Best of the Week - 9/30/11

Quote of the Week: Honestly after all you sleepovers with the brown boy, a girl is a relief. (Howard’s Mom, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Hello - Lionel Richie (Community)

Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: The governing body (or whoever does the nominating) of the Rock Hall released the names of fifteen acts of which five will be inducted next year. Most notable include repeat nominees Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, newbies Eric B. & Rakim and Guns N' Roses. With both the Beasties and Peppers releasing albums this year, I bet both will make it this year (though I contend the Peppers should not get in until the 25th anniversary of Blood Sugar Sex Magic). I have GnR as a lock if only because everyone wants to see who will actually show up. And though a first ballot Hip Hop Hall of Fame inducted, Eric B. and Rakim will doubtfully get in especially with other rappers Beasties likely to be enshrined. If I were a betting man I would put Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and The Spinners grabbing the other two spots. If I am not mistaken, inductees will be announced in December with the ceremony taking place in March here in Cleveland (and I am available to cover the festivities if anyone wants to hook me up with a ticket). Stayed tuned next year when Debbie Gibson finally becomes eligible.

Free Download of the Week: Pilot - Pan Am, Season 1 (iTunes): For those that have missed what I decreed as the best pilot of the new season that I have seen so far, you can catch up before the second episode by downloading the episode on iTunes.

Deal of the Week: Miramax Movies as Low as $5.99 (No Country for Old Men, Sin City, Kill Bill)

New Album Release of the Week: Metals - Feist

New DVD Release of the Week: Friday Night Lights: The Complete Series We are 85 shopping days until Christmas and for those wondering what you can get me, this will do just fine.

Video of the Week: After a slew of some pretty poor chick flicks, Kristen Bell is returning to television this January for House of Lies. I did not know until this teaser that the show is actually a comedy. And hopefully the pantsuit is not a sign of Bell’s wardrobe on the show, but I am always down for watching her dance more.

House of Lies Tease


Next Week Pick of the Week: Pop Up Video, Weekdays at noon on VH1: I have no idea why they ever canceled Pop Up Video returns after a ten year hiatus Monday for sixty new episodes. Personally I cannot wait until the first weekend marathon where I can veg out and enjoy the new episodes for a whole day.

On a side note, "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! - The Alpocalypse Tour hits shelves Tuesday but for those that cannot wait until then or just rather watch it for free, tune in tomorrow to watch Weird Al perform songs from his new album like TMZ, classics like Smells Live Nirvana and of course some polka, most in his traditional costumes. And since the special was filmed in Toronto, Al naturally breaks out Canadian Idiot.

I Want My Music Television - 7/21/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (feat. Santigold) - Beastie Boys & Santigold



When you hear Beastie Boys and Spike Jonze in the same sentence it is hard not to get excited, but is hard not watching their latest collaboration and not think of Team America: World Police. But then again it is hard to be disappointed with anything that involves Nazi Zombie Dolls.


Helena Beat – Foster the People



Foster the People has the surprise hit of the summer with the catchiest song about school shootings ever (sorry P.O.D.), Pumped up Kids. And they keep the violent kids theme for their new video which is like Lord of the Flies seen through a Mad Max filter.


Brighter Than the Sun - Colbie Caillat



Speaking of summer hits, I was reading an article debating what the summer anthem of 2011 is and concluding that it may be Rolling In the Deep by Adele which is pretty bad sign for the summer that a dark breakup song released just before Christmas may be the summer anthem. Since we are still a month and a half away from Labor Day, how about we throw the new Colbie Caillat song into the ring for the title. It is her catchiest song yet, even has “Sun” in the title, and handclaps; who doesn’t love handclaps in the summer?


Sugarcane – Shaggy



Speaking of summer anthems, Holy Shaggy Sighting! Sure this is not his best work, but we should write our congressmen and have them make a law requiring Shaggy to release a new song every summer. It is not like they have anything else important on their docket right now.

We Gonna Party for the Right to Fight

For all the kiddies out there wondering what us old people talk about when we talk about being “Old School,” check out the Beastie Boys catalogue. They were Old School even when they were the new kids on the block. And though their musical leaning have evolved over the years, their flow has remained old school, interplaying with each other as MCA, Ad-Rock and Mike D trade off lines even though posse albums died around the time of the West Coast-East Coast feud. So Old School, there have been no vanity projects, just the three of them releasing albums together.

