(feel my heat): Top 5 Year End

(Top 5 College Rock Songs)
Tugboat - Galaxie 500
Wave of Mutilation - Pixies
Hi. - J Dilla*
Summer Babe (Winter Version) - Pavement
Candle - Sonic Youth
Raisans - Dinosaur Jr.

Gobstopper - J Dilla* (Top 5 Tom Waits Tracks)
16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six - Tom Waits
Walking Spanish - Tom Waits
Da Factory - J Dilla*
Way Down in the Hole (87) - Tom Waits
Cold Cold Ground (Live) - Tom Waits
Downtown Train - Tom Waits

Thunder- J Dilla* (Top 5 Summer Tracks)
Badlands - Bruce Springsteen
Can't Hardly Wait (The Tim Version) - The Replacements
Dancefloors - My Morning Jacket
U-Luv - J Dilla*
Your Little Hoodrat Friend - The Hold Steady
Once and Never Again - The Long Blondes

Geek Down - J Dilla* (Top 5 Requested)
Smokestack Lightning (Single) - Howlin' Wolf
Love and Happiness - Al Green
Baby Love - The Supremes
Walkinonit - J Dilla*
Apple Orchard - Beach House
No Ones Gonna Love You - Band Of Horses
Kissing Families (Album Version) - Silversun Pickups
Thumbelina - Nightmare Of You

Dilla Says Go - J Dilla* (Top 5 2008 Albums)
Campus - Vampire Weekend
The Vowels Pt. 2 - Why?
Teen Creeps - No Age
Waves - J Dilla*
English House - Fleet Foxes
Skinny Love - Bon Iver

Anti-American Graffiti - Dilla* (Top 5 Goodbye Songs)
Do You Realize? - The Flaming Lips
Day And Night - The Jim Carroll Band
Optimistic - Radiohead
Song to the Siren - This Mortal Coil
A Fond Farewell - Elliott Smith

* Thoughts and Stuff

(feel my heat): Coachella

Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
Back In Your Head - Tegan & Sara
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Girl / Boy - Aphex Twin*
Catacomb Kids - Aesop Rock
The Year Before The Year 2000 - Les Savy Fav
Veni Vidi Vici - Black Lips
Race: In - Battles*
Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids
Heart it Races - Architecture In Helsinki*
Free Stress Test - Professor Murder
Hearts On Fire - Cut Copy
The Crystal Cat - Dan Deacon*
1999 - Prince
Glory Box - Portishead
Tour de France, Étape 2 (Continued) - Kraftwerk*
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Ready For The Floor - Hot Chip
Peacebone - Animal Collective*
Time to Pretend - MGMT
Office Boy - Bonde do Role
We Used to Vacation - Cold War Kids*
Running, Returning - Akron/Family
How It Ends - Devotchka
lovely allen - holy fuck*
Body Language / Interpretation - Booka Shade
Sleep Deprivation - Simian Mobile Disco
DVNO - Justice*
So Alive - Love and Rockets
From Here We Go Sublime - The Field
Fancy Footwork - Chromeo*
The Night Starts Here 4:55 Stars
Normandie - Shout Out Louds
Attack Of The 60 Ft Lesbian Octopus - Does It Offend You, Yeah?*
Gideon - My Morning Jacket

* Back Music still all Fest Bands

So thoughts on Coachella are that it wasn't that great. I obviously did not go but if I am just going on who played versus other years, this was a weak year. I think this is largely due to the fact that the promoters were trying to get the festival in New Jersey off the ground. Coachella needs to step it up next year and I will for sure go. I am a little upset I didn't get to see Prince but otherwise oh well, I was more upset last year when I didn't get to see LCD and Arcade Fire. Until then I can not wait for the Pitchfork fest, I am not paying $200 plus for Lollapolloza no matter how decent the lineup is. That is all it is, decent. I will be see most of the second tier bands on a given night in LA. So there is a little rant for you all.

