Friday, October 29, 2010

Standing TALL!


Words.

"If you take them at their Facebook word, at least 223,609 people plan to attend the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on the National Mall in Washington on Saturday. According to enthusiastic posters on the social network site, the rally is either a) "the start of a massive, powerful movement … to turn back the vehement, reactionary discourse in this country" or b) "very much like a music festival."

The Comedy Central satire twins don't have an agenda exactly, although Stewart has a motto: "Take it down a notch, for America." That's enough for left-leaning pundit and new-media guru Arianna Huffington to pay a reported $250,000 to bus at least 11,000 people from New York to D.C. for the festivities, while bosses at NPR have banned its off-duty journalists from attending because the rallies involve issues that NPR covers. (Apparently, NPR now reports on "sanity.")

But then, absurdity is certain to abound when thousands of Americans rally in the shadow of the Capitol dome — just four days before a hotly contested midterm election — to mostly make this grand political statement: In irony we trust.

...When King and his fellow marchers returned home from the Mall to the Deep South 47 years ago, they knew they faced nightsticks or worse on the rocky road toward the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Today, the challenge facing rallygoers is, as Stewart suggests, asking "the sitter if she can stay a few extra hours, just this once."

Ultimately, it will be those kids at home who learn the history of whether 2010 was just an autumn of harmless entertainment or the throes of a nation amusing itself to death."


  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: In irony we trust
  • Bedknobs & Broomsticks.

    A Moment of Clarity.



    Words.

    "With their "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" this weekend, political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are late to the party. This weird campaign has been Comedy Central all along.

    The main source of hilarity has been the Tea Party movement and its candidates, quite a few of whom give every indication of being several sandwiches short of a picnic. Whether they win or lose - and yes, there remains the possibility that some might actually be elected - they leave us with mondo-bizarro moments that may require years of psychoanalysis for our collective political psyche to purge..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Restore sanity? Too late for the Tea Party
  • Indestructible.

    A video.

    Starring Robyn.

    For Your Consideration.


  • SOUNDCLOUD: Swim Remixes [Album Stream]
  • Move That Body.

    A video.

    Starring Nelly, T-Pain, & Akon.

    Wednesday, October 27, 2010

    Loving You No More.

    A video.

    Starring Diddy Dirty Money & Drake.

    Coming Attractions.

    Cee-Lo Green.

    Bright Lights, Big City.

    A Trailer.

    Off Our Backs.

    A video.

    Starring MEN.

    Crime & Punishment.


  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Marijuana profiling
  • Right Thru Me.

    A video.

    Starring Nicki Minaj.

    Get Real. Get Right.

    Get Smart.

    A Moment of Clarity.




    Words.

    "As battle cries go, the Tea Party's "Take our country back" is a pretty good one. It's short and punchy, and it addresses a very widespread sense that the nation that Americans once lived in has changed, and not for the better.

    When the Tea Partyers get around to identifying how America has changed and to whose benefit, however, they get it almost all wrong. In the worldview of the American right -- and the polling shows conclusively that that's who the Tea Party is -- the nation, misled by President Obama, has gone down the path to socialism. In fact, far from venturing down that road, we've been stuck on the road to hyper-capitalism for three decades now. The Tea Partyers are right to be wary of income redistribution, but if they had even the slightest openness to empiricism, they'd see that the redistribution of the past 30 years has all been upward -- radically upward.

    ...In short, the economic life and prospects for Americans since the Reagan Revolution have grown dim, while the lives of the rich -- the super-rich in particular -- have never been brighter. The share of income accruing to America's wealthiest 1 percent rose from 9 percent in 1974 to a tidy 23.5 percent in 2007.

    Looking at these numbers, it would be reasonable to infer that when the Tea Partyers say that they want to take the country back, they mean back to the period between 1950 and 1980, when the vast majority of Americans encountered more opportunity and security in their economic lives than they had before or since. Reasonable, but wrong..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: When Tea Party wants to go back, where is it to?
  • For Your Consideration.



