Will Boss Honor Buddy?

For those with an appreciation for Rock ‘n Roll’s infancy, Monday marks the 50th Anniversary of “The Day the Music Died” — when the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper went down following a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa (Valens “won” his seat on the plane on a coin flip with Holly’s guitar player). Will The Boss, who has been known to do a mean cover of Buddy’s “Not Fade Away,” commemorate the event at the Super Bowl half-time? We hope so, and so does this guy:


Thanks to SITKOT follower mchaz for the guest-post.

Album Review: Blood Bank

If Bon Iver's remarkable 2008 debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, had a defining fault, it was likely its brevity. His new EP, Blood Bank, is guilty of the same charge, coming in at only four songs. Unfortunately, its faults--though few--are not limited to playback time.

For the record, Blood Bank is a great listen, and better on the whole than a lot of the EPs pumped out every year by indie acts looking to fill time. Yet the strength of its first half juxtaposed against the mediocre second half leaves a listener disappointed at the end of the EP's seventeen minutes.

The opening title track would be in its right place anywhere on For Emma and it's a great track to kick off this release and bring us back into Bon Iver's minimalist past. It is lyrically intriguing but just familiar enough musically that when Vernon sings "I know it well" ad nauseum at the song's conclusion, you want to agree.

Track two, "Beach Baby," is the EP's most satisfying song to my ear. Though beginning in the same manner as many of Bon Iver's tunes, the song develops quickly into something more, and is sort of a thumbnail of the EP itself: short and sweet, with a slight departure at the end. The song's reverberating slide guitar outro does not seem at all out of place, and leads nicely into what is to come.

While For Emma was lauded largely for its understated production and the intimacy if its sound, I can't fault Vernon for exploring new (though not altogether distant) territory on the second half of Blood Bank. For the most part, it's not a bad departure: the repetitive "Babys" blends familiar vocals with a whimsical dissonance of piano notes that recalls Sufjan Stevens' earlier work, and the album closer, "Woods," might have more promise if Vernon had stuck to the guy-with-a-guitar blueprint instead of going all Kanye on the Auto-Tune. Unfortunately, he went with the vocoder and, while interesting, capped off the EP on a low note with a somewhat directionless experiment.

All tolled, Blood Bank is a fine record, and perhaps does exactly what an EP should do in providing fans with a reminder of what they've come to love while offering a glimpse of what the artist is into right now, or even what's to come. If the latter is meant to be signaled by this EP's chronology, I'll have to hope that Vernon changes directions again before his next release. But even if he doesn't, I'll still check out whatever's next.

SITKOT rating: 45 out of 57

Download:

Bon Iver – “Beach Baby” (Mediafire link)

UPDATE: Vernon is interviewed in the latest issue of Spin. Of note: "All these bloggers are going, 'Auto-tune is evil and people in the folk realm shouldn't use it.' This has nothing to do with anything. It was inspired by an Imogen Heap song, it's not a comment on [these other artists]. And even though blogs are tastemarkers and have exalted a lot of bands that went on to become successful, there's this clique mentality that just... Look, if you like Bruce Springsteen, like him. Don't wait for somebody to tell you it's cool again to like him." Touché.

Springsteen to return to the 'Burgh

Yesterday the Boss announced a Pittsburgh date at Mellon Arena on May 19. In an apparent act of rebellious celebration, someone towed my car. This one seemed fitting.

Download:
Patty Griffin – “Stolen Car”(Springsteen cover)(Mediafire link)

Wintry Mix

I've never totally understood what the meteorologists mean by that but, man, is it gross out there. I love the snow, but I could do without whatever this is. It will be nice when it passes.

Downloads:
Tom Waits – “Hold On” (Mediafire link)
Josh Ritter – “Snow is Gone” (Mediafire link)

Last Night I Had the Stupidest Dream

This morning I had one of those dreams where you take your shower, shave your face, tie your shoes, the whole lot. I looked out the window and saw it was snowing, so I pulled a hat on and got on my bike to ride to work. I should have been suspicious at this point, since I don’t ride a bike to work, but in my stupor I failed to put two and two together. So when the alarm rang, I was thoroughly disheartened--so disheartened that I got up a good 20 minutes earlier than usual. Yet by the time I left my house, it was only about 12 minutes prior to my normal departure. Then I reached the bus-stop to discover that there apparently are no buses in that 12 minutes immediately prior to the time I typically reach the bus-stop. What a waste.