(feel my heat): Canada vs. America

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend
2080 - Yeasayer
Lover - Devendra Banhart
People - J Dilla*
You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son - Wolf Parade
Painter In Your Pocket - Destroyer
Dead + Rural - Handsome Furs
Waves - J Dilla
Oceanside - The Decemberists
Little Brother - Grizzly Bear
English House - Fleet Foxes
Apple Orchard - Beach House
Stop! - J Dilla*
7/4 (Shoreline) - Broken Social Scene
Take Me To the Riot - Stars
My Sword Hand's Anger - Apostle of Hustle
The New - J Dilla*
Dramamine - Modest Mouse
How We Know - The Thermals
Phantom Limb - The Shins
The Way We Get By - Spoon
Light My Fire - J Dilla*
Present of Future End - The Most Serene Republic
Sing Me Spanish Techno - The New Pornographers
Nature of the Experiment - Tokyo Police Club
Workinonit - J Dilla*
Bye Bye Bye - Plants And Animals
Wolves - Phosphorescent
The Diff'rence - J Dilla*
Intervention - The Arcade Fire
The Great Salt Lake - Band of Horses

This was harder than I expected because what about Wilco, Ryan Adams, Ted Leo or any number of other bands.

(feel my heat): Theme Time Radio

Welcome to the Working Week - Elvis Costello
Manic Monday - Bangles
Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones
Wednesday - Drive-By Truckers
When We Escape - Minus The Bear*
Thursday - Asobi Seksu
Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting - Elton John
Exploding Snowhorse - The Octopus Project*
Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground
Red And Purple - The Dodos
Behind Blue Eyes - The Who
Shine A Light - Wolf Parade*
Red, Yellow And Blue - Born Ruffians
Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
The Funeral - Band of Horses*
Angie - The Rolling Stones
Melissa - The Allman Brothers Band
Alison - Elvis Costello
Ada - The National
The Choice is Yours - Black Sheep*
Billie Jean (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
Gloria - Patti Smith
Candy - Iggy Pop & Kate Pierson
She's Mine - Burning Spear
Grass - Animal Collective*
California Stars - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
Plans - Band of Horses
+81 - Deerhoof*
New York - Cat Power
Sink, Florida, Sink - Against Me!
New Amsterdam - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles*


*In keeping with theme all background music is by animal bands

(feel my heat): Roots and Influences

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Whole World - Aloe Blacc
9 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
Monkey Man - The Specials
I Confess - The English Beat
LDN - Lily Allen
1 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
At Last (Single) - Etta James
Back To Black - Amy Winehouse
5 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
My Little Underground - The Jesus and Mary Chain
Run Run Run - The Velvet Underground
Dead Sound - The Raveonettes
6 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
Wrong 'Em Boyo - The Clash
Night of the Living Baseheads - Public Enemy
World Town - M.I.A.
2 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
Artists Only - Talking Heads
The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 1) - The Human League
Whoo! Alright-Yeah... Uh Huh - The Rapture
3 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
DJ 4:02 David Bowie
Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers
North American Scum - LCD Soundsystem
4 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails
Janie Jones - The Clash
So It Goes - Nick Lowe
Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
8 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) - Bruce Springsteen
Heartattack and Vine - Tom Waits
First Night - The Hold Steady

(feel my heat): New eMusic and Old Favorites

Consoler Of The Lonely - The Raconteurs
Midnight Vignette - Evangelicals
Aly, Walk With Me - The Raveonettes
4 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
Quarantined - Atlas Sound
Strange Lights - Deerhunter
Semi-Sorted - No Age
Veni Vidi Vici - Black Lips
3 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
Neighborhood 3 - Power Out - The Arcade Fire
Squalor Victoria - The National
Living Proof - Cat Power
18 Ghosts II - Nine Inch Nails*
Plasticities - Andrew Bird
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe - Okkervil River
Skinny Love - Bon Iver
20 Ghosts III - Nine Inch Nails*
Take Me To the Riot - Stars
Desiree - Caribou
Take Pills - Panda Bear
33 Ghosts IV - Nine Inch Nails*
To The East - Electrelane
Dr. Strangeluv - Blonde Redhead
Wedding Bell - Beach House
6 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails*
Cause = Time - Broken Social Scene
Baltimore - Stephen Malkmus
Wordless Chorus - My Morning Jacket
Helen - The Cave Singers
24 Ghosts III - Nine Inch Nails*

