Best of the Week - 5/13/11

Quote of the Week: Success is not a goal, it’s a byproduct. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Let’s Stay Together – Al Green (as sung by Gupta and Charlie, Outsourced)

Big News of the Week: Save Outsourced: Ever since the internet saved Chuck a couple years back there has not been a good save this show campaign, maybe because there has not been one worth saving. But let me make a case for Outsourced. Sure it is not the funniest show on television (I’ll let Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, and Community battle for that title) but it may be the most consistent. Diedrich Bader is good for an absurdly funny moment every episode. Anisha Nagarajan (Madhuri) may not talk much but has some of the funniest reaction shots currently on television. But the MVP of the show is Rizwan Manji who play Rajiv is the comic foil to everyone at the call center (and multiple butts of their jokes) who would rule with an iron fist, but is only the assistant manager but pesters the manager like he is Wile E Coyote and Todd is the Road Runner.

But who cares about quality, Outsourced is worth renewing by the numbers. It was the network’s highest rated new series. It also pulled in higher numbers than the already renewed Parks and Recreations in the post-The Office timeslot and comparable ratings to the already renewed Community in a less comedy friendly timeslot. Plus Outsourced did it will very little help from the NBC PR team like those already renewed. And NBC should not forget other lowly rated / critically ambivalent freshman series like Cheers, Seinfeld, The Office, and Parks and Recreation. And the network should not bank too much on big names like Christina Applegate (*cough*Paul Riser*cough*) and the last time they won bidding wars like with Chelsia Handler include J.J. Abrams and Aaron Sorkin which turned into one season wonders Undercovers and Studio 60. Outsourced may not be the sexiest choice to remain on the NBC schedule, but it may be the smartest. So renew Outsourced.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Booker T created the most recognizable instrumental in pop music with Green Onions and he has a new album out and you can get two different songs for free. Over at Amazon MP3 you can get Progress featuring Yim Yames (the solo alias of Jim James from My Morning Jacket) while at iTunes you can download Representing Memphis featuring Matt Berninger and Sharon Jones.

Deal of the Week: Over 1,500 Albums $5 Each Through May: With that many discounted albums, I thought I would highlight four more digital albums you can get for the great price of $5 including Taylor Swift, Sara Bareilles, The Pharcyde and Huey Lewis and the News.



New Album Release of the Week: Rome - Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi

New DVD Release of the Week: ESPN Films 30 for 30 Gift Set Collection, Volume 2

Video of the Week: Last summer ABC debuted its guilty pleasure Pretty Little Liars which will return for its second season one month from today at 8:00. Premiering right after it on Tuesday is new show The Nine Lives of Chloe King. It stars the new guy from Friday Night Lights and the chick from Caroline in the City not named Lea Thompson. Will it be as good of a summer diversion as Pretty Little Liars was last summer? Check out a promo below to see for yourself if it has potential.



Bonus Video of the Week: Also debuting this summer on ABC Family and starring the chick from Caroline in the City that actually is named Lea Thompson will be Switched at Birth. Constance Marie and Friday Night Lights’ Joe McCoy also star. Though not explained in the promo below, hopefully they explain how a Hispanic took sixteen years to realize that her redheaded daughter isn’t really hers. Or how the WASP’s did not figure out that their Latina daughter did not come from their loins. Switched at Birth premieres Monday June 6 at 9:00.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Chuck, Monday at 8:00 on NBC: After two uneven seasons, I will not be completely upset if Chuck does not make it onto NBC’s schedule next fall which will be announced just hours before the season / series finale airs (although “sources” says it already has which makes me wonder now that Friday Night Lights is over that Chuck will inherit its coveted Friday during Spring at 8:00 timeslot). But the best part of this season, Timothy Dalton, will be returning for one last time so the show will at least go out with a bang. Apparently the show is a glass half full because the episode is entitled Chuck vs. the Cliffhanger.

Around the Tubes - 5/12/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Smallville, PBS Newshour, TV Guide, HGTV'd, All My Children, Rosie, and USA Today.



