Apologies, but gotta check out early today—we’re back on the WIRED beat, ironing out the kinks in our addiction yarn. Back in the a.m. with some more of the good stuff; in the meantime, hey, puppets and Madlib’s helium-throated alter ego.
Entries Tagged as 'music'
The Battle and the Bulge
April 29th, 2010 · 5 Comments
Did the codpiece come into vogue because a bunch of Italian counts were trying to conceal their fights against syphilis? An Australian doctor makes the case: The treatment of the disease was for the most part empirical with multiple agents applied locally, which along with the bulky dressings would give large frontal bulges, impossible to […]
Tags:codpieces·Italy·Larry Blackmon·medical history·music·Renaissance history
Faking the Crates
April 27th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Hewing to that most time-honored of journalistic axioms—”Two equals trend”—we’d like to declare that we’re living in the era of the ersatz sample. Way back when, we were introduced to a whole host of R&B classics by reading the liner notes of various hip-hop albums. (We discussed, for example, how Dr. Dre led us into […]
Only a King (Wears Overalls Like Those)
April 19th, 2010 · Comments Off on Only a King (Wears Overalls Like Those)
From the Mighty Sparrow comes one of the silkiest-smooth videos of all time, featuring overalls that only a true legend could ever pull off. We’d love to try, but we fear we wouldn’t even make it to Lenox Avenue before the howls of derision became unbearable. The Sparrow, though, makes the orange-and-blue combo work. More […]
Tags:fashion·Mighty Sparrow·music
The Pride of Coahoma County
April 15th, 2010 · 4 Comments
The 1960 Newport Jazz Festival is perhaps best remembered for Anita O’Day’s legendary rendition of “Sweet Georgia Brown”—a performance she later found herself unable to recall, due to the fact that she was strung out on heroin when she took the stage. But while we can’t help but get shivers when O’Day croons, our favorite […]
The Method of a Master (Cont’d)
April 14th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Something sorta major just came up, so we need to check out for the afternoon. Apologies, but fear not—we’ll be back strong tomorrow, bringing you nothing but the finest handpicked information. For now, though, please indulge our recent fascination with The RZA’s creative process by checking out this 1999 interview with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. As […]
Tags:creativity·Ghost Dog·hip-hop·Jim Jarmusch·movies·music·RZA·Wu-Tang
The Method of a Master
April 14th, 2010 · 2 Comments
More downtown meetings this morning, so we’ll have to circle back to you in a few hours. In the meantime, please ponder some words of wisdom from one of Microkhan’s all-time favorite artists, The RZA. He shared the following insight with the great Stop Smiling back in 2006: RZA: I’m going to tell you a […]
The World Beyond Atlah
April 13th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Tied up in downtown meetings for the rest of the day, so we’ll leave you with the classic Ruby Andrews track above. Back here soon, provided that Microkhan Jr. lets us get a decent night’s sleep. Suffice to say we’re operating at quarter-strength today, due to his 3 a.m. shenanigans. We do wonder how Genghis […]
This Is How We Lost to the Robots
April 6th, 2010 · 4 Comments
The nexus between technology and music is obviously a topic of great interest ’round Microkhan headquarters, so we couldn’t have been any more delighted to receive a gratis copy of Dave Tompkins’ How to Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop a few weeks back. The book is everything a […]
Tags:books·Dave Tompkins·hip-hop·How the Wreck a Nice Beach·Kraftwerk·music·technology·vocoder·World War II
Bzzzzzzzzz…
March 31st, 2010 · 1 Comment
Seems that we’ve come down with a case of the dreaded Osaka flu. Barely enough energy to type, let alone think deep thoughts. We’re doing out best to knock out the sickness with rest and caffeine (as opposed to more dubious remedies of yore). Back as soon as our head’s clear; in the meantime, check […]
Tags:Ethiopia·housekeeping·music
You’re Breaking My Heart
March 30th, 2010 · 4 Comments
Primarily known to Westerners through its association with Madonna, Malawi is one of the most socially conservative nations in Africa, if not the entire world. The country’s aggressive censorship board has long forbidden any hint of sex or violence, even when public health has been at stake. And the banning hasn’t just excluded allegedly raunchy […]
Tags:censorship·Hastings Banda·Madonna·Malawi·music·Simon & Garfunkel
“The Mortician Bangin’ Your Pistons…”
March 24th, 2010 · 5 Comments
Once again, thanks for your patience this week as we work through a host of deadlines. Makin’ good progress, so all should be clear starting Monday. This afternoon, though, as we grapple with a way of expressing our skepticism about fMRIs, please check out the ultra-rare Godfather Don cut above. The DJ Premier remix came […]
As We Write
March 23rd, 2010 · 5 Comments
Once again, thanks for bearing with us this week, as we slog through three distinct deadlines that could well determine our clan’s ability to maintain its current existence. Promise this’ll all be behind us very soon, and we’ll celebrate by reviving our dormant First Contact series.
