"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

19/Vampire Weekend - Contra

This holiday season many across America got to hear the music of Vampire Weekend without pressing play on an mp3 as (in what has become par for the course) their music could be heard in many an advertisement for we, the American consumers. Take Tommy Hilfiger, for example, whose latest ad used Vampire Weekend’s exuberantly delightful Holiday to soundtrack the moving portrait of its most recent slice of fashionable New England Americana. It’s a perfect fit, as the label, with its designs on display in the advertisement, attempt to give the viewer a glimpse and idea of what New England Americana looks like, something Vampire Weekend actually does and speaks on frequently within album number two, Contra. Listen carefully and Ezra becomes a masterful fly on the wall in a world not too far removed from the one inhabited by the folks in ‘Gossip Girl’. Missed that? Understandable, as the music underlying it all is so polished, pleasant, and wonderfully melodic that you were probably too busy lost in the sound, adding to the harmonies, or grabbing a hook. Indulge. Enjoy. It’s only right. Treat it like a Holiday.
KEY TRACKS: White Sky/California English/Diplomat’s Son

20/Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

21/Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

22/Janelle Monae - The Archandroid

23/Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer & Jazmine Sullivan - Love Me Back

24/Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

AMERICAN PROMISE.

A Moment of Clarity.

Words.

"On Nov. 5, 2008, the day after Election Day, the big story was Barack Obama’s history-making win. Today, the big story is the many historic changes that he has enacted during his first two years in office.

At the halfway point of this term, the president’s list of achievements already dwarfs that of many presidents. He has tackled bread-and-butter issues, working hard to ensure that American families have the support needed to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table in these difficult economic times. At the same time, he has encouraged congressional leaders to take the actions necessary to fulfill America’s promise — that each generation will have more opportunities than the last.

The president’s unique combination of short-term recovery measures and his long-term vision for American greatness have set our country on a new path. He has pointed to a destination — a more prosperous future in which the doors of opportunity are open to all Americans — and he has paved the way..."

POLITICO: The president's progress

Hold On.

A video.

Starring Curren$y featuring Young Roddy & Trademark Da Skydiver.

"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

20/Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

If it is alright with you, Erykah Badu would like a moment to herself. A “ticket out of town” to look around and see where she stands in this world, in HER world, with her music, lover, and her babies. She already spoke for the people, seizing our attention by grabbing a mirror and saying, “America, LOOK! Do you see what I see?” with her magnificently rhapsodic disc from 2008, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). With New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), she turns insular, “in her mind tusslin’”, focusing on those “only two emotions that humankind experience: fear and love”, and how they are currently being applied in this thing she calls life. From the album’s early centerpiece forward, Badu sits in her window seat, holding a mirror up to herself and her love life, traversing thru numerous moments of clarity over a constant stream of soulfully smooth, and patented funk laced grooves. The Erykah we see here may be, in her words, “outta sight and outta mind”, but she’s never too far gone, making our connection to the emotional vibratory frequencies on display here that much easier to latch onto.
KEY TRACKS: Window Seat/Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long/Umm Hmm

21/Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

22/Janelle Monae - The Archandroid

23/Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer & Jazmine Sullivan - Love Me Back

24/Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

MONSTER.

A video.

Starring Kanye West, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver.

"TAKE ME AWAY!"

Words. For Your Consideration...

THE WASHINGTON POST: Keep electronics off the House floor

"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

PRESENTED IN C I N E A S C O P E!

21/Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

“Kids, gather around. Yeah, I need your focus. I know it seems like the world is so hopeless...”

But not today.

Not here,

Not now...

Welcome. Welcome to the world of the Plastic Beach. “It's like wonderland.” A gorgeous and melancholy place where artists of all shapes and sizes come together and collaborate and make a joyful noise onto the world with whatever sounds, instruments, and melodies are best suited in order for them to do so. Fascinating. Like pictures, animated. Vivid and in Technicolor. “Rollin. Deep Holein’. Click clacking. CRACK-A-LACKING! Full packing”, with Ringmaster Damon Albarn at the helm helping each and every guest artist blend in and create with ease (B.Womack, Mos Def, Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, plus and many more!). This is the world of the Plastic Beach.
KEY TRACKS: White Flag/Empire Ants/On Melancholy Hill

22/Janelle Monae - The Archandroid

23/Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer & Jazmine Sullivan - Love Me Back

24/Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

Tightrope.

