Indepedent Record Stores Still Exist?!

Apparently they do, and they're trying to get people to walk into stores and buy physical media again. To that end they asked Josh Homme from QOTSA/Them Crooked Vultures/The Eagles of Death Metal to put together a little video explaining 'independent record store day.' Here's what he gave them:



"... and bacteria" kills me. Hopefully other groups will see this and decide to try their luck with a Homme endorsement video.

Train of Thought Lounge: Can't Tell Me Nothing

Thanks to Rumproast for reminding me that Kanye West himself is responsible for one of the greatest videos of all time:



I gotta say, I also share their confusion about how this grew beyond the yearly post-VMA media firestorm. Yes, Kanye is an egotistical jackass. This is not new information. He also shouldn't have gone on stage and interrupted that teenager's acceptance speech. These are facts.

On the other hand, he didn't do this at the White House, or even the Grammys. He did this at an awards show that fosters craziness. Dozens of fistfights, people calling each other out, a high as shit Whitney Houston jumping around like an idiot, insane bassists from awesome bands literally climbing on the scaffolding to protest Limp Biskit winning an award... this is why you watch the VMAs. Yeah, he's a dick and he shouldn't have done that, but don't pretend that anyone was watching to see who won the 18th "best video" category. No one gives a shit. People watch the VMAs to see crazy things happen, and they got what they wanted.

People got entertained, MTV made tons of money and got more press than they could of dreamed of, and Taylor Swift got to and reach that next level of stardom with people (like myself) who didn't know who she was until yesterday. Even Jay Leno wins by bumping his ratings after tastelessly asking Kanye what his recently deceased mother would have thought of his actions. You know you've done something truly shitty if you can generate empathy for Kanye in this media climate.

Also, like atrios said, it's possible that Barack brought this up on his own or it was just meaningless banter, but it also brought back memories from the primaries when it became a common practice to get Barack to comment on anything that any black person did or has ever done throughout the course of history.

And even without the racial element, why is it news that Obama called Kanye a Jackass? Who the fuck cares? Let me know when he calls Max Baucus a jackass, that would be news and infinitely more deserving in the grand scheme of things.

Please, make it stop.

End of Rant.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, the Undisputed King of Pop

The Train of Thought Lounge: Nirvana

I tend to listen to music in waves, picking up on various artists or groups or genres for a certain period of time, then moving on to find new music or rediscover old favorites, before often times migrating back to what I listened to before. Sometimes these phases last a couple of months, sometimes a couple of years. Maybe I'm not the only one who experiences music this way, but at any rate I can't explain why I do it.

And so, I can't explain exactly why I've been listening to Nirvana's MTV Unplugged album from 1993 so much recently, but I have. Here, for your viewing and listening pleasure, is their cover of the Meat Puppets' "Oh, Me."

The Train of Thought Lounge: Weezer

In honor of me and rb's recent puppet-off war on Facebook, I present to you Weezer's outstanding video for Keep Fishin' from 2002. Muppets!!!



Happy May Day, everyone!

The Train of Thought Lounge: Morris Day and The Time

I couldn't find the clip from Purple Rain due to lame copyright laws, so this will have to suffice. Don't you EVER say another unkind word about The motherfuckin' Time!!!

The Train of Thought Lounge: A Tribe Called Quest

Today, we're taking back with some classic ish. Tribe. Real hip-hop. 'Nuff said.

Happy Friday, Traininites.

1nce Again - A Tribe Called Quest featuring Tammy Lucas

The Train of Thought Lounge: The Foreign Exchange

As the weather is beginning to warm up again here in the District, I've been in a mellow, jazzy type of mood of late. Today's Lounge selection echoes that feeling, with "Take Off The Blues" off of The Foreign Exchange's latest joint, Leave It All Behind.

The duo is comprised of Phonte of Little Brother fame (dope, dope, dope hip-hop!) and Dutch producer Nicolay. Phonte is one of the greatest lyricists of our time; in terms of his cadence and his wordplay, I don't think there's a rapper I enjoy more, apart from Kweli. When he pairs his skills up with Nicolay's smooth, electronic grooves, it is truly a beautiful thang.

Phonte has also showcased his singing chops before, so it comes as no surprise that this cut features his exclusively R&B side. Joining him in this souful endeavor is Darien Brockington, who often sings the hooks on Little Brother songs.

So kick off your shoes, take off the blues and come with me in ushering in this weekend. You know you want to...

Holy awesome sauce! DOOM has a new album

As of late, I've really been embracing what it means to be a Black nerd. Personally, it means continiung a rather proud tradition within a major subset of my mom's side of the family, as I've discussed with my older male cousins on more than one occasion. Avant garde, yet somehow still stuck in the past when it comes to pop culture, my inner Black nerd can escape through outlets such as playing video games, watching sports and especially my tastes in music.