It took a while for Hot Source Committee Part One to see the light after the diagnosis of MCA with cancer (who now has a clean bill of health) which delayed the album which was originally supposed to come out in late 2009. In traditional Beastie Boys fashion, who never miss chance to make a joke, retiled the album Hot Source Committee Part Two, with almost the exact track list as Part One. Now the tracks originally set for Part Two will be released as Part One at a later date. Maybe.

Hot Source Committee Part Two is reminiscent of the electric vibe of Hello, Nasty but with more live instrumentations at points throughout the album like on the guitar fuzz of Say It or the punk drive of Lee Majors Come Again, their snottiest work since Sabotage. But aside from the opener upbeat seventies porn groove of Make Some Noise, most of the tracks lack the weird fun of tracks off of Hello, Nasty. And when all the other current rappers are over abusing auto-tune, the Beastie Boys over did it a bit on the vocoder especially on Tadlock’s Glasses.

But when their voices do come through it is classic Beastie Boys, whether they giving nods to the olden days shouting out rotary connection, John Salley and implore the listeners to be kind and rewind while Mike D calls himself the Jewish Brad Pitt. And it is about time someone put Kenny Rodger’s Roasters on blast (even if Kenny Rogers’ Gambler is my gambling theme). And Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament may be their funkiest instrumental to date. Though Part Two may not stand up to the rest of their catalogue, here’s hoping Hot Source Committee Part One makes it out before the end of the world next year.

Song to Download – Make Some Noise

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Feed Your iPod vol. LIX: Super Disco Breakin'

What better way to start your day, let alone an album, than with the line “Well its 50 cups of coffee and it’s on”? And that is how we were introduced to the Beastie Boys’ Hello, Nasty and showed the boys shying away from their traditional guitar heavy riffs of their earlier albums to a more electronic sounding album full of 808 beats. Though I would recommend paranoid druggies to avoid this song thanks to the multiple sirens throughout the album. Hello, Nasty may be the groups best party album and Super Disco Breakin’ can get any party started off right.

Super Disco Breakin’ – Beastie Boys

Now Here’s a Little Story I Got to Tell about Three Bad Brothers You Know so Well

In honor of its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Beastie Boys commemorated the event with Fight for Your Right Revisited to answer all the unanswered questions like did your mother kick them out of the house for not cutting their hair. My initial thought when this came out was, “wait, Fight for Your Right is a quarter century old?” Nothing makes you feel older that hearing about the twenty-fifth anniversary of an event that happened when you were in grade school.

But Licensed to Ill, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, was the perfect album for a pre-teen with a number of great sing-a-long primed for boys on the playground. Sure we didn’t know much about them at the time (and arguably still do not), but Girls got sung over and over again back in greade school (and middle school, and high school, and college, and reunions). But (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) was an anthem for a generation even if we did not know how to fight or party just yet.

Most rap album would be happy with two songs of that quality, but Licensed to Ill is wall to wall jams: No Sleep to Brooklyn is a road trip staple that is required listening at high speeds with the windows rolled down; Paul Revere is the ultimate posse track with Scenario that only song that comes close to matching it in that category; Brass Monkey remains an instant sing-a-long; all of which I could spit verbatim to this day.

And the production from Licensed to Hill was off the hook and is now the definition of old school. The production is so crisp it is a shame that Rick Rubin does not produce more rap record that he does these days (listening to 99 Problems clearly shows he still got it). Rhyming and Stealing sets the table perfectly with samples from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and The Clash especially with Kerry King of Slayer shredding a couple of tracks. While Paul Revere remains one of the most classic beats in the history of rap and a prerequisite beat for any freestyle rapper to spit on. And let’s not forget the “mmmmmmmmm… Drop” from The New Style which is one of the most iconic moments in rap history. With the release of a new Beastie Boy album finally being released this week, do not forget to go back and listen to how the group got to this point.

Best of the Week - 4/29/11

Quote of the Week: Listen to me: I said you need to strive to be better than everyone else. I didn’t say you need to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. And that’s what character is: it’s in the trying. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)



Song of the Week: I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry (as sung by Amy Farrah Fowler, The Big Bang Theory)

Big News of the Week: NFL Back to Work: Just days after a judge ordered the NFL to end their lockout, the offseason officially started with the start of the draft last night. I thought it was going to be an early night for me with the Browns picking at number six but they quickly traded the pick to the tail end of the draft at twenty-seven (with four other draft picks). Thankfully they traded up to twenty-one just in time for my bedtime, so I wouldn’t have to stayup too late. Oddly the Browns traded their pick to the Falcons who picked a wide receiver, which was the Browns biggest need. But when they finally made a pick they addressed their second biggest concern, defensive line. Except they picked a nose tackle the season they switch to the 4-3 defense. Oh well, that is the life of a Browns fan.