Words.

"It's been not quite two months since Republicans won a sweeping midterm victory, and already they seem divided, embattled and - not to mince words - freaked out. For good reason, I might add.

...I don't want to overstate the Republicans' predicament. They did, after all, take control of the House and win six more seats in the Senate. But during the lame-duck session, it seemed to dawn on GOP leaders that they begin the new Congress burdened with great expectations - but lacking commensurate power. It's going to be a challenge for Republicans just to maintain party unity, much less to enact the kind of conservative agenda they promised to their enthusiastic, impatient voters.

...Republicans face what, for them, is an unpleasant but inescapable reality. Ideologically, most Americans describe themselves as moderate or conservative; but when it comes to getting assistance from the government, most Americans are moderate or liberal. Look at health care, the issue that won the election for the GOP. According to polls, voters clearly favor the benefits that Obama's reforms will provide. All they really oppose is the insurance mandate that makes those benefits possible.

The idea of small, limited government may be appealing, but this is a big, complicated country. As some Republicans already know, and others soon will learn."

THE WASHINGTON POST: Danger ahead for the GOP

"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

Alice in Wondaland.

22/Janelle Monae - The Archandroid

Track Two.  

Dance or Die.

HER:
 
“I'm praying for the man sitting without much time/May he understand the clock will never rewind/Wisen him and sharpen him and give him a motto/Hate no more, said he must hate no more/You see the daylight comes into the kingdom/But the kingdom's full of ignorant men/Just keep rebelling away, you gotta dream it away/Because the weatherman on TV ain't creating the weather/This man wants to see another jubilation/And that man wants us in emancipation/And then there is the man who wants a stronger nation/You see we really got to and I think that we ought to/Protect the mind from degradation/Sow in the seeds of education/They run from us/Are we that dangerous?...”

Out of the races and onto the tracks she presents to you, Janelle Monae, The Archandroid. They don’t package em like this anymore, because it can’t be manufactured. Deep thinking music loving CRAFT at its finest. Wonderfully eclectic without skidding off the rails, this is a debut album from a grounded musician whose creativity and musicality, it appears, knows no bounds. “Another flavor, something like a Terminator”, Janelle wants us all to revel in the jubilation, and, like he mentioned above, stand in emancipation. With this collection of songs right here, she gets it, and we do too. Welcome to Metropolis. Listen and be captivated.
KEY TRACKS: Locked Inside/Tightrope/Oh, Maker

23/Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer & Jazmine Sullivan - Love Me Back

24/Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

AND

23/Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer & Jazmine Sullivan - Love Me Back

Surrounding yourself in all of the necessary trappings needed (and provided by our great soul forebrothas & sistahs)to create a stirring soul record is easy. The correct pitch, tone, and slight traces of mimicry can get the job done, but it takes more to stand out and make it WORK. It takes an ear, a student of the melody and lover of the sound to add to the cannon, borrowing where needed, while moving far beyond the realm of mimicry by inserting a sound, style or flow that is all their own. Not an easy task. But Jazmine Sullivan & Cee-Lo Green succeed where most others merely get by. The themes, the yearning, that passion and those sounds are all familiar, but the phrasings and showmanship is all theirs. Go ahead and file these two albums under "THE TRUTH", cause Ladies & Gentlemen, THIS is how you do it.
KEY TRACKS (CEE-LO): F*ck You/Bodies/Fool For You

KEY TRACKS (JAZMINE): 10 Seconds/Love You Long Time/Excuse Me

24/Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

The Show Goes On.

A video.

Starring Lupe Fiasco.

