Now I might be a bit old skool to call EDM Techno Music
But I was there before House was called House... The days before the super clubs...
Granted, Techno's heyday was in the late 80's/ early 90's
However, I was there for underground parties of the early 00's, Masterdome and Bat Cave. We stomped around renegade Raves, JujuBeats and Together As One. Twenty bug eyed kids at dawn even pushed my buddy's car out of the sand at Lake Tahoe's Monster Massive, proving we weren't completely spent yet. But that would come, same with the end of the Rave scene.
Some of the bigger parties have boasted 40,000 young rhythmically minded young people. The Lost Generation had found their Mecca, pulsating in the Promiseland.
Like a rudderless ship finding an ocean current, these youngsters found that through dance they were part of something much larger. There was something so visceral, so primal to the Rave scene. For one brief instant these soldiers of the night lost their sense of self and danced around the proverbial fire.
Incidentally, Native American land is where a lot of these parties were held.
Then along came a spider...
Among other things, Joe Biden made it illegal to sell glowsticks and to give away free water because he said it encouraged drug use.
🧴🌟🧴🌟🧴🌟🧴🌟🧴🌟🧴🌟🧴
Here's what Wiklipedia has to say about this genre:
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music that is characterized by a repetitive beat which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set. The central rhythm is often in common time (4/4), while the tempo typically varies between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
but it was established as a name for a specific genre of electronic dance music produced in Detroit following the UK release of the 1988 compilation Techno!
Detroit technoresulted from artists mixingsynthpopwithAfrican American stylessuch ashouse,electro, andfunk. Artists such asGiorgio Moroder
andYellow Magic Orchestra
Added to this is the influence offuturisticandscience-fictionthemesrelevant to life in Americanlate capitalistsociety, withAlvin Toffler'sbookThe Third Wavea notable point of reference.
The music produced in the mid to late 1980s byJuan Atkins,Derrick May, andKevin Saunderson(collectively known as theBelleville Three), along withEddie Fowlkes,Blake BaxterandJames Penningtonis viewed as thefirst waveof techno from Detroit.
After the success of house music in a number of European countries, techno grew in popularity in the UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In Europe regional variants quickly evolved and by the early 1990s techno subgenres such as acid, hardcore, ambient, and dub techno had developed. Music journalists and fans of techno are generally selective in their use of the term; so a clear distinction can be made between sometimes related but often qualitatively different styles, such as tech house and trance.
What's your favorite sub genre?
...Until our next Rendezvous
And don't let Joe Biden kill the party
ASSIGNMENT: Monkey with Garage Band or similar program and make test recording
This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage; (2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation.
Many religions believe in multiverses and it is mentioned in many religious book like :
In Apannaka Jataka : Disciples," the Buddha said "nowhere between the lowest of hells below and the highest heaven above, nowhere in all the infinite worlds that stretch right and left, is there the equal, much less the superior, of a Buddha. Incalculable is the excellence which springs from obeying the Precepts and from other virtuous conduct." which talk about the infinite world.
Secondly,
In Bhagavata Purana : Every universe is covered by seven layers — earth, water, fire, air, sky, the total energy and false ego — each ten times greater than the previous one. There are innumerable universes besides this one, and although they are unlimitedly large, they move about like atoms in You. Therefore You are called unlimited (Bhagavata Purana 6.16.37)
In Kaballah (Judaism) : "There are five worlds between the Creator and our world. Each of them consists of five Partzufim and each Partzuf of five Sefirot. In total there are 125 levels between us and the Creator. Malchut, moving through all these levels, reaches the last one, and in this way, Behina Dalet, the only creation, merges with the four previous phases."
In Quran,Matlaib Al Razi states : "All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds." He raises the question of whether the term "worlds" in this verse refers to "multiple worlds within this single universe or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe."
Okay, back to Philip K. Dick. He had several visions throughout his life, and believed that worlds branch off from this reality. One of his books, Man in the High Castle, was made into a Amazon Prime series. It is about an alternate reality where the Axis Powers won WWII.
