Tag Archives: Mad Men

Wanna Be Kickstartin’ Something

Posted on by
Reply

It is now time for me to release my next EP Nights & Weekends. For those of you who know, this is my summer record that dives into all the wrong aspects of life in your 20′s: the misguided adventures, the foreign bathrooms, diner trips at 3am, hook-ups with the wrong women, losing trips to Atlantic City, and staying in bed till 5pm on Saturday’s.

The EP is nine tracks long with a bonus remix.  Here’s the full tracklisting:

1.  “Creme De Menthe” (prod by Zilla Rocca)
2.  “Vaguely Jamaican Part 2″ (prod by Zilla Rocca)
3.  “Black Cherry” (prod by Zilla Rocca)
4.  “Full Spectrum” (prod by Dr Quandary) feat Has-Lo
5.  “Alicia Interlude” (prod by Floodwatch)
6.  “Something Good” (prod by Zilla Rocca) feat Curly Castro & My Man Shafe
7.  “New Year’s Eve 2003″ (prod by Brian Brizzo) feat Nex Millen
8.  “Michael Caine Glasses” (prod by Has-Lo)
9.  “Devil’s Pie (D’Angelo Cover)” (prod by Small Professor)
10.  BONUS CUT “Full Spectrum (Man Mantis Remix)” feat Has-Lo

I remember the oppressive times of indie/DIY artists when we used to pool together money, press up 1,200 CDs, and sit on boxes of unsold discs forever.  I’m pretty sure my one ex-girlfriend has 800 copies of the first CD I ever pressed up in ’06.  Kickstarter is a godsend in that regard.

I’m looking to press up some thick jewel cased CD’s, two variations of t-shirts that are inspired by Mad Men, Sinatra, Darwyn Cooke, and Philip Marlowe, and buy Super 8 film to shoot the video for “Full Spectrum” featuring Has-Lo. Plus anyone who donates $500+ gets an autographed Stetson from yours truly on top of so much shwag, you’ll feel like Turtle on the first season of Entourage. But I’m not looking for ridiculous lobbyist contributions; Kickstarter allows you to donate even a buck. You can still get a condom in Pennsylvania road stops for that price.

So here’s the link to contribute to the project along with a video and full breakdown of goodies per donation level.

The deadline is July 31. Feel free to spread the word. Thanks guys.

Here’s a little treat to hold you over from the EP. 

“Michael Caine Glasses” prod by Has-Lo and inspired by Get Carter, Pulp, and Harry Brown

Sit Down. Close the Door.

Posted on by
3

***SPOILER ALERT***

There’s something to be said about a television show that keeps me energized and invorgated almost 14 hours after watching it.  I’ve been burning through every TV critic’s blog after the opus that was the Season 3 finale of “Mad Men” last night. 

It had it all.  Tons of laughs.  Near domestic abuse.  Good ol’ British sneers.  The ill cashmere V-neck Don wears as he tells the kids daddy is gonna be shaking up in a bachelor pad in Manhattan.  Secret marriages in Reno.  And the promise for a brand new show next year that will certainly look and feel and move wholly differently than the past three.

I’m a TV junkie.  TV is so good right now that new films and DVD’s take a backseat like a dumpster baby in my spare time dedicated to consuming as much media as possible on a weekly basis.  My mark of a great television show is as follows: as soon as the episode ends, I begin replaying it in my mind to consume every nuance (The Prisoner, Mad Men, The Wire, Twin Peaks), memorizing and laughing at quotable jokes  like an old hillbilly skinning a ferret (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Parks and Recreation, Bored to Death, Modern Family), and feeling immediately strung out and dilapidated as a Motley Crue guitarist fresh outta H while I wait for next week’s episode (Damages, Lost). 

Consequently, I know a show has jumped the shark when the following actions take place:

-I only watch it on DVR and find myself fast forwarding to the main character’s screen time because every other character and plotline has devolved horrendously (House, Dexter) over the years.

-I DVR it because I won’t be home to watch it live…and the next thing I know it’s 3-4 days later and I watch the show only out of habit (Season 6 of 24, Season 2 of Heroes).

-The plot becomes so tired (Entourage) or so insultingly far fetched and re-hashed (Alias) that I cut it off cold turkey to minimize loss and to appreciate the good seasons. 

Last night’s Mad Men, in relation to the rest of season three, was like watching your favorite basketball player coast through three quarters on autopilot, dishing the ball, feeling out the defense, setting up his favorite teammates to keep the game close and then BOOM! dropping 35 points in the fourth quarter.  You walk away from that game thinking, “You know, that guy’s way too good to be so conservative and economical.  He HAD to be setting us up for that fourth quarter.”  And then you’re up until 1am, geeked up on adrenaline and fanboy opiates exploding every 5 minutes when you think back to your favorite moments.

