Around the Tubes - 9/7/12

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 Voice, Ghost Hunters, 9/11 specials, Drop Dead Diva, The Hero, Sullivan and Son, Power Rangers Monster Bash, Holliston, Nina Dobrev, James Murphy, and House Band Wines.

- The Voice returns Monday for three straight days of Blind Auditions (including a special Wednesday episode where it will go head to head with another singing competition that, like The Voice, features four judges, but unlike The Voice, none of the judges can sing). For those that cannot wait, here is a first look at a Blind Audition you will be seeing next week:


- A new season of Ghost Hunters returns this Wednesday at 9:00 on Syfy and here is a promo to get you excited:


- National Geographic Channel will be remembering 9/11 all weekend starting tomorrow at 10:00 with 9/11-The Fireman’s Story, then Sunday at 10:00 they will air 9/11: Voices from the Air.

- Not only is the season finale of Drop Dead Diva this Sunday at 9:00 on Lifetime, I hear there may even be a wedding happening.

- TNT may know drama, but they are quickly getting acquainted with reality too. After the first season of The Great Escape ended, the network announced their next foray into competition series. The Hero is out to find the next great hero bringing 10 ordinary people together in a house and then assign them various missions that will test their brains, their brawn and even their morality. The Hero will be headlined by The Rock and promises to utilize social media like never before. Look out for the show during the summer of 2013.

- If you enjoyed the first season of TBS’s Sullivan and Sons, you are in luck because the show has been renewed for a second season.

- Out on DVD and Video on Demand this Tuesday: Power Rangers Monster Bash. Plan your Halloween parties accordingly.


- FEARnet recently announced the start of production on their irreverent horror comedy series Holliston which will see Dee Snyder and Dave Brockie (you may know him better as Oderus Urungus from GWAR) will reprise their roles. The new season will air in the spring as well as a one-hour special set to air during the holidays. You will also be able to but the first season on DVD and Blu-Ray starting October 8.


- Nina Dobrev covers October’s issue of Seventeen where the star of The Vampire Diaries where she also talks about her upcoming movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower.


- James Murphy has partnered with Canon for “Project Imaginat10n,” a creative exercise where he’ll pick ten consumer photos to inspire a short film he directs under the mentorship of Ron Howard. Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, Biz Stone and Georgina Chapman are also part of this endeavor. Consumers can submit photos until September 24th at imagination.usa.canon.com and Canon and Ron Howard will narrow down the photos – James and each director will then choose 10 photos to inspire their films. You can hear James explain below:


- House Band Wines is excited to announce that our Chardonnay in our groundbreaking 375ml Flex Pouch has scored an impressive 85 points and Best Buy by the highly-respected feature and review magazine, Wine Enthusiast.

This Is No Fairytale, the Stories Are Real

Grimm finished up its early Monday run this week before returning to its regular Friday timeslot on the 28 (your TV Guide may say there is a new Grimm this Monday but it is wrong, NBC will be airing the Pilots of The New Normal and Go On at that time). If you need a Grimm fix over the next twenty-four days until a new episode airs, you can relive the first season on DVD or Blu-Ray on shelves now. Of course for those interested in give the show a shot, you can pick up the first season, then watch the first four episodes of season two, and be caught up by the time it returns (that is just over an episode a day).

For the unaware, Grimm was created by David Greenwalt who was a writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to co-create the spin-off Angel with Joss Whedon. Grimm is very similar in tone to Angel in that is dark, creepy, with flashes of humor. But instead of a vampire, the lead is a Grimm, a descendant of the guys that wrote all the fairytales, except all the stories turned out to be based in reality and the Grimm’s were tasked to hunting down all the big bad wolfs and the like (Grimm’s have the ability to see the creatures in their true form when humans cannot) before they attack young girls wearing red.

