As I said in an earlier thread, the Rays belie the maxim that "pitching wins championships" (or, at least, pennants). Their pitching is good, but they beat the Red Sox by bludgeoning them.
I think your final point is the one to think about for a while if you're a Yankees fan. The Rays are very good, and there's very little reason to think that they won't be very good for a long time. I see no reason why they should be worse next year.
As long as the Rays can lock up their strong youngsters and not place more empathy on spare parts than necessary, they will stay strong for at least the next five years. I like these guys. That said, the Phillies are at their peak now, so with that I believe they have more pressure to win this series, and won't be surprised if they do.
Hey thelarmis, to follow up on your comments about drums in rap music (I am a big fan of Ron Carter, even before he was once mentor to my nephew who plays bass guitar), I have a couple of suggested groups to check out in regards to live drums in hip-hop:
Stetsasonic (from the mid-late 80's), one of the first hip-hop groups to use live instruments in their tracks and their live sets (definitely the direct predecessors to Tribe Called Quest)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7migSTEyEc
The Roots (late 90's-00's: ?uestlove is also a prolific drummer and does so on some of their tracks).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnevMn60Unk
In both cases, you'll also notice the strong lyrical skill in content and delivery, which offsets nicely in Stets' case and blends very well with The Roots' style. Live instruments, particularly drums, don't really work well in hip-hop unless you have "mad skills"... Of course I won't begin to talk about Rick Rubin and his early work with Run-DMC, but that had more to do with guitars. Also take a good listen to one of the all-time party raps, "The Breaks by Kurtis Blow. Live instruments, including the drums, hah! Not to mention OutKast with their album Aquemini, Digital Underground's Piano Man, etc. etc....
There was a lot of it at one point (even the Fat Boys' first album had live piano in some of their tracks, courtesy of Kurtis Blow) but nowadays its easier and much more cost-effective to microwave some tv-beats than to arrange them. But that's another story (due for some serious consideration, no doubt >;)
4 thanks, chyll! yeah, ron carter is a GOD! ?uestlove, is a monster drummer, for certain. when i was a kid, i did dig some run-dmc & fat boys...
i played a coupla outkast songs here in a band. they were alright, but i hadn't heard the originals. eventually, i did. they were pretty different than our version - drums, grand piano & upright bass! it's funny, their guitar 'coach', or something, called me to play in a rock band with one of the band members - a guy named andre. apparently, he's real famous - i have no idea - but that gig never came to fruition. this was years ago...
i did enjoy recording those 2 hip-hop trax years ago. i think i have 'em on tape somewhere. besides the rapper, they had a terrance trent d'arby type r&b singer, singing on top of it that gave it a cool, musical flavor for me.
i'm sure there are quite a few great rap/hip-hop/etc. groups out there w/ live instruments and good lyrics. the style just doesn't suit my ears, thazzall... : )
does your nephew still play bass?! studying with ron carter must've been quite a revelation!!!
yeah, a goodly amount of modern metal music goes the way of programmed drums, too. it's no fun. some of that music has gotten sooo ridiculously complicated and the production too perfect, that it's the route some bands and producers take. it's unfortunate, but it is what it is...
6 You saw Sun Ra?? always makes me sad to think I passed up the chance to see him before he died..I was just getting into jazz and it took awhile to appreciate Sun Ra and his universe..
Will the series reach five games?
Hey thelarmis, to follow up on your comments about drums in rap music (I am a big fan of Ron Carter, even before he was once mentor to my nephew who plays bass guitar), I have a couple of suggested groups to check out in regards to live drums in hip-hop:
Stetsasonic (from the mid-late 80's), one of the first hip-hop groups to use live instruments in their tracks and their live sets (definitely the direct predecessors to Tribe Called Quest)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7migSTEyEc
The Roots (late 90's-00's: ?uestlove is also a prolific drummer and does so on some of their tracks).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnevMn60Unk
In both cases, you'll also notice the strong lyrical skill in content and delivery, which offsets nicely in Stets' case and blends very well with The Roots' style. Live instruments, particularly drums, don't really work well in hip-hop unless you have "mad skills"... Of course I won't begin to talk about Rick Rubin and his early work with Run-DMC, but that had more to do with guitars. Also take a good listen to one of the all-time party raps, "The Breaks by Kurtis Blow. Live instruments, including the drums, hah! Not to mention OutKast with their album Aquemini, Digital Underground's Piano Man, etc. etc....
There was a lot of it at one point (even the Fat Boys' first album had live piano in some of their tracks, courtesy of Kurtis Blow) but nowadays its easier and much more cost-effective to microwave some tv-beats than to arrange them. But that's another story (due for some serious consideration, no doubt >;)
i played a coupla outkast songs here in a band. they were alright, but i hadn't heard the originals. eventually, i did. they were pretty different than our version - drums, grand piano & upright bass! it's funny, their guitar 'coach', or something, called me to play in a rock band with one of the band members - a guy named andre. apparently, he's real famous - i have no idea - but that gig never came to fruition. this was years ago...
i did enjoy recording those 2 hip-hop trax years ago. i think i have 'em on tape somewhere. besides the rapper, they had a terrance trent d'arby type r&b singer, singing on top of it that gave it a cool, musical flavor for me.
i'm sure there are quite a few great rap/hip-hop/etc. groups out there w/ live instruments and good lyrics. the style just doesn't suit my ears, thazzall... : )
does your nephew still play bass?! studying with ron carter must've been quite a revelation!!!
yeah, a goodly amount of modern metal music goes the way of programmed drums, too. it's no fun. some of that music has gotten sooo ridiculously complicated and the production too perfect, that it's the route some bands and producers take. it's unfortunate, but it is what it is...
You guys make me feel old, though. I saw Carter back before you were listening to run-dmc and fat boys...
(Saw Sun Ra way back then as well, even longer ago. Now there was a show.)
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