Whatever happened to Hip-House?

Sometimes I think hip-house is the best genre ever known to man - the perfect blend of old school dance sounds with rapping on the top. It was fast, it was funky and it was fun - the tempo of the music made the MCs concentrate on a different meter, one that was more rhythmic and inspirational rather than heavy and polemical. Both genres were new and exciting at the time, and fitted each other like a hand in a glove (lest we forget that house music originally started as a black, ghetto music too).

How could it fail? WHY did it fail? Was it something to do with a perception amongst the hip-hop communtiy that house was too gay? The fact that house came from gay clubs like Frankie Knuckles' Warehouse or Ron Hardy's Music Box perhaps didn't square well with the uber-macho posturing of rap. Or was it seen as too faddish? Perhaps a hangover from the "disco sucks" years and rejection of yet another hijacking of a black musical form by white folks?

Whatever the reasons, the music still kicks ass today - drop something like Tyree & Kool Rock Steady "Turn Up The Bass" or KC Flightt's "Planet E" on a modern dancfloor and watch them tear it up. Now that we have gotten past an era where hip-hop was alligned in direct opposition to house, where all these different sounds are now simply conceived of as "retro", younger crowds are more open to this music and respond to the upbeat, party vibe and the combination of simple key elements in a fresh, different style.

Here's a short documentary on hip-house from 1989 featuring pretty much all the key players in the game. Some comissioning editor somewhere obviously thought this genre was gonna break big! But you've gotta be glad that footage like this still exists to document a sadly forgotten scene:



BONUS!

Here's a clip of Fast Eddie performing "Yo Yo Get Funky" live for a super-square and uber-white show called "Nine Thirty" (this clip also features an interview with the legendary founder of DJ International Records Rocky Jones, sporting a bad-ass shellsuit):

John Pilger "The War You Don't See"

Originally broadcast on ITV1 last Tuesday, here's a brilliant documentary by the veteran journalist John Pilger about pro-war bias in the mainstream media. Watch the heads of BBC and ITV news squirm as they are confronted with the facts of their own unbalanced coverage - these people come off just as bad (if not worse) than the politicians they love to skewer. I don't have a TV anymore, so I don't have the pernicious influence of mainstream news reportage in my life (thank God) but if you still swallow the myth that our TV news outlets are un-biased, read this interview with Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, where he calls for impartiality regulations to be dropped, and for TV news to become "more biased".

Sofabet.com predicts the X Factor

As much as I hate it (and hate to admit it), I have been drawn into this year's X Factor competition. Not for any particular reason other than it has been on, I have caught few episodes, and been sucked in. And, you know, sometimes it feels good to participate in the huge cultural happenings that bring us together as a nation. Sometimes.

The whole programme feels so scripted that it brings out my Fortean interest in conspiracy, in those dark and sinister forces controlling everyone's movement from behind the scenes. Bwahahah! So I went on a little internet search using terms like "x-factor" "Illuminati" "Fix" etc. Surprisingly there are very few "exposing the subliminal Illuminati symbolism of the X-Factor" type posts (my guess is that those people have been baited by Kanye West's "Power" video) but I have found one site that is incredibly canny at predicting X-Factor outcomes.

No, it's not a conspiracy site, it is a betting site that specialises in reality TV show competitions, how their odds work, and how you could make a bit of money from them. Ah, money. The root of all evil. Sofabet.com also cover those other well known hives of Masonic brainwashing called Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent and the Eurovision Song Contest. Oh how our evil overlords cackle in our faces!



By following and focussing on,the money, Sofabet can give us a clearer picture of the interests at stake in X-Factor than practically anyone else. They are aware that the public vote can change outcomes in a show like this, but also that the producers of X-Factor have a very real agenda and they will do their best to see it come true. And that agenda has nothing to do with Baphomet or the Eye of Horus, and all to do with making their bank accounts expand.

Way back at the end of the summer, Sofabet drew out a series of rough guidelines of how to read the show. They have formulated a pretty simple set of factors that can help or hinder the contestant, and that can be relatively easily manipulated by the judges. So if you are serious about predicting the X Factor, or if you wanna try your luck at making a bit of money, start here, and learn about the importance of the contestants' running order, the reverse-psychology of the judge's comments. and the "sympathy bounce".

Sadly I think Wagner will go tonight, as he has served his purpose and can't be allowed to reach the final. While I would like to see him there, and even win outright, it's not going to happen as the "Vote Wagner" campaign is just not strong enough. Wand Erection will win the series, and join the ranks of JLS and The Wanted at the top of the charts, while the obviously talented Matt Cardle will come second. I'm still not sure as to whether Cher or Rebecca will come third, but I am guessing Cher, as Rebecca has not bloomed enough over the last few weeks to truly fit the "ugly duckling" narrative she was chosen for. She has a strong following though, so who knows.

If there is to be a repeat of last years "Killing In The Name" Xmas Number One campaign, I don't think Wagner is the one to do it. Neither is John Cage, sadly - the only hope of toppling a Wand Erection Xmas number one this year is if the Gamu campaign really takes off, but as she is quickly fading from public consciousness, I doubt that will happen either. And what of that Twitter leak? Making public the results of the phone vote? Well, Sofabet has an interview with the source of the leak, and it is very interesting. Follow the money folks...

Dude, we ARE the cosmos!

Awesome matte paintings -check; Sweet 80s clothing -check; Pompous Vangelis synth score -check. I happened across Carl Sagan's Cosmos a few days ago and have been enjoying it thoroughly. Sagan adeptly draws upon a variety of diverse historical, scientific and philosophical sources and weaves them together into an easily digestible whole, exploring the cosmos and our place within it. Mildly tacky, deeply inspiring.

Casetteboy v Dragon's Den

Casetteboy is already a bit of a legend, but he's out done himself with his latest clip - turning capitalist swine the Dragon's Den judges into, well, prostitutes basically. It is the oldest profession in the world after all.

The Scheme on the BBC

There's a new reality show on BBC Scotland that is causing quite a stir - it's called "The Scheme" and details life on a housing estate in East Kilbride. By "quite a stir" I mean it's getting a lot of people tweeting, blogging, kicking up a fuss and most of all laughing.



Is this a good thing? I don't know for sure but I don't think so. I have only watched the first episode (which was very hard to watch actually, even more so than some so called horror films) and the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, it WAS funny, but also the worst kind of schadenfreude. I don't think I will be going back for more, and I don't think this is an honest or accurate depiction of life on a housing estate. Of course, we know now that "reality TV" is pretty far from actual reality, but The Scheme shows just how low editors and producers have stooped for the sake of getting ratings.

Our friend the writer Kerry Ryan has reviewed the show on her blog, and put into words what it was that I felt while watching the show. "Poverty porn" indeed. Read Kerry's review of the Scheme here.

Gerry Ryan = Dead

I woke up this morning to the news that Irish television and radio personality Gerry Ryan has died. He was 53 and it was not suspicious circumstances it seems.

It's a big shock - it won't mean much to anyone outside Ireland, but in UK terms it would be like Chris Evans dying. In fact Chirs Moyles might be more apt, but Ryan had a bigger profile in the mainstream than Moyles does. Still, the Moyles comparisson holds because Ryan divided audiences and listeners like oil and water. In short, I am not a fan of Ryan's style, but hey, he was somebody's dad and partner, so my thoughts go out to his family right now. Here's a clip of him swearing at Gordon Ramsay:



Hmm, the final line in this clip is oddly prescient.