9/22/23

Carolyn Harding - "Memories" and "More Memories"

To some, intergenerational transmission of trauma remains a tenuous theory at best. The eggs are already in place, they say. But to them, I say, fine, what if it's just an evolutionary defense mechanism? I have anxiety for the same reason I know not to stick my head in a lion's mouth. Memory extinction or extinction memory? It goes both ways. Don't believe the hype, true, but do look both ways before crossing the street. YOLO, so stand clear of the closing doors and behind the yellow line while the train approaches. In unrelated findings, B-Wyze's sister is house music legend Carolyn Harding (indeed the picture for that last post comes from a radio show they co-host). YouTube calls her 1986 single "Memories" a Paradise Garage classic. Thirty-seven years later, Harding honors such memories of "Memories" with yet "More Memories." 

9/11/23

B-Wyze - "If U Don't Know"

The world needs more drive-in movie theaters. I don't mean Ace Hardware parking lot pop-ups. I mean massive open areas with multiple fields, each with its own jumbo screen and radio frequency. Kids tossing frisbees in the lanes before the previews start. A nightly tailgate party for art, not sports. Long Island's last, in Westbury, closed in 1998. But the sound of the drive-in movie experience lived on through the turn of the 21st century via the beats of MF DOOM and X-Ray da Mindbenda. This 2005 X-Tacy Radio x-clusive featuring former Legion of D.U.M.E. member B-Wyze is a prime example. 

9/9/23

ethereal loft. - [ d o w n t h e r a b b i t h o l e ] 🐇

Tomorrow morning, if we get up and out early enough, at least an hour before sunrise, go to the beach, and look east just over the horizon, we might spot a one-inch green streak in the pre-dawn sky. It's a comet that takes about 435 years to orbit the sun. That means the last time it was visible to the naked eye was around 1588, and the next time will be 2458 assuming some interstellar incident doesn't knock it or us off course between now and then (🤞). May it greet us from its ethereal loft with the words above and sounds below.

9/2/23

Lonny Love - Hoechella 2

Sometimes sexy is such an understatement it's a misnomer. In the deft care of Lonny Love, sexy drill is endearing, romantic, precious ... in a word, lovely. Even at his most detached, his lyrics retain a degree of tender worshipfulness. He's not just palming a cheek, he's slipping a digit. He's doing the most. Hoechella 2 is a collection of bordello balladry. An ambitious enough listener might adapt any rap album for cabaret theatre, but it's a different story when every song on the project actively lends itself to the task. The sample stabs on Hoechella 2 might as well be headboard squeaks, the bass bumps mattress thumps. In moments of instrumental dropout, it's like the beat's biting a pillow. Several mattresses had to be put out to the curb in the making of this album. "Shake your ass, you made it. I'm proud of you, girl."