Rice faces cancellations and catcalls on British visit. Admits that the US made thousands of errors in Iraq. "Yes, I know we have made tactical errors, thousands of them," said Rice. I am so enamored that both Rumsfeld and Rice have come to their senses and told the truth. Its just too bad it came after the fact when it actually mattered.

Sigh.

One protester, a spokeswoman for Stop the War, Lindsey German - criticized Ms Rice's visit (from BBC News):

"We think, and the majority of British people think, that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was wrong, and it is disgusting that a woman who was so central to it should be wined and dined and feted in this way, at the taxpayers' expense."

Good to see some British taking this administration to task. Rice's 48-hour trip has seen a visit to a mosque cancelled and her arrival, hotel and school visit were all dogged by anti-war protesters. Now all we need is the Democrats to do something remotely challenging like this (Fiengold not included, hes trying).

For all the hip hop lovers be sure not to miss Hip-Hop’s Unknown Legends: The Diggin’ in the Crates Crew over at Stylus. Its all about D.I.T.C. ("Diggin' in the Crates") crew. Great read.

"Not only courageous but wise."

So Beta Band is no longer but you can enjoy some great music courtesy of King Biscuit Time. I am sure there is a story behind that name. King Biscuit Time is a solo EP from Stephen Mason, lead singer of defunct The Beta Band.

Steve Mason has set up a new record company 'No Style' with fellow maverick Alan McGee, "in order for this 21st century Phil Spector" (claims his webpage) to pursue his music without major record label interference. As King Biscuit Time, Mason employs a combination of psychedelic, house, dance hall, pop, folk, hip-hop and electronics.

Check out some tracks from my homies FunTimeOk:
Mp3 Link: King Biscuit Time - "Kwangchow"
Mp3 Link: King Biscuit Time - "Ciam 15"*

Get both of those tracks they are highly recommended and some seriously good crap. Mason's voice has got to be one of my favorites. Love it. Its like Vedder or Gift of Gab no matter how much I listen to it I just don't get tired of it.

Buy No Style from iTunes.
Buy Ciam 15 from Amazon.

Not sure what is better the music of Ghostland Observatory or their name. I am a big lover of using anything Ghost in your name...not sure why, just am. Their electro/punk 80's sounding sythn bliss is a great listen. I have heard John in the morning on KEXP play several of their cuts and I love them all.

From their website:

Ghostland Observatory is not a band, but an agreement between two friends to create something that not only heals their beat-driven hearts, but pleases their rock ‘n roll souls. Taking the working man’s approach, Ghostland Observatory spend countless hours in their south Austin studio. They have released two albums in less than a year, and have moved audiences from coast to coast with their live performances and unique style. Ghostland Observatory is the duo of front man Aaron Behrens and producer/drummer Thomas Turner. Behrens’ vocal style and stage performances are unique and uncompromising, and he has drawn early comparisons to Freddie Mercury and Prince. Turner is heavily influenced by electronic artists such as Daft Punk, Laurent Garnier and Green Velvet, as well as rockers such as The Animals, David Bowie, and The Clash. With their spectral blend of electronics, drums, guitar and vocals, they have emerged with a sound that is the culmination of past influence and present inspiration, and can only be described as BALLSY.

There tracks Sad Sad City and Silver City are awesome. Loving the Daft Punk type sound of Silver City. I would highly recommend you checking them out.

Listen: Streams of their albums at their official website.

Head over here and grab their two records delete.delete.i.eat.meat and Paparazzi Lightning.

Visit Banksy for poltical art.

Most have you have probably already heard most if not all of the new Ghostface record Fishscale. Pretty much the entire damn thing was released over various mp3 blogs. As billed this record is a classic. Its armed to the teeth with allstar production from MF DOOM, Pete Rock, J.Dilla, MadLib, and others. Solid from top to bottom. I grabbed myself a copy and you definitely need to as well.

From Pitchfork:

Ghost's songs are unrelenting in their slavishness to density and credibility, and that can turn off casual listeners even as it intoxicates hip-hop purists. "My arts is crafty darts, why y'all stuck with 'Laffy Taffy'?" he asks with utter sincerity on "The Champ". As long as inevitable questions like that continually re-up this heavyweight's unswerving drive, they're probably better left unanswered.

Here are some of my favorite tracks on the record. Underwater is also one hell of a track.

Mp3: Ghostface Killah - "Be Easy"*
Link: Ghostface Killah - "Champ"
Link: Ghostface Killah feat. Theodore Unit - "Jellyfish"
Link: Ghostface Killah - "Shakey Dog"

Check out Ghostface at myspace.
Buy the new record here, here or here its $6.96 on Amazon for godsake!

Visit Matt Sewell. Very cool art.

Jack Ambramoff is doing hard time. Jackie boy was sentenced today to 5 years, 10 months in federal prison for business fraud, but was allowed to remain free for three months so he can continue assisting in a wide-scale probe of corruption on Capitol Hill.

Crook getting what he deserves...check.
Crook rating out his "friends" and other white collar low lives to save his neck...check.

Looks like a win-win so far. Abramoff and a former business partner, Adam Kidan, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in their purchase of the SunCruz Casinos fleet of gambling boats in 2000. Both were given the minimum prison sentence recommended under federal guidelines, 70 months by U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck after a federal prosecutor told the judge he found them genuinely remorseful and cooperative.

The two men were also ordered to make restitution of more than $21 million. Both had admitted forging a wire transfer to make it appear they had committed a large chunk of their own money to the $147.5-million SunCruz purchase. Based on the forgery, lenders contributed $60 million in financing.

The real kicker here is that the Judge received more than 250 letters saying the disgraced lobbyist deserved a break. The entreaties were from prominent lawyers, religious leaders and even a member of Congress.

A break? Why in the hell should he get a break? Screw him and what is wrong with the 250 people that thought these guys should get "a break." Has the culture of corporate nepotism and corruption gotten this deep in America?

Thanks for rating on your friends. Hopefully it will result in more of these scumbag lobbyist going to the pen but no breaks for sleazy bastards sorry.

Update:
Jack Abramoff Sentencing Wednesday: Lawyers Say He's Broke via TalkLeft from his lawyers written in the Miami Herald.

In his overly determined pursuit of helping people and charities, Mr. Abramoff spent virtually all of the funds he earned in his various business dealings. He has no real assets beyond their home and its contents. Determined to help others, and confident that he could always earn more money if needed, he ignored the guidance of his financial advisors and accountants who repeatedly warned him that he needed to put funds aside into personal savings. Now, Mr. Abramoff is broke. He is tormented daily that his wife will not be able to support the large family on her own and chagrined that, instead of being a provider and source of aid for his community, he will now see his own family needing financial assistance.

