Nick Told Me He Listened to Robyn, At Least I Think He Did

A few months ago Perez Hilton was part of my daily blog routine.

That lasted all of a couple of weeks.

I hated his high horse. Holier-than-thou attitude. He became what he despised. Or made a career. Pretending to despise.

During those few weeks. There was a lot of Robyn promotion.

This included contests. At least one contest. To win tickets to one of her shows.

A number of cities were eligible. Philadelphia was one of the cities.

I realized that it was not a contest for sought after tickets. But a contest to unload surplus tickets. Fill the venue. I think the majority of those who entered. Won.

I don't have proof. Just my gut.

As for the winners. I was one. Me. Plus one.

It was at the TLA. The Fillmore for that blink of an eye.

My plans were to go. I didn't.

I don't even know how the show was. Anyone who went.

I was likely watching Bravo.

Robyn. Best Buy. New.

Repost

Spectrum - Forever Alien.

If a link is down. Please let me know. I will re-upload.

Feel free to leave a comment in the post. Or email me at hedancesfornickels@gmail.com.

East/West Beyond Bad Boy/Death Row

During the nineties, the preference was East Coast rap. Hip-hop.

Rarely did we stray from the region.

It was permissible to listen to The Pharcyde.

"They're from the West Coast. They sound like they should be from the East Coast. It isn't their fault."

Actual attempts at justification.

So a lot of people I knew listened to The Pharcyde.

It amazes me that things like this were important to me and my friends.

Even with the acceptance. I never listened to them. Rarely. If at all.

It wasn't until PALM released their first batch of director DVDs. I bought all three immediately.

Gondry. Cunningham. Jonze.

(Lost to the apartment. Thirteenth and Jackson.)

The Jonze disc reintroduced me to The Pharcyde. I had forgotten.

The time had come to pick something up. I did.

If only I had done the same with the Fat Lip compact disc. I had it in my hand. It continues to elude me.

The Pharcyde - Cydeways: The Best of The Pharcyde. Best Buy. New.

Everything Has a Routine

The "to listen" pile was out of hand.

The routine had to be amended.

Original routine. Sorting all purchases into the pile. Alphabetically. Pulling from the top. The bottom was never being touched.

Next routine. Sorting all purchases into the pile. Alphabetically. Pulling from the top. Then the bottom. Alternating. The middle was never being touched.

Robyn. Neon Neon. Purchased in late March. Early April. Unable to escape the confines of the middle.

Current routine. Sorting all purchases into the bottom of the pile. Each batch. Alphabetized within itself. Pulling from the top. Everything is being touched.

Robyn - The Rakamonie EP. Best Buy. New.

It's a Little Embarrassing to Hear "Dress Up" (For Me and Them)

To re-tag every piece of digital music. My digital music. MP3. M4A.

A long-term project.

New media. A new medium. Will likely come along. Before completion.

The items imported to iTunes. A few years ago. These are the most difficult.

Some from burned discs. The tags. Tracks. Not where they should be. The way they should be.

Too many to start over.

Line by line. It has to be.

Bear with me.

Shift - Spacesuit. From Andrew. Burned disc.

[Image via www.inventiveparent.com]

Have Sparks, Will Travel

The summer of 2004 took me to Wilkes-Barre for the Positive Numbers festival.

I met a lot of people that weekend. People who became good friends of mine.

Zombie. Mike. Bobb. In particular.

That weekend. Led me to the 570 Boards.

Cathy posted on there. I did not. Being from 215. And spending time in 718. 315.

This introduced me to even more people. Who became good friends.

It also introduced me to a lot of current. Newer. Hardcore.

Living in New York I had made my way back to hardcore. Coming out of my semi-retirement. Listening to American Nightmare. The Hope Conspiracy. It didn't go much farther than that.

Me. My friends. For the most part. Focused on what we knew. The past.

The 570 Boards changed that.

It. The board. The people. Showed me current bands. Current for the time. R'N'R. Mental. Righteous Jams. RZL DZL. War Hungry.

I started buying a lot of hardcore. New hardcore. Again.

It's slowed down. It hasn't stopped.

R'N'R - The Infamous and Notorious. Princeton Record Exchange. Bargain punk.

I Never Listened to Anything Past This

I was surprised they were from Los Angeles.

A lot of people were. Those people I speak of. My friends.

I thought The Pharcyde had a West Coast monopoly. On the positive vibes. Sounds. Lyrics. Of A Tribe Called Quest. De La Soul.

Nine times out of ten. I'd rather listen to N.W.A. 2Pac. Dre.

Never Rage.

Rough and tough. Afro puff.

Jurassic 5 - Quality Control. ??? New.

Fall Out Boy Would Probably Be Considered a Guilty Pleasure and I'm Okay with That

I'm pretty sure Andy Hurley owes me a Van Halen LP. 1984.

It could have been another Andy. Andrew. Posting on the sxe-l. Circa 1995. 1996.

Another Andy involved with Racetraitor.

It's possible. Anything is.

I first heard about the band on the mailing list.

Before anything was recorded.

Promoting it. Promoting their politics. Questionable politics.

Less questionable at the time. For the era.

In fact. Somewhat in tune with my own.

Idealism.

A lot of talk about the band. Controversial.

Andy and Pete. The posters. The emailers. I think.

I don't want to swear to that. Swear to anything.

Trading on ten year memories. Of emails. On Telnet.

All I know. I never did get that LP.

Five dollars. Lost.

Racetraitor / Burn It Down - Make Them Talk. Trustkill.com. On sale.

Drawing Such a Blank

Through the late-nineties and the early aughts most rap and hip-hop was introduced to me via three sources.

Colin. Chris. Jude.

Their tastes distinct. With points of overlap.

Colin my source for all things Wu. Eventually Def Jux. And related underground hip-hop.

Chris my source for commercial. Gangsta. And Dirty South.

Jude my source for the cerebral. Native Tongues. His favorite.

I can't pinpoint when they were introduced to me. Or by whom.

By their sound. Their image. Potentially all three. Possibly none at all. Another source. A magazine. Internet. Individual.

After I returned home from Syracuse. Before I moved to New York.

They became part of my collection. In heavy rotation.

Today. Only an afterthought.

Requested.

They're not in my iTunes. EP. LP. Never ripped.

Years. Of using the program. They were overlooked.

Jurassic 5 - EP. ??? New.

Reposts

Idle Hands - Building a Desert.

Billingsgate - No Apologies.

If a link is down. Please let me know. I will re-upload.

Leave a comment in the post. Or email me at hedancesfornickels@gmail.com.