My friend and fellow Hip-hop nerd Tim Baker (a.k.a. Alaska of the legendary Hangar 18) has busy been compiling the Top Ten-est Rap records ever over at Philaflava’s Steady Bloggin’. I don’t agree with all of them (agreeing wholesale would be more of a problem, wouldn’t it?), but we’re in accord for a lot of it.
They’re a good read regardless, and here’s Number 3:
On Illmatic Nas shows a level of self awareness that may have never before or since been matched on a rap record. It is the ghost that …

Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a guest lecture in Mike Schandorf’s “Writing for New Media” class at the University of Illinos at Chicago. I’ll be talking about Follow for Now, the philosophy behind the book, and how it all came together. If you’re around, come check it out. I’ll be speaking from 3:30 to 4:45 on Thursday, February 18th. It should be a hoot.

From Kembrew McLeod:
Word up! I want to introduce my alter ego, RoboProfessor, who just finished a dance music video about digital sampling and copyright law, with an interactive component. Here’s the website: http://www.robotainment.net/musicvideo
Also, below is all the info you need about next week’s launch of Copyright Criminals. Please forward this to any interested parties, and feel free to post anywhere!
Best,
-KM
Can you own a sound?
Copyright Criminals, a documentary produced by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod, examines the commercial and creative value of musical sampling, including the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright …

My friend and colleague Mike Schandorf required Follow for Now for his Writing for New Media class this semester at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He snapped this shot of the stack of copies in their bookstore. I’m stoked.
Many thanks, Schandorf. See you soonly.

Now you can get Follow for Now for your Sony Reader (or other non-Kindle eBook device) via Google Books. Their format allows you to read books on the screen of your choice.
Of course, it’s also still available for Amazon’s Kindle and, if you prefer, as a good ol’ paperback from the following fine places:

Powell’s in Portland, OR.
Reading Frenzy in Portland, OR.
Skylight in Los Angeles, CA.
Last Gasp in San Francisco, CA.
MonkeyWrench in Austin, TX.

If you are near any of these stores, support the independent: Buy my book there. If not, it’s …

No time to do this properly at the moment, but I have to post this: My old friends Jawbox reunited to play “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to celebrate the reissuing of their third full length (and major label debut) For Your Own Special Sweetheart (1994). The remastered record is now available from Dischord and Kim and Bill’s DeSoto Records. (Go get it.)

I’ll follow up on all of this properly when this semester is over, but for now, here’s “Savory” from “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” [runtime: 5:00]:

It’s called “We’ll All Be Happy Then” by Harry Grant Dart, and it ran in Life magazine in 1911:

Is this image in the Public Domain? If anyone knows anything about it, I’d greatly appreciate it.
Thanks.

In honor of the release of Slayer’s new record, World Painted Blood, I interpolated the old Sherwin-Williams “Cover the Earth” logo. I was always reminded of this design by the title “World Painted Blood,” so here it is:

I entered the design into their World Painted Blood photo contest. You can see it on the Slayer site here.
Slayer’s World Painted Blood comes out on November 3rd.

Steve Aylett sent over this teaser trailer of the forthcoming documentary regarding the life and work of largely forgotten science fiction author Jeff Lint. Up until now, Aylett has been Lint’s only champion, but this clip shows Alan Moore and several others coming to his aid. Check it out [runtime: 2:23]:

My tireless publicist, Jessie Duquette, found another review of Follow for Now today. It’s on HEX Records’ website, and it goes like this:
“Follow for now, power to the people say, make a miracle. D pump the lyrical. Black is back, all in, we’re gonna win, check it out. Yeah y’all c’mon, here we go again!” Instantly those old Public Enemy lyrics came to mind upon seeing the title of this book. And to my great pleasure I discovered that this book was named after those very same words. That’s a …