Click here to see these photos all big and bright.

All this music is available for affordable download — in some cases free — so click the links to check it out. If you like what you hear, support the artists: buy the music and tell your friends how dope it is.

In alphabetical order by artist…

• Big K.R.I.T., Return of 4eva
• The Blind Shake, Seriousness
• E-40, Revenue Retreivin’: Overtime Shift / Graveyard Shift
• Earth, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1
• Generalissimo, Love Without Mercy
• Helms Alee, Weatherhead
• Killa Kyleon & Rapid Ric, Candy Paint N Texas Plates 2
• Moon Duo, Mazes
• Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Lost In Translation
• Obits, Moody, Standard and Poor
• Paul Nice, Shaolin Buddah Beat Mix
• Red Fang, Murder the Mountains
• Rapid Ric, Whut It Dew
• Shrinebuilder, Coextinction Release 3: “Science of Anger”
• Sandrider, Sandrider
• True Widow, As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth
• Wooden Shjips, West

Fun fact about me: I fucking hate weak coffee. It’s among the most disappointing ways to start any day. In the words of a former coworker, “If light can escape it, it’s not dark enough, and if there’s enamel left on my teeth after a cup, it’s not fucking strong enough.” Okay, so that’s a little hyperbolus,  but the point is, regardless of all the care and effort that some people put into the brewing and presentation of coffee — don’t forget that there are entire cultures and industries that thrive on such things — people drink coffee (even decaf, which is not uncaf) for it’s effects. And I like a powerful effect.

Imagine my delight when I learned about Black Blood of the Earth. Concocted and brewed by a guy named Phil Broughton in East Oakland, this stuff packs 40 (yes 40) times the caffeine of regular coffee. This information was shared with me by a friend and coworker, fellow Oakland neighborhood dweller, and strong coffee appreciator, and she ordered a 750ml bottle of the stuff, which Broughton personally delivered to her a couple weeks ago.

I was working at home the day after he delivered the bottle, so after I dropped off my daughter at school, and before I’d had any coffee or breakfast, I walked over to my friend’s house and we cracked the seal on the cold caffeinated elixir, a Sumatra extract. (Broughton brews a few varieties, including a Columbian, a couple of Guatemalan, and a blend he calls “Death Wish,” for which he cannot calculate the the exact strength…as in, it’s way too strong. “By my rough calculation, you’ve got about the equivalent of a month and half’s worth of caffeination by Starbuck’s Ventis in that bottle.”)

We started with the recommended dose in a cold shot: 10ml, or two teaspoons. This is a ridiculously small amount of liquid — literally a couple of thimbles full — but keeping in mind that this stuff contains 40x the caffeine of regular coffee, and this is Broughton’s suggested starting serving for BBotE for beginners, it seemed a logical first step. Just to put this in perspective, 10ml of BBotE is the equivalent of 400ml of regular coffee, or about 13.5 oz, approximately one to two standard diner mugs full. (Standard restaurant coffee mugs usually contain eight to ten ounces…less actual coffee if you dump in a bunch of those little plastic containers of Carnation creamer and processed sugar packets.)

I expected a big, brutal hit of coffee essence, the kind of bitter, concentrated punch that I imagined a super distilled, super caffeinated brew would pack. But I was wrong, and pleasantly surprised. The brew contained a ton of rich flavor — it tasted like a coffee roasting room smells — but there was no bitterness whatsoever. It was light on the palette, almost refreshing, with no acidity, seemingly the kind of thing I could drink all day…though this would be ill advised.

Pleased and emboldened by the tacit nature of our first foray into cold BBotE, we then tried an alternate serving suggestion, mixing 10ml with three tablespoons of hot water. As with the cold shot, there were no unpleasant variables in the taste; the hot water slightly enriched the coffee flavor, but also watered down the viscosity a bit, making the mixture tea-like, with a soothing, roasty-flavored, a light see-through brown color (usually the last thing I want to see in coffee) with an ultra-thin and oily film on top, and it went down easy. Too easy.

We stopped drinking after one more 10ml cold shot, at 30ml each — 10ml with hot water, and a total of 20ml straight and cold — which is roughly the equivalent of drinking 40oz of coffee, all within about 15 minutes. Fucking nuts. And therein lies the problem…

While I really, really enjoyed the flavor, smoothness and all around beguiling drinkability of BBotE, and found myself wanting to keep drinking it (specifically, keep sipping it hot), I was super jacked up by the time I walked the two blocks back to my apartment, and as I mentioned earlier, continued intake would be ill advised. Make no mistake: This stuff is rocket fuel, meant to be had in very small doses, and any continual consumption should be carefully meted out in measured, gradual servings through the day (which is how Broughton himself consumes it).

It does exactly what drinks like 5 Hour Energy claim to do, without the associated unpleasantness (an acquaintance recently tried 5 Hour Energy for the first time and described it as “being mouth-raped by the Grape Ape”) — BBotE it contains no calories, doesn’t stain teeth, doesn’t induce gut-wreck, doesn’t taste like shit, won’t contribute to the onset of diabetes (because it doesn’t needed added sugar to make it palatable), and one $40 750ml bottle will keep for three months in the refrigerator. It’s a highly efficient, economical and, frankly, deceptively tasty way to consume mass amounts of caffeine.

