29
Should The Republican National Convention be Scheduled Near the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo?
Okay, it seems that Republican National Commite chairman, Michael Steele has to deal with accusations of sexual hi-jinks and melee at a popular bondage club in in West Hollywood. Trouble is that Michael Steele didn’t even get to enjoy any of it. It seems that Steele is involved with accusations of the RNC spending funds at popular Bondage club “Vouyer West Hollywood.” The RNC denies Steele attending but he still has to clean up the mess.
This story got me to thinking about conservatives pointing fingers at every source of moral decay in our society. But from what I’ve noticed, a lot of these fingers can be pointed at themselves and their actions that lead to tawdry scandals and pubic—I mean public embarrassment. I’m going to start with a few of my favorite stories in no particular order.
Mark Foley
Title: U.S. Rep.
Claim to Fame: Sending vulgar messages via texting, e-mail and IM to underage teenage boys in the Congressional program. Okay, I know you have to kiss ass as a politician, but I think the underage fellatio is optional.
Ted Haggard
Title: Leader of the National Association of Evangelicals
Claim to Fame: Having meth fueled sex with male prostitutes. He was quoted as saying “I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver.” Okay, he’s possibly telling the truth, I mean, a relationship includes dating. They we’re just fucking.
Larry Craig
Title: U.S. Senator
Claim to Fame: “Cruising” in an airport bathroom and soliciting sex from an undercover cop by tapping his foot on the adjacent stall as a signal for some “cumgressional rearings.” Oh come on! “cumgressional rearings!” That’s some clever word play.
Bob Allen
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
Claim to Fame: Offering $20 to allow him to fellate an undercover officer in a men’s room at a public park. What makes it even funnier was Allen’s explanation, he only offered to kiss the cop’s “nightstick” because he was a “burly black man” and Allan “didn’t want to become a statistic.” *blank stare*
But, I guess what I wonder is, what’s the point of this overly sterilized, pseudo-moral, higher than thou, spouting 50’s family values rhetoric when you can’t even live up to your own façade? What’s the point?
27
Bret Hart Returns at Wrestlemania 26
On January, 4th 2010, USA broadcasted Monday Night Raw’s first episode of the New Year. This episode featured something that fans and critics alike said would NEVER happen due to the legitimate bad blood between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon and his career ending injuries. But on the first Monday Night Raw of the new year, WWE Hall of Famer and member of the wrestling dynasty, The Hart family returned to the WWE ring. Due to an incident that wrestling and sport fans know as The Montreal Screwjob, the likelihood of Bret Hart returning seemed very much impossible. For those who aren’t aware of the Montreal Screwjob, here it is in a nutshell.
In 1997 when WWE (then WWF) chairman/C.E.O. Vince McMahon decided to take the world championship off Hart before he signed with WCW at Survivor Series in Montreal, Quebec. This incident is what is now known simply as the “Montreal Screwjob.” After working so hard and being so loyal to McMahon for all those years, Bret felt betrayed by this undignified send off. This also included an alleged fisticuffs backstage and Bret spitting in the face of Vince McMahon which can be seen during
During his tenure in WCW, there was a legitimate accident in the ring with wrestler Goldberg that ended with Bret Hart with post concussion syndrome. Over the years of accidents, Bret was forced into retirement.
Zoom now to March 27th, 2010. This is the eve of Wrestlemania 26, the main events are going to be John Cena vs Batista, Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker and Vince McMahon vs Bret Hart.
There’s a message to this, dreams can come true and never say “never.”
26
What Goes Around Comes Around!
A Wrestling Gone Wrong Moment that makes me smile 
.
On a live edition of TNA Impact, the punch to the face from Mick Foley on Bubba the Love Sponge during Monday March 22nd 2010 edition of TNA iMPACT. That had Foley leaving the Impact Zone building legitimately left Bubba’s nose busted open. Although this spot was worked out beforehand, Bubba misjudged the timing and leaned into Mick’s fist. After Impact ended, Foley apologized to Bubba for the incident.
