This mash-up duo seems to be in existence to serve the dance party needs eclectic music bloggers everywhere. The White Panda are brilliant. If you've been into any sort of popular or indie music in the past decade, you will find something on here that you love, and then you will say, "How the shit did they think to put ____ over ____?"
The individual mash-ups featured on this mixtape, cleverly entitled Versus, are available as longer stand-alone tracks on their website, but they work just fine as one smoothly blended, hour-long mixtape. For those of you looking to play host to a dance party (I'm looking at you, every single student at UVa with Off-Grounds housing), play this! It's got everything you hear at a typical frat party (no Tay Swift or Miley though, sorry to be misleading), but it's presented in a fresh enough way you won't have to be halfway into a case of Natty to get into it.
Check it out here, and if my impassioned post didn't convince you to listen to the whole thing, check out these standout tracks "What You Know about Little Secrets" (TI vs. Passion Pit), "Party Where Your Head's At" (Basement Jaxx vs. Tonite Only), and "Army of Yeah" (Wiz Khalifa vs. Umek & Beltek vs. Usher).
Artist Introduction: The White Panda
Depp in Wonderland
In case ya hadn't heard, Johnny Depp is playing the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's take on Alice in Wonderland. That should be enough background info to prepare you for how bugged out this trailer is, nothing really is though.
It's been a few years since we'd seen Depp breakout the make-up for a properly strange character. I was starting to worry about the guy.
Springfest 2010
Matt and Kim, Phoenix, Arctic Monkeys, Passion Pit, and Kid Cudi. No, that's not not a list of my favorite music from the past year, it's the options PKG has given the UVa student body to vote on for who they want to play Springfest 2010. Yeah, that's a damn good list.
Let's hope PKG can get any one of these artists here, but in the mean time go vote here, after you've gotten over how awesome each one these artists is. Also, for those of you who have been living under an Indie rock, here's a taste of what each of these artists has to offer.
Matt and Kim - "Daylight" (above). Otherwise known as the song from the Bacardi commercial. I hear they have a few other decent songs as well.
Phoenix - "1901." The entirety of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, their most recent album, is excellent. Look for it to appear on a ton of "Best of 2009" lists.
Passion Pit - "Moth's Wings." They've been featured here and on every other music blog more than a few times this year.
Arctic Monekeys - "Brianstorm." It's very tough to pick one favorite from this band. Their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, became and still is the UK's fastest selling album ever.
Kid Cudi - "Pursuit of Happiness." Cudi is kind of like a big deal. You might have heard "Day n' Nite" just a few times on the radio earlier this year. Plus, we already know, he's awesome live.
The choice is yours, and yours alone.
Artist Watch: Wale
Wale has really been around the rap scene for a long time. Well, for a new hip-hop artist in the age of free internet mixtapes at least. His first mixtape dropped way back in 2005. Wale then floated around the hip-hop universe as an independent artist, releasing three well received mixtapes, until 2008 when he signed with Interscope. Later that year, The Mixtape About Nothing was released to wide spread critical praise, Pitchfork calling it "one of 2008's best rap albums." The self-aware tape and 2009's Back to the Feature built up hype for his long awaited debut album, Attention Deficit, which came out this past Tuesday (11-10-09). After one listen to the album, I can happily say that it retains the qualities that have kept Wale around this long. It's catchy, but not a ringtone catchy way; original; and lyrically substantial. Favorite song so far, "Mirrors." If you're a UVa student, definitely check the album out, as our beloved UPC has scheduled the DC emcee to play at the Student Activities Building on December 4th.
And as a bonus, check out "Letter," which Wale recorded with John Mayer and released for free early in November. It shows off many of the same qualities mentioned above, and it's John Mayer on a hip-hop hook. Tell me you're not curious to hear how that works out.
Brand Spankin' New: Isaiah and Hovey
Isaiah & Hovey are a new Hip-Hop tandem who hail from Yarmouth, ME and Arlington, VA, but both currently attend VCU. Isaiah Cee, the emcee, and Hovey Benjamin, the producer, have only put out two songs, but both feature a refreshingly original sound. Their second song, "Can't Help Myself," really shows that this isn't a typical hip-hop group. On that track, Hovey demonstrates some impressive musical knowledge, sampling and borrowing the chorus from the 1983 New Order song, "Age of Consent." Overall the production value is remarkably high for a new producer.
While the production plays a crucial role in building the catchy base for these songs, Isaiah Cee's lyrics will keep these songs on repeat for hours. Both songs are about Cee's love for all things womankind, but both avoid most of the clichés that are so common in mainstream hip-hop. In both songs, the lines are witty without sounding gimmicky. He delivers a flow that is Kid Cudi-esque, but not as sing-song like. Also like Cudi, is the sincerity of the message behind the smooth flow. Cee, especially on their first song "I Really Enjoy (Those) Girls," makes you believe that he is rapping about his life, instead of just rapping for the sake of showing off lyrical prowess.
