Monday, December 30, 2013

Hot Mix 2013: #90 to 81

| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

90. Yo La Tengo “Well You Better”
YLT got surprisingly efficient this year on record, although their live shows are still somewhat sprawling (still closing with epic bangers like "Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind"), suggesting that Fade (at only 46 minutes) might have simply been a one-off. “Well You Better” is 2013's “Mr. Tough,” meaning it's the catchy 60s soul number. “You better make up your mind before it's too late.” Fun singalongs with Ira.
https://soundcloud.com/cristiva/yo-la-tengo-well-you-better

89. Good Throb “Culture Vulture”
In the hypothetical scenario where John Peel is given five guesses to correctly identify the year this record was released, we'd wager he probably would not have nailed it. “Culture Vulture” is ass-kicking authentic UK punk rock from actual punks who are so cool that they don't even have to tune their guitars (or learn how). The B-side reveals two more songs that are just as good. Probably the best punk release of the year. They should tour with Bat Cave.


88. Travis Porter featuring Jeremih “Err Damn Day”
The chorus takes a minute to get through, and it simply reeks of summertime stoner lethargy. One time the sun turned around and gave me a thumbs up. And then a car flipped over, but not sure if it really flipped over or if I just saw it flip, ya know. Puff puff pass. Learn it, live it, lovin' in the summertime, ridin' with the top down. Too lazy to get up. Call out sick again. Fuck all night, smoke all day. Roll it and pass it, here's another classic...
https://soundcloud.com/jukeboxdc/11-err-damn-day-feat-jeremih

87. Kanye West “Guilt Trip”

Yeezus's sequencing places this song as a barrier, closing out the dark and emotionally destructive middle section, appearing after “Blood on the Leaves,” just as the emotional wall topples. The swirly ascending keyboard patches in “Guilt Trip” show the remnants of these crumbling walls floating away while Kid Cudi (still one of the worst singing voices in popular music, but used tastefully in this context) repeats “If you loved me so much, then why'd you let me go, whoa whoa? Let me go, whoa whoa whoa?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzbIAfh43Hg

86. Robert Pollard “I Killed a Man Who Looks Like You”
English Little League marked what appears to be the end for the reunited “classic” Guided lineup (R.I.P. 2011-2013). Four albums, an EP and a decent string of 12 or 16 non-album b-sides were definitely enough to satisfy the diehards. But when the boys began to dissipate, Bob wasted no time returning right back to solo material with Honey Locust Honky Tonk, arguably his most satisfying solo record of the 2010s so far. We agree with the comprehensive “best of” list that placed the curiously country-sounding 1-minute-53-second “I Killed a Man” within his 10 best solo tracks. We also agree that it kinda sounds like R.E.M. (in a good way).
https://soundcloud.com/firerecords/robert-pollard-i-killed-a-man

85. Lady Gaga featuring R Kelly “Do What U Want”

The logical sequel and conclusion to "Paparazzi" arrives with Gaga's all too brief (1-song) return to strong hooks. It sounds like she cherry-picked an instrumental from the Drive soundtrack and wrote a dope vocal melody over it. Also congrats to R. Kelly for always peein' on people. NEVER FORGET.
https://soundcloud.com/interscope/lady-gaga-do-what-u-want-feat

84. Ty Segall “Sleeper”
The compression mics generate such a loud acoustic guitar strum, and suddenly we understand this guy better than ever. 1970s UK rock from the likes of T.Rex, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie have actually been informing his songwriting far greater than the 90s throwbacks the initial reviewers had assumed. We're not typically impressed by Ty Segall's varieties of vanilla, but we want to be. He's shown so much potential, and he might be at that point, so close to hitting his stride. “Sleeper” is his “Space Odyssey.” It's the Ty Segall song we've been waiting for. 2014, here we come...
http://hypem.com/track/1yjxp/Ty+Segall+-+Sleeper

83. Connections “Stuck Lung”
2013 was the year unadventurous bloggers and rock writers collectively decided to get lazy as fuck and focus on the degree of 90s-ness, asking amazing interview questions such as “Do you sound 90s?” “How 90s you sound?” “What is 90s rock bands you sound like?” Ohio's Connections got stuck with the “descendents of Guided By Voices” tag mostly due to location, even though both bands pull generous influence from 60s UK garage and 70s power pop. “Stuck Lung” sounds like Cheap Trick. We're into it.


82. True Widow “Four Teeth”
Anyone who was missing dreamy, female-fronted, reverb-laden fuzz-pop didn't have to look far in 2013. It was tough to swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a Widowspeak or a Waxahatchee or a Mazzy Star reunion album. We decided to run with “Four Teeth” as our choice for 2013's best example, since it's often kinda tough to get that vocal melody unstuck from one's auditory cortex. (Also Relapse Records must be diversifying. Interesting choice for a signing from a label primarily concerned with deathmetal.)


81. Omar Souleyman “Warni Warni”
We have no idea what he's singing about, but one reviewer on the Singles Jukebox called this song “an ode to romantic obsession.” Omar doesn't get enough credit for releasing one of the druggiest, most psychedelic sound experiences in recent memory, likely without the assistance of any narcotic consumption. On our end, we're hearing The Chemical Brothers and Prodigy (believe it or not) fused with a series of bizarre hypnotic trances, like 4 or 5 simultaneous iDoser tones recorded 20 times as loud. His 2013 LP has raised our curiosity about his earlier lofi stuff, which is supposedly even better.
https://soundcloud.com/omar-souleyman/omar-souleyman-warni-warni

| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Hot Mix 2013: #100 to 91

Stupid brain, you go squish now.

I think we're supposed to only embed Bandcamp shit now. If we can find the song on Soundcloud, we'll post a link.

Spotify are a bunch of dumbasses, but we ignored their shittiness and started a dope playlist anyway. You can listen if you want:
| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

100. Trinidad Jame$ “Female$ Welcomed”
This might have placed much higher had it not been for the awkwardly inserted dubstep-flavored coda section. While this portion of the song might have worked wonderfully as its own separate thing, it kinda kills the dopeness of the initially established beat that starts “Female$ Welcomed,” where Jame$ explains the issues with his side bitch, main bitch and main ho all collectively deciding at once that they ain't feelin' him no mo. Rough times for the hood rich.


