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Workday/Schoolnight: Electronic Trash


Music Hardware, originally uploaded by Accent Creative.

I’m digging this all-electronica album, big time.

Bart Trotman is the guy behind Workday/Schoolnight, as well as the beats guys for the Greensboro-based band, Invisible. He dropped this compilation of primarily electronic and vocal samples the other day. Check out one of my favorite tracks so far:

The Children

Pay no attention, to the children
the world they live in, is unreal til
we shake them of it, or they become us
hold this off til the very last minute
cynical and pessimistic
the children of tomorrow don’t stand a chance in it
cause the people in power are powerless to the system
cause the system runs itself now, and we’re the victims
you can’t plan for the future
if they didn’t in the past
the way we’ve lived our lives was not designed to last
everything’s corrupted
everything’s a mess
it’s hard to change the world when you’re living oppressed
so keep
working and dreaming
working and dreaming
working and dreaming
[...]

The Jimmy Carter sample at the end (from ‘79, not ‘81, but I dig the intro sample) grounds this layered synth track squarely within the zeitgeist of the early 80’s — a period steeped in shaky times and experimental music, which was exposed to suburban kids like myself through the crossover mainstreaming of experimental music videos on MTV (think Devo, Talking Heads, Herbie Hancock)

The textured samples, lyrics and quotes throughout the entire track brought me back to a time when me and my classmates were lectured on a seemingly daily basis about the realities of a potential nuclear war with the USSR. We’d gather around and listen to our Social Studies teacher profess about the dangerous times we lived in, as if he were the authority returning from the front lines of a Cold War that had no front lines.

I actually remember having a half-day class meeting prior to and following the airing of the made for TV movie, The Day After. Remember, cable was just barely in it’s infant stages at that point with no internet. A made for TV movie on one of the big 3 networks caught everyone’s attention.

Here’s a clip:

After watching that bit of propaganda and having “lessons learned” drilled into my skull at school, I’d race home to catch this:

I guess that was the brilliance of the early 80’s — we lived in this culture of fear, while at the same time innovation, repression, exploitation and American Pie co-existed harmoniously.

The timeliness of this music by Trotman is spot on — not much is different in our society, just a new enemy to curse and blame.

A few other 80’s references come to mind while listening to the track — everything from the content of Pink Floyd to the changes/voice overs of The Beastie Boys.

Electronic Trash is anything but trash.

Download it here for free.

Persepolis: Animated Humanity

One of the many reasons I love visiting NYC is that I know I’ll most likely discover an inspiring indie film that has zero chance of reaching theaters back in Greensboro. Aside from the art house section within Carousel Cinemas, there just aren’t many theaters in the area that cater to such a niche.

Persepolis is a beautifully told and engaging, animated story of a young Iranian girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution and experiencing the changes that Islamic Law brought to her sense of freedom. Music is a huge element of the story, as she finds punk and metal to be the antithesis of acceptable forms of expression and a vehicle for rebellion — a similar post-puberty approach to rebellion by millions of kids back in the states, except this form of rebellion could get you hung… or worse.

The film is a tad bit long, but the story cries for details as it’s far more expansive than a coming of age story. Persepolis paints a vivid picture of life in Iran — how the Shah both entered and exited the scene, presenting a position on the United State’s role in the Iran/Iraq war and expressing day-to-day life in a country where freedom is more cherished by its people than oxygen — a complex situation often painted in broad strokes by Western media and history books.

The animation’s art direction is spot on and highly original. There were a few short war and protest scenes where the imagery seemed to be loosely referencing elements of The Wall, but much more as an ode to than a straight bite.

Persepolis is one of those films that really should be seen.

Along the lines of historical knowledge being dropped through art; if you’re looking for a song to provide factual, historical context to the situation in the middle east, I highly recommend Head (Of State) by The Coup.

A Multimedia History Of The Traditional Irish Song, Whiskey In The Jar


Molly McGinn & The Buster Dillys
M’Coul’s Public House, St. Patrick’s Day Festival
Greensboro, North Carolina
2008


Lars Lilholt Band
Klippet fra storskærmen, Langelandsfestivalen
2007


The Dubliners
Live at Vicar Street
Dublin, Ireland
2006


Metallica
New York, New York
1998


Thin Lizzy
1973

As I was a goin’ over the far famed Kerry mountains
I met with captain Farrell and his money he was counting
I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier
Saying “Stand and deliver” for he were a bold deceiver

Chorus:
musha ring dumma do damma da
whack for the daddy ‘ol
whack for the daddy ‘ol
there’s whiskey in the jar

I counted out his money and it made a pretty penny
I put it in me pocket and I took it home to Jenny
She sighed and she swore that she never would deceive me
But the devil take the women for they never can be easy

(Chorus)

I went up to my chamber, all for to take a slumber
I dreamt of gold and jewels and for sure ‘t was no wonder
But Jenny drew me charges and she filled them up with water
Then sent for captain Farrell to be ready for the slaughter

(Chorus)

