The 25 Greatest Era in Rock and Roll History

It should be noted that I am defining “Rock and Roll” the same way the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does in it is any popular music since the dawn of rock and roll in the fifties. I have included four key tracks from each era all of which I have added to a Spotify playlist for your listening pleasures with the widget at right.

1. Mid 60’s Motown
I Was Made to Love Her – Stevie Wonder
The Tracks of My Tears – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
My Girl – The Temptations
You Can't Hurry Love – The Supremes

2. Late 80’s Hip-Hop
Fight the Power – Public Enemy
Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J
Award Tour – A Tribe Called Quest
Passin' Me By – The Pharcyde

3. Late 60’s Rock
All Along the Watchtower – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones
For What It's Worth – Buffalo Springfield

4. Mid 90’s Alternative Rock
Sabotage – Beastie Boys
What's the Frequency, Kenneth? – R.E.M.
Give It Away – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Bullet With Butterfly Wings – Smashing Pumpkins

5. Mid 60’s Pop
Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
Hey Jude – The Beatles
California Dreamin' – The Mamas and Papas
I'm a Believer – The Monkees

6. Early 70’s Soul
A Song for You – Donny Hathaway
What's Going On – Marvin Gaye
If You Don't Know Me By Now – Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes
Take Me to the River – Al Green

7. Mid 80’s Pop
When Doves Cry - Prince
Beat It – Michal Jackson
Hello – Lionel Richie
You Make My Dreams – Hall and Oats

8. Early 10’s Folk
The Cave – Mumford and Sons
Stubborn Love – The Lumineers
Barton Hollow – The Civil Wars
Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes

9. Mid 80’s Rock
Glory Days – Bruce Springstreen
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Pink Houses – John Mellencamp
Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top

10. Mid 90’s RnB
End of the Road – Boyz II Men
Feenin' – Jodeci
Every Time I Close My Eyes – Babyface
Always Be My Baby – Mariah Carey

11. Late 70’s Punk
London Calling – The Clash
I Wanna Be Sedated – The Ramones
Lust for Life – Iggy Pop
Anarchy In the U.K. – The Sex Pistols

12. Late 60’s Singer Songwriters
Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
The Boxer – Simon and Garfunkel
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) – The Byrds

13. Early 90’s Gangsta Rap
Mind Playing Tricks On Me – The Geto Boys
Nuthin' but a "G" Thang – Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg
New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme) – Ice T
Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A.

14. Mid 60’s Garage Rock
You Really Got Me – The Kinks
Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
96 Tears - ? and the Mysterians

15. Mid 70’s Arena Rock
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Dream On – Aerosmith
Feel Like Makin' Love – Bad Company

16. Late 90’s Pop-Rock
Hold My Hand – Hootie and the Blowfish
Crash Into Me – Dave Matthews Band
Desperately Wanting – Better Than Ezra
One Week – Barenaked Ladies

17. Early 80’s New Wave
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police
Blue Monday – New Order
One Way Or Another – Blondie
Magic – The Cars

18. Early 90’s Grunge
Would? – Alice in Chains
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Alive – Pearl Jam
Fell On Black Days – Soundgarden

19. Late 00’s British Neo-Soul
Rolling in the Deep - Adele
Rehab – Amy Winehouse
LDN – Lily Allen
Mercy - Duffy

20. Early 00’s British Pop-Rock
Clocks – Coldplay
Run – Snow Patrol
Mr. Brightside – The Killers
Babylon – David Grey

21. Early 70’s Laurel Canyon
Fire and Rain – James Taylor
Doctor My Eyes – Jackson Browne
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby Still and Nash
So Far Away - Carol King

22. Early 00’s Singer Songwriters
No Such Thing – John Mayer
Everywhere – Michelle Branch
Flake – Jack Johnson
The Blower's Daughter – Damian Rice

