Word: hops
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Electro pop. Spicy trip-hop. Techno funk. This Is Normal is anything but. Therein lies the beauty of GusGus' artistry. For anyone who's bored of the mainstream and who cringes at the thought of another lousy remix, it's refreshing to hear such unconventional fusions of sounds. Trance-like rhythms combine with ethereal vocals to form much of the soundscape in this new album from Iceland's remarkably unique pop group. In the wake of their first experimental album Polydistortion, GusGus emerges more enchanting than before. Having already established a reputation for flair and soulful character, the band returns...
...Voice strained from back-to-back concerts, KRS-1 outlines the basic elements of hip-hop, from DJ-ing (the study of technology), to MC-ing (the study of divine speech), to graffiti art (the study of light, color and dimension). Initially wary of these seemingly euphemistic definitions, I am gradually won over by the speaker's authenticity and enthusiasm. I learn the history of the turntable, how the first DJ was a certified electrician combing NYC junkyards for spare parts. I learn about beatboxing, the art of using one's body as an instrument...
...years we've had Christians reading the word of God. But what these people have to do, and what hip-hop strives to do, is to eliminate the distance. You can't read the word of God, you can't follow it, you have to be it...In the past, it was enough to just identify with hip-hop culture, you could say, `Yeah, I'm down with hip-hop.' If we do that now, if we don't eliminate that distance, hip-hop is lost. You have to be hip-hop, you have to take that responsibility and recognize...
...After his closing remarks, I rise with the rest of the crowd to applaud. The next panel on social responsibility is less inspiring--when asked if there exists a unifying philosophy behind hip-hop, one record company executive states that "the one thing that I think every artist can agree on is the desire for artists to own their own masters." Rather than ruin my newfound zeal for hip-hop, I tune out and sift through the ideas in KRS-1's keynote address...
...hop, I think. More so than the outspoken man in the front with the one pant leg rolled up, more so than the white kid in camouflage pants and sideways cap. These people are trying to be like hip-hop, I say to myself. I simply am. If KRS-1 claims that one can "be hip-hop, standing in line at the supermarket," why can't I be hip-hop while concentrating in C.S.? Don't I listen to Cypress Hill's "Hits From the Bong" in the Science Center terminal room? Don't I fight for my right...