Showing posts with label WRIR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WRIR. Show all posts

July 5, 2016

Trouble Boys : The True Story of The Replacements

The title of this 400+ page book doesn't fuck around. That is exactly what you get here. Author Bob Mehr thoroughly captures The Replacements timeline from each member's childhood to the band's bitter demise. If you are are "just the facts ma'am" kind of information seeker, I can't imagine a better read about the band however for anyone looking for a story told through the lense of an outsider with an angle or opinions, you may feel like I did after taking their story in, suffocated by too many details. By the last page I felt sick to my stomach and mostly horrified. I grew up bowing to the alter of this band's music but the force behind their catalog is a freight train of emotional damage that leads to epic reckless behavior magnified by addiction and mental illness. It can all almost be too much. It reads more like the world's longest police report. Trouble Boys is the Lars von Trier approach to storytelling. The camera never leaves anything to the imagination. Just when you don't think the story could get any darker, it does. Oh dear God it does.

I have to wonder, if you knew nothing of The Replacements' music or the key roll they play in the history of great American Rock music, would this book derail you from ever being able to listen to their music and enjoy it? Should you separate the art a group of people make from the very people who created it? It is a tough call when the two are so tangled together. I don't regret reading the book but I will definitely not hear their records the same way again. I don't think I like the people who made these records but at least I have a fuller understanding of how they came to be and why.

The silver lining for me as a music fanatic is this book also highlights the musical influences of the band of which there are MANY. Years ago I helped to create a radio program called Cause & Effect that is still being produced on WRIR but now by other DJs carry on the tradition. Each week a musician or band is selected and they trace their musical roots for two hours. They don't just play songs from their discography but they play the music that helped shaped their style as well as the current bands that exist because of them.

Old habits die hard so when I read a book like Trouble Boys, I still take notes. Thanks to the sites like Spotify I can than instantly build playlists out of those notes from the book. Like a crazy person, I have built 9 playlists that carry nearly 30 hours of music. These playlists are the music companion to the book so as the reader comes across a music related reference, if they had music on Spotify, it was added to the playlist. Much like book itself, if you an absurd amount of detail with nothing spared, these playlists are for you. However for me, this part of the story leaves me feeling an emotional bond to the band that the book helped to erode. As crazy as the members of the band could be, as crazy as their lives would become, each band member was also an obsessive music mans. They liked so many different genres and it is that wide style spectrum that shaped the band's distinct sound and progression from album to album.

These 9 playlists tell the story of The Replacements that I would rather remember them by.

March 26, 2013

French Music Podcast

 If you missed the swinging French music show Sara and I did exclusively for WRIR this past Sunday, here is a link to download it in full. Enjoy! xo

March 14, 2013

Hosting WRIR Tonight!

It's FUNd drive time at our ole community radio station WRIR! I surrendered the radio show I founded (Cause & Effect) last Fall but I have been asked to come back to help JJ with the whole begging for donations thing.

Independent radio stations don't like interrupting their one of a kind programming to have to ask for your help but as an all volunteer operation that still has bills to pay like rent for the building and equipment to transmit our signal, it has to be done.

The show theme for tonight is how a WRIR DJ is born.

JJ and I will be sharing two hour long sets based on the music of our lives. I have picked songs that represent my life from 1971 to 1990. These will be just a sampling of how as a music obsessed person I traveled from a world of just my parents music and top 40 radio drivel to the eclectic music junkie I still am today. They say a path is formed one stone at a time so my path to becoming a DJ is filled with what I am sure many will consider some surprisingly weird Rock(s).

What I really learned about myself as I meditated on the music that shaped my early life is that I love me some weird Pop songs and it has become clear to me that I was born this way. Tune in from 7PM to 9PM and hear where a DJ's earliest roots are based in. I will also try to explain how some people go to church to be a better, more enriched and wiser person but some of us turn to music and in my case, independent radio stations and record stores. These are my holy places and I am a better person for all of the things these two worlds have introduced me to.

If you feel the same way, then please consider donating to your community radio station. You support local record stores by shopping in them but radio stations don't get your business just as passive listener. We need you to be an active listener and help us keep WRIR alive and thriving.

97.3 FM on your dial for locals or stream us live at www.wrir.org.

I will post my entire playlist with samples of everything plus why I played it after the show is done. I think it will fit nicely into my short story series that I have been sharing here over the past 6 months.



October 7, 2012

If You Missed My Final Cause & Effect...

