Showing posts with label Kanye West. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kanye West. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The 50 Best Music Videos of 2012


I have embedded the first couple, for the rest, you can click on the link to be taken to YouTube. If you would like to purchase the music video or the song, click the iTunes button next to the name to be taken to the store.


1. The Baddest Man Alive - The Black Keys featuring RZA The Baddest Man Alive - The Black Keys


2. Do it Anyway - Ben Folds Five


3. Mercy - Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz Mercy (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz) - Kanye West


4. Somebody That I Used to Know - Goyte featuring Kimbra Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) - Gotye


5. Leave the Lights On - Meiko


6. Lost in the Echo - Linkin Park

7. Pyramids - Frank Ocean Pyramids - Frank Ocean

8. Bad Girls - M.I.A. Bad Girls - M.I.A.

9. Stray Heart - Green Day Stray Heart - Green Day

10. Bottom of the River - Delta Rae Bottom of the River - Delta Rae

11. Simple Song - The Shins Simple Song - The Shins

12. No Church in the Wild - Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean No Church In the Wild (feat. Frank Ocean & The-Dream) - Jay-Z & Kanye West

13. Every Single Night - Fiona Apple Every Single Night - Fiona Apple

14. Happy Pills - Norah Jones Happy Pills - Norah Jones

15. Mustache Man (Wasted) - Cake Mustache Man (Wasted) - Cake

16. Sweet Talk - Jessie Ware

17. Easy Way Out - Gotye Easy Way Out - Gotye

18. Warrior - Kimbra, Mark Foster, and A-Trak

19. Man on Fire - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero

20. Sixteen Saltines - Jack White Sixteen Saltines - Jack White

21. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift

22. Brendan’s Death Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers

23. Curtain - Eve 6 Curtain - Eve 6

24. All the Rowboats - Regina Spektor All the Rowboats - Regina Spektor

25. Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men

26. (Expletive Deleted) in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West Ni**as in Paris (Explicit) - Kanye West & JAY Z

27. Dance in the Graveyards - Delta Rae

28. All I Need Is Love - Cee-Lo Green featuring the Muppets

29. Diversity - Family of the Year Diversity - Family of the Year

30. Payphone - Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa Payphone - Maroon 5

31. Some Nights - Fun. Some Nights - Fun.

32. Princess of China - Coldplay and Rihanna Princess of China - Coldplay & Rihanna

33. Ships in the Night - Mat Kearney Ships in the Night - Mat Kearney

34. Queen of California - John Mayer Queen of California - John Mayer

35. Ho Hey - The Lumineers Ho Hey - The Lumineers

36. Knock Knock - Band of Horses Knock Knock - Band of Horses

37. Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan

38. Let's Go - Matt and Kim

39. One Woman Army - Kate Earl One Woman Army - Kate Earl

40. I'm Shakin' - Jack White

41. Heartbeat - JJAMZ

42. Houdini - Foster the People Houdini - Foster the People

43. Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay

44. Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang

45. I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift

46. Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) - Regina Spektor Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) - Regina Spektor

47. One More Night - Maroon 5 One More Night - Maroon 5

48. Cherokee - Cat Power Cherokee - Cat Power

49. Cheerleader - St. Vincent Cheerleader - St. Vincent

50. Tongue Tied - Grouplove Tongue Tied - Grouplove

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I Could Take the Pitchfork from the Devil


The Man with the Iron Fists Soundtrack

If there has been one word of wisdom I have given in my life is that you never, under any circumstance, trust a big butt and a smile. If there was a second piece of advice that I take to heart it would be that The Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nunthin’ to (expletive deleted) with. It has been five years since we last got a Wu-Tang album and it does not look like we will get another one for a while so The Man With the Iron Fists may be the closest thing we get anytime soon. The soundtrack to the RZA written, directed, and starring film features nine tracks with a Wu member on it but only two credited to the Wu-Tang Clan as a whole.

