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Da Maestro is back in da house...
Jun. 23rd, 2013 06:28 pmHere's a name I never expected to hear again in any way other than in retrospect: Maestro Fresh Wes. But after 13 years without a major full length album of his own material (and 25 years since he broke onto the hip hop scene with his still relevant and enjoyable "Let Your Backbone Slide" off the album "Symphony In Effect"), he's back and he's breaking more ground and doing some truly amazing stuff! Teaming up with the likes of Measha Brueggergosman, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Classified, k-os, Lights, Brand Nubian's Sadat X, Kardinal Offishall, The Trews, Kool G Rap, Divine Brown, Saukrates, Sam Roberts, and Rich Kidd he's put together another album that will be remembered for a long time to come.
In case you don't remember it (almost impossible, imho, if you've ever heard it) or weren't around at the time (or listening to anywhere that might play something like this)... shot, of course, in Toronto.. a fine bit of intelligent rap and those infamous (and much loved by my women friends) fringe dresses:
... and, if I'm not mistaken, the background art was done by none other than Kurt Swinghammer who also did the artwork and costumes for The Shuffle Demons amongst other Toronto-based groups (and who also did one of my favourite albums as well: Vostok 6 (he's put the album up on bandcamp, so you can listen if you would like!)... a stalkeresque Burt Bacharach influenced tribute to the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova (a link to a documentary I didn't know existed until now... p.s. the engineering fault was the actual reason for the problem she had with the capsule, it was finally admitted on the death of the engineer responsible... and holy crap, she's volunteering for the one-way trip to Mars as well) ... oh, and I just saw that Swinghammer has released another concept album: this time on Canadian painter Tom Thomson ... but this is all another story in and of itself, heh).
Back to the Maestro... I heard just a small clip of his stuff on a CBC interview and it was unlike anything I'd heard before. The full video is below. Listening to it in full, it does try a bit hard and is somewhat repetitive (mostly because the underlying riffs are so strong), but there is enough going on that I still think the innovation it represents makes up for its shortcomings!
But it's the rest of the album that really surprised me. A few even took my breath away, which is pretty rare for hip hop (but not unheard of). You can listen to the tracks off the album here: Maestro Fresh Wes on CBC Music. In particular, the track "Black Trudeau (Rap Prime Minister)" (yes, wtf, but...) blew my mind! A direct play link provided in the track title. Damn... seriously epic!!! Wow :). This is going to be the first hip hop album I've ever gone out to buy when it's released. Strange days we live in...
p.s. Here's an insightful little bonus clip... Maestro Ft. Kardinal Offishall – “Dearly Departed” (Behind the Scenes)
Still in the hip hop/rap genre... but not about the music, but rather the lyrics... or rather the interpretation of those lyrics... in real time at concerts... for the deaf. An article (and very short video clip) worth having a look at:
How Do You Say Motherfucker in Sign Language? The unique profession of Holly Maniatty...
And on a somewhat less enlightened note... apparently the Science Fiction Writer's Association (SFWA) is being called out (and losing members) for a string of highly sexist and escalating articles in their official newsletter (although it is apparently part of a larger problem based on many of the commentaries I've read by women members and former members of SFWA). An open letter of goodbye by e. catherine tobler captures the situation very well:'
Dear SFWA
Here is also a great article on the notion of "gaslighting" that was pointed to in a comment... I have seen this done so many times and it's insidious and almost always cripping to those affected. After reading it, you need to ask: has it been done to you? Have you seen it done to others? Do you do it yourself? (I don't need to know your answers if you don't feel like sharing, I just need to ask the questions).
A Message To Women From A Man: You Are Not “Crazy”
Edit: What? Dwarf Fortress? Why have I not heard of this thing before? I was searching for an amusing and sarcastic link to send a friend about her poor beleaguered toe when one of the links in the search was "40d:Wrestling - Dwarf Fortress Wiki". As is often the case, I can't help clicking such links (and yes, I've ended up in many WTF parts of the Internet that way), and I found myself at a reasonably sizeable wiki about this game "Dwarf Fortress" which is available cross-platform on Windoze, GNU/Linux, and the Mac (and downloadable from the wiki's main page). I headed over to the article on Wikipedia and: In March 2013 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City began exhibiting Dwarf Fortress. It is one of around 40 games selected from the history of video gaming as "outstanding examples of interaction design". Whut? I must know more, and can't wait to try it out! P.S. I sent her a link to The Book of Five Rings and suggested she read it to learn how to do battle with her toe. Heh, I crack myself up (and if you can't laugh at your own twisted humour, you're doing it wrong).
