New cask, en tap: Rhyme Flight … akin to a wine flight — but rhythmic records … sort of a seasonal twist on the Rhyme Cellar … more elemental, less extensive — but fundamentally rooted in the sonic aesthetic essence … so, without further ado, let’s sip this spin and riff prosetic — godspeed, enjoi
: : Rhyme Flight, Deck 1 : “88 Back” :
: [ Relative Thread : Terset Crate, ~88bpm* ] : :
Caskstory :: so … this column cask arrived in a somewhat roundabout crescendo sort of way … i suppose Rhyme Cellar, in its early embryonic origin stages, was intended to express what this scope entails, but — as work does in its progression — entities evolve … effectually, the cellar developed into more long-form ruminations, as opposed to synoptic palatte notations … alas, so it is, and here we are … so circling back to the immediate … i decided to shelf the cellar for the summer, and test out the seasonal sea legs from a new, but/and not entirely divergent, vantage realm …
i wasn’t actively seeking a specific niche for the new space, but remained open to any appealing avenues … as it so happens, one aspect leading to another, i‘d been working on mixing music (technique, theory, so on, such forth), revisiting the beatmatch blend on the one days of yore, and amidst a routine practice session — which usually entails : choosing a crate (or allowing a crate choose said self), selecting a catalyst chorale, and mixing on the fly from there — general blind spin freestyle … amidst an 88bpm* (*as classified by serato lite track analysis) session within the Terset Spin crate, a certain quatrain resonated just so with the internal genomic, a quartet crew blipped the radar with their je ne sais quoi sequence of tunes … so, said thing led to another, and i figured why not pivot said playmates into a wine flight style sampling, and sort a more semi-proper moment for discovery …
so — that chapter in the cask backstory unpacked — i rummaged through a bit of music structure research to sort a palpable parallel between wine and music in context of tasting notes / palatte profile points … during said search party, david greenberg’s “arousal, valence, depth” triumvirate surfaced and — a voila! a preliminary parallel … from there, i rounded out the elemental plane with three additional aspects of / for reference — texture, physique, and evocation … so, given said aforementioned, we have a fleet to flight, and a framework around which to focus our palattes …
i’m not sure if any of this made any sense, as i don’t have a particular knack for explaining the methodology behind / beneath these manifestations … but tl;dr welcome to our debut rhyme flight, where we’ll be sampling records within a shared bpm range, and taking particular note of peripheral distinctions in structure, expression, and resonance … if you made it this far, cheers to you ; sante, salud : onward, ever upward, as always — enjoi
Fair pretense post-script aside : this one is definitively making it up as i go along … so, there will be an orchard of happy accidents throughout this rhythmic vineyard … so, please bear with the working progress and have fun with it in the meantime ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
· : : “88 Back” Pilot Fleet : Recs On Deck : : ·
| Record | Artist (Year) | Album; Label |
|---|---|---|
| “Suite II Overture” | Janelle Monáe (2010) | The ArchAndroid (Suites II And III) ; Wondaland Arts Society |
| “Feels So Good” | Kylie Minogue (2014) | Kiss Me Once ; Parlophone |
| “Concorde” | Le Couleur (2020) | Concorde ; Lisbon Lux Records |
| “Dr. Carter” | Lil’ Wayne (2008) | Tha Carter III ; Cash Money |
· · ·
: Flight Taste Note Referentials :
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Modality | Describes intensity and energy in music |
| Valence | Describes the spectrum of emotions in music (e.g. sad, happy) |
| Depth | Describes intellect and sophistication in music |
| Texture | Describes sensory “feel” of music (e.g. organic / natural, processed / engineered) |
| Physique | Describes build, body, silhouette of music (e.g. minimal, full ; angular / rigid, contouring / elastic ) |
| Evocation | Describes experiential or conceptual resonance brought forth in music (e.g. any elemental, essential, emblematic associations) |
