Nice 'pop art-esque' stencil graffiti of the great swing singer!
Sunday 24 April 2011
Music: Lee 'Scratch' Perry: Over 75 Years, From Dub To Dubstep
Check out this article and the accompanying audio story!
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/04/23/135630829/lee-scratch-perry-over-75-years-from-dub-to-dubstep
Saturday 23 April 2011
Sport: Football: Raul
Check out this link - would've been so good if Man United signed Raul! It could still happen possibly.
http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/raul-united-was-an-option
http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/raul-united-was-an-option
J.Cole X Drake x Biggie - Flava In The Morning (dJ eSenTRiK Remix)
J.Cole X Drake x Biggie - Flava In The Morning (dJ eSenTRiK Remix) by dJ eSenTRiK
Check out this fantastic mashup of 'Flava in Ya Ear' (classic Biggie Smalls remix) and 'In the Morning' by J. Cole and Drake.
Friday 22 April 2011
Art/Miscellaneous: Adam Dustus: Rock & Roll Rushmore
Rock & Roll Rushmore
Fantastic poem (obviously inspired by The Beatles!) - check it out by clicking on the title link!
Miscellaneous: Earth from Space (2005)
Earth Day - let's look after our planet for future generations!
Art: Doug Hagadorn: Mexican Drug Wars (2010)
Amazing work - inspired by the terrible drug war in Mexico
Music: Nate Dogg Mix
Check out this fantastic Nate Dogg mix by E-Heavy! RIP Nate Dogg
http://blog.soulclap.us/2011/03/21/episode-84-e-heavys-tribute-to-nate-dogg/
http://blog.soulclap.us/2011/03/21/episode-84-e-heavys-tribute-to-nate-dogg/
Saturday 16 April 2011
Sport: Football: Feast of Football
As I lounge here in the Mallorca sunshine, I prepare for two massive games today: the El Clásico and the FA Cup Semi Final derby featuring Manchester United and Manchester City. The El Clásico will be a big game for me, as I am in Spain, and will get to experience the fanatic 'fandom' of Spanish football fans (although most of the people in this resort are German!). Clearly Real will want revenge on Barcelona, due to the 5-0 trumping the Catalans earned over them at home last time these two giants clashed. As a Manchester United fan, the cup game is obviously very important to me too! I will also get a preview of the two teams who we can play in the Champions League Final (if we get there of course!). Here are some images from previous enthralling encounters of the El Clásico and the Mancunian derby.
Wednesday 13 April 2011
Music: Tyler, The Creator: Callous Poetry
Review of Tyler, The Creator's fantastic new video for his track "Yonkers"
Check out the youtube link for the video below!
I just cannot get enough of this video. It's unbelievably good. Displayed with just a single shot of rapper Tyler, throughout the video, the camera blurs in and out of focus of him sitting on a stool.
The video opens with him sitting in a Greek-God-like pose (perhaps the story of the video resembles that of a particular Greek Myth). When the rapping starts Tyler suddenly turns from his side to address the camera and 'break the fourth wall', thus directly interacting with the audience via eye contact; perhaps enabling surreal video immersion for the viewer.
Soon after this a cockroach meanders over his hand, scribbled with the word 'KiLL'. Tyler obliges this scribbled command by crunching the cockroach in his mouth. His body immediately reacts to this, and so does the camera, as it slowly zooms out of the close-up display of Tyler to a medium close-up shot of him; whilst this happens his images digresses to a silhouette, blurring in and out of focus, as he regurgitates the cockroach.
Lyrically, Tyler is callously anapestic, as he 'disses' Jesus, and utterly rips into the popular music celebrity pairing of Bruno Mars and B.o.B. In the video when the music slows down to an almost melancholic tone as he unbuttons his shirt, he seems to calm his lyrical anger. The music suddenly speeds up when he finishes unbuttoning his shirt though; this is when he unleashes his lyrical scathing on his victims Bruno Mars and B.o.B. When he has finished this attack, the camera zooms into a tight close-up of Tyler, depicting his eyes as having transformed to those of a reptile.