Old school hip-hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip-hop music (approximately from 1979-1984) and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended. Old school hip-hop is said to have ended around 1984 due to changes in both rapping technique and the accompanying music and rhythms.
Some people say that Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues, with it's unleashed stream of consciousness, was the first rap song...
The image, styles, and sounds of the old school were exemplified by figures like
Afrika Bambaataa
The Sugarhill Gang
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Spoonie Gee
Newcleus
Treacherous Three
Funky Four Plus One
And Kurtis Blow, Busy Bee Starski, Lovebug Starksi, The Cold Crush Brothers, and Fab Five Freddy. It is characterized by the simpler rapping techniques of the time and the general focus on party related subject matter.
Old school hip-hop is noted for its relatively simple rapping techniques compared to later hip-hop music. Artists such as Melle Mel would use relatively few syllables per bar of music, with relatively simple rhythms.
Much of the subject matter of old school hip-hop centers around partying and having a good time. Immortal Technique explains how party content played a big part in old school hip-hop, in the book How to Rap: “hip-hop was born in an era of social turmoil…in the same way that slaves used to sing songs on a plantation…that’s the party songs that we used to have.”
Battle rap was also a part of old school hip-hop. A famous old school hip-hop battle occurred in December 1981 when Kool Moe Dee challenged Busy Bee Starski.
Busy Bee Starski’s defeat by the more complex raps of Kool Moe Dee meant that “no longer was an MC just a crowd-pleasing comedian with a slick tongue; he was a commentator and a storyteller,” which KRS-One also credits as creating a shift in rapping in the documentary Beef.
Freestyle rap during hip-hop’s old school had a different from the definition it has today – Kool Moe Dee refers to this earlier definition in his book, There’s a God on the Mic: “There are two types of freestyle. There’s an old school freestyle that’s basically rhymes that you’ve written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that goes all over the place. Then there’s freestyle where you come off the top of the head.” In old school hip-hop, Kool Moe Dee says that improvisational rapping was instead called “coming off the top of the head,” and he refers to this as “the real old school freestyle.” This is in contrast to the more recent definition defining freestyle rap as “improvisational rap like a jazz solo.”
Old school hip-hop would often sample disco and funk tracks. However the use of funk samples went into a decline from 1983 onwards. A live band was often used, as in the case of The Sugarhill Gang. The use of extended percussion breaks led to the development of mixing and scratching techniques.
This led the way to the next generation of Hip Hop...
And of course, Gangster RAP...
Here's Ranker.com's assessment of the greatest hip hop groups/ rap artists of all time:
(much borrowed from The Bluegrass Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization, run by volunteers, promoting bluegrass music in Texas.)
The history of bluegrass music begins with the people who migrated to America in the 1600s from Ireland, Scotland, and England and brought with them basic styles of music that are generally considered to be the roots of modern bluegrass music. You can see the similarities here:
Bluegrass had a bit of a revival from a scene in the Coen brother's 'O' Brother Where Art Thou'...
As the Jamestown settlers began to move out into North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, they wrote songs about day-to-day life in the new land. Since most of these people lived in remote areas, the songs reflected life on the farm or in the hills. This music was referred to as country music or mountain music. The invention of the phonograph and the onset of radio in the early 1900s brought this music out of the mountains and into the homes of people all over the United States.
The Monroe Brothers were one of the most popular acts of the 1930s. Charlie Monroe played the guitar, Bill played the mandolin, and they sang in harmony. When the brothers split in 1938, both went on to form their own bands. Bill was a native of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, and he eventually adopted the name “Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys” for his band. This band started a new form of “traditional” country music.
Country owes a bit to Bluegrass:
Some notables: Earl Scruggs
Hank Williams
Merle Haggard
Patsy Cline
And the marathon winner, Willie Nelson.
