Schmusic

2010-10-01T12:12:00.001-07:00

Singles Jukebox reviews, Q4:10The Bug, "Skeng (Autechre Remix)" (7)9Girl Unit, "Wut" (7.92)8Cypress Hill ft. Pitbull & Marc Anthony, "Armada Latina" (7.6)Coati Mundi, "Bundas Bom" (7.62)Pissed Jeans, "False Jesii Pt. 2" (4.82)September, "Resuscitate Me" (6.17)7Aloe Blacc, "Femme Fatale" (6.5)Luca Brazi, "Wake Up" (6.15)The Greenhornes, "Saying Goodbye" (5.45)Alexis Jordan, "Happiness" (5.46)

2010-07-02T12:00:00.001-07:00

My Singles Jukebox reviews, third quarter:10Donae'o, "I'm Fly" (7.29)9Cali Swag District, "Teach Me How to Dougie" (6.33)Lyfe Jennings, "Statistics" (4.89)8Sia, "Clap Your Hands" (6)7Big Boi ft. Vonnegutt, "Follow Us" (6)Caribou, "Sun" (6.4)J. Cole, "Who Dat" (6.3)The-Dream ft. T.I., "Make-Up Bag" (6.11)Fake Blood, "I Think I Like It" (6)Sky Ferreira, "One" (6.31)Freddie Gibbs, "National Anthem (

2010-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

My 2010 Singles Jukebox reviews, second quarter:9Deniz Kurtel ft. Guests of Nature, "Yeah" (6.67)M.I.A., "Born Free" (5.56)8I:Cube, "Falling" (7.14)Joy Orbison, "The Shrew Would Have Cushioned the Blow" (7.11)Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, "The Mighty Sparrow" (6.6)Pill, "Hear Somebody Comin'" (7.33)7Corinne Bailey-Rae, "Closer" (5.57)Lloyd Banks ft. Juelz Santana, "Beamer, Benz or Bentley" (5.89)

2010-04-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Singles Jukebox is live and happening for 2010. Below, as per last year, are my grades for the first quarter, with Jukebox averages in parentheses. Asterisk (*) = my grade but not my blurb is up.9Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane, "Shine Blockas" (7.43)8Corinne Bailey-Rae, "Paris Nights/New York Mornings" (6.86)The Bangz ft. New Boyz, "Found My Swag" (7.23)*Dam-Funk, "Mirrors" (6.5)Hot Chip, "I Feel

2010-03-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

I'm spending more time over here, though I'm keeping this around for less bitty stuff, and lists. Speaking of which, here's 10 more good new mixes and a rather nice assortment of electronic albums, as usual.

2010-02-20T15:52:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-18T00:34:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-16T13:09:00.001-08:00

2010-02-13T12:26:00.001-08:00

2010-02-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-02-03T12:31:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

"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

2010-02-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

January 20101. Yeasayer, “I Remember” (XL) from Odd Blood2. 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 Jackson5. Spoon, “Who Makes Your Money” (Merge) from Transference6. Four Tet, “Angel Echoes” (Domino) from There Is

2010-02-01T11:13:00.001-08:00

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.

2010-01-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

The RA '00s lists (Albums, Mixes, Tracks) are up now; I contributed blurbs to each (No. 71 album, No. 21 and 3 mixes, No. 17 track). There's quite a bit on all three lists that I don't know, but a lot of what I do know I like a lot. In many cases (especially albums), I'd presumed some sort of greyness about many of those I haven't heard, or else had heard one and wasn't hooked. I'll be revisiting

2010-01-25T20:07:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago on Twitter, I wrote, "All this talk about VW made me put on this actual No. 1 Western-appropriation-of-African-guitar." (It wasn't actually hyperlinked, obv.) Well, I stand corrected! I like Vampire Weekend, both albums, though "Cousins" makes me think that they should be the latest victim of the age-old buzz-band rumor that they started off playing third-wave ska. (It's like my

2010-01-20T09:54:00.001-08:00

Stealing from Frank Kogan's LiveJournal: how I came to the records in my Pazz & Jop ballot, or how they came to me.ALBUMS1. DJ Koze, Reincarnations: The Remix Chapter 2001-2009 (Get Physical) 30 Pretty certain I saw word of this on the Resident Advisor Feed; it got me excited, and I tracked down a leak and reviewed it for the A.V. Club. I bought the CD at Sonic Boom the day it was released.2. Art

2010-01-10T21:44:00.001-08:00

2010-01-06T22:02:00.001-08:00

Of course I like this. No way "The Tra-La-La Song" is better than "The Race Is On," though--and no fucking way is "Ridin' the Storm Out" better than "Fall on Me."