But like his previous show, not everything that goes bump in the night is a bad guy. The Grimm even teams up with a modern Big Bad Wolf, known here as a Blutbad (all the creatures, or Wesen, have a German sounding name) that helps the Grimm identify everything he is up against and the sidekick turns out to be the best part of the show. And the Grimm has to do this while trying to keep his new reality from colliding with his life as cop (with a very shady boss who know more than he is letting on) and his long time girlfriend. Some of the other fairytales tacked in the first season include Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Rapunzel, Big Foot, and The Pied Piper.

Both the DVD and Blu-Ray are filled with extras including deleted and extended scenes from 13 episodes that add up to about and extra 30 minutes including a scene from the Pilot that shows Juliette in a very different job then she ended up having on the show. There is also a featurette The World of Grimm where you can learn the inspirations behind the storylines, characters and creatures. There is another one that focuses how the team brings the monsters to life. There is also a gag reel, highlight reels, and audition tapes which includes Reggie Lee (who would go on and be cast as Sergeant Wu) auditioning for the role of Hank. I also like that each episode includes its “Previously On” clip which is inexplicably not standard on all television box sets.

The Blu-Ray set is well made and even includes a glossary printed inside of all the monsters on the show (which I assume are also printed on the DVD set). I do like that the fold out box set comes with a Velcro type substance that holds it together when closed. I do not like that the disk are pulled out of a sleeve making it easier to scratch instead of the safer pop out version. For a limited time, each set comes with two collectable trading cards (I got the Blutbad and Hexenbiest) as well as an UltraViolet code which you have until 2015 to redeem by if you want to put off buying the season until later. The big reason to pick up the Blu-Ray over the DVD for those with HD capabilities is that the Blu-Ray version includes an Interactive Grimm Guide which look like pages out of the Grimm family books with a page dedicated to each Wesen from the first season (sorry, no previews of baddies to come or just hinted out in the first season) but also includes a video of each creature transforming from human to it true form.

Grimm returns Friday, September 28 at 9:00 on NBC. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.


Full Disclose Notice: This Blu-Ray was given to me by NBC.

I Want My Music Television - 9/5/12

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.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift


In a story I broke last week, Taylor Swift’s new single is painfully bad in a how was someone able to record a song more annoying than Call Me Maybe kind of way. Altthough after its too cheesy for its own good music video, the song is slowly moving into annoyingly cute territory. And for those playing the Who’s Is Taylor Singing About home edition, the video is shot in one take much like the recent music video from former beau John Mayer while the suitor kind of looks like former paramour Jake Gyllenhaal (well someone who looks like Jake and Adam Levine somehow had a grown kid together). Note to self: start cyber-stalking Taylor’s fiddler. Another note to self: make sure you delete the previous “note to self” before posting.


Little Black Submarine – The Black Keys


The Black Keys make some of the most entertaining music videos it is a bit disappointing whenever they do just a straight forward performance based video. Although I have a feeling it would have been epic to have been in the crowd here at a Nashville dive bar.


Lost in the Echo – Linkin Park


As you can see above, the new Linkin Park is very Linkin Park-y with its epic end the world feel to it like many of their previous efforts. If you want a more interesting version of this video (with you as the star) head to lostintheecho.com and link the site up with your Facebook page so you can see overtly happy pictures of your friends in this otherwise creepy video.


She Said OK - Big Boi featuring Theophilus London & Tre Luce


The first two lines of this song are so absurd I could not stop laughing. But seriously, Outkast split so Big Boi could record songs like this?

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2012

Back in April I was surprised in how much good music was released that month and hoped that it was a sign of things to come. It was not because good music was few and far in-between of the summer month. But with Christmas just around the corner, record companies are lining up their big guns for release. Here are some I am looking forward to. Click the artist name to be taking to their iTunes page, and the name of the album to pre-order it on Amazon. Release dates are subject to change.

