After a week in NYC I have come to the conclusion that Life is trying to teach me some serious patience. The traffic in this city is ridiculous. It makes Mexico City’s streets seem like a formula 1 racetrack. Sitting in the back seat of a cab on my way to meet Hec, going so slow it felt we were moving in reverse, I couldn’t help but smack SebastiAn’s remix of Kavinsky’s testarossa autodrive. This song is not for your privileged german autobahn drivers, its not for Schumacher or Alonso or any of them boys. This song is for the metro takers, snail-speed cab fare payers, and all the bus musketeers. This is for all those who realize that Life has given our souls an engine that can hit a potential 170 mph, yet the law tells us to keep it under 60. This is for those that want to live in overdrive.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young. We have the vision, now lets have some fun!.” – MGMT

Enjoy

Kavinsky – Testarossa Autodrive (sebastiAn remix)

You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather.”

So for today, I think a dip into the post modern side of popular music would be an interesting way of starting your Thursday. It involves exploring an evolution and the constant reuse of the jazz standard, Just One Of Those Things.

The song is about a feeling most, if not all of us, are familiar with. It is common, between two individuals that once shared an intimate affair, for one of the two to suddenly lose interest after a few encounters. It is a simple fact of life that not all relationships were made to last. So to build on what Hec so beautifully suggested, the concept of thinking in seconds as opposed to the future or past, I would like to suggest that some affairs were made to be enjoyed in the spur of the moment. As my dear friend Pichi once said, don’t cry because its over fool, smile because it happened. Additionally, certain long lasted relationships should be brought to an end, regardless of how difficult it is to break it up. To quote Chris Martin,

Nobody said it was easy. Nobody said it would be this hard.”

Brazilian Girls – Just One of Those Things

Quickly skipping through history, we keep seeing this tune popping up time and time again. That fact itself tickled my interest during today’s lecture. How universal must this situation be that musical artists from radically different generations keep expressing their interpretations of Cole Porter’s gospel through their own musical persona. Lord knows I’ve had my fair share of uncomfortable scenarios where I can’t find the words to lay it down straight. He also knows I’ve found myself on the other side of this predicament more than once, mon coeur brisé entre mes mains. So the reiteration of these type of songs throughout musical history epitomizes the deep roots of this instant of human interaction. (The tune was originally written in 1935 by Cole Porter for the musical Jubilee, performed by the one and only Ella Fitzgerald. In 1958 Blossom Dearie gave the public her rendition of the song, using musical minimalism to bring outthe bass and the vocals in the tune. Having passed away to greener pastures in February of this year, I would like to pay my respects to this diva by encouraging all those unfamiliar with her work to get on it. By 2005, Brazilian Girls pumped the bass up to 11 and brought the tune to its most modern adaptation yet)

It was just one of those nights
Just one of those fabulous flights
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings
Just one of those things…
It was great fun but it was just one of those things.”

Further more, on a more academic note, Modern theory extrapolates that music within this realm should, either intentionally or not, always evoke a pastiche or parody of a genre, style or ideology, in itself breeding a critical approach to the musical art form. In other words, covers should make us think and focus more attentively on the lyrical content of certain songs. So on that note, I leave you with this eargasmic cover version to sooth your mid-week pressure valves as Christmas approaches. Enjoy

However, the time has come for me to introduce the new kid in town, our lil’ bro Jeronimo. I met him on Facebook and got to know him at the expense of a $1000 (but notwithstanding priceless) long distance phone call and endless Blackberry messenger conversations. Long story short, we spoke about EMPT, about art, about music, but mostly and most importantly about life and I came to realize that we saw eye-to-eye on most things. So one day last week…

It came to me like a song I wrote…” – Notorious B.I.G.

… this guy needs to be a part of EMPT and voila, here I am presenting you his first post. Anyhow, I’m writing this as an introduction so I have to wrap it up, but let me just say that this is someone who understands what this site is all about and who has that extra soul that I needed here in EMPT. So without further ado, I present you Jeronimo’s (aka lil’ jei’s) first post as a member of the EMPT family, enjoy.

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To paraphrase Anis Mojgani, I feel like I just escaped an evil orphanage to join a Russian circus. After visiting this site religiously since the oh-so-happy-day I stumbled-upon it back in February 2008, I am now part of the EMPT family. How? The memory is blurred by the excitement. It all started with my comment on the EMPT Facebook page about the Brigitte Bardot post. As I mentioned to Steph and Hec, I am so happy I feel like my heart is shining somewhat too bright, making the sun hard-tense n’ jealous. So, I think all would agree it is both natural and necessary that I dedicate my first post to the founder of this musical and artistic Dojo, and his colleague and friend, the wonderful and legen………….wait for it………..dary! composer of the infamous Miel du Mois remixes every new moon;

My man… SPEECH! : First of all I wanna thank my conec’. The most important person, with all due respect. [EMPT] boyz in the house t’night! Oh what a feeling, I’M FEELIN’ LIFE!…“

I have therefore decided to start my first EMPT post with an impeccable remix, or mash-up of Jigga’s Roc Boyz Vs. Slightly Stupid’s Officer, by Mother Earth.

In addition, I would like to post Ed Solo & Skool of Thought’s We Play the Music (Featuring Darrison & JFB). To me, this tunaroll covers every aspect of the EMPT philosophy within the digital realm of music (Hec, I know I could be talkin’ fecal matter, seeing as you started this site and you had your own God Given reasons, but I’m sure you’ll agree with me on this one).

I feel that being able to have a general idea of who is feeding you your cultural tunas (:tunes:songs:music) is rather quintessential to the EMPT.is.WE ethic. So yeah, A.Skillz will give you the setting, Mr. Scruff will set the nocturnal mood (living across the Atlantic pond, my Skype meetings with Hec tend to take place during silly hours of the night. ringadingadinggin’ ) and DJ ML will extrapolate how, when I find a fresh tuna on the market or hidden under the table, I will make sure to drop it on your face through the wonder that is EMPT. Now, with no further dues,

Let’s get this party started, until the break of dawn an’ let’s get this party movin’, all you got to do is sing.“

Jay-Z & Slightly Stupid – Roc Boys vs Mrs. Officer (Mother Earth Mashup)

Ed Solo & School of Though – We Play The Music

A. Skillz – Strawberry Jam Forever

Snoop Dogg – Drop it like its Hendrix (DJ ML Mashup)