Which brings me to the news that DOOM, the mysterious, metal-clad MC who used to be known as MF DOOM, dropped his latest album, Born Like This, on Tuesday. As I've mentioned here before, I'm a big fan of the self-proclaimed supervillain of hip-hop, whose flow is almost as schizophrenic as it as skillful.

A trip through DOOM's lyrics takes you on a nonsensical journey of hilarious references, so masterfully put-together that you may not catch up until multiple bars have already passed. I can't think of any other rappers that have mentioned Ernest Goes To Camp, Worf from Star Trek and the Hadron Collider in the same song. In essence, DOOM is the hip hop manifestation of the Black nerd.

Shaping his persona from Marvel Comics' Dr. Doom., his songs often feature various audio clips from science fiction movies, radio and TV commercials and Saturday morning cartoons. In 2003, he released an album entitled Take Me To Your Leader under the guise of King Geedorah, a monster from outer space in the Godzilla films. Weird, yes. But DOOM is so dope, he's actually able to pull this off.

Born Like This plays like a copy of the National Enquirer or Weekly World News, set to beats from Jake One, Madlib and the legendary J Dilla. The intro and outro are both loops of a harmonious gospel song, sandwiching the weird grooves and off-kilter lyrics DOOM is known for. The second track, "Gazillion Ear" is as schizo as DOOM's rap style; two-thirds of the song uses Dilla's "Phantom of the Synths" beat, with an in-song interlude which features DOOM spitting over "Dimethyltryptamine," another Dilla beat first used by Jay Electronica.

Gazzillion Ear - Doom

"Microwave Mayo" could have been produced on a 1980's Casio keyboard, but its beautifully-complex synthesized harmonies sound like old NES music gone horribly right. What sounds like jibberish at first makes more sense with each passing rhyme, which is the modus operandi of DOOM's evil genius.

Microwave Mayo - Doom

The album's namesake comes from a poem by Charles Bukowski which paints a grisly, apocalyptic picture of society and fits perfectly into DOOM's schtick. The track "Cellz" features an excerpt of Bukowski reading the poem in a haunting tone before giving way to DOOM's calculated mumbo-jumbo.

Cellz - Doom

Granted, these are only a few samples of what Born Like This has to offer, but this album is solid from top to bottom. Ghostface Killah and Raekwon make well-timed cameos and Posdnous of De La Soul provides vocals for his own evil alter-ego.

If you already didn't find me weird enough, here's hoping that some of you will continue speaking to me in public after knowing that I listen to this. No matter, nothing being said behind my back could be half as bad as things being said about me on the interwebs as of late. Perhaps it is I, DCJONESY, that's been a villain since an itsy bitsy zygote and not DOOM? If it's anywhere near as fun as he makes it out to be, then toss that metal mask in my direction, please.

The Train of Thought Lounge: Journey

For those who don't know, myself and a travelling band of misfits (actually, commentor nimsofa and two friends) will be playing our first show tonight in Rockville as Doc Brown and the Martys McFly, and I can't wait. In honor of this momentous occasion, I wanted to spotlight one of my biggest musical influences.

JJ asked for a couple of Randy Jackson-esque bass slaps, so I'll do what I can to suffice. I'll also be sporting a high-top fade, leather jacket and spandex pants, so be sure to look forward to that.



And yes, that is in fact the same Randy Jackson from American Idol, filling in for the band on their 1986 "Raised On Radio" tour. I have to give the man credit, he sure has range, and he rocks out as hard as possible so nuff respect due.

Train of Thought Lounge: Neko Case

Right alongside Johnny Cash, Neko Case is the answer to people who think they like everything but country. With just about the best voice outside of opera, long red hair and an often hard, deeply personal, occasionally nonsensical songwriting style, it's almost impossible not to fall a little in love with her. Here's how she describes her life in the introduction to her new website:

It’s late and I have exactly 100 miles in the dark to write this. I am headed Westward on Arizona Highway 60, one of the most treacherous stretches of road in the land; scary hairpin turns and bottomless canyons, smashed, exploded fragments of autos from all eras littering the cliff sides round nearly every corner. It’s like a James Bond movie, which is funny, because so is my life, observe...

I was born on an Air Force base in Virginia to some teenage children. After a short classified assignment for the president, my family returned home to Washington State. From about age four to age fifteen, I was raised by dogs and cats. I occasionally intersected with my parents by accident. “Oh it’s you?! I have to make you a lunch, don’t I?” As I grew into a young adult I was very confused and lacked direction. My parents very much wanted me to become a crack-whore, but I gravely disappointed them by graduating from college. Though they did not notice until years after the event, they still take my failings personally.