- I jumped shipped from Smallville right around the time Lana Lang did but the series finale may get me to tune in tomorrow (which would be the first time I watched The CW since they canceled Everybody Hates Chris). To celebrate Warner Bros. is giving fans the chance to download each season premiere for free in HD on iTunes. The first nine seasons are also discounted.

- PBS Newshour grabbed a couple of big names for the next two airings. Tonight Jim Lehrer will be chatting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the national debt. Then tomorrow Judy Woodruff will interview Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

- TV Guide recently ran down what they think are the eleven most promising pilots. Only one (The Playboy Club) appeared on my list of pilots I’d like to see get picked up, while three appeared on my least anticipated list.

- Fans of HGTV will soon be surprised by the channels biggest stars including David Bromstad (Color Splash), John Gidding (Curb Appeal: The Block), and Vern Yip (HGTV Design Star). They getting a room makeover of their own for HGTV’d starting June 6.

- With All My Children coming to an end soon, I am sure there will be a few familiar faces return to Pine Valley and one already signed on to return is Cady McClain who will reprise her roles as Dixie Carter.

- Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show will not just be airing on OWN this Fall but later in the day you can listen to it SiriusXM.

- US Today and Gallup recently polled Americans about the death of Osama bin Laden and below you can look at the findings below at the infographic from ColumnFive and GOOD:

Feed Your iPod vol. LX: Strobelite Honey

Every time I see the commercial featuring The Choice Is Yours it is like Kia Soul created a time machine to go back in to my Middle School and kill my childhood. Watching hamsters rapping the classic is like being forced to watch Glee on a loop. For those that only know Black Sheep from the commercial (or did not even know the name or were an actual group), their debut A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, which features The Choice Is Yours is full with bangers including my second favorite track of the album Strobelite Honey, an ode to chicks who look a lot better inside the club than outside (something I unfortunately became familiar with when I went off to college). Hopefully Kia pulled the Hamster ad in the near future because it shaves months off my life every time I see it, until then, I will have to jam to their other classic tracks like this one. Hopefully no other car companies ruins Strobelite Honey.

Strobelite Honey - Black Sheep

Let Love Bring Us Together

On his last album Raphael Saadiq a twelve track love letter to the heyday of Motown and his new album, Stone Rollin’ is still in a retro mood but expands his RnB repertoire from the fifties roots rock to smooth seventies soul and still manages to sound as cohesive as The Way I See It. Really the only time Saadiq dipps back into the Motown pool is on the grooving Movin’ Down the Line.

The rest of Stone Rollin’ is like a compilation of great rhythm and blues music from thirty years or more ago. The album opens up with Heart Attack which moves like a Jr. Walker & The All Stars song. Radio has shades of early guitar players like Chuck Berry. Day Dreams sounds like one of Eric Clapton’s poppier mid seventies songs. Raphael gets his Stevie Wonder on during Over You. Oddly, Just Don’t starts off with the same guitar strums that begin Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer.

But the biggest standout track on the album is also the greatest song Saadiq has done in his quarter century making music. Good Man just drips cool like Curtis Mayfield when he was penning music for Superfly. The song is so great someone in Hollywood needs to write it’s on blaxplotation film for Good Man to anchor the soundtrack for. Seriously screenwriters out there, just expand the equally great music video that has already been released. The other album high is the antithesis of Good Man, the heavenly Go to Hell (I understand the irony, but the song is about someone trying not to go there) which floats through your ears before heading for a gospel ending. The song is a prime example than even though the songs he makes sound like they could be from an era long gone, Raphael Saadiq can still make it sound modern.

Song to Download – Good Man

Stone Rollin’ gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television - 5/9/11

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.

Mean - Taylor Swift



One thing that always struck me about this song is how Taylor Swift spends four minutes taking some dude to task for being mean, but then calls the dude a liar and pathetic and alone in life, which is pretty mean spirited itself. And isn’t that the chick from Ramona and Beezus in the video (um, not that I actually saw the movie, um, let’s move onto the next video)?


