The Best of Times, and the Worst
To mix metaphors, when the shit hits the fan, it pours. Not only did we have a PR disaster, a hacked website, and total chaos when I arrived at work today, we've had some Crafty setbacks, idiots abusing our good name, and otherwise shitty shitty stuff. Work sucked and I have every legitimate right to say so.
On the other hand, I got to see DJ Shadow after a 10 year wait. ROOOOOCK! He's my favorite musician, the man whose sound has defined Ten Thousand Bullets, and the show was fucking amazing. Act 1 of the set was a lengthy mashup of his own compositions rather than the sampadelica he's known for, starting with my favorite song of all time, Building Steam with a Grain of Salt, and then mixing work ranging from Endtroducing to the Outsider with a LOT of B-side material. After the first break, he brought on an unannounced guest - The Gift of Gab! GoG is an astoundingly talented MC, and a total surprise since he was not announced on the tour material and generally fellow Blackalicious member Lateef The Truth Speaker tours with Shadow. The first track they performed was brand new, concocted YESTERDAY by Shadow and GoG, called "Gabracadabra" and the crowd of 1500 ate it up. Act 3 turned out with what was essentially an apology/explination for The Outsider, Shadow's latest album (and quite a departure from his earlier work), then rocking a number of his UNKLE-era tracks, namely Cosmic Annhilation, Rabbit in Your Headlights, Be There, and a few others whose names escape me at the moment. Utterly fantastic.
Also got a chance to literally meet Portland's hottest hip-hop group, the Lifesavas, who opened the show. They release their next album, Gutterfly, tomorrow, which is a soundtrack to a blaxploitation film that doesn't exist. Totally awesome - unfortunately I didn't pick up a copy at the show because I was spending all my loot on Shadow stuff. But they're definately my sort of hip hop - intellectual, clever, not mysoginystic, and political (recommended track: "Resist," a very characteristic slice of Portland). Jumbo the Garbageman and Versatyl were worked up into a lather, totally excited about the new album, and spend the 15 minutes between their and Shadow's sets shaking hands with everyone who hung out for their performance. It struck me as a very Crafty sort of approach - making those sales one record at a time.
So, in conclusion today has not really sucked, and my wife, despite all my teasing, is one of the best gift givers I know. Thank you again, honey, for giving me this chance to have such a wonderful experience with an artist whose work brings me great joy. Now...to bed.
To mix metaphors, when the shit hits the fan, it pours. Not only did we have a PR disaster, a hacked website, and total chaos when I arrived at work today, we've had some Crafty setbacks, idiots abusing our good name, and otherwise shitty shitty stuff. Work sucked and I have every legitimate right to say so.
On the other hand, I got to see DJ Shadow after a 10 year wait. ROOOOOCK! He's my favorite musician, the man whose sound has defined Ten Thousand Bullets, and the show was fucking amazing. Act 1 of the set was a lengthy mashup of his own compositions rather than the sampadelica he's known for, starting with my favorite song of all time, Building Steam with a Grain of Salt, and then mixing work ranging from Endtroducing to the Outsider with a LOT of B-side material. After the first break, he brought on an unannounced guest - The Gift of Gab! GoG is an astoundingly talented MC, and a total surprise since he was not announced on the tour material and generally fellow Blackalicious member Lateef The Truth Speaker tours with Shadow. The first track they performed was brand new, concocted YESTERDAY by Shadow and GoG, called "Gabracadabra" and the crowd of 1500 ate it up. Act 3 turned out with what was essentially an apology/explination for The Outsider, Shadow's latest album (and quite a departure from his earlier work), then rocking a number of his UNKLE-era tracks, namely Cosmic Annhilation, Rabbit in Your Headlights, Be There, and a few others whose names escape me at the moment. Utterly fantastic.
Also got a chance to literally meet Portland's hottest hip-hop group, the Lifesavas, who opened the show. They release their next album, Gutterfly, tomorrow, which is a soundtrack to a blaxploitation film that doesn't exist. Totally awesome - unfortunately I didn't pick up a copy at the show because I was spending all my loot on Shadow stuff. But they're definately my sort of hip hop - intellectual, clever, not mysoginystic, and political (recommended track: "Resist," a very characteristic slice of Portland). Jumbo the Garbageman and Versatyl were worked up into a lather, totally excited about the new album, and spend the 15 minutes between their and Shadow's sets shaking hands with everyone who hung out for their performance. It struck me as a very Crafty sort of approach - making those sales one record at a time.
So, in conclusion today has not really sucked, and my wife, despite all my teasing, is one of the best gift givers I know. Thank you again, honey, for giving me this chance to have such a wonderful experience with an artist whose work brings me great joy. Now...to bed.
Labels: slathering fanboyism, whining
2 Comments:
YAY! The Patriot Act finally gets used by people that should have protested it!
lifesavas were on "burn to shine" a year or two ago. If you haven't seen that, you might check it out as there are soooo many good portland bands.
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