what's your bank account say? Oh, that's all?

underrated

you're just a freak... like me

Three good things about the weekend.

1. Had a show at Second City that went really well.

2. Finally got to listen to the new Joe Budden today, Mood Muzik 3. It's really good. Hova lost when he never put Budden's sophomore record out, subsequently letting Joe out of his deal. Man's mad talented.

3. The Batman trailer hit the internet today, in HD (peep the picture). I'm so excited for this movie. Summer is just too far away.

Back on my grizzle like a bear skin rug

The Cool dropped the other day. It's streaming on MTV's website I think, so you can listen there if you don't have the means of getting the retail version before it hits stores.

When it comes to Lupe I've always been rooting for dude I guess. He's different than most rappers and he wants you to know that. He's a nerd basically, anime, skateboards, stuff Project Pat ain't messing with ya know. His flow is unique and he can ride a beat well.
When Food and Liquor was coming out a version leaked that Lupe ended up scrapping. That version is held above the eventual retail copy by most listeners (yours truly included). The retail had a Hova guest spot and the dude from Linkin Park. It just didn't have the soul(for lack of a better term) that the scrapped version had.
Now he's back with The Cool. It drops after the whole Fiascogate that went down earlier this year when Lupe flubbed a few lines in a Tribe verse he performed at Hip Hop Honors (it wasn't even that serious). That incident was blogged about to death. When it comes down to it, I don't really care if he doesn't have all of Midnight Marauders or De La Soul is Dead memorized, as long as he's putting out quality rap music.
The Cool IS quality. He keeps all the beats in-house (I think) and after the first few cursory listens I don't think that's a bad choice. I'd rather hear him over a FNF producer than say Jazze Pha.
Lyrically Lupe is on point, as usual. He raps about the usual money and hood life, but hearing him spout off about these things still feels different than your everyday emcee. I think his wordplay comes off as an almost breath of fresh air because of the things that interest him (Japanese culture, skating, etc...).
The Cool is by no means a classic or better than, say the releases from this year from the likes of Hov, Little Brother (never thought I'd type that), Ghostface and The Wu, but it's entirely enjoyable and will get repeated listens.
After having a day or so with The Cool I feel more confident about purchasing it than I did when I put down my hard earned money for Food and Liquor.

I could be wealthy. With nothing to stop me.

New Hot Chip hit the internets this week. I was glad to get this after I feel like I've been listening to nothing but hip hop for the past couple of weeks, save for Mountain Goats- Tallahassee on my way to Carbondale last weekend. I wish my fictional gf would fictionally dump me so I could listen to that record for a month straight.
Hot Chip- Made in the Dark. I wasn't even looking for this record to pop up because it doesn't come out until February I'm pretty sure. I was a big fan of their last one and had pretty serious expectations for new work from the band.
Made in the Dark is a bunch of fun. Shake A Fist was one of the first tracks to leak and is one of the highlights.
After the first couple of listens I think the second half of the album is stronger than the first. The first half seems to follow the blueprint for Over and Over from the last record, whereas the second half has more of the ballad-esque work that they do really well.
It will take a little more time with this release for me to make a concrete decision about how well it stacks up to the rest of their catalog.

Is there a ghost

I slept on this record and I shouldn't have. It's nearly as good as their debut. One of the finest indie rock records to come out this year. It's a shame critics seem to be ignoring it.

I'm A West Coast Vet

DOGG POUND- They Don't Want It

This new track has been floating around the internets for a couple of days. It's hotter than I expected. Kurupt is mad underrated, that joint album he put out with J. Wells had some serious bangers on it too. Hopefully dudes come this hard on a full album.

Fifty grand on Windex kid

Nothing out of the ordinary here. Ghost spits fire over soul beats. I wasn't mad anticipating this one, since it hasn't been too long since Fishscale, but it's not getting deleted off the harddrive anytime soon. Definitely grab it.

I wonder if there a Heaven up there for real Gs

http://www.hhnlive.com/news/more/2070
http://brandonsoderberg.blogspot.com/2007/12/pimp-c-1973-2007.html

A huge loss today for the hip hop community and music in general.

RIP PIMP C

Bein' poor is a disease. Gotta hustle up a cure.

Before I tackle my albums list, here's a bunch of my favorite songs from this year. If any look appetizing, let me know and I'll send 'em your way

