J-Pros: Down With The Kings.

We were blessed with the opportunity to rock with Amsterdam, 2Soul and Urban Seeds last night at Neumos! It was J-Pros' first time at the Capitol Hill venue and we performed our longest set to date. Needless to say our set went really smoothly (all those rehearsals paid off) and we definitely had a blast. We truly appreciate those who came to the show and supported local music!

Here's a video for the beginning of our set:

Check out Reggie's (R'Senull) YouTube account for the rest of the set. I'll be uploading photos on my Flickr account later today.

"The Grudge" Music Video.

After a couple days of filming in Seattle, we recently released the video for "The Grudge" on YouTube and Vimeo!



We've received good feedback in general about the message of the song, but there have been some mixed signals about what we were trying to say. To clear the air: In the Filipino culture, lots of parents push their kids to pursue certain careers and disregard what they might really want to do. In our culture, it just happens to be medicine/nursing. And so to our friends and colleagues in the medical field, remember that this song isn't a personal message to you -- it's about the moral of the story. With that said, enjoy!

A huge thanks to Donny Rojo of Kinematic Frameworks for conceptualizing and directing this video! We hope to work with you again.

Respect Mine.

It won't be too long before I'm back in the studio. The need to create new songs is way too strong to ignore, so I'll appease that craving by filling up more pages in the rhyme book. Granted I'm a little rusty having been away from the game for quite a while, but I'm not too worried about the output. I just need to remember to keep producing quality bars that exceed my own expectations about the song-writing craft.

I was browsing photography blogs for inspiration and happened upon this one, which offered a relevant quote about quality and talent:

Talent is not when your friends tell you they love your work, but when people who don't like you have to admit it's good.

I love winning over non-believers, if not by them becoming actual fans of our music, the at least by their respect for what we do. But as we all know and have unfortunately experienced:

mm hmm

Here's to some productive sessions in the booth in the upcoming weeks.

BTW, J-Pros is now on Twitter. Click that Follow button, people!

Heavy Rotation 009: The Glitch Mob | Drink The Sea.

So I'm gonna make an effort to post more Heavy Rotation entries. I mean, I listen to music almost constantly; you'd think I could write about it more often ...

Of all the sub-genres of electronic music I've been dipping my ears into over the past decade, glitch-hop has become one of my favorites. Getting into it was easy. The sub-genre is pretty accessible to new ears and the sounds are essentially radio-friendly (interestingly enough, I hate writing that) -- at least compared to other permutations of IDM. Anyway It's been a minute since I've posted a Heavy Rotation entry, and while I was composing this one I halfway-remembered that I'd already written about The Glitch Mob before.

Drink The Sea was released this summer and it's been a fixture in my playlist ever since. Certain elements of the album sound very similar to Crush Mode, but I'm pleased with the direction of DTS as a whole. There's the familiar, creaky wonk of glitch, but I hear a subtle lushness to the production as well. The tracks flow into each other, giving the entire experience an expansive, epic feel. I've listened to the album during long drives, while running, getting ready to go out, and even as a backdrop at bedtime. My brother uses it as study music, even.

Swan

Two tracks that stand out for me are "Bad Wings" and "Between Two Points," the lyrics of which are below. I love the melody and the way Swan's voice is manipulated at key points in the song, blending it beautifully with the instrumentation.

The Glitch Mob - "Between Two Points (feat. Swan)"
Lyrics by S. Palermo

we’ve got forever
slippin through our hands
we’ve got more time
to never understand

falling footsteps
weighing heavy on me

behind darkness
beneath candles
whispers waltz
around our dreams

the shortest distance
between two points
is the line
from me to you

feet turning black
is this the path we must walk
no turning back
wish i could just hear you talk

can something like this be pulled
from under our feet
leaving our skin
and burning coals to meet

tell me now

the shortest distance
between two points
is the line
from me to you

The song is gorgeous. Actually, so's the whole album -- do yourself a favor and cop it. Oh yeah, if that wasn't enough, the FREE mixtape, featuring mash-ups with La Roux, Drake, Daft Punk, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, etc., is pure flames as well. You're welcome.

Decent Exposure.

I admit, it feels nice to be interviewed about our music. Yesterday R'SENULL and I finished up an email interview with Vivian Nguyen, a writer for Northwest Asian Weekly. She was interested in writing an article about J-Pros in the wake of our second album, Pacific Central. It's the second interview I've done this summer so I was ready for more.

nahmean son

The questions themselves were basically the same: our respective backgrounds, the origin of J-Pros and how Asian-Americans fit into the hip-hop landscape. Like Mister Vee, Ms. Nguyen asked about the internal dynamics of the group -- how we worked together under long-distance conditions and about our song-writing process in general. Answering the questions got me excited about performing music and even writing again -- something I haven't focused on in several months. (There's just something about being on stage that keeps drawing me back somehow ...) I have some ideas brewing around in my head that might improve my pen game, but I'll go into those in more detail in a later post.

