2009 July » Passion of the Weiss

Jul
06

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_CLm1NXZeo Sasha Frere-Jones said it well: if you miss Fripp-Eno eBow guitar styles, check Citay, who foolishly did NOT call their album “Livin’ For The.” Ezra Feinberg & Co. would be also well-served with “New Jack Citay”(M.O.P. version), “Bright Lights Big Citay” (Capo cover) or “Built This Citay” (Diplomats not Jefferson Starship). I interviewed Citay’s… Continue reading »

Jul
06

Summer Jamz 09: Nick Rallo–Ray Bradbury’s Circus

Nick Rallo has stupid crazy Cetacean swag at Whale Fight. Nobody knows the hot months better than Ray Bradbury. The cool smell of lightning, and the snug tennis shoes on your freshly socked feet: Mr. Electrico from Something Wicked This Way Comes is summer. Personally, I don’t get tired of reading about it–the same way… Continue reading »

Jul
06

Wale-Back to the Feature Review

My Times review was severely truncated due to space constraints, so I’m posting the original below the jump, complete with tons of corny but apropos Back to the Future jokes. In short, Back to the Feature is blandly enjoyable. Wale’ s ambitions are minimal this go-round–a bizarre shift for someone with obviously grandiose goals. If I… Continue reading »

Jul
05

Dancehall Strong: Wayne Wonder ft CNN and Lexxus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HN1Rwjbr70 When it comes to better US/Jamaica crossover attempts, last year’s “Anything Goes” is more than the sum of its parts. Wayne and Lexxus’ singer/Deejay chemistry is in full swing and for once, the American emcees feel like an integral part of the song rather than a calculated attempt at mainland rotation. Finishing each other’s lines (they… Continue reading »

Jul
03

Sach O – The Invasion

While they create the NWA, Sach creates the nWo. Do not adjust your browser, while Jeff’s taking a week off to chill at the Yacht Club with Rick and possibly Diana Ross, I’ve begun phase one in a hostile takeover of the Passion. Expect angry comments from disgruntled trap-rap bloggers, passionate appraisals of rare Jamaican/Brazilian/Nigerian… Continue reading »

Jul
03

Michael Jackson Tribute: “Billie Jean” by Aaron Matthews

Despite being decades removed from any significant commercial success, Michael Jackson was omnipresent at my elementary school. See, I went to a Jewish private school and thus attended a staggering number of Bar and Bat-Mitzvah’s (many of them catered by Pickle Barrel, ‘natch). If you had a bar or bat mitzvah party, there were… Continue reading »

Jul
02

Michael Jackson Tribute: “Leave Me Alone” by Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is the mastermind behind Disco Vietnam, a clan that moves soundlessly through the shadows and works tirelessly to defeat the wicked 10 percent. “Totally Awesome Decisions” coming soon–total awesomeness guaranteed. “With the same sword they knight you/they gonna good night you with/Shit, that’s only half if they like you/That ain’t even the half… Continue reading »

Jul
02

Michael Jackson Tribute: Kanye West’s “Good Life” by Jeff Weiss

Hi, I’m Jeff Weiss, you might remember me from such blogs as What Wombats Want and Generation Alf. Everyone’s talking twenty years, so let’s talk two seconds. Specifically, those fleeting few plundered from “P.Y.T.,” and sampled on Kanye West’s “Good Life,” Disembodied chipmunk soul before the term was invented. Michael doing Kanye while Kanye was… Continue reading »

Jul
01

Michael Jackson Tribute: “Jam” by Dan Love

While he may be English, Dan Love drops nothing but science and mathematics at From Da Bricks. My Granddad passed away when I was in my final year of primary school, so now he only exists in a state of half memory where I can’t separate real events from imagined realities informed by photographs, stories… Continue reading »

Jul
01

Kode9 & The Space Ape-”Portal”

Photo via Georgina Cook Let’s be clear: any and all disdain for that tepid Major Lazer album was not derived from stereotypical self-loathing engendered when lily-white hipster icons attempt to do dance hall. Case in point: “Portal,” off Kode9 & Space Ape’s 2006 Memories of the Future–a track that Hyperdub is giving away to promote… Continue reading »