Chihei Hatakeyama's Minima Moralia is a lovely record. Hatakeyama's music is probably best classified as ambient electronic or experimental ambient. Think Sigur Ros, Eno, or William Orbit but perhaps even more minimalist. We have already discussed that I am a sucker for some good mellow tunes and this is one of my favorite ambient records of this year (and even last year for that matter even though Takk... was superb).

Hatakeyama concentrated on the "textures of sound" in creating Minima Moralia. He consciously avoided using electronic sounds, instead he used sound fragments made by guitars and vibraphone he played himself that were in turn processed through his laptop and positioned in specific places. The result is a beautiful ambient sound.

From Pitchfork:

Hatakeyama uses the palette of the True Drone Believers but he seeds his overstretched chords with easy pleasures. It's in the way the monolithic chord with harmonics like a pipe organ fills the first two minutes of "Swaying Curtain in the Window", only to slowly dissolve into a tinkling music box melody and, finally, clouds of acoustic guitar picking.

If you are interested in some background music or music just to lay in bed and relax to I highly recommend this. I have had it playing in the back ground for the last couple days as I work on various papers and projects. Hope you enjoy.

Mp3: Chihei Hatakeyama - "Swaying Curtain in the Window"
Mp3: Chihei Hatakeyama - "Bonfire on the Field"

Buy Minima Moralia here and here and even from emusic here.

Donald Rumsfeld gives an assessment:

If I were grading, I would say we probably deserve a D or a D-plus as a country as to how well we’re doing in the battle of ideas that’s taking place in the world today. And I’m not going to suggest that it’s easy, but we have not found the formula as a country.

Hmm...seems problematic given that the Bush Administration's National Security Strategy stresses that the battle of ideas will be the ultimate factor in deciding who wins the war on terror:

In the long run, winning the war on terror means winning the battle of ideas, for it is ideas that can turn the disenchanted into murderers willing to kill innocent victims.

Links:
Original CBS news article.
Think Progress link to the story.

Usually Tuesday digs features a number of cuts but this week its some live sets so you can get a flavor of what these guys would be like in concert. Be mindful that many of them are very large so select wisely. Most of them were dug up from various sources on the internet.

Mp3: Jel: Live at War Studio
19.7 mb via Westaddradio.com

Mp3: The Avalanches: 25 minute Live Mix*
22.9 mb via AG

Mp3: Blockhead: Live Session
47.6 mb via dooms.taulard.net

Mp3: Diplo: Live at Halycon
80.3 mb via halcyonrecords.com

Mp3: DJ Z-Trip & Radar: Live at the Future Primitive Sound Session - Vol 2*
90.3 mb via http://www.gradri.hr/~dbukvic/vladow/
Lots of ZTrip stuff all via his official website. This might be the most entertaining 73 minute mix you will ever listen to. Awesome sampling from Pink Floyd, Herbie Hancock, Neil Diamond, Del, Pharcyde, John Williams, Genesis to name just a few.

This UK outfit knows how to rock. I was introduced to them through listening to John Richards show on KEXP. The brash, bluesy, female-fronted five-piece who tout spunky energy tempered music with the forlornness of the blues. The Duke Spirit are no slouches. The group has lurked confidently ever since the summer 2003 release of their debut EP Roll, Spirit, Roll.

This is no crap like The Killers of some weak collection of insincere sounding plodding mid-tempo songs by a group of faux-sensitive men. This is the real deal. I am sure I am a bit behind the curve on these guys and gal (I usually am when it comes to indie rock) but I wanted to pass them along regardless. Duke Spirit singer Leila Moss possess the scowl of Karen O and her lyrics are bitting and bluesy as hell. Good stuff all around.

The Duke Spirit released their newest album Cuts Across the Land in 2005. Be sure to grab this album.

Mp3: The Duke Spirit - "Lion Rip"*
Mp3: The Duke Spirit - "Win Your Love"

Buy the record from Star Time.

DJ Zeph has a long-running presence on the West Coast turntablist scene. He is the San Francisco beat scientist and his sophomore release ranks amongst the royal echelon of turntablism.

Sunset Scavenger, named for the perpetually busy Bay Area recycling and composting service was released 2 years ago. The album features some of the Bay Area's finest, Lyrics Born and Vursatyl (Lifesavas) both make apperances along Boots Riley of the Coup. The intro track Unsubtractable is one of my favorite instramental tracks of all time.

From the SF Examiner:

"S.F.'s DJ Zeph, veteran b-boy and turntablist extraordinaire, makes music for sophisticated underground hip-hop heads hungry for ahead-of-the-curve grooves."

The arrangements and production of this record are really incredible. This is an essential turntablist disc that is often overlooked and deserves better. Check it out.

Mp3: DJ Zeph feat. DJ Quest - "Unsubtractable"
Mp3: DJ Zeph feat. Raashan Ahm - "Floorwax"

Buy DJ Zeph's Sunset Scavenger here (iTunes) and his self-entitled disc here. Visit Wide Hive records for more DJ Zeph along with some other great artists.

Bonus Mp3: DJ Zeph feat. Lyrics Born - "Hands Up"

Well actually it turns out that he didn't. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that Scalia had made "an obscene gesture under his chin." Later that day it was quickly cleared up that "It was a hand off the chin gesture that was meant to be dismissive," Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. Uhh...ok.

The whole incident arose when Scalia was leaving Mass on Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross when the reporter asked the justice if he had to deal with much flak related to his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs, according to the Globe.

"You know what I say to those people?" Scalia said before making the gesture, according to the paper's account. "That's Sicilian." The move is made by placing the back of the fingers underneath one's chin and flicking them forward, is used by some Italians to express irritation.

AG's final four breakdown looks like this:

Duke--out.
UCLA--in.
UNC--out.
Villanova--out.

Now that is rough. In my other pools I picked Kansas coming out of the Oakland region so I am an 0-4 there. I have Duke vs. Villanova in all of my brackets. Which is obviously not happening.

Loose Fur released their second album last Tuesday. Loose Fur is the trio of Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Glenn Kotche and Jim O'Rourke. Born Again in the USA is relatively straight forward and very accessible. I think the album is best described as satisfying. It has some great song writing with great messages. The prog-type (Stupid As the Sun) and electric folksy sound (The Ruling Class) are very easy on the ears.

Video: Loose Fur playing "Hey Chicken"

More than anything the album comes across as three fellas just having a great time making a record. And that is something I can respect. Good sound I recommend checking it out.

Mp3: Loose Fur - "The Ruling Class"
Mp3: Loose Fur - "Stupid as the Sun"

Buy here and here...and maybe even here.

