WaterCoolerGossip

Being 20-something in American society these days is like entering a war zone. The list of opportunities that are being rewarded in our economy is narrowing, and the dichotomy between rich and poor is perpetually widening. For those of us pursuing careers in vocational-intensive professions, we have to face workdays becoming longer, credentials becoming more rigid, competition becoming more fierce. We are the crash-test babies of an increasingly structuralized state of capitalism. Ultimately, I believe the system is fair and rewarding, but the journey can be exhausting.

As I’ve begun to outgrow my initial post-college occupation, I’ve entered the process of prepping for a graduate degree. It’s a process that pretty much requires signing away my social life as I’ve known it, but a reality that I’ve learned to accept. These past three months, the vast majority of my free time has been devoted to studying for a standardized exam. Studying in itself isn’t all that bad. But with a day job that essentially requires me to study for twelve hours a day, willing myself to study for a couple more hours at night becomes mentally exhausting. Nevertheless, I’ve embraced it as a new challenge, and I believe life is about figuring out what you’re capable of.

Without being able to devote the attention to music that it requires to get into a new band, I’ve been spending more time with my archives, re-discovering old favorites and digging deeper into back catalogs of artists that I like. I’ve spent some time re-evaluating why I even listen to music. I listen to music in almost every occasion: when I’m feeling happy, miserable, energetic, angsty, in the mood to party, in the mood to dance, just chillaxin. But never have I needed music as much as these past few months. To help me keep fighting at times when I’ve been exhausted, when it's been tempting to give up. I love music. And I pretty much owe my life to these songs:

Nas - Ether (9th Wonder Remix) (mp3)

(I) mess with your soul like ether
(Will) teach you the king you know you
(Not) god’s son across the belly
(Lose) I prove you lost already

Diss tracks typically have a shelf life. But the great ones (“Ether”, “The Bridge is Over”, “The Bitch in Yoo”) are a big part of what makes hip-hop so great – they essentially elevate music into a competitive sport.

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Road to the Riches (mp3)

I was sort of a porter takin’ the next man's orders
Breakin’ my back for a shack for headquarters
All my manpower for four bucks an hour
Took the time, I wrote rhymes in the shower

Before there was “Juicy”, this was the come-up tale. Come-up tales epitomize what I love about hip-hop – which is all the struggles and hunger of a hard life materialized into an art form.

Camp Lo – Luchini (A.K.A. This Is It) (mp3)

This is it, luchini pourin' from the sky
Let’s get rich, the cheeky vines, the sugar dimes
Can’t quit, now pop the cork and steam the vega and get lit

Evidence that Camp Lo never reached the popularity that they deserved: luchini is one of the hottest rap metaphors for money, but you never hear it in street conversation. I’m always hearing people drop references like duckets, paper, cheddar, scrillas. But have you ever heard someone say, “I gotta get that luchini”? Try saying it out loud, it sounds pretty ill.

Amerie – Blow (mp3)

5 months in ’99, workin’ hard but had nothin'
6 months later, tried to turn it into somethin’
7 days a week, I had to stay on the grind
8 bout to tell you that I didn’t waste time

Amerie, or any hip-hop soul singer for that matter, is really at her best when she quits trying to sing and just rides the beat. Love how she counts up 1 through 8 in the first verse, then counts back down 8 to 1 in the second verse.

David Ruffin – Heavy Love (mp3)

It's too high to get over, it's too deep to get under
It's too wide to get around, and it's weighing me down

One of the most moving musical experiences I’ve ever had was visiting an Afro-American gospel church. If you truly love and feel music, even if gospel/soul music isn't really your thing, I recommend trying this out once.

Kate Bush - Cloudbusting (mp3)

I just know that something good is going to happen
And I don’t know when
But just saying it could even make it happen

In an alternate universe, Joanna Newsom could harness all her storytelling abilities into more palatable songs the way that Kate Bush does. "Cloudbusting" is based on A Book of Dreams by Peter Reich, which is on my to-read list once I get my exam out of the way.

