I’ve been reading Decoded recently, which is a surprisingly good read. The usual self-rationalization etc., but Jay-Z shows some surprisingly insightful moments. In the book, he discusses the track I Can’t Get with That, as one of his first music videos when he was really trying to get out there. Back before labels took him seriously. […]
Kobe Bryant’s failed rap career
Grantland has a great story on The secret history of Kobe Bryant’s failed attempt at a rap career. It’s a bit of a long read, but in the best possible way. It tracks Kobe’s path through his time signed at Sony Entertainment and provides surprisingly relatable discussions about his struggles to remain true to his original […]
Amoeba Records sells digital rarities
Amoeba Music recently relaunched their online presence, but with a much more effective spin. Beyond the traditional online sales and music downloads, they’ve begun to focus on curated “musical rarities”. …possibly the most intriguing element of that site, and a direct reflection of Amoeba’s dig-deeper philosophy, is the so-called Vinyl Vaults section — thousands of rare […]
Reflections on Collecting
In the course of my aimless internet nomadism, I stumbled across a reference to an essay written by Walter Benjamin on book collecting, titled “Unpacking my Library”. It’s a profound and moving piece written by someone who clearly loves books, and loves the act of collecting books even more. I am unpacking my library. Yes, […]
DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Summertime Mix
I slept on this for a little longer than I was hoping, but better late than never! In these dying days of summer, I thought it’d be a good idea to give you a little fresh summer playlist to carry you as long as the days stay warm. We’re no stranger to summer mixes, though […]
Stop looking at my moms!
Courtesy of BoingBoing. Apparently it’s a young one known as the Astronomical Kid. It’s pretty funny, and actually seems to have taken quite a bit of effort. His personal website was overwhelemed, so I couldn’t access it. But it seems like this kid is blowing up. The New York Daily News ran a story […]
Coachella Fun – Want to see the Gorillaz live?
I feel like I spend half my time linking to Pitchfork articles, but I guess that’s because they do a damn good job at covering music. They’ve created a big post linking to a bunch of videos from the Coachella festival. Wired loved the festival, particularly Jay-Z’s set But that’s not to say there weren’t […]
Update On Blogger’s Removal of Music Blogs
Yesterday, we posted that Blogger had rather surreptitiously shut down several popular music blogs. Today, Pitchfork is reporting that Blogger has issued a statement in its defence. In the statement, the Google-owned service explains its policy for enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the controversial American copyright law), noting that when it receives multiple DMCA complaints about the […]
Record Tripping and Gorillaz Groove
Not much to this post beyond some pretty fun and easy Flash games by the Bell Brothers. Record Tripping It’s a strange mashup of deejaying, Alice in Wonderland, and puzzles. But it’s a good way to spend 5 or 10 minutes of your day. It’s hard to explain what actually goes on, beyond the fact […]
Sean Patton hates Music Snobs
This is actually an entertaining rant from comedian Sean Patton. As someone who probably verges on music snobbery from time to time (I have been known to hate from time to time), I can definitely appreciate how annoying it can be to other people. Check it out.