Jay-Z Album Covers:1996-2009 in 1:00...

Easily the koolest commercial/idea I've seen this year...

2009 Albums Releases I am Looking Foward To (September and Beyond)...

Dirty Projectors - "Temecula Sunrise EP" (Sept. 8th)
Amy Millan - "Masters of Burial" (Sept. 8th)
Jay-Z - "The Blueprint 3" (Sept. 11th)
KiD CuDi - "Man on the Moon: End of the Day" (Sept 15th)
The Pains of Being Pure Heart -"Higher Than the Stars EP" (Sept 22)
Volcano Choir - "Unmap" (Sept. 22nd)
Memory Tapes - "Seek Magic" (Sept. 29th)
Fool's Gold - "Fool's Gold" (Sept. 29th)
Ghostface Killah - "Wizard of Poetry" (Sept. 29th)
Built to Spill - "There is No Enemy" (Oct. 6th)
Califone - "All My Friends are Funeral Singers" (Oct. 6th)
Air - "Love 2" (Oct. 6th)
Black Heart Procession - "Six" (Oct. 6th)
Mr. Hudson - "Straight No Chaser" (Oct. 6th)
The Flamings Lips - "Embryonic" (Oct. 13th)
Fuck Buttons - "Tarot Sport" (Oct. 13th)
Atlas Sound - "Logos" (Oct. 20th)
Clipse - "Till the Casket Drops" (Oct. 20th)
Devendra Banhart - "What Will We Be" (October)
DJ/rupture - "Solar Life Raft" (Nov. 11th)
Lil' Wayne - "Rebirth" (Nov. 24th)
Lil' Wayne - "Tha Carter IV" (December)
The Game - "The R.E.D. Album" (December)
The Radio Dept. - "Clinging to a Scheme" (December)

TBA:

The Cool Kids - "When Fish Ride Bicycles" (TBA)
Big Boi - "Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty" (TBA)
Birdman - "Priceless" (TBA)
Wale - "Attention Deficit" (TBA)
Beastie Boys - "Hot Sauce Committe Vol. 1" (TBA)
Midlake - "The Courage of Others" (TBA)
Dr. Dre - "Detox" (TBA)
Eminem - "Relapse 2" (TBA)
GLC - "Love, Life, Loyalty" (TBA)
Young Jeezy - "Thug Motivation 103" (TBA)
Deftones - "Eros" (TBA)
Reading Rainbow - "Mystical Participation" (TBA)
Arcade Fire - TBA
Broken Social Scene - TBA
Vampire Weekend - TBA
Burial - TBA
Andre 3000 - TBA
Outkast - TBA
LCD Soundsystem - TBA
Panda Bear - TBA
Native Korean Rock & The Fishnets - TBA
The Killers - (Covers Album) - TBA
MGMT - TBA

Top 5 Songs I am Currently Listening...

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Sealings"
2. Girls - "Lauren Marie"
3. Pictureplane - "Goth Star"
4. Bat For Lashes - "Bat's Mouth"
5. Bat For Lashes - "Sad Eyes"

"Yah yah...just throw'z them in the trunk"

I want to drive through the streets of Paris, France at nite in this:



while listening to this (really loud) on repeat:



Suggested listening:

Kleerup - 'Kleerup' (2008)

"Who threw the fuckin' glass?"

Suggested viewing:

"Don't You Want Me..."

Before it was used in Chips Ahoy and Swiffer commercials, this song was a mega-hit for Human League given the simple fact that it's perfect...down to every synth beat.

34 Years Ago Today: Bruce Springsteen releases "Born to Run"...

Born to Run is the third album by the American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released on August 25, 1975 through Columbia Records. It captured the heaviness of Springsteen's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.

Born to Run was a critical and commercial success and became Springsteen's breakthrough album. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and reached high positions on charts worldwide. Two singles were released from the album: "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", the first helped Springsteen to reach mainstream popularity. The tracks "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" became staples of album-oriented rock radio and Springsteen concert high points.

The album has been placed on several "best ever" lists and is listed in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry of historic recordings. Ranked number 18 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, it is probably his magnum opus, although Born in the U.S.A. also received as much critical acclaim and as much success.

Suggested listening:

The Social History of the MP3...

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7689-the-social-history-of-the-mp3/

Top 5 Songs I am Currently Listening To...

1. R.E.M. - "Laughing"
2. Pictureplane - "Goth Star"
3. No Age - "Losing Feeling"
4. Atlas Sound - "Walk a Thin Line"
5. Vivian Girls - "Before I Start to Cry"

Worst List Ever...

So...over the past 5 days, Pitchforkmedia released their Top 500 songs spanning 2000-2009. This is hands down the worst list they have ever released in their 14 year existence.

A) Last I checked, 2009 is not over yet. Did they just decide that all the good songs that will come out in 2009 have already come out?!

