Mad Respect

Change has come to America…

No more alienation.

No more apathy.

No more helplessness.

No more shame.

No more fear.

No more frustration.

No more anger.

No more sadness at what could have been…

Catharsis, healing, empowerment, and progress is what I have to look forward to. It’s a good time to be alive.

“Sound Wave” by Jean Shin at the Second Lives exhibit Musuem of Art and Design in NYC. Courtesy of NY Times.

Sound Wave

Giveback’s latest effort involves a project to raise $6,145 for a recording studio at a Hunter’s Point kids club in the Bay Area. This community center deserves recognition for their noble mission of keeping high-risk kids off the streets. You can read more about the Hunter’s Point Family on their profile page. For a list of the audio gear and a breakdown of how the money will be used, you can go to the campaign’s action page, here.

Michael Franti and FreQ Nasty donated music to help with fund-raising and to raise awareness for the campaign. The tracks are sweet with some nice future sounds and palpitations in their remix collaboration. Music touches everyone regardless of geography, background, or socio-economics, and teaching children to play and record music could provide a better alternative to the harsh realities of their neighborhood. The campaign is called Beats for a Better Future and more info directly from the artists is on the campaign page, here.

The organization’s focus on mentorship motivates a more sustained, longer-term positive impact on the community. Check out more photos and videos to get a sense of the the center. This project was inspired in memory of Otto Schutt, a close friend of the artists involved. Otto worked with the kids at Hunter’s Point Family for 10 years before passing away recently of cancer.  He was an inspiration to us all;  especially all the kids and members of Hunter’s Point Family.

You can listen to tracks in the widget below and click-through to donate via Paypal or you can click-through from the campaign page.

Check out the new album from David Byrne and Brian Eno. One of my favorite albums of the year. Legendary artists collaborating again in their new work,”Everything that Happens, Will Happen Today.”

I would have blogged about this two weeks ago when it came out, but I had to migrate my blog to a Wordpress server install with Media Temple and only found time to do so this labor day weekend.

Topspin had the honor of digitally shepherding this wonderful album out to the world. Listen to the full album for free in the player above and click-through to purchase. More offers include physical CDs, videos, films, digital art, lyrics, bonus songs, screensavers, and hard bound books. Go straight to the order page. The album feels like a tapestry of funky, soulful, gospel, rock grooves with a nice variety of tempo and melodies. It’s a classic. I’ve been listening to it over and over again, and it just keeps getting better. Wise men say talking about music is like dancing to architecture. Clearly I’m not doing it justice in words so click Play above and listen to your hearts content.

As the purpose of this blog is to give major props, I have to give a massive shout out to my Topspin team. Unfortunately, only one person reads this blog, so it’s a shame I couldn’t give the team a louder shout. We started working on David and Brian’s release less than two months before it went live. The team built significant, new systems and rose to the challenge to deliver a quality product and user experience. I’m blessed to have the pleasure and privilege of working with such an amazing team of music technology professionals. The bonus is that we’re having sweet fun in the process. We’re bringing our domain experience, sweat, passion, and love to what Topspin’s main man, Ian Rogers, call’s “God’s work.” Ian does a better job describing the story of the Byrne Eno release here. There’s so much more to do and improve on our end, and I’m super psyched to be working with this team for the long haul, the best I’ve ever worked with. I better stop gushing before someone hates on me for bragging about my peeps. But this blog is about Mad Respect. If you came here for excessive veneration, idolization, and mounting people on pedestals then you’re in the right place. If you came here to be snarky, I can’t help you.

Click play and enjoy the tunes!

What a pic…lightning captured in a thunderstorm in the midst of a massive eruption of the Chaiten Volcano in Southern Chile.  Thanks to Xarene for forwarding.  Hope the locals are out of harms way.

The article with more amazing pics is here. Would have loved to have had a safe ringside seat for this one.

Thanks to my friend Joe Fulwiler for forwarding this video of Milton Friedman. I remember seeing him speak at Stanford’s Kresge Hall 10 years ago and was impressed by his deep convictions on vast global issues. As an economics major, it was a real treat to see him live and well worth the several hours in line. In the video Milton Friedman comes across as a genuine, engaging, and utterly rational man. Wish I could say the same for Phil Donahue. Not to hate on Phil, but watching him ask Milton questions is like me trying to lay up on Manute Bol.

The video touches upon a somewhat opposing duality that I’ve been reflecting about lately — how does one serve their self-interest while contributing to the greater good in a real tangible way? Semantics aside, what’s the best way to serve yourself and others at the same time? Not “self-interest” in an evil, greased up maniac Gordon Gecko type of greed, but rather an objectivist approach to the concept like Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Our behavior is largely dictated by economic incentive so it makes sense to think of what is surely a common denominator in all of us, namely, the process of efficiently allocating scarce resources. The hope is to serve ourselves well and in surplus in order to have a greater chance of serving others.

Last weekend I went to the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, CA, and it was a blast. Fun in the sun, soaking in cool tunes, great food, colorful friendly people, and lots of fooling around and laughter. Thanks so much to Claire and Darin for making it happen for us. I wish we had the chance to hang out on Sunday, but we will make up for it. I was impressed by how well the festival was run given how many people and vendors in attendance. It was a high quality production so I wasn’t surprised when I learned it was their 30th anniversary. They’ve had some practice in making it a well oiled machine. Makes me happy to think about how far Topspin can go one day as we’re now approaching our one-year anniversary celebration in Venice, CA.

I was largely at the Harmony Festival because Giveback is powering an album download to raise money for the World Family, an Ethiopian health services center, to construct an irrigation tunnel to better sustain one of the more remote villages. More info on the Water of Life campaign is here.