23. Mid 90’s Lilith Fair
Building a Mystery – Sarah McLaughlin
You Were Meant for Me – Jewel
Never Is a Promise – Fiona Apple
Life Is Sweet – Natalie Merchant

24. Late 00’s Indie Pop
Young Folks – Peter Bjorn and John
Fidelity – Regina Spektor
1234 – Feist
Portions for Foxes – Rilo Kiley

25. 50’s Dawn of Rock and Roll
Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
I Got a Woman – Ray Charles
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/21/13

Falling Skies: I never thought Hal was the mole, just too obvious. But do you know who was not at all obvious: Lourdes. Certainly did not see that coming. And that face worm scene was extremely creepy. But how exactly did she know all the strategic planning? Not really something a doctor would be privy two. As for the Masons, all the counter attacks really started to border on absurdity. There had to be about six in one episode lone.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Ray Donovan: The first two episodes were good, but the show was just missing something to get me invested in it. That may have finally came when the dude who got Papa Donovan out of prison showed up and we ended the episode in his dark basement with Ray and all his friends posted on his wall. This scene really should have been the final scene of the premiere.

Switched at Birth: Bay and Daphne’s talk about sex may have been the most uncomfortable thing I have seen on television in a long time.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

Under the Dome: So the brother finally asked someone about his sister. That only took three days. Not that he cared all that much because it look like he is already renting out her room. But just what is Big Jim going to do with her? If he lets her go, he will have to send his son, who just did not disappoint him for the very first time in his life, to jail. Since it is flooded, he really cannot keep her in the bunker. So it is either lock her up in the house or kill her.
You can stream Under The Dome exclusively on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime members.

Siberia: It is annoying on competition reality show when contestants talk about “playing the game” and it is even more annoying on this show because there really is no “game” to play. There are no competitions, not elimination, the only thing they have to do is not die, that really is not a game.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Siberia on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: When Spencer drove into that town I thought she drove into a different show. It turns out I was right. For the unaware, Ravenswood is an upcoming Pretty Little Liars spin-off show (do not get too attached to the Hanna / Caleb relationship because is joining that cast). If the show is as creepy as these segments would suggest, it may be worth watching.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Bridge: I do not know what I would do if a woman who looked like Diane Kruger walked up to me in a bar and propositioned me for sex right off the bat. I do not know what I would do if any woman walked up to me in a bar and propositioned me for sex right off the bat. I would probably be too paranoid that I was on a hidden camera show or that she is just luring me back to her place to harvest my organs that I would end up passing up the opportunity. It may not be a good thing that this was my big take away from the episode why my biggest question would be is a hostess really an upgrade over a waitress?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals II: Seriously producers, if all you can get on short notice was Cara Maria, just send Cooke home. No one wants to see her ever again (including the contestants). It is not even a hate to love thing, it is a wants to turn the channel thing. And a note to any newbies to the Challenge, watch previous seasons. I had to shake my head when Anastasia got mad at CT for using her as her own personal plaything. Had she watched the show before, she would have known that is his M.O. with the exception of Diem. Not watching the previous seasons would be as dumb as training by smoking cigarettes and not eating (God bless TJ).
You can download The Challenge: Rivals II on iTunes.

The Hero: I was really hoping they were going to vote Patti into the Hero’s Challenge, I could have done without her for the final episode. And again it is annoying they are going make us wait a week to find out who gets voted off, really unnecessary. I really doubt there are many people out there that were thinking of not watching next week but will turn in just to see who will be voted off.
You can download The Hero on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 7/20/13

Quote of the Week: Mo’ Mona, mo’ problems. (Spencer Hastings, Pretty Little Liars)

Song of the Week: Twerk It – V.I.C. (Ray Donavon)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: The Emmy Nominations Are Out: And like ever other year I do not care. Seriously, do Emmy voters not get FX?

