R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

In the Jacuzzi today

Radnitzky, Johansson & Derrida

Cool Album Art 11: This is Our Music ~ The Ornette Coleman Quartet

R.I.P. Guru

The Crackdown - The Crackdown Project w Billie Ray Martin & Cabaret Voltaire

Chrysta Bell and David Lynch - Polish Poem (re-imagined) by Dutch Rall

Swingin' Sounds for Hipsters Vol 8 ~ The Full Mix

Swingin' Sounds for Hipsters vol. 8: Jet Set Jazz, Electro Swing, Fabulous Funk & Global Grooves.

1) Taboo (Jojo Effect Remix) ~ Les Baxter
2) Drive Anywhere ~ Urbs
3) Not With Me ~ Jojo Effect
4) Love Is In Town ~ Brenda Boykin
5) But Not For You ~ Alessandro Magnanini
6) Zoo Zizaro - Club des Belugas
7) In Style and Rhythm - Pumali Panthers
8) Black is the Night ~ DJ Vadim feat. Katherin DeBoer
9) The Others ~ Hardkandy
10) La Lucertola ~ De-Phazz
11) Samba 1000 (Nicola Conte Mix) - Ursula 1000
12) Pan Am 009 ~ Saint Privat
13) Moods ~ Beatrice Simpson
14) Rivoluzione (Butti 49 Con-fusion Mix) ~ Ennio Morricone
15) Say Yes ~ Wax Tailor
16) Here's Us ~ Nekta
17) Back Street Lust (Azaxx Remix) ~ Kinny
18) Bado Baijo ~ Jojo Effect
19) Un Grao De Areia ~ Club des Belugas
20) Too Old To Die ~ Troublemakers
21) All For You ~ RJD2
22) Et de Clarinete ~ Palov & Mishkin
23) What I Got ~ Torpedotrickser
24) Conmigo ~ Nickodemus & The Candela Allstars
25) Dancefloor Fight ~ Paikan
26) Sound of Everything ~ Quantic
27) Pepita ~ Vono Box
28) Tom's Song ~ Gare du Nord
29) The Incident ~ Urbs
30) Descend ~ Nighthawks
31) Kiss Me ~ Club des Belugas
32) The Id (Small World Mix) ~ Steinski
33) Stroker Ace ~ Lovage
34) Desire ~ Jojo Effect
35) Charleston Butterfly (feat. Gabriella Hänninen) ~ Parov Stelar
36) Clear As Water (Hidden Jazz Quartet Remix) [feat. Bajka] ~ Una Mas Trio
37) Soon ~ Gelka
38) Feat Feats ~ DJ Vadim featuring Emo & Syrus
39) Wonderful (JoJo Effect Remix) ~ Brenda Boykin
40) Some Like It Hot ~ Club Des Belugas Feat. Brenda Boykin
41) Princess Crocodile ~ Gry with FM Einheit and His Orchestra
42) Swing För Hyresgästföreningen ~ Movits
43) Ein kleines Wackeln mit dem Po ~ Jojo Effect
44) Green Eyed Love ~ Mayer Hawthorne
45) Be My Lover (Acoustic Bossa Remix) ~ Brenda Boykin
46) Silence ~ Concorde Music Club
47) It's a Beautiful Day ~ Club des Belugas
48) Mambo Tonight ~ Jojo Effect
49) 5 Giorni Di Carnevale ~ Rosalia de Souza
50) Venus ~ S-Tone Inc
51) Come and Get Me ~ The Five Corners Quintet feat. Mark Murphy
52) Wild is Love ~ Nat King Cole
53) Someway Still I Do (feat. Liam McKahey) ~ Alessandro Magnanini
54) My Hunger Hurts ~ Club des Belugas
55) Mademoiselle ~ Concorde Music Club
56) Secret Words ~ Ohm Guru
57) La Esquina ~ Federico Aubele
58) Vendendo Saude & Fe ~ Ocote Soul Sounds & Adrian Quesada
59) Cumbia Infierno (Toti & Andy Loop Fat Beat Remix) ~ La Troba Kung-Fú
60) Get a Move On ~ Mr Scruff
61) Dipso Calypso (feat. Lady Cath) ~ Buscemi
62) Satyam Shivam Sundaram ~ Thievery Corporation Feat. Gunjan
63) Ou est la Femme? ~ Louise Vertigo
64) Way Out ~ Lazy
65) Con Mi Sombra ~ S-Tone Inc
66) Wildcats Gotta Move ~ Club des Belugas
67) Exquis-it, Baby ~ Gare du Nord
68) Receptions in Brazil ~ Nighthawks
69) Endangered Species (Raeo Remix) ~ Nickodemus
