I'm not sure about you but this is a scary time right now.  My Facebook news feed is just constantly flooded with quotes, videos, blogs, images and who-ha from various political viewpoints and topics.  I understand that people like to share and people want to be heard.  But some of my 'friends list' have some very interesting ideas and viewpoints, many of which I'm not completely sure they fully understand what they are expressing or debating. 

Politics are a mess - period.  You can't talk about anything political without inducing arguments and fist fights.  One breath from an opposing party member is a hurricane.  People don't debate politics, they yell about it to a deaf ear.  The core issue lies in this: I believe that most people want exactly the same thing I want.  Happiness, financial stability, a place to call my own, and a safe living environment.  We often get tricked and mislead about things that don't effect this core idea. 

We must remember that politics are not a straight line, whenever we point a finger of blame at a person we are also pointing it at the complicated web of interactions and decisions that have lead up to the current situation.  No party is 'at fault' - the entire government is at fault.  We are at fault.    

That is a damn good question.  The Diva is an enigma - a specter of this material world.  The Diva is better than you, but he would never tell you and THAT makes him better then you.  The Diva can talk to you about any topic and you will be convinced that he is an expert, yet he has done no research prior to the conversation.  The Diva will beat you in Halo.  Period.  The Diva makes shit like this:

For fun. For kicks. In his spare time.
The Diva is a gentle giant, but he will not hesitate to go diva ape shit on your punk ass.  That one band? The Diva has heard them.  He knew about them back on their first limited edition debut pressing that was only available in Pahrump Nevada between 2001-2002.  The Diva is hardcore, but he will wear flip-flops to the Chain Reaction.  The Diva does not care about your team, but he will cheer and support the shit out of you.  The Diva does the Mashed Potato - No one else does the Mashed Potato.  The Diva is my friend, and I bet your ass he's your friend too.  I love The Diva.

Alright - I get it.  We live in Minnesota.  A nice day for us is one where we can feel our toes. But I'll never understand the Minnesotan obsession with the few days of warm weather we do get.  We complain all year about how cold it is - ITS MINNESOTA, Did you forget?!?!  Then, when it randomly SPIKES up into the 100's half the people complain about how hot it is.  The other half run, shoot, kill, sprint, break all traffic laws, ditch work, lie, cheat, fight and scream all the way to the lake.  Sure its nice to be outside - but people need to stop referring to it as 'the beach'.  Its not a beach - its a lake with some sand by it.  Life's A Beach coffee mugs showcase lakes in Minnesota.  Its not pretty, its not majestic, its not calming, its a hole with water in it.  Its Paul Bunyan's backyard swimming pool.  Most people just go to a city lake anyways - big whoop.  You can spend all day lying on dirt with your BFF's facebooking about how great the lake is and look at the TARGET that they are building across the way.  WTF.  We Minnesotans have the ADVANTAGE of having a small summer - less chance for Melanoma and other skin related nastiness.  So next time you think about hitting up 'The Beach'!!! OMFGHFATI!!!!!!! Don't. 

I asked my good friend Egypto Knuckles of the Background Noise Crew to make a playlist with Local artists that are awesome, this is what he came up with:

Tracklist:
1. Good Luck Charm - Red Pens
2. Alright - Traditional Methods
3. Death Ballad - Aby Wolf
4. Insistor - Tapes 'N' Tapes
5. Candy Cigarettes (feat. channy mo) - Black Blondie
6. Waitress in the sky - The Replacements
7. The Wind - Slug
8. Embrace - Low
9. Painkillers - Big Quarters
10. Meters - Heiruspecs