Kudos to Matt Weiner and the writing team for delivering tenfold on the finale.  See you next year!

Joe Budden, Mos Def, Black Thought, and Slim Shady Recharge My Batteries

Posted on by
1

When Mos Def comes off the “weakest” in a cypher, hip hop is still winning.

Skip to Joe Budden’s verse.  Everyone else is either ehhh or outright assey.

I really really needed this.

I’ve been dormant round here recently.  Beat Garden has been handling alot of behind the scenes business.  With all of that going on, plus the return of primetime Fall television (NBC Thursdays, HBO/Showtime Sundays, ESPN’s 30 for 30, and IFC’s Monty Python documentary series), the last thing I feel like doing is reviewing movies or making fun of Lil’ Wayne.

Well…I’ll always have time to make fun of Lil’ Wayne.

To update you all on the things I’ve been consuming and NOT writing about, here it is:

-Mad Men:  Still the best show on television.  HBO would’ve been the Steelers of the 70′s if they would’ve picked up this show after Soprano’s ended.  Instead, we have In Treatment.  At least Bored to Death is picking up steam.

-Curb Your Enthusiasm:  The old saying goes that if you’ve already humiliated and alienated almost every subsection of human being, there’s always the handicapped!  And the cast of Seinfeld!

-Flying Lotus/ The Joker/ MONO/Poly/ Hudson Mohawke:  Making me savor the idea of Dilla living on through a bass heavy, fluttering synth concoction smacked up with cold hand claps.

-Ghostface’s Ghostdini:  Ghostdini is the perfect album for hip hoppers in their late 20′s and beyond.  Rae’s Cuban Linx 2 is cool for the Wu diehard in all of us, but Ghostdini brings a new element to rap: romance and heartbreak from a street poet.  It’s not convluted or market tested (save for some of the R&B names on the project).  It’s Ghost evolving; you can’t expect 36 year olds to rap about coke and guns forever.  Anyone over 24 by now has been dumped horribly or caught cheating.  Well so has Wu’s sharpest blade. 

-Reading Deadspin: Between that and Twitter, I’m hitting the refresh button more than ever.

-Buying vinyl:  It’s rather un-hip hop of me to never own a turntable until this year. 

-Finishing the new Shadowboxers Broken Clocks EP:  I’m very thrilled and humbled by the ongoing love for The Slow Twilight.  It’s kinda cool to see the snowball effect going on almost 5 months after the album dropped for free.  We just wrapped up shooting for the long overdue video for “High Noon” — it’s pretty filthy, visually and conceptually.  The EP is a collection of remixes, bonus promotional cuts, and a few new jawns and collaborations with some of my favorite MC’s.  Look for that to drop sometime in December!

-Veggie chicken fingers:  COP THESE!  The breading, the chicken tender-like shape, and the chickeny colored “meat” (synthetic veggie protein) make more feel like I’m in North Philly eating chicken in a box minus the french fries.

-David Cross’ book I Drink For a Reason:  Someone had to call out Mary J. Blige for blingin’ in the name of the Lord.

-Drew Magary’s book Men With Balls:  Someone had to break down the advantage of listening to sports talk radio in the car — “When I’m in the car by myself and driving around in silence, I think about weird things.  Like death.  Not cool.  That’s where sports talk radio comes in”. 

-Witnessing the quiet takeover of alt-comedians in mainstream culture:  Demetri Martin.  Zach Galifinakis.  Patton Oswalt.  Michael Ian Black.  Michael Showalter.  David Wain.  Brian Posehn.  ‘Tis is a great time to be a fan of laughter and comic books/D&D/weird charts/fiercely grown beards.

-Living in South Philly again: it’s not often I get to see two drunken pieces of white trash argue in front of a $275K house about Jimmy going to prison, and if you were to call him and get him out, I’D STILL BEAT THE FUCKING SHIT OUTTA HIM!  On a Saturday afternoon, no less.  In front of kids on razor scooters.

-Going to Marshall’s and TJ Maxx: Son, you cop those ill cream butter crunch joints for up to 30% off the retailers price!  That’s my word. 

More posts coming next week, including an expose on America’s latest dilemma: do fat hipsters get laid?

