Not strictly a funk band, but their funky so I guess that makes them a funk band. Genres are so limiting. In any case, check out Hot Chocolates’ Emma. Hot Chocolate is known for their huge hit You Sexy Thing and were Princess Di’s favorite band. I’m surprised she wasn’t into Prince Charles and the City Beat Band. Well, not that surprised…
This is just a great clip, the Rolling Stones at one of their crests. It’s good to see Brian Jones not looking dead and actually kind of hot, in a heterosexual appreciative way of course. As Dr. Colbert says, “Men know what men like.”
Prince Charles was an East Coast funk musician who took funk to a new level, utilizing structures that rap would be quick to adopt. I like his outfit and the lovely Princess Di who makes a cameo. This is his big single:
One of my favorite Bowie performances. Someone had been watching the Hey Jude video.
Thematically, the song has been seen as reflecting the influence of occultist Aleister Crowley and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and heralding “the impending obsolescence of the human race in favor of an alliance between arriving aliens and the youth of the present society”. (via Wikipedia.)
Listen to that bass!
You see Bootsy is one of the most naturally funky people in the world. He could pick up a stick and hit it on the ground and it’s gonna be funky. - Fred Wesley (James Brown Band)
Edit: I originally posted a link to another video which is also interesting, so take your pick.
Queen as Marxist-Leninists
One Vision:
One flesh one bone,
One true religion,
One voice one hope,
One real decision,
Wowowowo gimme one vision
This is probably why Laibach does a cover of the song on Opus Dei.
Global Destruction Goes Green
Posted at 12:38 PM
Been longing for that Cold War of ours to heat up? Not content to just play World in Conflict? Then boy, do I and scotsman.com have good news for you!
RUSSIA has tested the world’s most powerful “vacuum bomb”, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, the military said, dubbing it the “father of all bombs”.
And yes, that is a direct diss to America’s own Mother Of All Bombs. Probably also a diss to us that they tested the bomb on Sept. 11, but let’s not get into that right now.
“Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon,” Alexander Rukshin, Russia’s deputy armed forces chief of staff, told Russia’s state ORT First Channel television.
The channel showed a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber dropping the bomb over a testing ground. A large explosion followed. Pictures showed what looked like a flattened multi-storey block of flats surrounded by scorched soil and boulders.
OK, that’s horrible. Yet another weapon of mass destruction. But here’s the good part!
Known as a vacuum bomb, it uses a fuel-air explosive and can create overpressures equal to an atomic bomb, said Alexander Rukshin, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
“It is environmentally friendly, compared to a nuclear bomb, and it will enable us to ensure national security and at the same time stand up to international terrorism in any part of the globe and in any situation,” he said.
That’s right folks. We Got us a Green Bomb. All the death and catastrophe of a nuclear device, with none of the radiation! So maybe after we all kill ourselves in WW III, there will be more than just cockroaches left over to inherit the earth.
But according to the Father’s Wikipedia entry, the bomb may not be the best bang for Russia’s buck:
Although its effect has been compared to that of a nuclear weapon, it amounts to only about 0.3% (three-tenths of a percent) of the power of the atomic bomb used against Hiroshima: the equivalent of around 44 tons of TNT, whereas the Hiroshima blast was equivalent to 13,000 tons of TNT while Tsar Bomba, the most powerful explosive device deployed was equivalent to 50,000,000 tons of TNT. The M-388 Davy Crockett, one of the smallest nuclear devices ever deployed, has a selectable lower yield equivalent to 20 tons of TNT, though that energy is released mostly as radiation rather than a blast wave.
So wait. The Vacuum Bomb…. sucks?
Meg White Suffering From Anxiety
The White Stripes announced today that they are canceling their forthcoming tour due to health issues. Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time. The White Stripes sincerely apologize to their fans. ‘We hate to let people down and are very sorry.’
Get well soon Meg, you’re an American treasure.
Videoglam? Glam-de-lam? Glam Glam Glammy Glams? Shoot the Glams? As an english major you’d think I’d be better at coming up with titles, but I do not have a catchy name for this feature. Much like “Bring the Funk” I’ll be serving up youtube performances, but this time of Glam Rock stars. I hope you enjoy this…
Anti-Piracy PSA
This is hilarious. (Via John Gruber.)
America’s Mayor Goes to America
The New York Times:
The argument over terrorism, however, seems to be moving in precisely the opposite direction. In the months and years immediately following Sept. 11, there was very little open dissent in Washington over the conceit of the war or its importance; politicians of both parties spent most of their time trying to sound tougher on terrorists than the next guy. But now, six years after the attacks, a philosophical divide between the two parties is rapidly widening.
Al Jazerra posted an interesting recap of all the politics associated with the militia groups and security forces in Iraq. The videos are particularly interesting, so check out the one below and then go to the link for the rest. (Yes, it’s Al Jazeera, but you’re smart enough to cut out the fat, right?)
Chapelle’s Show aside, Rick James was one of the coolest guys around. Check out this video and try to tell yourself Keith Richards is the greatest rock-star of all time. Just remember what Zosima said in the Brothers Karamazov: “Lying to oneself causes loss of respect for oneself, which leads to coarse passions. Lying to oneself makes you easily offended, even to the point of taking pleasure at the offense.”
Colorado Police Link Rise in Violence to Music
In my opinion the title should be “Colorado Police Claim Rise in Violence Linked to Music”, but the article is still intriguing. From my experiences with Colorado it’s an interesting mix of suburbanites, college students and mountain men (not a Brokeback Mountain reference), but that could just be Boulder. Apparently there’s also a growing Latino population which you wouldn’t expect when you think of Colorado. The Police should look to the sheer increase in population as the reason for the rise in the number of murders (also interesting is that they’re not looking at murder rates, but the total number of murders). But, to claim an increase in crime is a side-effect of growth doesn’t sit as well with the public as a simple scapegoat like Hip-hop. B. Serious pretty much summed up my opinion on the matter:
“When two cowboys got into an argument at a saloon, went outside and had a draw, nobody blamed the music that was playing at the saloon,” said a local rapper known as B. Serious, who performed at the event.
EDIT: Check out the MySpace page of B. Serious.
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