Microkhan by Brendan I. Koerner

Entries Tagged as 'music'

Make No Small Plans

December 30th, 2011 · Comments Off on Make No Small Plans

Thanks to all who patronized Microkhan this year, and hope you’ll stick around for the next 366 days (at least). Big plans for the forthcoming year, including some special longform projects, the revival of our long-lost “Bulletproof” series, and, of course, an increasing amount of clues and extras related to the next book. Stay with […]

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Goals and Problems

December 27th, 2011 · Comments Off on Goals and Problems

Trying to take advantage of the slow week to hit my book-writing goal: 50,000 words by the time I knock off for lobster and ale on New Year’s Eve. So far today, I have managed to…get to the corner mailbox to return some Netflix DVDs. Not a promising start.

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Above the Allegheny

December 14th, 2011 · Comments Off on Above the Allegheny

Hanging out in the great city of Pittsburgh today, doing some Wired work and hoping to catch up with an archaeologist pal of mine. Back shortly.

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Working the Phones

December 8th, 2011 · Comments Off on Working the Phones

You’ll have to make do with some Filipino disco today, since I’m absorbed in reporting for multiple projects. Just spent the better part of the morning trying to track down an amnesia victim, only to be frustrated by his overprotective 78-year-old mother. May have to Irish up this coffee to push through that early-in-the-day disappointment.

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Betting on the Wrong Horse

December 5th, 2011 · 1 Comment

When you’re in the midst of agonizing over the relative merits of two competing technologies, the choice can seem oh-so-important. I still have vivid memories, for example, of the raging household debate that surrounded my family’s selection of a first computer—the Mac and the Amiga both had points in their favor, after all. But in […]

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Half Past Never

November 30th, 2011 · Comments Off on Half Past Never

Stealing a day to write before picking up Microkhan Jr. from preschool. Back tomorrow with something on the evolution of bomb-squad armor.

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The Pivot

November 18th, 2011 · Comments Off on The Pivot

Dedicating the next three days to finishing another chapter of the book. This one’s key, because the meat of the narrative starts in the ensuing chapter. And as much as I enjoy weaving together random tidbits of historical background into a semi-cohesive whole, the real pleasure in this process will come from recounting the tick-tock […]

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Progress Report

November 14th, 2011 · Comments Off on Progress Report

Lost the morning to a parent-teacher conference at Microkhan Jr.’s school. Now on to shaping my next Wired feature. Back to this space as soon as humanly possible.

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An Embarrassment of Riches

November 4th, 2011 · Comments Off on An Embarrassment of Riches

Spending today sifting through an absolute treasure trove of primary-source documents, which is why you’ll have to make do with some Algerian chanteusery instead of the usual polymathic mish-mash. Though I can’t yet reveal the exact nature of the documents I’m examining, I can tell you one thing they’ve taught me so far: Kim Il-sung […]

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Goals and Problems

October 24th, 2011 · Comments Off on Goals and Problems

Last day to take advantage of a sweet childcare situation. Trying to churn out a good thousand words worth of book between now and 5 p.m.—four thousand words less than Sinclair Lewis produced during his eight-hour writing stretches, but we can’t all be geniuses. Back soon with the delectable stuff; in the meantime, I once […]

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No Rest for the Frightened

October 10th, 2011 · 4 Comments

I’m going to labor under the delusion that y’all have Columbus Day off, even though I don’t. Here’s to hoping that you, unlike the sizable Microkhan team, get to spend the next 24 hours doing something that brings the utmost joy to you hearts.

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The Next Thousand

September 28th, 2011 · Comments Off on The Next Thousand

Big writing day—if I don’t get this chapter out the door by Sunday morning, the whole house of cards may come tumbling down. Back tomorrow with something choice.

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The System

September 22nd, 2011 · Comments Off on The System

Taking a sick kid to the doctor this morning—an hour-plus on the subway, followed by a sure-to-be interminable wait for gruff service. Should be fun.

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Everything’s Better with Disco

September 14th, 2011 · Comments Off on Everything’s Better with Disco

Invoking khan’s prerogative to steal a day for book writing. Because if I don’t finish this chapter by week’s end, I fear the worst for the family’s future over the long winter. Even in Queens, keeping a yurt heated ain’t cheap.

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An Appeal to the Rain Gods

September 7th, 2011 · Comments Off on An Appeal to the Rain Gods

Supposed to be taking Microkhan Jr. to his first major league baseball game today, an afternoon Yankees-Orioles tilt up in the Bronx, but the weather is looking ominous. I thus aim to curry favor with the rain gods by posting the song above from Max Tannone’s much-beloved Ghostfunk, recently highlighted on perennial podcast fave Fresh […]

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Back to the Land of the Golden Arcs

August 25th, 2011 · 2 Comments

Winging my way back to Queens today, after a truly epic reporting trip in Southern California. Can’t wait to clue y’all in to the narrative I’ve been piecing together—it’s a doozy, to say the least. As I hurtle eastward through the air at slightly subsonic speed, enjoy a classic Sean Price track—yet another example of […]

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What Would Buddha Do?