70) Bonita (Dj Vadim Remix) ~ The Pimps of Joytime
71) L'estate e' qua (feat. Rosalia De Souza) ~ Alessandro Magnanini
72) Jazz Music ~ De-Phazz & The Radio Frankfurt Big Band
73) Too Late ~ Club des Belugas
74) Who Knows Featuring Kabir ~ The Quantic Soul Orchestra
75) It's On ~ Kylie Auldist
76) Queen of Boredness (feat. Diesler) ~ Kinny
77) Cleopatra In New York ~ Nickodemus
78) Hard Swing Travellin' Man ~ Brenda Boykin
79) Deja Morts ~ Concorde Music Club
80) Inverno ~ Bossa Nostra
81) Ai Mi Morena (Chocolate Restyle) ~ Mo'Horizons
82) More and More of Your Amor ~ Nat King Cole & Bitter:sweet
83) São Funky, Pt. 1 & 2 ~ Fort Knox Five
84) Sunset Break Up ~ Dr Rubberfunk
85) Le Fox ~ Owusu and Hannibal
86) Wild is My Love ~ Club des Belugas
87) Hurt So Bad ~ Nancy Holloway
88) Shadows of Ourselves ~ Thievery Corporation
89) La Lluvia ~ Nickodemus
90) Capoeira vai ~ Sabrina Malheiros
91) Return of the Panther Featuring Mustafa Akbar ~ Thunderball
92) Greenwood Groove ~ Greenwood Groove Coalition
93) The Model ~ Overproof Sound System
94) Hidden ~ Buscemi
95) This Is What You Are (Dim's Hipster Jazz Version By Dimitri from Paris) ~ Mario Biondi
96) You, Me and Jazz ~ Aaron Tesser & The New Jazz Affair
97) The Mambo Craze ~ De-Phazz & The Radio Frankfurt Big Band
98) I Just Fell In Love Again ~ Quantic & His Combo Barbaro
99) Oh Jeje ~ Bebo Best & The Super Lounge Orchestra
100)Locomotive ~ Mop Mop
101)Lounging at the Waldorf ~ Ron Sunshine & Full Swing
102)Cinnamon Girl (Club Edit) [feat. Boban I Marko Markovic Orkestar] ~ [dunkelbunt]
103)Fel del Av Gården ~ Movits
104)Guess Who (Parov Stelar Remix) ~ Nekta
105)Yuknowhathislifeez (Motorcity Mix) ~ Metropolitan Jazz Affair
106)Elevated States (Nicola Conte Remix) ~ Thunderball
107)Ciel bleu ~ Danilo Venturi
108)Kindergarten (Rube Remix) ~ Unkle Ho
109)Pick Up 52's ~ Mestizo & Mike Gao
110)San Francisco Bound (Dj Obah Remix) ~ The Pimps of Joytime
111)Azulee ~ Shantel
112)Seasons ~ Bobby Hughes Combination
113)Surfing the Silvatide (With Bajka) ~ Ancient Astronauts
114)Let Everything Be ~ Margo vs. Thunderball
115)No Jive ~ De-Phazz
116)I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Jazz) Norman Cook Mix) ~ United Future Organization
117)Afro On the Rocks ~ Paikan
118)Latin Groove ~ Smoove & Turrell
119)Linda Morena ~ Quantic & His Combo Barbaro
120)The Rebirth of the Fat Lola ~ Club des Belugas
121)The More I Look At You ~ Timo Lassy (feat. José James)
122)Ponta de Pedra ~ S-Tone Inc
123)Livin' My Life (feat. Liam McKahey) ~ Alessandro Magnanini
124)Romeo & Juliet ~ Sabrina Starke
125)She Said No ~ Club des Belugas
126)Catgroove ~ Parov Stelar
127)Initials B.B ~ Louise Vertigo
128)Superflu ~ Saint Privat
129)Let Love Lead the Way ~ Club des Belugas
130)Be Lonely ~ Mario Biondi
131)Incident At Gate 7 ~ Thievery Corporation
132)You've Been Spiked ~ Chris Joss
133)Loose Gardener ~ Flevens
134)I Just Want to Make Love to You ~ Cold Blood
135)Have Love Will Travel ~ Lefties Soul Connection
136)Hold On ~ Mr. Scruff
137)Secret Lover (feat. Jenny B) ~ Alessandro Magnanini
138)Passing On The Screen ~ Club des Belugas
139)Déjà Morts (Remix By Patchworks) ~ Concorde Music Club

