[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'‘I won’t believe humans any more’: Johnny Depp releases self-penned ballad'



‘I won’t believe humans any more’: Johnny Depp releases self-penned ballad lamenting fame | Music | The Guardian





See also:

Grimes: Music, AI, and the Future of Humanity | Lex Fridman Podcast #281 - YouTube

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Will probably be cool enough out to wear my bulletproof hoodie and carry my rifle-proof plate (in a backpack), so I might stroll down to this outdoor festival:

'Love From Philly [...] an appreciation of original gangsta rapper Schoolly D [from West Philadelphia] on his 60th birthday [...] acts include West Philadelphia Orchestra, The Ultimates, Gospel Music Preservation Alliance, Jamaaladeen Tacuma Trio, Wallis, The Tisburys and the Philly School District Jazz All-Stars'

The best free events in Philadelphia this weekend and next week (inquirer.com)

... because what mixes better than school and gangsta rap? His name is 'Schoolly D' after all.... But no: it's time to educate myself:



'Ice-T, who is often given credit for the creation of gangsta rap, discussed Schoolly D's influence on him in his autobiography:

"The first record that came out along those lines was Schoolly D's "P.S.K." Then the syncopation of that rap was used by me when I made "6 in the Mornin'." The vocal delivery was the same: "...P.S.K. is makin' that green," "...six in the morning, police at my door." [...] call it a bite [copycatting] or what you will [...] but I liked the way he was flowing [...] "P.S.K." was talking about Park Side Killers but it was very vague. That was the only difference, when Schoolly did it, it was "...one by one, I'm knockin' em out." All he did was represent a gang on his record. I took that and wrote a record about guns, beating people down, and all that with "6 in the Mornin'."'

Schoolly D - Wikipedia

But Schoolly D turned his life---and his music---around: apparently never went to prison, didn't die... 'He later embraced an Afrocentric style, bringing Afrocentric culture to hip hop along with KRS-One' (Wikipedia).

'Local Rapper Caught Up in Norway Shooter's Madness

Schoolly D, the godfather of gangsta rap, opens up about his lyrics being included in Anders Behring Breivik's manifesto

the horrific mass shooting and car bomb in Norway.

The West Philadelphia native and undisputed godfather of gangsta rap had lyrics from a song used for evil -- but that was nothing new.

"From day one it's been somebody claiming that my lyrics made kids do certain things or made people do certain things. [...]" [...]

[...] an excerpt from Schoolly D's 1985 hit song PSK What Does It Mean?

[...]
Got to the place, and who did I see
A sucker-a-- n---a tryin to sound like me
Put my pistol up against his head
I said, "Sucker-a-- n---a, I should shoot you dead [hmm, didn't discourage Ice-T?]

The lyrics, which appeared inside Breivik's manifesto, actually misrepresent the song says Schoolly D.

"At the end of the song, I put the pistol down and I go home," he says. "And that's it and I think that point is being missed."

Omitted from the manifesto and seemingly the mind of Breivik were the lines: "A thought ran across my educated mind / Said, man, Schoolly D ain't doin no time / Grabbed the microphone and I started to talk."

Breivik denounces the "hip-hop mentality" calling it "destructive," "anarchist" and glorifying of drug use.

"I can personally attest to the negative results of the hip-hop movement (and the hip-hop mentality) as I was a part of it for several years (from 13-16 and somewhat up to the age of 18)," Breivik writes [...]

[...] He goes on to call for the end of most of the hip-hop movement in order to remove the "ghetto/ethnic/multiculturalist lifestyle."

The rapper says he's received hundreds of positive messages from fans living [Norway]-- some directly affected by the attacks.'

Local Rapper Caught Up in Norway Shooter's Madness

So WTF is 'Wallis' and how (if at all) is it related to Schoolly D?




lol

Well... 'when your life is full / Of danger' yeah I guess that checks out. I do like a few of her dramatic pause syntactic ambiguity leveraging line breaks....

'WALLIS gained worldwide recognition at 15 years old when she released her first song, "Lonely Christmas" on December 3, 2020. Uploaded to YouTube, with a music video shot on her father's iPhone, "Lonely Christmas" quickly went viral'

... very gangsta.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 10 June 2022 - 11:33 AM, said:

Gen Z "discovering" Kate Bush (due to 'Running up that Hill' being in a pivotal STRANGER THINGS scene) and acting like she's "slept on"....is doing my Gen X head in.

