W.A.T.G. XV

Flying Too Close to the Sun on Wings of Pastrami Dept.

5 mics. Really?

It's really quite a shame. To go from being the voice of a movement and subculture to a total laughing stock. They brought it on themselves though. It's striking to see it all laid out on one page.

Question: If Jigga were to take over the franchise, do you think he could breathe life into it and re-establish The Source's credibility?

Cold Turkey

I'm quitting people.

You - must - learn

"In a corner of the class, high above the lockers, another well-known graffiti artist, Rate, had drawn huge, elliptical rats, which have become his calling card. Asked where he usually painted them, the artist, a thin young man wearing a baseball cap, smiled and did not exactly answer the question."

At first, I was afraid this article was gonna document something like this old song and dance. Thankfully, I was wrong. Proper!

Those Wacky Japanese Redux

Here's a reason to care about the environment: warm, fuzzy Japanese boobies!

Bringing 95 Back

Oh my. This new Wu Tang / Indie comp is major. They've channeled that Cuban Linx / Liquid Swords-era Wu Tang Sound and married it with some of today's dopest underground emcees. Ras Kass is back with a vengeance. GZA spits darts. RZA and Doom on a track together -- how did this not happen years ago?? Oh. Anyway, it's outstanding this all coalesced. I'm only a few listens in, but this album has quickly become a serious contender for top 3 of 2005.

The miracle of birth

Really, who gets contracted as the illustrator for books like this? I guess you don't want your kid learning where babies come from on the street.

gosh...

Somewhat appropriate that we occasionally actually reference the movie. I guess...

Greasy Kid Inc. Top 10: 11.10.05

You should know that all of us at GKI are totally committed to identifying and cultivating renewable resources. We care about the future of the planet and are also big fans of numbered lists -- and roman numerals. As our last attempt to implement a re-occurring installment didn't work out so well, we decided to try again. Bigger. Better. With more 'tude. And also offering something of value!

Sorry kids, it's late and been a hell of a week -- kind of delirious. Lots to learn and absorb at the new gig. Puts a crimp in my gangster blogger style. So I've bitten the bullet and substituted volume for frequency, at least for the short term. Peep game!

Will do this every once in a while. Try and keep the list to more recent releases, because we don't need to tell you that songs off Boxcar Sessions and Illmatic and Step in the Arena and Unknown Pleasures are good. You should know that already. Or you probably shouldn't be here.

dj applesauce is for the children.

Here goes:

10/ “Brand New” – Rhymefest w/ Kanye West

This isn’t a particularly remarkable song, but it’s catchy and feels like a 12” I would have been really juiced to find and put on a mixtape in 1996. The ‘themsmykinfolk’ back and forth between Rhymefest and Kanye is fun and it’s good to see they’ve put their beef to bed. It’s also bugged to hear a Kanye beat that isn’t all operatic and/or doesn’t feature a sped up vocal sample from an old soul 45. But just like them ‘ol jawns, the overused “brand new” punch-in is guaranteed to get lodged in your brain.

Choice line: “Ralph Lauren was boring before I wore him”

9/ “Right Now” – Devin tha Dude

I’ve only recently dug into Devin’s catalog, but I’m feeling the slow syrupy production that’s all over his long players. This particular tune caught my ear right away: lots of low end, just enough high hat, some sparse, tinkling piano, and an ill ass acoustic guitar loop. Dude rides the beat just right and even pulls off an enjoyable quasi-sung chorus. Makes me want to chief an o of presidential and catch the next flight to someplace sunny and warm.

Choice line: “I said aiight bitch, but I said it kinda low / didn’t want no problems, so towards the back I go / I had a little weed on me, didn’t want it to show / some helicopter: took my potna three months to grow.”

8/ “Trap or Die” – Young Jeezy w/ Bun B

Oh shit, it’s the trapper of the year! Man, if Jeezy isn’t the most legitimate, on the g-est motherfucker rapping right now, I don’t know who is. He’s no where near being anything special with the verbals, but he’s got a gang of charisma, presence and always manages to, ummm, “manage” the verse. He couples up nicely with Bun B on “Trap or Die” over some decent upper register synth work and 10 dump trucks full of bass. I’m this close to buying an Expedition, filling it with 14s, bumping this track all day and starting a career in narcotic sales.

