Kanye West – Runaway

I recently got Kanye West’s newest, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and it’s been on constant rotation. Personally, it’s pretty spectacular but to me, I’ve enjoyed everything West has ever put out so I am terribly slanted. But the facts remain that it’s unlike his previous album, 808s & Heartbreak, and a complete return to form to his hip-hop grandiosity that he displayed on his first three albums. The album is sprawling with various styles and well, twisted fantasies (up top is one of the many different covers), and all are outstanding.

Dreary-eyed and coughing with a sore throat, I saw the official video for “Runaway” on TV last night and was blown away. Supposedly there is a 35-minute official video, too, and I don’t include either here; instead, here is the explicit version because it’s definitely better. On the album the song is 9-minutes long and it stretches out into a massive mix of auto tune and walls of sound. In all honesty, it’s a pretty special album but I might just be wrong as well. I’ll talk more in detail about it later, maybe. – Bryan

The Blues Post

I was talking to someone the other day about my personal musical taste and it got me thinking. Why is it I love what I love so much and where did it all start? During the conversation I realized that the very first genre of music I got into on my own was The Blues. Early on I can remember investing my meager allowance on Blues cassettes from Sam Goody. One that sticks out in my mind that was on constant rewind on a particular yellow Sony Walkman everyone seemed to have back in the day was Eric Clapton's "Unplugged". Why an 8 year old Mexican kid became infatuated with the blues is still kinda unknown to me, but it definitely shaped my musical taste from that point on. From the Blues I naturally gained interest in Jazz music and more popular forms of "Black" music like R&B and hip-hop. My youthful exploration into rap and hip-hop turned me onto the "sample based" culture of the time. I started reading linear notes of rap artist to figure out what amazing soul singer unknown to me that was being sampled. From there I was introduced to the funky and soulful hooks of Soul and Funk music. Till this day I attribute my love for all these musical genres and everything they have to offer because first and foremost fell for the Blues. Here are a few classics I'll always love and some new stuff, which is proof that the Blues ain't dead and never will be, because people will always have the blues and will always need to express them musically.
The Classics
From what was touted as the Black Woodstock, Albert King, a blues legend plays at "Wattstax" a concert at the LA Coliseum in the summer of 1972 that brought together some of the biggest names in Black popular music. "I'll Play the Blues for You" (I love his intro, he speaks to exactly what I just expressed earlier, saying, "This is for all the Blues lovers and to those that ain't hip to the Blues. We gonna learn them to you, or rather teach them, cause we'll be around for a while".


A little taste of what little Nico was jamming to on his Walkman back in '93. (A white man from England who knows how to play some mean blues guitar, a testament to the power of the Blues)


The New School
The undisputed kings of the Blues for this generation in my book, The Black Keys have been doing it with class and doing it for some time now. Amazing Lyrics and blues licks that rate up there with the best. (I love how this little studio session shows the inceprion of an amazing track,,, and lyrics like, "I wish loneliness would leave me, but I think it's here to stay" really help to love this song.


Crystal Antlers, a band I have had the amazing opportunity to meet on a few occasions as well as have play in a friends basement, these dudes, and chick from Long Beach California know how to rock! A great example of how the Blues ideal has married post punk sensibilities and transformed into an exciting hybrid that holds to a bluesy standard that I hope will never leave music, actually I know it won't.

So the next time your lover leaves you and you feel the Blues a coming on, don't get worried there will be a plethora of music to drown your sorrows in, All Thanks to the Blues.
-Nick

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (Disc One)

I’ve posted about Joanna Newsom before, twice actually. Starters and bias out of the way, I think she’s an absolutely beautiful woman and I always love being reminded to listen to her music. Whether it’s just another excuse to drool all over her gorgeously unique voice and then, in turn, to be able to look for some images to drool of…well, she’s pretty bad-ass right?

