Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Down by the Water.

A video.

Starring The Drums.

Hard in the Paint.

A freestyle.

Brought to you by Rick Ross.

Monday, August 30, 2010

The Downward Spiral.



Words. For Your Consideration...

"The last time a Democrat sat in the White House, he faced a nonstop witch hunt by his political opponents...Now it’s happening again — except that this time it’s even worse.

...bear in mind, too, that unless something changes the political dynamics, Republicans will soon control at least one house of Congress. This is going to be very, very ugly.

...So what will happen if, as expected, Republicans win control of the House? We already know part of the answer: Politico reports that they’re gearing up for a repeat performance of the 1990s, with a “wave of committee investigations” — several of them over supposed scandals that we already know are completely phony. We can expect the G.O.P. to play chicken over the federal budget, too; I’d put even odds on a 1995-type government shutdown sometime over the next couple of years.

It will be an ugly scene, and it will be dangerous, too. The 1990s were a time of peace and prosperity; this is a time of neither. In particular, we’re still suffering the after-effects of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, and we can’t afford to have a federal government paralyzed by an opposition with no interest in helping the president govern. But that’s what we’re likely to get..."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: It’s Witch-Hunt Season
  • When a Woman Loves.

    A video.

    Starring R.Kelly.

    Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles).

    A video.

    Starring Jazmine Sullivan.

    For Your Consideration.



  • Stream here.
  • All is Full of Love.

    Hyperballad.

    A Bjork cover.

    Starring Robyn.

    Saturday, August 28, 2010

    This is how we do it.

    Yes it is Mobb Deep, Lil Kim. Y'all don't even know...

    Now if you visit this blog often, you know that old school jams are more often than not posted under the "Old School Funk for the True Funk Soldiers" headline. But sometimes old school joints are so good, so well put together, so classic to a brotha, [see Montell Jordan's This is how we do it] that all I can do is marvel at their goodness as they boldly play on and show us how's it done. This jam, presented below, is one such example.


    Mobb Deep feat. Lil Kim.

    Quiet Storm.

    The REMIX!

    Act like you know...

    Friday, August 27, 2010

    Coming Attractions.

    No Age.

    Life Prowler trailer for Everything in Between.

    Barricade.

    A video.

    Starring Interpol.

    And anotha one...

    For Your Consideration.




    <a href="http://pimpc.bandcamp.com/track/what-up-ft-drake-bun-b">What Up ft. Drake & Bun B by Pimp C</a>

    For Your Consideration.



    <a href="http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/track/i-walked">I Walked by Sufjan Stevens</a>

    Thursday, August 26, 2010

    Post Acid.

    A video.

    Brought to you by Wavves.

    America, the Beautiful.



    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "The Democrats may deserve to lose in November. They have been terrible at trying to explain who they stand for and the larger goal of their governance. But if they lose, it should be because their policies are unpopular or ill-conceived — not because millions of people believe a lie.

    ...It would be nice to dismiss the stupid things that Americans believe as harmless, the price of having such a large, messy democracy. Plenty of hate-filled partisans swore that Abraham Lincoln was a Catholic and Franklin Roosevelt was a Jew. So what if one-in-five believe the sun revolves around the earth, or aren’t sure from which country the United States gained its independence?

    But false belief in weapons of mass-destruction led the United States to a trillion-dollar war. And trust in rising home value as a truism as reliable as a sunrise was a major contributor to the catastrophic collapse of the economy. At its worst extreme, a culture of misinformation can produce something like Iran, which is run by a Holocaust denier.

    It’s one thing to forget the past, with predictable consequences, as the favorite aphorism goes. But what about those who refuse to comprehend the present?"

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: OPINIONATOR: Building a Nation of Know-Nothings
  • Superball.

    A video.

    Starring Magic Kids.

    Call to Arms.



    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "Now that John McCain has taken care of his political business in Arizona, it is time for him to return to Washington and the responsibilities he bears as a leader of the Republican Party and the nation.

    ...The last thing the Senate needs is a loudmouth ex-radio talk show host like (former representative J.D.)Hayworth.

    What it does need badly is adult leadership, and it's now incumbent on McCain to demonstrate that he is prepared to fulfill this role for both his party and his country.

