Your body's like a camembert oozing from its skin

255. the Art Ensemble of Chicago - "Theme de Yoyo" (from the Les Stances a Sophie LP, Nessa Records)

The Art Ensemble of Chicago made a lot of crazy, wonderful music over the years. They are an inspiration for those open to trying new things, engaging with traditions that aren't your own, and looking backwards, forwards, and in every direction at the same time. This track is an absolute fireball of funk, and the short bursts of free jazz style freakout (and how tightly the band goes into and out of them) make me really happy.

I'm going to see Transporter 3 with my fam after dinner for some sweet reason. Will report back. Happy Thanksgiving.

rattlesnake sausage forreals

257. Chicago - "I'm a Man" (CBS, 1969)
256. Chicago - "25 or 6 to 4" (Columbia, 1970)

Some might know Chicago (the band) just for their Peter Cetera-fronted M.O.R. ballads, but us Chicago (the city) folk know that they started out as a pretty sweet band. I never get tired of these two early singles. "I'm a Man" puts Chicago's rhythm section on full display and "25 or 6 to 4", despite its stupid title, is a hard-charging rock song with the band's trademark killer horns and an awesome guitar solo.

On a side note, I finally went to the much vaunted Hot Doug's today and boy was it as great as advertised. I had a regular Chicago Style dog (mustard, onions, relish, pickles, tomato) of course, but I figured I had to try one of their more exotic sausages as well, so I went for this week's Game of the Week, a Chardonnay and Jalapeño Rattlesnake Sausage with Ancho-Lime Mayonnaise and Smoked Gouda Cheese. It was amazing. Def one to add to the list of places you have to go when in Chicago.

Do you wanna riiide

258. Do or Die - "Po Pimp (ft. Twista)" (CWAL Mob Recordings, 1996)

Our countdown is back and, since I'm in Chicago for the Injun killin' holidays, let's make it a scientifically determined Chicago week.

Now, I don't know about yall, but when I was growing up we had a little channel on TV called the Box where you could call in and pay a buck or so and have your video played. The fact that this actually worked I take on faith, because I don't know anyone who ever called in. Anyways, round 1996 the Box would often crank out this song, a huge local hit for Chi-town rap group Do or Die and local legend Twista. This is what Midwestern hip-hop was to me at the time.

If You Seek Maciej

The last 36 hours or so = trying to form some semi-coherent thoughts about the Britney album. Still working.

Dreams stay with you

259. Big Country - "In a Big Country" (Phonogram, 1983)

This is quite an odd song, as far as the structure of the verse and chorus lines, but it really is as BIG as the title promises. I'm not sure whether that awesome riff at the end of the chorus is a heavily effected guitar or a synth approximating a sax/bagpipe/whatever, but it sounds soooo awesome. This is better stadium rock than anything U2 ever put out easily.

from Bill Simmons' mailbag (!) about the Hills(!!)

I read Sports Guy today for the first time in a bit, and the most entertaining thing in it was Sports Gal re: Hills.

Q: Can you ask the Sports Gal if she's keeping track of how many birthdays Brody Jenner gets per year? We've counted two this season already.
-- Lauren and Kristina, Boston

SG: It took two people to write that e-mail! Here's the Sports Gal's response: "Brody is the only person with an IQ greater than 85 on that show and figured out three years ago that not only could he be the center of two birthday party shows per year, but everyone would be dumb enough to keep giving him gifts. Remember, he is the only person on the show who sees right through Spencer's loser sister and that is saying something. I like when Brody has a birthday because it reminds me that we have to move our clocks either forward or back soon." Well, then.

Hahaha. Discuss.

And I shot her!

260. the Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Hey Joe" (Reprise Records, 1967)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was the first real rock band I ever got into when I first started experimenting with the rock and roll, sometime in eighth grade. Obviously Jimi himself was the main draw, being the best guitarist like ever and a hell of an underrated songwriter. However, Mitch Mitchell, who passed away today, was almost as immediate and impressive.