While "Can't Help Myself" is somewhat of a weaker track overall than "I Really Enjoy (Those) Girls," the two songs make for a great first impression of this new duo. Let's hope they keep it up.
Both tracks will be on their first EP, "Being Good At Everything." The songs can be downloaded here and here.
Protoculture Review: Scribblenauts
Imagine a game where you can simply summon almost anything into the game world to help you achieve your goals. Done yet? If so, you've just imagined Scribblenauts, the cutesy game by 5th Cell that allows you to do precisely that.
The basic premise for the game is simple: you are given a scenario and a set of objectives to complete, and then it is up to you to solve the puzzle by typing in any combination of the 22,802 items cataloged in the game's dictionary to help achieve your goals and collect stars to open up more levels.
While this concept sounds endlessly fun, as the player can spawn anything from tornadoes to kittens, the game suffers from some mechanical issues and unclear objectives that unfortunately led me to start looking for the easiest way to complete goals rather than the more creative route.
For example, one puzzle presented me with a traffic jam caused by a cow, followed by a row of houses, a butcher, and a field. The game then simply gave the the objective "get him home." Of course, I had no idea who this "him" guy was, so I had to start guessing my way through the problem. First, I tried killing the cow. This resulted in a game over. So then I thought "Oh, I have to get the cow to the field," but when the cow would get near the butcher, he would kill it; but, if I killed the butcher, I would also lose! In the interest of keeping this a relatively spoiler-free review, the solution I came up with happened on accident, and I'm still not entirely sure who I got home so I could keep progressing.
Unfortunately, this isn't the only problem with the game though. For a lack of a better phrase, Scribblenauts has one of the worst control schemes I've ever encountered on the Nintendo DS. With the d-pad and face buttons both controlling the camera, it is up to the player to move and interact with objects using the stylus. This set of controls has been the reason for many of the times I failed a puzzle as well. The path finding protocols for the player character are simply not up to par for a game where almost any obstacles can be presented before you.
All this being said though, being able to spawn ninjas into a level at the drop of a hat is still a ridiculously cool idea. In fact, that is really the only redeeming quality of the game: the freedom to do whatever you want. So, if you don't give a flip about getting "him" home and just want to see God lay the smackdown on a horde of zombies, you are free to do so. At the title screen, the player is free to simply play around with any of the game's objects to your heart's content. And this, is where the game is at its most fun.
Basically, Scribblenauts is fun when used like a toy and not a game. As long as you are willing to simply enjoy the freedom of experimentation presented by the game, you can have a good time. However, if you are looking for a rewarding gameplay experience, I suggest you look elsewhere.
Artist Watch: Oh.Bliv
Guess what? Oh.Bliv, one of the collaborators on an earlier Just Plain Sounds release, Black Soap, just dropped a new set of tracks today. You can go ahead and listen or download Rugged Tranquility for free right here.
Review: Hercules and Love Affair - Sidetracked
I'm not going to lie, Hercules and Love Affair has a strange premise for their second release. Rather than cooking up a batch of fresh, original tunes, the New York based 'musical project' decided to simply throw down a mixtape.
Perhaps this isn't too weird for those more duly familiar with Hercules and Love Affair. Being a musical act that is comprised mainly of DJ Andy Butler and guest artists, I guess it is understandable that Sidetracked was made the way it was, but it doesn't excuse the fact that the Love Affair is a strange entity.
Why? For starters, this mix is completely packed with an eclectic mix of disco and house tunes that practically scream "hey, I have a cooler music collection than you, but I guess I'm willing to share." Also, one of the greatest things about this album is that it is a two CD release as well, with one CD containing the mix and the other with all the songs featured in their original states.
Other than that though, there really isn't a whole lot to say about the album. I mean, it is mixed really well, but if you aren't a production freak, then you probably won't care a whole lot about that. The song selection is fantastic, but all of it's all pretty obscure and it'd be hard to imagine a non-disco or house fan getting a kick out of any it. Sidetracked just seems to exist for the people that already enjoy Hercules and Love Affair's vibe and can are capable of bobbing their heads to more than just "Blind" or "You Belong."
So, I guess if you're into this sort of thing already, or you like listening to DJ sets in general, you should go ahead and snag yourself a copy, but otherwise you'd better stick to the Love Affair's debut if you are looking to get acquainted with them and hold out for their next release that Butler claims will involve "a whole handful of new artists."
Song of the Week: Looking Glass - "Brandy"
Feeling old school; so old school in fact that I would post the oldest video I've seen of a double kick. Look out for it!
Just Jack. Just Good.
Straight from the land of the beloved Queen herself comes English musician Just Jack, who offers an impressive, undeniably catchy mix of pop hooks and alternative rhythms. Having honed his mixing and sampling chops as a youngster, this is an artist perhaps destined to be picked up by the global music scene.
