| Only Built 4 Skinny Jeans Part 4 (The Search for 3) | September 17, 2009 |
Under no circumstances should Skinny Jeans and a Mic be better than Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon. After all, Cudi has the co-signs (Kanye, Common, the uh, Black Eyed Peas) the would-be indie icons brought in for Aoki-crowd mustache cred (MGMT, Crookers, Ratatat) and the back-story: at age 11 loses father to cancer, makes […]
| Final Thoughts on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 | September 16, 2009 |
A link to my review at Pop and Hiss. No more Cuban Linx talk until year-end list time. More content coming later today. And while we’re on topic… Download: MP3: Raekwon-“Can’t Hide It” (Left-Click) MP3: Raekwon ft. Ghostface-“Criminology’09”
| Live Review: Old School Fest Featuring Melle Mel, Kurtis Blow, Soulsonic Force & Egyptian Lover at the Greek Theatre | September 15, 2009 |
On the Nile. Great cover or greatest cover? Granted, my review of Old School Fest at the Greek should only appeal to the scant but savvy readership who may or may not have sported a buoffant during the mid-80s. I myself once used Murray’s pomade for a two year-stretch, but I don’t think that counts. […]
| Division Day Brings “Visitation” to Spaceland | September 2, 2009 |
Today is hirsute white person day at the Passion of the Weiss. Clearly, it’s a corollary to yesterday’s revelation that I secretly hate hip-hop, especially the dromedary-looking fellow who sampled Orphan Annie. Concluding this bearded extravaganza is Division Day, a local band that has recently and deservedly received high praise from both the LA Weekly […]
| The Innovative Experimentation of Akron/Family | September 2, 2009 |
Akron/Family performing “Ed is a Portal” at the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans showcase was my favorite moment of this year’s SXSW. The Rza isn’t the only one who is a hip-hop hippie. Of course, watching a secondhand YouTube clip can only do so much for you. Kief-coated Bong rips may help–if you’re into that sort of […]
| First Listen: Jay-Z’s “Blueprint 3” | September 1, 2009 |
Yesterday, in the midst of the commotion regarding the leak of Blueprint 3, my editors at the Times requested that I do a first-listen live-blog review. The result is up now, with roughly half the best jokes and three quarters of the venom siphoned out. It’s probably for the best. Had my original draft ran, […]
| Dungen’s Redefinition of Pyschedelia | August 28, 2009 |
Photo By Jeff Cowan I stopped having a “favorite band” when I started to take this whole writing about music thing seriously. It seemed a relic of childhood absolutism, where there is A FAVORITE BASEBALL PLAYER (Eric Davis), FOOD (McDonald’s hamburgers), LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST (Tom Snyder, be thy name). But for this week–at […]
| Cut Chemist On His New Album and Summer Jamming | July 25, 2009 |
In my ongoing quest to avoid asking the 1,247th consecutive musician what they hope to achieve in the future, I discussed Summer Jamz with the Cut Chemist: specifically, his love of 80s French Industrial music, Metric, and that Michael Jackson fellow. We also discussed the new album that he hopes to drop next Spring, from […]
| Nosaj Thing: Tracing the Line From Radiohead to Dr. Dre | July 24, 2009 |
A quick one before I head to an undisclosed locale that involves absinthe appetizers, scantily clad women, and Cypress Hill. I should probably watch Nosaj Thing and Daddy Kev crush the Roxy tonight, but I’m clearly striving to embody the spirit of the Los Angeles D-bag. Although, to paraphrase Jay, I could be a fedora […]
| Beach Dazed Tomorrow Night | July 17, 2009 |
I was offered the chance to see Amadou & Miriam open for Coldplay tomorrow night. While the former rank among my favorite blind Malian husband and wife duos ever (just below the Blind Boys of Bamako, just ahead of the Timbuktu Two-Steppers), I’ll be heading to Beach Dazed instead. Partially, because I don’t think I […]
