I LOVE so much hip hop (especially 90s East Coast hip hop), but I still, all these years later, need to get into The Roots.  The AV Clubbers made some good suggestions for entry points in the last Newswire comments (Phrenology was the consensus).

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

I drove through there on my way to a concert a few years ago.  Honestly, it's what I assume Fallujah looks like, only not as nice.  

They just played here (NYC) a month or so ago.

These guys are all about location, location, location.

Honestly, without our rap heroes (PE, De La Soul, EPMD, Doom, Rakim, etc.) we'd have nothing but Amy Fisher and Taking Back Sunday.

You were at the Pitchfork Fest.  What, were you afraid of being ironically snickered at to death?

Fear of a Blackened Tuna.  Mmmmm.

Let's Occupy AV Club!  Someone call Dawes.

Public Enemy are musical heroes of mine.  They're also from Long Island and went to Adelphi University.  They know history and must know that their music would eventually cross all races and genres.

You mean "A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker (originally recorded by The Beatles)?  I never heard of it referred to as "The Wonder Years" theme song before.

To me it's all about "Red Roses For Me," "Rum, Sodomy & The Lash," and the "Body of an American" single (w/ "Wild Rover" on the b-side).  I found the later albums to be a little more spotty (though still plenty good).

@UMD, those are Coptic Times, indeed.

This is going to sound crazy, but his book The Wu Tang Manual is actually really good.  I kinda took a lot of what the WU rapped about (Kung Fu, Chess, Nation of Islamisms, Drug Dealing) at face value, but RZA strikes me as a pretty thoughtful and dedicated guy.

Glad to hear you say that.  I loved Permafrost but was mostly lukewarm on Breathing The Fire.  I thought they concentrated too much on shredding and not enough on songcraft.  Looking forward to hearing the new one.

Oh wow, I never knew that.  I've been listening to the Caroline CD for like 15 years now!  It'd be weird to hear it the "right" way.  Do you know if the iTunes version has corrected this?

I loved the Prehistoricisms album and was hoping they'd go in a more proggy/atmospheric direction.  Then they did that on Valley of Smoke and I was left feeling like they let the songs meander too much.  I'm still a fan though.

I have the original Rock For Light issue.  I'm glad.  If anyone doesn't have the first Bad Brains album (make sure to get the version with "Pay To Cum"), you need to rectify that now.

Jason, thanks again for the fine work.

New stuff: Been listening to Revocation, Kevelertak, and Nekrogoblikon lately.