What? Never heard of Just Jack (real name: Jack Allsop)? Neither did I until I ran across the video for his new single, "The Day I Died." Really, I still don't know how I found this gem on Youtube; somewhere between listening to Crazy Town, N.W.A. and David Guetta's ridiculously ear-infecting collaboration with Akon, "Sexy Bitch," a link to this hereto little-listened-to artist appeared. Bored on the job, I clicked, and much to my surprise, a totally legit, DAMN GOOD song played.
Further research revealed that Just Jack has been known on the British scene for some time, ever since his 2002 debut, The Outer Marker, which featured the singles, "Paradise (Lost and Found), "Snowflakes," and "Triple Tone Eyes." After making a television appearance on BBC in 2007, Just Jack's popularity across the pond increased, as his single "Starz in Their Eyes" climbed to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
So much, though, for worldwide fame — based just on the number of plays on his Myspace page, Just Jack has a ways to go. But cheers, mate: If this very brief introduction/review is any indication of your future prospects, all things are looking up. And the best part is that when Just Jack becomes as famous as that other very famous Jack of White Stripes fame, you can tell all your friends that you knew about this rising sensation before everyone else (courtesy of tableau, of course!)
Song of the Week: Swedish House Mafia & Laidback Luke feat. Deborah Cox - "Leave the World Behind"
I wish I was in Miami right now.
Artist Watch: Minus the Bear
It's been a couple years since Minus the Bear, the Seattle-based indie rock quintet, has released anything of note. After Planet of Ice came out, fans have only been able to snag copies of their Acoustics EP, which provides the simple novelty of hearing acoustic versions of old songs while adding in one original entitled "Guns & Ammo," but isn't exactly what I would call an exciting, worthwhile release. While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and say that Planet of Ice didn't really seem all that great either.
So, you may be wondering why I'm sitting here, typing away about a band that has been letting me down for a couple years now. Well, it's because the band is gearing up for another release, and recently released some cool sounding viral clips that make it seem like Minus the Bear's upcoming release is going to be a bit of a return to form. But, don't just let me be the judge of that, go ahead and check the videos below and hear for yourself.
Artist Watch: Menya
You may have seen the previous post about Menya regarding their late summer tour dates, but since they've finished all of those up, the trio from New York has decided to stir things up in the studio by doing a little mixtape. On said mixtape--which will be fully available for free on October 2nd--is a collection of three covers of the group's "most loved (or hated) songs" and a brand-new single.
To help promote the mixtape, Menya decided to release videos for each song on YouTube, starting with a cover of Vanessa Carlton's "White Houses." Since then, they've also released videos for the humorous flip-cover of Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" (which is aptly named "(So What) I Hook Up") and the equally clever response-cover of 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me," where the Coco Dame and Angie Ripe speak for the ladies and get some revenge.
While their original track hasn't even hit YouTube yet, these covers have been getting so much attention that even Rolling Stone had to write about them. So, I guess what I'm saying is: go check the videos out down below and be sure to grab a copy of their mixtape when it releases on October 2nd. It'll be epic.
"(So What) I Hook Up" (Kelly Clarkson Flip-cover)
Menya Responds to 3OH!3 in "Ho's Revenge"
Song of the Week: Calvin Harris "Ready for the Weekend"
We did it, guys. We made it over the first hump day of the new semester. Now, let's just get ready for the weekend. If you like the song, you may like it even more after seeing this.
Mole's Main Event - Kurt Angle
What’s up tableau? Mole here with this week’s abbreviated Main Event. I know that last week I said I would discuss the perils of recent Monday Night Raw episodes and what I’d do to make them better. However, recent news will have to put that editorial off until another day.
Last weekend, nine-time World Champion and current TNA wrestling Champion Kurt Angle was arrested for driving while operating privilege was suspended due to a 2007 DUI charge, possession, harassment and prohibited acts. This arrest stems from Angle’s girlfriend, TNA wrestler Rhaka Khan, who filed a restraining order against Angle on Saturday morning. Angle spent nine hours in jail, but was able to post bail and get to the TNA Pay Per View Hard Justice on Sunday where Angle put his world title on the line against Sting and Matt Morgan. Angle won.
For Rhaka Khan’s side of the story, click here.
For Kurt Angle’s side of the story, click here
Honestly, I’ve got to believe Kurt Angle on this. I’ve heard Rhaka Khan is an absolute nightmare to deal with in the locker room, and she has been known to do some outlandish stuff, especially during her relationship with Angle.
My problem with this story stems from the TNA administration. Coming off the heels of his arrest, I don’t understand why they didn’t get the title off of Angle after he got out of jail for stalking a woman. Yes, HGH is legal in TNA, but whatever happened to setting an example? A guy gets arrested and he gets to keep the title.Sounds like less like wrestling and more like … well, US politics. The bookers of the match should have at least gotten the belt off of his waist until the dust had settled. The TNA world title doesn’t look as good behind bars.