99. Sungod “Gas is Better than Gas”
The vaguely familiar goth-keyboard intro explodes into a monstrous orgy of delay pedals and wah-fills. Their song titles and artwork suggest Sungod may be similarly obsessed with the same big-bang space-time theories that fueled the themes of their progressive psych forefathers, circa 1970 (albeit with less nonsensical spoken word passages). Their LP Contackt probably looks just as dope synched along with the final 23 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey as “Echoes” ever did.
https://soundcloud.com/sssungoddd/03-gas-is-better-than-gas

98. Lil B “Love N Hate” / Lil B “Eat”
Lil B's recent adventures include maintaining his 2012 announcement of a long promised mixtape starring his adopted cat Keke. He was also privileged enough to witness a dude drinking gasoline on the day before Halloween, to which he responds "protect the children." Then just four days ago, he dropped a massively based 101 track mixtape called “05 Fuck Em,” which include rare freestyles over System Of A Down's “Toxicity” and several allusions to “greatest unsigned rapper,” getting signed, and becoming a billionaire. The challenge of narrowing his 2013 output (nearly 180 based jams) down to one is not only impossible, but oddly rewarding. We settled on two jams, both from Pink Flame (probably his best mixtape of the year): “Love N Hate” (because it sounds like the dirtiest of dirty West Coast 90s) and “Eat” (because it's fucking amazing).
"Love N Hate": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks7SGuW-XGo
"Eat" (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8gHRN-8-p4

97. Selena Gomez “Come & Get It”

A voice more naïve than Rihanna's gets to sing on a song clearly intended for Rihanna. Selena benefits hugely, as her less ambitious party-mode proved far more admirable than Miley's “I do what I want” schtick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa7Oz_25DNk

96. Vampire Weekend “Everlasting Arms”
Album of the year? Oh puh-leeze. Don't these guys still wear Abercrombie polos like it's 1999-2006 all over again? (Remember when Fat Joe thought it was cool to wear pink polos? LOL what a turd.) As much as we'd love to ignore VW based on the overextended exaggerations of their virtues (which has nothing to do with the music itself), we simply can't ignore good ideas when they're blatantly staring us in the face. And yes, this time it's all about the warpy keyboard patch in “Everlasting Arms,” probably the highlight of this entire record. Much like the hugeness of the drums in “Giving Up The Gun” from 2010, sometimes just one inspired production aspect is all it takes to turn dime-a-dozen blandness (ie, VW's songwriting) into genuine dopeness. So far, they've nailed it at least once on each of their releases.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6FjwUwJup0

95. Justin Timberlake “Tunnel Vision”
An album chock-fulla “Tunnel Vision”-caliber dopeness might not have surpassed JT's last 2 LPs, but probably would have been more widely appreciated. Unfortunately, Timbaland confirmed what we had all been dreading: He's lost the midas touch, a big part of what made the two volumes of 20/20 Experience such a disappointingly labored bumout with (mostly) lackluster beats to showcase “Jut Timb” bending over backwards for widespread acceptance. If he's so concerned about getting everyone to like him, and if his SNL skits are (probably) his most appreciated recent performances, it might be in his best interests to consider joining the SNL cast as a weekly employee. We highly doubt anyone would complain. (He's already funnier than Andy Samberg without really trying.)
Whoa, this song has a video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07FYdnEawAQ

(P.S. ICYMI, the “Tunnel Vision” single arrived with probably the most awkwardly-unsexy-while-trying-to-be-sexy cover art in recent memory.)

94. Little Big League “Brackish Water”
While the music suggests a heavy sadness, vocal strain towards the end of this song reveals frustration and urgency. Long after the point when hope is lost, you'll do anything for closure, but it's just not gonna happen. So just keep drinking until another opportunity arrives. That's the best most of us can do these days. She sounds like the singer from The Sundays, except we're pretty sure we like Little Big League a lot better. The guitar tones are pretty massive too, reminiscent of Ringo Deathstarr's recent output. (That's a good thing.)


93. Cave “Shikaakwa”
We got into the habit of calling these guys “Cave from Chicago.” In a year with no new output from Beak>, Cave's new record can safely secure its title as “best kraut-influenced release of the year.” We decided upon “Shikaakwa” as the standout mostly due to tasteful inclusion of flute, a very tricky instrument to include in this type of music. It's like playing minesweeper... One wrong step and you may turn into Aqualung, "Colour My World," or (even worse) Firefall.
https://soundcloud.com/gimmetinnitus/cave-shikaakwa

92. Action Bronson & Party Supplies “Jackson Travolta”
As it turns out, we're huge suckers for the little “Cousin Brucie”/“CBS-FM” tags inserted by Party Supplies. It's probably our favorite element within Blue Chips 2. (Is that lame?) We're not sure of the source for this otherwise outstanding soul-sample, but the Eddie Hazel singed guitar shred at the end raises some suspicions. All throughout BC2, Action Bronson remains as fun and playful as ever, completely justifying the blessing that covers his Son-of-Ghostface vocal chords.
https://soundcloud.com/nickraymondg/action-bronson-party-1

91. California X “Pond Rot”
The mammoth mutant cyclops continues smashing mountains to bits, but he's learned to enunciate his English slightly better than on last year's “Sucker” b/w “Mummy” 7-inch, a record that turned out to be the “preview” for what was to follow. “Pond Rot” is when cyclops takes a nap next to the pond and has nightmares. It includes (probably) the most massive riffs on Cali X's self-titled, and (arguably) among the most intimidating of an entire year's worth of giants.


| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

Hot Mix 2013

Fuck, we almost forgot about Hot Mix 2013.

We haven't been posting much because we suck, but our OCD tendencies sorta force this to happen every year whether we like it or not. We are disappointing and horrible people, and we will die lonely.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Canti "G"


Canti
G (EP)
2012


1. Canti - 4/5 of you (3:30)
2. Canti - I'm all washed up shore (3:10)
3. Canti - Cheer up, Chihiro! (4:21)

Dope shit from the Ovlov kids. Recorded when Steve from Ovlov lived in that upstairs area above where The Outer Space in Hamden currently exists. Other songs recorded during these sessions were eventually re-recorded for Ovlov's Am LP in 2013. Track 3, "Cheer up, Chihiro," shows up on Side A of the Slut Life comp which was issued by the creators of this very website. (And by the way, some copies still exist if anyone's interested. Leave comments of cum and let us know all about your slutty interests.)

