The Rawness

The chorus and the bridge just kill it, one of the best uses of the Bob James “Nautilus” sample ever. Terribly underrated.

This is where I just touch on a bunch of topics that relate to Sweden but weren’t big enough to warrant their own posts or didn’t quite fit into the other posts contextually.

Skeletons in the Closet

Since coming back from Sweden and Amsterdam, I’ve been doing some research on both countries. I found out something utterly amazing about Sweden. From this article:

The revelations in Sweden’s largest newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, shocked the world: long admired as a model of the enlightened and humane social welfare state, Sweden had forcibly sterilized more than 60,000 people, mostly women, between 1935 and 1976. The sterilizations were part of a government program designed to weed out “social undesirables” in the pursuit of a stronger, purer, more Nordic population. Those undesirables included, as the paper put it in a subhead, “‘mixed race individuals,’ single mothers with many children, deviants, Gypsies, and other ‘vagabonds.’”

The program’s Nazi overtones were disturbing, yet inescapable. Under the headline racial purity in the welfare state, reporter Maciej Zaremba put it this way in his two-part series in August: “In Sweden, it was only under Social Democratic rule and in Germany only under Nazism that citizens could be deprived of their reproductive functions as a result of their origins or their disabilities.”

His stories may have been a jolt for Swedes, but it was no surprise that it was Zaremba who produced them. For more than a decade, Zaremba, 46, has been exposing the underside of Sweden’s welfare state in Dagens Nyheter, a 380,000-circulation morning newspaper that is Sweden’s most influential voice. He has uncovered abuses in trusted institutions: the State Marine Institute, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and Sweden’s celebrated judicial system. But this time he challenged the utopian vision Swedes hold of themselves and their government, and called into question a piece of their national identity.

The sterilization program is not mentioned in Swedish history texts. Like most Swedes, Zaremba didn’t know very much about the Swedish Sterilization Act, which was passed by the Parliament in 1935 and stayed on the books for forty-one years. Early in 1997, Zaremba came across an obscure book about sterilization, which was co-written by historian Gunnar Broberg of the University of Lund, but published only in the United States. Immediately, Zaremba knew he was looking at a major story: “The numbers of sterilizations Broberg uncovered convinced me this program was much bigger and more widespread than anyone ever imagined.”

So Zaremba read everything he could about sterilization in Sweden and around the world — including the U.S., where forced sterilization of the mentally disabled, certain criminals, and others was legalized in several states starting in 1907 and continued until the 1960s. In Sweden, meanwhile, Zaremba learned that the sterilization program was rooted in the study of eugenics, a pseudo-science devoted to the creation of a superior race. But the program was expanded in 1941 to include any Swedes who exhibited behavior judged by the state to be anti-social…

More disturbing, Zaremba discovered that the sterilizations had never been voluntary, as was believed in Sweden, and as they were portrayed on paper. In the largest group of cases, adolescent girls who fit the state’s criteria had been removed from their parents’ homes by state officials and put in reform schools or institutions. Then, as a condition for their release, they were forced to undergo sterilization. And the state’s criteria could be alarmingly arbitrary: people who fell behind in school were labeled “stupid,” people who were outgoing were “sexually promiscuous,” and people who were quiet or shy were deemed “anti-social.” All were grounds for sterilization. It was clear from the files that sterilization had been forced upon vulnerable and often terrified women, a point Zaremba drove home forcefully in his articles:

Freedom of choice was in fact totally illusory. The person concerned was either declared ‘of unsound mind’ — a simple procedure — or was subjected to irresistible pressure. Sign this or we’ll take the children, sign this or there’ll be no social benefit, no flat, no leave . . . and so on. Sweden went furthest in the way of legalized blackmail . . . .

That just blew my mind! This is something that really is hardly talked about in any shape or form. I was over there with multiple guidebooks, each of which had extensive, in-depth histories of Sweden from ancient times until now, discussing every last tidbit of Swedish culture. I went to many historical museums while there, and no mention of this. Apparently it’s still a very touchy subject there, much like slavery is among some southern whites today in the United States.