In other news, WWE SummerSlam was this past Sunday, and while I didn’t order it, it seemed like the event was a success. Degeneration-X returned and had a hell of a battle with The Legacy, a crazed fan interfered twice during a bizarre WWE title bout between John Cena and Randy Orton, and Jeff Hardy put on possibly the best performance of his career, but lost his World title in a ladder match to CM Punk (can’t wait to watch that at some point). This might be Jeff’s last PPV match in the WWE as his contract expires this week, and he is not expected to renew it. In a surprise twist though, the Undertaker made a surprise return after the ladder match and choke slammed CM Punk. This filled my heart with glee with the prospect of a CM Punk – ‘Taker feud. Oh, joy.
Until next week, here’s more botchamania. Have a nice day.
Post written by Robert Molster
We Have an Issue This Week!
For all those that have been waiting all summer long for tableau issues to start running again, we have good news! This Thursday, tableau will be back with all your favorite arts & entertainment news and reviews including a look at Quentin Tarintino's film about Nazi-killin,' Inglourious Basterds, and a debut album by a little band called Fun.
Also, remember that today is the fall activities fair, so if you are interested in writing, you should come down to the lower lawn and sign up on our mailing list (tableau@cavalierdaily.com).
Protoculture: Summer of Arcade Wrap-Up
Microsoft has officially decreed that summer ended this week by releasing Shadow Complex, the 5th and final title in Summer of Xbox Live Arcade program. For those not in the know, the Summer of Arcade is in its second iteration and is an initiative designed to help Xbox users deal with the extreme lack of summer retail releases by providing a variety of relatively high-profile, downloadable titles for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
To help those that are less savvy when it comes to downloadable purchases, or those that just missed the boat completely on this whole Xbox Live Marketplace deal, here's a quick little summary of the games released.
'Splosion Man - 800 Microsoft Points ($10)
'Splosion Man is a quirky little puzzle platformer from indie developer Twisted Pixel. Taking the role of the scientific oddity that is 'Splosion Man, players will run and 'splode their way through 50 single- and multi-player levels. Be warned though, the game may seem easy with its soft look and absurdist sense of humor, but 'Splosion Man quickly ramps up in difficulty by asking players to complete complex puzzles and jumping sequences flawlessly. However, if you're a fan of old-school platforming, this is the game for you.
Plays like: N+ or New Super Mario Bros... except with more 'splosions.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes - 1200 Microsoft Points ($15)
A re-release of a perennial favorite among fighting game aficionados, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 allows players to pit characters like Ryu from Street Fighter against the ravenous Wolverine from the X-Men comic book license in some of the most intense and chaotic 3-on-3 tag battles ever seen in a video game. Seriously, this game is crazy, even for fighting game standards. The only new features in this game are extremely minor visual updates and an online multi-player, but in all honesty, this game is best enjoyed amongst friends in the same room.
Plays like: Street Fighter on crack
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled - 800 Microsoft Points ($10)
TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is no-nonsense remake of the arcade classic beat 'em up. With updated visuals that don't look very interesting and no way to experience the original version of the game though, it pales in comparison to last year's breakout brawler epic Castle Crashers. Save your money, you really don't have much of a reason to get this.
Plays like: a lackluster brawler that takes about 30-45 minutes to beat.
Trials HD - 1200 Microsoft Points ($15)
An interesting take on a motorcycle game, Trials HD plays more like a physics-based platformer than a racing game. The object of the game is to drive through obstacle-laden tracks as perfectly as possible in the endless attempt to get the fastest time. Online leaderboards and a quasi-ghost system also serve keep the level of competition at a fierce high.
Plays like: LittleBigPlanet on a motorcycle.
Shadow Complex - 1200 Microsoft Points ($15)
Based off of Orson Scott Card's Empire series, Shadow Complex is a straight rip-off of Castlevania and Metroid games with a cookie cutter storyline concerning some group of terrorists that wish to engulf the United States in civil war. All this makes the game sound bad though, when in fact, it is probably the strongest title in this year's Summer of Arcade. Whilst retaining all of the fun and addictive qualities of Castlevania and Metroid games, Shadow Complex adds more elements to help streamline the experience as well as bring something new to the table.
Plays like: the logical next-step of 'Metroid-vania' type games.
Song of the Week: Candy Claws "Catamaran"
I was going to put Candy Claws up on an artist watch, but with the post before already being one and "Catamaran" being such a cool, ethereal tune, I figured it would make for a pretty good song of the week as well.
Artist Watch: Radiohead
I'm sure it may seem a bit weird that a band with as much renown as Radiohead is appearing in a section primarily targeted at up-and-coming artists, but here's a bit interesting news that may make you want to keep a closer eye on them: a 'leaked' song for Radiohead's upcoming EP seems to have given way to an alternate reality game.
