Our friends Sadie May Crash have got a new name.  the Ruby Spirit is what’s happening now.

I recently made an avant-garde concert film of their performance at the El Mocambo in Toronto.

A Portrait of THE RUBY SPIRIT in Performance

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I also included footage from this performance in the video in which I announced that I would be returning as host of the 2010 Toronto Independent Music Awards

Be the band’s friend – facebook.com/wearetherubyspirit

There is one inarguable ‘biggest influence on pop culture’, and that is The Beatles. There are two contenders to the title of biggest influence on pop culture since The Beatles, and those contenders are Jay-Z, and Wu-Tang Clan.

‘Meet The Beatles’ was Inevitable

Both The Wu and J-Hova are central to the mainstream embrace and popularization of hip hop in the 90s and 00s. But until very recently, only Jigga-Man has been blended with The Beatles. When Producer Danger Mouse’s visionary THE GREY ALBUM dropped in 2004, remixing Jay-Z’s entire Black Album with beats made only out of samples from The Beatles’ White Album, it was a sensation that started a variety of trends which would shape popular taste to the present day, and allow both acts to entrench their dominance and influence in ways neither could have predicted.

Now comes Wu-Tang VS Beatles – Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers. This is a mash-up album by DJ Tom Caruana. Upon discovering it, I tweeted that it was my two favorite things in life coming together, and I was extremely happy to report that it is an amazing and richly entertaining album (I personally feel like it’s better than The Grey Album, but that is open to debate and will vary by individual)

An Unlikely Pairing, Unless you Know your Stuff

I thought I was the only one who loved The Beatles and Wu-Tang equally, but Caruana really knows his stuff. The use and juxtaposition of interview clips turns the listening of the record into an education in both groups’ histories, a comparison of their rise to fame, and a celebration of their legacy.

The album samples Beatles songs, solo Beatle songs, and covers of Beatles songs which means that Wu-Tang VS The Beatles presents a much more diverse listening experience than the gimmick might suggest. It’s full of witty and fun pairings, like the piano from You Never Give me Your Money under I’ve Got Your Money, or using You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) for M.E.T.H.O.D. Man. At twenty-seven tracks, it’s a bit big to take in on first listen but if you love these groups anywhere near as much as I do, you will really enjoy listening again and again, uncovering the layers, and seeing your favorites emerge.

Comparisons with The Grey Album – an “instant classic”, according to Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan of NYU – are inevitable, but Wu-Tang VS The Beatles takes the idea to different place than the limited scope of The Grey Album and becomes something very different. It might not end up being as big of an earth-shaker as The Grey Album, if only because The Grey Album was the pioneer in the mash-up album genre.  But Wu-Tang VS The Beatles equals or betters The Grey Album in three key areas:

BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS:

Encore and 99 Problems on The Grey Album are way better than the original Black Album versions. Here you get similarly superior versions of Labels (remixed with McCartney’s Momma Miss America), Clientele Kidd (using a reggae cover of Live and Let Die), and Uzi (chopping up It’s Getting Better, Skiing from Harrison’s Wonderwall soundtrack, and more), among others.  I’m thinking that there are many fans who love both groups, and this record is an absolute treat for them. And get ready to die of awesomeness when you hear the Wu VS Beatles Outro closing the proceedings.

IT’S GOOD:

It’s one thing to lay some Wu-Tang acapellas over of Beatles songs. It’s another to take the time to make beats out of Beatles songs. It’s yet another to create this insanely detailed, beautifully produced, and eminently replayable sound collage of official release quality.

IT’S EXCITING AND NOVEL:

Technical brilliance and entertainment value are the yin and yang that make or break a project like this. Without one, the other is rendered moot. Wu-Tang VS The Beatles hits both notes with grace, ease, and excitement.

My only complaint about Wu-Tang VS The Beatles: Tom Caruana did it first! I’ve got an idea for a Beatles Meets Wu-Tang project and I never thought others were seeing the parallels that I see.

Download or listen to the album at producer Tom Caruana’s official site - http://www.teasearecords.net/wuvsbeatles

Further reading: check out cover designer Logan Walters’ series re-imagining classic Wu album covers as Blue Note-era sleeves – http://website13156.com/?p=193

What do you think about Wu-Tang VS The Beatles?  A natural fit or an unlikely pairing?

I was as excited as anyone to see Barack Obama move into the White House, but there is still a certain kind of suspicious that one has to be about elected leaders.  Blind faith and allegiance are never a good thing.  We must always maintain our critical eye.

With that in mind, what do you think about the current array of Obama comic books on offer?

His first comic book appearance was in a straight-up biography.

Before long, he was kicking ass alongside Erik Larsen’s The Savage Dragon.

Then he was hanging out with Spider-Man.

And now he’s a bona fide superhero in his own right, with two new series launching from Devil’s Due Publishing. One that takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland…

…and one where he has to lead humanity after an alien invasion.

What do you think? Do you think these kind of idealizations are a good thing for democracy? For people’s spirits? For comics publishers’ bottom line?