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.