#africa math rock

[primrosebow]

An open letter to bigfatbimbo.🪽

Reasons why you should write for Adam.

1 -> He is a misogynist (not for long)

Look at his face. He is so weird. I swear. He has been favoritized for far too long, leaving him with the most mind-numbing god complex. Don't you want to stab him to death like niffty? Don't you want to put him where he deserves to be (either underground or under me)? I do. You should too! Because his way of thinking meets it's end where my heels begin.

2 -> He is stupid

He has the emotional maturity of a boiled lobster. He fits into heaven like an orca in the amazon river. He is so unbelievably incompetent it is actually kind of mind boggling. Don't you want to crush him like he's a little bug (either with your fists or your thighs)? Didn't he literally say one of the "biggest issues evet" was math or something? He probably couldn't tell you where Africa is in the world map even if you paid him. Even the fruit of knowledge couldn't give him enough braincells to function as a proper member of society.

3 -> he deserves humiliation

He deserves to have his entire worldview rocked and destroyed, something we can surely provide. His shallow thinking should be promptly obliterated. He has only ever gotten away from beautiful tall strong women because he always had the option of just asking for a different woman. They didn't have the mental fortitude to put him in his place. We are the bearers of the curse (liking repulsive men), and, since there is no "mental fortitude" to begin with, there is nothing for him to break down. We (as a collective) should end him.

4 -> I know what he is

His entire persona is a gigantic act to make up for the fact he cannot appropriatelly cope with losing in general, much less losing the, like, 2 wives he ever had (to THE SAME GUY!! MIND YOU!!!) and if he had more people they were one night stands. Not because he left them, but because people know he is worthless scum and he is good for nothing other than his "original dick" ( eugh. I usually refrain from cursing >:// ). It is the reason for his pride and also the only thing that makes him even remotely worth the hastle of talking to. He is the equivalent of a carnival prize to the people in heaven, scoring him is more of a show of your own endurance rather than how coveted he is. He has been objectified through his own hubris. He should be made aware of that. He should fear the knowledge we posses. It should be used against him.

5 -> he sounds.. like.. . He sounds good.

I watched the series while skipping most of the songs but I genuinelly could not do it when he was singing. No wonder he's in a band or something, I didn't actually pay attention to what he was saying I was paying more attention to the sound of his voice so I don't remember clearly what's up with that. Like he sounds REALLY good. If only he knew how to just use his voice without saying the most repulsive atrocities to be ever uttered by anyone ever. Oh yeah! We can make him incoherent enough for that to happen.

6 -> Lute deserves better

Lute deserves, like, a woman. Not him. She's too gorgeous for him, and, the difference between us and her is that while SHE is dealing with HIM, in our case, HE has to deal with US. Really, we're just saving a beautiful, amazing, stunning, showstopping woman a lot of trouble, and getting an ENTIRE PATHETIC MAN AS A TRADE! WIN WIN! Literally no downsides, I swear.

7 -> he is girl dinner

Don't you just love looking into your fridge and seeing the worthless scraps that built up overtime but somehow taste better now than they usually would have, which is particularly shocking considering it has 0 nutritional value? That would be what girl dinner is, and also an appropriate analogy for what Adam is like! Just roughly ok looking enough for you to not downright call it a biohazard. You will go to bed satisfied after fighting tooth and nail for your dinner (getting him to behave properly) and, it'll be easier the next times maybe! Operant conditioning is a heavy hitter with this repulsive individual, so it might actually get easier! Who knows!

8 -> Pretty please? (´｡･д人)ﾞ

I really. Uh . I really want him if you couldn't tell? Maybe the cannibalism and the fear I want to instill into him got in the way of you seeing my point, but, like, that's just how I love. The highest honor I could bestow on him is wanting to eat him, so, maybe that'll assist in your judgement? I also just really like your writing and would love to hear your thoughts on his idiotic self. AND! AND! Other people also want you to write about him if I well remember the 1 ask you received about him!

I await your response when you are available @bigfatbimbo

If you need more convincing; I can, like, draw him? I'm going to draw him no matter what but like I can cook something up for you in particular who knows.

You did say you were already considering writing for him, so, maybe this can be a final push in that direction for you!

- sincerely, Bow

[muckmage]

ANOTHER RAPID FIRE QUESTION ROUND!!!!! on the condition that it cannot help you escape the deserted island, what is one thing you would take to a deserted island? what's a book that changed your life in high school? what's your ideal job? what's your favorite ice cream flavor? what's your favorite place you ever visited and where would you like to visit someday? what's your favorite video game? again i can't think of any more questions but if you have something you would like to say. well. you can say it. bye bye 💖💖💖

oouhh my god that's a tough question to start with. like the boring answer would be some sort of multi tool but i suppose anything that helps me survive would eventually also help me leave. it'd have to be like. a ball. or some other sort of small nicknack that i could easily keep on me to play around with, oH or my childhood plushy. or actually like a lil instrument like a harmonica to learn that'd be cool. yeaah so like a rubiks cube or a harmonica or my plushie ^^

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was like the only thing i read during middle/high school that wasn't required reading for a class it's fantastic. ok well it wasn't the only thing i read but it's the only thing i've reread like 5 times by now lmao. it definitely helped stoke my imagination and interest in physics with the dumbass sci-fi fkjdksjs

wuuuh i haven't thought too much about it but i think ideally i end up in some sort of pure mathematics research position; i imagine i'm also gonna end up teaching at a uni somewhere at the same time, which isn't bad honestly even though i'm an awful teacher ^^ i just love talking about and trying to explain that stuff. i don't know exactly where my passion comes from but it's just. sure i've always been good at it but more than that it's exciting! it's so exciting to learn about! maths isn't invented, it's discovered, and we're discovering it! and it's so complex and so stupid. it's embedded in everything and exists wholly outside of it. i also like philosophy lmao

ok ok, so. good. proper. vanilla icecream. like chocolate with fudgy bits and stuff is incredible, fruity/berry flavoured icecream is awesome too. but there's a reason vanilla became synonymous with default and it isn't because it's boring it's because it's the best. but yeah only if it's good, shitty vanilla icecream sucks ass. it's also incredibly close to be entirely honest i DO like a good berry icecream. but the simplicity and delicacy of vanilla just does it for me most of the time

i don't think i have a favourite place- i haven't traveled enough yet😭 the furthest i've been from home was just sydney and the gold coast and it was like. different but the same, all just australia still but somewhere else. but i've always wanted to tour through europe and japan and some bits in south africa and the americas and other places too though. i need to see everything

AHH terraria probably??!!!?! it's so hard to say but really terraria is probably the game i've played the most in my life. otherwise plazma burst is an old flash game that's close to my heart because of nostalgia. and cause it's fucking awesome still tbh. OHH and the henry stickmin games!!!! also nostalgia but they also fucking rock still. and then there's the basic answers like portal and skyrim because of course. i cried when i finally beat portal 2, it was literally one the first games i ever played on the xbox 360 we got when i was like 9-10 years old, and like, i'd get stuck at bits and not play for a while at a time so it ultimately took some two years to get through but when it happened it was just. ough.