Here’s some classic Pavement – “Range Life”: (Mediafire link)

And some Stephen Malkmus about joining a band of pirates, which would be a way cooler dream that getting ready for work: “The Hook”: (Mediafire link)

The Tailgate Playlist

As we prepare for the trip to Tampa this weekend, a few of the major necessities include a Terrible Towel and Sunday’s tailgate playlist. The Towel is packed and ready. As for the playlist, so far we’ve got:

1. Renegade - Styx
2. Hell’s Bell’s – AC/DC
3. American Girl – Tom Petty
4. Here We Go (2009 version)
5. When the Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
6. Rosa Parks - Outkast
7. Steelers Polka
8. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns n’ Roses
9. Stronger – Kanye West
10. Thunderstruck – AC/DC

Help us out and post your own essential tailgating tracks in the COMMENTS thread below.

Is Craig Finn Really the Pittsburgh City Council President?

I was at a local political event the other night and thought for a moment that we were "really gonna party" when I briefly mistook local politico Doug Shields for the Hold Steady's Craig Finn.

Hold Steady Frontman - Craig Finn:

District 5 Representative and Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields:


It goes beyond the glasses, too. Before he left the event, Shields gave a short speech about the state of the city, but all it really amounted to was that we "gotta stay positive."

Hope you all rock out to some "Positive Jams" (download via zShare here) at "Killer Parties" (download via zShare here) tonight.

Silver Jews Call it Quits

In a post on the Silver Jews Bulletin Board yesterday entitled “Silver Jews End - Lead Singer Bids his Well-Wishers Adieu,” David Berman (or someone purporting to be him?) announced the end of his longtime band. In the somewhat cryptic initial announcement, Berman wrote:

“I guess I am moving over to another category. Screenwriting or Muckraking. I've got to move on. Can't be like all the careerists doncha know. I'm forty two and I know what to do. I'm a writer, see?”

In a strange, confessional later post, Berman expresses unwavering shame in his lobbyist father, and suggests that his art and music were intended as means to undo “…a millionth of all the harm [his father] has caused.” Wow. Anyway, Berman ends the post saying, “There needs to be something more. I'll see what that might be.”

I guess we’ll wait and see as well. Let’s hope the something more is more music. The biggest bummer is that I couldn’t make it to the show in Oakland last summer. Apparently now I never will.

"Strange Victory, Strange Defeat": (zShare download)

Also, check out City Paper’s August ‘08 interview with Berman.

The Victory Lap

We'd be remiss if we didn't give a nod to the wild, monumental events that transpired this week.

In the future, we'll keep this thing pretty apolitical - since Roberto and my political views are as dissimilar as our opinions of My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges" (more on that later). But regardless of your race, gender, affiliations or opinions on the best way to "win" the 'War on Terror', we all can feel good about the fact that a man who wouldn't have been allowed to enter most restaurants 50 years ago, is now our Commander-In-Chief. That's progress no matter how you shake it.

Tons of great music was inspired by this campaign season, and music was a more central part of both side's campaigns in ways that I don't recall in other election cycles. From the coo-ing duels of the Obama and McCain "Girls", to will.i.am's star-studded"Yes We Can", to the thousands of unknown amateurs who were moved to write about what's going on in our Great Nation these days.

My favorite all-time DJ, dj Z-Trip, recently released the followup to his hour-long Obama propaganda piece from earlier this Fall. While his 'get-out-your-seat-and-vote' skills were on fine display on the original "Obama Mix" (download it here), it may be a bit preachy for some.

His recently-released, less-opinionated "Victory Lap - The Obama Mix Part 2" (download it here) is a half-hour of feel good tunes and speech snippets that you can just imagine the First Family boogieing around the First Kitchen to.

And if you're looking for a non-partisan display of Z-Trips skills try these these 'perfect-for-a-Friday-tracks'. They're all available for free download at Z-Trip's site (Z-Trip site downloads) along with just about every other thing his done over his beat-bumping career.

The Motown Breakdown, Pt. 1: (zShare download) - 8 minutes of seamless, feel-good Motown.

Soundclash: (zShare download) - Wildly infectious beat from Mims' "Why I'm Hot" done over with some ragga flair.

MashUpTight: (zShare download) - Riff from G&R's "Sweet Child 'O Mine" meet's Stevie Wonder's "Uptight" - it works better than you'd think.

tgif. Kleber - out.

