Home Run

There are several promising young Japanese internationals playing in European leagues this year, one of them being 21-year old Shinji Kagawa. He has been impressing in his first term with Borussia Dortmund and this morning, he had another fine run out. Not only did he score two goals in the Bundesliga's biggest derby, Dortmund v. Schalke 04, but he pulled a "Babe Ruth" by predicting the brace. Sure, he said his two would be the only goals in the match but how many professional athletes say they're going to put up certain stats and actually do just that? (And at one point is was actually 2-0 on the count of his goals.) The score ended up being 3-1 as Schalke got played off the pitch. There lone goal came late in the game due to some lazy Dortmund defending, but other than that, Schalke got dominated.

Schalke 04 have their own young Japanese player as well, 22-year old Atusto Uchida. It would have been nice to see Kagawa go head-to-head against his Japan teammate but Uchida was out with a broken toe. He's had a decent start to the season as well but maybe not as strong as Kagawa's. While it would have been fun to watch them play against each other, I doubt Uchida would have helped Schalke much as he is more of an attacking defender than a ball-stopper.

One final thing about Kagawa: I can't help but think he could have made a difference in South Africa. Not only do I think he should have been there but I think he should have started in a second-striker's role. How could manager Takeshi Okada leave a player like him at home? Don't get me wrong, Okada did a great job at the World Cup (much better than I expected) and Japan did extremely well. But they were missing the offensive creativity to complement their hard work and defensive discipline. And when Japan went out on penalties after drawing 0-0 with Paraguay, it's hard not feeling like Shinji could have done something...

Anyway, It's good to see Kagawa, Uchida and other Japanese players like CSKA Moscow's Keisuke Honda and Cesena's Yuto Nagatomo succeed in Europe, so let's hope their good seasons continue... And along the same lines, I hope to see other Japanese footballers in Europe, like Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe, Catania's Takayuki Morimoto, and Leicester City's Yuki Abe get more playing time.

Now I'm Just Big, Ya Dig?

More Big Boi, this time with Vonnegutt on Letterman. A couple notes...

- First off, the hat. Pitchfork liked it and I have to admit, it's pretty awesome. Because of André 3000's eccentricities, people seem to forget that Big Boi is pretty wild in his own right... Also, that DF chain is dope, probably about as classy as bling gets.

- The rapper in Vonnegutt looks like Lance Bass or some other blonde dude. The other guy looks like every other frontman in the past few years. In doing some research, I discovered that Vonnegutt worked on some Purple Ribbon and Dungeon Family stuff, so they've been with Big for a while now. That's pretty cool but it's a little odd because they seem kind of run-of-the-mill. I downloaded a free EP of theirs so I'll see if they show more of their stuff on their own material than they did on the comps and features I've heard.

Up And Down, Round And Round, Super Mario!!!

This reminds me of when I used to play Katamari and I'd get urges to run over things so they would stick to my car... Hopefully, cyclists don't start throwing turtle shells at each other.

Side note: Talk about a non-news story! I mean it's really cool and all, but is there nothing else going on in Portland? I guess the local news is weird everywhere...

Power

So there's been a lot of hype leading up to the unveiling of Kanye West's video painting for "Power". It started with his mountain-top performance at the BET Awards show (which was pretty awesome actually), and continued with his SingFest 2010 performance and yesterday's "Power" BTS clip. It seems like everything Kanye does is an event these days.

Put On

Japanese youngster Rio Miyaichi, currently on trial at Arsenal, just turned out an impressive performance as The Gunners beat Boreham Wood, 3-0. Apparently, he has an upcoming trial at Ajax and is now attracting attention from other big clubs, as well. I don't know much about this kid but I would love to see a Japanese international suit up and succeed at Arsenal. Who's to say that he'll be able to break through and excel in Europe (or in Japan, for that matter) but I say if the potential is there, sign him, Wenger!

This video is the only thing I've seen of Miyaichi. Even though he's probably playing against weak competition, he looks good on the ball and appears more than willing to take on defenders down the wings and through the middle. His running style, speed and dribbling skills remind me a bit of C. Ronaldo. I'd be more than happy if his finishing matches Ronaldo's as well, but let's hope that the comparisons end there. We could do without him taking on Ronaldo's divier, whinier characteristics and his tendency to not show up for big games.

Forget Teasin'

Mayer Hawthorne's "Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'"

There's nothing thaaat special about this but single shot videos are still cool. And so are cute ladies in retro-ish bathing suits. The lead dancer is a hottie.

Yeah Ya Know

T.I.'s "Yeah Ya Know" is going to be released on the Takers Soundtrack, as well as his forthcoming album, King Uncaged. Judging by the video and the cast, I'm not expecting a whole lot out of the movie, but I am really looking forward to the album. I don't see anyone topping Big Boi's latest for best of the year in hip hop, but I'm hoping T.I. (and possibly Kanye and KiD CuDi) give it a run for its money.

