often think about her and that precious baby I held in my arms- the baby with no name, a strong spine, and a week voice. I have prayed, and continue to pray for them both. Lord, let them be as lucky as I have been. Thank you for watching over us all.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Modern Reggae Compliation CDs: Reviews

I can not sleep. Might as well make myself useful. It's 4:30 am, Wednesday morning. I'm thinking about eating the leftover spaghetti in the fridge from yesterday. But it's kinda yucky sauce. Oh, I know I could add some spices and fix it up, but, well, it's 4:30 am in the morning for cryin' out loud. How you gonna expect me to get up and start cooking. Ha. Instead I'll work on my boyish figure and starve a little while longer.

Onward to the Reggae Review!

The first CD in my collection up for review is one of my favorites.

Of course, if your not into reggae- none of these reviews will mean anything to you- and frankly, your stupid for reading a review blog on a type of music you don't like.

This CD is so good that I scratched it up from use and had to re-buy it, which I gladly did.

On Out | Here Records, comes a compilation from Africa.




















1. Peter Miles - Owange - Ugandan dancehall star
2. East African Reggae Bashment Crew - Africa unite - Kenyan Duo Necessary Noize & Ugandan Reggae Star Bebe Cool
3. 994 Crew - Bad boy - Mauritanian dancehall crew
4. Tiken Jah Fakoly - Tonton d'America - Reggae Star from Ivory Coast
5. Leo Muntu - Wachita over - Popstar from Zambia
6. Dully Sykes - Handsome - Tanzania Bongo Flava Star
7. H2O ft. Zubz - African - Jo'burg's Township Hiphop Duo H20 ft. Zubz, the last letter
8. The Danfo Drivers - Sensimillia - Mad Melon & Mountain Black representing Lagos biggest ghetto Ajegunle
9. Necessary Noize - Bless my room - Kenya's first Lady Nazizi & The Lovechild Wyre are Necessary Noize
10. Baay Sooley ft. Carlou D & Country Man - Wouty Zion - Senegals Reggae Artist known to be part of Positive Black Soul
11. Bantu ft. Positive Black Soul - One Vibe One Flow pt.2 - B.A.N.T.U: Brotherhood alliance navigating towards unity
12. Alif - Wooyo - Dakar female rap trio
13. Rebellion the Recaller ft. Suns of Light - We must Rebel - Gambian Reggae Star ft Gambian based Production Team
14. Sydney Salmon & The Twelve Tribe of Israel Band - Shashamane on my mind - Jamaican born reggae singer Sydney Salmon repatriated to Ethiopia
15. Teba - Gatyeni
The Original Social Worker Teba representing the cape flat Gugulethu
16. Small Axe ft. Robert Slay - Love somebody
17. Batman Samini ft. Gogome - Lambori - Best of All Time BATMAN Samini the ghanaian raingod
18. Dread Maxim - Jah Fire outro - Senegalese reggae Singer


From the first track to the last, it scorches with complex rhythms, mellow melodies, interwoven vocals, all giving a fresh sound not typically heard on what is often available in this genre.
Tracks 1-3 are upbeat and require dancing
Track 4 has a smooth and deep melody.
Track 7 has a haunting vibe, even as it breaks out into straight rap.

Track 11 embodies the overall feel of this comp. While the you are dancing to the most accessible rhythm ever created, your are enchanted and mesmerized by the complex melody that lingers in your head, long after the last note has faded from your speakers.

Final Vote: *****Get it. Now.

Maximum Pressure Records put out a comp from Philip Fattis Birrell's label, Xterminator, of modern roots reggae that include notable artists such as Sizzla, Luciano, Ini Kamoze, Coco Tea and Capleton.  

Rough Inna Town Track List
1.Rough Inna Town — Luciano & Coco Tea
2.Life's Road — Sizzla
3.Love Jah And Live — Luciano
4.Jah Kingdom — Luciano & Capelton
5.Harvest Time — Chezidek
6.Who Is Laughing — Sizzla & Ninjaman<
7.Gunzalis — Luciano
8.Gunzalis Dub — The X-Terminator Crew
9.Hill and Gully Ride (Remix) — Ini Kamoze
10.Many Have Fallen — Mikey General
11.Rebel With A Cause — Luciano, Josey Wales and Charllie Chaplin
12.As For Now — Sizzla
13.Trod In The Valley — Jah Cure
14.How U Livin' — Ini Kamoze
15.Psalms 24 — Mutabaruka & Luciano
16.We Pray Jah — Malachi & Turbulence
17.We Will Make It — L.M.S.
18.Repatriation Dub — The X-Terminator Crew  

Final vote: ****if it's your thing you should definitely have this already.

Finally, if your new to conscious dancehall, I have a few decent comps in my collection that are worth picking up. These are great introductory compilations to the genre's most popular artists.

The Kings of Zion series on Jet Star.



















The third is my favorite of the three.

Final vote: **decent

Young Lions, also on Jet star.



Final Vote: *** if it's your thing, it's worth getting

Who's Your Favorite Jamaican Singer?

Jimmy Cliff! Jimmy Cliff! Jimmy Cliff!