And now, here I am, humbled before you dear readers, begging your attention from such things as reality television and Wendy’s bacon cheeseburgers so that you might notice my rock band. Yes, my rock band. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I, Neko Case, could be part of something so grand. I have become equal parts truck driver, gladiator, and mule. It has been no bed of roses, and clean gas station toilets are few and far between, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And in America no less! It just goes to show that if you keep plowing away, extraordinary things can happen. Why just today in this beautiful part of the country I’ve seen two wolves, an elk, four javelinas, a fox, a coyote, and a great horned owl. Wow! Wealth indeed! By far the wildest thing I’ve seen today however was a KFC day-manager named “Shelly” wearing a floor length leather trench coat sporting a very serious tattoo of a vampire bite/neck puncture wound. She had her KFC baseball cap on too. I wonder what kind of fantasy mate Shelly is trying to attract? To me, the tattoo says “I’m lookin’ to date make-believe Draculas.” That’s the kind of pioneering spirit I’m talking about. Just out there waving in the wind. Rock is my make-believe Dracula. I just don’t have a tattoo of it on my neck, I have a website.

Last week, Neko released a new album called Middle Cyclone. There isn't too much online yet, but here's a strong version of the single. It's called "People Got a Lotta Nerve:"





To give you a bit more flavor, here's "Hold On" from her previous completely unbelievable album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. In one interview, she described the album as "about losing your faith in every possible way. Which is, seems to me, the most American feeling there is these days."

Well, whatever it's about, it's hauntingly beautiful. Enjoy:





Bonus: Neko also serves as the female lead for the New Pornographers, an explosively poppy Vancouver-based group. Sadly, I couldn't find a good version of "Mass Romantic" on YouTube, which is a definite contender for my favorite song of all time. But it is on their MySpace page, if you want to check it out. In the meantime, here's the video for "Letter from an Occupant:"

The Train of Thought Lounge: John Coltrane

By way of Ta-Nehisi Coates, because he is the man. That wasn't intended to be a toungue-in-cheek reference to recent events, but even Michele Bachmann would agree that Coates be da man one time on the west side tip for shizzle, you jive turkeys.

Ok, I think I made my point... commence to grooving & enjoy the warm weather this weekend.

Yes!

Prince, on his upcoming three-disc album:

"A whole lot of people are gonna get pregnant off of this," Prince told the Los Angeles Times in December about one of the ballads on Valente's debut.

To clarify, two of the albums, entitled MLPSound and Lotusflow3r, will be by Prince with the third exclusively featuring new artist Bria Valente, listed in the article as his "protegée."

Could this be the fruition of Prince's fabled Camille project? Evidently not, as she appears to be an actual woman. Here's hoping Prince really can help her become the new Sade, though (starts uncontrollably drooling). And while I'm not all that thrilled to see Prince enter an exclusive deal with Target, at least it's not Wal-Mart.

The Train of Thought Lounge: The Kooks

Time for another British pop/rock group! This time, it comes in the form of The Kooks, who are very much in the same vein as Arctic Monkeys.

I actually found out about this band from FIFA '09, which features their song "Always Where I Need To Be" on its soundtrack. A few friend referrals later, and their latest album Konk had attained heavy rotation status in my music library. I'm a little bit late on their hype though, as many people have pointed to 2006's Inside In/Inside Out as The Kooks' best.

All I know is that their latest effort has numerous jams, including but not limited to today's featured track "Stormy Weather."

(And no, JJ, not the famed, yet ill-fated Stash House song).

Stormy Weather - The Kooks

The Train of Thought Lounge: Chester French

This duo's name has been popping up all over the interwebs, from Talib Kweli's blog, to our very own friend blog Talk Is Costley, just to name a few. I don't know very much about them, other than the fact that they're signed to The Neptunes' Star Trak label, which means they must be pretty awesome.

I just peeped this video last night and the song is otherworldly. From its melody to its complex verse-chorus-bridge structure, this track is a certified jam. The video is extremely violent (not for the weak-hearted!) and is not in any way an attempt by me to make light of the recent Chris Brown-Rihanna situation. I swear.

The song fuckin' rocks, though. Enjoy!

The Train of Thought Lounge: Beck

New music from Beck! Well, not exactly brand new music because his latest album "Modern Guilt" was actually released in July 2008, but hey, it's new enough for me!

Here, Beck teams up with the ubiquitous producer Danger Mouse, who actually produced every song on the album. It seems that every time I hear from a new project involving Danger Mouse, he's collaborating with one of my absolute favorite artists (i.e. Gnarls Barkley, DangerDOOM, the Grey Album with Jay-Z, etc...).

While I can't exactly say this is Earth-shattering stuff, I can say with great confidence that I'm just really feeling this track at the moment.

