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International Parental Child Abduction and the Problem with the Hague Convention
By: Kim Castellano
Tags: Law, International Relations, Lawyers, Custody Battle

On June 6, 2004, David Goldman watched as his wife and four-year-old son, Sean boarded an airplane to visit friends and family in his wife’s native Brazil. After this, David Goldman did not see his son again until December 2009. Thus began a protracted parental rights dispute. International parental rights disputes are an ongoing problem for the international community. So much so that in 1979 the Hague Conference convened to discuss the issue; from that meeting was born the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, adopted on October 25, 1980, by a unanimous vote of the twenty-three member countries.

The United States ratified the treaty on July 1, 1988, via implementing legislation enacted on April 29, 1988. The Hague Convention is a jurisdictional treaty intended to guarantee that all signatory nations respect each other’s custody laws. The purpose of the Convention is to ensure that the partner country will return wrongfully removed children according to the custody rights ordered in the child’s home state. As of July 2019, there are hundred and one U.S. Hague Convention treaty partners; Brazil became a partner on December 1, 2003. As treaty partners, both the United States and Brazil must comply with the Convention, where applicable, and return the child to the mandated jurisdiction.

However, contravention of the Hague Convention by signatory countries happens more often than one would think. The U.S. State Department lists the following countries as non-compliant: Argentina; The Bahamas; Brazil; the Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Japan; Morocco; and Peru. As it stands today, there are no enforcement remedies in place to guarantee compliance by non-compliant countries. Enforcement of the Convention relies on the cooperation and willingness of the partner country to comply. The partner country can refuse to comply without fear of consequences or repercussions, leaving the left-behind parent without recourse.
Mayor Eric Johnson announces hiring of Chief of Protocol and International Relations
By: Tristan Hallman
Tags: Press Release, International Relations, Dallas

Mayor Eric Johnson announces hiring of Chief of Protocol and International Relations Tristan Hallman Follow Apr 9 · 2 min read

DALLAS — Mayor Eric Johnson on Friday announced the hiring of Beth Huddleston as his office’s new Chief of Protocol and International Relations.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Johnson began new efforts to increase the city’s international stature. Now, Huddleston will oversee those efforts and advise the mayor on opportunities to strengthen ties to other countries.

“I am thrilled to work with Mayor Johnson and his staff in this new role,” Huddleston said. “Dallas is well positioned to become a bigger player in international diplomacy and trade, and I look forward to helping the city reach its full potential.”

Beth Huddleston

Huddleston will be able to draw on three decades of experience in global affairs. Most recently, Huddleston was the executive vice president for the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and was responsible for their public/private partnerships. She had oversight of Dallas Protocol, a partnership between the City of Dallas and the World Affairs Council, and the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State. Both programs sought to connect Dallas with the world through hosting international leaders, showcasing Dallas to international visitors and planning inbound and outbound trade missions.

Prior to joining the World Affairs Council, Huddleston was the director of the International Trade Center SBDC, a partnership program of the then-Dallas County Community College and the Small Business Administration. She was responsible for training Dallas-area small businesses to enter global markets. During that time, she was a member and past chair of the North Texas District Export Council, which was a position appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The organization received the prestigious President’s “E” Award for Excellence in Export Service during her tenure.

Like Mayor Johnson, Huddleston is a native Dallasite. She earned a B.A. in Spanish and English Literature from Vanderbilt University and a M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University. She speaks Spanish and receives ongoing training in the art of diplomacy and international protocol.

In her new role, Huddleston will report directly to the mayor. She will officially begin work Monday.

With COVID-19 vaccinations ramping up and case numbers declining, Mayor Johnson has asked her to work with the Mayor’s International Advisory Council (MIAC) to develop plans to attract international businesses and diplomatic outposts.

“Beth Huddleston is a highly respected veteran of international affairs,” Mayor Johnson said. “She has been an invaluable asset to the City of Dallas for years. She will make an excellent addition to our team as we work to take Dallas to the next level on the international stage.”
The 3 Songs That Would’ve Given Ghostface Killah 3 Classics in a Row
By: Marcus Benjamin
Tags: Hip Hop, Music, Album Review, Rap, Wu Tang Clan

1. ‘Flowers’ Feat. Raekwon, Method Man, & Superb

Not getting the original sample cleared manages to be a travesty, a sham, and a mockery of all at once. The verses are the same but the energy is completely different. Especially once Meth’s verse kicks in. RZA did what he does best which is find a leftover part of a record no one thought to sample and pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Instead of this, we got something clearly aiming for dance floors but missing the mark damn near entirely.

This is the version on my copy of the album meaning I haven’t listened to the “official” track in about 20 years.

2. ‘The Sun’ Feat. Raekwon, Slick Rick, & RZA

According to Ghost, RZA is to blame for Slick Rick not being on a Ghostface Killah album. The peaceful track served as the perfect opening salvo for Ghost’s third offering. At least it would’ve. “The Sun” is an ode to, you guessed it, the sun. Ghost’s bars are, as always, eccentric and unique to him.

Yo, the sun could never be pussy, he always come out

He’ll sit right there, even if you pull your gun out

He can never run out, when the lights go out

It’s Japan’s turn now, the earth has spun around

I see Yellow and Green, it’s a beautiful thing

The sky’s blue, ‘cos the sun hit the water like “BING”

Yeah, Slick Rick is just on the hook but still. The song serves as a sign RZA shouldn’t do drugs.