2010-01-05T00:42:00.001-08:00

Look at this. You don't have to care at all about dance music in order to think this is a seriously smart, imaginative, playful, fun idea. It's a DJ-mix equivalent to things like the Wu-Note Project or the Pelican "Cover Versions," and along with Tom Ewing's new reductionist Tumblr project, it makes me think the internet is stepping up nicely for the new year.

2010-01-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hey guys have you heard about this brand new band called Golden Girls?!?!?!

2010-01-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

Apologies if you're listed out, but here's another: Top 10 albums and online DJ mixes of 2009, for the January Beat Connection. The mixes are all linked, and in many cases I re-upped them. Enjoy!

2010-01-02T00:06:00.000-08:00

My Pazz & Jop albums ballot:1. DJ Koze, Reincarnations: The Remix Chapter 2001-2009 (Get Physical) 302. Art Brut, Art Brut vs. Satan (Downtown) 133. DJ Quik and Kurupt, BlaQKout (Mad Science) 114. Tanya Morgan, Brooklynati (Interdependent) 115. 5 Years of Hyperdub Records (Hyperdub) 86. The Fiery Furnaces, I'm Going Away (Thrill Jockey) 77. A-Trak, FabricLive 45 (Fabric) 58. Black Moth Super

2009-12-30T12:53:00.001-08:00

"Hater," the death of browser culture, Simon Cowell, Inc., and seven more musical regrets of the '00s, for The Stranger.

2009-12-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for a (sort of) listicle, pt. 3: Baltimore City Paper's annual People Who Died roundup--this year, Helio Gracie, Judith Krug, Marilyn Chambers, Jack Cardiff, Rashied Ali, Allen Klein, Richard Whitcomb, Sylvia Schur, and Donald Westlake.

2009-12-28T22:13:00.001-08:00

To the surprise of no one, I’ve made some end-of-decade lists. Well, I’ve made a few—not just here, either, but the lists I did for specific polls and surveys only apply here insofar as they’ve provided fuel for these lists. There are five altogether: 100 albums (already posted) and four separate lists of singles and tracks totaling 500. I’ll roll them out over the next few weeks, finishing by

2009-12-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

This isn't likely to change over the next four days, so I'll post it now. I started this list in September and have tweaked it heavily over the past three months. There are caveats galore, none of which I'll bother stating explicitly other than to say that anything you think looks short-sighted, not as good as another choice by the same artist, or like a mere genre token probably is. Bitch all

2009-12-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for a listicle, pt. 1: Forbes' High Fives archives. Pt. 2 (well, not really a listicle, but a series of essays, one per year): New York Times' Op-Ed's "The Decade We Had," by Richard Ford, William Langewiesche, Mimi Swartz, Leon Wieseltier, Scott Turow, Jonathan Safran Foer, Richard Powers, Anthony Bourdain, Collum McCann, and Mary Karr.

2009-12-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

Moments in history: the minutes of the meeting that brought us the phrase "world music." (Via Jace Clayton, via Wayne Marshall.)

2009-12-23T12:48:00.001-08:00

2009-12-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Meghan Daum's eulogy for Kirkus Reviews is based on an OK idea--better a pro than an am, in most cases. I think everyone has agreed on this for a while now; fine. But there's a couple of casual asides that, for me, pulled things to a stop. To wit:Granted, at Kirkus many of those critics were anonymous freelancers who were paid about $50 per review (an executive salary compared to Publishers

2009-12-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Every year I swear I'm not going to do my Top 100 Tracks before Dec. 31, and every year the onslaught of year-end lists that are likely to skewer what I come up with toward stuff I didn't hear till I saw them convinces me otherwise. 2009 is no different. Call me insecure if you want, but I like to stick to what I know I liked, rather than be persuaded in other directions--even if those other

2009-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

This year I've been participating in The Singles Jukebox, the review consortium organized by William B. Swygart. For year-end, Will has organized what he calls Best-Off--an eight-round heat of five songs each, with the top two finishers from each organized in head-to-head fashion in the coming weeks. The two heats I helped judge, Group 5 and Group 7, are now up. The others are entertaining, too:

2009-12-12T12:16:00.001-08:00

Alfred Soto, illuminating, on the selling of mid-'80s roots-rock.