The Train of Thought Lounge: J Dilla

For this week's installment of the The Lounge, I wanted to pay homage to one of the most influential and innovative beatmakers in the history of hip-hop, J Dilla. Tomorrow would have marked Dilla's 35th birthday, had he not lost his battle with Lupus in February 2006. The Detroit native was a founding member of the group Slum Village and also worked with a countless number of artists ranging from Busta Rhymes to The Roots to A Tribe Called Quest to Common to The Pharcyde, among many, many others.

The first song I want to share features my favorite marble-mouthed spittin', supervillain persona-adopting MC, MF DOOM, on an unreleased track named "Sniper Elite":

Sniper Elite (prod. J Dilla) - MF Doom

Some of you may recognize that beat as "Anti-American Graffiti" off of Dilla's brilliant album of instrumentals, Donuts. That particular instrumental was one of my favorites (hard to choose from so many) and DOOM's flow -- or rather haphazard, staccato rhyming style -- fits incredibly well here.

Next up, I present to you one of Dilla's signature tracks, 1995's "Runnin'" which he produced for The Pharcyde. This song instantly puts me in mind of 1990's hip-hop. Plain and simple, the opening loop comes on and in my mind, I'm about to watch Shaq and the Orlando Magic face Reggie Miller, Detlef Schrempf, Rik Smits and the Pacers from Market Square Arena on the NBA on NBC (that whole last part was also imagined in the voice of Marv Albert. Yes!)

Runnin - The Pharcyde

Finally, I'll leave you with the video for "Won't Do" from 2006's The Shining, which was released three days before his death. The part of Dilla is played by his younger brother, Illa J, who is an aspiring rapper himself . The visually-stunning video spotlights some more of the various artists who either worked with or were inspired by J Dilla.



Not only do I absolutely love this beat, but the tributes from his friends and family at the end of the video are especially heart-warming to me.

Rest in peace, J Dilla.

The Train of Thought Lounge: Elzhi & Royce Da 5'9"

It's been a while since we've spotlighted any straight-up hip-hop here in the lounge, so I figured I'd break out this recently discovered gem from two Detroit MCs. In the past few months, I had been losing faith in hip-hop as a genre. Thankfully, a Howard alum compiled his top 100 hip-hop songs of 2008 for his Web site which is how I found this absolute jam, among many others, and needless to say faith has been fully restored.

The opening sample is from the landmark Motown 25 TV concert from 1983, which celebrated Motown Records' 25th anniversary and saw Michael Jackson debut the "Moonwalk." Hence the song's title, "Motown 25" (pretty self-explanatory).

Elzhi's opening stanza is very solid, containing a near perfect combination of clever punchlines, metaphors and double-entendres. Definitely B+ material. The reason I deem his verse near perfect is made evident after Royce Da 5'9" appears and summarily destroys the track.

His verse is purely diabolical. It took me three or four listens to catch every devastating reference, boast or diss. As a protege of Eminem, I'd enjoyed some of his earlier work (namely 2002's "Rock City" track). He has clearly matured into a more vicious, yet still cerebral rapper.

Probably goes without saying, but this song may contain some language not suitable for work (or stuck-up, out-of-touch, condescending Fox News anchors).

Elzhi - Motown 25 - Thisis50

The Train of Thought Lounge: Coheed and Cambria

So glad to rejoin you all for the first time in over a month. The reason for my lengthy hiatus? Pure laziness. But rest assured, I can't wait to get back to doing what I do best: carefully avoiding all that is intellectual about this blog and providing nothing but the purely inane material you love so much!

Faithful reader & commenter wb (otherwise known as, to borrow from Arseblog, "The Blogfather") mentioned that he would like to see more posts about music, so it's only right that I kick back into action through the T.O.T. Lounge.

A while back, I wrote about Death Cab For Cutie, whose name lead me to believe they were a thrash metal band but who turned out to be as soft as... I don't know, something that's really soft. Coheed and Cambria had the exact opposite effect; I was sure this was another whiny emo band when I first heard of them in 2003. Little did I know they were a science-fiction themed, epic guitar orchestra of sound, expertly crafted to rock your socks off!

"Gravemakers and Gunslingers" is a perfect example of how much rock they manage to cram into just one track. Be sure to adjust your volume before you press play, lest your computer speakers EXPLODE OFF YOUR DESK!

Gravemakers And Gunslingers - Coheed And Cambria

Case of the Mondays: Fun with ukuleles

I cannot even begin to describe to you how depressed I am over the Skins' hapless 20-13 loss yesterday to a 1-11-1 team, a loss which effectively ended our playoff hopes. I am even sadder still that my eerie premonitions of a collapse turned out to be true (that was supposed to be a reverse jinx, dammit! Stupid accute sports knowledge!!!)

So, in order to juxtapose my audible weeping at my desk at work, here's a guy playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the ukulele. Someone please pass me a kleenex.