Stream “Four Score and Seven,” the First Track Available off Titus Andronicus’s Sophomore Effort The Monitor, Which, as You May Already Know, is Entirely Based on the Civil War, and Therefore is Too Intrinsically Awesome to Warrant a Joke [Myspace]
Stream “Back to the Sun” and “Girlfriend Swap” From Fucked Up and Marvelous Darlings Side Project, Roommates, Which, Considering the Source Bands, is Really Fucking Happy [Gorilla vs. Bear]
What Do Black Hammers, What I’d Guess the Drummer from Staind Looks Like, Basketball, and a Ton of Rorschach Tests Have in Common? Jay Z’s Video For “On To the Next One” Attempts to Provide a Vague Explanation [Idolator]
Stream All of Vampire Weekend’s Sophomore Release Contra, More than a Full Week Before Its January 12th Release Date; Feel Genuinely Moved By It, Grow To Hate Yourself Over That Sensation, Purchase a Timeshare in Cape Cod to Deal With the Conflict [Myspace]
UK Charity, Warchild, Announces Tracklist for David Bowie Tribute Album, Which Features Vivian Girls Doing “John I’m Only Dancing” and A Place to Bury Strangers Covering, “Suffragette City,” Neither of Which I’d Expect to Have Ever Actually Listened to David Bowie, But Most Likely Enjoyed His Frequent Appearances on Wes Anderson Soundtracks [NME]
Kanye West Announces That He is Currently Working on a New Album, Likens Self to “Kobe on the Court,” Meaning that He Will Most Likely Hog the Microphone, and Purposefully Alienate Anyone Else He is Surrounded With in Attempt to Inflate His Already Massive Ego (Which, Weirdly, Already Sounds Exactly Like Kanye) [Kanyeuniversecity]
Joanna Newsom Announces U.S. Tour Dates; Is Playing Grand Rapids, Michigan, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia Instead of New York; Harp Enthusiasts Disappointed, But Few In Number, and Therefore Lack Impact [Pitchfork]
Unicorns/Islands Frontman Nick Thorburn and Man Man’s Honus Honus Announce New Collaboration, Claiming it Will Be “Doom-Wop,” Which is Officially My Favorite Invented Genre (Sorry, Piss-Wave, You’ve Been Bested) [Prefix]
compiled by Max Sebela
The Second Annual Beatles Complete Ukulele Festival Will Take Place on December 5 and 6 in Williamsburg; Every Beatles Song Will Be Played on the Ukulele…And All Money Goes to Yoko Ono (Last Year, It Went to Warren Buffet); All Reading This Ought Be As Confused As I Am [Jezebel Music]
Stream a Re-Recording of Wavvves Cut “To the Dregs,” and a New Wavves Song “Horse Sholes” – Have an Existential Crisis Over the Fact that You Don’t Really Hate Wavves Anymore, As Zach Hill Brings Much-Needed Chops to the Project; Feel Dejected; Claim to Hate Wavves Anyway [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Brooklyn Over-Hyped But Endlessly Catchy Dance-Pop Duo MGMT Title Upcoming LP Congratulations, As In: Congratulations, MGMT, You’ve Succeeded in Making a Typically Boring Album Title [Pitchfork]
Watch The Flaming Lips Cover Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse;” You Decide What’s More Entertaining: The Cover, or Wayne Coyne’s Self-Absorbed, Convinced-He’s-Funny Babbling [Stereogum]
Cash Money Records Says Lil Wayne Will Release Two Albums Before The End of 2009; The Rebirth, The Much-Delayed Weezy-Goes-Rock Album, and Tha Carter 4, The Follow-Up to Wayne’s Lauded 2008 Offering…My Guess: Neither Will Come Out and I Just Wasted Time Writing These Sentences [Pitchfork]
Beyonce Cancels a Show in Malaysia Due to Malaysia’s Islamic Conservative Party’s Concerns That She Might Promote “Western Sexy Performances;” I’m Outraged Over Use of the Word “Might” in That Sentence. All The Woman Does is Western Sexy Performances [Billboard]
U2 Frontman Bono Believes President Obama is Having Difficult Time, Realizes the Harsh Reactions Obama Faced When Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Doesn’t Know No One Gives a Shit About His Political Opinions, and Just Wants Him to Sing “With or Without You” In Front of Some Starving Kids [Idolator]