RZA, who is never confused as the best lyricist in the group does show up on the best track on the soundtrack when he teams up with The Black Keys (this may be the closest thing we will get to Blakroc 2 any time soon too) where he tryes to out boast Dan Aurbach throughout the song. Dan may grab a crocodile by the tail, but RZA will take a gasoline bath then walk through fire. And just image how much better Once Upon a Time, Season 2 - Once Upon a Time would be if it featured RZA date-rape Beauty right in front of the Beast. (I should note that I in no way condone any form of date rape and any rapist should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but if there were an exception, it would involve a member of the Wu-Tang Clan and a fictional character).

On the flipside, Ghostface Killah does show why he is one of the Clan’s best rappers when he teams up with M.O.P. and Pharoahe Monch on Black Out, a song so old school great, it will make you accost a teenager with a Meek Mills shirt about tales of real hip-hop back in the day. Of the two tracks here credited to the whole Clan, Rivers of Blood with Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and U-God with an appearance by Kool G Rap is the better one with its great horn and kung-fu samples (which of course fits in well with the movie). And Built for This with Method Man, Freddie Biggs, and Streetlife is pure menacing.

Where most of the Clan member bring their A-games to their respective tracks (or as close to an A game as U-God can get), the Kanye West track White Dress sounds like a My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy leftover that was not even good enough to put out during G.O.O.D. Fridays. It does not help that the song could be about a Kardasian. Kanye’s buddy Pusha T has a much better show micing it up with Raekwon, Joell Ortiz, and the always weird Danny Brown on Tick Tock which thankfully does not mention Ke$ha at all. If the trailer for The Man with the Iron Fists did not get you pumped enough for the movie, the soundtrack certainly will.

Song to Download – The Baddest Man Alive

The Man with the Iron Fists gets a Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I Want My Music Television - 6/12/12


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.

Every Single Night - Fiona Apple



Nothing like an octopus on the head to reintroduce yourself to the general public. Welcome back Fiona Apple and it was nice to see you smile at the end.


Mercy - Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz



The video to Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music rappers is so fun to look at I almost forget the song itself is fairly lackluster. But has there ever been rap label crew track that did not suck? Do we have to go all the way back to It's All About the Benjamins to find one?


Favorite Song - Colbie Caillat featuring Common



After he showed up on The Jonas Brothers album, it should not be that surprising when Common (former G.O.O.D. artist) shows up pretty much anywhere, but I still had to do a double take after he popped up in the new Colbie Caillat video. On a side note, when did Colbie start morphing into Raylan Givens’s ex-wife?


"45" - The Gaslight Anthem




A straight forward performance video from The Gaslight Anthem but I wanted to share it just because Handwritten, coming July 24, may be my most anticipated album of the summer and still very high on the list for the second half of 2012.

Thursday, June 07, 2012

I Want My Music Television - 6/7/12


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.


Gold on the Ceiling – The Black Keys



The Black Keys have released some pretty awesome videos in the past, but released a straight forward (i.e. boring) video for Gold on the Ceiling featuring road footage. Then a couple months later this happened and I have not been able to sleep since. This is some serial killer type ish.


Princess of China - Coldplay & Rihanna



Didn’t Coldplay already do the fake trailer for one of their music videos from this album already? I think I would actually like the fake elephant movie better.


No Church In the Wild - Jay-Z & Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean



Just last week I scratched my head at the random dropping of the latest Kanye West video, and a day later he released yet another video from his album with Jay-Z months after the single was released (and a week after used in The Great Gatsby trailer) featuring people raging against, um, who knows. Check back next week to see what better late than never Kanye releases.


Some Nights - Fun.



If the new Kanye-Jay-Z video is not enough violence for you, here comes fun. Ironically last week while watching the Hatfields and Mccoys miniseries, I thought to myself, “Self, do you know what this needs: an indie pop soundtrack.” Thank you fun. for giving me that visualization. But unfortunately they did not go fully into historical accuracy because there was no crappy auto-tune during the Civil War.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

I Want My Music Television - 5/31/12


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.