And think about it, 1976 is quite recent, and the sterilization program went on for decades. For many it was a requirement to receive welfare. I wonder if it plays any role in why Swedish people seemed to look so damn good. 40 years of weeding out “undesirable” genes? I’m not saying that this 40 years turned them from a homely people into supermodels overnight, but just that maybe it bumped them up a few notches from just good looking to ridiculously good looking. Who knows? I’m sure there are articles and speculation on the subject, I can’t be the only person to notice the correlation between the physical appearance of Swedes and the fact they had decades of eugenics under their belt. Sure it’s only 60,000 people or so overall, but they were among the members of the population who were likely to have the most kids, and whose kids were likely to have the most kids in their generation, so who knows how many lives were prevented by the sterilization of these 60,000? But I’m sure I’m oversimplifying. Who knows? If anyone knows anything about this topic, please tell me more. Now on a lighter note…

When to Visit Stockholm

I learned to interesting tidbits of info when I was talking to people from Stockholm. First, people get paid once a month, and everyone gets paid on the same day. If I remember correctly, that day is the 24th of every month. It comes into the bank accounts at midnight. On the days leading up to payday on the 24th is when people have the least money and are the most broke, but on midnight of the 24th when that money hits the bank account people will be flush with cash and drinking and partying even harder.

Also, the weather for most of the year can be pretty drab in Stockholm I was told. People will stay inside more during winter months, and there few daylight hours. So when May rolls around, it’s like coming out of hibernation. People have months and months of pent up partying in them, and I was told that as crazy as Stockholm was in August when I was there, it pales in comparison to Stockholm in May when the summer just starts. The streets are even more packed with people and the partying is even more rambunctious.

So putting these two pieces of info together, it seems to me that the best time to visit would probably be May 23, the night of the first payday of the first month of summer. Damn I’m brilliant. I have to jump back and kiss myself sometimes for the shit I come up with.

Swedish Rap

I went to a outdoor free concert thrown by the local urban radio station there, The Voice. Man was it a blast. I met some people from Gothenburg who were in Stockholm for the day just to attend the concert, and they took me with them. (Gothenburg people were by far the nicest people I met in Sweden, and when I go back I will definitely spend a few days in Gothenburg as well as Stockholm) The main act was American rapper Flo Rida, but almost all the opening acts were Swedish rappers. A few of them were wack, but two were quite good. One guy’s name I don’t know because everything he said was in Swedish, but the other guy, although a native of Sweden, rapped completely in English, so I was able to get his name and the names of his songs. His name is Adam Tensta, here’s his Wikipedia entry, here’s his Myspace and his videos are below. He raps totally in English with very little hint of a Swedish accent over hot electro beats, very much like N*E*R*D or Timbaland when they are on their A game and not phoning it in, or Kanye with better rhymes and less obvious samples:

I hope the dude makes it big in American music circles, but then again if that happened he’d probably start making duets with Justin Timberlake and sucking immediately, so maybe not.

Recommended Reading:

Living in Brooklyn, it’s hard not to find yourself drinking in hipster-infested bars from time to time.  It often comes with the territory.  Now I hate to give hipsters credit on anything, but even I have to admit, they do sometimes have some decent taste in music, at least as far as older music goes. (Newer hipster-approved music acts tend to be too whiny/warbly/nerdy for me, but I digress).

The jukeboxes in most hipster bars are conspicuously hip and filled with indie cred.  The music selection is so well-designed that it is almost impossible to pick a song that is not hipster approved.  All the major categories of hipster music bliss are well-represented and the jukebox is virtually philistine-proof:

• country, but only from the three country music artists that hipsters respect: Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams (sometimes Patsy Cline)
• Old School East Coast hip-hop
• Backpack hip-hop dedicated to rapping about 1988 and molecules or some other dumb shit
• Punk and hardcore’s sacred cows
• Any Beastie Boys song not from Licensed to Ill
• Any band that is or sounds like Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, The Go! Team or CSS
• A couple of bad, mainstream songs deliberately included for the occasional dose of irony
• Anything featured in an Ipod commercial

Even though much of the music is good, hipsters tend to be so self-congratulatory and smug about their jukebox choices that they almost make jack Black’s music snob character from High Fidelity seem tolerable.  Almost. (Nothing by Jack Black is ever actually tolerable)  Time after time I’d watch a bespectacled, messy-haired zero muscle tone hipster painstakingly peruse the selection for 20 minutes, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, maybe with a girl they hope to impress with their superior music snob acumen.  Then you have to watch the self-satisfied smug smirk that comes across their faces as their selections come on and the nerdgasms come over their group.

