the dope report

Thom Yorke Chills Out On Apparat's DJ-KiCKS Mix for !K7

2010-10-26T10:21:00-07:00

In these shitty weeks before Daylight Savings Time ends and we set our clocks back one hour, the mornings are cold and dark: all the more perfect for the release of Berlin producer Apparat’s superb new entry in the DJ-KiCKS mix-CD series from !K7. Mix CDs are a penny a dozen these days, but Apparat’s work mandates so many repeat plays it’ll wear the lasers out of CD players with some of the best chill electronic beats the world has to offer in 2010. [Read more after the jump]

Producer Sascha Ring brings together a killer setlist featuring Thom Yorke’s solo track “Harrowdown Hill”, plus work by Oval, Born Ruffians, Pantha Du Prince, and Four Tet amid 24 total tracks, including new exclusives from Telefon Tel Aviv. Oval’s “Legendary” offers midtempo, highly processed beats and sweet looped melodies, an aesthetic that’s maintained throughout standout tracks like Born Ruffians’ “I Need A Life” (Four Tet remix), Pantha Du Prince’s “Welt Am Draht”, and Thom Yorke’s “Harrowdown Hill.”

Apparat’s own exclusive “Sayulita” showcases Ring’s incredibly infectious mix of pumping, syncopated beats, vocal washes and reverby, processed synth samples. A member of Moderat, and frequent Ellen Allien collaborator, Ring says he was surprised by how sweet and light the mix ended up being, given his proclivity for broodiness.

“I guess the bittersweetness has long been kind of my thing, and with this mix I was just trying to spice it up a bit.”

Sacrificing eclecticism for coherent theme, Apparat’s mix is one of those rare long-players listeners don’t have to touch once it’s on, except to hit play again when it finishes.

For a free Apparat track “Sayulita” go to Apparat-djkicks.com.

WikiLeaks' Afghan War Diary Details Lost Drug War

2010-07-27T12:15:00-07:00

WikiLeaks’ just-released Afghan War Diary paints a picture of failed drug interdiction in the most drug-addled region on the globe. United States soldiers stop a negligible fraction of the tonnage of Afghan opium and cannabis grown in the region. Meanwhile profits from Afghanistan’s drug trade fuels the Taliban and the associated war, which has claimed thousands of civilian lives. Amid the 91,000 plus documents of the Afhan War Diary are just six reports classified as drug crimes.

Most notably, soldiers met with small arms fire from irate poppy farmers irritated about the U.S. crackdown on the country’s leading cash crops. Other times, the U.S. intercepted as much as 60 kilograms of heroin in one action. But the sum of drug crime reports indicate most of Afghanistan’s drug trade goes largely unchecked.

Released July 25, 2010 the WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary , compiles over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. The reports, while written by soldiers and intelligence officers, and mainly describing lethal military actions involving the United States military, also include intelligence information, reports of meetings with political figures, and related details. The reports cover most units from the US Army with the exception of most US Special Forces’ activities. The reports do not generally cover top secret operations or European and other ISAF Forces operations.

A Dope Report review of the documents located just six mentions of drug interdiction. One is a French wire service story of farmers attacking drug eradicators in February of 2007.

“Farmers opened fire on counternarcotics police involved in opium poppy eradication … wounding three policemen, a district governor said. Police returned fire, slightly wounding one of a crowd of about 200 farmers involved in the protest in one of the most important opium-growing districts in Nangarhar province, a provincial police spokesman added.”

Another report details the interdiction of 60 kilos of heroin going to Iran along the Farah Border in 2008. Six traffickers were apprehended.

Another report showed a capture of just 2-3 oz of black tar heroin while another details a 5,000 square-meter poppy field discovered by troops.

Such paltry reports indicate relatively nothings is being done to stop the war’s main source of funding. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime “Drugs and bribes are the two largest income generators in Afghanistan: together they correspond to about half the country’s (licit) GDP,” said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa in January 2010.

Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium, is also a major producer of cannabis, according to the UNODC. According to the Afghanistan Cannabis Survey , the first ever UNODC report on cannabis in Afghanistan, released March 2010, up to 60,000 acres of cannabis plant are grown in Afghanistan every year, yielding about 70 kilos of hash per acre, or a nationwide total of 1,500 to 3,500 tons a year. The net income of an acre of cannabis plant is $1,352. Afghans make so much money growing dope, America may have to pay them to grow something else.

As a consequence of their major domestic product and the near-constant state of trauma in the country, Afghanistan is also facing a major and growing problem with drug abuse. Around 1 million Afghans between the ages of 15 to 64 are addicted to drugs. That’s eight percent of the population, or twice the global average. Opium users increased 53 per cent and heroin users leaped 140 per cent since 2005.

“Three decades of war-related trauma, unlimited availability of cheap narcotics and limited access to treatment have created a major, and growing, addiction problem in Afghanistan,” said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa.

Western Europe and Russia are the two largest export markets for Aghan opium. The United States gets its opium from Latin America.

Review: 'Red Dead Redemption'- A Masterpiece of Mythic Violence

2010-06-10T09:00:00-07:00

Civilization and its malcontents meet their maker in this sepia-toned, bullet-time, bloodbath

From the makers of Grand Theft Auto IV, new western title Red Dead Redemption is quickly becoming legend.

The game’s bleak realness, tragic arc, and notable glitches might be why makers Rockstar and publisher Take-Two soft-peddled its release. It was a profoundly difficult game to make, and few review copies of the game went out before ship date in May. The game was expected to sell five million copies within one year of release.

Shocking watchers, the game has sold five million copies in less than three weeks. It’s single-handedly boosted the stock outlook of Take-Two. It’s become a most-talked about game on the web, trumping even World Cup fever in the UK. This is not just because of its copious bounty, treasure and sport hunting.

Red Dead Redemption accomplishes the near-impossible. The ambitious, $100 million sleeper of a mega-hit manages to make all its precedents feel like antecedents. From this point forward, an entire generation will refer to a game as the major landmark in an increasingly vibrant, violent genre.

Pink, dawn light delicately filters through the frays in Marston’s poncho as he kneels down and slices open a freshly shot buck.

“Lie still,” Martson jokes, alone on the great plains of West Elizabeth.

Red Dead Redemption is the first truly pastoral game. Benjamin Franklin would have loved its abject disdain for city life. Rockstar San Diego studio has crafted one of the biggest game worlds ever made. It worships at the altar of geography, manifest in everything from the rugged, snow-topped mountains of Tall Trees to the searing desert shitholes of Perdido. Out in the endless back country, bear, cougar, wolves, wild boar and other predators stalk the apex predator holding the controller.

Big sky country feels big inside this game. The stars shine ultra-bright. Evening and morning hues feel hyper-real. Storm fronts move in and dump rain, and clear out again, then fresh puddles reflect that narcotic light.

Ambient sounds combine with a subtle yet masterful, modern take on Western-themed music by alt-country underground legends Bill Elm and Woody Jackson, who are on Nirvana’s old Sub Pop Records label. The pair recorded fourteen hours of pensive rustic notes, reportedly all in A Minor. Lone bells, harpsichord, and fiddle might punctuate a slow, predawn ride. When the action gets furious, thrilling drums back beefy bass, arid electric guitar, trumpet. It’s the best forty-hour Western film you’ll never see in theaters.

Lead character John Marston – voiced by Rob Weithoff – has more nuance and heart than many real-life film actors. Star-crossed from birth, facial scars mark John’s history of violence, and he comes with a credible backstory that at least explains the misspent youth.

The orphan of Scottish immigrants, a boy with no name, Marston fell in with a charismatic, quasi-revolutionary named Dutch Van Der Linde, played immaculately by Benjamin Byron Davis. Dutch’s gang sought freedom from the encroaching social order, but “went crazy” as Marston puts it, and Marston lost faith.

