Tuesday, February 15, 2005
From:
Subject: update from beirut
I wanted to write on official note to friends and family letting you all know that I am in good spirits and health despite the difficult circumstances developing here currently. As you all know, yesterday afternoon at around five til 1PM an explosion of approximately 200-250 kg (!) of what is presumed to be C-4 TNT occurred in the fashionable waterfront neighborhood of Ain el-Mreisse in Beirut. Among the fiteen killed was former Lebanese president Rafiq al-Hariri, a super-wealthy Sunni buisnessman and politician from Sidon (a port city in the South of Lebanon) who spent time in Saudi Arabia (getting citizenship there as well, in fact) and who enjoyed close relationships with a wide range of international political and business leaders.
The situation in Beirut yesterday was tense and somewhat chaotic. At the time of the blast, yours truly, who lives not that far from the scene, was quite a ways from the area. It was, incredibly, the first day since I got here that I left the area around the American University, where I had been spending my days in the library and in local cafes, to go check out the French research institute (CERMOC) near the French Embassy and the National Museum (for those of you with maps playing along at home). I arrived to learn that they were closed on Mondays and so, instead of returning to the university, I decided to re-acquaint myself with a part of the city that I hadn't been too since my last visit here, the neighborhoods of Ghobeiri and Haret Hreik, both of which are heavily Shi`i populated areas, and the latter of which is part of what is known as al-dahiyyeh, or the southern suburb of Beirut, a sort of spontaneously developed part of the city driven by the tremendous inflow of!
economic
and war migrants from South Lebanon throughout the twentieth century. As it is currently the holiday season of `Ashura, the areas I was in are festively decorated in black, green and red with (Hizballah and Amal) banners mourning the death of Husayn and his companions and extolling the virtuous lessons that are to be learned from his life and example, as one who resisted unjust oppression in the path of God. `Ashura, the first ten days of the first month of the Islamic year (Muharram) commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and son of Muhammad's nephew and son-in-law `Ali, and his companions at Karbala (present-day Iraq) in 680, through daily and nightly religious services and collective mourning ceremonies, culminating on the tenth of Muharram with public displays or sorrow and solidarity with the suffering of Husayn, including a play re-enacting his life story as well as processionals that may or may not include people flagellating themselve!
s with
chains or even cutting their heads until blood flows. There have been for the last century and there continue debates among Shi`i mujtahids/religious scholars regarding the religious justification for such practices (some of which are based in theological disputation and some in terms of medical logic!).
Anyway, after walking for a few hours, chatting with people and buying a book of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), I decided to head back towards home to spend the afternoon in the library or at home before coming back for the nightly service. I was in a microbus (minivan) on the way towards downtown when I heard on the radio news that there had been a bomb in hamra--they said hamra, erroneously at first, which is where i live--and that the roads were going to be closed. i got out of the van just off downtown and made my way towards home, slowly, stopping into whatever shops i passed that had tvs. I saw footage on the news of an explosion outside the San George hotel but information at this point was still sketchy. I was watching the Lebanese broadcasting company when they first announced that there was a chance that Hariri was among the wounded, and I was in another shop when they announced that he was pronounced dead the American university hospital. At this point, I thought tha!
t it
would be best if I headed home, so I walked from the bottom of Martyr's Square home to Hamra. The roads were clogged as a sort of massive exodus of people heading out of Hamra and Ain el-Mreisse streamed passed me. Military vehicles had set up checkpoints around certain streets and security was growing near the Parliament building and downtown. I mobilized my Cairo street-walking skills and threaded my way to Hamra street and went straight to the University so that I could send a preliminary email to my family and shirley before they woke up and were shocked by the news. By this point, I had bought my first pack of cigarettes since returning and felt no health risk or guilt whatsoever. At around 6, I went over to a friend's house and spent most of the evening with him, talking about what happened, how he was in the area, relatively, and decided to immediately go down to the scene. On the one hand, I was amazed that I had only seen images from the scene on television and !
that I
hadn't even felt the tremors of the blast since I was on the other side of town; on the other, I was so grateful that I had made that seemingly random decision to change up my schedule yesterday. Not that I would have been near the scene (although two days ago, the day before i mean), I had gone to a swimming pool in Ain el-Mreisse about 1/4 mile from the site: now, swimming at all seems like even more of a bourgeois luxury.
