Random Thoughts

I'm supposed to be either packing or writing a midterm or writing the first two chapters of my capstone project right now, but instead I will share these random thoughts.

1. Bikini Kill's Reject All American is one of the best punk albums ever, right up there with the first Ramones album, Minor Threat's discography, Black Flag's Damaged, the Subhumans From The Cradle To the Grave, Operation Ivy's discography, Jawbreaker's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, and X's Los Angeles.


Need proof? Listen to "Capri Pants."

2. Mayhem Lauren is one of the better young rappers I've heard in a while, only he's almost too dirty for me.I've never been into X-rated rhymes, and he has several songs in which his sexual adventures are described in pornographic detail.


3.As part of my new initiative to listen to entire pieces of music rather than just snippets,  I've been listening to Steven Reich's "Music For 18 Musicians." It has a wonderful hypnotic quality.

4. I've also been listening to William Basinksi's "Disintegration Loop." It's loops of music he had recorded on audio tape that started to fall apart as he tried to record it to a CD. I believe this video is from the rooftop of his friend's apartment where they listened to it as the sun set on 9/11, with the song become this eulogy to the surreal and horrible experience of that day. It's haunting and mesmerizing, although not so much that I've ever managed to listen to all 60 minutes of it.



5. I watched part of "Basquiat" last night, Julian Schnabel's biopic. It was fugging terrible. I'd recommend you watch "Downtown 80" instead to get a real look at him.