Preview Picture of the Week:

"Pilot" The Vineyard, Tuesday at 10:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Noisetrade Eastside Manor Sessions – Caitlin Rose

New Album Release of the Week: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

New DVD Release of the Week: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 3

Video of the Week: Hannibal gag reel. Insert your own joke here.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Web Therapy, Tuesday at 11:00 on Showtime: The web series turned television show returns for its third season this week, look out for a review later this week.

Around the Tubes: 7/19/13

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 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks, The Cheshire Murders, Sharknado, Ghost Shark, Streetcorner Symphony, Ginger and Rosa, Ray Donovan, and American Dad.

- Wednesday is the AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks starting at 8:00 on TCM and you can watch a clip from the special below:


- Next week, HBO returns with a riveting new documentary that explores strange circumstances surrounding the murders that took place in Connecticut back in 2007. The Cheshire Murders premieres Monday at 9:00, exclusively on HBO. Watch the trailer below:


- If you liked Sharknado, get ready for more because the Syfy movie will get a sequel next year. Even better, you can help name the movie. Just tweet your subtitle to @SyfyMovies using #Sharknado. Syfy will select the best submission as the subtitle for Sharknado 2 which will be taking place in NYC. If you cannot wait next year for another shark fix, do not worry, on Thursday, August 22 at 9:00, Syfy will premiere Ghost Shark. And like every other Syfy original movie, the title is self explanatory.

- You may remember Street Corner Symphony from the second season of The Sing-Off and they recently released their new album Southern Autumn Nostalgia which features an acapella version of The Black Crows (by way of Otis Redding) Hard to Handle.

- Out on DVD this week is Ginger & Rosa, the "exhilarating and heartbreaking" (Wall Street Journal) film that tells the emotional coming-of-age story of two best friends whose relationship is effected by the events of the 1960s starring Ella Fanning.


- If you have been enjoying the new Showtime series Ray Donovan, get ready for another season because the network has already renewed it for a second season after becoming its most watched series premiere ever and is set to premiere sometime next year.

- If you enjoy American Dad, I hope you have cable, because the animated show will be moving to TBS in late 2014

When the Music's on She Can Do No Wrong

After years of trolling in relative obscurity, a blue-eye soul man finally had a smash hit this year. But enough about Robin Thicke, let’s talk about a blue eyed soul man who actually deserves big success: Mayer Hawthorne. Where Thicke needed six album to reach the top of the pop charts, Mayer Hawthorne is still on album number three just releasing Where Does This Door Go. But much like Robin, he worked with Pharrell Williams, who has had a career resurgence this year, who produced three songs on the album.

None of those tracks have the instant catchiness of Blurred Lines, but The Stars Are Ours sound like something that may have come out of a session from Pharrell’s other summer smash hit Get Lucky if he skipped the electric sound of Daft Punk and made a song completely organic. Pharrell also contributed to what is probably Mayer’s most personal song yet, Reach Out Richard about his father.

The cover and title may suggest a more reflexive turn (and the title track is a bit darker and as close to Pink Floyd as a blue eyed soul man can get), but the album is a much more danceable affair than his previous two. And Mayer also trade in his trademark falsetto for his normal tenor voice for most of the album, one of the few time he goes into the upper register is the last song Pharrell produced on the album and Wine Glass Woman is the song where Hawthorne sound most like Pharrell. The album closes with maybe the least Mayer Hawthorne song he has ever recorded with All Better, it is still in his retro wheelhouse, but trades in old time soul to oldies pop in the vein of The Beatles type power ballad. It may not come with a song off of Where Does This Door Go, but if there is any justice, Mayer Hawthorne will have his breakout moment very soon.

Song to Download – The Stars Are Ours

Where Does This Door Go gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Previewing Deal with It

As we begin yet another season of The Challenge, you cannot help think back to Challengers of the past. Sure a couple went on to be legitimate stars like The Miz, Jamie Chung, and the dude from Grimm. Shawn from Real World: Boston is an actual U.S. Congressmen. While most just fade into obscurity, oh Dan from Miami and Julie from New Orleans, where have you gone? After participating on Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour, Theo Von went on to appear on four Challenges (the last being the first Fresh Meat season), winning two before heading off to another reality show: Last Comic Standing and has been working the comedy trail ever since.

