Friday, July 29, 2011

A Moment of Clarity.

"Y'all know what this is."

Words.

"...Leaders are supposed to manage or avoid crises, not create them. Put aside for a moment the fact that they can’t get the job done. Do they know how bad they look while they’re not getting it done? Do they watch their own reruns as they sprint from microphone to microphone, photo op to photo op? What is the point of hammering heads to get a House bill that’s got no chance in the Senate? What is the twisted logic of dooming a House bill to death in the Senate before it has even arrived? So this increasingly unmanaged chaos can play out a little longer? So that we can watch big clocks tick down the days, hours and minutes until Aug. 2, or 4, as the stock market surges and dips?

...Who won, who lost, who knows, who cares? Get it done and get it on the table."

THE WASHINGTON POST: Hill operators make butchers look good

Get Gone.



PITCHFORK: Watch Beyoncé and the Roots on "Fallon"

HEART.

Just you watch...

Take it away Sufjan!

This. Is. THE REMIX!



PITCHFORK: Listen: Four Tet and More Remix Radiohead

Thursday, July 28, 2011

DTF DADT.


PITCHFORK: Spank Rock: "DTF DADT"

Some Children.

A video.

From Holy Ghost! & Michael McDonald.



ROLLING STONE: Holy Ghost! featuring Michael McDonald Trippy animated clip for 'Some Children'

After the Rain.

A Moment of Clarity.



Words.

"...The very vocal and visible recent bickering is causing more than transitory damage to U.S. growth and employment prospects. Remember, this debt crisis is not the result of an inability to pay; nor is it being forced on the United States by hesitant creditors. Rather, political posturing on what had been a relatively obscure and non-threatening legislative requirement — Congress gets to control the nation’s spending and taxes through other means each year — the debate on the debt ceiling has managed to bring forward in a very dramatic and disorderly manner fiscal challenges that lie down the road.

It is a matter of days before analysts engage in yet another round of unfavorable revisions to their outlook for the U.S. economy. Already muted growth projections will be cut further. On the back of a weak second quarter, the much-hoped-for robust recovery will again be postponed. As the already subdued job-creation rate is undermined and the average duration of joblessness is lengthened, the unemployment crisis will deepen.

It is far from certain that, in forcing spending cuts, a resolution to the debt-ceiling debacle will materially improve the U.S. economic outlook. Indeed, because of the standoff’s detrimental impact on growth and employment, it could tip the United States closer to the very debt trap that reformers are seeking to prevent.

Yet all is not necessarily lost.

Washington’s squabbles have touched a national nerve. Americans are shocked by politicians’ inability to compromise and the absence of a common analysis. An increasing number of citizens are expressing deep frustration with our political process. Their main message is simple: The country deserves better, and it desperately needs more responsible economic governance..."

THE WASHINGTON POST: After the debt-ceiling standoff is resolved

REAL TALK.

Just you watch...

Thinking About You.

A "New flava in ya ear!" Production, starring Frank Ocean.



POP DUST: The Singles Bar: Frank Ocean, "Thinking About You"

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Wonderfox.

A video.

Starring The Stepkids.



PASSION OF THE WEISS: Psychedelic Shack: The Falsetto Funk of The Stepkids

A Moment of Clarity.


THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Republican Wreckage

Bits & Pieces.


Words. For Your Consideration...

"...The most remarkable thing about this whole debate (other than the dangerous foolishness of one side holding the nation’s credit standing hostage to get what it wants) is that Republicans have defined their party as being committed to low taxes for the wealthy above everything else. If anything good can come out of this strange episode, it is that no one will ever be able to doubt that proposition in the future.

...On the issue we now confront, the Senate proposal to raise the debt ceiling is much more sensible than the House plan because it insists that we not go through this charade again until Americans get their say at the ballot box a year from November. The most persuasive argument in Obama’s speech may thus have been this one: “Based on what we’ve seen these past few weeks, we know what to expect six months from now. The House will once again refuse to prevent default unless the rest of us accept their cuts-only approach. . . . And once again, the economy will be held captive unless they get their way.”

This whole mess is not making any politician in Washington look good. Obama has taken a modest hit in his approval ratings, but the Republicans are taking a bigger hit. My hunch is that Obama’s speech spoke more to middle-of-the-road Americans than Boehner’s did because Obama was clearly talking to them. Boehner has to prove over and over that he’s faithful to the folks at the right end of his caucus, and it’s starting to take a toll. That’s why Republicans may yet find themselves wanting to get the debt-ceiling matter out of the way without forcing another round of this madness."

THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama talks to the middle, Boehner rallies the right

Crystalline.

A video.

From Bjork.

When I Go Out.

A video.

From Little Dragon.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

For Your Consideration.



AND



  • VULTURE: Ryan Adams Cannot Stop Covering Vampire Weekend
  • MARRY THE NIGHT!

    With Kidz Bop and their version of Lady Gaga's Born This Way!

    Riders of the Storm.


    Words.

    "It’s one thing for a political party to lose its moral bearings – after all, community values evolve, and large swaths of people and their elected representatives can end up on the wrong side of history on such questions as slavery, suffrage, and civil rights. But when a party loses its mathematical bearings – well, that’s a little shocking.

    Yet that’s what’s happened to the Republican Party. The debt ceiling endgame has exposed the denial gripping the GOP in the face of the inevitable loss of “lower taxes” as the core of the party’s identity. You can feel the Republicans’ pain; tax cuts have been the party’s defining issue since Ronald Reagan rode them to power in 1980. But in an aging America, the numbers no longer work, and Republicans have failed to develop a new conservative vision to replace their fading mantra.

    ...Here’s the point: Even if we enacted the platonic ideal of sane entitlement reform, and trimmed defense (as we need to), Republican budget math still doesn’t come close to adding up. Instead, as my colleagues at the Center for American Progress have shown, shrinking spending to sub-Reagan levels while retiring the boomers would involve dramatic cuts in everything else Americans think of as government – from national parks to NASA to the FBI to cancer research to student loans.

    So why does the GOP pretend otherwise? Because acknowledging mathematical reality is too politically painful. Because uttering this simple phrase – “to accommodate the retirement of the baby boomers, taxes will need to rise” – is forbidden by official Republican doctrine.

    ...My own view is that this means slashing payroll taxes and corporate income taxes, while more than offsetting those tax cuts with higher taxes on consumption and dirty energy. But we can’t even get to this conversation until Republicans relinquish the fantasy that we can keep cutting overall taxes as America ages.

    At bottom, this fantasy masks fear. Republicans’ refusal to let go of the old time religion shows how little work the party has done to craft an agenda equal to America’s current challenges. The party has abandoned problem-solving for brand preservation. If tax cuts aren’t our defining issue, Republican pols ask themselves, what distinguishes us from Democrats? Why should voters choose us?

    Maybe the Gang of Six can end the GOP’s war on math, but I’m skeptical. For now, if it’s a choice between defying math and staring into this policy and political abyss, Republicans choose defiance."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: The GOP’s fuzzy math


  • SEE ALSO:


  • THE WASHINGTON POST: The New Party of Reagan
  • Gummy Fetuses.


  • PITCHFORK: Listen: Three New Flaming Lips Songs From USB Drives Embedded Inside Gummy Fetuses
  • Need My Love.

    A video.

    Starring Lil B.

    LIFE.

    A Moment of Clarity.


  • ALTERNET: Why the Wealthiest Americans Are the Real 'Job-Killers'
  • Da Knowledge.

    CHURCH.

    A Moment of Clarity starring DMX.

    Tuesday, July 19, 2011

    Midnight City.


    Starring M83.



  • STEREOGUM: M83 – “Midnight City”
  • For Your Consideration...



  • GAWKER: Saving Hip Hop From the Celebukids
  • "RACKS ON RACKS ON RACKS!"

    The World at Large.

    A Moment of Clarity.


  • GUARDIAN: As the US nears the brink, the budget row is exposing Republican madness
  • Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win.

    A video.

    From the Beastie Boys & Santigold.

    Friday, July 15, 2011

    The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie.


    Starring the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

  • Stream here.
  • Paris is Burning.


  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: Anarchists and Tasseled Loafers
  • Up All Night.

    Starring Blink 182.

    The Downward Spiral.

    Rationality: On Life Support.

    Words. For Your Consideration...

    "There aren’t many positive aspects to the looming possibility of a U.S. debt default. But there has been, I have to admit, an element of comic relief — of the black-humor variety — in the spectacle of so many people who have been in denial suddenly waking up and smelling the crazy.