More NW hip hop for you. Lightheaded is a group from Portland, Oregon. Lightheaded is Braille, Ohmega Watts and Othello on the mic, produced by Muneshine and Ohmega Watts, and DJs involved are DJ Manwell and DJ Bombay.

The foundation of Braille, Ohmega Watts and Othello "embrace hiphop and life as a whole... sharing their love and hearts with you on everything in between." The 3 MCs blend very well and are able to rhyme together flawlessly they are backed by some very positive and lively beats that will make you think of old Pharcyde. The songs definately take you back to the 90's type production. Muneshine produced every song on the Pure Thoughts debut along with Ohmega Watts.

Mp3: Lightheaded - "Timeless"
Mp3: Lightheaded - "Never Square"
Mp3: Lightheaded - "Lightheaded Anthem"

Check Lightheaded out at Myspace.

To get the debut album "Pure Thoughts," 17 tracks for $12 use paypal and send a mail to Braille at braille856@hotmail.com.

Huskies lose. Well the purple huskies of Washington lose. In a great game, a game they should have won. There are those games where you don't care what it does to your bracket you just want your team to win. They didn't.

I am a bit bummed about it given they were up by as much as 12 in the second half. It was a great run for the Huskies and its sad to see Brandon Roy go out like this. Once the game hit overtime it was pretty much over given that pretty much the entire UDub starting lineup had fouled out.

So no more Washington teams left so I am now rooting for UCLA (Pac-10/Westcoast) and Villanova (my pick'em champion).

Here is the outlook of the blogger pick'em heading into the elite 8.

1 AG Picks the Winners! 71
2 Feed Me Good Tunes 66
3 So Much Silence 64
3 Everybody Cares 64
3 Emerald Wildmen 64
6 Modsuperstars 55
7 Bows + Arrows 52
7 Veritas Lux Mea 52
7 CYSTSFTS 52
10 No Frontin' Just Winning 51
11 scatter o' light 40

I am planning on drafting 2 fantasy baseball teams this year. The first is in a blogger type league. The AG Allstars starters look like this after the draft:

Offense:
C - J. Mauer, 1B - M. Teixeira, 3B - A. Ramírez, MI - C. Utley, MI - M. Loretta, OF - J. Gomes, OF - J. Pierre, OF - H. Matsui, Uti - Mi. Cabrera

Pitching:
SP - C. Zambrano, SP - J. Beckett, P - A. Burnett, P - T. Hudson, P - J. Vázquez, RP - B. Jenks, RP - M. González

Bench:
B. Crosby, B. McCann, A. Benítez, C. Orvella, and E. Santana B. Webb.

I am liking how my team is looking. As always I target young players that I enjoy watching and tried to grab as many Cubs as possible. Unfortunately I missed out on my favorite players in Vlad Guerrero and Derek Lee but I was still able to get Zambrano (who I think has a legit shot at the NL Cy Young) and Pierre (who should be a monster run producer and SB at the top of the Cubs lineup). If Ramirez can stay healthy he can really bomb HRs and picking up Loretta late was big. Utley has some big upside as does Santana.

I do have some serious question marks in the pitching deparment. Beckett, Burnett, Gonzalez and Jenks could all have huge years or get hurt and fizzle. I am hoping for the former. In all I am loving this squad and felling good going into the season. Its a head to head league which I have never played so it should be intersting.

The 20-year-old East London "grime" MC is remarkable. You could say that Kano's trans-Atlantic potential is off the charts. Having guested at raves and pirate radio stations for the past five years or so in the UK Kano finally landed the chance to record an album in 2005. The power of his first LP gives you a taste of how deep the talent goes.

Popmatters calls Kano "ridiculously good." Pitchfork is all about his Home Sweet Home as well, "Kano doesn't just defy the sonic tradition of grime on Home Sweet Home, he defies the tidy boxes MCs are usually plopped in upon their arrival."

His already classic "P's and Q's" was one of the best hip hop songs from last year. This kid has some serious skills. Awesome rhymes and amazing beats. Here are some tracks from his debut record, some from his mixtape and a remix to boot. Enjoy.

Mp3: Kano feat. DJ Dangermouse - "How We Move"
Mp3: Kano feat. feat. Demon & Ghetto Mob - "Mic Fight" (Remix)
Mp3: Kano - "9 to 5"
Mp3: Kano - "Remember Me"

Buy Home Sweet Home, Run the Road Vol. 1, Run the Road Vol. 2.

Bonus Mp3: Kano - "Reload it"
featuring Diplo production. You know I can't go a week without posting something Diplo right?

So The Shield wrapped up Season 5 on Tuesday night. It might have been the most thrilling cable drama episode I have ever seen. I have already highlighted why I think The Shield is the best show on television but this episode and season ender hit new highs.

The episode depicted the death of my most favorite character on the show. The most (and only?) loyal and geninue person on Vic's gang strike team Curtis "Lemonhead" Lemansky was killed by a fellow member of the strike team, Shane Vendrell by placing a gernade in his dinner to make it look like a gang hit. Curtis was killed because Shane feared he would rat on the strike team about their illegal dealings. Curtis' death at the hands of Shane was unknown by Vic and Agent Gardoki (Ronnie).

I can't remember any show that has killed off one of its main characters in more dramatic fashion (and yes that includes the Sopranos). This season ended on a cliff hanger ending suspision that this would be The Shield's last season. I am hoping Whittaker comes back as Vic's archnemsis Kavanaugh for next season. Vic closes out the season by promising that whomever killed Lem will die.

Quick Season 5 Recap via Wikipedia.org:

Season 5 of The Shield premiered January 10th 2006. This will be the longest season yet, broken into two parts. The first part ended consisted of eleven episodes and ended March 21, 2006. The second part will consist of ten episodes to begin filming in April 2006, for broadcast late 2006 or early 2007. Creator Shawn Ryan has stated that this may also be the last season.

The focus of this season is the effort of IAD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker) to take down Mackey and the Strike Team for the murder of Detective Terry Crowley, using Lem as a pawn in a back and forth power struggle. The struggle ends with Lem being murdered by his best friend, Detective Shane Vendrell after Councilman Aceveda tricks the Strike Team into thinking that Lem was going to testify against the group. Meanwhile Claudette becomes Captain after her long battle with lupus results in her temporarily being forced off active duty as a detective, and Danny deals with being pregnant and giving birth to a son who may or may not be Vic's child. Shane, acting alone, in an attempt to save himself along with Vic and Ronnie, murders Lem with a grenade. Vic promises to kill whoever killed Lem.