"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

24/Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

Jenny & Johnny are solo musicians (when Jenny’s not busy co-fronting Rilo Kiley), Jenny Lewis & Jonathan Rice. Jenny & Johnny are a couple. And over the course of this disc’s thirty six minutes, Jenny & Johnny make sweet light hearted music together, and have a little fun. The duo’s LP I’m Having Fun Now is a brief eleven track set in which two fun loving sweethearts share vocal duties, harmonize, tell stories, and shoot the shit, often with a wink and a nod, or a friendly jab in the arm. Whether riffing on life, talking politics, or cooing lullabies, Jenny & Johnny keep it warm and delightful, never letting up on their musical chemistry or the good times that are to be had.
KEY TRACKS: Scissor Runner/My Pet Snakes/Big Wave

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

For Your Consideration.

Stream here.

Landmarks of Lunacy.

GET THE FREE EP HERE!

"SPEAKERS GOING HAMMER!": The Albums: 2010.

25/The Black Keys - Brothers

This is an album by The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. The name of this album is Brothers. The music contained within is raw, a little smoky, & all kinds of sweaty. This is the finished product from two musicians that craft that old time woozy, bluesy, down home rock and roll as if they’re attached at the hip, like Brothers. Potent like a shot of your darkest finest STRAIGHT, no chaser. The name of this album is Brothers. It’s an album from the Black Keys. And it will take you there.
KEY TRACKS: Howlin’ For You/Sinister Kid/I’m Not the One

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

01/Robyn - Dancing on My Own

The girl at the center of this song before us is a broken heart ridin’ solo, floating in the abyss. She appears to have lost him and is watching him carry on from the shadows, catching peaks in broken stilettos, while trying to hold it together and dance, on her own. Except she can’t, cause we won’t let her. This song won’t let us. We, like this song, are too triumphant for all that. We roll our eyes with Robyn. We’ve been there like Robyn. We’re in the corner, watching him kiss her with Robyn. We laugh, damn near cry, and shout, “Can you believe this shit?” with Robyn. We feel for Robyn, understand with Robyn, and refuse to wallow in the emotions you would expect from a woman in this song’s situation. We are simply HERE & THERE with Robyn, relating, letting the music take us away and remind us to keep it together; Stuntin’, cause we got our own. What a beautiful escape.

02/Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

03/Chris Brown feat. Tyga & Kevin McCall - Deuces

04/Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas

05/Animal Collective - Bluish & R.Kelly - Echo

06/J.Cole - Who Dat

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

02/Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Let's go all the way tonight. No regrets, just love. Press play. Let’s go Uptown with our euphoria, and feel it in a love song. We can dance until we die. Feellikewerelivina Teenage Dream. The way you turn me on. You get me. You move me. You groove me Katy, Dr. Luke, Max Martin. Turn the volume up. Come away with me. Push up on me. Feel your warmth against mine. Let's runaway and don't ever look back. This is real. Put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans, get my heart racing, be my Teenage Dream tonight… Pop music rarely feels this good. Press play, runaway, and never look back.

03/Chris Brown feat. Tyga & Kevin McCall - Deuces

04/Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas

05/Animal Collective - Bluish & R.Kelly - Echo

06/J.Cole - Who Dat

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

THE PEOPLE'S COURT.

A Moment of Clarity.

Words.

"Wow, we’re getting a new nuclear arms control treaty for Christmas. I know some of you were hoping for iPads. But still, big news.

Good work, White House!

...Nothing, not even Humvees in chains, was going to stop the progress of what has recently become known as the “hard-charging lame-duck Congress.” It is a perfect image, with its suggestion of a flock racing along in the clumsiest manner possible but still stumbling over the finish line.

...Unemployment compensation! Gay rights! Food safety! Judicial appointments! Arms control! Health care for 9/11 responders!

But let’s admit it. Nothing would have gotten done if Obama hadn’t swallowed that loathsome compromise on tax cuts for the wealthy.

If he’d taken the high road, Congress would be in a holiday war. The long-term unemployed would be staggering into the new year without benefits. The rest of the world would look upon the United States as a country so dysfunctional that it can’t even ratify a treaty to help keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. The people who worked at ground zero would still be uncertain about their future, and our gay and lesbian soldiers would still be living in fear.

