fol chen: no wedding cake.

dl: FOL CHEN - No Wedding Cake (alt)
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Now I was jumping for motherfucking joy when I heard Fol Chen's "No Wedding Cake" last month, so you can understand how I felt when I received an mp3 in my inbox today. I motherfucking jumped for joy again. Ten times.

And that was just the beginning. While the video for "The Believers" was totally deep and interesting, it can't hold a damn candlestick in comparison to the "No Wedding Cake" video. All the whack-ass bloggers creaming their panties over that whack-as-fuckin'-ass Fever Ray video need to check themselves. This is the best indie video of 2009 so far.

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little dragon: twice.

dl: LITTLE DRAGON - Twice (YSI)
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After developing several dance numbers with the My Little Pony Dance Studio this past weekend (followed by setting said dances to Khia's "My Neck, My Back"), my friend Emily brought up the video for Little Dragon's "Twice". We wound up watching it multiple times because it was so beautiful. The video is directed by Johannes Nyholm, the man responsible for videos of The Knife's "Heartbeats" and Jenny Wilson's "Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward". The puppetry is done by the band themselves with the help of Elias Araya, Aime Hellrand, Henrik Malmgren, Andreas Korsár and Kurt Lightner. If you haven't seen this, you need to watch it!

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arabesque: anna conda + feist remix.

I promise I'll return with real posts in the near future. I'm not a business man, I'm a BUSY-ness man.
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dl: FEIST f/ ARABESQUE - My Moon, My Man (Boys Noize/Arabesque remix) (YSI)
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EDIT: Okay, okay...not quite a "remix" so much as adding a rap towards the end. Pardon my lazy ass blogging. I come from the era when Missy Elliott adding a rap to something was considered a "remix". However, peeps in the comments are right-- Boys Noize should be given credit for this remix.

skillz: 2007 rap up.

I keep getting hits on Google from people looking for the Skillz rap up for 2007, and I feel like it's a total disservice to NOT post about it.

As I said in last year's post, Skillz has been on the hip-hop scene since 1992 hustling all over the place, ghostwriting, freestyling, and dropping an annual rap-up since 2002.

This year's effort comes with a first-- a video, complete with supporting visuals such as an Amy Winehouse lookalike. It features references to...DJ Drama, The White Rapper Show, Cam'ron, 50 Cent, All-Star Weekend, Jennifer Hudson, Mims, Fantasia Barrino, Tony Yayo, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse (duh), Robin Thicke, Bobby Brown & Whitney Houston, Karrine Steffans, Don Imus, Russell Simmons, Oprah, Anna Nicole Smith, Akon, Three 6 Mafia, ringtone rappers, Virginia Tech, Barry Bonds, Ray J, Diddy, Eve, Rihanna, Paris Hilton, the final episode of The Sopranos, Hurricane Chris, Lupe Fiasco, Britney Spears, Jamie Lynn Spears, O.J. Simpson, Usher & R. Kelly, Kelly Rowland, Beyonce Knowles, Jena Six, Michael Vick, the iPhone, Foxy Brown, Lil Wayne & T-Pain's omnipresence, Kanye West, Souljah Boy, American Gangster, UGK & Outkast, DJ Khaled, T.I., and Lauren London.

Personally, I think this is a huge step down from the 2006 rap-up. Did he really have to cut out paying his respects to those who passed away? There was no reason to mention Mims, Hurricane Chris, or Souljah Boy. All he needed was the line, "For most of the year, a ringtone rapper would make a hit and his career would disappear." Can we get a holler to Donda West, Ike Turner, Pimp C, Yolanda King...Kurt Vonnegut?

Not to mention that the animal rights activist within me is a little outraged at the line "It's a damn shame what they did to Michael Vick. You can't kill dogs in your own backyard but you can go to Iraq and kill whoever you want." Seriously? I can understand that he's trying to be socially conscious. I can understand that he's trying to make a point about taking a dog's life vs. taking a human life, even if I'm not certain I agree with it. However, I just can't get over the fact that he's trying to JUSTIFY dogfighting. Pssh!

Problems aside, Skillz gets kudos for simply coming up with such a cohesive look at 2007 as a whole. And you can't help but giggle at the line, "Kelly Rowland falls and yall think it's cool, Beyonce falls and yall take it off of youtube." When you put it all into perspective, the reason this rap-up sucks so much probably has more to do with 2007 sucking elephant-balls as a whole.