I have already talked about how I totally missed the boat on Good Night and Good Luck. Now I must admit that I think I missed the best film of 2005 all together. While I remain a big Capote, Murderball, Grizzley Man, and History of Violence fan I think Squid and the Whale had I seen it when it came out in theather would have been my favorite movie of 2005.

Video: Squid and the Whale Preview

This wry and biting comedy is set in 1986 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY. The movie is based on director's Noah Baumbach childhood. RT writes "Rarely has family dysfunction been captured so frankly and honestly as in The Squid and the Whale. Baumbach claims his film is only semi-autobiographical, but, from the pitch-perfect writing and nostalgic tone, it feels as if we're watching home videos of the writer-director's past."

The film tells about a family going through a divorce and is an excruciatingly honest often hilarious portrait of a disintegrating family. Owen Kline does a fantastic job of playing the 12 year old Frank, and Laura Linney and Jeff Bridges put in equally fantastic performances as the parents. The character flaws and emotions dealt with in the movie were so well written and acted. Don't miss this picture.

The movie was produced by Wes Anderson and definately has that Wes feel. The soundtrack to the film is also amazing. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Mp3: Bert Jansch - "Courting Blues"
Mp3: Tangerine Dream - "Love on a real train"

Buy the movie here and/or the soundtrack here.

I featured some Seattle hip-hop yesterday and today I would like to feature another Pacific Northwest group called Band of Horses. They have been getting alot of buzz in the blogalaxy. Kev from So Much Silence has highlighted their new single "Funeral" and some are calling the song this years "Tunnels."

Band of Horses are on the esteemed Sub Pop records, famous for signing Nirvana and Soundgarden and being a big part in launching the grunge scene. Sub pop is 49% owned by Time Warner music group. The label bosts some of the biggest in the indie scene right now Iron and Wine, Wolf Parade, Sleater-Kinney, The Shins, Sunny Day Real Estate, Postal Service, and Rogue Wave.

Band of Horses was "formed in Seattle after too much bullshit" according to the band's website.

From Band of Horses myspace:

"Achieving musical transcendence is a tricky feat, almost definitively. If it happens at all, it happens naturally — and perhaps nobody knows that better than Seattle, Washington’s Band of Horses. Guitarist/vocalist Ben Bridwell and guitarist Mat Brooke formed Band of Horses in 2004, after the dissolution of their nearly ten-year run in northwest melancholic darlings Carissa’s Wierd. Carissa’s Wierd trafficked in sadly beautiful orchestral pop, whose songs told unflinching stories of heartbreak and loss, leavened with defeatist humor. And, Band of Horses rises from the ashes of that well-loved band. After playing music with each other for over a decade, Bridwell and Brooke picked up together again when Bridwell began fleshing out his compositions post-Carissa’s. “It was really just a natural thing we started doing,” explains Bridwell. Buoyed by Bridwell’s warm, reverb-heavy vocals (which strangely channel a dichotomous blend of Wayne Coyne, Brian Wilson and Doug Martsch,) Band of Horses’ woodsy, dreamy songs ooze with amorphous tension, longing and hope. At times raggedly epic (“The Great Salt Lake”) and delicately pensive (“St. Augustine,” “Monsters”), Everything All the Time is an album painted gorgeously in fragile highs and lows."

From Sub Pop:
Mp3: Band of Horses - "Wicked Gil"
Mp3: Band of Horses - "Bass Song"
Mp3: Band of Horses - "Funeral"*

If you are lucky enough to be in the Seattle area be sure to check out the Band of Horses show on Apr 13 & 14 at Neumo's get tickets here.

Links:
Stylus Recommends Everything All the Time
Everything All the Time = Best New Music on Pitchfork

I know its thursday morning. But I have to make sure you check out Halden's feature on Palms Out sounds blog. He takes each Wednesday and dedicates it to a hip hop artist then digs up the original versions of the songs and offers them up to you. Its sampletastic. This week is Dr. Dre, last week was Jay-Z, and the week before that was Wu-Tang Clan.

Super cool idea and one of my favorite features on any audioblog. Hats off to Halden and Palms Out Sounds blog for some great features. Check them out if you haven't yet.

For the record I like Letterman, not as much as I like Conan, but I think Letterman is pretty damn funny. I absolutely abhor Leno and have no idea how he is still on the air I am counting the days till Conan takes his spot. But I have gotten sidetracked here. The purpose of this post was to pass along David Letterman's top ten via The Daily Kos.

Top Ten Reasons Dick Cheney Won't Resign...
10. Trying to fix up Condi Rice with his daughter
9. Turns out when you shoot somebody, if you're not vice president, you gotta do time
8. Bush leaves at two every day and then it's margaritas and Fritos
7. Set the solitare high score on his office computer
6. Wants to see if he can help Bush get his approval rating under ten
5. Too hard to give up Vice Presidential Discount at D.C. area Sam Goody stores
4. Wants to stay on the job until every country in the world hates us
3. Extra-zappy White House defibrillators
2. Undisclosed location has foosball and whores
1. Why quit when things are going so well?
---Late Show with David Letterman

Common Market a Seattle-based hip-hop duo consisting of rapper RA Scion (pictured above sort of) and producer/DJ Sabzi (also DJ/producer for another Seattle group the Blue Scholars). Common Markets' 2005 release favors alternative rap with a conscious outlook.

Scion rhymes are both spiritual and sociopolitical. The conscious vibe is present throughout the album, which is devoid of the thug and gangster talk that permeated so much of hip-hop in 2005. Common Market isn't breaking any new ground with this album, but outside of that fact their release is a solid addition to any record collection.

From Common Market's myspace:

In what started as a small collaboration EP project, Sabzi and RA created the group Common Market. RA found that Sabzi's production was able to perfectly match his love for the 90s era of Hiphop, a time when the BOOM BAP and conscious content was a big part of the scene. Common Market's self titled album was released in October 2004, even being blessed with an endorsement from Hiphop ICON, KRS-One. Chris Parker even traveled to Seattle, performed at their CD release party, and then went on a Northwest Tour with them to celebrate their release.

Mp3: Common Market - "Connect for"
Mp3: Common Market - "Love One"

Buy Common Market's disc here.

Quannum is one of my favorite labels and given that I highlighted the achievements of the Living Legends with my last crate dig I would like to spotlight Quannum Projects with my current one. Quannum Projects is an alternative hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992.

