Features / Series: era vulgaris

Guest column by T of Vegas

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Hip-Hop vs Punk

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • May 26, 2019

Hmmm, anti-authoritarian views and addressing social concerns and issues related to the government and public affairs? Tick! DIY ethic? Tick! Attire that deliberately deviates from society’s norms? Tick! Rebellion against watered down arena rock and disco? Having started off as a subculture that eventually became absorbed by the mainstream? So far for the commonalities. Musically, differences are obvious, however, it was long before mainstream acts like Run DMC started merging both styles that a cultural exchange was first established by acts like Grandmaster Flash or Afrika Bambaataa. Pioneers who initially started to incarnate at underground venues that were also frequented by punk kids and eventually found prominent exposure through Malcom McLaren’s Buffalo Gals and the evolution of the Beastie Boys. Eventually sampling rock parts in hip-hop songs became commonplace and eventually became a hip-hop approach to heavy music, which became prevalent in the 1990s – Judgment Night soundtrack, anyone? So far so good. Now, German hip-hop was awkward in the beginning and perceived to be a mere watered-down emulation of stereotypes that were coined in the new world, perpetrated by middle-class Gymnasiasten. As a juvenile delinquent I felt that left radical squats exerted a magnetic pull that I could not resist, and it was the epicentre where a lot of the early ‘90s hardcore and crust punk activities found a forum. In the mid-‘90s the first German hip-hop acts with radical messages started popping up in those circles – think an awkward and simplistic Teutonic variant of the movement Public … Read more

Musings on the need to be ...

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • September 9, 2018

Afterimages Wreckages of the pastEternally damned to repeat it.Exploded views incinerated by the electricity of truthPierced by the arrow of time keeping everything from happening at onceWhile the tombstone is … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Portable Loudspeakers

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • November 23, 2017

As the good ole shock jock Plato so eloquently put it, music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. Loudspeakers are instrumental … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Portable Turntables

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • August 6, 2017

I do travel. A bit. An iPod or portable device is a great, convenient yet soulless asset to have. It fits your music collection into your pocket and the capability … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - A Hot Sauce Tour

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • May 16, 2017

SPB contributor T is a global traveler. In visiting countries he’s a fan of music (that is the Scene Point Blank focus), but also a wide range of arts, which … Read more

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Browse all 13 features in this category

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  • Against Orthodoxy

    A regular series by Robert F.

  • Beyond Casual Observation

    A wide-ranging guest column written by BJ from Ancient Shores, mainly covering film but extending into philosophy and aesthetics too. Check out BJ's work on the A389 podcast.

  • Don't Quit Your Day Job

    How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music.

  • era vulgaris

    Guest column by T of Vegas

  • Feast with the Famine

    A cookery column by Nick, vocalist with metal band The Famine. Veggie/vegan friendly!

  • Fest 11

    A roundup of coverage of the annual punk rock festival held in Gainesville, Florida

  • Fest 12

    Our annual roundup from Gainesville, FL's famous Fest.

  • Fest 13

    SPB's coverage of the annual festival in Gainesville, Florida.

  • Fest 16

    Our coverage of the annual Fest extravaganza.

  • Fest 19

    Our coverage of the 19th edition of the Fest – an independent multi-day, multiple-venue music festival held annually in Gainesville, Florida.

  • Fest 20

    All our coverage from the long-running music festival

  • Fest 21

    Articles about the Fest 21

  • Fest 22

    Our coverage of the 22nd edition of the FEST.

  • History 101

    We dive into the back catalog of a record label and ask them to nominate their most memorable releases from their label's history–with a few suggestions of our own.

  • Jukebox Jury

    An interview format where we ask a band to rate and review a bunch of music

  • On The Air

    A radio DJ profile series created by Christopher D & Matt Hutchison.

  • Only Death Is Real

    There’s so much music released, whether physically or digitally, that keeping up with what’s going on becomes almost like a full time job. With Only Death Is Real, the aim is to bring you something new.

  • Remember that one time...?

    A life lived and lessons learned by Eddie Spaghetti of Supersuckers.

  • Running on Nothing

    Welcome to Running on Nothing, the latest addition to our stable of columns at Scene Point Blank. Running on Nothing offers a look at the world through the eyes of Kole, bassist of The Lippies, guitarist of The Bloody Lips, and gigposter artist.

