Yo I heard about this dropping earlier this week, but I just didn't have time to give it a listen. I just played it and SHIT IT HILARIOUS! How does a comedian make a mixtape? Like this. Aziz pretty much clowns on all rappers who thoroughly need to be.
I got a couple of e-mails this week from people who weren't able to listen to the first playlist because they didn't have a Lala account. It's an easy, FREE account that allows you to listen to all the music you want online. You don't need to download anything, you don't need to install anything. All you have to do is give your email address and you're in. And if you want, it even syncs up your iTunes so you can listen to your library from anyone's computer. Head to Lala and sign up.
Savoir Adore released their first LP, The Wooded Forest back in September and I think it took a little while to realize just how good it is. The album is a pop-laden masterpiece with light and simple guitar riffs mixed with dreamy vocals.
Fang Island describe their sound as "music for people who like music." Good enough for me! Fang Island's songs explode into never-ending stomp rock with crescendos that go on and on, instigating jumping high fives in all directions and bring out the screaming drunk in all of us. Their latest self-titled album dropped today and you can stream it in it's entirety here. 
Portugal. The Man's new album, American Ghetto, has been under strict lock-and-key until now. Apparently nobody was supposed to hear anything off this album until the release date, March 2nd, but here were are with a track off American Ghetto. Judging from this song, it looks like the new album will be a lot more spacey and poppy. Can't wait.
Really feeling this Florida trio, Totally Nebular. Jerky guitar riffs thrown between dreamy loops, this band reminds me a lot of Philly rising star Drink Up Buttercup. Totally Nebular have a long journey ahead of them, as none of them have yet to graduate high school, but they've got a great starting sound they can hopefully perfect. Download Totally Nebular's debut FO' FREE here.
Second is a U.K. band that I regrettably didn't take any notice of until very recently. Malachai seem to have taken everything that was great about 60's and 70's Brit Rock and reinvented it. Songs like "Blackbird" have you feeling like you're listening to some classic rock radio station playing only deep cuts, and some like "Snowflake" bring things more up-to-date. The light and airy vocals on "Snowflake" gave immediate impressions of a young Syd Barrett, but get to the chorus and it's Humble Pie at it's finest. Malachai's Album, Ugly Side of Love is available now on iTunes.
Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland says this about the new album - "It's definitely a fun party kinda vibe, it's a little like the old stuff but with a Daft Punk vibe thrown in."
1. This is awesome, because 10 years ago I always said "If Limp Bizkit sounded a little bit more like Daft Punk they could rival The Beatles".
2. Sounds like DJ Lethal has been listening to "Stronger" by Kanye West too much.
3. At least they realized it was time to stop stealing Korn's mojo.
Shoe-gaze-amazingness is all the rage with the kids these days. It's funny to see how one band will break and open the door for so many other bands of the same genre to be hyped about on the blogosphere. I mean if certain bands hadn't made it big (read: made it past the trivial internet hype) would we honestly be hyping bands of that exact genre for the next 4-8 weeks? Although said hyped music is good, chances are we probably would not. Anyway, here's another band who fits into "the sound of the moment". Don't let that stop you from listening though. The sound is an ambient combo of shoegaze, weaving laptop-generated electronic backgrounds, and layered, gothic-infused vocals. According to their label:
The White Stripes and their management have accused the Air Force Reserve of swiping “Fell in Love with a Girl” for a recruitment commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. “We believe our song was re-recorded and used without permission of the White Stripes, our publishers, label or management,” the band writes in a statement on their official website. “We have not licensed this song to the Air Force Reserve and we plan to take strong action to stop the ad containing this music." I would love to show you the blatant misuse of the song through the commercial, but it has since been pulled from the Air Force website. A comparison of the White Blood Cells single and the Air Force Reserve commercial reveals that the music is nearly exactly the same, with Jack White’s guitar riffs firmly intact and another guitar replicating the cadence of the original vocal medley. The commercial initially seems like an X Games ad until three fighter jets fly into frame during its final seconds. The “Grab Some Air” recruitment spot “features the high-octane thrills of action sports at its best. This is sure to capture the interest of even the most enthusiastic sports fan,” the Air Force Reserve site writes while listing two-dozen television markets where the ad will air. The Air Force Reserve makes no mention of the White Stripes.
