Roots Retrospective (Part IV): Phrenology

It's hard for me to believe that this album has existed for 10 years!  Every time I see the CD jacket in the holder I feel like it's the most recent release.  There are some timeless hard hitters on this album.  The energy starts with Phrentrow and doesn't settle down until well after Pussy Galore.

While the two releases Break You Off and The Seed (2.0) are pretty accessible they are by no means the best songs on the album (IMHO).

So...standout tracks...let's see.  Rock You (Track 2) sets the tone for most of the album. Even soulless zombies have to bob their head when the beat for Quills drops, Thought @ Work is a nice illustration of Tariq's skills and to round out this album I've got to go with Pussy Galore.  The title is a bit misleading but give it a minute and be sure not to miss the message.  Also, while Rhymes and Ammo may not be the highest quality Roots track it's a fun anthem that makes a great fight song.  Not to mention pretty much anything Talib Kweli touches is pretty much gold.

Track Listing
Phrentrow
Rock You
!!!!!!!!
Sacrifice (featuring Nelly Furtado)
Rolling with Heat (featuring Talib Kweli)
WAOK (Ay) Rollcall
Thought @ Work
The Seed (2.0)
Break You Off
Water
Quills
Pussy Galore
Complexity (featuring Jill Scott)
Something in the Way of Things (In Town)

Bonus Track

Rhymes and Ammo/ Thirsty!

Next....The Tipping Point

Roots Retrospective (Part III): Things Fall Apart

You would be doing yourself a disservice to not listen to Things Fall Apart from beginning to end. Sure, there's some highs and lows but there are really no bad tracks on this album.  Things start off quite strong with the first three tracks...settle down for a little bit and then pick up with one of my favorite Roots tracks of all time.  Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New.  If I were forced to pick my 3 favorite...The Next Movement, Adrenaline and the elusive Hidden Track!


Track Listing
"Act Won (Things Fall Apart)"
"Table of Contents (Parts 1 & 2)"
"The Next Movement"
"Step Into the Realm"
"The Spark"
"Dynamite!"
"Without a Doubt"
"Saturday Night"
"Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New"
"Double Trouble"
"Act Too (The Love of My Life)"
"100% Dundee"
"Diedre vs. Dice"
"Adrenaline!"
"3rd Acts: ? vs. Scratch 2... Electric Boogaloo"
"You Got Me"
"Don't See Us"
"The Return to Innocence Lost"
"Act Fore (The End?)" (Hidden track)

Next Up: Phrenology

Roots Retrospective (Part II): Illadelph Halflife

Wow! It looks like I need to do a little more homework.  My awakening must not have happened until 1999 with Things Fall Apart.

Here's the track list:

"Intro"
"Respond/React"
"Section" "Panic!!!!!!!"
"It Just Don't Stop"
"Episodes" (featuring Dice Raw)
"Push Up Ya Lighter" (featuring Bahamadia)
"What They Do" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)
"? vs. Scratch (The Token DJ Cut)"
"Concerto of the Desperado"
"Clones" (featuring Dice Raw & M.A.R.S.)
"UNIverse at War" (featuring Common)
"No Alibi"
"Dave vs. Us"
"No Great Pretender"
"The Hypnotic" (featuring D'Angelo)
"Ital (The Universal Side)" (featuring Q-Tip)
"One Shine" (featuring Cassandra Wilson & Joshua Redman)
"The Adventures in Wonderland (performed by Ursula Rucker)" "Outro"

I have heard a few of these tracks but not enough to say that I can really recommend the premier tracks off of this one.  The (unedited) video for What They Do is pretty clever and from what I know of the tracks I have heard...I think I've been missing out.  Damn!

Next Up...Things Fall Apart

Roots Retrospective (Part I): Do You Want More?!!!??!

