Author: James Benjamin

Today marks the second anniversary of Hunter Thompson’s death by suicide. After a lifetime spent about as close to “The Edge” as was humanly possible, he crossed over to the other side – leaving a considerable legacy as a journalist and storyteller. Like a lot of creative people, there was an apparent madness that possessed him. With that madness, there was a method. And of course there is no doubt that when that cat was on, he was right on.

HST’s writing was a merging of the profane and the profound, the trivial and the prophetic. His fans all have their favorite HST quotations memorized by heart. I too have mine:

As I noted in February, 2005:

Deep down, that cat was a street-level existentialist who knew all too well the fragility and absurdity of life. No wonder many of us drift over as close to the edge as possible. As I think about it, we’re all damaged goods – some of us more damaged than others. More often than not, existence is filled with long stretches of tedium that maybe – maybe if one is lucky gets broken with some success or excitement. If only the buzz of success would linger a while longer. But like all good buzzes, eventually the sensation wears off, and it’s back to the usual mind-numbing tedium and the sensation of being kicked when we’re down.

As poet and rapper Gylan Kain (one of the founding members of The Last Poets) put it in a tune called “Look Out for the Blue Guerrilla”:

You know life ain’t nothin’ but a river

Just moving through an empty hand

I said life ain’t nothin’ but a river

Moving through an empty hand

You can hold on if you wanna

But Lord when the truth hits the fan

HST knew all about the truth hitting the fan, offering up visions of what was about to go down. Take this quote, written just after September 11, 2001:

The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now–with somebody–and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives.

[snip]

It will be a Religious War, a sort of Christian Jihad, fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics on both sides. It will be guerilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy.

[snip]

We are going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say. Maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan or Iraq, or possibly all three at once.

[snip]

This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory is not guaranteed–for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now. He will declare a National Security Emergency and clamp down Hard on Everybody, no matter where they live or why. If the guilty won’t hold up their hands and confess, he and the Generals will ferret them out by force.

In July 2003 (see the column “Welcome to the Big Darkness” reprinted in Hey Rube), he wrote, “Big Darkness, soon come. Take my word for it.” Big Darkness is here my friends. In the years since his Sept. 12, 2001 column, what he said has come to pass. The US is in the midst of fighting Bu$hCo’s Never-ending Holy War on two fronts (Afghanistan and Iraq), with a third front following shortly (Iran). The Constitution has become in Junior Caligula’s words, “just another Goddamned piece of paper” to be shredded along with whatever other documents the White House chooses to keep secret. Bu$hCo spys on us, and barely a peep from Congress ensues. The draconian Patriot Act is extended, with minimal protest from our presumably elected Congress critters. Habeas Corpus is now a mere historical artifact. Maybe having seen the worst of the Abu Ghraib pictures was enough to put the fear of God into those cats – that they too could meet the same fate if they rock the boat too much. Let’s just say the accomodations aren’t quite up to the Club Med standards that are more to their liking.

Said it once and I’ll say it again: Big Darkness has come. Whether it is a passing storm, or a more prolonged winter in America only time will tell. I’m betting on the latter, and in the meantime I’m taking Gylan Kain’s advice to “look out for the Blue Guerrilla!”

Mahalo.

Saturday (Feb. 17): 55 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 108 Iraqis Wounded

Friday (Feb. 16): 26 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded

Thursday (Feb. 15): 132 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 82 Iraqis Wounded

Wednesday (Feb. 14): 135 Iraqis, 6 GIs Killed; 90 Iraqis Wounded

Tuesday (Feb. 13): 72 Iraqis Killed; 62 Iraqis, 3 GIs, 2 Britons Wounded

Monday (Feb. 12): 138 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 209 Iraqis Wounded

Sunday (Feb. 11): 114 Iraqis, 2 GIs Killed; 130 Iraqis Wounded

Note: Antiwar.com is nearing the end of its quarterly pledge week. If you have some change to spare, I’m sure that the folks behind this excellent resource, as well as its readers, would be most appreciative.

