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Sunday, January 30, 2005
Live FreestyleEp and I rarely have footage of us performing together, so it was a treat for us to get a video of one of the Vybe shows in the mail. I've heard that he and I are very different on stage, and it's only when I look back on this tape that the reality dawns on me. Someone needs to handcuff me to a micstand or something. epideMIC says: "Notice how everytime Adrian comes within 5 inches of me he feels the need to gently touch my shoulder. 0:17 --> 8W, "...cause Gerald's sexy" 2:07 --> 8W reaches for epideMIC's boxers 2:23 --> 8W gently caresses epideMIC's head 2:57 --> 8W touches epideMIC's shoulder for no apparent reason 3:33 --> epideMIC cautiously lets 8W walk off the stage first so that 8th won't be behind him"  8W, in the yellow pantsepideMIC, in the white shirt Toronto Center of the Performing Arts Beatboxers: Nelson and Dave Summer 2002 Sunday, December 19, 2004
Barber Cello Concerto, First MovementSamuel Barber died the year I was born. Though a composer whose style, according to the New Grove Dictionary, was "expressive, lyrical music, using conventional formal models and the tonal language of the 19th century", many listeners think this concerto sounds more contemporary, leaning towards the "strange" side of contemporary. I admit that the music is not as readily accessible as Barber's more popular violin concerto, but in the scope of the music of the 20th century, this is in ways quite tame. Barber's Cello Concerto was written a little after he was discharged from the US Air Force in 1945, and, when the second movement surfaces on the media site, the music reflects some of the things he saw while there. But first, the first movement. It's in a loose sonata form; the first twenty-odd bars introduces all the material that will surface throughout the movement -- though it's not present in this recording. Instead, it has an obligatory four bars prior to the entrance of the solo cello. A cadenza-like passage from the solo cello is followed by further dialogue between the orchestra (piano) and solo instrument. The technical difficulties presented in the first movement carry somewhat of a legend of its own, and is even now thought to be rarely performed because of certain passages. Imminent cellist Orlando Cole, as the story goes, when asked by Barber why there weren't more cellists playing the piece, told him that it was because of the demanding passage work in the first movement; in particular, the double-stopped thirds and sixths. Some versions say that Cole then asked Barber to reduce the hurdles. Happily, though Barber did revise the concerto mid-century, it was only in thinning out the orchestration. Samuel Barber Cello Concerto, Opus 22, First Movement Adrian Fung, cello Mariko Furukawa, piano November 3, 2004. Sunday, November 21, 2004
Pay AttentionPay Attention was also the subject of a past Email of the Week. Pay Attention is even older than our more popular "Reigning Forever", and, unlike "Reigning Forever" it has not seen much release outside of the CD. (It has come to my attention that "Reigning Forever" has been circulating on the now-defunct Kazaa for the past few years, and has also gotten radio play, albeit at three in the morning.) One of Blunt Ethik's oldest songs, it was re-recorded in 2000, and neither of us remember when we had first penned the lyrics. Mainly because we don't want to remember. The lyrics are shallow and steeped in the adolescent battle-rhyme period which, incidentally, characterized our approach to song-writing when Ep and I had first met. The hook to Pay Attention was my invention, albeit somewhat untrue (what with us having lots of crazy fans; "somewhat untrue" would have to do with how I live in Mississauga, and therefore, not really in T-Dot). Our friend Tay had sent us a beat from Bermuda. We thought it had a lot of potential what with its grimy piano and hissing snares. We brought the instrumental to Anonymous Twist, a talented DJ in Toronto, who made the rhythms of the piano more complex, gave it a grounded bass, and added, one of my favourite things on the album, vinyl scratching of a deeply gruff sample that said "Pay attention, son." Ep and I were both Christians when we recorded this verse, but rap had almost slipped into a calloused language, complete with packaged thoughts and one-directional reasoning; rap has all sorts of references and targets for insult, and it makes one desensitized to what one is really saying. This song is in many ways a project of punchlines; if you listen to Ep's verse, you'll see that each line follows a formula: a set-up, followed by a pun off of an expression. Both immersed with this exercise, we were essentially saying some things that we would feel uncomfortable doing at a church. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I had thought my stance to not swear on my songs was enough. In any case, it was one of our earliest songs and it has it's moments; it's not a piece that we relate to anymore, but, as it stands, as an exercise within a formula, it is still one of our most popular songs. With the realization that it's one of our more popular songs, I feel it's right to make our stance on the matter clear; it's my hope that this song can be taken with a grain of salt. Pay Attention Vocals: 8W, Adrian Fung; epideMIC, Gerald Chan Producers: Tayols; Anonymous Twist Scratching and Mix: Anonymous Twist Album:Lightning Strikes Twice Recorded: 2000 Tuesday, July 27, 2004
DenialThis song was originally called "Seventies Again". It was one of first songs I had ever recorded and appeared only in a few mixtapes that I made for people, and then up on the Internet through my old producer's site. Here, I have redone all the cellos, re-composed the drums, sequences, and half of the lyrics. The first verse remains pretty much the same since I had first written it when I was seventeen or eighteen. It was really just a half-baked idea; it introduces the topic, then talks about the futility of gangs, which, back then, seemed to be important for social advancement, power, and recognition. It was cool then to say you'd die for your brother, and then run away the moment you saw the glint of steel inside someone else's pocket. The second verse wasn't edited much, save for four lines; even back then I had realized how much rap songs revolved around a shallow fascination with sex. The third verse was cleaned up a little bit this year, it concludes with a little side-rant about how acidic modern literature is towards Christianity. A quick dive into such books as "Fifth Business" by Robertson Davies, Fugard's "Road to Mecca", "Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay, and basically any secularly praised book off a store shelf these days has a disdainful slight towards Christianity. It makes Christians look like ritualistic traditionalists; rigid apparatchiks blindly following a faith with no warrant. Yet, the funny thing is that some of the books get key principles of Christianity wrong in their accounts. I suppose more loaded than my other lyrics, the third verse also concludes with what is a thin thread throughout the song: that science, our own knowledge, and our education has become our religion, in that we believe anything they tell us. Though this is all that's hinted at within the song, throughout the years, I've noticed people cite scientific facts only insomuch that they help with a religious debate. However, when under this same science the Cross gets strengthened, along with its brothers archaeology and technology, all we get are complacent shrugs. Ep noted to me that this song, like Hollow, stands at 2:50. We both think this is neat. Denial Vocals, Cello, Production: 8W, Adrian Fung Recorded: July 27, 2004. Sunday, July 11, 2004
Freestyle Sundays, Week SevenWe just recorded this freestyle a few hours ago. Ep's skill in coming up with immediate rhyme schemes is growing to the point where it's a little scary. Freestyle Sundays, Week Seven 8W, Adrian Fung epideMIC, Gerald Chan Recorded: July 11, 2004. 
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