Boogie On, Mr. President, Boogie On:

Buddy Nutt Live on 88.3 FM

Photo: Ron Lutz

For the Pittsburgh music connoisseurs who still own radios, local one-man-band Buddy Nutt will be bringing his delicately off-color ditties to WRCT 88.3 FM tonight at 9:00. Tune in. Once you have, and when you start to wonder about that ethereal, sustained, bending high-toned sound you’re hearing in the background, know that it’s a saw (as in, a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth used for cutting) expertly stroked with a violin bow.

While Buddy Nutt’s act may be best experienced in person, his songs can be enjoyed by themselves as well. For even if it took a full band to bring to life these tinpan-alley tunes of depression, sexual deviance and ping-pong, they would still be good songs, and you’d still probably chuckle at the subtle innuendo and not-so-subtle puns he wryly croons. Knowing that the accompanying didgeridoo, whistle, horn, kickdrum-suitcase, kazoo, and a ukulele or two are all played by one guy is just an added bonus.

Download a love song of sorts about a winding road and a young boy’s conception: "The Lincoln Highway Song"

Concert Review: Leo Kottke

Taking his seat on the small, floor-level stage of the Carnegie Lecture Hall on Saturday evening, Leo Kottke seemed momentarily unsure of his purpose in being there. Setting a 12-string guitar on the floor beside him and taking his 6-string in hand, he proceeded not to play a song, but instead to tell a story. After a moment of talking and looking down at the floor, he questioned why he was staring at the 12-string: “It was there a minute ago. It’s still there now.” So began an evening that would hold many more stories--some with purpose, some without, but all of them charming.

It took Kottke a few songs to warm up and to get the venue’s modest soundsystem to where he wanted it, which was presumably lower and louder. Just when the audience thought it was there, Kottke unfolded a story about playing a festival in the 70s at which the crowd insisted on climbing the speaker stacks despite a soundman’s warnings. The end of the story had a stack falling on top of a girl, wicked-witch-of-the-west-style, and the point of the story was that Kottke wanted it louder. Apparently satisfied, he proceeded to hit his stride, and from then on the night was a lesson in humility for any guitar player in the room.

Highlights included Kottke’s take on the traditional “Corrine, Corrina,” which he transformed from a simple folk tune into a postmodern jazz-blues, possibly a result of his first having heard it played by Mississippi John Hurt rather than Dylan, who introduced most of us to that sweet love song. Kottke similarly transformed “Little Martha,” riffing on Duane Allman’s timeless instrumental to make it something all his own. It was true to much of Kottke’s work, which can’t be fit neatly into one genre or another; it’s an inimitable sound, uniquely Leo Kottke.

For many in the crowd, that notion was driven home when Kottke launched into an unreleased tune which he called “Ants” and described as “a bear on the 12-string.” He warned in advance that one section was “particularly beary,” but it was impossible to tell as he blazed through it without a slip. And when he finished, it was clear to all in the audience that they had witnessed a master of both his instrument and his craft.

An Open Letter to the Folks at American Eagle

“Be good to each other, enjoy yourselves and I’ll see you next year.” – Anthony Kiedis, Curator, New American Music Union Festival, Saturday, August 9, 2008

Given that parting quote from Lord Kiedis, the “What band would you like to see next year” entry blank on the official AE Website, and the fact that it just wouldn’t make sense to go so big, make something so promising one year and then abandon it the next, you’ve got to figure that we’ll see the return of “AE-Fest” in 2009 right?

Let’s hope so. But here-to-now, we have no indication that there will be a repeat engagement. It’s not terribly surprising that the AE powers that be, entrenched in their South Side Works fortress, haven’t made an announcement regarding ‘09 yet.

After all, one of the big gripes with the ’08 affair was a lack of publicity. Even within a month of the festival, untold numbers of supposedly ‘plugged in’ friends were shocked to hear that “the guy from the Chili Peppers (was) putting on a show that featured those guys who sang ‘Crazy’, and that dude from the White Stripes’ other band, and Dylan, and the Roots, and a bunch of college bands dahn on Sahthside.”

Regardless, those who heard about it soon enough, were wise enough to plunk down the absurdly-low ticket cost and came with a thirst for great music in a strange, asphalt setting – were treated to one of the real high-points of Pittsburgh’s 250th year.