‘t was early in the morning, just before I rose to travel
Up comes a band of footmen and likewise captain Farrell
I first produced me pistol for she stole away me rapier
I couldn’t shoot the water, so a prisoner I was taken

(Chorus)

Now there’s some take delight in the carriages a rolling
and others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
but I take delight in the juice of the barley
and courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early

(Chorus)

If anyone can aid me ‘t is my brother in the army
If I can find his station in Cork or in Killarney
And if he’ll go with me, we’ll go rovin’ through Killkenny
And I’m sure he’ll treat me better than my own a-sporting Jenny

(Chorus)

Wyclef Jean: Wyclef for President

    Obama…
    Hillary Clinton…
    They got competition
    They got competition
    Vote for me, yeah
    Vote for me, yeah…

    Wyclef for President

    If I was President,
    I’d get elected on Friday
    Assassinated on Saturday
    Buried on Sunday
    They go back to work on Monday

    If I was President
    If I was the President
    If I was President

    They said we would never cross the Red Sea
    I’d tell them, “Yes We Can”
    They said the slaves, they would never be free
    I’d tell them, “Yes We Can”
    They said, “The blind man will never see”
    I’d tell them, “Yes We Can”
    They said, “The gas price won’t go lower”
    I’d tell them, “Yes We Can”

    Obama, yeaha…
    Hillary Clinton…
    They got competition
    They got competition
    Vote for me, yeah
    Vote for me, yeah…

    Mr. Clef could be President

    If I was President,
    I’d get elected on Friday
    Assassinated on Saturday
    Buried on Sunday
    They go back to work on Monday, yeah

    If I was President
    If I was the President
    If I was President

    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise, everybody just rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise, everybody just rise

    This ain’t the Genesis
    It’s the Exodus
    Go move, everybody just move
    Let’s take it to the glory land…

    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise, everybody just rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise, everybody just rise

    Woah
    Yeah
    Woah
    Yeah
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise
    We gonna rise, everybody just rise

    Wyclef for President

(via Nah Right)

Deltron 3030: Virus

I can’t go a week without dipping back into some of Del Tha Funky Homosapien and Dan the Automator’s magic. Deltron 3030 is one of my all-time favorite albums.

Why? Aside from the ridiculous beats, check out the lyrics:

    “Global controls will have to be imposed and a world governing body, will be created to enforce them. Crises, precipitate change..”

    [Del]
    Secretly… plotting your demise
    I wanna devise a virus
    To bring dire straits to your environment
    Crush your corporations with a mild touch
    Trash the whole computer system and revert you to papyrus
    I want to make a super virus
    Strong enough to cause blackouts in every single metropolis
    Cause they don’t wanna unify us
    So fuck it total anarchy and can’t nobody stop us

    You see late in the evening
    Fucked up on my computer and my mind starts roaming
    I create like a heathen
    The first cycles of this virus I can send through a modem
    Infiltration hits your station
    No Microsoft or enhanced DOS will impede
    Society thinks they’re safe when
    Bingo! Hard drive crashes from the rending
    A lot of hackers tried viruses before
    Vaporize your text like so much white out
    I want it where a file replication is a chore
    Lights out shut down entire White House
    I don’t want just a bug that could be corrected
    I’m erecting immaculate design
    Break the nation down section by section
    Even to the greatest minds it’s impossible to find

    [Repeat 2X]
    I wanna devise a virus
    To bring dire straits to your environment
    Crush your corporations with a mild touch
    Trash your whole computer system and revert you to papyrus

    [Kid Koala scratching:]
    “We have already planned..”
    “The plan is programmed into every one of my thousand r-r-robots..”
    “We will not hesitate; we will destroy the” — “Homosapien!”
    “Please, stay where you are..”
    (Psst ay, I’m makin some shit in my basement. Bout to do it to ‘em, don’t tell ‘em though. Alright I love you, peace)

    [Del]
    I want to develop a super virus
    Better by far than that old Y2K
    This is 3030 the time of global unification
    Break right through they.. terminals
    Burn ‘em all, slaves to silicon
    Corrupt politicians with leaders and their keywords
    F.B.I and spies stealin’ bombs
    Dissipate their plans in their face and catch the fever
    Everybody loot the stores get your canned goods
    Even space stations are having a hard time
    Peace keepers seek to take our manhood
    Which results in the form of global apartheid
    Ghettos are trash dumps with gas pumps
    Exploded and burnt out since before the great union
    The last punks walk around like masked monks
    Ready to manipulate the database or break through ‘em
    Human rights come in a hundredth place
    Mass production has always been number one
    New Earth has become a repugnant place
    So it’s time to spread the fear to thunder some

    [Kid Koala scratching:]
    “Too long have we tried to extend our glorious empire out to the stars..”
    “Only to be driven back..”

    [Repeat 2X]
    I wanna devise a virus
    To bring dire straits to your environment
    Crush your corporations with a mild touch
    Trash the whole computer system and revert you to papyrus

Sheer brilliance.