3. ‘The Watch’ Feat. Raekwon

The Barry White Sample. Ghost and Rae doing a concept song. Ghost interrogating his status in the game at the time. Oh and Rae is rapping as Ghost’s brand new watch, poking and prodding him. It’s not a long track but it shows Ghost’s level of creativity and penchant for thinking outside of the box.

He kinda sorta revisited this concept on The Pretty Toney Album but it wasn’t quite the same.

Plus there’s this exchange between Ghost as Ghost and Rae as…his watch:

Yo, Ghost, you’se a funny nigga

Turn on the radio, all you hear is X and Jigga

Haha, you vexed, nigga?

No airplay (bet my gat spray) Yeah, that’s hearsay

You spray hairspray and up North, nigga, you ain’t gettin’ jailplay

(How you know?) Yo, it’s obvious, clear as day

Ghost set his sights high. He wanted the throne and this album was his attempt for the crown. Scoring a hat trick would be a great argument for Ghost’s royalty. He was close, really close, but it just goes to show how unpredictable the rap game was and still is.

As it stands, Bulletproof Wallets is good. Sometimes it’s really good. But at that point in his career, fans demanded greatness from Tony Starks. And we were this close to getting what we asked for.
The North is Blowing in: Elijah Mann & The Birth of The Flooding Season
By: Adrienne Novy
Tags: Independent Music, Music, Album Review, Independent Artist, Ep Review

Having met Elijah Mann as a teenager in the national college poetry scene in 2013, I have had the privilege of being able to support and cheer him on over the course of the last six or seven years. Though The Flooding Season EP is currently the highest elevation I have seen Mann as an artist thus far, and I am eager to see him continue to reach higher. Tumultuous and tender, The Flooding Season has the kind of lucidity that still kicks the wind out of your lungs. Mann begins the journey with In Waves and Burn Me Up, a bonfire of 80’s indie-rock warmth, perfect for right before summer is about to turn over. The song with the titular line, Noah, is full of heartbreak, capturing how it feels to be small in isolation and yet so full of emotion that you are told that your ache is just too much, to have people look at you as though you are stuck between their teeth. The grief that flows through this song carries gracefully into High Anxiety, a scream of a piece that has made me feel less alone in my own days of unraveling and personal experiences of mental health healing. The storm of High Anxiety rips up the floorboards to reveal All My Life, the bareness that is a result of the rush of emotions that comes with love only to have it leave as quickly as it came. This 20-minute collection is a thunderstorm in itself: it takes you out of your body and still takes the time in remembering to ground you. This is an EP that is truly a gift of solace, storytelling, careful artistry, a shelter after many times of crying in the rain on the long walks home.

Listen to The Flooding Season here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5dZMkGkDSxdwcFWBuOnwtu?si=iJZrL60vSd-06jRdxxt-3A
The Big Moon — Walking Like We Do — Album Review
By: Joe Boothby
Tags: Music Review, Music, Album Review, New Music, 2020 Music

Indie | Rock

Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music

The idea of reviewing this album was something that I sat on for a short while, but I believe that The Big Moon’s Walking Like We Do ended up being a compelling enough project for me to listen to fully and critically.

I didn’t know a tonne about The Big Moon going into the bands sophomore album, but I definitely got a great sense of chemistry between each members when skimming over a variation of tracks. Said chemistry became the real driving point of this project for me, and was one of the primary reasons for me giving Walking Like We Do a listen.

Another big reason is possibly the bright and sunny mood that the album creates with thanks to a large number of the tracks. In that sense, the way I felt towards this albums atmosphere feels similar to what I felt towards Shame’s 2018 project Songs of Praise, and ultimately gives off a very spring-like vibe. With that, I feel that this record is effective in how it helps to excite me in the warmer days to come.

Stylistically, however, The Big Moon borrow inspiration from mostly Wolf Alice it seems, although there is also a hint of Lana Del Rey or Weyes Blood in there as well.

A selection of tracks on this thing are either lyrically clever, lyrically uplifting, or both. The encouraging power that Walking Like We do carries is rather visible, especially in the tracks that I prefer.

Being an indie rock band, it does indeed feel like The Big Moon play it safe with a typical formula that one would expect with an album that classifies itself with these genres. This sticking to indie rock tradition does unfortunately mean that there are a number of tracks that suffer from being bland or unmemorable. Consequently, the full album is a bit of a mixed bag, but one with pros that outweigh the cons.

Overall, Walking Like We Do is still a very solid project, with a number of beautiful melodies and a consistent lyrical prowess, and I’m sure that this will be another project to grow on me like a triffid.

Favourite Tracks: Your Light | Take A Piece | A Hundred Ways To Land

Least Favourite Track: Waves

Universal Music Operations Limited | Fiction Records

7/10
Coldplay: my first musical love
By: Connor Riley
Tags: Music, Album Review, Coldplay

Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends was not the first album I listened to, that honor would likely go to one of few CDs my parents had: Hootie and the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View, Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required or maybe even Micheal Bolton’s This Is The Time: The Christmas Album. However, Viva La Vida was the first album that I personally purchased, and the first album that I sat down and truly listened to, as an album, instead of just a collection of songs. For this reason, Viva La Vida and Coldplay hold a special place in my heart.

