"best summer jam"

Baltimore's CityPaper named Mullyman's "Party Walk" the best summer jam. Agreed. Subsequently, I just discovered "BMore Go Harder" also by Mullyman and featuring Jay-Z.
Both are great tracks, especially if you share my Baltimore pride.

listen to more at www.myspace.com/mullyman

this week's playlist

Momma's Boy - Chromeo
Brother Bird - Franklin for Short
A Little Less Conversation (JLX Remix) - Elvis Presely
Party Walk - Mullyman
You Really Wake Up the Love in Me - The Duke Spirit
Change Gonna Come (feat. Charles Hamilton and Asher Roth) - B.O.B
Sleepyhead - Passion Pit
Good Times Roll Pt. 2 - RJD2
This Scene is Dead - We Are Scientists

nowadays folk would rather rap than go to school

there are few people's musical judgments that i trust. so when a friend of mine with impeccable taste in music told me about a new Atlanta rapper, B.O.B, i was eager to listen. and i'm glad i did. i know very little about rap, so i'll let his own bio do the explaining, but i urge everyone to listen to this guy. he is absolutely great. and now that's finally summer, this is the perfect music to listen to on the beach, at a party, wherever the weather is warm.

"B.o.B has a unique talent in that he produces, writes, raps, arranges, and mixes his own music. He is a one stop music creation shop from top to bottom. This allows B.o.B the rare opportunity of recording with reckless abandon. It is a freedom that he willingly accepts. 'I am constantly coming up with songs and concepts because I want to sound different. Nobody made it by sounding like everyone else.' This unique sound caught the attention of two industry heavyweights, Jim Jonsin and TJ Chapman, who are poised to make the rest of the world believers."

"At the age of 17, B.o.B is already well on his way by co-producing and dropping a verse on the “Showstopper (Remix)” by P. Diddy’s Danity Kane featuring Pitbull. Plus, B.o.B has a vault of music with close to 100 songs to choose from for his upcoming Rebel Rock/Atlantic release. And the Southern music mouthpiece Ozone Magazine has already featured B.o.B it its prestigious Patiently Waiting to blow section. (Click this link to read it yourself - http://www.ozonemag.com/nov2006/650/Nov06-60.jpg ). Not to mention, the radio legend, Greg Street has already begun playing B.o.B’s “Cloud 9” five times in one shift on Atlanta’s V103.

B.o.B’s knows for his star to rise, he must tread 'along a very cold road and wherever it ends or begins I do not know.' But, one thing is for certain, B.o.B is a one to one… there’s never Been One Before and there’ll never Be One Beyond."






my favorites: mellow fellow and i'll be in the sky
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bobatl

political gloss

Obama was criticized for his celebrity

Tim Daly, co-president of The Creative Coalition
A production still from POLIWOOD: Susan Saradon & Josh Lucas at the 2008 DNC
Actor Matthew Modine and director Barry Levinson speak about POLIWOOD after its screening at the Maryland Film Festival.


Barry Levinson's most recent "film essay," POLIWOOD, addresses the hyperreality the media has created within politics. As seen most clearly in the 2008 presidential campaign, Hollywood has infiltrated politics. Obama was criticized for being a celebrity, not a legitimate presidential candidate, by the McCain campaign, and for one of the first times, Hollywood celebrities came out in hordes to endorse their presidential choice, whether it was for Obama or McCain.

POLIWOOD follows actors (including Matthew Modine, Susan Saradon, Rachel Leigh Cook, Josh Lucas, and Anne Hathaway) in conjunction with The Creative Coalition as they try learn more about politics, and understand how their voices both hurt and help. Throughout the film, celebrities are constantly criticized for viewing themselves as lofty and important, though mass society believes they are using their platform improperly and know no more than anyone else. This raises the question of celebrity power and mass resentment by the public.

Levinson makes a poignant example with his film, a scary idea that everything we encounter is filtered through a glossy media counterpart.

Can celebrities influence us? http://www.thecreativecoalition.org/events/youvotevideo.htm

shooting stars

"shooting stars" by this band mysteriously showed up in my itunes one day after a friend downloaded it on my computer. lucky me!
shooting stars by bag raiders

matt dunne

singer/songwriters pop up all the time. some are worth our time and many are not. this may be a shameless plug for a friend, but Matt Dunne is one singer/songwriter who is worth your time. a little bit jason mraz mixed with some of dispatch's rhymes, and completely melodic.

check him out: myspace
or buy him: iTunes
become his fan: facebook

1994.

the wackness.
directed by jonathan levine.
starring ben kingsley, josh peck, olivia thirby.

Coming of age story set in NYC during the summer of 1994. Socially awkward high school grad, luke, gets by selling pot, but things get more interesting when he befriends his "shrink" and falls for his daughter, Stephanie. Great performances by Kingsley, Peck, and Thirby.
Amazing soundtrack featuring Notorious B.I.G, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, and more.

* * * *

be on the lookout

I am a trailer junkie. When bored I like to watch trailers of upcoming movies, get excited for them, and mark their release date in my iCalendar. Here are some of the ones I am most excited for.


