Peep the awkwardness @ about 2:40 in...

I bet the gent on the right quit the band over that one.

Fred Armisen makes anything funny

Overall, this is mildly amusing. Until Fred Armisen enters the screen. This guy has never done anything that wasn't funny. Hands down one of the most talented actors to hit SNL in years. So, I recommend forwarding the vid to about 3:50 and watch him do what he does best.

Dale Earnardt Jr. Jr.

I know, people have been blogging about this buzz-worthy band for a minute. The name is rad, the look is fresh, but I really dig this song. Not at all what I expected.

Graffiti6: Freshest Sound of 2010?

Click THIS to hear them live, and bringin' the soul.

These guys are definitely ready for the big time.

(Read their wiki bio)

Monsters of Folk's 'Dear God' video

This is Lauri Faggioni's beautiful video for Dear God by Monsters of Folk.

(See my post about their concert here)

Lauri is celebrated for her work as an artist and production designer for her work with Michel Gondry and Johan Renck. As a director in her own right she has worked with Bright Eyes, Devandra Banhart and Iron and Wine.

The Dear God video takes cues from the celebrated Ray Eames short film The Powers of Ten, but shines in Lauri’s unique arts-n-crafts style that makes it all her own.

And oh yeah, it's an amazing song. The beat is so dope, The Roots rapped over it for God's sake.

Mark Ronson, Installment Deux

Mark Ronson & The Business INTL: "The Bike Song" from Warren Fu on Vimeo.

Crystal Fighters - Follow

Cool video, cool song. 'Nuff said.

You Know What Smells Good?

Cilantro. Everybody knows that. But I hear there's something that smells a littler better.

Introducing: Saint Ive Lorens Cologne.

Why they call musicians 'Artists'

Genuine Leather

I've always wanted a classic, perfectly fitted leather jacket. Of course, the first one I find that is worn in just right and the right price.... is for my girlfriend. I bought it with the hopes it would fit her, and yet again my muse pulls it off effortlessly. My search continues... (for the jacket, anyways. My search for the raddest chick on Earth ended with this one.)

LOVE: Michael Bastian for GANT Rugger

One hell of a way to market a clothing line. Kudos, gents.

Fyfe Dangerfield - Built For This

In my humble opinion, Fyfe Dangerfield has one of the best voices in music today. If I had to describe the ideal 'pop rock' singer's voice, I'd play you any of his recent solo jams. He was great with The Guillemots, but he clearly had too much talent to be restrained to one sound or image. He somehow manages to make poppy music that isn't at all commercialized, which is very hard to do. When You Walk In The Room is one of my favorite tunes in the past couple years, and here's his recent cover of Girls Aloud's Call The Shots.

Enjoy those pipes... I do.

Phil Davison should either be on SNL or in an asylum for this one...

Patton Oswald @ Bumbershoot

I managed to sneak in behind a band to a completely packed Patton Oswald set, acting as though I was one of them. I guess the leather gloves and skin-tight black jacket paid off in the end!

Eddie Sharpe and the Maggie Z's at Bumbershoot

Shot these two vids at the End Session this weekend @ Bumbershoot. Frickin' hippies...

BR@!N Chandler: My New Roomate

I actually chose to live with this guy?! Oh mama... here's a preview of the next year of my life.

Vampire Weekend's ONLY Seattle show

Luckily I got to see one of my favorite bands in an acoustic set at the Gibson Showroom before they cancelled their Marymoor show due to "illness". And they cancelled at the show, after the time they were supposed to take the stage. Ouch.

This Seattle Weekly article describes it best (basically a bunch of people were really upset, and rightly so):

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2010/08/vampire_weekend_ruins_a_bunch.php

Anyways, here's one of the two songs they managed to play in Seattle during their tour. Poor audio quality is better than no performance at all.

You should know about Golden Silvers

Their debut album was released over a year ago, but it seems that nobody has heard of these guys yet. I was digging their stuff real hard last year and then sort of forgot about 'em. Shame. With a revisit, their music is even better than I remembered. I really hope they make it stateside, and with a recent remix by Brooklyn's Penguin Prison (ridiculously rad) and ties to The Local Natives they may get a bit more exposure over here.