I must say I love FreQ Nasty’s new Super Mario Remix with Heavy Weight Dub Champion’s Snared on the Water of Life album. I’m listening to it on our office sound system, and if I turned up the bass it would disintegrate the cinder-block walls. If we needed music to serve as an interstellar weapon, I nominate this track turned up to 11.

Damian Marley and David Starfire’s tracks rocked me out as well. They will be on my iPhone soon. I would post a link to the music but don’t want to defeat the purpose of the artists who gave their music for this great cause. You can get the tunes here.

One thing that really resonated with me was FreQ Nasty’s reason why this campaign is exciting from a macro perspective. I excerpted it from the Water of Life campaign site:

The idea that artists can use their music and art to help create positive change in the world is one that I feel really strongly about right now. At this point in time music is selling less than it ever has, yet remains a powerful cultural force and reaches a wider and more diverse spectrum of people than it ever has. As the means of digital distribution are essentially free, and the monetary worth of any given track moves toward zero, the idea of bringing music’s powerful cultural force to bear on the lives of real peoples to help them in a tangible way is little short of a miracle. To help the people of Gara Dima in Ethiopia by creating music in a studio in California brings down barriers for the artist, the fans, and the community itself, benefiting us all.

FreQ’s point is particularly salient in my pursuit of Topspin’s mission to help artists build their businesses. Particularly, in a world of free music with P2P, what other ways are there to manifest value in art? I think the point is that we shouldn’t take the current devaluation of music as a given and work to find new methods to move people into action and towards their checkbook or credit card.

Although I’m advising Giveback’s organizational efforts, as a regular citizen I was motivated to give more than I normally would for the Water of Life album because it was for a good cause, and I wanted the music specifically from some of these artists. My after the fact ROI for giving is large since I’m really digging the music. So much so that I had to blog about it.

As a warrior for the advancement of music and especially in trying to figure out how to generate meaningful revenue for artists, I feel even more inspired and excited to know that the future of how we are all exposed to new music and causes has yet to truly unfold.

It’s been a wonderful three years celebrating life at the Sweetspot. The time has come to move out and give the space back to the new owners who took over recently. We’ve had a beautiful era at the space and are grateful for everyone’s presence and contribution to the Sweetspot experience.

After Simone and I built it out, the Sweetspot hatched Topspin and served as a creative space for the greater community headz including intentional gatherings, cultural movements, design explosions, dance trouping, holiday dinners, and just plain music fun. Topspin is moving literally around the corner on 20th and Colorado with more space and better parking. Stop by and visit anytime. There’ll be some familiar flavor in the new Topspin digs since we can’t help ourselves.

If you’ve ever appreciated what you’ve seen in the Sweetspot space from power tools, 20 foot bamboo, large screens, paintings, dressers, stools, bookcases, audio gear, appliances, or furniture, feel free to make an offer. It will most likely be sold out or donated in the next week. You can check out pics of stuff around the space here

In the meantime Sweetspot will live again in another day with a new beginning…

I’m advising a committed group of activists hell bent on changing the world. Our project is called Giveback, and it’s a community news driven site where you can become informed on issues and causes that you might not otherwise find on mainstream media.

More importantly, with Giveback you can take immediate action on the causes that motivate you at the very moment you feel most inspired. Most of us read news, blogs, and articles that move and touch us every day. Unfortunately, the feelings that rise up within us dissipate, and we go on about our busy lives. Giveback is a forum designed to show people how they can take immediate action, right when they most feel it, by linking news directly to related organizations. Check it out at www.giveback.net. This is just the beginning.

The story of Giveback originated in February 2007 at the Sweetspot Studios warehouse where Darin McFadyen (aka Freq Nasty) insisted we gather an eclectic group of musicians, producers, technologist, activists, and concerned citizens together to discuss how we can all work together to make the world a better place. To start things off, a group of about 50 people watched “the US vs. John Lennon“. The movie showed Lennon in action using his media attention to push a social and political agenda. He was relentless in his pursuit of world peace. It dawned on all of us that this is the kind of attitude and energy we need to be putting out there in the world: if it’s broken, pick up a tool and try to fix it. Don’t just stand there bitching about it or turn your back on the problem. That may have sufficed for the first four years of this presidential travesty, but for most of us, especially me, it won’t suffice any more. So we decided to do something — anything — to make a positive change. Out of that first meeting came the idea for Giveback.

Giveback’s next release will involve action campaigns in which musicians and producers donate their copyrights to raise awareness and monetary donations for the causes that matter most to them. Imagine artists using their music to shine light on important issues by offering their art to fans in return for mind-share and donations for their chosen causes. This is the concept of Giveback. Our long-term goal is to enable people to immediately take action at the point of awareness by creating an action marketplace that can surface relevant ways in which citizens can tangibly make an impact in the world. Hit me up if you have any questions or are interested in participating or investing.

Peace.

World Peace.

Update: check out the first application of musicians donating their art to raise awareness for their favorite causes here http://giveback.net/FreQNectar

Last Tuesday we went to the opening event of Antony Micallef’s “Impure Idols” art exhibit in Hollywood with our good friends Leena and Ameet. Thanks to Simone who got the special invites from Claire Joseph. I was quite moved, and the strong impressions I have of his art are still lingering in my mind. I appreciate the way he weaves in images of pop culture, random artillery, and children with his messages on the ills of consumerism. Leena has an interesting post with more on Antony’s art and the impact it has had on her own personal creativity. Definitely a very special night as we left with a renewed sense of expression and a committed intention to experience more of the contemporary art emerging out of the UK.