- from Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth
One of the most beautifully crafted graphic novels you could wish for... This one isn't though...
MPCs, shitty second hand keyboards and random noise making electronics, bullhorns and megaphones, the incredible miss Sophie Webb, deer and successfully avoiding running deer (some close calls), late night politicking (if I don't fall asleep first - you'll see), sultanas by the handful, getting my walk on for many hours, gamelan (getting there yo), Barcelona and its residents, America, cranberries, Garrison Keillor, four tracks and tape hiss, second hand records by the crate, super 8 cameras, Zip discs, the Spectrum 128k (if you had one of these, holler at me), the Amiga 500, old photos and slides, recording day to day people drama on minidisc now and again (word to Coma Emilio) – the kebab shop fight was pretty intense, drones, hella coffee (as Dave House will attest to - we drinks hella coffee yo, we connoisseurs n’ shit).
Respect that.
And Tom gets much props.
...as does James Patterson and all at Presstube...
Don Newkirk - you out there, Don? Him and Larry David. And Tom Waits.
There are a lot of good peoples out there. Too many. For the most part I would include folks like (and not limited to!)...
DJ 2D2 and the Barcelona unit (holding down BCN with style and finesse - props! Call them the 'B-Unit'), 3rd Bass, DJ 2tall, !!!, 65 Days Of Static
Aceyalone, Adeem, Aesop Rock, a gang of pysche rock, Alias, All Natural, Animal Crackers, Alice In Chains (for old time's sake, come on), Arcade Fire, Aerial M, Arovane, Anonjondoe (I gotsta say whattup - the ill rhyme writer right there), Atmosphere, Aupheus, Aix Em Klemm, Artifacts, Autechre, Autolux, Awol One, Awww Damn (Queen Of The Golden Age and all round superdope DJ), American Analog Set
The Bomb Squad, Big L (rest in peace!), Boom In The Diamond Industry, Built To Spill, Buck 65, Beck, Bonnie Prince Billy and Palace Music, Bracken, Bits & Pieces, The Black Keys, Babu, Boom & Birds, Bahamadia, Boom Bip, Boards Of Canada, Beirut, Black Moon when Enta Da Stage came out, Bloc Party, Bibio, Brother Ali, Big Daddy Kane, Beans, Blade, Busdriver, Blake9, The Boredoms, Bully Records representatives and affiliated famalam (Number One In Verdun)
Casual, Clinic, Co Flow, Clouddead, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Can, Controller 7, Climber, Country Funk, Cyne, Coma Emilio (my Scottish contemporary - an incredible musician), Clue To Kalo, Calexico, Cul De Sac, Billy Cobham, Common, Cut Chemist, Caribou (and the Manitoba stuff too no doubt), Comptons Most Wanted, Carlo (my fellow Commonwealth Kid), Chacho Brodas
Dangermouse, Dead Texan, Daedelus, Miles Davis, Diamond D, Del, Danielson, Doseone, Danny Breaks, Deceptikon, can't forget the De La, Daddy Kev, Dorian 3, Def Harmonic, Dave House, Drew84, Dusty Sorbet, Donovan, DiVinci, Diplo, Diamond D & Digging In The Crates, Dub Narcotic Sound System, Bob Dylan, Dirk Thornton, Deep Puddle Dynamics, Dead Kennedys, D-Styles, Dire Straits like WHAT
EPMD, Edan, Electric President, Jimmy Edgar, Easy Mo Bee, Eazy E, Evs, ElekTro4, The Elected, El Chavo (got BEATS!), The Evens
Faust & Shortee, John Fahey, Firesign Theatre, Freestyle Fellowship, Fugazi, Fanu, Fog, Friends Forever, Five Deez (and all solo stuff - Pase and Fat Jon in the house), Funkstorung, DJ Fuse One, Flower Travellin' Band, Feist, Flaming Lips, Maurice Fulton, Fujiya & Miyagi, Four Tet, Fridge, Mike Fellows, Geoff Farina
Giant Panda, Godspeed, Gunshot, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Ghostface Killah, Gruf The Druid, Ghosty, Grand Funk Railroad, Gang Of Four, Gaslamp Killer, The Grouch, Glue, Gangstarr, The Gza, Jose Gonzales, Howe Gelb
Hangar 18, Helio Sequence, Homeliss Derelix, Her Space Holiday, Halo Benders, Hood, Harumi, Heliocentrics, Hieroglyphics, Buddy Holly (bumped a lot in the family ride as a kid!), Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters, Holopaw, Hanne Hukkelberg, Half Film, Hrvatski, Hijack
Ice Cube, Ice T, Idiot Pilot, Iron & Wine, ISO68, Instrumental Ward
J5, Daniel Johnston, Jaylib, J-Dilla, J-Zone, most Calvin Johnson projects, Jeru The Damaja, Jahbitat, Jackson & His Computer Band, John Smith, Jorun Bombay, Jacob's Stories, Jesse Dangerously, Joey Beats, J-Rocc, Jason Molina, I got to give it up for Mark Jackson too - my late 90's DJ inspiration... Still got the tapes, Mark...