*Talked

The Paper

I had to write a paper for my history class. It was on the California Law Review from 1950 to 1975 and its interpretation of the 14th amendment. Every word in that sentence I hate with the fury of a nova. The paper took me roughly 18 hours and 49 minutes of pure work. I started it on Monday and did not finish until this morning ten minutes before class, including pulling an almost all nighter last night. I know specifically how long it took because of the albums I listened to. For this paper I listened to 23 unique albums which consists of over 282 songs. Here are the albums that I heard:

1. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
2. EL-P - I'll Sleep When Your Dead
3. Battles - Mirrored
4. Black Dice - Load Blown
5. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel
   
6. Deerhunter - cryptograms
7. Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey EP
8. Jesu - Conqueror
9. Black Lips - Good Bad not Evil
10. No Age - Wierdo Rippers twice
11. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
12. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
13. Blonde Redhead - 23
14. Interpol - Antics
15. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrsing
16. The Mae Shi - HLLYH
17. Caribou - Andorra
18. The National - Boxer
19. Arcade Fire - Funeral
20. Cat Power - The Greatest
21. Burial - Untrue
22. Death From Above 1979 - Your a Woman, I'm a Machine
23. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

Not a bad list. I think this may be a potential FMH. Now I need to go to sleep.

Spring Break

So I haven't bloged'd in a while so I decided what better way to do it then a double whammy: a real post and a playlist. I am currently freaking out over a paper and a geology exam but I did well on my Poli Sci test which is good. Here are the highlights of the break:

• A crying baby and a delayed plane the size of a limo
• Sprinting through Houston
• 24 B
• Getting Picked Up By Shareen
• Shareen missing the turn for in-n-out and nearly missing exit for my house
• Visiting Concordia with Ethan, its actually really nice
  
• Harold and Maud with Thai Food
• Cheesecake Factory with Shareen
• Horse Show with Mom
• Going on Hikes
• Getting burnt but not as bad as they think
  
• Hot Tubbing with Shareen
  
• Corona
• Going to the Tourney and th Google Box
  
• Agreeing that I was born to be the Stanford Tree
• Frisbee
• Sleeping in a size appropriate bed
• Finding out that I bring the most annoying traits in all of Colin's Friends
• Eggs Benedict the morning before my flight back

So those were the great moments. Here is the latest (feel my heat):

Strange Times - The Black Keys
Conquest (Acoustic Mariachi Version) - The White Stripes
Ghetto - Oh No*
Time - Pink Floyd Dark
Inertiatic Esp - The Mars Volta
Heavy - Oh No*
Skullflower - The Sounds of Animals Fighting
Nothing Like This - J Dilla
Ox Broil - Oh No*
Angel - Massive Attack
Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
Two Can Win - J Dilla*
Gravity - John Mayer
Impossible Germany - Wilco*
Bouncers - Oh No*
My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
Dime Piece (Remix) - J Dilla*
Angel - Jack Johnson
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
Last Donut of the Night - J Dilla*
Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne
Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan
Memorial - Explosions In The Sky*
It Beats 4 U - My Morning Jacket
Better Man - Pearl Jam
Shadow of a Doubt - Beth Orton
Alive Alone - The Chemical Brothers*
Massive Nights - The Hold Steady
Teenagers - My Chemical Romance
Won't do - J Dilla*
Counting Down The Hours - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb - Spoon
Dry the Rain - The Beta Band*
Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
The Scientist - Coldplay

*Rants Raves and Roars

Metal Health

So the past weeks have totally sucked for me. I am getting smacked around by my classes, which is never a pleasant feeling. I want out of Ohio more then anything. And I am just generally run down. I have now been hit with a presentation on the Thursday before I leave, which is on top of the Mid-term I have due on Monday which might be the hardest of my life and the Political Science Midterm I have the day I leave. And then once I finally get on break I have a 10 page paper for history due and I have a take home quiz for geography due the week I get back. So my break is not really a break but a time when I can fret in a different state. In short I want to just drop out, maybe the homeless guy in the park has it right. He is smiling, has no teeth but he is smiling. Anyway this is mostly a rant.