No, you fucking wankers, she's one of the greatest and most innovative artists who has ever lived and has been on top ten lists many times.

'[the United States has] largely given her the cold shoulder for 40-plus years. [...]

In England, she was omnipresent [...] In America, however, she was largely invisible[...] Even with "Hill" cracking the Top 30, in America, Bush fandom was like a secret handshake for Anglophiles. [...] OutKast's Big Boi is a devoted Kate Bush fan, speaking rhapsodically about her work and pointing to its influence in his music.

[...] A combination of the inherent power of Kate Bush's song and its deeply resonant use in Stranger Things made it connect like nothing in the Gen Z charts era. [...]

[...] Few 1985 songs sound more right next to '20s music than "Running Up That Hill." Picture it popping up in a current teenager's Spotify mix next to the sadboy synthpop of the Weeknd or Glass Animals, or the self-assured sighs of Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish. Seamless, right? Almost everything that once sounded arch or subversive about Bush's work now just sounds like the red-hot center of American pop. Which doesn't mean "Running Up That Hill" will stick around the Top 10. [...]

[...] I find it charming that the same week Americans went back to 1986 with Tom Cruise, they traveled back to 1985 with Kate Bush. But the cultural compulsion in each case is quite different. Top Gun: Maverick is trading on unabashed nostalgia[...] By pitching itself to a generation too young to remember the '80s, the show tries to rebrand songs that never reached their chart potential, from the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" to Limahl's "The NeverEnding Story." But even those '80s chestnuts haven't had the impact of "Running Up That Hill." Kate Bush finally has an American Top 10 hit this week, not because her music reminds us of the past, but because it still sounds like the future.'

[Article contains Stranger Things spoilers]

Spoiler

[Stranger Things spoilers]
Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" Billboard Top 10 took more than Stranger Things. (slate.com)

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 11 June 2022 - 02:57 PM

[Malankazooie]

BTS is "taking a break, but promises to be back." Ha, famous last words. So, who do you think elevates to be the Justin Timberlake or Harry Styles from this break-up? I don't know any of their names, but I think it's the one dude, the guy that handles more of the heavy lifting as it relates to rapping and adding pizzazz to their songs. He's the obvious one... you guys know probably.

[Malankazooie]

Roger Waters roger watersering.

[Maark Abbott]

Looks like I'm in the recording studio somewhere in October...

[Malankazooie]

#BangerSummer2022? You guys have a voice and can give feedback. What do you think? Pros? Cons? Indifference?

[Malankazooie]

I got to thinking. Based on what has been going on the past couple of weeks, I thought maybe this is the most fitting candidate for #BangerSummer2022. What do you guys think?

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Two of the headliners for tonight's very patriotic local 4th of July concert---song titles at least are appropriate for the occasion:







Think I'd fall asleep listening to the latter and get trampled by the crowds (does smashing your skull on the pavement count as headbanging? or one headbang at least...)....

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Lake Wallowa in northeastern Oregon is sacred to the Nez Percé. [...] Guided there for a music lesson by Angus Wilson, a Nez Percé elder [...] we were steered to his sacred learning ground and told exactly where to sit. Then he moved some distance away while my friend and I waited, our interest piqued the evening before when Wilson alluded to the depths of our musical ignorance. Offering to reeducate us if we were at all curious, he cautioned that the tutorial might require a high degree of patience and a suspension of long-held beliefs. We were in.

Waiting by a feeder stream that flowed from a valley to the south, we squatted on our haunches, trembling—the temperature hovered in the midtwenties, and we lacked proper clothing to sit on the ground without cover. Anticipating an unnamed and unexpected event, we impatiently scanned the valley, where the woods were dense [...] Except for the sound of a few ravens, it was, at first, pretty quiet. Nothing moved. [...] After about half an hour, the wind began to funnel down from the high southern pass, gaining more force with each passing moment. [...] combined temperature and windchill now making us decidedly uncomfortable. Then it happened. Sounds that seemed to come from a giant pipe organ suddenly engulfed us. The effect wasn't a chord exactly, but rather a combination of tones, sighs, and midrange groans that played off each other, sometimes setting strange beats into resonance as they nearly matched one another in pitch. At the same time they created complex harmonic overtones, augmented by reverberations coming off the lake and the surrounding mountains. At those moments the tone clusters, becoming quite loud, grew strangely dissonant and overwhelmed every other sensation.