Here are a couple videos, and you can check one of my postings from quite a while back with their single "Arrows of Eros" to hear a more dancy tune.

A Capella:

Classic sound:

Okay, so Mark Ronson's still as cool as ever...

Just watch the video. You'll see a dude living the dream and making it sound rad.

Mark Ronson & The Business INTL "Bang Bang Bang" from Warren Fu on Vimeo.

Kids Incorporated's scariest sketch?

Seriously, who the hell came up with this idea?

"...and at :42, we'll hit the clown with the spotlight and he can do that broom spinny thing he does so well. Then, at 1:21... spotlight, clown, yo-yo...MAGIC! People will be talking about this one!!!"




And yes, that's Fergie... pre-drugs/surgery.

Nuttin' but Love for J-Love

Jennifer Love Hewitt is arguably one of the greatest actresses of her generation (see: Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, Kids Incorporated, Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber and of course those Hanes commercials that showed absolutely none of her better assets).




I bet you didn't know she is also widely considered the greatest songstress of her generation. The proof is in the puddin', as they say, and the puddin's below.

Peep Mel Brooks singing backup at :45. He's always got a tall blonde by his side, the ol' houndog!

And oh yeah, J-Love had a bunch of songs as an adult too, but those were very. very bad and I don't want them anywhere near my blog.

BTHOMP's White Out Night Out

My 28th Birthday Party was held at the Red Velvet Lounge, upstairs at Rendezvous. I think I'll put together more color-themed parties, as the gang-like feel to the crowd is very empowering.

Somebody took my cam and filmed me doing what I do best;

awkward, beat-interpretive dancing.

GRUM - 'Through The Night'

Grum, an 'electronic musician' who's playing HG Lounge in Seattle tonight, recently whipped up this vid for his latest single Through The Night. His real name is Graeme Shepherd and he's from the UK. As with most DJs, he made a name for himself remixing popular artists like Goldfrapp, Owl City and Passion Pit, and finally dropped his own deput in May of this year.

This video might make you laugh, it might make you cry, but if you let it... it'll sure make you dance.

I heart The Yeasayers

"Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest band in the history of New York: The Yeasayers!" - Representative Jay Inslee

First off, my favorite band in Capitol Hill Block Party's lineup was surely Yeasayer. Unfortunately, the most ridiculous moment of my entire BP experience had to be Jay Inslee's awkward introduction of the band, of which the band themselves were clearly uninformed. Now, I get that he was excited about them, but the greatest band in the history of New York?! Cool your jets, Jay.

When they took the stage, lead singer Chris Keating made sure multiple times to disassociate themselves from the politician, mocking him for mispronouncing their name saying "He must be talking about some other band".

Poor Jay, just don't try so hard next time.

Keating feels the music and the crowd feels it right along with him.

Anand Wilder, multi-instrumentalist, singer and style icon (peep the parachute pants), nailed every note with perfection as per usual.

Amongst a sea of Seattleites, it finally became clear what a sold-out Block Party crowd feels like. I'm pretty sure Yeasayer was the destnination band of the evening, with no empty rooftop, balcony, window or sidewalk spot in sight.

In spite of the horrible intro, the band went on to deliver a great set, dropping bombs from both albums in a high-energy barrage that was over too soon.

Here's a vid somebody captured of their wicked single Ambling Alp (a bit rough, but you get the idea):

Soul Train Kept It Simple

No phony plots. No drama. No rich housewives complaining about nonsense. Soul Train was reality TV as God intended: A bunch of soulful kids having a good time in front of the camera.

Check out the chick at 1:08. This is exactly what I would've done.... except I wouldn't have had the skill to pull off that drop!

Michael McDonald & Grizzly Bear

This track has been around for a while now, but I just listened to it again today and MAN it's good. Michael McDonald shows he's still got the chops that have made him beloved by nerdy white people and soulful black people alike. Especially at the end of the track, around 3:42, he busts out with the vigor of a brown-bearded, mid-70's Doobie Brother. Enjoy.