The label bosts an impressive list of musical talent from around the world:
Blackalicious (Gift of Gab & Chief Xcel - Sacramento, California)
Curumin (Luciano Nakata Albuquerque - Brazil)
General Elektriks (Hervé Salters - Paris, France)
Tommy Guerrero
Honeycut
Lateef & the Chief a.k.a. Maroons (Lateef & Chief Xcel - Oakland, California)
Latyrx (Lateef & Lyrics Born - Oakland, California)
Lifesavas (Jumbo, Vursatyl, Rev. Shines - Portland, Oregon)
Lyrics Born (Berkeley, California)
Pigeon John
Poets of Rhythm (Whitefield Brothers & Borris Borale - Munich, Germany)
DJ Shadow (Josh "Shadow" Davis - Oakland, California)
Joyo Velarde (Berkeley, California)

San Fransisco Weekly said:

"Over the past 13 years, Quannum Projects and its stable of musicians/owners have had arguably the greatest success of any independent hip hop label in balancing artistic viability with commercial appeal. Quannum co-founder DJ Shadow's 1996 album Entroducing is the top-selling instrumental hip hop album in the genre's history, while many consider Blazing Arrow, the second full-length album from Blackalicious, a duo composed of MC Gift of Gab and producer Chief Xcel, to be the epitome of politically conscious, socially responsible hip hop. Lyrics Born's 2003 release, Later That Day, was renowned as one of the strongest debuts from an MC this decade and broke into the Top 40 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.But what is most exciting -- and what makes Lateef's assertion seem genuine -- is that the label is really just beginning to gain momentum."

Mp3: Blackalicious - "Excellent"
Mp3: Blackalicious feat. Lifesavas - "Your Move"
Mp3: Lyrics Born feat. Dialated Peoples and KRS One - "Pack It Up" (Remix)
Mp3: Lyrics Born - "Do That There" (Hip Hop Remix)
Mp3: Lyrics Born - "Stop Complaining" (Morcheeba Remix)
Mp3: DJ Shadow - "Dark Days Theme"
Mp3: Lifesavas - "Head Excercise"
Mp3: Latyrx - "The Wreckoning" (Live 45 Mix)
Mp3: Latyrx feat. Blackalicious - "Burning Hot In Cali On A Saturday Night"
Mp3: Poets of Rhythm - "Survival of the Freshest"
Mp3: Poets of Rhythm - "Guiding Resolution"

Be sure to check out The Giant Peach for everything Quannum. They have been bobbing and weaving since 1992 so give them some due. Great threads and beats all around.

I already posted about the new Soul Position that I am just loving right now. What I failed to post was my favorite track. This cut is a must listen. I got this sucker on repeat right now and am really digging it. Thought I should pass it along in case you all haven't caught onto this yet.

Mp3: Soul Position - "The Extra Mile"

Buy Things Go Better with RJ and AL here.

I know I am a bit behind the times on this one but I just wanted to pass along how much I enjoyed Good Night and Good Luck. I was able to pick it up on DVD last night and watch it for the first time.

"They took on the government with nothing but the truth," was the tag line for Good Night, and Good Luck. As you all know its George Clooney's second film as director. The movie is certainly small-scale, its shot in black and white, and almost entirely set within the confines of a television studio. The scale of ideas and fighting against corporate news is not however. The film offers its account of the battle between campaigning journalist Ed Murrow (David Strathairn) and red-baiting senator Joe McCarthy (played by himself through the use of old newsreels). Strathairn does a fantastic job as Murrow and one of the better acting performances I saw of 2005 films.

While we are on the subject of Clooney I also wanted to post this comment that Spike Lee had about Clooney's Academy Awards acceptance speech that I find to be right on. Clooney upon accepting the award for best supporting actor took the chance to compliment Hollywood on its liberal values and progressive thinking. He cited Hattie McDaniel's win as Best Supporting Actress in 1939 as evidence.

But Spike Lee questions whether or not that role was really such a great example here via Contact Music:

"To use that as an example of how progressive Hollywood is is ridiculous. Hattie McDaniel played Mammy in Gone With the Wind. That film was basically saying that the wrong side won the Civil War and that black people should still be enslaved. C'mon! I like George a lot. I'm not hating on him. But I don't think he really thought it out. How many years was it between Hattie McDaniel and Halle Berry (winning an acting Oscar)? Sixty-some-odd? C'mon!"

Update: Here is a bit more about Race and the Oscars thanks to No Frontin' for the heads up here. Getting A Clue-ney: Race & The Oscars by Robert A. George of Ragged Thots.

Trying to find an urban planner position is no walk in the park. I have sent out about 10 applications and no a reply. Surely applying to schools and applying to jobs is a humbling experience. You rock the books in college and graduate school to find that its tough out there for an urban planner. Real thing I found is you can't get discouraged and you need to stay positive.

If anyone is looking for a planner on the cheap let me know. You also might be asking what the robot has to do with finding a job. The answer. Nothing I just liked the picture. Well maybe the robot signifies the job market and me the person he is squishing between his metallic grip...or not.

The time is ticking I have 3 more months on my current job, always better to find a job while you have one.

Anyone else catch episode 67 of the Sopranos? Episode was 66 was pretty interesting good recap of last season with a nice song intro and voice over. Thought the introduction and then killing of Eugene Pontecorvo within the same episode was pretty weak story telling but that is just me. Seems like there was some foreshadowing that Adrianna is buried in the spec house and that Tony is not going to fair well (confirmed in 67).

Thought the conclusion of Junior capping Tony and the development of Junior losing his mind was good. But at the beginning of episode 67 we get Tony in some type of purgatory and a glimpse of what it would be like for him had he been just an everyday Joe. I thought it was a bit drawn out. Anyways unless they progress through some serious time lapse between episodes I am going to find it hard that Tony is all of a sudden out of this in a couple episodes. I know its an extended season but this is shaping up to have Tony on his death bed while Carmella rehashes the good old days.

Sure there will probably be plenty of violence with the ensuing loss of Tony at the head and what I would assume Silvio taking the reins. Probably some infighting between Paulie and Krissy (probably nothing major though) and Vito is certainly up to no good. I am looking for him to be "whacked" sooner rather than later. Also looks like there was some significant foreshadowing of AJ placing a bullet in Junior. Who knows though. I had no idea we were going to get a psychedelic Tony dreamland for this episode so 68 might go in a totally different direction.

Hell I thought 67 was a bit uninspired but it still wont keep me from tuning into 68 so I guess they have me hooked regardless.

If you are from Vermont you know that Montpelier has a reputation of being very progressive and forward thinking. A kind of hippie sanctuary, free of McDonalds restaurants, strip malls, and Starbucks. Yet something stinks in Montpelier...and its the local theaters choices of movies.

Case in point:
They did not/will not show Chappelle's Block Party (but will show ATL?), yet they are slated to show Larry the Cable Guy in the coming weeks. Ahh real progressive here. Give me a break. Instead of Chappelle we get Daniel Lawrence Whitney, the guy that coined the intolerable slogan "Git-R-Done." The guy promotes intolerance and anti-intellectuality as redeemable qualities.