Saturday (Dec. 23): 79 Iraqis, 2 GIs Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded

Friday (Dec. 22): 5 GIs, 36 Iraqis Killed; 1 GI, 15 Iraqis Wounded

Thursday (Dec. 21): 59 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 42 Iraqis Wounded

Wednesday (Dec. 20): 132 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 64 Iraqis, 6 GIs Wounded

Tuesday (Dec. 19): 110 Iraqis, 2 GIs Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded

Monday (Dec. 18): 97 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 58 Iraqis, 1 GI Wounded

Sunday (Dec. 17): Dozens Kidnapped; 69 Iraqis, 2 GIs Dead

Please note that my blog is at a new url: The Left End of the Dial v2.0. The original blog was a casualty of the Blogger migration process, and is unlikely to ever be retrievable. Please update your blogrolls and bookmarks accordingly. Thanks.

Saturday (Nov. 11): 2 Coalition soldiers, 61 Iraqis Killed; 50 Kidnapped

Friday (Nov. 10): 5 GIs, 62 Iraqis Killed; 2 GIs, 20 Iraqis Wounded

Thursday (Nov. 9): 104 Iraqis Killed, 203 Injured

Wednesday (Nov. 8): 2 GIs, 199 Iraqis Killed or Reported Dead; 3 GIs, 137 Iraqis Wounded

Tuesday (Nov. 7): 2 Coalition Soldiers Killed; 67 Iraqis Killed, 61 Wounded

Monday (Nov. 6): 5 GIs Reported Killed; 63 Iraqis Killed, 20 Wounded

Sunday (Nov. 5): 89 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 71 Iraqis wounded

Just in case anyone was interested, I started up a file sharity blog called Nothing Is.  Here’s just a taste of what I have to offer:

Miles Davis: Lost Mid 1970s Session

I stumbled onto this particular set of recordings last year via the miracle of Soulseek (a great p2p network). Needless to say, the files merely came “as is” with no titles to even remotely hint at what I was listening to. About the only thing that I could conclude with any certainty was that these were from studio sessions from the mid-1970s.

[more on the flipside]
The sound quality of the mp3 files is excellent (at 320 kbps it should be), and the music is about what one would expect of Miles and his crew from around the mid 1970s, just before he took an extended break from recording and touring. Miles plays trumpet exclusively on a few tracks, splits time between trumpet and organ on a few tracks, and plays organ exclusively on a few tracks – nothing out of the ordinary. Since Miles was fond of doing extensive post-production work it’s hard to know just what the final mixes might have sounded like had he continued to pursue the ideas that he and his crew were working out right before retirement. My guess is that the final product would have been a follow-up to the excellent Get Up With It.

I did some detective work, and while checking out the discography at Miles Ahead, have gathered that the tunes that I was grooving on came originally from a couple bootlegs: Unknown Sessions Vol. 1 and Unknown Sessions Vol. 2.

The first disc consists of tunes recorded between the end of February, 1975 and the end of December, 1976. The second disc consists of two sessions separated by three and a half years. The earlier material is clearly more on the psychedelic tip, with all the Indian instrumentation and wah-wah pedals. The later material turns up the funk quotient, while Miles seems to veer ever into Sun Ra territory. Since these are compilations of recording sessions, expect there to be tracks that just seem to cut off in the middle, as well as occasional studio chatter at the start of some tracks (if you’re a collector of the various complete sessions for Bitches Brew, etc., this won’t surprise you in the least).

The information for the recordings follows below:

Disc 1

Track 1: TDK Funk recorded Dec 27, 1976 (5:01)
Track 2: Turn of the Century Feb 27, 1975 (15:34)
Track 3: Latin take 7 recorded May 5, 1975 (3:56)
Track 4: Latin take 6 recorded May 5, 1975 (4:41)
Track 5: Latin takes 3 & 4 recorded May 5, 1975 (4:47)
Track 6: Latin take 6 different mix recorded May 5, 1975 (4:15)
Track 7: untitled original 750505 take 2 recorded May 5, 1975 (6:15)
Track 8: untitled original 760330a take 3 recorded Mar 30, 1976 (4:50)
Track 9: untitled original 760330a take 5 recorded Mar 30, 1976) (5:27)

Personnel:

Track 1: Miles Davis (org); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d)
Track 2: Miles Davis (tpt, org); Sonny Fortune (ss, ts, fl); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Reggie Lucas (g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)
Tracks 3 – 7: Miles Davis (tpt, org); Sam Morrison (ts); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Reggie Lucas (g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)
Tracks 8 – 9: Miles Davis (org); Sam Morrison (ss, as, fl); Mark Johnson (el-p); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d)