[th3-0bjectivist]

     I do enjoy when people on different continents recommend quality music to me. That way, I can generate my normal half-assed commentary but with a greater sense of accomplishment for branching out of my normal range and delivering something fresh to my dear listener. So, indulge me, and dip your heels into content from another culture for a change. I should mention firstly that this band and track were recommended to me by unicornsglitterandcandyfloss, whose home is South Africa, and she’s been my mutual for an internet eternity on Tumblr. She’s a very talented illustrator and she’s expressed a few times that her and I have a similar but not all-the-same taste in music. I recently asked her to send me some of her favorite music from SA… and she responded in droves, listing off band names that were completely alien to me (Black Math, Fokofpolisiekar, Plush, etc.). The single act that most easily rose to the top of her list, to me, was Shadowclub. This is Good Morning Killer from 2011’s Guns and Money. If there’s one style of music that is criminally underrepresented on my blog, it’s blues music. I do prefer classic blues artists (B.B. King, Etta James, Robert Johnson, etc.) but in my advancing years I am getting used to hearing it mixed in with modern rock, and I can’t say I hate it when used effectively. That said, this trio executes bluesy punk-rock very well, and I found a good portion of their catalog to be downright raw and ballsy compared to your average corporately subsumed and tame American acts. I couldn’t find much of a history on this group surprisingly, I suppose because they’re relatively young and Africa is a 16-to-20-hour flight away. But according to some direct interviews with the band, the group were immature punks when they first started making music. They got drunk a lot; they were often physically fighting with other bands before or after live-shows and their professional attitude and discipline was practically non-existent! Around 2009 or so, they had a chance to retool some of their demo material into a serviceable product and get more mature about their place in the SA music industry. This resulted in a moody, intense, fun, brash and bluesy-punk noise which I can sum up in one word… REFRESHING! Smash play and enjoy, and thanks for the recommendation from thousands of miles away lady, much appreciated!

The trio circa a decade or so ago, no doubt taken shortly before a drunken, bloody brawl with another band. Image credit: https://www.barnyardtheatre.co.za/show.aspx?sid=471

[mariacallous]

The United States made food security a top priority when it chaired the U.N. Security Council last month—and rightly so. Earth just experienced its hottest month in 120,000 years. Heat waves, droughts, and floods are killing off crops by the field full. Places such as Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Haiti are gripped by worsening famine. In a blow to global food security, Russia recently backed out of the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export millions of tons every month. The geopolitics of nature have ushered in an era of unprecedented instability, and the worst is yet to come, with this year’s El Niño season predicted to persist through 2024.

To solve our mounting global food crisis, world leaders must look not only to the land, but to the waters as well—and to the often-forgotten and underappreciated source of vital nutrition known as blue foods.

The term “blue foods” is shorthand for food that comes from marine and freshwater ecosystems—from tunas, pollock, and cod to shrimp and seaweeds. Political attention and funding of blue food initiatives remain significantly underrepresented in national and global food discussions, despite the immense contribution that blue foods make to the health of people and economies around the world.

Blue foods support the livelihoods of more than 800 million people and remain among the most traded global commodities. Nearly half of humanity depends on the food group as a significant source of animal protein, vital micronutrients, and cultural identity.

Though producing some blue foods may have an inherently lower environmental footprint relative to cattle and other land-based livestock, there is not an endless supply. In our oceans alone, roughly 92 percent of our wild-caught fish comes from stocks that can’t handle additional fishing pressure or have already been overfished. The picture isn’t better for migratory freshwater fish, which have declined on average by 76 percent since 1970. With the demand for blue foods projected to nearly double by 2050, the math simply doesn’t add up to a stable future. Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species, is an important part of the solution, but it can’t backfill the collapse of ocean fish populations or insulate the global economy from its consequences.

While resource conflicts are commonly thought of as a land-based challenge—for example, disputes over oil, minerals, or forestry—conflict over marine natural resources has always existed.

One study found that during the Cold War, 25 percent of military conflicts between democracies were over fisheries—and they have only been increasing ever since. Since the 1990s, more than 150 international fishery conflicts involving militaries have occurred, and five countries have been involved in 40 percent of them, with China and Russia leading the chart.

In China, the world’s largest fishing power, whose population consumes almost twice the global average of seafood per capita, the fisheries economy generates nearly $200 billion annually and employs millions of people. As such, fish are a strategic and critical resource for Beijing, and China has increasingly used legislative, economic, and military means to access and control the global supplies of seafood over the past 35 years. In the Horn of Africa, the past three decades have been rocked by more than 600 conflicts that have disrupted livelihoods, killed hundreds of people, and contributed to rampant piracy that has threatened maritime security.

Climate change will exacerbate all these trends. Warming waters are impacting fish reproduction and forcing species to migrate at unprecedented levels, creating newly fish-rich and fish-poor places. In the next seven years alone, 23 percent of fish stocks connected to territorial waters will move—including in waters near Canada, Britain, Norway, Iceland, and Japan. There will be winners and losers because of these shifts, spurring heightened competition for scarce resources that will intensify conflict between communities and countries.

When fish become harder to find, so too will peace and security. Small-scale fishery conflicts destabilize coastal communities, contributing to environments that foster greater crime, food insecurity, and poverty. Internationally, the risk of escalation from small, relatively innocuous conflicts on our oceans is growing, particularly in regions already grappling with maritime conflicts over borders and resources. Labor and human rights abuses are also pervasive in blue food value chains—half of all blue foods come from countries that the U.S. government has identified as having high risk of human trafficking.

We still have time to prevent the escalation of conflict and human rights violations, particularly when conservation and natural resource management offer the opportunity for cooperative engagement and protection of blue food resources.

First, climate science, oceans science, and political science can pinpoint where the greatest conflict pressures will emerge in the future—five to 10 to 30 years out. With access to this high-quality data, governments can deliver a new era of refined early warning systems and maritime security and conservation planning. This kind of information also makes it easier to prioritize and safeguard areas where crucial habitats, such as spawning and nursing grounds, contribute to a sustainable blue food supply.

To effectively manage and protect these areas, we must design inclusive conservation strategies that prioritize the needs and voices of coastal Indigenous peoples and local communities that are often on the front line of the climate crisis. These communities are the most vulnerable to changes in the environment and are highly dependent on seafood, with 15 times higher consumption per capita than non-Indigenous communities, on average. And case studies have shown that an inclusive approach can be beneficial to all. In Indonesia, for example, community involvement and equitable governance led to more fish in protected areas than in nonprotected areas.

Second, we need to improve local and global fishing practices through science-based fishery management that proactively plans for the impacts of climate change by strengthening oversight to bring about more sustainable and responsible fisheries. Fisheries that regulate the amount and location of fishing efforts depending on the present or projected health of fish stocks will be better placed to handle future threats. These practices must extend to small-scale fisheries, which contribute about 32 percent of overall global seafood nutrient supply.

Third, aquaculture of noncarnivorous species should be scaled up to supplement the increased demand on fisheries, as wild-caught fish are a finite resource. Currently, developing countries supply nearly all of aquaculture, making it a critical source of food and income for them. But because they are strapped for resources, environmental protection and regulation is often a lower priority. Thus, policies that support effective zoning and permitting in lakes, rivers, and coastal regions need to be reformed to ensure that production does not exceed the carrying capacity of these natural habitats.

Fourth, seafood businesses around the world have a critical role to play. Companies that sell imported blue foods—which constitute more than 80 percent of the seafood sold in America—need to be responsible for sourcing blue foods that are produced more sustainably and ethically. With their market leverage, seafood companies have the opportunity and responsibility to encourage better management of their source fisheries and aquaculture farms. This is especially critical for smaller island nations such as Kiribati and Tokelau, whose economies are both heavily dependent on seafood exports and are on course to lose fish stocks due to climate change.

Fifth, existing frameworks and agreements, including the U.N.’s Agreement on Port State Measures, which was the first binding international agreement to specifically target illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, must be strengthened and modernized to address the shifting environmental realities facing blue foods. Additionally, the world’s major fishing powers, including the United States and China, should support sustainable fisheries in the global south by eliminating harmful subsidies; last year, they took a step in the right direction with the adoption of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

Continued multilateral cooperation and support for area-based management—the effort toward protecting, conserving, and restoring ecosystems—has the potential to advance solutions as well. A strong example is the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor, a regional initiative led by Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama, that aims to create an uninterrupted, sustainably managed biological corridor across more than 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles).