The end of the video though makes it a tragic and chilling masterpiece; a noose is presented to him, which he accepts in an existential manner. He then hangs himself, as he stands on the stool with the noose around his neck, which leaves the audience with a shiver catapulted down their spine. As a filmmaker myself, this is a fantastic inspiration for me.
Tyler, The Creator is a breathe of fresh air for the Hip-Hop community, as along with Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Kid Cudi and various other artists, he continues to break away from the commercial boundaries of Hip-Hop with his experimental and thought provoking lyrics and mannerisms. He is exactly the kind of artist rap needs in a world full of Flo Rida and Rick Ross wannabees (having said that I don't mind Rick Ross - I just think that he is a Miami version of 50 Cent, but at times even more pimped up and ridiculous), as great rappers from the past such as Snoop, Dre, Shady and Weezy (and even Lupe!) fail, in my opinion, to continue achieving great things artistically; they are however achieving great things commercially. That is where Hip-Hop faulters much of the time, as it too often seems to be more about the money and the 'bling' rather than the great lyrical and visual art which Hip-Hop is so capable of being.
Monday 11 April 2011
Music: Beatles - Happier Times
Last Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of when the world woke up to the announcement that The Beatles were parting ways. Here are two images published by Rolling Stone magazine of Happier Times for The Beatles when they embarked upon their 1964 US Invasion.
The Fab Five
The Beatles with manager Brian Epstein (center).
Hitting the Stage
Lennon, Harrison and McCartney
Comedy/Film: 'Pulp Fiction' Guess Who
A parody of Samuel L Jackson's line in Pulp Fiction, "Does he look like a bitch?", as his character Jules plays Guess Who with a young girl. Check out the Spoke Art piece I posted recently, which contains a different artistic take of Jules saying this line.
Note: Image is property of BoredPortal.com
Art: Mathias Barbagallo: "Dreaming Neon Black" (2008)
Wow - can't believe this was taken on a mobile phone!
Art/Music: MyNa Do: Mos Def Live @ Göta Källare, Stockholm 09/04/10
Check out this shot, taken by MyNa Do, of one of my favourite MCs in the game right now!
"Quiet storm, vital form, pen pushed it right across
Mind is a vital force, shoulders the lion's roar voice is the siren
I swing round, ring out and bring down the tyrant"
Mind is a vital force, shoulders the lion's roar voice is the siren
I swing round, ring out and bring down the tyrant"
Auditorium, 'The Ecstatic' (2009)
Art: Roger Ballen: “Sliced” (2007)
Perhaps reminiscent of the eye slicing shot from Un Chien Andalou.
TV: Classic scene from 'The Simpsons'
Check out this classic scene from The Simpsons, one of the best sitcoms of all time!
Art/Miscellaneous: JACOB ROCHESTER - BLACK BANKSY?
Check out the work of this artist, Jacob Rochester. Watch out for him in the future, as he could be the Black Banksy! Be sure to follow him on twitter at jacobmcfly!
Miscellaneous/Music: Rastafari
Check this link out about Rastafarian religion. Which religion do you believe in? Or do you believe there is no correct religion?
I Want My Kids to Be Righteous and Rasta
Sunday 10 April 2011
Comedy/Miscellaneous: Ricky Gervais' Laugh
1 of my favourite comedians. I love this guy's laugh. It cracks me up. It can at times sound like my own laugh, and also very much like Elmo's off Sesame Street!
Miscellaneous: When the f*ck is swearing acceptable?