With a track entitled "These Are My Twisted Words," Thom Yorke and crew have created a very interesting way to market themselves by taking advantage of music pirating sites and Twitter in addition to their own site. Here are the particulars that make the song seem more than a simple leak:
-A few days ago, a new Radiohead track appeared on the music sharing site, what.cd. To listen to the track, click here. Packed in with the file posted was this text file.
-Some Internet super-sleuths suppose that the line mentioning "the wall of ice" is a reference to a particular xkcd comic (see the image above) due to its similarity to the band's own views regarding digital rights management.
-Also found in the text file is a date: 2009-08-17, which was proposed as the release date for the Wall of Ice EP. Obviously, this is not quite the case though, as it is beyond that date, and no further tracks have been found. Others supposed that the date is in reference to the date that EMI re-released Radiohead's back catalog in order to make a few quick bucks.
-Then, showing up on Radiohead's merchandise site is a picture of twisted trees that resemble design on the text file. This coincided with a post on radiohead.com that 'officially' released "These Are My Twisted Words." Inside the zip file for the song hosted on the band site, there's a mysterious PDF packed in that displays a series of images, including one of the twisted trees. Directions for these images read as follows: "This is an artwork to accompany the audio file. We suggest you print these images out on tracing paper. Use at least 80gsm tracing paper or your printer will eat it as we discovered. You could put them in any order that pleases you"
So what does it all mean? Well, we know the EP hasn't released on the day predicted, which has undoubtedly called much of this conjecture into questions. However, I think that the new result of typing http://wallofice.com/ into an address bar (it changed to its current form on August 17, mind you) is enough proof that this Wall of Ice EP isn't just a crazy Internet farce.
Moon Man Rising: Kid Cudi Concert Review (8/3/09)
A quick Google or Bing will tell you that the Great Hangover Tour is co-headlined by hip-hop freshmen Asher Roth and Kid Cudi. A trip to one of the shows will tell you that this tour is all about Cudi, and that's a very good thing. When I caught the tour at the Norva Theater in Norfolk, VA, the crowd swelled in size showed more energy for Kid Cudi’s set. He came after Roth, and when college loving rapper went off stage before his encore, the crowd called for Cudi to come on stage making it clear who they really wanted to see.
Also I missed half of Asher's set because I was running late to the show. Considering all this, I'll focus on Cudi's performance in this review.
The lonely stoner's set list included just five songs that were actually off his first album, and that makes sense since it doesn't drop until this September. Kid Cudi's success story is a bit different from most up and coming rappers, and needs some explanation.
His hit single, "Day 'n' Nite," was first written in ‘06 before the world knew Scott Mescudi as Kid Cudi. Its popularity grew and it soon became the single for his first and only mix tape, A Kid Named Cudi, in mid '08. Unlike most hip-hop singles, it only continued to grow in popularity until it peaked just a few months ago in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The song then became the first single for his album Man on the Moon: The End of the Day. With Cudi’s signature singsong flow and unique beats, A Kid Named Cudi delivered music that he said was meant to appeal to people who loved all kinds of music, not just hip-hop. Unsurprisingly he was soon signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label. For those of you unfamiliar with hip-hop scene, most new rappers develop their style over the course of multiple mix tapes (which is essentially just a free, somewhat informal album a rapper will release to gain publicity) before establishing themselves and perhaps signing a good record deal. For example, fellow rising star Drake released five mix tapes before being signed by Lil Wayne's Young Money label. Cudi achieved similar success in late '08 without ever having a show on The N (see Drake’s run on the show Degrassi) and just one mix tape. Cudi also worked closely with the Louis Vuitton Don on four songs on 808's and Heartbreak, and lent his singing voice to the hook of "Welcome to Heartbreak."
The songs from A Kid Named Cudi that drove Cudi's popularity were the highlights of the show. A crowd that was seemingly made exclusively of die hard Cudder fans sang and moved to beats of songs like "Down and Out," "Cudi Spazzin'," and "Embrace the Martian." The crowd even knew the unreleased leaks from his upcoming album, "Mr. Solo Dolo," and "Sky Might Fall." The only song that was performed without crowd assistance was the completely unreleased "Heart Of A Lion," which will be the third single for the album.
The set list left little to be desired, and Cudi's performance was flawless. He smiled and seemed genuinely happy as he danced across the stage, and the audience mirrored his mood or maybe it was vice versa. His performance was enhanced by a stage-wide screen of LED's that were operated by the same technician who did the lights for Kanye West's extravagant Glow in the Dark Tour. By the end of the show he had the knowledgeable crowd completely under his control as everyone in the packed Norva Theater yelled in approval at the start of seemingly every song and danced throughout the performance, making the concert hall feel and smell more like a packed frat party dance floor.