While BBotE is strictly for people who need a pick-me-up without all the cumbersome pomp-and-circumstance that goes along with coffee, everything from the standard brewing processes to the culture that surrounds it, this stuff has no time for the triviality of all that. As I said before, there’s an industry and a culture surrounding the preparation and consumption of coffee. People enjoy extracting their java from ground beans, they enjoy percolating and French roasting and dripping and steam-pressuring their coffee. They enjoy queuing up and ordering their venti extra hot half-caf-nonfat whatevers with a twist or extra foam, and sipping it over time at the table on the sidewalk, or as they peruse the morning news, run through their inboxes, whatever they do to start their days. For the vast majority of coffee drinkers, it’s not just about the buzz, but that is the final destination, the ultimate payoff. It’s the process, the grand gestures of brewing, ordering and consuming that helps justify the addiction. BBotE may be too straight-to-the-point for most coffee drinkers.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a shot. Just be careful.

Phil Broughton is a scientist, currently a radiation specialist at UC Berkeley, so don’t go trying to make stuff like this at home, kids…or do, I don’t really care. To learn more about Broughton, Black Blood of the Earth and his other endeavors, or to order your very own bottle of this stuff, point your web browser to www.funraniumlabs.com.

I’ve heard the phrase “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission” a lot throughout my professional life.

A snappy little quip, I’ve mostly heard it spouted from salesman — though it’s utilized by anyone in the name of justification to pursue their own motivations at the cost of others’ time/effort/money/sanity — who like to picture themselves as big earners who buck the system for big wins. They often fancy themselves mavericks or rogues who get the job done by breaking the chains that hold others back.

But don’t get it twisted. This phrase — which is also the credo of serial brown nosers, inconsiderate glory hounds and shameless buck-passers — is actually douchebag shorthand for, “I’m just gonna go ahead and be a total fucking asshole, make a move against an plan, protocol, policy or technical limitation, and fuck over everyone down the line from me by doing or selling something that creates tons of extra work for others and goes against the best interests of the product, company and my coworkers, just so I can get a little bump in my commission check. Then I’ll play dumb when I’m called on it, paste on smug shiteating grin, and ask for forgiveness.”

Anyone who spouts this drivel as a legitimate argument in a decision making process should be held in the highest contempt, ignored and avoided as much as possible. Even if it may serve your short term interests to go along with them on occasion, don’t forget, these are the kinds of people who will unhesitatingly fuck you over at the first opportunity.

Then they’ll ask for forgiveness.

Some people never go crazy.
Me, sometimes I’ll lie down behind the couch
for 3 or 4 days.
They’ll find me there.
It’s Cherub, they’ll say, and
they pour wine down my throat
rub my chest
sprinkle me with oils.

Then, I’ll rise with a roar,
rant, rage -
curse them and the universe
as I send them scattering over the
lawn.
I’ll feel much better,
sit down to toast and eggs,
hum a little tune,
suddenly become as lovable as a
pink
overfed whale.

Some people never go crazy.
What truly horrible lives
they must lead.

- Charles Bukowski, b. 8/16/1920

Yeah, we’re doomed.

This little tune is hot fire, and the beat — courtesy of a 22-year-old Chaka Khan on drums — is dope. Notice where she screws up at the beginning and tries to stop the band, but it’s live TV, so they just keep going and she has to jump back in.

I ran across this clip a couple years ago on YouTube, and it was removed for copyright violation soon after, but not before I was able to audio-hijack the music (which I’ve since sampled into a janky little beat that still isn’t completed to my satisfaction). The other day, I noticed the clip was back up, as well as an extended version that contains the interview portion before the performance; the video quality is better on that one, but the audio isn’t as good. Here’s a stream of just the audio (which you can download from MediaFire):

“For years I never used a pedal board — between David Yow and the audience, I couldn’t. We had to adopt a three-second rule, like in basketball, just to deal with stage-diving: Do your thing and get off the stage. You had exactly three seconds, or one of us was going to get you.”

— Duane Denison, guitarist, The Jesus Lizard, Decible Magazine (March 2011)

And in case you’re wondering what he means by “…one of us was going to get you,” here’s an example…

(I’m well aware this is the second consecutive post in regarding The Jesus Lizard, and I’ve only posted twice this month. I’ll try to branch out more.)

Looked out the window this morning and heard this in my head. Not sure what that says about my headspace today, but I’ve been sitting at my desk plucking this bass line over and over for the last couple hours. It’s one of those perfectly sinister runs…

The Jesus Lizard, “The Associate,” Down

This pretty much speaks for itself. Here’s a little more from the film’s web site…

November 2009.

Manuel Liebeskind, longtime European sound engineer for the  band OXBOW, joins their tour of Europe.

He points his iPhone towards the scenery and shoots a personal tour diary, as close as one can come to the exhaustion of everyday tour life.

STILL BEFORE draws the most intimate tour portrait  of this exceptional band.

I wonder if they’re headed back to Europe soon…and if I can tag along as the roadie / merch guy.