Mashin' up Michael: Free download

This free mixtape seems like a post-mortem tribute, but it was actually released earlier this year:

Rhymefest, the Grammy-winning writer behind Kanye West's hit, "Jesus Walks," dropped this album early last year for free digital download. [It] sees Rhymefest rapping on top of production sampling from Jackson's extensive catalogue. Interludes mixed in-between songs splice audio clips of Jackson with responses from Rhymefest, cleverly creating the illusion of conversation between the iconic singer and the idolizing rapper. Mark Ronson, producer behind retro-soul singer Amy Winehouse, lends his direction here, stamping this project with the throwback sound that's become his schtick. Add to that equation the classic hits of Michael Jackson and you have a very funky, very soulful affair.

Listen and lock in to Michael...

Beat Authority playlist: 6/26/09 (The Michael Jackson edition)

Que en paz descanse.

El North Country Prof Acaudalado

A good friend and fellow softball player, Manuel Chavez, is leaving the North Country today. He was teaching at St. Lawrence University. Now he's returning to his home on the South Side of the Chicago. A Mexican-American, Manuel captured the vibe of his departure with a "corrido", an incredibly cool Mexican folk song genre. It's based on the legendary Los Tigres del Norte corrido, "El Mojado Acaudalado" ("The Wealthy Wetback"), and is full of humor and emotion and plain old great storytelling. Great work, Manuel!! We'll miss you un monton!

Below is the Tigres' version. Here's Manuel's:

Me estas esperando el Southside lindo
Por eso mismo me voy a ir
Soy el chicano no tan acaudalado
Pero en mi ciudad quiero vivir

Adios, Adios Hoot Owl
Moreley's Long Branch, Dave's II
Me llevare su recuerdo
Porque a mi ciudad me voy
Pues aunque tengo dinero
No soy feliz donde estoy

Adios, Adios Best Western
Maxfield's y First Crush
Adios les dice el chicano
Que se enpapo de sudor
En los campos de softball
universidades de Nueva York

Me estas esperando el Southside lindo
Por eso mismo me voy a ir
Soy el chicano no tan acaudalado
Pero en mi ciudad quiero vivir

Aventurero y soltero
Hablando muy bien Ingles
Ya me pasie por Binghamton
Por Ottawa tambien
Decia una guera en Canton
I love you mexican men

Del North Country
Yo no me voy olvidar
Quise tener buen dinero
Y me lo vine a ganar
Pero en mi ciudad querida
Yo me lo pienso a gastar

Me estas esperando el Soutside lindo
Por eso mismo me voy a ir
Soy el chicano no tan acaudalado
Pero en mi ciudad quiero vivir

(adaptado de “el mojado acaudalado” por los Tigres del Nortes)

Don't stop 'til you get enough

I was 12 in 1983, the year Thriller was released. I lived in the suburbs of Buffalo, and when you're 12, there's nothing much to do but watch TV. I was the core demographic of the MTV generation.

Of course, when you're 12, you're not thinking, "wow, this album is going to be one of the best ever." We took for granted that every few weeks, a new Michael Jackson song would become a monster, number one hit that we'd all memorize the lyrics to and know every shot of the video. Billie Jean. PYT. Human Nature. I can still sing every note of Eddie Van Halen's solo on "Beat It". Between classes at school, we dissected the 12 minute "Thriller" video like it was the law of the land.

Still, I was never a real Michael Jackson "fan". In fact, a lot of the time, I couldn't stand him as I tried to rebel against the 80s pop culture I was immersed in. But you couldn't escape Michael Jackson. He was everything and everywhere then. And you had to admit the music stuck in your head and your hips.

That all changed as Michael got weirder and weirder. He was easier to put out of sight and out of mind. Out of all the stuff, I've seen written today about MJ, my favorite New York Yankees' blogger (and just a flat-out great writer), Alex Belth of Bronx Banter, put it best:

Michael Jackson was the biggest pop idol of my youth; he did not live life like he wanted to grow old. It’s almost as if he committed a long, public suicide for years. It was painful and absurd. He was seminal, an icon, a wonderful entertainer who was so deeply disturbed that he became a freak show.

The man was complicated, disturbed, probably self-hating. But the music is eternal and straight-up funky. MJ was the next logical step after James Brown. His music and dance moved the entire world. And, with today's sliced and diced media demographics, it's hard to imagine anyone doing that again.

This is how I'll remember Michael Jackson.

Nacional (and your chance to get free music!)

LA Weekly has a great article about the best latin record label in the country, Nacional Records. Nacional brings us the likes of Aterciopelados, Manu Chao, Nortec Collective, Los Amigos Invisibles, DJ Bitman...basically the canon of the new wave of latin music (some call it "latin alternative").