2009-12-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

What's in a decade of band names? Philip Sherburne decides to find out. Overwhelming, probably definitive, and surprisingly entertaining--reading it gave me mental whiplash of the sort you usually get from a densely packed DJ mix, appropriately enough.

2009-12-11T00:27:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, either.

2009-12-04T13:21:00.001-08:00

No comment necessary.

2009-11-29T23:12:00.001-08:00

2009-11-16T10:17:00.001-08:00

I've had a couple of very busy weeks, largely due to end-of-decade writing, much of which will be appearing this week. eMusic's Yearbook is the thing I'm probably most excited about reading: Hua Hsu on 2000; Melissa Maerz on 2001; me on 2002; Matthew Fritch on 2003; Douglas Wolk on 2004; Chuck Eddy on 2005; Jess Harvell on 2006; Vijith Assar on 2007; Christopher R. Weingarten on 2008; J. Edward

2009-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons I'm on Facebook is to play Wordscraper--a Scrabble rip with lots of extras. I like to make high-scoring boards, which I invariably lose. The play's the thing--it's fun to unwind with. Today I accidentally started two games (rather than the one I'd intended) with someone looking for them. Sure, she said--as long as I didn't use word-finding websites. I said I didn't. I used to

2009-11-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

I'm late with this--I'll be late with everything for a good while; keeping up is more impossible than ever lately, which is fine with me--but I want to mention dÉbruit's FACT Mix 90, from October 9. Eclectic DJ mixes are a dime a dozen, even when they work, so believe me when I say that this one has a beguiling, strange, intuitive internal logic all its own. The site's intro hypes him as a "

2009-11-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

I have a new monthly dance-music roundup at The A.V. Club called Beat Connection.

2009-10-16T23:41:00.000-07:00

Christgau on Robert Crumb's Book of Genesis Illustrated. Religion is like football to me: I have almost no comprehension of how it works. I wasn't raised religiously at all. I accompanied my great-grandaunts Loretta and Arlene to church a handful of times because they always went on Sundays, out of sheer curiosity, which turned to boredom quickly. My sisters and I were all baptized Catholic, a

2009-10-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

Four years ago I grabbed Tom Shone's Blockbuster off the free table at the Weekly, always intending to read it but never getting around to it. Packing for Brooklyn, I knew I'd need it--I'm working on a project that I figured it would be useful background for, which it has been. It's also been enjoyable: I began reading Tuesday and am one chapter away from finishing, which is fast for me--I'm a

2009-10-14T08:17:00.001-07:00

2009-10-11T21:29:00.001-07:00

[xxxxx] wrote the way everyone else empties an ashtray.

2009-10-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

2009 Q3 Top 50 Tracks1. Joy Orbison, “Hyph Mngo” (Hotflush)2. DJ Kaos, “Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Mix)” (Rong/DFA)3. Ghostface Killah ft. Fabolous & Shareefa, “Guest House” (Def Jam)4. Joker & Ginz, “Purple City” (Kapsize)5. Lone, “Joy Reel” (Werk)6. DJ Morgoth, “Never Gonna Give Your Teen

2009-10-02T07:50:00.001-07:00

2009-09-14T22:02:00.001-07:00

Probably my favorite Beatles cover of all time.

2009-09-05T11:36:00.001-07:00

Wuv.

2009-09-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hua Hsu sums up the Roxanne Shante brouhaha of the past few days here. Having seen her talk about this in Minneapolis a few years ago, as well as reading about it in Yes Yes Y'all and seeing her on VH1's "100 Best Hip-Hop Songs" do the same, the thing that occurred to me, and that I haven't seen elsewhere, is that maybe--maybe--one reason she called herself a doctor, and put out that story, is

2009-09-03T13:38:00.001-07:00

The most enjoyable media consumable I've seen all year, even though it's three-and-a-half years old.

