The Undertones! a majorly definative band in my middle school journey to musical maturity. strong, impassioned songs about the fundamental importantance of chocolate, twistin', male modeling, and girls. what more did i need to guide me through those turbulent years of spiritual development.
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

here be a cover! The Charming Snakes have owned my fucking week.
The Charming Snakes - Teenage Kut Out


"teenage kicks right through the night!"

Many of you will recall just last year when BB king payed a visit to the Norva, and those of you who know me probably remember my cantankerous saltyness after coming so close to being there, and missing it. My disapointment only grew after a friend of mine told me that this year, after 60+ years of consecutive tours, This Year was going to be his last tour Ever and he's not coming anywhere near VA. But! i did a little research, and turns out it's just the blues legend's last World tour. he will continue his live performances in the US. Bless this man. Eighty years old, king of his domain, and still plays the blues with that relentless passion. time has no apparent effect but to only make him more cherished and relevant than ever. with an average of 250 concerts a year, BB's obviously alive in a grateful world who can't get enough.

here's a cut from a more recent album, Makin' Love Is Good For You, released in 2000. just to show you how much soul he's still got.
BB King - I Got To Leave This Woman


+BB King & Eric Clapton - Three O'Clock Blues
damn, songs like this make me wish i drank whiskey and played piano.

Blogging has really been pretty lame lately. It's not you. ok, maybe it is you, but i'm not angry. i guess it's partly my fault. i've suffered extreme unmotivation, deinspiration and possibly even feelings of non-jubilation. until today, i've been pretty bummed. here's a conversation i had with myself in philosophy last week:
me: you ever have that daydream where there's an emergency and you have to leave immediatley but when you go to back out of the driveway...
myself:...babies?
me: yes! you can't back up so you try getting out and tossing them aside, but they just keep crawling back! what do you do?
myself: wake up in a sweat.
but it's gettin better. just today i've done my taxes, subscribed to Newsweek, and had a banana for breakfast. i feel so much better. to top it off i'm leaving my grocery pushin position at the Teet to be the much more respected and highly idolized 'produce guy'. oh how awesome this is gonna be. No more coupons, stinkin bosses, and VIC cards- just me, my produce homies, my produce knife and produce leather pouch, and the produce.

The Knife - We Share Our Mother’s Health this song is so awesome. i haven't bought it yet, but the albums kick ass too. thanks guava!

+ everyone should check out Black Balloon. His blog is better than mine.

Last week, i trucked it to Charlottesville to witness the living, breathing, loving beast that is Mogwai. This show was so unbelievably good [not to mention the stay overnight at a place with a vacant pool/jacuzzi, and bitchin cooked-to-order breakfast.] My friend and I got to the venue, after a relaxing swim, about 40 minutes early. To me, that was late, but we still ended up being the first ones in the door. I guess Mogwai fans prefer to stand on their toes and whip out their monocles. They opened with Auto Rock, the first track off the newest album, and had a nice mix of older and newer songs after that, but really, they could have played Rammstein and it still woulda been fuckin incredible.

folk death 95 - mp3

**mr. beast map this is the band's interactive tour diary where you can now find some photos i took at the show. just click Charlottesville. walla!

-For the record, who are you and where are you from?
Conscious The Renaisannce Man... Ha ha. Or just plain ol Conscious. I'm originally from Long Beach, Cali. I grew up between the Bronx & Harlem. Currently reside in theBronx.

-This is a prewritten interview, but what the hell, how are you doin Conscious?
I'm doin well for the most part I've been having a great year thus far. Right now I'm trynah lay low and get my self to 100%. I've been running around alot at night have a lil bit of a throat situation now. Lost my voice like twice in the course of 2 or so weeks.

