Mar 5 2012

Free Press Summer Fest 2012 Has Outdone Itself

This year’s Free Press Summer Fest has been announced, and, wow, I must say I am impressed. Snoop Dogg, The Avett Brothers, Primus, Big Freedia, Danny Brown, Jeff the Brotherhood, Willie Nelson, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Flaming Lips (performing Dark Side of the Moon), Wavves, Diplo, Best Coast, Major Lazer, Turquoise Jeep! I’m gonna have a hard time avoiding the miserable Houston heat this summer!


Sep 2 2011

FFF6 Playlist Series – Friday’s Orange Stage

A friend of mine and I were discussing the awesome awesome lineup for Fun Fun Fun Fest this year, and yesterday, they announced their schedule for our viewing pleasure.  My friend was excited, but admitted he knew only a few bands.  Where, he wondered aloud, could he find a comprehensive rundown of each band, a sampling of their musical chops, so he could further educate himself before the finest weekend of his year?  I assume the Fun Fun Fun website has such a playlist, and they do, and it’s cool, but I wanted to make my own.  So every Friday, from now until the fest (that’s nine weeks), I will be posting a playlist for your educational purposes for each stage and day, excluding the Yellow stage, which is mostly comedy.

This week’s playlist covers the bands playing on the Orange (Indie) stage on Friday – Boxer Rebellion, Cloud Nothings, Ocote Soul Sounds, The Thermals, Heartless Bastards, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Okkervil River, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Passion Pit.

Listen to the playlist on Spotify.

Missing From Playlist (not on Spotify yet): TV Torso, Jim Ward

My Stage Pick: Cloud Nothings

While The Thermals rank high on my anticipation list, I am most excited to see a repeat viewing of the high-energy Cloud Nothings, whose SXSW sets knocked me on my ass with rapid-fire tempo and singalong refrains.


Jul 30 2010

My Top 300 Songs of the 2000s – 200-191

Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.

200. 50 Cent – I Get Money

Dr. Dre and Eminem’s protege hasn’t released anything of substance, save for this song, in my opinion.  Most would say his first album is pretty good, and that “In Da Club” is an alright song, but they are sadly mistaken.  For some reason though, this song, released late in Fiddy’s career, really took a shine to me.  Maybe it’s the snare hits, the deep synth line, or the rhythmic sampling. Maybe it’s 50’s dumb rhymes.  Maybe it’s because every time I hear this song my thoughts hearken back to a college party when a friend was trying to teach me how to C-walk to this song.  Yeah, it’s probably that last one.

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Apr 20 2010

My Top 300 Songs of the 2000s – 270 – 261

Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.

270. The Shins – New Slang

I heard all the brouhaha about Garden State and the hype surrounding this band, but I didn’t actually see the film until I met my good friend Kim in college.  I believe it is still one of her favorite movies, and it is one that I enjoyed immensely, though I haven’t watched it since.  I managed to get my hands on a copy of Oh, Inverted World back in high school, and, honestly, I didn’t really get it.  Sure, the songs were pretty and soft, but I was initially bored.  And dumb.  It took repeated listens and a few years for me to appreciate it; what a brilliant little debut from a band that would, along with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, probably be the first in the new indie-Internet age to become too popular too quick.

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