Eye Candy

Mountain Man - Holy Father from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

I like this Mountain Man video. So, the MTV music video awards were on the other day. Jesus, is there anything else that could make you feel really fucking old? I only saw a small portion, I saw Adele nervously sing, "Someone Like You" she even let out a big breath at the end like, "Whew glad that shit's over." Gaga admitted that she had a penis and made shit really awkward with a downtrodden ghost of Britney Spear's hotness. Chris Brown was doing fight scenes, thankfully with men, while horribly lip syncing to auto-tune, for a bemused Kanye and totally uninterested Jay-z. No idea why they kept showing them. Oh, congrats on the behbay Hov!!

In this little snippet I saw, when they gave awards for the actual videos, I had no fucking clue what the songs were. I could recognize the names, but I could not sing one line from one of the songs. *adjusts belt above waist, books flight to Florida* But I am not even upset about losing touch with that formerly mecca-like outpost of my youth. We have grown apart MTV, while you play your Katy Perry and Bieber videos I will be listening to Mountain Man on my phonograph and discussing the problems of the youth with Andy Rooney. Here are some more videos that were not given awards by the star of the remake of Teen Wolf, seriously?


Tv Girl is an awesome band from San Diego. They were on some Indie mix before, too lazy to research. They will also be on an upcoming one with this song.


Ring rang a dong holiday!! This song not only samples Cliff Richard's, "Summer Holiday" but Madonna's, "Holiday" as well. With my affinity for holiday music this just became an instant classic.

Cliff Richard's, "Summer Holiday" below. I believe I first heard this song on a Pringle's commercial. I have no idea who Cliff Richard's is or what this movie is, but I have had this song since the days of Napster.



I saw this on Distortion 2 Static the other day and immediately started googling dat ass. The beat, the flow, I was sold. Seriously, that beat...Although he could have used more lines like a ring a dang dong, overall I feel like it's a solid song. Rey Reurreccion and the DJ on the track, Cutso from the Bangerz, both hail from San Jose. You can actually download Rey's album for free from his site. Guaranteed that this cut will be on a hip hop mix though.


Ok Go's video for The Green Album. Featuring the Muppets on the theme song for the Muppet Show. I guess this song had to be done, but it doesn't really stand on it's own as a song you want to listen to. Theme songs that do- Three's Company, Gummi Bears, Blossom, Golden Girls...Snorks.

Upcoming Shows

September
Fleet Foxes are playing the Greek theater in Berkeley on Saturday September 10th. Tickets are $39.50 plus service charges and can be found here.

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean from Fleet Foxes on Vimeo.

Zion-I, who are always playing around here.  They live in Oakland after all, will be playing the Fillmore on Friday, September 16th.  The show is always worth going to, tickets are $35 including service charges and are available here.




Bon Iver will be at the Greek as well on Thursday, September 22nd. Tickets are $39.50 plus service charges, grab them here.

TV On The Radio will be at the Fox theater in Oakland. I like the Fox a lot more than the Greek. Much more intimate, the Greek is awesome, it's just so big. Anyway, they will be here on Tuesday, September 27th. $35 plus charges. Get yo tickets here.

Braids who I am a big fan of will be at The Bottom of The Hill in San Francisco. Their show is on Tuesday, September 27th, the same night as the TV On The Radio show. Tickets are $10 and you can get them here.

Braids - Plath Heart from blair neal on Vimeo.

October

Toro Y Moi has a two show stint at the Great American Music Hall.  Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd.  $21 tickets are available here

On October 8th and 9th, Girls and Sonny and the Sunsets will be at the Great American Music Hall.  This should be an excellent show. Tickets are $20 and are available here

The Drums are playing the Independent on Friday October 14th.  Tickets are $15 and are available here. The Drums have previously been featured on a couple of Indie mixes, specifically Indie Mix 5.

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, whom I still carry a very bright torch for will be at the Independent on, Sunday October 16th.  I think I can safely put this in the will definitely attend category.  Also in addition to them being awesome, the tickets are only $16.  Grab them here.

November

Lykke Li will be at the Fox Theater on Wednesday, November 9th.  Tickets are $35.  Grab them here.  I like to change the lyrics of her song, "I'm your prostitute," into a kid friendly song called, "I'm your bandicoot." I may attend just to pitch her the idea and show her my costume.

I am a big fan of Blind Pilot. I will be going to this one for sure.  They are playing the Great American Music Hall on Saturday, November 19th. Grab tickets for $18 here.