Losing Teeth
March 16th, 2010 · 2 Comments
If all goes according to plan, today’s the day we finally finish the second draft of our next Wired bit—the one about addiction that we’ve been yammering on about for a good two weeks now. Tomorrow will then be all about edits, as we scramble toward our 5 p.m. PST deadline. (The editorial mothership is […]
The Yngwie Malmsteen of Kazakhstan
March 15th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Totally immersed in addiction science this afternoon, which means we’re giving ourselves permission to half-ass it with a highlight from one of Kazakhstan’s most beloved variety shows. We have no idea what this song is about, but we must admit, that one dude in the shiny shirt absolutely tears it up on the dombra. When […]
Tags:dombra·Kazakhstan·music
T Minus
March 8th, 2010 · Comments Off on T Minus
Mere hours to go ’til the Wired deadline, and we’re scrambling. Really scrambling. Haven’t cut it this close in ages, due to the sheer complexity of the material (which is heavy on neuroscience, psychology, and junkie horror stories). More Microkhan’ing as soon as we’re able; in the meantime, watch the above and keep the ailing […]
Tags:Gang Starr·Guru·hip-hop·music·writing
Oh, My Aching Hands…
March 4th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Sad to report we’re struggling mightily with our current Wired opus. Can’t quite get the lede to sing, and we’re getting lost in the weeds on Section One—so much controversial history to pack into just a few hundred words. Plus we’ve got one last interview to nail down, without which this piece might never gel. […]
Working the Lede
March 1st, 2010 · Comments Off on Working the Lede
By the time this post goes live, we’ll hopefully be halfway through the lede on our next Wired opus. Though given our lackluster writing speed these past few days, we’re starting to wonder if we’ll ever get through this beast. Seriously, few things are more discouraging than closing your laptop at day’s end and realizing […]
Tags:hip-hop·housekeeping·MF Doom·music
The Undertow
February 24th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Already plugging away on our next Wired feature, this time about addiction rather than wheat-devouring fungi (or, for that matter, the creative benefits of social media. Today’s outline day, which is always a chore—envisioning the structure of a lengthy magazine piece requires even more mental bandwidth than we usually utilize. Fortunately, we’ve got The Skatalites […]
Tags:Madlib·music·ska·The Skatelites·Wired
Days Like This
February 22nd, 2010 · 2 Comments
At some point in the not-too-distant future, we hope that the considerable time we spend on Microkhan will lead to some sort of remuneration (apart from the obvious psychic rewards). But until we figure out a way to turn y’all’s interest in Hmong beauty pageants, Medieval drinking habits, and boxing kangaroos into some sort of […]
Tags:housekeeping·Marvin Gaye·music·R&B
A Master’s Secret
February 17th, 2010 · 4 Comments
Contrary to what you might conclude by checking out our “music” tag, we don’t only permit hip-hop, soul, and vintage ZZ Top to enter our eardrums. We’ve also taken quite a shine to ukulele music in recent weeks, a jag that has brought us in touch with the work of the late, great John King. […]
Tags:classical music·John King·Lord Finesse·music·psychology·ukulele
The Hero of Tippecanoe
February 15th, 2010 · 4 Comments
On this President’s Day, we can think of no better way to celebrate our nation’s most exalted job than by recalling the wise, though incredibly logorrheic words of the starcrossed William Henry Harrison. As the American history nerds in the audience will recall, Harrison doomed himself to an early death by refusing to wear a […]