Watch Spike Jonze’s New Short Film Starring Kanye West, We Were Once a Fairytale; Features Kanye Being Hilariously Douche-y, Getting Really Drunk, And Then Vomiting Rose Petals With This Little Monster…So It’s Just Like the Real Kanye [NME]
No Age, Rain Machine (TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone), Mew, and Jay Reatard All Opening for Pixies Doolittle Shows; Universal Agreement Made That This Concert Will Be “Very Good” (Alternatively, “Beyond Satisfactory”) [CMJ]
compiled by Max Sebela
October 17, 2009
VH1 Honors Def Jam’s 25th Anniversary
THIS WEEK IN HIP HOP
On Tuesday, VH1 aired the 6th installment of their annual Hip-Hop Honors awards ceremony. While in previous years the show has followed a format similar to a Hall of Fame induction ceremony, this year’s program was dedicated solely to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the most important Hip-Hop record label of all time: Def Jam. One would hope that all music fans know at least a little about Def Jam, but even if you have been trapped under a sunken ship for the past 25 years, and think you’ve never heard of the label, I guarantee that your ears have frequently come in contact with Def Jam’s music. Def Jam has been home to Hip-Hop’s most elite artists since day one. Their untouchable roster has included: The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, EPMD, Jay-Z, Nas, The Roots, Scarface, Ludacris, Method Man, Redman, Ghostface Killah, and DMX among hordes of other influential and extremely talented musicians. These artists combined with the visionary genius of Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and Lyor Cohen literally changed music forever.
VH1 deserves a ton of credit for putting on this event. For a TV station that built itself upon safe music for the middle-aged, and then developed into a reality TV powerhouse, when it comes to shining light on what Hip-Hop is all about, they surprisingly drop a steaming shit all over BET and MTV. Let’s try to forget about the White Rapper Show and focus on the fact that they have not only included hip-hop artists in Behind The Music and Storytellers since the hit series’ inceptions, but additionally, have consistently used Hip-Hop Honors as a great way to expose younger generations to the great rap artists of the past. We should all be thankful that at least one station has done the wonderful deed of dedicating a miniscule 5% of their programming to quality Hip-Hop.
More on VH1 Honors Def Jam’s 25th Anniversary
Watch The Pixies Play “Hey” and “Monkey Gone to Heaven” on First Night of Playing Doolittle In Its Entirety – For Doolittle They Are Certainly DO-ing A Lot…Cough (I Am So Sorry); They Play New York November 23rd and 24th [Spin]
Kanye West and Lady Gaga Officially Cancel “Fame Kills” Tour; Somehow, Life Manages To Go On Smoothly [Idolator]
Irish 90s Girl-Mopers The Cranberries Reunite (Coming To a Raisin Bran Near You); Announce New York Date November 17th At Nokia Theater [Brooklyn Vegan]
Sufjan Stevens To Record Instrumental Album For Asthmatic Kitty’s Library Catalog With The National’s Bryce Dessner – Seriously, Who is This Sufjan Guy, and Why is He Making Headlines Every Fucking Day? Will Someone Just Shut Him Up?! (I’m Sorry Mr. Stevens, Please Don’t Go Away Again…We…We Love You) [Pitchfork]
Conservative Pundit Glenn Beck Praises Muse; Muse Asks Glenn Beck To Stop Praising Them…Listen Here; Elsewhere, Did You Hear What Glenn Beck May or May Not Have Done? [Stereogum]
Watch Jack White’s New Dead Weather Video For Horsehound Track “I Cut Like a Buffalo;” Instead of Watching This Video, I Analyzed How Much White Looks Like Willy Wonka in Its Still Frame [Spin]
compiled by Max Sebela
The Wrens (That “Legendary” Jersey Emo-Punk Band Who Have Managed Legendary Status By Only Releasing Three Records Over 20 Years) To Play 2002’s The Meadowlands From Start to Finish; Elsewhere, The Wrens Probably Aren’t Releasing Anything Until Like 2016 [Brooklyn Vegan]
As Much As I Don’t Like 50 Cent, The Album Cover to Before I Self Destruct Is Fucking Awesome, and Makes a Good Case For 50 Taking Up Arnold’s Role in the Next Train Wreck Terminator Sequel [Idolator]