Disc 2

Track 1: Agharta Prelude pt. 2 take 14 recorded Nov. 30, 1972  (17:46)
Track 2: Agharta Prelude pt. 2 take 15 recorded Nov. 30, 1972  (9:36)
Track 3: Song of Landa take 2 recorded Mar. 30, 1976 (4:05)
Track 4: Song of Landa take 6 recorded Mar. 30, 1976 (4:48)

Personnel:

Tracks 1 & 2: Miles Davis (tpt); Carlos Garnett (ss); Cedric Lawson (keyb); Reggie Lucas (g); Khalil Balakrishna (sitar); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc); Badal Roy (tabla)
Tracks 3 & 4: Miles Davis (org); Sam Morrison (ss, as, fl); Mark Johnson (el-p); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d)

Notes:

Disc 1 appears to be excerpted from the album UNKNOWN SESSIONS 1973-1976 VOL. 1, released on the Kind of Blue label (KOB 002)

Disc 2 appears to be the contents of the album UNKNOWN SESSIONS 1974-1976 VOL. 2, released under the Kind of Blue label (KOB 003)

Curious? Download the Lost Mid 1970s Sessions and hear for yourself.

I do have a number of mp3s of Miles Davis’ live gigs from the early and mid 1970s that I will probably be sharing in the near future. Stay tuned.

The story:

In 1983, Carlos Mauricio, a professor at the University of El Salvador, was abducted from his classroom by individuals dressed in civilian clothes who forced him into an unmarked vehicle. Mauricio was detained at theNational Police headquarters in San Salvador for approximately a week and a half. During his first week in detention, he was tortured and interrogated in a clandestine torture center at the National Police headquarters as a suspected FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) commander. Mauricio’s captors at the National Police headquarters strung him up with his hands behind his back over his head and repeatedly hit him with a metal bar covered with rubber, inflicting injuries to his face and torso. During the first 2-3 days of detention, he was given no food to eat. He was denied use of a bathroom throughout his confinement in the torture center.    

In 2002, Carlos Mauricio, along with two other torture victims, won a $54 million verdict against two retired Salvadoran generals. He has continued to speak out against torture and other human rights abuses.

What Prof. Mauricio has to say about the US government’s role in perpetrating torture:

I am here because I am a torture survivor, so it is very important for me to come and tell people what happened in that horrible experience. I was captured by the Salvadoran army in 1983 and I was tortured for nine nights in a row. It was truly horrible. But the idea of coming here to protest John Yoo is precisely because the legalization of torture in the United States is coming with the idea of torturing U.S. citizens. Torture is carried out now openly abroad. The USA army has been torturing prisoners for many, many years. It was reported in Vietnam, so it is nothing new. But the idea of making torture legal in the United States–because the U.S. Constitution forbids it–is very important if the government wants to carry out torture of U.S. citizens. I am very concerned about that because I do believe the rights of U.S. citizens have been eroded by the administration. You see right now we have disappearances–they are called “extraordinary renditions.” We have clandestine cells being run by the CIA. We have the government of the USA torturing openly in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. So what is next? Next is here in the United States, openly torturing citizens of the United States. That is my concern.That’s why I want to denounce John Yoo.

I am here because I want to tell the story of what happened to me because I don’t want that story repeated in others. Torture is very, very horrible.

Nerdified link. My emphasis added.

One more just to drive the point across:

Check this latest diary by Valtin, who’s been doing some enormously important digging into the history of psychology’s involvement in the development of modern methods of torture. I’ll provide a lengthy teaser, but suggest strongly you read the whole thing:

What if there was a book that dispassionately looked at the history and methodology of torture? What if this book looked at human physiology and psychology and tried to scientifically establish how to best break another human being and bend him or her to your will? What if this book were written by top behavioral scientists and published in the United States? And, finally, what if the studies published in this book were financed by the U.S. government?

Look no farther, there is, or rather was, such a book. Published in 1961 by John Wiley & Sons, The Manipulation of Human Behavior was edited by psychologists Albert D. Biderman and Herbert Zimmer. This book, unfortunately, cannot be found online, nor was a second edition or printing ever made (not surprisingly). But I will provide a review here, and an introduction into the nightmare world of science, torture, and politics that helped shape our modern world and today’s news.

