Out upon a limb

OK. After a week's silence I have returned. And with good news, no less. Thanks to the simply unrivaled networking skills of Bianca, I have landed a gig this Saturday. Should be a lot of fun and a bit of a challenge for me, since I'll be spinning...

punk and metal.

Yes, folks, I'll be lording over Lucky 13 in Brooklyn this Saturday night and spinning a genre I've never really done before. Sure, I've got tons of hardedge stuff, but this will be the first time I'll be throwing those kinds of tunes together in public. I'm psyched and a bit nervous, especially since a lot of the stuff I have (and love) is fairly obscure. To remedy this, I'm going on a music shopping spree either tonight or tomorrow. Lots of old metal: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, etc. Stuff I've always wanted to have but never had a serious reason to buy.

Halford says: "DJ Abstract rocks."


So, if you're in the mood to get your headbang on and you're fortunate enough to live in the New York area, stop by Lucky 13 and soak up some tunes, courtesy of your's truly.

Fist in the air, proud to be black:

The Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland
(also simply unrivaled)

Opeth - Blackwater Park
(imagine if Extreme had balls and was any good)

Bad Brains - Bad Brains
(when you need your pay to cum)

Enduser - The End
(mash master teams up with The Panacea, Datach'i, Submerged, and R. Devine)

The Beastie Boys - Bits Of The Boroughs
(selected tracks from Mike F)

Oops

I think perhaps the most compelling argument against the death penalty (besides the whole "morally wrong" aspect of it) is the fact that you can't undo it once you've done it. You could ask Ruben Cantu about this, but Texas executed him in 1993. Chalk another one up for the Lone Star State.

But it turns out that Cantu was innocent.

Oops.

He was executed for the murder of Pedro Gomez, but Juan Moreno, the eye witness in the case, has since recanted his story, saying he lied about Cantu because of police pressure. Apparently Cantu had gotten into a bar fight and shot a cop months after the Gomez murder. He was never charged for this shooting, but a fellow officer and friend of the wounded cop "felt compelled" to reopen the Gomez case and he implicated Cantu.

Despite having seen photos of Cantu on three different occasions where he did not identify him, Moreno finally indicated that Cantu was indeed the shooter in the Gomez case. The fact that he'd been taken into the police station and was an illegal immigrant at the time probably had nothing to do with this.

Yeah. Right.

So Cantu was executed for a murder that he did not actually commit. The eye witness in the case was pressured by the police into condemning this guy to death. Bet you he doesn't sleep too well.

No longer with us.


This is just one example of what can happen with the death penalty. How many other innocent people have been killed for crimes they did not commit? We'll probably never know.

Just pray it's never you.

Funeral songs:

Various - Spreading The Virus
(better an infinity of open sewers than a pinpoint of censorship)

Various - DJ Abstract 11: The Headcrush Party
(roaring out of the gates and into your face)

Cranes - Particles & Waves
(delicate and pure)

Redman - Doc's Da Name 2000
(indelicate and impure)

Scorn - Greetings From Birmingham
(buzz buzz beat beat bang)

Not in touch

I'm sure it comes to no one as a surprise that GW wants to keep US soldiers in Iraq until "we have achieved the victory our brave troops have fought for."

And what victory would that be? Free elections? Had those. The establishment of a democratically elected government? Tried that, but everybody kept dying.

Guess what, George. It's not working.

In light of the continued crumbling of support for the war, Dumbya of course played the patriot card, saying, "...there are some who say that the sacrifice is too great, and they urge us to set a date for withdrawal before we have completed our mission. Those who are in the fight know better."

Those who are in the fight, huh? When was the last time you got shot at, Georgie? Or even picked up a gun that you weren't going to aim at some unfortunate duck? You've never been a soldier, so shut the fuck up. How could you possibly know what they think? I certainly don't, but I can't imagine the growing number of them who come back from Iraq on leave and then plead not to return is a good indication of how much they like being there or how "important" it is that they think they stay.

Another favorite line of Big George: "As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."

So far the only way our troops have been "standing down" is when they get shot or blown up. So far, over 2000 of them have "stood down" and not gotten back up. This is not to mention the thousands who can't stand up because they don't have legs any more.

"See ya, guys. You're all gonna die."


In his speech in South Korea, the Prez also once again justified all our actions by pointing to 9/11. After all, what's a presidential address without some spicy rendition of the Wolfowitz doctrine? "We will not wait to be attacked again. We will not rest or tire until the war on terror is won."