Sadness Is a Blessing - Lykke Li



It’s videos like this that make me want to sit in on some pitch meetings. “Lykke Li, you are going to be in a swanky restaurant taking shots for two minutes, keep in mind we will not start the song yet, and by the time we start the song, you will spend the rest of the video doing weird music.” “Sure, but how about we throw in a dramatic pause in the middle for no apparent reason.” “Brilliant, let’s start the casting.”


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



This by Noah and the Whale is one of those songs if it was released in the mid-late nineties it would have been heavy rotation on MTV along with Harvey Danger, Marcy’s Playground and Cake until teen girl came along and ruined the channel. I miss those days.


Poison and Wine - The Civil Wars



Last time I posted The Civil Wars' first single and here is their latest which is my favorite off their album because it is just heartbreakingly beautiful.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 5/8/11

The Killing: One of the reasons I never watch Six Feet Under is because I had no desire to see a dead body prepared every week, and I could have done without seeing Rosie getting ready. But I guess we have to have the teacher’s wife very high on the suspect list. Now that we are at the halfway mark of the season I wonder if we are going to start narrowing down the suspects or keep adding to the list until the end. You can download The Killing on iTunes.

Chuck: Early on I actually thought Volcoff was Agent-X before changing my pick to Mama Bartowski. But I love the people who think the show went with Volcoff to explain away Timothy Dalton’s in and out Russian accent. Here is hoping he gets reunited with his mother at some point. I would not be surprised if she exchanged information with Casey. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: Hopefully my special talent that is brought out by a special mix of cocktail never gets revealed to the general public. And how disappointing was the Arcadian? It is supposed to be some great historical landmark (as so Zoey would have us believe) but it looks like it should be condemned and torn down even if it were her childhood home. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Event: If there are plenty of nutjobs out there that believe Obama is a foreigner and Bush ordered the Twin Towers destruction, I do not understand how the evidence they already have against the vice president would not be enough. But my favorite part of the episode is they just so happened to have an antidote laying around to give to the president. How convenient. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Event on iTunes.

Castle: Nice to see Billy Riggins still getting work, and he was the butt of the best gag of the episode, a fake interrogation room as they were brought in by actors. But I am disappointed that we did not get any more on Beckett’s mom’s case. Wasn’t the detective killed involved with it in an earlier episode? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Survivor: Redemption Island: One thing that amazes me about the remaining players is that none of them are paranoid. Have none of them actually watched the show before? It’s like they are all playing checkers when they should be playing chess. It is a shame that any of the remaining players made it this far let alone even got cast. After a couple busts in a row, it may be time to get a new casting director, because casting just a pretty face makes for boring television. Seriously, is Natalie actually going to be the first winner ever to have less screen time in a season than the first person to get voted off? You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



The Big Bang Theory: I now want to play three person chess. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.

Community: If you scroll the 2000+ posts I have made you will notice that I never talk in hyperbole, so believe me when I say Spaghetti Western Annie is the greatest thing ever. EVER. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Outsourced: Wow, we actually got to hear the bearded dude talk. Although if he picks up the quiet chick in the office, I wonder what those conversations would be about. And as great of an episode Community’s second paintball one was, no sight gag was funnier this week than Pinky on the bike. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: The Lions continues its theme of players from the island of misfit toys with the addition of Buddy Jr. (I’m guessing it is not the same actor). It is nice to see Mindy warm up to Becky just by saying her butt is small (and can we please get a Riggins family spin-off sitcom next season? I’d watch that). And note to East Dillon High: In School Suspension, it is way worse punishment that out of school suspension, just sitting in a small room for eight hours staring at a wall and you only get to leave twice a day to go to the bathroom. And if you do not follow the rules, more time in The Box (as we affectingly called it when I was in high school). But seriously, how has Texas yet to come up with a more cruel and unusual punishment than Ohio? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Best of the Week - 4/7/11

Quote of the Week: I'm making it rain Canadian style. Which is technically making it snow. Dolla dolla, coins y'all! (Lester, Chuck)

Song of the Week: Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car – Billy Ocean (Chuck)

