50 vs. Kanye vs. The Go! Team

September 11th is shaping up to be a big day for the music industry. 50 Cent and Kanye West are both set to release their latest efforts. The two have been chest thumping in the press lately, each vowing to hold steady on their release dates, and both vowing they will top the charts. Also releasing a new album on the 11th is Brighton, England's The Go! Team.

50, while mostly being completely shitty, isn't completely devoid of talent. One day last spring when I was bored out of my mind I actually watched Get Rich Or Die Trying, and... it wasn't terrible. The soundtrack isn't terrible either actually. I mean, there are times when "Window Shopper" is an enjoyable song. I don't have very high hopes for 50's Curtis.

Kanye West is in the unfortunate position of being the least likeable person in the music industry currently. However, as much as I hate to say it, the man can drop some beats. College Dropout was mostly overbearing and annoying, just like Kanye, but did contain the outstanding "Slow Jamz." The song itself isn't that great, but the line "I'm gonna play this Vandross, you gon take your pants off" alone makes College Dropout a decent album. Due to the fact that Kanye is pretty good at beats, Graduation won't be terrible.

The Go! Team's Proof of Youth will be one of the best albums of 2007. I haven't heard any of it except for "Grip Like A Vice," but knowing Ian Parton and co., this one will at least be exciting. Fuck 50 and Kanye, if you want to have fun, throw on some Go! Team.

50 Cent- Window Shopper
Kanye West- Slow Jamz
The Go! Team- Ladyflash
**

Bonus 1: Lily Allen- Nan, You're A Window Shopper
Bonus 2: The Go! Team short documentary:

There's Somethin 'Bout Mondays

Hate Mondays? Hate your job? Yeah me too. As Steve Earle would say, "There's somethin 'bout Mondays that always makes me blue."

Rocking out to Steve Earle's workingman's blues in "A Week of Living Dangerously" doesn't cure the Monday blues, but it does feel pretty damn good.

Everybody needs a week of living dangerously every now and then if you ask me.

Bonus: This footage of a young Steve Earle from Heartworn Highways is incredible.

Steve Earle- Someday
Steve Earle- A Week of Living Dangerously

Camp Lo- In Black Hollywood

Yesterday evening in the midst of spinning the new Camp Lo, "In Black Hollywood," my 13 year old brother hit pause and put on his iPod. I reluctantly allowed him one song before putting the Lo back on. He went ahead and threw on "Sky is the Limit" by Lil Wayne. About halfway through the song I asked, "How the fuck do you actually like this?"

He said, "I dunno, I just do."

With that I went on trashing the beat, the verses, Lil Wayne's vocal style, and Lil Wayne in general. When the song ended I said, "Check it out, best hip hop track of the year so far, '82 Afros' by Camp Lo."

I may have been exaggerating, but "82 Afros" is pretty damn good, and besides it was released last year on Fort Apache. Anyway, Camp Lo's new release sees the duo at the top of their game once again. There has been some pretty good hip-hop released in 07, but nothing that has really grabbed me the way "Posse From the Bronx," "82 Afros," "In Black Hollywood," and "Sweet Claudine" grabbed me immediately.

Camp Lo- In Black Hollywood
Camp Lo- Sweet Claudine

Sunday Selections- Otis & Carla

One of my alltime favorite albums, especially for Sunday morning, is King & Queen, the duet album recorded by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. King & Queen was not Otis's best record, but the fun of "Tramp," "Knock On Wood," etc. keeps it at the top of my personal Otis favorites.

Otis & Carla- New Year's Resolution
Otis & Carla- Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis

Turn Your Watch Back About 100,000 Years

The B-52's quirky art-funk never fails to get me grooving. The Athens band's revivals of old 50's dance crazes merged with the art-punk of bands like Talking Heads helped create the New Wave era of the late 70s and early 80s. Bright colors, nonsensical lyrics, and bouncy bass lines defined the band, even before their "Love Shack" pop heydey.