So when Cudi performed the second single off of his upcoming album, the Lady Gaga cover\parody "Make Her Say (Poke Her Face)," it made sense that the crowd completely lost its collective shit (that's really the only way to describe it) when Kanye himself came out to perform his verse from the song. His witty lines were barely audible over excited yells of the audience, and for the first time in the set, Cudi didn't hold the audience's complete attention.
Cudi then somehow managed to top the excitement from Mr. West’s surprise appearance with an outstanding rendition of "Day 'n' Nite." The song moved from an a capella first verse, to a normal but still enthusiastic second verse, before launching into the faster paced, more electronic Crookers Remix of the song.
When Cudi went off before the encore, the crowd took time to catch its breath before cheers for both Kanye and Cudi broke out. No one was disappointed as the G.O.O.D. Music duo performed "Welcome to Heartbreak" before Cudi capped the night by himself with one more mix tape track, "Man on the Moon."
As you finish reading this review, you should know that I am a huge Kid Cudi fan. Since I first listened to A Kid Named Cudi last fall, I have been recommending his mix tape to anyone with a slight taste in hip-hop. As purely a Kid Cudi fan, it was a highly satisfying experience to see him in person and have a chance to be surrounded by other fans of the once obscure rapper. As someone who has seen more rap shows than an average white college kid, it was a pleasure to see such a well put together performance in a fairly intimate setting. The quality of the show combined with Kanye West's surprise appearance at the end of the show made this one the best and most memorable concerts I have ever attended, and helped cement my opinion that Kid Cudi is the best up and coming hip-hop artist.
Song of the Week: Butterfly Bones - "xoxo"
I've been looking for some summery, electro-pop all summer, but couldn't find any until Butterfly Bones rolled up on the scene. Pretty Feelings,their debut EP rolls out in the next couple days, so be sure to pre-order your own copy now. But for now, just sit back and enjoy this little tune.
Mole's Main Event - John Cena or: How I Learned to Stop Griping and Accept the Gimmick
Ay Oh tableau! Rob Molster back here with this week’s edition of Mole’s Main Event. This week we delve into one of the WWE’s most popular and most hated superstars: John Cena.
If there is any one wrestler that could represent what the WWE is about today, it’s Cena. He’s charismatic, he’s likable, he’s steroid free (no joke) and he’s ripped (no homo). However, every time his music hits, there’s a consistent reaction. There are very high-pitched screams and a noticeable presence of low-pitched boos. Many times in promos (scripted interviews), Cena’s opponents will slight him by saying that it’s past his fans’ bedtime or that his biggest fans decided to have a tea party instead of coming to see him. While it’s scripted, the insult is not too far from the truth. A large portion of Cena’s fans consists of prepubescents, teenagers, and females. So, why is the WWE marketing a superstar that doesn’t even appeal to their most loyal demographic (adult males)?
In order to answer this question, let’s go over what John Cena has done in the WWE so far. He debuted in the summer of 2002, not really making much noise until later in the fall. On a Halloween edition of SmackDown (WWE’s former Thursday night program), Cena dressed up as Vanilla Ice and rapped. The audience reacted well, and the WWE decided to run with the gimmick, with Cena wearing jorts, throwback jerseys and cutting promos in freestyle rhymes. His freestyles were somewhat entertaining, but mostly cheesy.
Cena released a rap album and has starred in two movies, both produced by Vince McMahon. The album and the movies were great, if your idea of a relaxing day is an afternoon of electroshock. Give him credit though: the album and the movies sold enough to get him money.
Nowadays, Cena has dropped the street guy gimmick and started pronouncing his r’s and such. He’s the WWE’s ultimate babyface (good guy): the clean cut, all American boy. So, why do so many people hate him? There are a few different answers to this question, but there’s one that I think most people will agree with. In truth, Cena’s not that good of a wrestler in the technical sense. He doesn’t possess a wide array of moves and his offense can get pretty stale. Couple that with less than stellar coordination and you can see why fans are disappointed that this is the most popular WWE wrestler. While I will say he has definitely made considerable strides in terms of his wrestling ability since his debut, he’s still not a great wrestler. He’s good at best.
Another reason why people don’t like him is because of his gimmick.You can’t really act like a street thug when you’re billed from West Newbury Massachusetts. That’s like trying to find someone who break dances at Farmington Country Club.
Cena also rubs people the wrong way when it comes to past wrestling icons. He’s a corporate player with a cool head, meaning he’s the exact opposite of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Instead of pushing the envelope and doing everything he can to fight the establishment, Cena smiles in the face of corporate America.
So let’s ask the question again: Why is the WWE pushing Cena as their main guy when he’s not that great? The answer is simple: he’s a safe bet. In these times of recession, the WWE cannot afford to take chances. They know that Cena has a large enough fan base that will guarantee Pay Per View event buy rates, TV ratings, and ticket and merchandising sales. If Vince McMahon rubs them the wrong way, he’ll lose big time dough.
