i've tried to be tough

Tom Breihan nailed it today.
His review of the debut album from Girls hits on all the strong points of the record.
I may not be as in love as he seems to be but it is quite the strong outing. Even though "Laura" jacks the "Sweet Caroline" melody, which in turn is now stuck in my head.

dig a deep hole

Call it a guilty pleasure. Call it teen girl angst. I really don't care.
Just give me power chords and a strong female voice and I am hooked.
Paramore has these two things like Gaga has dumbed out costumes and I have been radiant since putting this thing on a couple of days ago.
It is impossible to listen to these quick pop-punk blasts without cracking a smile.
I know haters are going to hate, but whatever.
This is a super fun record and I'm jamming it for the time being.

being a threat

It seems like Jason Reitman has come into his own.
I dug on "Thank You For Smoking", much more so than "Juno". My "J" beefs had more to do with the vomit dialogue provided by Diablo Cody than JR's directing.
All of the pre-buzz on "Up in the Air" has got me quite excited. Clooney is always aces and with a cast including: Farmiga, Bateman, Galifianakis and Anna Kendrick this is a near can't miss. Vera Farmiga is an actress who is always great, but the woman never seems to get her due props. Hopefully when this comes out the movie going public will start to take notice.
Everyone, from Wells to Movieline to AICN has been falling all over this thing. The Wells praise is the most intriguing, especially his crowing this the best film of the year, even over "The Hurt Locker".
Hopefully it will make its way to southern Illinois sometime before it grabs a bunch of awards.

gangsta gibbs

Freddie Gibbs hails from Gary, Indiana. Not really known as a hip-hop hotbed, the city has produced an emcee who is demanding attention right now. His midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik mixtape is in contention for best mixtape of '09.
Gibbs can be as gutter as the rest of any up and coming rappers but he also has the streetwise spit, which harks back to UGK or Scarface or something.
Grab the album from the link above and enjoy, compliments of The Smoking Section.

99 problems and they all...

Well this one was unexpected.
The Cudi debut leaked a bit ago and I am finally giving in. The dude has been nearly under the radar after bursting onto the scene at the beginning of this year. I think this decision has given his new record a sense of mystery since he is not Tweeting non-stop or throwing up junk videos on 2DopeBoyz every day.
"Man on the Moon" works with its slowburning beats and Cudi's medium paced mumble. Themes of space and weed run throughout the album making this the perfect rainy day/chillmode evening album.
Even when he gets all "interesting" like the track with MGMT and Ratatat or spitting over "Pokerface" with Ye and Common, the album does not falter.
I did not see this album being one of my favorite hip hop releases of the year, but it is creeping up there.

i still need you

Good friends, if you are in the 309 Saturday night you better be coming out here.
Three good bands and more than three good times are guaranteed.
Bring a tent, get your camp out on.
See you all there!