Tuesday, August 24, 2010

My Playlist

My Playlist

quick link to good music- in my humble opinion

In This Sigh, I Watch It All Fade


Absence pulls the knives.
Each wound clinging to the steel sheath as if its existence depended upon it, and it did.

Who am I without my wounds?
My knives, my past, my story?
How does one let go of things so ugly, they never were claimed?
What if we weren't Brahman princes, but beggars with lost eyes?
The peace is as much my birthright as anyone else.
 

It must be done.
The knives must be pulled.
Pulled.

And the sucking sound from attached flesh will sing, and the self will scream, and speak with a thousand tongues, and Mara will dance on my ashes, but I will stay here.
 

I will pull and pull and stay in this breath.
Stay as I stand before my teachers and feel all the anxiety and disgust of a dark and violent past.
I will breathe and whisper "who is it that fears?" and watch myself melt like a sigh.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Because We Can't All Be Spoiled Brats

Some of us have to have depth.
And passion, and complexity, and wounding.
Someone has to be the strong survival-type.



Saturday, August 7, 2010

My Favorite Comics

It's a quick list since I'm not a crazy comic person.
Let me begin by saying I was an avid Archie Comics reader as a kid. I got started during the time I lived in a group home.
Some person had donated Archie comics and Nancy Drew books by the truck-full. One other kid was as avid a reader as I was. Her name was Leslie and she had very straight, sun streaked blonde hair. She and I were both kids that preferred to be by ourselves and the rows of books were just our thing.







When I entered my teens I was introduced to Sandman comics by Cardin, another group home kid. He was an auburn haired  boy with a sullen mouth and a dark sense of humor. I thought he was beautiful. But I also appreciated his friendship. 
 
I remember we both wrote poetry and could often find common ground in discussions on music.

When my mother found out I had stacks of Sandman comics that I had bought from him, she made me give them to her so she could burn them. She said they were Satanic . Lord, I still wish I had those comics now. They would be worth some money!

An offshoot from this series is a series on Sandman's sister called "Death". I recently purchased the first two volumes (haven't read them since I was- what fourteen!) and I fell in love all over again. Funny, how a series on Death makes you feel grateful to be alive. Really fantastic series.

When I was in my twenties, I was introduced to Johnny The Homicidal Maniac. Created by Jhonen Vasquez, who would later go on to create the critically acclaimed children's (believe it or not!) series Invader Zim.

During the JTHM period, he also created the characters Squee (with a whole second series just with Squee), Filler Bunny (Slave Labor Graphics still puts out a few solo Filler Bunny comics from time to time), and Wobbly-Headed Bob. Dark, delightful, sadistic, as well as awfully cute (huh?!?) Only Vasquez can pull it off, but he does it well.

Too bad Invader Zim has pretty much put a stop to these comics. Don't want the kiddies getting any ideas, now do we?































Next on the list is a fantastic series called Love and Rockets. Punk rock chicanas from a fictional L.A. suburb called Hoppers. Written by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, brothers from Oxnard, California, it includes the Hoppers 13 (Loca) stories and El Palomar (series taking place in Mexico), plus numerous offshoots from these two.                                                                                                                                               
A short excerpt from wikipedia "Hoppers 13 follows the tangled lives of a group of primarily chicano characters, from their teenage years in the early days of the California punk scene to the present day. (Hoppers, or Huerta, is a fictional city based on the Hernandezes' home town of Oxnard, California.) Two memorable members of Jaime's cast are Margarita Luisa "Maggie" Chascarrillo and Esperanza "Hopey" Leticia Glass, whose on-again, off-again romance is a focus for many Hoppers 13 storylines. The series is also often called Locas (Spanish for "crazy women") because of the many quirky female characters depicted.
One aspect of the Love and Rockets opus is the way Los Bros Hernandez portray the passage of time in a relatively realistic manner despite the traditional constraints of the medium. For example, Maggie's character debuted as a slight yet curvy young adult Pro-solar mechanic living in a world both distinctly chicano and punk with a sci-fi twist. As Jaime developed her character in more detail, she started to gain weight slowly. Over the years, Maggie and the other characters have evolved, growing more layered and complex as their stories develop. The present Maggie is now the manager of an apartment complex with bleached blonde hair and a penchant for wearing sexy bathing suits on her rubenesque figure. Jaime has also made extensive use of flashbacks, with Maggie and the others presented at different ages from toddlers through teenagers and young adults to thirtysomethings. The first issue of volume two of Love and Rockets featured a cover with a range of different Maggie ages/looks."




The final series is an adorable little dead girl called Lenore.

Inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe poem, Roman Dirge has created the ultimate and cute/sadistic adventures with the dead girl in this series. My favorite is the comic where the squirrel head mounted on her wall comes to life and cries because he has no legs. Lenore breaks her barbie in half and sticks the Barbie legs on the squirrel, who then runs off to his squirrel friends (on Barbie legs).

Also fairly epic are the inserts called "Things Involving Me".




Finally, because the last two blogs have been all gothic and sh*t, let's go out on a lighter note- MAKING FUN OF GOTHS! WooHoo!