  • Scatenato Ma Non Troppo

    We survey some of the other music releases out there.  Results may vary...may get weird, but hopefully something covered here piques your interest.

  • Scene Point Local

    A semi-regular column where we choose a specific area and give a local scene report.

  • Table Talk

    Discussing the state of the music business at the kitchen table

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    A brief but englightening chat with an artist who reveals an interesting or unexpected story from their career

  • The Set List

    A collection of items grouped by topic, eg. "Top 5 Worst Beatles Songs" or "Top 10 best '77 punk releases".

  • What's That Noise?

    One-question interviews with artists where we find out about the gear and equipment they use to achieve their sound.

  • Year End 2012

    A collection of coverage rounding up the year 2012, covering our favorite albums, shows, bands, and more, as well as asking record labels and bands about their past twelve months in music

  • Year End 2013

    It's the end of 2013, so here's our best-of roundup for the last twelve months.

  • Year End 2014

    Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2014.

  • Year End 2015

    Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2015.

  • Year End 2016

    Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2016.

  • Year End 2017

    Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2017.  

  • Year End 2018

    Our summary of the best music (and more) of 2018.

  • Year End 2019

    Our wrap-up of the best music and more from 2019

  • Year End 2020

    Our wrap-up of the best music and more for the year we'll all want to otherwise forget, 2020.

  • Year End 2021

    Our roundup of the best music from the worst year (since the previous one, anyway).

  • Year End 2022

    Our favorite music and more from the year 2022

  • Year End 2023

    Our roundup of the best music of the year 2023

  • Year End 2024

    Our roundup of the best music—and more—of 2024.

More recent features — Series: era vulgaris

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Fruition

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • May 20, 2016

FRUITION. ( . . . ) I can hear it fading / fading like gas. ( . . . )I am having a hard time figuring out what you came here for.You are reading the column of an online publication. I never do that, so I do not really know what you expect. It seems reasonable to assume that you … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Cure My Heart From Beating

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • April 3, 2016

CURE MY HEART FROM BEATING.(...)every time I close my eyes I pray for your demise(...) Did you know that in Beijing, where in 2009 the fragrance of cooking oil and wood-fired kitchens had been supplanted by a less identifiable photochemical smell and smog, the approaching bullet train sings a song? It sings a four-note, metal-on-metal dirge. Low-high-lower-low: “I will never … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Inner Sanctum

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • October 6, 2015

INNER SANCTUM. line has been drawn / headed for the big death / your everywhere is my nowhere / some things are better left broken and scattered / better left unsaid / frightened by tradition / caved in scar tissue / senseless quest for power / quest in lies / some things are better left broken and scattered / some … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Die en route

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • August 9, 2015

Chaos, contradictions, and confrontations are a rite of passage. Charles Dickens said that we begin to forgive a place as soon as it is left behind. There is some truth to it. True places never are in any maps, Herman Melville said. When you’re moving, you are what you are right there and then. No yesterdays on the road. You … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Wake

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • May 11, 2015

(…) tunnel vision's tightening its grip - beat by mutual denial (…) During the Double Ninth Festival in China cemeteries get crowded. People drink chrysanthemum wine and hold onto dogwood as they clean ancestral graves and pay respects to the dearly departed. Celebrating the Chongyang festival in the capital of Sichuan province meant visiting pandas in the Giant Panda Breeding … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - G.I.S.M.

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • February 1, 2015

Japan. A near flawless culture of hospitality, design, cuisines, architecture, and a wonderful sense of ritual that pervades its society. A country ruled by meticulous and supreme organization, people respectful to the point of being invisible with an innate sense of courtesy. Vibrant, ever-changing streetscapes and fantastic food. A country where you can determine your location by the colour of … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - No Way But Out

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • October 28, 2014

escape the confines of your fate / don't be a prisoner in someone else's scheme / leave behind and bury what is dead / relief wrapped inside a goodbye / it’s not getting better than this / it's ending one minute at a time / time for putting garbage in its place / quit treading water / get down to … Read more

Guest Column: T (Vegas) - Rhythm Of Decline

Regular Columns / era vulgaris • September 7, 2014

before we talk of any repentance / I would do it all again / lose my way and fall again / they will never get what is inside of me / (vultures licking their lips) / step out of the womb right into the haze / reminded by scars / searching to no avail / conscience is a guess / … Read more