Lip Keebler's Dead Wives "Buzzy Fuzzy"


Lip Keebler's Dead Wives
Buzzy Fuzzy (demo tape)
2013


1. Dead Wives - Honeycrunch (2:24)
2. Dead Wives - Beekeeper (1:29)
3. Dead Wives - Angry Swarm (78RPM) (2:23)
4. Dead Wives - Mavis... (1:46)
5. Dead Wives - Incinerator (4:33)
6. Dead Wives - Deity (2:56)
7. Dead Wives - Don't Sweat It (3:45)
8. Dead Wives - Beez in the Trap (3:49)



After various setbacks, Dead Wives has finally posted the first volume of a planned trilogy of demo releases recorded with guidance from the elusive Lip Keebler. Released about 3 weeks ago, Buzzy Fuzzy should be followed next year by Satan Smile and Wish Upon a Pentagram. (Despite the interpretations of songs from Ween and Nicki Minaj, the other two releases will likely not include cover songs.) The song sequence of Buzzy Fuzzy loosely follows a thematic progression built around a swarm of bees that reproduces to an absurdly large size after becoming possessed by Satan.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The "New Shit" Radar sept 2013

Earl Sweatshirt featuring RZA "Molasses"
After a few careful listens to our most anticipated release of the year, we've determined "Molasses" to be the standout banger of the moment, and one of the few jams on Doris that rivals "Stapleton" in its wonky lopsidedness.


Palehound "Drooler"
It's almost embarrassing how easy it is to get Palehound songs firmly stuck in one's head. The two songs that Pitchfork have reviewed so far ("Drooler" and "Pet Carrot") have been battling for brain-space consumption since about 2 weeks ago. "Drooler" usually ends up winning.


Nelly featuring Nicki Minaj & Pharrell "Get Like Me"
Dope summer banger totally swept under the rug. Y'all fucked up on this one.


Mac Demarco "Young Blood"
If this is in fact a new song (as opposed to a leftover from the sessions from one of his 2 previous albums), then Demarco might be planning to revert back to the wackiness of the Rock N Roll Nightclub LP as opposed to staying along the bummer summer path we heard in Mac Demarco 2. We're also confused about this Adult Swim singles-club thing (curated with a decently impressive selection of artists). Is it free downloads only, or are there some 7-inches floating around somewhere? Can someone Google this for us? We're too busy. Time is money.


Connections "Miller's Grove"
This isn't that new, but whatever...


Swearin' "Watered Down"
Not nearly as watered down as the song title might suggest. P.S. We met the singer girl and we're happy to report she's both v.chill and v.friendly. ("v." is code for "very.")


Tony Molina "Breakin Up"
Tony's follow-up to Dissed and Dismissed (from February of this year) will be released via a 7-inch club from Matador called "Singles Going Home Alone." It's not hard to fit 6 Tony Molina songs onto a 7-inch.


Jackson Scott "Sandy"
He's possibly a douchebag, but we like his album anyway. Weirdo lofi shit.

south park marathon

Comedy Central has (possibly) been airing a marathon consisting of every episode (that they're legally allowed to show) of South Park, which has lead to some upsetting daytime censorship, but it's the thought that counts.

Spring 2013 was just a bit more of a bummer than usual, since there's been no new South Park so far this year. This is the longest we've gone without our dear friends. Tomorrow marks the start of their only 10-episode run (unless one of these happened at some point between season 1 and 4) which is possibly leading to the release of The Stick of Truth on November 19th.


Get excited!

Robert Pollard's 50 Best Songs (and the sequel)


"Great job" to the blogger dude who writes for "Trust the Wizards". One of their writers is familiar enough with Robert Pollard's immense solo catalog that he decided to do the world an equally immense solid favor by posting his 50 favorite Robert Pollard songs. Most of the choices are actually pretty badass, leading us to believe this list may be somewhat accurate.

http://trustthewizards.com/2013/09/10/kicker-of-elves-chooses-robert-pollards-50-best-robert-pollard-songs/

This happened about 2 weeks ago. The blog post was apparently such a big deal and became popular enough that they went ahead and gave the blog post its own sequel just a few days ago, aptly titled "50 More Robert Pollard Songs That You Need In Your Life."

http://trustthewizards.com/2013/09/20/50-more-robert-pollard-songs-that-you-need-in-your-life/

Yeezus BeezusBC interview

Hear Yeezus's new voice. He sounds weird and different, and not like the classic Kanye West that we've grown to love over the past 10 years. Something in his voice just doesn't sound the same, but the same words are coming out. It's still him. But his voice sounds weird. Maybe he had surgery on his sinuses. I heard that can oddly change the tone of people's voices. Or maybe he has the sniffles.

In the "Part 1" video posted below, Yeezus talks about Michael Jackson being his biggest influence, and apparently he also addresses Kendrick Lamar's verse in "Control" but I guess I missed that part. It goes by quickly though...

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

TEN SEMINAL PUNK 7-INCHES

Do you like Top 10 lists? Are they still cool? We can't think of anything else to write about, but top 10 lists are a great way to supply "lazy journalism" and get people's attention by not really putting much thought into whatever gets posted. That's what buzzfeed does. They just post lists like a bunch of assholes and generate ad revenue.

So we're gonna do 10 Top 10 lists.

Wait really? We're gonna do 10 of these?

Yeah I guess we are. I just drunkenly decided that we have to determine 9 more of these, after figuring out this one.

So this is the first in a series of 10. Ten top 10 lists. Sure, why not...

"Seminal" means they got jizzed on.

#11 Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love" (1978)



#10 The Dead Boys "Sonic Reducer" (1977)



#9 Devo "Mongoloid" (1977)



#8 The Undertones "Teenage Kicks" (1978)



#7 The Soft Boys "I Wanna Destroy You" (1980)



#6 The Saints "(I'm) Stranded" (1977)



#5 X-Ray Spex "Oh Bondage! Up Yours" (1978)



#4 Joy Division "Leaders of Men" (1978)



#3 The Damned "New Rose" (1976)



#2 The Stooges "Search and Destroy" (1973)



#1 Sex Pistols "Holidays in the Sun" (1977)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

"Our Father"

Our friends in Dead Wives briefly considered covering "Our Father" with a slightly louder tone, but then ultimately decided against it since the peaceful atmosphere is a huge part of its compelling nature. One of our associates saw D+ perform "Our Father" (and a few other songs) at a record store in October 2006 with a bunch of other K Records bands, including solo Calvin Johnson. It was one of those shows where no one's allowed to say anything while anyone is performing or else you're considered a huge dick, which is not really our scene, although we're happy shows like that do exist. Afterwards, our associate went to purchase the D+ LP from Calvin Johnson who scoffed and looked as though he was pissed off that someone would want to actually buy a record from the available distro... Afterall, it was a free show at a record store. Maybe he was pissed that only one record was being purchased instead of like, 4 or 5 of them...

When our associate saw them, the singer dude in the middle was wearing glasses. And that's Karl Blau on the right...

D+ :: Our Father (Live) from dalas verdugo on Vimeo.

returning to normalcy with fictional 70s metal

We started posting videos on our twitters that should have been posted here. We can fix that.