Watch Bruce Springsteen Debut New Song, “Wrecking Ball” At Giants Stadium; Going Against All Odds, Springsteen Surprises Fans By Writing a Song About Life in New Jersey….WHAAAAA? [Spin]
Fatboy Slim Announces Sideproject With David Byrne, Martha Wainwright, and…Cyndi Lauper?; Here Lies Love (Apparenty A Concept Album About Former First Lady of the Phillipines…To Whom None of the Above Most Likely Have Any Connection, Especially Lauper) Released Sometime in 2010 [NME]
Stream Another New Devendra Banhart Song, “Angelika;” Sounds Like a Donovan Song, Suddenly Overtaken By Buena Vista Social Club, Which is Not As Awesome As It Sounds; What Will We Be Released October 27 [Pitchfork]
Kanye West’s and Lady’s Gaga’s Fame Kills Tour MAY Be Cancelled ALLEGEDLY Due to RUMORS that Kanye POSSIBLY Is Checking Into Rehab For HYPOTHETICAL Alcoholism; In Other News, This Is An Unsubstantiated Rumor [Prefix]
The Compact Disc Celebrates Its 27th Birthday; Like Many 27 Year Olds, The CD Will Be Mourning Its Seemingly Imminent Death By Looking At More Youthful Versions of Itself Online (Hopefully Via Lala…What a Great Service) [Idolator]
Stream Animal Collective’s Remix of Phoenix’s “Love Like a Sunset” – Tribal, Glitchy, Airy; How Does Animal Collective Manage To Make Every Song They Remix Sound Like ANY Animal Collective Song? [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch New Black Lips Video For 200 Million Thousand Cut “Let It Grow;” Starts Pretty Normal, Buffalo 66 Style…Ends With a Lot of Aliens, And Slightly Necrophilia-Centric Images [Stereogum]
The Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay To Release a Collection of Short Stories, Entitled Complicated Gardening Techniques In January; I Make Vow To Report Any Hold Steady News No Matter How Seemingly Insignificant [Pitchfork]
compiled by Max Sebela
Devastatingly Earnest Punk Rocker Ted Leo Signs To Matador; Announces It Via Devastatingly Earnest Blog Post ; New Ted Leo Album Due Out “Sometime In the Coming Spring” – Chances Are It Will Be Devastatingly Earnest [Brooklyn Vegan]
Justin Timberlake Set to Star As Napster Co-Founder Sean Parker in The Social Network, A Movie About The History of Social Networks…In a Post-Modern Twist, Since Justin Timberlake’s Music Was Downloaded On Napster, His Character May Have To Mention Downloading N*Sync Tracks; Brains Hurt [NME]
Kanye West and Lady Gaga Release Teaser Video For Upcoming “Fame Kills” Tour; Features What Looks Like Kanyes Hand Doing Unspeakable Things To Lady Gaga (Yeah, It is a Must-View) [Pitchfork]
Watch Video For Danish Rockers Mew’s “Repeaterbeater” – It’s Uhh…Really Weird (But It’s Got Ghosts! And Air Guitar!); No More Stories In Stores Now [Prefix]
Stream “Bad Lover,” A New Track From (REALLY REALLY GOOD) Brooklyn Duo Small Black (Did I Mention They Are Like…REALLY REALLY GOOD?); Small Black EP Released October 13 [Stereogum]
Philadelphia Dream Pop Act Sunny Day in Glasgow Looking For Another Singer, Even Though From the Sounds of Their Albums, They Already Have 30; Ashes Grammar In Stores Now [Brooklyn Vegan]
Stream Ben Gibbard’s and Son Volt Frontman Jay Farrar’s Collaboration, “These Roads Don’t Move,” Supposedly Based on Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur; Search For Kerouac References, Realize There Are None, And Accept That It’s Just a Twangy Death Cab Song [NPR]
Watch Trailer For Some Days are Better than Others, Starring Shins Frontman James Mercer and Sleater-Kinner Guitarist Carrie Brownstein; Better Yet, Watch This…It’ll Change Your Life, And Is Ostensibly The Same Thing [Pitchfork]
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced; Among the Crappy Ones (cough Kiss), Are The Stooges, Donna Summer, and Laura Nyro; If Red Hot Chili Peppers Are Inducted Before The Stooges, Rock and Roll Has Lost All Meaning [Spin]