I'm not sure when the piece will be published in NWAW, but rest assured I'll post updates. Stay up!

Public Service Announcement 003: The Billboard Top 40.

I shouldn't have to say this, but every once in a while, turn off your fucking television and listen to something not being pushed into your brain by ClearChannel or Viacom. The situation is ridiculous nowadays. Honestly, it's not that hard to expand your boundaries if you're so inclined, and nowadays new music is literally a mouse-click away. No excuses. I'll be 35 in a few months (yes, this fact saddens me a little), and I'll be damned if I let some countdown run by a faceless corporation continue to dictate what should be vibrating my eardrums.


I know too many people in my age group who only listen to one type of music, claiming that other genres hold no interest for them. Okay. I'm not mad at that reasoning, but in my opinion it's self-limiting. No one genre can capture the entire range of emotion/atmosphere/feeling/ambiance that I need to experience to feel satisfied musically. Which is why my collection looks almost schizophrenic. I'd say that of the music I currently listen to, 90% of it was discovered via some independent discussion board or blog, and almost none of it will ever touch the Billboard 200. And that's okay.

Note: This is not to say that pop music shouldn't be liked or doesn't have a place. It definitely does -- I very well can't dance to Lights Out Asia, for instance. And I'm the first to admit that a sizable chunk of some of the stuff in my playlists has a pop influence to it. but the Top 40 isn't the end-all-be-all. That's the beauty of the music "industry" today -- you don't have to like what's put in front of you. You can make your own decisions.

Or maybe I'm just getting old. Yeah ... it's probably that.

Four Minutes Of Solitude.

Like everyone else, I get songs stuck in my head for days/weeks at a time. Every now and then I'll get an extremely annoying earworm* that's somehow managed to lodge itself into my brain, but usually they're tracks that I actually like. Not that I've been feeling particularly emo or anything lately, but Skream's first single "Where You Should Be" (from his second album Outside The Box) has been on repeat in my dome for weeks.

Here's a radio rip of the track:


Weeks, I tell you! -- and for good reason. The production is a thing of beauty. And although it's not normally my thing, I give the robotic voice manipulation a thumbs up. It gives the song a cold, plaintive sensibility that's perfect for the subject matter. Like DJ Annie Mac quipped at the end of the clip, this joint makes you want to break up with your significant other just so you can have a reason to listen to this song! While I probably wouldn't advise that course of action, I see what she's getting at.

To summarize: My ears are loving this. Okay so: Lyrics follow for those who want to sing along.

It keeps me awake ...

How can I feel good about this life I'm livin'
When you're not here right beside me
Not here where you should be
Sometimes it feels like I might as well
Just turn around and give in
'Cause you're not here where you should be
Not here right beside me

These lonely days
Turn into lonely nights
Everything's upside down
And I've lost the will to fight
You say you have to leave
And won't even tell me why
You took my hopes and dreams
And left me alone to cry

I stare at the phone hoping that you might call
Wondering who you've been seein'
And tryin' to make sense of it all
They say my heart will grow stronger
Ahead of me all of these years
But right now it's hard to believe as
I lie in my empty bed drowning in tears

Can't say I've never felt this way after a relationship, so the song definitely connected on that level. Okay so yeah, a little emo, but it's done tastefully and with top-notch electronic instrumentation *wipes mascara* On another note, I'm pretty amped about the direction Skream is taking the dubstep genre. I'm eager to hear what Outside The Box sounds like, as well as his group project with Magnetic Man. It's a good time for electronic music, yo.

*Yeah yeah I know: Her songs are catchy! And yes, I'd dance to some of them. Doesn't make them any less annoying :)

Random Tuesday Morning Video Bonanza.

Because I woke up and went to work an hour early yesterday, destroyed a few plates of half-price sushi at Ra, downed a couple glasses of Kirin, and ended up passing out for two hours after I got home, I kinda just feel like posting some eye candy this morning instead of, you know, actually writing anything. Push play and enjoy.


A catchy and melodic track by The Hundred In The Hands. It doesn't hurt that Eleanore Everdell has such a sweetly resonant voice. Pair the track with some refreshingly high-contrast visuals and you've got a slick, engaging video.