Big News of the Week: Osama bin Laden Dead: Almost ten years ago I awoke to find the world a different place. And earlier this week it almost felt as if that chapter of American history is over though it probably will not officially be closed until we are out of Iraq and Afghanistan. After nine and a half years Navy Seals finally found and killed the guy who came up with the plot to bring down the twin towers and attach Washington by hijacking plane. Though no attacks the rival that kind of scale has happened since, you still have to feal a little more safer this week.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Two Against One – Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi featuring Jack White (iTunes): Very high on my most anticipated album list is Rome, a collaboration between the American producer and Italian composer. Danger Mouse as an amazing battering average, from mash-up artist to producer to Gnarls Barkley to Broken Bells and from a listen to the first single from Rome he is going to continue the streak. Rome is set to be released May 17.

Deal of the Week: Over 1,500 Albums $5 Each Through May: Yes you read that right, big discounted MP3 albums this month for about the price of an extra value meal. Here are some albums I highly recommend: Mumford and Sons, Raphael Saadiq, Beastie Boys, and Weezer.



New Album Release of the Week: Stone Rollin' - Raphael Saadiq

New DVD Release of the Week: Webster: Season Two

Video of the Week: One hidden gems I found while sifting through Amazon’s 1500 albums was The Best of P.M. Dawn. My first thought was who knew the psychedelic rappers had more than two songs. Then scanning the track list I saw a song I completely forgot about, the George Michael sampling Looking Through Patient Eyes. I probably forgot after blocking L.L. Cool J’s disturbingly bad Father from my memory that also sampled Father Figure.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Community, Thursday at 8:00 on NBC: Very few things are better the second time around and I cannot say I was excited for another round of paintball at Greendale, let alone an hour long two parter. How wrong as I was as the spaghettis western theme actually outshone the action parody of last year in no small part to Annie Edison who showed she really needs to be the focus more often next season. And from the look of the final scene, next week looks like they will switch gears and go sci-fi, possibly alien invasion themed for the season ender.

Around the Tubes - 5/6/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Game of Thrones, America's Got Talent, Shark Men, The Wild Thornberrys, Big Morning Buzz Live, Mancations, Conan, Chrysler, Dan Rather Reports, Trip Your Face, Almighty Thor, Con Con, reality television, Turner Classic Movies, Steven Tyler, and the Republican Primaries.

- HBO’s new series Game of Thrones is still rolling around (for those that subscribe, I am still patiently waiting for the Blu-Ray release) and below is a clip entitled “Tyrion and Theon in Wonderfell” from episode four which airs this Sunday at 9:00.



- If you are an American and think you have talent, you can upload an audition tape to YouTube for the new season of America’s Got Talent from now until Monday. Producers will chose twenty entries for everyone to vote on with the top vote getter will advance to the quarterfinal broadcast.

- On this week’s episode of Shark Man, the boys head down to Guadalupe Island where tag their biggest shark to date: a 17-foot, 9-inch great white.



- If you grew up in the late nineties, you may be glad to hear that The Wild Thornberrys: Season One will be hitting DVD shelves later this month. Check out a clip below:

- Starting this Monday, VH1 will be airing their new daily entertainment show Big Morning Buzz Live with host Carrie Keagan which will talk the day’s biggest headlines, celebrities, music and other hot topics.

- It’s about time The Travel Channel got into the comedy game. Mancations “will follow comedians, Evan Mann and Gareth Reynolds as they travel the country in search of the perfect testosterone getaway, where guys get together in search of laughter and bonding to reunite with their manhood, giving men ideas for those perfect vacation spots and giving women a glimpse inside guy-only retreats.” Starting this Sunday , the boys will experience Navy Seal Training in Virginia, Ninja Camp, Space Camp in Alabama, Civil War Re-enactments, crab boat fishing in Alaska, firing automatic weapons while doing extreme watersports in Arizona. Head over to their website Evan and Garth to get introduced before the show.

- Not sure what to put on your Facebook wall today? Well let Conan O’Brien come up with something for you via F*card.

- Chryslers Imported From Detroit Super Bowl ad was universally praised and now here is their latest in the series featuring Lions’ beast Ndamukong Suh.