The Thermals – Returning To The Fold (mp3)

I regret leaving my soul, I forgot I needed it to feel
Maybe when I die, I'll just grab it real quick, I'm coming right back

My favorite song of 2006. This song came at a time when I was beginning to explore my personal connection with spirituality. I’ve been opening my mind up to a lot of different religious philosophies, and it’s enough to bend my brain all out of shape. But when I listen to this song, somehow it all seems a little clearer.

Rancid – Red Hot Moon (mp3)

Under the red hot moon, take a bus downtown to the graveyard shift tonight

This band meant so much to me when I was in high school. I loved that they had the sort of territorial pride that was typically reserved for rap artists, referencing visuals of SF/Bay Area places I grew up around, like the Tenderloin District, Sharmon Palms, West Grand. By the time Indestructible was released in 2003, I was busy getting caught up in all the HotHotYeahYeahRapturePol hype. I didn’t even know Indestructible existed until last month, so really it’s been a gift.

The Bouncing Souls – Kate is Great (mp3)

Remember me now, cause things always change

I reviewed this song for a fanzine when I was 16, and declared it my favorite song. It’s about coming of age, and as I’ve grown older, my connection with it has only grown stronger.

Sunny Day Real Estate - 48 (mp3)

Show me a sight in the side of chance
Hold tomorrow, one foot in and one foot out
Are you strong enough? Are you strong enough?

I first got into SDRE when I was 13, entering an initial phase of self-discovery. “48” really spoke to this bottled-up, nervous teen energy that I was feeling. Jeremy Enigk was always so intense, but in this controlled fashion. Rarely did he scream. So when he launches into this full-on outburst, there's a real urgency behind it.

Taking Back Sunday – Up Against (Blackout) (mp3)

Face it, this is what we’re up, up against!
You’re waiting, and every minute is a minute away!

My favorite emo sing-along of 2006. For me, a well-written emo song is more satisfying (not saying it’s better music) than anything indie bands like The Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene could create. Emo is a style of music that just lends itself to being explosive, and if you allow yourself to get into it, you’re going to feel something.

Posted by Charles at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(AFI @ Berkeley Square in 1996; photo by Chris Bellew)

Growing up in the SF/Berkeley punk scene, I always heard about the mystique of ’77 and the year punk rock was born. I wasn’t around for the birth of punk, but I was around for the mid ‘90s punk revival. And as time has passed, I've grown to think of ’94 in the way I used to hear about ‘77. What I loved about punk rock was that every band played with a sense of purpose. Every show at Gilman Street/Berkeley Square - regardless of how good/sloppy the band was - was a satisfying experience. Cause it wasn't only about the music, it was just as much about the spirit...

So splash that hairspray onto your spikes, clip those safety pins to your bomber jackets, lace up those military boots, fix the broken needle to play those scratchy 7”s, play some hedgecore in the front yard, hop on that mini bike, stop by Streetlight to dig for out-of-print Lookout! releases, pick up the latest issue of Flipside, don’t forget to look up shows on The List, fill up some water bottles so we don’t dehydrate at Berkeley Square. And let’s travel back to Berkeley circa 1994 – 1995…

The Bands That Started It All

Operation Ivy – Vulnerability (mp3)
You know how some kids grow up playing baseball in their backyard, and they pretend to be Roger Clemens and Ken Griffey, Jr? For the past fifteen years, Berkeley kids forming punk bands in garages imagine they could be Jesse. Lint. Matt. Dave.

Screeching Weasel – Falling Apart (mp3)
Screeching Weasel are really from Chi-town. But their influence is threaded throughout East Bay pop-punk and has carried onto the emo bands of today. Before Screeching Weasel, punk songs were mostly limited to two topics: (1) politics; (2) angst. It took a fanzine writing kid to make it punk to sing about girl problems.

Essential SF/Berkeley Punk (’94 – ’95)

Rancid – Radio (mp3)
For me, this was the song. The song where music became more than just sound. One month after I first heard “Radio” in ‘94, I started digging for Op Ivy bootlegs. And the rest is history…

Jawbreaker – Want (mp3)
24 Hour Revenge Therapy pretty much ruled the Gilman Street scene in ’94 – I’ve already shared three tracks. “Want” is from Jawbreaker’s 1990 debut Unfun. Blake Schwarzenbach’s vocals sound so painful here – so painful it led to throat surgery two years later.