1. Babel – Mumford & Sons (September 25): The band may not have kickstarted the folk rock revival of recent years (that may go to the second band on this list), but the put it into high gear. The managed to outsell almost everyone else in that time not named Adele and now they look to shake the sophomore slump. They said that they have not changed their sound from their debut and first single I Will Wait backs up their charge which had fans of their first album dusting off their air banjos.

2. The Carpenter – The Avett Brothers (September 11): If there is such a thing as folk-punk, The Avett Brothers are it. The Carpenter is the group’s second album produced by Rick Rubin who was behind the board for their breakthrough I and Love and You and lives up to the greatness of its predecessor. Cannot wait a week to give the album a listen? You are in luck because npr.com is streaming The Carpenter in its entirety.

3. Away from the World – Dave Matthews Band (September 11): The big news about Dave and the boys eighth studio album is it their first in over a decade with producer Steve Lilywhite who produced their first three albums (and the aborted fourth album that got leaked to the internet under the moniker The Lilywhite Session before getting a proper released that Stephan Harris finished producing under the appropriately titled Busted Stuff). First single Mercy is a bit sleepy, but for some reason their first singles off their albums are never the best (my guess is the reason is their best songs are over the radio friendly five minutes long).

4. Battle Born – The Killers (September 18): I have a love / hate relationship with the band. I loved their dance rock debut / hated their pretentious we want to be Springsteen follow up. By the time their third album came around I was ready to reluctantly accept their absurdity. After hearing the first single off their four album Runaways, it sounds like the Vegas boys are still looking for that elusive last chance power drive. And still coming up short.

5. Red – Taylor Swift (October 22): Okay, first single We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is painfully bad (although the cute one take accompanying music video almost makes it listenable, almost) but I will admit I am an unabashed fan of her first three albums. Last time around, Swift wrote and co-produced every song on Speak Now and for better or worse she is bring in a bunch of collaborators including pop maestro Max Martin (which would be part of the “worst” considering he is responsible for Never Ever). The only other confirmed collaborator is English songwriter Ed Sheeran.


Today
Sun – Cat Power
North – Matchbox Twenty
Magic – Smash Mouth

September 11
Tempest – Bob Dylan
La Futura – ZZ Top
Undisputed – DMX
Coexist – The xx

September 18
Mirage Rock – Band of Horses
The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind – Ben Folds Five
Hallelujah! I'm a Bum – Local H
Tomorrowland – Ryan Bingham
Kanye West Presents Good Music Cruel Summer
Charmer – Aimee Mann
I Bet On Sky – Dinosaur Jr.
The Spirit Indestructible – Nelly Furtado
Kiss – Carly Rae Jepsen

September 25
Cedar + Gold – Tristan Prettyman
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap – Lupe Fiasco
Uno – Green Day
Mystic Pinball – John Hiatt
Push And Shove – No Doubt

October 2
Glad All Over – The Wallflowers
Traveling Alone – Tift Merritt
The 2nd Law – Muse
Born To Sing: No Plan B – Van Morrison

October 9
Wrote a Song for Everyone – John Fogerty
Pines – A Fine Frenzy
Songs for the End of the World – Rick Springfield
Monster - KISS

October 16
Former Lives – Ben Gibbard
Very Special Christmas 25th Anniversary

October 23
The Haunted Man – Bat for Lashes
Man With the Iron Fists
TBD – Gary Clark Jr.

