Agony of Itchy Skin

I finally heard the new Wu-Tang album, 8 Diagrams, today while mr. cleaning the house. It is real dope. Psychedelic soul/funk influence all over the soundscape, especially the early heavy Funkadelic sound.  Clinton appears on “Wolves” rapping about wolves and coyotes out in the desert while RZA drops a spaghetti western horn & whistle (which strangely sounds like part of the X-Files whistle) for the last Clinton chorus. I have really only explored it sonically. Like I stated early, it is a heavy ass album with a lot of guitar and layering.

Jay Dee Welcome to Detroit, Pimp C’s solo album Sweet James Jones Stories, lots of UGK (R.I.P. Pimp C), Thes One’s Lifestyle Marketing, Geto Boys The Geto Boys were also enjoyed while cleaning. I have been missing Detroit and have been thinking about all the places I need to check out when I am next back whenever that may be.

I don’t think I could move back to flatland ever again. The mountains contain many secrets. The first of these is I am a fake mountain. But for real, the landscape here puts out a totally different vibe that allows for much more contemplation. Visually it is stunning, especially when the clouds and sunshine mix near the mountains. The fogs and mists can be amazingly creepy. It is so much more enjoyable to walk around than Kalamazoo and, sad to say, Detroit. Public art abounds and the possibilities for photography are endless. I am getting a camera for Christmas, so soon I should be having that shit up and learning how to do photo editing so I can experiment around with presenting visual reality.

Sweet James Jones Stories is a real solid solo effort by Pimp C. His use of the “Bustin Loose” riff was nice and there were several other direct interpretations of older material. I don’t remember anything particularly witty or ridiculous verbally, but I always listen to an album sonically first only taking into account the voice as an instrument. Pimp C is using his usual delivery throughout the album, but who is really going to be listening to this album unless they are already familiar and fans of Pimp C.

Thes One’s Lifestyle Marketing is mad dope. Please check it out. Plus the origins of the sample material and the concept of the album make the historian in me happy. The two part “Pan-Am” is an amazingly happy, romantic, energetic track.

All of this wonderful music was delivered by napster without requiring the possible hours of searching and/or waiting for the album from a blog or bit torrent site. It does not have everything, but it does have a lot and can cut down on buying or downloading songs and wasting hard drive space on albums that only have one or two tracks you really want while allowing access to the whole album for those special occasions.

There were other things I meant to talk about, but I have no desire to write about work right now. It is going well, although I have realized I really want to work with at-risk youth, so I am searching out information and contacts on that front. Have no need to bore you or myself with anything more than that.

I am glad I am not suffering from ice storms. The cold is just not as cold here. Icy zombies. Grabbing your neck from behind emerging from the dark while ahead you see the shadows of advancing zombies in the mist.

Mad Max was half man, half Mel Gibson in Braveheart.