Swingin’ Utters – Storybook Disease (mp3)
When pop-punk, skate punk, even ska-punk were the sounds of the moment, Swingin’ Utters were a throwback with their working class ’77 style punk. The Streets of San Francisco is one of the best albums from this era.

AFI – I Wanna Get A Mohawk (But Mom Won’t Let Me Get One) (mp3)
AFI sounded like a mess when they first arrived in ’95. It was the presence of a 19 year old Davey Havok that kept them from being dismissed as another mindlessly thrashing hardcore band. “I Wanna Get A Mohawk” became a local anthem, pretty much telling the story of every suburban punk kid’s life.

The Mr. T Experience – Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba (mp3)
MTX took the Screeching Weasel pop-punk formula a step further, daring to be silly at a time when being punk and being silly were mutually exclusive.

J Church – Analysis, Yes, Very Nice (mp3)
J Church was the hardest working SF punk band of the ‘90s, pumping out 15 or so LPs and EPs, plus countless 7”s and compilation appearances. Their archives have aged surprisingly well, with their indie-tinged pop-punk style.

Face To Face – Disconnected (mp3)
Face To Face played this style of melodic alterna-punk that I’m surprised didn’t catch on with more bands. “Disconnected” was a crossover radio hit in ’95, driven by an anthemic, universal chorus: “You don’t know what you want/It may take you years to find out”

Merry Punk Rock X-Mas (Op Ivy Rarities)

Operation Ivy – Hedgecore (mp3)
Various live recordings of "Hedgecore" are floating around. This version is from the Seedy compilation and the best quality recording I've been able to dig up. Hedgecore was our local punk rock sport, involving intentionally jumping into/over bushes, sometimes with skateboards and bikes.

Downfall – North Berkeley (mp3)
Downfall was a short-lived ska-punk project formed by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman in between their Op Ivy and Rancid stints. Here’s their only official release, from the awesome Can of Pork compilation.

Posted by Charles at 05:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The way I view hip hop songs can generally be broken down into 3 simple equations:

1) hot beat + hot rhymes = hot track
2) hot beat + wack rhymes = hot track, but disposable
3) wack beat + hot/wack rhymes = generally unlistenable

My hip hop joint of the winter is The Game’s “Wouldn’t Get Far” (mp3 at A Different Kitchen). It’s “Dreams of Fuckin’ an R&B Bitch” circa 2006, name dropping rap video honeys with a cutting recklessness. The Kanye beat is hot, but it’s The Game’s punchlines that really sell this track. If this were Tony Yayo spitting his empty braggadocio, this track would be listenable but nothing special. So my point is: beats > rhymes, but rhymes still matter, and punchlines are still relevant in the state of hip hop 2006.

This edition of Rewind brings me back to Big L. Before getting cut down in ’99, I truly believe that L was the most legit contender out of a pack of challengers (Jadakiss, Prodigy, Raekwon, etc.) to the Holy Trinity. L flowed with the smoothness of Jay-Z, with rhymes laced with the punchlines and shock value of a young Redman.

L made his entry into the rap world in ’92, repping D.I.T.C. on two classic posse cuts: Showbiz & AG’s “Represent” and Lord Finesse’s “Yes You May” remix. Batting lead-off on “Represent”, L’s sheer enthusiasm on the mic placed him a cut above his counterparts with a similar metaphor style:

I flip fast on foes with fabulous fantastic flows
L is the rebel type, I'm rough as a metal pipe
Fuck a Benz, cause I could pull skins on a pedal-bike!

L’s first LP and his only properly recorded LP, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous, was released in ‘95 to little promotion and fanfare. By the time I went digging for it in ’98, it had already gone out of print. According to Wikipedia, Lifestylez is widely regarded as an “underrated hip hop classic”. I don't know about that. Lifestylez leads off with two classic joints, “Put It On” and “MVP”, but progressively gets dragged down by some throwaway beats from Buckwild and Lord Finesse. And Buck is one of my fave producers from the mid to late '90s, but clearly he was saving his Grade A material for the likes of Biggie ("I Got a Story To Tell") and AZ ("Ho Happy Jackie").