How do you win the war on terror?

It's an impossible task. For every country we try to democratize, there will be people who feel threatened by what they perceive as American imperialism (justifiably so, I think). And guess what these people decide to do?

They become terrorists.

If anything, our "war on terror" has created more of these guys. For each high profile arrest or (more often) killing of one of the bad guys, we make martyrs. Boom! Instant street cred and posthumous recruiting power.

Dumbya also spouted, "So long as I am commander-in-chief, our strategy in Iraq will be driven by the sober judgment of our military commanders on the ground." However, according to CNN, a top U.S. commander in Iraq has already submitted a plan to the Pentagon for withdrawing troops.

Guess George didn't get the memo.

Meanwhile, in a mealy-mouthed attempt to make House liberals look bad, Republicans forced a vote on Friday on immediately withdraw troops from Iraq. Sneaky bastards. Essentially they were forcing Democrats to look bad: Either support a withdrawal that Republicans would then condemn as heedless or oppose it and anger those in support of putting things to an end in Iraq. How wonderfully underhanded.

Then again, look who their leader is: the guy that lied to get us there in the first place.

'Cause I'm so "alternative":

Miles Davis - Portraits Of Spain
(silky)

Reign - Embrace
(anti-silky)

KRS-One - I Got Next
(the Teacher and guests)

Tricky - Maxinquaye
(and when we funk, we'll hear beats)

Abstract Audio Systems - SomeNothing
(still sounding primitive, but I loves it)

Aggro baby

I went to see Bianca go-go at Lucky 13 in Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. A friend of hers runs a punk/metal night there. I got there a bit early to check out the DJ and was fairly impressed, but was more pleased by his selection than his mixing abilities.

And this got me thinking... Why not me?

Unfortunately, my computer has been in pieces the last couple of weeks as I upgrade to Windows XP Professional. Because of the memory demands of XP Prof, I had to buy a shitload of more memory, too. Well, I finally installed it last night and in celebration of my newly reborn machine, I cut myself a punk/metal demo. So, without further a-duh, may I present DJ Abstract 11: The Headcrush Party. Yes, folks, almost sixty minutes of punk, grindcore, black metal, and general evil. Here be the tracklisting:

01 Immortal - Tyrants
02 Pantera - Shedding Skin
03 Big Black - Kerosene
04 Dead Kennedys - Nazi Punks Fuck Off
05 Nasum - Resistance
06 The Acacia Strain - Brown Noise
07 Type O Negative - Summer Breeze
08 Dimmu Borgir - Allegiance
09 The Nefilim - Pazuzu (Black Rain)
10 Therapy? - Teethgrinder
11 Fugazi - Repeater
12 Bad Brains - Pay To Cum
13 Still Stupid - Mickey Christ
14 The Stains - John Wayne Was A Nazi
15 Black Flag - Black Coffee
16 G.G. Allin - You Hate Me & I Hate You (Public Animal #1)



It was an absolute ball throwing this together, although I gotta say I may have freaked out the cat a bit with my constant flailing about and guttural roaring. Don't get me wrong... Boopo loves the hardcore. Whenever I'm playing something extremely fast and aggressive, he'll curl up on the couch right next to the speaker. However, I think he's been caught under foot too many times when I've been lost in pogo-ing bliss, so he's starting to exercise some caution.



I tried to show a lot of diversity in this mix, so I jumped from style to style fairly quickly. I'm pretty sure the flow works well, but we'll see. I'll be delivering it to Lucky 13 next time Bianca does her thing there.

I would dance naked to:

DJ? Acucrack - Killing Mobius
(not as dancey as some of their other stuff; more experimental)

Various - Faster And Louder: Hardcore Punk
(culled a couple of tracks for the aforementioned comp)

Joseph Arthur - Come To Where I'm From
(late nights coming home on the subway)

Godflesh - Messiah
(four tracks plus four dubs equals eight gods)

Onyx - Bacdafucup
(promoting peace, tolerance, and positive gender roles since 1993...)

Gettin' organized

Well, today is the last day before the craziness begins; the calm before the storm, as it were. Here's what's on tap.

Friday afternoon, Lisa (my sister) and Tom (her fiancé) arrive in Newark airport slightly after 5 o'clock. They'll take the shuttle into NYC and meet me at Penn Station. Mom then arrives via Amtrak slightly after 6:30, also at Penn Station. Coordinating all this is going to be... fun.