Akon feat. Kardinal Offishal- Graveyard
Amerie- Take Control
Andrew Bird- Imitosis
Andrew Osenga- Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates
Animal Collective- Peacebone
Arcade Fire- (Antichrist Television Blues)
B.G.- For a Minute feat. TI
B.O.B.- Haterz Everywhere (Remix) feat. Juvenile & Rick Ross
Beanie Sigel- Rain feat. Scarface
Big Kuntry King- Porsche It Out feat. Young Dro & Slick Pulla
Bloc Party- I Still Remember
Bonnie Prince Billy- I'm Loving the Street
Calvin Harris- Acceptable in the 80's
Cam'ron- Just Us
Cassidy- My Drink & My 2 Step
Chamillionare- Won't Let You Down (Texas Takeover Remix) feat. Slim Thug, 'Lil Keke, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Bun B, Pimp C, Trae, Z-Ro
Chris Brown- Hold Up feat. Big Boi
The Cool Kids- Black Mags
Crime Mob- Circles
CRS (Kanye, Lupe & Pharrel)- Us Placers
David Banner- So Special
Devin The Dude- Lil' Girl Gone feat. Lil' Wayne & Bun B
Dizzee Rascal- Where Da G's feat. UGK
DJ Drama- Da Art of Storytellin Part 4 feat. Outkast
DJ Khaled- We Takin' Over feat. TI, Akon, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Baby & Fat Joe
Dolla- Who The Fuck Is That? feat. T-Pain & Akon
Dr. Dog- Weekend
The Dream- Shawty Is Da Shit
Dwight Yoakam- My Heart Skips A Beat
El-P- EMG
Fabolous- Joke's On You feat. Pusha T
Famlay- No Time 4 Nos
Feist- Brandy Alexander
Field Music- A House is Not a Home
Flo-Rida- Low feat. T-Pain
The Forms- Alpha
Freeway- When They Remember
Ghostface Killah- Yolanda's House feat. Raekwon & Method Man
Gorilla Zoe- Money Up
Grinderman- No Pussy Blues
Grit Boys- Ghetto Reality
Hi-Tek- Where It Started feat. Jadakiss, Raekwon, Talib Kweli & Papoose
Hot Chip- My Piano
I-15- Lost In Love feat. Polow Da Don
Iron & Wine- Boy With A Coin
Jay-Z- American Gangster
Jens Lekman- A Postcard to Nina
Josh Ritter- The Temptation of Ada
JR Writer- We Gettin' It Baby (Remix) feat. Lil' Wayne
Justice- DVNO
Kaiser Chiefs- Ruby
Kano- Buss It Up feat. Vybz Kartel
Kanye West- The Glory
Kanye West- Can't Tell Me Nothin'
Klaxons- Golden Skans
Kurupt & J Wells- Get It feat. Goodie Mob & Roscoe
LCD Soundsystem- All My Friends
LCD Soundsystem- Someone Great
Lil' Wayne- Gossip (Live at the BET Awards)
Lil' Wayne- I Feel Like I'm Dyin'
Lil' Wayne- Something You Forgot
Little Brother- Breakin' My Heart feat. Lil' Wayne
Ludacris- Down In Da Dirty feat. Rick Ross & Bun B
MIA- Paper Planes (Remix) feat. Bun B & Rich Boy
Maximo Park- Russian Literature
Mickey Factz- Talk Yo Shit
Miranda Lambert- Desperation
Modest Mouse- Dashboard
The National- Fake Empire
The New Pornographers- All The Old Showstoppers
Okkervil River- Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe
Panda Bear- Comfy in Nautica
Playaz Circle- Duffle Bag Boy feat. Lil' Wayne
Plies- Runnin' My Mama Crazy
Prodigy- Mac 10 Handle
Project Pat- Talkin' Smart feat. Pimp C
R. Kelly- Real Talk
R. Kelly- I'm A Flirt (Remix) feat. TI & T-Pain
Rich Boy- Let's Get This Paper
Rick Ross- Speedin' feat. R. Kelly
Rihanna- Breakin' Dishes
Rocky Votolato- Before You Were Born
Ryan Adams- Two
Ryan Bingham- Southside of Heaven
Saigon- Pain In My Life (Remix) feat. The Game & B.G.
Scarface- Boy Meets Girl
Spoon- You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Swizz Beats- It's Me Bitches (Remix) feat. R. Kelly, Lil' Wayne & Jadakiss
T-Pain- Bartender feat. Akon
TI- Tell 'em I Said That
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists- Bottle Of Buckie
The Thrills- The Midnight Choir
Timbaland- Way I Are feat. Kerri Hilson
Trap Starz- Get It Big
UGK- International Players Anthem feat. Outkast
Vampire Weekend- Walcott
The White Stripes- You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
Wilco- What Light
Wu Tang Clan- Wolves feat. George Clinton
Yeasayer- Wait For the Summer
Young Buck- Get Buck
Young Jeezy- Straight Out the 'rarri feat. Rick ross

can't understand it? it's a thug thing

Meth is back baby. His verses on the new Wu and his bars on Ghost's new one are exceptional. It's wonderful to hear him hungry after years of mediocrity. He did hold it down as Cheese on The Wire though.

