Matt Werner's Blog, page 5

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. mixes and mashups

In honor of Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr. Day today, here are some mashups I made of his favorite speeches some years back:

Bay Area Underground review on Oakland Local makes Yahoo News!

Oakland Local reviews Bay Area Underground, the first photobook to cover the Oscar Grant protests and Occupy Oakland protests. The review also appeared on Yahoo! News.
Read the full review by Nicole Vermeer on Oakland Local.

Bay Area Underground book launches today!

Bay Area Underground , the first photobook to cover the Occupy movement in the Bay Area and also the Oscar Grant protests, is released on January 1, 2013! The book is currently available at these local bookstores, with more to come:

Oakland
Diesel Books - RockridgePegasus Books - RockridgeA Great Good Place for BooksBerkeley
University Press BooksYou can order your copy today from Thought Publishing. It will be also listed soon on Amazon and other book retailers.

About the book:

From 2008-2012, Joe Sciarrillo and Matt Werner were on the ground photographing the major social movements and cultural events in the San Francisco Bay Area. This photobook is a collection of their best photos of protests and social movements including the Oscar Grant protests, Occupy Oakland, Occupy San Francisco, May Day marches, Free Gaza, and Free Burma protests.

Also included in the book are photos of Bay Area cultural events like the San Francisco Giants winning the 2010 and 2012 World Series, Bay to Breakers, Oakland’s First Friday Art Murmur, and Carnaval. This book chronicles many events not heavily reported on by the mainstream press, and it gives a unique lens through which to view life in the Bay Area during President Barack Obama’s first term.

See a slideshow of some of the photos in the book!

Oakland Local runs 5-part series featuring interviews from Oakland in Popular Memory

2012 was the year that Oakland gained wider recognition for its art and music scene - from the New York Times to the East Bay Express. Oakland Local ran five-part series between Christmas 2012 and New Year's Day 2013. The series is a retrospective look at five Oakland/Bay Area artists in their 20s who've helped make our city's art scene what it is today. The series features excerpts of interviews appearing in Oakland in Popular Memory.
Chinaka Hodge - Part 1 Ise Lyfe - Part 2 Rafael Casal - Part 3 Kool A.D. - Part 4 Dahlak Brathwaite - Part 5
To read more about these artists, pick up a copy of Oakland in Popular Memory, and visit their websites linked to from the interviews.

DJ Matt Werner’s Top 10 Albums of 2012

About this list: It’s biased towards indie Bay Area artists, and musicians included in Oakland in Popular Memory. I want to state my bias and preferences up front because there are too many lists that proclaim themselves as “definitive,” and this is not one. It’s what I’ve kept in heavy rotation over the past 12 months, and features several artists unduly passed over by the mainstream media. While mainstream outlets may use terms like "errant primitivism" to describe albums, I try to just cut to the chase.

1. Daveed Diggs - Small Things to a Giant

“How many Oakland hip-hop artists fill their tracks with Gertrude Stein references and turn nursery rhymes into extended political allegories? How many tackle issues of gentrification in Oakland? Can't think of any? Let me introduce you to Daveed Diggs. His free mixtape Small Things to A Giant shows that a new giant has stepped on to Oakland’s trend-setting hip hop scene.” I wrote these lines in my March, 2012 review of his album, and it’s stood the test of time over the past 9 months. The album featuring tracks like Fresh from the Hood and Dirty World is still fresh and deserves many more downloads. Read my full review: Daveed Diggs tackles gentrification in Oakland in "Small Things to a Giant".