It’s depressing to think that there was no way to win that would not have involved giving away billions of dollars to people who don’t need it. But it’s kind of cheery to think we have a president who actually does know what he’s doing."

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Lame Ducks Triumphant

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

03/Chris Brown feat. Tyga & Kevin McCall - Deuces

A Moment of Clarity.

Deuces, aside from being the most relaxed and straightforward R&B track of the year, shoots straight from the hip; Cool, calm, and collected, like a conversation amongst friends, letting it all hang out, and just telling it like it is (or like it was). No need for calling names or overtly trying to put people on blast. As Chris says at the top of the track, “All that bullshit’s for the birds”. I’m moving on to something better, kick rocks with all that nonsense and drama girl "DEUCES!". Bye.

04/Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas

05/Animal Collective - Bluish & R.Kelly - Echo

06/J.Cole - Who Dat

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

HEART.

Beach House.

10 Mile Stereo.

LIVE(!) on Conan.

This. Is. THE REMIX!

PITCHFORK: Cut Copy: "Take Me Over (Thee Loving Hand Remix by Tim Goldsworthy)"

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

04/Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas

“Tell me what it look like, tell me what it is. Tell me what that LIFE like, tell me how it feel...”

It’s like THIS: Two dope boys and a southernplayalistic beat waxing poetic, telling it like it is. Speaking on that LIFE/lifestyle few are accustomed to, and stuntin' like it’s NUTHIN' cause the flow comes naturally. This is grown man B.I. with its head to sky, shinin, flaucin’, luxuriating in the life. These two they done made it, playing on, playing on, so weak minded haters fall back, cause this ain’t yo song.

05/Animal Collective - Bluish & R.Kelly - Echo

06/J.Cole - Who Dat

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

For Your Consideration.

STEREOGUM: Bright Eyes – “Shell Games”

Coming Attractions.

Changes.

Words. For Your Consideration...

"The repeal of the odious "don't ask, don't tell" law has been 17 years in the making. It could have been done much sooner had it not been for the political cowardice and/or ignorance of much of Congress and some of the military. The nation as a whole was way out in front of these institutions, having learned from their own kids and society in general that gays and lesbians were not drooling perverts but human beings with a different - not better and not worse - sexuality. Most of us know this now.

There's good reason to believe, however, that this lesson has not been universally learned. In the run-up to the vote in the Senate, Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, showed how he felt about the prospect of open homosexuals serving in the Marines. He was particularly concerned about combat situations where, he thought, gays might be "a distraction." "Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines' lives," Amos said. This was not the first time the general had expressed his doubts. Earlier, he had talked about what might happen when his Marines were "laying out, sleeping alongside of one another and sharing death, fear and loss of brothers. I don't know what the effect of that will be on cohesion. I mean, that's what we're looking at. It's unit cohesion. It's combat effectiveness."

It's easy to dismiss Amos, but his concerns fall within the realm of possibility. After all, being gay is a sexual matter and young people are nothing if not sexual. This is the way it is supposed to be. This is also the problem with having women in the armed services or, if you are a radical feminist, having men. Sooner or later, a certain amount of unacceptable harassment will occur, abuses will be committed and, more innocently, plain hooking up is going to happen. We know this.

But we know also that this can be managed - contained, limited. It takes education. It takes training. It takes leadership. This is what concerns me about Amos. His views are on the record. He sees gays as somewhat out of control, possibly holding hands in combat, sneaking into one another's bunks at night, being distracted just as the enemy is coming over the hill. Not only is this silly and based on an ignorant misconception of who most gays are, but it can be dealt with..."