The government and the army have announced three days of mourning, where most businesses will be closed, although basic things are still open, at least in Hamra (I am writing this from an internet cafe as the university is closed and i was able to get food and newspapers this morning). I spent the entire morning reading every paper I could get my hands on, Lebanese papers as-Safir and an-Nahar, al-Hayat and the International Herald Tribune and Daily Star and only now, at 3 PM am I getting some news off the internet, which isn't much more telling. I thought that I would try and make some sense of this event for myself and for those of you who are interested in this email. If you are only curious about my personal experiences, skip down to the bottom and read me signing off. Otherwise, pardon my ramblings as they will certainly crop up, but I will try to provide some context to what happened here.
So far, everyone has their opinion about who is responsible for this. There are those who blame Syria or some element from the Syrian security forces. The U.S. came out right away, like the Lebanese opposition, pointing fingers at Syria. There are others who see some kind of conspiracy on the part of the CIA or the Mossad behind this. Still others, supported by the screening of a videotape on al-Jazeera by a previously unknown radical Islamist group claiming responsibility.
There is no doubt in my mind, that the party who stands to suffer the greatest political cost from this attack is Syria and, therefore, Iran somehow. Syria is already completely isolated in the eyes of the Bush Administration and they will call for further steps to put pressure on Damascus to accede to American demands regarding the porous border with Iraq, anti-normalization with Israel sentiment and ties to Iran and Hizballah. The interesting thing, to me, is that, it doesn't really matter whether or not Syria is in some way responsible, as I don't think the State Department or the CIA truly care one way or the other. In the court of world opinion, the rule of force is still predominant. So, further steps will be taken to squeeze Syria: tougher sanctions, a greater threat of military force, further UN resolutions, etc. Logically, there is some question what Syria would have to gain from such an action: in my opinion, there is very little (as Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian "!
liberal"
(in other words, a dissident that Americans can deal with) was quoted as saying in the NYT).
The Western media is also already clamoring to point out the stirrings of civil war in Lebanon. Although I have felt a certain tension since I first arrived back, there is little indication that a civil war on the order or of the nature of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) is likely. While there is no doubt that the primary causes of the civil war (Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syrian and Israeli intervention in Lebanese national affairs [note: Israeli airplanes violated Lebanese airspace again this week as they do frequently, so let us not be lulled into thinking that simply because Syria is the primary foreign power in Lebanon that they are the only one, not to mention the beefy American presence throughout this city], wealth inequalities, the lack of a sufficient national army, a sectarian political system that allocates political positions based on confessional affiliation, etc.) have yet to be fully dealt with, nor have most Lebanese wanted to fully grapple with t!
he
implications of these issues and the after-effects of the civil war on the country and its psyche.
But, the deck has been reshuffled here in the wake of the civil war and in the wake of the important political developments of the past five years, including 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon. The fundamental axis of politics, as it is talked about here now, revolves around one's relatiosnhip to Syria, being in the establishment (mawaliyyin) or being in the opposition (mu`aradiyyin). I can only deduce that the drawing of these political lines here over the past several years has more to do with regional and geo-politics than it does with the fundamental political concerns of the country. In other words, I get the sense that this event will be used in such a way that fits in with the American narrative of world affairs as they are taking place again on the soil of Lebanon. The opposition is calling for the implementation of the Ta'if Accords that ended the Lebanese Civil War (1989-90) and UN resolution 1559, both of!