  • MOG: Weezer - Death to False Metal (Album Stream)
  • Monday, October 25, 2010

    Quality Control.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "PRESIDENT Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for averting another Great Depression, for saving 3.3 million jobs with stimulus spending, or for salvaging GM and Chrysler from the junkyard. And none of these good deeds, no matter how substantial, will go unpunished if the projected Democratic bloodbath materializes on Election Day. Some are even going unremembered. For Obama, the ultimate indignity is the Times/CBS News poll in September showing that only 8 percent of Americans know that he gave 95 percent of American taxpayers a tax cut.

    The reasons for his failure to reap credit for any economic accomplishments are a catechism by now: the dark cloud cast by undiminished unemployment, the relentless disinformation campaign of his political opponents, and the White House’s surprising ineptitude at selling its own achievements. But the most relentless drag on a chief executive who promised change we can believe in is even more ominous. It’s the country’s fatalistic sense that the stacked economic order that gave us the Great Recession remains not just in place but more entrenched and powerful than ever.

    No matter how much Obama talks about his “tough” new financial regulatory reforms or offers rote condemnations of Wall Street greed, few believe there’s been real change. That’s not just because so many have lost their jobs, their savings and their homes. It’s also because so many know that the loftiest perpetrators of this national devastation got get-out-of-jail-free cards, that too-big-to-fail banks have grown bigger and that the rich are still the only Americans getting richer..."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: What Happened to Change We Can Believe In?
  • "...And the Home of the Brave(?)."



    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "Americans like to think of themselves as bold. It was boldness that gave birth to the country, built it, protected it from external threat and rescued it in times of domestic turbulence. Americans are proud of dreaming big and taking big chances, and as far as individual feats go, it may be true.

    But the larger truth is that, foreign military adventurism aside, the American government hasn't really acted boldly since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Americans talk a lot about change during elections, but they recoil from action once the election is over. An economic stimulus? Make sure it is a small one. Healthcare reform? Half measures. Climate change legislation? No action at all. We blame politics, deficits and bad leadership, when perhaps we should be blaming our national genes.

    ...why hasn't the Great Recession, another deep convulsion, created an equal cry for government activism? The need for the Democratic cavalry to clean up the Republican mess could hardly seem clearer. And that was precisely why Barack Obama was elected: to act boldly. But no sooner did he enter office than the old chants of fearfulness reverberated across the country: An economic rescue would only ratchet up the deficit; regulation of Wall Street would destroy Wall Street; healthcare reform would result in socialism.

    What happened to our resolve? Nothing really. Americans just reverted to form.

    ...The fear of not doing something has occasionally outweighed the national inclination not to act. But only rarely, and, it has become obvious, not now.

    ...Instead of bold adventurers confronting our demons, we are a nation of the frightened, hoping to turn back the clock and railing against the only tool that can really help us: action."

  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: America the timorous
  • And the Beat Goes On...


  • PITCHFORK: Swizz Beatz Launches Free MP3 Series Monster Mondays
  • LIFE.

    For Your Consideration.


  • PITCHFORK: Listen to Lykke Li's New Single Now
  • I Didn't Know That!

    A video.

    From The Books.

    Sunday, October 24, 2010

    Lovesexy.

    Kanye West.

    Runaway.

    A [Short] Film.

    Runaway.

    A video.

    Starring Kanye West & featuring Pusha T.

    Saturday, October 23, 2010

    Community.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    Words.

    "In the past few weeks there has been a spate of attacks directed against people perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

    ...Homophobia, like racism and xenophobia, exists to varying degrees in all societies. Every day, in every country, individuals are persecuted, vilified or violently assaulted, even killed, because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Covert or overt, homophobic violence causes enormous suffering that is often shrouded in silence and endured in isolation.

    It is time we all spoke up. While responsibility for hate crimes rests with the perpetrators, we all share a duty to counter intolerance and prejudice and demand that attackers be held to account.

    ...It should not take hundreds more deaths and beatings to convince us of this truth. It is up to all of us to demand equality for all our fellow human beings, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity"

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: How we can fight back against homophobia
  • The Rainbow Connection.