Valentino:The Last Emperor
http://www.valentinomovie.com/#home

Lymelife
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/lymelife/

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/harrypotterandthehalfbloodprince/

Away We Go
http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/awaywego/

Where The Wild Things Are
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/

Is Anybody There?
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/isanybodythere/

Inglourious Basterds
http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/inglouriousbasterds/

Make your own list.
apple.com/trailers

still cool after all these years?

Let's face it. U2 has been around forever and, hey, they deserve it. Who could ever lose their love for those Irishmen? They were the first concert I ever saw, and a truly amazing experience to see live.


I recently rekindled my love for U2, as I do for so many bands while I lose myself on concentrating finding the newest, trendiest music. I mentioned this to a friend and she commented on how even though U2 isn't "cool" to listen to, she will never stop loving them. U2 is uncool?! I thought. How could Bono, the King of Shades, ever be uncool? Perhaps it isn't their music that is uncool but liking them instead. For our parents' generation, U2 will always be cool because they grew up with them and serenaded them in their early adult years, but what about for us? Are we so consumed with finding the "hippest" music today that we've deemed some of the best bands ever as uncool and dated?


A sad day when this occurs indeed. But for me, I'll keep playing "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" and rocking out to "Elevation," even if it does means I'm uncool.

music magic

It's an interesting experience when a mediocre film has an amazing soundtrack. I'm usually intrigued and keep watching because of the music, not the film. And at the end of it all, though the movie may have been truly horrible, I generally end up liking the film. This could be just because I love music so much, but maybe it's the actual impact music has.

Two movies come to mind.

Elizabethtown.
Starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst.
With lines like "Do you ever just think I'm fooling everybody?" it may be hard not to gag. But the banal love routine is jazzed up by its incredible folk/country soundtrack. Sold in two volumes, the soundtrack includes "It'll All Work Out" and "Square One" by Tom Petty, "Long Ride Home" by Patty Griffin, "My Father's Gun" by Elton John, "Where to Begin" by My Morning Jacket, and many, many more.
Interested? Click Here.

The Last Kiss.

Starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson.
Another obnoxious, but definitely worse, love story. The whole film really should be disregarded (its cute trailer reveals nothing of the actual film). Yet again though, the soundtrack is awesome. A combination of blues and alternative, the music is honestly the film's only redeeming quality. My favorites include "Paperweight" by Joshua Radin And Schuyler Fisk, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" by Rufus Wainwright, and "Prophecy" by Remy Zero.
For your health, hit this link.

new discoveries

Willy Mason: 24 year-old folk singer/songwriter from Martha's Vineyard. Though his musical roots are in folk, both of his parents were folk singers, Mason's music has an alternative edge to it. Check out: Fear No Pain and Save Myself.





Noah and the Whale: As their name suggests, this band has a fun, poppy sound reminiscent of children's music and twee. They sound like something you'd hear in a Wes Anderson film (they sort of look like it too). Check out these Brits: 5 Years Time and Shape of My Heart.


Devendra Banhart: By no means new to the scene, Devendra Banhart is a personal new discovery. For perfection listen to: Long Haired Child.

horrible or great? i really cannot decide. i believe it's a conundrum.

under your tweeds, you sweat like a teenager

word on the street is that Vampire Weekend is coming out with a second album. exciting. but until it's out (later in 2009), their new(er) song Ottoman will have to tide me over. Ottoman was made for the film Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, which I did not see...but the song's great.


[download a good version of it from sadsteve.com]

I AM DRUMS

Many films since Napoleon Dynamite have tried unsuccessfully to reach that same or similar humor. It takes a precise amount of self-awareness, satire, and good acting to make a true comedy about quirky people and their lives. And though there have been many failed attempts recently, director Ari Gold was able to find the balance needed in his film Adventures of Power.

Starring Gold as the eponymous Power, the movie follows this man on his conquest to out why God made him an air drummer. Yes, an air drummer. These men and women believe that true music and soul comes not from the instrument of the drum itself, but from the ability to pretend to play the drums. As Power faces the big city of Newark (coming from his small town in New Mexico), falling in love for the first time (his love interest is Silas' deaf girlfriend, for those of you who watch Weeds), making his father proud, and beating his enemy in an air drumming competition (who is played by Adrien Grenier), hilarity ensues in every aspect of the film. Gold has made a film that is simply ridiculous, but it works because it is aware of its absurdity, which makes it even funnier.

Michael McKean and Jane Lynch are familiar faces in the cast and both give great performances. An Official Selection of Sundance 2008, the film won the Audience Prize, proving that this movie is not only an overwhelming crowd pleaser, but also that it's not to be missed. Hopefully it will soon be more available for people to see more widely. And when it is, you must see it. But until then, just remember:

MARCH TO THE BEAT OF YOUR OWN DRUM. EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE.

check out more: http://www.youtube.com/adventuresofpower

sadsteve makes me happy

being able to download music for free always makes me happy.
(as long as i don't get caught).

therefore, sadsteve.com makes me very happy.
i'm not sure why steve is sad but you should check out his website,
maybe it will make him happy.


not only can you download music from bands you already know, but the featured section lets you discover new bands and check out their music.