which
call for the de-militarization of all non-governmental groups in Lebanon as well as the restoration of full Lebanese soveriegnty through the withdrawal of all foreign forces. The establishment does not believe that these can be easily implemented and that they must be negotiated locally, on the ground. It would be a lot longer to go into the specifics about the implications of Hizballah or the Palestinian factions disarming (how would it happen? by force? what army would fight against them? wouldn't that be precisely a return to the kind of civil war that took place during the 1980s? these questions alone should illustrate that this is not as simple as the Bush Administration would like to make it out to be), but suffice it to say that this is the primary dispute going on here now. And though sectarian politics is still practiced and sectarian leaders still speak in the name of a particular sect, I feel (perhaps naively or optimistically) that civil war is not about to br!
eak out.
As I mentioned, there is a group that has claimed responsibility for the action, and their justifications dealt with Hariri's connections--personal, political and financial--to the Saudi ruling family. We cannot rule this possibility out. As we saw in Madrid and in Turkey over the past year or two, radical Islamist groups have taken their struggle to far-flung countries. Juan Cole (www.juancole.com) seems to be open to this possibility thus far as well.
While we have to wait to find out the details of the attack, and they will be coming soon, I hope this sheds a little but of light on some of the political problems currently being worked out here. I haven't even gone into the Israel element in this whole dynamic, and maybe I will some time soon. I read another article today about who badly Americans and Europeans are looking for Arabic speakers and last night on al-Jazeera I saw a guy named Eric Early, a spokesperson for the State Department speaking some of the most garbled, incomprehensible garbage that I've ever heard. This is the State Department people. I don't want that job, but I want there to be some more respect for this language and the people who know it at all. Because right now, ideology is trumping intelligence (of all kinds) in the American arena, and this (willful) ignorance is translating into some scary developments at home and abroad. I don't know exactly how this fits in except that there was an open!
ing over
the past few years for the american people to really take a look at their foreign policy and the way they are perceived in the rest of the world and i fear that that opportunity was lost. I am saddened and frightened by the recent conviction of Lynne Stewart and the growing right-wing onslaught against Ward Churchill and other iconoclastic intellectuals and activists in the states. From this end, even from this bloody end, the situation looks as bleak at home as it might look here from there.
I don't think I can write anymore right now, but these are some preliminary thoughts from my perspective. I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free and share this with whomever you think might be interested. This was not meant to be a professional piece, just a sounding board (that I hope Shirley will print and save a copy of for posterity's sake, or for shits and giggles).
much love,
max
Subject: update from beirut
I wanted to write on official note to friends and family letting you all know that I am in good spirits and health despite the difficult circumstances developing here currently. As you all know, yesterday afternoon at around five til 1PM an explosion of approximately 200-250 kg (!) of what is presumed to be C-4 TNT occurred in the fashionable waterfront neighborhood of Ain el-Mreisse in Beirut. Among the fiteen killed was former Lebanese president Rafiq al-Hariri, a super-wealthy Sunni buisnessman and politician from Sidon (a port city in the South of Lebanon) who spent time in Saudi Arabia (getting citizenship there as well, in fact) and who enjoyed close relationships with a wide range of international political and business leaders.
The situation in Beirut yesterday was tense and somewhat chaotic. At the time of the blast, yours truly, who lives not that far from the scene, was quite a ways from the area. It was, incredibly, the first day since I got here that I left the area around the American University, where I had been spending my days in the library and in local cafes, to go check out the French research institute (CERMOC) near the French Embassy and the National Museum (for those of you with maps playing along at home). I arrived to learn that they were closed on Mondays and so, instead of returning to the university, I decided to re-acquaint myself with a part of the city that I hadn't been too since my last visit here, the neighborhoods of Ghobeiri and Haret Hreik, both of which are heavily Shi`i populated areas, and the latter of which is part of what is known as al-dahiyyeh, or the southern suburb of Beirut, a sort of spontaneously developed part of the city driven by the tremendous inflow of!