A lot has been written about Coldplay’s terribleness, some of it true. But Coldplay is one of the few bands in the world that can truly capture what it feels like to be connected to strangers. This is not an accident, it is a deliberate, reoccurring thesis statement, declared from the first line on their first EP “Brothers and sisters unite, it’s the time of your life”. For Coldplay, spreading love and human connectivity has been a lifelong mission. The band again declare this from the onset of Parachutes “oh all that I know / there’s nothing here to run from / cause here / everybody here’s got somebody to lean on”. It is all too easy to go through life unconsciously worshiping money, power, intellect, beauty or another person. These forms of worship will eventually eat you alive. Some people decide the answer to this is religion, but for those less religiously inclined Coldplay presents the alternative, worshipping the interconnectedness of all humans, the shared experience of being alive. This is made even more clear on the more recent “Everyday Life” a sentimental standout in which they declare you should “hold tight for everyday life”.

The range of sounds the listener experiences on Viva la Vida is incredible. The album opens with a sunrise — the Jon Hopkins produced “Life in Technicolor” swallows the listener into a dreamscape of possibilities. From there, we hear a number of non-traditional instruments, from an organ on “Lost!”, heavy use of strings in “Lovers in Japan” and a shoegaze track hidden at the end of “Yes”. Of course, the final track, also hidden, hearkens back to the first, closing the album with the sunset. The fact that it all forms a coherent whole is astounding.

Much of the album’s press coverage would focus on its attempt to tackle political questions. But what truly makes this album special is that it attempts to answer one of the most universal questions of all, “why are we here?, what is our purpose?”. The characters in the album are frequently “lost” “on lonely strings”. This is contrasted with Chris Martin frequently encouraging the listener to keep fighting — you might not be in a great place, the world might not be in a great place, but keep going, we, the dreamers, will make it better. Because despite all of the strife, we can still have perfect days, we can still “dream of making our escape” — right now, that is exactly what we need.
Jean Deaux’s new album “Krash” is everything you didn’t know you wanted from music right now.
By: Samuel H Osmond
Tags: Year In Review, Music, Album Review, Jean Deaux, Art

Jean Deaux’s new album “Krash” is everything you didn’t know you wanted from music right now.

The nine track album provides a seamless, evolving spectrum of Deaux’s ability, growing steadily in intensity from beginning to end: beginning with the crooning, Saba-produced “Way Out” and ending with the tour-de-force “Work 4 Me” with the vibe formally known as Kari Faux. It progresses from vignette to vignette, with tracks building out of preceding interludes/dialogue to flesh out vivid stories and emotions. Deaux saves the features for the latter half of the album, using the first half to assert her creative validity, then using seemingly boundless energy and charisma to ensure she is never outshined by guest verses, be they rapped or sung.

“Krash” showcases Deaux’s shocking explosiveness with jaw-dropping verses and voice changes, most noticeably showcased on “Energy / Who U?” with fellow angel-voiced singer Ravyn Lenae. The latter portion of the duel-track standout bounces over an organic, bass-driven beat with a breakneck chorus and FOUR vastly differing verses (three from Deaux, one from Lenae). Just when you think the album energy has peaked, Deaux debuts astounding, crushed vocals on the title track, bringing unfuckwittable savagery and flows one could listen to for days on end and not get bored.

“Krash” is the most badass album of the year, undeniably. It produces a cohesive product rarely seen in modern music while also providing a song for every mood. Some advice before listening: a lot happens, you better buckle up.
Meteor Airlines — South by Southeast album review
By: Sara Tilly
Tags: Music, Album Review, Music Review, Rock

When I first heard about the rock band Meteor Airlines, it was a hot summer’s day in 2018 and I was at work. Just an average day at the office. Me writing and listening to music, as usual. Then I heard the email notification *cling*.

I was sent the track titled “Misery Misery” to review from someone on Quora. My jaw dropped. It took me exactly 4 seconds to fall in love with this song. 4 seconds.

The stage had been set for something breathtaking.

“If you see from towers Meteor showers

Tell my love I’m coming down”

photo: meteorairlines.com

For days to come, I couldn’t stop listening to it. On repeat. For hours on end. Oh boy, and that electric guitar that sometimes almost seems to spiral out of control.

Turns out, “Misery Misery” was written and performed by a Moroccan alternative rock band under the name Meteor Airlines.

Their album South by Southeast was released in November, 2018 and it features seven tracks which are, as best as I can describe it, a mix of dark alternative rock with a pinch of country tones (which you can hear in “Once Upon a Time in the Southeast” and “The Final Figh”) including a very exotic, husky-sounding lead vocal.

And this vocal rings a bell, like you’ve heard it before, but yet again, you can’t place it just right. But, for example, when you play the “Silverback Motel”, the instrumental sounds almost like a too familiar impression of one of Marilyn Manson’s tracks.

Anyhow, check out their new album and let me know how you guys like it :)
The silky shoegaze beauty of Slowdive’s 1993 masterpiece, ‘Souvlaki’
By: Dhinoj Dings
Tags: Album, Music Review, Music, Album Review, Songs

Photo by Nine Köpfer on Unsplash/ This pic has nothing to do with Slowdive.It’s just that the way I feel when I listen to the album is a lot like how I feel when I look at this pic. That’s weird.