Eye Candy

This is a pretty Batshit, pun intended, insane video by Powerglove. It's a metal cover of the Danny Elfman created Batman theme from the Tim Burton directed movie. 8-bit stylings, attacking crab people, explosions and the Batman theme song. That's pretty much all you need in life.


Sticking with the 8-bit theme, here are two dancers at the National Jitterbug Championship. Who's coming with me next year? They have some minor technical difficulties in the middle but that don't phase them!!! There are a lot of people at this thing...I mean for a jitterbug competition. I think, I actually don't know the average attendance for jitterbug competitions, I don't even know what a jitterbug is. If I was in this I would just wear a Princess Peach costume and do the charleston for 6 minutes.

Here is a video by Blue Belt, a indie hip hop collective out of Brooklyn. They just dropped their self-titled debut album. This is for their song "E.Y.B. Which stands for eff your blog. Why I never. *Clutches pearls*


Jaleel White stars in the video for Cee-Lo's, "Cry Baby." The song is excellent and I like the look of the video, nice style.

Spike Jonze directed video for the Jay-z and Kanye West jam, "Otis." I kind of expected more from Jonze, it looks like Jonze doing his version of a Hype Williams. Jay looks happy though huh?

The Kim Sisters

You offend me, you offend my family, has a great post about the Kim Sisters. I believe that SK and I first saw them when we were looking up Kim Jung Mi, who has a great song on Tres Ouais' awesome60's mix. Not sure if the download link still works for that, but if it does you should grab it. A little bit about them from You offend's me post:

"By 1958, they were recruited by an American manager and flown to Las Vegas, where they had a popular revue show at the Thunderbird Hotel. In 1959, they were “discovered” by E Sullivan and would perform 22 times on his nationally televised show over a 14 year span. The Sisters soon became very savvy and were able to bring over the rest of their siblings and had a contract with the Stardust to perform as a family revue."

Pretty amazing success story especially for the time. Check out the whole post here for a more in-depth read. Also check out their skeelz in the videos below. They can get down on the glockenspiel? Xylophone? Other impossible to spell instrument? My brother and I formed a group when we were little, but we never made it to Vegas, apparently no one wants to pay $150 a ticket to watch two Asian American male kids re-interpret, "Some Like it Hot" as a spoken word act about Global warming...maybe if we had added a Glockenspiel bit.

Eye Candy

COOLRUNNINGS - Chorus from Rafael Bonilla Jr. on Vimeo.
Trippy visuals for Coolrunning's song, "Chorus."


Well made video by Other Lives for their song, "For 12."


I like this unofficial video for the Giver's song, "Noche Nada." A friend of Friends With Both Arms, Meghan Ellie Smith made it.


Bambu linked up with Estevan Oriel for this video. I didn't know Bambu was down with Soul Assassins, just knew of his ties to Native Guns and his work with Blue Scholars.


This has been out for a minute by now but here is Mike B. with his song, "Roll Credits."


Video for Wild Nothing's, "Chinatown." Which was on Indie Mix 3 back in the day.

Muppets: The Green Album

I grew up on, "Muppet Babies."  My favorite was always Gonzo which is coincidentally now my favorite genre of porno...it's not really..I love all genres equally.  Though I may have been born of the Muppet Baby generation that doesn't mean that I was indifferent to the original.  Like a young apprentice I studied my history.  I loved, "The Muppet Movie," "Muppets Take Manhattan" and even "A Muppet Christmas Carol." That's about as far as I go in the Muppet canon, I never followed them to Space, Treasure Island, or on their Norwegian Vacation, one of those may not be real.

I have pretty fond memories of Henson's creations and am actually looking forward to the new Muppet movie written and directed by Jason Segel.  All of that was just to say that NPR is streaming the new Muppets cover album, officially titled, "The Green Album," on their website.  It features some pretty amazing talent, including Weezer, My Morning jacket, and Andrew Bird.  Head on over to NPR and get your nostalgia on.

Swisher's Cover Album

The impossible to hate former Oakland Athletic, Nick Swisher apparently has a music album out.  Deadspin says that it is a Children's album.  Looking at the tracklist it just looks like a cover album to me.  Apparently Barry Zito and Bernie Williams make appearances on the album as well.  It's not good based on the sample I heard, but it's for charity and Swisher will always be ok in my book.  The dude is even a Yankee now and I don't hate him so, I give him a lot of leeway.