Finally, we must catalyze robust partnerships across all sectors of society. Under U.S. President Joe Biden, the White House has convened private sector leaders around emerging challenges in strategic sectors, including semiconductors and artificial intelligence. The administration could similarly help rally U.S. and global seafood executives to source and supply the world with blue foods in a way that doesn’t squander the very resource that underwrites their business.

Blue foods aren’t a silver bullet—they’re a strategic commodity. When the bounty is plentiful, it can sustain hundreds of millions of livelihoods and billions of lives; when blue foods become scarce, it can drag communities, nations, and entire regions into violent conflict. The actions that the global community takes in the coming months and years will determine which path we take.

[ithinkabouttzu]

Hiii<3 I wasn’t sure if you were still doing band of brothers ships but if you are I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring bc I love your work!!

I go by she/her and am 22, and Canadian:)

I’m around 5,4 and slim but I’ve got some curves as well, and I’ve got dirty blonde hair that falls halfway down my back which I almost always have up because it tangles. I have a fair complexion with blue/green eyes, and a pretty rounded features. I enjoy running and rock climbing, as well as listening to music (typically 1975, Taylor swift, the bleachers, fleetwood mac, but I’ll listen to pretty much anything) I used to sing in public all the time, but now it’s more for myself and I sing around the house all the time.I speak 3 languages fluently ( english, Spanish, French) and am a psychology student who’s currently doing my undergrad in my second language. I also enjoy baking and cooking with friends.

I’m an ENFP through and through, and I’m generally very outwardly positive. I consider myself funny and am friendly with everyone I know. I am very good at giving advice and am always prepared (mom friend vibes), my sense of humour is pretty sarcastic but gets more relaxed once you get to know me. I can stress out easily but it’s something I’m working on:) I’m incredibly curious and openminded, especially when it comes to travelling and languages(I’ve backpacked through South America alone and now live in Europe). My aesthetic is pretty Scandinavian girl/loose neutrals and pearl jewelry, but always put together (large button downs, graphic tees, birkenstock clogs, thrifted leather jackets, clean look)

I’m very warm and affectionate, but my love languages are words of affirmation and acts of service. I love meeting new people and forming new connections, and am not very shy when it comes to socialization. I am very close with my family and am the oldest sister of 4 and first cousin on both sides:)

I’m quite liberal and usually voice my opinions, although I do get easily upset and hate confrontation. I’m better at languages and english than math but also enjoy science. My favourite foods are raclette and butter chicken , and I drink tea every morning and evening. My favourite tv shows are fleabag and Ted Lasso, and my favourite movie is The secret life of Walter Mitty.

I just kind of wrote whatever I’m sorrryy I hope it’s enough<3

It’s great dw at all!! Thank you for requesting! 🩵

I ship you with…

David Webster!

Song recommendation: Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift (feat. Ed Sheeran)

- Okay he would be so in love at first sight, like you are his absolute dream girl, you are just so beautiful to him he mmm you literally put him in a trance

- He would come up and talk to you at first, trying to be casual and get to know you. Literally he would be talking to you the whole time with a huge smile on his face, he couldn’t even help it, i mean how many people do you meet as pretty as you? Not to mention how he completely enjoys your personality so much

- By the end of the night, he would be even more into you, he finds everything about you cool, like backpacking through South Africa and rock climbing?? That is totally something he’d be down to doing for sure!!

- let’s also talk about how he is so Taylor Swift Coded too?? Like he gives off the exact same vibe as some of her music. (especially the whole Lover album)

- Both of you would get along so well actually, you guys could talk the whole night and not get tired once, he would be so kind and fun to talk and honestly he would make your whole night talking to you.

- By the end of the night he would have to end up asking you out for some dinner sometime. I mean he couldn’t give up the chances of another guy asking you out and he felt so comfortable with you at the end he felt like it would be right to ask.

- He is just so in love with you, he loves your curves, and will be hugging on them all the time if you let him, he thinks you have the pretties pair of eyes ever and he loves looking into them. And let’s not forget your pretty long hair too, it’s so soft and he loves giving you head massages.

- Ugh I think he would love your music taste! Like he could definitely sit there and jam out with you 100% Both of you just have the same vibe in general so whatever you like, I think he would like too.

- Sometime later into your relationship, I think he would really enjoy going on adventures and exploring new things with you! Both of you seem so ambitious and you guys would love it together! The first place would definitely be Canada and getting to see where you grew up and how different it is from the US.

- Canon: He absolutely loves your singing voice, one night, he heard you in the shower singing and he was absolutely amazed by how angelic you sound, like a total siren to him. You didn’t know that he heard you, so it’s just his little secret but your voice never fails to bring a smile to his face.

- BOTH OF YOU ARE SO SMART, like omg you guys are geniuses, he will always tell you how smart and cool you are to him it’s insane, like when or if you guys have a kid, they’re gonna know like 4 languages LOL

- You like cooking and baking? Well good bc he loves eating, like fr, and he’ll help you bake if you ask, and I think he’d enjoy it, like he would make it so romantic, mixing flour with you, and throwing a little on you in the process, he’s just so cute the whole time

- He hates seeing you stressed out and will always be there for you in any way he can. Like when he sees you get like that he will immediately take you away from the setting and talk you through it, reassuring you that everything will be okay, he’s so good to you when you’re going through stress, like he’s a total angel

- He thinks you are so funny and he will end up cracking at all of your jokes you give him. He thinks your energy is so welcoming and friendly it’s almost magnetic to him, he loves you so much

- He enjoys being affectionate with you so much, like all the romantic stuff, telling how much he loves you, taking you on sweet little dates, kissing you and hugging you so tight you can’t let go all of that, so don’t be worried that he won’t spoil you emotionally, because he WILL

- Whenever you voice your opinions, he’s usually so supportive of you and will back you up if he needs to. If it’s something he might not agree with, he’ll talk to you about it in private, but he will support you in public always.

- Canon pt.2: You get him on a MAJORRR tea kick, like he completely switches coffee for tea, he will drinking his morning and evening tea with you everyday and it’s so cute

- He loves chilling with you and watching a good movie or two, he thinks it’s so nice to just relax and enjoy his free time with you (plus make out sessions are always better when you’re watching a movie 🤪)

- Okay just imagine, you guys waking up, drinking some nice tea (that he made, just the way you like it too) and going for a morning jog after that. With lots of morning cuddles on the couch with one of your fav tv shows in the back

- UGH ALSO- okay he would be so committed to learning how to cook butter chicken, he’s not super familiar with Indian cuisine but he would do so much research to make sure he doesn’t mess it up at all, like he just wants to impress you sm and it’s so cute

- Overall though, he would be such a good boyfriend to you and would spoil you endlessly with love and really just anything you want. You guys literally remind me of one another so much and I love this pair!!

Thank you again for your request Darling! I hope you enjoy! 🩵💛

[sempreilmeglio]

FIESTA ALBA

presentano il singolo e video BURKINA PHASE..

elettronica e arabeschi di chitarra..

e tra le trame musicali ammalianti, la voce di Thomas Sankara, il leader africano assassinato per aver lottato contro le logiche spietate del neo colonialismo

Guarda il video

Presentazione band

I Fiesta Alba sono 4 lottatori che condividono una passione: lottano una vita intera contro la banalità del male declinata secondo il conformismo musicale, lo strapotere dei signori della discografia, il declino del rock, la dittatura dell’heavy rotation. Abbattono le frontiere tra il nord e il sud del pianeta, tra la musica colta e quella del popolo, tra l'acustico l'elettrico e l'elettronica. Salgono sul ring delle piattaforme digitali rivelando le loro vere maschere, e alzando il pugno gridano "Lucha libre!" Gli incontri sono truccati, gli avversari insostenibili, sanno di essere perdenti in una moltitudine immensa, in un pianeta in cui nessuno vince davvero, con una sola, quieta certezza nel cuore: non può perdere chi non ha nulla da perdere.

