Distant Relatives

Ok here's something I started writing in the May (and meant to post back in June... but didn't)and only finally just finished. Ok, if I had to do one of those "Best of 2010" posts, I would probably have this on the shortlist for best album of the year... but I don't really want to come up with a list just yet, and due to the length of this post, I'm going to just go ahead and call it the Best Album of 2010. Here's my overdue post on Damian Marley and Nas' Distant Relatives. Since it is such a long post and there are so many great links, I'm just going to let it simmer for a few days.

Bon Iver

Back... again. Looking forward to writing more and keeping this baby going. Check back tomorrow for a big post.

Its Christmas eve, you are on your second bottle of wine talking with your uncle and mom about an elder family member recovering in a hospital, talking about life as Props would say, and what do you listen to? Uncle requested Depeche Mode, I throw on Bon Iver. Much has said about the talented indie group Bon Iver, with the soft but soothing and pained voice of Justin Vernon. Helps that it is cold outside in upstate new york. I don’t mean to say it is something to listen to in a sad state, you can, but it is more of an artist you can play in the background at a lower volume but still want to hear the voice persisting. Justin Vernon recorded his debut album alone in the winter cold of northern Wisconsin an isolated cabin and as corny as it sounds, a solid warmth comes through in his voice.

Life After Graduation

Life After Graduation is a collaboration between Ghanian duo The Canz and producers/master mash up creators Mick Boogie and Terry Urban.

Monster Rally

Last week I stumbled upon, "Steal" by Monster Rally...

How to Succeed in Indie Music?

Read this article: Five Formulas for a Blog-Worthy Band...

Lazerproof

Lazerproof (the link streams and also automatically starts downloading which you can cancel) is a pretty funky mixtape that boasts new electronica, reggae influence and a sassy singer. This one comes from Xina who recently sent me this mixtape project of La Roux songs by Major Lazer. Here are some thoughts:

Morning Benders + The Black Keys

I'm back from my unnecessary hiatus from blogging, but I'm refreshed and ready to post a lot of things I've written about. What brought me back? Last night I saw the Black Keys kick off their world tour at Constitution Hall and I almost wrote my posting after the show. Let's jump right back into it...

k-os

Very rarely do I criticize artists on this blog, but this could be the first "negative" post.

Congratulations on Graduation, Brother

I'm disappointing myself with the lack of posts, but to be fair (erm... to myself) I was out of town for my brother's college graduation. So, this post will be dedicated to him and his eclectic musical tastes.

Entrance Songs

Ok, this is a question I used to ask people a lot back in the day - what is your "entrance" song (if you were a baseball closer, batter, wrestler, or what have you -- those are the only example coming to me right now). Now, I was recently asked by Props' wife about Bridal Party Entrance Song(s)to walk out during the reception, and I froze. She definitely wants to mix in some "jock jams" at some point for the bridal party. After about 20 minutes, I figured out these options (for the bride groom, me, the party, whatever):

Rainy Day Music

Ok, we're in the middle of May and it is 52 degrees out and raining. I'm cold, stuck in an office and need music to get me going through the day. So far I've listened to:

Steppin Lasers - Part II

For Part I, Click Here. Basically, I talked about B.o.B and I forgot to mention the notes I wrote in my cell phone of B.o.B "freestyle to band. Early Red Hot Chili Peppers with Better hip hop, harder. sigur ros mobb deep - esque twilight song. then acoustic guitar."

Steppin Lasers - Part I

Sorry for the delay, but I'm finally writing about the epic sold-out B.o.B/Lupe Fiasco show on April 13th at the 930 club. I have to thank London for selling me his extra ticket last minute. Chicago's finest (sorry Kanye and Common) Lupe Fiasco is putting out his third (and last?) album titled "We are Lasers," and has decided to tour with up-and-comer B.o.B from Atlanta (coming out with the debut album "The Adventures of Bobby Ray") for what was billed to be a high-energy show with lot of crazy lights -- the Steppin Laser Tour. Actually, just learned how to embed video, so check out the Steppin Laser promo here:

Happy Birthday Francesca

Ok, so if Grooveshark didn't have a massive system break down, making a play list for my good friend Francesca would've been a lot easier. In any case, sorry you can't play these songs continually, but they are fun (and, now each song can be a surprise). Got a little bit of me, a little bit of Francesca, and a little bit of both. Enjoy!

