Grap Luva - 7 minutes of sound

Grap Luva...Pete Rocks brother getting busy on the SP1200 12-bit sampler. For those that don't know this is THE classic hip hop sampler. 10 seconds of sample time TOTAL! That's it, 10 seconds. Plus you can only have a max of 2.5 seconds assigned to a single pad. So, a super expensive sampling "computer" from back in the day, responsible for some of the best hip hop songs in the history of the genre. Originally meant to be a drum machine only, used and abused by hip hop heads to make beats. Speed up the record, pitch the sound down once it's in the machine to squeeze a few more seconds of sample time out of it. Distortion and artifacts occur from the pitching back down of the sound and BAM classic BOOM BAP GRIT. 

12-bit baby! Grap Luva is a legend. 

The Gaslamp Killer

"I'm a spaz, I'm a freak, I'm a fucking psycho...I can't function normally in society" -The Gaslamp Killer

Flying Lotus- Fly First (Documentary)

Blaze the weed up and stream this to your Apple TV. An awesome Flying Lotus mini-documentary that starts in Louisville, Kentucky...right down the way from me. 

Why did nobody tell me about The Forecastle Festival?!?!  I would have been down there for sure. D@mn dudes!

Anyway, kick back and enjoy the video. 

El-P aka El-Producto back at it again!

El-P the mastermind behind Definitive Jux records and one part of the now defunct Company Flow is back at it. For those that don't know, El-P is always on some heavy boom-bap mixed with cold war synthesizer soundscapes from the future. Always reminds me of 12 Monkeys or Blade Runner. 

Posting because I'm a fan of his and because this video is TITS! 

The song is decent IMO....I'm more of a fan of "Drones over Brooklyn" 

Skullbuster!

F*ck yeah! Today was awesome. I had to work from 10:30am to 3:30pm and as soon as I got out of that hell-hole I loaded up the VW and headed for Skullbuster. The weather today was most excellent, low 80's down to high 70's toward the end of the ride. 

I wrapped some left over Salsa bar tape on top of my ESI chunky grips and so far I'm loving it. Very nice for my gigantic Shrek-hands. 

This is only my second time riding Skullbuster so I did some adventuring, just trying to figure things out direction wise. I started out on this fire road and just putted around to get warmed up. 

Today I brought the Fuji camera and my huge Camelback aka makeyourbackhurtabout1milein. It was worth it though...just for this turtle pic. 

While heading back down the fire road to enter the trail I rode up on some horses. I stopped and started walking, but still startled one and when I thought it was about to stomp my face in, I froze completely! Haha! Those things are huge when you're up beside them like that. Sort of scary. The dude (and his daughter) were super-cool and he apologized for the horses actions, saying it was only 3 years old and still had some socializing to do. I wish I could have gotten a picture of them, they were so pretty. If I had one I'd put a horn on it and tape some wings to it's sides and call it Pegasus. I'd commute to work on that puppy rain or shine! 

Anyway, once I got in the trail, I ran up on Mike Mitchum and his son doing some trail maintenance. Good to see the young ones getting a head start, and nice to talk to Mike again. Good peoples for sure! 

What trail ride in 'Tucky would be complete without rolling up on a vintage can of "Dew"?!

I got in about 12 miles total and would have loved to do another lap, or two, but I need to list some eBay auctions so I headed home. 

Ride on! 

Post ride treat = Dogfish Head 60 Min. IPA in my Scribe pint glass..Kansas City represent!

Intro + Love Sucks + Raging on the Kona Raijin!

This is the official first post of Beats, Bikes and Life. This blog will be a combination of the things that happen in my life and the things I love in life. (music + bikes)

It will also be an attempt to keep an accurate record of how I'm feeling, what I'm riding and what I'm listening to. I'll try to upload a monthly compilation of .mp3's (it's not a mixtape!) for your listening pleasure.

Up to Now

I recently graduated form the MBA program at the University of Kansas. I moved to Lexington, Kentucky to pursue a relationship with a woman I met in Myrtle Beach, SC while working on a parasail boat about six years prior. I had the hardest time finding a decent job in Kentucky, but I did fall in love. Sometimes I guess love isn't enough. About a week ago she dropped the bomb on me and told me that she didn't think I was "the one" and she broke it off. She said she "needed some time to figure herself out", which I thought made sense. Maybe I'd get another chance at love and we could right some of our wrongs, work some of the kinks out, grow stronger together and persevere? Well, silly me, not understanding girl talk. Apparently, "I need some time to figure myself out" means that she wants to date the dude who came into her office every two weeks and hit on her repeatedly while I was at work trying to save up for a wedding ring. Awesome. Big shout out to her co-worker Jennifer for encouraging that, because I know she did. *Exhale*

Needless to say, I have some spare time on my hands so I've been riding my bikes more (and feeling sorry for myself) and also figuring out which possessions in my life are necessary. I'm planning a move somewhere, though I haven't decided where, and need to lighten my load. In the mean time, I'm gonna ride the shit out of my Kona and explore the local trail systems.

The current cycling quiver includes a "Handsome Cycles "Handsome Devil" in a size 59cm.

A Salsa La Cruz Ti in a size 59.5.

and a Kona Raijin Ti in a size 20". (see below)

Thinning the Herd

I've decided that one bike has to go and after much debate, the Handsome is on the chopping block. I'm breaking it down and either going to build it up and sell it complete or part it out. I've been using the devil as a commuter bike, and just my general, jump on the bike and roll around town ride...but I put too nice of parts on it for me to leave locked up outside for too long without worrying-which sort of defeats the purpose. It's a great bike, classy looking, fits a 29x2 in the rear (and the front with the Salsa fork) but I've got big plans for the La Cruz. So the Devil has got to go!

Raijin!

The Kona Raijin is essentially a titanium version of the Kona Unit. It has slightly different geometry, short stays, slacker head angle and other minor differences. I've ridden Kona mountain bikes for the past two years and have determined that the 20" model with a 24.5" top tube fits me like a glove. With proper seatpost extension I'm just about over the rear wheel and have enough of the titanium seat post exposed to mellow out the trail a bit. Most excellent.

My first ride on the Raijin was true love. The Raijin is light, flickable, rails downhills and goes uphill just fine. I have it setup with a Chris King headset, King singlespeed wheels laced to Stan's Flows, XT disc brakes, Thomson stem, Moots post,  Maxxis Ardent 2.4 up front, Ikon 2.2 in the rear. I also installed a Praxxis PF30 conversion bottom bracket because PF30 is stupid. It's basically, the best of the best, which is a result of years of bicycle part hustling and working shitty jobs. Anyway, I'm stoked on this bike and can't wait to put more miles on it. Holler at your boy!