October 30
Merry Christmas, Baby – Rod Stewart

November 6
Music From Another Dimension – Aerosmith

November 13
Dos – Green Day
TBD – Soundgarden
Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors – Big Boi

November 27
Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys
The Art of War III – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

January 15
Tre – Green Day

TBD
James River – D'Angelo
Watch the Throne 2 – Kanye West and Jay-Z
Psychedelic Pill – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Matangi – M.I.A.
Indicud – Kid Cudi
The Evil Empire of Everything – Public Enemy
Rooted – Scarface
Alice In Chains
Christina Aguilera
The Bird and the Bee

And let’s not forget the obligatory this may be the year that Dr. Dre releases Detox. Of course if he does, that may mean the Mayans were right.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/2/12

Quote of the Week: Things just went from worse to worser. (Hanna, Pretty Little Liars)

Song of the Week: In My Veins – Andrew Belle featuring Erin Mcarley (Pretty Little Liars)

Big News of the Week: Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell: I am a big fan of Pardon the Interruption and one aspect of the show I really like is at the end of the show, Statboy pops up and cleans up all the errors Tony and Mike make even though it is a silly sports show and who really cares if they are off by .005 on someone’s batting average? I watch a lot of political show and have always wished that after these shoutfests they would bring in their own Statboy to tell you what the talking heads got wrong.

I bring this up because Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan managed to tell only two true statements during his speech at the Republican National Convention according to professional fact checkers. In comparison, FactCheck.org found five flat out lies. Everything else was your run of the mill politicians stretching the truth or conjecture. Unfortunately with no Statboy, you have to wait until the next day to sort these things out. C’mon, it is 2012, how can we not have real time fact checks on screen Pop-Up Video style?

Of all of Ryan’s lies, his most egregious was his claim that an auto plant in his district that Obama promised would stay open. Except it turned out that the president did not make any promises and was not even the president when it closed, that happened under George W. Bush. You can read all about this particular lie on Politifact. To give Ryan some credit, he did back off a little on this lie by saying that maybe, kinda, it might be possible that it could be that jut maybe Barack Obama may not have, possible, not the reason the plant closed. Almost.

Please note I am not trying to pile on the GOP (I am a registered Republican, or as Rush Limbaugh would call me a RINO), and there will be plenty of lies and mistruths next week at the Democratic National Convention, so be sure to bookmark Politifact and FactCgeck.org to get the real truths. And please stop it with the “You didn’t build that” crap, that was also given a “false” by all the fact checkers and anyone who listened to Obama’s full speech with a least one full brain cell can tell the thing that you did not build were the roads and other infrastructures.

Oh yeah, and Clint Eastwood talked to a chair.

Preview Picture of the Week:


Leverage: When Sophie stood at the “real” DB Cooper’s grave who died during Vietnam, I thought, c’mon, dude totally Don Drapered somebody, just check who else was in his platoon. Apparently the writers thought the exact same thing.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.

Grimm: As I have started way too many time, amnesia is one of my three least favorite plot devises on television. The only thing worse is selective amnesia. So Juliet remembers some random dog from her office, even remembers Monroe as if he is some great friend even though she has only met him about three time, but does not remember her fiancé. Alrighty. Hopefully they whip up a potion soon because I really hate amnesia.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Perception: Just when I starting thinking out just how bad Eddie Furlong is looking these days, in walks Tom Sizemore.
You can download Perception on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Amber Waves – Erin McCarley (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: It looks like Amazon’s weekly $3.99 deals are being retired with summer so you will have to pay an extra dollar (and a penny) for the music deal, which this moth include Scooter Hall of Fame inductees from Eric Clapton and Pearl Jam, John Mayer’s latest, and Sam Cooke’s Greatest Hits.


New Album Release of the Week: Sun - Cat Power

New DVD Release of the Week: Safe

Video of the Week: I am not the biggest fan of medical dramas because I am not very good with blood especially the realistic kind (humorous excessive blood in horror movies do not bother me that much) so not surprisingly I did not make it very far into the reality show Chicago Medical premiering this Tuesday at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel. It did not help that the first patient came in with bullet wounds to his thigh, scrotum and penis. Ouch. If you can make it through the clip below (it should go without saying, with a title like Penis Bullet Wound, viewer discretion is very advised), maybe you will enjoy Chicago Medical more than me.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Stand Up 2 Cancer, Friday at 8:00 on NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS: One again this year, all the major networks and a couple cable channels will be devoting an hour to cancer awareness and telethon where you can donate to cancer research and maybe even talk to Julia Roberts, Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Stone and more if you call in to donate. There will also be performances by Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Tim McGraw.