UPDATE UPDATE -- Grooveshark came back this morning, and so if you don't want to click on all the links individually below (though, you will find some cool music videos and different versions), click here for the continuous grooveshark playlist! Looks like it will be a great birthday Fran, you deserve it! -- UPDATE UPDATE

WE FUNK Radio

My friend Jacob changed my life when he introduced me to WEFUNKRADIO.COM a few weeks ago. Ok, that is a little dramatic, but it blew my mind how much fun music streamed from this site, and how other friends like Al had known about it for so long! According to the website, "WEFUNK is a weekly radio mix-show, hosted and produced for more than a decade by Montreal DJs Professor Groove and DJ Static. Since our first show in 1996 we've been selecting only the best in hip hop, funk & soul — from old to new, classics, rare gems, new releases and more. Tune in any time and experience hip hop's roots and future along with the rich legacy of funk, soul and jazz." Putting one of their shows on is great to hang out for a pre-game, do some dishes/cleaning, mellow out after a day of work - pretty much anything. I highly recommend clicking on one of the shows and enjoy the next hour or so.

Put Me To Bed

Despite being really tired, I love putting on music to fall asleep to... and in college I had one playlist for SLEEP on my itunes that I would let play at random, a general mixture of Explosions in the Sky, Bebel Gilberto's remix cd and yes... Coldplay (among many other random songs/bands like Nick Drake's Things Behind the Sun). I'm not afraid to admit that my go-to sleeping music was Coldplay. You could seriously turn on Coldplay and I would sleep within one or two songs. This doesn't mean that I think they are boring, it is more that Chris Martin's soothing voice and the band's balance calms me and puts me at ease allowing me to close my eyes and rest.

Positive Black Soul

Over a week ago, I attended the Concert for Peace, Tolerance and Understanding at Howard University. There, I went along with my boy DJC (a great MC/spoken word poet/saxophonist in his own right) to see a group he raved about from Senegal -- Positive Black Soul (or, PBS).

Temper Trap

After yesterday's long post, I'll keep this short. Here is a band I think everyone will love, and indie enthusiasts everywhere have started raving about these Australians for the last few months. My friend Lebron introduced Temper Trap to me two months ago, and played their heart-filled single:

Wale / K'Naan / Tabi Bonney

Although Nas and Damian Marley didn't come out to surprise the crowd, K'Naan and Wale's co-headlining tour brought a few elements to what I was expecting out of their show on April 4. Granted, going to two shows back to back on a Saturday and Sunday night probably isn't the best way to appreciate the second night's act, but I enjoy listening to K'naan and Wale too much to pass up seeing them live.

Friday Playlist

Ok, so I'm basically mailing in my post, much like I hope Dwayne Wade does for the upcoming Heat-Celtics series, and I'm having too much fun listening to THIS PLAYLIST. Every friday Suril puts together a playlist, and this one consisted of early 90s jams. It has helped me through the day and I'm sitting, and sometimes bouncing, while pumping songs like Cheryl Lynn's "got to be real". What are people listening today to get themselves through this friday and ready for the weekend?

I'm in a good mood, enjoy the weekend. And happy birthday Lombo.

Yeasayer

As I said in yesterday's post, I saw Yeasayer live on April 3d with Lincoln and D Man among a few others. I came away feeling jubilant and contemplating whether it was the best live show I've seen in the past year (Roots probably being the other). This was a Saturday night show, and I hadn't been to one in a long time, but it really set the tone for a fun night.

Introducing Lincoln

Ok, I promise after Lincoln, I will take a break from these introducing of friends, but I will still admit, I'm nothing without my various friends and their diverse music tastes. Yes, I find music on my own, and it is definitely a personal process to listen to music and fall in love with different artists, but bonds formed over a connection to music capture the importance of music in our lives. Onto Lincoln, who I've realized is my replacement for Jstreet - and if that sounds bad, it shouldn't is a huge compliment. Jstreet introduced me to a ton of indie music before I knew what I was doing, and without fail, he was someone I could count on to always attend a show, despite it being a Cat Power show on a Tuesday night. Lincoln is a fun person to attend a concert with and neither he nor I hide our love for certain female singers.

Introducing Colemania

Where to start on this british-indian-american kid? No idea. Another good friend from college, Colemania is someone who stole my Robert Randolph - Live at the Wetlands cd one summer, and I never saw it since! Haha, but seriously, a good friend, and someone with whom I've gone to a Damian and Stephen Marley concert and we still contend it was one of our favorite shows of all-time. He loves great guitar riffs - random statement, I know, but it is true. His answers are in red, and I've decided to let his words stand without providing my own commentary.