Music has been helping me through it. I have been listening to a lot of more pop-y music. Jack Johnson has been getting serious spins. So have Pearl Jam, Mars Volta, John Mayer, and Ben Harper. I have grown tired of indie, which might be due to me not getting the new music job. I got rejected for less than fair reasons I believe but I do not know for sure obviously.

Anyway hope everything is well for you all. I might be writing for a culture blog soon. I will let you all know details as they appear.

(feel my heat): Revenge

September Gurls - Big Star
Alison's Starting to Happen - The Lemonheads
Tribulation (Original 1975 Mix) - Bim Sherman*
Baby Britain - Elliott Smith
New York, New York - Ryan Adams
For Nancy - Pete Yorn
I'm Not Ashamed - Culture*
Bad Reputation - Freedy Johnston
Mrs. Rita - Gin Blossoms
I've Been Waiting - Matthew Sweet
Knight In Shining Armour - Deborahe Glasgow*
Given to Fly - Pearl Jam
have love will travel - The Black Keys
The Bucket - Kings Of Leon
Jah Live - Luciano*
Gravity's Gone - Drive-By Truckers
Picture of You - My Morning Jacket
The Greatest - Cat Power
Am I The Same Girl - Winsome*
Night is the Notion - Dax Riggs
Stop, I'm Already Dead - deadboy & the Elephantmen
Dirty Hands - Black Lips
Scientist's Winter Dub - Roots Radics Meet Scientist And King Tubby*
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns - The Cramps
Can Your P***y Do the Dog? 3:23 The Cramps
Dead Flowers - The Rolling Stones*
Amanda Ruth - Rank And File
Marie, Marie - The Blasters
Don't Worry Baby - Los Lobos
Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley & The Wailers*
Going Underground - The Jam
Rudie Can't Fail - The Clash
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
Lost In the Supermarket - The Clash
Flip Ya Lid - Nightmares On Wax*
Herbal Jazz Cigarette - Nightmare Of You
The Great Escape - Boys Like Girls
The Future Freaks Me Out - Motion City Soundtrack

(feel my heat): The Missing Pair

Last week - The one Shareen missed:
D.A.N.C.E. (Mstrkrft Remix) - Justice
Easy Love - Mstrkrft
One More Time - Daft Punk
Unexplored Terrain - Dillinja*
Black Mags - The Cool Kids
Nike Boots - Wale
Say Yeah - Wiz Khalifa
The Great Drum+Bass Swindle (Logistics remix) - London Elektricity*
Run - Gnarls Barkley
Closer (Feat. Madvillain) - Quasimoto
The Mercury Craze - Subtle
Soul Control - Dillinja*
Romantic Rights - Death From Above 1979
3's & 7's - Queens of the Stone Age
Get Myself Into It - The Rapture
Mermaids - Muffler*
I Coul'da Been A Contender - The Gaslight Anthem
Pretty Good Year - The Loved Ones
New Wave - Against Me!
Blackout - Logistics*
Can't Hardly Wait (The Tim Version) - The Replacements
Motion Of The Ocean - Fake Problems
Steady Rollin' - Two Gallants
Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground) - Blind Willie Johnson*
16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six - Tom Waits
Way Down in the Hole (87) - Tom Waits
Walking Spanish - Tom Waits
I Will Be There When You Die - My Morning Jacket*
Candy's Room - Bruce Springsteen
Lucky Town - Bruce Springsteen
State Trooper - Bruce Springsteen
Rebellion (Lies) - The Arcade Fire*
Speed Trials - Elliott Smith
Down The Line - José González
To Have and to Have Not - Billy Bragg