I Never Think, That’s What Makes Me a Good Cop

These days when looking for new shows to watch, I tend to look for actors I like or show creators whose previous work I enjoyed. As a kid I was much simpler, when I saw commercials for Sledge Hammer! I thought to myself, I enjoy the Peter Gabriel song, maybe I should watch this show. And thank goodness for Peter Gabriel because Sledge Hammer! turned out to be one of the funniest half hours ever forged for television which it is why it is this month's induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

The show followed Inspector Sledge Hammer of the San Francesco Police Department, who would typically solve cases violently without compassion, and usually by accident. Basically a dumber version of Dirty Harry who carried a .44 Smith & Wesson around with him at all times, even in the shower. Of course when you have amassed as many enemies as Hammer, on both sides of the law, you would be armed at all times too. His straight-(wo)man partner Detective Dori Doreau, was basically everything Sledge was not. Of course their Captain Trunk was your typically uptight boss who sole kelp Pepto-Bismol in business to help him deal with his inept inspector.

Sledge Hammer! was absurdist at its best. And the show saved the best for last. When the show looked like it was going to be canceled, the show decided to blow San Francisco up with a nuclear bomb, accidentally set off by Hammer when he tried to disarm it of course, and then still ended the episode with, “To Be Continued… Next Season?” Surprisingly the show actually did get renewed and the show took place “5 years before” despite numerous contiguity inconstancies which only enhanced the absurdist nature of the show. To this day it still weird to see David Rasche in new endeavors like Burn After Reading or most recently as a mysterious figure on Rubicon because whenever I see him I think to myself, why is Sledge Hammer acting serious? Then I have to go watch an episode or two of the funniest things ever to air.

Around the Tubes - 8/31/12

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 An Animal #$*% My Vacation, Adventures of the Wilderness Family, Mad Monster Party, Ghost Hunters, Dexter, The Wedding Band, Alaska State Troopers, Austin City Limits, Jamie Bendell, Annoying Orange, Dead Sara, Beanie Sigel, Ultimate Fighter, Hunting Season, The New Normal, and Beverly Hills Nannies.

- Nothing like a title like An Animal #$*% My Vacation to grab your attention. The first episode will feature a bear fighting a Prius, a randy dolphin, and a mass baboon ambush. Check out a clip over at the NatGeo website.

- The family classic Adventures of the Wilderness Family trilogy is finally getting a digital high definition make over for the first time. All three films will be available via Video on Demand this Tuesday with the first film in the series will also become available the same day.

- Also hitting DVD shelves next week is the timeless fan favorite Mad Monster Party starring Boris Karloff, Gale Garnett, and Phyllis Diller. Stock up now for your Halloween party.


- Ghost Hunters is returning for a new season next Wednesday at 9:00 on Syfy. Check out a sneak peak below:

A Serial Killer’s Revenge

You may have to wait another month to see Dexter on your television screen, but you can watch the animated webisode series Dexter Early Cuts right now on sho.com/earlycuts.

- Save the date: The new TBS show The Wedding Band will premiere Saturday, November 10 at 10:00.

- As for returning show, Alaska State Troopers will have a two hour special even Sunday October 7 at 8:00 followed by the season premiere at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel.

- Then on October 6, Austin City Limits returns for its 38th season with Radiohead taking the stage for a rare full hour. Also slated for this season is Bon Iver (10/13), Bonnie Raitt with Mavis Staples (10/20), The Shins and Dr. Dog (10/27), The Civil Wars and the Punch Brotherws (11/3) and the Americana Music Festival (10/10).