Mad World

Good news: Season Four of Mad Men is almost here.

Bad news: I have less time than I thought to rewatch Season Three.

From Sepinwall at Hitfix.

West Savannah Man

Yikes, Big Boi's "General Patton" is so, so ill. Damn, this boy can rap. Hard.

And in related good news, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty finally has a release date. July 6th! July 6th!

Come Original

Adidas Originals teamed up with a bunch of celebrities to remake the cantina scene from Star Wars, as a World Cup viewing party. I think they should take it one step further and just re-film the entire Star Wars series with Snoop Dogg in place of whiney Luke Skywalker. That would be awesome.

Georgia

Cee-Lo Green's "Georgia" is on point. Gnarls Barkley was great and all, but Lo is the man regardless.

Whoa!

Only a day after I noticed a crack in my iPhone screen, I came upon this bit of rubbish. What the hell AT&T? Thankfully, I can supposedly carry over my old plan when I get a new iPhone, which is awesome because I'm going to need one...

I Never Let You Down

T.I.'s F*ck A Mixtape is out now. It's his first release since he got home and some of it is pretty damn good. Download it.

I'm Purty Clever

In high school, I loved Mo Thugs' "Ghetto Cowboy". I wouldn't say it's aged particularly well, but it's still pretty great. It's just so corny, it's good. The video takes the ghetto cowboy theme and runs with it, but what's most amazing is the censorship in this version. It cuts out "shoot", "barrel of fire", "robbin'" and "life", which by my estimation, makes it the cleanest clean edit in the history of song.

Two Times, Two Times

With the World Cup just around the corner, it's international friendlies week in world football. Yesterday and today, I watched the US fringe players put in a lackluster performance against the Czech, and caught bits and pieces of France v. Costa Rica. One game I wish I would have watched because of its Arsenal ties, was The Netherlands taking on Mexico. The Dutch won 2-1, behind Robin van Persie's brace. Man U's latest addition nabbed the lone Mexican goal.

Check out RvP's two goals. He had some decent deliveries to set up both shots, but the second one is truly a thing of beauty. It's nice to see him settling in after coming back from his long-term injury. I know it's a big "if", but if Robin van Persie could just stay healthy for a full season, I really believe he could be considered a top, top class player, right alongside the Messis, Ronaldos and Rooneys of the world. I know that's a bold statement but the man is as gifted as he is injury-prone.

Tip On In

Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope", featuring Big Boi, has to be one of my favorite songs of 2010. Both artists bring their A-games here, rolling out their lyrics over a spastic, horn-and-handclap-driven beat to perfect effect. I'd even venture to say that Monáe outshines Leftfoot with her last verse. It's crazy. And the video doesn't disappoint either. It's fun and weird, and there's just something cool and hypnotic about a bunch of people in tuxes strutting and gliding.

I first heard Janelle Monáe on Big Boi's Got Purp? Vol. 2, and again on OutKast's Idlewild, where she played the typical female R&B singer role, belting out hooks and background vocals in slightly impressive but generic fashion. It's nice to see that since then, she's come into her wild and genre-bending own. She's creative and refreshing and unafraid of carving out her own path. Her Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) EP was bizarre and ambitious, introducing her audience to a world of androids, Afrofuturism and energy, but most importantly it sounded good. While I haven't fully delved into her follow-up effort, The ArchAndroid (Suites II And III)-- I'm ten tracks in and it's pretty damn solid-- it has been getting great reviews (currently sitting pretty with a 90/100 on Metacritic). I don't expect her to shatter any album sales records or anything like that, but I do hope she sees some commercial success so she can continue doing what's she's doing.

World Of Entertainment

Because everyone and their mothers (myself included) are going nuts over the new Nike ad, I decided to post the behind-the-scenes clip instead of the actual commercial. It's not overly interesting or insightful but it's worth a quick watch. I had no idea the ad was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu of Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel fame. That's kind of awesome.

The End

Now that David Villa has signed for Barcelona, everyone's attention is Cesc Fabregas and his possible move back home. I know my favorite player is destined to play for Barca again one day, but I am just hoping to put that day off for as long as possible. Before the end of this season, I thought that day was at least two, maybe three years away. Now, it seems like that day could be tomorrow.

If Cesc leaves Arsenal just when he is entering his prime, it would kill Arsenal's chances of winning a trophy next season, and it would kill me. Cesc is Arsenal, and for him to leave now... I just don't know... What I do know is that if Cesc moves before the World Cup, which I am currently greatly anticipating, it could ruin the tournament for me. Don't get me wrong, I'd still watch Fabregas and support him for both country and club-- Barcelona is actually one of my favorite teams-- but there's just no replacing him at Arsenal, no matter how they spend his transfer money. He's one of, if not the best young midfielders in the world and for him to leave the team and manager that made him into the player he is today, that would say a lot about the current state of the Gunners. Ugh, I don't want to think about it...