When Dutch left John for dead during a botched robbery, Marston went straight. He married, settled down, had a kid and started a farm. The game starts when a savage Federal agent named Edgar Ross is tasked with stopping Dutch. The Feds seize Marston’s wife and child, and threaten them with jail and death unless John takes down his old gang. And off he goes.

You become a legendary hero or outlaw in pursuit of Dutch, killing thousands of gang members, banditos, Mexican revolutionaries, and both countries’ military. Set in the year 1911, Marston is the pacification of the West incarnate, just years before World War I proved civilization is defined by its most savage.

Writers Dan Houser, Michael Unsworth and Christian Cantamessa should be applauded for vividly illustrating an often overlooked fact that: the people’s history of the United States is mostly poor on poor. Slaveship sailors died young. Neither kings, nor councilmembers personally subjugated the Indians. Piss poor migrants fleeing famine, jail and worse will do the dirty work. Today, the trend continues. Immigrants and the oft-derided Generation Y – jobless and prospectless – fight two wars of pacification.

There’s a reason why these synthetic westerns – Preacher, Deadwood, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood – continue to resonate so strongly in these perilously modern times. Not only artistically bulletproof, Red Dead Redemption hammers on what philosopher Slavoj Zizek notes in his July book Living in the End Times:

“Civilization is grounded in a lie. ... In order to civilize the Wild West, the lie had to be elevated into truth.”

Now, that truth crumbles. Being John Marston is an exercise in the type of mythic violence that paved the way for modernity with a road of bones.

“Blood, whips, guns, or dollars,” Ayn Rand would add. “Take your choice. There is no other.”

Links: 30 minute film shot in RDR

Gamasutra: Trouble at Rockstar San Diego

Joystiq: Surprise hit

Dig: Five million copies shipped/sold

Cinemablend: Take-Two Stock boost

Edge: Most talked about game

Unrealitymag: Game glitches

el33tonline: RDR game cost estimate

1up: Mo-capping horse

Guardian: RDR Soundtrack Profile

Slavoj Zizek, ‘Living in The end Times’

James Franco Beatifies Allen Ginsberg in 'Howl': Film Review Capsule

2010-06-09T13:27:46-07:00

Aficionados of beat literature, indie film, or hawt man-on-man James Franco action are probably going to enjoy the 2010 quasi-documentary Howl. It stars Franco as poet Allen Ginsberg circa 1955, going down on Neal Cassady and going on trial for the obscenity in his landmark poem.

Sometimes funny, sometimes moving and sometimes corny (especially the animated segments) — Howl ends up being a tame – if entertaining – paean to the source material, especially compared to today’s movie mores. [With Mad Men’s excellent John Hamm, Mary Louise-Parker, and Jeff Daniels. Written and Directed by Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk) and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet). Playing once Sunday, June 27, 7:30 p.m. for $25 as part of frameline34 the SF International LGBT Film Festival. Opens in theaters nationwide September 24.]

Nike ad pairs Kobe Bryant with Andre 3000's Beatles cover

2010-06-08T13:33:00-07:00

They may be dirtbags when it comes to international labor laws, but damned if Nike can’t put together a great commercial. This current ad celebrates Kobe Bryant’s fifth run at an NBA title with a montage of career highlights set to Andre 3000’s cover of the Beatles’ “All Together Now.” The ATLien takes one of the Beatles’ trippiest songs from Yellow Submarine and adds a little taste of funk to it. Add that to a Kobe highlight reel that succinctly captures a legendary 14 year career spanning three NBA eras in just one minute.