  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Some 'Sesame Street' viewers sense a gay-friendly vibe
  • Don't Look Down.


  • YOU HEARD THAT NEW: Kanye West ft. Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco & Big SeanDon’t Look Down (The Phoenix Story)
  • Thursday, October 21, 2010

    For Your Consideration.



  • STEREOGUM: Taylor Swift Covers “Viva La Vida”
  • Coming Attractions.

    Real Talk.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    Words.

    "Several tax cuts are slated to expire at the end of the year, which means that the lame-duck Congress will face several tough decisions come November. To hear campaigning lawmakers tell it, however, the only tax issue out there is whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the rich. The debate and the work can’t end there.

    Voters need to hear more about where their representatives stand on extending far more equitable, and economically sound, Obama-era tax cuts.

    ...The country needs a full debate on all the pending tax decisions — the benefits and costs of each. If the politicians keep talking solely about tax cuts for the rich, whether for or against, everyone will be shortchanged."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: One-Note Tax Debate
  • Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

    Just you watch...

    Enter the Ninja!

    LIVE on Jimmy Kimmel.

    And starring Die Antwoord.

    Yeah 3x.

    A video.

    Starring Chris Brown.

    Sidewayz.

    A video.

    Starring CyHi Da Prynce.

    Wednesday, October 20, 2010

    B.M.F.

    "Like a BOSS!"

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Banks' foreclosure hustle
  • A Wolf at the Door.

    A Moment of Clarity.



    Words.

    "...In describing the big-business group as "us," Beck (annual revenue: $32 million) provided an unintended moment of clarity into the power behind the Tea Party movement. These aren't peasants with pitchforks; these are plutocrats with payrolls.

    There is genuine populist anger out there. But the angry have been deceived and exploited by posers who belong to the same class of "elites" and "insiders" that the Tea Party movement supposedly deplores. Americans who want to stick it to the man are instead sending money to the man..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: A Tea Party of populist posers
  • "I've got some news for you!"


  • PITCHFORK: Robyn Announces Body Talk Pt. 3 Details
  • Escalators.

    A video.

    Starring Freeway.

    Who's That Chick.

    A video.

    Starring Rihanna.

    I like this Linkin Park Song.

    That is all...

    New flava in MY ear!

    Linkin Park.

    Waiting for the End.

    99 Problems.

    A Jay-Z Cover.

    By Hugo.

    TELEVISION TELEVISION!

    Another morning. Another workout. Another viewing of a music video from an act getting its feet wet/trying to grab our attention/stand out in the crowd. Worthy of a repeat listen? Press play and find out...

    New flava in MY ear!

    Mindless Behavior.


    My Girl.

    Tuesday, October 19, 2010

    The Evolution of Dance.

    With Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas.

    Undertow.

    A video.

    Starring Warpaint.

    X-Factor.

    A Moment of Clarity.

    Sunday, October 17, 2010

    Rage, Against the Machine.

    Words.

    "[Carl] Paladino is no anomaly in American politics in 2010. He’s just the most clownish illustration of where things have been heading for two years and are still heading. Like the farcical Christine O’Donnell in another blue Northeastern state, he’s a political loss-leader, if you will, whose near-certain defeat on Nov. 2 allows us to indulge in a bit of denial about the level of rage still coursing, sometimes violently, through our national bloodstream.

    That wave of anger began with the parallel 2008 cataclysms of the economy’s collapse and Barack Obama’s ascension. The mood has not subsided since. But in the final stretch of 2010, the radical right’s anger is becoming less focused, more free-floating — more likely to be aimed at “government” in general, whatever the location or officials in charge. The anger is also more likely to claim minorities like gays, Latinos and Muslims as collateral damage. This is a significant and understandable shift, if hardly a salutary one. The mad-as-hell crowd in America, still not seeing any solid economic recovery on the horizon, will lash out at any convenient scapegoat.

