How am I s'posed to know that you're high if I can't even touch you?

http://www.vagrant.com/holdsteady_listeningparty/

Go listen to the entire Boys and Girls in America. The Hold Steady is one of my favorite bands of the past few years and this album is great, I can't wait to go buy it. The Steady seems to really be aping Springsteen on this release and I couldn't be any more excited, listen to the whole thing folks.

Went from ashy to classy

I got my hands on the new Luda today. The hair has changed but that's about it. I'm not usually looking for a new release from the man but I had somse hope for Release Therapy from hearing "Grew Up a Screw Up" and "War With God." I remember reading quotes from Luda saying this record is a change of pace for him, how he's feeling about the world and stuff like that. He definitely has some introspective tracks on here like "Runaway Love" with Luda on a Lupe tip and the wonderful "Do Your Time" with Beanie Sigel, Pimp C and C-Murder. Then on the other half Release Therapy still has the goofy Luda tracks that one would come to expect on a Luda release, "Moneymaker" and "Girls Gone Wild" to name a few. Overall, this is a enjoyable hip-hop release but will not hold a candle to the T.I., Ghostface and Trae releases at the end of the year.

Chicago maing

After my one class of the day and a good lunch with one pretty cool young lady, I made sure to go cop Lupe's Food & Liquor. I took a roundabout way home to get some more time listening. At first I was definitely enjoying it but not floored like I was hoping to be. I think I just felt I know what to expect when it comes to Lupe, which is sad since dude just released his debut. I put it back on for my second round of studying and now I'm really gettin it. Lupe is great man, simply great. People can't decide if dude is backpack or if dude is trying to be hood, whatever, he can rhyme, plain and simple. Most of the tracks are produced by people from his 1st & 15th clique with one from Mike Shinoda and one from The Louis Vuitton Don. The Kanye track got me excited. I'm a sucker for Kanye beats like this, on some Be ish, nice and simple but better than anyone else is doin it. This album doesn't have enough tracks like I Gotcha on it to make it a huge seller, but whatever, right now it sounds great and made me stop listening to the new Grizzly Bear record.

I got a girl in the war man, I wonder what it is we've done

Built to Spill came through Columbia tonight and tore ish up. Martsch and Co. put on one heckuva show, let me tell you. The wall of guitar sound was so intense. Seeing these guys live tonight really made me appreciate what they've been doing for the last ten years or so. I gave You in Reverse a very good review last semester but the album hasn't grown on me much. The new songs from that record carried over wonderfully in a live setting however.


Girl in the War has popped up on itunes as I'm writing this and I can't even express how much I love Josh Ritter's music. Animal Years is such a wonderful record and hasn't nearly got the attention that it deserves. Guster is here for a free show on Wednesday night and I'm not as excited as I should be. I'm pumped, don't get me wrong, but I'm worried about how the Ganging Up on the Sun songs are going to be when performed live.


The Razorlight record that came out this year is very good. Their record that came out a couple of years ago was lackluster as I remember, but this one has been getting multiple listens. Some great pop in the vein of Crowded House, it's no Neil Finn but it's good.

Sellin' drugs we all wrapped up in this livin'

R.I.P.


I've never been a huge Pac guy but every time I give the man some of my listening time I'm always amazed. He truly was one of the best emcees ever and on today, the anniversary of his death, RIP

"Game's the same, just got more fierce."

I haven't posted about the season premiere of the fourth season of The Wire yet because I couldn't really put into words how great it was and how excited I am for the upcoming season (Snoop might just be the fiercest character on the show right now, one bad lady). The writing, acting and directing/production is the best on TV. Sunday night's premiere is being talked about all over the internet and all I can say is that if you haven't started watching this show, go get the first season NOW!

The new Rapture record is pretty solid. Very, very danceable, the basslines in the first few songs are intense. It's a beautiful thing when you open up the Sunday Best Buy ad and two of the new releases mentioned are The Rapture and TV on the Radio.