you talk about that bread, but ya bread ain't buttered

so gully


Who knew that 2007 would be the year that The Roc returned? Kanye releases the biggest album of the year, Hov comes back strong after last year's album which shall not be discussed and Freeway's much anticipated sophomore effort (I have to post on this later) has been circulating on the internet for a bit now. I mean, even Bleek has had some new tracks leaking out, I didn't know Jay still let him put rhymes to tape. I have this image in my head of Hovie coming out of the booth or watching Beans tear through some bars and then letting Bleek have like five minutes of fun time in the booth, pretending to be a rapper.
Then there's Beanie Sigel. He's Free's mentor, he stood behind Jay after Dame and Cam'ron jumped ship (while still letting his unhappiness with Hov be felt) and he has been dropping verses for years, the best ones have always been when he's on that nervous/introspective/nostalgia tip.
Beans' last record, The B. Coming came out my senior year of high school to some pretty heavy critical praise. My feeling's on that album haven't changed much. It's half Beanie playing to his strengths and half a record of the man trying to catch a hit. He's never had that top 40 hit and that's the man's problem. He still wants it.
One of my favorite things about the new Freeway album is that he veers away from the club bangers for the most part and keeps things pretty gutter, which is where he sounds best.
Not that I want to blast Beans for wanting that commercial appeal but dude is not exactly going to be going up on any girl's wall sometime soon. His flow on The Solution has crept even closer to that of Scarface (who drops by for his usual solid bars) and Scar's style has not exactly translated into commercial rap success.
My favorite Beans track is still probably, Feel It in the Air, from The B. Coming. After my initial listens to The Solution there isn't a track that's touching that one's greatness. Feel It was about as paranoid as rap gets aside from Mind Playin' Tricks (my favorite rap song) and The Solution just feels kind of cookie cutter for Beanie. He does a good deal of boasting how he's not to be messed with, smokes good weed, drinks Patron (Diddy's even on the Patron song) and guns, the usual rap game fare.
You could definitely do worse than The Solution so far this year concerning rap releases, but Beans is better than this. I can't wait until he drops a classic, but for now I'll just pick and choose the bright spots from his releases.

Also, James Blunt is sampled on a track, at least I hope he's sampled and didn't actually provide the vocals. The Broad Street Bully and that wiener in the same room is worse than hip hop's infatuation with John Mayer.

Having a Party

After the Springsteen Live Box Set, this is my favorite live album.
It's so much fun. Whenever I put it on I can't help but get in a good mood.

i yelled to the cabbie, "yo homes, smell ya later."

This flick was pretty okay. I was in Blockbuster the other day and nothing really grabbed me, so I picked this one up based on Cheadle and Ejiofor alone. Cheadle is solid as always, come a long ways from being Will's friend "Ice-Tray." You know that though, I was just thinking about that episode today. A google search told me the ep was titled, "Homeboy, Sweet Homeboy."

Chiwetel Ejiofor starts alongside Cheadle here and outshines him I felt. He's probably my favorite actor right now. It's good to see him getting some shine, his role in American Gangster will hopefully lead to some recognition.

flow sicka than a third floor in hospitals

I had the itunes on shuffle tonight after I got off work and Earthquake popped up. I decided to start The Carter from the beginning. I'm just about the end and I had forgot how much I really used to love this record. It was right before I left for my freshman year of college, so late summer '05. I'm pretty sure it came out earlier that year or even in '04, Go DJ had been out for awhile, but I just slept on it, more worried about Juelz mixtapes and Purple Haze at the time I think.
Listening to it just brought me back to that first semester and the highs and lows that came with it. I'm certain there were multiple albums I listened to more than this one, but some serious nostalgia was creeping in.
Weezy hadn't slipped into his drug addled flow that has accumulated on mixtapes over the past two years, and these Mannie Fresh and Jazze beats are a perfect home to the serious swagger that has only grown since this record's release.
It was also home to this much talked about line...
"Best rapper alive, since the best rapper retired."

Jay's back, but Wayne's got the crown.

head bussa

I've been neglecting new posts.
I'm going to try not to.

I saw Elvis Costello open for Bob Dylan a couple of weekends ago.
Costello played a strictly acoustic solo set. He sounded wonderful. He was funny between songs and his vocals were on point.

Dylan is old. His voice is cracked and grinds along the same vocal plane for every song. It was still Bob Dylan and definitely an event. He played for nearly two hours, a good mix of newer material and classics. His backing band was amazing. They were so tight, it sounded like you were listening to a studio recording. Someone told me the bassist was in G.E. Smith's band during their run on SNL back in the day. Glad he turned out better than G.E.

The next night I saw Springsteen. For those who know me, know my affinity for the man and his catalog. I've grown up hearing stories from my dad about seeing him throughout the eighties and his near four hour concerts and their complete awesomeness. Well he's a bit older now, the Boss and my dad, but he played close to three hours and he still brings it. A good deal of the new record was played and he brought it on the classics. Man, just thinking about this night is getting me excited. Hearing Born to Run in a sold out arena with thousands screaming the lyrics was one of the greatest things I've ever experienced.

I'm seeing Trail of Dead tomorrow night and hopefully The Mountain Goats on Wednesday, and it won't take me two weeks to post about these shows, I hope.

why won't you just tell me what's goin' on?

I really love this record.
Almost every song is perfect.
I'm tired, hopefully I can find a MASH rerun on before I get to bed.

rock n roll,

Luke

with nobody in your bed, the night's hard to get through

Gettin' my emo on and it feels so good. I've really been enjoying this record in all seriousness. I grabbed it when i came out last year based on some reviews and I listened maybe once and didn't come back. I put it on the other day when it was kind of crappy out and it sounded great. Pretty dark lyrically and they do the soft-scream-soft emo thing wonderfully. I hesitate to even throw them in with the rest of the Myspace/scene music because there just seems to be more substance here.