I don't know much about drumming technique, but I do know that I love a drummer who can play cool as shit and then all of a sudden launch into a fill so quickly that it would almost certainly give you whiplash if it didn't sound so smooth and natural. And I marvel at a motherfucker who can be so awesome and flashy and yet fit perfectly into the band dynamic.

As hard as it is to take one's eyes off of Jimi, take a look at Mitch's hands in this video when you can see them:

Curiosity killed the pop-minded blogger

The new Nickelback album is slowly slinking onto my hard drive. Watch this space.

Thoughts:
- The leadoff track is called "Something in Your Mouth". That phrase is used in the exact context you might be scared that it would be, of course. Actually maybe an even more uncomfortable context. I dunno.
- They not only use the line "Well she ain't no Cinderella when she's gettin' undressed/cuz she rocks it like the naughty Wicked Witch of the West", but repeat it 2.5 times! Ballsy.
- This is kinda dirty.
- The rockers aren't great, but the ballads make the rockers sound like sweet aural manna from heaven.
- Shit, Maura at Idolator beat me to this anyways.

So yeah, no big revelations, I guess. One or two decent guitar riffs, buttrock city. Prolly won't listen to again except maybe for that wicked witch song for the LOLs and maybe "Burn It to the Ground", which has a decent little groove. Not nearly the worst band in the world tho.

We miss things by not watching the Hills aftershow, I swear

So myself, Matty, Rich, and Epps were watching GG and the Hills as we tend to do on Monday nights, and I was thinking about how these two shows, which we watch back to back (DVR, obvi) every week are so completely opposite in terms of the amount of shit that happens on them. Rich has talked before about how GG is almost too fast paced sometimes; story lines which could be stretched out for a season are handled neatly in a few episodes. It is this breakneck pace which makes me both amazed at how well the writers are handling the second season of Gossip Girl and scared about how long they can possibly keep this up.

The Hills, on the other hand, is comparatively (hell, even on its own terms), a total drone piece. Sure, there's the odd relationship issue or move but, especially this season, things not only happen at a snail's pace, but, when they do, just don't seem to be all that serious; certainly more smooth rolling Hills (ha!) than large peaks and valleys. This is especially true this season for LC, the supposed main character of the show, who hasn't really gone through shit this season. Her one big relationship (Doug the failed baseball player) ended up causing more drama for Stephanie Pratt than herself. Her work life has been much more interesting for Whitney than for her. Her run-ins with Heidi and Spencer have been much more about Heidi and Spencer than about her. Lauren's just kind of there.

And this is actually okay, I think, especially given the fact that we can use the Hills as a nice little comedown after GG. And no worries about the Hills running out of plotlines because, well, the plots seem completely inconsequential. It gets by on the fact that it's a surprisingly well shot show that we're just so seemingly comfortable with that there's no real reason not to watch it.

Coincidentally, it seems that Charlize Theron recently said some shit about how the Hills is about nothing and she can't figure out it's popularity, to which LC responded, more or less, with "Uh, well, yeah." I think the Seinfeld comparison is interesting because in that case, if someone asked "Why do you watch a show about nothing?" I could at least answer that I watch because it's funny. In the case of the Hills, especially in this relatively drama-free season, I'm not sure I know why. Comfortable, again, seems like as good a word as any, and I'm currently fine with that.

Also

Grant Park Pimpin'

Well that whole election thing certainly went well.

Lake Michigan is burning

Seriously, this better go well tomorrow. And while the above image might well be a nice representation of our psyches if Barry O loses tomorrow, my current concern is what the hell is going to happen to my hometown of Chicago tomorrow night. If you haven't heard, our beloved Mayor Richard Daley is throwing Barack a victory party in Grant Park in downtown Chicago. The capacity of the part of the park gated off for the celebration is around 70,000 people, but we might be looking at around a million descending on the area.