Shoegaze is a genre that’s not especially known for evoking strong emotions in its listeners. In fact, one could argue that a main idea behind the genre in which bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and t Mazzy Star have built strong repertoires is to keep your emotions flowing without bubbling over.

But that’s not to say that shoegaze is a bloodless, emotionless, clinical genre of music either.

It’s only that the genre seems to have an indirect route to touching your emotions. For the best songs in the genre(inadvertently or not) evoke memories that seem to lurk just beneath your consciousness.

Since most memories would have emotions connected to them these allied emotions wash over you even as the waves of music enter your ears, even as the memory images- some faded like in an old photo album, some surprisingly vivid even with the passing of time- keep surfacing in your mind.

You can say it’s a slowdive into a memory pool in which emotions are an added element- the ancillary and never the center but not by any means insignificant.

Slowdive- that also happens to be the name of one of the best shoegaze bands.

Formed in 1989, the English band released their album ‘Souvlaki’ in 1993.(The name refers to a Greek meat dish. It was inspired by a skit in which a man tells someone his wife will suck his cock like Souvlaki because he is Greek and his wife loves ‘the greek shit.’ Go figure.)

Though the album is now widely considered as a shoegaze masterpiece, it wasn’t warmly received when it was originally released.

With progressive rock like chord progressions sometimes looped over asynchronous beats, and thickly overlaid with silky dream-like vocals, it’s possible that the album may have been ahead of its time- occupying a space between the works of such older progressive bands like King Crimson and the lounge and chill-pop sensibilities of bands to come like Coldplay.

Slowdive has made just four albums till date(the last of which- a self titled album- came in 2017.) But even within this limited repertoire, they have given us many songs which are ‘memory machines’ that transport us to former times and states of mind.

Their second album, Souvlaki- containing ten tracks with contributions from ambient music maestro, Brian Eno- is perhaps their crowning achievement. It’s certainly a memorable album of quietly mighty proportions.
WE ARE SCIENTISTS: Megaplex, Rise of the Lycans.
By: Kirstin Bews
Tags: Music Review, Music, Album Review, We Are Scientists, The Spill

You read it here first: http://spillmagazine.com/spill-album-review-we-are-scientists-megaplex-rise-of-the-lycans/

©We Are Scientists

We Are Scientists

Megaplex: Rise of the Lycans

Groenland Records

Spill Rating: “Above average — but won’t change your life”

Powerpop duo, We Are Scientists, released the deluxe version of their 2018 album Megaplex, under the name, Megaplex: Rise of the Lycans, on April 19. Let it be noted that We Are Scientists follow a strict 10-song-per-album formula, however, Megaplex: Rise of the Lycans includes four additional acoustic songs, three full band bonus tracks, five demo tracks, and one remix. We Are Scientists describe the difference between a deluxe and ‘normal’ album like when you eat at a buffet and pile all sorts of mismatched food on your plate, but you’re ecstatic, because of the indulgent madness of it all.

Remix, “Your Song Has Changed”, takes a step back from the edgy, harsher tones taken in the original Megaplexversion. This lighter take makes the track personable, which does the staunch lyrical discussion justice. “You Failed” feels like a harrowing throwback to school, but with the repeat of the words “test of a lifetime”, the song is telling you that, ya fucked up girl. “Properties of Perception” has a Beach Boys vibe with the classic sound of harmonised vocals accompanied by a peppy guitar strum. Slower in build-up, “No Wait at Five Leaves” takes the harmonized vocals and turns them into a slightly sadistic, methodic chant.

This collection is definitely all you can eat. By breaking their 10-songs-per-album rule by throwing in 13 demos and remixes, We Are Scientists experiment with their sound on Megaplex: The Rise of the Lycans which, from a fan’s perspective, concludes with a positive hypothesis.
ST LUCIA: Acoustic Vol.1
By: Kirstin Bews
Tags: Acoustic, Electronic Music, Music Review, Album Review, St Lucia

You read it here first: http://spillmagazine.com/spill-album-review-st-lucia-acoustic-vol-1/

©St Lucia

St. Lucia

Acoustic Vol. 1

Columbia Records

Spill Rate: “You’ll definitely want to hear this!”

On topic with Marie Kondo’s 2019, St. Lucia has truly decluttered and ridden themselves of everything that doesn’t give them joy, and Acoustic Vol.1 takes on a new, raw sound. Acoustic Vol.1 is a 7-track EP made up of songs taken from their 2018 effort, Hyperion, and a couple of older crowd-pleasers including “All Eyes on You” and “Elevate”. Opening with “Elevate”, frontman Jean-Philip Grobler gently pulls the listener into the album with swooping, drawn-out vocals that intertwine with the notes of the keyboard and synth.

Soaked in harmonic love songs like “Next to You” and “Love Somebody”, there is an evident vulnerability to this album. Patt Beranek takes on lead vocals for the first time in “Love Somebody”, showing a delicately feminine side to the band, that is more known for their synth-heavy tropical dance-inducing beats. “Love Somebody” also appears with a Portuguese translation, that sounds all the more romantically fragile. However, acoustic does not mean somber, and St. Lucia understands this. Their cover of The 1975’s hit, “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME”, and “All Eyes on You” carry the familiar energy of the optimistic beats that fans associate with St. Lucia.

