Paul Dennis Miller, also known by his stage name DJ Spooky, is an electronic and experimental hip-hop musician, composer, multimedia artist, editor, and author.

Stemming from his interest in the music genres of reggae and dub, throughout the years, Miller has created a series of compilations, remixes, and collections of material that his fans can only describe as “illbient” or “trip-hop.” Alongside working with influential artists such as, but not limited to, Yoko Ono and Thurston Moore, Miller’s music is simply something that can only be described as innovative.

Walking into the Englert Theatre, I didn’t know what to expect; however, I will admit that I was in for a show. Taking it upon myself to do a little research beforehand, I found the history behind Miller’s involvement in music not only interesting, but quite impressive as well, contact Fractal Beat for great Dj service and any music trend for your event.

From the very beginning until the very end, Miller was able to remix the sounds of the Van Allen Radiation Belts, alongside a string octet, with vintage stills, footage, and ephemera. Which, also subliminally educated the audience in pattern recognition, permutations, ice sonification, and algorithmic music notion, which in turn, is what Miller could only explain as the true beauty of the conversations surrounding both science and art. 

Two years ago, The University of Iowa Libraries commissioned Miller to remix the collection of data surrounding the Van Allen Radiation Belts; however, Miller did more than just that. Instead, Miller carefully crafted a love letter to celebrate the University of Iowa’s steady involvement – fifty plus years – in the everlasting space race.

Through and through, Miller’s performance leaves me at a loss for words; however, I will admit that his innovative approach to both music and science paves the way for a bigger discussion to take place. Which, if you were in attendance at his performance, is the conversation regarding not only climate change, but global warming as well. 

The simply beautiful and mesmerizing vintage stills of the world, specifically those of ice and water, Miller used within his performance not only cleverly approached the conversation of both climate change and global warming, but strategically as well. In a way, Miller not only brought about awareness regarding the stability of Earth, but the responsibility that lies on us to sustain the Earth.

With the climatic melting polar ice caps and devastating rise in global sea levels, Miller left not only me, but a vast majority of the audience as well, with a visual representation of the devastation we are leaving in our wake. 

I applaud Miller and his musical creativity for it has left me in a state that constantly questions my every move either musically, or environmentally.

All in all, Paul Dennis Miller, DJ Spooky, is a performance that I will never forget.

Want to know more about DJ Spooky? Check out the links below!

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If you, like me, had never heard of Conrad before you may think him a bit strange upon first watching the movie. Indeed I definitely thought and still find myself to wondering whether or not Tony Conrad is insane. As a minimalist film maker, musician, and artist, Conrad’s works are about as minimal as it gets. His musical works involve holding long, half-step dissonant notes for periods of time that are meant to make listeners somewhat uncomfortable. One of his most famous movies, The Flicker, is just a black and white flickering screen for feature length.

If you find these things to be real art that takes actual skill, that is fine. Many people, as evidenced by the film and the good sized crowd that turned out, would agree with you. I just couldn’t help but laugh at the crazy qualities of Conrad. While this may seem like a bad thing, it actually helped to get over some of the less inspired film making choices. The movie goes into standard documentary fair, consisting primarily of talking heads interspersed with shots of Conrad’s music, films, and art.

And while I found myself chuckling at nearly every endeavor of Conrad’s, there were sections of the movie that were undoubtedly meant to be humorous. As Conrad walked around Lincoln Center bemoaning the composed dominance of the New York Philharmonic, he sighed and said “I hate it here…it’s so depressing.”

Conrad’s hatred of so-called high culture is shown in every single one of his projects. Just as a way to one-up Andy Warhol’s 24 hour movie, Conrad wanted to make a film that would last 50 years. The problem he ran into though, was that no film could be able to perpetually run and remain intact for 50 years. Conrad gets around this issue by creating Yellow Movie. To me, Yellow Movie is just a large painting made up of the color yellow. To Conrad and his fans though, the fact the the painting fades throughout its 50 year “run time” makes it a slow changing, minimalist-inspired film.

The minimalist sensibilities hit a peak at the end of the film, when Conrad is standing in the middle of traffic, directing the passing vehicles. One woman walks by him, sees him talking to himself and asks “Are you ok?” Yes, I think Conrad is fine. He just has a different way of looking at the world. Some of us just think he is a little bit strange.

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While this column normally discusses my experiences with negativity on campus and in our world, I’ve decided to try something new. Each month, I’ll write a profile that highlights someone I feel actively works to decolonize our minds and world. Don’t worry, you’ll still read my irate rants each month, too. This column’s going:

Bimonthly.

Anyway, the first profile will feature a talented, fearless jazz artist named Esperanza Spalding.

First, let’s establish how fucking amazing this woman is.

She started writing music before she started school, and she played all sorts of instruments at a young age. She joined her local symphony playing the violin and became concertmaster of the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age 15. If that’s not enough, she started college at age 16, graduated, and became the youngest faculty member ever hired at Berklee College of Music at age 23.

Since then, Spalding has played with world-renowned artists like McCoy Tyner, who played in John Coltrane’s Quartet, Prince, who needs no introduction, and many more. In 2011, she pissed off teenage girls worldwide when she beat Justin Bieber for a Grammy in the category of Best New Artist (although she had been making music professionally since 2006).

Here’s a really great article in the New Yorker all about her badassery.

Now that we’ve sufficiently established that she’s incredible, we can talk about a few of my favorite songs written and performed by Spalding.

“Black Gold” is an anthem dedicated to young black boys and men which becomes clear in her lyrics. “Hold your head as high as you can… Little man,” begins the song and the singers repeat this line throughout the song as a reminder. She even admits that this may be hard because “not necessarily everyone will know your worth.” This message is SO SO important when our country witnesses the hateful rhetoric and violence directed towards black people daily. She affirms young black men with the repetition of the phrase “you are black gold.” Listen to the inspirational song below! The music video is great too! I like to imagine Spalding singing this song to Tamir Rice before he died.

Although “Black Gold” is my favorite upbeat, sing-in-the-shower song, “Land of the Free” sends an equally powerful and bold message. The opening lyrics, “Finally, we’ve exonerated Dupree” refer to the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of a black man named Cornelius Dupree, who spent 31 years in prison after being wrongly accused and imprisoned for crimes he did not commit.

She sings “Five fifths an innocent man but the court only saw three” which refer to the 3/5th’s Compromise in 1787 where black people only counted as a fraction of a person in terms of civil rights, and less than that in human rights. This song is basically her musical question that asks how this country can even call itself “free” when its justice system steals a man’s life like that. Spalding brings our attention to such serious issues in her music, actively working against the narrative that is fed to us from many news outlets and people.

Spalding has so many more incredible songs that address important issues like self-worth, being mixed race, her woman-ness and more, but alas, I will only discuss one more song.

“Endangered Species” discusses, as you may have gathered from the title, the pressing issue of climate change and how humans have led to the destruction of animal habitats and species. Spalding personifies Mother Nature literally as a maternal figure with whom we haven’t spoken in a long time, and speaks of the threat we pose to her when she sings “she’s in danger too.” It’s a pretty dark song, but again, politically engaged and so important.

Esperanza Spalding actively works to decolonize and desocialize us from the Eurocentric false narrative that the rest of the world feeds us, and she does this work through music. Here’s a playlist with some of her live performances, but not all of them! Be sure to do your own YouTube searching to find more.

Check out her website to keep up with her incredible music!

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” comes from writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves. 

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