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With their inquisitive pop music under the name Nourished by Time, singer and producer Marcus Brown rummages through the past like an archaeologist. Since 2019, the Baltimore-raised, London-based crooner has released a series of singles exploring a wide range of 1980s touchstones including new wave, electro-funk, and R&B. On his brief 2022 release Erotic Probiotic, he condensed these influences to two tracks of brooding and fluid synth-pop that recalled Depeche Mode and the Blue Nile. A year later, they’ve taken to another ’80s staple: freestyle. The genre of roller rinks, impassioned belting, and uptempo 808 beats invigorates Brown’s once-muted approach. It’s his debut album, but he sounds reborn.
Erotic Probiotic 2 plays like a sampler of a time-warped ’80s that took place entirely in Brown’s head—and maybe extends into the present day. In these apparitional songs, Jodeci harmonies float over Paul Hardcastle synth drizzles; Larry Blackmon screams spring off of RZA drums; warped samples of podcast-era Joe Budden and ESPN’s Jay Williams melt into a shoegaze thicket. Brown likely has some personal connections to these disparate sources, but he completely sublimates those attachments into the songwriting. The result is music that is studied but uncouth, familiar but unbidden.
The freestyle credo is that anything goes—rapping, piping, scatting—as long as the rhythm doesn’t let up, and this ethos emboldens Brown to freefall through time. Single “Daddy” begins with pulsing drum programming, ascendant harmonies, and a cheery rap verse that initially evokes hip-house. But then nocturnal synths and a sour guitar melody descend, and Brown’s vocals turn forlorn for the second verse. “The dot connector/The spot corrector/I say I love you/You say whatever,” they chant on the jubilant but fretting chorus. “Dot connector” is a fitting phrase for their approach, reflecting both the vaporous subject matter and Brown’s expert weaving of styles.
This vision stands out on “The Fields.” The skittering hi-hats, snappy snares, and buoyant bassline suggest Miami bass, while the questioning vocals root the performance in freestyle. “Once or twice I prayed to Jesus/Never heard a word back in plain English/More like signs or advertisements/Telling me to keep consumerizing,” Brown sings on the bouncy hook, lost in the mixed messages of the modern world. They don’t sink into despair though; voicing his confusion pushes him to keep seeking answers.
The singing on Erotic Probiotic 2 is as homespun as the production. Brown has a liquid baritone that can percolate with ache or froth with joy, and here it does both and more. Opener “Quantum Suicide” features expressive whispers, shouts, coos, and moans that inject intimacy into the bleak subject matter. “Have you ever prayed/For your invention?” they ask. On “Soap Party,” his voice recedes into misty key melodies and propulsive drums as he confesses to being scared to make a move in a relationship. “The truth is in the sun/But there’s comfort in rain,” they sing. It’s one of many moments on the album where the exuberance of the songwriting belies feelings of inertia and indecision.
Despite the retro sounds, Brown studiously avoids nostalgia in his work, an approach that’s refreshing but comes at the expense of vulnerability. Other pop syncretists, like Sudan Archives, Moodymann, and Yves Tumor bring out the appetite and longing in their songs, each acquired curio divulging something about the collector’s urges or facilitating a grand aesthetic. Not so much with Erotic Probiotic 2. Freestyle could be Nourished by Time’s artistic roadmap, or just a passing interest. It’s a testament to these engrossing performances that, wherever they go next, they will probably sound right at home.


QUEENS, New York City (WABC) -- A 16-year-old bicyclist who was struck by a hit and run vehicle in Queens Friday has died, and authorities are searching for the driver who fled the scene.
It happened on College Point Boulevard near 18th Avenue around 9:30 p.m., where authorities say a 2019 Toyota Camry crossed a double yellow line to pass another vehicle.
He struck the victim, Darwin Durazno, head on, before turning onto 15th Avenue without stopping.
Durazno, who was with a friend getting a haircut, was found in the roadway with severe head trauma.
EMS rushed him to NYC Health & Hospitals/Jacobi, where he succumbed to his injuries on Monday, June 7.
The Toyota, a rental car, has since been recovered, but the driver has not been located.
There are no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing.
ALSO SEE | Compiled data shows the increase in the number of pedestrians killed in NYC:
Durazno immigrated from Ecuador a few years ago. and he was going to high school in Long Island City.
His stepdad say he was a happy kid looking for summer work, and the family is still in disbelief.
A GoFundMe page has been started in Durazno's name that has raised more than $6,000 so far to help cover the family's expenses.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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Eat Bioflavonoids: Bioflavonoids promote the passage of blood through the body by dilating the arteries. Says Dr Rakesh Sapra, Senior Consultant, Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon: “By increasing oxygen supply to the blood, they also help lower the risk of high blood pressure.” Apricots, pineapples, blackberries, black currants, broccoli, oranges and lemons are food that are high in bioflavonoids.
Swear off Sodas: Sodas are linked to increased heart disease risk. Says Dr Peeyush Jain, Senior Consultant, Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi: “Soda can deplete the body’s potassium content, which is needed to lower blood pressure."
Butt Out: Says Dr Sapra: “Smoking increases your risk of heart disease. Smoking leads to the build-up of plaque that clogs the blood vessels.” The remedy: quit smoking.
Get Moving: Regular physical activity makes your heart stronger. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort. Says Dr Sapra: “Go for a brisk 30-minute walk 4-5 days a week.” Get plenty of sleep. Being sleep-deprived can make your problems seem larger than they are.
Go for Garlic: Says Dr Jain: “Garlic has the power to ease the spasms of the small arteries and slow the pulse rate and modify the heart rhythm.” You can eat a single clove of garlic per day with a meal or by itself.
Watch your Weight: An obese person runs a greater risk of having high blood pressure; a person with body mass index in the acceptable range of 18-25 also diminishes his chances of a heart disease. Says Dr Jain: “Keep a closer watch on your body mass.
Copyright©2021 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today


