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bookMarq this.
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Title says it all. New Madvillain has been long-anticipated and will surely have trouble meeting some pretty high expectations based on the perfection of Madvillainy. But I’m ready. Bring me more.
Sesame Street - Monsterpiece Theater: “Twin Beaks”
In honour of Sesame Street’s 40th birthday a-coming, what better way to start the celebration than the of merging two great civilization, Sesame Street and Twin Peaks, via Alistair Cookie.
The log! Diane! “Darn fine pie”!
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Danny! - Scrambled Eggs
[2009(?) : Where Is Danny?]
Danny (and his pretentious exclamation point) pulls an “MM..Food” and wins with this track devoted to breakfast. Got my mouth watering.
[via]
The monolith. 700+ pages.
I see you Sir Simmons.
No jacket required.
Classy looking.
Mr. Gladwell repping Ontario..and brains
pages 291-93 = essential (of course)
Well look what arrived in the mail today…
After finding that out all of Ottawa was sold out of Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketball when I called an Chapters/Indigo after work hours on release day, I scrambled and immediately ordered it via Amazon.
It should make for the perfect read throughout the NBA season. So the jacket’s off and the book’s packed in the bag for the bus ride tomorrow.
The Shining carpet art installation
Too cool (and nice story behind it via the link).
Now how can I get it for my own hallway?
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Julian Casablancas -Left & Right in the Dark
[2009 : Phrazes for the Young]
This album was a pleasant surprise. I’ve always had a soft spot for The Strokes (despite all the fickle fans turing on them the second they receive mega media attention; I’ve found their albums to be consistently enjoyable).
Not that there’s much similarity, but I like to think of it as similar to Thom Yorke’s solo album - a natural extension of his group’s sound, but still excelling at its own path. I for one am well on board with the synthier sounds of Casablancas’ debut. And at only 8 songs and 40 minutes it’s as much bang for your buck (or download time) that you could hope for.
Halloween Hype 2009, Pt. XIII - XXI
To round out my October horror viewings log, here’s what I watched on Oct 30-31:
Drag Me to Hell [2009 / Sam Raimi / ****]
The Wicker Man [1973 / Robin Hardy / *****]
Halloween [1978 / John Carpenter / *****]
The Evil Dead [1981 / Sam Raimi / *****]
Seven [1995 / David Fincher / *****]
A pretty perfect finish to the month I’d say. Caught Drag Me to Hell at a friend’s great Hallow’s Eve party. It was a really fun movie and I feel that my rating can only go up after future viewings. Wicker + Halloween + E-Dead made for a pretty perfect Halloween night triple-feature. The kids were trick or treating while we watched Halloween (which may well be my most-viewed movie ever, so getting up to give out the candy throughout the film was fine). I started Seven after midnight, so I guess it’s actually my first film viewed for November. Close enough. I’m about to start watching the My Bloody Valentine remake now (recorded the TMNHD premiere last night), so it looks like my horror fixation has no end in sight…. not that it ever would. Especially considering that I’ve loved the genre more than any other for my entire life. October, you were great, as always. November is so jealous, but I’ll give him a chance.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Devin the Dude - Where Can We Go [Hi Life, 2008]
As stated here:
Oh Devin, how I love your weeded-out style. That lazy and beautiful rap-singing you do, those thick beats you always seem to rhyme/sing over. Even this song from “Hi Life”, a randomly compiled collection of some non-album joints, excels and perfectly encapsulates what makes Devin so fresh. Just lay back and enjoy the ride. This song has nothing to say really, it’s just free-associating to the groove.
Halloween Hype 2009, Pt. XII
[2009 / Ruben Fleischer / ***½] [trailer]
This was fun. Caught it for free on a fluke as seeing (the outstanding) Where the Wild Things Are. I noticed Zombieland was starting in 10 minutes and since I’m always game to see a movie theatrically, a free opportunity was one I couldn’t pass up. I quite enjoyed Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg (starring in his second strong movie in 2009, along with the superior Adventureland) and especially Emma StOWNZMYHEART. Overall, the movie was a tad too self-satisfied, but those three actors (along with one of the most fantastic cameos in cinema history) really worked the material well. The zombies almost take a backseat to their comedic interplay, but it’s still good bloody time all around. It’s no Shaun of the Dead, but a worthy entry in the horror-comedy genre.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean [Thriller, 1982]
See below post for explanation.
Shuffle Ten, Vol. 4
Vol. 4 of this exercise, wherein I put my full 80gb iPod on shuffle and give some quick thoughts on the first 10 tracks that play. See the prior posts for further background if you wish.
