Culture Greyhound

Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Swizz Beatz feat. Eve – Everyday (Coolin’)
Blood Orange – Dinner
Shabazz Places – Swerve… The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)
Diplo & Douster – ON!

With the exception of tomorrow’s podcast and Sunday Night Videos, this will be my last post for awhile, as I am traveling abroad to Europe for the majority of June.  I will return with new posts on the 20th, but until then, here are some music videos about traveling, Europe, etc.

I don’t normally post videos of programs I watch, unless they’re in context of something bigger, like a list, but this was too good to pass up. Another instant highlight from Jon Stewart’s reign as King of Late Night, he stuck it to the Donald for eating pizza like a pansy, or, even worse, a non-New Yorker.

Occasionally I browse the pop music world/charts/blogs and see what the kids are listening to. Sometimes I am pleased with what I find, most of the time I am not. This is a journal of my discoveries.

Catching Up On: Wacka Flocka Flame

Although Pitchfork gave the album an 8.0, I really don’t understand the appeal.  This guy’s lyrics are unintelligible, and frankly, when I can understand them, they’re pretty simple.  And while that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker for me (I did give Wiz Khalifa a thumbs up several days ago), the melody and production don’t really add any plus signs for me.  This radio hit, which I’ve been unable to avoid lately, is jawdroppingly atrocious.

Catching Up On: Big Time Rush

Apparently this is a tween sensation that’s been around for years on Nickelodeon, but this is the hit that will cross them over to the pop radio masses, Bieber style.  The tune itself is pretty catchy, it’s good for a Friday night club run, though I could do without the continuing destruction of the legacy of Snoop Dogg.

Catching Up On: Mindless Behavior

Another R&B-based boy band, they all look 14 years old and are produced pretty slickly and whathaveyou.  Watch the video, and you can tell they all think they’re Usher, but it doesn’t hide the fact the melody is straight-up Disney.  And the lyrics, a romantic homage to texting your honey, are just pretty damn hilarious.

Catching Up On: Fabolous

Now to the good stuff: while I’m not necessarily “catching up on” Fabolous, who has been awesome for years, this new single is banging.  This is what the rap radio game needs right now, an elder statesmen showing everybody how it’s done.

Catching Up On: Swizz Beatz

Hardest beat on the charts right now, and it needs to be on the radio more.  In the same vein as his collaboration with Jay Z in “On To the Next One” (even the video is similar), Swizz keeps it simple and LOUD. And remember Eve? Yeah, she’s on here too.

Partisan Records has one hell of a supergroup; John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit have formed Middle Brother and released a stellar debut self-titled album (pictured above). The crew is one on the list of bands I wished I had caught at SXSW; hopefully they’ll embark on a tour and stop in the ATX soon-ish. The boys all deliver their unique brands of folk-rock on originals and a pretty sweet Paul Westerberg cover, “Portland.” It all comes together nicely and solidly for one of the chillest and funnest albums of the year.

Middle Brother – Daydreaming

Middle Brother – Portland

Middle Brother – Someday

Memorial Day weekend is a wonderful time – the unofficial start of summer, with BBQ, fun in the sun, and general good vibes for all on a three-day break. But it always used to have a pretty stellar soundtrack – the WOXY Modern Rock 500. If WOXY were still around, you bet I would be listening and listing everything I heard. The WOXY crew compiled a list of some of the finest songs to ever grace alternative radio, new and old, and the #1 song was different every year. After 97X left the FM dial and WOXY went Internet-only, the countdown continued until last year, when the station was suddenly taken from us. But we still have the music and the memories, and so, as a tribute this Memorial Day, I leave you with a sampling of tracks we might have heard today on WOXY.COM.

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Justice – Civilization by justice

RIP Gil Scott-Heron

Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Primus – Welcome To This World
Primus – Over the Electric Grapevine
Primus – Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread
Primus – Southbound Pachyderm

Today I conclude my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting the final ten songs.

10. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack (feat. Timbaland)

JT’s sophomore solo album was miles different from the R&B-influenced debut Justified.  For one, it was dirtier, sexier, raunchier.  Timberlake had all but washed himself clean of the boy band label he had established in ‘NSync, and on the other side was a sharp dressed man with smart production and crisp, Prince-leaning erotic pop.  The surprisingly simple, yet undeniably infectious “SexyBack,” the album’s first single, is producer Timbaland at some of his most creative, and catchy, creations.

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