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When Jacques Cousteau visited Sipadan, he wrote of the island and its marine life: "an untouched piece of art". Lying 5° above the Equator and resting on the summit of a long-extinct volcano, Sipadan sits in the Sulawesi Sea like a green, forested jewel, ringed by white sandy beaches. From a diving perspective it is famed for its phenomenal wall dives, healthy reefs and a rich mix of species. Its life and colours surround you and this Sipadan Dive Liveaboard trip brings you up-close with some of the most interesting marine species at one of the most beautiful marine locations on Earth.
Following the decision in 2004 to remove all resorts from the bird and marine sanctuary of Sipadan, your only chance to stay close to the island is now by dive liveaboard. To further protect and enhance the marine environment, the number of divers per day that visit Sipadan is limited and permits must be applied for in advance. Our dive liveaboard trips provide the best opportunity to secure permits and dive at Sipadan, as well providing the opportunity to dive at the neighbouring islands of Mabul and Kapalai.
Borneo's sapphire waters may reveal treasures to satisfy the most avid of divers but the best of wild Borneo is both above and below the waves. Whilst this experience has its emphasis on the sub aqua, it also combines close encounters with two of the island's most special animals: sea turtles and orangutans. On your journey, you will be able to experience first-hand one of the world's most famous wildlife rehabilitation and conservation programmes at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, where hundreds of young ex-captive or abandoned orangutans (often the victims of deforestation) are being helped by highly trained and motivated staff to readjust to a life back in the wild.
Sea turtles are found in abundance in this part of the world and as well as meeting them below the waves whilst diving around Sipadan and spotting them from your dive liveaboard, we will take you to see them laying eggs at the Selingan or 'Turtle Island' sanctuary. Here you will have the opportunity to see conservation in action and witness the transplanting of eggs to a secure hatchery and hopefully even the release of hatchling turtles into the sea.
You have the option of extending your safari with an exploration of the rich, riparian forest along one of Borneo's most majestic rivers: the Kinabatangan. The river and its surrounding rainforest wetlands make up one of the richest ecosystems on Earth and is one of only a handful of places anywhere on the planet where ten primate species coexist in one habitat. Kinabatangan is home to the largest population of Bornean orangutans in Malaysia and several other species endemic to Borneo, such as the proboscis monkey, the maroon langur and the beautiful Bornean white bearded gibbon.
The cream of Malaysian diving and among the best dive locations in the world, Sipadan is Malaysia's only volcanic island. A favourite nesting site for green turtles and the occasional hawksbill, Sipadan was made famous by renowned French oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau in his documentary 'Ghosts of the Sea Turtle'. The waters around the island usually teem with turtles so accustomed to divers that they pay little attention as they go about their daily lives. The waters of Sipadan also boast a sizeable proportion of the coral and fish species that exist within the Indo-Pacific environment.
The coral and marine life is prolific; with the Sipadan reefs inhabited by staghorn, table, plate, lettuce and boulder corals, as well as encrusting, bubble and mushroom corals. Lying among these grand hard corals are large soft corals, vase and barrel sponges and colourful giant clams. Whitetip and gray reef sharks thrive and there is a myriad of reef inhabitants including porcupine fish, pufferfish, triggerfish, unicorn fish, Moorish idols and inquisitive giant moray eels. Camouflaged leaf fish and crocodile fish can often be spotted here, too. Against gorgonian sea fans and black corals protruding from the steep drop offs, encounters with huge bumphead parrotfish are common as is the spectacular sight of schooling barracuda, forming a living wall of silvery-blue bodies. Sipadan has one of the top beach dives in the world, where five metres of sandy shallows suddenly gives way to a precipitous drop.
Mabul is located some 25 minutes north of Sipadan. In contrast to the steep drop offs, coral reefs and pelagic species of Sipadan, Mabul is renowned internationally for a very different reason. A muck diver's paradise, the waters around Mabul fill every hole in the sand and patch of coral rubble with ghost pipefish, frogfish, devil scorpionfish, stonefish, crocodile fish, flamboyant cuttlefish, cowfish and nudibranchs. Macro photographers will find great opportunities to capture some rare species that inhabit the sandy bottom of Mabul's marine environment.
Like Sipadan and Mabul, Kapalai is part of the Semporna Marine Park island group. Located around 20 minutes from Sipadan, Kapalai is another macro diving destination with all the species found at Mabul including blue-ringed octopuses, dragonets, mating mandarin fish, jawfish and cuttlefish. Other sites around Kapalai are likely to reveal humphead (Napoleon) wrasse, blue spotted ribbontail rays and even bumphead parrotfish.
Sites visited will be dependant upon weather conditions and all diving activity is at the discretion of the boat skipper and Sabah Marine Park rules prevailing at the time.
Sipadan and the Semporna group of islands are jewels in South-East Asia's rich tapestry of marine habitat - and long may they remain that way. The diversity of life within them is of global importance, but like many reefs around the world, they are under pressure. We therefore urge all divers to dive responsibly and safely, avoiding any contact with the reef.
|Photographs kindly provided by Alan Oh, SMART, Charlotte Caffrey, Ralph Pannell, Nick Bramley, Lawrence Lee, Albert Teo and PSR

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