Here’s a picture of the result of Mick’s punch. Great job, Mick!
25
Akon Banned from Sri Lanka!
According to All Hip-Hop
“Akon was been banned from Sri Lanka today (March 22) after protests erupted over a music video which was deemed offensive to Buddhists.
The R&B singer was slated to appear in Sri Lanka on April 24th, but today, the country’s Director General of Information revealed Akon’s visa to enter the country has been denied.”
The video featured scandalous dancing in front of a Buddha statue. Okay, wouldn’t common sense tell you, dancing in front of a sacred figure (in this case a golden Buddha) might be offensive? C’mon, man.
24
My Love and Frustration with Drum Machines!
by John M. Ellison IV
Musically, I grew up on everything. From Funkadelic, The Temptations, The Mothers of Invention, The Ramones, Bad Brains, Luther Vandross, David Bowie, James Brown, Black Box, Zapp, Iggy and The Stooges, Bob Marley and The Wailers and countless other artists have influenced me somehow. With those artists, they all have different sounds, styles and very different drum patterns.
When it comes to it, I noticed that the Soul/Funk/R&B music I remember listening had more intricate and unique drum patterns. Whether it was a swing beat, four on the floor or a straight eight pattern, these drummers were quite skilled. In fact, these patterns (in Funk for example) were so integral to parts of a song; it actually could stand on as a composition of its own. This has even spun off into different genres of their own (Rap, Drum & Bass/Jungle and Break beat.)
Whereas, I noticed with rock, a lot of the same drum patterns tend to be recycled by different bands. To be fair, there have been many exceptions to the rule though. In fact, some of the most popular “break beats” come from rock.
When I first started doing music seriously, I was looking to get a drum machine to make patterns on. It was a Roland Dr. 202. After I learned how to use it, I couldn’t stop making beats. My original set up was an old Casio, an analog Tascam 4-track portable, and my guitar in the basement. Although I enjoyed my musical experimentation, my compositions sounded more akin to Nine Inch Nails than the more Metallica-influenced sound I was aiming for. Then, fiddling around with the synthesizer sounds, I thought to experiment with some of the Casio’s pre-programmed patterns. I never noticed the rock drum patterns, I realized those were closer to the rock sound…also the polka setting was reminiscent if not identical to “Hardcore Punk.” That’s when I realized that with a good amount of rock music; the drums and bass kind of take a back seat and can be quite rudimentary and in this case highlight the guitar/s and vocal. So, I felt kind of an embarrassment when I realized this. Saying that, I never could understand how some drummers in rock could complain about the usage of drum machines or sampling being monotonous whereas those same drummers would play stand by stock drum patterns with very little to no variation and with that, the performance sounding quite mechanical and robotic themselves.
Like I’ve stated beforehand in various blog posts, I’m kind of anti-social but friendly; kind of “socially” anti-social as it were. With this, it can be awkward finding collaborators that fit what I’m trying to do musically. As humans, we’re a species that’s used to well…being human. As humans, we have flaws that can be detrimental to ourselves and others. So knowing that, I usually use programmed rhythms from a drum machine to cut to the chase and to deal with less potential bullshit from other musicians. For some songs and projects, a drum machine is essential and fits well for that project. But, I admit, that when a drum machine is used in lieu of a live drummer sometimes, the drum sound can get kind of monotonous and becomes boring and fruitless from a songwriting point of view, well for me at least. With that, I tend to lose motivation in the project all together.
So, unless you’re John Bonham, Vinnie Colaiuta , Terry Bozzio, Max Roach, Neil Peart, Billy Cobham or any drummer with a variation of influences and techniques, shut the fuck up about drum machine-driven music!