There's still one rule playa, don't get caught

study playlist on the tenth that has too much Lil' Wayne

Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana- Rubber Burnin'
Lil Wayne- Mo Fire
Birdman & Lil Wayne- Stuntin' Like My Daddy
Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana- Get That Bread
Rhymefest- Devil's Pie
Lil Wayne- Untitled 2
Luda feat. Jeezy- Grew Up a Screw Up
Young Jeezy- Don't Get Caught
T.I.- Top Back
Scarface feat. Nas- In Between Us
Clipse- Hard or Soft
Natasha feat. Clipse- So Sick
Trae- Song Cry
Biggie- Ready to Die
Rick Ross- Pots & Pans
Clipse- Bodysnatchers
Cam'ron- Dipset Forever
Trae feat. Jim Jones- Coming Around the Corner
Roscoe P. Coldchain- Whut Itz All
Mannie Fresh feat. Lil Wayne- Wayne's Takeover 1
Trick Daddy- These are the Daze

" We're no longer called Sonic Death Monkey."

Long Winters- Putting the Days to Bed
Golden Smog- Another Fine Day

THE WIRE STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT

This is what you should be listening to

www.myspace.com/ohtis

My name is Tim, aka Thomas Crown

Timberlake's Future Sex/Love Sounds is one of the best records of the year. I have no problem saying this at all. Timbaland is on point throughout the disc producing 11 of 13 tracks. They're all burners and make me wish I was a DJ so I could play these on a dancefloor or at a party. This thing has been talked about all over the internet so I won't spend too much time because I'll be biting on other people's opinion all night. This record is great and is all I've listened to this week.

rock n roll,

Luke

Johnny Cash = sissy ??

Today in my Jazz, Pop and Rock class my teacher was talking about how male musicians are percieved as "sissys". If a male is say an athlete, then he's looked at as a "man". I guess I can agree with this but what about Johnny Cash or Springsteen? I don't see how either of these men could have been percieved as "sissys" at any time in their careers. I think it totally rests on the lyrical content of the music that a man creates. Cash and Springsteen delved deep into the depths of the American psyche, Cash as a country musician and the boss as blue collar/workingman rock 'n' roll. Also, the level that hip-hop is at has changed this perception. With someone like Jay-Z who has sold millions upon millions of records about drugs, women and money isn't seen as soft at all. With hip-hop as such a prominent art form in music now men are definitely seen as tough. Just a few thoughts I had after class today. BTW, The Roots- Game Theory is brilliant and is one of my favorite hip-hop records of all time, no lie. It's up there with Things Fall Apart.

rock n roll,

Luke

"Rubber burnin', cornas turnin', beatin' like a congo!"

Lil' Wayne and Juelz Santana- I Can't Feel My Face

I finally found this advaced copy of their collaboration and it's everything you'd hope it to be. Weezy continues his streak of hotness by totally killing every track he's on. There's a little too much Santana on here, he's definitely not on Wayne's level as evidenced by these tracks but a Juelz coke rap verse is nothing to dog on. If you enjoy rap at all you need these tracks!

The new Mountain Goats record is very enjoyable. It's not on par with The Sunset Tree but it's better than most of the music I've gotten in the past month or so. It's terribly sad and more minimal than the last Mountain Goats output.

Season 4 of The Wire starts next Sunday and I can't freakin wait. The season finale of Rescue Me was last night and it kind of left me feeling down. It wasn't close to the drama the last two season finales brought but still better than any other tv that's not on HBO.

rock n roll,

Luke

We turned the street hustle into an art

I had quite the great day at Streetside records today. Taking advantage of their buy 3 used items get the fourth free, I picked up Rhymefest- Blue Collar, Dizzee Rascal- Showtime, Scarface- The Fix and David Lynch's Wild at Heart. The Scarface pickup is the one I'm most pumped about. I had most of these songs downloaded off of audiogalaxy back when it came out and they're prolly on some blank cd gathering dust in my room at home and when I saw this day I had to pick it up. This record is the epitome of coke rap. I really like Scarface, his flow is so heavy and he just dotes on dark topics making The Fix a classic. Recently Face announced his retirement from rap and this one is believeable unlike Hov's. He never stepped into the limelight or anything, I remember the On My Block video on MTV2 back in the day, but he never got the recognition he deserved. If The Fix came out today it would blow up on the internet, the man was just a few years too early, but I have feeling he's just fine with that for some reason.

