Dubstep

it's a big deal. never heard of it? here's my favorite example, discovered.. this past week.

millions hate it already. millions have yet to love it. millions (not billions) have yet to see megha in the nude as well so let's not hold our breath:

i first heard this sound with Burial's Archangel but didn't know what it was. Burial is pretty much considered the Britney of dubstep so it makes sense that it was the first thing I came across. My good friend Dan Amitai was a huge proponent of the scene in DC and I went to my first dubstep concert with him about a year ago (Headhunter and Jukata).

the key to this music is in the wobble of the bass. it can be irritating or interesting but it's a style that's getting more and more popular. the most popular artists in this relatively new genre (about 5-7 years old now) include: Benga, Skream, Rusko, Burial, Caspa, Zomby, etc etc

one more of my favorites is below. after that is the first "dubstep" song i ever heard (mentioned above). dubstep is in quotes because, although the genre comes from 2step/garage, this song owes more to 2step than most.

the three examples so far are on the calmer, less masculine side of dubstep, which has been criticized for having almost as macho a scene as drum n' bass. to be fair, the above songs all maintain the dark and brooding atmosphere that is requisite to good dubstep. below are some of the harder hitting examples, what many fans would consider (if over-played) the true sound of dubstep:

Did you already know about dubstep? Do you wish you never knew? Is it better than sunday morning bhajans? you tell me.

P.S. if you liked it, the motherload for great mixes is here.

You have to hold your nose and sing all angsty

I don't get exposed to new music often, but my latest playlist has a cool story by my standards:

1. My bro sends me a song without an artist or title because he doesn't know it but knew I'd like it (he is right)
2. Bijal googles the lyrics and finds out it is by a band called Owl City
3. I start listening to more Owl City, and have them stuck in my head for months
4. I go to Owl City's concert across the street from my apartment in SF last Thursday - good times.

By my own admission I do often like less-than-manly music or cheesy electronica (e.g. Akon), and get made fun of a ton for it, but I've officially stopped apologizing for this - its too late for me (and these songs tend to have awesome harmony AND melody - not just beats). And I can still laugh when my brother makes fun of me via his impression of Secondhand Serenade, complete with clipping his nose closed with his fingers.

On The Wing - Owl City

Norwegian Rap/Urban Stars

This is my first post so I'll be concise (not easy for me).

I enjoy "Beggin'" by Madcon. I don't get points for originality here - it's already Top 40 and will be all over the radio soon (which is where I heard it).

Madcon is "new" for me, but is very popular in Europe/elsewhere, especially in the Nordic music scene where they first hit it big.

Beggin - Madcon

Also the video is cool.

Kanye + Planet Earth = Amazing?

Apparently so. Check out the new video for "Amazing."

Kanye West - Amazing (feat. Young Jeezy)

Radiofoot

Have been listening to this a lot again in the last few days. Probably their best song. One of my overall favorite songs too... despite Thom Yorke's lazy f-ing eye. If he wasn't so weird, Radiohead would actually be more likable, generally speaking. Apparently both Kanye and Miley Cyrus don't like him cause he dissed them by ignoring them. Go figure... Kanye and Miley Cyrus have something in common besides huge egos.

Radiohead - Let Down


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EDITOR' NOTE: The Pun Spot does not discriminate against people with "lazy eyes." In fact, our editor in chief has a "lazy eye." So there.

Pakistani-British Björk

I'm really digging Bat For Lashes these days. You should, too. Check out the live cover of the Kings of Leon song.

Bat For Lashes - Use Somebody (Kings of Leon Cover)



Also, check out the first single from her new album, Two Suns.

Bat For Lashes - Daniel



Shout out to Hilal/Daily Cherez for the recommendation.

Maybe they'll sell a few more albums this time

Check out the hot new single from The Clipse which will be featured on Till The Casket Drops (due out later this year).

The Clipse - Kinda Like A Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)

Electronic music (?) video collection

Not sure that all of these qualify as electronic music, but they all feel like they're in the same genre.

As some of you readers may remember, I had a post about Röyksopp a couple months back for their song "Happy Up Here." Just saw this pretty cool version they put together as a promo for their album release. Check it out below.

Röyksopp - Happy Up Here (Marching Band Version)



And check out this pretty cool (older) video.

Röyksopp - What Else Is There (feat. Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife)



Not as creepy as Karin Dreijer Andersson's last video, but it has its moments. The video also reminds me of elements from one of the coolest videos from 2007.