Homecoming


- In other Detroit news, this Tuesday at 8:00 Dan Rather Reports will present a special two hour expose on the Detroit Public School System on HDNet.

- Nothing like a subject “Party with Celebs: Vanilla Ice and Dennis Rodman on Trip Your Face” to grab your attention. Trip Your Face (presented by Hotels.com) lets you upload pictures of you and/or your friend to make it look like you are parting with the Surreal Life legends.

- For those that would like to see Thor this weekend but do not want to slap down over ten buck to sit in a theater to watch it, Syfy has an alternative for you: Almighty Thor airing tomorrow at 9:00. Below is a trailer:



- Just a reminder if you wanted to go to Con Con, the Leverage Convention, the deadline to buy tickets is today.

- Fans of reality television will want to check out Kelefa Sanneh’s latest article in the recent New Yorker.

- For those that like cruises and old movies, you are in luck. Turner Classic Movies recently announced their first ever TMC Classic Cruise which will set sail December 8-12 2011. Presale begins Monday. Head over to tcmclassiccruise.com for more information.

- Billboard recently sat down with karaoke enthusiast Steven Tyler to talk about his new book, Does The Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir, got some inside scoop on the future of Aerosmith, and Johnny Depp.

- We are nine months before primaries start up but that did not stop potential Republican nominees from having a debate last night. While in New Hampshire, Suffolk University of Boston polled likely voters and of the eighteen Republican possibly on the ballot, Mitt Romney topped them all with 35 %. Birther blowhard Donald Trump did not do very well receiving a 56% unfavorable rating among likely voters in the primary. The margin of error for their poll is +/- 4.9.

I Can Still Arrest People You Idiot

The first season of Justified was as good as a television season gets, it kept building and building until the payoff of the season finale. Season two switched thing up almost ditching stand alone storylines completely with most episodes devoted to Hatfield’s and McCoy’s type relationship between Raylan and the Bennett clan, the area’s top marijuana export or to Wynona’s money problems thanks to her estranged husband poor business practices. (It should go without saying what the better storyline was this season.)

What was amazing, as great as the Crowder family, The Bennett’s managed to one up them this season in no small part thanks to Margo Martindale who commanded every scene she was in this season. She was blessed with the Larry, Curly and Moe of sons which makes you wonder whatever happened to Papa Bennett. When the police chief is the smart one, who you can actually see wheels spinning whenever he is around Raylan as he tries to figure out how he could kill the marshal and get away with it, you are in trouble. This is probably she took the spitfire Loretta under her wings, so she could pass down her legacy to someone who was not a complete moron.

Without too many stand alone episode, there were much more peaks and valleys this season unlike last season that kept building with ever new episode. First things built to Winona’s bank robbery, then to the Black Pike Mountain whoop-di-do, then to Coover’s demise, and the last couple episodes built up to the finale for the biggest showdown between the Gibbons’ and Bennett’s with Boyd stuck right in the middle.

Going into the season finale, the question was not who was going to die, but how many, and by whose hand. So many permutations going into the episodes and many more were added as it went along. Loretta finally exacted some sort of revenge of her father’s killer by putting a hole in Mags. Surprisingly the only Bennett to survive was the one with the biggest bullseye on his back, Dicky, who got a bit of his own revenge on Raylan in the form of a baseball bat. More surprising was that Mags drank some of her own apple pie upon learning a second son died by the gun thanks to her actions.

So as we go into season three both Raylan and Ava have a bullet each in them. And I have sinking suspicious that will not sit well with their significant others for different reasons. It is hard to think after putting bullets in both girlfriend and wife and aunt of Boyd, Arlo and Raylan respectively, the lone remaining Bennett may not be long for season three even in police custody, though he may not want to be sprung this time around. And with child Wynona may rethink her relationship with Raylan seeing him with a sizable flesh wound after telling him not to go down to Harlan. Should make for an interesting third season as long as Raylan does not get transferred to gun training.

