In the first decade of the twenty-first century; Kanye West created the most compelling body of pop music by an American artist during the period. Having risen from obscurity as a precocious producer through the ranks of Jay Zs Roc-A-Fella records; by the time he released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (MBDTF) in late 2010; West had evolved into a master collagist; an alchemist capable of transfiguring semi-obscure soul samples and indelible beats into a brash and vulnerable new art form. A look at the arc of his career; from the heady chipmunk soul exuberance of The College Dropout (2004) to the operatic narcissism of MBDTF; tells us about the march of pop music into the digital age and; by extension; the contradictions that define our cultural epoch. In a cloud-based and on-demand culture ndash; a place of increasing virtualization; loneliness; and hyper-connectivity ndash; West straddles this critical moment as what David Samuels of The Atlantic calls "the first true genius of the iPhone era; the Mozart of contemporary American music." In the land of taking a selfie; honing a personal brand; and publicly melting down online; Kanye West is the undisputed king. Swallowing the chaos wrought by his public persona and digesting it as a grandiose allegory of self-redemption; Kanye sublimates his narcissism to paint masterstroke after masterstroke on MBDTF; a 69-minute hymn to egotistical excess. Sampling and ventriloquizing the pop music past to tell the story of its future ndash; very much a tale of our cultures wish for unfettered digital ubiquity ndash; MBDTF is the album of its era; an aesthetic self-acquittal and spiritual autobiography of our eras most dynamic artist.
#2786111 in eBooks 2014-01-31 2014-01-31File Name: B00K8CQ2RA
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Very interesting for locals...By Gino GuitarinoHaving lived in SV since 1980 and in SC since 1976; I was happy with that era and enjoyed the photos. I expected more from previous eras; especially the early 1900-1960.Great photos!1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. This Book Tells The Interesting History Of Scotts Valley In California.By WilliamThe History of Scotts Valley is interestingly presented in this book. Scotts Valley got its name from the Scott family. This book shows pictures of the Scott family including Daniel; Hiram; and Nancy Scott. The book mentions about Bill Graham; a former mayor of Scotts Valley and Rancho Zayante. This book mentions about the Santalsquo;s Village amusement park which was in Scotts Valley in the past. The author of the book mentioned that there was a development of Santarsquo;s Village near Lake Arrowhead. There was also a Santarsquo;s Village development that was in Illinois near Chicago. The first official Santa Claus at Santarsquo;s Village in Scotts Valley was Carl Hansen who was originally from the Southern CA Santarsquo;s Village. Carl was with Santarsquo;s Village for eight years and then he went on to become the clown on the Hocus Pocus TV show that was on KNTV Channel 11 in San Jose; CA in the past.0 of 3 people found the following review helpful. One StarBy L.M.Boring and pointless - Images of White America - a town where whites keep the neighbrhood white !! Author is ignorant about humanity!