TDR supports Kobe, cognac drinker Ron Artest, cannabis enthusiast Lamar Odom and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers in this year’s finals against the detested Boston Celtics. [Nike Basketball]

Amon Tobin+Eskmo Chart Frontiers of Sound and Recording

2010-05-26T09:00:00-07:00

Earlier this month, a new collaboration between two of the most creative forces in the electronic music scene – Brendan Angelides known as Eskmo and Amon Tobin produced their first single under the guise of Eskamon. The single “Fine Objects” can be purchased at Eskamon.com along with a free WAV package of the field recorded sounds they used to compose the music. You can also watch an Ableton tutorial on what to do with sounds created by Ill Gates. Amon Tobin was traveling during the time of our inquiries and could not be reached but Mr. Angelides was kind enough to spend some time with us in a recent interview and give away some of the finer points of the project.

TDR – Why did you start working with Amon Tobin?

BA – I have always been a big fan of his and he inspired me musically back in the day. We had played together a few years ago at Yuri’s night. We met there and enjoyed each others music so much that it ended up being a real natural thing. It was an easy process, the creative process is natural and we can both move quickly through the studio.

TDR – How did the project begin?

BA – It started with the idea of bringing odd sounds together. Even before working on it, the idea of banging on a chandelier or rubbing pots together seemed like a natural progression for both us. It wasn’t just 100% one thing, there was a broken harp that after being plucked for awhile would take the sound a lot of ways – resonating off my fingernails. Snoring was even considered although that never actually happened.

TDR – Why did you do you decide to turn the sounds recorded for “Fine Objects” into a free download with an Ableton tutorial?

BA – We wanted to give out the sounds we recorded as a gesture for people to be creative with it. It could be a natural hype and something people might be able to dig. So many people have access and are using this program. My friend Ill Gates is trying to work more and more with Ableton and is now teaching classes on how to use it.

TDR – Why did you choose to release the single on your independent label Ancestor?

BA – It’s a track with a vision and why not bring attention to your label. We can have total control over it and seemed to make the most sense. It allowed me to present it the way I want to without all the different people in between. Everything from the art direction to the name of the label being a representation of what we are doing with the project.

TDR – Are there more tracks from Eskamon to come?

BA – Amon is working on a big next album and in general I am busy but we do want to show people that we are stoked to be working together.

TDR – How would you describe the music you two are making?

BA – We don’t know how to classify it and that is fine by us. It’s also tongue and cheek and it made us laugh while we were working on it.

TDR – What type of equipment did you use for the recordings?

BA – All the field recording was done on a Roland Edirol MC-909 – a little hand held recorder. It is super compact and really easy to carry around. We then used Logic and a bunch of it was done in Q – Base.

TDR – What is the intention in your music and are you trying to achieve something special?

BA – I want to inspire people to create. If I was writing books I’d still want to be doing the same thing. Music has totally saved my life a whole bunch of times. Because of the younger age range of the people listening, I would love to inspire them to be creative, not only with electronic music but in any way. Music is therapeutic to me and if there is any way that it can be for other people than that is amazing.

The Splinters remind us why we love rock music

2010-05-24T09:00:00-07:00

After two years of playing music together in and around the Oakland rock scene, The Splinters released their first full length album “Kick” in March on Double Negative Records. They have quickly built an audience ecstatic for these four girls singing and twisting their way through infectious two-minute garage-bop songs full of just as much rocker whimsy as they are in grit. Their charm couldn’t be any more eloquently expressed as it is in their debut video for the tune Splintered Bridges. Guitarist and Bassist Caroline Partamian graced us with a lovely interview earlier this month and the rest of the group – Lauren Stern, Ashley Thomas and Courtney Grey chimed in later with a few clarifying comments.

TDR – Is there a shortage of all girl bands in the rock scene?

TS – We don’t think of ourselves in that way but there is not a shortage. I think there are a lot of girl bands out there and there is a very strong female presence in rock, especially in the Bay Area. We all went to school together at UC Berkeley and were surrounded by a lot of local creativity and there may be a lot more respect given now to female rock bands because of that scene.

TDR – Who are some of those local bands that influenced you girls?