'You got a no-no goin'...'

No Mas, a New York-based apparel and art company, created a video about Dock Ellis' 1970 no-hitter. Ellis, a Pittsburgh Pirate at the time, claims to have pitched the game under the influence of LSD. The Dallas Observer published a piece in 2005 that claimed Ellis was so disoriented from a drug- and alcohol-fueled bender that he did not know what day of the week it was:

Ellis remained calm. The game would start late. Ample time for the acid to wear off. Then it struck him: doubleheader. The Pirates had a doubleheader. And he was pitching the first game. He had four hours to get to San Diego, warm up and pitch. If something didn't happen in the interim, Dock Philip Ellis, age 25, was about to enter a 50,000-seat stadium and throw a very small ball, very hard, for a very long time, without the benefit of being able to, you know, feel the thing...

Levi's Turn

Leave it to a brand to spark my patriotism:

America used to love Gingers...

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when a bright-eyed, freckly-cheeked redhead was the unofficial poster child for the American Boy. In post WWII United States, during the golden era of economic growth, suburban sprawl, TV dinners and giant Buicks, the American Ideal was at its strongest realization in our country's history. At this height of national stability, we represented ourselves with a symbol that has since become a thing of mystery, a thing we fear and misunderstand... a thing we as Americans have turned our back on. I'm talking about the American Redhead.

From Norman Rockwell to The Andy Griffith Show, popular culture in this country embraced redheads as the sweet, innocent face of our nation's prosperity and bright future.

As the American Ginger faded from the limelight, so has America's standing in the world as a beacon of happiness, hope, pride and prosperity. These days, I see no little Ronnie Howards lithping their way across our TV screens, I see no redheaded boys with fishing poles and rolled up overalls... in fact, the American Redhead has become the butt of jokes from a nation whose identity has become all but lost.

For the sake of our future as a great nation, I urge you as patriots to again embrace those who served as the face of America's finest years in its existence...

Embrace the American Redhead.

BTHOMP juggles, who knew?!

I've never been able to juggle. I've never practiced. I got home late from work last night to find juggling balls on the kitchen table. My roomate got em at some random event he attended. Within 2 minutes, I was able to keep a decent juggle going and it blew my mind. Where and when did I learn to juggle? How come I can do it now, and never before? The world may never know...

Mark Weaver: The Crowned Prince of Prints

I stumbled upon a few of Mark Weaver's print designs on a blog by the guy who is head designer at Gant Rugger. This style is right up my alley as the lines are clean, the images are vintage and the overall voice is consistent with his signature throughout.

Mark's from Boston and now based in Atlanta. You can check out a bunch of his work and photos HERE.

"If it wasn't for Jews, fags, and gypsies, there would be no theater."

The above quote is from the 1983 film To Be Or Not To Be starring the one-and-only Mel Brooks. It's basically a remake of a comedy-drama from 1942 of the same title, with much dialogue taken verbatim from the original. The film was nominated for an Oscar for comedic performance, but wasn't the box office smash to which Mel Brooks had become accustomed throughout the 70's.

An associated promotional gem was just brought to my attention by a friend, and it blew my socks off. On the movie's sountrack album, but not in the movie, was this novelty rap song song entitled To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap). It was released as a single, complete with the music video below, and peaked at #12 on the US charts in February 1984. Not surprising, as it's a fantastic dance tune that's sure to rock any party, even in 2010. Enjoy!

Rocking the Rock n Roll Half Marathon, Version 2.0

Reppin' Rosenblum


Actually smiled when crossing the finish line, as opposed to last year when I nearly died doing so :)

So, having broken my foot a few months ago, I was a bit leary about running in this year's RnR Half Marathon. Over the past few weeks, once out of my walking cast, I began jogging around town again, trying to get back in shape. I certainly don't feel as in-shape as this time last year, but I somehow managed to accomplish my goal: Beat last year's time (my first half marathon).