01. The Sounds – Dance With Me
One of my favourite pop groups of the last decade. A shame they never caught on with much North American radio play… actually that’s probably for the best. Keeps them driven… maybe. This cut is from their debut album and it’s all right. The Sounds’ second album is an absolute pop masterpiece for me, so I’d be a bit more excited if a song off that came up.
02. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – She Love Me, She Loves Me Not
What a great collaboration this duo was. Is there anything better than a great MC consistently rapping over his DJ/producer’s beats (see also Gang Starr, Eric B. & Rakim, Pete Rock & CL Smooth etc etc)? And not to sound too dated, but we need more steady MC/DJ partnerships these days. Murs and his collabs with 9th Wonder and whomever on the Felt albums is the only modern example I’m coming up with right now.
03. InI – Think Twice
Speaking of great collabs, Pete Rock working with anyone is always worth your time. The only InI album “Center of Attention” was completely produced by Pete and remains one of his finest works (as well as one of the most coveted underground/bootlegged hip-hop LP’s before it’s semi-official release 8 years after its recording). Gotta love the Slick Rick vocal sample on this track – one of the most instantly recognizable voices in the game.
04. O.C. – War Games (feat. Organized Konfusion)
Solid (though not mind-blowing) DJ Premier production here. And Pharoahe Monch and O.C. are two of my favourite golden era emcees. All that said, this is a nice song and all, but not my favourite from O.C.’s first two fantastic albums (this one coming his second album “Jewelz”).
05. Joe Public – Live And Learn (Radio Version With Rap)
Uh-oh. Competition’s gonna be stiff to usurp this from being the top track of the 10. Speaking of stiff, that’s exactly what this song made me in 1992 (I know, at age 12 most things can cause this state, but still). After seeing Joe Public perform this (their one hit) on Soul Train, I made sure to cop their full album on cassette. And wore this track OUT. I could not play this on my walkman/ghettoblaster enough. That New Jack sound won me over then and still does today.
Listening to it now, the lyrics are painfully fluffy, but the beat still gets me. This version is from the 12” for “Live and Learn” that I’d downloaded, but it’s really no different from the album version, “rap” and all.
06. Little Indian – One Little Indian (Buckwild’s Remix)
What thu??? My first repeat track from a prior Shuffle Ten post. 12,000+ songs to choose from and my iPod is already repeating?! It’s a nice song, but I’m not writing about it again. See here.
07. Devin The Dude – Where Can We Go
Oh Devin, how I love your weeded-out style. That lazy and beautiful rap-singing you do, those thick beats you always seem to rhyme/sing over. Even this song from “Hi Life”, a randomly compiled collection of some non-album joints, excels and perfectly encapsulates what makes Devin so fresh. Just lay back and enjoy the ride. This song has nothing to say really, it’s just free-associating to the groove. Despite what I just said about Joe Public above, I’ll probably choose this as the song to share – Devin needs more attention.
08. J Dilla – BEAT CD ’05 #1 – Track 10
A precursor to the fantastic “Make It Fast (Unadultered Mix)”, off Dilla’s posthumous collection “Jay Stay Paid”. Gotta love these beat CD’s, making you feel like your eavesdropping in on a true master at work as he discovering that perfect beat – which this certainly is. Also, “trying to go deep throat”???
09. Madlib – Bartender Say (Instrumental)
Jaylib reunited for these back-to-back tracks! This is off the instrumentals for ‘lib’s Quasimoto record “The Further Adventures of Lord Quas”. A fun beat that just makes me crave a new album from Madlib’s Quasimoto persona. It’s time.
10. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
Only one of the greatest songs ever recorded. There’s no doubting that this is the best song of the bunch this month, and I think we’re all familiar with it, yes? Despite this, I feel obliged to post this as the top song on the ten, since it so obviously is. I’ll share one or two of the other songs from this ten as a bonus perhaps. I’m seeing the MJ docu “This Is It” this week, and I’m not sure what to expect at this point, but there’s no denying the absolute perfection of this song. No matter how many times one hears it, it’s never enough.
Fave tracks: 3, 5, 7, 10
Least fave track: none!
Halloween Hype 2009, Pt. XI
Black Sunday [a.k.a. The Mask of Satan / La maschera del demonio]
[1960 / Mario Bava / ****] [trailer]
Beautiful in every way. The black & white photography is such a feast for the eyes. I need to get into more Mario.
Last night's tally
1 beer (Stella Artois)
4 glasses of red wine (can’t recall all the specific wines, only that my first glass was from France, my next two from Argentina, and my last was a Glass Mountain from California)
2 glasses of sherry (Harvey’s Bristol Cream)
1 glass of port (Quinta de Ventozelo Vintage)
1 shot of vodka (Stolichnaya)
1 cappuccino (homebrewed)
And yet there was only a minimal buzz. Oh well, it was all fantastic nonetheless.