Having recently posted a short story which contains several uses of the f word, I feel that, as a writer, the word is okay to use creatively. The post just below this one obviously alludes to Samuel L Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction, who use the word profusely. In my English studies, I am currently studying the play Shopping and F*cking, so it is a word I have had to examine recently. In certain social situations, I would deem the word to be acceptable for usage; however, there are many situations where it is obviously not okay to use the word fuck (for instance when Wayne Rooney used it recently in front of a TV camera, after scoring a penalty against West Ham to take a 3-2 lead and complete his hat-trick; left of text - video is linked below) .Check out Kristin Eggerling's article on swearing (http://quichemoraine.com/2009/05/the-joy-of-swearing/) and Stephen Fry's opinion on swearing (video linked below); both Eggerling and Fry find an appreciation for, and a joy, of swearing. Then check out this blogger's negative opinion on swearing (http://therelativeabsolute.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/why-i-dont-swear-an-argument-for-decent-language/). What is your view on swearing? (Not expecting too many responses, considering this blog is brand new, and needs to be publicised more).
Stephen Fry on the Joys of Swearing
Rooney Swearing at Camera
Art/Film: Spoke Art - 'Quentin vs. Coen' - Samuel L Jackson
Check out this link! A piece from the New York Spoke Art, 'Quentin vs. Coen' exhibition. Yesterday was the final day, but the exhibition will be heading to San Fransisco on June 2nd.
Samuel L Jackson as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction.
"Does he look like a bitch?"
http://spokeart.tumblr.com/post/4290079920/big-thanks-to-our-friends-over-at-supersonic#notes
Short Story: YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE
Haha. You know it’s true. Ever since I saw it happen, I knew it was true. I knew it was true before I saw it happen.
Whatever the fuck it is, it’s true.
Too many bankers sit there with their wallets, pouring out of their guts. Fuck them. Fuck their wallets. Fuck their guts.
Not enough wankers stand there. Too many decent people wait in that line. Waiting for their giro.
It’s false. Some of the time. But not always.
Life is, as we know it. Time, motion…and money. Fuck life.
Saturday 9 April 2011
Music: Song Review: GORGEOUS - KANYE WEST, KID CUDI, RAEKWON
As a massive Hip-Hop fan, I decided that the first song I would review would be the fantastic track Gorgeous by Kanye West, off his most recent album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Perhaps this review might be slightly biased as I am a major Kanye follower, having seen him live twice in Manchester. I am also a big fan of the two other artists that feature on this track; Kid Cudi and Raekwon.
The song opens with a chilled almost anthemic hook chimed out softly and elegantly by the on form Kid Cudi. This sets the stakes high for another classic Hip-Hop track to be released upon the world, and Mr. West does not fail to deliver. As soon as Cudi's opening climaxes, Kanye bursts onto the track exclaiming, "Penitentiary chances, the devil dances and eventually answers to the call of Autumn". He makes a pop culture reference in this first verse by rapping, "Got caught with 30 rocks, the cop looked like Alec Baldwin". West also makes another pop cultural reference later on in the track, by confronting the writers of South Park, for parodying him (with the use of fishsticks), by stating, "Choke a South Park writer with a fishstick" (however Kanye praised/accepted this parody on his blog, upon the release of the episode). (Note: I have still not seen this episode of South Park!)
Raekwon's performance on the track is spat with first class delivery, as he demonstrates why once a part of one of Hip-Hop's all time greatest groups (Wu-Tang Clan).
Reverting back to Kanye, I am not going to do a verse by verse analysis of his rapping, but I would like to discuss two of the ones I find to be key.
One quite clever verse from Kanye adresses and criticises "the way the government treat AIDS", as Kanye quips "I won't be satisfied til all my n*ggas get it, get it?"
However for me, the most noteworthy and powerful verse contains the following:
"Is hip-hop just a euphemism for a new religion?
The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missin’
But this is more than just my road to redemption
Malcolm West had the whole nation standin’ at attention"
Short Story: MEN DEPART
“You’re never really there, but you’re never really gone.”
Frank said this in a stern voice, without looking at me. He handed me the train ticket to Paris, again without looking at me.
“The train for Paris will be leaving at 18:42 from platform 6” announced a loud sonic boom of a voice.
He spun around and shot off without saying goodbye.
I realised that it wasn’t about life. It wasn’t about love. It was about everything in life you didn’t want it to be.
Paris will no longer be the city of romance.
The divorce. Lovers collide. Men depart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)