Uppity-Negro.com

There should be a big crinkle, assuming this map is right
John looked over and said, Hey, no its not
It's a crumpled up wrapper from the fast food that we got
I heard They Might Be somewhere in this town

They Might Be Giants got lost driving around.

Kind'a hard to miss Grant Park, though, so I expect the show July 4th will go smoothly. Except for the inevitable rain. Anyone going? I haven't made plans that far in advance.

Oh, and after all the threats and carrying on, my response to the child who asked if she could touch the dreads as I was suffering riding the Blue Line the other night. . . was a polite, "Yes."

All mouth and trousers, me.

Posted by Aaron at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

In this case, getting distracted from Morning Edition's ongoing coverage of the flag-draped coffin (they're burying it at a crossroads, right? Just in case?) and instead hitting the link for NPR : Creators at Carnegie : Emmylou Harris:

Emmylou Harris is backed by her touring band Spyboy -- guitarist Buddy Miller, drummer Brady Blade and Tony Hall on bass, with producer Malcolm Burns sitting in with extra percussion. She's also joined during the concert by singers Julie Miller, Patty Griffin, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

And there's links to earlier NPR interviews with Emmylou, if you like that sort of thing.

If not, well, there's always the hagiography. I'd swear one of the pilgrims they interviewed said something about the nation being united in grief.

I'd. . . argue that contention,but get the feeling that, as was the case when Reagan was in office, the opinions of the lesser races don't count for much.

np: Bang the Drum Slowly, Emmylou Harris

Posted by Aaron at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bits of separate interviews with Chuck D. and Hank Shocklee combine to form AlterNet: How Copyright Law Changed Hip Hop, which seems appropriate somehow.

Stay Free!: With its hundreds of samples, is it possible to make a record like It Takes a Nation of Millions today? Would it be possible to clear every sample?

Shocklee: It wouldn't be impossible. It would just be very, very costly. The first thing that was starting to happen by the late 1980s was that the people were doing buyouts. You could have a buyout -- meaning you could purchase the rights to sample a sound -- for around $1,500. Then it started creeping up to $3,000, $3,500, $5,000, $7,500. Then they threw in this thing called rollover rates. If your rollover rate is every 100,000 units, then for every 100,000 units you sell, you have to pay an additional $7,500. A record that sells two million copies would kick that cost up twenty times. Now you're looking at one song costing you more than half of what you would make on your album.

It's a nice look at how external forces -- in this case, a clampdown on unauthorized/unlicensed samples -- affected the development of an art form, from what used to be called "primary sources," people actually involved at the time. Think one of the reasons I've never read much music history, or history generally, is having to wade through and process/extract the biases of the person writing the thing. Which in the US usually means patriarchal white suprmacy bullshit, and I can get enough of that from the papers, radio, television, websites, etc. discussing current events, let alone stuff that happened back in the day when people were less hesitant about expressing that sort of thing.

Or not, which is why I'm staying the hell away from Spirit of America. Yeah, whatever:

I'm a bit less patient with that sort of thing these days.

Posted by Aaron at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I mean, on the plus side, an interview with Rasputina. On the negative side, it's at SuicideGirls, and the interviewer states up front that she "[hasn't] done anything Journalism related since High School. I'm a poet. I don't know what I'm doing, but I know Jonathon [TeBeest]," whose nickname you'll have to read the click through to find out:

Sarah (or Sara, I'm flexible): Do you have any nicknames within the band?

Melora: (points to self) "Autistic Dwarf". (points to Zoe) "HeSheHeShe"

Zoe: Someone wrote in an email, "I swear she's a dude."

M: "I swear she's a fucking dude."

Z: So I'm the "Fucking Dude".

M: They wrote really bad stuff about each one of us, but somehow we all loved it and latched on to it and took it to heart.

His really isn't suitable for a family-oriented site like this one.

Which just linked to SG, and included the phrase, "fucking dude," which is now going to show up in my referrers. Despite this page probably being on the 3,000th page of results. Because some people are just that darned psychotic persistent.

There are also some new photosets, but you don't want me to deliver a boring lecture on supporting independent artists, do you? Thought not. Off you go, then.

Update: Nothing to see here. And never was. These aren't the ending snarky comments you're looking for.

Posted by Aaron at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I recently picked up Aphex Twins "Mixes for Cash" release. Two CD set. Good mixes. Good title. Good CD. Buy it or risk looking unhip.

... patiently wondering when the next coldcut disc will be out.

Also, Knights of the Old Republic appears to be entertaining. The Spence man has been playing it for days (he says the ending is a bit week). Pretty cool game (it oughta be with 12 meg save files)... blastin and sweet jedi lovin for a mere $50. Kept me occupied for a couple of days as well. Might need to head out over there after some sweat lodgin'.

In fact, if you need me, I'll be at Spence's.

Word.

Posted by Aaron at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)