And not to entirely gloss over the David Villa signing, it is a great move for Barca. Villa is a perfect fit for them, and with the support of Iniesta, Xavi, and Messi, a huge upgrade over his supporting cast at Valencia, I'm guessing he'll win the Pichichi next season. Villa might be my second favorite player behind Cesc, so it hurts me to see him leave Los Che but I knew it was coming. I think I even posted about it last year, wondering whether or not I would even follow Valencia after the Davids leave. (David Silva, another favorite, is still being linked with a move to Juventus and Real Madrid. If those rumors carry any weight, I hope he goes to Juve.) So yeah, we'll see how things go in La Liga next season. Barca is a team I enjoy watching and I never had love for Valencia so much as I liked their two best players, so I'm guessing my Spanish allegiance will swing-- just don't call me a front-runner.

This isn't a great compilation, but watch David Villa do his thing:

I'll Be Home Tonight

Excellent new song and video from Kweli & Hi-Tek, with some help from Estelle. While I like a lot of Kweli's music, I think he's a little predictable and over-rated. He's just really hit or miss for me, so it's no surprise that here I think Tek's beat and Estelle's contributions easily outmatch Kweli's verses. Still good though.

From James.

High Speed

Adidas' latest promo is only partially World Cup-related, centering around the release of their newest boot in the F50 series. This commercial features three of my favorite players: Messi (the best player in the world), David Villa (my favorite striker in the world) and Zidane (arguably the best player of his generation, head-butts and all), but there's another ad that focuses our attention solely on the boot, which is just as good. While neither of these commercials quite capture the spirit of the Puma campaign, they are pretty impressive from a special effects standpoint. And if these commercials are a bit of a letdown for you, it's hard to knock Adidas when they unveiled the adizero speed boots with matching Formula 1 race cars.

I'm Going On

I'm getting amped about the World Cup and in a way, I'm actually pretty excited about all the soccer commercials, too. Nike and Adidas usually roll out impressive ad campaigns and this year Puma seems to be stepping it up as well. Sponsoring several African nations and players, Puma put out this commercial which uses Gnarls Barkley's "Going On" to capture all the joy and hype of the South Africa-hosted tournament.

And as one of the hundreds of Arsenal fans who came around on Eboué this year, I figured I'd post his Puma advert, too.

Space To Share

Time Keeps On Slipping

This watch by Devon Works is incredible. It's oddly attractive, extremely high-tech, and it has real gadget-like appeal. While I'm far, far, far from a high-end watch consumer-- and even if I were in the market for an expensive timepiece, I'd probably choose something more classic-- I can definitely see the appeal. The technology is cool, but what's even more impressive is the creativity and willingness to think differently displayed by the folks at DW. Read about it at Hodinkee and check out the Devon Works site, too.

Take Me Home

This fantastic song is LCD Soundsystem's "All I Want" from the upcoming album, This Is Happening. Here, as with "All My Friends", James Murphy shows that he is a master at capturing a feeling in 7 minutes of soaring pop magnificence.

Boi Stop!

Wow, Big Boi's "Shutterbugg" is fire! When, oh when, will this damn album see the light of day?!?!?!?!? I'd call all these delays the "OutKast curse" but it seems to happen to every rap album that I look forward to hearing.

Also, Pitchfork mentions an interesting piece of info about the vocoder and talkbox in their review of the song.

City By The Bay

I've come to really enjoy Mayer Hawthorne despite how he reveals his vocal deficiencies at times (all jokes aside his music, with the exception of a couple songs, is really good). Here, he teamed up with Huf and Freegums to release some goodies in honor of the final night of his U.S. tour, which happens to be next Thursday in SF. Ignoring the music for sec, I noticed that in this video, Keith Hufnagel of Huf (the guy in gray) might be wearing his yet-to-be released new shoe. It only caught my eye because after having lost track (and interest) of the sneaker scene and shoe culture, I randomly checked in on a couple blogs recently to find a pretty clean-looking shoe about to be released by Huf. I've been meaning to get a pair of nice, classy gray sneakers and I think these fit the bill.

Would You Share Yo' Dollar With Me?

I like the video for Aloe Blacc's "I Need A Dollar" but I think I prefer the How To Make It In America intro credits, which provide a hopeful, uplifting feeling to contrast the stark lyrics.

Fly-er Than The Rest Of 'Em

The Sartorialist has been posting old photos from other people as a part of his Vintage Photo Contest. I thought I would repost this picture and the accompanying text because the man looks bad-ass and it reminds me of some old photos I have seen of my grandparents. Not that my grandfather wore anything as adventurous as those boots but he was usually looking pretty sharp. It seems like people just had a way a dressing back in the day, which makes me wonder how futures generations may view the way we dress now...