Last Night - The one Steve missed

Miss You - The Rolling Stones
Dead Flowers - The Rolling Stones
Sin City - The Flying Burrito Brothers
Jacksonville Skyline - Whiskeytown
The Thrill Is Gone (1969 Single Version) - B.B. King*
Buffalo Soldier - Bob Marley & The Wailers
Walking On the Moon - Cas Haley
I Left My Wallet in El Segundo - A Tribe Called Quest*
If I Had Eyes - Jack Johnson
In the Colors - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Hard Sun (Main) - Eddie Vedder
Who Do You Love Pt. 1 - Quicksilver Messenger Service*
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Live In a Hiding Place - Idlewild
Forever Young - Youth Group
Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley & The Wailers*
Greetings to the New Brunette - Billy Bragg
How Low - Jose Gonzalez
Stir It Up - Bob Marley & The Wailers*
Gideon - My Morning Jacket
Ode to lrc - Band Of Horses
Fiery Crash - Andrew Bird
To Kingdom Come - The Band*
Spring And By Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead
Neighborhood 3 - Power Out - The Arcade Fire
Province - TV On the Radio
Ry Cooder - Tortoise*
Song to the Siren - This Mortal Coil
Everyday Is Like Sunday - Morrissey
Like Dylan In The Movies - Belle & Sebastian
The Orchids - Califone*
Let It Ride - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
A Fond Farewell - Elliott Smith

* songs in the background

7 Down, 45 To Go

Book: Shortcomings - Adrian Tomine
Album: Build and Burn - The Loved Ones

Shortcomings is a very interesting book. It is a graphic novel and provides a snap shot of a realtionship and life. It is about Ben, a self hating Asian university theater manager; Miko, Ben's girlfriend an Asian enthusiast and forward moving individual; and Alice, Ben's lesbian grad-student friend. It is a snap shot of decaying relationships and both people's unwillingness to change and desire to change and expand. It takes place in Berkley, which is completely appropriate. As I think about the small amount of time I spent in the Bay area it seems perfectly placed. No, not because many of the characters are gay or Asian. I saw it on a number of best of 2007 book lists and I am very glad that I finally picked it up and checked it out. Plus it was highly recommended by Jonathan Lethem.

Once again this album has little to do with the actual book. For instance I do not really imagine any of the characters listening to this album but the ideas of Building and Burning of relationships is especially characteristic of the book. Plus I saw the loved ones the other night and I am currently loving them. It is also one of the few times where I have read a new book and album at the same time.

Loved Ones and Gaslight Anthem

On Friday night I went to Cincinnati to see the Loved Ones with Gaslight Anthem, totally worth it. It was a very fun show. Gaslight Anthem were great openers, I did not know the songs that well but I was still dancing and doing my best to sing along. Loved Ones were a lot of fun. They clearly looked like they were having a blast and wanted to be no where else in the world. I went with my friend Tim and he and I now have a fairly solid streak, we saw Against Me! as well. We both agreed that if we could see these guys another 5 times in a row we would totally do it. The Against Me! show was a lot of fun but they did not seem like they were having fun, while these bands had a great time.

The bar we saw them in, The Poison Room, was very cool. The showed movies on the wall, the best of which was the cheesy as hell Batman movie with Adam West. I still have X's on my hand which seem to refuse to wash away. I hope to go to Smoke or Fire with Fake Problems next week at the same place.

I desperately want to see Against Me! again but in a small venue like I did last time. I don't want to see them at the Hollywood Bowl with Foo Fighters. I want to see them at Chain Reaction with Matt and Kim or some other smaller band. Speaking of which the Loved Ones are playing Chain Reaction March 30, I will unfortunately be back at school by that point but I would kill to go to that show. I highly recommend it.

Friday Run Down

Ok so I haven't posted on here this week due to midterms, apathy and other reasons. Anyway happy belated valentines day to all. Shareen got me a lovely pound of See's candy which is perfect. I got her the same along with High Fidelity. She has only seen the movie and I think she should read the book because it is better. I have begun to like refereeing, it is fun and I have become more confident in it. I read my book for this week quickly and will post that on Sunday. Tonight I do not have work because the library is closed so I get to go to the Loved Ones/Gaslight Anthem concert which I am excited about. Otherwise I will talk to you later.

