Black Friggin Sabbath

In the name of all that is awesome and metal.

Now That's a Band Photo

Anybody know who these guys are? I need to let them know I'm their #1 fan. Seriously. I can't tell if that's a young Rick James in the back or if it's someone else, I'm stumped.

Mudfoot - 35 minutes of madness (ragga jungle mix)

Here's the latest ragga jungle mix from the dub shack, aka the man-den, aka the dub garage, aka the lab, etc. Plenty of classic tracks packed into 35 minutes - Hype, SS, Remarc, Bizzy B, Daz, Kenny Ken, Pascal, and more. Jungle FTW!

Mudfoot 1998 Jump-Up Jungle Mix MP3

Here's another classic mix from back in the day... this is from when I was living in NYC and spinning lots of jumpup and hiphop flavored jungle/dnb. I think it's about 45 minutes long, with tracks from Joker, Splash, Congo Natty and more. Enjoy and keep the jungle alive!

Mudfoot - Return of the Dragon

Up Your Tailpipe

I take the LA freeways to work every day, and I don't get road rage. I used to, but I stopped because I felt that it was dangerous. Now I'm pretty mellow, I don't drive aggressively, I just get in a lane and stay there. But I do have a couple of rules. I don't let SUVs or Hooptie old cars merge in front of me, if I can avoid it. Yes, I see you signaling - and I appreciate it. Many people don't have the common courtesy. But as soon as you merge in front of me in your huge SUV, I can't see anything. Sell that P.O.S. and get a more fuel-efficient car if you don't like it. And for those of you driving a 1985 Toyota Tercel, 1975 Ford Maverick or some similar old jalopy you're planning on driving until the wheels fall off, I don't need to be breathing your exhaust. I read that a tiny percentage of cars like yours account for the vast majority of vehicle-related air pollution. My 2000 Mitsubishi is pretty clean, so I don't think I should have to suffer while you pollute the environment and waste gas. You can get behind me. Hybrids, on the other hand, can merge in front of me anytime. That's my rant - I'm done.

Joe the Plumber

What more can I say? McCain's campaign has entered the realm of the ridiculous. Apparently this guy Joe may not even be registered to vote - but one thing's for sure, he's in the same IQ bracket as Sarah Palin.

More Funny Election Comics Here (236.com)

Flying Stuffed Animal Causes Car Crash

Is that Odie from Garfield? I don't know but I like watching this over and over... and over.

DreamcastBoy? Portable... But Huge

I've been playing some old Nintendo games on my Dreamcast lately - courtesy of www.dcemulation.com - and I gotta tell you it rocks. It sure takes up a lot less space than all those old systems would. The Dreamcast has become very popular with the hack and homebrew crowd since it was discontinued, because it's a powerful system and apparently quite easy to work with. But this guy has taken it to a whole other level, creating a portable version that looks like a Stormtrooper mask. Never mind that the thing is the size of an adult human face, and that the CD spins exposed on the back of the unit (how do you put it down?). It's still nerd-fabulous. Check out the video for a little demo.

DreamTrooper (Gizmodo)

Mudfoot Original Jungle Mixtape MP3

Here's an MP3 of my first jungle/dnb mixtape, which I put out in San Francisco in 1997. Mixed live on two turntables with rare jungle 12"s including tracks from Congo Natty, True Playaz, Joker, Metalheadz, Beeswax, Pimp, Dope Dragon and many other great labels. It even starts out with a classic Lee "Scratch" Perry cut. Actually this is just the first side. Let me know what you think - if I get enough responses I'll post the second side as well.

Mudfoot Meets the Dragon - Side 1 MP3

Muff Wiggler's Man Cave

This is inspiring to me... I've been working on documenting my own man cave / music studio for a feature on this blog, but this electro-musician has a way cooler setup than me. The highlight is the huge modular analog synth, but I especially relate to the struggle of cramming a ton of music gear into a tiny space (basement?) and trying to arrange it in such a way that you can make music without constantly having to re-arrange and re-connect things. I've been dealing with the same stuff and it's a pain when you just want to make tunes. Plus, Muff Wiggler makes really cool tunes, so he deserves a good ergonomic setup. You gotta just love the vibe in there, check out the oscilloscope!

