spiritinc's blog

I was going through my photos in Lightroom and realized I neglected to post one of my favorite photos of 2009 in my Permanent Vacation photo series. Here it is. Humboldt County, CA

"True Nature" is my latest DJ mix project.  It's a 216 minute mix divided into 5 Volumes - Self, Civilization, Media/Politics, Earth, and Spirit. Each volume consists of songs that fit into the theme of that volume. It's a kind of audio journey through ever larger spheres, starting with the individual self (me); moving into civilization (where the self resides); into media/politics (a kind of "culture cloud" created by the civilized world); then earth (home to civilization and life); and finally spirit, the ether in which we all float.

The 5 volumes are available to listen to or download at the links above, as well as at the Internet Archive. The cover art above also links to the Internet Archive page.  The full tracklist can be found here. Enjoy, and let me know what you think in the comments.

[Edit: Also, if anyone wants a hard copy please hit me up through my contact page and I'll be glad to send along a limited edition CD and a pack of the new custom vinyl stickers I've been making]

I finally got my Big Cartel web store all set up this last week.  I've got a number of posters, an old school zine, and a new painting now available at spiritincorporated.bigcartel.com (or click the image above or the "store" link at the top of the page). Look out for stickers, shirts, and customs hats coming soon...

I found my first glimpse into Evan Roth's world earlier this week, when I stumbled upon this post on Above Ground Magazine's site. And a fascinating world it is. His GML (Graffiti Markup Language) is a specifically formated XML file designed to be a common open structure for archiving gestural graffiti motion data into a text file. As Roth explains, "Because graffiti is threatening to corporate and governmental control of space they have branded it as ‘gang related’, ‘vandalism’, a ‘quality of life offense.’ By digitizing the written form and representing it in an analytical, thoughtful, and expressive way, these stigmas recede into the background creating an environment where the viewer is free to explore form and content untainted."

Roth has been instrumental in the creation of a number of "graffiti analysis" tools, including including the iPhone/iPod Touch app Dust Tag, which allows users to capture and upload tags, the Graffiti Analysis website, which provides instructions on how to capture one's own gestures with a DIY "marker and mounted flashlight" setup, and 000000book.com, an online digital "blackbook" that acts as a repository for tags captured using Dust Tag and the Graffiti Analysis rig.

Roth is one of the co-founders of the Graffiti Research Lab and F.A.T. (Free Art & Technology), Brooklyn's "first and only R&D lab for the public domain", and his site is the number one return for a google search for "bas ass mother fucker."

One of my favorite finds while digging through the F.A.T. website were the GML promotional stickers pictured here.  I love the layers of meaning created by putting the stickers up on the street: the obvious promotional use for GML; and the "flip" of bringing the GML markup to the street, as GML was primarily developed to analyse graffiti "codes" on the street. By bringing the GML language back to the street, it's creators are simultaneously promoting a new way of analyzing graffiti AND participating in the creation of graffiti itself.

[Note that all images on the F.A.T. website are hosted through the FuckFlickr "narc-free image gallery" developed by members of F.A.T.]

"In Your Hands", Mixed Media on Found Wood, 2010

[Edit - This piece, as well as zines and poster prints, are now available in my online store]

The other night I went digging for my cassette tape to digital dub of one of my FAVORITE albums of all time, the "Project Ambershine" album from King Koncepts of the Kemetic Suns.  Though I no longer have the original album cover, I still have my original cassette tape. I was getting ready to post it here and decided to check the internet for more info on the album.  It was to my pleasant surprise that I found this post from King Koncepts on cocaineblunts.com.  It's an awesome first-person account of the nineties underground hip hop scene in the Bay Area. Remember, kids in high school these days had just been born. Upon further inspection of the comments section and links I found more goodies, including a download link of the original Project Ambershine album with individual tracks, a Side A/Side B download with a scan of the original cover art, this video of slangin' tapes on Telegraph from 1997, and more lost tapes and stories. Please dig through cocaineblunts for more insight into this truly influential era in Bay Area hip hop.

