Issue Two : New Year Blues by John Book
Winter blues? Who cares, while half of the world suffers from the cold, the other half is enjoying the summer breeze.
New Year's Blues? Yep, I have them, and not because it's a new year. Yeah, it's 2001, the monolith will fall, big deal. What I care about is trying to play catch-up on all the music from 2000 I didn't buy. For the unaware, I run a mailing list called the U-WU, a Wu-Tang Clan mailing list. I posted my Top 10 favorite albums of the year, and not surprisingly there was no Wu, only Ghostface's solo album. I got an e-mail from someone who looked at my Top 10, my honorary mentions, and a late mention, and he says "what does it take for Common to get some respect? Why isn't he on your list?"
Truth is I didn't buy the album until last week. A music junkie like myself will go through hell to find that new release that'll blow them away, or that rare 45 with an inspirational beat, but it is impossible to hear everything. We, as music fans, know this. How can you buy that Jurassic 5 instrumental LP, or some 45's on Stones Throw, or get that Xen Cuts box, or the Soleside box, knowing that down the street a department store is about the close and they're getting rid of all of their inventory, including all those twelve inch square things with circles in them? It sucks.
I am a writer and I get a few freebies, but it's usually not what I want. And even when I do get something, it is never enough. Along with my other writing elsewhere, I like to help out other artists who are coming up. I'm no Bobbito or anything, but as someone who creates music as well (as Crut, check out MP3.com) I know how it is to get your music to be heard. Getting respect is another uphill battle, but getting it heard is most important. So I get demos or maybe a 12", and I'm happy. But you always want more. I order a mix tape from O-Dub. Great tape, I'm playing that shit in my car for weeks.
Yet I want more. I take a visit to Dusty Groove's website. Sometimes they have a lot of cool funk comps, but I prefer the originals when I can find them and when I can afford them. Then I see this beautiful woman, Monday Michiru. I do a search on the internet, finally locate some sound samples. Shit, how come I never knew about her? I find another page on he! r, see some pictures, and I say hey now, isn't this the lady who appeared in some photo shoot in a magazine that had that DJ Shadow interview where he was wearing a Timberland T-shirt? I dig through my crates and there it is, issue #3 of "On The One" and there she is, Miss Michiru. She looked good then, she looks good now. And the music? Brilliant. I then ponder how come an artist like her, and Coco Lee, can record brilliant music, how both of them do have American roots, and yet they cannot gain respect in the U.S.? Why is it easier for Americans to accept a white face singing soulfully, and not one with Asian features?
Why do I concern myself with this shit? I'm buying high quality Monday Michiru 12" singles and CD's with obi strips (gotta love those obi strips), and then I come across other names like Bird and Lisa Ono. When does it end? It's like hearing about Tabla Beat Science, and finding out there is another interesting album by a lady based in New York named Suphala, who plays a mean tabla and whose music is (at times) more interesting than what Bill Laswell is doing.
I'm writing this two days into the New Year, and I'm figuring out what to buy next. I save up, sell a lot of my old stuff on eBay, but you do a search and find that Kid N' Play or Jade 12" you always wanted. Why oh why? Then I calm down.
Is there an equivalent for us of the rich white guy who shells out $5000 a month on jazz box sets?
In the end, it's a journey I get into each and every time. I look forward to going home during my lunch break and seeing a few boxes with Priority Mail tape on them. I look forward to the weekend and going thrift store shopping, hearing the exact radio station ID each and every time I walk in to my local Goodwill. I crave it, and I live for it. It seemed that a lot of modern soul music has been uninspired, but last year saw a slight shift. The year began with "The Thong Song", it ended with "Bag Lady". More emphasis on soul, actual emotion rather than instant gratification. I love songs with the bounce, but I want something with groove. Will this filter through into hip hop? Will more DJ's and bedroom producers buy some instruments and try to experiment with musicianship? Someone get me a hi-hat, snare, and kickdrum. Now that George W. Bush is our new president, will this result in a throw back to the glory days of Ronald Reagan, when hip hop inspired some of the best music of our lives?
Yeah, I got the New Year Blues, but it's a good blues. Time to play catch up, and time to look forward to all the good music that is to come. It's a feeling of blues knowing that there isn't enough time or money to buy and hear them all, and not enough internet speed to jack the most secret FTP sites. But there is a lot to look forward to, including new albums from DJ Shadow, Ursula Rucker, Saul Williams, Black Thought, Ozomatli, Breakestra, all the side projects Prince Paul has been working on, and who knows what else. Either way, it will be another great year of listening, buying, discovering, and musical enjoyment.
Cheers to you and your dusty ways.