Lost In the World - Kanye West



Sure it has been over a year since Kanye West released his last album and has even dropped one with Jay-Z since then, but you can rush the man when it comes to his art. I’m a bit surprised he does not take Chinese Democracy style time to record new albums.


Payphone - Maroon 5



When I first heard the new Maroon 5 song I thought to myself, who uses a payphone anymore? It is nice that they explain this at the beginning of the video that his cell phone is broken. What is not explained is why when they got out of the bank, why does Adam Levine say to the cops, we are bankers. That could have alleviated the whole car chase sequence.


Ships in the Night - Mat Kearney



With the intro talking about how many miles, I was like, “what?” But as soon as Mat Kearney appeared on screen in the different locations, I realized that this was a very clever, if not extremely time consuming, concept.


Stuck on You - Meiko



If only I could cook, I would sure like to try Meiko’s recipe here but I am against any recipe that calls for a prep time over whatever time it takes to make a grilled-cheese sandwich.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

I Want My Music Television - 2/14/12


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.

Safe and Sound - Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars



I am not sure what this whole Hunger Games thing is or what the video has to do with it, but Taylor Swift should seriously consider hiring The Civil Wars as her permanent backing band.


(Expletive Deleted) in Paris - The Throne



Note to self: next time a video comes with an epilepsy warning, do not watch it. I am going to be seeing a kaleidoscope version of The Throne every time I close my eyes for the next couple days.


Get Burned – Sleeper Agent



Also stuck in my brain: giant molesting bunnies. Thanks Sleeper Agent.


We Take Care of Our Own - Bruce Springsteen



It is weird that the older Bruce Springsteen gets, the more he morphs into looking like the love child of Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash.

Friday, December 30, 2011

The 100 Best Songs of 2011


1. Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars

2. Otis - Jay-Z & Kanye West featuring Otis Redding

3. Someone Like You - Adele

4. Good Man - Raphael Saadiq

5. Rolling in the Deep - Adele

6. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes

7. Young Blood - The Naked and Famous

8. Poison & Wine - The Civil Wars

9. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People

10. Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band

11. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys

12. My Ugly Mouth - Meg & Dia

13. Black - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Norah Jones

14. Rumour Has It - Adele

15. Brighter Than the Sun - Colbie Caillat

16. Bring It On - The Gaslight Anthem

17. Children - V V Brown

18. Lost In My Mind - The Head and the Heart

19. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale

20. Make Some Noise - Beastie Boys

21. Back Down South - Kings of Leon

22. Comeback Kid (That's My Dog) - Brett Dennen

23. Oh My Heart - R.E.M.

24. Tree By the River - Iron & Wine

25. Freak Out - Tapes 'n Tapes

26. Stay Young, Go Dancing - Death Cab For Cutie

27. Windows Are Rolled Down - Amos Lee

28. Just a Kiss - Lady Antebellum

29. The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco

30. I Need a Doctor - Dr. Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey

31. Lucky Now - Ryan Adams

32. Battery Kinzie - Fleet Foxes

33. My Body - Young The Giant

34. Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino

35. Faster - Matt Nathanson

36. Nylons In a Rip - Nikka Costa

37. (Expletive Deleted) in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West

38. Up Up Up - Givers

39. Love the Way You Walk Away - Blitzen Trapper

40. Single Girls - Laura Jansen

41. Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles

42. Ours - Taylor Swift

43. All of the Lights - Kanye West

44. The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars

45. Let the Rain - Sara Bareilles

46. Go Outside - Cults

47. Our Hearts Are Wrong - Jessica Lea Mayfield

48. Mean - Taylor Swift

49. When I'm Alone - Lissie

50. Stone Rollin' - Raphael Saadiq

51. Paradise - Coldplay

52. Hey Mama - Mat Kearney

53. Thinking About You - Frank Ocean

54. Time Spent in Los Angeles - Dawes

55. The Broken Ones - Dia Frampton

56. Hell On Heels - Pistol Annies

57. The Shrine / An Argument - Fleet Foxes

58. You Are a Tourist - Death Cab for Cutie

59. Flower - Amos Lee

60. Holdin On to Black Metal - My Morning Jacket

61. How Come You Never Go There - Feist

62. Bonfire - Childish Gambino

63. Back to December - Taylor Swift

64. Inventing Shadows - Dia Frampton

65. 'Til the End of Time - Timothy Bloom featuring V

66. ĂœBerlin - R.E.M.