Muff Wiggler's Studio Tour (Neatorama)

Record Wave Makes Me Both Happy and Sad

This makes me happy because it's cool - I love vinyl records, and I also surf, so this is the kind of image I like to have in the memory banks. But it also makes me sad, because the fact that records have become a disposable commodity suitable as raw material for sculpture is depressing. The switch from analog to digital music stripped us consumers of our right to 'own' our music collections, made us criminals for sharing music with friends, and made our physical music media subject to "brick wall degradation" (that's when your CD goes from 100% fine to completely unlistenable with a single scratch, unlike records which can still be enjoyed at nearly 100% of their original quality despite years of abuse.

I doubt anyone will see this sculpture and cry for the music that was destroyed to make it, but I remember a time when I felt remorse for destroying old records. I was working at the public library in high school, and I was asked to take some boxes out to the dumpster. One box was full of old classical records that had been donated to the library, but not needed. Being a high school intern in a very low-stress job, I often found ways to make these dumpster trips as long as possible. On this occasion, I did it by climbing up on top of the dumpster and smashing each of the old, acetate records one by one. Afterwards I felt a pang of remorse - I imagined some old classical music lover weeping that a rare collection of records had been destroyed in such a fashion. I don't know if these records were really worth anything - they were 78rpm, outdated even in the 1980s, and this was before ebay. But I still regret it.

Now I see works like this and the record-mashing sculpture of Christian Marclay, and I appreciate and enjoy them. But it does make me a little sad that the rock records of my youth are going the way of the old Victrola. Luckily I know I can live out my life enjoying records, because if those classical 78s made it to the 1980s, my Foghat records still have plenty of life left in 'em.

Sound Wave - The Vinyl Strikes Back (Gizmodo)

The Return of the Banana Board

I couldn't resist this image of a 21st century skateboarder catching air on a 70s banana board - granted, those look like new-school wheels but still you have to give the guy serious style points. Nice muttonchops too, AND he wears his sunglasses at night.

Plastic Toys, Real Skateboarding (Skate and Annoy)

Dubstep Protest Song: "CCTV"

Add to the list of artists protesting the British big-brotherly CCTV program LV and Dandelion, a dubstep producer and reggae vocalist recording on Kode 9's Hyperdub Records. This is the duo's second release on the label, and it's even better than the first - a subsonic bounce through dubber's paradise with a not-so-paranoid message that resonates like rusty springs in a Roland Space Echo reverb unit. Currently in heavy heavy rotation on my turntable. A sampling of the lyrics:

So give a smile to the camera you see
You're on CCTV
They can see you, they can see me
So give a wave to the authority

Label head Kode 9 is one of the most prolific and innovative producers in the dubstep genre, which is known for its innovation, so I highly recommend checking out this release and anything else from the label or from Kode 9 himself. You can hear some of the track on the Hyperdub myspace page - the 12" and mp3 are available anywhere fine dubstep is sold.

LV feat. Dandelion: "CCTV" on the Hyperdub myspace page

Kode 9 on myspace

Concrete Backyard Jungle

Found this cool video of a little skatebowl in an Oakland backyard. Too bad they didn't include a drain. I'm looking for more videos and photos of backyard skate ramps - if you know of any, let me know.

The Skate Pond

Reggae Legend David Rodigan

Discovering David "Ram Jam" Rodigan was like a revelation for me - I had heard his voice in countless samples on jungle records, but I never imagined that voice belonged to a white guy. Turns out that "Father Rodigan" was a major force in the rise of reggae music in the UK, and is widely regarded as one of the best reggae DJs in the world. As a DJ for the BBC in the 70s, he traveled to Jamaica to cover the music scene and bring new sounds to the UK, including Bob Marley, Tenor Saw, and countless other greats. He was an ambassador for the music, and artists provided him with 'special' dubplates for his show that often included his name in the vocals. Over the years, he started DJing in soundclashes - a reggae concert where two sound system crews compete for the best audience response. With his arsenal of dubplates he conquered many sound systems, and his style of toasting over the records became legendary. Take a look at the video below to get a little taste - this guy is 100% the real deal, and still going strong.