2009-08-23T11:05:00.001-07:00

2009-08-20T21:24:00.001-07:00

This was great fun: hanging out for a couple hours inside the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.

2009-08-14T18:16:00.001-07:00

2009-08-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Maybe my favorite '70s soul record.

2009-08-13T06:23:00.001-07:00

Way to go, internet! (via Maura)

2009-08-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

You learn something new everyday. I didn't think I could possibly like "Happy House" chopped down to three minutes, nor did I think a video could actually make the song even better. But I do and it does. Wow.

2009-08-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

Mike Sacks's And Here's the Kicker has become one of my favorite books this year--conversations with 21 humor writers. Apparently it was going to be 25; the four not in the book are on McSweeney's, and are as good as the ones in the book.

2009-08-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

A.O. Scott and Roger Ebert in perfect harmony. Makes me think I should do something similar--god knows how rotten things are for pop this year.

2009-08-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of the greatest projects I've ever seen.

2009-08-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

I'm vaguely embarrassed that in the nine years since I first visited New York it took till today--and only because Angela wanted to go--to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We started in the Egyptian exhibit; it was hard to focus on the walls of papyrus hieroglyphics and wall drawings, but that changed soon, and a lot--a LOT--of what I saw there and in the Arms and Armor, Medieval Art,

2009-08-08T22:20:00.001-07:00

Julie & Julia might be the most bipolar movie ever made. Half of it is a very charming period comedy-drama about the road a singular, lively woman took toward bridging a crucial cultural gap, mostly out of instinct and love and drive; it made her famous, but that was effect, not motivation. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child somewhat cartoonishly, but that's a lot of why it works: Child knew she was

2009-08-08T16:27:00.001-07:00

2009-08-07T22:16:00.001-07:00

Oh man is this good.

2009-08-06T02:54:00.001-07:00

Greatest Year Ever, pt. 3

2009-08-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of the geekier things I've written, and one of the most enjoyable: a consideration of how pop album lengths have shrunk over the past decade.

2009-08-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Greatest Year Ever, pt. 2

2009-08-02T13:06:00.001-07:00

2009-07-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

This one turned out OK: I don't know as much about the context as I'd like but en masse it's the stuff I've most enjoyed recently--all year, really.

2009-07-26T20:45:00.001-07:00

If I read a piece three times just for the sheer pleasure and smartness of it, that means I should mention it here, right? So I will: Tom Ewing on what pop fragmentation might really mean.

2009-07-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

That jingle at the end hasn't left my head in a quarter-century, god help me.

2009-07-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Greatest Year Ever, part 1.

2009-07-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Actual editing by actual editors. Also:Never thought I'd like one of these again so much, but lo and behold.

2009-07-19T17:04:00.001-07:00

2009-07-18T00:34:00.001-07:00

I write for Resident Advisor and listen to the podcasts every week--or I leave them for a couple and then catch up. That's what I'm doing now with the nsi. from last week. It's a 49-minute live set, it's the kind of thing pop fans will find horribly self-indulgent, it hits my experimental and spooky and dry psychedelia buttons perfectly, it has an absolute sense of place, and it's one of my

2009-07-15T23:43:00.001-07:00

2009-07-14T21:28:00.001-07:00

2009-07-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

75 tracks I like from 2009's first half.1. Maxwell, “Pretty Wings”2. DJ Quik & Kurupt, “9x's Outta 10”3. Art Brut, “Demons Out!”4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Zero”5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “Young Adult Friction”6. The Love Language, “Sparxxx”7. The Fiery Furnaces, “Lost at Sea”8. Camera Obscura, “French Navy”9. Drake, “Best I Ever Had”10. Walter Jones, “Living

2009-07-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

"Jesus" loves you IT'S ALL RIGHT!