Seven years after his last Challenge, Theo is now going head to head with his own show Deal with It, premiering tonight at 10:30 on TBS. It is another hidden camera show where celebrities find civilians willing to put an earpiece in and then do whatever the celebrity tells them to do, even if it involves throwing a show at a waitress or destroying a kid’s toy. If they complete five tasks, they will walk out of the restaurant $5000 richer (and probably with one less friend).

Tonight the celebs in question are the executive producer of the show Howie Mandel (who seems to really like producing hidden camera shows) and Community’s Yvette Nicole Brown. Having minions doing their bidding later this season include Joan and Melissa Rivers, Adam Carolla, Bobby Lee, and Josh Gad. Like every other hidden camera shows, there are plenty of laughs to be had, but it really is not really appointment television unless you really love hidden camera shows. Or you are tired of all the newbies on The Challenge and want to see one of the originals again.

Deal with It airs Wednesdays at 10:30 on TBS. Take a sneak peak at the premiere below.

Say What You Wanna Say and Let the Words Fall Out

With her first two albums, Sara Bareilles recorded two late songs that were not so thinly veiled at her record company still looking for a single, which both Love Song and King of Anything became to launch the albums. Either the record label did not meddle this time around or she was tired of writing snarky anti-love songs because the first single off her third full length album The Blessed Unrest was the positive and upbeat Brave.

Maybe the record company should have irate Sara because the self empowering anthem Brave is the weakest of the three lead singles (but at least we got to see her dance in the music video which was entertaining in itself). And without the instant smash single to lead the album, the rest of The Blessed Unrest feels like a bit of a letdown as a whole without a song to latch onto.

Despite that lack of something initially bring you in, there is still plenty of good songs on the album, just nothing great. If you like your Bareilles songs to go towards the mellow stripped down route like Gravity, check out the loungey (in a good way) Manhattan. That is followed up with the spacey, equally as beautiful Satellite Call which may very well be her weirstest song o date. The album ends with December, a passionate ode to a past love. But The Blessed Unrest would probably be more memorable if it started up with something snarkier.

Song to Download – Manhattan

The Blessed Unrest gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television: 7/15/13

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.


Babel - Mumford & Sons


I know Mumford and Sons are about ninety percent passion, but no one can look cool jamming out on a stand up keyboard. Even the accordion looked cooler.


Never Gonna Let You Go – Tony Lucca


I liked Tony Lucca before he was on The Voice, even had a couple albums by the guy. And though he has my favorite Blind Audition that season, he never really found his footing after that and the feud was Christina was a bit cringeworthy. This song is better than any of his Live Show performances though still a bit pedestrian. I do like the video, it looks that as if Tony learned one thing from his coach Adam Levine, is that every music video needs a token hot chick. Granted Adam usually take that opportunity to roll around with them naked.


If - Glassvegas


C’mon, Glasvegas, how do you recruit William Shatner for your music video and not have him do a horrible spoken rendition of your song? But I guess his all the great songs have already been written monologue was appropriate for a song the repurposes the Talking Heads’ Road to Nowhere.