economic
and war migrants from South Lebanon throughout the twentieth century. As it is currently the holiday season of `Ashura, the areas I was in are festively decorated in black, green and red with (Hizballah and Amal) banners mourning the death of Husayn and his companions and extolling the virtuous lessons that are to be learned from his life and example, as one who resisted unjust oppression in the path of God. `Ashura, the first ten days of the first month of the Islamic year (Muharram) commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and son of Muhammad's nephew and son-in-law `Ali, and his companions at Karbala (present-day Iraq) in 680, through daily and nightly religious services and collective mourning ceremonies, culminating on the tenth of Muharram with public displays or sorrow and solidarity with the suffering of Husayn, including a play re-enacting his life story as well as processionals that may or may not include people flagellating themselve!
s with
chains or even cutting their heads until blood flows. There have been for the last century and there continue debates among Shi`i mujtahids/religious scholars regarding the religious justification for such practices (some of which are based in theological disputation and some in terms of medical logic!).
Anyway, after walking for a few hours, chatting with people and buying a book of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), I decided to head back towards home to spend the afternoon in the library or at home before coming back for the nightly service. I was in a microbus (minivan) on the way towards downtown when I heard on the radio news that there had been a bomb in hamra--they said hamra, erroneously at first, which is where i live--and that the roads were going to be closed. i got out of the van just off downtown and made my way towards home, slowly, stopping into whatever shops i passed that had tvs. I saw footage on the news of an explosion outside the San George hotel but information at this point was still sketchy. I was watching the Lebanese broadcasting company when they first announced that there was a chance that Hariri was among the wounded, and I was in another shop when they announced that he was pronounced dead the American university hospital. At this point, I thought tha!
t it
would be best if I headed home, so I walked from the bottom of Martyr's Square home to Hamra. The roads were clogged as a sort of massive exodus of people heading out of Hamra and Ain el-Mreisse streamed passed me. Military vehicles had set up checkpoints around certain streets and security was growing near the Parliament building and downtown. I mobilized my Cairo street-walking skills and threaded my way to Hamra street and went straight to the University so that I could send a preliminary email to my family and shirley before they woke up and were shocked by the news. By this point, I had bought my first pack of cigarettes since returning and felt no health risk or guilt whatsoever. At around 6, I went over to a friend's house and spent most of the evening with him, talking about what happened, how he was in the area, relatively, and decided to immediately go down to the scene. On the one hand, I was amazed that I had only seen images from the scene on television and !
that I
hadn't even felt the tremors of the blast since I was on the other side of town; on the other, I was so grateful that I had made that seemingly random decision to change up my schedule yesterday. Not that I would have been near the scene (although two days ago, the day before i mean), I had gone to a swimming pool in Ain el-Mreisse about 1/4 mile from the site: now, swimming at all seems like even more of a bourgeois luxury.
The government and the army have announced three days of mourning, where most businesses will be closed, although basic things are still open, at least in Hamra (I am writing this from an internet cafe as the university is closed and i was able to get food and newspapers this morning). I spent the entire morning reading every paper I could get my hands on, Lebanese papers as-Safir and an-Nahar, al-Hayat and the International Herald Tribune and Daily Star and only now, at 3 PM am I getting some news off the internet, which isn't much more telling. I thought that I would try and make some sense of this event for myself and for those of you who are interested in this email. If you are only curious about my personal experiences, skip down to the bottom and read me signing off. Otherwise, pardon my ramblings as they will certainly crop up, but I will try to provide some context to what happened here.
So far, everyone has their opinion about who is responsible for this. There are those who blame Syria or some element from the Syrian security forces. The U.S. came out right away, like the Lebanese opposition, pointing fingers at Syria. There are others who see some kind of conspiracy on the part of the CIA or the Mossad behind this. Still others, supported by the screening of a videotape on al-Jazeera by a previously unknown radical Islamist group claiming responsibility.