Honorable Mention: Slim Whitman
The song that killed the aliens in Mars Attacks...
And of course Johnny Cash...
Bill Monroe and his band first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry stage in 1939 and soon became one of the most popular touring acts to emerge from Nashville’s WSM studios. Bill’s band was different from other traditional country bands because of its hard-driving and powerful sound that used traditional acoustic instruments and featured distinctively high vocal harmonies. The music incorporated songs and rhythms from string band, gospel (black and white), black laborer work song, country, and blues music repertoires. Vocal selections included duet, trio, and quartet harmony singing in addition to Bill’s powerful “high lonesome” solo lead singing. After experimenting with various instrumental combinations, Bill settled on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bass for the core of his band.
While some bluegrass music fans date the genre back to 1939 when Monroe first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, most believe that the classic bluegrass sound came together in December 1945 when Earl Scruggs joined the band. Scruggs, a 21-year-old from North Carolina, played an innovative three-finger picking style on the banjo (which came to be known as “Scruggs style”) with such drive and clarity that it energized and excited audiences. Equally influential in the classic 1945 line-up of the Blue Grass Boys were Lester Flatt (from Sparta, Tennessee) on guitar and lead vocals, Chubby Wise on fiddle; and Howard Watts, also known by his comedian name “Cedric Rainwater,” on the upright bass.
Birth of Bluegrass sign by the Tennessee Historical Commission at the Ryman Auditorium
When Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt formed their own group, The Foggy Mountain Boys, they decided to include sound of the resophonic guitar, or “Dobro,” into their band. The Dobro is often included in bluegrass band formats today as a result. Burkett H. “Uncle Josh” Graves, from Tellico Plains, Tennessee, heard Scruggs’ three-finger style of banjo picking in 1949 and adapted it to the then almost obscure slide bar instrument. As a member of the Foggy Mountain Boys from 1955-1969, Graves introduced his widely emulated, driving, bluesy style on the Dobro. The Dobro was invented in the United States by the Dopyera Brothers, immigrant musicians/inventors originally from the Slovak Republic. The brand name, “Dobro,” comes from a combination of the first few letters of the words “Dopyera Brothers.”
From 1948-1969, the Flatt & Scruggs band was a major force in introducing bluegrass music to America through national television, radio, and appearances at schoolhouses, coliseums, and major universities around the country. Scruggs wrote and recorded one of bluegrass music’s most famous instrumentals, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” which was used in the soundtrack for the film Bonnie & Clyde. In 1969 he established an innovative solo career with his sons as “The Earl Scruggs Revue.” Scruggs recorded and performed in groups that usually included his sons Randy (on guitar) and Gary (on bass) until his death in 2012. After parting with Scruggs in 1969, Lester Flatt continued successfully with his own group, “The Nashville Grass,” performing until shortly before his death in 1979. By the 1950s, Monroe began referring to his style of music as “bluegrass music”, based on his Kentucky roots, and others followed along. Bluegrass bands began forming all over the country and Bill Monroe became the acknowledged “Father of Bluegrass Music.”
Bill Monroe’s restored childhood home on Jerusalem Ridge in Rosine, Kentucky
In the 1960s, the concept of the “bluegrass festival” was first introduced, featuring bands on the same bill that had previously seemed to be in competition with each other for a relatively limited audience. Carlton Haney, from Reidsville, North Carolina is credited with envisioning and producing the first weekend-long bluegrass music festival, which was held in Fincastle, Virginia in 1965.
The availability of traditional music broadcasting and recording, nationwide bluegrass festivals, and movie, television, and commercial soundtracks featuring bluegrass music have helped to bring the music out of obscurity. Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys achieved national prominence with tour sponsorship by Martha White Flour and for playing the soundtrack for the previously mentioned film Bonnie and Clyde as well as through the Beverly Hillbillies television show.