-So, how'd you first get into hip-hop?
Hmmm... isn't it horrible when you ask someone a question and they can't answer. Well I'll say I really became totally immersed in it in like 98-99 of course before that I was listening to Tribe and Wu Tang during highschool but it was actually a few years after highschool that I really appreciated Hiphop for what it embodied. Listening to We Are Black Star and De La Da Stakes Is High, (My Favorite Hiphop Album to date) I basically was amazed by emcees spilling language on top of banging beats. One Day It'll All Make Sense was played until it was stolen. As was Extinction Agenda. I used to work in a theatre lighting shop before 2000 and everyday you'd hear Dr. Octagon blazing through half broken speakers.

-I'm actually headed to NYC for the first time in about a month, and I think most who haven't been there have this magical image of cultural explosion. What's the real hip hop scene in the nyc? How's it growing/expanding?
Currently, NYC isn't looking too great. We get a lot of folks that travel out here just to see where all this amazing stuff began. Folks from overseas sometimes literally think you're gonna see someone breakin in the middle of every street. I think it's cool to love all that. It's wonderful. But it's 2006. Time to evolve make forward movement. Unfortunately, New York is a town where we have an abundance of talent and an abundance of not so talented. Sad thing is though we have a lot of folks that want to be independent but aren't built to be that. Artists in general fall into like 3 basic catergories. Trynah get on. Talented with no business sense. Talented with business sense but no real team to push them forward. And then you have some katz that are all together and making forward movement. So you have 4 types actually.
There are individuals and groups attempting to reclaim some sorta control over our circuit. It's just gonna take a lot of work and persistance. Less crying about what's going on that they can't stand, more making things happen. The more we focus on what we can do and actually make steps towards doing it the better off we are and the faster we'll see apparant changes in the movement.

-Hip-hop in the mainstream today seems to be platinum albums, gold teeth, and rims- where's the counter-culture gone?
Back Underground.

-From my memories of high school lunch- kids are holding much hyped battles... the subject matter of which was never anything really wide open, just bust on the guy in front of you. Hip-hop is about togetherness, using your voice, and edgy-ness. Where'd all the hate-matter come from?
Ha ha Puffy created that term. Man, honestly I'm about making some good music so I won't even talk about the foolishness that is going on. Progress. I'll talk about that.

-You're music is rather uplifting, artful, and outside the box. any particular influences?
Life... Ha ha. Man whatever that energy in uni-verse funnels through me falls from my pen. Then you guys hear it. I'm thrilled you feel that it's uplifting.

-You and others recently played a tribute show for J Dilla; one of I'm sure many worldwide... howd that go?
I can honestly say it was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. I'm happy I had access to a venue and I was able to get the word out on short notice. Word travels fast over the net. There are so many people that love J Dilla. I felt that it had to be done. I wanted to get folks in the same place and enjoy what he created. It was a great opportuinity to introduce a lot of progressive folks I felt needed to meet. Have to do it again next year.

-I read somewhere you dabble in improv? are there any other talents you've shed on society we should know about?
Yeah I do a lil improv. I actually have done a lil bit of acting(You can find me on the IMDB but if I tell you my government name I'll have to hunt you down and kill you). Some modeling. I'm in a catalog for jaskclothing (http://www.jaskclothing.com/) I started performing with poetry first about 6 years ago. I slammed. Did the Nuyorican thing. Never won a friday night spot. But performed there twice on friday. I got over not earning a spot through winning a slam pretty fast. I also paint and do various forms of visual art. Photography. There are some clothes on the way.

-What is freehiphopnow.com?
FHHN is basically a portal to information. A place to discover new artist and read new things. Educate! Enteratin! & Empower! is the motto. It all started though becuase a partner of mine wanted to give away his album. Funny we never gave away his album. FREE HIPHOP NOW really stands for free you mind. We're not attempting to force any ideaologies on visitors. Just push forward a progressive wave.

-Finally, any words of wisdom?
There are 2 kinds of people in this world. Those that make things happen. And the rest.
Take care of your health.
Be easy.

-Conscious, you're a quite the individual and i'm happy to have you enlighten me. take care friend.
You too.

Conscious Links!
consciouspodcast.com
consciousme.blogspot.com
yourmoneytree.blogspot.com
myspace.com/conscious