Justified 2.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

In That Dream I'm as Old as the Mountains

Hearing the Fleet Foxes for the first time was one of those musical milestones: Mykonos came on the radio sounding like Bruce Springsteen fronting a seventies band from San Francisco that out of nowhere in the middle of the song switched gears turning into a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Springsteen song with sweeping harmonies. As luck would have it, a scan of my iPod would reveal that I had actually downloaded the song via a sampler some weeks before letting me listen the song on a loop for the next couple days and telling anyone who would listen about the song (see Feed Your iPod vol. XXXX: Mykonos).

Fleet Foxes continue their folk attack with their sophomore album Helplessness Blues. Though more melancholy than their self titled debut with less harmonies this time around, the new album continues the grandiose folk of the first but still enough beautiful harmonies that harkens back to the sixties with groups like The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, and the previous mentioned Crosby, Stills, Nash and sometimes Young. Helplessness Blues is Sunday morning music at its best.

Even though they excel at lush harmonies and soothing folk music, but the acoustic guitar and singular voice of Blue Spotted Tail is just as beautiful as anything on the album. And lead singer finally unleashes vocally at the beginning of The Shrine / An Argument that ends with a more frantic sax burst than we have heard from the group. But Helplessness Blues hits its highpoints when the band goes with its strength like on the strumming glow of the title track and the driving Battery Kinzie which lets some Irish Folk influence drip into it. Then there is the hymnal opening of The Plains / Bitter Dancer, before switching into a soundtrack of a drive in the countryside. We seem to be in a boon for great folksy music and Helplessness Blues is worthy addition to the list of some of the best this decade.

Song to Download – Battery Kinzie

Helplessness Blues gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

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.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 4/30/11

The Killing: I am a little surprised they are sticking on the teacher for more than an episode as a suspect. I wonder if the series is going to click off suspects one by one until they find the killer or will it be a suspect they looked at earlier in the season, but thought they cleared. Either way I am still enthralled. You can download The Killing on iTunes.

The Event: When the token hot chick talked about how cold it is in Siberia this time of year, I had to laugh when she said it was ten degrees. I was walking my dogs in negative wind chill this past winter, a stone cold assassin should not be complaining about double digit weather. But my favorite part of the episode was the “da, da, da” moment at the end when the creepy dude realized, after having it all day, that the coffee spilled on his shirt. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Event on iTunes.

Survivor: Redemption Island: I have given a lot of crap to Ometepe for keeping Boston Rob around, and he should have been the first one out on his tribe, but keeping him around now is a smart move because no one will vote for him. But the problem now, with Philip taking the other spot, you are now at Rob’s mercy to get that third spot at the final tribal (assuming there will be three). And now with all the Zapatera, the four fighting for that third and final spot are almost out of options depending when and who returns from Redemption Island. So unless Grant goes on an Immunity run, we might as well flash forward to the finale and give Natalie Tenerelli the million dollars. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Justified: The first season really build with every episode to the season finale but this season something seemed to build to a head every couple episodes. Hopefully this season finale will have the same result: edge of your seat entertainment and one of the best forty minutes on television. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: I have long believed that the show will eventually get Sheldon drunk and have him sleep with Penny (although Amy would be more likely now that she is a cast member now) and I thought that might happened this episode, but only Amy getting her drink on, then her smoke on. Oh, yeah, more smoking monkeys please. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.

Community: Now I was only a math minor, but I am pretty sure if Shirley was impregnated around Halloween that her kid was early even had it been a Chang baby. And after the plotline, they probably should have retired the handshake. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: What a juxtaposition of Tammi spending a whole week trying to hammer it into the girls of East Dillon about making good decisions while her daughter was a couple miles away making a pretty bad decision of her own. I wonder if Julie’s affair is what was going to happen with her creepy English teacher that got interrupted by the writer’s strike in season two. But at least we were witness to another great Coach Taylor put on your bulletin board speech. I really need to upload his great quotes onto my iPod and listen to them on a loop while working out. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

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.

Around the Tubes - 4/28/11

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The O Music Awards, the NFL Draft, Snake Underworld, Break it Down: Yankee Stadium, 2Cellos, For Better or Worse, Just for Laughs Chicago, Fitz and the Tantrums, Operation Repo, The Borgias, Californication, Diddy, and British DVD releases.