23
Just an Article on Drum Machines
I thought I’d do an article on drum machines or drum programming. Aesthetically, the drum machine has been met with controversy. Critics have called drum machines not an instrument, but a machine, drum machines sound monotonous and it doesn’t take talent to use one. Well, more on that later.
The drum machine, or originally called “rhythm machines” have been around since the early 30’s and in some cases earlier precursors have existed before that. In the early 30’s, the spectacularly innovative and complex Rhythmicon was realized by Leon Theramin. This invention was commissioned by computer theorist Henry Cowell, who wanted and instrument that could play compositions whose multiple rhythmic patterns, based on the overtone series, were far too difficult to perform on existing keyboard instruments. The Rhythmicon could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a particular pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse, if desired.
Received with a good amount of interest when it was publically introduced in 1932, the Rhythmicon was soon set aside by Cowell and was virtually forgotten for decades. But afterwards, the concept of the rhythm machine/drum machine was re-introduced over time by with variants unique to the inventor.
Inventors such as Harry Chamberlain’s Chamberlain Rhythmate which was driven by tape loops of live drum tracks, Wurlitzer’s Sideman in 1959, which was the first commercially produced drum machine. The Sideman was intended as a percussive accompaniment for the Wurlitzer organ. The Sideman offered a choice of 12 electronically, pre-programmed rhythms with variable tempos and the sound source was a series of 10 drum sounds. In 1960, composer Raymond Scott constructed the “Rhythm Synthesizer”, and in 1963 a drum machine called Bandito the Bongo Artist. These machines were used for recording his infamous “Soothing Sounds for Baby” series in 1964.
The first stand-alone programmable drum machine, was the PAiA Programmable Drum Set. The PAiA was the first introduced to the market in 1975. Interesting enough, this was also sold as a dissembled kit that the buyer would have to put together themselves.
Later on in 1978, the Roland CR-78 drum machine was released. It was a programmable rhythm machine that had four memory locations which allowed users to store their own patterns. The following year, Roland offered more simple version, Boss DR-55. It has only four sounds, and its memory is not enough to compose a song ( but contained up to 16 pre-programmed rhythms), but was a programmable drum machine that cost under $200.
The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer (released in 1980, at a quite expensive price at $4,999) was the first drum machine to use actual digital samples of live . A limited run of 500 were ever made of this machine but the list of those who owned them was quite impressive. Its distinctive sound almost defines 1980s pop, and it can be heard on hundreds of hit records from the era, including The Human League’s Dare, Gary Numan’s Dance, Devo’s “New Traditionalists”, and Ric Ocasek’s Beatitude. Prince bought one of the very first LM-1s and used it on nearly all of his most popular recordings, including 1999 and Purple Rain.
Many of the drum sounds on the LM-1 were composed of two chips that were triggered at the same time, and each voice was individually tunable with individual outputs. Due to memory limitations, a crash cymbal sound was not available except as an expensive third-party modification. A more affordable version of the LM-1 was released in 1982 called the LM-2 (or simply LinnDrum). It cost around $3,000 and not all of its voices were tunable, making it less desirable than the original LM-1, I guess you get what you pay for. The Linndrum included a crash cymbal sound as standard and, like its predecessor the LM-1, featured swappable sound chips. The Linndrum can be heard on records such as Men Without Hats’ Rhythm of Youth and The Cars’ Heartbeat City.
It was feared the LM-1 would put every session drummer in Los Angeles out of work and it caused many of L.A’s top session drummers (Jeff Porcaro is one example) to purchase their own drum machines and learn to program them themselves in order to stay employed.
Following the success of the LM-1, Oberheim introduced the popular DMX drum machine, which also featured digitally-sampled sounds and a “swing” feature similar to the one found on the Linn machines. Thanks to the big beat drum sounds of the Oberheim DMX drum machine, It became very popular in the nascent hip-hop scene. In fact, Davey DMX and DMX co-opted their stage names from the legendary machine.