Fiesta Alba viene alla luce con un primo lavoro omonimo costituito da 5 brani eterogenei nella forma ma omogenei nella sostanza. Ispirato dal math rock di matrice anglosassone e spogliato di inutili virtuosismi il lavoro subisce le influenze dell’afrobeat minimalista, dell’elettronica ispirata agli anni ‘90, del post-punk chitarristico, del dub e del rap per arrivare a una formula contemporanea e originale. I 5 brani possiedono un respiro internazionale che dall’Europa arriva in Africa attraverso i ghetti di New York. Gli intarsi chitarristici sono supportati dal groove ritmico e digitale, disegnando geometrie colorate e traiettorie geografiche negli emisferi musicali di questo scorcio di millennio.

Riferimenti musicali:

Talking Heads - King Crimson - Fela Kuti - Steve Reich - Battles - Tera Melos

Da questo primo lavoro viene tratto il secondo video della band:

Burkina phase

Un’elettronica minimalista abbraccia arabeschi di chitarre. Steve Reich sonnecchia all’ombra di un baobab, mentre la voce di un fiero leader di un mondo scomparso grida inconfessabili verità ai mostri del nostro millennio.

Il videomaker Guido Ballatori interpreta il brano in una cifra stilistica che richiama da vicino la Videoarte. Attraverso l’utilizzo della grafica digitale si manifestano i concetti di contaminazione e colonizzazione, elementi naturali e artificiali si interfacciano senza alcuna soluzione logica.

Tra l’arcaico e il contemporaneo viene evocato Thomas Sankara, il leader africano assassinato, che diventa icona nella sua trasfigurazione elettronica, mentre denuncia l’occidente e le sue relazioni aggressive.

[bethereorbedquare]

FIESTA ALBA

presentano il singolo e video BURKINA PHASE..

elettronica e arabeschi di chitarra..

e tra le trame musicali ammalianti, la voce di Thomas Sankara, il leader africano assassinato per aver lottato contro le logiche spietate del neo colonialismo

Guarda il video

Presentazione band

I Fiesta Alba sono 4 lottatori che condividono una passione: lottano una vita intera contro la banalità del male declinata secondo il conformismo musicale, lo strapotere dei signori della discografia, il declino del rock, la dittatura dell’heavy rotation. Abbattono le frontiere tra il nord e il sud del pianeta, tra la musica colta e quella del popolo, tra l'acustico l'elettrico e l'elettronica. Salgono sul ring delle piattaforme digitali rivelando le loro vere maschere, e alzando il pugno gridano "Lucha libre!" Gli incontri sono truccati, gli avversari insostenibili, sanno di essere perdenti in una moltitudine immensa, in un pianeta in cui nessuno vince davvero, con una sola, quieta certezza nel cuore: non può perdere chi non ha nulla da perdere.

Fiesta Alba viene alla luce con un primo lavoro omonimo costituito da 5 brani eterogenei nella forma ma omogenei nella sostanza. Ispirato dal math rock di matrice anglosassone e spogliato di inutili virtuosismi il lavoro subisce le influenze dell’afrobeat minimalista, dell’elettronica ispirata agli anni ‘90, del post-punk chitarristico, del dub e del rap per arrivare a una formula contemporanea e originale. I 5 brani possiedono un respiro internazionale che dall’Europa arriva in Africa attraverso i ghetti di New York. Gli intarsi chitarristici sono supportati dal groove ritmico e digitale, disegnando geometrie colorate e traiettorie geografiche negli emisferi musicali di questo scorcio di millennio.

Riferimenti musicali:

Talking Heads - King Crimson - Fela Kuti - Steve Reich - Battles - Tera Melos

Da questo primo lavoro viene tratto il secondo video della band:

Burkina phase

Un’elettronica minimalista abbraccia arabeschi di chitarre. Steve Reich sonnecchia all’ombra di un baobab, mentre la voce di un fiero leader di un mondo scomparso grida inconfessabili verità ai mostri del nostro millennio.

Il videomaker Guido Ballatori interpreta il brano in una cifra stilistica che richiama da vicino la Videoarte. Attraverso l’utilizzo della grafica digitale si manifestano i concetti di contaminazione e colonizzazione, elementi naturali e artificiali si interfacciano senza alcuna soluzione logica.

Tra l’arcaico e il contemporaneo viene evocato Thomas Sankara, il leader africano assassinato, che diventa icona nella sua trasfigurazione elettronica, mentre denuncia l’occidente e le sue relazioni aggressive.

[tagomago-ita]

FIESTA ALBA

presentano il singolo e video BURKINA PHASE..

elettronica e arabeschi di chitarra..

e tra le trame musicali ammalianti, la voce di Thomas Sankara, il leader africano assassinato per aver lottato contro le logiche spietate del neo colonialismo

Guarda il video

Presentazione band

I Fiesta Alba sono 4 lottatori che condividono una passione: lottano una vita intera contro la banalità del male declinata secondo il conformismo musicale, lo strapotere dei signori della discografia, il declino del rock, la dittatura dell’heavy rotation. Abbattono le frontiere tra il nord e il sud del pianeta, tra la musica colta e quella del popolo, tra l'acustico l'elettrico e l'elettronica. Salgono sul ring delle piattaforme digitali rivelando le loro vere maschere, e alzando il pugno gridano "Lucha libre!" Gli incontri sono truccati, gli avversari insostenibili, sanno di essere perdenti in una moltitudine immensa, in un pianeta in cui nessuno vince davvero, con una sola, quieta certezza nel cuore: non può perdere chi non ha nulla da perdere.

Fiesta Alba viene alla luce con un primo lavoro omonimo costituito da 5 brani eterogenei nella forma ma omogenei nella sostanza. Ispirato dal math rock di matrice anglosassone e spogliato di inutili virtuosismi il lavoro subisce le influenze dell’afrobeat minimalista, dell’elettronica ispirata agli anni ‘90, del post-punk chitarristico, del dub e del rap per arrivare a una formula contemporanea e originale. I 5 brani possiedono un respiro internazionale che dall’Europa arriva in Africa attraverso i ghetti di New York. Gli intarsi chitarristici sono supportati dal groove ritmico e digitale, disegnando geometrie colorate e traiettorie geografiche negli emisferi musicali di questo scorcio di millennio.

Riferimenti musicali:

Talking Heads - King Crimson - Fela Kuti - Steve Reich - Battles - Tera Melos

Da questo primo lavoro viene tratto il secondo video della band:

Burkina phase

Un’elettronica minimalista abbraccia arabeschi di chitarre. Steve Reich sonnecchia all’ombra di un baobab, mentre la voce di un fiero leader di un mondo scomparso grida inconfessabili verità ai mostri del nostro millennio.

Il videomaker Guido Ballatori interpreta il brano in una cifra stilistica che richiama da vicino la Videoarte. Attraverso l’utilizzo della grafica digitale si manifestano i concetti di contaminazione e colonizzazione, elementi naturali e artificiali si interfacciano senza alcuna soluzione logica.

Tra l’arcaico e il contemporaneo viene evocato Thomas Sankara, il leader africano assassinato, che diventa icona nella sua trasfigurazione elettronica, mentre denuncia l’occidente e le sue relazioni aggressive.