    ...One of the conspicuous failings in the past few years has been the absence of a second party making principled decisions on when to support and when to oppose the president. McCain has the best opportunity -- and the best credentials -- to restore this..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: John McCain, your country is calling
  • I'm Having Fun Now.



  • Stream Here.
  • Hard in the Paint.

    A Freestyle.

    Starring Tyga.

    Cool Hand Luke.



    Words.

    "The media criticisms of Barack Obama’s style—too cool, too detached, too professorial—echo past complaints about another young president: John F. Kennedy. But though a sound-bite-hungry punditocracy craves Oval Office theatrics, the rest of America may not care..."

  • VANITY FAIR: One Cool Cat
  • Tuesday, August 24, 2010

    Through the Looking Glass.

    An ongoing discussion/Moment of Clarity.



  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Mission accomplished?
  • Waitin' For a Superman.

    New flava in ya ear!

    MGMT.

    Congratulations.


    Monday, August 23, 2010

    Ballad of the Black Gold.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    "What, ME worry?"

    Words.

    "We need to pinch pennies these days. Don’t you know we have a budget deficit? For months that has been the word from Republicans and conservative Democrats, who have rejected every suggestion that we do more to avoid deep cuts in public services and help the ailing economy.

    But these same politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million each to the richest 120,000 people in the country.

    What — you haven’t heard about this proposal? Actually, you have: I’m talking about demands that we make all of the Bush tax cuts, not just those for the middle class, permanent..."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: Now That's Rich
  • Friday, August 20, 2010

    THIS JUST IN!



    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "This is a radical break from journalistic convention, I realize, but today I'd like to give credit where it's due -- specifically, to President Obama. Quiet as it's kept, he's on a genuine winning streak.

    It's hard to remember that the inauguration was just 19 months ago. Expectations of the new president were absurdly high.

    ...But look at what he's accomplished in just the past few weeks..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: President Obama's winning streak
  • A Moment of Clarity.



  • THE WASHINGTON POST: The smarts and strength of Antoine Dodson
  • The GLORY!



    The Remix.

  • KANYEWESTBLOG: Official Power Remix
  • Miss Me.

    A video.

    Starring Drake & Lil Wayne.

    The Rumpus Room.

    For Your Consideration:

    Yelawolf. Rhyme Room. Episode 1.

    Stank, YOU!

    New flava in ya ear!

    Cee-Lo Green.

    F**k You.

    Thursday, August 19, 2010

    Wake Up Everybody!

    A video.

    Starring John Legend, The Roots, Common, and Melanie Fiona.

    Ready to Start.

    A video.

    Starring Arcade Fire.

    Hard Times.

    Starring John Legend & The Roots.

    TELEVISION TELEVISION!

    Another morning. Another workout. Another viewing of a music video from an act whose musical output I'm not too familiar with 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!

    Ra Ra Riot.

    Boy.

    Wednesday, August 18, 2010

    For Your Consideration.



  • STEREOGUM: Rihanna – “Rude Boy (Blondes Remix)” (Feat. Mariah Carey)
  • Pride & Prejudice.

    An ongoing discussion...



    Words. For Your Consideration..

    "It is hard to imagine that anything has gone unsaid about the so-called Ground Zero mosque, but an important point seems to be missing.

    The mosque should be built precisely because we don't like the idea very much. We don't need constitutional protections to be agreeable, after all.

    ...We teach tolerance by being tolerant. We can't insist that our freedom of speech allows us to draw cartoons or produce plays that Muslims find offensive and then demand that they be more sensitive to our feelings.

    More to the point, the tolerance we urge the Muslim world to embrace as we exercise our right to free expression, and revel in the glory and the gift of irreverence, is the same we must embrace when Muslims seek to express themselves peacefully.

    Nobody ever said freedom would be easy. We are challenged every day to reconcile what is allowable and what is acceptable.

    ...Ultimately, when sensitivity becomes a cudgel against lawful expressions of speech or religious belief -- or disbelief -- we all lose."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: The Ground Zero mosque must be built
  • Coquet Coquette.

    A video.

    Starring Of Montreal.

    BOOMTOWN.



    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "IF there were such a thing as Chapter 11 for politicians, the Republican push to extend the unaffordable Bush tax cuts would amount to a bankruptcy filing. The nation’s public debt — if honestly reckoned to include municipal bonds and the $7 trillion of new deficits baked into the cake through 2015 — will soon reach $18 trillion. That’s a Greece-scale 120 percent of gross domestic product, and fairly screams out for austerity and sacrifice.

