I'm no "New Slang" fan myself, but Keith Harris OTM.

I'm 35 today. Here is my favorite song right now.

If you're in New York and can brave the weather, I appear at this event Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m., i.e. tonight (well, tomorrow, but technically). It should be fun.

I particularly like this week's It's a Hit, on "Empire State of Mind" Pt. 1 and 2.

"I remember feeling completely alienated – not only did I think it was goofy but it felt like a betrayal of what I’d assumed the charts were for: showcasing new music, even if it wasn’t my new music." Tom Ewing on the late-'80s rise of the reissued single, that singular marketing device designed to help act as if a generation gap didn't--couldn't--occur during the years the baby boomers were largely parenting teenagers. Or at least that's one paranoid way to look at it; you could also say that pop started to suck in the late '80s, and I'd agree with that too, but either way, this is one of the more quarrelsome aspects of coming of pop age when Tom or I did. He explains it with more research than I've bothered with, and along with this introduction to 1987, I'm especially excited--this is the terrain I wrote about, from a more American (and less savvy) side, in Sign 'O' the Times, and this will go places I didn't, and in many ways couldn't, do.

January 2010
1. Yeasayer, “I Remember” (XL) from Odd Blood
2. Joy Orbison, “Hyph Mngo (Andreas Saag’s House Perspective)” (MP3)
3. Jay Electronica, “Exhibit C” (Decon)
4. Strong Arm Steady ft. Mitchy Slick, “Two Pistols” (Stones Throw) from In Search of Stoney Jackson
5. Spoon, “Who Makes Your Money” (Merge) from Transference
6. Four Tet, “Angel Echoes” (Domino) from There Is Love in You
7. Hot Chip, “One Life Stand (Carl Craig PCP Remix)” (EMI)
8. Corinne Bailey Rae, “Paris Nights/New York Mornings” (EMI) from The Sea
9. Grateful Dead, “Shakedown Street (Tommie Sunshine & Figure Brooklyn Fire Edit)” (Soundcloud.com/tommiesunshine)
10. Mi Ami, “Cut Men” (Thrill Jockey)

New Beat Connection is up. This time around--and from here on out--I've added a chronological list of 10 favorite web mixes for the month, inspired by the year-end list. Covered this month: Martyn, Ellen Allien, The Kings of Drum and Bass, Lindstrøm & Christabelle, Shlohmo, Pop Ambient 2010, Anthony "Shake" Shakir.