There is no doubt in my mind, that the party who stands to suffer the greatest political cost from this attack is Syria and, therefore, Iran somehow. Syria is already completely isolated in the eyes of the Bush Administration and they will call for further steps to put pressure on Damascus to accede to American demands regarding the porous border with Iraq, anti-normalization with Israel sentiment and ties to Iran and Hizballah. The interesting thing, to me, is that, it doesn't really matter whether or not Syria is in some way responsible, as I don't think the State Department or the CIA truly care one way or the other. In the court of world opinion, the rule of force is still predominant. So, further steps will be taken to squeeze Syria: tougher sanctions, a greater threat of military force, further UN resolutions, etc. Logically, there is some question what Syria would have to gain from such an action: in my opinion, there is very little (as Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian "!
liberal"
(in other words, a dissident that Americans can deal with) was quoted as saying in the NYT).
The Western media is also already clamoring to point out the stirrings of civil war in Lebanon. Although I have felt a certain tension since I first arrived back, there is little indication that a civil war on the order or of the nature of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) is likely. While there is no doubt that the primary causes of the civil war (Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syrian and Israeli intervention in Lebanese national affairs [note: Israeli airplanes violated Lebanese airspace again this week as they do frequently, so let us not be lulled into thinking that simply because Syria is the primary foreign power in Lebanon that they are the only one, not to mention the beefy American presence throughout this city], wealth inequalities, the lack of a sufficient national army, a sectarian political system that allocates political positions based on confessional affiliation, etc.) have yet to be fully dealt with, nor have most Lebanese wanted to fully grapple with t!
he
implications of these issues and the after-effects of the civil war on the country and its psyche.
But, the deck has been reshuffled here in the wake of the civil war and in the wake of the important political developments of the past five years, including 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon. The fundamental axis of politics, as it is talked about here now, revolves around one's relatiosnhip to Syria, being in the establishment (mawaliyyin) or being in the opposition (mu`aradiyyin). I can only deduce that the drawing of these political lines here over the past several years has more to do with regional and geo-politics than it does with the fundamental political concerns of the country. In other words, I get the sense that this event will be used in such a way that fits in with the American narrative of world affairs as they are taking place again on the soil of Lebanon. The opposition is calling for the implementation of the Ta'if Accords that ended the Lebanese Civil War (1989-90) and UN resolution 1559, both of!
which
call for the de-militarization of all non-governmental groups in Lebanon as well as the restoration of full Lebanese soveriegnty through the withdrawal of all foreign forces. The establishment does not believe that these can be easily implemented and that they must be negotiated locally, on the ground. It would be a lot longer to go into the specifics about the implications of Hizballah or the Palestinian factions disarming (how would it happen? by force? what army would fight against them? wouldn't that be precisely a return to the kind of civil war that took place during the 1980s? these questions alone should illustrate that this is not as simple as the Bush Administration would like to make it out to be), but suffice it to say that this is the primary dispute going on here now. And though sectarian politics is still practiced and sectarian leaders still speak in the name of a particular sect, I feel (perhaps naively or optimistically) that civil war is not about to br!
eak out.
As I mentioned, there is a group that has claimed responsibility for the action, and their justifications dealt with Hariri's connections--personal, political and financial--to the Saudi ruling family. We cannot rule this possibility out. As we saw in Madrid and in Turkey over the past year or two, radical Islamist groups have taken their struggle to far-flung countries. Juan Cole (www.juancole.com) seems to be open to this possibility thus far as well.