Free Download of the Week: Live at Eddie’s Attic – The Civil Wars (thecivilwars.com): Last week I pointed you to a place where you could download a new song from The Civil Wars, if one song by the band is not enough, if you head over to their website you can download a full live album for free. The set includes my favorite of theirs, Poison and Wine as well as a cover of No Ordinary Love originally done by Sade. (Though not on the free album, I also recommend heading over to YouTube to hunt down live performances of Billie Jean, the Smashing Pumpkin’s Disarm, The Romantic’s Talking in Your Sleep, and the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back.)

Deal of the Week: $20 Pre-order Credit with Madden NFL 12: The cover of course is the Cleveland Browns own Peyton Hillis. I love how Browns fans have convinced themselves that the Cleveland curse and Madden curse will cancel each other out.

New Album Release of the Week: Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 - Beastie Boys

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by Beastie Boys

New DVD Release of the Week: The Dilemma

Video of the Week: I passed on The Voice because I figured much like American Karaoke, it would be mediocre singers singing crappy songs. And judging but one of the contestants who made a “professional” music video, my assumptions look to be right as Kelsey Rey sounds like it came from the people who created Rebecca Black but instead of a random rapper, they randomly cut in Tag Team’s nineties jam Whoop! There it Is for no apparent reason and called it a “remix”. Of course if they bring out Tag Team to perform with Kelsey on the show, I may just have to tune in for that.

Kelsey Rey – Masquerade (Remix) ft. Tag Team


Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX: Last season ended with a bang and it looks like the second will do the same after the writers pulled a quick one on us making us think that Mags was really going to give Raylan a pass on killing her son. At the beginning of the season I predicted that Loretta would exact some sort of revenge for Mags killing her father which I thought wouldn’t come true after they shipped her off to foster care, but considering she continues to randomly pop up since then, that she may still be in play for some revenge.

I Want My Music Television - 4/27/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Make Some Noise - Beastie Boys



With sequels to decades old movies like Tron and Wall Street becoming in vogue, it was only time for someone to make a sequel to a music video from the eighties. But like every sequel, I am not sure if the Beastie Boys needed to make a thirty minute short film about the events of what happened after Fight for Your Right. But it does feature every funny white dude working today (sorry Zach Galifianakis, unless that is really you selling got dogs). So it has that going for it. Here’s hoping the Beastie Boys make a feature film Sabotage reboot next because who would not want to see more of Cochese and the boys?


The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars



I should hate Bruno Mars but let’s face it, much like the boy bands of the nineties, he is really too bland to dislike. Yet there are signs of an artist in there: he produced The Song Otherwise Known as Forget You and his Grammy performance of Grenade was much better than the radio version. Plus it is hard not to get behind a video featuring dancing monkeys.


Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair - Arctic Monkeys



After coming as close to perfecting snotty punk rock as a twenty-first century band can, it looks like the Arctic Monkeys are going to start morphing into a psychedelic sound with this trippy video.


Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars



Every week I highlight something that you can legally download for my Best of the Week posts, and this past week I pointed you to The Civil Wars. Unfortunately 20 Years is no longer available to download for free, but The Civil Wars is definitely a band worth checking out. If there is any justice in the world, they will be this year’s Mumford & Sons, a folksy group that inexplicably stays near the top of the albums chart all year with little mainstream buzz. Fun fact: one of the members (the one that does not look like the Jack White / Jonny Depp lovechild) wrote a song for David Archuleta.

11 Events That Will Make 2011 Awesome

Listening to DJ Earworm’s United State of Pop 2010 (Can’t Stop the Pop) I came to the realization that last year kind of sucked. But fret not, pop culture is looking up for 2011 because we need to party it up before the world ends next year (or so the Mayans and John Cusack would have us to believe). Here are eleven events to look forward to next year.

11. Detox – Dr. Dre: Sure we have been waiting for Detox to be released for most of the last decade, but a single, Kush, and accompanying video was released late last year singling that me may actually get the whole thing sometime in the next twelve months and as soon as February. But much like Chinese Democracy, I’ll believe it when I see it in iTunes. I’d suggest Dr. Pepper speed up the process by giving everyone a free can if Detox drops this year, but I still haven’t received my free promised when Axl Rose deliver his album on time (yes I am still bitter).