...you can download it here. And for the Lee Hazlewood themed set list, go here. Thanks again for tuning in all these years and JJ will continue with the show from here on our with guest DJs. YAY!

October 4, 2012

October 4th, 2012 : My Final Cause & Effect : Lee Hazlewood

Here are the three things you need to know.

1) This is my final Cause & Effect show. The WRIR show will go on without me thanks to JJ but I will stepping down after nearly 4 years of doing it - not to mention being its creator.

2) The theme of my final show is Lee Hazlewood. He is one of my favorite musicians / producers of all time and if you follow my blog or radio show, you know how important I believe he is to the history of American music.

3) It kills me that more people aren't aware of who this man is or all the genius (cotton candy fun to down right dark) he produced during his time on his planet.

Tune in tonight from 7PM to 9PM to hear the story of Lee Hazlewood via two hours of music he wrote, produced, played on, and or inspired.















September 20, 2012

Sept 20th, 2012 : Cause & Effect : WRIR Fund Drive

WRIR real talk. Our community, commercial free radio station that is run 100% by volunteers depends on listener donations to keep us going. It is simple as that. If you love, support, or respect what we do, donate.

We may be the DJs but this is really your station.

We have been bringing Richmond music and talk for more than 5 years now and I think for many of our listeners it is hard to remember what Richmond was like before we had an outstanding indie radio station. 

Don't take such a magnificent gift to our city for granted. This one of a kind, quality DIY programming doesn't exist in most cities in the United States and yet we have it around the clock, 365 days a year.

This is my last fund drive before I retire to a more behind the scenes roll at the station so please, make me proud. Help us make this the best fund drive Cause & Effect show to date and in return you will keep one of the best low power FM stations in the country going. 

Tune in from 7PM to 9PM tonight to hear JJ and I beg for your help and play some ridiculous music. If all goes well we might even do some real time donor choice, mini Cause & Effects live. 

Last but certainly not least, a HUGE thank you to those who have donated already not less mentioned us as one of your favorite WRIR shows. We heart you too. 

xoxo,
Mac Review Cast


September 13, 2012

September 13th, 2012 : Cause & Effect : Rick Froberg

It is really a misconception to title this Cause & Effect as such because you can't really do a radio based on Rick Froberg without including his longtime creative partner in crime John Reis and all of their many off shoot bands too. Between these two guitar legends, the history of music is forever changed. Their joint bands were Pitchfork (and no, nothing to do with that damn music website), Drive like Jehu, and Hot Snakes.

In the early '90s there was a thing called emo (not the acoustic, whiny 3rd generation drivel also called emo) that in its first generation phase was based off of nearly exclusively Washington, DC's Rites of Spring but the musicians who were inspired by them helped to carve the way for whole new sub genres (post 1990). The writing style of Froberg and Reis (not wholly unlike the opposite coast band Fugazi) were offering new twists on energy / angst driven guitar Rock sometimes called post hardcore. Then the youngsters and regional bands influenced by these musicians went on to further build on this music by creating a whole host of even deeper, wildly popular sub genres like math metal and screamo.

These genres continue to develop and morph today into new things but at their core is energy. Anger. Emotion. Guitars. Occasional to non-stop screaming. Youthful lashing out. I think that last one is a key - youth. I believe the music of all of the bands listed above are still popular if not have even larger cult followings today because that anger, energy, and emotion is a part of roller coaster of growing up. It doesn't matter what decade the music comes from, that cloud of dust kicked up by Rick and John in guitar form is the audio version of pent of frustrations felt in our younger years. Then, for those of us who grew up worshiping these bands, their bands hold a permanent sentimental value to us. They didn't just give our youth a voice in the moment, they now represent a meaningful page from our past. For those deeply inspired by their music, they like me, joined bands and tried to create songs that would hopefully be as meaningful to others as theirs was to us. And so the cycle goes.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who don't know. This will be the last month I will be doing my radio show. I have a total of three Cause & Effects left before I retire and I wanted to pick my last shows wisely (one is the fund drive show). I picked Rick Froberg because he has played in bands that have been a huge soundtrack to the past twenty years of my life not to mention many of my friends and past / present band members. I want to share with listeners a very important person to my musical DNA and someone I consider to have played a very important role in advancing DIY punk and hardcore.