The date is January 3, 1954. Pictured in the center is my grandfather Yukio (known to me as Ji-chan, Japanese for Grandpa). My dad (pictured on left) is 9 here, his brother a couple years older. The three of them are getting ready to leave Japan for the first time and emigrate to California. My Japanese-American grandmother (born/raised in Calif.) had earlier left her family in Japan in order to find a job, a place to live, and get settled here. Then she sent over for her husband and kids to come and join her in the States.

This photo of Ji-chan reminds me of a Japanese Indiana Jones with the leather jacket and fedora, ready to go on an adventure in a far-off land. He always looked sharp when he went out.

Ji-chan was always a bit of a mystery to me as there was a language barrier (he spoke only Japanese) and he was a quiet man. But I really loved him. He would sneak behind my grandmother's back and smoke cigarettes in the garage or in the car. I'd always laugh at him becuase it was so obvious. He would awe me with his yo-yo tricks. When I was little I'd hold his hands and he would let me step on his toes while he'd walk around the house. And he was a highly regarded gardener in the Japanese community and won awards for his amazing bonsai plants. He was in his backyard garden, sitting at a chair next to a little table tending to one of his mini-tress when he passed away when I was 14. When my grandmother discovered him she thought that he was simply taking a nap because he looked so peaceful.

Super Duper Scott

The trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World looks good. I was wondering how they were going to incorporate the comic-y aspects of the fight scenes and they seemed to nail it. I am looking forward to this, and to the 6th book as well.

Well Alright

Like most fans of indie music and indie films, guys and girls alike, I have an innocent crush on Zooey Deschanel. I like most of the movies she's been in, and I find her clear, almost-smokey voice is perfect for M. Ward's pop-folk tunes (and it sounds especially great when fronting Ward's raspy backing vocals). Here she is doing a little song-and-dance number for She & Him's "In The Sun", which reminds me, I still need to pick up the new album.

Shake It Like A...

I'm probably late on this but I just discovered Poladroid. It doesn't quite capture all the character and appeal of the real thing but it's a fun little program that can add an "artsy" touch to your jpegs. It's not a replacement by any means but it'll have to do until I get a Polaroid or an Instax. Download it for free!

Shoot To Thrill

Iron Man 2 looks good in the same way that first movie was good.

Playground Love

"America, you know I'm crazy. I can't help it. Hee-ahahahahaa!!!"

Wodie!

The new-ish trailer for "Treme", David Simon's latest endeavor, looks good. I admit to knowing nothing about this show and I'll probably keep it that way until it premieres in April.

Smiling From Ear To Ear

Here's Big Boi featuring George Clinton and Too $hort. I had completely forgotten about this song but that happens when other album leaks/singles include "Royal Flush" and "Shine Blockas". This song is dope though. Big raps with purpose as he speeds up and slows down his flow and $hort Dog sounds great rapping over this thick beat-- his voice always seems to go well with dense, Southern beats. So, another good release from Big Boi, which begs the question: when is the album dropping?

From Pitchfork.

Throw My Hands Up

Yesterday, Arsenal demolished Porto 5-0 to advance to the quarter-finals in the Champions League, 6-2 on aggregate. While a lot of post-game talk has focused on Nicklas Bendtner's hat trick following his poor performance in Saturday's game, it's Samir Nasri's goal that stands out in my mind. Nasri filled in for Captain Cesc Fabregas perfectly and capped off a fine showing with a brilliant, Messi-like goal. As you can see, Nasri seemed somewhat contained on the wing until he weaved and feinted through 3 defenders before cracking home an authoritative finish from a tight angle. What makes it even more impressive is that the goal came right when Porto were mounting pressure for the equalizer and it sealed the Gunners' victory, putting the aggregate at 4-2. I've watched a lot of soccer in the past few years and this was one of, if not the best individual goals I have witnessed.

I'll Be Good

Take a look at another video for KiD CuDi's "Pursuit of Happiness", which just so happens to be one of my favorite songs of the past couple months. This one is a little more abstract than the first one and it has some cool, Gondry-like trickery that is pretty impressive. Not a bad video, but I think the original, with it's slo-mo party scenes (see below) captures the vibe of the song a bit better. You be the judge.

Got To Get It

I don't know if these will even fit my face but if anyone has a few hundred dollars to spare and would like to buy me a gift, I will gladly accept it. Salt Optics Terry, "Tweed Moss" or "Burlywood", please.

I'm Back

Today, T.I. released a new single! I've only listened to it a couple times so far and it hasn't made a strong impression on me, good or bad. I guess I'm glad he isn't being lazy here and he always sounds pretty good when he raps in that gruff voice. The beat is rather ho-hum but it's still good to hear new Tip. I know it's not the greatest song-- it's no "What You Know" or "Rubber Band Man"-- but hopefully it'll be a grower. If nothing else, it's a step in the right direction for when he drops his album this summer.