Drinking with these music nazis used to make hipster bars unbearable until the introduction of one of the greatest inventions to hit the bar scene since the Megatouch machine…..the Digital Internet Jukebox.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Gift from the Heavens"][/caption]

This beauty was introduced almost three years ago and has been slowly gaining ground in even dive bars and hipster haunts.  And oh the joy it provides, thanks to a game I invented called Hipster Hell.

For the uninformed, the internet jukebox allows you to no longer be limited by the music preselected by the drinking establishment.  You have the choice of going online and downloading any of two million plus songs out there; just about anything you can think of is available.  And even better, for an extra charge you can make your selections jump to the front of the queue, allowing you to bypass the first-come-first-serve method of traditional jukeboxes.

Here’s how Hipster Hell works.  You go to the digital jukebox and proceed to pick songs designed to drive hipsters insane.  Remember, anything liked by a lot of people can’t possibly be good in the mind of a hipster, so go for songs as popular as possible.  For example here’s my top 20 Hipster Hell playlist:

1. “Crazy” by Britney Spears
2. “Native New Yorker” by Odyssey
3. “Knockin’ Boots” by Candyman
4. “Vibe” by R. Kelly and Public Announcement
5. “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel
6. “Idioteque” by Radiohead (to give them a glimmer of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel if you will)
7. “We Built This City” by Starship (to cruelly yank them back into the 7th circle of Hell)
8. “Vogue” by Madonna
9. Any song by a Disney Channel alumnus, take your pick (for example Raven Symone, Lindsey Lohan, Jonas Brothers or Hillary Duff)
10. “Addams Groove” by MC Hammer
11. “Rush Rush” by Paula Abdul
12. “Hanging Tough” by New Kids on the Block
13. “MMMBop” by Hanson
14. “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic
15. “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D. and the Boys
16. “Mambo No. 5″ by Lou Bega
17. “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John
18. “Barbie Girl” by Aqua
19. “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston
20. “Zombie Nation” by Kernkraft 400

Bonus tracks:

1. “I Write the Songs” by Barry Manilow
2. Anything by The Strokes

Pay the extra money to get all these songs bumped to the front of the queue.  The beauty of this selection is that for the first song or two, the hipsters will actually be into it and enjoy it, thinking that the songs are being played for the sake of irony.  By the third or fourth song, they start figuring out that something’s wrong.  By the fifth, they start becoming vocally upset.  Critical mass tends to hit “MMMBop.”  It gets really ugly by the time the first note of Whitney Houston hits.  People even start accusing each other like McCarthyites and I’ve seen some really vicious arguments erupt.  Ask a random person “Did you choose this?” just to deflect suspicion.

The key to this is to appear as openly upset as the other hipsters at the shit music that’s playing.  Find someone 35+ to blame it on.  Really play it up.  A few hipsters will sacrifice their Pabst money and even do a collection for wrinkled dollars in an effort to regain control of the jukebox and move some Pitchfork Media approved jams to the front of the queue.  Encourage this, and for added effect stand over the hipster hero’s shoulder and offer suggestions like “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads and “Mongoloid” by Devo.  This is necessary to deflect any suspicion and keep the ruse going. 

After the hipster leaves, congratulate him on his choices and act like you’re about to add some more indie goodness.  As soon as the coast is clear, it’s time for the final phase of hipster hell: BILLY JOEL POWER HOUR.  Choose every single Billy Joel song you can think of and move them to the front of the queue.  This is endgame, show no mercy in selecting your barrage.  You’re taking no prisoners.

At this point, you don’t give a fuck, the jig is up.  As the Joelly goodness hits the speakers, start punching your fists in the air, singing along, dancing with your friends, yelling at the top of your lungs, jumping up and down.  Hipsters don’t fight, even when drunk, because they’re too passive-aggressive, so the worst you’ll get is some serious glares and really loud sighs.  If they’re really badass it may escalate into a sarcastic comment or backhanded compliment.  Nothing to really worry about.

The most fun you can have with hipsters without actually punching them.

….but I just love this video.  Dizzee Rascal featuring Bun B, “Where the G’s”: