5X5

5 Hip Hop Albums 2013-2014

1. Pusha-T-My Name Is My Name (Key Tracks-Numbers On The Boards & Nosetalgia )
2. Shabazz Palaces-Lese Majesty (Key Tracks-Forerunner Foray & Motion Sickness)
3. Earl Sweatshirt-Doris (Key Tracks-Centurion & Chum)
4. Future-Honest (Key Tracks-Benz Friendz (Whatchutola) & Move That Dope)
5. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib-Pinata (Key Tracks-Shitsville & Thuggin')

All five albums reinforce my belief that hip hop is the most dynamic and sonically interesting music genre. All are different and all are unique visions of what hip hop can sound like. Kendrick Lamar misses the cut because his last album came out in 2012.

 5 Marvel Comic Book Characters

1. Silver Surfer-"Where soars the Silver Surfer.... There he must soar ... alone!"
2. Iron Man-"I know everything. I can't help it."
3. Daredevil-"I can see just fine."
4. Spider-Man-"My spider sense are tingling"
5. Hulk-"Talking man hurt Hulk...HULK RIP TALKING MAN'S HEAD OFF!"

5 Comedians

1. Louis C.K.-"You’ve got to be optimistic to be single. Stupid. You have to be stupid. That’s what optimistic means, you know? It means stupid. An optimist is somebody who goes, “Hey, maybe something nice will happen.” Why would anything nice happen?"
2. Bill Hicks-"I've noticed a certain anti-intellectualism going around this country; since about 1980, coincidentally enough. … I was in Nashville, Tennessee, and after the show I went to a Waffle House. I'm not proud of it, but I was hungry. And I'm sitting there eating and reading a book. I don't know anybody, I'm alone, so I'm reading a book. The waitress comes over to me like, [gum smacking] "What'chu readin' for?" I had never been asked that. Not "What am I reading?", but "What am I reading for?" Goddammit, you stumped me. Hmm, why do I read? I suppose I read for a lot of reasons, one of the main ones being so I don't end up being a waffle waitress."
3. Stewart Lee-"Writing this now, God, how I miss the cultural side of the eighties - the rhetoric, the raggedy clothes, the politics, gigs you were frightened to go into, Radio 1 when it had weird bits, Channel 4 when it was radical, the NME when it had writers, and the thrill of discovering underground music and new comedy for yourself.”
4. Josie Long-"Two years ago I was touring a show where I outed myself as a feminist. At the time it seemed like that was something necessary, as I felt a bit beleaguered and outnumbered. It was the first time I’d tried to talk about it on stage and the material I did was about the kind of hassle I’d get for having opinions about feminist issues. I’d start by saying, “I’m definitely a feminist and I’m not creepy for having said that . . . I don’t like to bang any less. I didn’t think it was an issue but then whenever you say anything remotely strident, people are like, ‘Who invited the frigid puritan cow?’ and I have to be like, ‘Heyyyy! I’d just like to get paid the same! Hiyaaaa!’”
5. Chris Rock-"I had a cop pull me over the other day, scared me so bad, made me think I stole my own car. “Get out of the car, get out of the fucking car! You stole this car!” I was like, “Damn, maybe I did!”

5 American TV Dramas

1. Justified-Raylan Givens is an ultra polite, quick tempered, fast drawing U.S. Marshall. Set in Harlan County Kentucky, this show is a refreshing change from the usual big city crime dramas.
2. Fringe-Three alternate worlds, different versions of many characters, time travel, visitors from other planets and a pet cow in a laboratory at Harvard. Fringe is the best sci fi show I've ever seen on TV (and yes that does include Lost).
3. The Wire-Five seasons of TV brilliance. Initially centered on the drug culture of inner-city Baltimore, the show goes on to focus on other areas of city life whilst still maintaining a link to earlier characters and themes. A tour de force. Highly recommended. 
4. Mad Men-a slow moving drama about advertising executives in 1960s New York. Brilliantly written and acted. The noteworthy elements being: the clothes, the drinking and smoking, the affairs, the politics and the glimpse of a time long gone. 
5. Banshee-definitely not for the fainthearted. A tale of hidden identity and revenge. Some of the most over the top scenes I've ever seen on television.

5 Favourite Albums

1. Panda Bear-Person Pitch-Dubby,woozy and harmonic. Sounds like it was recorded underwater. Took me ages to get it, now it's indispensable (Key Tracks-Comfy In Nautica & Bros)
2. Mos Def-The Ecstatic-A recent hip hop classic. Beats were conjured up by a veritable who's who: J Dilla, Mr. Flash, Madlib, Mos Def, Oh No, Preservation, and The Neptunes.The album features a master lyricist and rhymer at his peak and a wide array of "out of the crates" samples. (Key Tracks-Supermagic & Wahid)
3. Beach House-Teen Dream-Songs about uncertainty, doubt and feeling beaten down by the world. It's also ethereal and angelic, the sort of music to inspire vivid dreams. (Key Tracks-Silver Soul & Take Care)
4. Prince-Sign O The Times-16 tracks of brilliance. Covers everything from rock, pop, soul, funk slow jams and a protest song. A genius at work. (Key Tracks-Sign O The Times & If I Was Your Girlfriend)
5. Japan-Gentlemen Take Polaroids-Cult British singer David Sylvian's first band. 8 tracks containing the sort of idiosyncratic vision you don't find too often: swooning,hyper-elegant and polished. (Key Tracks-Gentlemen Take Polaroids & Taking Islands In Africa)