The Roots killed it, the Black Keys did their blues-rockiest, the Raconteurs validated every bit of high-praise I’d been wondering if they deserved (and more - see below vid.), Gnarls Barkley did their darndest to rock a sleepy, mid-afternoon August squelcher, and just about every facet of the festival - save for a practically comatose Bob Dylan - did not disappoint.

Which brings me to the open letter part of this post:

Dear, American Eagle “New American Music Union” Festival Director.

I know times are tough in the retail biz, but please, please, please bring back NAMU in 2009.

Somehow, perhaps in spite of yourselves, you put together a beautiful event last year. Kiedis was an inspired choice to curate. Tickets were dirt-cheap. The parking lot behind Anne Taylor Loft somehow felt like the right place for a summer rockshow. Security kept the place secure, but didn’t make festival-goers feel like they were at a middle-school dance. You managed to put your name on every damn thing in sight, but it didn’t feel overly corporate. In fact, for a first-time event, it seemed to be pretty flawlessly managed.

All of that amounts to why you need to find the dough to make it work again this year: you have a terrific foundation to build off of. The Pittsburgh scene actually garnered some national merit. You built the type of event where bands want to play their best show, not just another tourstop between Chicago and Philadelphia. It’s exactly what people have been saying couldn’t be done here for years and you pulled it off.

Do it again. I dare you. In fact, I triple-dog dare you. And if you or Kiedis want some ideas for improvements or suggestions for acts, don’t hesitate to holler.

Be good to each other, enjoy yourselves and hopefully, we’ll see you this year.

Henry Kleber

p.s. I loved the bike valets and the water bottle handouts, too.



UPDATE: The festival will not be happening in 2009: http://post-gazette.com/pg/09059/952167-388.stm

Fleet Foxes Quietly Rock Studio 8H

Too often, the saccharine sounds of harmony-heavy bands disappoint live. As anyone who watched SNL this past weekend can testify, such was not the case when Fleet Foxes took the stage in Rockefeller Center. Robin Pecknold, at the foreground on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, led the Seattle-based quintet through a stirring performance of “Mykonos,” which peaked when the band hit the a cappella halfway mark of the song. As the instruments rejoined, drummer Joshua Tillman built up the intensity, showing off great restraint on the kit and a great voice of his own to fade seamlessly into a captivating vocal ending. The Foxes’ second song of the night, “Blue Ridge Mountains,” offered a fine sample of the band’s eponymous full-length release. It also offered Pecknold the opportunity to display a modest range by setting aside his usual reverb-drenched Jim James intonations in favor of a soft, crisp delivery that recalled a young Graham Nash. All in all, Fleet Foxes demonstrated that not only can they write one a hell of a pleasing modern rock song, but they can kick ass live—while carrying a flawless harmony.

Download: Mykonos (Live on SNL 1-17-09)
Download: Blue Ridge Mountains (Live on SNL 1-17-09)

We've Got a Feeling...

"You're never going to hear me say that somebody is tougher than me. Because I don't believe somebody else could be tougher than me." -James Harrison

Renegade - Styx

Blue Shadows, White Snow

If Leo Kottke’s experimental folk isn’t your thing, then brush off your car and head up to Butler this weekend for the annual January Ice Jam to enjoy free live bluegrass tonight and all day tomorrow. With over twenty bands from around the region set to perform, standout acts include Mountain Therapy and the Allegheny Drifters. It’s worth the drive just to hear the Drifters croon their way through “Blue Missouri Shadows” (but if you miss them this weekend, you can catch them on the 26th at the North Country Brewery).

Leo Kottke Comes to the Carnegie

Photo: Michael Wilson, P-G

This weekend, Pittsburgh’s folk music society Calliope brings guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke to the Carnegie Lecture Hall. The show is sold out, but those with the good fortune to have tickets can expect a display of Kottke’s wide influences, with a focus on the instrument. The PG’s Scott Mervis did a good piece on Kottke yesterday.

Before the show, warm up with the caribbean-tinged "Twice" from Kottke’s 2005 collaboration with Phish bassist Mike Gordon.

After the show, set the DVR or tune in to catch Fleet Foxes on SNL. For now, download "White Winter Himnal,” a great song for the cold, snow-covered weekend.

Three Rivers Arts Fest Dates Announced

Pittsburgh's largest, longest-running outdoor festival is set to run June 5-14 this year. See the "official release" here.