Check out the grand selection of movies which our local theater is set to show. If it wasn't for the Savoy movie watching in Montpelier would be largely void of thought.

Here is the new Kanye West song from the upcoming movie Mission Impossible 7 starring the mentally deranged Tom Cruise. Philip S. Hoffman (main bad guy) and Laurence Fishburne are in this one. Probably still going to skip it given I never had any intention/want to see 2.

This track is supposed to be played during the closing credits of the movie. I am not too impressed with this song. The rapid fire drums on this track get old real fast. The rhyming and song content is not so hot either. "I don't wanna hear this bullsh**, I wanna hear official sh**."Uhh ok...this makes no sense to me and neither does most of the song. Basically, the song is weak, but maybe thats just me. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Mp3: Kanye West feat. Twista, Keyshia Cole & BJ - "Impossible"

First Bradley shocked Pitt, then George Mason knocked off North Carolina on a wild Sunday. Those two teams are destroying brackets left and right. I know Bradley has brought me to my knees with their upset over Kansas. Now Pitt is out leaving only those that chalked it up with Memphis left.

The routing of the Buckeyes by Georgetown didn't exactly do me any favors either. While I might be ahead of the pack now its decieving given I have lost several elite 8 teams and a final four team come Thursday and Friday night AG will be dropping in the standings significantly.

Day 4 Blogger Pick'em Results:
1. AG Picks the Winners!-51
2. Emerald Wildmen-48
2. Everybody Cares-48
4. Feed Me Good Tunes-46
5. So Much Silence-44
5. CYSTSFTS-44
7. Bows + Arrows-40
8. Modsuperstars-39
8. No Frontin' Just Winning-39
10. scatter o' light-36
11. Veritas Lux Mea-32

Once again another great round of games. Hopefully you all caught the LSU-A&M game with the game winning three ball from LSU. While I might be out of my pick'em brackets my favorite teams are still very much alive. Huskies played a great game versus Illinois. I was being harassed by my girlfriend's parents when the Illini went up by 11 in the second half...odd they didn't call me after the game. Maybe lost cell reception.

The Zags played a good game against a hungry Indiana team. Morrison didn't score much and the Zags were still able to win which is promising. They have a tough game coming up against a solid UCLA team.

Day 3 Blogger results:

1. AG Picks the Winners! -41
2. Emerald Life -40
3. Everybody Cares -36
3. CYSTSFTS? -36
5. So Much Silence -34
5. Feed Me Good Tunes -34
7. Modsuperstars -31
8. Bows + Arrows -30
8. scatter o' light -30
10. No Frontin' Just Winning -27
11. Veritas Lux Mea -26

While the Kanye haters are frequent and many I am certainly not one. I am a huge Kanye fan. What better for your Sunday morning then some Kanye West tracks.

The first features Dialated Peoples whos Expansion Team record is one of my favorites (how can you beat DJ Babu on the tables?).

The second track is Ludacris's Standup remixed by Kanye. While most mainstream hip hop emcees bother the crap out of me I always enjoy Ludacris. I especially loved it when he got into it with Bill O'Reilly. Good stuff.

The final track is another with Ludacris and Kanye. This one also has Twista. I am not a Twista solo fan but I think when he is featured on a song his rhyming style fits well. Check them out:

Mp3: Dialated Peoples feat. Kanye West - "This Way"
Mp3: Ludacris feat. Kanye West - "Stand Up" (Remix)
Mp3: Kanye West feat. Ludacris and Twista - "Poppin' tags" (Remix)

Bloomberg is reporting that more Than a Million French May Join Anti-Work Contract Rallies

Geeze you would think with all that wine and cheese you could keep some peace. But the French are again rioting. But this Anti-Work thing sounds kinda promising...Where do I sign up?

I have always thought that work was overrated.

Black Saturday. I have woken up to discover that Kansas has lost. SI's Stewart Mandel is pretending like he saw this one coming but he is full of crap. You can't say you saw this coming if you picked them to play Memphis in the sweet 16.

Funny how you can ride a high as you go to bed and wake up the next morning practically out of it. So is the life of those that put their hopes on a Kansas or a Michigan St. While it might still be possible to win without picking one of the final 4 its usually pretty difficult.

Thanks Kansas.
Thanks for nothing.

Go Huskies!
Go Zags!

Day 2 Blogger Pride Results:
1. Emerald Life -26
2. AG Picks the Winners! -25
3. So Much Silence -24
3. Everybody Cares -24
5. No Frontin' Just Winning -23
5. Modsuperstars -23
7. Feed Me Good Tunes -22
7. CYSTSFTS? -22
7. Bows + Arrows -22
7. scatter o' light -22
11. Veritas Lux Mea -18

Have to admit I have a love hate relationship with Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin. Some of his stuff I love and some of it just is too wierd for me (hard but true).

There is no question that the man is a legend in the ambient techno realm. James' exploration of experimental possibilities inherent in acid and ambience where unparelled and made him one of the major influences in home-listening techno during the late '80s. Richard D. James' recordings as Aphex Twin brought him more critical praise than any other electronic artist during the 1990s according to AMG.

APX is set to release a new record out April 18th. Chosen Lords released on Rephlex records. Chosen Lords is materail only previously seen on vinyl.

From Boomkat:

What this means for those without grooved fingers is that there's now a quality, iPod-primed distillation of the vinyl-only releases for you to savour in all its acid-whipped glory. What this means for the rest of us is that our Analord collection won't be complete without this ejector-cased slab of plastic. The End. Maybe...

Mp3: AFX - "Fenic Funk5"
Mp3: AFX - "Boxing Day"

Pre-order the damn record here.

Want nightmares? Watch Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy music video.
Video: Aphex Twin - Come to Daddy

College tournament started yesterday and it was all that its hyped to be. Bananas man, straight bananas. Well I am a college basketball addict enthusiast so I am playing 4 brackets this year. One 10 dollar bracket, two 5 dollar brackets, and of course the blogger pride bracket.

My 10 dollar bracket has a pay out of $500 to the winner and I am in very very good shape in that one, calling the UW-Mil and Montana upset and not losing any next round teams.

Unbelievable games yesterday. BC-Pacific, UNC/Wil-GW, and Gonzaga-Xavier. I was doing some serious sweating in the Zags game since I have them deep in a couple pools. The mustached one was amazing in that game drilling some HUGE shots.

I attempted to stay up for the Washington game and made it through the first half before passing out in front of the television. Well no work today equals a huge dose of college basketball. Need to get a hold of me? I will be sitting in my 10 dollar rocking chair in front of my television watching CBS from approximately noon to 1:00 AM.

My champ: Villanova.