Stop-motion macro photography (think Robot Chicken) set to a jazzy, rolling groove. I especially like how all the little details added realism to the scene, from small pieces of litter blowing around in the street to the parallel-parking cars.


Like the retro-ish atmosphere, simple scenes of nature and poignant piano score in this short film, languages are beautiful.

Hopefully these videos give you a little boost to your day! As for me, I think a Red Bull might do the trick. *burp*

Side note: Damn, August is halfway over already?!

Beats From The East.

Last Saturday I was a guest on CJLO's Beats From The East radio show, based out of Montreal and hosted by DJ Mister Vee. The 2-hour program highlights "the best urban music (Soul, RnB, Hip-Hop, Funk, Electro, Acid Jazz, Reggae...yes, Asian-Reggae exists!) from Far-East Asian communities worldwide." Mister Vee had gotten hold of our album Pacific Central and wanted a live interview with Reggie and me; unfortunately R'SENULL already had plans for that evening and so it was left to me to hold it down.

CJLO Beats From The East

Mister Vee also had a guest in the studio, an upcoming French artist named Océane who was part of a band that covered K-Pop songs. He interviewed her in between tracks, and towards the end of the first hour spun "Grown Past That" to segue into the interview. As the song played, he called me on the phone (off the air) and we talked for a couple of minutes. As the song ended, he gave a pretty nice introduction -- mentioning us alongside Blue Scholars no less. Haha, dope.

For the 20+ minutes I was on the air, I think I did a good job fielding questions. Topics ranged from Seattle sports, to the state of the music industry, to the origins of J-Pros. I did enjoy answering questions about our music-writing process, as it definitely had been an interesting challenge to collaborate and successfully complete an entire album while Reggie and I lived in different time zones. I capped the interview off with an exclusive freestyle that I'd written earlier in the day. (I believe I stumbled a little in the beginning but a few bars later I hit my stride. Cut me some slack -- I haven't performed in a long time haha)

You can listen to the entire podcast here, or go straight to my interview here.

Overall, I had a great time. Mister Vee was an excellent host, and J-Pros definitely appreciates the shine we got on the show! (Not to mention the numerous mentions on Facebook, Twitter and the CJLO website.) Beats From The East has earned itself a new listener, and maybe we can build and off this new friendship. Mike: Thanks again for hosting me! Let us know if you're ever in Seattle! One love.

Slice 001: Le Trésor A Mathurin.

The first 15 shuffled songs from last night's (almost) random playlist, aka a decent slice of what I'm currently listening to -- complete with hastily-assembled cover art and completely unrelated title*.

This playlist skews a bit toward downtempo/trip-hop/instrumental 'cause I was in an introverted mood and didn't feel like disturbing my violet-colored aura. As to why I've never done this before when the name of this freakin blog is PERPETUAL MIXTAPE, I have no idea. But as usual, I digress.

Slice 001: Le Trésor A Mathurin

1. sayCeT - "Cyrconplex" (One Day At Home)
2. Sia - "The Bully" (Colour The Small One)
3. Boards Of Canada - "Roygbiv" (Music Has The Right To Children)
4. Moby - "Ghost Return" (Wait For Me)
5. M83 - "On A White Lake, Near A Green Mountain" (Dead Seas, Red Cities & Lost Ghosts)
6. Natalie Walker - "Right Here" (Urban Angel)
7. Ironomi - "Yasou 3" (Ironomi)
8. Bosques De Mi Mente - "Soledad" (Ruido Blanco)
9. I Hate This Place - "Never Go" (Our Hearts Still Beating)
10. 8mm - "Save Yourself" (Opener)
11. Childs - "S.A.D." (Yui)
12. Lights Out Asia - "Radars Over The Ghosts Of Chernobyl" (Eyes Like Brontide)
13. Massive Attack - "Paradise Circus" (Heligoland)
14. Emancipator - "Vines" (Safe In The Steep Cliffs)
15. The Aloof - "Stuck On The Shelf" (Sinking)

Suggestions for future listening are always greatly appreciated!

*Some basic ground rules I set for myself, because I'm a huge nerd and also because I like to make things harder on myself than they actually need to be:

1. Two or more songs from the same artist may be listed as long as they're on different albums.
2. Two or more songs from the same album may be listed as long as they're by different artists.

Before you ask: No, I don't have a life. But you probably already knew that.

My (Unfinished) Book Of Rhymes.

It's been a long time since I've finished writing a song. I think the last one I actually completed was sometime last spring for J-Pros' album, and that felt good to accomplish, but I can count on two hands the number of unfinished songs that are sitting in text files or in my book of rhymes (c) Nas. A couple of them are your typical exercises in braggadocio -- iller-than-thou displays of timing, pattern, breath control and flow. But most of the songs are incomplete fragments of my long-postponed solo project, Pisces Child, which is centered around my life experiences over the past three or four years.

