Four Steps to Purchasing Renaissance from Q-Tip on iTunes.

**had to buy the album on my desktop because my laptop didn’t have enough room to download it
**had to get the latest version of iTunes before I could download it because it comes with some super-cool video
**had to agree to the terms of service (luckily I didn’t have to read it
**had to verify that I really wanted to buy it, twice. Answer, yes, YES!!!

But for Q-Tip, it’s worth it. This man has the skills. I’ve been a Q-tip fan as early as Groove is in the Heart.

and I FREAKED over People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. (I couldn’t embed the I Left My Wallet in El Segundo video but it is available on YouTube for viewing).

I still play that CD regularly. In fact, It was an integral part of my Thanksgiving festivities this year. If you want to feel good, groove out and even get a little bit of soul ‘food’, buy Renaissance by Q-Tip on iTunes.

It’s been 9 years since he released his last solo album, Amplified.

The history of Q-Tip and Renaissance is at Wikipedia.

I’m always thinking about what I learned by being involved in the punk movement early in it’s development.

I have first hand experience seeing everyday blokes get high in the garage in the daytime and stand on stage in the night time. I admired their determination and was entertained by their music but I didn’t really idolize them because I knew they were the same dudes who were dope sick in the morning and threw their smelly socks on the floor.

Musicians are just people who are really creative and determined and somehow, when you get four guys together with ideas for songs they can make it happen eventually…if they can learn to work together somehow. The bands that didn’t make it were mainly the ones who fought, got too heavy into drugs or didn’t have a common vision (which usually caused the fights).

Stay Positive by Hold Steady pretty much sums up my feelings about the underground music scene and life in general. So, I thought I’d share. Listen to a clip or buy it on iTunes.

Read Lyrics to Stay Positive by The Hold Steady

I’ve got a lot of old friends that’re getting back in touch
and it’s a pretty good feeling yea it feels pretty good
I get a lot of double takes when I’m coming around the corners
and its mostly pretty nice its mostly pretty alright
’cause most kids give me credit for being down with it
when it was back in the day
back when things were way different
when the Youth of Today and the early Seven Seconds
taught me some of life’s most valuable lessons

There’s gonna come a time when the scene’ll seem less sunny
it’ll probably get druggy and the kids’ll seem too skinny
there’s gonna come a time when she’s gonna have to go
with whoever’s gonna get her the highest
there’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders
forget where they differ and get ‘big picture’

cause the kids at their shows, they’ll have kids of their own
the sing-a-long songs’ll be our scriptures

We gotta stay positive
We gotta stay positive
We gotta stay positive
We gotta stay positive

Musical Interlude

When the chaperone crowned us the king and the queen
I knew that we’d arrived at a unified scene
and all those little lambs from my dreams
well they were there too

’cause its one thing to start it with a positive jam
and its another thing to see it all through

and we couldn’t of even done this if it wasn’t for you
We gotta stay positive
We gotta stay positive
We gotta stay positive

P.S. This is why I want everyone to sign the petition to keep punk rock Fungus 53 on XM Radio. Please sign it and share this blog with your friends.

Live Your Life by T.I. Lyrics

What you need to do is be thankful for the life that you got.
You know what I’m sayin’.
Stop lookin’ at what you ain’t got
and start bein’ thankful for what you do got.
Let’s give it to ‘em baby girl.

You’re gonna be a shining star
With fancy clothes and fancy ca-ars
And then you’ll see, you’re gonna go far
‘Cause everyone knows who you a-are

So live your life (ay), ay ay ay
Instead of chasing that paper
Just live your life (oh), ay ay ay
Ain’t got no time for no haters

Just live your life (ay), ay ay ay
No telling where it’ll take ya
Just live your life (oh), ay ay ay
‘Cause I’m a paper chaser

Just living my life (ay), my life (oh), my life (ay), my life (oh)
Just living my life (ay), my life (oh), my life (ay), my life (oh)

Never mind what haters say, ignore ‘em ’til they fade away
Amazing they ungrateful after all the game I gave away
Safe to say I paved the way for you cats to get paid today
You’d still be wasting days away, now had I never saved the day

Consider them my protégé, homage I think they should pay
Instead of being gracious they violate in a major way
I never been a hater still I love them in a crazy way
Some say they sold yay and no they couldn’t get work on Labor day

It ain’t that they black or white, it has an area the shade of grey
I’m west side anyway, even if I left today and stayed away
Some move away to make a way, not move away ’cause they afraid
I brought back to the hood and all you ever did was take away

I pray for patience but they make me want to melt their face away
Like I once made them spray, now I could make ‘em put the K’s away
Been thugging all my life, can’t say I don’t deserve to take a break
You would rather see me catch a case and watch my future fade away