TS – Locals bands we like are Brilliant Colors, Maus Haus, Thee Oh Sees, Culture Kids, Agent Ribbons, Nobunny – there are so many that are great. I don’t think we are really more influenced by other bands if they happen to be girl bands – so to separate them would be kinda silly. I guess lyrical content can relate more to being a female, but yeah we don’t listen to bands and think to ourselves “this is another girl band.” But a lot of our influences are not in the Bay Area.

TDR – I’ve heard you girls compared to The Shangri-La’s, could you name a few of the bigger bands that have helped to define your sound.

TS – That is a great compliment and we love the Shangri-La’s but some bands in general who we are influenced by are: The Cramps, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, The Evens and X.

TDR – Would you define yourselves first and foremost as a girl band or a rock band?

TS – We are a rock band for sure and I wish people would classify us like any other rock band.

TDR – But are there any advantages to being in a young, all-female rock band?

TS – As long as people are listening to our music, it’s rad. If there is an appeal to our band because we are girls, we don’t scoff at that. It’s kind of cool to be in a position to inspire people to be in a band and because there is such a male presence in rock it can help girls feel empowered. I really like female vocals (the way they sound) so having four girls in our band who like to sing is the biggest advantage.

TDR – So there is something to be said about the power inherent in a girl group?

TS – We started realizing that after we became a band. People would come up to us after a show and talk about how great we are but maybe it was just because they thought Lauren was really cute. We all want to be respected but when people would come up and be like “Hey, you play your instruments really well,” Did they mean for girls?

TDR – Do you consider your sound retro?

TS – We feel like we have a ‘90s vibe more than anything. For our album Kick, we noticed a lot bands were recording things really low-fi to make it sound more retro but we wanted something really smooth. Now, our new songs are being recorded onto tape. I think it’s cool because it’s different to put out 8-track recordings on 7” records.

TDR – Do you have a particular niche crowd or are you girls playing music for a variety of people?

TS – We play for all different types of people. Some shows will be all dudes, some shows all girls. Sometimes we will be playing for older metalheads and other times for 20-year-old’s. I also see a difference from Oakland to San Francisco. We are an Oakland band and when we play a show there it is less public. All the people there are usually from Oakland and they go out to support their friends, in San Francisco there are different crowds of people and you get more of a mix. Recently, we got an email from the father of this 14-year-old from Bristol, U.K. saying that we were his son’s favorite band and asked if we could send him a gift packet. Getting an out of the country response like that makes us really excited so we sent him all sorts of cool stickers and things.

TDR – What drives the band’s music?

TS – When we started writing songs, we tried to make whatever sounded good to us. People were so friendly and super supportive that really just hearing how awesome you are all the time kept us playing. We are playing a lot of great shows with a lot of great bands and we try to do everything super positively. We work cooperatively together and it works because we are all best friends, I can’t really see playing music with other people.

TDR- Do The Splinters have a mission and is the band going to stick around?

TS – To have fun. We want to play shows where we are super comfortable. We played the Noise Pop festival and didn’t really get into it but we did got some really good press from it. I am moving to New York this summer to go to grad school but official things are now happening behind the scenes that are allowing us to keep doing it. The press is allowing us to do more than we’ve ever imagined. I put off grad school for a year because we’ve had so much fun and when I leave we are going to do as much as we can. It will be an active hibernation.

TDR – How do you you define the music of The Splinters?

TS – We all work on a song together to make it our own. If it sounds cool, we go with it. Whatever we are vibing with, we splinter-fie it.

Download: A-Trak's new mixtape 'Dirty South Dance 2'

2010-05-17T12:00:00-07:00

Note the album art by Shepard Fairey, above. A-Trak is no longer just “Kanye West’s DJ”. The Montreal-born turntablist is a full-on tastemaker through label Fool’s Gold and his web site code is on another level, compared to other attempts. Check the ‘Dirty South Dance 2’ tracklist, stream the album, or download it after the jump.

<a href="http://atrak.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-south-dance-2">Intro by A-Trak</a>