Now, I would never call my fellow Chicagoans rowdy, but I do seem to remember a good amount of jubilant destruction during the Bulls dynasty years, and none of that had a million people gathered in the same square mile to start off. I'm worried about what happens even in the case of an Obama victory, if McCain wins, I don't see any way around a really bad riot. God bless you, Chicago, stay safe.

Witch!

261. Goblin - "Suspiria" (from the Suspiria LP, Cinevox 1977)
262. Merzbow - "Yellow Hyper Balls" (from the Pulse Demon LP, Release Entertainment, 1996)

Halloween is upon us and, in honor of that most glorious of holidays, our scientists have today dialed up two very awesome pieces to scare, shock, and aurally disembowel our listeners.

First is the theme from my very favorite horror movie, Dario Argento's masterpiece Suspiria. The music, as in many Argento classics, is provided by Goblin, heroes to spooky prog rockers, dancers, and freaks everywhere. Like many soundtrack pieces, it is improved by context (in this case, dark nights, bright colors, witches, and blood), but it's definitely good enough to give you an idea of the mood of the film all on its own.

Our other selection sets a different tone altogether. It's "Yellow Hyper Balls", and it was my first ever introduction to Japanese noise legend Merzbow. The first time I heard it I thought it almost completely unlistenable, but I've kind of come around on it as a sort of meditation exercise. It's brutally compressed and terrifyingly abrasive, and I think listening to it at least once on Halloween can only be a positive experience.

I have visions of many things

263. Jimmy Ruffin - "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" (Soul Records, 1966)

This is another one of those songs that I tend to lose for a while, and then comes back to me through the magic of iTunes/random television/jukeboxes. I remember hearing it fairly early in childhood, though I've no clue where. The lyrics are fairly standard (though it's a pretty high standard) Motown bittersweetness, but the vocal melody in the chorus is I think one of the most memorable hooks ever, and the arrangement is top notch.

Apparently this is the song that Whitney Houston was originally supposed to sing in the Bodyguard instead of "I Will Always Love You" (we'll get to that later), but they changed it last minute after Paul Young (I have no idea who that is) covered it on the soundtrack of Fried Green Tomatoes. Prolly all for the best, as while I think this is a better song than the Dolly Parton one, the latter was better suited to Whitney's ear-shattering strengths.

I know now fragility

264. The Knife - "Heartbeats" (Rabid Records, 2004)
265. The Knife - "Silent Shout" (V2 Records, 2006)

So Pitchfork reported today that Karin Dreijer from the almighty Knife is putting out a record next year as Fever Ray. You can hear the first sample of this project on the Fever Ray Myspace and it's a very cool, bass heavy instrumental that has me anxiously awaiting more more more. I am a bit sad, however, because while I wish Karin all the best this would seem to indicate that a new Knife record isn't coming anytime soon.

The Knife, as you may well know, are a Swedish sibling duo and one of the best bands in the universe. They first got my attention with "Hearbeats", a pop song so beautiful and sad and interesting that it is capable of melting and freezing hearts at the same time, something our scientists are currently trying to work out.

Deep Cuts, the album which "Heartbeats" opens, was a fun, weird record, but two years later the Knife came back with a complete masterpiece in Silent Shout. I'm not sure there has been a record released this decade that deserves more to be listened to really loud on some really sweet speakers. The track on our list is the title track and opener, which rather nicely sketches out the icy, dark, neon-lit motorway the album takes us through.

Please come back, Knife, come back and take us further into your frosty, shimmering future.

xoxo,
Maciej

F--- you, F--- you, You're cool, I'm out

Sorry about the cliched Half Baked reference but if you bare with me, it actually winds up being pretty damn appropriate.

I'm going to go ahead an assume that none of you have heard of Andrew Lahde. That's probably a good thing.