Bat for Lashes - What's A Girl To Do

Socially Conscious / Social Conscience

More from the upcoming Daniel Merriweather album Love and War. This one features Wale - one of my favorite rappers right now. The message of this song is reminiscent of Marvin Gaye a la "What's Going On" / "Inner City Blues."

Daniel Merriweather - Change (feat. Wale)



Ya dig?

Coming soon to an iTunes download near you

Mos Def is coming back with a brand new album due out this June - The Ecstatic. And from this promo, it looks to be a return to his old form (hopefully more Black on Both Sides and less True Magic).

Mos Def - Flowers Promo



Also, peep these tracks that are also set to be on the album.

Mos Def - Quiet Dog



Mos Def - Life in Marvelous Times

Recognize

Recognize: Not just a funny joke (one of the only funny jokes actually) from this season of Scrubs, but also an instruction for you to acknowledge all the goodness that was Run-DMC.

Run-DMC was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. See more here and here.

A few of my favorite Run-DMC songs below.

Run-DMC - It's Like That



And the pretty cool remix: Run-DMC vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like That (remix)



Run-DMC - Christmas in Hollis (and I don't even really celebrate Christmas)

She's Back

This blogger just woke up from a REM sleep. As such, my bag of tricks is quite empty with the exception of this little dirty-yet-clever (and what's better than that?) gem right here:

Iranian-American Country House Music = Next Big Thing

Sharam - She Came Along (feat. KiD CuDi)



Sharam Tayebi (the Iranian-American house DJ) recently collaborated with KiD CuDi on this pretty cool track set to be on Tayebi's forthcoming album Get Wild. The song features an old Patsy Cline song, "Strange." You wouldn't think that this would work, but somehow it does. Check it out.

Slept on

Some of you may remember my post from last year about "Hipster Hip Hop" where I talked briefly about The Knux. (And by some, I mean none of you, but that's okay.) The Knux dropped their album Remind Me in 3 Days in October last year but just released a new video from said album.

The Knux - Fire



Verdict: Pretty cool video and pretty good song. It is now on the official playlist.

Also, Passion of the Weiss recently wrote a pretty good piece on Asher Roth and The Knux. Check it out.

Old News?

So I read this song has been pretty big for awhile; that was after recently hearing it for the first time on the radio. So please excuse if this is old news. I feel Beggin' draws on diverse styles to produce something pretty fun and irresistible.



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EDITOR'S NOTE: Some readers may recognize this song from an earlier post on shoes and hip-hop. Thanks to Faroukh for ferreting out the information on that Adidas commercial, and for coming back after a long hiatus.

I've got soul, but...

I'm a white guy. Or at least Daniel Merriweather is and has the aforementioned soul. I first heard him on Mark Ronson's 2007 album Version. (Thanks to Rajiv and Ray for the recommendation on that one.)

Mark Ronson - Stop Me (feat. Daniel Merriweather)



Merriweather recently released these two pretty good tracks both set to be on his forthcoming album Love and War. Check it out. (The second track is with one of Megha's favorite artists of last year.)

Daniel Merriweather - Chainsaw



Daniel Merriweather - Water and a Flame (feat. Adele)

Ray's Fave 5

Ray's favorite artist just released the video for his new favorite song.

Keri Hilson - Knock You Down (feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo)



Favorite. Favorite. Favorite.

That's 5. I'm out.

Support your local public radio station

Heard of these two albums recently on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. (That's right. I get music recommendations from NPR.)

(1) The Bird and the Bee released Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future a couple of months ago. Sort of a blend between Lily Allen (vocals), The Ting Tings (production), and She & Him (concept).

A couple of tracks worth checking out below.

The Bird and the Bee - My Love



The Bird and the Bee - Polite Dance Song



(2) Speaking of She & Him, M. Ward (the band member that is not Zooey Deschanel) recently released Hold Time. Much of it sounds like it could be on the soundtrack for a Wes Anderson movie, which is not to say it's not enjoyable. To be sure, I enjoyed the album. A couple of good tracks below.

M. Ward - For Beginners



M. Ward - Never Had Nobody Like You (feat. Zooey Deschanel)



Shout out to Terry Gross for the recommendations.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Bar

Heard this song this past weekend when I stopped by a random store on Saturday night on the way to a bar.

Glass Candy - Geto Boys



The song immediately caught my attention with the sample from Houston hip-hop legends The Geto Boys' "My Mind's Playing Tricks On Me." The store clerk was nice enough to give me the name of the group. I also bought a new pair of sunglasses. So all in all a great night.