At this point, I’ve learned to deal with Cena. He’s boring, he’s bland, he’s predictable, but hey, if he’s this famous, he must be doing something right.
Post written by Robert Molster
Review: The Bloody Beetroots - Romborama
If you imagine Daft Punk and Misfits having some sort of strange lovechild and what that would sound like, you would have a pretty good idea of what The Bloody Beetroots are. I realize this description is not entirely original (as I lifted it from their myspace page), but it really is the best way to describe this Italian duo of electro-punks.
Although they've been remixing and creating original tracks for a couple years now, it is only now that they are getting around to releasing a full-length album. Known as Romborama, the Beetroots' first stab at a full-length album is a bloody good one. Although fans that have been following these DJs will hear more than a few songs they've already heard before, Romborama makes sure to throw in plenty of new tunes as well as re-workings of old favorites to keep the whole thing from sounding like a random collection of their back catalog.
The first thing to understand about The Bloody Beetroots' music is that it is heavy. Almost every track on Romborama straddles a fine line between dance and mosh music, only to usually end up on the dance side of things. This makes sense, of course, because they are DJs, and thus love to make people dance. However, songs like the album's opener, "Romborama," do seem to be a little off-putting at first. With a siren-like synth riff and a screaming Justin Pearson (The Locust) in the background, the song makes the impression that the rest of the album is going to be full of over-the-top intensity that can only be appreciated by a select few, but after a little time with Romborama, it becomes more and more obvious that this is not quite the case.
The second track, "Have Mercy On Us," for example, shows that the Beetroots aren't completely obsessed with balls-to-the-wall intensity. This little track--while having a really dark, goth vibe to it--is very melodic and catchy in many of the same ways that Justice's † appealed to so many. Despite the immediate appeal of hearing more Justice-like tunes, the Italian duo is careful not to spend too much time in this territory, which, thankfully, prevents them from being labeled bargin-bin Justice knock-offs. Instead, they tend to go heavier with a mix of punk and classical vibes. This is most likely due to the fact that the brain behind most of the production work, Bob Rifo, joined a punk band after studying classical music in school.
There are occasional flashes of hip-hop on the album as well, like the rhymes laid down by The Cool Kids on "Awesome," as well as the re-purposing of that same beat for Marracash's "Come La." The sound of having the same beat on two tracks in the same album may sound a bit silly, and that may be; but, the album's got 21 tracks, with the 're-purposed' one at the very end, so it seems a little more like a nice little bonus than an attempt to create two legit songs using the exact same instrumentation.
The album does start to lose a little steam around the half-way point of Romborama with tracks like the fidget-mess that is "It's Better a DJ On 2 Turntables." The song is just so far removed from everything else on the album, and it shows it with its simplistic opening riff and ridiculous, off-the-wall bass storm that it leads into. Then, there's "Talkin' In My Sleep" that is only a slightly altered version of their previously released "Detroit (Ghetto Edit)," not that this is necessarily a bad thing; it is just a little disappointing for anyone expecting a new track at that point.
Another departure from the more standard, Bloody Beetroots fare is "Second Streets Have No Name." The intro seems a bit slow with its light, string-filled intro and auto-tuned lyrics that speak of seeing "the sunset strip in your eyes / I will drive it down," but the progression into the more beat-backed chorus is simply one of the best moments offered up in Romborama. It's just a shame that the song transfers back and forth between it and the auto-tuned and light-hearted sections that bookend the song.
For many familiar with The Bloody Beetroots' older works, there are plenty of new twists on old favorites that will be sure to hold a new level of intrest. The aforementioned "Talkin' In My Sleep" uses a new set of vocal samples, while songs like "Yeyo" and "I Love The Bloody Beetroots" simply benefit from higher production quality this time around. "F*cked From Above 1985" probably benefits the most from its new treatment, as it gets some production love in addition to a fresh coat of vocal work, but pretty much all of the older Beetroot tunes sound better on Romborama.
There is one previously released track that doesn't benefit from any sort of new treatment, however. "Butter," for some reason, seems to make it on to Romborama without being touched in the slightest. I don't really know why this is either, as its unaltered state seems to make it stick out as easily the most dated sounding track in the whole bunch.
Towards the end of the album, a couple excellent, yet significantly different sounding versions of "Warp" can be found in addition to the puzzling-yet-novel "Little Stars" among a smattering of equally as interesting and entertaining tracks. Simply put, the back-half of this album really picks up again and doesn't stop until you reach the repeated beat track that is "Come La."
So, by album's end, The Bloody Beetroots seemed to have laid an astounding number of cards on the table. While some of them don't seem that great, the sheer number of quality tunes to be found on this compilation of 21 tracks far outweigh the cons. It's not a perfect album by any means, but Romborama stands now as possibly the best gateway into The Bloody Beetroots' world, which is all you really need to ask for from a debut.
