What-What

Waking Up With: The Legendary K.O.

defselektor — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:08:32 +0000

This one’s not hard to trace. I went to karaoke last night (it was crazy expensive – $9 beers anyone?) and attempted to sing Kanye West’s “Gold Digger“. Although I thought I knew the lyrics, the delivery is actually really hard. Say what you will about Kanye, but his style is hard to emulate. Also, it was pouring rain, so it made me think of flooding, and then probably the disaster that was New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. In the wake of that tragedy, during a benefit fundraiser, Kanye, in one of his first outbursts, said on live television: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Hence, the inspiration for this amazing song.

(Editor’s note: I’m not sure if this is the original video, but it’s the only one I could find.)

Waking Up With: Mayer Hawthorne

defselektor — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:08:09 +0000

A local hero who has been blowing up the LAirwaves. Great stuff, buy the album.

Here’s a video for the lead single, Maybe So, Maybe No. It features a bunch of iconic LA spots, from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica skate park to Crane’s Tavern in Hollywood.

Waking Up With: Jay Electronica

defselektor — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:37:12 +0000

The newest frontier of wordplay. I can’t quite figure out which beat (got it – Exhibit C – thank you KCRW playlists!) was on repeat upstairs when the alarm went off, but that might have to do with the fact that I was having a dream about zombies (I totally hit snooze and jumped back into the fray). So I’ll post two videos. The first is a teaser for his first big single, titled Exhibit A:

Listen to the full song here.

The second track, called Dimethyltryptamine, is a heavy hitter, politically and visually. Be warned there is some disturbing imagery.

Waking Up With: Morcheeba

defselektor — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:47:39 +0000

Hmm, for some reason the song playing on repeat in my head this a.m., called “Slow Down” by the lounge-hop group Morcheeba, seems to be sending me the wrong message. 2010 is the year I want to kick ass, and that’s making me think it’ll go fast. But it’s a good message any other day I guess.

Sunset: January 1, 2010

defselektor — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:29:28 +0000

Sunset: December 31, 2009

defselektor — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:21:06 +0000

Videogum: The Best Viral Videos of 2009

defselektor — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:30:52 +0000

And pretty nicely edited, as well. See the original post here for links to all the original videos. Favorites?

Waking Up With – K’Naan

defselektor — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:37:13 +0000

Bizarre dreams last night. Unfinished business or something.

I keep coming back to K’Naan’s second album, Troubadour, as a place to remember why music is made in the first place – to tell stories. The song “Fatima” was playing on repeat in my head when the alarm/call from the photo lab/text from my sister all went off at the same time. There’s no video, but here is a decent version of the track.

Also, if you have 45 minutes to kill, watch this fascinating and moving in-studio performance/interview on KCRW:

Just Say No

defselektor — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:31:12 +0000

From an interesting interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic:

Jonathan Safran Foer: The question is, if we don’t say no to this, what do we say no to? If we don’t say no to something that systematically abuses 50 billion animals, if we don’t say no to the number-one cause of global causing, and not by a little bit, but by a lot, if we don’t say no to what the UN has said is one of the top two or three causes of every significant environmental problem in the world, locally and globally, if we don’t say no to something that is clearly – not clear to me, but clear to the World Health Organization – a prime factor in the generation of Avian and Swine flus, if we don’t say no to something that’s making our antibiotics less effective and ineffective, if we don’t say no to something that causes 76 million of food-borne illness every year, just what do we say no to? This is not a case where we need to go to war with another country or spend a trillion dollars or elect a new government. We just need to say no to it.

Waking Up With: Tom Petty

defselektor — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:00:24 +0000

Heard this song on the radio the other day, and it brought me back to growing up listening to “Full Moon Fever” on repeat for hours on end. I even busted out a lyric from “Zombie Zoo” at a dinner party the other night, to completely blank stares. Guess that one only made an impression on me.

Anyway, this tune is off of Petty’s “Wildflowers” album, which is excellent and stands the test of time. I unfortunately couldn’t find a video embed with the uncensored lyrics, so at the part where he sings, “Let’s get to the point/let’s roll another note” – well, I think we all know what he’d really be rolling.