THE WASHINGTON POST: Marine Corps commandant has to go

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

AND

05/Animal Collective - Bluish & R.Kelly - Echo

There’s a strong current running thru these two songs that’s impossible to overlook and glance over, and it’s the look of love. That gravitational pull that keeps me in your pocket; keeps him, her, me, him, she by your side. It manifests itself in your curls, that dress that I like, the way you squeeze my hand, and wear those stockings. It’s got me calling your boss, getting you the day off, and leaving keys in hidden places so you can let yourself in, and come right to the bedroom. It’s got me acting my age AND my shoe size. Screaming from mountain peaks, getting lost in your curls, and getting crushed out on the things that only I should see. Something, just something bout the way you do the things you do, ooh, OOH(!) it…knocks me off my feet. That’s the thing about love, and that’s the thing about these two quiet storms from AC and Kells, they get you, and give you exactly what you need: sensual bonafied pleasure. What’s not to love?



AND

06/J.Cole - Who Dat

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

For Your Consideration.

STEREOGUM: 8 Reasons Why /\/\/\Y/\ Is Better Than You Remember

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

06/J.Cole - Who Dat

Getting put on is a motherfucker, no matter the genre. It’s like walking into a noisy, crowded room where few are shinin’, and everyone wants to be heard. What’s a boy to do in a situation like this? If you’re J.Cole, you stand up tall and go into the booth with the strength of ten MCs: Cocky, confident, and AWARE. No chains, no “hoes”, no pomp and circumstance, just one mic, those words, that HOOK, and the flow and strong arm steady bravado of your finest MCs. J.Cole attacks each word, rides that percussive beast of a beat, and underlines each bar with a strong (and comfortable) sense of urgency. This ain’t a game, this is serious, and he’s so sincere. Yes, getting put on is a motherfucker, but ya boy J.Cole makes it look easy, and appears more than ready to enter the ring and get it done. “Who Dat?! Who Dat?!" J.Cole. If you don’t know, now you know.

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

The Tipping Point(?).

A Moment of Clarity.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Obama has strong first-half finish

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

07/Ne-Yo - Champagne Life

This one’s for the G’s, and this one’s for the Hustlas. This one’s for the ballers, and the lover in you. An effervescent and regal affair. That Champagne Life. Where dreams and reality are one and the same, and doing you ain’t doing the most. That Champagne Life. Where the Grown & Sexy reign supreme, and own property on cloud nine, coasting on them light understated grooves, delicate, airy harmonies, and handclaps with a toast. It’s a beautiful thang. Don’t stop til you get enough.

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

08/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round

Some songs just can’t be denied. They just got that thang. That wow factor; that IT! Everything’s in its right place. Billie Jean has it. Luther’s Never Too Much has it. The Stones’ Miss You and countless others have it. And this song? This song right here? It has “IT”, too. That you should be dancing, hip swaying, ass shaking, singing along, clapping along, grooving along to this gem of a song, “IT”. It’s one for the ages y’all. “Break down, break up, break down”. Pure bliss. Jubilee. Hold on.

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

"THE BIG PAYBACK!"

A Moment of Clarity.



Words.

"If Barack Obama wins reelection in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010.

...with his stunning tax deal, Obama is back. Holding no high cards, he nonetheless managed to resurface suddenly not just as a player but as orchestrator, dealmaker and central actor in a high $1 trillion drama.

...The greatest mistake Ronald Reagan's opponents ever made - and they made it over and over again - was to underestimate him. Same with Obama. The difference is that Reagan was so deeply self-assured that he invited underestimation - low expectations are a priceless political asset - whereas Obama's vanity makes him always needing to appear the smartest guy in the room. Hence that display of prickliness in his disastrous post-deal news conference last week.

But don't be fooled by defensive style or thin-skinned temperament. The president is a very smart man..."

THE WASHINGTON POST: The new comeback kid

Big Wave.

Starring Jenny & Johnny.

LIVE! on Conan.

Beats on Repeat.