You’re gonna be a shining star
With fancy clothes and fancy ca-ars
And then you’ll see, you’re gonna go far
‘Cause everyone knows who you a-are

So live your life (ay), ay ay ay
Instead of chasing that paper
Just live your life (oh), ay ay ay
Ain’t got no time for no haters

Just live your life (ay), ay ay ay
No telling where it’ll take ya
Just live your life (oh), ay ay ay
‘Cause I’m a paper chaser

I’m the opposite of moderate
Immaculately polished with the spirit of a hustler and the swagger of a college kid
Allergic to the counterfeit, impartial to the politics
Articulate but still I’ll grab a nigga by the collar quick

Whoever having problems with their record sales just holla T.I.P.
If that don’t work and all else fails then turn around and follow T.I.P.
I got love for the game but ay I’m not in love with all of it
Could do without the fame and rappers nowadays are comedy

The hooting and the hollering, back and forth with the arguing
Where you from, who you know, what you make and what kind of car you in
Seems as though you lost sight of what’s important when depositing
Them checks into your bank account and you up out of poverty

Your values is in disarray, prioritizing horribly
Unhappy with the riches ’cause you piss poor morally
Ignoring all prior advice and fore warning
And we mighty full of ourselves all of a sudden, aren’t we?

You’re gonna be a shining star
With fancy clothes and fancy ca-ars
And then you’ll see, you’re gonna go far
‘Cause everyone knows who you a-are

So live your life (ay), ay ay ay
Instead of chasing that paper
Just live your life (oh), ay ay ay
Ain’t got no time for no haters

Just live your life (ay), ay ay ay
No telling where it’ll take ya
Just live your life (oh), ay ay ay
‘Cause I’m a paper chaser

Just living my life (ay), my life (oh), my life (ay), my life (oh)
Just living my life (ay), my life (oh), my life (ay), my life (oh)

So live your life!

Buy Live Your Life by T.I. on iTunes

The song of the week is brought to you by Michael Zampelli, former owner of Southern California punk rock icon, Zed Records. For almost 30 years, this mecca of punk and alternative music kept Southern California enthusiasts adequately supplied with unique, original and innovative music.

Currently, Zampelli manages a hockey fan message boards at www.letsgokings.com with thousands of subscribers. He takes photos for the LAist and the LA Derby Dolls. Each week he will contribute a song with a theme, a message and a beat. Enjoy and stay tuned.

Buy Fatboy Slim on iTunes

Rinkrat is the former owner of Southern California punk rock icon, Zed Records in Long Beach. He currently manages a hockey fan message board at www.letsgokings.com with thousands of subscribers. He takes photos for the LAist and the LA Derby Dolls. Each week he will contribute a song with a theme, a message and a beat. Enjoy and stay tuned.

Their album, Fight with Tools is a rousing piece of lyrical art woven from bits of rock and roll, hip hop and alternative rock. A violin floats in and out drawing memories of American Heritage stories. I hear influences ranging from Rage Against the Machine to Black Eyed Peas to Bauhaus. The lyrics are hauntingly familiar. These are the words that appear in classic books and great songs in every genre since music began.

The sound is edgy enough to be cool and Pop enough to be accessible. I can imagine a seven-year-old and her mother rockin’ this in an SUV or a 60-year-old hippie smoking a joint and saying “this is the way it used to be.” One of their songs might end up being played at halftime during the Super Bowl some day. Even though I’m only posting Anne Braden here, I highly encourage you to go to their MySpace or their website and listen to more. You can read the lyrics on-line if you click on this link.

Even though this isn’t really a video, you can click play button below to hear the song.

If that doesn’t work, try clicking play here. Then, turn up the speakers and enjoy.

Buy Flobots on iTunes

Rinkrat is the former owner of Southern California punk rock icon, Zed Records in Long Beach. He currently manages a hockey fan message board at www.letsgokings.com with thousands of subscribers. He takes photos for the LAist and the LA Derby Dolls. Each week he will contribute a song with a theme, a message and a beat. Enjoy and stay tuned.

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I wound down from my skating workout listening to Get a Shot of the Refrigerator by Stereolab off of Fab Four Suture. My cool down consisted of the “drunken sailor” drill all the way down First Street and up Orizaba to Broadway. Drunken sailor is when you cross one leg over the other and try to keep moving forward without falling down.

Prior to cool down I skated and danced my little heart out on the Long Beach Boardwalk listening to the following tunes: (all links go to iTunes)

Banquet by Bloc Party off of Promo Only Canada Modern Rock Radio
Tuning In by Groove Armada off of Love Box [UK]
Home of the Brave by Naked Raygun off of All Rise
Halfway Home (feat. Blackalicious) by DJ Shadow off In Tune and On Time
Potential Rapist by Naked Raygun off Basement Screams
Looking Down the Barrell of a Gun by The Beastie Boys of of Paul’s Boutique
Yeah by the Heavy Off the Richter compilation
The Girls Say by Groove Armada off Soundboy Rock

Rinkrat points out a couple of nuances of the song: the distinct New Order influence and the singer’s choice to emphasize the term “Knowotimean”? He said that by using that term she earned street credibility because it was common slang in England at the time this song was recorded.