As expected, much of the subject matter is introspective, dealing with lots of negative/destructive feelings I've harbored (and have since attempted to channel through more positive outlets). Admittedly it was very therapeutic to write down these feelings. The creativity and effort required -- to put them into rhyme form, then into something resembling a cohesive song, and then into something resembling a listenable album -- was a productive use of my free time, and I enjoy working on a project that carries so much personal meaning. However, school and my other commitment to Pacific Central inevitably ended up delaying work on Pisces Child.

[via]

Not that I'm complaining. We're rolling out Pacific Central this Thursday, 17 June, through various online outlets and I'm highly excited about unveiling our work to our friends and family. Ultimately, this will mean a bit more free time to polish up my song- and rhyme-writing skills and eventually continue work on my solo stuff. There's still so much in my head to write down, and I hope to be able to complete the Pisces Child project before too much longer.

The Front Cover.

With the upcoming release of J-Pros' second album, Pacific Central, we've been finishing up some important details having to do with mixing, sequencing and mastering the music. Reggie and I have recruited a couple of friends to help design the cover/album artwork to accurately represent the mood of our new batch of songs. Here's the cover we're going with:

Pacific Central front cover

I really dig this. Designed by the always-creative Arnold Arandia, it's a clean, clever and quite literal representation of the album title -- which combines our cities of residence (Seattle and Kansas City) in their respective timezones during our work on the music. (Needless to say, recording songs wasn't the easiest thing to schedule, but we got it done.)

We're also working on an actual website for J-Pros, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, I hope the sneak peek at the cover whets your appetite! It won't be long now.

The Experimental Soundtrack Of My Childhood.

I remember messing around on my parents' Yamaha organ waaay back in the day, playing the preset percussion rhythms (tango, rumba, etc.) and creating random chord arrangements from the synthesized instruments (harpsichord, flute, etc.) when I got bored with actual practice. I'd tap out simple melodies and harmonies for an hour or so, trying to coordinate those with booming bassline accompaniment on the pedals below.

More often than not, the resulting "music" sounded like the dissonant experimental soundtrack for some avant-garde abstract art exhibit, but sometimes it actually sounded kinda good (to my 7-year-old ears, anyway). I wish I'd had some convenient way to record my compositions, but if I concentrate hard enough on a quiet afternoon, I can still hear snippets of my childhood spontaneity coursing through my memory.

[via]

Nowadays you can have your own home studio in the bedroom for just a small pile of cash. I've been thinking about doing this for some years now; I'd love to create some funky spacey electronic stuff and unleash it to the Internet like a thousand music blog geeks before me. However, current finances are being directed to other, more important places at the moment. This I don't mind at all, but every now and then I still cue up YouTube videos of people just making beats/music on their own home equipment -- and I damn near salivate. Like the name of this blog, there are always melodies and rhythms percolating in my head. I want to be able to record them for posterity, and perhaps even let you listen to them someday.

This post is dedicated to my old childhood Yamaha organ. Hope you're still making music, wherever you are :D

We go way back

Dark Visuals For A Melancholy Song.

So this video's relatively old in Internet time, but for some reason the song's been in my head the past couple of days.


Say what you want about 'Ye but the dude pushes envelopes when it comes to the visuals that complement his music. This video is pretty damn dope.

I'm still not a huge fan of 808s & Heartbreak but I do have to admit, the album grew on me over time. I'll actually throw it on the iPod for some road trip music for this weekend as I make my way to Wichita for the annual KSRT convention.

How Do You See Music?

Having gotten only four hours of sleep last night due to studying for a test this morning, constructing a proper post for today has gone by the wayside. So instead of trying to come up with something that probably wouldn't make sense anyway, here's some eye candy.

"Sonar" is a short video clip featuring some simple melodies visualized in an interesting way:


I got to thinking about how I "see" music in my head when I hear it. I tend to visualize a song as made up of layers, kind of like the atmosphere (percussion, vocals, the various instruments). I can pick out a particular layer, say the harmony in a song's hook, and solely listen to that instead of everything else. Then I'll go back to the beginning of the song, pick another layer and listen to that. It allows me to appreciate all the different parts of the music as they stand independently, and how they finally fit together into a cohesive whole. Personally, it's a very satisfying way to deconstruct a song.

Try it sometime.

Jazz As Philosophy.

Today's official blog posting will be delayed a few hours due to a time crunch, but here's a great video to tide you over and dip your brain into until then. It's only about two minutes long and well worth the watch.