1. Heroes
2. I Won't Back Down
3. Where The Green Grass Grows
4. Lean On Me
5. With A Little Help From My Friends
6. Everyday People
7. Proud Mary
8. Take Me Home, Country Roads
9. Joy To The World
10. Hang On Sloopy
11. Jumpin' Jack Flash
12. Believe

You can hear a sample here at Deadspin.

Eye Candy

Sophie Madeleine did 30 covers in 30 days for the month of July. These are just two of the videos she did. She took requests for covers and the range of artists is pretty stellar. She even does a cover of Cult's, "Go Outside." You can check all of them out on her site here here.


Somebody thought that this was necessary...I am inclined to agree.


LITTLE SCREAM - Cannons / Heron and the Fox from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.
Nice live video of Little Scream.


Lia Ices - Ice Wine from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
Lia Ices was probably on a Yes Homo mix at some point.


I think I heard some lyrics about not being a slave to the radio in this song. Yet this sounds exactly like something they would play on the radio or in a club. I think he has nice flow, even introspective, coherent, and intelligent lyrics, it just funny that it has that radio friendly packaging (ohhh auto-tune.) I may not like the song for that video but Gowe impressed me on his track, "Don't Phase Me" and a couple of other tracks off of his, "Beautiful Journey LP." Check that out below.



This doesn't sound like a song that you would hear on the radio. I like Dumbfoundead, but this is not one of my favorite tracks from him. The song definitely has lyrical content, deep themes, and heart. The video looks great, just wasn't nodding my head and getting my Tony Yayo on. Check out his website for more info on him.

Brilliant Colors - 'Round Your Way from Slumberland Records on Vimeo.

Nice song, the video was shot in San Francisco.

Hip Hop Mix 10

Feeling this shirt so much I accosted a dude on the bus (no homo) to find out where he got it. This isn't where he got it, but you can get Exact Science shirts at one of my favorite online music/clothing spots, the Giant Peach.

Another sample of Exact Science's T-shirt line.

Grab the mix here or hit the jump for samples and the whole tracklist.

Eye Candy

Vintage looking Parkour video. Feeling that aesthetic. I'm sure you can check their page out for more videos if you are into that sort of thing. Sometimes watching failure is better than success, I find that holds true for me with Parkour videos. PARKOUR!! *Jumps on desk, then gingerly climbs down*


Go Outside, by Cults from Boing Boing on
Vimeo.
Official video for the Cults song, "Go Outside." This song was on Indie Mix 5 way back in day. They opened for the Morning Benders when we saw them in the city and I became a fan.


N.O.R.E. over a track produced by Pharrell. More importantly one of the dudes in the video has been "arrested for allegedly having a car filled with goats, roosters, pigeons and a duck...Raul Armenteros, an adult film star who goes by the name of "Ramon," starred in an adult film series called "Bang Bus."  Dude from Bang Bus, arrested with a car full of animals, the jokes just write themselves.

How about a palette cleanser?  Sweet and poppy Kina Grannis. She's cute and it's got hand claps, that's a win, win.


This is a nice song and the images from the video make me go, oh hey I remember 1995.

Mixtape Roundup: Hip Hop

Here is a Jean Grae mixtape that dropped a while ago. I haven't given it a listen, mixtape tags bug the shit out of me. But Jean is a solid lyricist sponsered by Talib and signed to his Blacksmith label. She has put out some of my favorite songs, and no not just favorite songs from a female emcee, I mean favorite songs regardless of gender. Her work with Blue Sky Black Death was head noddingly fantastic.

Grab the mix here.

Peter Gunz of Uptown Baby, we get's down baby fame's son has been putting out tracks for quite awhile now.  He may also have a reality show, but that could have just been a bad dream, since like most of my nightmares I think Nick Cannon was in it.  Anyway here is a mixtape that he put out a month or so back.  Grab it from Nahright.com, here

Weezy F. Baby, don't forget the Baby!!!  This dropped a while ago as well.  I am sure real Wayne fans have gotten their grubby paws on it by now.  If you are late to the party or are wondering why anyone would forget the baby and just who this Weezy person is then you can download the mix right here.

I read an article where Bumpy said that he took some married lady who was trolling for a "dangerous" one night stand back to her hotel where he proceeded to sleep with her.  Afterward he stole her shit and jumped out the window.  That's just one of the reasons I am a fan of Bumpy.  He was also blowing up Solar all over the internet after Guru's passing.  He is a solid dude, who will rob you while you are in the shower, a man of contradictions and quality raps.  Grab his mixtape
here.