I'll throw up a post on my concert experiences from this past weekend soon.

Tony Starks just won a Oscar y'all

That bird on his wrist is worth more than four of my paychecks.


"Celebrate"

First track to hit off Ghost's December 4th release, Big Dough Rehab. It features Kid Capri and samples the Rare Earth track. It's as dope as you'd assume. Ghost rips through the jam spitting bars about, you guessed it, celebrating. Celebrating at parties, with women, things of that nature. I'm stoked for this one man, UGK was the only other hip hop release this year I was as excited for and December 4th is bringing Ghost's and the new WU, which is, by all accounts, as grimy as ever.

After the new Ghostface popped up on the internets this morning I put The Pretty Toney album in the car for my ride to and from class. I don't think this release gets as much shine as it deserves. There's basically no filler (minus some of the skits, Ghost loves his skits). Get familiar if you don't have this one.

I'm seeing Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello tomorrow night and Sunday night I'll be basking in the awesomeness that is Bruce Springsteen. Posts to come in a couple of days.

Also, I wonder how Curtis feels about Radiohead outselling him in their first week. I don't even think the announcement of a new G-Unit album can help save his sorry azz.

I ain't disrespeccin' you son

A certain special someone leaked the new Little Brother album. If you got it from Smoking Section you know what I'm talking about (read the tags). I haven't even listened to three songs but I know it will be solid. I just hopped on to post because I think at the end of the first track, Sirens, they sample a convo from Season 4 of The Wire. I could be totally wrong but it sounds like Marlo. I would think I'd have seen some posts about something like that by now so I might be way off.
I'd like to get more in depth on this release and the new Radiohead. Hopefully I'll get around to that before the weekend is gone. Stay classy.

rock n roll,

Luke

unhappy anniversary, it's ten years since we met

I've been gone for way too long. I've had school stuff and applying to real college and serious life things like those. I've gotten some new tunes and seen some good movies, along with some good new TV starting up. I'm at no shortage of things to post about and hopefully I'll be getting around to that soon.





Right now I just want to share about a criminally overlooked singer/songwriter. Loudon Wainwright's been doing it for years and he's truly great. His songs range from hillarity to tear jerking all in the scope of an album. He has a large enough catalog that I've had no shortage of hearing things from him that are new to me over the past few weeks. A few months ago I got a greatest hits and liked it well enough, but decided to dig a bit deeper after I bought the Knocked Up special edition and there were some live videos of Wainwright doing his thing. So, besides being one helluva artist he's also an Apatow standby which gets huge points in my book. He was the gynecologist they end up picking who's at the barmitzvah when Heigl goes into labor. He was also in Apatow's series, Undeclared, as a father and was real funny. Check him out.

rock n roll,

Luke

buy any jeans necessary

Snubbed for Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
James Spader? People really watch Boston Legal? I didn't know he kept working past 1988.

Sing me no hymns when I get home

Most of my posts have been music related recently, so I thought I'd share one on some television that's getting some of my attention recently.
This summer really didn't provide anything worthwhile, Entourage has fallen off hard, I watched maybe two eps of Rescue Me and Flight of the Concords was pretty funny for the most part. I watched The Wire Season 3 for the second time through but that was basically the only show with regularity and that was on DVD.
For the past couple of weeks I've been watching the first season of Friday Night Lights most nights before I hit the sack. This is truely a wonderful show and I'm so excited that the higher-ups at NBC thought it warranted a second season.
I watched a few eps while it was running last year but never in succession, so I was never really drawn in. Since the first season was released on DVD a few weeks ago I've been hooked.
FNL is one of the best, if not the best drama on network television. They encapsulate the feeling of high school football wonderfully. This is coming from a former player, in central Illinois, so I can't say I'm familiar with Texas high school football, so take that with a grain of salt.
The acting in this program is superb. The kids especially are top notch. For the most part they actually look like they're in high school as opposed to Dawson's Creek or something. Along with the acting, the writing can be funny and tear-inducing at the same time. I hate to throw around a word like "real" but I think it's a perfect descriptor for the show's story lines.
The second season will be shown on Friday nights this season, so that just means I'll be staying in a bit later to start off the weekend.

doin' pretty hood in my pink polo

"At the grammy's I went ultra-Travolta. Yeah the tuxedo mighta been a little Guido, but with my ego? I could stand there in a speedo and still be looked at like a fuckin' hero."