Once I've gathered the motley crew together, I've got to feed them and get them to bed. Then it's off to the Lucky Cat for Aftershock, a new night run by the Society Cleaners guys. This is the revamped version of Wrecking Ball, where I saw Enduser a while back. I'm going to drop off a demo for them in hopes they'll let me spin there at some point.

Saturday will also be activity filled. I'm taking everybody to see the new production of Sweeney Todd that afternoon. Unfortunately, Lisa and Tom need to leave right after the show, as they need to catch a flight back to Atlanta at 7:45. Then I've got to get Mom back to the house. Then I gotta get prepped for Contempt and get there by about 9:30.

(Don’t I kinda sound like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas?)

Anyway, after stumbling home probably around 5ish on Sunday morning, I've got to get up at some point and get Mom to the train at 3 that afternoon. Then, rumor has it that there's a great show at Tonic that night. I'm gonna do my best to make that.

Then it's off to work again on Monday, followed by Front 242 playing Irving Plaza that night. Then another great show at Rothko on Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday.

Man, I'm gonna die. But die happy...

In other organization news, the nice people at MBNA have agreed to lend me $50k. This is nice, as I'll be able to consolidate all my debt and still have some left over to sock away somewhere. The interest rate is not the greatest, but I've had worse. It will also be nice to have just one payment a month to worry about. Fewer things to keep track of is always nice.

Scrapping off the guardrails of the information superhighway in my head:

Joy Division - Still
(bleak, bleaker, bleakest)

Various - Robots Volume 1
(a disc full of Kraftwerk-ian musick)

Sofa Surfers - See The Light
(I and I like da rubadub stylee)

Supreme Beings Of Leisure - Supreme Beings Of Leisure
(everybody lounge)

Dead Kennedys - Bedtime For Democracy
(the last real DK release)

Who are we?

It's gotten to the point where I'm almost afraid to surf to CNN.

Every day there's new stories about some madness that the US is engaged in. Torture, secret prisons, dropping white phosphorous on people, our soldiers dying in a pointless war, the government continuing to lie about pretty much everything... It just goes on and on.

And the bitch of it? I love this country. There's nowhere else I'd rather live and I count myself lucky to have been born here. There is no way I'd be living the life I lead if I hadn't been.

But everything seems out of control.

I'm not a big believer in fear, but doesn't it seem like living here is getting scarier? Everybody hates us and we certainly continue to give them good reasons to. We've got a "might makes right, love it or leave it, America's way or the die way" president behind the wheel and a bunch of manifest destiny Wolfowitz doctrine neocons in the back seat.

P. Wolfie: Architect of Doom


To quote somebody (I don't remember who), "Travel tip for Americans when traveling abroad: Say you're Canadian."

Add to this our internal crumblings. Rising deficit, Patriot Acts that are eroding our civil rights, right wing Supreme Court justices and nominees... It's like everything is falling apart.

God's pissed at us too. Hurricanes, floods. Not quite biblical, but well on the way...



There's really no point to this post. I've got no insightful suggestions or solutions. It just seems to me that everything is going to hell in a hat basket (BTW, when was the last time you actually saw a hat basket?) and that's just the way things are.

I just hope at some point the country wakes up and sees that who we are isn't who we should be.

Alternate nation anthems:

Mad Professor - Under The Spell Of Dub
(from the organic to the robotronic)

Horchata/Ocosi - 2
(dark, slippery beats and spookiness)

Bowery Electric - Lushlife
(not Coltrane, but he'd probably like it anyway)

Billie Holiday - The Legacy 1933-1958
(no matter how bad it gets, Billie had it worse)

Godflesh - Songs OF Love And Hate
(get crushed like a roach)

Clip

Crumbling concrete surrounding comfort
Able conversation within confines
Subtle light and shadowed corners
Emphasizing closeness and inferred distance
Here we are and where are we going?

Chunes:

Bajofondo Tango Club - Bajofondo Tango Club
(house + tango = hango?)

Gotan Project - La Revancha Del Tango
(more hango)

Various - DJ Abstract 9: The Gossamer Mix
(glitch clip pop blip)

The Nefilim - Zoon
(the breaking of bodies and spirits)

Rachel Kann - Ptolemaic Complex
(she knows this)

Vitreous humour is tasty

Do you ever have one of those days where it's damn near impossible to keep your temper in check? Today is one of those days. Right now I'm in the mood to stab somebody in the eye with a stick.