Overall, this album won’t make you feel like dancing on glass, as this acoustic strip-back showcases their undeniable talent. Poetic lyrics that are effortlessly lulled over gentle, yet energetic, melodies create their own space on St, Lucia’s discography.
Album Review — Black Star Riders. Black Star Riders — Another State Of…
By: Dave Maturo
Tags: Music, Album Review

Black Star Riders — Another State Of Grace

Black Star Riders are back with their fourth studio album, “Another State Of Grace”. The band began when members of the most recent lineup of Thin Lizzy decided to write and record new material under a different name. Guitarist Scott Gorham and former Almighty singer Ricky Warwick are the only two remaining members of that original band.

The album’s first single, “Tonight The Moonlight Let Me Down”, is a great reminder that this band is the “next step in the evolution of the Thin Lizzy story”. It’s Thin Lizzy from top to bottom and even includes a little saxophone. Warwick’s vocals are very similar to the legendary Phil Lynott and the feel of the song in right in the Thin Lizzy wheelhouse.

The next song is the title track that sounds like a cross of Thin Lizzy and Dropkick Murphys. The song opening is very Dropkick Murphys but then we get that more familiar Thin Lizzy sound.

Another album highlight is “Ain’t The End Of The World”. It starts will a familiar guitar riff and Warwick channels his best Lynott. This one sounds like it could have been an uncovered track from a 70s Thin Lizzy recording session. Depending on your point of view, this is either an homage to their beginnings or a blatant copy of the classic band. I lean to the former and really like this track.

“Underneath The Afterglow” is the first track on the record that doesn’t scream Thin Lizzy. Warwick’s vocal style is so similar to Lynott that the band can’t get too far away from the comparisons, but the song itself is a little more updated.

Other album standouts include “Soldier in the Ghetto”, which is back to a little more familiar Lizzy sound, the acoustic driven “What Will It Take” and the album closer “Poisoned Heart”.

For some reason this is the first Black Star Riders album I’ve spent any time listening to. I’m not sure why I didn’t check them out earlier. I enjoy Thin Lizzy although they were slightly before my time. But after listening to “Another State of Grace”, I am definitely wanting to check out their previous three records.

As someone new to the band, it’s hard to get way from how similar they sound to Thin Lizzy. Maybe fans of the band have made their peace with it but it’s still fresh for me. But with that being said, I like the record and I really like a couple of the tracks.

85 out of 100

Track Listing

01. Tonight The Moonlight Let Me Down *

02. Another State Of Grace

03. Ain’t The End Of The World *

04. Underneath The Afterglow

05. Soldier In The Ghetto

06. Why Do You Love Your Guns?

07. Standing In The Line Of Fire

08. What Will It Take?

09. In The Shadow Of The War Machine

10. Poisoned Heart

*Best Songs
Review: Catfish and the Bottlemen’s The Balance
By: Sara Lax
Tags: Review, Music Review, Music, Album Review, Rock

Three years after The Ride, the British indie rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen makes a huge comeback with their newest album, The Balance. With its first single Longshot, the band developed a fresh, new sound which makes it different than any other single they’ve ever released. Following singles Fluctuate, 2all and Conversation, have that special sound of all their previous albums that made Catfish unique.

Van McCann’s voice sounds heavenly as always; that’s what makes this band so special — with its rockish, yet calm sound.

The Balcony was for sure a revelation for everyone, with songs like Kathleen which made all of us dream, but The Ride was definitely their top album. How can you not love songs like 7, Soundcheck, Oxygen and more slow-emotional songs like Heathrow? But, as Van McCann said once, “I feel like everybody started thinking too outside the box trying to be arty and different. We wanted to stay inside the box” — and that’s what everyone really appreciates!

Score: 4 out of 5.

What saved this album? The unique sound of this band and its single, Longshot.
13. Machito — Kenya (1957). 1. Drums, drums, horns, drums, and…
By: Brian Braunlich
Tags: Afro Cuban Music, Latin Jazz, Music, Album Review, Machito

1. Drums, drums, horns, drums, and drums. This album erupts with “Wild Jungle,” a song that fully lives up to its name. The multiple bongo, conga, and other drummers in Machito’s group absolutely kill it on Kenya.

2. A minor note on later influence: I’ve been watching the classic anime Cowboy Bebop for the first time. Listening to “Wild Jungle,” all I can hear is Bebop’s opening title sequence. Very cool to hear a sound like this carry across decades, continents, and cultures to find an audience with people who likely will never know Machito’s name.

3. My gut reaction upon listening to this for the first time was to seek out some live videos. Unfortunately, this has proven largely fruitless. No matter; however this album was recorded (in studio? performance?) gives a total sense of spontaneity, the kind of impromptu vibe you get from a live performance. The 2000 remaster I’m listening to on Spotify sounds impeccable, as well.

4. Being unfamiliar with Machito, I hopped over to Wikipedia. Born in either Cuba or Tampa, in either 1908, or 1909, or 1912, or 1915…I’m electing to go with Havana 1912, as my limited experience in Tampa makes it difficult to imagine such vibrant music originating there. He moved to New York and started his Afro-Cuban band there and man, I wonder what it felt like to hear this blend of jazz sounds at that time. It feels thrilling in 2019; I can only imagine 1939. I do wonder about the name of the album…it doesn’t look like Machito ever made it to Kenya. All but one of these tracks are originals, mostly by a guy named A.K. Salim, who’s still alive today, a mere 97 years young. Time flies.