[sakuraswordly]

@POETICandFUNNY: The story of the gömböc begins with a brilliant mathematician named Vladimir Arnold, who proved in 1995 that such a shape could exist. He did not make it or see it. He just knew it was possible, because he was good at math. He wrote down his proof and showed it to other smart people, who nodded and agreed. But nobody knew how to make this shape. Nobody knew what it looked like. Nobody knew if they would ever find it in the real world. That’s where two Hungarian engineers, Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi, came in. They were fascinated by Arnold’s proof and decided to take on the challenge of finding the exact formula for the shape. They used computers and calculators and lots of paper to solve the puzzle. They named it the gömböc, after a word for a round dumpling, because they liked dumplings.

Ancient diamonds hold the secrets of how continents evolved Diamonds found in Brazil and Western Africa reveal the history of an ancient supercontinent. The secrets of how continents grew and moved throughout the early history of life on Earth have been revealed by the analysis of ancient, superdeep diamonds discovered in mines in Brazil and Western Africa. Tracing the complex history of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana These diamonds developed at the foundation of the supercontinent Gondwana between 650 and 450 million years ago. Supercontinents are large landmasses that are formed when many continents combine to form a single, massive location. Gondwana is one of the most notable ancient supercontinents. It existed from the Neoproterozoic to the Cenozoic era and included the landmasses that now make up South America, Africa, Antarctica, India, Australia, and the Arabian Peninsula. Now, isotope analyses of the tiny silicate and sulphide inclusions in the diamonds have revealed how this supercontinent formed, stabilized, and moved around the planet. “Superdeep diamonds are extremely rare and we now know that they can tell us a lot about the whole process of continent formation,” said Dr Karen Smit of the Wits School of Geosciences, who was part of the study. “We wanted to date these diamonds to try and understand how the earliest continents formed.” Diamonds are one of the very rare minerals resistant enough to survive and witness the supercontinent cycle. The supercontinent cycle involves the recurring construction and dissolution of supercontinents over hundreds of millions of years. It is driven by the movement of tectonic plates, which are large sections of the Earth's lithosphere that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath them. When paired with current plate tectonic models of continent migration, geochemical analysis and dating of the diamonds revealed that the materials formed at extremely deep levels beneath Gondwana between 650 and 450 million years ago, when the supercontinent covered the South Pole, explained Smit. A complicated history that reveals the origins of ancient supercontinents Diamonds have travelled incredibly far both vertically and horizontally within the Earth, as evidenced by their complicated history, which can be used to trace both the origins of the supercontinent and the last stages of its evolution. What the researchers found was that host rocks containing the diamonds were added to the supercontinent's base, and Gondwana effectively "grew" from below. Violent volcanic eruptions then transported the diamonds to Earth's surface 90 million years ago, and with them the secrets of how Gondwana may have formed. “We need this type of research to understand how continents evolve and move. Without continents there wouldn’t be life. This research gives us insight into how continents form, and it links to how life evolved and what makes our planet, Earth, different from other planets,” concluded Smit. Smit is currently working at the University of the Witwatersrand where she is a member of a team creating a new isotope lab and procedures to eventually conduct diamond inclusion analysis in South Africa.

[healthstyle101]

South Africa launches raids to dismantle coal-smuggling syndicate amid electricity crisis

Coal-Smuggling Syndicate Busted in South Africa: South African authorities took bold action on Thursday, launching raids across five provinces to dismantle a coal-smuggling syndicate. This gang is accused of swiping more than $26 million worth of coal, causing damage to state-owned power plants, and adding to an electricity crisis. The culprits in this criminal gang got creative – they redirected trucks carrying high-quality coal to power stations. Instead of delivering the coal as intended, they stole it and replaced it with low-quality stuff. This substandard coal caused a real headache for the country's power plants. The South African Revenue Service joined forces with other law enforcement agencies for search and seizure operations. They spread their wings to Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Limpopo provinces. But, no one's been nabbed just yet, according to national police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe. The Electricity Quandary: Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room – South Africa's electricity woes. The nation's power situation is a real pickle. They've had to schedule rolling blackouts because their coal-fired power stations aren't churning out enough juice for their 62 million people. The real powerhouse behind South Africa's electricity scene is Eskom, a state-owned utility that cranks out about 95% of the country's electricity. But, here's the deal. These blackouts aren't just because Eskom is having a rough day. There's been years of corruption and mismanagement at Eskom, and that's a big part of the problem. Authorities also suspect that sneaky organized crime syndicates have been pulling the strings around Eskom's power station supply chains for a while. It turns out that the suspects in this coal-smuggling gang even include former Eskom employees, as per the tax agency. Coal Switcheroo: The coal swapping operation has made South Africa's electricity crisis even worse. They've been using low-grade coal, and this stuff wrecks the infrastructure at Eskom power stations. That's a major reason why the power utility is struggling to generate electricity for the South African grid. Earlier this year, South Africa hit rock bottom with the worst blackouts ever. People had to live without electricity for over eight hours a day, and it was served in two-hour chunks spread throughout the day. The situation has improved a bit lately, but energy experts say we're stuck with these blackouts at least until the end of 2024. Impact on Economy and Politics: This electricity mess isn't just flicking the lights off and on; it's dimming South Africa's economy too. The economy is only expected to grow by less than 1% this year. It's also been a headache for the ruling African National Congress party, which has been in charge since the end of apartheid in 1994. They're getting most of the blame for the mess at Eskom and other state-owned entities. South Africa has national elections coming up next year, and you can bet your flashlight that the power crisis will be a hot topic for voters. 🔦🗳️ That's the story from the land of coal, electricity, and a whole lot of trouble. Stay tuned for more updates. 📰👀 Read the full article

[the-firebird69]

So the day that he's throwing rocks I sent over into this message and like you I am stuck and I'm going to send songbird she got really mad I said not anymore and she went to work and me too I remember that day and you cut back and said thank you and I hope you have a good night so I see you sleeping almost and it's hard sleeping but you have to get rest for tomorrow you have to get up and we have a day planned it's not going to be wicked out at the mall thankfully just sit there but there are going to be some things happening in Charlotte county and they are not pretty they're attacking the empire bases and they're putting up a fight they're calling for help from ships and they have some and they're using them and the more locker are dying and the max are not helping them apparently they're cut loose and they stole the basis and it was expensive and Max is mad because they suck at it and they can't help them because they took the basis and I don't want to put they really don't want to be part of the empire proper just like Stan... There are out of the 30 very large bases there's five left at 50%, morlok already hitting like madness and the clones are up and hitting there are 20 large bases and in the beginning and now there are five at 40% and they're being hit rapidly by warlock and clones. There are about 50 medium and I wouldn't say the number and about 70% of them are out and it's 35 or so but fully it's 15 left and those are 40 to 50% and the clones are just coming out all over these baces and they are on the attack. And it's not the empire Johnny remillard and the empire has huge bases elsewhere mostly the deserts and remote areas. There are a couple other areas they're hitting and they're going after this particular brand it is Mac viking and they're outkast and they are being sought by morlock for their stuff and he's kind of blew it up but okay they're being rated all the time cuz they're Vikings. I'm going there areas in their inundating and they're having a huge civil War in there losing both sides are losing.

-John Raymond Lord had to hang up a day he went to DC as his Trump character and was arraigned and his given a trial date and it's not too far away and he has another one coming up August 10th is the arrangement for Georgia and there's the third one too end of August and it's Mar-A-Lago it's a hearing and he's going to get hammered by those if he lasts it'll be surprising the GOP has withdrawn support and they wrote a formal document today instructing him not to call them or to stop by the office or to insinuate that they supported them in any way and they're withdrawing all support there's several other things occurring and they're seems to be an issue with my husband's skin is something wrong so I'm asking for help and they're trying to get it to me it's going on quite a bit these days and it's really getting to be a burden I want us and frightening and it's stressful as he says good training physical threat to regarding me he says it's a man but he still has to worry so things are kind of tough we need things fixed and they will be since it's going to happen shortly and the math is messed up

-these battles at the empire Viking areas are huge the areas that are very large are like 70x30 MI and it's the size of a state and they are the size of a country in Europe and they're pretty big and they have industrialized and they're all over the place I was wondering where I mean that's a lot of area and I said there are 20 of those but there are 20 that are like 10x15 and there's two that are pretty big in the eastern hemisphere and Africa is where they are and they are going to be gone in Africa will be very happy and they're being threatened like crazy by them and we had a plan and we're running it.