10. Lights Out: FX debuted the two best new shows of 2010 (Justified and Terriers) so hopes are high that their boxing drama will carry on that tradition. Lights Out premieres next Tuesday at 10:00.

9. The Avengers: No, not the movie that features all of the superheroes, that won’t be released until next year, but two members will get their own vehicles this year. Thor will be released in May while Captain America: The First Avenger is set to hit theaters in July. Now I am more of a DC guy, but I was never really was a fan of Green Lantern or of Ryan Reynolds for that matter and the trailer really didn’t get me excited. While the Thor trailer did pique my interest and I have a curiosity of how Captain America can translate to children of the 21st century because the goody two shoes acts didn’t work very well for the Superman reboot.



8. Watch the Throne – Kanye West and Jay-Z: If a drunken Kanye is to be believed, we can expect this collaboration next week, but I have a feeling we may have to wait a bit longer. Maybe next week we will just get another sneak peak (possibly a G.O.O.D. Friday track) to add to the already leaked, La Roux infused That’s My (Expletive Deleted).

7. Your Highness: Can the guys that made action movies hilarious with Pineapple Express do the same for a historical movie? The trailer looks like that will be a resounding yes. And Danny McBride, James Franco and director David Gordon Green will be joined by Natalie Portman in her first comedic role since, um, does the Walmart baby movie count? Your Highness arrives in theaters April 8.



6. 2012 Elections: Sure we will have to wait until November of next year to learn the results, but the primary campaigning will start any day night. And we may get the odd situation where the Tea Party and liberals will be rooting for the same candidate: Sarah Palin. She and none of the other Republican front runners have officially thrown their hats into the ring but also-rans Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul are likely to take on popular governors Haley Barbour (Mississippi), Mitch Daniels (Indiana), and Tim Pawlenty (of Minnesota who famously shaved off his mullet only not to get picked by McCain as his running mate). Oh and Donald Trump wants to run. Also registered Democrat and former the Rent Is Too Damn High Party candidate Jimmy McMillian has announced he will be seeking the Republican nomination. More interesting will be if any Democrat challenges Barack Obama. As much as the far right likes to label him a socialist, he has governed very far to the right than the liberals that elected him over Hilary Clinton had hoped for: he continued Bush’s foreign policy, and arguably has been more aggressive. And the much maligned health care reform looks like it was written more by insurance companies than a Kennedy, and looks a lot like the reforms that Romney enacted in Massachusetts and Bob Dole proposed in the nineties. No matter who runs, here’s hoping for a full stale of YouTube debates this year.

5. Falling Skies: Forget that his other sci-fi show hitting this year, Terra Nova that will be either in Fox’s death slot and / or canceled by 2012, the Steven Spielberg show to keep your eye out for this year is TNT’s Falling Skies. Sure Noah Wiley may make for the most unrealistic action hero since, I guess Adrian Brody in Predators wasn’t that long ago, but the promo makes the show look epic (even if it blew is load too early by letting us getting a good look at the invading aliens). Falling Skies is set to debut in June.



4. Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee pt. 1 was supposed to drop in 2009 but was delayed to Adam Yauch’s battle with cancer. MCA is doing better now and not only will we likely see part 1 this year; part 2 is actually scheduled to be released sometime this spring.

3. U2: Two Beastie Boys albums in one year don’t wet your pallet enough. How about the possibly of three U2 albums this year? First there is Songs of Ascent featuring songs from the No Line on the Horizon which was supposed to be released back in 2009 but keeps being pushed back. The band is also working with Danger Mouse for new songs which should be awesome and is slated to be out the first part of this year. They are also working on a dance album similar to the u2 Remixes of the 90’s which may also see the light of day this year.

2. Sucker Punch: How can Zach Snyder possibly outdo the testosterone awesomeness of 300 and Watchmen? Continue the comic book look to his films but switch out buff dudes for hot chicks. Snyder describes Sucker Punch as “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.” I can’t wait. You can expect the movie on March 25.

1. Friday Night Lights: The best show returns to terrestrial television sometime this summer (hopefully sooner).

The Ten Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2010

We are coming upon the fourth quarter which means record companies will actually start releasing albums in hopes that you will buy some to giveaway at Christmas. Please note that release dates are subject to change. Click the album name (or album artwork) to pre-order it on Amazon. Click the artist’s name for their iTunes page.