5. Writing this one on a chilly San Francisco day feels odd, as the album itself is practically dripping with sweat. Next time I make it down to Mexico — or to reiterate a point from my notes on Sabu’s Palo Congo, if I ever make it to Cuba — this album’s getting some heavy play.

One Essential Song:

Listen on Spotify:
Jidenna Paves the Way for Retro-Afro-Futurism on “85 to Africa”
By: Jake Trussell
Tags: African Music, Hip Hop, Music Review, Album Review, R And B Music

The Nigerian-American hip-hop crooner continues down his trendsetting path.

I have to admit, my ulterior motive for writing about Jidenna’s new album, 85 to Africa, is that I also get to write about one of my favorite tunes from the last couple of years, even though it’s not on this album. “Bambi,” featured on Jidenna’s 2017 album, The Chief, set the stage for some refreshing stylistic forks in the pop music highway, that he continues to travel down today.

By looking backward toward Harry Belefonte-style calypso and other mid-century crooners for inspiration, and layering it over trap-inspired 808s and skittering sprinkler high-hats, “Bambi” offered a new direction for hip-hop and R&B.

What made “Bambi” even more alluring is the inclusion of other African vocalists on the remix. “Bambi Too” featured Sarkodie (Ghana) and Maleek Berry (UK-born Nigerian), alongside Quavo from Migos. I say “other” because Jidenna himself is half Nigerian and spent part of his childhood there.

There are two trends at play in that 2017 song that travel through to this new album, but before I get to that I’d like to point out that Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther soundtrack (2018) and Beyonce’s The Lion King: The Gift (2019) both feature a number of African vocalists, making Jidenna something of a trendsetter.

85 to Africa continues down that road, featuring appearances by African artists Seun Kuti (the youngest son of Nigerian legend Fela Kuti) and afrobeat star Mr. Eazi (also Nigerian). The retro-futuristic layering of throwback crooner style with modern sounds is in the mix too. “Sufi Woman” is based on an early ’60s French pop sample of Françoise Hardy’s “La Fille Avec Toi” with added 808 kicks, over which Jidenna croons a dreamy exotica love song. “Vaporiza” has a classic afro-pop feel while Jidenna sings to a love interest, conflating her with THC consumption.

Overall, 85 to Africa contains some landmark moments, but is not consistently compelling. The concept of taking the Black Star bus down interstate 85 from Atlanta to Africa can be felt as the album generally progresses from contemporary hip-hop early on to more African-styled tracks in the second half; but there are places where the music smooths out into adult-contemporary territory, leaving me wishing it would veer further off the beaten path.

Jidenna’s influence can be felt across the industry, and it’s a good one. I look forward to more retro-Afro-futurism coming down the road.
Sneazing Through The Beatles
By: James Beck
Tags: Hay Fever, Album Review, Beatles, Revolver, Summer

Sneazing Through The Beatles

The sun shines. The sky is a clear azure. The occasional cloud drifts lazily across — a welcome friend offering a moment of cooling shelter from the beating down of the equinoctial sunshine.

Home workers abandon their laptops, depart from their once-but-no-longer- temporary indoor ensconces and creep, blinking, into the warmth. A long lunch today, an early finish tomorrow. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Where did I leave my sunglasses? (Photo by Ethan Robertson on Unsplash)

All that is to say; it’s hot out, innit?

Summer, it seems, has finally reached Glasgow.

But wait, what’s this? A sniffly, snotty nose? Itchy eyes? Tissues, everywhere you look tissues? An uncontrollable and irrational rage? Why, looks like hay-fever is here as well. How nice of you to join us, you mostly annoying of allergies. Heaven forbid we might actually enjoy our summer. Oh no. We must be made to suffer for it.

MORE ANTIHISTAMINES PLEASE (Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash)

Ah, well. Perhaps this week’s album will offer relief?

Well, it should do. According to Rolling Stone Revolver is the third greatest album of all time. And, to be fair, it is a near perfect album. As if it wasn’t enough to be jam-packed full of taught, lithe pop tracks it is technologically revolutionary too. How wonderful She Said is, what a work of art Eleanor Rigby is.

But wait, what’s this? Why, it’s a song about a submarine of course! Dumped in the middle of a near perfect experience just to wind you up.

Bet its in your head now, isn’t it? (Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash)

Let’s face it — Yellow Submarine is the hay-fever of Revolver. It crops up just as you think you’re getting away with it and, just as you’ll still be sniffing 6 hours after you last went outside, you can guarantee the one song you’ll be singing as you brush your teeth starts “in the toooown, where I was born…”

In a way it’s admirable — it’s really the start of the Beatles starting their “we’ll record whatever we want and you’ll lap it up” phase. But it still marrs what is otherwise a pretty much perfect album

Ah well, nothing is perfect I suppose. You just have to make the most of it. Personally, I’m off to live on a yellow submarine — hopefully the sea air will clear my sinuses.
How to Implement a GraphQL API on Top of an Existing REST API
By: Tyler Hawkins
Tags: GraphQL, JavaScript, Apollo, Rest Api, Heroku

The Initial Architecture

The app’s backend was originally built using Node and JSON Server. JSON Server utilizes Express to provide a full REST API to a mock database generated from a simple JSON file. A separate Express server takes care of serving the static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript assets for the frontend. The frontend is implemented in vanilla JS and uses the browser’s built-in Fetch API to make the API requests. The app is hosted on Heroku to make deployment and monitoring a breeze.