Don't know who any of these bands and people I mentioned are? Then even more of a reason to tune in from 7PM to 9PM to learn all about a handful of key players in the American punk and hardcore timeline.  Tune into WRIR which is 97.3 on the FM dial for Richmond,VA locals or stream us live here.

PS: JJ will continue doing the show and I will occasionally step in for guest spots. This isn't the end of Cause & Effect, I promise! More importantly, if you are a local who might want to help JJ carry on the C&E tradition, please drop me a line at lightningsgirlblog@gmail.com or drop us a line on our Facebook page.

August 30, 2012

The Peel Effect

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN PEEL !!!

If you give a rat's ass about independent music and are over the age of 25, you probably already know who John Peel is and if you aren't familiar with his name, shame on you! He is probably one of the most important music DJs in the history of rock and roll and his influence over the UK airwaves changed music history forever.

Tonight from 7PM to 9PM we will try our best to pay respects to a man who is a hero within the field of radio and underground music by not only sharing the details of his remarkable life but by focusing on one particular aspect of his life that has fans like me particularly obsessed with.

About a year after John's untimely death in 2004, a small wooden box was discovered among his massive record collection. The contents of this box was the beginnings of what Peel considered his favorite and most personally significant 45 RPMs in his record collection. Dubbed "John Peel's Record Box" his selection of a mere 142 singles was never intended to stop at that number however since he passed away before he could complete or update the box (as we all know a true record nerd never worships the same group of records forever), this specific collection leaves almost as many questions as there are answers.

What we are left to ponder for eternity is a wildly diverse group of records spanning from just about every possible genre of music. Not all of these records would be considered the best songs of all time however they were important to John for one reason or another. This evening it is out goal to highlight a large portion of the material found in his record box (our personal favorites!) while filling in the back story as to why that particular 7" made it into his special grouping.

Stream us live from 7PM to 9PM anywhere in the world and only at WRIR.


August 22, 2012

"Is Nothing Sacred?" The Wes Anderson Soundtrack Show Wrap Up

You can view the set list of songs I played for the Wes Anderson show on the WRIR site and you can download the show and view / listen to other older Cause & Effect shows here. YAY!

August 16, 2012

August 16th 2012 : Cause & Effect : Wes Anderson


There are a million reasons why people love or hate Wes Anderson film's but one thing I think we can all agree on is that the music found in his films are as memorable as any script, actor performance, or eye candy captured by his camera. In short, the music of Wes Anderson films are as powerful and meaningful as the movies themselves. People tend to give Anderson or his co-writers all the credit for these soundtracks but in truth there are two other men who truly deserve the applaud for the bulk of his work: Mark Mothersbaugh (score composer and yes, the guy from Devo) and Randall Poster (music supervisor - my hero!).

What this means is while Wes Anderson has his specific tastes in music and vision for how each film should sound, these other two men (and the list of helpers has expanded in recent years) bring his vision to life. Mark creates music especially for his film (AKA the score), often working on these songs as Wes casually sits near by on a couch working on the script. And Randall's job within the film has many layers, he doesn't just find the right music to fit the story and characters but he then places it in the right places within the film, and then something that is perhaps the least glamerous aspect of this job, securing the rights to use that piece of music in the movie. Licensing the songs is a critical and difficult task that requires detective work and some serious social skills as occasionally the perfect song was written by band that has long broken up and the band members haven't spoken to each other in years and want to keep it that way.

Tonight from 7PM to 9PM on WRIR (stream it live at the link) I will be playing music from all of Wes Anderson's films as well as going into greater detail about the people who help him create some of the best soundtracks in history of film. I will speak a little about Anderson's cinematic influences (imagine that - director's who also use music impeccably!) but most importantly, you will hear two hours of top shelf music. Wes Anderson's power trio makes the best music mixes on the planet and I am happy to organize it all into one show for you.

If time allows, I will also play a handful of songs that I have deemed Wes Anderson soundtrack worthy - things from my personal collection that I have always thought sounded like they belong in one of this films.

UPDATE: Poscast to the show is here. The final set list is posted here:



















August 2, 2012

August 2, 2012 : Cause & Effect : Mount Eerie, The Microphones, and Phil Elverum

A recent news story on biomimicry is lingering with me as I put the finishing touches on my notes for this week's Cause & Effect. Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie / The Microphones (and who knows how many other side projects) has been kind enough to create a two hour playlist following the theme of our show by choosing songs that tell the story of his personal, musical influences. (THANK YOU PHIL!)