No artists to name yet, but two items stood out:

1) Instead of the three-week format of past years, the festival only runs 10 days this year. It's been no secret that Arts Fest has been cash-strapped for years and we hope that this tighter format will increase the per-show budget - making way for a few more notable acts than we've seen recently. Remember when Wilco played?

2) Despite the millions of dollars in local and state funding spent to make Point State Park more "crowd friendly", the release gives no indication that music will return to enjoy those new digs. Indications are that we'll be rocking in Gateway Center, again. Hopefully the on-going "Bore to the Shore" project forces the concert stage somewhere other than the sweaty doorstep of 5th Avenue Place.

Looking forward to artist announcements.

Hope they bring back my favorite of last year's acts: the Avett Brothers:

Ryan Adams Bows Out

Citing the losses of “someone I loved, my sense of dignity, a never ending losing battle with stage fright and now my hearing and balance due to an inner ear issue,” songwriter and SITKOT favorite Ryan Adams announced today that he is leaving the music world behind for now. Adams concludes a lengthy blog entry (and presumably his blogging days altogether), writing:

“maybe we will play again sometime and maybe i will work my way back into some kind of music situation but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in and i wish everyone peace and happiness and if music is your dream, or if just dreaming is your dream, may you find your way through the rough patch with ease and i hope you let go and it takes you all the way there.”

Download “A Kiss Before I Go” from the Cardinals’ incredible performance at Carnegie Music Hall last year. (Right-click and "Save Target As")

And here’s hoping the Cardinals keep on with Neal Casal’s able hands at the drafting table: “Freeway To the Canyon” (Newcastle 11-11-08) (Right-click and "Save Target As")

I Like Van Halen

After yesterday’s post, I started thinking about the history of my music purchases. If I’m not mistaken, I think my last cassette tape and first compact disc were Van Halen’s “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and "OU812" respectively, though not in that order.

The “OU812” CD was a joint purchase by my sister and me in celebration of the family’s first CD player, which I recall being a big deal. My dad wired the family den with tiny wood-encased speakers that hung in the corners of the room--quite a futuristic departure from the giant wood-encased speakers that had previously stood on the floor, nearly as tall as I. In any event, my sister and I shared “OU812,” which I imagine worked out just fine considering there was only one player on which to listen to it. Eventually, I recall getting a Sony Discman for Christmas and my sister getting a Panasonic boombox (both of which amazingly still work) and there being fights over various CD’s. But in the beginning, life was good.

Despite being my first introduction to Van Halen, “OU812” never satisfied me from start to finish. At age ten “Finish What Ya Started” was more complex than what I cared to hear. But with MTV blocked from our cable box by my parents, my primary source of musical exploration was Casey Casem’s Weekly Top 40 Countdown, and “When It’s Love” was a pretty great power ballad if I’d ever heard one.

Eventually, I discovered a second source for new music: the cooler kids on my school bus, who were cooler only by virtue of having been born to more tolerant/less protective mothers. So, when Van Halen released “F.U.C.K” and my mom evidently failed to decipher the reverse-acronym, I went down to the National Record Mart and picked up my very own copy of the cassette tape, because CD’s were twice the cost of tapes then, and so despite having a CD player much of my lawn-mowing money was still spent on cassettes well into the early ‘90s. I recall being blown away by the power drill intro to “Poundcake,” which also happened to be the intro to the album. To my now-twelve-year-old ears, the rest of the album rocked straight through. With each hit single from the album released over the following months, I felt extremely self-satisfied to be ahead of the trend, even though I was technically way behind it, having been born a year after the band’s debut.

Anyway, I sought out more. A friend’s older brother had some of the older Van Halen albums, so we snuck into his room and had a listen. While I was intrigued by the image of a young angel smoking a cigarette on “1984” and drawn to the familiarity of some of the Roth-era songs I recognized from the radio in my dad’s Wagoneer, it was “5150” that sucked me in with Eddy’s heavy synthesizers and Sammy’s passionate vocals. I dubbed it onto a blank tape and wore that tape out, then eventually bought it on CD. To this day, while the scenesters find only the early VH worth an ironic nod, “5150” stands out in my mind as the band’s best record, though these days I enjoy it digitally.