While we have to wait to find out the details of the attack, and they will be coming soon, I hope this sheds a little but of light on some of the political problems currently being worked out here. I haven't even gone into the Israel element in this whole dynamic, and maybe I will some time soon. I read another article today about who badly Americans and Europeans are looking for Arabic speakers and last night on al-Jazeera I saw a guy named Eric Early, a spokesperson for the State Department speaking some of the most garbled, incomprehensible garbage that I've ever heard. This is the State Department people. I don't want that job, but I want there to be some more respect for this language and the people who know it at all. Because right now, ideology is trumping intelligence (of all kinds) in the American arena, and this (willful) ignorance is translating into some scary developments at home and abroad. I don't know exactly how this fits in except that there was an open!
ing over
the past few years for the american people to really take a look at their foreign policy and the way they are perceived in the rest of the world and i fear that that opportunity was lost. I am saddened and frightened by the recent conviction of Lynne Stewart and the growing right-wing onslaught against Ward Churchill and other iconoclastic intellectuals and activists in the states. From this end, even from this bloody end, the situation looks as bleak at home as it might look here from there.
I don't think I can write anymore right now, but these are some preliminary thoughts from my perspective. I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free and share this with whomever you think might be interested. This was not meant to be a professional piece, just a sounding board (that I hope Shirley will print and save a copy of for posterity's sake, or for shits and giggles).
much love,
max
Not to Salt Jean Grae, but her anger is a rigid mask that limits her music. Her lyrics are wry, playful, sensitive, telling tales on herself. But her delivery is frozen in this tough pose. I think that's why I like Jeanius better than her earlier work - she comes out of that shell more often.
I guess that's a quintessential backpacker perspective, though: liking rap, but wishing rapper's aethestics were different. I guess people disagree about what the slur "backpacker" means, exactly, but I often hear a parallel to the place of "idm" in electronica.
Namely, "idm" reflects class difference: it's a priviledged suburban college-educated perspective on a working class genre. On the one hand, the idea of "idm" is patronizing to the electronica mainstream. On the other hand, something precious happened when that more priviledged perspective was brought into the mix. It's tricky to say exactly what was different about idm, though.
Anyhow...
So what is the backpacker stereotype: someone who is suburban vs. hiphop's urban identity. Someone who isn't neccesarily black, isn't facing the same problems of class and race. Who may be a dilettante, who adopt hiphop as a pose or lifestyle chioce. In terms of the music, backpacker's are notoriously down on commercial hiphop. Backpacker tastes run to underground hiphop including, crucially, many artists (such as Jean Grae, the Roots, Common) who, though black & urban have an easier time reaching out to other audiences such as college students from other backgrounds.
"Backpacker" is a slur because backpackers have a different agenda for hiphop. Backpackers have no interest in hiphop as a inherently black medium or community. After all, they have a vested interest in a hiphop of inclusion.
What is the difference between the "conventional" hiphop aethestic and the "backpacker" aesthetic? Materialism vs. anti-commercialism. Gritty urban realism vs. imaginative departures. Certain stereotypes, such as gangster fantasies vs. an embarrassement & boredom with same. Keeping it real (rumination on certain themes ie. crime) vs. attraction to individuality, creativity, departures from convention.
I guess the interesting question is, how does this reflect class? It's kind of a truism that bourgeois art is escapist & imaginative compared with lower-class realism. Ie. that fantasy is a priviledge of the bored leisure class. And the music of the poor has always celebrated the figure of the bandit or outlaw (though not as a group identity).
I guess that's a quintessential backpacker perspective, though: liking rap, but wishing rapper's aethestics were different. I guess people disagree about what the slur "backpacker" means, exactly, but I often hear a parallel to the place of "idm" in electronica.
Namely, "idm" reflects class difference: it's a priviledged suburban college-educated perspective on a working class genre. On the one hand, the idea of "idm" is patronizing to the electronica mainstream. On the other hand, something precious happened when that more priviledged perspective was brought into the mix. It's tricky to say exactly what was different about idm, though.
Anyhow...
