this doesn't feel like forever...

it's 11 am, i'm at my local coffee shop, sipping on cold coffee, nerding out, waiting for a phone call. i should be halfway to new york right now. or, at least, i thought i'd be. not sure what's going on. things aren't falling apart. they're shredding themselves. i lost my passport in toronto last week. way to go me. what was originally going to be a two- or three-car convoy was down to two people as of last night. the travel expense guarantee comes through on email and it's half of what we expected. i'm broke as shit; i haven't worked in a month. last night i spoke to my dj. he was going to call me between two and three am to make plans for leaving today. we planned on leaving early. i still haven't heard from him. i hope he's okay. and, then, the cherry on top, i went to plug in my phone when i got up this morning and discovered that - of course - i had left my phone charger in toronto. so, to recap: i have no money, not enough of a guarantee to cover gas money, not enough people to all chip in and make the gas affordable, no phone, no dj, no ride, and, even if all of that stuff was in a neat little row, i probably can't get across the border anyway with an expired driver's license... she wants revenge are back. this cat sums them up pretty nicely, me thinks. the last one, well, yeah, it's a bit of a weird feeling. i don't think i ever actually liked the record, but i listened to it a lot. i guess that's gotta mean for something. i'll check out the new one. hell, i'm still looking for this and this.
i'd also like to hear the new kenna record. shit, i'd still like to hear the old kenna record. aside from a song or two, i don't think i ever got a chance to check it out. i know i'd looked for it a bunch of times. stores just don't stock things they haven't heard of, i guess. anyway, i'm a b-boy right now (the b stands from broke), so i'll be downloading all of this shit if i can find it. forgive me fellas, you know i love to buy my cds, but right now, it ain't happening. i'll try to make it up to you at some later date... still sitting here. still no phone call. still no email. what the sh*t is going on? ah well. refill time, warm it up (kane). i'm gonna get my ass back home and do something productive while i'm waiting to find out what's going on. got some new songs in the can my lovelies, and more on the way. i'm having kittens, and i want you all to take one home...

keep the beat...

a gang of photos from the prefuse 73 show. click here and here to check 'em out.

-just got back from toronto. had an awesome few days. spent some good time with sarah biking around, eating chicken roti and checking stuff out. saw my homie ill seer getting his church on (nice preachin' bro!). popped through the history-making manifesto festival, where we caught the "live mix-tape," which was dope as shit. maestro! king lou! michie mee! shit, the list goes on... ran into a boatload of old friends, acquaintances, and many familiar faces from my old days running around in toronto's hip-hop scene. saw the homie big click, my former running-mate from my universal days. good to see shad k. up on that outdoor stage, holding it down with some of toronto's finest. and props to my man rod skimmins, another london vet, for producing the show. good work man! here's a little video of the final bow. must've been like 20 emcees on that stage. dan-e-o. choclair. abdominal. eternia. tara chase. brass munk. dope shit.

-monday night we went to hear stephen lewis speak at u of t. this is the second time i've heard this man speak this year, and, i'm telling you, i broke down into tears from some of the things he was talking about. things are happening in the world. things that are being done to people in this world. it's unbelievable. it's enough to make a self-obsessed "artist" like myself take my head out of my own ass for a few minutes and realize that are other PEOPLE in this world who are actually suffering. i want to do something. i'm not sure where to start. any suggestions? a few months ago a friend of mine sent me a link to a job that was posted for war child canada. some sort of music liaison or something. might have been perfect for me. i want to find something INVOLVED. i want to pull my head out of the sand (or, as i said before, my own ass) and contribute. to embrace the world, not hide from it. not hide behind my "art" as an excuse for my non-engagement with my life and the world i live in...

-have you seen eastern promises? see it. fucking rad. i will be in a movie with viggo mortensen one day.

-and, i had no idea that these guys were still around...

-that's it for now my dears. i am off to new york tomorrow, if things go according to plan. i somehow managed to lose my passport this week, so, hopefully i won't have any problems crossing the border (the government websites say i should be fine with my birth certificate, but, you never know...). off to the knitting factory on saturday night to play a show with schoolly d., r.a. the rugged man, and cx kidtronik. hopefully i'll have wonderful stories and photos to share. wish me luck.

kiss kiss,
ryan

sheepsh*t movie premiere...

premiere last night for the short film sheepsh*t.
watch the trailer here.
rake hell row productions.

poverty's paradise...

-i'm two weeks off from working now. enjoying my retirement. quickly running out of money. even thought i'm living on only one meal a day (a piece of chicken or a can of tuna, mixed with salad, and a few carrots), i'm going to be dead-broke in a matter of weeks. what the hell am i thinking? hey man, why don't you quit your job so you can focus on recording a new album? got any money saved? nope. idiot. fuck it. donations of food, alcohol, cigarettes and rent money can me made to the "help ryan finish his fucking album foundation," c/o me, contact info: ryansomers at gmail dot com.

