~notes~ (Vol. 3)

South African beats & Northern California caffeine

Mad’s Music Mix

Beatenberg, “Rafael” Listening to this Cape Town pop band reminded me of how happy I am when I listen to South African pop. Fun and light like Paul Simon’s “Graceland” and anything by Vampire Weekend, I can’t help but do a little head nod action when this song plays.

BLKKATHY, “Shake You Off” On the other end of the happiness spectrum is this bit of a downer ditty. Sparse in the best way possible, the song consists of only a voice, synthesizer and drum machine, which, as they say on their page, “makes your booty bounce and ruins your makeup.” Sometimes that’s just what you need to get you through the day. I like to listen to this song when I emerge from the sweaty subway, shaking off all that MTA mess.

Sinead Harnett, “No Other Way (Ryan Hemsworth Remix)” Yes my favorite sadboy DJ makes another ~notes~ cameo. Mr. Hemsworth just seems to know exactly how to punch up a song. Sinead has a great, loose voice and it’s complemented perfectly with Ryan’s jumpy electronica.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Someone” Red Hot Chili Peppers?! The ‘90s called and they want their socks back. You may be wondering what cool sound the RHCP could offer that you haven’t already heard, but I proffer this gem of a song. It’s a B-Side of “The Zephyr Song” and features a really catchy melody and the boys sprinkling a bit of barbershop quartet. I can’t understand why this wasn’t released on “By The Way” (their full album) but maybe that’s what makes it so special, so let’s keep it our secret.

Music Vid Pick: I’ve loved Sway since his towering beanie filled with dreadlocks graced MTV News. Now he’s got a radio show — dreads and all — and has rappers freestyle. Childish Gambino lays it down, only to stop mid-flow to break into conversation, and then resumes rapping. Sure he comes off as arrogant and apathetic, but there’s no denying he’s got mad skills. Plus love the hunting hat-over-the-headphones look.

Jeff’s Journo Jems

The Future of Iced Coffee [The Atlantic]: My roommate, Arielle, and I have become coffee snobs. Not the you-don’t-understand-but-single-origin-is-really-better type, but it’s a slippery slope. Our coffee love was catapulted by separate trips to San Francisco in the past year where we were introduced to a new heyday of caffeine culture. If there’s one brand leading the way in this new post-Starbucks crusade, it’s Bay Area based Blue Bottle. And its New Orleans iced coffee is coming to a store — er, Whole Foods — near you. This 6,600-word story is everything you’ve ever wanted to know about coffee. The future is bright, java-obsessed friends.

Thanks to Technology, We’re About to Come Out of the Longest Dark Age in Human History [Medium]: We generally think of the web as place that collects and stores everything we do — after all, isn’t that what big data is? But big data (and retargeting and social networks) are all relatively new phenomena in the history of the Internet. Try to visit a web page from 1996. You can’t. It sounds silly, but before this story, I never thought about how much will be — or is already — lost from those now inaccessible days of the nascent web.

The Biden Agenda [The New Yorker]: Joe Bombs. That’s what the Obama administration calls the probably-too-regular gaffes from the vice president. I see Joe Biden being like that awkward uncle you see once a year at Christmas, who’s lovable but also widely inappropriate, especially for that type of gathering. Biden has embraced this archetype to his advantage, but this beast of a story (13,000+ words) also gives a fuller picture of a man who’s been a statesman for the past four decades.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and the Spirit of Capitalism [Gawker]: There’s nothing quite like Kardashian Kapitalism, which is on full display in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, a virtual world where you as the user try to attain status and fame for not really doing anything of note. Think of it as Call of Duty for the Housewives set. It was only a matter of time before someone wrote a story about 60 hours spent playing the game. The surprising finding? There’s a lot that goes into being famous for being famous.

Throwback: Don Jon and the Digital porn Dystopia [Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style]: Anne Helen Petersen tops my list of intellectual crushes. I was first introduced to her greatness through this think piece on Joseph Gordon Levitt’s provocative movie “Don Jon.” I don’t want to spoil any of the fun of reading this for the first time, so I’ll just say: I haven’t come across another writer who can pen academic musings in such an approachable manner.

Syd’s Selebs and Stuff

We have a very special guest post this week from our Gawker-loving, candy connoisseur friend, Sydney. Bad Gal Ree Ree: Inside the Mind of America’s Sweetheart? [Gawker] The southern belle of American cinema happens to be very active on social media. Her drug of choice? Instagram. In between the expected photos of ice cream, flowers, and lots of talk about family, emerges a darker alter ego that Gawker has dubbed Laura Jean (which, in a dose of irony, is her birth name). Laura Jean emerges as she holds a blue bowling ball and seductively looks into the camera (and your soul) with the caption “Having a ball at my birthday” or that time she wore a camouflage hoodie and played the slots while four cocktails rest just out of focus. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this spicier side of Witherspoon. Do you remember when she was arrested for disorderly conduct last year? Let me refresh you memory: Reese and her husband went drinking, got pulled over on the way home, and Reese used the terribly cliché line: “Do you even know who I am!?” Turns out Reese is just like us (but sometimes scarier and drunker).