Our JSON file contains information for a few jokes as well as some ratings. It’s reproduced in full below:

JSON Server takes that file as a starting point for the database and then implements a REST API that includes support for GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests. The magic of JSON Server is that using this API really does modify the underlying JSON file, so the database is fully interactive. JSON Server can be started directly from an npm script without any additional setup, but in order to provide a little more configuration and a dynamic port, we can instead write a few lines of code like so:

You can test out our mock database by cloning the repo for the API, running npm install , and then running npm start . If you navigate to http://localhost:3000/jokes you'll see all of the jokes. Navigating to http://localhost:3000/ratings will display all the ratings.

/jokes API endpoint returns all the jokes when running the app locally

Wonderful! We can run our app’s backend locally in the browser. Now let’s get our API hosted on Heroku. First, we need to install the Heroku CLI. After that, we can log in, create the app, push it to Heroku, and open the new app in our browser in four easy steps:

# log in to your Heroku account

heroku login # create the Heroku app

heroku create dad-joke-dadabase-rest-api # deploy the code to Heroku

git push heroku master # open the Heroku app on your machine

heroku open

And look, now we have a publicly available API out on the web!
Deploying a Web App Using Heroku, Google Cloud & GitHub
By: Hien Vo
Tags: Google Cloud Platform, Deployment, Data Visualization, Tutorial, Heroku

Why These Tools?

GitHub: I wanted to keep my codes all on GitHub. I didn’t want to have multiple locations where I stored different projects for several reasons. One, it’s messy. I didn’t want to be switching between platforms to maintain my projects. Two, I have a terrible memory. If I don’t have things in one place, chances are I’ll just forget some things ever existed.

Google Cloud: That’s where I got my data. To build an application that requires little maintenance and remains up-to-date, I knew I needed something that allows me to query data from there as needed. Also, the data is massive! It’s enough to give pandas trouble just to load it, so it’s not practical to store the data on GitHub.

Heroku: I think I could have stuck with Google Cloud and used their App Engine. Maybe. I haven’t looked into it in-depth enough to tell for sure. It required me to put a credit card down, so I stopped. I’m not rich enough to comfortably let companies hold my credit card hostage just yet. Also, I have prior experience with deploying apps using GitHub & Heroku. Honestly, Heroku has a much more user-friendly interface than Google Cloud services to me.
Build and Deploy a Web Application With React and Node.js+Express
By: Leandro Ercoli
Tags: React, API, Expressjs, Nodejs, Heroku

Back end

First, we will start by building the back end of the application. Download and install the latest version of Node.js. Create a new folder for this project and open a terminal window inside it. Run npm init to quickly create a package.json file, where we will list all the dependencies and their versions, as well as other metadata. This makes the project reproducible and eases collaboration between developers.

Pro tip: install nodemon globally to automatically restart the server on each file change.

We will also install some packages before starting to write code. Express is a framework built on top of Node.js, that simplifies its API and allows us to smoothly add middleware, routing and request handlers. Cors will deal with Cross-Origin Resource Sharing configuration. Dotenv enables us to separate secrets (like port numbers, credentials or tokens) from source code, storing this information in a .env file that should not be committed on git. Express-validator is a wrapper for validator.js that facilitates input sanitization and validation.

npm i express cors dotenv express-validator

The entry point file to the back end of the application (set by property main in the package.json file) will initialize a server and listen for connections on the specified port. We should also add all middleware functions and bind routes to controllers when the server is launched.

Entry point file

models/server.js

routes/auth.js

We will sanitize and validate input data through middleware functions on the request handler and, if no errors occur, send this values to the corresponding controller function. To keep this guide simple, the login controller will only allow the user to log in if the password entered is “1234”. Ideally, this information would be matched to a database entry.

controllers/auth.js

This should be enough to log in and redirect the user to the homepage. We will check if there’s a token saved on the browser each time the application loads.
Deploying a Vue.js App to Heroku
By: Marouen Helali
Tags: Web Development, Programming, JavaScript, Vue, Heroku

Deploying a Vue.js App to Heroku

Image by Marouen Helali

Prerequisites:

To get started, use the Vue CLI to generate a new Vue app:

vue create <app-name>

If prompted for preset by the CLI, choose default.

cd <app-name>

Now that you are in your new project directory, let’s try to run this app to make sure everything is working as expected. But first, I like to run my web apps uniformly using npm start , and so does Heroku. Sadly, when initializing a Vue app, the start command is different ( npm run serve ). Let’s quickly change that. In your project folder, open the package.json file.

The curly braces block contained in scripts indicates the aliases for the commands to their right. Simply replace serve by start. You should end up with something like this:

{ "name": "vue-heroku", "version": "0.1.0", "private": true, "scripts": { "start": "vue-cli-service serve", "build": "vue-cli-service build", "lint": "vue-cli-service lint" }, .