67. We Found Love - Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

68. Lorelai - Fleet Foxes

69. Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn

70. The Story of Us - Taylor Swift

71. Invisible - Skylar Grey

72. Movin' Down the Line - Raphael Saadiq

73. Don't Kick the Chair - Dia Frampton featuring Kid Cudi

74. You've Got the Love - Florence + the Machine

75. Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford & Sons

76. Best Thing I Never Had - Beyoncé

77. Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith

78. Two Against One - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Jack Black

79. Get Some - Lykke Li

80. We All Go Back to Where We Belong - R.E.M.

81. Change The Sheets - Kathleen Edwards

82. Nasty - Nas

83. From the Clouds - Jack Johnson

84. Shanghai Cigarettes - Caitlin Rose

85. Radio Message - R. Kelly

86. Who Says - Selena Gomez & the Scene

87. Smarter - Eisley

88. Monster - Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver

89. Howlin' for You - The Black Keys

90. KMAG YOYO - Hayes Carll

91. If I Die Young - The Band Perry

92. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera

93. Make My - The Roots featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw

94. Masquerade - Lelia Broussard

95. Calamity Song - The Decemberists

96. Little Lie - Lindi Ortega

97. Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

98. The Scientist - Willie Nelson

99. Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay

100. Radio - Raphael Saadiq




Thursday, December 29, 2011

The 9th Green’s Readers Favorite Songs of 2011


Before I get into my favorite songs of the year tomorrow, let’s look at some the songs that made up your soundtrack to 2011. If you didn’t send in your list year, hopefully next year you do so and you can see more of your favorite next year. Also congratulations are in order to Jay who won an Amazon MP3 gift card just contributing to this list. I should have that sent out to you by the end of the day. And thank you to everyone who participated

1. Rolling in the Deep - Adele

2. Video Games - Lana Del Ray

3. We Found Love - Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

4. Countdown - Beyoncé

5. Midnight City - M83

6. (Expletive Deleted) in Paris - The Throne (including the Remix with T.I.)

7. Shake It Out - Florence and the Machine

8. Bonfire - Childish Gambino

9. Someone Like You - Adele

10. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People

11. Lotus Flower - Radiohead

12. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

13. Yonkers - Tyler, the Creator

14. Look At Me Now - Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes

15. Schoolin’ Life - BeyoncĂ©

16. Starlight - Matt Cardle

17. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys

18. Walk - Foo Fighters

19. Take Care - Drake featuring Rihanna

20. I Need a Doctor - Dr. Dre, Eminem and Skylar Gray

21. Till the World Ends - Britney Spears

22. Still Life - The Horrors

23. California - EMA

24. The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga

25. Headlines - Drake

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The 25 Best Mash Up's of 2011


It seems like every year Mash Up artists latch onto one song and like Since U Been Gone, Crazy and Umbrella before it, Rolling in the Deep got remix every which way this year including eight mash up of which I downloaded this year, a couple that made the list below. If you want to give the mash-up a listen, click its name on the first line (where you will find ways to download it most places) and if you would like to download the song that make it up, click those in the second line and it will take you to iTunes.


1. Mean Planes & Taylor Gangs - Brenton Duvall
Wiz Khalifa (This Plane) vs. Taylor Swift (Mean)



2. Runawayfully - The Hood Internet
Kanye West featuring Pusha T (Runaway) vs. Journey (Faithfully)



3. My Name Is Wopbabaluba - Jimmy Klok
Funkdoobiest (Wopbobalubop) vs. Rihanna featuring Drake (What's My Name?) vs. Snoop Doggy Dogg Who Am I (What's My Name)?