Really hard.

The past week here at work has been particularly trying due to the interference of someone who isn't even part of my team. This woman (named Theresa, although I like to call her "fucking bitch") has been making promises to people regarding reports we generate. Unfortunately, she hasn't been telling us about these promises until the last minute. Add to that the fact that she keeps changing what she wants to see and you've got a recipe for serious eye-stabbage.

Theresa insists that the reports are now "a week late", even though the initial schedule was to have them out yesterday. This we did, but because of her never ending changes, we have to keep regenerating the results.

I should have been a carpenter like my father.

Being at the beck and call of people who are stupid and have no ethics sucks. Theresa is pulling all this bullshit because her team is way behind in the effort we've been driving. She's trying to fudge the numbers so she doesn't look bad.

Stab stab stab. Look! I've got eye goo on my suit!



Life would be so much easier if people learned to work together and, more importantly, FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY WANT BEFORE THEY ASK FOR IT!

End rant.

Blasting in my headphones as I set fire to your house:

Meat Beat Manifesto - At The Center
(Jack jazzes like a sumbitch)

KRS-One - Return Of The Boom Bap
(come to the Teacher and get served)

Nasum - Inhale/Exhale
(38 tracks of kick you in the head)

Mortician - Hacked Up For Barbeque/Zombie Apocalypse
(make sure you're properly dead before you start)

Hardfloor - TB Resuscitation
(they are, in fact, the true lords of acid)

A country divided

Yesterday, two very different parts of the country once again showed what a divided nation we are.

Voters in Texas voted overwhelmingly in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. Can't say I'm remotely surprised by this. After all, the Lone Star State is presently one of the most conservative states in our fragile union. Besides, you know how those cowboys feel about "them faggots".

Conversely, voters in Maine nixed an attempt by that state's conservatives to repeal a law that fights discrimination against gays and lesbians. This also comes as no surprise, as Maine has been solidly liberal since the 1960s (despite the sinister presence of Kennebunkport).

Now, I could go off about how one of the problems with being such a large country is the resultant number of stupid people (hello, Texas; no, Gio, I don't mean you), but I won't. I'd just like to point out that we live in nation that is filled to the brim with differing opinions and it's damn near impossible to believe that one day we'll all see eye to eye.

Some folks want to continue to live in the 50s, I guess.

I have no solution to this problem and no doubt anything I say regarding how to combat this close-minded conservatism will sound like I'm high-horsing. Hell, just calling it "close-minded conservatism" pretty much proves that point. It just makes me angry that these types of attitudes continue to exist in the 21st century. You'd think we would have all evolved past petty bullshit like sexual orientation by now.

Oh, wait.

I forgot about the bible, the book that apparently tells all these people to hate homosexuals. In that case, I stand corrected. After all, it totally makes sense to follow ideas that were put forth over two thousand years ago.

Way to be current, folks.

Of course, blaming it on religion simply ignores the underlying reason: fear of anybody who’s not us. Gays if we’re straight, blacks if we’re white, etc. In short, seems to me a lot of us would prefer to live in a completely homogeneous society.

An aside to voters in Texas: homogeneous means "the same", not gay.

Further proof that I'm a queer-loving, pinko-commie liberal:

Tom Waits - Bad News Out Of A Pretty Mouth
(my attempt to compile all my favorite Waits tracks; ended up with 2 discs and lots of omissions)

LFO - Frequencies
(what is house? this is house)

Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back To Life
(all the subtlety of a shotgun blast to the head, but only half the calories)

Various - Bludgeoned
(assault and battery music lovingly compiled by Gio)

Dehumanize yourself PS

While researching the mayoral candidates, I came across this cute little poll.



I wonder how many people who voted "Yes" would change their minds if they woke up tomorrow looking Middle Eastern? It's all very well to say it's OK to torture people when chances are it aint' you that's going to be snagged for questioning. However, if you're walking around with dark skin and a beard, you might feel a tad different.

Don't let fear rob you of your humanity and compassion.

Shirkin'

Well, I've decided to shirk my civic duty and not vote today. Despite what Freddy Ferrer would like you to think, it's going to be a blowout here in New York City. Bloomberg is gonna crush this guy. Hell, Bloomberg spent about 10 times as much money on his campaign as Ferrer did, so you certainly couldn't avoid being exposed to Mikey's message.