Limit Your Exposure

Posted on by
1

“I love that this show can make me say “Don Draper is such a fucking good guy” right after watching him cheat on his pregnant wife”–commenter on The AV Club

I’m a HUGE fan of Mad Men so I was peeing my pants with excitement last night when Season 3 premiered on AMC.  I’m not going to do full re-caps of each episode–The TV Club over at The AV Club does it perfectly with all of my favorite shows.  I will dispense some things that jumped out in my mind of each episode though. 

  • When your mother is a man-hating whore who abandons you, it’s pretty difficult to unconditionally love and honor your wife.  That seems to be a part of Don Draper/Dick Whitman’s struggles with fidelity.
  • After they fired the Account Manager, I noticed that when he stormed out onto the floor and knocked over stationery, he was still in his socks.  Always take your shoes off before enterting Bert Cooper’s office–even when you’re getting shitcanned.
  • I loved how this episode’s big client was London Fog.  As a kid, I remember feeling grateful to own a London Fog winter jacket .  It made me feel worldly and sophisticated at 7 years old.  Turns out the “fog” was just the dust and grime in the air blowing over from the factories and debris from the war.  Dammit.
  • Loved how Joanie still asserts the little remaining power she has left to that limey office assistant to the big British cheese.  While the girls swoon over him, she sticks him in a glorified broom closet disguised as an office, which he later gets slammed for.  Smart move, Red.
  • Even when he’s getting a promotion, Pete makes every single moment of his interactions as excrutiatingly uncomfortable as possible.  Conversely, Ken getting the same job felt smooth and fun, like he was about to hit the beach and drink some Corona’s. 
  • “Have a cigar, but don’t touch the Stoli”–even when Roger Sterling isn’t given much to do, he’s still cutting people down to size and loving himself for doing it.
  • Sal looked like he was about to throw up a dining room set when Don appeared to be ousting him on the plane.  Turns out he gave him an idea for an ad, and cautionary piece of advice.  Even when he’s catching gay men in their secret lives, Don Draper can still sell a raincoat AND dish out wisdom.
  • “Peter Campbell: The Buck Stops Here“

If I left out any of your favorite moments, share them below.  I might make this a weekly feature.  If not, I’ll still keep up my post-Mad Men Monday morning routine of Bourbon and cigarettes at 9am.

The Garment Renaissance: Mad Men Edition

Posted on by
11

One of the reasons I love Mad Men, Boston Legal, the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise and the old Rat Pack movies, is that they revolve around badass mofo’s dressed impeccably in cool suits.  There’s nothing I want more than to have a closet full of tailored suits.  Dress like Sinatra on Monday, George Clooney’s Danny Ocean on Tuesday, the above picutred Donald Draper on Wednesday, Dean Martin on Thursday, etc.  Man, wait till I get my blog money right–uh uh, you won’t tell me NOTHIN! 

Most men hate other men who wear slick suits–it makes them feel self concious or underdressed.  Hell, I was quietly hating on Nico last week at Ciz’s mixtape release party, with the ill tuxedo shirt, striped tie, and construction Tims on:

Photo by Randy Watson.  Small ass tie by Brooks Brothers.

With that in mind, I hit up SYMS on Route 70 in Jersey for the first time to mainly get my mom something for her birthday and stack up on some ZZ Top threads (sharp dressed man, indeed).  Sym’s at first glance is intimidating; it has HBO Autopsy halogen bulbs hanging from overhead backed by a black ceiling with pipes and what not hanging down.  There’s row and rows of clothes, the staff seems incredibly disinterested in helping you, and oh yeah–there’s racks of CHEAP SHIT! 

I ended up grabbing some things for mom and for work with Mad Men in mind.  The first tie I got for $12 was a sharp, subtely patterned blue tie in the vein of Jon Hamm, who plays Donald Draper the lead character who puts on a clinic for womanizing, drinking 5 glasses of whiskey a day, smoking 3 packs of cigarettes, and swooning clients for advertising money:

Here’s my come up:

Next, I wanted to start building up my gray and silver arsenal, colors I’ve been slacking on since I’ve been a working professional going back to 2005.  John Slattery, who plays the hilarious and Rat Pack-prototype Roger Sterling on Mad Men, usually sports one in every episode.  After digging through google for 10 minutes, I couldn’t find one damn picture of Slat in a gray tie, so I’m rolling with Donald Draper again (no homo of course), pictured in the middle with Roger Sterling in the back righthand corner:

Here’s what I did for $12:

Finally, I wanted to scoop a skinny black tie to complete the ’60s slickness movement.  Not many guys pull it off properly on Mad Men, so I’ll break you off with the architecht of the skinny black tie:

I normally don’t buy Ben Sherman clothes because while they’re stylish, they’re definitely overpriced by at least $50 in department stores.  At SYMS, $12 for a B-Sherm tie is correct-a-mundo:

I capped it all off with a mahogany belt for $15.  So for $50, I succesffuly fulfilled my Mad Men fetish and got a much needed contrasting belt for a silver suit I’m still saving up to buy (my man Dave showed me how mahogany and silver get down at a wedding we went to a few weeks back–wish I had pics.  My man looked sharper than a dude on prom night!  This is exciting because he’s a former US soldier who did 3 tours in Iraq and normally wears a black rhinestone trucker hat on the weekends. ..Yeah, you understand my excitement now.)