Here is the playlist to last Sunday's (feel my heat) by far the worst one ever, you picked a good one to miss dad:

When We Escape - Minus The Bear
Knights Of Cydonia - Muse
Stormy High - Black Mountain
The Comeback (Madlib) - Madlib
Wolf Like Me - TV On the Radio
Everything In Its Right Place - Radiohead
Jacking The Ball - The Sea And Cake
Indian Hump - Madlib
Don't You Evah - Spoon
Wet and Rusting - Menomena
Well Thought Out Twinkles - Silversun Pickups
Movie Finale - Madlib
Baby, I'm An Anarchist - Against Me! Reinventing
Six Months In a Leaky Boat - Ted Leo/Pharmacists
Could We - Cat Power
Let's Get Out of This Country - Camera Obscura
The Payback (Gotta) - Madlib
Baby Britain - Elliott Smith
Forever Young - Youth Group
Perfect Fit - Tilly and the Wall
Two Can Win - J Dilla
Everlong - Foo Fighters
I Only Want You - Eagles Of Death Metal
Make It Wit Chu - Queens of the Stone Age
Nothing Like This - J Dilla
Welfare Bread - King Khan & The Shrines
Dirty Hands - Black Lips
Bye - J Dilla
He keeps me alive - Sally Shapiro
Littleblood - Division Day
Two Left Feet - The Holloways
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
Gente Ordinaria (Bonus Track) - Aloe Blacc

6 Down, 46 to go

Book: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Tom Robbins
Album: GA GA GA GA GA - Spoon

The first book read entirely at school this year. And I finished it just in time to post here. I greatly enjoyed this book. It is funny and intruiging, and more than a little outrageous. There are parts that dragged on and I didn't love the Clockworks/Chink aspect of the book but at least they were well written. I did not see the ending of the Rubber Rose coming and everything that happened after it was secondary.

GA GA GA GA GA is the latest by Spoon. It is not quite the audio companion to the book that other weeks have had. Yet it is the album that I have listened to most often while reading Cowgirls. Others have complained that the album is not their best and I am not sure if it is or not. I only have bits and pieces of the other albums. I think it is a great record and one of the best of 2007. A great mix of rock n roll and Motown. If you haven't heard it yet do yourself a favor and pick it up.

As a side note: buy the song Thumbelina by Nightmare of You when reading Cowgirls.

(feel my heat): Gifted

I meant to podcast this but I didn't sorry. Maybe I will throw some of these tracks up on the blog for you guys.

Mistaken For Strangers - The National
Down The Line - José González
I Don't Blame You - Cat Power
Insomniac Olympics - Blockhead*
Does This Mean You're Moving On? - The Airborne Toxic Event
Down In the Valley - The Broken West
Into Your Dream - Foreign Born
Punctual As Usual - The Parson Red Heads
Forest Crunk - Aesop Rock*
A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth - The Brunettes
C Is the Heavenly Option - Los Campesinos!
Snow Tip Cap Mountain - The Octopus Project*
23 - Blonde Redhead
Backed Out On The... - Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew
15 Steps - Radiohead
Tonto - Battles*
And It Rained All Night (Burial Remix) - Thom Yorke
Lake Somerset - Deerhunter
Sometimes - My Bloody Valentine
Body Language / Interpretation - Booka Shade*
California Girls - The Magnetic Fields
Rag & Bone - The White Stripes
1 2 3 4 - Feist
Tin Cans & Twine - Tortoise*
Over the Rainbow - Rufus Wainwright
The Future - Teddy Thompson
Lead Balloon - Liam Finn
An Ending (Ascent) - Brian Eno*
Your Red Dress (Wedding Song At Cemetery) - Alaska In Winter
Rock Bottom Riser - Smog
My Name is Trouble - Nightmare of You

*Background music

5 Down, 47 to Go

So I have run out of books. I now don't have any in reserve so I need to finish either Acid House or Cowgirls to have material for next week.

Book: Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents
Album: J Dilla - Donuts

This is a sort of cheating. Graffiti World is almost entirely composed of pictures but man oh man what amazing pictures. Clearly they highlighted the best artists at large today. Showcasing crews and styles that I had never seen before. I did not see some of the big names that I would expect for instance Sasquatch, Neckface, and Obey, but they are more than made up for by the plethora of talent I have learned about. Admitatedly I have also only flipped through the book, never sitting down and reading or looking page by page. I greatly enjoyed that the book was broken down by contitents. It made it easy to see how different styles changed and influenced each other.

The audiable companion to this book is Donuts or Beat Konducta or really anything off the Stones Throw label. Personally I like Donuts the best. It was produced on J Dilla's death bed in the hospital. Each song is only a minute or minute and half long. They are merely sketches of beats. Much like graffiti is only a sketch of great art work. If a great graf artist were to sit down and truly paint or design one piece it could surely go in a prestigous museum. Just as if J Dilla sat down and fleshed out many of these beats and sold them off, there would have been a lot of hits. But when you have this much talent why waste time perfecting the already amazing and not share the wealth with everyone.

