Monday's here - and so is another installment of Smart Music Mondays. Last week's guest blog's success prompted me to do this on a weekly basis where I will feature another interesting tale along with the musical stylings of the dope DJ Rahdu and of course, my album of the week.
This week's feature is from Damon at the spot, This May Concern You.
Hope you enjoy as much as I did. Also when you get a chance, hit me via e-mail or in the chat box with any other interesting blogs/columns/writings.
That's my two cents.
- Mr. Smart Guy.
To the people who do or will misuse the exclamation mark:
There are roughly 275 million of you in these United States. No, I haven’t counted. But I’m sure it’s accurate by 25 million in either direction. To all of you I say that, if I could, I would permanently disable the exclamation mark on every keyboard, phone and typewriter. I don’t care that you wouldn’t be able to type the number 1. We could sacrifice it.
I’d go so far as to ask God to re-configure the human hands so that we can’t make the straight line stroke necessary to pen the exclamation mark. This is that serious.
Before I continue, I’ll admit that I have I have a problem myself … with an overabundant use of the ellipses. But I use it because I’m either actually thinking too hard or taking a necessary pause, as is the case in this sentence. I’m not doing it just because I can … well, maybe I am.
I digress.
I still don’t know when, why or how this fad started. But it must end. Every day, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are littered with status updates that don’t exclaim anything, but somehow end in one to an infinite number of exclamation marks.
Bosses send e-mails with them to express their insincere happiness to their subordinates, and the subordinates requite them with a similar false enthusiasm.
Hey Johnny!
Are you gonna have that project done two months from now on time?! Just thought I’d check in and see how things are progressing! We don’t want to miss that deadline now do we?!
Kevin
One, two, three … four unnecessary exclamation points for an e-mail about a two-page report on a conference that is scheduled for 2013. Doesn’t this boss know that Nostradamus predicted that it’s all going to end in 2012?
Seriously, my reply would be this simple: Kevin, it’s in the works. Damon.
See, there’s no need for exclamation. There’s no reason for excitement. Is that so hard? Now, I blame some corners of Corporate America for this recession. But I can’t fully fault those same corners for this foolishness. No, I blame one company: Yahoo!, the most visited site in the world according to Wikipedia, the most reliable source ever.
Apologies to my two friends employed by this company, but the answer to this dilemma is right at the end of Yahoo!’s name. As of October 2007, Yahoo.com averaged 3.4 billion hits a day. Think about that. That’s 3.4 billion times a day someone unnecessarily sees the exclamation mark at the end of Yahoo! The God-forsaken mark is conditioned into people’s brains.
If I could ask Jerry Yang and David Filo one question it would be, why were you so damn excited when you named your company? Can’t you see the dilemma it has caused throughout the world? Eighties’ babies have absolutely lost control of their exclamation trigger finger because you made it chic to exclaim about nothing. Soon, teachers will be instructing students to end all sentences with exclamation marks.
OK, that’s two questions and two imperatives. But you get my point.
How about another example plucked from a status update: “It’s going 2 B a long day!!!”
Is there really anything exhilarating about the prospect of a long day? No. Does this status require three exclamation marks to tell me that you’re in the cut today? I don’t think so.
Anyway, I’m wasting time and making much about little I control . This epidemic is here to stay like the buffoonery that is VH1’s find-a-true-love shows. But it doesn’t mean I have to like any of it.
Seriously Disgruntled,
Damon
DBLS iTunes Shuffle: Ralph Macchio (Compilation)
AB & Daru; Black Milk - On Deck
Jay Dee - The Dee
Clutchy Hopkins; MF Doom - Change the Beat
Rhymefest - Sister
Jamal - Fades Em All
Redman - Where Am I?
Cy Young - Young World Instrumental
The Ambassadors - Ain't Got the Love
James Pants; Gary Davis - You're the One
Black Moon - Who Got the Props (Evil Dee Mix) Instrumental
Jimpster - Closer to You
Somatik - Pneumatik
Kaskade - Tonight
Ahmad Miller - Sunny C (California)
Sirius B - Rio Do Coracao
Inner Shade - Heaven
Dr Who Dat?; Capital Peoples - Pharoah's Dream
Jake One; Alchemist; Evidence; Prodigy - White Van
Hi-Tek; DCQ; Talib Kweli - Get Back, Pt.2
The Mohawks - Champ
Click To Download
J*DaVeY - Land of the Lost
Consisting of Jack Davey and her production partner, Brook D’Leau, the eclectic J*Davey pairing has been bubbling in the underground for a few years thanks to some strikingly well-constructed bootleg releases. For those just joining the revolution, the joint titled Land of the Lost is a heaping dose of what J*Davey is all about: a hard-to-classify soul/hip-hop/electronic/new-wave act that throws the rules out the window. But what the album really showcases is that behind the buzz is a band with real musical talent that bridges the divide between cutting-edge soul and progressive hip-hop.
What is so interesting about J*Davey is how fully formed their sound is even while it remains in flux and experimental. Jack Davey's gruff yet feminine vocals are often less about singing and more about a stylized rhyming, yet it works on every level. Using the future soul template of their first tracks, the duo works with a variety of esteemed collaborators such as ?uestlove, Phonte of Little Brother, Kardinal Offishall, and Pacific Division to expand their vision. Gritty hip-hop (“Slayers”), interplanetary dancehall (“Rock the Dancehall”) and seductive new wave (“Valley of Love”) power this second, more expansive collection. But despite the experimentations, J*Davey sound best when reshaping the future of modern soul on tracks like the slinky “Just Because” and the slow-burning electronica-laced “Finer Things.”
Take my word - it's dope...
ENJOY!
Click To Download