[...] He asked if we knew where the sound was coming from. Bordering on hypothermia, we both shook our heads. [...] Angus motioned for us to stand up and walk with him to the stream bank. He asked again if we had any idea what was happening. Only then did we realize what he wanted us to hear and see. Before us stood a cluster of different-
length reeds that had been broken off by the force of the wind and weather over the course of seasons. As the air flowed past the reeds, those with open holes at the top were excited into oscillation, which created a great sound—a cross between a church organ and a colossal pan flute. [...] If it hadn't been for this moment, we never would have given a collection of reeds growing in a remote area by an Oregon lake a second thought.

Seeing recognition in our faces, Angus then took a knife from the sheath at his belt and walked into the shallows, boots and all. He selected and cut a length of reed from the patch, bored some holes and a notch into it, and began to play. After performing a short melody[...] he turned to us and, in a slow, measured voice, said: "Now you know where we got our music. And that's where you got yours, too." Humbled, I realized this was, beyond a doubt, my most memorable music lesson.'

The Great Animal Orchestra - Google Books

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Music is finally progressing:

'[...] The song, known as El Bebito Fiu Fiu, [...] swept through Spanish-language social media. [...] Bad Bunny sang it live on Instagram, Real Madrid's official TikTok account played the song on a video introducing new players and Marvel Spain used it to promote its latest Thor movie.

[...] Silva set the unusual lyrics to the melody of Stan, the 2000 hit by Eminem and Dido, which has raised questions about copyright, although some experts say that as a musical parody, the song should not incur restrictions or fines.

The cryptic title is inspired by text messages allegedly sent between the two political figures after they reportedly met in a hotel [...] under fake names. [...] Pinchi is said to have replied "Fiuuuu, fiuuu", a reference to a wolf whistle used as a catcall.

[...] Pinchi wrote: "I love you and I need to give you a hug. You don't know how much I miss you. You are my baby and my king," to which the former president said: "I love you, see you later".

[...] "The song is cloying, just as the lyrics say," said Silva. "This poem was inspired by the [leaked] audio and that's where the lyrics came from,"'




How a parody song about Peru's ex-president topped Spotify charts

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 10 July 2022 - 02:17 PM

[Serenity]

New Hump Back single, "Hymn to Junk"

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Bought the virtual female choir from this (half off plus they charge in Euro which when converting from USD takes about an extra 30% off relative to a year (or so) ago):




Good to get it before Putin starts bombing them to bits... I'll probably add the male choir when they give out their 25 euro holiday voucher (25/78 = 32.051% off, and the Euro could conceivably go even lower (relative to the dollar at least...)). The way they combine is sublime....

Also bought this recently (may be a nice complement):

[Malankazooie]

Well, we are at peak summer here. Not much has been happening in regards to #BangerSummer2022 posts. Shame on you guys for that (and shame on me also, I guess I've been slacking to). But I think I found the winner of #BangerSummer2022 anyway.

enjoy.

[Serenity]

As it's Friday, DOLL PARTS - "Friday's Bed"

[Malankazooie]

Holy throwback Friday robin! When out to grab some lunch this song was playing on the only "alternative" radio station that is available in my area (the last hold out of cool music on terrestrial radio). I don't think I've heard this song since it had brief popularity somewhere abouts the mid/late 90s? not sure.

So give your ID card to the border guard.

Your alias says you got Jean Luc Picard.

Of the united federation of planets.

'Cause they won't speak English any ways.

Yikes, I wonder how that last line lands today?



Fun memories on a Friday during peak summer on a day where the temp is going to approach triple digits.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Hster

Prehistoric phonetics for today's music, this is a sample library of an opera mezzosoprano singing in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language spoken (and possibly also sung) in the Pontic steppe approximately 5000 years ago. Hster means star in that language, and that is just one of the more than thirty Proto-Indo-European words she can sing.'

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 25 July 2022 - 11:51 PM

[Malankazooie]

Thank you season 3 of Atlanta (E8 New Jazz) for bringing this into my orbit of awareness.

Scene: Darius and Paper Boi are walking in Amsterdam, destination is a cafe where they plan to try the Nepalese Space Cake. To get them ready/in the right head space for their 'trip', Darius has brought along some iPod minis. Paper Boi's has Stereolab, and for Darius, it's Isao Tomita - The Planets.



Darius describes Nepalese Space Cake as - a rare baked treat featuring powerful cannabis mixed with Nepalese hallucinogenic honey.

[Serenity]

Had these two on heavy rotation this week

QiNARI - War Before The Last Train:


Pulplant - Labyrinth War:

[Malankazooie]