If anything good came out of 2007, I finally learned how to appreciate Prince. How? I made friends with a cassette tape of Purple Rain while locked away in a studio working on my printmaking senior thesis. Because of this, I direct your ears to the bonus track, which features Skillz rapping over "Darling Nikki."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------d/l: SKILLZ - 2007 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2007 Rap Up (Jimmy Rose Remix) (YSI)

d/l: SKILLZ - 2006 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2005 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2004 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2003 Rap Up (YSI)
d/l: SKILLZ - 2002 Rap Up (YSI)

BONER TRACK: SKILLZ - Darling Nikki freestyle (YSI)

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rihanna: umbrella video.

RIHANNA's "Umbrella" video is one of the best pop videos I've seen in a long time. The video was directed by Chris Applebaum, who worked with Rihanna recently on her video for "S.O.S."

While "Umbrella" may be a song that shows Rihanna at her best vocally, the music video shows Applebaum at his artistic best. And to be quite honest, his artistic best doesn't make much sense. It raises a lot of questions, but it works. The video starts out with some sexy shots of Rihanna. Then we see Jay-Z, and what's this? IT'S RAINING LIGHT. And are those back-up dancers? Sort of. Rihanna gets sexy again, and then...WHOA, WHOA...is she battling Alex Mack in silver blob-mode? Or is she swatting away an ex-lover in the form of Capri Sun (see video)? Oh wait...now she has an umbrella, but if it's raining...why is she awkwardly dancing around with it? Now the screen is duo-toned and she's a French maid. More awkward (sexy?) dancing. And now...WHAT THE FUCK? WHY IS SHE SILVER? What is this crazy (amazing?) part of this video, and what does it have to do with the rest of the song? And why is Rihanna even hotter when she's silver and sitting in a triangle? After silverness, Rihanna is sexy again as expected when she's making lewd suggestions about cumming into her. And then, wait...back-up dancers? Sort of. These back-up dancers dance a bit more than the first group, but their moves look like they came out of a sixth grade dance assembly. And then it's all over, and you feel kind of empty inside.

The genius in this video isn't just its absurd content...The editing is just fucking brilliant. By adding crazy liquid to one scene, Rihanna flailing her arms about actually looks intriguing. Even the duo-tones in the one scene distract us from her mediocre hip-hop moves. Rihanna is sexy, but her sexy moves look like she's trying a bit too hard. Literally, she looks like a Good Girl Gone Bad who doesn't quite know what to do with herself yet. Thankfully, a few cuts and effects bring up Rihanna's bad girl factor. Arguably you can say she was on point in a few shots, but the only time we see a full-body shot of her on her toes is when she's hanging on to something. That is editing genius, because now you have me suspicious of whether Rihanna is actually a skilled dancer who is too classy to move in sexy ways. I give extra props to the choreographer, who elected to choose simple moves that Rihanna can pull off to some degree.

Most of the moves in the video are so simple that I question them. While I appreciate the stillness of the surrounding dancers when Jay-Z is rapping, why the hell are the back-up dancers so terrible in the ending sequence? The art of choosing back-up dancers that are better than you has been mastered in this industry (see Lindsay Lohan's "Rumors", Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend"). However, in this video they seem to be a necessary addition that is completely unnecessary. Explanation? Sure. They have to be there because we expect them to be. BUT we're not supposed to take our eyes off of Rihanna and her sexiness. She is the most important aspect on the screen. Who cares about them? The costumers even emphasize this point by placing the dancers in entirely black costumes with black hats, to the point that they're nearly indistinguishable from one another or the background. They have no personality, because they don't need to have one. They are just texture, and this creative choice makes it seem like Rihanna actually does have a personality.*

WATCH: RIHANNA- Umbrella (download)
(pop/r&b tune)
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* I meant that in the nicest way possible. Rihanna is totally the shit.

sofia talvik: street of dreamix.

SOFIA TALVIK just released a new video for the Johan Sigerud remix of her song "So Good". Directed by Trevor Clarence, the video details the story of a green apple coping with it's break-up with a red apple. It's not genius, but it's damn cute thanks to the happy ending. "So Good" is the first video emerging from Ms. Talvik's Street of Dreamix project. As the name may suggest, this is a remix album. As in, this is a remix of her latest album Street of Dreams. Genius, right? Well, at least it's cute too.

I'm not quite sure why Street of Dreamix hasn't been getting much attention on the interweb. I mean...as with most remix albums, there's absolutely no consistency song from song, given the various collaborators who contribute their own unique takes on the songs. However, it's motherfuckin' FREE. Since when did people turn down free music? I certainly don't turn down music when the artist literally TELLS me to take it from them. Sofia done did that. So you should take it. I don't care if you've never heard of her. You will probably like one of these remixes.