Release Date: January 17, 1995










Track Listing
Intro/There's Something Goin' On
Proceed
Distortion to Static
Mellow My Man
I Remain Calm
Datskat
Lazy Afternoon
? vs. Rahzel
Do You Want More?!!!??!"
What Goes On Pt. 7
Essaywhuman?!!!??!
Swept Away
You Ain't Fly
Silent Treatment
The Lesson Part 1
The Unlocking

Strangely I can't find this album in my iTunes library.  I have to wonder if there's a stray disk somewhere in my collection that has not been assimilated. Anyway, I can't say that there are any particular standout tracks on this album. Overall, it does sound just a little bit dated but there are some marquee tracks on this one that really characterize the essence of  The Roots. Proceed, Do You Want More and Silent Treatment have to be some of most classic songs on this album.

Next Up: The 1996 Release Illadelph Halflife

Do you want more of that illadelph game theory before things fall apart?

Hands down one of my favorite groups of all time.  There are only two groups who's albums I would buy without having heard a single track or review.  The Roots are one of those groups.

Well, to be fair, I haven't heard or purchased Wake Up! a collaboration with John Legend. I am not a huge fan of Organix but everything from Do You Want More?!!!??!  to How I Got Over will forever have a place on my iPod.

I had a buddy ask me to put together some new (to him) music and I immediately asked him if he had heard any Roots tracks.  He had heard a few, liked some, but not all.  I agreed to put together a recommended playlist for him but with so much music (8 albums in my collection anyway) I didn't really know how to pull my favorite tracks for him.  Well...I thought I would just go through each album, list the tracks and just highlight the ones I liked and why.  I figured if I was going to go through that much effort, I might as well document it.

This is clearly too much for one post...so I'll just start with Do You Want More?

Products of Our Environment

I don't think that anyone would argue that many of their traits came directly from their parents.  No breakthroughs there.  I am sure you notice it in your everyday life.  Perhaps it's how you talk, your sense of humor, how you cook, your music preferences...the list goes on and on.

What's interesting to me though are the inverse tendencies that are just as powerful as the direct tendencies we inherent from our parents.   One example, growing up we were always late going places.  Not just a little late every once in a while...always late, and sometimes hours late.  I think as a results I have this inherent animosity towards being late.  Not to the point that I am neurotic about it, and sure, I still get caught up from time to time and don't leave the house when I really should, but most of the time...I would much rather be ready early and get where I am going with time to spare.  That being said, I still drive way too fast (like my dad) and I will delay folding laundry for as long as I can (like my mom).

What about you...do you have any reverse tendencies as a result of your childhood?

Scoreboard Update

I may not be using my EE degree on a daily basis, but it does come in handy when it's time to put together a serious project.  My polo scoreboard is coming together quite nicely.  Here's a couple of pictures.  

Here's the backside of the scoreboard.  No, it's not Coke powered.  It's there for scale.

Here's the business end of the scoreboard.  4 digits for time and a game can be set from 3:00 to 30:00 minutes.  1 digit for each of the scores. 

A little shot in the dark.

Another behind the scenes view.

Denver Veloswap...

...is only the world's largest consumer bicycling and sports expo.

But that didn't really give me an idea of what to expect.  All I knew is that back in March a local cyclist told me to keep an eye out for it.  So I did.  I found the date and set it on my calendar.  All I could gather was that it was going to be an epic gear swap of old, new and in-between cycling gear.  Individuals, shops, retailers would all be there to peddle their wares.

We wanted to get there when the doors opened so at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning we rolled out of Choice City to The Mile High to start our morning at a great little diner. We got to the doors about 45 minutes before they opened and we had a pretty good spot in line.  It wasn't quite backed up to the freeway yet (but it didn't take long to get there).

