Homer L. Twigg IV

While they may be out of season come time for our wedding, the bride will probably have to have some beautiful calla lilies imported in order to match elegance with the unique beauty which she radiates.

You won’t have another applicant who traveled Bhutan for a month as a diplomat, or who can ramble off a stupid-long list of the digits of Pi. I can also grow a beard so thick I could donate it to locks-for-love.

The National Hellenic Museum thought this project to be important enough to interview me for, and I’m not telling them how foolish they are! Nevertheless, I’ve below are my responses. If you haven’t done so yet, go check out the museum page here.

Homer, tell us your inspiration behind the ‘Hip Hop Odyssey’. What made you want to share the story of the Odyssey in the form of music?

The idea for the Odyssey was organic and accidental. I was working on another CD when I created what would become Book II. After I had finished it, I immediately thought this had an “epic” feel too it– lots of space, wide sounds, lots of classical instrumentation. Lots of strings and female vocals. Then I went about writing something else that had a similar feel; that turned out to be Book I. Then I thought, “2 down, 22 to go”, and I have been working on them ever since. I wrote Book II in the winter of 2007, when I was 21 years old. So the inspiration was originally musical and then lyrical afterwards. Before the story can be told again as passionately as the age of the bard, the means of transmission must be revitalized: from the spoken form to a slightly improvised nature of retelling, to the circle of dancers surrounding the bard and stomping their feet to a proper setting at a carnival or concert or even religious event. I studied Homer and read it in both Greek and in English, have listened to it on audiobook and seen comic and movie forms of it. All of these mediums offer something very important for academic formation, but few seem to capture the primary function of the bard: to spark the imagination and find ourselves brandishing weapons and fighting as one of Odysseus’ loyal men.
This is the first time I had the conviction that it might be possible to rethink the entire story of the Odyssey with the primary focus on the cultivation of imagination. I think many kids today–and especially those within the beltway–have their imagination driven from them in exchange for realistic self-esteem, self-respect, rule following, and other banal pseudo-virtues. We teach our kids how to be civil but not how to be citizens. Citizenship means above all realizing the relationship between our connection to the state, and how that has developed over 3,100 years. If we know what loyalty is in action, or the cost of iniquity, or the threat of violence, or the warming embrace of hospitality, then we can be better citizens. Otherwise it’s the TV instructing on these matters– and I am quite convinced that television is the poison of young minds.

How has the younger generation reacted to the music? Do you think that they can relate to the story of the Odyssey through the music?

The younger generation hasn’t reacted at all, because I need a bard. Actually, I need over 24 bards! I am no lyricist, or at least I’m not yet (I have been working my chops for a year or so now). I’m a producer – I coalesce with creativity. I need intellectual mainstream lyricists to step up to the plate, learn a book (and help me teach them my method), and then write me a track. In fact, this is a real chance for artists to take care of their community in a purely altruistic way.
I’m not worried at all though that the youth won’t eat this up the second it arrives in the classroom. Anything one hears on the radio is more than likely a dumbed-down version of a subject in the Odyssey: war, fidelity, drugs, sex, exile, reunification, love and a good ol’ fashioned slaughter in the end. But the context in which this is placed makes the difference between a trashy diatribe and a piece of art.

The National Hellenic Museum has been proud to partner with you in having your music played on several of our video clips promoting our museum. What impact do you think the National Hellenic Museum will have in the community? For Chicago? The Nation?

It’s too soon to tell, but I think the NHM has the unique opportunity to allow people to be excited and proud of the whole scope of western history. In simplest terms: to be proud of and in love with and living out western culture. I heard that in Texas they were printing history books for kids that only have the history of America back to 1861 for “sensitive” reasons. The elite who structure the public education of children in this way today are so full of deleterious hubris that they think the barbaric evils of slavery, civil war and revolution are beyond us–that we’ve thankfully arrived at a state beyond the misery of conflict. The NHM is a remedy for this. If there is to be pride, it should be more for western civilization and not for our present civilization. The continuum is what is beautiful, not always the present state. And the NHM gently reminds people that the west has already been here. We have already seen this conflict of rulers, the outbreak of war, lost parents, the anguish of betrayal, natural disaster and the virtues of loyalty in the lives of our fathers– our earliest fathers. Christianity and Judaism might do this in a certain way, but Christianity came along well after the battle of Troy and the innovations of Athens. The NHM reminds the citizens of Chicago of how they are “citizens of the world”, but from a privileged position: they are taking part in a living history of the west that informs their decision every day, and this history is amazing.

