Lily Allen – The Fear (Duke Dumont Remix)
lalalalelop lalalalelop lalalalelop lalalalelop fuck. synth synth synth synth fuck. duke dumont’s remix of “the fear”, lily allen’s lead single of her sophomore record “it’s not me, it’s you”, owns the original mix of the song. goodbye!
rating: 8.8
Gerry Mulligan – Night Lights (1963 Version)
Gerry Mulligan – Prelude in E Minor
“night lights” is the sort of record that cuts through you. it cuts at the superfluities, the trivialities, the bullshit that envelop everyday life. recorded in 1963, during the ascension of bossa nova into the american/european musical palette, “night lights” marries the airiness and tones of cool jazz with the feel of latin rhythm and syncopation.
not necessarily “melancholy” or “somber” or “quiet” (i mean it could be each of these things), this record just feels – it breathes, it washes over you. “night lights” opens quietly on the mulligan-penned title track with jim hall’s soft tremolo guitar floating in and out the taps of dave bailey’s hushed drums. “morning of the carnival from black orpheus” introudces the bossa nova meter. “prelude in e minor” integrates a chopin chamber melody on top that bossa meter. mulligan’s subtle baritone shines on “tell me when”.
the depth/beauty/intensity of the playing on “night lights” is remarkable. i find myself constantly coming back to this record – and, without exception, am further enriched as a musician/human being after each listening.
on the real, if i read another comparison of bat for lashes’ new single “daniel” to kate bush (i don’t care!)…..or some variation of this phrase “Bat For Lashes aka (also known as) Natasha Khan” (looked up on wikipedia). the beat on this song kills. the dynamic of the kick/snare 1-2 reeling khan’s melody in-out-in-out.
rating: 6.5
Hmmm… LOVE oasis and the gallaghers, but this? As Liam puts it..
“I’m not gonna be putting anything out, unless I’d wear it..”
Naturally with ones own clothing line, we hope so. i am curious, stay tuned…
Speaking of Phantom Planet…Jason Schwartzman’s new project. I’m feeling that breakdown yo…
rating: 6.75999999
Maino – All the Above (feat. T-Pain)
the video for “all the above” defies a common rap stereotype, if the rapper’s previous hit single is played in the background of a clip’s start, the new single is likely wack as fuck. psych! not “all the above”. just what makes “all the above” a total banger? just blaze? faheem rasheed najm? maino?….. “all the above”!
rating: 8.0
k-os – I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman
phantom planet, you’ve officially been chopped and screwed.
rating: 9.0
100 years old! “dull life” rules. everything that made the last two franz records boring/unlistenable, this song is not.
zinner’s guitar work is on the fuckin’ money! at 1:18, the song goes half-time. what?? where did that come from? who cares!
from there, karen o just takes over. see ya!
rating: 8.2
It’s no secret that Johnny Rotten was on to something at the Sex Pistols last proper gig in San Francisco 1978. It was then he so inquisitively sneered at his audience, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”
These days it’s no surprise that when we flip on the news we are brought up to date on the current financial crisis or the latest on the War Against Terror. Things are tough out there, but what can we the common working citizen do to help? There’s plenty we can do, or should do, but it seems that these problems are best resolved using the debt of citizen tax dollars. Ok then… but what is being paid for, and if trillions of dollars are being committed to fund certain “serious problems”, shouldn’t we pay equal and ample attention to other serious problems as well?
Some statistics for perspective are as follows.
The War on Terror:
That is a lot of money to find a man in a territory smaller than the size of Texas. It is at least interesting that I can Google map a satellite image of how many cars are in the parking lot of a Whataburger in Houston Texas on my very own iPhone! Now some more bullshit:
Let’s talk the current financial crisis:
-$700 Billion Bailout distributed to CitiGroup, Bank of America, AIG, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and more (small amount to us) for financial economic stabilization
-TALF is a $200 Billion fund created by the Fed that can be increased to $1 Trillion in order to create money for new loans
-All three major Auto-makers are collectively seeking an extra $18 Billion in Federal (tax-payer) funding
The bullshit:
-AIG executive bonuses, post bailout funding, equaled $165 Million
-AIG executives spent $343,000 on an Arizona retreat, also post bailout
-CEO’s from the three major auto-makers flew private jets to their court hearing to plead for $18 Billion more in taxpayer money
Regardless of how one feels about the issuing of these funds, it is the billions of dollars of bullshit that is inexcusable. Saving jobs and the economy is great and all, what about saving lives, that’s just as important right?
When B-Rock utilized his executive authority to reverse the ban against federal funding for stem cell research, he was met with much criticism. Not so much because of the ethical issues involved, but rather it was frowned upon that he would make this research such a priority as it committed time and federal dollars during the current financial crisis.
A yearly total of $29 Billion is budgeted for the National Institute of Health who is responsible for the federal distribution of all money for federally approved disease research including AIDS, Heart Disease, Cancer, and more, just now including stem cell research.
3,000 people die each day in the US from diseases that may be treatable from stem cell research. Globally, AIDS claims 3.1 million lives a year, cancer claims 8 million deaths per year, heart disease and stroke claim 17 million. That is approximately 28.1 million deaths a year for just those three diseases. In 2007, terrorism claimed 68 lives in the US while heart disease alone claimed 459,000 lives.
The question at hand is who really benefits the most from the federal funding of citizen tax dollars? Hint – it’s not tax payers… or their health. More to come.