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture...

Cool new-ish videos from Kanye West and Chairlift. Check it out.

Kanye West - Welcome to Heartbreak



Chairlift - Evident Utensil

War of the Worlds

Röyksopp - Happy Up Here



Very cool new video from Röyksopp. It's as if it's the end of the world, and yet somehow I'm not so worried. The Space Invaders-wrought destruction reminds me of a hilarious episode of Futurama.

FuturamaWeeknights, 9p/8c

Space Invaders

Joke of the Day
Stand-Up Comedy

Free Online Games
More Funny Videos

If you hadn't already heard of them, Röyksopp is an ambient electronic band from Norway. Also of note, "[the] word Röyksopp is a stylized version of the Norwegian word for the puffball mushroom, 'røyksopp' or literally, 'smoke mushroom.'" (Thanks Wikipedia.) You may also remember them from that Geico commercial.

Röyksopp - Remind Me



The real music video is pretty cool, too.



"Happy Up Here" is going to be on Röyksopp's new album Junior due out in March. And props to Gerard R. for first introducing me to the band. Check out the band's website when you get a chance. They have an interesting blog where they list top fives for a number of categories: animals, actor's eyes, villain names. My favorite excerpt:

3. Xander Drax - “Again with the “x”s! If you’re lucky enough to get no more than 2 “x”s in your name, you’re meant to be a criminal. And if your name is Xander Drax, it sounds as if you’re ready to take on the world! Not in order to reap profits, but rather to destroy it! You’re probably a fiend when it comes to sharks, acids, lasers and nuclear explosions. Son, you are going places - The number 3 spot on our list, to be precise."

Hilarious Norwegians.

Let them eat cake

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll

Very cool new track from Yeah Yeah Yeahs from their forthcoming new album It's Blitz! And another track from the album below.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero



And of course, one my favorite (yet one of the most difficult) songs from Rock Band.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

What About Our Fathers?

Just giving Avani a shout out here for introducing me to The Knife. Have been listening to the below quite a bit for the last week. I'm sure its society that compels me to do so, rather than any evolutionary instinct.

(If someone can explain wtf this video is about, that would be much appreciated.)

Audi-O

So as we were cruisin' the town last night in Chan's pimpmobile picking up ladies, we played the song from Audi's "Progess is Beautiful" A4 commercial. Somehow we were all transfixed by this wonderful piece of music. Coincidentally, at the same time, the ladies on the street stopped hollering back at us. I'm sure the two were unrelated. Apparently people have been looking for the extended version of this score but Audi says they only composed enough music for the length of the commercial itself. However, if you want a full length piece of music that sounds like this, the Audi song reminds me of Sigur Ros' "Hoppipolla." Not bad stuff. (The video posted below is not the actual video...its just put against a Planet Earth video montage, which is not bad at all).

Keri Hilson Flips the Script

Puneet has been hounding me for the last few days to post something, so here we have it. Was watching MTV Jams this morning and on came Keri Hilson's "Turnin' Me On." I guess this video has been out for a few months but I had never seen it before. And as some of you know, I think she's pretty awesome (and infinitely better than Rajiv's preferred manface, Nicole Schewhatzinger). Anyways, as I was watching the video, I thought it was interesting that she basically took your typical rap video and flipped all the genders. So now, she's the one throwing money around and objectifying the shirtless dudes in the video (Puneet, calm down...). When I mentioned this in an email to Rajiv and Puneet today, Rajiv said he noticed the same thing. Puneet was busy drooling. Aside from all this, the song is not bad to boot either.

(I am pretty technologically ancient so you can just go to the link below, or Puneet, you can fix it by embedding it here for me).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvthIDQ3fEU

Keri Hilson - Turnin' Me On (feat. Lil Wayne)

Next Big Thing?

I think I may be late to this party, but Kid Cudi is going to be big in 2009. You may have heard of Kid Cudi from his collaboration with Kanye West on 808s & Heartbreak. That was certainly the first I had heard of him.

If you haven't yet, check him out. Pretty good lyricist from Cleveland, OH. Here's a rundown of his recent history:

• Released the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi last summer that was well-received
• Signed to Kanye's label, GOOD Music
• Featured as a performer on "Welcome to Heartbreak" from 808s & Heartbreak and was a credited songwriter on four tracks on the album
• Cast in a new HBO series, How to Make It in America that was just picked up
• Will release his first album, Man on the Moon: The Guardians later this year

Pretty decent.

