bigger than the mayor

Some Ohtis real talk right here.
Get familiar kids.

Here's something else that popped up this week that made me happy.


Galfianakis is on point as always on last week's Tim and Eric. The man consistently makes me want to pursue comedy.

i'm gonna be somebody

It's been a pretty great week for music. I'd been in somewhat of a rut, nothing new was peaking my interest since the Okkervil leaked a while back. Then came the new Blitzen Trapper first. Their sophomore release, Furr, is parts Wilco, parts The Band, parts The Kinks, let's just say it's pretty wonderful. It's neck and neck with the Okkervil for my favorite record so far this year probably.
Also, the new Kings of Leon leaked today, Only by the Night. This time around KOL gets a little epic on us. A lot of U2 influence floating around on this record and that's not a bad thing. Whereas Coldplay did not exactly pull that off, this new KOL is incredibly enjoyable. The lead singer just keeps getting better and better too.

Kings of Leon- Sex On Fire
I have not got to the new TV on the Radio, but I sure expect that to be all kinds of awesome.

always be closing

I apologize. It's nearly been a month and I've been mad busy with moving, newspaper stuff and a new school year.
Some quick things that I've been digging.

Bloc Party- Intimacy
The band's third record has been getting crapped on for the most part but I find it quite enjoyable. It's a step up from Weekend in the City.

The Game- L.A.X.
It sucks we had to wait this long into the year for some great rap records. This is one of them and here's to hoping the new Jeezy and T.I. live up to my high hopes.



Seeing The Hold Steady in Chicago, November 14th. Meet me there.

who's the man, who's the boss

I've been slacking heavily on here. The past few weekends I've been out of town (Pitchfork one week, I'll do a post on that sometime) and just doing school and newspaper stuff that's been keeping me occupied.
Right now I just want to give some space to the new A.B.N. album. It's two of the most consistent southern rappers, Trae and Z-Ro doing what they do best. Spitting real fast about depressing aspects of the hood and a whole lot of talk about beating yo azz. This is out on Rap-A-Lot and is getting little to no shine on rap blogs and it's a shame. So far it's probably my favorite rap album this year behind Killer Mike's new one.



I move out on Thursday then I'll throw up Pitchfork and Mad Men Season 2 posts.

i spoke in tongues, i took all of my clothes off

The new album by Wild Sweet Orange, "We Have Cause to be Uneasy" is quite the enjoyable indie rock record. With vivid lyrics and a great soft,loud,soft dynamic, this band should get some buzz in the coming months.

solace is in the fabric of sweatshirts

You need this in your life.



(spanish subtitles for Nick Birky)

country ass boy, country like leanne rimes

Fresh Top 5

1. Holiday weekend,
Started the weekend off right by heading home for the Fourth and getting down to business at the McGregor Estate. Good times with great people and Chris breaking his face.
It was also my Dad's 50th birthday on Sunday so my family trekked to St. Louis to enjoy the Cubs/Cardinals games on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a total bummer but the Cubs rallied and made Sunday's game worth the whole trip. Also, going to Busch Stadium with the p's and not having to pay for my own $9 beers was ace.

my man

2. David Banner- Greatest Story Ever Told,
I've been waiting for this joint for a while. Banner Southern growl is in full effect and these jams sound great on my humid morning runs. I could have done with less club tracks and more of Banner's political/hood talk but the album's pretty solid. "Get Like Me" is that jam by the way.


3. Alex Idleman,
Big ups to this man for picking up my Dark Knight ticket for the 12 a.m. opening. I'm trying to black out everything having to do with this film until that night, I can't wait.



4. Mission Hill re-runs,
1 a.m. on Adult Swim, Mission Hill has been getting some play. A really witty cartoon with fun, colorful animation. I vaguely remember this from it's WB or MTV run in the early 00's. Good stuff.





5. Michael Chabon- Mysteries of Pittsburgh,
I started reading Chabon's first novel over the weekend and I'm totally engrossed. I've read Wonder Boys and Summerland, and this one doesn't dissapoint. The man is one of my favorite living novelists.
Mysteries of Pittsburgh reads like a better Bret Easton Ellis novel stripped of that man's inflated ego.
The book has also been made into a film that I'm anticipating. Peter Sarsgaard plays the character Cleveland which is some perfect casting.

cruise some chicks and get a suntan

I've been putting some work into the entertainment section at our school's paper this summer. It's great to be getting paid to do something I love and I'm really starting to enjoy the editing aspect of my job. If you've got some free time, stop by and give some of the stories a read.

i was blacked out, i was cracked out, i was caved in

Here's something new instead of "here's what I like right now" posts. I guess it'll end up being a lot of the same actually but in a different format. It's late and I'm tired, those last two sentences probably don't make a lot of sense.

Top 5 smile generators

1. My trip to Champaign last weekend,
It was wonderful to get together with some people I haven't seen for a while and just straight tear things up. Also, parties are just so much better when myself, or someone with similar music tastes (Dylan) runs the stereo.

2. Not having class at 11 a.m. over the summer,
This is noteworthy because I can finally watch Homicide re-runs on WGN. I haven't been able to do this since last year and it's usually one of the best parts of my day. Man, this summer has been lame.