As much as D.I.T.C. has meant to the art of hip hop, the truth is they may have been L’s downfall. L seemed destined to rise into the world of above-ground rap, and always seemed contained by D.I.T.C.-style sparse, jazz-influenced beats. I’ll always wonder: What if Dre had recognized L as his first East Coast protege? What if The Neptunes or Timbaland had lended L a track that matched his fire on the mic?

Following a spat with Industry Rule #4080, L really started to emerge during a span in the late ‘90s, shining on a self-released 12” (“Ebonics"), numerous D.I.T.C. guest appearances, recurring freestyles on the Stretch & Bobbito Show. All set to blow, and according to Jay-Z, on the verge of a deal with Roc-A-Fella. We’ll never know what would’ve become of L, but we still have these gems he left us with…

From Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous:
Big L – Put It On (mp3)
Big L – MVP (mp3)

From The Big Picture:
Big L – Ebonics (mp3)
Big L – Flamboyant (mp3)

Posted by Charles at 10:18 AM | Permalink

(Jawbreaker at Gilman Street, sometime in the early '90s; photo from San Francisco Audio)

When did we start referring to old school rap as old school? I mean, back in the ‘80s, ABC rhyming/boom bap/high-top fades/four-finger rings were on some next shit. Surely, nobody was referring to any of it as “old school” back then. Reason I mention this is cause I’ve been listening to a lot of emo from the ‘90s lately (Jawbreaker, Sunny Day Real Estate, Texas is the Reason, etc.). Given the state of emo in 2006, is it fair to lump these earlier emo bands into the same category?

In its formative stage, if there was a general message to emo, it was to take punk rock and remove all the style/attitude/bullshit from the equation. The emo sound was emerging out of a punk revival movement, at a time when punk was becoming synonymous with juvenile/obnoxious (Green Day, Offspring, etc.). Is anyone still listening to Dookie or Smash these days? Jawbreaker’s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy never came close to that level of popularity, but it still holds up 12 years after its release.

I went through a brief phase around 8th – 9th grade (back in ’94 – ‘95) when I fell in love with this sound (though the term “emo” hadn’t really caught on yet). At the time, I was a kid torn with contradictions. Going to a magnet school, stuck in these shitty advanced classes; but going to all ages punk shows at Berkeley Square/Gilman Street, writing for punk zines (that’s like the mid ‘90s equiv. of blogging), not caring much for school-related activities. Torn somewhere between hating the system and learning to embrace responsibility. I loved punk rock but didn't really care for being a punk, and bands like Jawbreaker/SDRE/TITR/etc. gave me something I could identify with. Now, about 3 – 4 musical phases later in my life, at a time when I'm mostly disinterested in the latest in indie rock, I find myself coming back to emo. But the emo of the ‘90s, not the emo of 2006.

So, the question I have is: Is it time we can start classifying old school emo as its own sub-genre? I’m just gonna start referring to it as pre-emo.

From 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, my fave album of all time:

Jawbreaker – Boxcar (mp3)
It only takes the first line for Blake Schwarzenbach to form a mission statement and call out every overnight punk of the early ‘90s (you know the type): “You’re not punk and I’m telling everyone/Save your breath, I never was one”

Jawbreaker – Indictment (mp3)
Back in the pre-internet buzz era, it was crucial for bands to make it in their local scene before having a chance of breaking nationally. This was probably the closest thing Jawbreaker had to a hit single, making it to heavy rotation on SF/Bay Area college radio back in ‘94. I remember how genuinely stoked I was when Live 105 gave it a few spins.

Jawbreaker – Ache (mp3)
I don’t know if I really got this song when I first heard it as a 13 year old. Now, at age 25, after living in 4 different cities in 4 years, this captures exactly the way I feel lately: “These days, the people I love are spread so far apart..."

More essential pre-emo:
Sunny Day Real Estate – 48 (mp3)
Braid - Divers (mp3)
Cap’n Jazz – Oh Messy Life (mp3)
Christie Front Drive – Long Out (mp3)
Cursive – Sucker & Dry (mp3)
Texas is the Reason – Something To Forget (Version II) (mp3)

And I would consider the following to be essential pre-screamo:
AFI – God Called in Sick Today (mp3)
At The Drive-in – Initiation (mp3)

P.S. Thanks Wes for having me over as a guest blogger.

Posted by Charles at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)