why some things didn't suck in '96

Originally uploaded by third uncle.

dj shadow
from the album
endtroducing
LISTEN/building steam with a grain of salt
LISTEN/changeling - transmission 1

the summer has most definitely gone, its lingering heat in the early fall has given way to day after day of rain, grey skies, and leaf littering wind. the nastiness kept pj and i indoors most of the weekend, only venturing out a few times to drop stuff off and pick stuff up. oh wait, we went on a jog sunday nite to balance out all the laziness. 3.35 miles around the park. supposedly we're gonna do this every other day and get all strong and healthy and shit. i bet i last til' next week before the motivation hits empty. i'd love to prove myself wrong though.
enough with all this talk of fitness. as vicious and rotten would say, "it's bo-ring!"(sorry, recently watched 'sid and nancy'). one thing i can't go without on my morning commute is my ipod. a magazine or book is fine, but i get distracted. some bumpin' tunes and a set of headphones do a great job of shutting out the the world around and helping time fly. as of late i've been fairly narrow in my listening patterns, usually a playlist of various songs i've downloaded the nite before and, when all else fails, anything by dj shadow. it's strange i just can't get enough. it's perfect in the morning, not too chill as to put me right back to sleep and not too crazy as to freak me out first thing. it's good too that i haven't really listened to 'endtroducing' since it first came out nine (!) years ago. nearly a decade later and it still sounds fresh and completely mindblowing. many since have tried to emulate, but it's with this album that shadow not only set a standard, but also set an unbreakable bar.
on a related note, y'all should check out this video i've linked here. this teacher in minnesota arranged a few tracks off of 'endtroducing' for his high school percussion ensemble. they performed two tracks, 'building steam w/ a grain of salt' and 'changeling', before a live audience and just absolutely killed it. the video is about ten minutes long but worth a full viewing. especially because they're so young, dorky, and cute and by the time they segueway into 'changeling' they're totally warmed up and hitting it tight.