Here's a couple "metal" bands from the 70s that were fictional and not really metal in the classic sense, but certainly metal in the "classic rock" sense.

First up we have Richard Pryor's metal band, which was called "Black Death Metal." Sandra Bernhard was apparently a big fan since she is going apeshit in the middle of the crowd there.


And here's Jim Henson's ode to metal from (probably) around the same time. (We're guessing these are both from around 1977.) The last time I saw this entire Xmas special all the way through was on HBO when I was 8 or 9. I recall feeling bad for Emmitt Otter and his mom who tried really hard to get the prize money for their Christmas gifts, but the Riverbottom Nightmare Band decided to show up out of nowhere and kick so much ass that Emmitt and his mom ended up being broke for yet another holiday season.

Monday, June 24, 2013

"Let Me Find Out (Remix)"

No clue what these guys at the beginning are talking about but we want to hang out with them err damn summer day long.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Summer Jamz report & The "New Shit" Radar featuring Yeezus, No Age, Two Inch Astronaut, Fat History Month, ASG, Ryan Power, Ovlov, Speedy Ortiz, Washed Out

Summer Jams 2013
Did we mention that our chief editor fired the entire staff two weeks ago? That explains the infrequent updates. Well that, and the excitement over June-fest, which is sadly almost half over without any big posts.

Summer Jams report is here to help in any way we can.

It's been years since this many summer jams have shown up all at once. (Maybe since 2007. That's a long time ago.) But we're damn good and ready:

Daft Punk "Get Lucky": along with whatever other singles they end up releasing. Duh.

Bruno Mars "Treasure": Yes we're serious. This placed somewhere in the 40s or 50s on our Hot Mix 2012, and we've been pumped to hear radio catching onto it.

Mariah Carey & Miguel "#Beautiful": "Get Lucky," "Treasure" and "#Beautiful" are part of an unexpectedly outstanding trifecta of Top 40 singles that actually sound summery. It's been years since this has come together so nicely, and more summer jams have been proven to assist the vibe's longevity (or "gevity" as Yeezus would say). For example, summer 2012: We were stuck with the standalone summery-sounding "Call Me Maybe" which got old very quickly because it was literally the only good song on the radio for 2 months.

Disclosure "When a Fire Starts to Burn": A P4k jam, and not something we expect to be all over the radio anytime soon. But the hipsters need summer jams too sometimes.

Deerhunter "Back to the Middle": Summer air-guitar in the car.

YEEZUS: With all the "event" albums over the past few months (most of which we're still pretty psyched on), it's possible that we've found the jam album that's gotten us most excited. It's only be a few hours, but we're nearly ready (prematurely?) to go all out and label this "The album of the summer." (Sorry Daft Punk.)

------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright kids, time for THE NEW SHIT RADAR, brought to you by THE INNERNETTE


Kanye West "On Sight"
Thank you leak. Pant fulla bone fully realized. Any attempts to upload these songs to Youtube over the past 3-4 hours have proven unsuccessful, but this shit here might be enough...


No Age "C'mon Stimming"
Def a grower. Normally we would have quickly made this song our top story, but ya'know... Yeezus. (P.S. No Age is still our #1 band of the moment. But I mean c'mon... Yeezus. The fucking Kid A of rap has arrived.)


Two Inch Astronaut "Sternum"
Something weird's been going on when a band leaks five songs from their album prior to its release, but we have no complaints since it's enabled us to get half the album firmly planted in our heads prior to June 18 when the whole thing can finally be processed as a whole. This one got stuck about 2 hours ago:


Fat History Month "Sad History Month"
Intensely deep. Loss for words at how crazy this song is. This is one of those songs that's so good that it's urging us to do exactly what we didn't want to do this December and actually go through with an entire Hot Mix 2013 list all over again. (Damn you Fat.)


ASG "Avalanche"


Ryan Power "New Attitude"


Ovlov "Nu Punk"


Speedy Ortiz "No Below"


Washed Out "It All Feels Right"

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Pumped As Fuck Right Now

One-Third Decade Wrap Up

It's still May, so technically we're not too late...

On May 1, 2003 (or somewhere around there), we posted our decade's wrap-up lists for its first third.

On May 1, 2007, we did our belated 2/3's decade list, which encompassed 5.1.03 until 8.31.06.

We never got around to a final third of the 2000's wrap-up. Maybe someday.

And now it's May 30. So yeah, we're late again, but not TOO late. Here it is, buds. Our completely subjective picks for the biggest jams and the hugest losers since January 1, 2010 (except for 2 songs in the "worst" from 2009 cos we had trouble thinking of stuff that we especially hated). We've also supplied our previous "Hot Mix" and "Ultra Vomit" placements for easy TMI reference. (Strangely enough, lots of these never placed.)

Best: 01.01.10 .. 04.30.13
20 Mary Kate & Ashley Olson “Gimme Pizza Slow”
(2010 // did not place) | Youtube |
19 Les Savy Fav “Let’s Get Out of Here”
(2010 // did not place) | Youtube |
18 Sky Ferriera “Everything Is Embarrassing”
(2012 // #9) | Youtube |
17 Waka Flocka Flame feat. Wale & Roscoe Dash “No Hands”
(2010 // did not place) | Youtube |
16 El Guincho “Bombay” (2010 // #15) | Youtube |
15 Robyn “Hang With Me” (2010 // #16) | Youtube |
14 Big Sean feat. Nicki Minaj “Dance (A$$) Remix”
(2011 // #28) | Youtube |
13 Mac Demarco “Ode to Viceroy”
(2012 // #2) | Youtube |
12 Caribou “Sun” (2010 // #12) | Youtube |
11 Jay-Z & Kanye West “N***** In Paris”
(2011 // #1) | Youtube |
10 Beak> “Egg Dog” (2012 // #5) | Youtube |
09 Kurt Vile “Was All Talk”
(2013 // didn't happen yet) | Youtube |
08 No Age “Glitter” (2010 // #5) | Youtube |
07 The-Dream “Yamaha” (2010 // #14) | Youtube |
06 Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble”
(2012 // did not place) | Youtube |
05 My Bloody Valentine “Only Tomorrow”
(2013 // didn't happen yet) | Youtube |
04 Nicki Minaj “Super Bass”
(2011 // did not place) | Youtube |
03 Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats “Ritual Knife”
(2011 // #2) | Youtube |
02 The Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”
(2010 // #6) | Yotuube |
01 Miguel “Use Me” (2012 // #4) | Youtube |