I finally picked up the Haiti 2010 benefit compilation, linked here:

Some awesome tunes made with my favorite controller, compiled to benefit those in need.

From the monome compilation press release:

[via Create Digital Music]

Finding slaterspeed's photostream on flickr is a distant second to the finds he unearths and photographs for us.  Yet it's a thrill nonetheless. Just ask Simon K, who had this testimonial to add to his profile: "Quite frankly, I am in awe of slaterspeed. This photostream is an extraordinary archive of the world we left behind, a narrative of the us that has almost ceased to exist. The shabby, derelict places that slaterspeed unearths were once the world we lived in, and what a remarkable archive this will be for generations to come. But even more than that, the quality of the photography and the thrill of the glimpses you give us makes a look-in here always a must. Don't stop."

I couldn't have said it better.  Be sure to check out his epicness, underground, and up high collections.  

[via ektopia]

Recently I've been listening to this mixtape from the turn of the millennium by DJ Werd called "The End of Western Civilization...and Return to Mother Earth". Yes, this was an actual mixtape on cassette circa 1999. It features a number of underground MCs with vocals spit over hip hop and trip hop instrumentals (DJ Krush, The Herbaliser, Thievery Corporation...) as well as quality beats and now classic hip hop vocals (Atmosphere, Outkast, Kool Keith). The track choices are awesome and well-blended, but I especially love the verses from the unknowns about, what else, the end of western civilization and return to mother earth. There's some real poetry in there.  

I recently converted the tape to an mp3 so I could listen to it along with the rest of my digital music collection. I remember listening to this in high school (I bought the tape at Amoeba Records in Berkeley) on the bus on the way to Lake Tahoe to go snowboarding and lovin' it.

DJ Werd was kind enough to allow me to share the mix as an mp3. Bear in mind this is a recording of a tape cassette...I've done my best to preserve the original sound and enhance the quality of the original recording.

The original album featured the Salvador Dali painting titled "Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man" (1943), pictured here.  Thanks to the National Gallery of Canada for providing the image.

DOWNLOAD "The End of Western Civilization..." Mix by DJ Werd HERE

Tracklist [MCs in brackets]:

Side A - The End of Western Civilization...

Teao - R.E.B.Earth

P.E.A.C.E., Mikah Nine - Brainwash

DJ Krush - On the Dub-ble [Epic Paradox (Definitive Juice, Kefing), Eldon, Dime]

Purple Penguin - Return

The Herbaliser - Moon Sequence [Parillax (Pasha, Shamako), Ultraman, Persia]

Automator w/ Kool Keith - A Better Tomorrow Z-Trip Final Mix 1

Slide Five - KC Doppler [Sapient, Jager, Intellect]* *(Nomadic Mind Travellers)

Atmosphere - The Outernet

Side B - ...And Return to Mother Earth

The Herbaliser - ft. What What - Let It Go

Hive - Moves Within Time [Dave Dub]

Thievery Corporation - DC3000 [Sundiata (the Anti-Werd)]

Definitive Juice - Beauty & the Bitch

Molasses - Meditation [Sundiata]

Rabb Chillin' - Under the Sun, Under the Sun

Visionaries - Revision

Da Damn PhreakNoisePhunk - Dazzafact

Kruder & Dorfmeister - Deep Shit Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 [Kaotic Souls (Soil, Quasar, Dempswa)]

Outkast - Da Art of Storytellin' Pt. 2

Teao ft. Dren & Bioplanet - Organic Hybrid

Enjoy (and let DJ Werd know how much you like it).

Peace.

The Parrot AR.Drone is being billed as the “First iPhone-Controlled Quadricopter Drone”.  Basically a Wi-Fi controlled helicopter with two cameras, gyroscope, and a "heads-up" style iPhone interface, the AR.Drone also includes "augmented-reality" games and a protective hull for inside flying.  It almost makes me want to get an iPhone, though the 15 minute battery life and probable hefty price tag makes it less appealing. More at parrot.com

[via iso50]