What do you feel Hellenism’s most significant contribution has been to the world….your life?

Well, it’s not democracy or kouskous. I’m a theologian by trade, so I’ll give you a theological but compelling answer. I think it was the contribution of Plato and Aristotle to notions of form and essence which allowed Christianity to figure itself out and the whole mess with the Trinity. The early ecumenical councils sound like commentaries on Physics in their treatment of the nature of the Trinity. When Christians stopped caring about all this mess about the Holy Trinity’s nature and essence and soul and just wanted to worship the one true God, you end up with Islam– and there’s not much western about Islam. The in the 13th century–after a period of western history where there was a lot of fending off foreigners but not a lot of human flourishing — Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholastics all the sudden discovered Hellenism… again! And by this I mean mostly Aristotle. I’m thinking here of mighty St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Muslim scholar Ibn Rushd, and the life of the University of Paris in the 1250’s. Dante’s Divine Commedy is a guidebook to philosophical debates of the early renaissance – and every one of those debates had roots in the forums of Greek city-states. Hellenism and the reclaiming of form, the sudden drive to depict the figure of Man as realistically as possible– this is the the renaissance and it is directly fed by ideals of Hellenic art. As an orthodox Christian and lover of history and amateur philosopher, I can’t go far into my own faith and Her tradition without having Plato and Aristotle at my side. The great A. N. Whitehead said it best: “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato” (Process and Reality, p. 39)

New beat done w/ Mr. Fabulous himself. Download or hear it on thesixtyone.com : http://www.thesixtyone.com/s/A4UhLz2rcb4/

or right on the site: http://www.hiphopodyssey.com/wp-content/beats/PTM-news.mp3

But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream… (Amos 5:21-24.)

Check out Arthur Howe’s article on the source material for Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous speech here:

http://open.salon.com/blog/arthur_howe/2011/01/16/a_mighty_stream

And listen to the beat I made, inspired by the article.

Happy MLK Day everyone.

Getting by with a little help from my friends…

Shawn Walker on the keyboards.

every time I come into this city…

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=2162118

The National Hellenic Museum has been busy making some intro videos for their new beautiful Chicago museum. If you were waiting for the right time to tap into your Greek heritage, it’s probably time to go check it out.

The NHM has been using beats from this site in their videos. Check them here:

Comments appreciated.

Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness – I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

Aaron Copland

The newest jazz to make it to mp3 form here in the past few days.

Shout outs to two mic and a kit, mudkids, yannick aka Jazzmen and others who have had nice things to say recently.

Freshly mastered by soliq. It sounds pristine.

Leave a message if you want a custom stamped and printed CD mailed to your doorstep.

Full Time Funk #8: Diachronic Mix

I’ll be posting more often due to my recent decision to cut off ties with the Friendly Networking Monolith known as Facebook – I had been more active in posting things I liked there.

I’ve been cooped up in the lab for a few days not feeling well and letting my body cleanse itself out. During that time I was catching up on some crate/internet digging finds and came across The Isley Brothers’ “Love Put Me On the Corner” from ’72. Souled On has a great writeup about it and the original track for download.

Below is a two-day beat – I’m still missing my ultrasone HFI-450’s (They recently took them back and repaired them for me — thank you Ultrasone!) and am doing my mixing on a laptop and some harman/kardon $25 computer speakers. Because I can’t hear what I’m writing, I had to go out of my way and use the single catchy element that needs no $1000+ monitors: silence. It was a process of clipping away and being more mindful of sample uses. It meant 2 and 4-step loops instead of 2-bar loops.

There are about 6 different samples in this track. Can you name them…?

Feedback is always welcome, and especially from strangers.

I’ve been without proper cans or any monitors for over two months now and am pulling out my hair. I heard some John Berry a few days ago and was hypnotized…below is an attempt to balance and put out a track using some janky computer speakers. If you want to balance it proper, let me know and I’ll email you the details.

One is sweet

One is spicy

I’m almost done with the first semester, and just finished writing on Europe’s “discontents”, her problems, and the ethical response found within Social Teachings of my beloved RCC. Two weeks ago I was neither writing music (because I had papers to write) nor writing papers (because all I wanted to do was write music), and as a result wasn’t getting much done except pointless procrastinating and observing the Mass. elections unfold. Incumbent Scott Brown certainly has his shortcomings, but his election was hope where there was none, and a real sea change is going on in Congress where there wasn’t one two weeks ago. Così, I was really over stressing on what seemed some academic problems of mega proportions. But with the work nearly done, new challenges arise that don’t seem so hopeless. I’m joyful for that. And when I’m full of joy, I write beats. I just discovered a Travis Biggs break of epic proportions, and it has been calling my name. Expect fresh produce this week…

As per request, the overlords of my blogosphere have gently reminded me to not see the positive turn of events as history without a story. So I posit to y’all

Non nobis, non nobis, Domine
Sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

Not to us, not to us, o Lord,
But to your name give glory.