Worst: 01.01.10 .. 04.30.13
20 Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa “Payphone”
(2012 // did not place) | Youtube |
19 Cage the Elephant “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked”
(2009, did not place in 2010 // #1) | Youtube |
18 Cher Lloyd “Swagger Jagger”
(2011 // #7) | Youtube |
17 Jessie J "Who's Laughing Now"
(2011 // #16) | Youtube |
16 Nicki Minaj feat. Rihanna “Fly”
(2011 // #17) | Youtube |
15 Hot Chelle Rae “Tonight Tonight”
(2011 // #10) | Youtube |
14 Toby Keith “Red Solo Cup” (2011 // #12) | Youtube |
13 The Black Eyed Peas “The Time (Dirty Bit)”
(2011 // #3) | Youtube |
12 Bruno Mars “The Lazy Song” (2011 // #1) | Youtube |
11 Flo Rida “Whistle” (2012 // #8) | Youtube |
10 Britney Spears “Hold It Against Me”
(2011, did not place) | Youtube |
09 will.i.am feat. Britney Spears, Hit Boy, Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Wayne & P.Diddy “Scream and Shout (Remix)”
(2013 // original version was #1 in 2012) | Youtube |
08 Pink “Raise Your Glass” (2011 // #8) | Youtube |
07 Train “Hey Soul Sister” (2011 // #9) | Youtube |
06 Dr. Dre featuring Eminem & Skylar Grey
(2010 // did not place) “I Need a Doctor” | Youtube |
05 Artists For Haiti “We Are The World 25”
(2010 // #1) | Youtube |
04 Macklemore x Ryan Lewis “And We Danced”
(2012 // #3) | Youtube |
03 Wallpaper. "FUCKING BEST SONG EVERRR”
(2011, placed #6 in 2012) | Youtube |
02 Cee-Lo Green “Fuck You”
(2010, placed #6 in 2011) | Youtube |
01 Owl City “Fireflies”
(2009, placed #20 in 2010) | Youtube |

Monday, May 27, 2013

Weezer discography (bizarro alternate universe version)

The true nerd rises up once again. Fan-fic version of Weezer's 90s discography.

Let's just say for the sake of argument............

When we say "Weezer is the greatest rock band of all time," we're mostly referring to an imaginary fictional discography that never existed, but could have feasibly existed. Maybe possibly.

1991-1992

For some reason, Weezer gets signed to Geffen immediately after their formation with long-hair Rivers Cuomo as lead songwriter, Pat Wilson on drums and Matt Sharp on bass and Jason Cropper on guitar.

Late-1992: Ric Ocasek agrees to record their first TWO albums, instead of just the first one. Jason Cropper leaves the band, but Weezer somehow bumps into Brian Bell who is auditioned very quickly, 7 or 8 months earlier than when it took place in reality.

With this lineage in place, the self-titled Blue Album might have ended up getting split into two halves, with "Say It Ain't So" and "No One Else" as the beginning of a distinct 1994-era. Let's take a look and see what we got here...

Weezer (self-titled) (1993)

Released June 1993 to huge acclaim and yielding the huge hit singles "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "My Name is Jonas."
1. "My Name is Jonas"
2. "Paperface"
3. "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here"
4. "Thief You’ve Taken All That Was Me"
5. "Undone – The Sweater Song"
6. "Lullaby for Wayne"
7. "I Need Some Touch"
8. "The World We Love So Much"
9. "Let’s Sew Our Pants Together"
10. "Only In Dreams"
There's a distinct atmosphere that connects everything on the Kitchen Tape demos (1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10) and the other four songs that appear here, all written around the same time. "Say It Ain't So" could have been either the last song written for this album or the first song written for the sophomore LP. In its place is the Gregg Alexander cover appearing as Track 8.

B-Sides (1993-1994): "Lemonade," "The Answer Man," "The Purification of Water"

Geffen pushes them to quickly capitalize on their success and rush-releases album #2...

Weezer 2 (1994)

Released May 1994. Weezer chooses the album title to follow in the tradition of other rushed classic rock sophomore releases like Queen 2 or Led Zeppelin 2.
1. "Jamie"
2. "No One Else"
3. "Susanne"
4. "Chess"
5. "Buddy Holly"
6. "I Swear It’s True"
7. "Surf Wax America"
8. "Say It Ain’t So"
9. "In The Garage"
10. "Holiday"
As noted earlier, "No One Else" sparks a new era of songwriting highly influenced by Brian Wilson and 70s power-pop. The presence of Moog-synth enters as well, becoming a Weezer trademark. The album goes multi-platinum with assistance from the "Buddy Holly" video and "Say It Ain't So." "Waiting On You" barely missed the deadline for this one, but launches yet another era of songwriting that centers around Songs from the Black Hole. While this is happening, Matt Sharp is afforded time to form The Rentals. Within the next year, "Susanne" appears in Mallrats, and an early version of "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" appears in Angus.

B-Sides (1994-1995): "Mykel and Carli," "My Evaline," "Don't Worry Baby" (Beach Boys cover)

Songs from the Black Hole (1995)
Released October 1995. Record label pressure forces Weezer to record their next album so soon that they decide to keep the "Black Hole" concept for this album. However, they decide to reserve one of the long-winded song cycles as a B-Side bonus.

1. "Countdown" (Intro) / "Blast Off!"
2. "Tired of Sex"
3. "Getchoo"
4. "Waiting on You"
5. "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams"
6. "Superfriend"
7. "You Won’t Get With Me Tonight"
8. "Devotion"
9. "Let Me Wash Your Sink"
10. "Longtime Sunshine"
"Tired of Sex" is released as the only promotional single. Around this time, Rivers attends Harvard and gets the medical procedure where his leg gets sawed. As a result of this, Weezer is unable to tour or promote, but Matt uses the opportunity to promote Return of the Rentals which possibly includes "Crumblin," "Frisbee Days" and "California" in the tracklisting in place of the last 3 songs. "Mrs. Young," also known as "Jamie 2," also known as the alternate version of "Please Let That Be You," is released as a Weezer B-Side with vocals from both Rivers and Matt.

B-Sides (1995-1996): "Lisa," "Mrs. Young," "I'm So Lonely on a Saturday Night," and the song-sequence that includes "Oh Jonas," "Please Remember," "Come to My Pod" and "Oh No This is Not Me." All 7 of these songs, along with the acoustic versions of "Jamie" and "No One Else," appear on the "Tired of Sex" CD maxi-single in January 1996. The diehards ultimately treasure this CD as a fan favorite.

Pinkerton (1996)
September 1996. The tracklisting remains mostly intact besides the first two songs which were already included on their last LP.