-Stan is being attacked he's a also had bases all over there's a huge threat to everybody and he had bases in Guam the Philippines and more a lot of those are out and he had 30 very large and he has now four at 50% and falling those are like 10x10 one is 30x10 and they will be out shortly there are also his large spaces there are three left only and 50% and they're 5x5 or 5x10 and pretty soon they'll be out tonight and the ships will be lost some of them and it's going to be down for like 15% instead of 17th and in the Western hemisphere we anticipate that Stan will be out of most of the basis except maybe three very large and it's not that much in his area is being rated I'm warlock and they will be gone both hell people are very jerks shortly out fully and

- there's a couple more things there's a huge rumor going around that people are damaging my husband and me relationship is complete lie we're fine. He loves me more now and he says it a lot and it says it a lot more than he used to. He said it right now. And he reassures me a lot and he wants to because he loves me and you people are full of hate for just about anyone and waste of time. That's one thing that I'm going to stop and it means to get rid of certain people and we know which ones.

-Tallahassee is now under a full attack and they're going after Jason and he said today to Jason it makes it seem like that toilet issue and rag stuff was false as a reason you got a real big inside I saw that and it was fake and it's something else going on and they're not aware of it this is I think that you are in the way of the actual empire both of you I'm also him more so Jason he says what he means I said I found out that these other bases are like Vikings and Stan is on the other ones but the big ones are in the deserts when they're facilities are probably below ground and it's empire it says wow that's unreal she went and checked and that's what it is and they're going after you somehow he checked out in the yard and said well that's weird I couldn't even tell I thought was that they don't really know I'm a giant not for sure and he said laughing that's hilarious if ever did the women will kill each other and that's not funny something that Tommy F might do to collect them. And Tallahassee is being attacked and it's because Mac wants him out and it is because of Saudi Arabia and things like the tire were getting to mack and he's like it.

-there's a few more things you guys very passy you're annoying that really your glass leaves and breaking the law and your lawbreakers and snap your nose at it so we are grabbing you

-and he woke up how much later cuz he had a little nap we have more going on

-besides the war between the Viking empire and Stan these people picked a fight with the clothes

-and you fell asleep again this time for quite a while and I guess I fell asleep too this is good you finally slept together lol so I'm laughing lol.

Better publish

Hera

Zues

You two have had enough but that's funny and a bit corny LOL he was kind of a funny guy he tries to keep the spirits up with the jokes sent us to getting worse and it's a pattern it's not doing it on purpose so were going to help him out. A few things we're going to do here to change it

Thor Freya

Olympus

[walkthevalley]

Trick or Treat Buckets

I'm working at the zoo in my state capital, and my job is to direct people to the trick-or-treat trail. I see all sorts of amazing costumes, excited kids, unaware and/or passed-out-tired babies, and a variety of parents and other grown-ups ranging from childlike in their excitement to exhausted and ready for bed.

I also see a lot of trick-or-treat buckets.

Buckets, bags, tiny backpacks, grocery sacks, even hats.

The thing about the trick-or-treat buckets is that they're all different sizes.

And the kids know.

They're not comparing bucket sizes with each other, no. But they are comparing the amount of candy they get to the size of the bucket they were given.

Most of them, I'm sorry to say, are disappointed.

This isn't to blame the zoo because honestly 14,000 people in one day is a GARGANTUAN amount of candy. Regularly achieving numbers in the 8-10,000 range will rack up a few million dollars in candy alone, and in case you haven't yet seen the prices of Halloween candy this year, well, it's scarier than a horror movie.

But my point is that the kids with the teeny tiny buckets (think Baby's First Halloween size) think they've made out like bandits because they were given such small buckets and they received such a small amount of candy. But they don't care. Their buckets are full.

The kids with large buckets, though?

They know.

They can see.

They can do the math.

They are rightly disappointed because they were given a large bucket and received maybe ten pieces of candy total. Parents are either relieved for the low amount of sugar or deeply sorry for their kids who were so excited to trick-or-treat at the zoo and got so little in reality.

This is what trick-or-treat at the zoo has taught me.

It's okay to recognize that you were given a large bucket for life.

You were given a huge heart that could hold the world. You were given hopes and dreams that go far beyond the daily 9-5 grind with two dogs and a decent yard. You were given talents that far exceed those of your average bear. You were given abilities that make others ask how you do it. You were given passion without equal. You were given a large bucket for life so that you could carry all the wonderful things you're supposed to receive from life.

Other people who are content with a lifestyle that requires little to nothing to get through, or those who are content to remain in a barely-get-by lifestyle, were given small buckets. So when they get a handful of candy, they think they've made out like bandits. #GratefulThankfulBlessed they print on everything.

But what about the people with the large buckets?

Are we supposed to just shut up and be content with the handful of candy in our large bucket that we were given, and not question why our large bucket isn't filled?

I don't think so.

I think the people with large buckets need to recognize they were given a large bucket.

Then the people with the large buckets need to ask why the large bucket I was given isn't carrying all it was meant to carry.

Add in candy thieves, and you've got yourself a recipe for a bad time.

Don't forget the lowlife dirtbags who throw rocks into your bucket and crack it. #trauma #betrayal #abuse #cheating #neglect

My point is that it's okay to say, "Why isn't my bucket full?"

You're not ungrateful. You likely feel bad for saying anything. You probably already understand you didn't have to get any candy, because starving children in Africa don't even know what candy is. Guarantee you are appreciative of the handful of candy you did get.

But that doesn't change the fact that you were given a large bucket and it isn't carrying all it was meant to carry.

It's okay to recognize this. It's okay to say, "Hey this isn't right. I'm getting shorted."

Recently I told God I deserved better out of Him. I told the God who can answer the question "You and what army?" that I deserved better out of Him and was no longer accepting breadcrumbs, mere mouthfuls of dried-out grass, barely skating by, being heartbroken, being betrayed by supposed "friends," being abandoned by people I have loved. I told the God who spoke flaming celestial bodies into existence that I demanded better out of life and starting that day I was done being shortchanged and treated like the redheaded stepchild. Done. No more. It's either everything I deserve, or I quit.

Because as not only a child of God but also as an adopted daughter into the legal heritage of the King of Kings, I do deserve a lot better than what I've been accepting.

Have I not also faithfully served? Have I not done all that You asked of me? Have I not withstood every trial, tribulation, attack, storm, fire? Have I not also earned the fatted calf and the rings and the celebration? Does my bucket not deserve to be filled as full as it was made to be filled???

It does. And I have. And I do. It's not about never making a mistake because God knows I've made my fair share of mistakes. Oops. But simply by virtue of my status as an adopted daughter of the King, my life should be a LOT different from what it is now. My bucket should be full.

And no matter what it may look like to those who probably have smaller buckets or whose large buckets are already full to overflowing, my bucket is not full.

And I'm mad about it.

Yes I sound like a toddler but honestly toddlers have this incredible ability to see things as they are and tell it like it is. Toddlers are honest. Toddlers have an innate sense of "okay" and "not okay." Toddlers are not afraid to tell you they deserve better.

And after all, we are called to have a childlike quality to our faith and spirituality. I wonder if that wasn't a hidden message from our Father that He expects us to know our worth as His creations and as His sons and daughters, and He expects us to say, "Enough shortchanging. I deserve better."