Our sufferings are not in vain, but are instead the opportunities for growth. When all goes unexpectedly well, we should not settle the providence of solely human means, but understand our own human needs. There is hope for the world, and for the America which I love and wish to spread the love to.

And now, for an image which properly demonstrates the sheer “nothin’s gonna keep me down” God of ours, I present Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection:

You may have seen this Moloko video. It bangs pretty hard.

I thought I could do better.

You see, Talib Kweli is one of the easiest artists to remix from a production standpoint because he is so articulate and true to the rhythm. One of my other favorites – Ghostface – is nearly impossible for the opposite reason; he tears up a track, and you almost have to make it before you can hand it over. With Kweli, you sync the BPM, tweak the EQ and the lyrics really take care of themselves. It’s like the difference between breakdancing and salsa.

I came at this track not from this banging rimshot-fretless groove but something perhaps inspired by Nicolay, 9th and the like company of clean whip tracks and attention to detail. I want your input and your money.

Download the mp3 (@ 256kbps)

Listen below:

Three new tracks for y’all.

Presence Of The Bass (mp3 @ 256kbps)

I’m (so) Proud of you (mp3 @ 256kbps)

Anymore (mp3 @ 26kbps)

God how I wish I could get Busta on this track.

You know the samples for track. Leave a message with your thoughts.

It’s been a very pleasant (awesome) few days, despite the various housing problems, the extreme shortage of money, the upcoming finals, and the impending big decisions I have to make about school. I had the pleasure of stumbling around Rome with a pretty lady who tolerated my musings, bad jokes and inclination for really dudeish stuff (like a wall of skulls). The positive energy of that night has been converted into this song.

I stumbled upon this, a Betty Wright album Danger High Voltage and there she was: an emerald sample so pure and un-touched that I got a bit teary on the bus listening to it. I’ve been chopping and playing with this for a few days now, and this is the “its-85%-done” result. Please post comments and let me know if it’s the best thing to date, or if I should never make it public again.

Submission for the Beat Competition in St. Louis Tonight. Hope it goes well. I’ve got a running credit there now…

There has been a lot of pressure coming in on me from different sides- scholastic obligations and friends and collaborators who are quickly improving their technique, giving me a run for my money and challenging me to step up on the plate. I won’t have a lot of time for this sort of thing, I suspect– but I’m trying. Please let me know what you think of this “The Moments” remix..

Hello y’all,

I’ve been back in Italy for about two weeks now, trying to get all the papers straight and the monastery technological department running smoothly. I’m moving to Rome and living with Evan and his little slice of heaven any day. The internet often dies at 8:00, leaving me unable to work and able to get back to the basics with the music. Also, there is no Guinness in this town, and I’ve lost some weight and kept my head on bit straighter.

Check the wall for two beats and a remix of “Less or More”, originally done by Talib Kweli and [was] produced by Hi-Tek. I guess I still owe him credit for the professional vocal tracks and turntablism. The sample comes from Joni Mitchell‘s The Hissing of Summer Lawns, which is breath-takingly beautiful and a vivid and upsetting depiction of the reducing of a woman into an asset — a topic Talib doesn’t hesitate to address. Deffinately let me know what you think if you own Eardrum.

Tomorrow I gotta drive into Rome to pick up Br. Basil coming in from Austria. Ironically, one year ago he came and picked me up when I first came to this strange and inspiring city. It’s nice to hit him up.

Don’t forget that all these beats are in mp3 format by clicking ‘beats’ up there on the right and saving the link to your desktop to so you can import them right into Itunes, Winamp, VLC or whatever you use. You can also burn them and pass them out, 100-at-a-time. Acting as a promotional agent will get you delicious chocolate in the mail sent from Norcia.
ptm

From Joni Mitchell’s Hissing of Summer Lawns comes an attempt to be a shadow of soul of what Joni brings to the table. She’s one of my inspirations, one of the greatest gifts from my mother, and one of the most talented singers to tread from the green days of the age of aquarius into the epoch of modernity.