So what is the backpacker stereotype: someone who is suburban vs. hiphop's urban identity. Someone who isn't neccesarily black, isn't facing the same problems of class and race. Who may be a dilettante, who adopt hiphop as a pose or lifestyle chioce. In terms of the music, backpacker's are notoriously down on commercial hiphop. Backpacker tastes run to underground hiphop including, crucially, many artists (such as Jean Grae, the Roots, Common) who, though black & urban have an easier time reaching out to other audiences such as college students from other backgrounds.
"Backpacker" is a slur because backpackers have a different agenda for hiphop. Backpackers have no interest in hiphop as a inherently black medium or community. After all, they have a vested interest in a hiphop of inclusion.
What is the difference between the "conventional" hiphop aethestic and the "backpacker" aesthetic? Materialism vs. anti-commercialism. Gritty urban realism vs. imaginative departures. Certain stereotypes, such as gangster fantasies vs. an embarrassement & boredom with same. Keeping it real (rumination on certain themes ie. crime) vs. attraction to individuality, creativity, departures from convention.
I guess the interesting question is, how does this reflect class? It's kind of a truism that bourgeois art is escapist & imaginative compared with lower-class realism. Ie. that fantasy is a priviledge of the bored leisure class. And the music of the poor has always celebrated the figure of the bandit or outlaw (though not as a group identity).
Friday, February 11, 2005
Benn loxo du taccu is a west african music blog. thanks to dj rupture.
My Man Godfrey (1936) is a good classic movie. William Powell's wonderful performance is so fun to describe - you get to bust out the best adjectives: arch, blithe, insouciant, nonchalant, etc. They don't make it 'em like they used to.
There original 4 novels of Elfquest (Fire and Flight, The Forbidden Grove, Captives of Blue Mountain , And Quest's End) are great. There have been many editions color + b&w. The original full-color editions (not the later 4-color printings) are best.
Every one agrees: The Purple Plum is a great East Bay restaraunt. Southern soul food/comfort food from a Chez Panisse perspective. Laughter rings from the tables.
- archives of interesting
tv, w/ commentary. - EAST VILLAGE RADIO New York City
- rip WOEBOT
- Village Voice pazznjop 04
- WFMU STAFF YEAR-END LISTS - 2004
- Aswat Al-Islam.net (www.aswatalislam.net) - 40 Hadith An-Nawi with Explanation Awesome.
- TowerSeek.org Not very effective so far. Torrent search.
- Global : Ideas : Bank - Listening with affection and excitement
- Cheap Airline Tickets, Discount Hotels and Airfare - SideStep
- Deadly Dragon Sound System
- silverdollarcircle best of 2004
- jakarta-bcel API
- BCEL
- Bookpool: Joshua Bloch
- ACM Queue - A Conversation with Alan Kay
- Amazon.com: About Myke O'Clock: Reviews
- Amazon.com: About Andrew Bartlett: Listmania
Arthur Russell - Arm Around You
Freddie Mccoy - Gimme Some
Kanye West - Two Words (Feat. Mos Def, Freeway, & The Harlem Boys Choir)
Out Hud - It's For You
Rodger Collins - Foxy Girls In Oakland
Bill Landford & The Landfordaires - Run On For A Long Time
Peggy Lee - Black Coffee
Zimbabwe Legit - Shadow's Legitimate Mix
I don't really like anything after In-Flux, except Cut Chemist's Number Song remix. Though I was reviewing a list of samples of on Entroducing and it was fascinating. Meredith Monk's Dolmen Music on Midnight In A Perfect World? Wow. Meredith Monk's Walking Song is an all-time favorite of mine.
Various Artists - Township Jazz N' Jive (truly excellent)
Bembeya Jazz National - The Syliphone Years
Sacred Steel - None But The Righteous
Mcenroe & Birdapres - Nothing Is Cool
Schizophrenic Tenant Number One - west coast rap mix
Various Artists - Afro Latino
The Modern Jazz Quartet
Various Artists - Garden State - Ost (The music snob therapy is working?)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Live At The Star Club
Wattstax
Various Artists - Super Breaks Vol. 1-3
Various Artists - Pete's Treats
Orchestra Baobab
Devin the Dude - Briar Patch, etc.