Artist Watch: Ronald Jenkees
I know that for some of you seasoned YouTube viewers, Ronald Jenkees is probably a bit of a familiar name in the sense that he seems to be rather old news. But, that doesn't mean he is any less worthy of being on artist watch. In fact, he's probably the perfect candidate because he is still awesome, but doesn't seem to be gaining much more visibility in the cloud of crazy that we all like to call the Internet.
If you like what you hear, you can download some of his songs or simply visit his YouTube channel to access a great deal of this peculiar, but talented individual's works.
Song of the Week: Minus the Bear - "Pachuca Sunrise"
Since it seems practically everyone is at the beach this week, here's a song that rests comfortably among the ranks of awesome, contemporary beach tunes. If you aren't at the beach, perhaps you should just close your eyes, listen to this and pretend you are. It'll make you feel better, I promise.
Amazon's 50/$5 August Recommendations
I've recently become aware of amazon.com's monthly promotion where the top album picks from the site editors go up for sale for $5 each. The only troublesome part of the whole deal is that the editors end up posting 50 albums, which may seem a little overwhelming for those looking to get the absolute most bang for their music-loving buck. To try and solve this problem, I've decided to prune each of these lists each month starting now. So, without further ado, here's the cream of the crop of this month's 50/$5 deals.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Field - Yesterday and Today
A-Trak - Infinity +1
The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Luckily, this month's selections provided for pretty eclectic mix ranging everywhere from hip-hop to indie rock, and even minimalistic progressive techno. Hopefully, you find these recommendations helpful, and be sure to check out next month's top 5 50/$5.
Review: Discovery - LP
Tired of my streak of positive music reviews? Good, because so am I, and Discovery's LP is an excellent place for me to stop gushing over albums. This is mainly due to the fact that--in one word--this album is bad.
With a band composed of Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij, you'd think that Discovery would show at least some interesting potential if not rock everyone's socks off. Instead, the band unleashed LP, a debut album full of shallow songwriting, irregular beat structures, and desperate sounding attempts to be relevant and cool that makes for some mildly amusing hipster party fodder at best.
LP starts out about as strong as it can with fairly interesting tracks like "Orange Shirt" and "Osaka Loop Line" that use some catchy, minimalist beats to sound fresh, but suffer from mediocre lyrics like "Still you won't call me back / And every text I get from you sounds so so serious / But I'm sitting at home sipping this miso / Ticking to raindrops upon my window pane / Texting too fast for me to reply / Never looking when you type T-9." I'm usually not one to nitpick songwriting, but lyrics like that are just plain cheesy. Combine those with the stupidly-popular-yet-overplayed auto-tune vocals, and you've got a pretty good idea of what the rest of the album is like. Well, I honestly have to take that back; it actually gets worse.
By LP's fourth track, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," I was certain that this album was not something I would want to recommend to anyone. With a rather lackluster performance by guest vocalist Angel Deradoorian crying "I wanna be your boyfriend" (before being so "cleverly" chopped up to sound more like "I want a boyfriend"), the whole song sounds like a desperate grab for love and attention from the song's creator. It's sad.
Many of the other songs proceed in either this direction of poorly written and bad/auto-tuned singing ("Can You Discover," "Carby"), or simply opt to have some of the ugliest synth or beat work I have heard on a professionally produced album ("So Insane," It's Not My Fault (It's My Fault)"). Of course there a couple exceptions, but these also have problems of their own.
The strongest track on Discovery's album is probably "Swing Tree," but that's probably because the song is mainly comprised of a synth riff that isn't theirs. In their defense though, "Swing Tree" has a different feel to it than the Tom Tom Club classic, not to mention that the song is a lyrical high-point for this poor, poor LP.
There is one other song that tries to succeed somewhat like “Swing Tree” by combining borrowed melodies and strong songwriting, but the only difference here is that it’s a cover, and a horrible one at that. After hearing what disrespect Discovery paid to “I Want You Back,” the super-hit by none other than the late-great Michael Jackson, it’s hard to believe that this is a band that wants to take itself seriously. Did they really think that screechy, lo-fi synths, cascading beeps, and auto-tune could possibly add something one of the greatest pop songs of all time? Unless Discovery was shooting to add an unlistenable quality to the track, the answer in almost every respect is no.
To try and summarize, listening to LP can be best compared to watching a bad comedy. Instead of witty substance and subtlety, Discovery paints in broad strokes and tries to generate appeal by referencing some of the most salient aspects of contemporary music culture without actually commenting on them. So in the end, you are left with an album full of uninspired songs written by two dudes that seem to think shoving MGMT and Kanye West into Tom Tom Club and Michael Jackson would sound good. And, while I’m not necessarily saying these sounds are completely incompatible, I am saying that Discovery’s attempt to make them work is all but a miserable failure.