- MTV Award Shows have been stale for a few years now and that may be the reason why the channel is launching a new one the O Music Awards tonight at 8:00. Andy Grammar and Adam Lambert’s tumblr page are already winners. And if you tune into tonight you will see performances by Matt & Kim, Chiddy Bang, Lil B, Lupe Fiasco, Mumford & Sons with Edward Sharpe and Old Crow Medicine Show, and Foster the People. But MTV will not be preempting Jersey Shore to broadcast the show, you will have to head over to OMusicAwards.com to watch. Oh, and if you need more incentive to click over tonight: Despite airing on a Thursday, it is the day before Friday so, yes, Rebecca Black will be appearing. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.

- The NFL Draft starts today and CBSSports.com will have you covered with grades and analysis of the picks starting at 7:00 over on Livestream.

- Do not blame Henry Rollins for the cancelation of The Paul Riser Show; his cameo was the best part of the two episode season. Rollins will be back on television tomorrow for Snake Underworld on Nat Geo Wild at 10:00. As for tonight on its sister station National Geographic Channel, Break it Down: Yankee Stadium also premieres at 10:00 and will look at the demolition of the House that Ruth Built. Check out a clip below:

Broken Glass


- Heading out to see Elton John live this summer? Opening for the music icon will be 2Cellos and the group is as advertised: two dudes playing cello. Their debut album will be released in July featuring their spin on Guns ‘n’ Roses, U2 Trent Reznor and Kings of Leon. Below is their video for Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal.

2CELLOS – Smooth Criminal


- TBS continues its relationship with Tyler Perry by ordering For Better or Worse based on his Why Did I Get Married? films. Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight) and Tasha Smith (Couples Retreat) are set to star. Mo word as when we will be able to see it.

- In other TBS news Steve Martin, Martin Short, Seth Myers, Ron White, Rodney Carrington, and Jo Koy have all been added to TBS Just for Laughs Chicago festival which has now been expanded to Sunday and will now run June 14-19.

- They may look and sound like they are from the eighties, but Fitz and the Tantrums are a new band and below is a special performance of MoneyGrabber from Grooveshark’s SXSW Sessions.

Fitz & the Tantrums Performing MoneyGrabber @ Grooveshark SXSW Sessions from Grooveshark on Vimeo.

- TruTV promised they would create a special bonus episode of Operation Repo if they reached 500,000 Facebook Likes and they did just that. The special bonus episode premiered exclusively online yesterday on their Facebook page.

- Fans of Showtime’s Borgias will be happy to learn the show has been picked up for a second season. The show will continue its first season on Sundays at 10:00 though the May 22nd season finale.

- In other Showtime news, The RZA has signed up for the fifth season of Californication and will guest star in multiple episode. No word yet if the GZA, ODB, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, U-God, Ghostface Killah or Method Man will also be making appearances.

- KarmaloopTV recently sat down with Diddy, head over to their site to watch.

Following the critically-acclaimed release of Upstairs, Downstairs: 40th Anniversary Edition, Acorn Media’s upcoming DVD release calendar features several highly entertaining British series previously unavailable to U.S. audiences, including Identity, a slick identity theft series with Upstairs, Downstairs revival star Keeley Hawes and The Wire’s Aidan Gillen; and the inspiration for the star-studded American remake in development at ABC. Additionally, the U.S. debuts of the third season of Murdoch Mysteries (DVD and Blu-ray) - the critically-acclaimed Sherlock Holmes meets CSI series; The Feathered Serpent Complete Series, the cult classic set in ancient Mexico featuring Patrick Troughton (Doctor Who, The Omen); Circles of Deceit, riveting spy thrillers featuring Dennis Waterman (New Tricks) and guest stars Derek Jacobi, Corin Redgrave, John Hannah, and Leo McKern; and Genius of Britain: The Scientists Who Changed the World a new documentary featuring Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, James Dyson, and David Attenborough discussing the legacies of their heroes.
Also, Robin of Sherwood, Set 1, the definitive retelling of the Robin Hood legend makes its Blu-ray debut with more than eight hours of extras; starring Michael Praed (Dynasty) and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Departed); and New Tricks Season 4, the must-see, smash hit crime series seen on public television; featuring a brilliant cast, deft writing, and an irresistible blend of compelling drama and dry humor.