Last year, I finished with a time of 1:36:31 and placed 282 out of 15,682 finishers.

This time, I ended up running under a co-worker's name at the last minute, since the race sold out long before race day. Adrienne Rosenblum was my racing alias, and I did her name proud.

Bib # 17362

13.1 miles

1:31:47 finish time

174th Overall, out of 17,593 finishers

FIVE minutes faster than last year. Aww yeah.

Brite Futures for Natalie Portman's Shaved Head

Recent press release from one of Seattle's raddest groups:

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head Breaks It Off With Natalie Portman And Moves Onto A Brite Future

Band Announces New Project Under A New Name — Brite Futures, With A Free Summer MP3 For All!

“We chose our band name on a whim when we were still in high school

, and ‘Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head’ has seen us through an unexpectedly amazing four years. Our love affair with Natalie’s name was like a summer fling that lasted... and lasted... and lasted... But now it is summer once again, and time for a change. Also it has recently come to our attention that our muse Ms. Portman is not so keen on us using her name in ours... Ultimately we are lovers, not fighters, and our mamas didn’t raise no fools, so we feel it is time to move forward with a new name. We are BRITE FUTURES. Ps no hard feelings Natalie. You remain +1 on every guest list.” Brite Futures

Please click onto www.britefuturesforever.com for a free download of ‘Dog Eared Summer,’ the first song from the band now known as Brite Futures as well as a video of the band breaking the news to Natalie Portman on the name change.

The live debut of Brite Futures will be in their hometown of Seattle, WA headlining the grand finale of the Vera Project’s 8th annual A Drink For The Kids fundraiser on July 17th at Neumos. The community driven event raises money for the volunteer run, non-profit and all-ages event space, which has been a major force in Seattle music scene since it's inception in 2001.

xWe Are Wishing You All A Very Brite Summer!
www.britefuturesforever.com

Two Door Cinema Club - acoustic in the street

I caught these lads at Nectar Lounge in Seattle not too long ago, and although their sound can be quite dancey, I almost prefer this stripped-down, acoustic version of their single 'Something Good Can Work'. It highlights the complexity of the melody and the difficulty of its uptempo pace.



In case that lacks the energy you require, here's a radical remix by Brazilian indie-disco kings 'The Twelves':

It's reeeally hard not to love Jack White

BREAKBOT gets me every time

Those dang French DJs just seem to know how to move me. Breakbot is certainly no exception. His caramel-smooth, discoey remixes and original jams have been pulsing through my headphones for a while now, but I may venture to say that this remix is my favorite yet.

Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (feat. Irfane) - HD from Ed Banger Records on Vimeo.

Still Got It...

As with wine, Jack Nicholson and Beatles records, it seems I only get better with age.

This was done on a Pop-a-Shot game at Dan Otto's apartment complex. I was obsessed with breaking 150, and after 15 or so attempts I got 153. This footage comes from a game where I shot in the 130's.

'ceo' is NOT capitalized!

Why do I dig almost every band I hear from Sweden? Oh, it's because that lil' country produces some of the world's finest, freshest music. This guy, 'ceo', hails from Gothenburg.

Stolen Review:

ceo is Eric Berglund of The Tough Alliance, a guy who is apparently interested solely in the revelrous, flying-through-Fantasia-on-the-back-of-Falkor dance-pop we already heart TTA for. Which is awesome, really: When your style is essentially perfect, why mess with it? "Come With Me" is from an album called White Magic, which will be inducing smiles around the world upon its release through Modular on June 29.

ceo - come with me from Modular People on Vimeo.

Eddie Money Caught A Wave in 1987

It's rare that an artist can take one of Brian Wilson's songs and update it in a way that doesn't offend its original greatness. In the late 1980's, a magical time, the surf culture experienced a neon-fueled renaissance and brought with it some tubular beach music.