If you're battling your self-worth, it's time you lay down what you think you know of yourself and pick up your ID -- imago Dei. You are not only a creation of the Creator, but you are also, provided you have a relationship with Christ, an adopted legal heir to His wealth.

So, Prince or Princess ... why ya actin' like a pauper?

I'm holding my bucket up now, and I ain't goin' Home until it's as full as it was created to be.

The trick will be getting rid of me.

[nancythebisexualslutwheeler]

Ow, boo-hoo-hoo another black monkey throwing a tantrum and shit herself, how typical, and after that you want for us to think of niggers as equal? Humans? With manners and decency, which you obviously don't have. Go buck to Africa you ugly twat, and get AIDS.

… #1 no clue what this is in reference to but like we can go ahead and do this.

Throwing a fit? About being treated AS less than which you just said but then saying Black people SHOULD be treated as less than FOR being upset.. the math ain’t mathing..

Nigger? Like this is part of your vocabulary? PLEASE I want you to call someone a nigger in real life and get your shit rocked because sometimes words aren’t enough. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I don’t have manners and decency..? Based on what? Imma need some cited evidence.

Go back to Africa? I’m so weak.. like are these your genuine insults? Your intelligent insults? I thought y’all said “America is a melting pot”, “All men are equal”. Maybe you need to get YOUR people darling.

Not the AIDS argument.. again, I need some new material! 👏🏽 In case you didn’t know anyone can get AIDS, it also didn’t come from gay men either- in case you still thought that.

Also- maybe next time you should have the guts to talk yo shit off anon, just a suggestion for your pussy ass.

[nofoodjustwax]

Horse Lords - Interventions

Horse Lords – Interventions

Released in 2016 on Northern Spy Records Format: LP Style: Experimental Rock, Totalism, Math Rock, Tishoumaren-Influenced Vibe: Anxious, Complex, Energetic, Exploratory, Hypnotic, Disorienting Musical Qualities: Instrumental, Microtonal, Odd Time Signatures, Percussive, Polyrhythmic, Repetitive, Minimalistic, Technical, Drones, Glitchy, Dissonant

[sunshineszn]

BNHA characters and which regions in Africa they’d be from

Felt a little extra pride in my lil African self today x

This post is also partly to help show that Africa is not a monolith. There are 54 different countries and while I won’t be able to touch upon all of them, I thought this would be a great start.

North Africa:

Shoji, Aizawa, Ojiro, Jirou, Tsuyu Asui, Todoroki, Yosetsu Awase, Mei Hatsume, Setsuna Tokage, Itsuka Kendo, Tokoyami, Satou.

East Africa:

Shinsou(with that big ass forehead of his lol), Nejire Hado, Izuku Midoriya, Tamaki Amajiki, Jurota Shishida, Shigaraki, Toga, Dabi, Kaminari

West Africa:

Mirko, Momo, Tetsutetsu, Bakugo, HAWKS(lmao), Aoyama (Cameroon), Present Mic, Endeavor,  All Might, Mineta, Rock Lock (Ghana)

Southern Africa:

Yo Shindo, MINA(she’s from South Africa and you cannot change my mind), Ochaco Uraraka, Sero Hanta, Tenya Iida, Kirishima, Midnight, Sir Nighteye(He reminds me of my math teacher from Zim lolol)

Central Africa:

Best Jeanist (from South Sudan just cause he’s tall sksks), MIRIO( He is Congolese. Period.), Juzoo Honenuki, Camie Utsushimi, Mr. Compress (another Congolese), Mt. Lady.

If I left out any characters it’s probably cause I didn’t know where to place them.

Anyway, keep your third eye open my brothers, sisters and non-binary siblings

[natromanxoff]

Classic Rock - 2005

Credits to Trajen and Queencuttings.com

"FREDDIE WOULD LOVE IT..."

As Brian May, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers prepare to hit the UK as Queen + Paul Rodgers, Classic Rock gets the inside story on the collaboration that’s dividing the fans.

Words: Geoff Barton

Queen and Paul Rodgers? Compared to Queen and Freddie Mercury, it's a combination that's like chalk and cheese. Or fire and water, if you will. And to Rodgers's credit, it's a fact that's acknowledged freely — pun most definitely intended — by the veteran frontman himself.

"Me and Freddie are very different singers, and we work from different scales," Rodgers, the legendary former Free and Bad Company singer, recognises. "Freddie had more of a classic scale: do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do, that sort of thing. Mine is more of a blues scale with a bit of Celtic thrown in. So there was that adjustment to make. I think, and I hope, that Freddie would approve."

As Classic Rock writes this story in mid-March, Rodgers has been rehearsing with Queen stalwarts, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, for a little over a month. But by the time you read this, the new band — officially dubbed 'Queen + Paul Rodgers' — will have played their first show, an Aids Awareness Concert in South Africa on March 19. They'll also have performed a special preview concert for their European tour, at London's Brixton Academy on March 28. (The group's line-up is augmented by keyboardist Spike Edney, New York bassist Danny Miranda and guitarist Jaimie Moss.)

So, what can fans expect when the British leg kicks off officially, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Metro Arena on May 3?

"I'm not supposed to tell you," laughs May. "It's still slightly fluid, to be honest. We've rehearsed more songs than we're actually going to be playing. But if you really want to know, I suppose it's about 65 per cent Queen and, and ... erm, hang on a minute ... 35 percent Paul," he says, doing the maths. "Something like that. But really we haven't solidified the set yet. It's close."

Rodgers: "It's largely Queen, I think people will expect to see that. Brian and Roger tell me they've always been big fans of Free. They want to do particular songs in the set that I wrote with Andy Fraser in Free, and a couple of the numbers I wrote with Mick [Ralphs] in Bad Company. There's going to be a sprinkling of my songs throughout."

Rodgers refers again to Freddie Mercury, who — incredibly — will have been dead for 14 years this November. "I think Freddie would be happy," Paul insists, "because I feel his spirit throughout the music. I've been listening to so much of Queen generally, and Freddie's singing specifically. Just studying his vocal style, really. Getting into the spirit of the man. And I feel, actually, quite close."

It's easy to be critical about May and Taylor linking up with Rodgers. (The other surviving member of Queen, bassist John Deacon, is currently retired from the stage.) But the fact is, the tickets for their tour have sold out like stone-cold-crazy. The band recently announced a massive outdoor show at London's Hyde Park on July 8.

Rodgers, in particular, is amazed by the turn of events — particularly as this summer marks the 35th anniversary of when Free played the Isle Of Wight festival, in 1970.

"I was thinking today that I've lived about eight lifetimes. Here I am, I'm 55 years old, and I feel like I'm 17 again, starting a brand new career. It is quite incredible. We put the Hyde Park show in because the UK tour had sold out so quickly. A lot of people didn't get the opportunity to buy tickets; it took them — and us — by surprise. It'll be a great thrill; it'll be the first time I've played Hyde Park."

Talking to Rodgers and May, Classic Rock has little doubt that this alliance is for real. Yes, there are probably truckloads of money to be made by all parties. Yes, fervent Freddie fans might be sceptical about the entire shebang. And yes, it remains to be seen if Bohemian Rhapsody is included in the band's set. (Let alone songs from The Firm, Rodgers's collaboration with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.) But May, for one, remains defiant: "I'm not in the business of persuading anybody — if it doesn't suit their palate, if they don't like the idea, then that's fine. I'm perfectly comfortable with that. To be truthful with you, we've dealt with cynicism our whole career. There's always been people grousing and sniping. I don't really have anything to say to the cynics except, fine, just stay away. I won't say the negativity doesn't affect you, but in a way it also makes you stronger."

Rodgers urges: "Just come and see us play. The only way you're going to know if this works or not is to go and see it. Quite honestly, I don't think people can prejudge anything at all."