.

. }

Let’s give it a shot by going back to the terminal and running:

npm start

Navigate to http://localhost:8080 and you should see the Vue-generated app.

Next, our Vue app is a simple front-end-only app. We can either serve it through a server, or we can serve the build files statically. Let’s go with the second option, which is much less cumbersome.

All that’s required to do is to add one file to our project and one buildpack to Heroku. Create a file called static.json in the root of your project repo. Add this content to it (official source):

{

"root": "dist",

"clean_urls": true,

"routes": {

"/**": "index.html"

}

}

At this point, we are done editing our project. We can go ahead and commit our changes to Git by doing:

git add . && git commit -m "Heroku config"

Let’s create a production build:

npm run build

Finally, here comes Heroku. Assuming you have the Heroku CLI, run:

heroku login

Press any key, and this will pull up a browser window for you to login:

We are ready to create a new Heroku app using the CLI. Run:

heroku create

A very important step is to run these two commands:

This will allow Heroku to serve our app as a static app.

Now we can finally execute the deploy command:

git push heroku master

Navigate to the remote URL and you should see your Vue app.

Here is mine. You will also find your deployed app in the Heroku dashboard, which contains a lot of useful information if you would like to explore more. Here is what my dashboard looks like for reference:

Here is a link to the Github repo that contains the Vue app that was used for this article, along with all the modifications.

Thank you for visiting, and keep on reading!
Very useful Enigma.js and Qlik Core Cheatsheet, live
By: Zhu Wuzhong
Tags: Qlik, Data Science, JavaScript, Data Visualization, Heroku

It has been a year and Qlik Core is good. In fact, it is great

A few days ago, I realised that my usage of Qlik Sense has drastically reduced since Qlik Core was released. Core has been out for about a year now, and for the past 6 months the only times I’ve opened Qlik Sense is for testing if a load script would work in my Qlik Core app.

Core is a good product. It is light weight, Unix compatible, dockerised, free for development, and easy to setup. Using Core is nothing like building a mashup with mashup editor, Core is an engine. If you expect Core to be a UNIX based BI tool or a data warehouse, you will get frustrated, or at least I did. But that was my fault. I did not understand what a data engine is, but actually, no one did. There was no such thing as data engine before Core. Before I share the cheat sheet, I want to give you the secret receipt of using Core.

Produce and test QVD in Qlik Sense and use Core to load it to your frontend app.

It is clean. The red dotted square is the actual production server. It is scalable and platform independent; a small instance on AWS with 1CPU 1GB RAM and 1 GB is sufficient. With a data engine, the actual web server and data management portion is separated completely, hence achieving a well defined, clean system that is state of the art.

Even though Core supports connection to multiple data sources, the loading and debugging part can be challenging. It is doable, but can be harder than Dark Souls. To make your life easier, I would encourage you to connect and compress your data into QVDs as well to keep the production server as light as possible.

In addition, with Picasso.js and future Nebula.js(Experimental, stay tuned) completing Qlik Core’s front-end visualisation capability, Qlik Core is great to use.

The cheat Sheet

As an old developer, my memory is just a little bit better than a goldfish. When I need to use some code that I have written before and will use frequently, I put it into a collection for future reference as my personal developer cheat sheet. To help other developers to use Qlik Core and Enigma (Enigma is the front-end library to communicate with Core), or learn about them, I would like to share this cheat sheet. The Core instance is on AWS, feel free to fork it and use it as a sand box environment. Happy coding, have fun!

Connect to Engine

List all apps

Opening an App

Opening a session App

Open a session app from existing app

Objects

Access objects

Hypercube

Create session Hypercube

Other useful materials:

Heroku Samples

Qlik dev samples:

Last but not least.

*This is a on-going project. Stuck somewhere? Feel free to leave a comment. I may include it in future.
Connect/Pointing Heroku App with Google Domain
Tags: Web Development, Domains, Django, Google, Heroku

Stacker | May 19, 2020, 10:48 a.m.

Hmmm. Sound good, Want to connect your custom Heroku app with google domain, So follow below instruction to start.

Requirements For Pointing Heroku app with google domain:

1. Heroku App

2. Your own Google Domain

I hope you have both, Now follow these steps to start:

Step 1: Heroku

1. Open Heroku Website

2. Go to your app

3. Navigate to the app’s settings

4. (Scroll Down) Click on “Add Custom Domain”

5. Type in your domain name including the www. prefix (Ex: www.bloggystacker.com )

6. Take note of the DNS Target created to the right. (Or just leave the tab open)

Step 2 Google Domains:

1. Open Google Domain

2. Navigate To DNS

3. (Scroll Down) synthetic records

4. Make sure subdomain forward is selected, the type “@” in the subdomain (Just the at symbol)

5. Select “Permanent Redirect (301)” and “Forward Path”. Leave SSL Disabled

6. Then type in your domain you want to forward to (www included) (Ex. www.bloggystacker.com)

7. Click on Add

8. (Scroll down) to Custom Resource Records

9. In the first blank box — type: www

10. Next select “CNAME” for the record type

11. Add your DNS address from Heroku into the DNS Target

12. Click on Add

Now Open your browser, Your Heroku app should now be live at your custom domain — Might take a few minutes

Thanks For Reading!