KUNG PAO & DONUTS

This year, by supernatural coincidence, National Donut Day came in the same week as the release of the NU SHOOZ latest album, Kung Pao Kitchen. We feel that this harmonic convergence deserves some quiet reflection…

TODAY’S MEDITATION:
What does the latest Nu Shooz release, Kung Pao Kitchen, have in common with a donut?

 For starters, both have a hole in the center. While we could go deep into the meaning of that Negative Space, it’s the part we can see where the richness lies. This richness can only be experienced directly. Bite into the donut. Dive into the music.

Only then is the true flavor to be revealed.

Both the donut and Kung Pao Kitchen contain mood-enhancing qualities. Who can stay in a bad mood when biting into a fresh Maple Bar or a classic Old-Fashioned? And who can resist the pleasing thump and bleat of 80s-heavy Nu Shooz beats?

Of course, there are differences. We don’t recommend dipping the album in coffee, and we don’t recommend putting a donut into your CD player. But Nu Shooz music and fresh donuts share one more important trait: Both are common pleasures that make us glad to be alive.

And both are worthy subjects for meditation.

Don't Push The River: Movement Is Life

The continuing saga of Kung Pao Kitchen.

The I-Ching says this:

"IT FURTHERS ONE TO CROSS THE GREAT WATER."

What does that mean?

It means that movement is life.

We try things. We succeed. We fail. And all our endeavors further us in some way.

Thirty million years ago we were writing songs for the fifth Nu Shooz album. It was a struggle. The label hated everything we handed in. We began to doubt ourselves. But I’m proud to say we didn’t stop.

Movement is life, and by moving, we know we’re alive.

Sink or swim, baby.

Sometimes the river fights back. Strong currents want to drown us. If we struggle, we only get tired. (There’s truth in the metaphor I’m beating to death here.)

We worked hard on the songs. I suppose I could use something about rowing against the current. In the end, the label decided to shelve the record.

So now it’s now.

We dusted off the tapes and hey, they’re pretty cool. We spent the next four months scraping them into little sandcastles, adding stuff, taking stuff out. It’s obsessive work…fun work.

"The album will be done in five more days!" Then…Blamp!

The computer is dead.

This is not just a computer. It’s a Mac Pro with a Pro-Tools HDIII system running the new Version 9 software. Only guys with really thick glasses know how to make this thing go.

"Don’t worry, no data was lost."

While this is going on, we received news that a key member of the band was diagnosed with cancer.

This put everything in a different light. Sometimes it feels ridiculous to work on music in the face of grim reality. And then...sometimes it feels like the only thing left to do.

Keep on moving.

The computer is running again.

The cancer has been stared directly in the eye. The Doctor said, “You’ll have to find something else to die of.”

Yesterday we opened up the recovered Kung Pao Kitchen tracks and listened to them. Valerie said she thought horns would be good on one of the songs. After she said that, other songs sprouted horns. It’s like the whole record went from three dimensions to four! Nothing was lost.

While we were busy fighting the tides, they were changing us, and changing the landscape around us. The roiling waters changed us in ways we couldn’t guess.

It’s going to be a great record, a different record.

We try things. We succeed. We fail.

And all our endeavors further us in some way.

Movement is life.

- JRS

9/1/11