Introducing AL

Everyone needs some hippie friends, and AL could fit into that category. She's a lovely and smart lady, yes, AL is a girl, and loves spending a nice sunday finger painting, listening to music and making homemade pizzas with her girls. I've known her a long time, and know that she isn't just limited to this hippie label, and she's every open to new music despite her love for her DJ friends in baltimore and all of those jam bands. I'm also just putting her comments in red, rather than my comments.

Introducing D MAN

Where to begin describing D MAN? He's probably my oldest friend that I will be introducing - we've known each other since we were 13 or 14 and have somehow endured high school, different colleges and cities, and for the last year D Man has lived in the same city. A great friend, from who I constantly learn about music, D Man is a great musician himself and I continue to look forward to the concerts he and I will attend in the near future. I'll also mention this, many times "partying" or hanging out in high school, would end with D Man, strapping on his guitar and singing for everyone. If I had a link to his music, or figured out how to stream, I would put up some of his songs. For another day.

Introducing Lombo

Here we come across Lombo, someone I've become good friends with since college, but might have been a little intimidated of his tattoos and "philly persona" during college without realizing how much we had in common. Now, we discuss a lot of hip hop weekly, but I can't say that limits our discussion on music. He knows his hip-hop and isn't afraid to listen to the new or random.

Introducing a few friends -- Jstreet

Before my Panama trip, I promised to introduce a few friends who will show up repeatedly in this blog and I had asked them a few questions:
- give me one or two bands/songs that you listened to this last week
- first cd you bought for yourself
- last live musical performance you went to
- one show you are really looking forward to seeing this year

The first one I really should do is jstreet...

Back from Panama

Ok, still recovering from my trip and trying to get my life in order... I didn't post as many times as I thought I would, and with today's post I'm going to take some advice from someone I traveled with (zeitch) who told me I should just blog about what songs I hear in general, aka just mention what I listen to and when (read: boring). Well, for today's post, I've realized I've found a bunch of songs I haven't listened to before and would like to share them with you (and can't keep them all on my gchat status). Listen more after the jump

Going to Panama - Still Posting

What up loyal readers... a week into it and I'm already taking a vacation? Yes, but you will still get some posts from me which I will explain in the next paragraph. Right now, I'm off to visit a few friends in Panama. In a few days I will reunite with The Tomcat, who is doing the Peace Corps there. I'm bringing him along some food and music from a few friends on a small flash drive. Tomcat, like me, enjoys Damian ... and put me onto a band that rails at their shows... Ratatat.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I made it through my first official week of blogging! For all of you celebrating, I'll keep it to the tune of St. Patrick's Day...

My first interview? with the next big thing?

Last weekend I went out to a concert to see a friend's band play at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Two of the guys in the band were from my year in college, and I think it would be fair to say I was friends with one of them, but didn't really keep in touch after college. I'm starting off this post, because it felt like this was just another show I would see the highly talented Judah Dadone perform, and run into another band member's girlfriend and see some other friends from college I failed to keep in touch with since we graduated a few years ago. My casual nature is completely unjustified as these up-and-comers Freelance Whales have been tipped by many over the last six months to be the "next big thing."

Listening and Hearing

Hope you enjoyed Friday's post... spent much of Friday afternoon listening to Blue Scholars. Quick recap of the weekend: Bachelor Party 1, me 0. As a result, I will keep today's post short. Did you figure out the name behind the blog?

Props' Bachelor Party

This weekend is my first bachelor party I'm attending/throwing, and it is for my college roommate, and for now we'll call him "Props." He is an interesting character and might even have a more diverse taste in music than me, and his tastes show that he is more than meets the eye. At first glance, he's another officer in the Army, and you wouldn't know that this kid loves everything from TV On The Radio to Tupac to Shakira and watches everything from One Tree Hill to The Wire to Wicker Park.

I don't own an ipod

I promised everyone that my first post was going to be my longest post, but I still have to get a few more things out of the way. Thanks for all the feedback on the first post, and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do! Onto post #2...

"To begin with, everything"

Where to begin where to begin… I’ve wanted to do this for so long (yes, I procrastinate), and it is always hard to get started, so I’ll take the easy way out and do a basic Q&A… with myself.