Last Thursday night, the wonderful loving finance and I went to a Midnight showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  I was excited!  Really excited actually - so excited I brought it up during the Podcast and Jayson made fun of me.
The first Pirates movie I saw somewhat on accident.  I had gone to the theater planning to see something else that had just came out - but hadn't planned enough in advance because that movie was sold out.  I can't even remember what it was, regardless, Pirates took its place! Jack Sparrow quickly became a staple in my circle of friends.  Rum party's were thrown, pirate theme party's, everyone quoting lines and such. I was hooked - fast forward to Pirates 2.  Now the franchise has become a little self aware.  The producers and writers started thinking, now what can we get away with.  What sort of crazyness can we introduce, webs can we form, holes can we make?  Pirates 2 was fun, it didn't have the charm of the original but the new characters were super interesting and it was a lot of fun.
Then came Pirates 3 - this is a total disaster.  There are about 30 ideas happening all at once and this movie really takes a turn for the absurd with the last 40 minutes.  Knowing that a real battle of ships at sea could quickly turn into a boring sequence of events - they summoned up a giant whirlpool that surprisingly allowed the ships to still move quite well whist turning the tension up a notch.  If that wasn't enough, Orlando Bloom and Kira Knightly decide MID BATTLE that they need be hitched and Geffory Rush is MORE than happy to do it whist calmly killing everyone around him.  I know its a fantasy movie about Pirates and Curses but GIVE ME A BREAK.
I will allow such shinanigans - however Pirates 4 didn't do much for me.  It almost felt like a filler movie.  Oh sure there are a few swashbuckling moments, Jack is his Jack self, but none of the other characters took on much depth for me.  I was excited for Jack to meet up with a new bunch of lowlifes and swap stores, but most of their stories got tossed out and replaced with 40 minutes of un-needed action and comic relief.  Honestly the first 30 or so minutes of the move weren't needed at all - could have easily been summed up in a quick chat between a few characters with minimal loss.  And Blackbeard was pretty cool - but he didn't get much depth either...  blah... that's what I get for expecting Jerry Bruckheimer to put a little something extra in the mix that isn't already blowing up.    

What up what up what up!?!??!  Its late - I'm down in the basement.  All the machinery is whizzing away.  The washer is washing, the cooler is cooling, the dehumidifier is de-humidifying... Its quite loud.  Not as loud as The Kills were on Cinco De Mayo though!!!  2nd time me and The Wonderful Loving Fiancee caught The Kills at 1st Ave in downtown Minneapolis.  They put on a SHWEEET show for a two man get-up.  Or I should say one man and one lady get-up.  I'm not sure what is so appealing about a female lead - I was obsessed with No Doubt growing up and now many of my newest favorites revolve around female leads...  Anything Jenny Lewis touches, The Dead Weather (Alison Mosshart overload?!) Metric, Portishead, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's...   Men - you need to step your game up.  With that here are some snapshots from Thursday night:

Speaking about No Doubt get me all nostalgic.  I remember going down to Warehouse Music, 6 or 7 blocks down my street and picking up Tragic Kingdom  with Dane and Ben.  That album is a BEAST.  Seriously, go back an listen to that thing right now.  The horns, the funk, Gwen, its almost too much.  Tony Kanal's bass playing was something I'll never forget.  His bass jumps out of that record.  He's always moving and slightly changing his lines, its very 'Flea'.  Its the little changes that make the lines so great, an extra note here, dropping a note on that verse, a moving pattern before the hook drops.  Little moments in the music that make that one 4 second segment a little more special than the 2 minutes before it and the 2 minutes after it. 

ToneKrusher Smith occasionally does another podcast called "GrownMan Business" - He forwarded me an episode that I was apart of awhile ago so now I'm sharing it with y'all!  Its childishly funny.

Damn - Its been a few since I've updated because I've been trying to get other parts of the Page up and running!!!  But things are smooth now - SO - lets get into this.

First off - One of The Wonderful Loving Fiancee's besties was in town over the weekend and her brother came with her.  He and I share a love of music and we were often found in the studio just messing with sounds and such.  I played him some old beats and he fell in love with this one.

This little diddy is from a project that I put together within the first year of my move to the Twin Cities.  It was called "The Mixed-Up Tape".  It was a crazy album idea that I had and this beat was rapped over by a few MC's.  The most popular of the tracks was Trama's.  We actually got a mention for it here: City Pages Minnesota Mix-Tape 2007. 

A few Saturdays ago I went to Macalester College and Judged their Battle of the Bands!!!  It was an epic brawl, guitars were smashed, vocal chords were strained, and someone covered The Smiths.  It was a damn good time and I thank the fellas at The Hip-Hop Providers for the judging option! Here is how the competition shook out:

1st Round:
Broken Gnome took the stage first - a subtle 4 piece buried deep down somewhere south.  They had a smooth take off - little blues, little R & B, threw in some harmonies and few guitar solos; jammin'.  Looking back I really enjoyed the vibe - the rest of the line up had some similar sounds, these guys stood alone.
Froot Flies were due up next - but they decided they were too punk rock for the battle and didn't show.
The A.J. Experiencewas up next.  The only thing these dudes were missing was some back-to-back guitar tapping action.  They attempted a layered sound of multiple rhythms and progressions all climaxing to nothing.  I was let down when they finally reached their goal - but the journey was nice.
Next up, Mother Faulkners. These guys were a silly bunch.  Right out the gate they dropped an awesome Smith's cover. (Big ups to AP!!!! Dub C!!!)  Their original song was not up to The Smith's standard but I didn't matter - that cover sealed it for me.
Replicas filled the stage next. A whopping 6 piece made this band the largest of the night.  Horns, Keys, Drums, 2 singers, 2 guitars, Synth, they were a busy bunch.  My favorite group of the night by far - their 2nd song had this very distinct 'haunting' quality about it.  I would love to hear a recorded version, matter-of-fact if anyone in that band is reading this - hit me up, I'll record it.
Lastly, Radiator Grrrls ended the first round.  The smallest band - a mere 3 piece - was in fact the most tight knit.  They were an all around judge favorite and had a very interesting 'surf' sound.  Beach Boys whhhhaaa?!