Tags:Dan the Automator·Handsome Boy Modeling School·hip-hop·holidays·music·politics·President's Day·Prince Paul·William Henry Harrison
Rhymes for the Deluge
February 10th, 2010 · 1 Comment
A minor blizzard out here in Atlah today, and we’re using the weather as an excuse to steal some time for our Secret Major Project™. Back soon with all the information you know and love; in the meantime, please enjoy the decidedly NSFW cut above. Seriously, do not hit play if you’re in a Puritanical […]
Tags:Atlah·hip-hop·Lord Finesse·music
A Third Trip Around the Sun Commences
February 8th, 2010 · Comments Off on A Third Trip Around the Sun Commences
Today marks the second anniversary of Microkhan Jr.’s birth, an event that can only be appropriately honored with the De La Soul cut above. The kid sorta shares a name with the group’s DJ, plus we agree with the spoken sentiment at the song’s beginning—fatherhood makes up for a lot of day-to-day drudgery. Though, granted, […]
Tags:De La Soul·hip-hop·music·parenting
Funk Amidst the Food Riots
February 3rd, 2010 · 4 Comments
The mid-1970s were a gloomy time in Polish history, even by that long-accursed nation’s standards. Government-mandated price increases on essential goods led to a series of violent protests, which were quelled in typically brutal fashion. To paraphrase a certain Shogun Assassin quote made famous on GZA’s Liquid Swords, it was a bad time for Warsaw. […]
Tags:Arp Life·Communism·dictatorship·funk·jazz·music·Poland·Polskie Nagrania Muza
A Hive of Scum and Villainy
February 1st, 2010 · 8 Comments
The recent passing of J.D. Salinger got us thinking about the small role The Catcher in the Rye played in our decision to wield the (figurative) pen for a living. While we’re pretty sure the book wouldn’t hold up should we crack it again today, it wowed us during junior high. It was, in fact, […]
Tags:Billy Ocean·books·J.D. Salinger·movies·music·Now the Hell Will Start·Star War·The Catcher in the Rye
The Midnight Rider on Sobriety
January 29th, 2010 · Comments Off on The Midnight Rider on Sobriety
No Bad Movie Friday this week, in part because we had a change of heart about calling out the 1993 Bruce Willis vehicle Striking Distance. Yes, it was almost certainly pitched to the producers as “Die Hard meets Serpico…on the water!” And we’ll never, ever buy Sarah Jessica Parker as a Pittsburgh cop. But watching
Tags:addiction·alcohol·Bruce Willis·drugs·Gregg Allman·movies·music·Striking Distance
“Make Them Understand the Cost of a Helping Hand”
January 28th, 2010 · 4 Comments
We’ve long been planning a meditative post on an axiom that’s caused us no shortage of angst these past few months: “People always run from what they’re best at.” Those musings will follow eventually, once things on the paying-work end have settled down a bit. In the meantime, take the above soul cut, off The […]
Hand to the Throat
January 26th, 2010 · Comments Off on Hand to the Throat
Apologies, just a crazy day here in Atlah. Closing multiple stories and dealing with Microkhan Jr., all at once. May have to reach for a sip of hooch at lunch, just to keep the nerves on an even keel. Take the dreamy superstar collaboration above, and we’ll circle back to you either later today or […]
“How in the Future Will Man Take It?”
January 21st, 2010 · Comments Off on “How in the Future Will Man Take It?”
A dastardly confluence of events has prevented us from Microkhaning to our full potential today. Back as soon as circumstances allow. In the meantime, take a break from the Game of Life by learning more about Ham the Chimp, one of the great unsung heroes of the American space program. Okay, perhaps “unsung” is a […]
Tags:chimpanzees·Ham the Chimp·music·NASA·primates·Robert Vince·space