Download "I'm Back" at 2dopeboyz.

Smiling Down, On You And Me

Aaaaaaaangry

Listen to the first single from the upcoming mix tape by Raaaaaaaandy and Dave Sitek. It's hilarious, probably even better than "Hate (DJ Aziz Ansari Remix)".

I Need A Dollar

Here are the excellent opening credits to HBO's new show, How To Make It In America. The show centers on two guys trying to start their own high-end denim company and I've really enjoyed the first couple episodes. At first, I described it as the anti-Entourage but it is more like Entourage with hustle. I think I'll wait for a couple more episodes to air before I write a full-on review but the show has potential to be really good, even if I can already see its weaknesses.

A small side-story on the show deals with the two main characters' past attempt and failure to sell their Wilfredo Gomez pro model skateboard decks. While it was just glossed over in the show up to this point, a large part of their inability to move the decks was that Wilfredo is crazy and he doesn't even skate anymore. HBO made this long and somewhat unnecessary documentary about the history of Wilfredo Gomez. I say it's unnecessary because it's not exactly interesting or integral to the story. Mainly, it gives HBO some street cred by interviewing several pro skateboarders and other New Yorkers that are in that scene.

Hard Knock Life

Kanye's blog is all over the map, not necessarily in a good way, but it's usually worth a visit every week or two. (Although today's launch of www.kanyewest.com might mean he's changing his blog content in addition to the new, cleaner look.) A couple days ago he posted this video about the making of "Hard Knock Life". It's nothing special really, but watching The 45 King talk about the microphone Jay-Z used during recording is pretty awesome.

It Be The Wu

Check out the cover art for the Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface Killah collaboration, Wu-Massacre. While this might not be the official artwork, I'm digging the comic book look, a style that perfectly fits the Wu aesthetic. I'm really looking forward to this release based on the art, as well as the couple of tracks I've heard. Pitchfork reports.

Take One Down, Pass It Around

28 Drinks Later from Futuristic Films on Vimeo.

I See It In Your Eyes

Here's the video for "Giving Up The Gun", probably my favorite track on Vampire Weekend's latest album, Contra. The video doesn't make me like the song any more or less than I already did, but it has a few recognizable cameos and it's weird.

Alone In Kyoto

This is a straight up repost of J. Martinez and Like Cool:

"Jeff Altman is a film colorist from Chicago. These scences were shot by his grandparents in 1958. This footage features only his grandfather; both behind and in front of the camera. He says:

'It was edited by hand some 50 years ago by my grandfather shortly after shooting it. Judging by the 3 minute length, I would say its safe to assume you're seeing all the footage he shot. 100 foot rolls of 16mm are of about 3 minutes in length. The order of the shots were probably changed, as well as removal of flash frames and other junk. '"

I used to wonder why tourists bothered filming their entire rides on the San Francisco Cable Cars; it just seemed so pointless. But now I know why they bother filming anything at all: it's so their grandchildren can find the footage, edit it, and post the video on the Future-Internet over 50 years later.

This video is amazing (and so are Altman's grandfather's other clips). It is littered with several beautiful shots--especially the smoker with the Bay Bridge in the background--but it's the time travel-like effect that really had me hooked. It's interesting to see how different, yet how similar, San Francisco was in the 1950s. I just love that the footage consists of things I see on a daily basis, like city streets filled with cars and people riding the trolley. Only here, the cars are old classics and the people are dressed stylishly in suits and dresses. The overall tone and feel of this video is great as well (in large part due to the excellent selection of Air's "Alone In Kyoto" as the score). It's relaxing and eye-opening at the same time. I feel like this is exactly what many musicians and directors are trying to achieve when filming music videos for indie rock records.

This makes me want to start taking more pictures again and shooting short crappy videos whenever I'm out and about. And one other thing is for sure: I will never make fun of video-happy tourists again. Ever.

Make Of That What You Will

As we did for 2007, and again for 2008, some fellow music lovers and I met up over drinks, pizza and video games for our year-end CD Mix Club party. (Um, we met up over music, too.) In addition to welcoming a couple new faces to the group, this year had the added bonus of being the end of the decade. In that vein, the idea was to make a "Best of the Decade" mix to share with the group in place of our typical mixes. While I still haven't actually distributed my "Decade" mix, I made a 2009 mix as well. I'll post my 2000-2009 mix soon but for now, here's my "Best of 2009":

1. There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve... - A.C. Newman

This song was one of the great opening tracks of 2009 but I can't quite pinpoint why I like it so much. It's almost a restrained version of Newman's typical power pop songs. It's like he's holding back for the listeners sake, building anticipation for the upcoming tracks. I have no idea what this song is actually about but I love these lyrics: "And the eyes they were/a color I can't remember/which says more than the first two verses". He ends each verse with "make of that what you will" and I guess I am doing just that. (Watch a live version here.)

