He truly was the grand master
Check out the joints of Grandmaster Flash and hear why he’s in the R&R Hall of Fame
Anthony Augustine


Grandmaster Flash — White Lines—tinyurl.com/y4tajl — Along with R.E.M., Patti Smith and Van Halen, Grandmaster Flash was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Considered part of the first wave of hip hop, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Kid Creole, Cowboy, Melle Mel, Mr. Ness, Raheim) were innovators behind the mic, and GF also broke new ground with his party-rocking DJ style. While the legendary DJ and his cohorts set the tone for the first era of hip hop with their socially aware lyrics and tales of the street, it’s difficult to see their influence in the current bling-dominated world of urban music. It’s obvious that the group influenced legions of DJs and acts such as Public Enemy and The Coup, and it also helped shape the four pillars of hip hop, but compare this stuff to any mainstream rap group’s tales of fast cars, champagne and cash and it’s easy to see that hip hop has gotten off track.

Transmission 3000—www.transmission3000.com — Considering Transmission 3000 has exclusive live sets from such acts as At the Drive-in, Minus the Bear, Drive like Jehu and Slint, you might have a hard time narrowing down what you should download and what you should leave on the site. Or you could just do what I did and grab everything. Some highlights include Hot Snakes in San Francisco in 2002, Shellac performing at All Tomorrow’s Parties and two live Fugazi sets from the mid-’90s.

Refund Please— www.refundplease.com — If you buy a lot of stuff online (especially from major sites), you may want to think about registering those purchases at Refund Please. Using a simple tracking system that will alert you to a price change on an item you’ve bought within a certain timeframe, Refund Please will help you get back any cash that may be yours. A few bucks off may not be a big deal, but if you’re using the web for major purchases such as a TV or stereo system the few seconds it takes to register are probably worth it.

You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice— youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/ — Throughout history, artists, inventors and musicians have had to deal with other people lifting their work and calling it their own. While it’s one thing to be inspired by a piece of music or art, it’s another thing to rip off something and claim it as your own. You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice exposes companies and artists who have crossed the line.

Golden Tomato Awards— tinyurl.com/y4b2q8 — Movie mega-site Rotten Tomatoes has finally issued its annual Golden Tomato Awards, which recognize the best-reviewed films on the site. While you’ll have to check Rotten Tomatoes to see which movie got top honours, I will tell you that Basic Instinct 2 with Sharon Stone received the award for the worst-reviewed movie of the year. That’s quite a feat considering some of the crappy flicks that came out in ’07.

Anthony Augustine is a freelance music, technology and pop culture writer. He can be heard every Tuesday morning at 9:00am on Hot 103 discussing the web. Got a site you think he should see? E-mail him at anthony.alloneword@gmail.com.