B) They obviously chose the more obscure songs from great, decade-defining albums in an attempt to seem "indie-sterious"/more informed than you or I. Example: #416 Jens Lenkman - "The Opposite of Hallelujah" from 'Night Falls Over Kortedala', which contains the obviously superior track "A Postcard to Nina". This type of situation happened quite often throughout the 500 songs.

C) I have no clue how they came to the conclusion that these were the defining songs from 2000 to September of 2009, but there were some seriously jaw-dropping moments for me:

495: Weezer - "Islands in the Sun"
426: Bob Dylan - "Mississipi"
325: Sean Paul - "Like Glue"
322: Wu-Tang Clan - "Uzi (Pinky Ring)"
303: Mystikal - "Shake Ya Ass"
296: Johnny Cash - "The Man Comes Around"
291: Missy Elliott - "Pass That Dutch"
270: Damian Marley - "Welcome to Jamrock"
263: Coldplay - "Yellow"
258: Rachel Stevens - "Some Girls"
246: Lupe Fiasco - "Kick Push"
232: Destiny's Child - "Jumpin' Jumpin"
222: Three-6-Mafia - "Sippin' on Some Syrup"
219: Lil' Mama - "Lip Gloss"
194: David Banner - "Cadillac on 22's"
190: Panjabi MC - "Mundian to Bach Ké (Feat. Jay-Z)"
183: Beyonce - "Irreplaceable"
180: Gwen Stefani - "Hollaback Girl"
175: Usher - "Yeah (Feat. Ludacris & Lil' Jon)"
165: Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
160: 50 Cent - "In Da Club"
141: Britney Spears - "Toxic"
138: D'Angelo - "(Untitled) How Does It Feel?"
131: Destiny's Child - "Say My Name"
115: Dirty Projectors - "Stillness is the Move"
113: Kelis - "Milkshake"
111: Aaliyah - "We Need a Resolution"
77: Three-6-Mafia - "Stay Fly"
71: Kanye West - "Gone (Feat. Consequence & Cam'ron)"
32: Amerie - "1 Thing"
21: Kelly Clarkson - "Since U Been Gone"
19: R. Kelly - "Ignition (Remix)"
16: The Rapture - "House of Jealous Lovers"
12: OutKast - "Hey Ya!"
11: Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
7: Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On"
4: Beyonce - "Crazy in Love (Feat. Jay-Z)"
1: OutKast - "B.O.B."

like...seriously, WHAT THE FUCK was that?!

Who came up with this shit?!

Look for my Top 250 (maybe more) songs of 2000-2009 sometime in January/February

I really hope Pitchfork redeems themselves with the Top 200 Albums on Sept. 28th

My Top 5 Favorite Quentin Tarantino Films...

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence.

His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time.

(in order)

1. Jackie Brown



2. Reservoir Dogs



3. Pulp Fiction



4. Kill Bill Vol 1. & Vol. 2



5. True Romance



Suggested viewing:

Tarantino discussing his 20 favorite films since 1992...

New Music: The Antlers - "Two"...

This is the video for The Antlers "Two" from the amazing album 'Hospice':



Suggested listening:

Old Music (Still Good Music): Don McLean - "Castles in the Air"

Remember when McDonalds sold pizza?

weird.

50 Years Ago Today: Miles Davis releases "Kind of Blue"...

Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959 on Columbia Records. The recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959. The sessions featured Davis's ensemble sextet, which included pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Production was handled entirely by Teo Macero and Irving Townsend. After the inclusion of Bill Evans into his sextet, Davis followed up on the modal experimentations of Milestones and 1958 Miles by basing the album entirely on modality, in contrast to his earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz.

Though precise figures have been disputed, Kind of Blue has been cited by many music writers not only as Davis's best-selling album, but as the best-selling jazz record of all time. On October 7, 2008, it was certified quadruple platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America. It has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz album of all time and Davis's masterpiece, and it has been ranked at or near the top of several "best album" lists in disparate genres. The album's influence on music, including jazz, rock and classical music, has led music writers to acknowledge it as one of the most influential albums of all time. In 2002, it was one of fifty recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2003, the album was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Suggested listening:

Top 5 Songs I am Currently Listening To...

1. Neon Indian - "Mind, Drips"
2. Memory Cassette - "Surfin"
3. Memory Cassette - "Body in the Water"
4. La Roux - "Bulletproof (Fred Falke Remix)"
5. Vivian Girls - "Before I Start to Cry"

My Top 5 "Summer Movies"...

As the summer of 2009 moves towards its final weeks, I felt it was only appropriate to post my Top 5 "Summer" movies...

(in order)

1. Summer School



2. Summer Rental



3. Back to the Beach



4. Endless Summer II



5. Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise

My Super Bowl XLIV Picks...