2. The Mountain - Heartless Bastards

I first heard this song on a sampler from Paste Magazine and it immediately grabbed my attention. It is driven by a straightforward, catchy guitar riff and splash-heavy drums, but it's the soaring guitar work that comes and goes throughout the song that adds a nice extra layer. While the music remains more or less constant through the track, I love how Erika Wennerstrom's voice builds from a bored, sing-speak to all out wails by the final verse.

3. French Navy - Camera Obscura

Just as Camera Obscura has quickly become one of my favorite bands, "French Navy" has quickly become one of my favorite CO songs. As usual with this band, the big draws here are the clean, crisp lead vocals, smooth harmonies and larger than life hooks. But the horns, strings and even lyrics are not to be overlooked.

4. Pearl's Dream - Bat For Lashes

I'm a big fan of the up-tempo Bat For Lashes songs and this one probably tops them all. Every time I listen to it, I hear something new. Beyond the stuttering drums, hand claps and synth tones, I've been noticing different bass lines and drums and clinks and clanks. Is someone playing the maracas somewhere in there?

5. My Night With A Prostitute From Marseille - Beirut

I got into Beirut much later than everyone else and while I realize that this probably isn't one of Zach Condon's best efforts musically, I really love this song. In fact, this might have been my second or third favorite song from 2009. Basically, we have Condon doing his best Postal Service impression and succeeding.

6. Rockin' That S** Remix (feat. Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross & Ludacris) - The-Dream

Think of me what you will but this is my absolute favorite song from last year. First of all, the beat (by Los Da Mystro) is the best pop/R&B beat of 2009. Hands. Down. Secondly, The-Dream just kills it. The hook, the "ays!" and the "oooh-ooh-ohs" all perfectly flow with the beat. I admit that if The-Dream had given this song to Rihanna instead of keeping it for himself, it would have been a bigger hit, but it just wouldn't have been the same for me. And finally, all of the guest rappers put in some good work here. In recent years, I feel like a lot of R&B songs are perfectly fine before the rapper remix--"Forever" is better without Lil Wayne, "1 Thing" didn't need a verse from Eve--and in some cases, the rapper shouldn't have been featured in the first place--"1, 2, Step" was almost ruined by a sub-par Missy Elliott appearance. Sure, the rapper-less "Rockin' That Sh**" probably would have made "Best of 2009" if this remix had never been made but in this case the rapping improves on the original track, especially Juelz's verse which is one of my favorites of the year.

7. She Came Along (feat. Sharam) - KiD CuDi

2009 was the year when KiD CuDi became one of my favorite new artists and this is one of his best tracks (I know it's actually a Sharam song but the version on CuDi's mix tape is the best I've heard). CuDi and Sharam owe almost all of this song's success to the Patsy Cline sample but at least they knew what to do with it. CuDi's rap-singing is the perfect contrast to the Cline's melancholy chorus and Sharam did his part by accentuated the head-nodding bass-line without completely burying the guitar picking and subtle piano tinkling. (Side-note, was I the only one who wasn't disappointed by KiD CuDi's debut album? It was surprisingly good, especially considering how many of his peers either fizzled out of the picture or bombed on their first albums [see: Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, B.O.B., The Cool Kids. Even Wale didn't impress.])

8. Make Her Mine - Mayer Hawthorne

It's stating the obvious when I say that Mayer Hawthorne doesn't have the strongest voice. However, in some cases his voice isn't that bad and at other times, his music is so good that I don't really care that he doesn't have the voice of Raphael Saadiq. With this song, both of those statements apply: his singing is decent and the music is great. Throw in some of the smoothest "I love this girl and I'm going to get this girl" lyrics I've heard in a while and I could swear I was listening to some classic Motown R&B. (Watch live version here.)

9. That's That - DOOM

In 2009, DOOM dropped the "MF" for reasons I didn't care to investigate. Despite the name change, he kept the same nonsensical rapping and sample-based production style that he's been rocking for years. No one can fit as many rhymes and rhyme schemes into a 2-minute song as DOOM and only a handful of producers can lace a non-sped up soul sample like the man also known as Metal Fingers. And it's fitting that DOOM chose to let loose and sing a bit, riffing on Michael Jackson's "I Wanna Be Where You Are" in the year the King of Pop tragically passed away.

10. The New Wu (feat. Ghostface Killah & Method Man) - Raekwon

Only Built For Cuban Linx, Pt. II was one of my favorite albums of the year, so this mix had to have a Raekwon track in it somewhere. I could have chosen just about any song off the album ("House of Flying Daggers", " Kiss the Ring", "Gihad", "Black Mozart" to name a few) but I ultimately selected this one because of it's simplicity, and because of Method Man's stellar third verse. The RZA sampled The Magictones for the beat and while it's not the best sample I've ever heard, it's really, really catchy.