Roland TR-808 and TR-909 machines
The famous Roland TR-808 was also launched in 1980. At the time it was received with little fanfare, Unlike the LinnDrum and DMX, these drum machines didn’t have digitally sampled sounds whereas drum machines using digital samples of actual drum machine. In time, though, the TR-808, along with its successor, the TR-909 (released in 1983), would become a fixture of the burgeoning underground dance, techno, and hip-hop genres. Although there many numerous uses of the TR-808 or (808 as it’s called) Electro-funker Afrika Bambaataa used the TR-808 on the electro classic Planet Rock. Mainly because of its low cost in comparison of the Linn machines and the unique character of its analogue-generated sounds. In a somewhat ironic twist it is the analogue-based Roland machines endured over time whereas the Linn sound became somewhat overused and dated by the end of the decade. The TR-808 and TR-909’s beats have since been widely featured in pop music, and can be heard on countless recordings up to the present day.
Although drum machines are still used, there has been an influx of sequencer software such as FL Studio features samples of the 808,909 and countless other popular drum sounds.
22
Dumb All Over
by John M. Ellison IV
In response to Washington Post’s Staff Writer Paul Kane article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032002556.html
“Members of the Congressional Black Caucus said that racial epithets were hurled at them Saturday by angry protesters who had gathered at the Capitol to protest health-care legislation, and one congressman said he was spit upon. The most high-profile openly gay congressman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), was heckled with anti-gay chants.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) issued a statement late Saturday saying that he was spit upon while walking to the Capitol to cast a vote, leading the Capitol Police to usher him into the building out of concern for his safety. Police detained the individual, who was then released because Cleaver declined to press charges.
“The congressman was walking into the Capitol to vote, when one protester spat on him. The congressman would like to thank the U.S. Capitol Police officer who quickly escorted the other Members and him into the Capitol, and defused the tense situation with professionalism and care,” said Danny Rotert, a spokesman for Cleaver.
Protesters outside the Capitol hurled epithets at Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.) as they left the building after President Obama delivered an 11th-hour speech on behalf of the health care bill. Carson told reporters that protesters yelled “kill the bill,” then used a racial epithet to describe Carson and Lewis, who is a revered figure on both sides of the aisle.
According to observers, Frank was confronted by about 100 protesters inside the Longworth House Office Building, where Democrats were huddling for another meeting about the legislation. Some targeted Frank with anti-gay epithets and urged him to vote against the bill.”
A few months ago in Arizona, there was a Clash between neo-Nazis and tea baggers that I reported on. I’ve had debates/conversations with people arguing that they (tea baggers) weren’t a racist group. Well, let’s look at the facts.
*Although there was a clash, between neo-Nazis and tea baggers, still Neo-Nazi’s showed up to support the tea baggers
*The klan has endorsed them
*Teabag members called openly gay Rep. Barney Frank a homosexual slur.
*Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver was spat on and called racial epithets by teabag protesters.
Oh and these examples of free speech…
Do you need any more proof? I’ll wait.
20
A Great Evening in D.C.
A Great Evening in D.C.
I guess this is the unofficial sequel of an earlier article regarding the subject of friendship. On Thursday March 18th of 2010, a longtime member of the Afro-Punk board came in from Philadelphia, PA for a week to visit friends in the area. So, she sent a message out and members of the Afro-Punk forum for dinner at Ben’s Chili Bowl. For those who don’t know, Ben’s Chili Bowl is a historic restaurant in Washington, D.C. that’s very popular with the residents. So here are a few photos of the evening. Enjoy.
Ben's Chili Bowl
19
Esham-Stop Selling Me Drugs (Death by Illegal Prescription)
It gives me great pleasure to feature the new video of one of my musical influences, Detroit rap legend Esham. Here’s his new video Esham-Stop Selling Me Drugs (Death by Illegal Prescription). For my Suicidalists out there, this song is very reminiscent of the “Tongues” era of Esham’s body of work. Enjoy.
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