Swinging Sounds for Hipsters Vol 8

There's Trouble Brewin' ~ Jack Scott

There's Trouble Brewin'

from Black Christmas

Love is In Town ~ Brenda Boykin

Below Me It's Christmas ~ HB Radke & The Jet City Swingers

Below me it's Christmas

California ~ Mylene Farmer

Directed by Abel Ferrara

King of New York ~ Schooly D

From the soundtrack to Abel Ferrara's classic gangster movie "King of New York."

Faux Friendship

By William Deresiewicz

From Chronicle.com

We live at a time when friendship has become both all and nothing at all. Already the characteristically modern relationship, it has in recent decades become the universal one: the form of connection in terms of which all others are understood, against which they are all measured, into which they have all dissolved. Romantic partners refer to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. Spouses boast that they are each other's best friends. Parents urge their young children and beg their teenage ones to think of them as friends. Adult siblings, released from competition for parental resources that in traditional society made them anything but friends (think of Jacob and Esau), now treat one another in exactly those terms. Teachers, clergymen, and even bosses seek to mitigate and legitimate their authority by asking those they oversee to regard them as friends. We're all on a first-name basis, and when we vote for president, we ask ourselves whom we'd rather have a beer with. As the anthropologist Robert Brain has put it, we're friends with everyone now.

Yet what, in our brave new mediated world, is friendship becoming? The Facebook phenomenon, so sudden and forceful a distortion of social space, needs little elaboration. Having been relegated to our screens, are our friendships now anything more than a form of distraction? When they've shrunk to the size of a wall post, do they retain any content? If we have 768 "friends," in what sense do we have any? Facebook isn't the whole of contemporary friendship, but it sure looks a lot like its future. Yet Facebook—and MySpace, and Twitter, and whatever we're stampeding for next—are just the latest stages of a long attenuation. They've accelerated the fragmentation of consciousness, but they didn't initiate it. They have reified the idea of universal friendship, but they didn't invent it. In retrospect, it seems inevitable that once we decided to become friends with everyone, we would forget how to be friends with anyone. We may pride ourselves today on our aptitude for friendship—friends, after all, are the only people we have left—but it's not clear that we still even know what it means.

....

And so we return to Facebook. With the social-networking sites of the new century—Friendster and MySpace were launched in 2003, Facebook in 2004—the friendship circle has expanded to engulf the whole of the social world, and in so doing, destroyed both its own nature and that of the individual friendship itself. Facebook's very premise—and promise—is that it makes our friendship circles visible. There they are, my friends, all in the same place. Except, of course, they're not in the same place, or, rather, they're not my friends. They're simulacra of my friends, little dehydrated packets of images and information, no more my friends than a set of baseball cards is the New York Mets.