This book represents a critical examination of some of the conjectures about the application of scientific knowledge to the manipulation of human behavior. The problem is explored within a particular frame of reference: the interrogation of an unwilling subject….

Much of the work in this book was sponsored by the U.S. Air Force…(p. 1)

Albert Biderman had researched the so-called brainwashing of American POWs during the Korean War. He worked as Principal Investigator of an Air Force Office of Scientific Research contract studying stresses associated with capitivity. Biderman was also Senior Research Associate at the Bureau of Social Science Research.

…the U.S. Air Force provided at least half of the budget of the Bureau of Social Science Research in the 1950s.  Military contracts supported studies at this Bureau such as the vulnerabilities of Eastern European peoples for the purposes of psychological warfare and comparisons of the effectiveness of “drugs, electroshock, violence, and other coercive techniques during interrogation of prisoners.” (from a review of Chistopher Simpson’s Science of Coercion: Communication Research and Psychological Warfare, 1945-1960)

His associate, Herbert Zimmer, was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University, and also worked at times as a consultant for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. When you read their book, The Manipulation of Human Behavior (MHB), the various essays by other authors include statements crediting research to grants from the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology and the Office of Naval Research.

The titles of the book’s essays are bone-chilling in their scientific bland exactitude. Here they are, with authors, for the record:

1. The Physiological State of the Interrogation Subject as it Affects Brain Function, by Lawrence E. Hinkle, Jr., Assoc. Professor of Clinical Medicine in Psychiatry, New York Hospital

2. The Effects of Reduced Environmental Stimulation on Human Behavior: A Review, by Phillip E. Kubazansky, Chief Psychologist, Boston City Hospital

3. The Use of Drugs in Interrogation, by Louis A. Gottschalk, Assoc. Professor of Psychiatry and Research Coordinator, Cincinnati General Hospital

[snip]

4. Physiological Responses as a Means of Evaluating Information, by R. C. Davis, Professor of Psychology, Indiana University

5. The Potential Uses of Hypnosis in Interrogation, by Martin T. Orne, Teaching Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard University Medical School

[snip]

6. The Experimental Investigation of Interpersonal Influence, by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton, Professor of Psychology, University of Texas, and Social Science Research Associate, University of Texas, respectively

7. Countermanipulation Through Malingering, by Malcolm L. Meltzer, Staff Psychologist, District of Columbia General Hospital

Six of the essay contributors were psychologists; two were psychiatrists.

Cui bono?

I cannot give a full review here of all the research and conclusions derived herein. The significance of the book itself is hard to gauge, because nothing of its like was ever published again. We can assume that the government agencies that financed the research passed along the results to those who could use it. Biderman himself in his introduction to MHB put it this way:

In assuming the attitude of the “hard-headed” scientist toward the problem, there is a danger in falling into an equivalent misuse of science….

The conclusions reached do in fact show that many devlopments can compound tremendously the already almost insuperable difficulties confronting the individual who seeks to resist an interrogator unrestrained by moral or legal [scruples]….

Several scientists have reported on the possible applications of scientific knowledge that might be made by eht most callous interrogator or power. The results of their thinking are availbale here for anyone to use, including the unscrupulous. (pp. 6, 9) (emphasis mine)

Spine feeling the shivers yet? When I first read the above, I thought I had stumbled into a fascist nightmare out of Robert Jay Lifton’s The Nazi Doctors. But then, I read on:

The alternative is to confer on the would-be interrogator a monopoly of knowledge by default. His success, as the various chapters of this book illustrate, depends heavily on the ignorance of his victims. [B. F.] Skinner has aruged that those who are most concerned with restricting the vulnerabilty of men to control others have the most to gain from a clear understanding of the techniques employed. (p. 9)

Was Biderman saying that publishing this material publicly was an oblique attempt to expose what was going on? Was there a twinge of guilt in these men and women, working for the military under the guise of medical and university establishments? I don’t know. But Biderman had a few other psychological observations about torture worth quoting (and think about President Bush as you read this, as he said the other day that he has spent a significant amount of time studying the issue of interrogations, torture, etc.):

The profound fascination of the topic under consideration may stem from the primitive, unconscious, and extreme responses to these problems, which gain expression in myth, dreams, drama, and literature. On the one hand, there is the dream-wish for omnipotence, on the other, the wish and fear of the loss of self through its capture by another. The current interest in problems of manipulation of behavior involves basic ambivalences over omnipotence and dependency, which, if projected, find a ready target in the “omniscient” scientist….