American Girl – Bonnie McKee


I actually liked Bonnie McKee’s debut album, but apparently I was the only one because it bombed and nine years later she was not released another one. In the intervening years she has made a name for herself writing horrible pop songs for Katy Perry (including four number one hits), Adam Lambert, and Carly Rae Jepsen, all who repaid her for showing up in her new music video featuring a slew of other celebrities for a song that sound more like the horrible songs she has been writing lately that her much better earlier stuff. That probably means this will be much more successful. Ugg.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/14/13

Falling Skies: So Hal was the mole? I still do not buy it (and the promo monkeys would seem to agree with me). I still find Gloria Rubin the most likely culprit although the bigger question to me is does the mole have a bug in their ear or are they doing this under their un volition?
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: It was only a matter of time before the show did an alternative timeline episode but I am a little surprised this was the route the writers took with the new timeline starting if Regina told the Kennish’s about the switch as soon as she figured it out. I assumed we would get a what if the girls were never switched to begin with timeline. Instead we get a Jon fever dream of a worse case scenario where everyone is much worse off had the switch happened earlier (what does it say about Jon that he killed off Regina). I kind of laughed when the end of the dream, Jon ended up dying because Regina was not there to give him CPR and is now glad that she is around all of the sudden. It is a little absurd.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

Defiance: Since it premiered during the end of the spring season, I was behind on the show from the start and finally got caught up in time for the finale. Kind of a middling season at best. It is weird they killed off the main antagonist a couple episodes before the finale and never really replaced her (unless the white dude is supposed to be the main villain but I always found him more of an annoyance that scary). I am also not a fan of shows that leaves everyone in the cast in peril at the end of the season (Smallville was always the worst at this), and the only way they can make it worse is if everything is back to normal by the second episode (which was always the case on Smallville). I will not be surprised if the hooker turns up alive next season or the white people end up not being exiled. Hopefully the video game is better. Not that I will be playing it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Defiance on iTunes.

Under the Dome: So the one kid is telling everyone he is living alone? Um, is he ever going to notice that his sister is missing? By my count she has not been home for two days, it is about time he starts noticing her absence.
You can stream Under the Dome exclusively on Amazon Instant Video, free for Prime members.

Siberia: I was going to complain at how stupid some of these characters are like the computer nerd going into the forest to see how that one dude died violently or trying to hide bullets under your mattress. But this is supposed to be a reality show, and there are plenty of stupid people who populate these type of shows to the extent that I made a list of the 25 Dumbest Survivor Contestants Ever and that list is not even five years old and I could easily already expand it to 50.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Siberia on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Oh Hanna, you really need to leave the thinking up to someone else because you are no criminal mastermind. You really should have just stayed home and had more Melrose Place flashbacks (sure it was a different character but I am sure that is what they were going for). And should I have recognized who the den mother in the picture from the end of the episode was?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Perception: Apparently I am not the only person watching Brain Games because that unintentional blindness as the basis of an episode earlier this year (where they managed to have a cheerleader strip in front of me without me even noticing). But the ended was such a stretched I could not help think of the South Park episode where the one dude had sex with chickens as a way to get people to read.
You can download Perception on iTunes.

The Bridge: The show is as good as I expect coming from FX, but much like the last show they launched, The Americans, it is just missing something to make it great. Most notably being that I am completely worn out on television characters that fall somewhere on the autism spectrum. I had to roll my eyes when Diane Kruger had her first moment of social awkwardness. I also do not like it when it has random characters that are seemingly unrelated storylines that end up intersecting much later in the show. After one episode, I already do not care about Annabeth Gish or the creepy kidnapper. Hopefully the show finds its footing and soon.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals II: I thought the inception of Redemption Island to bring back Boston rob and Russell Hantz was the dumbest way to pair off any two reality contestants, but Johnny and Frank’s Twitter war just beat that. If the show really wanted to bring back those two, they should have paired CT with his backpack Johnny (which was the greatest moment ever in The Challenge history) and had Frank team up with the gay porn star from last season (and as a bonus, that would have meant no Wes this season). And there are a lot of boring people on this season, they could have eliminated both teams in The Jungle and I would not have mind. Really all the rookies are worthless up to this point. They really need to step their game up. And I have absolutely no clue who Zach’s partner is and I watched that season. Hopefully things get more interesting from here. Otherwise it might be time for another Fresh Meat season.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals II on iTunes.