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.

Show Me That Smile Again

Watching Growing Pains: The Complete Second Season on DVD, out today, it is hard not wonder where did all family sitcoms go? I grew up with a heavy dose of The Seavers, The Huxtables, The Arnolds, The Winslows, The Tanners and way too many more to list. Of course sadly the answer is they all seem to have migrated to the Disney Channel after the Bundys came around and flipped the family sitcom on its head. With Friday considered the Death Slot in television, I do not understand why networks try to resurrect the success of ABC’s TGIF aimed at the families that stay home on the weekends. Luckily studios have been slowly releasing the classic sitcoms from my childhood on DVD.

For those born in the nineties and are only know of Growing Pains from the I Love the 80’s segment, the show follows a nuclear family on Long Island featuring a physiatrist dad Alan Thicke (you may be familiar with his son Robin) who runs his practice out of the home, because who would not want crazy people hanging around the place where your kids live. His wife Joanna Kerns (who played Katherine Heigl’s mom in Knocked Up) is a writer for the local newspaper. The eldest Kirk Cameron (the Justin Beiber type heartthrob of his day and current television evangelist), is the slacker ladies man. Tracy Gold (if you watch any Lifetime movies, you have seen her latest works) is the brainy one. And Jersey Miller (who showed up for the two reunion movies) is the precocious youngest child.

As with any great sitcom from the eighties, the second season of Growing Pains was filled with plenty of “very special episodes” including when Ben learns why he shouldn’t call a sex phone line. Or when Ben brings home a homeless girl for Christmas who would grow up to become (this is not to be confused with the time five seasons later when Mike brought home a homeless Leonardo DiCaprio ton stay with the Seavers). Or when Maggie learns she cannot ground Mike for lying then turn around and tell a little white lie herself. Or the time Carol contemplates getting a nose job. But there was no more special episode this season than when Mike and Boner (R.I.P.) get offered cocaine by Kristy Swanson of all people. Which leads to the great eighties tradition of a character breaking character and the fourth wall in the middle of a scenes to talk to the audience to make sure the moral of the story gets through.

The orginal Buffy the Vampire Slayer wasn’t the only familiar face to show up this season. Of course future spin off subject Bill Kirchenbauer managed to teach two different subjects this season (here’s hoping Just the Ten of Us makes it to DVD soon) but two of his future daughters, Brooke Theiss and Jamie Luner, pop up under different names. Actually Mike Seaver even dated Luner and Heather Graham (in her first credited acting role) at the same time. Future The Wonder Years stars Olivia d’Abo and Dan Lauria show up in different episode. Kirk brought in his sister Candace in for another episode. And Dawn Wells, better known as Mary Ann, shows up for an episode.

The season 2 DVD features all twenty-two episodes on three disks, but for fans of bonus content, sadly there is none to be found. Here is a synopsis:

Congratulations…you’re fired. Mike (Kirk Cameron) receives a car from his pleased parents after he’s named Employee of the Month. (So how’s he going to tell them he’s been canned?) Mike’s not the only one with secrets. Brainy Carol (Tracey Gold) wants everyone to think she has a romantic extracurricular life with a hunky football hero. And what’s up with 10-year-old Ben (Jeremy Miller) and those 67 calls to a sex line? (No, it’s not what you might think.) These events don’t all happen at the same time, but they do all happen at the same place: the Season 2 home-sweet-ho-ho-home of the Seavers – dad Jason (Alan Thicke), mom Maggie (Joanna Kerns), three on-the-grow kids. Jason works as a psychiatrist. You think maybe it’s time to add some family appointments to his calendar

Full Disclosure Notice: This DVD was given to me on behalf of Warner Bros. for the purpose of reviewing the season.