    ...Republicans used to believe that prosperity depended upon the regular balancing of accounts — in government, in international trade, on the ledgers of central banks and in the financial affairs of private households and businesses, too. But the new catechism, as practiced by Republican policymakers for decades now, has amounted to little more than money printing and deficit finance — vulgar Keynesianism robed in the ideological vestments of the prosperous classes.

    This approach has not simply made a mockery of traditional party ideals. It has also led to the serial financial bubbles and Wall Street depredations that have crippled our economy. More specifically, the new policy doctrines have caused four great deformations of the national economy, and modern Republicans have turned a blind eye to each one..."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: Four Deformations of the Apocalypse
  • White Light.



    Words.

    "I'm a little late in taking notice of this hilarious and extraordinary piece of punditry, but it strikes me that not enough attention has been paid to the recent self-crucifying New York Times editorial written by Ronald Reagan's former budget chief and economic Svengali, the notorious Richie Rich weasel David Stockman.

    ...Stockman was once the arch-priest of supply-side economics, but he's had a conversion over the years. In a piece blasting the legacy of Republican economic policy entitled "The Four Deformations of the Apocalypse" Stockman essentially argues that Reaganomics evolved into a policy that fused the worst aspects of the traditional economic strategies of both the right and the left...

    ...this sort of talk is slowly gaining momentum in some Republican circles, where there's increasing acceptance of the notion that a monstrous betrayal of so-called traditional conservative economic ideals began to take place in the Reagan years..."

  • ROLLING STONE: David Stockman and the GOP Welfare State
  • Fun with Dick & Jane!



  • PITCHFORK: Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice Share New Song, Tour With Band of Horses
  • Tuesday, August 17, 2010

    For Your Consideration.




  • Stream here.
  • NEPHEWS!

    Come get yo Uncle!...

    New flava in ya ear!

    Snoop Dogg feat. The Dream.

    Love Drunk.

    For Your Consideration.



  • Stream here.
  • Hot Fuss.

    Italic
    Centered. Steady. PERFECT!

    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "Last Friday, at the start of Ramadan, President Obama presided over the White House's annual iftar dinner and made some rather bland remarks about religious freedom. The context, of course, was the controversy over the proposed mosque in Lower Manhattan, which is not, as Obama insisted, about freedom of religion but about religious tolerance. And then, having once again gotten high praise for so very little, he went to bed a panicked man and reached, trembling, some hours later, for a political morning-after pill to take back some of what he had said. Whew, for a moment there he was pregnant with principle.

    ...The president muddled his message. Does he not grasp that questioning the "wisdom" of the mosque's placement is predicated on thinking that 9/11 was a Muslim crime? Does he not understand that the issue here is religious prejudice, not zoning? The answer, of course, is that he does. But unlike Henry Clay, he would rather be president than right.

    The very ugly controversy over the planned Islamic center -- not at Ground Zero, mind you, and not even within eyeshot -- has managed to make fools or knaves out of some pretty smart people. Some of them have embarked on a fruitless hunt for the perfect analogy.

    ...If it is not false analogies that pollute this debate, it is false populism. The people are opposed.

    ...The inclination to go from the particular to the general -- to blame a people for the acts of a few -- is what has always fueled pogroms and race riots. History shows that it is a natural tendency and it will literally run riot if not controlled. It is the solemn obligation of elected leaders to restrain such an urge -- to be moral as well as political leaders. Obama almost pulled that off, but he flinched..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama muddles his mosque message
  • Thursday, August 12, 2010

    Lovestoned.



    New flava in ya ear!

  • FADER: NastyNasty, “Junkie” MP3
  • "They're Jingling Baby!"

    "Go head Baby!"...

    New flava in ya ear!

    The Cool Kids.

    Gold Links.

    Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me!

    New flava in ya ear!

    Scissor Sisters.

    Any Which Way.

    Wednesday, August 11, 2010

    Tuesday, August 10, 2010

    Dirty Cartoons.

    A video.

    Starring Menomena.

    Monday, August 09, 2010

    QUESTION!



  • ROLLING STONE: Are We In a Recession or Not?
  • Get MuNNY!