3. The Hold Steady- Stay Positive,
This leaked about a month ago and I've been listening to it a couple times every week. It didn't grab me immediately as their first three releases did but it's a logical next step in the band's sound. The big bar-rock guitars have been turned down and the pop sensibilities have been turned way up. I'm really looking forward to their set at the Pitchfork fest this summer, they kill live.

4. In Bruges,
I really had no expectations going into this film. The trailers made it look like some second-rate crime thriller, but it's really one of the best comedies I've seen this year. Ralph Fiennes brings so many laughs when he shows up for the second half. The movie also successfully had me caring about a Colin Farrell character for the first time ever I think.

5. Angelina Jolie,
I sawWantedover the weekend to review it for Tuesday's paper. While it's not really a good film, it's certainly great stylized violence. Jolie steals the whole thing, she's bigger than the movie, a force all by herself.

gettin' nailed beside dumpsters behind townie bars

R.I.P. Status Ain't Hood.

On Monday Tom Breihan announced that his M-F Village Voice music blog "Status Ain't Hood" would be ending as he moves onto unannounced greener pastures.
When I moved to college three years ago this was one of the first music blogs I started checking regularly. Whatever Tom was commenting on I had interest in reading. It's really sad to see it go and I'll miss checking it on the daily for updates ranging from Project Pat to a minute by minute rundown of the CMA Awards.
I've got a link to the blog on the side of mine, take a few minutes and run through the posts he lists as some of his favorite from over the years.

going into a self-induced coma until july 18th

if i can move a few packs and get that hat, then that'll be dope

For those of you disappointed in the new My Morning Jacket album (you shouldn't be, it's great), give the Fleet Foxes LP, "Ragged Wood" a spin.

we grind for the letters on our fitted caps

Tracks have slowly been leaking off this for a while now. The best of the bunch being the joint "Dope Boys" with Travis Barker on drums. It bangs, real hard.
Here's to hoping L.A.X. is as good as I expect it to be.

tote big guns like i'm still playin' contra

I usually don't go for the psychedelic 60s jams, this album's a classic though and perfect for sunny days.

ms. pacman, she don't even do no trappin'

Besides the music I've been reviewing for the DE I haven't been listening to a whole bunch of new stuff. I have however been listening to a whole bunch of Fleetwood Mac for the last two weeks, up until the new Three 6 popped up the other day and kind of re-ignited my hip-hop listening.

http://metallungies.com/2008/06/beat-drop-kanye-west/

This post on metal lungies made me construct a playlist of the songs mentioned and some of my other favorite Kanye beats. A pretty great selection of songs for walking back and forth to campus on a sunny day (let me know if you'd be interested in the playlist).

If you find yourself having nothing to do during you weekend, just hop on that Amtrak and come down to Carbondale for the weekend and help me enjoy the most boring summer of all time.

i make the trap BOOM BOOM

New Three 6 today. Sounding real grimy through the first few tracks, good to hear they didn't switch things up after all the pub a few years ago.

i'm unbeatable ya'll

New Nas track hit the internets today. It's called "Hero" and is produced by Polow Da Don. Polow can't miss, this beat is just nuts. Nas sounds great too, the best thing he's done that doesn't have Jay-Z on it in the past few years. Listening to this track I'm just envisioning a video with Puffy and the two speeding around in million dollar cars and popping bottles, late 90's Nas ish.
I really haven't got into the drama surrounding Nas' new album and its title, but if there's more like this on it, it's time to get excited about him again.

This past week was my first as Pulse (entertainment) editor for the Daily Egyptian down here in Carbondale and I've been keeping pretty busy. I'm currently the only member of the Pulse staff so I haven't had time to give my thoughts on the new Hold Steady and Wayne albums on here. I'm reviewing the Wayne for the paper next week, so I'll throw that review up on here when I get it done.

If anybody's getting bored in the coming weekends, buy yourself and Amtrak ticket (gas is crazy) and head down here.

Luke

tripping is for teenagers

I haven't been posting because I've been at home, not really on the computer that much.
Since I've been home, we get this channel called Ovation and they have this wonderful show called the Artist's Den.
It's an hour long program of some pretty great musicians. Today I watched Josh Ritter tear through a set of mostly songs from his newest album and another episode featuring The Swell Season.
I've made a couple of posts this year about The Swell Season, or Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who starred in last year's wonderful film Once.
You can track down the other two posts to read up on the music and the film, but these two are creating some wonderful heartbreaking music and it was great to watch them in a live setting.
Also, the new Hold Steady leaked and I'll hopefully put up a post real quick on that.

Luke

it's goin' down, like it always do

second rap release (album, couple of hot mixtapes out there) worth a second listen this year.

his head was a city, of paper buildings

I've completed my first semester in Carbondale.
I'd feel terrible if I didn't mention some good folks who made it quite worthwhile, especially those who are leaving town for good with their degrees.
Kyle Fisher, Matt Shapiro, Bryan Menke, Bryan Darger... thank you all so much for making me feel welcome right away. Without all of you guys the transition to a brand new school would have been so much harder.
I wish all of you guys the best of luck in your future endeavors, I know you'll all do wonderful in your respected fields.

Real Talk,

Luke