1. "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly"
2. "Walt Disney"
3. "No Other One"
4. "Why Bother"
5. "Across the Sea"
6. "The Good Life"
7. "El Scorcho"
8. "Pink Triangle"
9. "Falling for You"
10. "Butterfly"
Just the same, the singles are "El Scorcho," "The Good Life" and "Pink Triangle." No big changes were necessary here.

B-Sides (1996-1997): "Tragic Girl," "Getting Up and Leaving"

Matt Sharp decides to remain an active member of the band for one more album, but the process is longer than expected. The album recording continues with Mikey Welsh, who also provides bass for two shows as "Goat Punishment" in late 1998, playing 2 sets of Nirvana and Oasis covers, respectively.

Homie! (1999)
Released Spring 1999. Instead of forming a new band, Homie simply becomes Weezer's 5th album. It's also sadly their last with Matt Sharp, and it includes an incorrect tracklisting on its album art, "as a goof." Halfway through recording, Matt leaves to focus on The Rentals. He ends up supplying bass and engineering 5 songs, and Mikey Welsh plays bass on the other 5, as well as all 3 B-Sides.

1. "The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World"
2. "Hot Tub"
3. "Think About You"
4. "Lover in the Snow"
5. "American Girls"
6. "Fun Time"
7. "Trampoline"
8. "My Brain is Working Overtime"
9. "Cold and Damp"
10. "Wanda (You’re My Only Love)"

B-Sides (1999): "Velouria" (Pixies cover), "Crazy One," "Everyone"

Summer Songs (2000)
Released June 2000. Album #6. They're all songs that were demoed over the summer of 2000.
http://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=Summer_Songs_of_2000#Official_track_listing

Jay Leno knocks on Pat Wilson's door in January 2001 and includes him in a sketch about Elvis impersonators. In reality, Jay Leno did not recognize Pat, and in this universe he still doesn't, but lots of fans figure it out quickly due to the lack of Weezer's late 90s hiatus. In our alt-universe, the clip becomes a popular Weezer meme (shown on "MTV News on MTV2" n stuff). It also might have been a slightly bigger deal 3-4 months prior when they were again randomly selected for a Channel 12 in LA news segment about Nader's effect on the 2000 election.

Christmas EP (2000)
Released December 2000 with "The Christmas Song" and "Christmas Celebration."

The Green Album (2001)
Released May 2001. Same tracklisting. Same B-Sides. Mikey Welsh doesn't lose his shit, and remains in the band for its duration.

Maladroit (2002)
Released May 2002. Their 8th and final full-length album, and their only release to deviate from a 10-song tracklisting.

The Lion and the Witch (2002)
Released September 2002. Live EP.

The "Video Capture Device" DVD eventually sees release as well in 2004. But besides that, they realize they're no longer the same band, and they wisely decide to call it quits in late 2002, salvaging their legacy and leaving behind 10 years of decently consistent releases.

In 2004, Rivers Cuomo starts a new band with Scott Shriner and 2 other musicians (1 of whom might be Pat Wilson or Brian Bell, who have been now afforded more time to focus on The Special Goodness and Space Twins). This new band releases the albums Make Believe, The Red Album, Raditude and Hurley between 2005 and 2010. They score huge hits with songs like "Beverly Hills" and "Pork and Beans," but released under a different band name. And everyone is happy.

In late 2010, instead of the Blue Album/Pinkerton tour that took place in reality, Weezer reforms with Matt Sharp for a series of reunion shows, and everyone is happy.

As of this moment, my geek-week quota is outstandingly full, and I'm gonna lose consciousness any second now...

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Q&A with Darl Ferm from Speedy Ortiz (TMK X-Clusive)

Darl Ferm is a man of many names. In certain circles, he may be known as "Daniel." In addition to his tenure as Speedy Ortiz's bass-man extraordinaire, he is the owner and proprietor of DUMP FOOTAGE, the video blog that premiered Speedy's "Indoor Soccer" video in Fall 2012. He's also previously toured with Boston-area bands like Day Sleeper, and he loves The Simpsons probably more than we do.

We met up with Ferm downtown at the China Club for some Q&A. What we learned may shock you.

How many basses do you own? Is the bass in your face?
I own two broken basses and a functional Squier P-Bass. The bass is in my face. The bass took my Face/Off, so yes, it was in my face. Best $40 I've spent on Craigslist.

Which bass string is your least favorite?
G. I avoid it all costs. I use it for two songs, and only so I can explore and understand how much awfulness a string can possess.

Who is your favorite fictional bass player?
Bitter Dean Bobby Peterson featured on the Simpsons episode where Homer goes to college. Not to be confused with Dean Bitterman from School of Hard Knockers.

What did you do yesterday?
I watched three episodes of Parental Control after an episode of Bet On Your Baby, like everyone.

What TV shows or movies have the best bass?
Twin Peaks has the best bass, in the opening credits and throughout the score. Angelo Badalamenti is one of my favorite composers. Bass has become a more prominent feature of film scores lately, notably the new Tron and Spring Breakers.

How many Speedy Ortiz videos have you worked on?
"Indoor Soccer" and "Ka-Prow!," but "Ka-Prow!" was more of a team effort. I also have some live music videos at my website DUMP FOOTAGE.

Is Sting a good bass player? Is Geddy Lee a good bass player?
Sting was in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, so yes, Stu Hamm rules.

Everyone's been dying to know, when will the Notes From Underground full length become a reality?
When the legal issues clear up between me and Men's Warehouse, the greatest The Cure cover band of all time.

How was it playing in Day Sleeper? What was your favorite show in Day Sleeper?
My favorite show was at University of Southern Maine, Gorham, where we drove out of state for the first time, played for 6 people, and watched the trailer for the Speed Racer remake, just like every Day Sleeper experience.

Who were the best bass players on The Simpsons?
Already answeredddD.

What is the best pizza of all time?
Modern, even when the cheese decides to leave its close friends sauce and crust.

If there were a bass shaped like a pizza, where would be the best place to play this bass?
My mouth.

Sadie said I should ask you about Milo. How's Milo doing? Does he slobber?
He's sniffing glue. Beagles have a strong sense of smell, so he gets pretty high.

How was your recent bagel mission in Montreal?
Mission was a double success. Cinnamon raisin bagel was acquired. Plain bagel was acquired x2.

Okay, last question. I know you're tight with the Boston band Krill. If Krill were your children, where would you organize their respective birthday parties?
They are my children. I'm their dad. Their birthdays will be held inside Mike Caulo's body (I.e. Osmosis Jones). See you next Bastille Day.