Kanye's Graduation has been making the rounds on the internets for a while now, but I wanted to let the album digest before I threw up a post about it. I haven't really listened to anything too much since this leaked (minus the new Springsteen which hit last night, more on that to come) and this is my favorite rap album of the year. It's also one of my favorite albums overall.
I know I'm in the minority in saying that Late Registration did not grab me as much as other people. I felt it was Kanye trying to fit too much into one album. What he had Job Brion do was commendable and I respect that 'Ye was doing something different than anyone else, but the strings and songs like Hey Mama and Celebration were a bit much for me to take.
Ever since Through the Wire dropped I was checking for West and College Dropout was and still is one of my favorite rap albums. Graduation is full of huge synths and Kanye's even larger ego. A great portion of the album is him addressing "haters" and fashion and women.
The production is something serious here. As I just said, the synths on these tracks are not too be messed with. He's almost abandoned the chipmunk soul that he built his name upon, only showing up on one highlight, The Glory. The T-Pain assissted track, The Good Life, should have been one of the first singles. It's feel good nature is just screaming for summer jam status, but will just have to settle for being blasted in night spots and parties this fall and winter.
A lot has been made of the album's closer, Big Brother. It's West's homage to Big Homey and is interesting just for the fact that it's this guy who's ego is so incredibly big right now, but he's still in somewhat of an awe of Jay, "J-A-Y and 'Ye so shy." He also mentions how he told Hov about having a song with "Coldplay" then "next thing I know he got a song with Coldplay." Well, rest assured Kanye, your Chris Martin assissted track takes Jay's Beach Chair to task.
The Chris Martin track on Graduation, Homecoming, is the reinvention of one of West's best non-album tracks, Home. I always loved the original of this record. Kanye went in and rerecorded the vocals and I'm assuming Martin dropped the piano in on it. While it is kind of unusual for Kanye to take a track that's been around since before College Dropout, he couldn't have picked a better one and I'm not complaining about how it turned out.
One beef I have with the record is the lack of guest spots on the album. While I'm a bigger fan of West's skills on the mic than most other people who will write on him, his other records always benefitted from great drop-ins. On Dropout he had Mos Def and Freeway spit hard and Cam'ron's verse on Gone from Registration are a few of the man's best bars for the past couple of years. Wayne's verse here, on Barry Bonds, is alright, but his half-assed drug addled verse feels a bit out of place on such a focused piece of work (the beat is a monster however).
It is yet to be seen if Kanye will outsell Fiddy on the 11th, but this is one dude that will be supporting The Louis Vuitton Don and not shedding a tear if Curtis actually does retire when he's outsold on Tuesday.

we smirked at the Simpson trial

Made a mix last week for the first time in ages.




Sam Cooke- Having a Party
Swizz Beats- It's Me Bitches (Remix) feat. Lil' Wayne and R. Kelly
David Banner- So Special
Kanye West- Barry Bonds feat. Lil' Wayne
Akon- 6 In the Mornin' feat. Kardinal Offishal and Pharrel
B.G.- Hustle feat. Young Jeezy
Gorilla Zoe- Hood N***a (remix) feat. Young Jeezy, Big Boi and Trae
Plies- You
UGK- Still Ridin' Dirty feat. Scarface
T.I.- Tell 'em I Said That
Roscoe- Smooth Sailin'
Common- Southside feat. Kanye West
Roscoe P. Coldchain- Whut Itz All
Juvenile- The Verdict feat. Akon
Nappy Roots- Country Boyz
Clipse- Pussy
Kano- This is the Girl feat. Craig David
Flo-Rida - We Got It

Better than The Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Caught the pilot tonight. It was pretty funny and even the family dramatic scenes were well done. Hopefully the rest of this season can build off the solidity of the pilot. I need another comedy in my TV watching since Entourage is a shell of its former self. It's nice to see Duchovny again. It seems he really only ever plays the same guy. That guy is a pretty good actor though.

Life to some is un-bear-able, they tellin' on they homeboys and that's terr-i-ble

Underground Kingz is my rap album of the year so far, so do yourselves a favor and get familiar. It's home to the best rap single of the year and a slew of other classic sounding UGK tracks. Other, better writers than me have already posted about the album, Brandon Soderberg had a great write-up a week or so ago, so I won't go on and on. The album, like most double albums, would work better as one complete record, but I'd rather have two albums worth of UGK bangers than just twelve tracks. Especially if it takes so long between albums again (Pimp C's gotta stay outta lock-up obv.) Grab this!

Quit hatin' the South

Some new stills from the movie were making the rounds on the internets today but keep getting taken down, so I stuck with this first shot of The Joker that was made available. Whenever something new from the movie makes its way to my computer screen I try not to look, but I can't help it, I'm so pumped for this. Also, those new stills? Simply amazing.

Opposite of Hallelujah

I totally slept on this guy. I finished this novel in about three days over the fam's vacation this past week. Really wonderful stuff.


*gotten a lot of hip hop lately, i'll be posting about the good and bad of it soon hopefully.

Cadence Weapon is better than Of Montreal

no doubt



Sunday

Deerhunter started things off at 1. Their singer reallly creeps me out. I've read interviews with him where he denies heroin use up and down, but the dude weighs like 90 pounds and he looks pretty tall, I wanted to buy him a cheeseburger. Cryptograms is an interesting album but this wasn't the show to start the day off with, I really didn't enjoy myself all that much. The band was really into it, and the vocals sounded great however.

The Pony's played at 1:30, this was one show both of us were pretty stoked for. The band sounded great but was plagued by the only sound problems I heard all weekend. What a shame.

We took in The Junior Boys at 3. This was another group who I wasn't sure how their sound would translate to a festival setting. Well, they sounded great. Not much crowd interaction, just a great set of mostly songs from their last record (I think).