Conjectures concerning the prospects of “total annihilation of the human will” appear almost as frequently as those regarding the threat of mankind’s total destruction by thermonuclear of similar weapons…..

Viewing the problem in magical or diabolical terms is not an altogether irrational analogy, given the existence of those who simultaneously practice and seek perfection of the means for controlling behavior and conceive their efforts as directed toward “possessing the will” of their victims….

Thus, magical thinking and projections, as has been indicated, pervade prevalent judgments regarding the significance of the behavioral alterations that interrogators can effect. (pp. 4-6)

No matter whatever qualms these researchers had, they were sure of two things: “that some potentialities of interrogation have been overestimated”, particularly those that relied on old methods (extreme violence); and

There is no question that it is possible for men to alter, impair, or even to destroy the effictive psychological functioning of others over whom they exercise power. (p. 10)

The problem for the torturers, though, was the “elicitation of guarded factual information”. For this, something more scientific was needed, something better than the old, unreliable techniques. — In many ways, the disputes over interrogation now embroiling Washington are about the utility of methods, with Bush and Rumsfeld and Cheney representing the old (omnipotence-craving) school, and McCain, Powell, and the military representing those who understand that psychlogical manipulation (often amounting to torture itself) gets them what they want, without the international treaty entanglements. The CIA is itself split within by a similar two wings.

The diarist goes on to describe in more detail the experiments described in the above book chapters. By all means make sure to read the whole thing. Valtin will hopefully continue to flesh this account of one of the dark sides to the behavioral sciences.

A blast from the past, as a friendly reminder. This is a repost from three years ago at about this time. Rings every bit as true this year as it did last two years (note that I made a couple minor changes – Sept. 11th is now the 33rd anniversary of Chile’s coup:

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon were a terrible tragedy. But let’s not forget that September 11 marks the anniversary for numerous other events: some tragic, some inspirational.

1. We shall also remember that 33 years ago, the democratically elected government of Chile and its President Allende were overthrown in a US-backed coup that resulted in Allende’s death. Countless thousands of people were executed or “disappeared” during Pinochet’s reign of terror that subsequently followed this tragic day in history. Let’s remember the victims of the coup and its aftermath.
2. On this day in 1959 the US Congress authorized food stamps for Americans living in poverty. For those congressional leaders who voted to aid those in need, let’s remember them.
3. On this day in 1851, in Christiana, Pennsylvania there was a stand-off between several ex-slave families (led by William Parker) and a posse of several armed white men led by a slave owner (Edward Gorsuch). This was one with a somewhat happy ending, as Parker and the remaining ex-slaves prevailed, and Gorsuch paid for his attempt to re-enslave these families with his life. That day was a stark reminder of the struggle that lay ahead for those endeavoring to break the bonds of slavery in the U.S. Let’s remember Parker and those brave families who were willing to stand up for their human rights and dignity by any means necessary.

This day marks the anniversary of numerous events, some tragic, some uplifting. But bear in mind that ultimately today is another day on the calendar. We need not be straight-jacketed by the events of the past, nor need we forget them. There are many lessons to be learned from the events mentioned above with regards to human freedom and dignity. Let’s spend some time today pondering those lessons.

For me personally, September 11, 2001 will be remembered as a day when we saw the schizophrenic character of American society in sharp relief. The acts of courage and helpfulness by countless individuals, their willingness to reach out to others was truly inspiring. On the other hand, the American tendency to engage in belligerent jingoism and to immediately blame and attack people, nations, and cultures for the bombings reared its ugly head that day and in the aftermath, which to me was truly sickening. Sadly, the latter won out in the aftermath leading to an America that is on the warpath, with little regard for the consequences. Let us hope that the tide will turn soon.