4. The Childish Games - D.veloped
Childish Gambino (Let Me Dope You) vs. Adele (Rolling in the Deep) Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Shimmy Shimmy Ya) vs. Backstreet Boys (I Want It That Way) vs. Phoenix (Lisztomania) vs. 50 Cent (50 Cent) vs. Wu-Tang Clan (C.R.E.A.M.)



5. We No Speak Cantina - G3RSt
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Cantina Band - Songs from Star Wars vs. Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP (We No Speak Americano)



6. Johnny's 99 Problems (But The Pot of Gold Ain’t One) - DJ Schmolli
Dropkick Murphys (Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya) vs. Jay-Z (99 Problems)

7. Kiss - Norwegian Recycling
Sixpence none the Richer (Kiss Me) vs. Maroon 5 (She Will Be Loved) Bruno Mars (Just the Way You Are) vs. Savage Garden (Crash And Burn) vs. Jason Derulo (In My Head)

8. Party Man - Mighty Mike
Lynyrd Skynyrd (Simple Man) vs. Bloc Party (SRXT)

9. Eden Snow - Mighty Mike
Snow Patrol (You're All I Have) vs. Ludovico Einaudi (Eden Roc) vs. 30 Seconds to Mars (Kings and Queens)

10. Breathe and Shine - LeeDM101
John Legend and the Roots (Shine) vs. Sia (Breathe Me)

11. Extreme Ways in the Deep - DJ Y alias JY
Moby (Extreme Ways) vs. Adele (Rolling in the Deep)

12. Black Bug - Wick-it the Instigator
Big Boi and Cutty(Shutterbugg) vs. the Black Keys (Tighten Up)

13. My Bitter Cheap Symphony (Still Sweet) - Mashup-Germany
The Verve (Bitter Sweet Symphony) vs. Jason Derulo (Ridin' Solo) vs. B.O.B. featuring Hayley Williams (Airplanes) vs. 4 Non Blondes ( What's Up?) vs. Take That (Never Forget) vs. Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars) vs. Iyaz (Replay)

14. Gerry Barbra Street - DJ Schmolli
Duck Sauce (Barbra Streisand) vs. Gerry Rafferty (Baker Street) vs. Stealers Wheel (Stuck In the Middle With You)

15. What's My Name Jack - Party Ben
John Cougar Mellencamp (Jack & Diane) vs. Rihanna featuring Drake (What's My Name?)

16. Stop! Mashup Time - FAROFF
MC Hammer (U Can'T Touch This) vs. Eurythmics (Sweet Dreams) vs. New Order (Blue Monday) vs. Talking Heads (Psycho Killer) vs. Donna Summer (I Feel Love)

17. Faster, Eagle ! Fly ! Fly ! - Mighty Mike
Steve Miller Band (Fly Like An Eagle) vs Hello Bye Bye (Fast)

18. More Than a Boy - Colatron
Beyoncé (If I Were a Boy) vs Extreme (More Than Words)

19. Lights - Norwegian Recycling
Kanye West (All of the Lights) vs. Blink-182 (All the Small Things) vs. Foo Fighters (Learn to Fly) vs. The Killers (Mr. Brightside) vs. Muse (Starlight)

20. Intro Again - Production Unit
Aaliyah (Try Again) vs. the xx (Intro)

21. Unfaithful Sex - Titus Jones
Rihanna (Unfaithful) vs. Kings of Leon (Sex On Fire)

22. Pumped up Baby - G3RSt
Vanilla Ice (Ice Ice Baby) vs. Foster the People (Pumped Up Kicks) vs. Queen and David Bowie (Under Pressure)

23. Animus Vox - Slaptop
Nelly Furtado (Turn Off the Light) vs. Ludacris (Stand Up) vs. The Glitch Mob (Animus Vox)

24. Warwick Ghetto - Phil RetroSpector
Elvis Presley (In the Ghetto) vs Duffy (Warwick Avenue)

25. La Vida Easy - Mighty Mike
The Commodores (Easy) vs. Coldplay (Viva la Vida)