Sea & Cake at 4. Excellent show by these indie veterans. They tore through their set and sounded wonderful in the afternoon's haze of humidity.

Jamie Lidell played at 5 and looked mad crazy. I can't even really explain what he was wearing. I really enjoyed his set, even the songs not from his last record sounded pretty good. The tracks from Multiply hit hard, and Lidell crooned the pants off of thousands. While we were walking to the bathroom during this set I heard a kid in a Tool shirt say, "Man, this guy sucks ass." That's all I have to say about that matter.

I probably should have been more excited to see Stephen Malkmus but I wasn't all that pumped. He played a solo set and we lost interest kind of quick. We headed over to the side stage and caught The Cool Kids' set. These dudes are just breaking on the underground hip hop scene but they sounded real good. They played this one "miami bass" song that just beat like no one's business. I'm pumped to hear more from these dudes.

Of Montreal was next. I really can't get into these guys. I gave the new record a couple of chances, I've tried to find what people love so much about this band, but I just can't enjoy it. They were all dressed up and looked mad ridiculous. Dylan and I watched a couple of tunes but ended up heading over to the side stage again to catch Cadence Weapon straight tear up the side stage. He went on later than scheduled and played to a smaller crowd because of Of Montreal, but still sounded great and won Dylan over for sure.

The New Pornographers went on at 8 sans Neko and Dan Bejar. I probably shouldn't have expected to see them but I really had my hopes up. The band still sounded very good and played a mix of songs from their catalog. Really one of the most consistent bands operating today.

9 pm last show of the festival. DE LA SOUL!!! One of the highlights of the weekend, no doubt. Dudes are approaching 40 but still brought energy to spare and rocked a huge crowd that was more than likely not too familiar with the group. Dylan's a big fan and I'm pretty sure he had a mild seizure when they brought out Prince Paul to DJ a couple of tracks at the beginning of the show. Wonderful ending to a memorable weekend.


If you read half of these last two posts I owe you dinner or something.

We didn't stay for Yoko, but I took one of those keychain lights anyways

forget the haters, Girl Talk live shows are mad fun



Last weekend Dylan and I took in the Pitchfork Music Festival. It was a great weekend all around. Cheap tickets, dollar bottles of water, poorly dressed hipsters and great music. We waited too long and missed out on Friday night's festivities but from the sounds of it, the night wasn't as amazing as I would have thought.

Saturday

We showed up a little bit before 2pm and caught Voxtrot's set. I didn't really know what to expect from these guys, but they were really tight and put on a great show. A good mix of there full album and songs from their string of wonderful ep's. There lead singer has a weird patch of bleached hair, I really hope he didn't mean to do that.

Next up we saw Grizzly Bear who put on a very mellow set as you might assume. Their mess of electronics and broken pop music sounded great in the sunny afternoon heat.

At 4 Battles took one of the main stages. I was interested to see these guys, and how their sound would translate to a live show. It was very technical and I was entranced for about 20 minutes, but both Dylan and I grew a bit bored (I think I was starting to feel a bit dehydrated too, what a weiner).

5 o'clock, Sam Beam took the other main stage in all his bearded glory. I wasn't expecting much from an Iron & Wine set in a festival setting but as evening was approaching the sparse sounds were a wonderful accompaniement to the great weather of the day. It was the first show I saw that the crowd demanded an encore. The new songs sounded really great also.

Mastodon was up at 6, but Dylan and I stayed at the stage I & W played at to get in good position to see Clipse. I have seen Mastodon before and even from far away, they were still loud as all hell and just melting faces.

Clipse was the highlight of the day. Even in the midst of most of the people for whom Clipse is the only hip hop they listen to, it was an amazing show. Malice and Pusha T know how to work a crowd. It was such an intense hour filled set. They played a great deal of Hell Hath No Fury and peppered in some Lord Willin' cuts and mixtape tracks. One of the highlights was when they did their verses from "What Happened to That Boy." Man, I love that song. Pusha is the showman of the group, he does most of the talking throughout the set. He was calling out people who knew all the words. I like to think he pointed at me during "Pussy" but Dylan swears it was the small asian kid in front of us (Dylan sucks). They also did an encore and it was the best song from Lord Willin', "Virginia." Great song to end a great show.

We watched a bit of Cat Power, she looked marvelous but we headed over to the side stage for Girl Talk. It was already packed and we had to stand off to the side. Gillis put on such a fun show. I've read a lot of people hating on his show, just hanging around a computer and jumping around, but it was an energetic, fun way to end the night. At one point he cued up "Knife" by Grizzly Bear as members from the band joined the other fans onstage, dancing like nuts. Great moment.

We peaced on the Yoko set, I'm not mad.

summer jamz

Roll your windows down




When the Sun's out








nighttime

the accountant just gasp at the smell of it

I'm getting hit with mad tests and projects as my summer classes are winding down. In the next few days I'll be back with some of my favorite ish of the moment and a recap of Pitchfork.




Finding that power stroke and Sheets out for 4-6 makes the loss last night a bit easier to digest.