I was recently reminded of her when reading a thread on a forum I post on. Basically, the gist of the thread was to put up some kind of mix tape – called Frankenstein’s mix tape – and in it, you could be a master DJ of some sort and come up with an album of songs off your favorite albums of the year. The point being that although they could be diverse, the songs needed to be placed at their original track order at least. Here is the one I came up with for fun’s sake:

1.Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem
2. Love Cry – Four Tet
3. XXXO – M.I.A.
4. Locked Inside – Janelle Monáe
5. Gone Baby, Don't Be Long – Erykah Badu
6. I Saw the Light – Spoon
7. Empire Ants – Gorillaz
8. Djohariah – Sufjan Stevens
9. I Want to Be Well – Sufjan Stevens
10. The Undoing – Interpol
11. Animals – Bonobo
12. I’m Not the One – The Black Keys
13. Half-State – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
14. Sprawl I (Flatland) – Arcade Fire
15. Back Up Plan – Big Boi

So anyway, I noticed that a lot of people had the same Joanna Newsom song on their mixes, the fourth song off her triple disc of an album, Have One On Me. If you ever get a chance to see the photos she took for each LP of the vinyl edition, WOW. The first disc is probably my least favorite of all the discs only because of how slow moving the songs are. But “Good Intentions Paving Company” is beyond remarkable, in my opinion. Her voice cracks as she sings but with the piano’s rolling melody and the percussion’s timely touches, the sheer chug of the song is what really gets me moving. The words are especially stirring, “Like I’m in a fist fight with a fog, baby” and to end everything, “When I only want for you to pull over and hold me, ‘til I can’t remember my own name.” I almost feel tired trying to describe it because I would hope that people would click on the video and just listen to the 7-minute song. Not because I’m lazy or it’s not worth it but there’s not really anything adequate enough to say about Ms. Newsom that DOESN’T over-hype it but for whatever it is, she’s a tremendous artist and this song showcases all of her strengths: creative songwriting, her singular voice and her impeccable musicianship. – Bryan

The Death of Superman

I tried writing this post once before. I was ready for it, but for some reason something wasn't right, and so I left. Maybe the timing was off.

Awhile back, way before I started reading Chuck Palahniuk, I came across something that sent chills running down my spine. It was a work by Ernest Hemingway, a flash fiction piece he wrote to settle a bet with some drinking buddies. It went like this -

For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

They wanted a novel in six words. I imagine they got more than they waged for.

I also read that in his senility, he took his life with a shotgun blow to the head. I don't think I've been the same since.

It's terribly numbing to hear things like this for me. You read about these people who do what you dream about, and then hear how they erase themselves, perhaps not even knowing the scope of their influence. Not knowing how important they were.

And maybe there's good reason behind each story. Depression, addiction, heartache. Maybe. Maybe at that point, when they had to decide whether this was all worth it or not, the thing everyone else saw and what they saw didn't line up. Maybe the timing was off.

I wonder if they regret it.

Right at the point you realize there's no going back, there has to be a split second of lucidity. In that moment, the depressed can feel and the brokenhearted are whole.

There's got to be something like that going on in those milliseconds before death.

Maybe not.

Maybe there's just violent jerking or useless flinching or empty gasping before the dead silence. Before the walls are painted with shame and secret and bits of skull and brains. I'm sure there would be regret if they saw what we saw.

I wonder if that's why we've never heard from Superman, though. He's probably seen what it means to be special. To be adored. It means nothing really. Because Cobain was a modern day poet, but in the end we couldn't save him. And similes never hit as close as Plaith's, but not even our medication could keep her from her demise.

Maybe that's why Superman has never shown.

Or maybe he has, but he's gone just the same.

For the seconds he was here, he made their lives better. He showed them what love is... shared with them the things they crave - good music, good reads, prime time things - but he couldn't stay, because the love was too uneven. The love he gave wasn't in line with the love they gave. And when he had to make a decision about whether all this was worth it or not, he did. And in the milliseconds of lucidity, when the heartbreak turned to love and the weight of the world never seemed so light, he knew what he did was done.

I'm sure he regrets what he did. But he had no choice. The timing was off.

My Morning Jacket - Z

Did anyone else see the horse race today? I like watching the major horse races and the talk with everyone was how the mighty Zenyatta would do. Long story short, she was undefeated (19-0) heading into the race today, where she looked to end her career a perfect 20-0; she’s also a female horse and she’s named after The Police’s Zenyattá Mondata. Pretty impressive right? She hung around the back of the pack for most of the race before roaring after the last turn to come in a close but futile, second place. It was something beautiful to see, really. Here was this gorgeous horse, who had never lost and on the last race, she gave it everything she had to be beat by some dude. I was rooting for her too, sure, but with such an awesome name, I thought of an album Z, by My Morning Jacket. So maybe my tastes are far too generic but come on, this is still, very good music right?