The Hero: Wow, those eliminations were really lame. C’mon, you got to add some pomp and circumstance to them. Have them in the war room with The Rock there to ask questions before the decision. Just having a dude come back, say "Shawn", and be done with it is a little lame. I was really hoping Patty would have been eliminated second because you have to take the money. It is not being a hero to pass up $30,000 and get tear gassed for it, that is stupid plain and simple.
You can download The Hero on iTunes.

Hollywood Game Night: Darn you Kristen Bell, making me turn into this crap. Alright, it turned out not to be completely horrible. It reminded me of all those cheesy game shows I grew up on. The different being those were only a half hour and this would benefit from chopping it in half. If they did that, this show could be a good fill in whenever their new sitcoms inevitably fail this fall.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Best of the Week: 7/13/13

Quote of the Week: The guys got The Simpsons Movie going on a loop. They totally saw the dome coming. (Ben Drake, Under the Dome)

Song of the Week: Private Eyes – Hall and Oates (as sung by Ashley Rucker, Ray Donavan)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: God Still Hates Cleveland: Not even a month after LeBron got another title, we start the Andrew Bynum era. Yeah.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"Stealing Secrets" King and Maxwell, Monday at 10:00 on TNT

Free Download of the Week: Tower (Don't Look Down) – Skylar Grey (iTunes): You can check out my review of her album here: Someone’s Gonna Get Hurt, and it’s Not Gonna Be Me

Deal of the Week: $3.99 and Under Album Sale: Get really cheap albums from Santana, Gavin DeGraw, Band of Horses, and The Offspring:


New Album Release of the Week: The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles

New DVD Release of the Week: Evil Dead

Video of the Week: Amanda Seyfried is way too attractive to play Linda Lovelace. They certainly could have gotten Lindsey Lohan to play this part, even if she is a significantly worse actress than Amanda. I really have no desire to see Lily Kane in this. But much like all her horrible chick flicks she has been in over the past decade, I probably still will.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Deal with It, Wednesday at 10:30 on TBS: The Challenge is getting a little competition in its timeslot this week with a former contestant when Theo Von (who started his Road Rules career way back in 2000 and last appeared on The Challenge in 2006) hosts the latest hidden camera show which is being executive produced by Howie Mandel. Of course if the show does not work out, Theo can always go back to The Challenge which welcomed Trishelle back for the past two seasons after an eight year hiatus.

Around the Tubes: 7/12/13

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 Sons of Anarchy, The Crash Reel, Nazi Mega Weapon, The Definitive Guide to the Mob, Letters From Jackie: The Private Thoughts of Jackie Robinson, Impractical Jokers, FunKontrol, Orly, Cold Blood Club, and Californication.

- If you missed the first glimpse of the upcoming season of Sons of Anarchy (which will be coming sometime in September) during The Bridge, here it is for you now:


- In 2009, American snowboarding champion Kevin Pearce was enjoying the most successful competitive season of his career, winning several events and challenging the dominance of his friend-turned-rival, the legendary Shaun White. But on Dec. 31, while riding the slopes of Park City, Utah in final training for the 2010 Winter Olympics, he suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him in a coma, followed by a long road of adjusting to what would be a lifelong disability. Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker, The Crash Reel is an exhilarating ride through the world of Pearce, whose story underscores the high stakes for extreme sports stars. This riveting tale takes surprising turns as it follows his close-knit family and friends, drawing on footage filmed over two decades, from 232 different sources, that captures the soul of the sport. Questioning the price people pay for their passions, the powerful documentary debuts Monday at 9:00 exclusively on HBO. The film was an official selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award at South By Southwest Film Festival. Check out the trailer below:


- In a quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history. PBS will air the first three episodes of the new six-part series Nazi Mega Weapons this summer. The series recounts Germany’s engagement in World War II from a unique perspective, uncovering the engineering secrets of iconic megastructures, telling the stories of the engineers who designed them and revealing how these structures sparked a technological revolution that changed warfare forever. Episodes will air on Wednesdays, July 17-31, 10:00 on PBS.