11. Fresh Air - Brother Ali

One of several highlights on Us (check out "The Preacher" too), "Fresh Air" has Brother Ali triumphantly rapping about his life. It's refreshing to hear a rapper speak on how great his life is without being "bling bling" about it (although I do love me some superficial rap music), but it's even more refreshing to hear a non-mainstream rapper who (a) isn't trying to throw it back to the Golden Age of Hip-Hop, (b) isn't blatantly and one dimensionally hating on mainstream artists and (c) isn't caught up in being the "conscious rapper".

12. 1901 - Phoenix

I had been reading and hearing good things about Phoenix for a couple years but it wasn't until I heard "1901" that I actually bothered to listen to them. I was missing out on something great, wasn't I? Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was excellent; I think I need to get their entire catalog now.

13. 11th Dimensions - Julian Casablancas

I don't think anyone can talk about Julian Casablancas without mentioning The Strokes, so let me just say that I love that band. A few people thought Is This It? was all hype (or over-hype). Some people were bored by Room On Fire. Most people didn't like First Impressions Of Earth. I liked all of those albums and same goes for Phrazes For The Young. "11th Dimension" is one of the standout tracks on the album and similar to Casablancas' work with The Strokes, this song is tight, fun and cool.

14. Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li) - N.A.S.A.

As I've been documenting on this blog for the past couple years, Kanye is on a loooong streak of extremely good guest verses, just like his "big brother" Jay-Z was around the middle of the decade. Kanye is clearly improving as a rapper and what he lacks in pure skill, he always makes up for with energy, cheeky lines, and by actually rapping to the beat. He goes off on the song's first verse, summing up things nicely by saying, "this verse only adds to the freshness." Elsewhere, Santi puts in a pretty hypnotic verse, Lykke Li shows up to provide some chorus harmonies, and N.A.S.A.'s spaced-out, Brazilian-inspired beat brings everything together nicely.

15. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

I never paid much attention to Gaga until this song. It's not that I disliked her previous singles but I wouldn't say I liked them either; they were just there. I liked "Bad Romance" right away. It's epic and crazy and kind of sinister, too. After repeated listens, repeated video viewings and repeated video breakdown readings, it's clear that Gaga the pop artist is finally catching up to Gaga the balls-y celebrity. And that is a good thing.

16. Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) - Jay-Z

The beat is decent enough, the hooks are strong, the lyrics are good. But the key to this song happens during the last few bars of each verse. As Jay is rhyming, the beat drops out and some simple guitar strumming builds up momentum until he finishes rapping, and then the booming chorus from Alicia Keys soars in. There's just something special about that transition. (As a side note, would this song have had the same impact if it wasn't Jay-Z and if it wasn't about New York? Hell, I would argue that even the World Series played a big part in making this song unstoppable during the latter part of Summer and early Fall. Think about it...)

17. Shine Blockas (feat. Gucci Mane) - Big Boi

This beat is so great--easily one of the best of the year--that I'm surprised that Big Boi and Gucci Mane didn't get out-shined by it. Well, I'm not that surprised really. Big Boi is criminally underrated as a rapper and Gucci Mane is extremely talented, if not a little one dimensional, as well. Their contrasting styles sound great alongside each other and they sound even better over such a dynamic beat. Everyone brought their "A" game for this track. I absolutely can not wait for Big Boi's constantly-delayed album to get released.

18. People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

This song is about people being stupid for being shocked when animals kill people in zoos and at amusement parks. Some people seem to think it's also about Case being a "maneater" in relationships but I remember reading somewhere that it's actually just about animals killing people. I think I like it better that way too.

19. Military Madness - Woods

I don't know much about Woods, only that their album, Songs of Shame is really good. It is filled with beautifully simple, lo-fi, falsetto-sung bits of pop brilliance, like this Graham Nash cover.

20. Romans 10:9 - The Mountain Goats

This is probably my favorite track from The Mountain Goats' latest album, in which each song is titled and inspired by a Bible passage. Despite the faster tempo to "Romans" this is actually a pretty sad song as John Darnielle has to remind himself that "if you believe in your heart and confess with your lips/surely you will be saved one day".

21. Hysteric - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

While Karen O as the yipping, wailing rock star is great, I enjoy the change of pace that her calmer, gentler side provides on tracks like this one. As she coos, "flow sweetly, hang heavy/you suddenly complete me/you suddenly complete me", followed by stuttering "oh-ohs" and "ah-ahs", I can't help but get drawn into the song.

And that's the mix... Feel free to check back on my Best of 2008 and Best of 2007 mixes. I think my 2008 mix is relatively weak but 2007 holds up fairly well. Let's hope I can say the same thing about my "Best of 2009" in a couple years!