    A number of commentators seem shocked at how unreasonable Republicans are being. “Has the G.O.P. gone insane?” they ask.

    Why, yes, it has. But this isn’t something that just happened, it’s the culmination of a process that has been going on for decades. Anyone surprised by the extremism and irresponsibility now on display either hasn’t been paying attention, or has been deliberately turning a blind eye.

    ...Here’s the point: those within the G.O.P. who had misgivings about the embrace of tax-cut fanaticism might have made a stronger stand if there had been any indication that such fanaticism came with a price, if outsiders had been willing to condemn those who took irresponsible positions.

    But there has been no such price. Mr. Bush squandered the surplus of the late Clinton years, yet prominent pundits pretend that the two parties share equal blame for our debt problems. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, proposed a supposed deficit-reduction plan that included huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, then received an award for fiscal responsibility.

    So there has been no pressure on the G.O.P. to show any kind of responsibility, or even rationality — and sure enough, it has gone off the deep end. If you’re surprised, that means that you were part of the problem."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: Getting to Crazy
  • New Direction.

    A video.

    Starring the Black Lips.

    "Boy, Looka Here."

    A Moment of Clarity.


  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Debt-ceiling denial won't work
  • A Moment of Clarity.


  • THE WASHINGTON POST: The GOP’s dangerous debt game
  • Silent Alarm.



  • PITCHFORK: Watch James Blake on "Jimmy Fallon"
  • Out The Hood.

    A video.

    Starring Lil B.

    Wednesday, July 13, 2011

    Apocalypto.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    WASHINGTON.

    Words.

    "As Default-on-Our-Debt Day creeps ever closer, America’s two major political parties have embarked on a round of ideological redefinition. Republicans have subordinated even the appearance of concern for many of their historic priorities — reducing deficits and the debt, maintaining a passable system of roads, even reducing Medicare and Social Security payouts — to the single goal of blocking any tax increase on anyone ever again. Taking the adage that “that government is best that governs least” to an extreme, at least some seem to view a government shutdown as a consummation devoutly to be wished.

    ...The Republicans, that is, have embraced market libertarianism at the very moment that America’s market capitalism is functioning worse than at any time since the Great Depression. Their timing is so perverse that we have to seek explanations for their radicalism that go beyond those of economic philosophy.

    Republicans, to be sure, have long waged a war on government, but only now has it become an apocalyptic and total war. At its root, I suspect, is the fear and loathing that rank-and-file right-wingers feel toward what their government, and their nation, is inexorably becoming: multiracial, multicultural, cosmopolitan and now headed by a president who personifies those qualities. That America is also downwardly mobile is a challenge for us all, but for the right, the anxiety our economy understandably evokes is augmented by the politics of racial resentment and the fury that the country is no longer only theirs. That’s not a country whose government they want to pay for — and if the apocalypse befalls us, they seem to have concluded, so much the better..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Debt talks reveal the Republicans’ apocalyptic war on government
  • Saturday Love.


    An Alexander O'Neal & Cherelle cover starring Toro y Moi.

    Girls Girls $.

    A video.

    Starring Theophilus London.

    Go Outside.

    A video.

    Starring Cults.

    Dark Fantasy.

    Starring Kanye West & Teyana Taylor.

    LIVE! At SXSW 2011.

    Intro/Oh No.

    Starring Mos Def.

    LIVE! At SXSW 2011.

    Sorry 4 The Wait.


    A Mixtape.

  • Download here.
  • Tuesday, July 12, 2011

    Blame Game.

    LIVE!

    Starring Kanye West & John Legend.

    H.A.M.

    Just you watch.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    Words.

    "The headline on the top political Associated Press article this morning reads, “Obama, Republicans trapped by inflexible rhetoric.” Seriously. That’s what it says. In fact, the story tells readers in the first paragraph that President Obama and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are both “seemingly trapped in inflexible bargaining positions.”

    I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but let’s pause to think about this for a moment. GOP leaders are saying they want a deal that’s 100% in their favor. If they don’t get what they want, Republicans might crash the economy on purpose. As the process unfolds and the deadline draws closer, the GOP line is hardening and becoming more extreme.

    ...The assumption among many has been that Republicans would get the blame in the event of a man-made catastrophe because, you know, they’d deserve it. But the AP and NPR reports are a reminder that the public often believes what the establishment media tells them to believe, and in case there were any doubts, the public would be told that “both sides” were “inflexible.”