Deep. Using jazz as a philosophical lens to view life? I can dig that.

Check back this afternoon for today's update.

Heavy Rotation 008: Cassette Kids | "Spin".

This is my song of the week. The video is three kinds of weird, but it's weird in a simple offbeat way.


It's so loud, we're so close
We are all about to lose control
And I, well I can feel it rushing up inside my mind
Everybody on your feet now

Heat rocks!!

Cassette Kids are a relatively new band from Australia, having formed in 2007. Their EP, We Are, made some noise down under and they've been making moves and touring ever since (they recently performed at SXSW in Austin). "Spin" just has a great energy to it that makes me think of a perfect boisterous night out with friends, culminating in a bangin' after-hours house party in an apartment overlooking a neon-tinged city skyline. This was just begging for someone to flip it -- so Russ Chimes' ridiculously dope house remix was extremely welcome blasting through my speakers. I've seriously had this joint on repeat for days. It's damn near therapeutic. You need to do the same.

Cassette Kids' debut album Nothing On TV will be released on 16 April 2010. And just 'cause I think it fits the feel of this entry for some reason, a photo.

[via]

Have a great weekend everyone. Let's spin some records.

Going Global.

I love worldwide webcam collaborations like this, especially when they involve music. This is the kind of stuff that moves me. I'm glad I live in a world where people are inspired to use technology to create beautiful music and art with like-minded souls on other continents.




Rather heavy school workload today, so I'll keep it short. Weekend's almost here!

Takin' It Back To The Essence.

Time for a little break from my usual introspective/depressing posts. Last week in Seattle, I put in work with Reggie, Rey, Joel and some friends to film a couple of videos for J-Pros' upcoming second album, Pacific Central. Reggie is doing the bulk of the video editing and he recently sent me the nearly-finished clip for one of the songs ... and I love how it's looking so far. Here are some teaser stills from one of the shoots:

Basically I stood around for a while trying to look hard. jokes

We had a ton of fun filming the videos, and I'll post embeds/links when they've been finalized. We're planning on releasing the first video/single later this spring, so stay tuned!

Keep updated with J-Pros on Bandcamp, MySpace and Facebook.

No Main Topic 002: On Birthdays & A Shift In Musical Preference.

It's a week out since my birthday. First and foremost, once more let me thank everyone who wished me well via Facebook, Twitter, text message, webcam, the phone and in person. Your words, hugs and smiles (and age jokes) through all of these means of communication are much appreciated. If it wasn't obvious from the content of several recent posts, I haven't really felt like myself for the past few weeks -- and it's not because I'm getting older. I guess I'm feeling the effects of some internal seismic activity -- tectonic plates moving around in my mind and causing some cracks on the surface. I've told myself that this is actually A Good Thing, that letting these feelings emerge is actually healthy. This is still unfamiliar territory; I'm used to bottling up and locking everything down until I become a pressure cooker.

Like previous birthdays, I feel no different. I suppose my metabolism has slowed a little, but I've been trying to improve my lifestyle with a pescatarian diet and a significant increase in exercise (details on this in a few days). I may not feel older, but I know things are going to start acting differently the older I get, so I need to make that health investment now. Consider it a preemptive strike against -- well, against whatever it is that afflicts people in their 30s. (It truly pains me to write that last sentence.)

One thing that's definitely changed throughout the years (and has been more pronounced in the past two or three) is the kind of music I listen to. I'm way past the MTV/VH1/BET demographic; I don't even know what channels they're on. Nowadays you could show me a Billboard 200 chart and while I'd most likely have a working knowledge of the majority of artists on it, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you how their songs go ... unless it had been remixed by a DJ specializing in dubstep, glitch, electro or nu-disco. It's strange, because while I do not consider myself an avid listener of "radio" music anymore, I visit a staggering number of music blogs and immerse myself in the bleeding edge of emerging electronic dance- and club-oriented sub-genres that push the pop envelope and, in essence, predict how music will sound a few months down the line.

[via]

I know, it's a strange juxtaposition. I suppose it's because I hate how similar everything sounds on the radio now, and I'm looking for something original. Or at least original before it gets fully co-opted by the music industry juggernaut. It's like Indiana Jones sprinting frantically down the tunnel, trying to outpace the giant boulder. Fortunately, more and more creative ways to make good music are available, as is the technology to spread it, and I am lucky enough to be able to hear and appreciate the results. They make my ears very happy, and do other important things for me -- I even wrote some haiku about it.

If anyone would like to listen to what's currently making my world go 'round, let me know. I'd love to make you a compilation, either on physical CD or mp3 playlist.