Book: Death By Black Hole - Neil deGrasse Tyson

This is an admission of defeat. I did not finish this book. I read about 125 pages of it or so and stopped. Which means I got about half way through and stopped. The book while interesting was nothing but a collection of articles Tyson had written for various Science and Academic magazines. And while I liked it, it was a little to technical, too science-y. Once I put it down I frequently did not really desire to pick it back up. I was hoping it would be more about planets and stars and what is out there and less about how it happened and theory. While the theroy is important, it does not always make for a great read.

Welcome to the Working Weak

So this week I started both of my jobs. I am now a referee for intramural basketball and work the graveyard shift at the library. I was nervous about both jobs and now have realized they are not so bad. I don't love either. Refereeing is maddening because you are in control of the game and I feel like that is a lot of pressure. Working the graveyard shift in the library I have to imagine won't be hard so much as it will be boring. I have been working for almost two hours and I can't see it changing drastically. On the plus side it seems as if I can just sit around and use my computer and headphones and no one will care.

This week I also considered dropping a class. I wasn't sure if I wanted to stick out my history class it is hard and confusing but ultimately I think I will stay with it. Its not perfect but might as well do something challenging since my other classes do not seem to be particularly hard.

Toys that Kill (Your Wallet)

I have looking around the Internet for cool visuals. Stuff I can post on here or use a screen savor. And in reality not a whole lot has come up. I am looking for new fresh material, so Banksy and Obey and Neckface are not as fresh as they once were just because I know what I am looking for. I have found some really cool stuff but by far my favorite stuff right now are toys that I am finding. They are mostly vinyl toys that are sold in hipster boutiques but I think they are really cool. I would buy them but they are freaking expensive. We are talking between $20-$100 a pop easy, and those aren't the rare or large ones. Oh well one day when I am twenty-five and a multimillionaire with nothing else to spend my money on and all other problems are solved, I will buy them. Until then I will just post pictures.

4 Down, 48 to Go

Book: Best American Non-Required Reading 2006
Album: Endtroducing - DJ Shadow

I picked up this book over Christmas break at the Spectrum Barnes and Noble with Shareen. It was recommended by an employee who also flagged Best American Comics which I had just recently finished. I had heard mixed reviews about this book, but I read the introduction by Matt Groening and decided to give it a shot. The introduction is very funny, which is of little surprise. Groening being the founder of the Simpsons, Futurerama and the comic My Life in Hell is a very smart and funny guy. So I ended up buying this and Skinny Bitch for Shareen.

What was surprising was how much I liked the collection of stories. The fiction in the book was not as good as the non-fiction. One story from the New Yorker further confirmed that the New Yorker needs to be shut down. However the nonfiction was both interesting and topical. From travels in North Korea, to the aftermath of Katrina on New Orleans, to Martyrdom in the middle east, to the creation of Dubai all of these stories kept my interest. The highlight of the book to me was from Kurt Vonnegut. It was from his book A Man Without a Country and was all about fiction. I highly recommend reading it. And Dallas this short piece absolutely sums up your class.

Endtroducing has quickly become one of my favorite albums. And like the book it is entirely a compilation. DJ Shadow mixed, scratched, and sampled god only knows how many albums to create an entirely new album. The album is part electronic part hip-hop and part soul. When put together it creates its own style that makes you sit down and listen. "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" is probably my favorite track off the album.

Bonus Book: Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut

OK there is a reason that this is not its own separate entry in the 52, its because I started to read this last semester and then stopped with like 40 pages to go. No idea why I stopped I mean it is not a hard read. Well I saw the book in my room and had just written the review to Non-Required and decided to finish it. And ultimately I felt that Slaughterhouse was not as good as everyone claims it to be. I liked it well enough but I felt that Cats Cradle or Sirens of Titans were better. They were funnier and smarter than Slaughterhouse. That is just my personal opinion however. I do recognize the literary merits of the story and that Vonnegut certainly pushed the envelope with the book.