As I write this I’m watching Independence Day on TBS and drinking a Guinness. If Bill Pullman’s speech doesn’t get you ready to kick some ass, I don’t know what would. (Maybe this.)
If you can watch Black Moses play Theme from Shaft and not have to dance, I pity you.
My first job was washing dishes at the K-State Student Union. When I got my first paycheck I cashed it then went directly to Streetside Records and purchased two CDs: Isaac Hayes Shaft and Curtis Mayfield Superfly. When I ran into two friends on the way down the street, they asked what I got, I showed them and said, “You can’t be a punk if you ain’t got not funk.”
I like old music. I like old punk, I like old rap, I like old funk, I like old soul, I like old metal, I like old reggae. I have original pressing Ramones albums, the favorite album I own in any format is probably my LP copy of Toots and The Maytals Funky Kingston. That record can put a smile on anyone’s face after the crappiest of days. Pretty much anything current I’m into sounds old (Camera Obscura, por ejemplo.) Anything with a Daptone label on it, especially Binky Griptite and the Melomatics and The Budos Band.
I like to buy music on vinyl, I like having a physical connection to the music. I’ve downloaded a few albums off of iTunes but what do you get? You don’t get an album cover, you don’t get liner notes, you don’t get pictures or little freebies included (like stickers, guitar picks, postcards, afro picks or decoder rings.) Why would anyone want just an MP3? MP3s aren’t art, you can’t hang them on your wall, you can’t smell them, you can’t feel them you can’t open them. I understand that the music is the most important thing, of course but that’s only part of the experience.
For those of you lucky enough to be in the MHK tomorrow, I’ll be at Maes starting around nine. Happy Fake Patrick’s Day to all of you.
I leave you tonight with the irrepressible Sharon Jones and the baddest band in the land, the Dap Kings. What if we all stopped paying taxes?
Bacon Is My Anti-Drug 