- Out on DVD next week History and former Colombo crime family captain Michael Franzese helps examine the American Mafia in The Definitive Guide to the Mob, and the documentary Letters From Jackie: The Private Thoughts of Jackie Robinson.


- truTV is expanding Impractical Jokers, the hit series in which four longtime friends take dares to an outrageous level. The network has not only ordered a 15-episode third season of the series, but also ordered six episodes of Jokers After Party, a brand new post-show series featuring Q, Murr, Joe and Sal chatting about their favorite moments from various episodes. truTV will kick off the second half of Impractical Jokers' season two on Thursday, Aug. 1, at 10:00.

- To celebrate their launch, FunKontrol has compiled exclusive tracks from a number of their artists, each remix perfect for summer and the July 4th holiday. The compilation includes songs from DJ Enferno, Terry Urban, The Melker Project, Hohme, DJ Scene, DJ Serafin, eSenTRIK, DJ Starski, Solidisco, DJ Prime and DJ Yonny. The entire project can be found at: http://bit.ly/fk_release

- Manhattan based, Australian born soul/pop artist Orly ushers in a new era of R&B with the release of her second album Distraction. Recommended for listeners of Amy Winehouse and Adele, Distraction’s blend of old school soul, beautiful ballads, and pop, has already generated significant buzz from fans and critics alike. The Deli Magazine declared "this old soul is breathing new life into a genre too often distracted with gimmicky props. when really all that's needed is the right singer to bring it's grooves to life. Orly will smooth even the most frazzled of Sunday morning nerves, and get you moving at the same time.”


- Brooklyn-based Cold Blood Club is a gang of musicians, 7-members-strong, who have been conquering the New York Indie dance scene one packed venue at a time since they debuted their edgy blend of soul, rock, and pop in the summer of 2011. Now, Cold Blood Club, who has been hailed as “almost too catchy for their own good” (The Deli Magazine), offers a taste of their forthcoming LP with new single/video, "Goodbye to All That." The New Wave delight, featuring catchy dance grooves, electro-beats and pop sensibilities was produced by Charles Newman (Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes), and mixes in dark overtones to create a bittersweet atmosphere that reflects the nostalgic nature of the lyrics.


- If you liked Rob Lowe on his previous stints on Californiacation, you are in luck because Eddie Nero will pop again in the upcoming seventh season as a guest star on the show that Hank will be writing for.

Someone’s Gonna Get Hurt and it’s not Gonna Be Me

Skylar Grey released her first album under the name Holly Brook back in 2006, a year before the female singer-songwriter boon launched by Sara Bareilles. But the Wisconsin native was much more moody than the others that came out of Southern California. Seven years, a name change and a bunch of singles that did about as good as her previous iteration, her sophomore album Don't Look Down is finally out.

Not surprising since Grey has made the in between years writing and singing hooks for rappers like Dr. Dre, Diddy and most famously wrote the Rihanna part for Eminem’s Love the Way You Lie, the new album takes on a more electric feel compared to her predominately acoustic debut (the piano only album closer White Suburban is the only song here that would not sound out of place on the Holly Brook album) . There are guest spots from Big Sean, Angel Haze and Eminem even repays the favor. Except none of those songs work especially the Eminem assisted C’mon Let Me Ride which aims for the charts with overly charged double, and a couple single, entendres but just comes off as embarrassing even if the song was meant to be either semi or fully ironic.

Though the music has taken a decidedly more hip-hop songs which rely heavy on drum loops, vocally and lyrically, the new album sound very similar to her debut (with decidable more expletives littered throughout the album). The songs oscillate between moody and sweet effortlessly (which the exceptions of whenever a rapper shows up to take you out of the mood). The best of the former is Final Warning where Skylar goes where many before her in the past decade have gone before by taking revenge on a former boyfriend. But where Carrie underwood is cute when she talks about taking a baseball bat to a dude’s pickup truck, when Skyler talks about picking up a knife, says, “Somebody’s gonna get hurt and it’s not gonna be me,” and then taunts him with some na na’s, you actually fear for the guy. And yourself a little.

