(left-right) 1. DEFTONES Diamond Eyes 2. KANYE WEST My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 3. JAHCOOZI Barefoot Wanderer 4. GRINDERMAN Grinderman 2 5. BRIAN ENO Small Craft on a Milk Sea 6. RONNIE WOOD I Feel Like Playing 7. ERYKAH BADU New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ank) 8. FOUR TET There is Love In You
A CEMENT WORM ON A CONCRETE HOOKJust before receiving a Bachelor’s degree in journalism I went to my career advisor to ask for some advice on the game of job hunting. “You should try Journalismjobs.com,” she said after her smile leaked down past her chin.
In the silence that ensued following her response I thought of buildings falling down. I thought of dark city streets littered with glowing pairs of paranoid eyes and the future proclamation of an Internet hoax that said Americans would spend fifteen years fending for themselves in a chaotic and broken down environment. I thought of clutching a loaf of bread, crawling on hands and knees past groups of rioters as they threw bricks through front window shop displays. Then I thought how all the destruction of the coming years will need one thing and one thing only to rebuild: Cement.
Not journalism, not creative writing, philosophy, music theory or history, but Cement and its final counterpart, concrete. My future proclamation to make on the Internet right now is that Cement is and will be everything in the decades smoldering before us. So much so that it must be capitalized from here on out.
Soon children will come from the womb with a nostril structure that easily deals with floating dust particles of unmixed Cement. They will learn in school, not the difference between ‘there,’ ‘their,’ and ‘they’re,’ but the difference between gypsum, slag and fire. They won’t spend time molding oblong hunks of clay into crappy pottery, but will learn to lay and cut perfect gravestones. We’ll need a lot of those in the future. When an ancient disease swindles its way back into the Third World, we’ll need Cement to cover the casualties. When a natural disaster guts a whole city, we’ll need Cement, piles and piles of it, to drop right on top like whooped cream on a sundae. And if that’s a little insensitive to you then, guess what, you need some Cement poured over your emotions because we definitely don’t need those in the future.
Our world is about to crumble (is crumbling!) like that Mississippi River Bridge and only those with the proper knowhow will have a stake in its reconstruction. Throw out your diplomas, GEDs, Associate's and Bachelor’s degrees and if you’re thinking of graduate school, you better prepare your concrete-and-brimstone thesis fast because Cement waits for no one.
Rapper dissects fame, gangbangs, & himself with pure open honestyBest Tracks: “Gorgeous,” “Hell of a Life,” “Devil in a New Dress”
Nothing Else, but to Throw Your Body at the Cement
I. September 21, 2010 – Northern Lights – Clifton Park, New York
______The following night the band crossed state lines to join Alice in Chains and Mastodon for the Black Diamond Skye tour stop at Boston University’s Agganis Arena. The morning before the band canceled an in-store signing at the city’s Newbury Comics “due to sickness.” Whatever that sickness was, it was not noticeable come nightfall.
______They startled the audience settling in with six dollar beers erupting into the punishing “Diamond Eyes.” Moreno reached toward the sky with each bomb dropped by Carpenter. The set relied heavily on new material and old classics. Their electric blue and fiery orange light polished the audience. A disco ball dropped for “Sextape,” shooting beams of purple light to the top seats. Moreno bounced all over the place, knees up, running in circles like a demon child. Deftones enjoyed their time on the stage.
______The only difference from the show at Northern Lights was the new song, “Risk,” which Moreno dedicated to Cheng. The song held onto a new gloomy meaning with Moreno promising, “I will save your life. I will find away,” from the monitors. Unfortunately, a giant moat of security personnel between him and the audience, sopped up any possible interaction. It was satisfying to see them on the big stage, but I yearned to be up front, close and personal. It’s difficult to get into any performance, much less a metal performance, while sitting in cushioned seats. This, however, is the beauty of Deftones. No matter where you’re at; whether it’s drowning in the mosh pit; smoking joints in the lawn, or holed up on the balcony; the music still pumps into your blood. The energy is always there. You can still feel it in your heart.