August 24th, 2011 · 1 Comment

I do not believe the prince who renounced the world in order to attain Enlightenment would approve of these copyright shenanigans in Taiwan: The funeral industry has been rocked by a lawsuit filed by a music company that accuses funeral homes of intellectual property right (IPR) infringement for playing Buddhist chants and pop music during […]

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The King Abides

August 16th, 2011 · 2 Comments

Plowing back into the book this morning, after losing all of yesterday to Microkhan Jr. duties. Really scrambling to get some work done before heading out to California this weekend, for an interview of the utmost importance. In my brief absence, please check out the latest live mix from DJ Assault, one of the most […]

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Transition Game

August 8th, 2011 · Comments Off on Transition Game

One step forward, two steps back with the book project, alas—try as I might, can’t quite seem to make the first-chapter transition from my opening scene to the requisite view-from-30,000-feet riff. Dedicating all of today to hammering my way through the wall, no matter how many thousands of useless words have to get deleted in […]

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Screentime

August 4th, 2011 · Comments Off on Screentime

Just got back from a morning spent shooting a Canadian documentary about pharmaceutical marketing. I’m one the film’s talking heads, on account of a 2002 piece I did for Mother Jones about the marketing of Paxil. Strange to discuss a story that I hadn’t given a second thought in nearly a decade, but hopefully I […]

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Passing Through the Membrane

July 22nd, 2011 · Comments Off on Passing Through the Membrane

Sweltering weather here in the County of Queens, but can’t let it make a bother—gotta pass through what John McPhee termed “the membrane” and get to thinking only about writing. So signing off ’til early next week—might not circle back to y’all ’til Tuesday, when I’ll return with tales of Kenyan anti-corruption efforts, anti-psychic laws […]

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The Single Step

July 11th, 2011 · 5 Comments

So pretty momentous day here ’round Microkhan’s new-ish Queens headquarters: after many weeks of inventing excuses to procrastinate, I’m finally starting to write my next book. It’s due in April, so I reckon I have just enough time to craft the tale and fill in the remaining research gaps. But right now the endeavor seems […]

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A Light from Njoro

June 13th, 2011 · 1 Comment

Revising the latest Wired opus all day, then segueing into some hardcore packing for Queens. And so I give you one of the best Biggie remixes of recent vintage, which first crossed my ears last night courtesy of the always-on folks at WEFUNK. While you’re listening, give this update on the fight against Ug99 a […]

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Copywronged

June 7th, 2011 · Comments Off on Copywronged

The passing of Bangladeshi pop idol Azam Khan is notable not just because he was an all-around champ—a former guerrilla fighter turned platinum-selling artist—but also due to the fact that he exited this world with barely a taka to his name. In fact, Khan had to suspend his cancer treatments in Singapore because he couldn’t […]

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Under Pressure

June 1st, 2011 · 3 Comments

http://youtu.be/bDT8OOkS_dc?t=4s First time in forever that I have, quite literally, 27 hours to turn a C+ Wired story into an A-. Not sure I have what it takes, especially since this lede ain’t even close to humming, but I owe the good folks in San Francisco my best shot. Back to y’all once the tale […]

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I’m Gonna Beat This Deadline Now

May 13th, 2011 · Comments Off on I’m Gonna Beat This Deadline Now

Lost a day to partially feigned child illness this week, so scrambling to meet yet another Wired deadline before a preschool picnic. Apologies for not yet following through on installment two of the Ponchos; next Friday, for sure.

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Over the Bridge

April 29th, 2011 · Comments Off on Over the Bridge

Have a date with the American bureaucracy this morning, so zipping out with a lil’ vintage Turkish funk. First got turned on to the tune above by a sample from Action Bronson’s decidedly NSFW “The Madness”, which I initially mistook for a new Ghostface cut. Not sure I’m tempted to sift through Ferdi Özbğen‘s entire […]

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Prick Up Your Ears

April 20th, 2011 · 4 Comments

It’s been a long time since overtly political music was considered dangerous in this country—as much as I like Dead Prez, for example, I sort of doubt that the FBI is bothering to give the group the John Lennon treatment. But the situation is very different in the anarchic amalgam commonly known as Somalia, a […]

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Squabs TK

April 6th, 2011 · Comments Off on Squabs TK

Got way mired in some morning reporting, and now the rest of the day is blocked off to attack the next monthly Wired column. Back tomorrow with a report on the squab bubble of the 1920s, and how investors too seldom learn from the missteps of the past.

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Let’s Talk About Jesse

March 31st, 2011 · 1 Comment

Flying home today on a supreme reporting high, one that will surely wear off as soon as I realize I now have to write the damn piece. Back tomorrow, after a night catching up with Microkhan Jr., the Grand Empress, and five dozen pressing emails. ‘Til then, enjoy some political music from the ’84 election—certainly […]

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