    ...Don’t expect the extremism and violence in our politics to subside magically after Election Day — no matter what the results. If Tea Party candidates triumph, they’ll be emboldened. If they lose, the anger and bitterness will grow. The only development that can change this equation is a decisive rescue from our prolonged economic crisis. Not for the first time in history — and not just American history — fear itself is at the root of a rabid outbreak of populist rage against government, minorities and conspiratorial “elites.”

    So far neither party has offered a comprehensive antidote to our economic pain. The Democrats have fallen short, and the cynics leading the G.O.P. haven’t so much as tried. We shouldn’t be surprised that this year even a state as seemingly well-mannered as Connecticut has produced a senatorial candidate best known for marching into a wrestling ring to gratuitously kick a man in the groin."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Rage Won’t End on Election Day
  • The Cross.

    A Moment of Clarity.


  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Walking away from church
  • Take One for the Team.


  • Stream here.
  • Flying Iron.

    A video.

    Starring Curren$y & Fiend.

    The Heat.

    A video.

    Starring Twista, featuring Raekwon.

    Saturday, October 16, 2010

    "REAL TALK!"


    Words.

    "...it's hard to deny that religious voices denouncing LGBT people contribute to the atmosphere in which violence against LGBT people and bullying of LGBT youth can flourish.

    ...The news is filled with the tragedies of teenaged boys who were gay and decided to end their living hell by committing suicide. Maybe they weren't even gay, but merely perceived to be by their peers, who harassed, taunted, and threatened them unmercifully.

    These were real kids with real names.

    ...Despite the progress we're making on achieving equality under the law and acceptance in society for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, why this rash of bullying, paired with self-loathing, ending in suicide? With humility and heartfelt repentance I assert that religion -- and its general rejection of homosexuality -- plays a crucial role in this crisis..."


  • THE HUFFINGTON POST: Bishop Gene Robinson: How Religion Is Killing Our Most Vulnerable Youth
  • Friday, October 15, 2010

    The Darkness.


    Words.

    "Spiritual bullying is deadly. Children are listening when religious leaders call gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people sinners. Children hear them when they shout "abomination" from the pulpit, when they scream, "Thou shalt not!"

    There is no turning back when a child has heard he or she is evil one too many times. No prayer, no line from a book written by men, will undo a child's last prayer for help.

    ...My heart is heavy. My eyes are tired. I can not read another story about a young person taking his or her life because of bullying in any form. I want the world to be truly holy. I want the world to be a place where all people are loved and cherished for who they are. I want us to have compassion for one another and to help each other in times of need. I want a world where we find the Spirit in truth, not through the manipulations of power hungry men and women.

    Do you agree?..."

  • THE HUFFINGTON POST: Anti-Gay Churches Are Not Holy
  • For Your Consideration.


    In stores November 22nd!

    Ray Ban Vision.


  • PITCHFORK: New A-Trak: "Ray Ban Vision [ft. CyHi Da Prince]"
  • THUNDER LIGHTNING STRIKE!


  • PITCHFORK: The Go! Team - T.O.R.N.A.D.O.
  • "DELIRIOUS!"


  • PITCHFORK: Prince Announces U.S. Tour With Janelle Monáe
  • Thursday, October 14, 2010

    Precious.

    Just you watch...



  • JEZEBEL: Sesame Street Teaches Black Girls To Love Their Hair
  • Somebody to Love Me.

    A video.

    Starring Mark Ronson & The Business Int'l & featuring Boy George.

    Body Talk.




  • SOUNDCLOUD: Robyn - Indestructible (Edit)
  • "IT FEELS GOOD!"

    A "New flava in ya ear!" Production.


  • HYPEBEAST: Lupe Fiasco featuring All City Chess Club (Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, The Cool Kids, Blu, Diggy, B.o.B. & Dosage) – I’m Beamin (Remix)
  • "GET UP! STAND UP!"

    A Moment of Clarity.

    "GOOD TIMES!"

    Words.