I literally NEVER heard or saw an ad for Ferrer.

Not one.

Since I consider the mayoral race kind of a dogcatcher race (which I suppose I shouldn't), I never really bothered to look into either candidate very deeply. I feel kinda bad about that. I used to be a lot more interested. I supposed too many years of having my vote ignored has truly soured me toward the entire electoral process. After all, why vote when the end result is a forgone conclusion (Bloomberg vs Ferrer) or is simply irrelevant because the election will be stolen anyway (Bush vs Gore, Bush vs Kerry)?

I will continue to participate in national level elections, but as for anything else, I can't be bothered. I realize this is pretty stupid, given that I live in New York City and therefore am affected by the decisions made by the mayor, but so far, I've no real solid complaints. My life is very much as it was under Big Rudy, so if there's been major bad changes, I've been blissfully unaware.

Guess that makes me kinda useless.

My campaign song will be picked from one of the following:

Various - DJ Abstract 8: Black Eye Mix
(breakcore jungle mashup)

Various - DJ Abstract 9: The Gossamer Mix
(step up for some shade)

Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
(be a man, not a child)

Nasum - Various Deviances
(headcrush music)

Various - DTS Volume 3
(willin' to be chillin')

Freedom fries PS

Gotta love what French students think of Mickey D's.

Put a hanger on a fuckin stove...

OK. Bush was in Panama today and vehemently denied that US interrogators use torture. "There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again," Dumbya said. "So you bet we will aggressively pursue them but we will do so under the law... We do not torture."

Yeah. Right.

If that's the case, why has the White House been opposed to the Senate passing anti-torture legislation? Also, if we don't torture anybody, why is Cheney attempting to get the CIA an exemption from the law?

Then of couse there's the secret prisons we've been maintaining around the globe. Man, are we a bunch of hypocritical bastards. I'm no fan of torture, but if you're going to do it, fess up.

Pumped into terrorist holding cells:

Venetian Snares - Winnipeg Is A Frozen Shithole
(broken beat gabber, bitches)

Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Distasters/In God We Trust, Inc.
(punk ain't no religion, but if it was, this would be a book of the bible)

Beef Terminal - Anger Do Not Enter
(Matheson is god)

Ocosi - Dark Hop Fucking Sucks (Deluxe Version)
(twenty tracks of masterful mindfuckery)

Abstract Audio Systems - The Ivory EP
(this band sucks)

Plumbing the depths

I've gotta say that life kind of sucks right now. I've been really bummed out the last couple of days. I think it has a lot to do with the weather (it gets cold and dark really quickly around here lately) coupled with a general feeling of loneliness. I try not to bitch and complain too much about stuff, but it's been a rough time of late. I actually went to bed at 7:30 last night simply because it was better than staying awake.

That's kinda spooky.

I'm hoping things will be looking up soon. I'm hanging out with Rebecca tonight, which should be fun. I haven't seen her in quite awhile and perhaps she'll let me cry on her shoulder, as it were. I'm also anxious to see her new place (she and her boyfriend moved in together about a week ago) and catch up in general.

But I still I feel like I'm losing touch with people.

Again, this time of year is always tough for me. I fucking hate the fall. Everything is dying, the sun spends most of its time disappearing, and winter looms large on the horizon. Add to that the fact that November is my second least favorite month (February rules that particular spot) and you've got a recipe for suck.

Thea has also semi-disappeared. Normally when I call someone and leave them a message, I expect a call back or an email with a day or two. Not so in this case. She disappears for days at a time. However, just as I convince myself she's blowing me off, she pops up again. At this point, I’ve not seen or spoken with her in almost two weeks and only gotten two brief emails.

I do not understand this girl sometimes.

Of course this makes it sound as if there was a lot more going on between us than there really was. In truth, we've only hung out a couple of times and that's it. Still a friend thing, I guess; which is, of course, demoralizing. I rarely ask anybody out. This is only the second time in almost three years and this is the second time I've apparently come up short. It's frustrating and, as I said, demoralizing.

Man, do I sound like a whiny bitch.

Anyway, maybe I should just flee the country and go somewhere warm for awhile.

Maps of warmer climes:

Underworld - A Hundred Days Off
(premium dancefloor fodder)

Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants
(don't go dark on me now)

Death In Vegas - Dead Elvis
(gritty funky)

Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist
(Jello is still a god of punk)

Various - Immortalised
(3 disc retrospective from the metalmongers at Earache)