Nacional partners with iTunes to make this cool download cards that gives you a sampler of MP3 from the Nacional catalog. I actually have five of them. So I'll give them away to the first five people who e-mail me at david-at-ncpr-dot-org. Be sure to tell me your real name and address. Get on it!

Do the Right Thing at 20

I graduated high school in 1989. So many, many things I identify strongly with are turning 20 this year. On this blog, we've talked about De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, and the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique. (Can you believe three such influential and revolutionary albums were all released in the same year??!! Damn.)

In film, 1989 was the year of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. My first best moment of college (in September of that year) was an all-night conversation/argument about race based on this incredible and ambiguous movie.

That's what I like about it: it's so unclear what Spike wanted us to take away from the experience of watching it. From Rosie Perez' opening dance to PE's "Party for Your Right To Fight" to Radio Raheem''s Love and Hate rings to Vinny in Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the characters are sharp and funny, and the cinematography is incredible.

NPR's show Tell Me More did a great extended feature on this landmark movie. If you've never seen it, or if you haven't in a long time, celebrate it's 20 birthday with a viewing you'll be really enjoy.

PS - I have no idea why most of this post is in italics, but I can't change it, for some reason.

Song of the Day: Public Enemy #1

Before one of most powerful hip hop acts of all time came around, James Brown chose this phrase to describe heroin.

This song came up on my iPod today. It remains the most powerful anti-drug song I've ever heard. The setting in church. The preaching. The guy who testifies, strung out, in anguish. "The place starts a-rockin' a bit. I saw a little tear come from my eye...because I felt it." James is the preacher and the addict all at once. And he sells it. Probably because he was it.

Big brother is watching you (make a video)

Alert Beat Authority listener John of Westford, VT sent me a link to this wild video, made entirely with footage from surveillance cameras. Don't like the music so much, but here's how they did it:

The band set up their music equipment, from microphones to drum kit, in eighty different locations, including buses and what appear to be taxi cabs, and then requested all of the footage using the Data Protection Act, an English statute similar to the U.S.’s Freedom of Information Act that mandates any individual should have access to all information collected about them.

Can I actually get access to any surveillance footage of myself using the Freedom of Information Act? Somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, cool video. Check it here...

Come on down to Potsdam!

Blogging from the front porch of La Casbah in downtown Potsdam. Ten minutes before showtime... Come on down to catch some Friday afternoon vibes...have a cocktail, etc... Come say hi to me and Joel. BTW, Joel Hurd's put together a wicked nice sound system to use here...

Song of the day: The Great Curve

I've been listening to Talking Heads' Remain in Light incessantly lately. Every song is stunningly great and tight. Hence this is mos def one of The Great Albums. And on that album, "The Great Curve" is the one I keep coming back to. The rolling rounds of choruses, the sharp rhythm guitars, the relentlessly on point congas... Damn, this is music at its best, and it's what I can't stop listening to today.

Feast

It's summer festival time in the North Country, especially around the North Country. Montreal Jazz Fest. Ottawa Jazz fest. Ottawa Blues Fest. Much, much more. A cursory glance at the Montreal line-up yielded this short (!) list of shows I want to (but likely won't) see: Chucho Valdes 5, Madeline Peyroux, Wayne Shorter, King Sunny Ade & Femi Kuti, Pacifika, Pink Martini, Vieux Farka Toure, on and on it goes.

I'm going to try to hit some regular posts on shows at some of these festivals and others. If you have a suggestion of a festival I should be looking at, let me know.

Avid listener Sean of Potsdam alerts us to the Osheaga Fetsival in Montreal, with The Roots, Beastie Boys, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlining. It's all too tantalizing.

Free MP3: Electronic India

Hey peeps - Sorry for the last of posts. Been on a loverly vacation in the Great NW. But here's a good way to get back on it: Six Degrees is offering an entirely free album of electronic ragabeats from India. You have to download some Amazon downloader thingy, but I think it's worth the 8 tracks. Here's the link.

Live at La Casbah in Potsdam - June 19th!

Great news for the Beat! I'll be DJ-ing a live broadcast of the Beat Authority from the front porch of La Casbah, the sabroso Moroccan restaurant in Potsdam, from 3-4:45pm on Friday, June 19th. Live broadcasts are always a blast, and having a good crowd makes it even better. So come on down if you're in town.

Can't make it that afternoon? Fear not! I'll be sharing record-spinning duties with DJ Mark Suede later on that night from 9:30pm-2am in the beautiful upstairs room at La Casbah.

Hope you can make it for a booty-shakin' good time!