To explain how biomimicry ties in I should try to define it first. Nature is imaginative by necessity and design because in order to stay alive, it HAS to learn to work with the elements, its surroundings, and its own chemistry. It evolves when it has to, again, all in the name of survival. The failures over time turn into fossils and what survives still surrounds us in the present tense. These survivors are the species that have figured out the best way to push forward and keep thriving. Biomimicry is all about using nature as a model for humanity to operate. As the Biomimicry Institute states " If we want to consciously emulate nature's genius, we need to look at nature differently. In biomimicry, we look at nature as a model, measure, and mentor." 

Some of the best practices found in nature are mirrored in the music of Phil Elverum. For those familiar with Phil's epic creative outpouring, the parallels are obvious. For those unfamiliar with his work I will try my best to explain it. 

Phil Elverum as an artist is ever evolving and self renewing while maintaining a constant bond to his surroundings with a heavy tribute to Mother Nature. As a first example, one of his albums and now his current band name Mount Eerie is named after a mountain in his home state of Washington. His songs (particularly focusing on The Microphones and Mount Eerie output) and his photography often refer to his natural surroundings, reflect upon the images of his landscape, and incorporates the sounds of nature within the recordings themselves. In fact, there is barely a division between Phil's art and nature. 

To further build upon this train of thought, Elverum also writes his songs in a less traditional structured style. They tend to flow organically and move in surprising directions. His music emanates a temperamental atmosphere that unravels in unpredictable ways. Occasionally he may use a gust a wind where other musicians would place a guitar solo. or bridge. As I write this I am basking in the calm last light of the afternoon but just moments ago there was monstrous wind and pounding rain. Phil Elverum's songwriting is equally as moody and confounding. It is the gentle pitted against the wild. It is a beast suddenly tamed. It is awe inspiring and infinitely interesting.  

It should also be mentioned that Phil Elverum is a master collaborator. Using the creative talent pool found within his region (enter many of the K Records local artists, touring musicians who stop to visit him, and friends who make music within his sound spectrum), much of Phil's recording sessions include a host of special guests. Imagine a spider building a web and making the most its ecosystem based within its direct environment. If someone was wondering how they could make the most of what grows naturally around them, I suspect Phil is an expert in this approach to living, which for many artists means making making music. If you spend time enough time with Phil Elverum's diverse and mammoth creative catalog, you too will believe making music is a second nature to him. His songs reflect life, death, and all the beauty and sadness that comes with it. 

Biomimicy is about echoing nature in they way we as humans operate and while I am neither an expert in this field of thought or Phil's music, I am certain that the music of Mount Eerie and The Microphones pays deep tribute his immediate surroundings by amplifying it from a Jurassic peak.

Tune into WRIR from 7PM to 9PM tonight (Eastern Standard Time) to hear two hours of music hand picked by Phil Elverum, the artist himself! For Richmond locals we can be found at 97.3 fm on your dial and for all others around the world you can stream us live here. I will podcast the show and share the link to it here.  

And more more thank you to Phil for creating some darn fine music, picking one of my favorite Cause & Effect sets ever, and for supplying thoughtful notes that accompany each selection. Those will also be posted here on my blog and the radio station site.

Follow us on Facebook here




July 18, 2012

July 18th, 2012: Cause & Effect : What Does My Record Collection Look Like?

Some of you might be thinking who the hell cares? And I don't blame you.

But because I am surrounded by nothing but music loving types all day, every day, the question comes up a lot. I DJ at a radio station and occasionally out and about in bars for fun. I work part time at a record store. I work full time for a company that makes music instruments. I run a small hobby record label. I play in bands. I am a music industry veteran of many decades. So yes, this ridiculous question does come up and often.

Last Summer during a hurricane our kitchen window literally was sucked out of its frame and spit out into the front yard. It was terrifying and was a wake up call to us. At the time I stored my records in the front of the apartment next to two big windows and if we could lost a front window at the hand of Mother Nature, could the windows by my records (and Kenny's computer) be next? A normal person would just go ahead and move things around there apartment to avoid the risk but when you own a crap ton of records, moving them isn't really a simple task. It is an 8 hour affair.

So six months went by and Richmond has been plagued lately by outrageous thunderstorms that are so powerful that they act like tornadoes in essence. After two serious extreme wind events I decided enough was enough.  We had to move my records and the computer ASAP.