My Direction Is Known

B. Diddy messing around NYC to J Dilla and Diz Gibran's "Make It Fast". Cameos by Jim Jones, DJ Clue, Irv Gotti & Common.

Space Odyssey

New M.I.A.! Very minimalistic, very distorted. Cool stuff.

If I May

Let there be no doubt: this guy is really good at doing random circus-type activities. Some highlights include jumping into his clothes and doing somersaults on a treadmill. I mean, I can't do a flip or a fancy yo-yo trick so I can only dream of doing both of those things at once. The guy's got skills. However, this video reminded me of something I have been mildly fixated on for a while now: the actual filming of youtube clips is just as funny, if not funnier, than the actual content of the video.

Imagine walking through the park and seeing someone set up a Flip camera on a bench. Then that person proceeds to stand on a picnic table and juggle blocks. After a while, he stops juggling and jumping, and he walks over to the bench to turn his camera off. Something about that just cracks me up. People who film themselves, by themselves, doing random things is just too funny.

I first discovered this when I was watching one of my cousin's friend's break-dancing videos on Youtube. She was doing her dance routine (mainly c-walking and popping) in her driveway with headphones on, at night with a porch light focused on her so we can actually see what she's doing. The video camera was clearly just sitting on the ground and she was by herself. That scenario cracked me up! I would love to be walking through a neighborhood and randomly stumble upon some kid making a solo dance video for Youtube. I'm guessing the kid would be slightly embarrassed at being discovered, which would be even funnier seeing as he/she was planning on posting this on Youtube anyway. I'm laughing now just thinking about it.

Priority

I often find myself disagreeing with Byron Crawford's music reviews so I don't visit his site regularly--which explains why I'm just posting this now--but I have to agree with him here: How come there are only six rap songs on Pitchfork's Best of 2009 list?

Every year these lists get picked apart and analyzed but this year was especially easy to scrutinize when it came to hip hop. I would have guessed that with the site's music-crush on Clipse, at least one track from Til The Casket Drops would have snuck on the list. What about Mos Def? They gave his album a great review but you're trying to tell me that he didn't have one list-worthy track on there? No Wale? No DOOM? No CUDI? At the very least, I would have put one or two more songs from Raekwon's album on there but maybe that would be too much for them to take from one of their top ten albums of 2009.

In addition to the lack of selections, the six cuts that actually made the list raise a question or two as well. I like Cam'ron as much as the next guy and I actually really enjoy "I Hate My Job" but I find it hard to believe that it's the 5th best rap song of the year. I would argue that "Wasted" is a better song. And without naming anything in specific, with the vast number of albums, singles, mix tapes and remixes out there, I'm sure I could come up with at least ten tracks that are better.

I admit that rap had somewhat of a down year, mainstream and underground alike, so I'm not saying that Pitchfork should have searched out rap songs to fill the list. In general, the site's entire 2009 coverage seemed more indie rock and pop-leaning than in recent years. Maybe that can be chalked up to a refocusing of the site's content or maybe it's just a sign that hip hop/rap needs to step it up a bit. It's hard to say for sure, but as someone who enjoys listening to and reading about music, this is something worth keeping an eye on.

Clan In Da Front

Here's another Wu-related post, this one featuring a video of The RZA expanding on ?uestlove's Wu-Tang Clan/"Parks and Recreations" ideas...

And speaking of "Parks and Rec", I've only seen 4 or 5 episodes this season but they have all been excellent. Last season, I only caught two episodes but they just seemed to be missing something. It seems the show has moved out of the shadow of "The Office", growing into its own fake documentary beast. I feel like it's finally living up to the potential of its awesome cast. Bon Bon!

I Gotta Feeling

There are only two guys that have been doing anything with mashups in recent history: Girl Talk and SF's own DJ Earworm (the man responsible for "Reckoner Lockdown"). While I don't claim to be an avid mashup fanatic, I'm pretty sure I can stand by that statement. Really, aside from those two who else is doing anything worthwhile? By now, most music lovers know about Girl Talk but it's Earworm who is really getting some love from the general public with his end of the year mashups--just ask someone on Facebook. While his most recent mix for 2009 is pretty awesome, I think 2007's is much better. And in case you were wondering, I find 2008's mix almost unlistenable. Maybe that's kind of harsh but compared to the other two songs, 2008 is weak. See for yourself.

United State of Pop 2009


United State of Pop (2007)


United State of Pop 2008

Wu Familia

Designer Logan Walters' Wu-Note Project is slick. He reimagined Wu-Tang album covers, giving them the feel of Blue Note vinyl sleeves. What makes these so great is the attention to detail. Faded edges, scratch marks and grainy images perfectly compliment the bold colors and dominant typefaces, making these covers much more than casual rehashes of a classic design. Look at them all.