You can download the aforementioned mixtape for free.

Check out a few of my favorite Kid Cudi tracks.

Kid Cudi - Day 'n' Nite



There are a ton of remixes out there for "Day 'n' Nite" but this is a standout.

Jay-Z & Kid Cudi - Party Life / Day 'N' Nite (Terry Urban Remix feat. Jay-Z)

Kid Cudi - Is There Any Love? (feat. Wale)



Kid Cudi - The Prayer

Something about tomorrow

Starbucks has released a compilation album of love song covers in commemoration of tomorrow. Generally, I stay away from retail compilation albums, but this is pretty good. Unfortunately, you're not supporting a worthy cause (like other compilation albums). Instead, you're supporting Starbucks, which could use some help. Actually a couple of pretty good tracks here. Track list and some links below.

Death Cab for Cutie - Lovesong (The Cure Cover)
Katy Perry - Black and Gold (Sam Sparro Cover)
DeVotchKa - Hot Burrito #1 (I’m Your Toy) (Flying Burrito Brothers Cover)
Department of Eagles - Love Me (Elvis Presley Cover)
Jessica Lea Mayfield - Words of Love (Buddy Holly Cover)
Ben Bridwell - Your Love Is Forever (George Harrison Cover)
Kate Tucker - I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
Rogue Wave - Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cover)
A.C. Newman - Take On Me (a-ha Cover)
Jem - Yellow (Coldplay Cover)
Richard Hawley - Early Morning Rain (Gordon Lightfoot Cover)
Daniel Martin Moore - I Hear Music (Billie Holiday Cover)
She & Him - I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Cover)
Lila Downs - My One and Only Love (Frank Sinatra Cover)

Sometimes gchat says it better

Lotsa criticism for Left Eye's recently released album, which features everyone from TLC to Missy to Wanya Morris (B2M).

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes - Legendary (feat. Tupac)



And on 9/26/07: An Ode to Jose Gonzales & R&B

12:12 AM me: have you listened to jose gon's new album?

Ajay: just a song or two.. good??

me: i think i just liked that one song, nothing more

Ajay: the single was good

oh ok

yeah

me: one song = heartbeats

but on this album

nothing tickled my fancy

12:13 AM you can listen to it too - aolmusic streams new album releases (cd listening party) - and it's one of them

admittedly, i was more taken by jagged edge's new record

(seriously)

baby making project, i believe it's called

Ajay: hahaha

wow

double whammy

i think is the correct term there

Nomenclature

New video from Chicago hip-hop duo The Cool Kids. This track appeared as "2K Pennies" on the soundtrack to NBA 2K9, and may appear as "Pennies" on the upcoming When Fish Ride Bicycles album due out later this year.

Enough of that, check the video.

The Cool Kids - Pennies



Verdict: Another really cool song from The Cool Kids. Sparse production. Sweet rhymes. Crocodile head on an RC car. Good job.

(Don't hold me to the crocodile claim. It could be an alligator. I have difficulty differentiating.)

And if that wasn't enough to keep you satisfied, check out this Cool Kids track that will be on N.A.S.A.'s upcoming album which also features an appearance by H-Town legend Scarface.

N.A.S.A. - The Mayor (feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, Scarface & DJ AM)

(Thanks to EastofLA.com for the link.)

Hard Work and Patience Pays Off - Parents Everywhere Rejoice

N.A.S.A.'s five year project finally comes to fruition on Feb. 17 when their album drops. This looks to be a very cool album. Some of you may remember the last time I wrote about N.A.S.A., but now we have more tracks.

N.A.S.A. - Hip Hop (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip & Slim Kid Tre)



N.A.S.A. - Money (feat. David Bryne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip)



Also, check out this cool trailer for their album.

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo Trailer



And for those who are interested, N.A.S.A. will be at The Mezzanine in SF on Feb. 28 as part of Noise Pop 2009. And finally, N.A.S.A. will be at Coachella on Apr. 17.

"Art" rock / "experimental" rock / "difficult to appreciate" rock

For today's post we're going to cover one of the biggest bands of last year and one of the biggest musicians of the past three decades - TV on the Radio and David Bowie, respectively.

TVOTR just released this cover version of one of Bowie's biggest songs.

TV on the Radio - Heroes (David Bowie Cover)



It's very, very well done. I would say it even approaches the level of the original, but, of course, Bowie fans would vehemently disagree.