- Jamie Bendell calls herself the “intellectual Colbie Caillat” and she just released her three song EP I'm Not Sorry Anymore and you can download the sweet new single Five Little Minutes for free. Take a listen and download below:



- You probably would not think Danny Trejo and cupcake at the same time , but the actor will be lending his voice to “Cupcake Leader” in Monday’s episode of Annoying Orange on the Cartoon Network.


- Dead Sara has hit the road with The Offspring kicking off their tour last night (Neon Trees are set to join next Thursday), and you can check out tour dates here.

- Poor Beanie Sigel, the guy is already going to prison (dude forgot to pay his taxes), and then he was arrested again during a traffic stop. But you can enjoy his incarceration of two years (maybe more after this week) with his new album This Time from the recently resurrected Ruffhouse Records.

- We are two weeks away from the new season of the Ultimate Fighter, September 14, at 9:00 on FX. The two hour special premiere will feature 16 elimination fights while bitter rivals former interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin and top contender and previous TUF™ winner Roy Nelson will serve as coaches.

- “Hunting Season is a new web series based on the funny and painfully truthful blog of Alex, a single gay 20-something in Manhattan, a smart and successful blogger at Gawker by day who turns the spotlight on himself and his friends when he starts anonymously writing about his social (and sex) life.” You can head over to HuntingSeason.tv September 12 when the first three episodes will debut with new episodes debuting every Wednesdays until 10/17. Check out the trailer below:


- For those that want to watch The New Normal early (or at all if you live in Utah), you can head over to NBC.com to watch the first episode in its entirety.

- Beverly Hills Nannies may only have two episodes left (and a reunion special) but if you need more from the show, you can download the Beverly Hills Nannies Digital Magazine on iTunes.

I Want My Music Television - 8/30/12

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.

Mercy – Dave Matthews Band


I am a bit offended that I was not included in the new Dave Matthews Band video. I guess I should have submitted something. And if I learned one thing from the new video, you cannot be clean shaven to be a fan of the band.


Duquesne Whistle – Bob Dylan


I am not sure if this is the greatest romantic comedy idea ever or the worse. And is that Gene Simmons in Bob Dylan’s posse?


End of the Line – Sleigh Bells



An odd clip from the Sleigh Bells, it is as if they started out making a moody dark video, and when they were done looked at each other and though, do you know what this needs: us riding around the suburbs on bike. Done.


Knock Knock – Hand of Horses


“Epic 4:3 Aspect Ratio”. Ha. Well done Band of Horses.

Things Just Went from Worse to Worser

I came to the realization during this batch of Pretty Little Liars episodes that the show definitely has deep ebbs and flows. The show started on a high with the guiltiest guilty pleasure of four girls being tormented by a mad texter that may or may not have been tied to their friend who was brutally murdered. But after a season, things started to drag on until the second half of season two when they finally were building up to the big reveal of who “A” was. But when the show came back for the current third season it seemed to drag along once again even when they tried to force some manufactured drama with the “BetrAyal”.

Of course these episodes drug on for the same reason most episodes of the show drag on: the writers continue to think that Erza and Aria have some grand love affair, not a creepy, statutory relationship they do. And even though Ezra has been blacklisted from getting any job in the greater Rosewood area because his extra-curricular activities with a student, he has not only stuck around, but the writers doubled down on the creepiness by making him a father. But for some reason, despite the crazy family that has enough money to make you disappear overnight and a baby mama (hello Alex Mack), Aria for some reason has stayed by her man even though it cannot be that hard for her to find someone better than Ezra. At this point even Hermy the Hermaphrodite would be an upgrade.

As for the BetrAyal that the promo monkeys had been pushing for the past month, all signs leading up to this episode pointed to Paige which meant there was no way she would be the betrAyer. By the end of the finale it looked like Nate, or whatever his name is, was going to BetrAy Emily. So dude killed Maya, was annoyed that she love Emily so he returned to Rosewood to get back at Emily by poising as Maya’s cousin, tried to hook up with Jenna even though she may or may not have seen him with Maya, then tried to make out with Emily, and then when all else failed decided to just kill Paige instead while Emily watched. Wait, what? And did he also dig up Allison? I think I missed something. It does not help that I did not care about Nate from the beginning and his evil turn was so bad it looked like he watched Leighton Meester in The Roommate for inspiration (should have gone old school and went with Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female instead).