    "Constant repetition of anti-government rhetoric in our political echo chamber has dulled Americans into overlooking an important and perhaps surprising fact: We have just lived through one of the more notable successes of government intervention in modern times -- the auto and bank rescues that almost surely saved the country from another Great Depression.

    ...It's one thing to denounce government when it fails to achieve its goals. But to ignore government's achievements in times of crisis is willfully stupid. Especially when, as in the auto and bank bailouts, government was coming to the rescue of private companies that had endangered the country.

    ...here's the point that nobody in politics seems to get: The government interventions worked. The companies were saved. Most of the money that taxpayers invested is likely to be repaid. Many politicians talk as if the whole process was a disaster, but it wasn't. Private actors made bad decisions, but public officials generally made good ones.

    ...President Obama and the Democrats should stop running scared on this one. The truth is that the government rescue of the auto and finance industries was a success and a necessary condition for the economic recovery that's slowly gathering steam. Stop apologizing; start taking credit for policies that worked."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Bank, auto rescues aren't getting the credit they deserve


  • EARLIER:

  • RESPECT YOURSELF!
  • For Your Consideration.


  • NPR MUSIC: First Listen: Avey Tare, 'Down There'
  • At or With Me.

    A video.

    Starring Jack Johnson & featuring Andy Samberg.

    Love Hangover.

    A Moment of Clarity.


  • THE HUFFINGTON POST: What We Are Experiencing, America, Is a GOP Hangover
  • Aston Martin Music.

    A video.

    Starring Rick Ross & featuring Chrisette Michele & Drake.

    Only Girl (In The World).

    A video.

    Starring Rihanna.

    Wanna Party.

    A video.

    Starring Yelawolf & featuring Gucci Mane.

    Love Come Down.

    Just you watch...

    Wednesday, October 13, 2010

    "Blizzy Blizzy blahzah blahzah blahzay!"



  • GAWKER: Justin Bieber: Now Rapping
  • Ivy League Circus.

    A video.

    Starring Gordon Voidwell.

    Paper Trail.


    Words.

    "The emergence of the neo-populist "tea party" has been the big story of this election cycle. After the votes are cast in November, we may realize that the political resurgence of big business and great wealth was far more significant in determining election outcomes.

    To an extent not seen in generations, companies and wealthy investors with a naked economic interest in influencing election results are pouring money into races.

    Big money's reassertion of its interests is the result of two recent game-changing events. One was the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission...The other was emendation of the tax code to allow creation of so-called 501(c)(4) political action committees to which donors can contribute anonymously. Such organizations are supposed to make less than half of their expenditures for political purposes. But the definition of "educational" activity is extremely squishy, and organizations are able to lump a lot of things that look like blatant politicking under that umbrella.

    ...(Mark)Hanna once remarked: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can't remember what the second one is."

    It will be a tragedy if we can't remember either."

  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: In this election, follow the money
  • Into the Woods.

    With My Morning Jacket, LIVE(!)in concert on the Late Show with David Letterman.


    A Moment of Clarity.

    It only lasted for a minute and some change, but it hit me like a breath of fresh air. Completely unexpected, yet accepted -and needed-completely. In a month and a time period in which homosexual youths are succumbing to the voices in their heads telling them to give it up, end it here, it’ll never get better. At a time in which the word of God is used by some to denounce those they deem deviant, while (allegedly) indulging in the whims and wants of those so called miscreants. At a time in which certain politicians stumble, fall, and trip all over their words while offering up half hearted apologies for the hate speak and negativity they espoused while blatantly speaking their minds unfiltered and appealing to a base, it’s nice and refreshing to see us still living. It’s nice and refreshing to see us accepted. It’s nice and refreshing to see us be who we are and wanna be, unfiltered. It’s nice and refreshing to have some solidarity, this enthusiasm; allies, comrades, FRIENDS(!)...

    It only lasted for a minute and some change, but it hit me, it hit US, like a breath of fresh air.

    And for that I must say, ‘Go on Antoine, I ain’t mad at cha!’

    Lay it Down.

    A video.

    Starring Lloyd.

    Jump Down.