Monday, May 20, 2013

The "New Shit" Radar (Ovlov, Kim Deal, Krill, Lil B, Two Inch Astronaut, Uncle Acid, Speedy Ortiz, Trinidad Jame$)

The radar is detecting extreme hotness and jamminess in the following "hot jam" directions:

Ovlov "Blue Baby"
Currently touring with Grass Is Green. If you miss this, you have no one else to blame but yourself for missing out. Give these bands another year and they'll be opening for U2 and Rod Stewart down at Nassau Coliseum. No joke, our first official lock for "top 10 albums of the year" is almost here. In the meantime, them boys have unleashed a sick teaser track:


Kim Deal "Walking with a Killer"
Kim's got 4 new songs floating around, and The Breeders will be playing Last Splash from now until at least October. You have no excuse to miss this. NONE. DO NOT FUCK THIS UP.


Krill "Never a Joke"
Catch this band before Lucky leaves and Krill enters indefinite hiatus. I swear to God if you fuck this up supper will be cancelled forever.


Lil B "Choppin' Paper Up"
Pretty boy swag


Two Inch Astronaut "Blood from a Loyal Hound"
Touring soon with Hive Bent. Spill it.


Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats "Evil Love"
Fun Fact: Did you know this is our third favorite band in the world right now after BEAK> and No Age? No new videos from Uncle Acid just yet, but the album slays like some gnarly slay monster.


Speedy Ortiz "Tiger Tank"
Not on bandcamp, but that's ok. Our X-clusive Speedy interview may be posted tomorrow. Probably.


Trinidad Jame$ "All Screwed Everything"
"All Gold Everything" gets chopped and screwed to bits. This is def on Bandcamp.

2000's Jams #108: Washed Out "Feel It All Around" (2009)

Brief stabs of dub drums cheat into the mix. The synthesizers that drive the arrangement sound cheap and liquored-up, but are impeccably paced like a pour of great molasses. Somewhere, echoes of 10cc's breathy "I'm Not In Love" enter the picture, as does YMO's churning bass exploration "Naughty Boys". Greene seems dedicated to mapping a musical history that never actually existed but seems meticulously seen: a historical fiction re-imagining a lifetime of easy listening. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11455-feel-it-all-around/

The initial feeling we received from "Feel It All Around" was vague nostalgia, for a time that's somewhat unable to be placed, or may conjure different areas of memory for different people. For some reason, Y2K-era electronic music came to mind - Air, The Avalanches, or even the more ambient stuff from Richard D James. Washed Out could have fit within this era, taking the borrowed misplaced nostalgia approach, longing for the golden years of AM easy listening. It was the first official "chillwave" we ever heard. Within weeks, Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi were on the radar as well, paving the way for other chill lofi contemporaries.

2000's Jams #109: Wilco "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" (2002)

Wilco probably did not invent the thing where every song on their most acclaimed record has a huge coda section that preceded internet dummies overusing the term "epic" as a synonym for "radical" or something. But they did own something fierce on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. We probably refer to Chuck Klosterman too often in our "hot jam" descriptions, but his Jeff Tweedy profile was one of the first times we noticed a strange sonic parallel between an album's aura and world events (in this case, the fall of the World Trade Center). It also starts with "Jeff Tweedy didn't vomit today. He vomited yesterday, but not today."

Friday, May 10, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): The Strokes “Ask Me Anything” (2006)

The Strokes possibly invented the thing where on a band's third album they depart from their sound somewhere around Track 5 or 6, taking a quick break, displaying their more somber and pensive areas. We've noticed No Age trying out a similar tactic in 2010 ("Common Heat") and also Grass Is Green in 2012 ("Somebody's Something") albeit these were probably coincidences. Third-album syndrome brings out these kindsa vibes...

"My Bike"

we really suck at keeping up on posts lately.

YN Rich Kids have inspired. following up "Hot Cheetos & Takis" with a new jam. Good to know they're getting in some exercise to combat the junk food gorging.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): Outkast “Unhappy” (2003)

10 years on, Speakerboxxx still rules as the less tedious and equally sprawling half of this decade's answer to The White Album (for properly displaying which of Outkast's members were responsible for their individual components, showcasing a proper encore to their brilliant 3-album stretch between 1996 and 2000, and providing the 2000's with its most beloved double-album.)

Jams like "Ghettomusick," "The Rooster," "The Way You Move," "Knowing" and ESPECIALLY the hugely underrated deep cut "Reset" (with samples of shaken spray-paint cans) still sound just as fresh today, and present something far deeper than Andre's forays into "bizarre for the sake of bizarre." The Love Below was an exciting as fuck moment in time that hasn't aged nearly as well as Speakerboxxx, although we still attest to our initial assessment: Both halves need each other in order to form their proper ying-and-yang cohesion, an important factor in what makes its sprawl so fascinating.

There are several "keys" to unlocking the heart of this album, but "Unhappy" is among our most favorite, placed towards the album's beginning and setting a tone that's subdued and pensive, yet playful and just as inventive as the artistic heights of their 90's material.



And for fun, here's the "Ghettomusick" video:

Saturday, April 20, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): The Lox “Ryde Or Die Bitch” (2000)

We never realized until this moment that "Ryde Or Die Chick" (the edited single version) was actually first released as early as August 1999, which allows this to be placed due to the "exceptions" (alongside "Big Pimpin'" and "Say My Name"... "The Everlasting Gaze" would also be one of these...), songs that appeared on releases in both late 1999 and early 2000, making their eligibility more questionable.

Also we never realized until just now that Eve possibly raps on this. It doesn't really sound like her... We just figured it was some no-name from the Ryde Or Die camp. (It's possible that they might have just gotten Eve for the video, similar to C+C Music Factory getting others to lipsynch in their videos instead of asking the song's actual vocalists.)

The uncensored version released on The Lox's LP in January 2000 remains definitive. The ukulele sample and airport noises hooked us immediately ever since the first listen.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): My Chemical Romance "Teenagers" (2006)

2007 was one of the few years since this website's inception when we couldn't find the energy to post any type of "worst singles of the year" list. If we recall correctly, "Teenagers" was heavily considered, a shining example of everything we hated about dramaclub-core.

Since then, a few things have happened...

In 2009, Chuck Klosterman's Eating The Dinosaur included a 3-page examination of "Teenagers." His initial reaction accurately notes a combination of T.Rex and Alice Cooper, while his reaction with two years of hindsight goes far deeper, noting Gerald Way's lyrical contradictions as he tries to make amends with his uncomfortable placement within pop culture, a guy whose job is to both represent and intimidate an audience who is mostly half his age.