Speaking of painfully bad acting, just when you thought Nate was going to the BetrAyer, it turns out Toby also has a stash of black hoodies. Except I could not stop laughing at his turn at the camera at the end followed by some sort of weird mad dash around corner. And I thought nothing was going to be more awkward than the least sexy sex scene ever put to film. What is worse is that he makes no sense as a member of The A Team which I always assumed included Jenna (along with Hermy). So I guess if Toby is in and Jenna is out.. But even though the summer finale went out with a resounding whimper (alright the staging in the lighthouse looked cool), I have to say the Halloween special looks pretty coo. And keep in mind the last Halloween special is when the show found its footing again, so hopefully this year’s episode will put it on an ebb upwards again.

Pretty Little Liars 3.x (Summer) gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Songs from the Golden Age of Hip-Hop

Like many white suburban kids of the late eighties and early nineties, I love rap music. Whenever I did not have practice afterschool, Yo! MTV Raps acted as my babysitter for years. And like many people of my ilk, I find most rap music today unlistenable aside a select few. I look at some of the biggest names currently in the game like Rick Ross and Lil’ Wayne and shake my head at how they are painfully bad compared the greats from my childhood. Rap music seemed more important back then (Chuck D famously said that rap music was black people’s CNN and now it is their Home Shopping Network). It started out as party music based on dance samples. Then Def Jam came around and based most of its samples on rock licks and exploded from there with conscious rap from New York, gangsta rap out west. You had the Beastie Boys pushing the limits of sampling and then embraced the alternative movement of the early nineties. It was just a perfect storm of great rap music before getting bogged down by commercialization. So I thought I would make a list of my favorite songs from the Golden Age of Hip-Hip (click to see) to represent the best of the best era.

Please note I do consider the best hip-hop songs different from the best rap songs from the era which is why you did not see songs like U Can’t Touch This (which 3rd Bass would call Hip-Pop) on my list. And since I like to have eras bookended by significant events (much like the start of World War I did not just start in 1914 but really started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria) so my list I consider the Golden Age of Hip Hop to start with Def Jam releasing their first records and ended with the death of 2Pac. And for those that want to listen to listen to the list instead of just reading it, I have created a Spotify playlist (please note because of Spotify’s availability, some songs may be missing; seriously, why has De La Soul not upgraded to the digital age yet?).


Song Breakdown by Year
1985 – 2
1986 – 5
1987 – 6
1988 – 12
1989 – 11
1990 – 5
1991 – 14
1992 – 11
1993 – 18
1994 – 8
1995 – 5
1996 – 4


Artists with Multiple Songs (including being featured on other tracks)
Beastie Boys – 7
A Tribe Called Quest – 6
Run-DMC - 5
Ice Cube (N.W.A.) – 5
Wu-Tang Clan (Method Man) - 5
Dr. Dre (N.W.A.) – 4
Eric B. & Rakim - 4
2Pac – 3
Biz Markie – 3
De La Soul – 3
EPMD – 3
Gang Starr (Guru) – 3
LL Cool J - 3
Leaders of the New School (Busta Rhymes) – 3
Nice & Smooth - 3
Snoop Doggy Dogg – 3
Public Enemy – 3
The Pharcyde - 3
3rd Bass – 2
Big Daddy Kane - 2
Das EFX – 2
Digital Underground – 2
Doug E Fresh – 2
Domino – 2
Geto Boys – 2
Heavy D & The Boyz – 2
House of Pain – 2
pete rock & c.l smooth – 2
The Notorious B.I.G. - 2