Karate, KMD, Kool & The Gang, DJ Krush, Kid Acne, Kankick, Alexander Kort, K Records and all that comes with it, Matt Kelly, Koushik, the almighty KFJC Radio Station (Diane is in EFFECT ch'all - and I spelled KFJC right this time I think!)
Lambchop, the entire Litterthugz croo (Mike2600, Reanimator, Deerflesh and full crew - suckas still using trash cans?), Little Wings, Liars, Lord Finesse, the illustrious Lex Records in general, Lali Puna, Da Lench Mob, LCD Soundsystem, Lord Finesse, Lords Of The Underground, Les Savy Fav, Lightnin' Hopkins, MC Lyte, Leaders Of The New School, Last Kiss, Love As Laughter
Madkap, Marjen, Mia Doi Todd, Ms John Soda, Mcenroe, Maker, Montag, Minutemen, Meaty Ogre, Mr Fucking Dibbs, MHE, Modest Mouse, Maps, Marley Marl, Buddy Miles, Mike Boo, MF Doom, Matmos, Maritime, Brian McBride, Mice Parade, Melo-D, DJ MF Shalem B, Metronomes, M.I.A., Main Source, Mogwai, Meanest Man Contest, Mumbles, Masta Ace Incorporated, Mercury Rev, DJ Mekalek, Metro Area, Amy Millan, Magnolia Electric Co.
NWA (my very first compact disc - I copped it from Kingston Our Price when I was 9), The Nonce (for the benefit of people who don't know Nonce, it's just a two man hip hop act and they mean Nonce as in 'geek', which it also means... not the other thing...), New Radiant Storm King, Nefertiti, Nas, Nation Of Ulysses, Nice & Smooth, Nine:Fifteen, Nobody, Joanna Newsom, Nina Nastasia, No I.D., The Notwist
Oddjobs, Om (word to Soph), Organised Konfusion, Oval, Omid, Odd Nosdam, Of Montreal (cheers Tolley!), One Speed Bike
Paris Zax, People Under The Stairs, Sam Prekop, Psapp, Papa M, Prince Po, Percee P, Photek, Postal Service, Prince, P-Love, P.O.S., Pedestrian, John Peel, Pinback, P Brothers and Cappo (Nottingham Bronx y'all), Prefuse 73, Public Enemy, Primus, Promise Ring, Pip Skid, Prolyphic, Penny, Populous, Prince Paul, Poor Righteous Teachers, Panda Bear
Qwel, Q And Not U, Q Bert, Quantic, Quasimoto, Quannum Projects
DJ Revolution, Rachel's, Roots Manuva, Rob Sonic, DJ Riz (if anyone can hook me up with a copy of his mix with 'Smooth Operator' and 'Wicked Game' and all those from around 1993 I will repay you handsomely), Ricci Rucker, Rhymester, Red Krayola, Reaching Quiet, Radioinactive, Run DMC, Radio Citizen, Rogue Wave, The Roots
Sea & Cake, Sage Francis, The Steal, Ravi Shankar (& family!), Soll.illoquists Of Sound (chances are I've spelled the name wrong but you know who I'm talking about!), Sufjan Stevens, Silver Jews, Silver Apples, Subtle, DJ Signify, Skratch Bastid, Spoon, The Shins, Seldom Seen Smith, Shadowanimals, Sebadoh/Sentridoh, Slint, Savath & Savalas, Soundgarden, Syclops, Sebutones, Stetsasonic, Saafir, Spirit, Sixtoo, Supersystem, Scout Niblett, Songs Of Green Pheasant, Stars Of The Lid, Seafood, Songs:Ohia, Shellac, Showbiz & AG, Skitz, Semi Official, Smyglyssna, Paul Simon, Styles Of Beyond, State River Widening, Sun Ra (I don't know hell loads but Space Is The Place is very ill - I definitely need some schooling on him anyway), Son Of Noise
Team Shadetek, Thee More Shallows, Thorinshield, T-Love, Take, T La Rock, Twofold, Them/Themselves, Tenshun, TV On The Radio, Tes, Tim Dog, Tortoise, Time Machine, Tremendo
Ugly Casanova, Ultramagnetic MCs, UMCs
Villain Accelerate, The Van Pelt, DJ Vadim, Viktor Vaughn
Why?, Waxfactor & Mr Trick, Tom Waits by the gallon, Brian Wilson, Walt Mink, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Loudon Wainright III
X Clan (protected by the red, the black, and the green, with a key - you sisseeeee - etc.), Xzibit (mid 90's, pre-Pimp My Ride)
Yaggfu Front, Yo La Tengo, Young Marble Giants, Yellotone
Zimbabwe Legit, Zhigge, my boy Zilla, Zygote, Warren Zevon
The list goes on...
Here are a few Buddy favourites too - say word if you agree...
BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY : 'Master And Everyone' - a perfect album
BUCK 65 : '15 Minutes To Live' (quarter of an hour well spent)
MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. : 'Farewell Transmission' (beautiful - Jason Molina represents - if I make you a tape this will be on it, no question)
XZIBIT : 'Paparazzi' (full on glamour but still amazing - a radio tape classic)
LOUDON WAINRIGHT III : 'The Man Who Couldn't Cry' (amazing combination of pure bittersweet melancholy and sharp humour)
DONOVAN : 'Get Thy Bearings'
LAMBCHOP : 'How I Quit Smoking' (epic and beautiful, sums up an era)
GLUE : 'Catch As Catch Can' (surely the best hip hop album of 2006...?)
SIXTOO : 'Duration' (the trainride soundtrack)
TOM WAITS : 'Dirt In The Ground' (but the whole back catalogue is unf'withable, of course)
DIVINE STYLER : 'Ain't Saying Nothing'
SLINT : 'Good Morning Captain' (unbeatable)
FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP : 'Way Cool'
MR DIBBS : 'Abduction Of The Times 6.66' (this changed everything for me)
YO LA TENGO : 'Autumn Sweater'
JOHN FAHEY : 'Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker' (word to Bill)
CLUE TO KALO : 'One Way, It's Every Way' (what more can I say...)
LITTERTHUGZ : 'T.A.B.L.A.M.F.C.B.'
TIM DOG : 'Fuck Compton' (the ONLY beef track you'll ever need)
PAPA M : 'Plastic Energy Man'
CUL DE SAC : 'The Portland Cement Factory In Monolith, California' (the spirit of John Fahey in effect)
PALACE MUSIC : 'Work Hard/Play Hard'
CAN : 'I'm So Green'
STARS OF THE LID : 'Requiem For Dying Mothers' (Parts 1 & 2)
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS : 'Time To Rock Our Shit' (summons up a whole year for me)
BUDDY MILES : 'My Chant' (word to pops, always)
TROUBLENECK BROTHERS : 'Back To The Hip Hop'
DJ BABU : 'Comprehension' (one of the best mixtapes ever)
DJ MELO-D : 'The Turnfable' (so, so influential)
ICE T : 'Colors' (straight up cold blooded drum machine ruggedness)
BOARDS OF CANADA : 'Turquiose Hexagon Sun'
...and a whole gang of others, of course. It don't stop.
2001, Akira, Amelie, American Movie,
Andromeda Strain, Animal Farm, A Scanner Darkly, Assault On Precint 13 (original, not the cover version), Big Lebowski, Born Into This, Burden Of Dreams, Clerks, Coffee & Cigarettes, Dark Star, Derailroaded, Dig!, Down By Law, Eraserhead (Anyone catch the live show with Buck 65 providing the score live on turntables at the ICA in 2004? Damn, that was powerful), Eternal Sunshine..., Factotum, Fear Of A Black Hat (better than CB4 but CB4 still deserves props), Fist Of The North Star, Fitzcarraldo, Flaming Lips : 'Fearless Freaks', Friends Forever, Fugazi : 'Instrument', Fantastic Planet, Ghost World, Hedgehog In The Fog, The Hot Rock (the soundtrack is ILL), Howl's Moving Castle, The Kid Stays In The Picture, Lost Book Found, M, Meet John Doe, Metropolis, Minutemen : 'We Jam Econo', My Best Fiend, Night On Earth, basically anything by Yuri Norstein, Old Boy, Orphanage, Pans Labyrinth, Paradise Lost, Princess Mononoke, Public Domain, Punishment Park, Return Of The Living Dead/Day Of The Dead/Evil Dead 2 (back in the day classics - George Romero science), Rollercoaster, Rushmore, Sage Francis : 'Life Is Easy', Search For Animal Chin, Shogun Assassin, Short Cuts, Silent Running, Some Kind Of Monster, Space Is The Place, Spellbound, Spinal Tap, Spirited Away, The Straight Story, Stripes, Taking Of The Pelham 123, Tale Of Tales (an unbelievable 30 minute Russian animation), They Live, TV Junkie, Warriors, Wheels Of Fire
Some Jem Cohen science for the dome.
The Wire goddammit (oh indeed), Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm - I'm a strong advocate of all things Larry David, Dave Chapelle, Fat Albert DVDs, Question Time, Extras, Sopranos, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost, Arrested Developement, Futurama, Simpsons (a gang of Simpsons, since wayback in the early years), Family Guy, Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends, Channel 4 News... But don't get me started on top 100 list shows. Please. I don't watch a whole gang of television to be honest but it's okay now and again.
The Jimmy Corrigan book by Chris Ware is just incredible. It's a graphic novel but the attention to detail, emotion and overall style is beautiful. You need to peep it if you get a chance.
Other than that though, The Monkeywrench Gang, Perfume, Being Dead, Northern Lights, Innocent When You Dream (Tom Waits interviews), A Confederacy Of Dunces, Lake Wobegone Days and all Garrison Keillor, We Need To Talk About Kevin (I finished it Soph!), Carter Beats The Devil, Flatland, Vernon (God) Little, Americana, The Human Stain, The White City, The Periodic Table and hecka Bill Bryson - Bill's the homie. I have a lot of time for Bill Bryson. John Updike is also running things.
Bonnie Prince Billy. Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips. And my pops too.