Super Bowl XLIV - February 7th, 2010, Miami Florida

NFC: New Orleans Saints



A healthy, high-octane offense and a maligned defense. I am all on the Saints in the NFC.

2009-2010 New Orleans Saints schedule:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/teams/schedule?team=nor

AFC: New England Patriots



#12 is back and ready to remind everyone that he is still the best QB in the NFL. Randy Moss and Wes Welker want to help him to remind everyone.

2009-2010 New England Patriots schedule:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/teams/schedule?team=nwe



2009-2010 NFL schedule:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/schedule

My 2009-2010 BCS National Championship Picks...

The 2009-2010 NCAA football seasons kicks-off on Thursday, Sept. 3rd. The BCS National Championship game will take place on January 7th, 2010 in Pasadena, California. For the first time in the history of the Heisman Trophy, the top three vote-getters from the previous season will all return: Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, Colt McCoy of Texas, and Tim Tebow of Florida.

complete 2009 NCAA Division 1-A football schedule:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/schedules

My picks for the National Title game:



#1 Florida Gators



BCS title or bust. That could be the motto for consensus preseason No. 1 Florida. With 20 starters (seven offense, 11 defense, kicker, punter) back from a team that won its second BCS title in three seasons, expectations are that Florida will repeat as national champs for the first time in school history.

Florida coach Urban Meyer has chosen to focus on winning the rough-and-tumble Southeastern Conference first before any national title talk. “Our goals are always the same as it was in 2005, as it is in 2009, and that is we want to do everything we can to get to (the SEC title game in) Atlanta,” Meyer said. “That’s our whole reason we wake up every morning—to try to achieve that goal.” - yahoo

Florida Gators 2009 schedule:

Sat. Sep 5 vs. Charleston Southern
Sat. Sep 12 vs. Troy
Sat. Sep 19 vs. Tennessee
Sat. Sep 26 @ Kentucky
Sat. Oct 10 @ LSU
Sat. Oct 17 vs. Arkansas
Sat. Oct 24 @ Mississippi State
Sat. Oct 31 vs. (13) Georgia
Sat. Nov 7 vs. Vanderbilt
Sat. Nov 14 @ South Carolina
Sat. Nov 21 vs. Florida International
Sat. Nov 28 vs. (21) Florida State

# 4 USC Trojans



USC quarterback is such a glamour position in college football that presumed new starter Aaron Corp is on the preseason watch list for the Davey O’Brien award for quarterback. Corp, a sophomore, has thrown four career passes. That’s the way expectations go for USC, which is replacing eight defensive starters and had 11 players selected in the NFL Draft. The Trojans have sent 21 players into the draft in the past two years.

But, with recruiting efforts that don’t take a dip from the top, coach Pete Carroll and the Trojans keep marching on, which is why having a new starting quarterback doesn’t put much of a damper on expectations. Sure, USC would have been better off if Mark Sanchez had stayed for his senior season, but the Trojans are nearly unanimously picked to be a top 5 team in the nation and win their eighth straight Pac-10 title. - yahoo

USC Trojans 2009 schedule:

Sat. Sep 5 vs. San Jose State
Sat. Sep 12 @ (9) Ohio State
Sat. Sep 19 @ Washington
Sat. Sep 26 vs. Washington State
Sat. Oct 3 @ California
Sat. Oct 17 @ Notre Dame
Sat. Oct 24 vs. (18) Oregon State
Sat. Oct 31 @ (10) Oregon
Sat. Nov 7 @ Arizona State
Sat. Nov 14 vs. Stanford
Sat. Nov 28 vs. UCLA
Sat. Dec 5 vs. Arizona

Surfin'/Body in the Water...

Suggested listening:

Memory Cassette - "Call & Response EP" (2009)

"Totally Awesome..."

so this came across the wire from Pitchfork last nite:

Remember when everyone was partying like it was 1999 because it was, in fact, 1999? That was 10 years ago. Yes, the first decade of the 21st century-- "The Aughts"-- is coming to a close, and for music fanatics such as ourselves, that means it's a good time to make some lists. Pitchfork rounds up its favorite albums, tracks, and videos at the end of every year, of course, but once in a while we go all-out and tackle an entire decade-- The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s, the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s, and so on. Since Pitchfork has been around for all of the 2000s, we've decided to take this opportunity to put together a comprehensive story of what happened in music in the last 10 years, the centerpiece of which will be three extensive lists-- the first of which kicks off August 17, a week from this coming Monday. And we'll have a lot of other juicy features to sate your appetite for retrospection along the way.

It all kicks off on Monday, August 17, when we'll begin a weeklong countdown of our Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s (most of which you'll be able to listen to), before winding to a close the week of September 28, when we present the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. In between these two massive lists, we'll also be posting a list of the greatest videos and an extensive re-tracing of the news of the decade-- not just what happened, but what it all meant. And we've commissioned in-depth essays from several of our contributors that will zoom in and expand upon the many changes music and culture went through in the last 10 years-- the rise of the mp3, the changing nature of local music scenes, the shifting relationship between performer and audience, and more. And finally, we'll be hearing from the artists themselves, with a decade-spanning Guest List feature, in which musicians will run down their favorites.