2009-07-08T21:31:00.001-07:00

When billboards proclaiming "Buy Local Orlando" first appeared in Orlando, Florida, Julie Norris, a cafe owner who last year co-founded Ourlando, an initiative to support indie businesses, was excited to see the concept getting such visibility. But she soon realized that the city-funded program, which provides businesses who join with a "Buy Local" decal, seminars at the Disney Entrepreneur

2009-07-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Half-year albums. I've updated this from a week ago; the usual caveats apply.1. DJ Koze, Reincarnations: The Remix Chapter 2001-2009 (Get Physical)2. Art Brut vs. Satan (Downtown)3. A-Trak, FabricLive 45 (Fabric)4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz! (Interscope)5. The Juan MacLean, The Future Will Come (DFA)6. Jay Haze, Fabric 47 (Fabric)7. Claro Intelecto, Warehouse Sessions (

2009-07-05T01:18:00.001-07:00

The writing ain't much (it's a blog, it's Variety, it's a Variety blog), but this is some fun what-if about the '70s Best Picture nominees expanded to 10.

2009-07-04T23:42:00.001-07:00

You're adults; you can take one more MJ think piece. Make it Phil Nugent's.

2009-06-29T03:43:00.001-07:00

OK, I will say one other thing about Michael Jackson. (I suspect I'll say many other things about him. Bear with me.) It's this: will Sony please take this sad opportunity to correct the packaging of Off the Wall? I have the special edition from 2001, and it sounds great, but the subbing in of photos from a later photo session, circa Thriller, for whatever reason--because he thought he was "ugly"

2009-06-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

Back in February I listened to Thomas Brinkmann's RA.143 Podcast (gone, alas), but it didn't really grab me till near the end. Around 54:31, following a noisy, abrupt track, very fruity pizzicato strings come in playing a very familiar tune. I wound up tracking down the 12-inch by Marc Ushmi and Tom Assman and Nik Adirol and began playing it out. The song of course is "Rock with You," and playing

2009-06-26T20:14:00.001-07:00

Ernest Hardy brings the ruckus.

2009-06-26T19:18:00.001-07:00

Still one of the 10 best music pieces ever written.

2009-06-25T18:34:00.001-07:00

R.I.P. Monoculture.

2009-06-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

I'm cynical about the Oscar news. It isn't just that they can't even find five good movies to nominate in a year; it's that what gets in seems so preordained, one of Type A, one of Type B, etc., that it seems to me they wouldn't be bringing in the Wall-Es so much as piling on the Crashes. Plus it's a totally naked attempt to boost box office and/or DVD sales for double the movies per year--

2009-06-22T13:09:00.001-07:00

(thx, J)

2009-06-20T07:47:00.001-07:00

Is this the most Minneapolis thing of all time? Only until you can send a Jucy Lucy through then Internet.

2009-06-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

A minor note on something Weingarten, Minichino, and Mackro (whose video, response, and comment are all worth checking) seem to be forgetting: the late '90s generated a big uptick of people writing about music for money as well as not for it. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers were making their web presences felt and using lots of freelancers to review catalog product. (This was always

2009-06-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

"I've been fortunate enough that the music that I've done seems to have its own life without me having to show up everywhere and wave." Great Q&A with Bill Withers (thanks, Ned).

2009-06-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have to stop walking down dark streets at night, because the sidewalks in this town are notoriously uneven, and just now I took a really nasty fall. I am never been more frightened, in a right-in-front-of-you sense, than when I trip or lose my balance. It introduces you to your mortality in no uncertain terms, especially if, like me, you weigh a lot; it shakes me something fierce. In some ways

2009-06-12T01:12:00.001-07:00

For some reason the DV-R only recorded a half-hour of Top Chef Masters, but that was OK with me because Top Chef Masters sucks! Nothing is on the line here except charities getting more money, which is certainly nice but not entertaining when rammed into our skulls 50 times in a segment, and the chefs are just sort of hamming it up instead of trying to do something. Obviously it's nicer for

2009-06-09T19:03:00.001-07:00

(via Jeff Salamon, via Chicagoist)

2009-06-08T00:57:00.001-07:00

Kerri Harrop and friends' night of adventure with Don Rickles.

2009-06-07T00:38:00.001-07:00

"It made us almost, almost a household word." Genuinely saddening. (Via, yep, SoulBounce.)

2009-06-02T14:51:00.001-07:00