Here's hoping Lady Sovereign hooks up with better producers (not that into grime), gets artistically ambitious, outgrows the scene she's involved in. She has a nice presence.
Afx - Analord Volume ?
There appears to be volumes 1, 2, 9 and 10. I found another volume, labeled 10 that isn't the same as volume 10. It's much better than the other volumes. It's acid.
The tracklisting is as follows;
Track 1
Track 2 (Ed.)
Track 1 (Live)
Bunch of good Jean Grae - ie. track 6 of Jeanius. Haven't been able to find a tracklisting for this bootlegged, not released album. May be released as "Phoenix"?
Trying to get into, haven't succeeded: Keepintime, most grime, Sister Rosetta Tharpe (I know there's good stuff... where to find it?)
I love Sir Richard Bishop's Burning Caravan - but haven't found any other Bishop or Sun City Girls material that I like. Nor the "Wooden Guitar" compilation.
Mia - Arular was an initial disappointment after Galang. I think it's reasonable to say that early overexposure can be an issue. Here's hoping she works through it.
Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star, sorta. Something really irritates me about his music but I keep listening to it anyhow. I don't understand why he relies on the poetry-slam style of lyric delivery - it's limited & stereotyped. Which is why it is so easy to parody.
Freddie Mccoy - Gimme Some
Kanye West - Two Words (Feat. Mos Def, Freeway, & The Harlem Boys Choir)
Out Hud - It's For You
Rodger Collins - Foxy Girls In Oakland
Bill Landford & The Landfordaires - Run On For A Long Time
Peggy Lee - Black Coffee
Zimbabwe Legit - Shadow's Legitimate Mix
I don't really like anything after In-Flux, except Cut Chemist's Number Song remix. Though I was reviewing a list of samples of on Entroducing and it was fascinating. Meredith Monk's Dolmen Music on Midnight In A Perfect World? Wow. Meredith Monk's Walking Song is an all-time favorite of mine.
Various Artists - Township Jazz N' Jive (truly excellent)
Bembeya Jazz National - The Syliphone Years
Sacred Steel - None But The Righteous
Mcenroe & Birdapres - Nothing Is Cool
Schizophrenic Tenant Number One - west coast rap mix
Various Artists - Afro Latino
The Modern Jazz Quartet
Various Artists - Garden State - Ost (The music snob therapy is working?)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Live At The Star Club
Wattstax
Various Artists - Super Breaks Vol. 1-3
Various Artists - Pete's Treats
Orchestra Baobab
Devin the Dude - Briar Patch, etc.
Here's hoping Lady Sovereign hooks up with better producers (not that into grime), gets artistically ambitious, outgrows the scene she's involved in. She has a nice presence.
Afx - Analord Volume ?
There appears to be volumes 1, 2, 9 and 10. I found another volume, labeled 10 that isn't the same as volume 10. It's much better than the other volumes. It's acid.
The tracklisting is as follows;
Track 1
Track 2 (Ed.)
Track 1 (Live)
Bunch of good Jean Grae - ie. track 6 of Jeanius. Haven't been able to find a tracklisting for this bootlegged, not released album. May be released as "Phoenix"?
Trying to get into, haven't succeeded: Keepintime, most grime, Sister Rosetta Tharpe (I know there's good stuff... where to find it?)
I love Sir Richard Bishop's Burning Caravan - but haven't found any other Bishop or Sun City Girls material that I like. Nor the "Wooden Guitar" compilation.
Mia - Arular was an initial disappointment after Galang. I think it's reasonable to say that early overexposure can be an issue. Here's hoping she works through it.
Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star, sorta. Something really irritates me about his music but I keep listening to it anyhow. I don't understand why he relies on the poetry-slam style of lyric delivery - it's limited & stereotyped. Which is why it is so easy to parody.