As I mentioned previously, I highly recommend the Sophie Rimheden remix of "Mother's Way, Father's Way". Another favorite of mine is the hatelove remix of "I Won The First Prize Tonight". I don't know who this hatelove character is, but um...good work?

d/l: SOFIA TALVIK- So Good (Johan Sigerud remix) (YSI)-----------> video
d/l: SOFIA TALVIK- I Won The First Prize Tonight (hatelove remix) (YSI)
(remixes of Swedish folk-pop artist)
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BLOGWATCH: WORTHLESS brings us the best (or worst depending on how you look at it) of this world's idiocy. The Blue Walrus pops out a collection of Hot Chip remixes including M.I.A., Le Tigre, Bright Eyes, Snow Patrol, and more. Shameless Complacency has a new Hot Chip song.

mechanical bride: should i stay or should i go?

- space it -

I must confess, I'm a sucker for pretty animated things. Mechanical Bride's "Poor Boy" falls into this category.

With that said, posting isn't going to be as consistent for the next couple of months. I was thinking about a hiatus, but I decided to stay...for the children.

kelis: new video for "lil star" f/ cee-lo.

I originally objected to posting music videos on this blog, but in this experimental pre-April time...why not?

I've been following Kelis's career ever since the days of Kaleidoscope, when I got a call from my eighth grade girlfriend telling me that I needed to see the video with the crazy rainbow-brite Scary Spice wanna-be yelling a lot. It didn't take me much longer to realize that Kelis was more than that. Can't see beyond "Milkshake"? Check out the videos below, and understand my love. Several of these were not released in the US, so if you're on my side of the pond...they're definitely worth watching. I've starred my favorites.

- Caught Out There* - Good Stuff - Get Along With You* -
- Young, Fresh N' New* -
- Milkshake - Trick Me* - Millionaire -
- Bossy* - Blindfold Me - Lil Star -

• Note the minimalist aesthetic of "Trick Me".
• Note the poodles, ice sculptures, and absurdity of "Bossy".
• Note the Heidi Klum in "Young Fresh N' New".
• Note the oddly dark, gothic mood of "Get Along With You".
• Note the random jungle and polar wonderland scenes in "Blindfold Me".
  

Despite the giant bubble coat, "Lil Star" is probably the most "normal" Kelis video I've ever seen. It is directed by Mark Klasfeld, the same man behind "Bossy" and "Blindfold Me". I'm a little disappointed that the video took the song so literally, but Kelis can get away with it because she's super-cute. "Lil Star" is the single in the UK, so if you're still sick of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"...don't be too worried about hearing Cee-Lo's voice on your radio too. My secret hopes are that it will do well enough to cross over to the US as Nelly Furtado's "Maneater" did, but I'm not holding my breath. "Trilogy" will be the third single in the US, and a video is not yet recorded.

This post is starting to get way too fanatical and I totally promised that I'd lay off the hip-hop, pop, and R&B for a couple of days, so I'll stop.

boy crisis: let's get blogtastic.

Boy Crisis is old news in some communities at Wesleyan University, but as far as I know...they have yet to make their blogosphere debut. They claim that they sound like, "a computer having sex with a beautiful bird or something like that"...but I'd have to say that they sound more like a bunch of boys who make delightfully energetic, silly dance music that you can't take serious at all...literally. You really can't.

Maybe it's the ridiculous music video for the silly song "Let's Get Fantastic" or exciting, interactive music video for "The Feelings are Real" (which allows you to make a hot dog float in outer space) both created by Jordan Fish of Teen Homicide / Channel 1o2 fame? Maybe it's all in the music? Maybe it's the baby monkey photo or album release date of 3006 listed on their page? Either way, there's a certain humor of Boy Crisis that I can't quite put my finger on.

Boy Crisis is certainly an acquired taste for some, an immediate favorite for others. Upon first listen to Boy Crisis, I decided that the music was far too repetitive and annoying. The following day, I found myself tapping my foot and singing the song in my head. It was as if they had some 24 hour subliminal hypnotism on their myspace page. It was the sort of hunger you have for a song when you can't get it out of your head until you hear it again. And I was stuck at work...with no speakers. The need for the song began consuming me. I knew it was wrong, but it felt so right. It felt so...real. I just want to...feel...real.

DOWNLOAD: BOY CRISIS- The Feelings Are Real

TRIVIA: Boy Crisis member Alex Kestner created the song for video-director Jordan Fish's pilot Teen Homicide. Boy Crisis member Victor Vazquez appeared later in the series as a man in a penguin suit carrying a knife. Boy Crisis member Tal Rozen never appeared in Teen Homicide, but he made some paintings once or twice.