Choice line: Bun B’s whole verse (and flow) is sick as hell.

7/ “List of Demands (Reparations)” – Saul Williams

I’ve always kind of dug Saul Williams, but never fully. However, this song plopped on my radar recently and really endeared me to homeboy. It’s loud, aggressive and kinda like a Bjork song gone horribly awry (in a good way). There’s more chorus than verse, and his inflection is kind of annoying in parts, but he’s just so god damn into it, I dig it anyway.

Choice line: “I aint afraid of you! I’m just a victim of your fear / [you’re] a coward in your tower hoping that I disappear.”

6/ “Have a Good Life” – Sadat X

This tune is a happy combination of rolling, stuttered bassline, warm horn blasts and metal bars hit with soft mallets. Much like the rest of Experience and Education, it pays homage to the golden age that birfed Dat X, but it still sounds current and relevant. This is a tough thing to do, and it’s a big part of why I respect this track and album so much. Support my boy Peter Agoston and his label Female Fun and PURCHASE this rekkid.

Choice line: “Yo I’m living in the apple / where the cost of livin’ / is so unforgiven / I’m still good for a quote / I’m still good for a mean sixteen”

5/ “Not Enough” – Little Brother

Here’s a hot track off LBs most recent and quite toasty full length. I think the album loses a bit towards the end, but this is one of several load bearing songs helping to properly boost up the first half. The joint is vintage Ninth, with a driving bassline, some offset snare kicks, and mean Teddy Pendergrass-sounding “oooowoooooooh”s interspersed throughout.

Choice line: “Yo I aint never heard an act to blow and go global / and come back home and still be called local / and when we on stage, the people they all front / dope beats, dope rhymes what more do y’all want?”

4/ “Crosshairs” – Dangerdoom

It’s a different experience to hear Dumile over such a polished beat, but this shit is polished something righteous. Something like a…nicely varnished cane? Inside joke. Anyway, stumble upon “Crosshairs” and you’ll find a twangy guitar fresh out of a 'Roots of the Blues' boxed set, situated handsomely next to some strings, flute and xylophone. Please Dangermouse, don’t hurt ‘em! Doom, you’re my fucking hero.

Choice line: “Pelican, with some very soft mangos / closet full of skeletons and terrycloth Kangols”

3/ “Banquet” – Bloc Party

Well, I’m about seven months late to Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm, but this album is ROCKING MY FUCKING ASS OFF right now. “Banquet” in particular. The drums drive and pang, but don’t overpower. The dueling lead guitars and their respective chords fit right where they should. Kele Okereke is out in front, over-singing a little, but ultimately getting the job done well. Great single.

Choice line: n/a

2/ “The Skin of My Yellow Country Yellow Teeth” – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Here’s another indie rock single I’m gaga for right now. It starts all electronic, like TV on the Radio, but quickly folds in a moving, Modest Mousey-style harmony. Dude on the drums is capable, but lead vocalist Alec Ounsworth is the real star. He belts out his lines with a wink, a nod and a crack in his voice that is simultaneously self effacing and brimming with chutzpah. This record is pretty dope from reel to reel. Pick it up, pick it up.

Choice line: n/a

1/ “Welcome to Jamrock” – Damian Marley

Absolutely my joint right now. Clean version, then dirty version, then instrumental. Sometimes I’ll even play it a couple more times before I put something else on the platter. “Out in thah street, they call it murdaaaaaaah!” Nicely timed dubs – and an even nicer dub siren! Gong Jr. flexes great cadence and once again makes “Marley” a name of note in contemporary Jamaican music.

Choice line: “Come on let’s face it, a ghetto education’s basic / an most ah dey yout dem waste it / and when dem waste it, dat’s when dem take the guns replace it / an dem don’t stand a chance at all”

See you next time folkers.

W.A.T.G. XIV

Best. This Guy. Yet.

Word Builder Vol. 1

Today's word of the day is "flummoxed". Flummoxed means confused. It's really just a fancy way of saying confused. I encourage you all to talk in fancy language whenever you can.

I'll do this word of the day thing every once in a while. Not so much as to become annoying, but just enough to be a public service. Say word.