Immortal Technique: The Poverty of Philosophy

I’m just in that kind of mood today.

[Immortal Technique]

Most of my Latino and black people who are struggling to get food, clothes and shelter in the hood are so concerned with that, that philosophizing about freedom and socialist democracy is usually unfortunately beyond their rationale. They don’t realize that America can’t exist without separating them from their identity, because if we had some sense of who we really are, there’s no way in hell we’d allow this country to push it’s genocidal consensus on our homelands. This ignorance exists, but it can be destroyed.

Nigga talk about change and working within the system to achieve that. The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it’s not you who changes the system; it’s the system that will eventually change you. There is usually nothing wrong with compromise in a situation, but compromising yourself in a situation is another story completely, and I have seen this happen long enough in the few years that I’ve been alive to know that it’s a serious problem. Latino America is a huge colony of countries whose presidents are cowards in the face of economic imperialism. You see, third world countries are rich places, abundant in resources, and many of these countries have the capacity to feed their starving people and the children we always see digging for food in trash on commercials. But plutocracies, in other words a government run by the rich such as this one and traditionally oppressive European states, force the third world into buying overpriced, unnecessary goods while exporting huge portions of their natural resources.

I’m quite sure that people will look upon my attitude and sentiments and look for hypocrisy and hatred in my words. My revolution is born out of love for my people, not hatred for others.

You see, most of Latinos are here because of the great inflation that was caused by American companies in Latin America. Aside from that, many are seeking a life away from the puppet democracies that were funded by the United States; places like El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Republica Dominicana, and not just Spanish-speaking countries either, but Haiti and Jamaica as well.

As different as we have been taught to look at each other by colonial society, we are in the same struggle and until we realize that, we’ll be fighting for scraps from the table of a system that has kept us subservient instead of being self-determined. And that’s why we have no control over when the embargo will stop in Cuba, or when the bombs will stop dropping in Vieques.

But you see, here in America the attitude that is fed to us is that outside of America there live lesser people. “Fuck them, let them fend for themselves.” No, Fuck you, they are you. No matter how much you want to dye your hair blond and put fake eyes in, or follow an anorexic standard of beauty, or no matter how many diamonds you buy from people who exploit your own brutally to get them, no matter what kind of car you drive or what kind of fancy clothes you put on, you will never be them. They’re always gonna look at you as nothing but a little monkey. I’d rather be proud of what I am, rather than desperately trying to be something I’m really not, just to fit in. And whether we want to accept it or not, that’s what this culture or lack of culture is feeding us.

I want a better life for my family and for my children, but it doesn’t have to be at the expense of millions of lives in my homeland. We’re given the idea that if we didn’t have these people to exploit then America wouldn’t be rich enough to let us have these little petty material things in our lives and basic standards of living. No, that’s wrong. It’s the business giants and the government officials who make all the real money. We have whatever they kick down to us. My enemy is not the average white man, it’s not the kid down the block or the kids I see on the street; my enemy is the white man I don’t see: the people in the white house, the corporate monopoly owners, fake liberal politicians those are my enemies. The generals of the armies that are mostly conservatives those are the real Mother-Fuckers that I need to bring it to, not the poor, broke country-ass soldier that’s too stupid to know shit about the way things are set up.

In fact, I have more in common with most working and middle-class white people than I do with most rich black and Latino people. As much as racism bleeds America, we need to understand that classism is the real issue. Many of us are in the same boat and it’s sinking, while these bougie Mother-Fuckers ride on a luxury liner, and as long as we keep fighting over kicking people out of the little boat we’re all in, we’re gonna miss an opportunity to gain a better standard of living as a whole.

In other words, I don’t want to escape the plantation I want to come back, free all my people, hang the Mother-Fucker that kept me there and burn the house to the god damn ground. I want to take over the encomienda and give it back to the people who work the land.

You cannot change the past but you can make the future, and anyone who tells you different is a Fucking lethargic devil. I don’t look at a few token Latinos and black people in the public eye as some type of achievement for my people as a whole. Most of those successful individuals are sell-outs and house Negros.

But, I don’t consider brothers a sell-out if they move out of the ghetto. Poverty has nothing to do with our people. It’s not in our culture to be poor. That’s only been the last 500 years of our history; look at the last 2000 years of our existence and what we brought to the world in terms of science, mathematics, agriculture and forms of government. You know the idea of a confederation of provinces where one federal government controls the states? The Europeans who came to this country stole that idea from the Iroquois lead. The idea of impeaching a ruler comes from an Aztec tradition. That’s why Montezuma was stoned to death by his own people ’cause he represented the agenda of white Spaniards once he was captured, not the Aztec people who would become Mexicans.

So in conclusion, I’m not gonna vote for anybody just ’cause they black or Latino they have to truly represent the community and represent what’s good for all of us proletariat.

Porque sino entonces te mando por el carajo cabron gusano hijo de puta, seramos libre pronto, viva la revolucion, VIVA LA REVOLUCION!