“Suite II Overture” — Janelle Monáe (2010)
| Aspect | Notes |
|---|---|
| Modality ( intensity / energy ) | En flow … crescendo |
| Valence ( emotional spectrum ) | Pensive ; curious |
| Depth ( sophistication / intellect ) | High, classical tradition |
| Texture ( sensory “feel” ) | Natural, orchestral |
| Physique ( body, build, silhouette ) | Full, lush, refined |
| Evocation ( experiential / conceptual resonance ) | Baroque Metropolitan Ballet ; Post-Apocalyptic Searchlight Symphony |
· · ·
“Feels So Good” — Kylie Minogue (2014)
| Aspect | Notes |
|---|---|
| Modality ( intensity / energy ) | Understated progressive buoyancy |
| Valence ( emotional spectrum ) | Aspirational resolve |
| Depth ( sophistication / intellect ) | Elevated EQ |
| Texture ( sensory “feel” ) | Synth ephemera ; xenon zephyr |
| Physique ( body, build, silhouette ) | Light-bodied, contouring |
| Evocation ( experiential / conceptual resonance ) | Velveteen Rabbit’s Primavera Pirouette into Synthtempo Swan Lake |
· · ·
“Concorde” — Le Couleur (2020)
| Aspect | Notes |
|---|---|
| Modality ( intensity / energy ) | Rose-colored mellow |
| Valence ( emotional spectrum ) | Romantic |
| Depth ( sophistication / intellect ) | Elevated |
| Texture ( sensory “feel” ) | Synthstalgia; human electricity |
| Physique ( body, build, silhouette ) | Healthy |
| Evocation ( experiential / conceptual resonance ) | Summer Haze Shoegaze ; Late Afternoon Suntoxicated ; Funkadelic Rooftop Romp ; Al Fresco Dream Pop — A Français |
· · ·
“Dr. Carter” — Lil’ Wayne (2008)
| Aspect | Notes |
|---|---|
| Modality ( intensity / energy ) | Mellow andante |
| Valence ( emotional spectrum ) | Confident, Sage swagger |
| Depth ( sophistication / intellect ) | High, alticulate IQ |
| Texture ( sensory “feel” ) | Natural, Analogue airwave |
| Physique ( body, build, silhouette ) | Fortified |
| Evocation ( experiential / conceptual resonance ) | Fireside Speakeasy Cypher ; Bayou Miyagi Wax Prophetic ; Diagnostic Dose of Game Scene Underscore |
· · Final Notes and Flight Impressions · ·
| “Record,” Artist (Vintage) | Taste Notes |
|---|---|
| “Suite II Overture,” Janelle Monáe (2010) | Classical orchestral base with contemporary sensibility, cinematic vantage echoing post-apocalyptic atmosphere … curiosity |
| “Feels So Good,” Kylie Minogue (2014) | Mid-tempo synthpop base with R&B sensibility, scenic soliloquy vantage echoing twilight romantic atmosphere … looming |
| “Concorde,” Le Couleur (2020) | Dream pop chanson base with alt disco sensibility, icarus vantage echoing nouveaustalgic atmosphere … adrift |
| “Dr. Carter,” Lil’ Wayne (2008) | Southern rap base with golden age surgeon sensibility, urban legendary vantage echoing imperial precipice atmosphere … sapient |
| [ On the Whole ] “88 Back,” ibid. (2022) | Strong cerebral undertones ; rhythmic contouring ; aspects of vintaged romance ; sense of narrative depth ; pulmonary, respiratory ; iterative takes on hybrid textures, inherent soul inherits tailor engineered couture ; theatrical, scenic underscore |
· : Last Call, Maestro Pilot Mix : ·
So … at the rhyme flight’s proper cask genesis ideation catalyst a-ha moment … was the intention of establishing some sort of connection between music i’m exploring through revisiting the mixing process, and the music ( dj mixes, live sets, etc. ) i encountered – over the river and through the years – that sort of inspired and ignited this endeavor … so the structure, originally — broadly — was to feature the flight deck of records from the work crate, and close / encore / last call with a proximal mix from the sound pulpit brigade precedent canon crate … all of that is to say … here’s a personal favorite from back in the day … a deep cut from the subterranean cosmic disco crate … so subterrestrial deep cut that i couldn’t find it on the weberverse anymore … but because music is meant to be shared, and said experiences exist for the sake of the auric exhume … thus … a mix that echoes to the 88 Back flavor plane in its own contouring andante progressive sense of gnostic sophistication … a toast, to all the lovers and gamblers … :
* * *
The Karioke Bar 