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Ken Nordine ~ The Eye is Never Filled

via ubu.com



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Ken Nordine ~ Yellow

Cool Album Art 10: Music, Martinis & Memories ~ Jackie Gleason

The Dark Side of the Bright Side

From In These Times

In her new book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (Metropolitan/Holt, October 2009), Barbara Ehrenreich traces the origins of contemporary optimism from nineteenth-century healers to twentieth-century pushers of consumerism. She explores how that culture of optimism prevents us from holding to account both corporate heads and elected officials.

Manufactured optimism has become a method to make the poor feel guilty for their poverty, the ill for their lack of health and the victims of corporate layoffs for their inability to find worthwhile jobs. Megachurches preach the “gospel of prosperity,” exhorting poor people to visualize financial success. Corporations have abandoned rational decision-making in favor of charismatic leadership.

This mania for looking on the bright side has given us the present financial collapse; optimistic business leaders—assisted by rosy-eyed policymakers—made very bad decisions.

In These Times recently spoke with her about our penchant for foolish optimism.

Is promoting optimism a mechanism of social control to keep the system in balance?

If you want to have a compliant populace, what could be better than to say that everyone has to think positively and accept that anything that goes wrong in their lives is their own fault because they haven’t had a positive enough attitude? However, I don’t think that there is a central committee that sits there saying, “This is what we want to get people to believe.”

It took hold in the United States because in the ’80s and ’90s it became a business. You could write a book like Who Moved My Cheese?, which is a classic about accepting layoffs with a positive attitude. And then you could count on employers to buy them up and distribute them free to employees.

So this picks up more in the early ’80s and even more so in the ’90s when globalization really took off?

I was looking at the age of layoffs, which begins in the ’80s and accelerates. How do you manage a workforce when there is no job security? When there is no reward for doing a good job? When you might be laid off and it might not have anything to do with performance? As that began to happen, companies began to hire motivational speakers to come in and speak to their people.

Couldn’t this positive thinking be what corporate culture wants everyone to believe, but at the top, people are still totally rational?

That is what I was assuming when I started this research. I thought, “It’s got to be rational at the top. Someone has to keep an eye on the bottom line.” Historically, the science of management was that in a rational enterprise, we have spreadsheets, we have decision-trees and we base decisions on careful analysis.

But then all that was swept aside for a new notion of what management is about. The word they use is “leadership.” The CEO and the top people are not there so much to analyze and plan but to inspire people. They claimed to have this uncanny ability to sense opportunities. It was a shock, to find the extent to which corporate culture has been infiltrated not only by positive thinking, but by mysticism. The idea is that now things are moving so fast in this era of globalization, that there’s no time to think anymore. So you increasingly find CEOs gathering in sweat lodges or drumming circles or going on “vision quests” to get in touch with their inner-Genghis Khan or whatever they were looking for.

The same things are happening in foreign policy. We’ve abandoned a sense of realism. You had this with Bush and also with Obama, although he is more realistic. Is there a connection between optimism and the growth of empire?

In the ’80s, Reagan promoted the idea that America is special and that Americans were God’s chosen people, destined to prosper, much to the envy of everybody else in the world. Similarly, Bush thought of himself as the optimist-in-chief, as the cheerleader—which had been his job once in college. This is very similar to how CEOs are coming to think of themselves: as people whose job is to inspire others to work harder for less pay and no job security.


Would you say that Obama is our cheerleader-in-chief?

I haven’t sorted it out. He talks a lot about hope. And as a citizen I’d rather not hear about “hope,” I’d rather hear about “plans.” Yet he does strike me as a rational person, who thinks through all possibilities and alternatives.


You write about the science of positive thinking having taken root at Ivy League universities. It’s amazing to me that a course in happiness at Harvard would draw almost 900 students.

That was in 2006. And these courses have spread all over the country—courses in positive psychology where you spend time writing letters of gratitude to people in your family, letters of forgiveness (whether or not you send them doesn’t matter), getting in touch with your happy feelings, and I don’t think that’s what higher education should be about. People go to universities to learn critical thinking, and positive thinking is antithetical to critical thinking.

Anis Shivani

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Cool Album Art 9: Red Hot & Cool ~ The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Lord Buckley vs. Groucho Marx