Long story short: In late 2006/early 2007 he set up a hedge fund in Santa Monica California. The fund's strategy was based on his prediction that the US housing market would collapse. Needless to say he was correct. His fund earned returns of over 1,000% (not a typo) and he became one of the most famous investors in the world.

He just quit and left this gem of a goodbye letter:

http://www.portfolio.com/html/assets/AndrewLahdeFarewell.pdf

Saved you the room you used to stay in every Sunday

266. The Zombies - "Care of Cell 44" (Epic Records, 1967)

Ideas for what crime the object of affection in this song has been imprisoned for"
- Hopping trains/not paying train fare. This would add a nice irony to the singer having "saved up for the train fare money."
- Domestic assault. The singer still loves her and wants her back, but who knows, maybe he's a touch scared as well.
- Creating a public disturbance. Y'know. Like a hippie.
- Possession of a controlled substance. Y'know. Like a hippie.

Doesn't matter of course, because the melodies and harmonies on this song make it easily one of the best songs of the 60s, that decade that I've been told I'm supposed to worship as, like, when everything was real and meant something.

Goren, are you rescuing me?...Fold.

Looks like I got cable right on time, kids. You may have heard the news earlier this year that Chris Noth will be leaving Law & Order: Criminal Intent to be replaced by Jeff Goldblum, and now we will finally get to see the results. The new season of CI premieres Friday, November 7 on USA, which prolly means I will be DVR-ing it and watching it hungover on Saturdays. No word on whether any dinosaurs will be involved.

DeadinthemiddleofLittleItalylittledidweknow- thatweriddledsomemiddlemanwhodidn'tdodiddily

267. Big Punisher - "Twinz (Deep Cover 98) (ft. Fat Joe)" (Loud Records, 1997)

I feel like (and I might be wrong, strawmen being what they are) for folks who weren't really into hip-hop like me and some of friends were in 1998 (by which I mean reading the Source, watching Rap City, etc.), Big Pun means something very different; let's say a very large, talented rapper that died and the first hugely popular Hispanic rapper. And he very much was both of those things. But I'm not sure they (those magical strawmen) realize just how insanely dope we thought Pun was when he came out. I remember having my mom buy me Capital Punishment, stopping at the mall on the way back from a 6th grade basketball game maybe, coming home, listening to it once, and immediately calling one of my friends to rave about it. Pun was on some completely next level tongue twisting shit and he was great at it.

It should also be noted that Fat Joe at this point was, in the order of things, a solid if unspectacular rapper, loosely affiliated with DITC crew, not the kind of guy you'd anticipate releases from, but you might have a tape of, a rapper who had paid his dues and had all the hardcore cred in the world. Certainly, before Pun, the odds on Fat Joe becoming super famous in the next decade were fairly long.

But Joe does his best to keep up with Pun over the "Deep Cover" beat here, and comes as close as anyone could have hoped for. Pun murders him, of course, but he would've murdered about anyone at this point. The amount of rapid-fire rhymes and syllables he squeezes in to each line is a joy to behold. (I had completely forgotten until seeing it today that Snoop appears in the video, giving our Boricuan heroes blessing to use the beat).

Emotions they stir

268. the All-American Rejects - "Swing, Swing" (Dreamworks Records, 2003)

In 2003 I was a Junior/Senior in high school, I was just beginning to get into rock and roll/indie/whatevs and I hated this song, as I was wont to do with pop-punk (I guess that's what I would've called it then) of the kind. Flash forward to a few months ago, driving down from Cape Cod someone put in an old CD and this was on and, go figure, it's brilliant now.

It took some time to sort out what exactly the lyrics on the chorus were, and I think Rich was the first to figure out that it went "Swing, swing, swing from the tangles of/my heart is crushed by a former love," which is actually quite clever and out of the ordinary, overlapping the last word (and object) of the first sentence and the first word (and subject) of the second one. To wit:



Plus, you know, the organ intro and bridge are super sweet.