-got some new posts up on living underwater: frankenstein, the grassroots, rap essentials volume one, and more...

-wendy morgan.

-has anybody seen this man? shit, someone should start a magazine or something and track him down...

-houstonsoreal.

-can somebody tell me why it is that woman are about ten times more likely to complain about something in a restaurant than men are? seriously, i'll go out with a bunch of guys and the waiter or waitress might fuck up our order or forget something or the food might not be made right, but we don't really trip. unless it's a big deal, most of the time we won't even send it back, we'll just be like "whatever..." and eat it anyway, laugh it off. but woman will be like "she put ice in my water, i said no ice!" and get really bent out of shape about it. now, me, i always order my water without ice. i'd say about 50% of the time they give me ice in my water anyway. you know what i do, i wait. it melts. i don't know, i'm just curious. obviously this is a generalization i'm making, but it's based on real-world observation. i'm sitting here in a coffee shop right now listening to these two women at the table nexts to me trading restaurant "horror-stories." and most of the shit they're talking about isn't even that bad. "they forgot to put bacon bits in my salad, so i sent it back." are you serious? relax. "we waited half an hour for our food!" you know what, shit happens, and if a restaurant fills up and you're among the last few tables to order, guess what happens, you wait for your food. watch the movie waiting for a perfect example of what i'm talking about. rule #1: don't FUCK with people who handle your food.

-i'm on a diet.

-dj good grief.

ain't nobody...

in toronto last week, i popped into sonic boom on bloor st., specifically looking for the album one step ahead of the spider by mc 900 ft. jesus. a few years back, i picked up a copy there - long since lost - and they had about 5 of 'em, so i thought they still might have it. no dice. (christopher, i want my CD back!) i rolled downstairs to check out the vinyl, and came across a record by nobody. "oh yeah," i thought to myself, "i wonder what else they might have of his...," as he's one of my favorite producers of all time. the man makes the music i hear in my head. and everything else...? i've been looking for this one for a while. check. revisions revisited? check. and what's this...? tree colored see? i've never even heard of this one... check. picked up all three. and now my collection is complete. if you haven't heard this cat, it would mean a lot to me if you'd check out some of his music. i'm going to throw a few links below to download some stuff, but, seriously, if you like it, please buy one of 'em. i have bought ALL of these. every single one. and i will buy more. his next project is called blank blue, and i will buy that when it comes out. i hope i get to do some work with this cat one day...
nobody - soulmates (ubiquity, 2000)
track list:
1. prologue
2. for those who never dream
3. leading to the one
4. fiend of the fix (feat. medusa)
5. sun child
6. outbreak (extended solo version)
7. monotone
8. land loop
9. shades of orange (feat. 2mex)
10. noziroh
11. green means
12. sixth sense
13. planets ain't aligned (feat. freestyle fellowship) (oscillations version)
14. syde tryps
15. tone therapy
16. inner eye (feat. abstract rude)
17. epilogue
18. faces of the deep
nobody - pacific drift (ubiqity, 2003)
track list:
1. coming up to the surface
2. white folding slowly (into blue remix)
3. the beaches of neptune
4. porpoise song
5. interlude 1
6. after the summer hits
7. psilo-cycling (trip 'round the block)
8. images of april
9. interlude 2 / sioux's rain part III (insect trust dub)
10. what fall brings
12. this will be our year
13. electro-acoustic
14. headspace
15. i won't hurt you
16. going under...
nobody - and everything else... (plug research, 2005)
track list:
1. the coast is clear (for fireworks)
2. what is the light?
3. spin the bright sun rose
4. go go interlude go
5. poor angular fellow
6. tilijem's forrest
7. you can know her
8. jose de la rues!!!
9. con un relampago
10. wake up and smell the millennium
11. tori oshi
12. siesta con susana
nobody - revisions: the remixes 2000-2005 (plug research, 2006)
track list:
1. ill suono - moment of sympathy
2. pepe california - guadalupe
3. busdriver - unemployed black astronaut
4. her space holiday - from south caroline
5. mia doi todd - autumn
6. the free design - girl's alone
7. the postal service - be still my heart
8. clearlake - good clean fun
9. build an ark - always there
10. clue to kalo - when tommy fixes fights
11. presto - relax your mind
12. adventure time - whetting whistles
13. phil ranelin - vibes from the tribe
nobody & mystic chords of memory - tree colored see (mush, 2006)
track list:
1. the seed
2. decisions, decisions
3. broaden a new sound
4. coyote's song (when you hear it too)
5. memory
6. klaw prints
7. walk in the after light
8. when the end meets the beginning
9. feet upon the sand
10. softer sail
11. floating
myspace.com/nobodyelvin
plugresearch.com/nobody.html
myspace.com/blankblue
ubiquityrecords.com/nobody.html
myspace.com/treecoloredsee