We spent an entire Sunday swapping out our middle room for the front room and now I am relieved to have all our vinyl in one room (Kenny has one wall and I have the other) plus we have our turntables set up here and most of our music gear tucked in various corners. Needless to say our music room is finished! It still needs some cleaning up but the hard stuff is done.

As I await Phil E's hand picked set list for the upcoming Mount Eerie Cause & Effect, I decided to pull my own personal show and tell type set based off of newer used records in my personal collection. If you tune in from 7PM to 9PM on Thursday (tomorrow), July 19th, you can get a little sampling of music that I love and collect. While I love doing my usual theme of tracing an artist's musical roots, it is really nice to step out of those restrictions and just be me for a night. Tune into WRIR, 97.3fm for you locals or stream us live via the website.



I have been posting on our Facebook page examples of the kind of thing I will be playing but one thing should be made clear, I love many kinds of music so you will hear a wide variety of music from around the world.




July 12, 2012

Missed Dntel's Cause & Effect?

Download the whole show that the artist Jimmy Tamborello helped JJ to curate HERE! I unfortunately hit record a few minutes into JJ setting up the show, but grabbed 98% of it your listening pleasure.

July 5, 2012

July 5th : Cause & Effect : The 40th Anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

It is nice to be reminded that while it takes a naturally gifted artist to earn a position of mega fame (Bowie pun intended)  and worship, it typically takes that star a few false starts, comical mistakes, and a lot of practice to make it from nobody to superstar. David Bowie is the perfect example of artistic trial and error  until he gave birth to the now infamous character of Ziggy Stardust, just one of his many varying captivating personas we have grow to love over the past nearly 50 years. 

In celebration of the 40 anniversary of the release of the now classic Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, I will be telling the tale of how Bowie arrived at the making of this record. This includes the creative stepping stones (and one Rolling Stone) he took to reach the iconic Ziggy figure while highlighting a genre of music and fashion he helped to spawn (glam), the songs that compose this record, the other artists who released albums in 1972, and a handful of more recent artists Bowie has worked with as a producer, songwriter, or collaborated with. Phew!

Tune in tonight from 7PM to 9PM tonight to WRIR. 97.3 FM on your dial or stream us live via the website.






















June 21, 2012

June 21st, 2012 : Cause & Effect : Jonathan Richman

Forgive the late post. I normally have these posts ready by 9AM but I am still not 100% accustomed to this whole working full time again thing. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be any more excited to be gainfully employed at last but finding the time to do all the things I want / used to do has been tough.

So without further ado I bring you the details for tonight's Cause & Effect. Jonathan Richman played here in Richmond, VA last Thursday and I thought if there was a time to do a show on him, this would be it! Starting at 7PM I will play some examples of his earliest influences and then we will work our way into his early adulthood years when the Modern Lovers were just sprouting.

The second half of the Cause & Effect from 8-9PM will examine the off-shoot bands to the Modern Lovers (of which there are plenty), his solo material, and lastly the bands and sub-genres of alternative music that have followed in his footsteps.

Cause and Effect can be heard only on WRIR on Thursdays from 7PM to 9PM, 97.3FM for locals
Stream the show live via this site.
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June 7, 2012

June 7th, 2012 : Cause & Effect : Sun Ra

Two hours is hardly enough time to cover the complex and highly prolific artistic life of American Jazz musician Sun Ra but I have tried to put together a 101 introductory radio show for those who might not know much about this other worldly man or which releases to start with among his epic catalog of music.

 From 7pm to 9pm tonight we will explore the 4 phases of his life: his early years growing up in Alabama, his Chicago stint where the Arkestra was born, his communal living / practicing in NYC, and then onto Philadelphia where he finished out the rest of his days.

Its fascinating to me to think about those who were born into the start of the last century and lived through much of it to experience all incredible technological advances the world saw during that time period. Musicians during these decades saw equally remarkable steps forward; like being able to record music no less mass produce it so the public in turn could listen to it in the privacy of their own homes. Musical instruments were constantly being updated, including the birth of amplification (Amps! Condenser mics!), the invention of electric guitar / basses, and synthesizers, and effect pedals (to name just a few inventions); not to mention the progression of musical styles. (Ragtime to swing to bebop to hard bop to free jazz and so on). Sun Ra lived through nearly a century of wild growth and he was among the leaders in the Jazz and the African American community that kept growing and endlessly experimenting under no one's terms but his own. 

FUN FACTS ! ! ! 