    New flava in ya ear!

    Erykah Badu feat. Rick Ross.

    Window Seat (Remix)/Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY).

    Friday, August 06, 2010

    The Climb



    Words.

    "The 14th Amendment is a mighty sword, and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker used it Wednesday to slice and shred all the specious arguments -- and I mean all of them -- that are used to deny full marriage rights to gay and lesbian Americans. Bigotry has suffered a grievous blow.

    ..."Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license," Walker concluded. "Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."

    That's the kind of language that qualifies as "sweeping."

    ...Walker's 136-page ruling lays down a formidable marker because it changes the terms of the debate. He frames gay marriage as a question involving the most basic, cherished rights that the Constitution guarantees to all Americans. In doing so, he raises the stakes sky-high: Are gays and lesbians full citizens of this country, or are they something less?

    Walker stepped up to the plate and swung for the fences. He hit a home run."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: A judge's mighty arguments for marriage equality
  • HEAVEN IS A PLACE CALLED EARTH!

    @imFLYandUnot: What's up wit allll the kanye west talk?

    @OneTokenBlack: THIS!:



    @imFLYandUnot:@OneTokenBlack thanks *opens laptop*

    5 MINS LATER...

    @imFLYandUnot: @OneTokenBlack wait a min....I don't get it.. He in heaven actin like GOD?

    And there you have it folks...Kanye West - POWER!

    Thursday, August 05, 2010

    "Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do!"



    New flava in ya ear!

  • STEREOGUM: Robyn – “U Should Know Better” (Feat. Snoop Dogg)
  • The Cross.

    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out...I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious and deservedly infamous group. For 10 years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else....In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen." -Anne Rice

  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Walking away from Christianity
  • White Sky.

    THE REMIX!



  • PITCHFORK: Listen: Basement Jaxx Take Vampire Weekend's "White Sky" to the Club
  • QUESTION!



    Words.

    "Rather than shout, I'll just ask the question in a civil way: Dear Republicans, do you really want to endanger your party's greatest political legacy by turning the 14th Amendment to our Constitution into an excuse for election-year ugliness?"

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Is the GOP shedding a birthright?
  • 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...

    Thursday, August 5, 2010. 6 in the morning:

    "Imagine if Jason Mraz, Robin Thicke, Maroon 5, and the rapping dude from Linkin Park formed a band. You'll have this act on AMTV right now..."


    New flava in MY ear!

    2AM Club.

    Worry About You.

    Shinin'.

    New flava in ya ear!

    Janelle Monae.

    Cold War.



  • PITCHFORK: Video: Janelle Monáe: "Cold War"
  • For Your Consideration.

    New flava in ya ear!

    Sean Kingston feat. Nicki Minaj.

    Letting Go (Dutty Love).

    Wednesday, August 04, 2010

    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!

    Yukon Blonde.

    Wind Blows.

    SWOON!

    Just you watch...



  • PITCHFORK: Watch: Spoon Team Up With the Roots on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon"
  • Coming Attractions.

    Kanye West.

    Power.

    Coming Soon...

    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!

    Johnny Polygon.

    The Riot Song.

    Tuesday, August 03, 2010

    "HOW DO YOU WANT IT?"



    Words.

    "...historical amnesia appears to have affected some readers, many of whom are under the impression that President Bush actually believed in small government and that recent Republican congressional leaders actually opposed federal spending.

    ...Parties, of course, can change; politicians can see the light; lessons can be learned; and perhaps some Republicans have learned them. But you cannot start from scratch. You cannot forget history. You cannot pretend that the Republican Party has not supported big and wasteful spending programs -- energy subsidies, farm subsidies, unnecessary homeland security projects, profligate defense contracts, you name it -- for the past decade. Before the GOP can have credibility on any spending issues whatsoever, Republican leaders need to speak frankly about the mistakes of the past..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: GOP shows historic amnesia on spending cuts
  • American Life.

    New flava in ya ear!

    Ratatat.

    Drugs.

    Monday, August 02, 2010

    Roger That?



    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "With the country rapidly diversifying, white racial anxiety is rising. President Obama should end the program to avoid a destructive white backlash..."

  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Affirmative action's time is up
  • Forced to Love.

    A video.

    Starring Broken Social Scene.

    Take It In.

    A video.

    Starring Hot Chip.