On the nicer side of the album, Sunshine is an upbeat song and if you strip away the drum machine and add some banjo, the song could easily become a country radio hit. Don’t Look Down can be a bit schizophrenic at times, but Skylar Grey is turning out to be much more interesting than Holly Brook.

Song to Download – Final Warning

Don’t Look Down gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Got Me Feeling Like Brody in Homeland

After their Watch the Throne album, both Kanye West and Jay-Z took unconventional routes to roll out their next solo albums. In lieu of a proper music video, West projected trailers on the side of building across the country guerilla style. Jay-Z on the other hand went the corporate route announcing his album in a four minute commercial during the NBC Finals, and just days before the release of Yeezus, of another religious inspired titled Magna Carta... Holy Grai, sponsored by a Smartphone who would give away a million downloads via an app. And instead of a single or music video, Jay-Z just released the lyrics sheet for multiple tracks which saw Jay bite not one, but two much beloved 1991 alt-rock tracks Smells Like Teen Spirit and Losing My Religion.

The anticipation was immediate because of that ad which featured Jay hanging out with producers Rick Rubin, Pharrell, Timbaland, and Swizz Beats who helmed some of Jay’s best tracks. In a later interview, Rubin admitted he had no involvement in the new album, Jay just brought him in for the documentary. As it turns out pretty much the whole album was produced by Timbaland with his hands on seventy percent of the album while Pharrell and contributed on two songs and Swizz only popped up once. So all that anticipation went out the door before the album dropped unless you had the app and would be getting an A-List album for free or if you wanted to hear just how Jay ruined the Nirvana and R.E.M. songs.

You will not have to wait to hear just how Jay-Z desecrated Smells Like Teen Spirit because it shows up on the title track that opens up the album. And just when you think it could not get worse, the “I am stupid and contagious” chorus is also sung by Justin Timberlake. Even had I had the free app, I would have deleted this track on principal alone. Heaven featuring lyrics from Losing My Religion is not much better. The track also sounds like it loops two notes from Stairway to Heaven (though not officially sampled) and it is hard not to cringe when Jay starts singing, “That’s me in the corner” off-key. It was cute when he did that to “And I wish I never met her at all” but not on a song like this.

It is apropos that Jay-Z gave away a million copies of the album because Magna Carta… Holy Grail just sounds like a mixtape which is not worth actually paying for. Half the songs sound they were created by Jay asking for song ideas in the studio, and people started shouting out random ideas: like “hey Hov, try Tom Ford… Picasso… Oceans (hey why don’t we get Frank Ocean on that track too?).” And some of the lyrics are just as puzzling like when Jay says he is “feeling like Brody in Homeland.” Huh? Is he being a traitor? Does he have crazy sex with law enforcement agents? Is he a Manchurian Candidate for a smartphone company? Does this mean Jay-Z cannot pleasure himself while in the presence of his naked wife? Did his daughter already drive over some homeless man? And why is he giving such a long shout out to Miley Cyrus? He spent more time on her than she did in Party in the U.S.A. (and then revealed she does not have a favorite song by him and does not even listen to Jay-Z). Then there is the Mommie Dearest sample in Jay-Z Blue: Blades of Glory it is not. Magna Carta… Holy Grail is just weird. But not even interesting, pushing boundaries weird, but what were you thinking weird. So congratulations to everyone who snagged the free app, because this mixtape is not worth actually putting money down for. Now if you excuse me I have a sudden urge to go buy a smartphone. Maybe an Blackberry.

Song to Download – BBC

Magna Carta… Holy Grail gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.