Adam Kadmon makes rap music that draws from a multitude of sources and clearly reflects the stew of sound that we encounter on an average day of listening in the aftermath of the blog era. I just googled his name and apparently it references a
Kabbalistic character that is the primal soul of all mankind. Good starting point.
Teslaphonics is hip hop with all its circuits bent, but not to the point that your ears get overloaded. This is lo-fi, scratchy like vinyl and full of strange tones that linger in the rhythm. Some sound like they are banging out of a bomb shelter symphony (Hark the Herlad), and others sound like they were heard at the Circus-Circus while Hunter Thompson was tripping on ether (Nuggets). His vocal delivery is swag enough to have the current crop of post-Kanye-rappers shaking in their vintage sneakers, and filtered through static like a transmission from earths last radio. The lyrics are poetic, drawing abstract metaphors together with sci-fi braggadocio and vivid images from some brokedown noir film. Wild lines I can decipher include:
he held a sign in his hand that said spare change please / and in large bold letters GOD DONT HEAL AMPUTEES, and
heavenly trumpets playing from the beaches / kids shooting up the school while they layin with their teachers, and
I got a coin-operated laundry list of demands / assisted living off the skin off the palms of my hands / skin of our teeth, our lives are intentionally brief / to keep the meaning of it all insufficiently deep. Clearly you will need to think about these songs and thankfully they are engaging enough to warrant many repeat listens. This record is part of the slew of free releases from the good people at
World Around Records, who are committed to developing artists that are creative, honest and personal. Adam Kadmon is, at the very least, all of the above, and this record has me wondering what strange landscapes his music will bring me through in the future. I will certainly be listening.
Nanoism is a Twitter-based lit zine (no, really) that publishes fiction of 140 characters or less. As in, the length of a Twitter post. They publish 3 stories a week, and also pay for accepted submissions. Thats not all. They also publish good stories- as good as it can get in that breadth of space. In December they are going to publish a series of serials, each five posts in length, and they are
running a contest to find the best stories to publish. The best part about this idea is that they not only have to make sense as a serialized whole, but also must stand alone as individual stories. The theme is the story of life, which I look forward to seeing ripped open across the board.
Apparently there are a growing number of very short story (#vss in the search box) publishers on Twitter and if you like reading quick hits of good words, its worth looking into. It seems like the idea is that you can subscribe to these zines via your mobile device, and get txts of poetry or fiction to brighten your day. Nanoism editor Ben White is blogging about these zines as he finds them at
BenWhite.Com. Overall I think this literary arena is worth checking out, because if nothing else, its a quick read.
Apparently Dan Phillips has been doing this for a while, but I just recently heard about it. He and his wife run a project called Phoenix Commotion, outside of Houston, Texas, that builds homes for low-income families almost entirely out of recycled materials. This project was recognized as the "most innovative housing worldwide" in 2003 by the International Institute of Social Inventions. Its not like you sign up and they build you a house though, instead they set people up with a skilled builder and actually train the new residents in home-building skills. They call it a "homesteading initiative" with the intent to give people homes and skills that they otherwise would not be able to acquire. This seems to impact social problems on so many levels that it is amazing its not being repeated elsewhere (maybe it is, but I have yet to find it). They work with large plots of land that they can break into smaller segments and can create single family homes for about twenty to fifty thousand dollars. In this way they are creating new sustainable neighborhoods that will carry the positive intentions through their lifespan. I would like to see this take the place of suburban expansion, which it just may as the greater American consciousness begins to realize we can no longer live out that lie. Its an added benefit that these homes all look unique and completely rad - these are the types of places you used to draw as a kid, the dream home with cool windows, weird doors and spiral stairs. Imagine if instead of a large tract of cookie-cutter boxes we saw our neighborhoods develop as personal expressions of the people living there. Throw in a small town center with a community building, co-op and a local farm and we are talking about awesome, unique villages that provide a positive space for sustainable life. This guy is already doing it, laying the blueprint for the generation to come.
