Saturday 28 March 2009

The Robin / Probably a Robbery (Part 1) - Renegade Soundwave




















Reading JK's post about synchs concerning the Robin http://rundonotwalk.blogspot.com/2009/03/robin-sparrow.html
I was prompted to reply. I have resonated "The Robin" since I was a young child when my first ever football kit was the red and white of Bristol City (The Robins) which I supported.
I was conscious of the Robin in classic "Robin of Sherwood" and "Batman and Robin" television series of my youth .
In my  youth Mother and her 4 sister used to  communicate by way "round robin" chain letter as they were separated across the globe.
I forgot about the Robin  until I was much older when I was very into dj'ing and had my bike and many of my records "robbed" by "a friend" this event confirmed in my mind my Spiral Tribe status the stolen records, were now "illegal music" , I entertained the  idea that the Spiral Tribe ethos contained within in it the concept of communal living and perhaps even communal property, Spiral Tribe also resonated with me at least the idea of "nodes in cyclical time" and that positive outcomes can come about as a result of otherwise misfortunate events. The "Robbin" of my records prompted me to move house and my next home was to be a buddhist temple for 12 months ( a life changing move ) I've had become aware that shamanic gifts (found items) while they can be magical and meaningful to the recipient have potential to be someone else's misfortune.
I imagined that stolen items might take on an energy and like a soul that wants to return to source, perhaps stolen items at the moment they are stolen begin a journey home. For me stolen records become can become particularly powerful by acting as kind of sonic tracking device (assuming they don't end up on the shelf or rubbish dump) stolen bikes evoke for me the similar idea and in some communities (e.g. Amsterdam and now London) bikes are good example of a communal property much like newspapers on a tube or property that belongs to an organisation.
It was around the time my records were robbed that I first listened to the radio 1 dj Rob da Bank on his Blue Room programme, not to be confused with the Kiss presenter Robin Banks, I could connect both these dj's to Banksy the stencil graffiti artist ( Banksy, Goldie 3D and Inkie all have a Bristol Barton Hill Youth Club/skateboard ramp connection ) and from banks to ,the Templars but that's another story......
Probably the only other significant robbery in my life was while I was in Brazil , I was staying in a guest house and while i'd been out my bags were robbed (probably an inside job) The main items stolen were a Bad Boy Capoeira T-shirt and the last of my Wagamama t-shirts ( these were the unofficial t-shirts of my kung fu school at the time ) we had no official t-shirts but had received a shamanic gift of a box of wagamama t-shirts ) sadly the t-shirts stolen from me in Brazil were intended as present for my Capoeira teachers Mestres Lazarao and Mestres No of Group Capoeira Angola Palmares .
The events surrounding the robbery were quite eventful, I had been sitting meditating in my hotel room when my rucksack mysteriously fell over , I found this strange so checked it to find I had been robbed of above items ,we notified the hotel that we were leaving and the reasons why (we suspected an inside job).By the time we had reached the end of the road we were arrested and accused of leaving without paying, only the intervention of lawyers from AFS Brazil and support from Mestre Lazarao avoided a night in the cells.

Probably a Robbery - Part 2 can be found here

Probably a Robbery -The Shadow  (part 3) can be found here

Friday 13 March 2009

The Hardcore Continuum

Yesterday I listened to the Simon Reynolds "Hardcore Continuum" lecture.

I haven't had a chance to check out much of the debate it has generated, but it really resonated with me. 
In my view many of these "new" genres are really conjured up in the years preceding their first appearance as on recorded medium
 seeds  are sewn in fleeting moments of DJ's mix.  Are germinated then evolved from the dreams and splinters in the minds eye of the dj's and ravers , to be recreated in the studios of producers and recorded on wax or cd's ,  days, weeks, even years later.

I started to think of my own personal journey the moment when I entered the the continuum , and its intersection with other musical styles in my lfe

ie my own Fwd evolution & re-evolution

-church music (organ and acoustic/folk music)
-recorder , piano,  guitar , violin and clarinet lessons.
-70 and 80 pop
-80's ska, rock & metal
-Hardcore punk, early US electro and rap
-Indie rock and dance
- breakbeat & acid house,bleep techno, house
- Hardcore Rave,
- Jungle / Drum and Bass , Techno and Trance
- Rare Groove , New Jack Swing , Hip Hop, R&B
-Deep House ,Tribal House , Chicago House ,Detroit House, 
-Acid techno
-Speed Garage , 2 Step ,UK Garage , Breaks, Tech House
-Salsa
-Capoeira
-Samba,Forro,Pagode,Axe
-Psi Trance
-Rio Funk, Crunk, Grime, Dubstep
-Dub Reggae
-Funky & Bassline

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Oxum and Xango - Sandra and Steve - Oshun and Shango















Today my attention was drawn to the similarities between the descriptions of Oxum/Oshun and my wife (Love, Intimacy,Beauty ,Fiery Temper, Love of Cooking )I noticed she is the favourite wife of Xango/Shango and was drawn to the links with aspects of myself ( Xango the Sky God /my alias Skywalker) Xango ,God of Thunder, my longstanding interest and experiences around Thunder & Lightning / (my Buddhist Temple is Temple of Hidden Thunder) Xango sounds like tango and i went through a period of obsession around the fruit drink Tango and the dj tango, my wife loves the Tango

Does this makes sense to you ? What does it mean ?