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 [...]
Entries Tagged as 'music'
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 · No Comments
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 [...]
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 · No Comments
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.
But [...]
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 · No Comments
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 · No Comments
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 · No Comments
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
“Superfly Snuka Jumping from the Turnbuckle”
January 19th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Looking to use some Amazon credit we scored over the holidays, we flirted with the idea of finally picking up an album that we’ve long coveted: Sean Price’s ultra-rare Donkey Sean Jr. mixtape, which features the oft-remixed (and eternally amazing) “60 Bar Dash.” Lo and behold, however, we’re not the only folks with such ideas [...]
Tags:economics·hip-hop·music·Sean Price
Slow Daze
January 18th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Hopefully y’all are far away from the screen today, though we certainly know what it’s like to labor for a heartless boss who shrugs his shoulders at MLK Jr. Day. If you’re toiling for a paycheck today, please take a 2:42 respite to enjoy El Michaels Affair’s take on “C.R.E.A.M.” (above). Live version featuring Raekwon [...]
R.I.P. Teddy Bear
January 14th, 2010 · No Comments
This morning’s news that Teddy Pendergrass has passed on comes just months after we first started to discover his silky genius. For years, we considered Teddy Bear the epitome of old-person music, and rarely listened to the records of his that we’d somehow accumulated over the years. (When you’re a vinyl geek, you have a [...]
“You’re More False Than Dentures”
January 12th, 2010 · No Comments
We’re gonna use the khan’s prerogative to spend the rest of today on our ongoing Secret Major Project™. In our brief absence, please take a few seconds to check out Big Daddy Kane at his finest. While we may heartily disagree with his eschewment of escargot and the word “rendezvous,” we can scarcely deny that [...]
Tags:Big Daddy Kane·hip-hop·housekeeping·Michael Jackson·music
Mad Scramble
January 5th, 2010 · No Comments
We’re in the midst of trying to close two Wired pieces, including the gargantuan epic that took us out to Kenya last fall. More soon, honest—in the meantime, a sonic rarity worthy of your highly valued ears.
Hogmanay
December 31st, 2009 · 1 Comment
We were all set to do a last “Best of Oh Nine” installment on music, but events have intervened—namely a surprise blizzard here in Atlah, coupled with pressing Microkhan Jr. oversight duties. You can, of course, rifle through the sounds that echoed through our cranium in 2009 by checking out our “Music” tag; Lord knows [...]
Back from the Land of Shadows
December 22nd, 2009 · No Comments
Upon recently hearing the classic Super Cat track “Scalp Dem” on WeFunk, we were reminded of a curious incident in dancehall history: Super Cat’s resurrection from the dead.
Okay, perhaps it wasn’t quite as dramatic as alll that. But back in May of 1997, the wire services ran a story stating that Super Cat had been [...]
Tags:Cambodia·dancehall·Kate Webb·Michael Apted·music·religion·Super Cat·Vietnam War
For the Grand Empress Who Has Everything
December 21st, 2009 · 3 Comments
Perhaps you think our khanic nature means that we’re firm believers in Tengriism, and thus won’t be sitting around the Christmas tree come Friday morning. But that’s not the case at all—while we do have a soft spot for Umay, we’re also big on the holiday spirit. Christmas will be roundly celebrated up here in [...]
Tags:Christmas·Genghis Khan·hip-hop·holidays·housekeeping·music·Y'all So Stupid
Thanks for Your Patience
December 17th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Our pressing Wired deadline hits in exactly four hours for now, so we’re scrambling. Thanks for putting up with our relative lack of thoughtlessness these past few days—we’ve had to dedicate the bulk of our mental bandwidth to Kenya-related matters, for the good of the whole Microkhan crew. As we lean for the finish-line tape, [...]
Swamped With Kenya
December 15th, 2009 · No Comments
Pressing Wired deadline, so we’re checking out for a spell. Enjoy the above in our absence; we’ll return as soon as we sort out these monster edits.
Tags:hip-hop·housekeeping·music
The Tuxedo Years
December 10th, 2009 · 2 Comments
In our never-ending quest to improve Microkhan Jr.’s rudimentary dancing skills, we’ve recently had to call out the big gun—the oeuvre of the Godfather of Soul. In doing so, we stumbled across the gem above, apparently taken from one of Mr. Brown’s early television appearances (back when he treated the medium with far more seriousness). [...]
Tags:James Brown·music·R&B
“Stimulate Your Brain Like a Game of Yahtzee”
December 3rd, 2009 · No Comments
We’re just absolute suckers for any song that shouts out both Paul Newman and Rick Cerone. A highly recommended gem from the same Diamond D album that gave us the classic “Sally Got a One-Track Mind”.
Tags:Diamond D·hip-hop·music·Rick Cerone
Child of the Raves
December 1st, 2009 · 2 Comments
We’ve been thoroughly enjoying The A.V. Club’s week-long “Best of the ’00s” series, including today’s installment on top cinematic performances. The site’s writers certainly did the right thing by including Samantha Morton’s star turn in Morvern Callar, one of our favorite movies of all time. The ending sequence, shown above, never ceases to create a [...]
Tags:Lynne Ramsay·Morvern Callar·movies·music·Samantha Morton
The Surest Way to Our Heart(s)
November 19th, 2009 · No Comments
Want one of your tracks to someday be posted on Microkhan? As MF Doom so amply demonstrates above, there’s one surefire way to earn that honor: mention Snake Plissken in the very first verse.
“I Spray Like the Backside of a Skunk”
November 12th, 2009 · No Comments
The rest of our day looks certain to be divvied up between childcare and working on a major secret project, so let us leave you with the latest from Big Boi—yet another track we got turned on to by the Fresh Produce crew. We can barely understand a word that guest star Gucci Mane slurs [...]
