Posts Tagged ‘soul’

#17, or how i got over my first bad review

Friday, March 11th, 2011

today started out alright. i slept in, woke up to a high rating from my imaginary students on the espnu facebook game ‘college town,’ or whatever it’s called, and i even had a clean bag of clothes waiting for me from a drunk laundromat wednesday. things were going pretty, pretty good. and then i saw that a collection of stories, mine included, had been reviewed by a local publication. well, cool, some press for that, that’s nice, i thought. and then i read the review.

succumbs to melodrama?! doesn’t live up to its title?! i’ve been working on that bastard of a story off and on for at least five years, and it gets dismissed in one line as a rough spot in the book? fuck. a lot of things have crossed my mind since i read that review five or ten times. a lot of cruel puns on the guy’s name. a lot of even crueler things that should happen to his family while he watches. i’ve imagined about thirty different conversations between myself and this so called ‘writer,’ all of them ending either with him in tears because of my earth-shatteringly brutal wit or with most of his teeth imbedded in my fist. i even looked up his blog and copy edited five or six different posts. and not to be too mean, but i was a little pleased with myself for finding a mistake related to grammar or punctuation in every other sentence. i mean, seriously dude? you’re an editor by trade. learn how to use parentheses.

of course, eventually the rage subsided. i realized that, well, hell, i never capitalize anything when i post on this blog, and even if i do know how to use a fucking comma correctly, the story in that book isn’t exactly my best work. not that i’m making excuses. i still love that story like a child and will go to war for it. but i will survive. this fact came to me like a bolt of lightening, and it was all because of this song. yes, one song, which is your mix until we here at mixcure come up with your next one. when an old friend posted it on my facebook wall (yes, i’m addicted to that website (and this is how you use these, dick)) it was love at first sight. or rather, at first listen. like another friend of mine (i bet i have more friends than that dude, too) says, if it works once, then use it twenty-five times. so if you’re having a shitty day, then put this on repeat until you start to feel better. it helps if it’s an angry sort of day, because this is one of those super catchy angry songs that turns all your rage into dancing. so fuck a bad day. fuck that shitty review. fuck it, let’s dance.

fitz-and-the-tantrums- moneygrabber

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14. Ritz Cracker Salad

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

14. Ritz Cracker Salad

Some of my friends are trying to get into jazz, so instead of giving them music I’m putting my recommendations into Mix Cure’s fourteenth mix, Ritz Cracker Salad. That’s right.

Most of these tracks have this really good jam quality to them. It’s easy to see how Blue Note gave a lot of early hip-hop easy access to breakbeats and really amazing samples. Because they are so good is why. And yes, I know it’s not autumn.

This is an unabashed tribute to Gene Harris, Andrew Simpkins, Bill Dowdy, Lee Hazelwood, and Ronnie Foster, who made the best possible sounds.

14. Ritz Cracker Salad

  1. The Three Sounds – Soul Symphony
  2. Gene Harris & The Three Sounds – The Look of Slim
  3. Ronnie Foster – Mystic Brew
  4. Lee Hazelwood – My Autumn’s Done Come
  5. The Three Sounds – Popsicle Pimp
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Mix #6: Bad Traffic, Slow Jams

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Walking up a hill in the snow. Streets blocked, even to through-traffic. More than an hour for the bus to see Sondre Lerche 1.4 miles away. JBM was great. Came home, left, had some drinks. Passed out guy on a couch. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. I’m going to think about video games, but I’m not going to play them. Slow jam time.

Mix #6: Bad Traffic, Slow Jams

  1. Frames – Coin Stomp Intro
  2. Dâm-Funk – Mirrors
  3. Mudboy – Excerpt from Side B of “Summer of Saucers”
  4. Parliament – Common-Law Wife
  5. Paul McCartney & Wings – Arrow Through Me
  6. Donald Byrd – Feel Like Loving You Today
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