The soundtrack to the movie Deliverance also featured bluegrass music, specifically Dueling Banjos, performed by Eric Weissberg on banjo and Steve Mandell on guitar. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken triple LP set, released in 1972, introduced artists like Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, and others to pop music fans and brought the authentic sounds of bluegrass and traditional country music to new audiences. In 2001, the triple-platinum soundtrack for the Coen Brothers movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, helped to attract even wider audiences to bluegrass music.
Bill Monroe passed away on September 9, 1996, four days before his 85th birthday. In May 1997, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of the profound influence of his style on popular music. He is also a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. A picture of Bill’s childhood home in Rosine, Kentucky, which has been restored and is open for touring, appears above. Bill’s uncle Pen, for whom he named a well-known bluegrass song, appears with a fiddle in the picture above right.
Some how country music turned into this by the 90's and is still sort of stuck there...
Here is Weird Al's parody of it...
Bluegrass music is now performed and enjoyed around the world. The International Bluegrass Music Association claims members in all 50 states and 30 countries. In addition to the classic style born in 1945 that is still performed widely, bluegrass bands today reflect influences from a variety of sources including traditional and fusion jazz, contemporary country music, Celtic music, rock & roll (“newgrass” or progressive bluegrass), old-time music, and Southern gospel music.
As Terrence McKenna puts it, "Moby Dick is one of the greatest works of prose ever written. In tbe end America will be remembered for 2 things, we went to the moon and we are the people that produced Moby Dick."
McKenna's favorite quote from
Chapter 36: The Quarter-Deck
"I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws of Death too, Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in the way of the business we follow; but I came here to hunt whales, not my commander's vengeance. How many barrels will thy vengeance yield thee even if thou gettest it, Captain Ahab? it will not fetch thee much in our Nantucket market."
"Nantucket market! Hoot! But come closer, Starbuck; thou requirest a little lower layer. If money's to be the measurer, man, and the accountants have computed their great counting-house the globe, by girdling it with guineas, one to every three parts of an inch; then, let me tell thee, that my vengeance will fetch a great premium HERE!"
"He smites his chest," whispered Stubb, "what's that for? methinks it rings most vast, but hollow."
"Vengeance on a dumb brute!" cried Starbuck, "that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous."
"Hark ye yet again--the little lower layer. All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event--in the living act, the undoubted deed--there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there's naught beyond. But 'tis enough. He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me. For could the sun do that, then could I do the other; since there is ever a sort of fair play herein, jealousy presiding over all creations. But not my master, man, is even that fair play. Who's over me? Truth hath no confines. Take off thine eye! more intolerable than fiends' glarings is a doltish stare! So, so; thou reddenest and palest; my heat has melted thee to anger-glow. But look ye, Starbuck, what is said in heat, that thing unsays itself. There are men from whom warm words are small indignity. I meant not to incense thee. Let it go. Look! see yonder Turkish cheeks of spotted tawn--living, breathing pictures painted by the sun. The Pagan leopards--the unrecking and unworshipping things, that live; and seek, and give no reasons for the torrid life they feel! The crew, man, the crew! Are they not one and all with Ahab, in this matter of the whale? See Stubb! he laughs! See yonder Chilian! he snorts to think of it. Stand up amid the general hurricane, thy one tost sapling cannot, Starbuck! And what is it? Reckon it. 'Tis but to help strike a fin; no wondrous feat for Starbuck. What is it more? From this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of all Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, when every foremast-hand has clutched a whetstone? Ah! constrainings seize thee; I see! the billow lifts thee! Speak, but speak!--Aye, aye! thy silence, then, THAT voices thee. (ASIDE) Something shot from my dilated nostrils, he has inhaled it in his lungs. Starbuck now is mine; cannot oppose me now, without rebellion."
https://youtu.be/Hqcq9fl_MmQ Like many holy texts, Moby Dick is both mysteriously indecipherable and oddly compelling. There is some truth in this book, but first you have to do some digging. ASSIGNMENT: look at the opening paragraph of the quote above. Trying putting it in your own words.