For everyone who wants to look fresh for cheap, check out SYMS online.  They’re having a big labor day sale.  SYMS, Clap Cowards salutes you!

Monday Night Link Party!

Posted on by
2

This week is going to be jampacked with ill bloggage, so I wanted to clean house before the meat and potatoes are ready tomorrow.

LET’S GO!!!!

 

First up, check out 215hiphop.com’s latest release Beats & Rhymes Remixes Vol. II  It’s got beats from the best cats in Philly over classics by Nas, Camp Lo, Slum Village, Ghostface, and more.   Peep my homies Stress, Tha S Ence, Caliph NOW and more on this free download RIGHT HERE

*****

Next up, we have my homie 2ew Gunn Ciz’s mixtape release party for the outstanding project Tailgating: The 3 Second Rule.  By now, you should’ve heard the 2 joints I laced Ciz with (“Tailgating Intro,” “Alter Ego”).  I also grabbed the torch from D-Dot and became the next mad rapper, the infamous Dot Com.  Needless to say, I’m a big fan of this project for my involvement but more importantly because it’s flat out D-O-P-E.  Like nostrils at Studio 54, smell me?  Here’s the info:

I’m also gonna bless you with some exclusive Rhode Island ish we laid down just for fun.  “Throwaway” by 2ew Gunn Ciz f/ Clean Guns produced by Brizzo. 

****

Finally, last night’s episode of Mad Men was excellent.  Peep the AV Club’s coverage HERE.  I missed last night’s new Generation Kill, but I did catch up on Episode 5, which was outstanding as well.  Peep the AV Club feature on it HERE

All new batch of blognuts coming tomorrow!

Tidbit Tuesday

Posted on by
3

I’m so happy this movie is on pace to sink TItanic!

I have many random nuggets to share with you, so let’s go!

First, we have the latest from my homie 2ew Gunn Ciz.  A couple of weeks ago, he was smart enough to turn on his camcorder and record the typical shenigans of Beat Garden vs. Philadelphia.  This time we were joined by the ever-hilarious/scary/hilarious again MC Therapist. 

Watch as he terrorizes a homeless man in a Baltimore Orioles hat and challenges him to a dance-off/rap battle! 

Note MC Buckle Shoes try to shake us down for money after “singing” one high note like the Dramatics!

See Big O convince a metermaid that she towed his 1973 Pacer!

We are going to hell!

Here’s the clip.  And check out Ciz’s new blog (link on the right)

*****

I was awed and scared this week when I noticed in my email that I’ve somehow managed to join the selected list of names publicists and label promoters send free crap to.  Clap Cowards have only been alive for three months and outside of a few key posts, we’re not putting up Flo Rida numbers (hint: his name is “Florida” with a pause in between).  Regardless, I was happy to get some free crap from a project I’ve been waiting for: the new Heltah Skeltah album D.I.R.T. (Da Incredible Rap Team).

The song is called “Everything is Heltah Skeltah” produced by Illmind, who really caught my ear on the last Little Brother album.  Points to Rockness for making a reference to Charles Manson in the hook.  When these guys lock in, they’re probably the best rapping tagteam in the game (no Whoop There it is!).   I am feeling a bit leary about the album cover–Rock looks like a hybrid of Bobby Digital, Freddy Kreuger and an Elvis impersonator.  Sean P looks like Blankman reimagined as a wrestlter on Telemundo.  But I’ll still buy this on September 30th when the album drops.

Here’s the link to hear “Everything is Heltah Skeltah” 

****

Besides Nerd Litter and a few links here and there, I don’t see many of my bloggin’ ass dunnies talk about Mad Men, a show that was nominated for 983 Emmy’s after an outstanding first season.  While I don’t think it’s worth THAT much hype, it’s still one of the best shows on television.   I’d love to write a recap every Monday after the newest episodes run on Sunday, but I’m afraid the AV Club kicks the ever-living crap out of me, so I’ll just link to them.  If you haven’t seen Mad Men Season 1, Netflix it or die!  And I want the above pitcured DVD Case for pure conversation fodder.