1. Dark Twisted Fantasy (working title) – Kanye West (11/16): He really shouldn’t be this high considering his last album was one of the worst of last decade. But this will be a return to rap, and it is hard not to get excited when the album will be headlined by two stellar tracks, Power and Runaway. I suspect there will be plenty of toasting to this douchebag this fall.

2. Speak Now - Taylor Swift (10/25): And how can you mention Kanye West without Taylor Swift? She gave us a definitive answer at the Video Music Awards to the question of if she would be addressing the Kanye incident from last year on the new album. Between Innocent and Mine, it sounds like Taylor is growing up quickly and moving further away from her country roots.

3. Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots (Today): Fall 2010 looks like the season of collaborations with Ben Folds teaming with writer Nick Hornsby, Elthon John recording with his idol Leon Russell, and Mark Ronson hooking up with, well, everyone. But the union I am most interested in is this one from The Roots and John Legend covering mostly obscure soul records.

4. Record Collection – Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. (9/28): After bringing retro back in style with Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and his second album, Ronson has been working with Duran Duran and that comes though in a big way on this album which sounds very synth heavy. Look for appearances by Q-Tip, Ghostface Killer, Boy George, D’Angelo, and Simon LeBon himself.

5. Come Around Sundown – Kings of Leon (10/19): After their breakout with Only by the Night it is interesting how the Followell boys will follow up the success. From the sound of first single Radioactive, it will be more of the same.

6. Hands all Over – Maroon 5 (Today): After a pretty good debut album, every successive Maroon 5 album has gotten blander than the previous one. First single Misery doesn’t give me too much hope that Hands all Over will turn that around, but the album was produced by hair-band uber-producer Mutt Lange, so maybe it will be worth a listen.

7. Second Chance - El DeBarge (9/28): C’mon, who isn’t down with an El Debarge comeback? One can only be disappointed in that he didn’t bring the whole family with him.

8. Lonely Avenue – Ben Folds and Nick Hornby (9/28): Here was an album I had to do a double take when I first saw it announced. Quirky pop master Ben Folds and novelist Nick Hornby. For illiterates like me that are unaware of Hornby, his books that have been turned into movies include High Fidelity (which was number 10 on my list of The 100 Greatest Movies of the 00’s), About a Boy, and Fever Pitch (but do not blame him about the horrible adaptation because his book was actually about soccer). Hornby contributed the lyrics with Folds coming up with the music including a song about Alaska’s least favorite son Levi Johnston.

9. The Lady Killer - Cee Lo Green (12/7): I really was not interested in a Cee-Lo album that didn’t involve Danger Mouse, but after hearing the ultra-catchy (Explative Deleted) You, color me intrigued. But seriously, after this, lets get another Gnarls Barkley album out please.

10. Hot Sauce Committee part 1 - Beastie Boys (TBA): Putting this on the list may be a bit of wishful thinking because there is no release date announced yet, but with Adam Yauch doing better these days, he’s hoping he is well enough to do the rigors that surround promoting a new album.




Other albums of note:

Today
The Sound of Sunshine – Michael Franti and Spearhead
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time – Santana
You Get What You Give – Zac Brown Band
A Year Without Rain – Selena Gomez and the Scene

September 28
Clapton – Eric Clapton
Invented – Jimmy Eat World
Pete Yorn – Pete Yorn
Le Noise – Neil Young
6: Commitment - Seal
The Dissent of Man – Bad Religion
Going Back – Phil Collins

October 5
Tiger Suit – KT Tunstall
Glow – Donavon Frankenreiter

October 12
Charleston, SC 1966 – Darius Rucker
The Rock and the Tide – Joshua Radin
The Age of Adz – Sufjan Stevens

October 19
Sale el Sol - Shakira
The Union – Elton John and Leon Russell
Libra Scale – Ne-Yo
Fly Me to the Moon... The Great American Songbook Volume V - Rod Stewart

October 26
Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager - Kid Cudi

November 2
...Featuring Norah Jones – Norah Jones
National Ransom – Elvis Costello
Dreams – Neil Diamond
Sidewalks – Matt and Kim

November 16
Born Free – Kid Rock
Loud – Rihanna

November 23
Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes – Social Distortion

Unknown Dates
Songs of Ascent – U2
The Believer – Common
Walk with Me Now and Fly with Me Later – DMX
Give Till it’s Gone – Ben Harper and Relentless7
Nothing – N.E.R.D.

And what would a music preview be without an obligatory this may actually be the season that Dr. Dre releases Detox mention.