Download: El Ten Eleven – “I Like Van Halen Because My Sister Says They Are Cool”

Wait for the imeem playlist… it takes a minute to load:

Touche

Hold Tight

In my mind, some albums still merit the commitment of a trip down to the record store for an old-fashioned hard-copy purchase, and for my money anything in M. Ward’s catalog is deserving of that excursion. So when he put out “Post-War” way back in August of 2006, I purchased my copy as I set out on a California road trip the day after that album’s release. Regretfully, a good portion of it had already been leaked, and I will confess to having loved ten of its thirteen tracks well before sliding that CD into my rental car’s stereo, which made that moment somewhat less thrilling.

This year, as we prepare for “Hold Time” to drop on February 17, I have vowed to resist the urge. Rather than taste the tracks one or two at a time in the pitiful confines of my office, I plan to take it in all at once, on a solid sound-system and in the warmth of my home or a friend’s.

But people are making it hard for me, starting with the man himself.

I didn’t plan to listen to the title track last month. I just wanted to check the website, see if any new shows had been scheduled (coming soon will be my open letter to M. in which I plead for him to return to Pittsburgh), maybe check out some news updates. But instead I saw the video for “Hold Time” streaming on the little TV in the corner, and so, feebly, I dialed up the volume on my two-watt desktop speakers and listened. And I was not disappointed with the tune so much as I was with myself.

In truth, it's a beautiful song, evocative of the mellow title track off Ward's last record and, after taking it in and thinking it over, I decided that my exposure to one track won’t ruin my overall experience of “Hold Time.” But I also decided not to stray beyond that one, though I’ve been tempted.

The leaks are out there, especially this week, as NPR has begun to stream the record in its entirety (as they’ve also done with Andrew Bird’s forthcoming “Noble Beast”). I could sit down this weekend, pour a glass of port, wire up my laptop to my receiver and enjoy the album right off the web. But it might not be as satisfying, and I don’t rightly know if I want to take that risk this time around. So for now, I wait.

Late to the County Line

Somewhere between alt-country and bluegrass, a psychedelic hint of early-1970’s folk merges with the sound of Chatham County Line and reverberates like a wolf’s distant howl through creaking trees in the night. Too much? Maybe. But apparently while I’ve been asleep, songwriter Dave Wilson and his band have been steadily building their fanbase for over eight years with songs that sound at once dusty and dusted off.

Wilson’s voice is reminiscent of Ryan Adams’ minus the cracks, while the instrumentation seems channeled from a mountainous woods that was timbered decades ago. With producer Chris Stamey (of Yo La Tengo’s “V.O.T.E.” and Alejandro Escovedo’s “Man Under the Influence”) at the knobs, CCL manage to honor the ghost of Bill Monroe while conjuring up harmonies that would have sounded right at home in CSNY’s ranch studio. Traditional bluegrass strings blend into in the background when it’s time for the vocals to shine, but hasten to sing themselves when called forth on tracks like “I Got Worry” and “Let it Rock.” At times, the pedal steel surges up to remind us what’s good about country music, then sits back to remind us why the classic songs of that genre have lasted a generation or more, while so much of the modern stuff goes sour in months.

CCL just re-released their self-titled first album, while their fourth and most recent record is still picking up steam nearly a year after its release. The latest is titled “IV,” which might seem lazy but for the sense that a wordier title just wouldn’t fit these songs. You can stream the full record here, or download it here, or check out some of their stellar live shows at archive.org.

I've Been Told To Expect It

Phish will be returning to Star Lake this summer. In the meantime, as the Carnegie International 2008 draws to a close this week, enjoy:

"Life on Mars" (Bowie Cover)

Soñado de Mi Futura Mujer

Good Enough for Kanye

Only two days in and this ‘blog has taken a decidedly hip-hop turn. That’s okay; we’ve got time.

Today’s track is described by Mr. West as “DOPE!!” I tend to agree. The hook may or may not be as infectious as the whistle bit from 2006’s “Young Folks,” but thanks in part to a huge beat, this track on the whole rings rather meatier in my ear. And I like that. So savor it:

“Nothing to Worry About”

Then go check out http://www.peterbjornandjohn.com/ to download another preview of PB&J’s forthcoming "Living Thing" LP, "Lay it Down." Then take a look at that sweet, sweet ‘stache. Is Kanye still rocking his? Between the two of them, they could make a strong case for the continuation of that trend in ‘09.

Bonus track: DJ Mei-Lwun - “Jesus Walked Back and He’s Black”

Buenas dias.

Having seen AC/DC live, it's time to take life more seriously. Having said that, it's time to rock.

Ladies is androids too. Check out this sick mashup.