Remember The Last 48 Hours, As You Had To Cope With T-Pain Giving Up Autotune? Well, Breathe Easy…And Then Proceed To Take Your Shirt Off (T-Pain Said So) [Nappy Boy Online]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream Shoegaze-y New Panda Bear Track, Performed Live This Weekend At All Tomorrow’s Parties NY (Warning: Recording Is Incredibly Janky, For Lack of a Better Word) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch Kanye West Completely Ruin Taylor Swift’s “Best Female Video” VMA Win, Believes “Single Ladies” Best Video of Decade; Elsewhere, Kanye Apologizes (Sort Of: “I AM VERY HAPPY FOR TAYLOR” Followed By: “I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME”) [Entertainment Weekly]
Stream Death Cab for Cutie Song For Twilight Sequel New Moon, “Meet Me on the Equinox” (MTV Calls It “Perfect” Accompaniment For the Upcoming Film; MTV Correct: It Sucks) [MTV]
Watch Trailer For Documentary On Michael Jackson’s Last Planned Tour, This Is It (From The Look of It, Film Features Less Emotive Footage of Jackson’s Last Days; More Dancing and Pyrotechnics) [Prefix]
Former Rolling Stones Guitarist Mick Taylor Broke As Hell; Meanwhile, Keith Richards Sleeps On Seemingly Bottomless Pile of Gold, Cocaine, and Mickey Mantle Rookie Cards [Prefix]
Jim Carroll, “Basketball Diaries” Author, Punk Frontman of The Jim Carroll Band, Passes Away at 60 [New York Times]
Atlanta Psych-Artists Deerhunter Announce Hiatus “For A Long Time”(Boo-Hiss); Frontman Bradford Cox Releases Atlas Sound LP Logos October 20 [Spinner]
Stream Dutch DJ Tiësto Track “Kaleidoscope” Featuring Sigur Rós Frontman Jónsi Birgisson, Kaleidoscope Released October 20 [Pitchfork]
Stream Toro y Moi Remix of Blog-Loved Washed Out Single “Feel it All Around;” – Not For Those With General Propensity To Feel Sadness/Regularly Tear Up At Brand New’s “Soco Amaretto Lime” [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Ohio Blues Duo The Black Keys Announce Hip-Hop Sideproject Blakroc; Blakroc Released November 27 (And Features Raekwon, Q-Tip, and Mos Def…Stream First Track [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
September 8, 2009
Jay Z | “Run This Town”
IN THE TUBE
The blog world went into a bit of a frenzy last week as a video surfaced of Jay Z attending a free Grizzly Bear concert at the Williamsburg waterfront. Jay seemed like he was having a good time, and looked almost creepily in-place: big sunglasses and a trendy checkered shirt are pretty standard fare at those things – if you put a Pabst in his hand, and gave him a neckbeard, he probably could have gone unrecognized.
Now, on the day of The Blueprint 3’s much anticipated release, it seems like Grizzly Bear and the Hova have more in common than a mutual affection for all things Brooklyn. Both managed to appear at the top of their respective genres, coming out of a couple years of inactivity. Both Veckatimest and The Blueprint 3 managed to go months without leaking onto the Internet. Both Jay and Grizzly Bear built massive amounts of hype around their records, and neither could quite live up to it. And, most importantly, both albums suffered from the same basic problem: they’re overdone.
Yes, I’m going against our own Chris Kiehne’s opinion of Veckatimest, but the point stands. Grizzly Bear put so much effort into constructing dense, intricate sections, that they lost what made 2006’s Yellow House such a great record: effortlessness. Sure Yellow House had attention to detail, but it seemed incidental. Recognizing it was special, and demanded extra listens from the album.
The Blueprint 3 pushes effort down your throat. I’ll save conclusions on the album for a full review, but Jay, for maybe the first time, seems like he’s trying. For an artist with absolutely nothing to prove, Jay pulls out nearly every trick in the book. Purposefully separate yourself from the pack? Check (Death of Autotune). Heavily feature up-and-coming chart toppers? Check (Kid Cudi and Mr Hudson). Change up the way you usually rap, a la Lil Wayne? Check (practically every song). It’s a dense album, for sure, but it’s void of all the packed, effortless freestyle that made Jay a legend in the first place.
More on Jay Z | “Run This Town”