The judges all deliberated - punches were thrown - bottles were broken - Randy Jackson gave us words of wisdom, finally we re-entered the area armed with our choices for the final round: Radiator Grrrls, Replicas and Mother Faulkners.

The second round wasn't decided by us - it was up to the people.  Mother Faulkners let me down big time, saddly I wish I could take my vote back but C'est la vie.  Replicas came out with a ballad, a very surprising song choice for a closer.  I was quite happy with their performance.  But the night was owned by Radiator Grrrls - they came out with a hot burner.  Had they played this 2nd Jam in the 1st round.  I would have just thrown the towel in.  The people spoke and they said: Radiator Grrrls.

Lastly:

Holy Moly Ole!  Status Reign had officaly dropped is solo debut "Brutally Honest"  In support of it he is going on tour with Analyrical!!

I'm sure there will be plenty of stories to tell and fun times to be had.  Meanwhile, I'm just hanging out in the basement.  I'm debating on doing an entire album in a blues/rock feel - maybe it will come out next Neveruary. 
I've been watching Daria on Hulu.  I forgot how hilarious that show was!!  Everyone knew someone like Trent in High School.  Sootable Roots (my high school band) recorded our first album with a guy that is an EXACT copy of Trent (Jane's older brother from the show).  His name was Fletcher - I used to be friends with him on Facebook... I wonder what he is up to now?  Last I knew he was making tunes with my buddy Danny.  Danny has a band now - he lives in LA - His band is called The LA Font - his music is superdopefreshawesome.  Their album is available HERE.

And on THAT note...  LOOK AT PHAUST!!!!

4.1.11

Sinthesis - Phaust and Phingaz.  We have been at it for 6 years now.
Product.
Pree Cognition.
Movement 4:6.
And now: Killing Time.

This is a fun disk - we keep it quick and to the point - got some time to kill?  Come kill it with us!!

Download it HERE Starting 4.1.11!!!

That's right. There is nothing gross or misleading about that title.  Y'all are crazy!  Anyways...

Last year some good albums came out - A lot didn't. (AHEM Andre 3000 please stand up.....)  REGARDLESS - Two of my favorite albums of last year were:

Brothers - The Black Keys
It has been a long journey for the Black Keys.  I myself somehow missed them for most of it.  Luckily Phaust from Sinthesis made me pay attention.  I became hooked - every part of them.  I'd always been a fan of Jack White and The White Stripes.  But these guys were doing a 'bluesier' version of the two man (or in the Stripes case a Man and Lady) blues group.  Different styles would occasionally show up in some jams - but they always had that backbone blues down firm.  Then Brothers came along.  This is a whole-nother-best.  There is a TON of funk and soul dripping from this disk.  I played it all year - much to my Wonderful Loving Girlfriends dismay.  Luckily she caught the bug a few months later and now we be ROAD TRIPPIN to catch them in WI.

Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty - Big Boi
Give it UP for bad ass album names.  Big Boi is a BEAST.  This disk got me back into hip-hop.  I was worried because the last Outkast disk was a little off and then Speakerboxx/Love Below was just really one good disk and one bad disk. (I'll let you decide - Wink Wink)  But this album is bangin.  I love the ever changing beats.  Different styles: sample bassed - new age funk - soul - hip-hop its ALL here.  This disk will easily hold me over till the next Outkast album - or Andre.......   COME ON!!!

With that said - I was wandering around a bit on Bandcamp.  Setting up the Sinthesis page - SHAMELESS PLUG!!!  Killing Time by Sinthesis drops 4/1/11!!  MARK YOUR CALENDERS!!  Regardless I found this:

Thats right....  A MASH UP OF BOTH!!  Click on the picture to go to their Bandcamp and SNAG IT!


p.s. You can click the Killing Time up above for the Sinthesis EP too!!!