Consistency

Guess who just solidified a spot in my year end top 10

The kinda music that just soothes your soul

"What's become of soul music? It didn't die with Otis Redding; it didn't stop when Al Green quit; it didn't fade with James Brown's voice--it's been in Los Angeles the entire time, under the astute and faithful stewardship of Solomon Burke. Burke, the King of Rock & Soul, the Bishop, is a big man with an even bigger talent, a revered vocalist whose mastery is unmathced by any other proponent of the style he largely originated. Burke embodies deep soul, with a forty plus year career that's produced a series of records consistently prfound in emotional, artistic and spiritual gravity."

See ya later Scorcese on coke

he's jus a rascal

Mix I made for my weekly drive to Chicago on Tuesday

Maximo Park- Postcard of a Painting
Miranda Lambert- Desperation
Common- The People
The Long Winter- Fire Island, AK
Clipse- Hello New World
Lucero- She's Just That Kind of Girl
Animal Collective- Purple Bottle
R. Kelly feat. Keyshia Cole and Polow Da Don- Best Friend
Devin The Dude- Cutcha Up
Dr. Dre- Let Me Ride
Kanye feat. GLC and Consequence- Spaceship
Snoop Dogg- Lodi Dodi
Big Star- The India Song
Dizzee Rascal feat. UGK- Where Da G's
Fonzworth Bentley feat. Pimp C and Lil' Wayne- C.O.L.O.U.R.S.
Wilco- The Thanks I Get
Band of Horses- The Great Salt Lake
Beanie Sigel- Raw and Uncut

The news called it crack, I called it diet coke

If you haven't seen Knocked Up yet, go out this weekend and enjoy its awesomeness. If you're familiar with any of Judd Apatow's other work, then you will adore this film. The cast is perfect as usual, with many returning players from his other projects. The jokes in this movie come by so fast it's impossible to catch everything and Paul Rudd continues to be one of the funniest men alive. Reviews for the film are up all over the place, and if you're actually reading this, we're probably friends and you've seen the movie, but Apatow has made the only two comedies I've cared about in years and I can't wait until his next project.

Also, if you have never watched either of his tv shows, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, get on that. Freaks and Geeks is probably my favorite tv show of all time, which should be reason enough for you to get it next from Netflix.

'cept I'm the sexasaurus

I've never really given a R. Kelly album the time of day but I've found myself listening to mainstream pop R&B in the past year or so. I know Double Up won't be spoken of in the same breath of some other Kells albums but this one is a bunch of fun. When the tracklist for Double Up came out it peaked my interest and when this appeared on the internets the other day I grabbed it. The album isn't groundbreaking or anything but Kells is so off the wall at points, Real Talk is an exercise in the talking/singing thing he does so well, and is one of the highlights of the record. I hope people don't stay hung up on his behind the scenes sexual interests (no matter how scary they are) and can put this on over the summer, because it is begging to be played at any party you're at.

I am the streets

Pretty sure this is the pic I used to review College Dropout in my high school paper, made me think popped collars were so cool. I think a teacher called me Mike Seaver one day when I was rockin' it junior year. Then I go away to college and frat dudes in pastel polos had to go and ruin the pop.

I've listened to the new Kanye track numerous times since it hit the internets a few days ago and as much as I was expecting to be let down, I'm now legitametly pumped for the new record. I still love College Dropout and could put it on any time and still be totally in love with the whole thing. Not only is that record special to me for nostalgiac reasons but it's just a great hip hop record. Full of Kanye's bravado and ego that I now find hard to swallow, at the time of the record's realease it was fresh and exciting to hear this cat with so much promise. I know the new record won't be anything like Dropout but I'm still looking forward to hearing where he takes things.


by the way, Kells kills it on the We Takin Ova remix, puts Jeezy to shame.

Her life was magazines and faithful TV screens

I was going to do a whole post on this album but Status Ain't Hood put up a very good one the other day. It's been out for a minute on torrent sites and such and really kicks your A. She's got the perfect blend of sassiness and sexiness to make the first country radio record I've cared about in a good while.

Let's push things forward

So far, '07 has been somewhat of a slow year for hip hop releases. It's safe to say I'm pretty pumped for some upcoming projects that should see release this summer and before the end of the year.

B.G.- Back to the Future (Summer '07 on Atlantic)
B.G.'s been showing up on tracks here and there and just ripping every beat he graces wide open. It'll be nice to get a full album again of his nasally flow.

David Banner- Greatest Story Ever Told
Banner's been missing for a minute and his name has started to pop up recently after a couple of high powered leaks of new tracks. 9mm feat. Akon, Snoop and Lil' Wayne being the first and Suicide Doors feat. UGK (who's double album is coming out this month hopefully). These two tracks are hinting at one intense album, full of Banner's usual dirtiness.

T.I.- T.I. vs. TIP (July 3rd, 2007)
After the release of King last year T.I.'s next release is being crazy anticipated. Cliff Harris has been quotes as saying that the record is a battle between his two personalities. T.I. being the party/chill ladies man and TIP bringing that talk about slangin. Big Shit Poppin' is this first single. It's not What You Know, but it still beats and promises of great things to come.