2. George Watsky - Watsky & Mody

2012 marks a breakout year for George Watsky. He went on his first international tour, performed at large music festivals like Rock the Bells, and further promoted his online fast-rapping brand with YouTube hits like the Epic Rap Battles of History series and a series on making his album. His album Nothing Like the First Time was the bestselling hip-hop album on Bandcamp.com for several weeks in 2012. But amid all of this, which may have gotten lost in the noise, was a breakout creation by the San Francisco hip-hop artist/poet. Watsky & Mody is the best "bluegrass folk hip-hop album" of 2012. It's the best not only because it may be the only album that quite fits in this hybrid genre--but its fusion of genres and homages to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Graduate make it one of the most creative albums of 2012. To get in the mood, see the ridiculous music video for Mrs. Robinson.
3. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
I’m extra skeptical of every new white rapper that comes onto the scene. But this has a few tracks that really knocked my socks off: Thrift Shop, Same Love, Neon Cathedral. Don’t believe me? Check out his NPR tiny desk concert, and his fun Thrift Shop music video. I also like the DIY ethic he has. According to the Huffington Post: "The Heist reached number 1 on iTunes within hours of being released on October 9, 2012 with no mainstream promotion or support."
4. Mumford & Sons - Babel
I know my fellow UK DJs from my student days at the University of Edinburgh will hate me for saying this, as Mumford & Sons is beyond played out in the UK, but their stuff is catchy. From their 2010 album Sigh No More to their 2012 album Babel, they’ve continuously produced hits like The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone, Little Lion Man, and I Will Wait. They deserve inclusion in the top-10 albums list.
5. Rafael Casal - Mean Ones
This Def Poetry Jam veteran's third album is his best yet. Mean Ones uses an extended Dr. Seuss metaphor, calling the Bay Area "Whoville," and it shines with his singing talents and producing skills. I recommend first listening to his tracks Dreamer and Fall Back. The 2nd half of the 2nd verse of Dreamer showcases Casal's "bustin'" talent of rapping fast with a lot of substance and internal rhymes. Fall Back showcases his singing talent, which he's developed from prior tracks like Giant. For more info on this album, see my interview with Rafael Casal on the literary/culture website The Rumpus.
6. Fun. - Some Nights
We Are Young featuring Janelle Monáe was the go-to fun dancing joint in 2012. As of writing, the music video for We Are Young has 160 million views on YouTube. Fun. had a breakout year with  6 Grammy nominations and was one of the best new rock artists of 2012. I'm interested to see if they're a one-hit wonder, or if they have more good stuff to come. 
7. Dave Smallen - Desolation
Dave Smallen makes profound music that takes time to digest. Here are his instructions for enjoying this album: "I’d suggest listening to it loud, in the dark, at a time when you find yourself very much alone." It's a good album for a rainy day. I recommend starting out with the track If I Knew What I Was Looking For.
8. Dahlak Brathwaite - Spiritrials The hotly-anticipated album from this Sacramento-based hip-hop artist and spoken-word performer deserves inclusion in this list for its commentary on hip-hop today. Spiritrials is the thinking-man's  good kid, m.A.A.d city . Don't believe me? Check out his Memento-inspired critique of rap today titled Implant Fantasies. It shows the dark side of Hyphy, in a provocative and thought-provoking manner that rivals Kendrick Lamar's dystopian depiction of LA.  Start with Dahlak's tracks Good Gawd and Work (featuring George Watsky).
9. Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
This over-hyped album actually lived up to some of the hype. The album promotion started out poorly with her bad performance on SNL, but a musician shouldn't be judged by her worst performance, but by her best. She produced some real hits in late 2011/2012: Born to Die, Blue Jeans, National Anthem, and Summertime Sadness. Yes, she’s stuck in the 1960s, but listening to the dubstep remixes of her songs Blue Jeans, Summertime Sadness, and Born to Die show how inventive and catchy the tunes are.
10. PSY - Gangnam Style (single)
Yes, it's overplayed and over-parodied, but there's a reason why the music video has reached 1 billion views in an unprecedented short period of time. What began as a tongue-in-cheek critique on upper-middle-class culture in a South Korean suburb has gone international and transcended the boundaries of culture and language in a way only a horse dancing 34-year-old K-pop star can. Re-listening to the single and watching the music video shows that despite its cultural hegemony, this pop track has more staying power than Call Me Maybe and Friday. Also, to give him Bay cred, he even performed with MC Hammer wearing Hammer pants!