*He was doing it himself within the music industry (owned a record label / self released music) before DIY was even a thing.
*While this didn't exactly make him more reputable as a musician, he is among one of the first Americans on record to talk about being abducted by aliens; ahead of the American obsession with E.Ts by a good 15 years. 
*He was also the second person in the U.S to own a synthesizer. (Ray Charles was the first!) 
*Sun Ra gave birth to afrofuturism that groups like Parliament, Funkedelic, Hendrix, and Herbie Hancock rooted their careers in. 
*Sun Ra didn't agree with the Free Jazz tag to some of his music (especially live) but he is still considered a founding father in improvised freeform Jazz,  albeit it very well practiced and structured  improvisation.

I stumbled across a terrific BBC documentary on Sun Ra (seriously, the BBC make the best documentaries!) and found it to be a tremendous starting place as I delved into his personal history and immense discography for the first time. 

You will just have to tune into WRIR tonight to hear his life story told via music.

Missed the show? Download it here!  

May 24, 2012

May 24th, 2012 : Cause & Effect : Lambchop


As much as I would love to think I know a little something about all kinds of music, there are always genres and artists that manage to somehow miss my radar all together. 

In my never ending attempt to bring all kinds of styles of music to Cause & Effect I am feeling fortunate to have a special guest this week to take over the Cause & Effect duties and focus on the band Lambchop, an artist I am sadly under-educated on. 

I would like to offer up a huge thank you to DJ Baconfat who will be my guest this week. He does a spectacular weekly radio show on WTJU in Charlottesville, VA. Tune in to WRIR tonight to from 7PM to 9PM to hear all things Lambchop. 

DJ Baconfat has offered up some ideas of what we can expect from his show. Tasty!





 

 

May 11, 2012

Tribute to MCA / Beastie Boys Cause & Effect Recap

Missed last night's Cause & Effect? Download it in full here. The set list can be found on the WRIR website.

April 26, 2012

April 26th, 2012 : Cause & Effect : De La Soul / 3 Feet High and Rising Samples


Allow me to pull the curtain back and show you the inner workings of this Cause & Effect with a hint of a confession. There are many things I know a thing or two about but hip hop samples would not be one of those subjects I am well versed on. I am however after years of doing Cause & Effect pretty good at doing homework for the shows I pick. Quite frankly 15 years ago I couldn't have put this show together without the help of a crate digger with a good ear. Luckily the internet is now filled with the wisdom that I lack and thanks to a bevy of blogs I was able to find multiple lists of the samples used for what I consider to be not only one the best Rap albums of all times but a highly pivotal one in the timeline for this genre, De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising. (stylistically, samples, themes, skits, and the lawsuits that were filed against them in regards to using samples without paying to license it / getting permission) Even more amazing to me, the De La crew were Long Island teenagers when they made this pop culture capsule that is so historically important that Library of Congress selected it to be placed in the U.S. National Recording Registry in 2010.

When I heard De La Soul was coming to Richmond to play the Shadrock Music Festival I thought it would be the perfect time to revisit one of my favorite albums and get to know it in a whole new way by deconstructing about half the songs they sampled to make this record possible. Listening to the music that serves as the backbone to Three Feet High and Rising still only tells half the story of what makes this record so brilliant. It is still nearly impossible to listen to these song samples and imagine how anyone had the talent and ear to know how to take bits and pieces from each tune and use them like a painter uses color on a blank canvas, further changing them with speed shifts and other effects. Add in unique lyrical content and an understated emceeing technique and you have the birth of the Alternative hip hop movement.

I can't say after this show I have any better understanding of how one makes such a masterpiece but I am further convinced that all music is connected more deeply than you could ever possibly imagine. When I was a teenager enjoying this record for the first time and limited in my knowledge of music samples, little did I know that I was being introduced to an amazing body of work by artists like Johnny Cash, Cymande, Double Dee / Steinski , Sly and the Family Stone, The Headhunters, Kraftwerk, The Mad Lads, The Turtles, and oh so many more.

Tune in tonight from 7PM to 9PM to hear me play two hours of the original songs (about 35 songs total) that went into the making Three Feet High and Rising. 97.3 fm for locals or stream it live here.









March 30, 2012

French Music Show 2012 Recap

If you missed last night Cause & Effect on WRIR, you can download it from this site along with other past shows too.

Sara and I always end up talking more than we we expect so we didn't get to play a few songs. Luckily most of the artists have songs on YouTube. Here is what we did't get to.