Lil' Wayne- The Carter Vol. 3 (end of '07)
This is the one I'm anticipating the most. That should be no surprise to anyone who's ever read this blog. Wayne's been killing it for awhile now and Vol. 3 should be no different. The record has been pushed back a few times because Wayne's working on other projects like protege Curren$y's debut and mixtapes (and we all know Wayne's mixtapes are better than half the albums put out by rap cats these days). He's also said he's got Kanye doing some beats for the album and I'm excited to see what the pairing of the two will produce.

We like our coffee bloody!

I can count the number of Nic Cage movies I like on one hand. Bringing out the Dead is probably my favorite after Leaving Las Vegas. This is such an underrated Scorsese flick. It's dark, depressing and has Tom Sizemore at his craziest. The scene where Rhames pretends to save the kid, screaming for Jesus the whole time, is priceless.

Started recreational, ended kind of medical

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bK4Vee36M

Hovi's home

Song of the summer, 'nuff said.

Girl can we chill?

Love is in the air peoples.


(pic jacked from TSS)

Remember when Entourage was funny?

I didn't have big hopes for this second part of season 3 after the weak beginning of it last summer/fall. However, I was excited to have it coming back. Sadly, I'm thinking the show peaked during season 2. These past few episodes have lacked seriously in Johnny Drama content and he's the best part of the show. There needs to be a scaling back of Ari, because he's hillarious in small doses. Hopefully the show will strike a balance between Ari and Drama screentime. The producers and writers should know that my enjoyment rests fully on the usage of these two characters.

p.s. The Sopranos is off to a great start.

rock n roll,

Luke

You've got your life, he's got his

Remember that Kevin Spacey movie where he was having relations with one of his students? Life of David Gale or something, yeah, that movie sucked. This one's really great though. Dame Dench brings it.

The Exploding Hearts were your favorite rock band's favorite rock band

It's been awhile since I gave these guys a listen and their tunes have aged wonderfully. This must be because they're timeless songs. They play straight up, snotty rock 'n' roll. The songs aren't complex, ranging from drugs to chicks to... chicks. If you haven't heard these guys before get at me and I'll give you a proper introduction. Sadly, the band was no longer in July of 2003 after a car accident claimed the lives of three of the four members. I'm seeing Lucero tomorrow night and I'm starting to freak out. I'll post about the show this weekend.

rock 'n' roll,

Luke

She spoke softly and said, "I've been drinkin' again."

New mix time, I'll post about The Sopranos/Entourage premieres later?

The National- Apartment Story
Harry Nilsson- Many Rivers to Cross
Timbaland feat. MIA- Come Around
Andrew Osenga- Photograph
Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons- Pale Blue Dress
Bright Eyes- I Must Belong Somewhere
Hot Chip- My Piano
Clipse feat. Bilal- Nightmares
The Band- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Cam'ron- Tomorrow
Coyote Bones- Let the Burden Be Mine
Young Buck- Black Gloves
Willie, Merle, and Ray- Still Water Runs the Deepest
Nick Lowe- She's Got Soul
Miranda Lambert- Famous in a Small Town
The Beatles- Good Day Sunshine
Cash Money Millionares- Family Affair
UGK feat. Outkast- International Players Anthem

I Need a Project B

The Shield started up again last night and daggummit if it didn't start up right where it left off. Watching last night reminded me of last year when Mike and I would dominate some Rollins pizza late and watch each Tuesday. Good times, good times. Forrest Whitaker is back as the IED lieutenant trying to bring Mackey down. His character is so taken over with a personal vendetta against Vick that he can't be around much longer. This is one of the most consistent shows on tv and is really worth grabbing on DVD and starting from the beginning if you have the oppurtunity.


Rome ended a week ago and this is a show I'm sad to see go. I totally got wrapped up in the story and characters this season and it's a shame that it no longer has a home at HBO. I don't know that they could go on without Marc Antony however, he was one of the best likeable villians on TV.

rock n roll,

Luke

old souls know

So a lot of people aren't digging the new Ted Leo LP, Living With the Living. Personally I've been really getting into it. A good portion of the naysayers have been writing that the album falls short because Leo's not doing anything new or it's the same album as the last two, blah blah blah. It's a great rock album and has been getting better with each listen for yours truly.


rock n roll,


Luke

My Sweet Brotha Numpsay

Here's the mix I made for my 5-close delivering shift tonight.


Dienel

Lucero- 1979
Casey Dienel- Frankie & Annette
T.I.- Bezzle feat. 8Ball, MJG and Bun B
Bloc Party- Atonement
Common- Come Close (J Dilla Remix) feat. Q-Tip, Erykah Badu and Pharrell
Kanye West- Gone feat. Cam'ron & Consequence
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists- La Costa Brava
Maximo Park- Nosebleed
Andrew Bird- Heretics
Kings of Leon- McFearless
Warren Zevon- Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Bruce Springsteen- Prove it All Night
Field Music- A House is Not a Home
Devin The Dude- Lil' Girl Gone feat. Lil' Wayne & Bun B
Hi-Tek- Where It Started feat. Jadakiss, Papoose, Raekwon & Talib Kweli
Spoon- Sister Jack
The Ponys- 1209 Seminary
Rich Boy- Hustla Balla Gansta Mack