Tag Archives: Music Explored

Kurt Vannegut on Boots + Music

Weisberg’s Night Rider is a display of ’70s flute at its finest. Pre the album artwork too, only makes the song that much better. If I’m ever cool enough to drop an album then best believe it’ll feature an old racer.

This song was too funky not to include. Came across it on a MAJ Brazilian reggae set where the lady doing the back-to-back kept gesturing a cobra with her hands. She seemed like good energy and this song was doing a lot of the sunny Friday afternoon that I found myself listening to it.

Here’s a Skepta and Novelist rework that captures the silhouetted MCs in what was the resurgence period for the genre. You can just make out the Streetz Iz Watchin’ cap that defined the North London artist’s mid-2010s era, as well as a young Novelist who at the time was championed by all the OGs. Here is the original set for those wondering.

The first two tracks came from the MAJ YouTube channel, as well as coming across another Mellow Grime producer in RONIN. These three songs weren’t available on Spotify, reminding me of how disappointed I get when actively searching for new music outside the platform’s algorithms.

Also here are some words about a pair of boots which really stood out to me while reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5:

"Those boots were almost all he owned in this world. They were his home. An anecdote: One time a recruit was watching him bone and wax those golden boots, and he held one up to the recruit and said, 'If you look in there deeply enough, you'll see Adam and Eve.'

Billy Pilgrim had not heard this anecdote. But, lying on the black ice there, Billy stared into the patina of the corporal's boots, saw Adam and Eve in the golden depths. They were naked. They were so innocent, so vulnerable, so eager to behave decently. Billy Pilgrim loved them.

Next to the golden boots were a pair of feet which were swaddled in rags. They were crisscrossed by canvas straps, were shod with hinged wooden clogs. Billy looked up at the face that went with the clogs. It was the face of a blond angel, of a fifteen-year-old boy.

The boy was as beautiful as Eve.

There’s a lot of religious symbolism which I haven’t broken down yet. If a boot is so shiny and golden, thus acting like a mirror in which that person can look into their soul. Whether or not that person is pure enough to possess that energy within is to be decided. Anywho, I’ll be looking out for more boot related sections as I read on. So It Goes.

Sticking with the abandoned footwear narrative, here is a cool video of someone putting together images of lost footwear they found in Thailand. It’s only available in 240p as it was uploaded about back in 2019, which in hindsight is no excuse as to why this should be such a low resolution. Perhaps it was an aesthetic choice, in which case I fully respect the creative license. A pioneer some might say, and with a name as cool as “Sill E”, I’m starting to think I’ve stumbled across this era’s Kubrick. You’ve earnt yourself a subscriber Mr E.

Weekend Finds + Favourites: 04/11/23

An oldschool UK underground classic which I recently came across during the Channel U Documentary on YouTube. A sound I missed out on when I first moved to the UK in the early 00s. This sound would eventually break it onto the mainstream via tracks like Green Light by Roll Deep and Skepta’s Amnesia and Rescue Me, where kids outside of London would finally get a taste of what the UK underground had to offer. Although, if you ask a lot of artists today about that mainstream period, you’ll be sure to get mixed reviews.

The skit at the end of the track is also gold, spelling out the awkwardness of teenage experience that many have undoubtedly been through.

Another Oldschool Grime remix from Oakland, which is also on Sportify unlike many of the bootleg edits of today. A smooth RnB take on JME, Bossman Birdie and Big H’s infamous clip. Unlike the WIZE Edit version, this track takes the lyrics down a more relaxed route, not to take anything away from WIZE’s energetic take.

A track I just stumbled across, packing an absolute tonne of energy. Putting a HIP HOP spin on Headie One’s Drill classic, Golden Boot, it’s certainly one for any fans of the original. I’ll be waiting for the day this hits Spotify. Uploaded over a year ago, lets hope this rework gets the recognition it truly deserves.