Most over-hyped album of the year:
Kreayshawn - Somethin' 'Bout Kreay
Oakland rapper Kreayshawn, was hyped up so much by mainstream label Columbia, riding the wave from her single Gucci Gucci, but her first album flopped. It sold just a fraction of the number of albums that independent artists like Macklemore and George Watsky sold in 2012. If major labels like Columbia stuck with legitimate artists like Macklemore, Watsky, or Dave Smallen, it might be a better business plan than signing Kreayshawn and her n-word dropping sidekick V-Nasty.

Top 3 Authors@Google Talks from 2012

One of the best perks of working for Google is the Talks at Google program, where authors and thought leaders come into the office to speak about their work and answer questions from Google employees. Three of my favorite talks of the year have happened in the last 2 months: Stephen Colbert, Nate Silver, and Ray Kurzweil.

1. Stephen Colbert in conversation with Eric Schmidt

2. Nate Silver in conversation with Hal Varian

3.Ray Kurzweil, "How to Create a Mind"

Note: The views on this blog are my own, and don't necessarily represent the views of my employer, publishing house, or church group.

How to succeed with Kickstarter

Bay Area Underground just successfully raised $1,825 from 33 donors! I also did a successful Kickstarter for my book last year, Papers for the Suppression of Reality, so I learned a lot from that process. And I also learned from attending the San Francisco Self-Published Authors Meetup on running a Kickstarter campaign in July, 2012.

However, neither of these campaigns approach the size and complexity of Mike Del Ponte's Soma water filter Kickstarter, which has raised over $100,000 in ten days! A lot of strategy, tools, and planning were put into his highly successful campaign to launch his San Francisco-based startup. Read more about how he ran his Kickstarter campaign on Tim Ferriss' blog.

Oakland Authors at December Art Murmur

Oakland's First Friday Art Murmur. Photo by Matt WernerOakland Authors are selling their books and reading short excerpts from their books at Oakland's First Friday Art Murmur on December 7, 2012. Come and check out our tables on Telegraph Ave. between 25th and 26th Street in Oakland from 6pm-10pm. Friday night will feature Tim McAtee, author of The Hipsters and me with hand-bound copies of Oakland in Popular Memory .

Are you an author in Oakland? Check out the meetup group.

For more details about Art Murmur, see the event website, my coverage of past months on Oakland Local, and SF Fun Cheap.

SF Giants 2012 World Series: A Retrospective

The San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the second time in three years the night of October 28, 2012. The Giants swept the Detroit Tigers, winning all four games against them. Game 4 went into the 10th inning, and the Giants won 4-3 in Detroit. What happened after the win in San Francisco was described by some media outlets as a "riot" in the streets of San Francisco. Below are Joe Sciarrillo's photos from that night and from the 2012 World Series Parade appearing in the photobook Bay Area Underground. Giants fans celebrate in front of San Francisco City Hall as soon as the Giants win. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo Giants fans gather in Downtown San Francisco to watch the World Series Parade on October 31, 2012. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo Orange VW bug is decked out with Giants gear, including brooms to celebrate "sweeping" the Tigers. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo Boys wearing Buster Posey's jersey watch the Giants World Series Parade in San Francisco. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo
All the photos in this post are by Joe Sciarrillo and appear in Bay Area Underground. Photo editing was done by Isa Woods.

Giants NLCS Game 7, 2012

The Giants beat the Cardinals in the National League Championship Game 7 on October 22, 2010. Despite the foul weather, both teams played through it. And despite the pouring rain, the fans partied in the streets after the game. Here are some photos by Joe Sciarrillo to appear first time in print in the photobook Bay Area Underground .
Hunter Pence stands in right field amid a downpour. Photo by Joe SciarrilloHunter Pence scored 3 runs on a double which broke his bat in the third inning. Joe Sciarrillo was actually outside the stadium in the spectator zone when he took this photo through the right-field fence.

View of Game 7, 2012 through the right-field fence at AT&T Park. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo Fans watching NLCS Game 7 for free through the right field fence at AT&T Park. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo Fans celebrate the SF Giants win after Game 7, 2012. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo Giants fans celebrating that they're going to the 2010 World Series in Willie Mays Plaza. Photo by Joe Sciarrillo


All of these photos by Joe Sciarrillo and edited by Isa Woods will appear in the photobook Bay Area Underground.