So...it seems like there are two strategies, but before I talk strategy...I've gotta talk layout.  As you walk in, you first go through all of the major manufacturers and sponsors...we are talking about folks like Rudy Project, Subaru...then you get to the big retailers (Mavic, Panda Bike, Full Cycle, Big Shot Bikes) then it starts to get to the guys with piles and piles of used shit, well it's not all used.  Clearly some of the gear might be unused stuff from a sponsor, or maybe some equipment that has one season of use, or stuff that was ridden within an inch of its life.  There's also a LOT of really vintage stuff out there.  I was looking for some odds and ends and was definitely ready to pounce on a good deal if one popped up.

Right, so strategy...it's really not that complex.  Either you can start at the front and work your way back or bolt to the back and work your way forward. I opted to head for the used stuff since I was looking for a deal on some mechanical brakes.

This shot gives you an idea of what the inside looked like.

I actually only spent $25 at the expo but I did score two Avid BB7's with levers, a nice ear warmer and two blinky lights.  Not a bad take for 25 bucks.  J managed to raid the Pearl Izumi women's medium bin to find several pairs of shorts (including two baggies) and three pairs of socks for one Mr. Benjamin.  She also scored 4 handlebars for 5 dollars.

I'll definitely be back next year, ready to deal.  It may actually be worth getting a vendor pass to get in the doors a little early so I don't have to battle the masses next year.  It was amazing how many people piled into the building in just 20 minutes.  I think also for next year, I may actually print out the map.  I got disoriented more than once and J had to navigate me to the guy with the $5 disk rotors...I would have been in the far corner with the 65 year old couple trying to sell their trek tandem for $650.

Oh, this was pretty awesome too.

Simplify

from Wikipedia...

In mathematics and algebra, "simplify" means to "make more simple" by means of reducing, combining, completing operations, or solving.

But in this case I am talking about simplifying life...specifically, my life.  Starting a new job leaves one with limited resources (i.e. time and energy) with which to do other things.  And if it's one thing I like to do...it's "other things".

So I've been thinking a lot lately about ways to simplify my life.  So far I've come up with a few ideas...Not in any particular order of importance.

Purge Redundant and Unused Items

This one is pretty simple.  I just need to look around and  There's a dyson vacuum to my left that just won't get used. It only works okay and we recently picked up a Kenmore that works great and fits our need better anyway.  About 2 feet from that Dyson is a GoPro camera.  It's a great little device but I so rarely do all of the prep to use it and post processing to actually view the videos that it's really just a drain on my time and space.

Batch Processing

I kind of like to let stuff pile up anyway.  Laundry, dishes, whatever.  Maybe those aren't great examples, but there are plenty of things that take some amount of setup or breakdown time so it's not worth just doing it once.  Ironing clothes and cooking are the first things to come to mind.

Prioritize

This kind of connects back to the Purging stuff.  I like projects, and I also love to start a project as soon as I think of it.  Unfortunately this often leaves me with two things 1) unfinished projects that I am not excited about and 2) more projects at once than I really have time for.  So, I am really trying to get through project A before I start into project B.  On that note, the Polo Scoreboard has been making some good progress lately.

Day Twelve - Getting Down to the Wire

My last Friday as a free man was fairly uneventful.  I made a quick run to the bank for some direct deposit paperwork, drove J's mom up to the reservoir to hike around a bit and check out the view of town from ~500ft above and wrapped up with some delicious Japanese food at Jeju's.  With the huge lack of excellent restaurants in town, it was quite refreshing to find one that pleased all three of the diners.  Watch out for the Spicy Tuna Roll though...it's not just a Tuna Roll with kick, they kind of make the tuna into a paste.  Not really ideal.  However, the Samurai Roll is well worth the $14 or whatever it happens to be...that was quite delicious...and elaborate.  I wish I had taken a picture.  Maybe next time.

Note: Not actual Samurai Roll that I consumed but a pretty good recommendation (foreground)

I am starting to wonder which of my many bags is acceptable in a business-casual environment.  I may just have to go with the classic Timbuk2 messenger...at least until I get the scratch for a RE Load waxed canvas bag!