Day 1 Blogger Pride Results:
1. So Much Silence -13
1. Everybody Cares -13
1. AG Picks the Winners! -13
1. Emerald Life -13
1. CYSTSFTS? -13
6. No Frontin' Just Winning -12
7. Bows + Arrows -11
8. Modsuperstars -10
8. scatter o' light -10
8. Veritas Lux Mea -10
8. Feed Me Good Tunes -10

Nobody does it up quite like Chicago. Gotta love the toxic sludge look St. Patrick's Day spirit with the green Chicago River.

A recent CBS poll shows that Bush's approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low 34% amid public doubts about the Iraq war. Hmm how to fix that...how to fix that...ahh I got an idea blow some crap up! What happens the very next day? The US launches the largest air assault since the invasion. Odd how those seem to follow each other.

George Orwell:

It's not a matter of whether the war is not real, or if it is, Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact.

Times Online article puts the US national debt in perspective. America’s national debt limit was increased yesterday to $9 trillion. That’s $9,000,000,000,000. Japan is the biggest creditor, at $668 billion. China, the second-biggest, recently increased its stake by $40 billion to $263 billion.

• Enough to buy Buckingham Palace 9,000 times.
• Is roughly four times Britain’s GDP.
• Equates to $1,500 for every man, woman and child in the world.
• Would buy all the tea in China. In fact it would buy all the tea in the world for the next 2,000 years.
• Is enough to solve the Palestinian crisis by rehousing every Israeli and Palestinian family in a £1.5m detached house in Henley-on-Thames.
• Would build 28 Eiffel Towers — constructed out of gold.

Link to article:
US spends its way to 28 Eiffel towers: made out of pure gold by Tim Reid.

I was passed this by somebody in my office. It made me cry it was so funny. I actually am still crying. It features cards from a Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974 program with commentary that is unbelievable. I promise you this is one of the funniest things I have read all year.

Link: Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974

While Damon Albarn is achieving international acclaim for his work with the Gorillaz, former lead guitarist of Blur Graham Coxon isn't doing too shabby for himself either. Graham won the best NME solo artist award in 2005.

For his new album Love Travels at Illegal Speeds which came out this Tuesday Graham has teamed up with producer Stephen Street. Street is the man behind the controls for Blur's finest albums and before that with The Smiths. Pitchfork gave the album a solid 7.0.

From Pitchfork:

"The slightness of this album is hard to hold a grudge against, but ain't nothing oh-my-god necessary about it either."

Its a decent album, its no Gorillaz-style innovation, but I think this guitar-pop will resonate, both musically and lyrically. No guarantees but I have enjoyed what I have heard thus far.

Mp3: Graham Coxon - "Don't Let Your Man Know"
Mp3: Graham Coxon - "Don't Believe Anything I Say"

Buy the record from here.

Time is running out on the Blogger Pick'em 2006. If you have a blog and want to join up and pick the winner make sure you email me. Picks close at 11 AM today. Have 11 blogs in right now think your blog is up to the task?

Yes Lollapalooza is once again upon us.
Yes the lineup is ridiculous.
Yes I will be there.

Bands to show:
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Manu Chao, Wilco, Death Cab For Cutie, The Raconteurs, The Flaming Lips, Ween, Queens of the Stone Age, The Shins, Common, Matisyahu, Ryan Adams, Umphrey's McGee, Sonic Youth, Thievery Corporation, Sleater-Kinney, Nickel Creek, Blues Traveler, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Iron & Wine, Poi Dog Pondering, The Secret Machines, Eels, Panic! At the Disco, The Disco Biscuits, She Wants Revenge, The Dresden Dolls, Reverend Horton Heat, The Smoking Popes, Andrew Bird, Gnarls Barkley, Stars Cursive, Blackalicious, Editors, Lyrics Born, Lady Sovereign, Hard-Fi, Calexico, Nada Surf, Feist, Aqualung, The Frames, The Hold Steady, The Go! Team, Mates of State, Pepper, Particle, The Redwalls, Mute Math, Wolfmother, Sparta, The Subways, Of Montreal, Blue October, Jeremy Enigk, Living Things, Sound Team, The M's, Hot Chip, The Benevento-Russo Duo, Matt Costa, The New Amsterdams, deadboy & the Elephantmen, Sybris, Anathallo,The Burden Brothers, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Manishevitz, Husky Rescue, The Towers of London, Ohmega Watts, Boy Kill Boy, Jim Noir, The Standard, Be Your Own Pet, Elvis Perkins, Trevor Hall, Midlake and more.

The ones underlined are ones I am particularly excited for.

Inside Man director Spike Lee sat down with Sara Vilkomerson of the New York Observer. One of the hightlights of the interview is a new documentary in the works about Hurricane Katrina. Lee also takes aim at the Bush Administration and in particular Ms. Condoleezza Rice’s prospects as a 2008 Presidential candidate.

Spike Lee:

“African-Americans will have to really, really, really, really, really, REALLY analyze the Secretary of State’s record, and get past the pigmentation of her skin,” he said. “If we do that, I don’t think we can vote for her. I’m not the spokesperson for 45 million African Americans … but that’s my right as an American citizen.” He laughed. “Hopefully, that right hasn’t been rescinded yet. I’m not going to vote for that woman. No. Way.”

As I have eluded to earlier Lee's film cannot come soon enough. Hollywood is sucking big time right now and there. Well Inside Man about a perfect and elaborately planned bank robbery with some Nazi blood money thrown in for good measure should be a pleaser.

Read the entire story here.

Here is some tracks from Diplo's and fellow Hollertronix bud Tripledouble's amazing mixtape, Aeiou Vol.2. This mixtape stands up to the 2004 classic Three Sinister Syllables. This mix is a solid hour plus of rare and obscure soundtrack funk, psych, latin with overlaying and soundtrack/dialogue bites.

From Boomkat:

More open ended and flowing than 'T.S.S.' but with the same untouchable timing, selection, scratching and that ungraspable element that equals genius. Simply unmissable.

Be sure to grab this impressive mix of breaks, beats, psych and other tasty gems by the Hollertronix Philly Duo I tried to find it in stock but was unable to. Be sure to check back here and here for restocks.

Mp3: Diplo & Tripledouble - "Track 1"
Mp3: Diplo & Tripledouble - "Track 2"

Well looks like Russ Feingold, Democratic Senator from Wisconsin is reading up on his Analog Giant. Just last weak I was calling out the limp wristed Dems. Low and behold we have the ONLY person who read the entire Patriot Act asking the US Senate to censure President George W Bush over a wiretapping scheme approved by Bush soon after the 9/11 attacks.

