This is the part where I list a bunch of pop cultural references that I have carefully constructed so that y'all think I'm "hip" or "with it." They are mostly esoteric, so only the people I already think are "down" will know what the hell I'm talking about, plus a few that are well-known and lame (probably from my childhood) to show that I don't take myself too seriously. Is that about right?
As I indicated above, I abhor the compilation of these musical lists as they are commonly used by simpletons to identify like, or as some sort of vacuous hipster obscurity challenge. However, music is far to important for this field not to be acknowledged by me. I hope I have found a middle ground by linking a few examples of what I consider important, though this collection is by no means conclusive.GZA comes first, providing the context through which the rest is to be understood.Switching gears rather abruptly, RFTC will give you a good idea of what rock-n-roll should sound like, in my estimation.Yes, Miles was a great American, and is that a young Herbie Hancock on the piano?Grand Wizard Theodore demonstrates techniques that we cannot do. Sadly, most djs and--particularly--audiences have no interest in them anymore.Fuck MIA, this is the verse to check for.The Seed : an example of a perfect song on a terrible album.When I come around, homeboy watch your nugget . A master on the beat-down, my style's rugged. I'm the type of nerd who has doubles of the sample.A live set from the Surfer Rosa tour.Automator, Casual, Del, A-Plus : Finest in the West.Welcome to the A .Welcome to *my* A . Filmed on location at Dumpsterdive.Sly .The lovely Weymouth sisters .Play me in the winter, play me in the summer, play me in the autumn, any order .And now, let us take a moment to fucking ROCK OUT. Perhaps the best to ever do it: X , andthe Damned hold up their end nicely.The Devil made me do it. Attention record nerds! this guy will blow your gourd. New adds 7/27/07: Mr. Smith is why, when you hear the Hammond B3 organ, you think "jazz." Also, Donald Bailey's drumming is absolutely brilliant.Otis and Carla .The intro is two minutes long, a bit hard to take in the video format separate from the album's full program, but if you hang in there, Tortoise is a rewarding listen.Youuu-Deee! .Donuts , anyone?I Can't Wait !***New add 8/28: for anyone who didn't grow up with exposure to punk or an understanding of the ethos that made it VITAL, this music and the commentary at the end is as succinct and smart a definition of it as I have ever found: respect to Fugazi