    A video.

    Starring Travis Barker, and featuring The Cool Kids.

    Long Hot Summer.

    A video.

    Starring Reflection Eternal.


    Tuesday, October 12, 2010

    SUNDAY


  • FLAVORPILL: Questlove (DJ set) w/ the Beatards
  • Fever Dreaming.

    A No Age &
  • Pitchfork.tv
  • "Special Presentation".

    Words.

    A Moment of Clarity.



    "The last two weeks have been ugly for gay men and lesbians -- and for America. In addition to the violence in the Bronx, there have been attacks on homosexuals in other parts of New York City and suicides of gay teenagers across the country who were literally bullied to death.

    Where do bullies get their ammunition, the hurtful slurs that eat away at the self-esteem of those who are gay or lesbian? What makes someone feel it's okay to verbally and physically harass, maim or even kill?

    One source is politicians such as Mr. Paladino who continue to espouse their belief that being gay is an immoral or unnatural "lifestyle" choice that can be changed at will. As long as such dehumanizing ignorance and intolerance go unchallenged, the horrors and suicides will continue."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Politicians' intolerance help fuel climate of hate against gays and lesbians
  • Gimme Dat.

    A video.

    Starring Ciara.


    Erase Me.

    A video.

    Starring Kid Cudi, and featuring Kanye West.

    "WHAT IS HIP?!"


  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: What do hipsters and pornography have in common?
  • Monday, October 11, 2010

    Rule York Swagga.

    For Your Consideration.

    Starring Ja Rule.

    Only the Young.

    A video.

    Starring Brandon Flowers.

    Bits & Pieces.


  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hey, Small Spender
  • Money Talks.




    Words.

    "The 2010 election is turning into a class war. The wealthy and the powerful started it.

    This is a strange development. President Obama, after all, has been working overtime to save capitalism. Wall Street is doing just fine, and the rich are getting richer again. The financial reform bill passed by Congress was moderate, not radical.

    Nonetheless, corporations and affluent individuals are pouring tens of millions of dollars into attack ads aimed almost exclusively at Democrats. One of the biggest political players, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, accepts money from foreign sources.

    The chamber piously insists that none of the cash from abroad is going into its ad campaigns. But without full disclosure, there's no way of knowing if that's true or simply an accounting trick. And the chamber is just one of many groups engaged in an election-year spending spree..."


  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Shadowy players in a new class war
  • No Age.

    Glitter.

    A "Special Presentation" brought to you by
  • Pitchfork.tv


  • Come Around Sundown.


  • Stream here.
  • Saturday, October 09, 2010

    Oh, Inverted World!



  • PITCHFORK: The Shins: The Ballet
  • Swagger Right

    A video.

    Starring Rich Girl. And featuring Fabolous & Rick Ross.

    Friday, October 08, 2010

    Don't Stop, Get it, Get it!


  • Child Rebel Soldier (Kanye West, Pharrell, & Lupe Fiasco)Don’t Stop
  • "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach!"



  • PITCHFORK: Watch: Gorillaz 45-Minute "Letterman" Concert
  • For Your Consideration.

    Nick Cannon.

    Nick's Story.

    Sunshine.

    A video.

    Starring Rye Rye & M.I.A.

    TELEVISION TELEVISION!

    Another morning. Another workout. Another viewing of a music video from an act getting its feet wet/trying to grab our attention/stand out in the crowd. Worthy of a repeat listen? Press play and find out...

    New flava in MY ear!

    Auburn feat. Iyaz.

    La, La, La.

    Thursday, October 07, 2010

    Saturday, October 02, 2010

    12 Strands: Matrix.

    A Mini-Movie.

    Starring Chris Brown.

    Friday, October 01, 2010

    DEUCES!

    The REEEMIXXX!

    Starring Chris Brown, Drake, Fabolous, Kanye West, T.I. & Andre 3000.

    Femme Fatale.

    A video.

    From Aloe Blacc.

    No Love.

    A video.

    Starring Eminem & Lil Wayne.