Cee-Lo, what happened?

I'm totall jacking this from Sean Fennessey's blog but it reminded me of how on point Cee-Lo was once upon a time. The Gnarls Barkley album is so patch and thrown together. Didn't Goodie Mob get back together? Where's that album?

This is a Cee-Lo verse from a Goodie Mob track, Thought Process.

Sometimes I don't even know how I'm gon' eat
'Bout twenty dollars away from being on the street
Shit, you might see a nigga on tv
But hell it's almost like I'm rappin' for free
That little money be gone...got dammit, I'm grown
Gotta help keep the heat and lights on
It would be nice to have mo' but I kinda like being po'
At least I know what my friends here fo'
I wanna lie to you sometimes, but I can't
I wanna tell you that it's all good, but it ain't
It's niggas hurtin' and uncertain 'bout if they gon' make it or not
That's why we got niggas killing
Feelin like they coming up off a little dope they sold
You can get some gold but we won't make it as a whole
Cause without you there'd be no me
And without no unity there will never be any happiness
You could smoke a pound of sess and it still won't relieve yo' stress
God bless my...thought process

"When we first we laid eyes... I swore no compromise."

I obtained the new Decemberists record, The Crane Wife, with very low expectations. Their last effort, Picaresque, was subpar after Castaways and Cutouts and Her Majesty. The Crane Wife loses the pirate imagery and the goofiness of the older Decemberists recordings and is full of somber tunes that are simply beautiful. This is my favorite record right now and I'm really excited by how good it is. We'll just have to wait and see how it stands up as the year goes on (there is a new Hold Steady record coming out) but this will be in my top ten at the end of the year no doubt.

rock n roll,

Luke

"Hov and Nas in November"

Fabolous- Monkey Business

New Fabolous joint where he spits a few bars over a simple dirty beat. Drugs and money for a the first minute and then talks about the upcoming Def Jam release schedule. Luda in September, Jeezy in October, Hova and Nas in November and Fabo in December. I'll always have hope for a Fab album since Breathe is still such a great great song.

rock n roll,

Luke

"I been ready since '81 and I was born in '82."

Wayne got popped on some drug charges. Looks like some weed and some painkillers. His carrier has to be in some serious ish for this goin down. Right now I'm for seriously digging the movie Brick, listening to I'm From Barcelona and Trae and not listening to the one helluva letdown new Outkast record.

The Truth

Trae and Raaaaaaaaws




The new Trae record miiiiiiiight be my favorite rap record of the summer. This is only because I'm not including the Roots album as a rap album (?). It's reeeal gangsta. Trae's flow is hard, dirty and quick. It's a great southern rap album and needs to be heard. I'm deep into the second season of The Wire and I'm hooked once again. Get at me on aim or something if you want any music I've been talking about.

rock n roll,

Luke

"... goin' to the zoo with the rest of 'em."

I haven't been posting much because I don't really a place to live until the 18th and I'm just kind of lazy. I've been getting loads of good music however. The new Mew record, And the Glass Handed Kites, is beautiful. The pitchfork review said Qeensryche meets Sigur Ros. I'm feeling hte Sigur Ros comparison but not the Qeensryche. I'd say Sigur Ros if they spoke english and rocked a bit more. I was late jumping on the boat with Japanese rockers Boris, but their record Pink is glorious. It's dirty dirty rock n roll and I love it right now. Talladegha Nights is hillarious and you should go see it right now, I mean right now. John C. Reilly is the funniest man in the movie, believe that. The outtakes of him might be the funniest thing in the whole film.

rock n roll,


Luke

You gonna come at the king, you best not miss

I just finished the first season of The Wire and it deserves all of the praise it gets and more. It's better than any cop show ever made hands down.