Brandon Burke

Not so controversial actually. The first round of releases was great though. Each solo album in that first round I consider a Wu Tang album. I think those albums are still relevant. More recent recordings? Much less so. Yea, I think that's the general consensus. For what ever reason, I still buy every new Ghostface record though. Who would have imagined nine years ago that he, Rae, and Deck would be the only ones making straight hip hop records in 2004? I've always been a huge Inspectah Deck fan. He was always my favorite. Sounds rather like a tougher Rob Base. Same old school flow but considerably more *street*. You'll notice that most of the really good Wu tracks feature Deck first. He has a knack for good opening lines. From "Triumph" (1997): "I bomb attomically. Socrates philosophies and hypotheses can't define how I be droppin' these mockaries. Lyrically perform armed robbery." I love that shit.....

Cliff, you're boy Joel's testimonial is brilliant. Really funny. So how did you end up with so many manic baseball fans as friends anyway...?

Their server is slow. Check back later.....

Yea, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it or anything. Perhaps not unlike GBV, they've been bordering on complete irrelevancy for several years now. One the other side of the coin, and again like GBV, I rather liked knowing that they were still around (even if I wasn't paying attention anymore).

Man, this things really making the rounds today.....

From Pitchfork: "NME.com reported last night that the legendary Staten Island hip-hop supergroup, Wu-Tang Clan, are planning one final ruckus-bringing before calling it quits after a 12-year run that will have produced five full-lengths, one unbridled classic, and perhaps more solo spinoffs than any group in hip-hop's storied history. Fresh off soundtrack work for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill trilogy (Hollywood reports there will be a third) and production on fellow Clan member Ghostface Killah's new Pretty Toney Album, The RZA told NME, "I don't think the fans have closure on Wu-Tang and I think they deserve it." Although, if it's anything like Iron Flag, maybe it'd be better to just give it a rest already. In case this new album is the bad retarded, too, RZA adds that yet another full-length-- hell, maybe even two-- could follow it: "If the group itself feels the vibe and wants to continue, then maybe two more albums, but at least one more album that will give closure to the Wu-Tang legacy." Okay. Well, the group is planning to enter the studio in late summer to lay down tracks for this "final" album. Otherwise, we can all rest assured that Raekwon will go back to cooking up some more marvelous shit-- The Lex Diamond Story, friends-- while the others continue copping oversized promotional Wu-Wear from the trunk of RZA's new whip. The good news is, the Wu have lined up a handful of performances slated to hit the European festival circuit this summer: The group is expected to appear at the London Hammersmith Carling Apollo (show your love!) on July 8th, as well as Scotland's T in the Park Festival on July 10th and Ireland's Oxegen Festival on July 11th. RZA, GZA/Genius, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Ol' Dirty Bastard, U-God and Masta Killa will all unite on the same stage for these shows for the first time in-- no shit-- ten years. Sounds crazy, but remember GZA's prophecy: "When we really get to where we got to go... that's when you know it's on."

I'm right behind you, Adam...... (Sorry, that's my Lost Highway reference for the day. ) The one with the Royals hat on.

It's interesting that they're still a "beta" at this point. The NPR story is good. You should look it up. They ended up with waaay more users than they expected (not unlike Austin, TX) so the site was bogged down for quite a while. They did upgrade the servers about a month ago so now it's at least.....er.....less slow.

Thanks guys. I replied to this woman right away and said that we should talk on the phone about details. (I figure by then I will have thought of some good questions.) Sounds like a good deal to me and location is huge since I won't have a car. I'll be sure to check out that Museum, Tom. sounds interesting. If I remember right, someone else has a hologram museum a bit off the beaten path. And by this I mean the kinds of holograms they used to put on the cover of National Geographic ironically enough. Speaking of museums, what's the deal with the aquarium in DC? It's like a freakin' dungeon in there...... Keep 'em coming you guys! I visited DC about six years ago but know very little about the place in reality. I only saw the *greatest hits* so I know nothing about the different neighborhoods, etc. This is very helpful and I really appreciate it. [bONUS TRACK] My Royals play the O's at Camden Yards the week that I get there. If anyone wants to go, the first round is on me!

The Silver Spring place is apparently near the Forest Glen stop (Georgia Ave and Forest Glen Rd).

It just occurred to me that the title of this thread makes it sound as though I'm asking if anyone has any questions about DC. Oh well. You get the idea.

Hey folks, I'm going to be in our nation's capital to do my practicum at LC over July and August. I have recieved a few enticing replies from my post for lodging on Craig's List. One of them is in Silver Spring, MD and the other is in town at 15th and Massachusetts. Here's the email the woman who posted the second one sent me just now: **************************************************** "We have 1 bedroom in a house available during July and August. Location: 15th and Massachusetts--15 blocks from LC with good bus when you don't want to walk. 4 blocks to Metro. Room and house: Your bedroom with a/c & shared bathroom on second floor. Livingroom, kitchen on main floor. Yard. Easy parking on street. Other occupant: Middle aged female who works a lot; otherwise quiet-ish but friendly. Money: $500 includes utilities. Payable in advance for 2 months. Lets correspond if you are interested." **************************************************** I'm thinking that $500 is pretty good. Many of the other ones I've read are up around $700-800. My question is: what is this area of town like? I have absolutely no idea. Any other suggestions or offerings would also be of help, obviously. Thanks, Brandon

I just about fell forward into my monitor looking at that skyscraper pic. Yeesh...