A lesser-known nostalgia/parody film called Back to the Beach, starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, captured the over-the-top corniness which was so prominent in both eras. This film reunited a bunch of the stars from the kitschy, beatnik surf movies of the 60's as well as randoms like Bob Denver (Gilligan), Stevie Ray Vaughn, O.J. Simpson and of course Pee Wee Herman. Along with a radical soundtrack, the movie features songs sung by cast members and comes across more like a musical, as did many of the 60's films it parodies. If you haven't seen this, WATCH IT. Easily one of my favorite movies of all time.

The soundtrack included covers of several well-known beach songs including Eddie Money's take on 'Catch A Ride (on a wave)' which opened the film and plays through the opening credits. This song encompasses the 80's surf scene as it was in many ways an homage to its roots in the 1960's. I believe it was released only on the soundtrack to BTTB, and is thus a rare gem of 80's pop perfection.

Just the song:

The 10-minute opening of BTTB, including 'Catch A Ride' (Careful, it'll only leave you wanting more):

And while we're on the subject, as it is one of my all time faves, here's an amazing song written by Michael Sembello (yeah, the guy who wrote 'Maniac' from Flash Dance) and performed by the majority of BTTB's cast:

fat_dog

Whoever posted this 16-year old police dog's picture online said it best. They saved this image as 'fat_dog', which pretty much sums up what I love about it.

Literally EVERYBODY loves Sir Paul

Levek = Legit

David Levesque, out of Florida (?!), makes music under the name LEVEK. Here's a quote from his myspace site:

"I'm a bus driver that makes music. After a long day of elementary schoolers putting gum on my lovely pleather bus seats I enjoy a good space jam while sorting through the Disney VHS collection."

I don't know much else, other than the fact that he's an extraordinary talent, and his music is on another level.

Check out his tunes here: http://www.myspace.com/levek

Here he is doing an a capella cover of Grizzly Bear's 'Shift' (my favorite of theirs, btw):

Levek - Shift(GB A Cappella Cover) from David Levesque on Vimeo.

Wolf Gang - This is talent

What Do You Do When The Going Gets Tough?

Here's your answer!

Reasons why this song will forever be rad:

1) Grammy-winner Billy Ocean's timeless pop vocals
2) We're in the thick of a recession...what a great message!
3) It's off an album called Love Zone, how could it not be good?
4) The wicked sax solo at 3:26
5) It's almost 5 minuntes of pop perfection
6) It was the theme song for the quintessentially 80's adventure/romance/comedy
The Jewel of The Nile, starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny Devito!
7) That synth bass line just begs you to put on a tank top and sneakers, turn up your walkman and high five somebody

Classic words of wisdom:

I got something to tell you
I got something to say
I'm gonna put this dream in motion
Never let nothing stand in my way
When the going gets tough
The tough get going

Rusko: Rad Song, Radder Video

полупроводниковый !!!

Perhaps the best 80's soundtrack you've never heard

MOVITS! The Best Swedish Hip Hop You've Never Heard

The boys from Luleå, Sweden have figured it out. If you make great music, and put on an engaging, high-energy live show, people will love it. Even if the type of music you're making has never really been done before. The two brothers, Johan (lead vocals, frontman) and Anders Rensfeldt (DJ, drums, guitar, vocals) are joined by their buddy Jocke Nilsson (saxophone, vocals) and the trio combines swing with hip hop so smoothly, it's as if they would be unnatural apart.

An exerpt from Wikipedia: On 27 July 2009, Movits! was featured on the American satirical news show The Colbert Report. The band was interviewed and performed their song "Fel del av gården". Colbert mentioned on his show on 30 July 2009, that the band's album Äppelknyckarjazz recently had gained significant popularity on Amazon.com and claimed that their appearance on his program was significantly responsible for their newfound popularity (referred to as "The Colbert Bump").

I shot this video last night. The sound quality isn't that great, but you can clearly see that they put on an incredibly entertaining show.