In the meantime, the half-decade albums and singles lists that we ran in 2005 give some indication of what we thought of the first five years. Of course, a lot has changed since then. I mean, surely, a better album has come along since 'Kid A', right? (...Right?)

Here's the schedule of what's to come:

August 17-21: The Top 500 Songs of the 2000s

August 24: Eric Harvey on the social history of the mp3

August 27: Tom Ewing on the decade in pop

August 31: The Top 50 Videos of the 2000s

September 8: Guest Lists, Decade Edition

September 14: Marc Masters on the decade in noise

September 16: Nitsuh Abebe on the mainstreaming of indie

September 21: The Decade in News

September 28-October 2: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s

http://pitchfork.com/

Top 5 Upcoming Movie Releases That I am Looking Forward To...

1. Inglorious Basterds



Inglourious Basterds is an upcoming war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, due for release in August 2009. It is set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II and has the largest number of speaking roles of any Tarantino film to date. The title (and partial premise) of the film was inspired by Italian director Enzo Castellari's 1978 movie Inglorious Bastards, but it is not a remake of that film.

Release date: 8.21.09

2. A Serious Man



A Serious Man is a black comedy feature film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It is due to be released October 2009. The film is set in St. Louis Park, Minnesota in the year 1967, and is intended in some ways to reflect the childhood of the Coen brothers as they recall it.

Release date: 10.2.09

3. Capitalism: A Love Story



Capitalism: A Love Story is an upcoming documentary film directed by Michael Moore. The film centers on the financial crisis of 2007-2009, the transition from the Bush administration to the Obama administration, and the stimulus and bailout package.

Release date: 10.2.09

4. Where the Wild Things Are



Where the Wild Things Are is an upcoming 2009 film adaptation of the Maurice Sendak 1963 children's book of the same name. The film is directed by Spike Jonze and written by Jonze and Dave Eggers. The film combines live action, suitmation, animatronics, and CGI.

Release date: 10.16.09

5. The Box



The Box is an upcoming dark thriller is based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by author Richard Matheson. The film is written and directed by Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) and stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple who receive a box with a mysterious power.

Release date: 11.6.09

"Hey...this is the mattress man"

still as funny as to me as the first time I saw it...

the original:

suggested viewing:

The Game: New Album + "A-Team" Movie...

So The Game is set to release "The R.E.D. Album" in December of 2009, which I had no clue about...but here's the best part: The disc is slated to hit shelves in early December, unless it conflicts with Game’s role in the new A-Team remake. Although he wasn’t confirmed for the part earlier this month, Rosemond assures XXL that Game will be playing B.A. Baracus, Mr. T’s signature role from the popular ’80s TV show—in the upcoming film.

Top 5 Songs I am Currently Listening To...

1. Jay-Z - "Blueprint 2"
2. Nas - "Stillmatic (The Intro)"
3. Deerhunter - "Hazel St."
4. Korallreven - "Loved-Up"
5. Grizzly Bear - "Foreground"

Up Next on the Stage: Deerhunter/No Age/Dan Deacon...

The mega indie show of all indie shows is happening tonite in Newport, KY and...I'm pretty excited for this. When I first heard that Deerhunter, No Age and Dan Deacon were going on tour together, I thought "what a lineup". A few weeks later I found out that they're not playing as separate bands, but as one collective "band", which will play each others songs. This collaborative is only happening 7 times and I consider myself very lucky to have this chance to see one of the seven dates.

Deerhunter/No Age/Dan Deacon - 2009 Tour Dates

8/1 Medford, NJ - Flying W Airport & Pool
8/2 Brooklyn, NY - Jelly Space 2009
8/3 Millvale, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre
8/4 Newport, KY - Southgate House
8/5 Bloomington, IN - Rhinos
8/6 Madison, WI - UW Madison Memorial Terrace
8/7 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom

The songs I most want to see performed later:

Deerhunter songs:

Agoraphobia
Heatherwood
Hazel St.
Vox Humana

No Age songs:

Things I Did When I was Dead
Teen Creeps
Dead Plane

Dan Deacon songs:

Baltihorse
Crystal Cat
Snookered

Suggested listening:

Deerhunter:

"Turn It Up Faggot" (2005)



"Fluorescent Grey EP" (2007)



"Cryptograms" (2007)



"Microcastle/Weird Era Cont." (2008)



"Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP" (2009)



No Age:

"Weirdo Rippers" (2007)



"Nouns" (2008)



Dan Deacon:

"Spiderman of the Rings" (2007)



"Bromst" (2009)