Listen, Jack. This isn't a negative response to you. Seriously.... I just wanted to say that (1) I agree that dudes like Nelly present awful images of women as sexual objects but, more importantly, (2) women "fighting back" against this sort of image portrayal isn't exactly late-breaking news. It just so happens that someone at the AP chose to write a story about it this time. Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y." came out eleven years ago. First verse: "Instinct leads me to another flow Everytime I hear a brother call a girl a bitch or a ho Trying to make a sister feel low You know all of that gots to go Now everybody knows there's exceptions to this rule Now don't be getting mad, when we playing, it's cool But don't you be calling out my name I bring wrath to those who disrespect me like a dame That's why I'm talking, one day I was walking down the block I had my cutoff shorts on right cause it was crazy hot I walked past these dudes when they passed me One of 'em felt my booty, he was nasty I turned around red, somebody was catching the wrath Then the little one said (Yeah me bitch) and laughed Since he was with his boys he tried to break fly Huh, I punched him dead in his eye and said "Who you calling a bitch?"

I appreciate this entire post but I'm choosing to only comment on this one particular line.... As it happens, I'm 30 and going through this process as I type. I'm having to prioritize. Jazz is first and foremost but rocksteady and soul records are next in line. A fortunate consequence of this is that playing rock music is a totally different experience for me now. I'm totally unconcerned with whether or not my arrangement is going to sound "hip" or not because I don't like most of the rock records that are considered indeed "hip" these days. The exceptions are the new Devenrda Banhart and Animal Collective records. Those guys make music in such a way that it's both completely foreign to me (considering my compositional leanings) and yet strangely familar from the word "go". In both cases, I completely agree with every aesthetic choice along the time path, yet I would never be able to see music that way in a million years. It's a very good thing. Anyways.....I hear what you're saying.

That's my boy. Go for the Dub Like Dirt comp, Freedom Sounds in Dub, and definately check out Tappa Zukie In Dub. The first song on the second side is one of the most menacing and fear-inspiring dubs ever. Ruthless..... EDIT: I just put this on right now as an after-thought. I had forgotten that the song I was talking about was a version of Linval Thompson "Black Princess Lady". Don't skimp on the bass, my friend.....

Hey....that's not fair. You're cheating. B) You mean I'm saying too many??? No. I mean you mentioned songs that are actually legitimately good, as opposed to "popular". That's all.

Ernie B's is the place to go. In fact, most record stores that I know get their stuff from Ernie Bs as well. So...... You can always try Jammyland.

Hey....that's not fair. You're cheating. B)

I have the Larry Marshall LP somewhere. I seem to remember liking it but I honestly don't remember right now. You're absolutely right on both accounts. You get any number of studio musicians on a Tubby collection simply because, in most cases, it was someone else's song that was handed over to Tubby to (re)mix. So shit came from any and all directions. Fortunately, there were a ridiculous amount of high quality studio musicians around at that time so, if you didn't get Sly and Robbie, you got someone else who was great for different reasons. It's really a lot like the way studio dates work in jazz. No Lee Morgan? That's okay because you've got Kenny Dorham instead. And so on.... As to your second point, there is indeed a difference between "mixed at King Tubbys" and "mixed by King Tubby"; the former being the studio and the latter being the man. The best place to begin looking at Tubby's work is Blood & Fire (but I'm assuming you already know this). In any case, these are absolutely essential.... 'Dub Gone Crazy' 'Dub Gone 2 Crazy' 'Freedom Sounds in Dub' 'Dub Like Dirt'

No shit. I felt dirty even leaving a post at all.

Absolutely anything by The Clientele including but not limited to..... [bONUS TRACK: These guys make "I'm seriously in love with this person" records as opposed to, say, "I'm ready to cold get in on" records. So..... B)]

Do you mean really popular 80's songs? This makes me think of the kind of stuff you'd hear at a poorly DJed wedding. Yeesh...... Sorry to be a stick-in-the-mud but I'm not a part of the VH-1 generation, despite the intense marketing campiagn geared toward my demographic. I'm not at all interested in revisiting things for kitch value and I don't like music for ironic reasons. I say, if it sucked then....it's still f*cking sucks, man. This is as close as I get.... 1. The Police - "Spirits in the Material World" (which is weird because I dislike Sting so much that it basically ruined the Police for me.) 2. Talking Heads - "Once in a Lifetime" 3. Rob Base & DJ EZ-Rock - "It Takes Two"

Hmmm....... That never occurred to me.

I agree with you regarding Scientist or anyone else who continued into the 80's. Tubby, on the other hand, never put out a weak record. This is due in large part to his unfortunate murder before shit went digital. Problem is, he's an engineer as opposed to a recording artist (in the strict sense). Everybody knows that the dub era turned engineers into recording artists. What I mean in this case is that Tubby made very few LPs. So 90% of the Tubby stuff out there comes in the form of comps. The only time that this is not the case is when Tubby engineered a session for someone else and, in a brilliant turn of marketting, it all of a sudden became a Tubby record. I'm think here of Augustus Pablo King Tubby's Meets Rockets Uptown and Morwell Unlimited Dub Me. But both of those records rule. so I'm not sure what I'm proving with that. Some reissues involve Tubby in a less than experimental state and some of those are kind of boring but hardly "bad". I'm think especially of Psalms of Drums. Remember, Tubby was an engineer and , as such, not everything he did was a dub mix. Consequently, some records credited to him are relatively straight ahead dates that he happened to run the boards on. As to your point about people attributing their own mixes to Tubby, this is the accusation currently floating around about the Jamaican Recordings label. It's just too weird that they would have access to that many "unreleased" masters. Needless to say, I'm something of a Tubby fanatic. He's one of my top ten fave sound aestheticians of all time. I put him right up there with Brian Wilson, Pete Rock, Mingus, Ives, Hank Shocklee, etc. Crazy? I don't think so. He did some really damned important things for music that people are still catching up with today.