Download one of their more 'Rappy' songs here:

MOVITS! (feat Zacke) - Spela Mig Pa Radion

St. Vincent is Actually a Woman

Her album, Actor, came out late last year. "Marrow" blew my mind, and still does every time I listen to it. St. Vincent is the moniker under which Annie Clark (American singer-songriter, multi-instrumentalist) performs. She was a member of The Polyphonic Spree, that epic band with almost 25 members (practically an orchestra) and has now gone solo. Clark has opened shows for such acts as The National, Television, Arcade Fire, Briertone, Andrew Bird, Jolie Holland, John Vanderslice, Midlake, Tracy + the Plastics, Tuck & Patti, Xiu Xiu, Death Cab for Cutie, Cristina Donà and Grizzly Bear. She now lives in Brooklyn, along with every other hipster musician on Earth.

Her production is so ingenious and cinematic that I can't help but dig it, big time.

How 'bout this video? When the beat drops?!?! Whoa...

Here are some MP3's for your listening pleasure: (just follow the prompt to download)

St. Vincent - Paris Is Burning

St. Vincent - Black Rainbow

St. Vincent - Marrow

POLAND in Seattle

Poland is a Seattle band on Series Two Records. Mark Bombara - (Guitar), Mark Romanowski - (Guitar, Vocals), Shane Peck - (Drums), Janet Utterback-Peck - (Violin), Karen Halliburton - (Violin), Brianna Atwell - (Viola), Noah Wilson - (Bass).

I discovered them on a CD I picked up at a band showcase in Ballard. The CD featured 1-to-2 minute singles from 45 local bands, and Poland was perhaps my favorite of them all. Checking out their myspace page I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had an upcoming show, which happens to be tonight, at The Jewelbox Theater at Rendezvous in Belltown, 7pm.

One blogger wrote: "This Seattle artist is on the cusp of becoming a force in the local scene. Keep an eye out for Poland, Seattle – if you’re just hearing about them now, be assured that you’ll hear more in the near future. And it won’t necessarily be from me."



They were recently featured on BBC Radio 6's Music Podcast (being one of 12 bands selected from every weekend's shows to be on a podcast) available for download here: http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9wb2RjYXN0cy9zZXJpZXMvdHJpbnRyby8= . The new Poland cd, "Please Interstellar Policeman" is now available at Apple Crumble records, JAPAN. Here is their website: http://www.apple-crumble.com/.

Try 'em out, I think you'll like what you hear:

Poland - Mundo Fine

Poland - Living With Victoria

Poland - Almost Metropolis

Local Natives

One of the best new bands I've heard in a LONG time, Local Natives delivers a classic sound, free of synthesizers, laptops and drum machines. Granted, that's the stuff I get really into... yet these guys leave me wanting more and more and more.


I caught them at the CMJ festival in New York in October, and their set solidified them as a force to be reckoned with in 2010.



Four singers flanked the stage, each manning his own instrument, with the drummer anchoring the rear. What ensued was a barrage of rich harmonies and catchy melodies that lingered in the air long after they left the stage.

Local Natives - Wolrd News

Local Natives - Airplanes

Local Natives - Sunhands (this was the track that first hooked me, big time)

Little Dragon (my first mp3 posting!)

I finally figured out how to post mp3's in my blog entries. It took a couple hours of several failed attempts. Now, you can just click the link and download the file once it opens. It's on!

So, for my first song, I'm sharing Little Dragon. I was lucky enough to catch this group a couple months ago at the Nectar Lounge (of all places). These guys are based in Sweden and Yukimi Nagano, the Swedish-Japanese singer/dancer/style-maven, knows how to keep the party going. Their musical styles are hard to label, but range from standard electronic to funk to indie.

Little Dragon - Runabout

Pomegranates - Accessible Indie Jams

On To The Next One

It could be the fact that I've 'come up' with Jigga since I first began listening to Hip Hop, but I just never get tired of him. His new stuff is better than most of the rap I'm hearing from younger guys, and he looks better than ever. 30's the new 20, most definitely.

Also, it's nice to see that Swizz Beatz can still drop tracks that are as edgy and fresh as when they first came out, albeit more polished.

Golden Silvers

Not the freshest news on Earth, but hey, they're still a great band worth checking out!

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/a-fairytale-beginning-for-golden-silvers-864753.html