David Bowie - Heroes



This song is being released as part of a charity compilation for War Child, which is "dedicated to providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance to war-affected children around the world," which is pretty cool. (Read more about the album here and here.) What's also cool is that Bowie chose TVOTR to cover this song.

For some background, TVOTR released one of the most widely-acclaimed albums of last year (even by MTV), which I have been excoriated for ignoring on our "Best of 2008" list. Personally, I found their music a little difficult to listen to - not as catchy relative to the hip-hop or pop that I generally appreciate. But I did like one song a heckuvalot.

TV on the Radio - Crying



TVOTR and Bowie have a history of collaborating as Bowie lent his vocals to a track on TVOTR's 2006 album Return to Cookie Mountain.

Finally, here's a cool widget that you can explore which has samples of more tracks off of the War Child benefit album.



P.S. Happy birthday, Rajiv. Also, remember when Bowie was in Labyrinth. That was hilariously bad.

Revelations

I found out recently that one of my favorite remixes of the past few years (DJ A-TRAK's remix of "Get 'Em High") is mostly from the Swedish brother and sister duo The Knife. And then I came across this recent article in the New Yorker on The Knife's new (nightmarish) endeavors.

Anyway, listen to the original song which the remix heavily sampled: The Knife - Heartbeats



And now listen to a pretty cool cover: Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats (The Knife Cover)



This really changes my perception of Swedes.

NOTORIOUS

"We can't change the world, until we change ourselves" goes the saying. Gandhi? King? Obama? Phil (Dr.)? Nope. Apparently Diddy, P. uttered these inspirational words to guide and mentor the young Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G. aka Big Poppa aka Biggie Smalls into superstardom. At least that's how it's all depicted in the biopic NOTORIOUS. Not proclaiming to be an expert by any means on all things notorious, or big for that matter, I can at least spot a notoriously big ego when I see one (groan) Note: In case you didn't know Sean Combs aka P. Diddy produced the this thing, and therefore not surprising that he puts himself in almost Obi-Wan-like light. And though Notorious was everything I had expected, a good kid-turns bad kid-turns bad man-turns good man who is cut down at the prime of life story, a few surprises potentially worth noting:

• Well done voice acting, and girth acting by Jamal Woolard. Note: Beanie Siegel and Sean Kingston auditioned for this role so you know competition was tight
• The atrocious Jamaican accent used by Angela Basset as Voletta Wallace, Big's mom. Seriously it makes you cringe.
• The negative light cast on Lil Kim as an attention starved, Biggie-obsessed, starlet-hussy, whose lyrics would be explicit for most 1-900 numbers I know of. On second thought, not that surprising.
• The schizophrenic tendencies of Tupac Shakur, (think more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll), who's family (or whoever owns his image) must be drafting the libel suit as you read this.
• The apparently dwarf-like stature attributed to James Lloyd (aka Lil' Cease). He doesn't age in the movie's 24 year timeframe and is definitely not old enough to drink or drive, though is Biggie's personal driver. "Throw the keys to Lil' Cease, pull the truck up front and roll up the next blunt" - Big Poppa
• The audacity/blinding ignorance of the 40 year old white man who brought his 10 year old daughter to see this R-rated, violent, sex-filled, bad mouthed, drug taking movie. Ill-played sir.

Verdict - I enjoyed but best to buy the soundtrack (which disappointingly enough, they don't make good use of in the movie)

-D.I.G.

Obligatory Slumdog Post

No I still have not seen the movie. I'm not even sure that I can actually call myself an Indian anymore.

But after some prodding from my sister, I have listened to a couple of songs from the soundtrack.

Favorite original song from the soundtrack: A. R. Rehman - Jai Ho



Favorite song from a previous release on the soundtrack: M.I.A. - Paper Planes (DFA Remix)



I also caught this interview with A. R. Rehman on NPR this weekend. Interestingly enough, he compares making music with cooking.

By the way, if anyone wants to go see the movie, let me know. I need a date.

Songs for a love scene involving Zach Braff

Hipsters rejoice! I have finally included Lykke Li (pronounced Lykke Li) on the blog. Just listened to Youth Novels, Lykke Li's highly regarded debut album from last year. (Click for more info here, here, here, or here.)

A lot of these reviews pretty much nail my general sentiments on the album (sounds like Feist or Bjork, could easily be featured on an iPod commercial, etc.) I liked the album for the most part, but the vocals were a shortcoming - more like whispers rather than actual singing. But as the title of this post suggests, I could easily see many of the songs on this album featured in any love scene with Zach Braff.

Here are a couple of good tracks from the album.

Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
(Thanks to Aural States for the link.)

Lykke Li - Hanging High
(Thanks to Backseat Sandbar for the link.)

Also, in case you were interested, she is performing at The Fillmore in SF on Feb. 15.

Dr. Leo Spaceman

"Boy, it's crazy to think we used to settle questions of paternity by dunking a woman in water until she admitted she made it all up. Hmm, different time in the 60s."

One of my other favorite tracks from The Killers most recent albums, Day & Age. (My favorite track was featured earlier on The Pun Spot.)

The Killers - Spaceman



Here's my review of the album: Half 80s saxophone rock a la Huey Lewis or Human League. Half New Wave/Synthpop/Erasure-esque stylings. Half stadium rock akin to U2 or Coldplay. (That's right three halves. What?) All with lyrics that don't make a lot of sense.

Regardless, check out the album. Good stuff.

Puneet can come up with the title

Coldplay - Life in Technicolor II



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EDITOR'S NOTE: Ray shares this video from the recent Coldplay EP, Prospekt's March, which was released in November of last year. Also, this video is reminiscent of Kanye's "Champion" video from last year. Finally, Puneet did not come up with a title.

China's Underground Hip-Hop Movement

Article from the NY Times on China's hip-hop movement.

Unrelated to John Denver. And by that, I mean directly related to John Denver

Fleet Foxes released one of the best albums of last year. (At least according to those elitist, hipster jerks at Pitchfork.)

I liked it. But I'm not sure that I would say it was the best album of 2008. Kind of a throw back to late 60s / early 70s folk rock. Check it out.

Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos

Thanks to Stranger Dance for the free downloads. w00t.

And thanks to Anita K. for the recommendation. That's 2x.

P.S. I have to post this. One of my favorite songs as a kid.

John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads

Copyright holders took down the other one, check out this one. Not sure that this is actually John Denver, but take a listen. (Again, imeem registration required.)

John Denver (maybe) - Take Me Home, Country Roads

Recommendation Engine

1. Really cool song from Bloc Party that was recommended to me by a friend. (Sorry, can't remember which one, otherwise he/she would get a shoutout.) Thanks to Anita K. for the recommendation. Very unlike any other song on last year's Intimacy. And I just found out it was recently featured on an episode of Gossip Girl. (Whack.) Check out the song below. (Again, imeem registration required, but it's FREE.)

Bloc Party - Signs



2. Below, a song from The Veronicas that I heard during a recent trip with some friends. Alright lyrics, really good beat. Can't help nodding your head along. Thanks Shalin P. for the recommendation.

The Veronicas - Untouched



3. And finally, Slate recently recommended The Rub: "the History of Hip-Hop megamixes by the DJ crew the Rub - a downloadable encyclopedia of practically every great song from the genre's first two decades." Check out 1999.

The Rub - 1999

Ay, there's the rub. (Sorry, couldn't help it.)

The definitive source for hip-hop critique?

Well, probably not, but Slate does have a great article on The Notorious B.I.G. and his legacy in hip-hop.

He's one of the first hip-hop artists whose music I loved. I loved everything about it - the beats, the rhymes, the attitude. And there's no reason for someone like me to relate to this guy, but I can't help it.

As for my favorite Biggie song of all time, is there any doubt?

The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy



Some of the greatest lyrics ever to be uttered

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis
When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this
Fifty-inch screen, money-green leather sofa
Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur
Phone bill about two G's flat
No need to worry, my accountant handles that
And my whole crew is loungin'
Celebratin' every day, no more public housing

P.S. The new movie isn't getting much love.

pwnage x 2

1. I like Hype Machine a lot. Therefore, you should, too. It seems they've organized the year in music in a much cooler way than most other trite year-end lists. They have aggregated year-end lists from the most-read music blogs on the web. (Not sure that our site made that cut.) Check out their Music Blog Zeitgeist 2008. (Shout out to Ajay G. and Avani D. for first turning me on to Hype Machine. And shout out to Bryan K. for the link.)

2. I also like Slate a lot. And again, you should, too. They also put together a well thought-out discussion of the year in music. These guys (using the term gender-neutrally) are very smart and talented; and they think and write about music very seriously. We, on the other hand, are none of those things and are barely literate. So thank you readers for bearing with us.

Is anyone out there?

Oh hello 2009. Let's listen to Wayne tell us what G is (while Gatorade pays him to do it). Rumor has it that he's real into voice-overs these days - that maybe just be the start of him falling off this year (a la Nas).