I can’t help but notice the Buffalo Girls sample that repeats itself continuously throughout the song. The producer of this track utilized an broad cross-section of some of the coolest elements of 80’s “new wave” music. Specific origins and timelines elude me but clearly Michael Jackson, Boy George, and Salt N’ Peppa come to mind when I hear this tune.

Because I cannot identify all the pieces of this song, I’m drawn to listen to it over and over again until I figure it all out. In my opinion, the choice to intergrate samples from numerous genres weaves a story of unity that is missing in much of the popular music today.

Another interesting tidbit: Neneh Cherry’s grandfather is Don Cherry (AKA Donald Eugene Cherry), a jazz musician born in 1938 and raised in Los Angeles. Cherry died from hepatitis.

Click play, turn up the speakers and enjoy. I recommend that you listen to this song a minumum of 3 times so you can catch some of the subtleties that make this a great tune. One of the things I love about Hip Hop is how it weaves several layers of one story into a 3-5 minute song. True Hip Hop artists take you on a journey and that’s what this song does if you pay very close attention and understand the connections.

Listen…or, watch the video:

Buy Neneh Cherry on iTunes

Rinkrat is the former owner of Southern California punk rock icon, Zed Records in Long Beach. He currently manages a hockey fan message board at www.letsgokings.com with thousands of subscribers. He takes photos for the LAist and the LA Derby Dolls. Each week he will contribute a song with a theme, a message and a beat. Enjoy and stay tuned.

I’m telling you, Jaiya Figueras is a nice guy but he doesn’t hold back on unleashing a little brutality here and there during our Bluff Park workouts. Although I’m not in the video on this page, you can go to the Your Next Victory Website to see me working out in all my pinkness.

Jaiya is the kind of guy who will smile wide and give you a high five while encouraging you to do one more push up, run a little faster or squat a little lower. He will not take no for an answer and he laughs off most excuses for lack of performance then says, “keep going.”

I love Jaiya and what his workouts do for my body and mind but sometimes I need a little music to help me endure and to take my mind off the fact that I’m just about ready to belch, throw up or give up.

Here are the songs I listened to today while we did things like moutain climbers, Spiderman crawls, tree hand stands and tug-of-war.

Links go to iTunes

Assasinator by Meat Beat Manifesto off of Subliminal Sandwich
Bang for the Buck by Ugly Duckling off of Bang for the Buck
Gear by Naked Raygun off of Throb Throb
Express Yourself by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Renegades of Funk (The Crystal Method Remix) by Rage Against the Machine off of 2002 – Community Service
Gone Featuring Consequence & Cam’Ron by Kanye West off of Late Registration
Think by James Brown off CD of JB II
Rhythm Sticks by Blackalicious off of The Craft
Dutchmen by Rudimentary Peni off Death Church
19-2000 by Gorillaz off Gorillaz UK
The Suit by Public Image Ltd. off of Second Edition
That’s What You Always Say by the Dream Syndicate off of The Days of Wine and Roses
Red Alert by Squad off of Punk Rock Rarities
Line Up by Elastica off of the Mallrats soundtrack
Planet Rock (Swordfish Mix) by Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force off of the Swordfish soundtrack
All Lifestyles by The Beastie Boys off of To the 5 Boroughs
My Boy Lollipop by Millie Small off of AM Gold – Mid 60’s
Climax (Girl Shit) by Slum Village off of Fantastic Volume 2
It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop by the Dead Prez of off Let’s Get Free
Stick ‘Em Up by the Beastie Boys off Dr. Numbers Presents Still Ill
Root Down by the Beastie Boys off of Root Down
Transition by The Beastie Boys off of The IN Sound from Way Out
No Remorse (I Wanna Die) by Slayer and Atari Teen off of the Spawn soundtrack

Some of these songs I listened to while I sat in a camp chair under an awning for 20 minutes or so, just trying to get my bearings. Even though the workouts are brutal, the music transports me back to the days when I rode my bike everywhere (because I didn’t have a car) and then went to shows at night and slammed/danced to music until the wee hours of the morning. When I’m in that mode, working out is a privledge and a joy, not a chore.

I look forward to becoming stronger and more agile as time progresses. This is definitely a shift from the “I’m too old for this” thoughts I had when I first started these intense workouts. In fact, one of the best benefits of working out with Jaiya is the realization that my limiting, fearful thoughts are nothing more than mental chatter because the truth is, I can do it and I’m getting better all the time.