Peace

This solo album by Gylan Kain, one of the original Last Poets — before the group recorded for Douglas Records — is a study in angry poetics, performance art, and killer presentation. Recorded and issued in the early ’70s, The Blue Guerrilla is a freestyle set before such a thing was even a dream. Kain’s one pissed-off cat, raging not only against the usual necessary concerns, but also against the stereotypes in his own community. Free jazz-funk grooves on guitars, electric violins, a slew of drums, and ghostly keyboards accompany his gorgeous and disturbing ranting that is far from pointless. From the opening ritual scarification of “I Ain’t Black,” with it’s free jazz approach and over-the-top screaming, to the poignant indictment of “Harlem Preacher,” to “Black Satin Amazon” and “Constipated Monkey,” Kain is a hipster without a country, a street poet without an audience, an activist without sympathy. And rather than succumb and stylize his thang to get his message across, he becomes angrier, slyer, slicker, less forgiving, and more insightful. Music is placed here not as accompaniment, but as a framework for Kain to place his poetry in a context of the African-American oral tradition and the Living Theatre. And he gives no quarter. This man makes the Last Poets he left behind sound like schoolboys trying to sound pissed off. Kain would make Gil Scott-Heron run away for fear of being exposed as the effete he became before he turned into an out-and-out drug addict. There aren’t any other records like this; this is the sound of the apocalypse, one that Amiri Baraka predicted and celebrated. Come to The System of Dante’s Hell as narrated by Kain. Sit down, listen all the way though if you can; wake up. There’s a riot goin’ on.

Review from Allmusic Guide by Thom Jurek

The album, to say the least, is an intense listening experience performed by a cat who must be one intense individual. Jurek does a decent job of capturing the essence of Kain’s one solo album. The music and words fit in with what his former Last Poets crew were doing at the time, although with more attention paid to musical arrangements – ranging from free jazz on the opening tracks to a cooler West Coast feel for much of the remaining album (though cooler here is only a relative term – the music has an edge to it).

To me the highlight of the album is the final track, “Look Out for the Blue Guerrilla.” The tune starts out with a basic keyboard-bass-drum backing that has that hazy weed-smoke-filled room vibe to it as Kain drops these philosophical rhymes that build in intensity and religious imagery, with a travel-logue that sounds like Kain’s been channeling HST as he was writing “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Certainly, the song, like Thompson’s book, captures the rotten core of the “American Dream” – in Kain’s case, laying out a vision of an America with machine guns on every corner, and ending with a climax in which Kain and crew shout a warning to “Look Out For The Blue Guerrilla!”

If you can dig on some Amiri Baraka-inspired second generation beat poetry, that takes on issues of racism and oppression that are every bit as topical today as they were back in 1971, this album’s for you. Last Poets fans should dig this. I’ve heard his work described as “Holy Roller Existential Blues” and “Poetic Aggression”. That’s as good a description as any.

Gylan Kain has kept busy since his falling out with the Last Poets and the recording of The Blue Guerrilla as a playwright, multimedia collaborations with Z’ev, and of course performing his poetry both solo and with musical backing. He’s most recently appeared with jazz/hip-hop/fusion artists Electric Barbarian since 2003, appearing on their 2004 album él. Some press reviews from the Electric Barbarian website:

JAZZTIMES March 18, 2005 – Larry Appelbaum
Dutch Jazz Meeting
“Friday night began with a sound collective called Electric Barbarian, with electric bassist and leader Floris Vermeulen, and featuring a headphone-wearing trumpeter who kept one hand on his mixer, a turntablist named Grazzhoppa and a drummer prone to mock bodybuilder poses. After an opening instrumental with washes of sound and a pseudo tribal beat, Gylan Kain, one of the founding members of the Last Poets, wailed and ranted his piece about “My Niggaz” with textured accompaniment. At one point he came out into the audience and recited in the face of an audience member who was moved to get up and leave, but not before Kain followed the poor man up the aisle. “Kicking Mickey Mouse in his house”, indeed.”

[…]

Kwadratuur.be August 2, 2004 – Koen van Meel
“These songs are solidly driven on a simple harmonious basis and are underlayed by Floris Vermeulen’s melodious bass, which gives the whole thing soul.” (…) “Vocal contributions are laid on top of this instrumental foundation. Kain is especially fascinating. His poems are visual, difficult to pin down in the beginning, but are delivered as pure spoken word, with a flow which most MCs can only dream of.”