“The White Stripes takes strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserves presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war we do not support,” the Stripes write. “The White Stripes support this nation’s military, at home and during times when our country needs and depends on them. We simply don’t want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict, and hope for a safe and speedy return home for our troops.”
Online opinions seem very split between Sarah Palin's "Hardworking American People" and those with an actual education behind them to form a learned opinion. Those who choose not to read into the entire issue see this as a White Stripes vs. Troops/Military/America, when in fact we are talking about a copyright case. The U.S. Government and major publication companies are on a warpath of their own to enforce selective copyright rights against consumers and artists while breaking those same laws themselves. In this situation, our government paid someone to rip off a band without giving them credit, payment, or choice.
APRIL 13TH. The date of my most anticipated new release of the year will arrive. MGMT's follow up Congratulations. Read about the album's supposed surfing theme (?) throughout the record, according the Vanwyngarden, over at SPIN. When asked about the epic 12-minute song "Siberian Breaks", featured on the album, Vanwyngarden explains "it's like eight different songs strung together into one, and the general theme is about surfing in the Arctic Circle by Russia."
For the first time in almost 30 years, signifying the end of an era, MTV has overhauled its iconic logo and has removed the "music television" tag. The new logo debuted on-air Monday. The shift seems to confirm what we've all known for years: Following the cancellation of TRL and the success of Jersey Shore, The Hills and the Real World spin-offs, music is no longer MTV’s main priority. Having "Music Television" on there was just a constant reminder that MTV was branding itself one way, programming itself another. The people who watch it today (mainly 12 to 16 year old girls), don’t refer to MTV as music television. They don’t have the same emotional connection that the people who previously grew up with the channel do. The only people who have been challenging MTV to play more music videos are the one's who remember the good ol' days of past. The channel has official evolved into something different. 12-16 year old girls LOVE MTV and probably have no idea why the name is MTV in the first place. From this demographic perspective, what's the point in watching a channel in hopes of seeing your favorite artists' music video, when you could spend 10 seconds online pulling it up whenever you want. There will ALWAYS be new 12 year olds in this world, and they will ALWAYS want something different than the last. MTV is simply capitalizing on future business by removing "music television".
Although it's easy to see their reason for changing the logo, I vow to remain one of the critics who will continue to chastise the network for it's lack of music. Call me old fashioned, but as Justin "He's So Dreamy, The Only Man I Would Go Gay For" Timberlake put it, we don't want to see the Simpsons on reality television.
The network will likely continue to schedule their Video Music Awards and provide ancillary between-commercial coverage to musical figures. But as we recently saw with the Grammys, they're officially the new VMA's.
Discovering new bands is so much fun. Why listen to the radio, or watch mtv and wait for some paid personality to tell you who you should like? There's an innocence that comes with a new band that hasn't been put through "The Machine" yet. Everything is fresh, new, and exciting for both the band and the listener. Every new band discovery is like two virgins coming together for that first awkward encounter.
No matter where you look in the world, you're bound to find good music. Lafayette, Louisiana is no exception. 5-piece outfit, GIVERS, have been together a little over a year now and have crafted an EP full of good vibes and sunshine. They aren’t Cajun, they aren’t zydeco, they aren’t old time. GIVERS are pure fun. At times poppy, at times psychedelic, the band creates what they refer to as afro-beat, dancy pants, indie pop love music. There’s a joyfulness in a GIVERS song that is impossible to pin down, a mix of musical styles and influences that connect with a celebratory yell, music that opens on itself to reveal a ebullient, open heart. It’s sophisticated stuff for a band of early 20-somethings.
Hey Teens, here's some news you can use:
Every month I'll be putting together a playlist of tracks that may be my most played, most interesting, most whatever. Basically it just gives me a reason to look back at the month in music and share some of my favorites with you. Some songs are new, some are old, some you've heard on here before, but one thing's for sure... taking some time to listen to January: The Playlist is a lot more constructive than twittering about what you're having for dinner or masturbating to internet porn.