With this in mind, it doesn't seem all that bizarre that MCR took The Who's advice and pulled the plug on themselves before getting old, bowing out gracefully with a solidified placement among the decade's defining pop culture elements and a discography with roughly 5 albums worth of music now receiving lauded accolades from the likes of SPIN magazine. Hindsight's 20/20.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): The Shins “Pressed in a Book” (2001)

The Shins do this thing where they trick the listener into not realizing how many words are packed into each of their songs. They even tricked themselves on occasion, such as in this video right here:

Daft Punk "Get Lucky"

No one's sure what this new Daft Punk song is supposed to be called, but it sounds like they're singing "Get Lucky" over and over, so this is possibly the title.

We're still huge suckers for new exciting types of marketing campaigns that successfully build huge levels of anticipation for a forthcoming release. The mini-documentaries on Vice and the commercials shown during SNL have our balls wound up pretty tight. One of the many gifts the internet age has provided is immediacy, and music fans generally don't have to wait very long to hear a hugely anticipated release. So far, the only available music from Daft Punk's forthcoming collection are two 30 second clips of the same song, presumably the first single.

While Homework, Discovery and Human After All were all huge records, Daft Punk's tour in 2007 (two years after their last official full-length) somewhat marked what we consider their first official moment of household-name type superstardom. And thanks to the advent of dubstep, 2013 is officially the pinnacle of EDM's popularity. Random Access Memories is their first release since these events, creating a carefully honed moment of attack which has unquestionably resulted in their most anticipated record to date, and probably the most anticipated record of the year, period (with regards to My Bloody Valentine ... A lot of people waited a very long time to hear M B V, but ultimately more people will hear Random Access Memories).

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): Squarepusher "My Red Hot Car" (2001)

MATH MAT HMA THM ATH MA TH. Chopped some samples into pieces and placed them out of order, but not in the theme-and-variations type of arrangement one might expect from Photek or Richard D James, but rather in a similar structure to something on Instrumental Gems from the 60's. And yes, we're suggesting that if technology had enabled IDM to exist in the 60's, "My Red Hot Car" is more-or-less (structurally) what it might have sounded like. (And it might have even charted. This shit is catchy!)

Kinda bummed that the Go Plastic version never received a video... Honestly, we didn't realize there was more than one version of this song. (The version we like has a trippy super-quiet bleeps and bloops section at the end that one might only be able to hear after turning up the car stereo volume to its maximum.) Below we've posted two versions... The LP version that we love, and an alternate single version called "Girl" with a trippy fan-made video...

2000's Jams (+5): Madvillain "America's Most Blunted" (2004)

It's simply too difficult to choose just one song from Madvillainy, an album full of "10 out of 10's" that ultimately all sound very similar, and work best within the context of the LP. Where to turn? There's "Figaro" (with MF Doom's strongest and most memorable lyrics to date) and "All Caps" (with a classic once-sung refrain). We strongly considered the unheralded tripped-out jazz-funk surge "Shadows of Tomorrow," with Quasimoto interpreting Sun Ra.

We ultimately decided to run with P4k's choice. ("America's Most Blunted" has an entry in the book The Pitchfork 500 and also placed on their 500 best 2000's jams). It doesn't necessarily tower over everything else on Madvillainy, but its warpy disjointed production (filled with 10 or 12 samples not unlike the sprawl throughout Paul's Boutique) best encapsulates the essence of Madvillain, who wisely chose not to release any other LP's. Their legend is best left untainted by a follow-up.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

2000's Jams (+5): Built To Spill "Goin' Against Your Mind" (2006)

It's happening! 2000's hurrah.

Between 2004 and 2006, Wilco's "Spiders" kicked off a mini-wave of kraut influenced indie rock. Doug "Dougie" Martsch unintentionally indulged in this area, resulting in Built To Spill's best song since Keep It Like A Secret. To some it may resemble just another extended psychedelic jam session, but the inflation of energy goes far beyond basement frat-jamming, especially the quiet section in the middle. "When I was a kid I saw a light / Floating high above the trees one night / What was an alien / Turned out to be just god"

2000 Jams from the 2000's

This might be a good day to start this. Motivation is dwindling again. Hopefully something like this will rejuvenate our interest and spark some inspiration.

We've been getting the urge to post about certain topics, but then finding that other web sources have already done a better job than we could ever do. Not much purpose to treading those waters. However, this very moment - as the current decade is now 33% complete - is probably a decent enough time to post our 2000's Jams. It's been a long time coming... We expected it to happen about two years ago, after completing "90 Jams from the 90's" in spring of 2011. "2000's guilt" happened very quickly in August 2011, followed by November/December 2011's "80's guilt," and a Hunter S. Thompson inspired (drunken/drugged-up) 1996 countdown last fall.

So here's the rules:

#1 This will probably not actually be a list of 2000 songs. We just like the title.
#2 50 words or less per entry, in an effort to keep things moving as quickly as possible.
#3 Within this list, "2000's" specifically refers to the decade starting on Jan 1st 2000 and ending on Dec 31st 2009. All music released on an album or single within that 10-year span is eligible for inclusion. So like, "Big Pimpin'" and "Say My Name" and "Still DRE" could have made it here if we felt as strongly about those songs as some people do, even though all three were first released during the fall of 1999. (P.S. None of these made the cut.) "Shine Blockas" and "Lemonade," however, were released late-2009, only to have their infamy cemented during 2010. (Either of these might have had a shot.)

Good luck!

Friday, April 5, 2013

"get weird"

about 4 lowt ide songs got ripped off within "get weird," and we're sure none of this was intentional because literally like 12 people throughout the history of time have even heard lowt ide... let alone the notion that anyone was able to actually sit through a lowt ide album, but also pinpoint specific moments in songs that are worth "stealing." it's obviously a coincidence. but noteworthy nonetheless.

to be honest we couldn't even tell you which lowt ide songs were noticed... the verses resemble that one that goes "i'm gonna go to the bar, i'm gonna go to the bar..." and the "la la la la la la la" chorus resembles "Would You Guys Mind Not Playing Anymore Songs." whatever.

"Rusty"

dying

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

trinidad james

can't get enough of this album. We wish we had found it sooner so it could've been in "best of 2012" but whatever. The "All Gold Everything" video is 2013. Our "most important artist" making music right now. Not sure why this is alluding Hot 97's playlist, but they're still playing "No Church In The Wild" and "Clique." Them bitches are slippin.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Trash Humpers Vs. Spring Breakers

Trash Humpers and Spring Breakers are Harmony Korine's ying and yang, respectively. Unconfirmed sources have reported Harmony's plans to "remix" these two movies, blending them seamlessly to create his next movie, interspersed with gunshot sequences from his short film with Die Antwoord and quick subliminal shots from a Slayer documentary. The remix experience culminates with an epic gun battle to see who can fire guns into the air the fastest.