In case you don't remember it (almost impossible, imho, if you've ever heard it) or weren't around at the time (or listening to anywhere that might play something like this)... shot, of course, in Toronto.. a fine bit of intelligent rap and those infamous (and much loved by my women friends) fringe dresses:
... and, if I'm not mistaken, the background art was done by none other than Kurt Swinghammer who also did the artwork and costumes for The Shuffle Demons amongst other Toronto-based groups (and who also did one of my favourite albums as well: Vostok 6 (he's put the album up on bandcamp, so you can listen if you would like!)... a stalkeresque Burt Bacharach influenced tribute to the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova (a link to a documentary I didn't know existed until now... p.s. the engineering fault was the actual reason for the problem she had with the capsule, it was finally admitted on the death of the engineer responsible... and holy crap, she's volunteering for the one-way trip to Mars as well) ... oh, and I just saw that Swinghammer has released another concept album: this time on Canadian painter Tom Thomson ... but this is all another story in and of itself, heh).
Back to the Maestro... I heard just a small clip of his stuff on a CBC interview and it was unlike anything I'd heard before. The full video is below. Listening to it in full, it does try a bit hard and is somewhat repetitive (mostly because the underlying riffs are so strong), but there is enough going on that I still think the innovation it represents makes up for its shortcomings!
But it's the rest of the album that really surprised me. A few even took my breath away, which is pretty rare for hip hop (but not unheard of). You can listen to the tracks off the album here: Maestro Fresh Wes on CBC Music. In particular, the track "Black Trudeau (Rap Prime Minister)" (yes, wtf, but...) blew my mind! A direct play link provided in the track title. Damn... seriously epic!!! Wow :). This is going to be the first hip hop album I've ever gone out to buy when it's released. Strange days we live in...
p.s. Here's an insightful little bonus clip... Maestro Ft. Kardinal Offishall – “Dearly Departed” (Behind the Scenes)
Still in the hip hop/rap genre... but not about the music, but rather the lyrics... or rather the interpretation of those lyrics... in real time at concerts... for the deaf. An article (and very short video clip) worth having a look at:
How Do You Say Motherfucker in Sign Language? The unique profession of Holly Maniatty...
And on a somewhat less enlightened note... apparently the Science Fiction Writer's Association (SFWA) is being called out (and losing members) for a string of highly sexist and escalating articles in their official newsletter (although it is apparently part of a larger problem based on many of the commentaries I've read by women members and former members of SFWA). An open letter of goodbye by e. catherine tobler captures the situation very well:'
Dear SFWA
Here is also a great article on the notion of "gaslighting" that was pointed to in a comment... I have seen this done so many times and it's insidious and almost always cripping to those affected. After reading it, you need to ask: has it been done to you? Have you seen it done to others? Do you do it yourself? (I don't need to know your answers if you don't feel like sharing, I just need to ask the questions).
A Message To Women From A Man: You Are Not “Crazy”
Edit: What? Dwarf Fortress? Why have I not heard of this thing before? I was searching for an amusing and sarcastic link to send a friend about her poor beleaguered toe when one of the links in the search was "40d:Wrestling - Dwarf Fortress Wiki". As is often the case, I can't help clicking such links (and yes, I've ended up in many WTF parts of the Internet that way), and I found myself at a reasonably sizeable wiki about this game "Dwarf Fortress" which is available cross-platform on Windoze, GNU/Linux, and the Mac (and downloadable from the wiki's main page). I headed over to the article on Wikipedia and: In March 2013 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City began exhibiting Dwarf Fortress. It is one of around 40 games selected from the history of video gaming as "outstanding examples of interaction design". Whut? I must know more, and can't wait to try it out! P.S. I sent her a link to The Book of Five Rings and suggested she read it to learn how to do battle with her toe. Heh, I crack myself up (and if you can't laugh at your own twisted humour, you're doing it wrong).