Feingold alleges Mr Bush violated the constitution when he ordered wiretapping without warrants but the White House denies the law was broken.

"The president violated the law, ignored the Constitution and the other two branches of government and disregarded the rights and freedoms upon which our country was founded," Feingold stated.

It should come as no surprise that the gun shy Dems that lack the conviction and determination to challenge this administration have beat quick retreat on the call to censure Bush. Senate Democrats on yesterday blocked an immediate vote on Feingold's call to censure President Bush for his eavesdropping.

Their sense of complacency is sickening.

Links:
BBC News.
Press release on the good Senator's website.
The Actual Censure Resolution for those Policy lawyer types.

While everyone blames the boom of DVDs on the lack of people going to the movie theaters I can tell you one headline that explains it all...

Failure to Launch soars to top of box office with $24.6 million US

Other top grossing films:
2. The Shaggy Dog
3. The Hills Have Eyes

Gag me with a f'ing spoon. The reason why nobody goes to the movies Hollywood is because you let anyone with a pulse make one. You must be joking these movies totally suck. You would have to hold a gun to my head to get me to go to these and I might choose catching one between the eyes to seeing The Shaggy Dog.

Good thing Dave Chappelle's Block Party is still out there (not in Montpelier though) as the only redemable new release to see. V For Vendetta, Thank You For Smoking, Lonesome Jim, and Inside Man can't come soon enough.

One of my favorite hip hop groups is Living Legends a hip hop collective based in the Los Angeles area. The collective consists of Murs, Scarub, Luckyiam.psc, Bicasso, Eligh, Aesop, The Grouch and Sunspot Jonz.

From Living Legends:

The Living Legends crew is a family of independent hip-hop creators. From primary earth bases in Los Angeles and Oakland, the Legends extend worldwide and beyond.

It all started with BFAP (now known as Sunspot Jonz) and PSC (Luckyiam), who laid claim to the name of Mystik Journeymen in the early 1990s. By '94 they were locally legendary for throwing Underground Survivors shows, houseparty style at their loft - 4001 San Leandro Street in East Oakland. That's where the Grouch hooked up with the Journeymen in 1995, just before they took off on their renowned first European tour.

Around the same time in the southern part of the state, Mid-city Los Angeles to be exact, 3 Melancholy Gypsys (Murs, Scarub & Eligh) were part of the almost mythic Log Cabin crew going back to 1993. Log Cabin later broke up and the Gypsys wandered separately. As it turned out, the 3 would cross paths again in the Bay Area and became Living Legends.

Aesop came to Oakland from Fresno, Arata from Osaka, and Bicasso from various points, East, West and elsewhere...

In 1999 the Legends shifted their center of gravity to Los Angeles, but their presence has definitely not diminished in Oakland and the Bay. You know it makes no difference where they stay because the universe revolves around them anyway. Over the years, the Journeymen and the Legends have rocked Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada numerous times, plus they've toured the USA, north and south, east coast, west coast and beyond...

The following dig is made up of some of my favorite Living Legends crew tracks from various records over the years. Check them out and be sure to stop by The Giant Peach and snatch up some Living Legends records and be sure to check out a show if they are in your area.

Mp3: Eligh feat. Pep Love and The Grouch - "Soul Man"
Mp3: Living Legends feat. Slug - "Nothing Less"
Mp3: Living Legends, Grouch and Sunspot Jonz - "Loose Cannon"
Mp3: Murs and Slug - "Hot Bars"
Mp3: The Grouch - "Wish You A Good Day"
Mp3: The Grouch feat. Zion I and Bicasso - "Moves That Make Me"

While others have surely posted this I promised my friend who lives and breaths Pearl Jam that I would toss up their new single which coincidently rocks my socks off. This is probably why World Wide Suicide debuted on Billboard Modern Rock Audience Chart at number 1 and number 3 overall on the format's chart.

The new PJ album drops May 2nd. Pearl Jam's new album marks the band's first studio release in nearly four years and their first in partnership with J Records. Check it out.

Mp3: Pearl Jam - "World Wide Suicide"

Some might say its better late then never but this can't be applied to Al Gore given the disastrous consequences of him not standing up for himself. Well the new Gore was out and about today talking a big game today saying that:

"The people of these United States are going to stand up and take our country back" he said in Palm Beach County adding "I'm not one to hold a grudge . . . but this was the scene of a crime. I haven't forgotten it, and you haven't forgotten it." He continued "How many times have we listened to the current administration and in (state and national Republican offices), and after a few years, we wake up and say that what they have been telling us is completely wrong," Gore said. "I'm not calling it a lie," but a "false impression."

Yeah yeah yeah. Ooo Mr. Gore is so scary. He is talking mad trash and has been doing so for the last year or so, most notably in his speech infront of Moveon.org in 2004. Where he scolded the Administration for dragging the good name of the United States of America through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prisons (in reference to the now closed Abu Ghraib prison).

Sure glad to see he has learned from his mistakes and that he is taking a more militant liberal approach to his politics, but where was this man when we needed him? Why didn't he talk tough in 2000? Instead he gave us "And tonight, for the sake of our unity of the people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession."

If he was so determined and thought Bush was so evil why didn't he stand against the voting fiasco that was happening in Florida and wait for a proper recount in 2000? Why didn't he demand a recount and declare that he'd been robbed! Why didn't he fight for it? He would have found that that a full state-wide recount under every scenario would have gone to him.

Maybe I am being unfair, but everytime I see Gore act all hot and bothered and liberal I just think of it being too little too late, especially for all those toiling under the current Administration. Is Gore partly to blame for the state of the nation that he is so adamently trashing?

I have poked fun at the onslaught of "The" bands. While I still find the naming of bands as of late annoying it doesn't mean that they are crap. Well it does for some of them but not all. I give my blogger pals a hard time for not posting enough hip hop I have been slacking on the posting of indie music. Whelp here is some of the "The" bands I have been enjoying as of late. Check them out if you get the time.

Band name is an Allmusic Link, Song title is the mp3, and the album name is where you buy it if you like it. Pretty simple.

Mp3: The Plastic Constellations - "Iron Jungle" from Crusades (2005)
Mp3: The Essex Green - "Don't Know Why you Stay" from Cannibal Sea (2006)
Mp3: The Owls - "Air" from Our Hopes and Dreams (2004)
Mp3: The M's - "Plan of the man" from Future of Women (2006)
Mp3: The Grates - "Sukkafish"* from The Ouch. The Touch (2004)
Mp3: The Mug's - "Frank" from Rock, paper, scissors (2005)
Mp3: The Changes - "Her, You and I" from The Changes (2005)
Mp3: The Joggers - "Since You're Already Up" from With a Cape and a Cane (2005)