The B-52's- Mesopotamia (remix from Time Capsule)

***

Also On The Interwebs:

-Captain's Crate gets funky

-Floodwatch Music with an excellent post on new jazz records

-Weiss reviews a Chromeo show

-Soul Sides posts on one of my favorite records of the year

Edwin Starr- Agent Double-O Soul

"I dig rock n' roll music. I can do the twine and the jerk. I wear strictly continental suits, and a high collared shirt. I've got a reputation for being gentle but bold. That's why they call me 'Agent Double-O Soul.'"
-Edwin Starr


Edwin Starr- Agent Double-O Soul
Edwin Starr- I Am The Man For You Baby

The Whip- Divebomb

One For The Bossman

Before my iPod reached its death a little more than a month ago I never worked without my iPod. When you are a student stuck at a shit job cutting grass at a golf course between semesters, you aren't listening to the poppiest stuff all the time. For me the music I listened to at work was split between Drive-By Truckers and Widespread Panic (with a little Steve Earle, Uncle Tupelo, and Tea Leaf Green thrown in there too). When work sucked it was the boys from Alabama. When it was going alright, I was listening to Panic.

I like my boss a whole lot (he's my roomate's dad after all, and jokes that I'm a part of their family), but whenever "Nine Bullets" came up on my iPod, I couldn't help singing along to "One for the bossman ridin' my butt again..." Fuck work indeed.

This past Friday I was changing a tire on a boat trailer (one of my numerous non-grass cutting duties), and instead of actually changing the tire I started spinning it around on the axel to procrastinate. I looked at where the flat was and saw a huge brown spider. Intrigued by its size, I caught it in an empty water bottle. Only 15 minutes later while moving cinderblocks (oh boy!) I looked down on one and saw another interesting looking spider. It wasn't full grown, but I caught the red-and-black spider anyway. Not long later I confirmed via the wikipedia that the brown spider was a Brown Recluse and the other was a Black Widow.

Drive-By Truckers- Nine Bullets
Drive-By Truckers- Box Of Spiders

I've Got a Halloweenhead

I've had a month now to sort out my thoughts on Easy Tiger, the new release from Ryan Adams. Easy Tiger is probably the safest record Adams has ever made, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you don't want Dead-soaked jams as in Cold Roses or throwbacks to vintage country like in Jacksonville City Nights.

Anybody who listens to Ryan Adams is distinctly aware of how much talent is just oozing from him. The man is beyond prolific. This is why its so disappointing when you stumble on songs that are just plain mediocre. Easy Tiger has a few "bleh" moments, but no real duds, and of course a few gems that remind you how talented Adams is.

On a related note, I put this cd on at home one day, and my Mom happened to be around and asked who it was. When I told her it was Ryan Adams she said, "Oh yeah, I saw they were selling his cd in Starbucks."

Dig the video for "Halloweenhead" and listen to two of my favorites, the folky "Pearls On a String" and Heartbreaker-esque "Two Hearts."

Ryan Adams- Pearls On a String
Ryan Adams- Two Hearts

Sunday Selections

For me no Sunday morning is complete without a little soul, reggae, or gospel to wake me up. Sunday should always be an upbeat, laid back day, and a little soul with your coffee never does you bad. Otis Redding or The Staples Singers are usually my go to choices on a Sunday morning, but today I went for a little taste of the Caribbean.

"Spiritual Healing" comes from The Very Best of Toots and the Maytals, and the excellent "Honesty is the Best Policy" by the Gospel Chandeliers is on Numero Group's Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay. I can't get this song out of my head at the moment!

Toots and the Maytals- Spiritual Healing
The Gospel Chandeliers- Honesty is the Best Policy

Freaky Cauldron

In 1968 San Francisco psychedelic act Fifty Foot Hose released their first and last album. The album, entitled Cauldron, is a whirlwind of spooky acid rock layered behind what is sometimes blues, sometimes country, and sometimes jazz. The experimental freak outs miss the point sometimes, but on tracks like "The Things That Concern You" and "Rose," Fifty Foot Hose play some of the finest music of the 60's San Francisco scene.

Fifty Foot Hose- The Things That Concern You
Fifty Foot Hose- Rose

I Got Scottish In My Family

Until I heard Camp Lo in Black Hollywood, Andre 3000's freestyle at the beginning of UGK's "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)" was my favorite slice of hip hop in 2007. I'm not as hot on the rest of the track, but the Willie Hutch sample is absolutely perfect. 3000's guest appearence and the Hutch sample both made "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) my favorite hip hop song of the first half of the new year.

That new Camp Lo is good shit though, and I'll get into that later.



Willie Hutch- I Choose You

Hey Ladies! Yeah! 1980s!

So I'm pretty excited about this new blog, and I'm pretty excited about the "Grip Like A Vice" video from The Go! Team.



More to come later!