I’ve always loved the middle section probably the most. There’s the giddy energy of “What a Wonderful Man” and by the time the driving guitar chug of “Off the Record” comes on, it’s pretty awesome. I remember back in 2005, this all sounding so fresh and new for me and it’s still relatively original. I mean, I don’t think that you could find many other voices that truly resemble Jim James' soaring vocals and the band is able to diversify from sound to sound, style to style, with such skill that it all seems entirely easy. And so “Off the Record” is perfect in showcasing just how all-encompassing the sounds on here are. I remember reading Rolling Stone and the headline was something to the effect of “My Morning Jacket: The American Radiohead.” Z was their breakthrough and arguably, their highest point and so naturally, word was huge around this band and album.


One of the first capturing moments with me and Z was when I realized how impressive the bookends were. “Wordless Chorus” is seemingly perfection in opening any album and “Dondante” is this nostalgic, reflective, almost ghostly ending. Music should always maintain some kind of importance to you, solely – without any kind of interference or inconvenience because of some kind of other force. So while Z was deeply rooted in past memories, it’s amazingly fresh and real for me now. At first “Dondante” is slowly maneuvering around James’ words with a menacing guitar line. The band is patiently foreboding with their massive progression and once the explosion hits, it’s downright stunning. “You had me worried! So worried, that this would last. But now I’m learning, learning that this will pass.” – Bryan

Caribou - Swim

So I haven’t written in a while, sorry for those that happen to read this blog. I’m gonna try to get back into music – at least consciously – because I realize I am very behind on everything. It’s hard to be organized and it’s even harder to follow through on whatever tasks you set out for yourself; I am really learning that now. Still, whatever, I’m not gonna draw this out…so music…

I think I was at The Terror (Oct. 29) and I heard one of the DJs sample or really, just play “Odessa” and it instantly reminded me that I needed to get back to this album, quick. Caribou came to El Paso a couple years back when he released Andorra and he was pretty tremendous. And Swim is arguably, a bit better than his previous album and still, I hadn’t given it enough listens. So anyway, “Odessa” is the awesome opener (also featured in FIFA 11’s bad-ass soundtrack!) that is easily becoming one of 2010’s most beloved songs. The menacing melody is downright infectious and the song’s seamless flow through various instrumentation and beats is really, masterful. It’s a popular pick, sure; but it’s probably popular for at least a few good reasons, right?


“Leave House” has this certain kind of nervy synth that’s always underlining the music – I swear that when I heard the chorus the first time I though it was Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos – the bass is sublime and I love how it just grows and grows until it manifests into a huge wall of sound. I also think it has something to do with the layering and the rhythmic patterns at the front, that share a lot of LCD Soundsystem’s same tendencines; however, once you hear the vocals and the bubbling keyboards, it’s definitely Caribou. There’s some kind of 80s-influence in his music, too; it’s one of the many ‘other’ great songs off this album. – Bryan

Smile

I used to have a theory of how people found other people... of how lovers met. I used to think we're walking puzzle pieces, just wandering around, experiencing life, waiting, or not waiting, for the right person to come and complete us...to "fit" perfectly with us, like we're one piece of the puzzle and them the other. I used to think like that.

But it wasn't all right.

There were people out there who didn't make it all right. I have this one friend; he's a sex god, a bonified pussy pleaser, not to mention he's got a smile and charm that could melt any girl's heart; and he's got substance. He's every girl's missing puzzle piece, or that's how it seems, at least. And it's people like him that throw me off.

So I had to revise my theory. Maybe we're all walking puzzle pieces, but some of us are universal pieces. Maybe some of us walk around with grooves and pegs that are constantly changing, and any piece we encounter could be the one we "fit" into. Maybe that's how it is... but it doesn't really matter.

And that's the point, because really perception is everything. A piece of shit to one girl is a superman to another, and maybe they're both right in the eye's of superman; but what doesn't matter is what the other thinks. You could envision your fitting piece, and you could find your piece, but if you're piece doesn't see what you see, then there is no finished puzzle. Walking this entire Earth a million times over and encountering your soul-mate mate each time won't make them yours.

Even if the pieces do somehow align, there will always be something lodged between them. Insecurities, past relationships, trivial issues, fetishes...always something.

But there's one thing to remember, no matter what the outcome of the story...never lose hope. It's the one thing we have against the odds, because the odds are against you. Just look into a mirror and try to see what everyone else sees. You'll see your reflection, if you're lucky. But with a little hope you'll smile at the possibility that someone might see you for more than you think you're worth. And with a little hope, you'll see yourself standing there smiling...knowing you're not gonna throw it all away.

If you don't smile, remember... you're not alone.