The whole Q+PR (calm down, Loftus Road fans) thing kicked off when Brian May and Paul Rodgers appeared together on stage in September 2004, at the Fender Stratocaster 50th anniversary show in London.

May: "We'd just finished playing All Right Now, and we both realised that it felt incredibly right. The chemistry was there, and there were sparks flying. Paul and me looked at each other and we went: 'Hmmm... " We both had the same thought in our minds. Then Paul's girlfriend, Cynthia, said: 'All you need is a drummer, don't you? And I said: "Well, I might know a drummer... "

"That's kind of where it came from. I got the tape of our performance and sent it to Roger, and he said: "Why didn't we think of this before?"

The trio's relationship was cemented when Rodgers, May and Taylor played together at the UK Hall Of Fame Awards, belting out Queen's We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions, and finishing off with another version of Free's All Right Now.

"Roger has always been the one who's been keen to get back out on tour," May reveals. "It was me who was holding things back, because I didn't think things felt right. There was no one on the horizon who I thought could do the job of singing with us. And then suddenly we're looking at this man [Rodgers], who can not only do the job, he can do a lot more besides — he brings something completely new to it, and that's what turned me around.

"To be honest with you, if you'd spoken to me even nine months ago, I would've said no, I'm never going out again — as far as Queen is concerned, that's it."

May speaks a lot about the 'chemistry' between him and Taylor, and Rodgers. Can he be more specific?

"There's a reason for it, insofar as we both really grew up with Free's music. Paul Rodgers is a very big influence on us, because Free were out there while we were still at college. Free's Fire & Water album is one of our real inspirations and influences. Paul has been part of our history all along - and Freddie was a huge fan of Paul's; he was one of the few singers he really looked up to."

May adds: "Freddie used to give me a hard time if I wrote something that didn't really suit him, and he'd say: "Look, Brian, you're fucking writing this for Paul Rodgers, I can't do this." It became a joke between us, because Paul had that blues edge and Freddie was something different — something very exceptional, as we know. So yes, Paul and Freddie might be poles apart, but there is an overlap because they can both sing Tie Your Mother Down, and it suits them both down to the ground — as we've discovered."

Did Rodgers ever meet Freddie?

"Not properly," Paul says, his Middlesbrough accent still very much in evidence. "I passed him on the stairs once — I passed the whole band on the stairs — when Queen were auditioning managers one time, and they went to see Peter Grant [who used to manage Rodgers and well as Led Zeppelin]. I happened to be visiting Peter as well. And we just said a quick hello, hey, how're you doing... and that was it, really. But I got a very nice vibe from Freddie indeed. He seemed really, really cool."

Rodgers has an active solo career. How does this collaboration with Queen fit in?

"I must say my solo band have been incredibly nice and understanding about it all. Howard Leese from Heart and the guys, they've just been great about it. There will be some solo dates in the future but for the moment I'm putting that to one side.

"I recently worked with The Four Tops. They made a DVD for their 50th anniversary in Detroit, and they invited me up. Aretha Franklin was there, and Sam from Sam & Dave, The Temptations were there as well... and I was actually the only white guy on that stage. Which was a real compliment. I didn't even know that the soul family, if you like, had heard of me. So it was a terrific thing."

Rodgers continues: "As a result of that, the company that was making the DVD, Omni Broadcasting, asked me to do my own DVD along the same lines. But I've had to put that on hold as well because this is a huge learning curve for me. I've got to learn pretty much the entire Queen catalogue in a short space of time, and well enough to be able to deliver it on stage. So it's been my total focus."

These are, obviously, extremely hectic times for May and Rodgers. We spoke to the duo separately: May was on the car phone in the back of a limo, speeding off to God-knows-where; Rogers was holed up in a posh hotel in Bray, Berkshire, close to Queen's secret rehearsal location.

The Queen + Paul Rodgers project — which was originally mooted as just a couple of isolated dates in London — has now taken on a seemingly unstoppable momentum, which has taken both May and Rodgers by surprise. The last full set of Queen shows, after all, was the Magic Tour way, way back in 1986.

May: "We're already at the point of signing on the line for a tour in America, which we plan to do in the autumn. It makes me nervous. Well, being on stage doesn't make me nervous, but it makes me nervous to realise that I am now in the process of giving away my life again. Being in hotel rooms, flying on planes here, there and everywhere... t's quite tough, and I know Paul feels the same way. We've had lots of home time to enjoy in recent times... and this involves a sacrifice."

Rodgers: "From my point of view. I hadn't really planned on doing any full-on major tours whatsoever this year. In fact, the only reason I can actually do this venture with Brian and Roger is because I planned to pull back from my own shows in 2005, and just take it easy. So I didn't quite realise this was such a huge undertaking. It's taken my breath away."

Prior to their encounter at the Fender Stratocaster anniversary show, May and Rodgers had collaborated sporadically in the past.

May: "We did a record together called Reaching Out, which was written by Andy Hill and Don Black, for the Rock Therapy charity. I've also played on one or two or Paul's solo records. I played on a track called I'm Ready, which is on his blues album, and the other time when we worked together significantly was when I did this concert in Seville [Spain] called The Guitar Legends.

"I was hired to do the rock night and we had some of the world's greatest guitarists there. But I didn't want to have them all up there widdling on stage the whole time, so I rang up Paul and he came down. Of course, guitarists love to do all this highly technical stuff, but give them a chance to do the riff to All Right Now and they're in seventh heaven. So Paul and me have been loosely in contact since then. It goes back some years."

So, is Queen + Paul Rodgers a short- or long-term thing?

May: "It's too early to say. We're enjoying ourselves an awful lot, I have to say, so the signs are that we might want to take it further. But equally, we may have had enough of it after we've done this fairly intense tour. It's a pretty serious tour, I have to say. It's not the sort of thing I envisioned myself doing at this time of life, ha-ha!"

Rodgers: "We're going along with how it feels — at the moment it's wide open. We're all songwriters, we've three pretty good songwriters in the band, so the chances are that we'll start writing, given the opportunity. There are other things I'd like to do, obviously — I'd like to do that DVD, and I've been asked to do a solo album of acoustic material, which interests me too — but one can only do so much at a time."

So there, potentially, is the prospect of a Queen + Paul Rodgers album some time in the future?

"I wouldn't say it was out of the question but it's early days yet," stresses Rodgers. "Really, the live shows are the main focus right now."

Even though the spirit of Freddie Mercury still looms large, May has no qualms about teaming up with Rodgers: "I'm absolutely sure Freddie would love it. You might think it strange for me to say that, but I feel very tuned in to Freddie every day of my life. He was virtually a family member, and that's partly why I haven't wanted to do something like this up until now — I've never felt comfortable about any of the ideas that people came to us with.

"But I know that Freddie would be so happy to hear we're doing something with Paul. I know Freddie would be very excited, and the other thing I know is that his mum's excited, which means a lot to me. I'm in touch with her quite often. We've got the Bulsara family seal of approval. Absolutely. She said to me that she knows we'll make her proud. That's lovely. That's all I can ask for."

Brian May's favourite Paul Rodgers track "Apart from All Right Now, obviously, Can't Get Enough by Bad Company has always been a big favourite of mine. They're all favourites, to be honest. The entire Fire & Water album has never left me. We'll be doing some of that on tour, and it's a joy beyond compare. Every time we come to play one of Paul's songs, everybody starts smiling. We just love it — it's a sort of recreation for us."

Paul Rodgers's favourite Queen track "There's a song called The Show Must Go On, which is incredibly dramatic. In my early years as a singer, I listened a lot to Otis Redding. I still do, in fact. Otis has a great spirit and a great soul to his voice; his whole approach to music is very soulful. I'm trying to apply those things — that heart and that soul — to The Show Must Go On. Even though it's early days. it's sounding just monstrous."