PITCHFORK: Gossip Frontwoman Beth Ditto Collaborates With Simian Mobile Disco on Forthcoming Solo EP

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

09/Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

BLITZKRIEG Pop from a boy and a girl, Infinity Guitars, like many a Sleigh Bells track, wants that old time rock and roll while playing by its own rules. A wildly confrontational and raucous affair that booms like an 808 while ripping pop and rock & roll’s soundscapes to shreds. From the bottom to the top, this song announces itself PROUDLY, with the opening strums of that vocal guitar ringing like a school bell, unleashing the hellcats, anarchists, “cowboys”, & “INDIANS!”, all rushing to the sounds of Alexis’ rallying calls going toe to toe with Derek’s block rocking beats. If you ain’t bumrushin' the show by the time this song ends, then clearly you need to jump ship, cause you should have been ridin’ dirty from the jump!

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

Scissor Runner!

Starring Jenny & Johnny.

LIVE! on Conan.

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

10/N.E.R.D. feat. Nelly Furtado - Hot-N-Fun

“People don’t want to think no more, they just want to feel. They want to let go…” So says Pharrell Williams, frontman for N.E.R.D., during the “hold it now!”/catch ya breath/ “y’all still with me?” breakdown/lull in the bridge on this tantalizing funk workout. Inspired by the party, arranged for the party, and probably WRITTEN at the party, Hot-N-Fun, with its SHO NUFF “hypnotizing bassline”, digs in the scene with the gangsta lean, asking you to “get high, get money, get SEX(!), get REAL, all intertwined” over the course of the 3 and a half minutes, “cause tis the season!”. I mean, “look at you, look at me”. Hear those words? FEEL that beat?! Dontyouwannadance? Sayyouwannadance? Dontyouwannadance? Well, “let’s get right! Let’s get right, okay!” Don’t think. Let go. Just FEEL. 1,2 Step! Boom, Boom, CLAP! Keep wanting that. Cause tis the season, and it’s HOT-N-FUN!

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go

Give Up the Ghost.

A Moment of Clarity, For Your Consideration...

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Give Up on the Estate Tax

Emotional Rescue.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Willow, Weep for Me."

A Moment of Clarity.

Words.

"One of our fondest cultural myths — one of baffling durability, like the idea that Republicans are fiscally conservative — is that crying is a sign of sincerity or authentic feeling. No matter what we may know of crocodile tears, we continue to read weeping as a sign of true, pure emotion. All the research suggests something else entirely.

...Crying is often the sign of excruciatingly mixed emotion.

...Boehner's tears aren't hard to read. After analyzing hundreds of psychological experiments and sociological studies of weeping, hundreds of accounts of crying in different cultures and different historical periods, thousands of tearful moments in film and fiction and art, I have come to see that, like the mother of the bride, many of us weep because we are overwhelmed by contradictions.

...On "60 Minutes," Boehner told Stahl that he couldn't visit schools anymore; that he got too upset, worrying about whether today's schoolchildren will have the same opportunities that he and his generation had. As he spoke, he started to weep. Why?

He does, I believe, worry about the children, and yet his entire political philosophy is devoted to limiting the federal government's ability to help them. He has voted against providing health insurance for children (many times), against student aid, against unemployment benefits, against equal pay, against food safety, against money for teachers, against raising the minimum wage, against tobacco education, mine safety, alternative energy, pollution control, whistle-blower protection, science and technology research. If he were making his decisions based on what government programs might help today's schoolchildren reach their dreams, like the Kennedy- and Johnson-era programs that helped him, his voting record would be very different. It is a deep enough contradiction to make him weep for the future..."

LOS ANGELES TIMES: A Crying Shame

Big Talk.

A video.

Starring The Cool Kids.

"L TO THE O! V TO THE E!": SINGLES 2010.

11/Vampire Weekend - Holiday

12/Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG

13/Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar & Jamie Lidell - I Wanna Be Your Telephone

14/Twista feat. Raekwon -The Heat

15/Miguel feat. J.Cole - All I Want is You

16/Rihanna - Rude Boy & Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name 

17/The Dream - Love King

18/Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright

19/Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

20/Ciara feat. Ludacris - Ride

21/Gucci Mane feat. Swizz Beatz - Gucci Time

22/Cee-Lo Green - "F**k You!"

23/Monica - Everything to Me & Jazmine Sullivan - 10 Seconds

24/Nicki Minaj - Your Love

25/Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (Amazing) & Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go