JSngry

Thing is, I'm to the point where I can understand a lot the DG lingo. "beats n keys" makes sense to me.

I've got that one. Pretty disappointing, actually. Safe, prefab, and bland.

Not really looking for a way to feel young(er). Just a way to not feel trapped. Hell, I love having lived as long as I have, seeing what I've seen, and knowing what I now know that I didn't know then. Looking forward to adding on more years, and more learning.

This makes perfect sense to me.

Marc Almond Joy Dvision Kid Creole & the Coconuts

Yep.

Well, if it leads to an "intellectual" understanding of something w/o a concurrent "emotional feel" for it (or vice-versa), then that's sort of a dead end. But hell, that's a potential problem no matter what, and always has been. I will say this - now, more than ever, I think I understand why Miles went electric. Money & vanity might have been big factors, but I don't think they were the underlying motivator. I think it was a desire, probably even a need, to confront "pop culture" on its own terms and win on "artistic" grounds, to prove that the emptiness of so much of it was due to the emptiness of its practitioneers, not of the medium itself. There's a "social statement" there that is about more than money & vanity. Some might say that that's a battle not even worth fighting. Fair enough. But the alternative is to surrender the "real world" to the morons and soulless deathmongers w/o putting up a fight. And if you don't fight, you got no room to complain. That fight can take many forms, but to deny the validity of fighting from within seems to me to be the equivalent of not mowing the grass because it's full of weeds. Cut the weeds down to size and the grass has a fighting chance. Leave them alone, and the grass dies a sure death. So I'm envisioning a potential future as a yard man. Oh well.

Hardee's Arby's Roy Rogers

Who were the four tenors in Gene Roland's band? Those would be the real originals.

By doing what?

If by chance you're referring to my ongoing championing of Monday Michiru, sorry, I stand behind that w/o reservation. No "hedging" on that one. Not even a pinch. Feel free to disagree. And if you're referring to my recent interst in dance music/remixes, I'll stand by that too. Plenty of interesting things going on there, things that I've been looking for w/o knowing where to find them. Those things are incomplete in and of themselves, but that's part of the excitement of discovery - the realization that there are some new roads to travel, and some new things to try. Again, feel free to disagree. Feel free to diagree with any and all of it in fact. I'm tired of living a life (and playing music) dictated by preset expectations and foregone conclusions. The only "damage" to be caused is by complicitly agreeing to die sooner than later. Sorry, can't go there. Not now anyway. We'll see where this all leads. It may be a dead end. But I'd rather go there and find out myself than take somebody else's word for it. I'm a resillient mofo, and it ain't gonna kill me. If it was, I'd have been dead a loooooong time ago. Again, feel free to disagree. Nothing but the maximum love & respect from me to you no matter what.

Example(s), please.

I'd never claim otherwise!

http://www.dustygroove.com/nusoulcd.htm#430455 Various -- Soul Com Bossa -- Compiled By Khari Simmons . . . CD . . . $24.99 (Item: 430455) P-Vine (Japan), 2006 Soul music with a bossa nova spirit -- a really unique little collection put together by Khari Simmons, with a sound that's similar to her own recent album with Julie Dexter! The bossa here isn't bossa in the conventional Brazilian sense -- but more a bossa-inspired love of space and grace, one that pushes the music here away from the usual beats n keys mode that can sometimes bog a modern soul album down in cliches and over-used patterns of sound. Instead, the groove here is loose, free, and very jazzy -- a really unique new sound that's presented perfectly by Khari along with many of her contemporaries on the Atlanta scene! Titles include "If You" by Venus 7, "50/50 Love (Jiva rmx)" by Anthony David with Julie Dexter, "Rush Hour (Kemetic Just mix)" by Alex Lattimore, "Thank You" by Avery Sunshine, "Ever After (Jiva rmx)" by Seek, "I See Colors" by Julie Dexter, "I Realized (Twilight Bossa mix)" by Jiva, and "Sun Don't Rain" by Paige Lackey Martin. Yeah, I know it's Dusty Groove, so the hype might be in, and yeah, I know that any local "scene" might come down to 2 or 3 people making CDs on a shoestring, but still - what gives?

http://www.dustygroove.com/varfunkcd.htm#429693 Various -- 28 Roses -- Mixing It All About Fender Rhodes -- Mixed By DJ Mitsu The Beats . . . CD . . . $19.99 Syou Chiku Bai Records (Japan), 1970s Condition: New Copy It's all about the Fender Rhodes on this one -- and DJ Mitsu serves up an incredible mix of lost keyboard classics from the 70s! The package is sublime -- and starts with a really mellow groove, one that has the keys of the Rhodes just hanging in space -- then builds things up with a funkier edge at the bottom, one that picks up mightily as the set rolls on. The whole thing runs for nearly 80 minutes in length, and features a total of 28 titles that include "Winding Roads" by Gary Bartz, "Melody To Thelma" by Blue Mitchell, "Corsarios" by Marcos Resende & Index, "New Found Truths" by Catalyst, "Time" by Ju-Par Universal Orchestra, "Sweet Children" by Caesar Frazier, "Affirmation" by Al Gafa Quinteto, "Brasswind" by Gene Ammons, "Ghetto Child" by Ahmad Jamal, "Stefanie" by James Moody, "I've Got You On My Mind" by Jorge Dalta, "Astral Quest" by Greg Hatza & Moon Quest, "Beach Journey" by Alan Hawkshaw, and "When She Smiles" by Harold Danko. It's funny - a lot of the 70s "commercial jazz" didn't do shit for me at the time (and a lot of it still doesn't...), But as fodder for really hip remixes, hey, it's hard to beat. No pun intended...

Caesar Green Goddess Italians

The Hawks The Atlanta Hawks The Chicken Hawks

Harley was a character, a piece of the puzzle that we might not think of as "important", but a piece neverhteless. And until you get all the pieces, the puzzle's not complete. I'll miss him. I've heard his last album, and it's a unique piece of work. Unique in a good way, btw. But then again, they almost all are/were. A favorite is Re-Creation Of The Gods Plenty of Larry Young-ish organ on this one, and it fits. Hardly "essential", but nonetheless recommended with appreciation and affection.

Clarissa, Who Explains It All God, Who Made It All The Staff Of The New York Times. Who Prints It All (If It's Fit To Be Printed)

Moldy Figs Billy Dee Williams Beledi Ensemble

Well DUH! Failure to communicate w/tech support due to a language barrier must not be being as warmly received as projected...

Rosie the Riveter Josephine the Plumber E. Howard Hunt

My parents were salters. My wife's parents were salters. My wife is a salter. Neither of my kids are. I have failed at many things in life, but this is not one of them.

Alexander Monday Joe Friday Billy Sunday

Don't think that WP replaced PJ, just that it ran concurrently with it.