David Rodigan (Wikipedia)

Rodigans Radio (Myspace)

No, Not THAT Maverick

This deliciously retro browser game from Armor Games comes pretty close to the experience of an original Atari 2600... it's wild - with its monochrome style (to paraphrase Guru from Gangstarr). I think there's fertile ground for game developers here, as they concoct vintage-style games using the language from modern games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto. In this game, you are a vintage-looking cowboy in a vintage looking CRT landscape, and you move around by using the recoil from your six-shooter - a mechanic known from the RPGs of FPSs (FTW!). Of course, using the power of your PC (infinitely more powerful than the puny game processors of the 70s and early 80s), the game throws curveballs galore with sideways and reverse gravity, save points, and other goodies. I haven't yet made it to the end to "get instructions from the talking pig" but I love the lo/hi quality setting, which enables slowly scrolling diagonal lines like you used to get on your Atari due to RF interference. Nice touch!

Play Maverick

Thanks, Indie Games

Popcorn - The Most Covered Song of All Time

While I was on my way to work this morning, I heard "Popcorn" on the radio - the bubbly Moog-infused instrumental that was a quirky hit back in the 70s. It reminded me of a site dedicated to the song, which is arguably the most covered song of all time. Maybe it's the perky moog melody, or the funky moog bassline, or maybe it's the super funky beat that kicks in once the song gets going... but something about popcorn makes you want to get your groove on. Interestingly enough, the song was written in the late 60s by a Jewish synth pioneer, Gershon Kingsley, who also released an album of modern Jewish music for the Moog called God Is a Moog. Kingsley was obviously the original nerd funkster - just check out this picture of him, compared with the picture below of Giorgio Moroder, the non-nerdy synth pioneer responsible for Donna Summer's "I Feel Love".

It's almost the same picture, but somehow Moroder looks like a porn star while Kingsley looks like the Dunkin Donuts guy! You can hear the Popcorn song in all its percolated glory at the official site below.

Popcorn Song

Happy 100th Birthday Philippes!

If you live in LA, or if you visit, you have to try Philippes - home of the French Dip. The restaurant is 100 years old this Monday, and if you haven't been you don't know what you're missing. They really did invent the French Dip, and their menu is largely unchanged in the last 100 years. There's sawdust on the floor, and hot mustard on the table. It's down in Chinatown - great place to grab lunch if you're on jury duty downtown. You can still get coffee for 9 cents, and enjoy a pickled egg and some pie with your French Dip. Trust me - you'll be glad you did.

Philippe's The Original

Dino Run - Flash Game

OK, this game is frickin awesome. It's been around a while but I finally played it enough to get into it. Serious Atari-style action - simple but perfectly tuned. The only problem is your finger gets sore from holding down the run key, but at least you don't have to tap it over and over. You're a dinosaur running away from the 'extinction event' or something - totally killer game. PixelJam is the developer, my hat is off to you guys.

Play Dino Run

Tumbledrop Game

This is a great new indie browser game, one of a new bumper crop of 'physics' games that involve a lot of things falling and er, tumbling. But unlike many of these new games, this one doesn't involve rag-doll humanoids getting thrown and crumpled - just cute little stars and shapes with faces... awwwwwww. Pretty addictive though! You'll probably need to install the Unity plugin, I'm not sure what that is but it was totally plug and play.

Play Tumbledrop

Update: ok, after playing through this entire game I've decided that it's way too easy. But I still love one thing about it - the way the star makes a terrified face right before it falls in the water. It's worth playing for that alone. Any thoughts about this game? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.