Instrumental mixtape from DJ Burnone.  Now I can stop bugging Premier for beats.  You want how much!!???

Get it from TSS here.

Eye Candy

This is pretty aww inducing. This comment from one of the mariachis answers a question I had myself. I was wondering if the whale could hear them through the glass, if he felt the vibrations, or if he was just reacting the way I do when I see a big shiny hat.

"Hi there again, this is me Eduardo Rocha the Mariachi man who is playing the guitar in the video. I just want to say that Mr. "Juno" (that is his name) Beluga Whale heard us very clear because the tank is open at the top and also he splashed us pretty gentle !!!

Thanks a lot for watching this video."

I guess they were at the aquarium for a wedding, I had not considered this a viable option for a wedding venue...*scribbles notes in "My dream wedding diary.*

PANDA BEAR "Surfer's Hymn" from m ss ng p eces on Vimeo.

Awesome video by Panda Bear for their song, "Surfer's Hymn."


Well edited video from Battles, for their song, "Ice Cream."


Billy Preston has some moves. So fluid, if I tried that my feet would just fly out from under me and Uncle Ray would have to stop playing while they call a paramedic. Great video of two powerhouses doing their respective things.


This is not a very good song. But it is E-40 and it has Too Short and Snoop. It's also all about California, so I have to post it for California pride reasons....bad song though.


This is from some Redbull B-Boy competition in Barcelona. I think it's just the way it's edited but it doesn't show any top rocking or footwork. I know people just shit their pants and ooh and ahh when they see a windmill, but B-Boying is not just about who has the most power moves. I feel like an old person commiserating the lack of appreciation for the chest pass and the fundamentals of basketball when kids just want to see dunks. Those are some impressive ass power moves though.


This is kind of the opposite of Billy Preston's sweet dance moves. This is the definitive, White People Can't Dance mix. I don't think this shows the worst dancing that is out there though. All they had to do was go to an outdoor music festival and film some of those dirty hippies that have some other worldly skill to move to the beat at all the wrong times. You could go to any show and there is some over enthusiastic person who despite lacking rhythm, style, and balance, will get the fuck down!!! Usually at an uncomfortably close distance. Daaaamn did that dude just bust out the pelvic thrust? That's my move.

Indie Mix 8

"Black Forest" by Hong Seon Jang, from a past group exhibit at the David B. Smith Gallery.

From the vault comes Indie Mix 8. You can grab it here. Hit the jump for samples and the tracklist.

Eye Candy

MOMENTS WITH ALOE BLACC, MIKI AND JAYBO: "I NEED A DOLLAR" PART 5/6 from MADE Blog on Vimeo.

This is an amaaaaaazing video of Aloe Blacc performing a live rendition of his song, "I Need a Dollar." Backing is provided by Mihalj “MIKI” Kekenj’s string quartet. The performance, which took place back in April, was captured by artist Jaybo for the MADE project. Aloe sounds insanely good. It might be the orchestra mics or the acoustics but he sings so clearly and seemingly without effort. Love the drink in hand and the calm way he can just belt it out. Seriously great performance, I can't get over how good this sounds.


Bjork and Michel Gondry, "CRYSTALLINE." It seems like this song was made for a video and not the other way around. I can't imagine when you would want to listen to this song. I wouldn't be bumping this in my car, this isn't living room fare. It's tolerable with the visuals though. It's kind of like an insane Icelandic woman and a crazed French man got together for this project, or maybe that's just the vibe I get.


I love this commercial so much. I like to imagine the director and James' interactions like Bill Murray in, "Lost In Translation." "You know Lat pack?" *James just screams and does the splits*


Ha, these kids are awesome. They are the perfect duo. Strong silent type, straight man, on the right and the singer, emcee, on the left. Strong silent is intense, you have to love the face he makes when he does the shimmy. Amazing video. I love Andre 3000 as well children.


Great animated video for a nice airy pop number from Lanu featuring Megan Washington. Love the style, blends really well with the vibe of the song too.


Yourstru.ly Presents: UMO "How Can You Luv Me" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
Feeling this Unknown Mortal Orchestra song. Falsetto rockiness, recorded in SF. Of course they were formed in Portland.


Sene makes some quality hip hop. Became a fan of him from his work with Blu and Exile.