    ...There need not always be a pox on both houses. Sometimes, only one deserves it."

  • WASHINGTON MONTHLY: When 'inflexible' loses all meaning


  • SEE ALSO:

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Don’t blame ‘both sides’ for debt impasse
  • Painted Eyes.

    A video.

    From Hercules & Love Affair.

    BRAIN.

    Starring Black Milk and featuring Jack White.



  • PITCHFORK: Listen: Jack White and Black Milk Team Up
  • Wednesday, July 06, 2011

    Thee Physical.


  • Stream here.
  • "UPTOWN!"


    WASHINGTON.

  • LOS ANGELES TIMES: Not quite a 'do-nothing Congress,' but it's close
  • "DUMB IT DOWN!"


    Words.

    "...Look around. Our leaders now act as if the highest achievement we can expect from self-government is to avert calamity. Once upon a time Americans could come together through government and create universal public education, build interstate highways, bring security to old age through Social Security and Medicare, and nurture the most dynamic economy on Earth.

    In our spare time government even corralled the best minds in the public and private sectors to put a man on the moon.

    Today, by contrast, our leaders pop the champagne corks when they avoid a government shutdown. One day soon, if the president’s little Thursday pow-wow at the White House has its intended effect, we’ll be treated to a news conference at which our leaders congratulate themselves for raising the debt limit, thus avoiding what would have been an entirely self-inflicted economic catastrophe.

    When relief masquerades as accomplishment, you know we’ve defined democracy down.

    ...It’s a sad mark of the times to have to point this out, but “averting calamity” doesn’t suffice as governing strategy. It’s not what more effective public sectors in places such as Singapore or Finland, or even China, are doing.

    Which raises the question: Why have we defined democracy down? Why the shrunken sense of collective possibilities?

    ...Why do we have a nominating process that leaves moderates such as Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman pandering to a few hundred thousand conservative voters in idiosyncratic states? How can that make sense in the Internet age?

    How can we expect to make progress when two years of every four are consumed by presidential campaigns?

    How can anyone govern during those two years when a relic like the Senate filibuster guarantees that, even when a majority is elected, it can’t rule?

    No wonder averting calamity becomes the modern measure of success..."

  • THE WASHINGTON POST: Why are we defining democracy down?
  • Write Me a Few Lines.

    Starring Seasick Steve, Jack White, Alison Mosshart and John Paul Jones.



  • PREFIX: Seasick Steve: "Write Me A Few Lines" f. Jack White, Alison Mosshart & John Paul Jones (Live Video)
  • GUCCI!




  • MISSINFO.TV: Gucci Mane’s ‘Writing’s On The Wall 2′ Mixtape: A Pre-Home-From-Jail Celebration
  • Tuesday, July 05, 2011

    Ghetto Dreams.


    Starring Common & Nas.

    Through the Looking Glass.

    A Moment of Clarity.


    Words.

    "...the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.

    The members of this movement do not accept the logic of compromise, no matter how sweet the terms. If you ask them to raise taxes by an inch in order to cut government by a foot, they will say no. If you ask them to raise taxes by an inch to cut government by a yard, they will still say no.

    The members of this movement do not accept the legitimacy of scholars and intellectual authorities. A thousand impartial experts may tell them that a default on the debt would have calamitous effects, far worse than raising tax revenues a bit. But the members of this movement refuse to believe it.

    The members of this movement have no sense of moral decency. A nation makes a sacred pledge to pay the money back when it borrows money. But the members of this movement talk blandly of default and are willing to stain their nation’s honor.

    ...Over the past week, Democrats have stopped making concessions. They are coming to the conclusion that if the Republicans are fanatics then they better be fanatics, too.

    The struggles of the next few weeks are about what sort of party the G.O.P. is — a normal conservative party or an odd protest movement that has separated itself from normal governance, the normal rules of evidence and the ancient habits of our nation.

    If the debt ceiling talks fail, independents voters will see that Democrats were willing to compromise but Republicans were not. If responsible Republicans don’t take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern.

    And they will be right."

  • THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Mother of All No-Brainers
  • Tubthumping.

    A cover.

    Starring, They Might Be Giants.



  • A.V. CLUB: They Might Be Giants covers Chumbawamba
  • This. Is. THE REMIX!


  • PITCHFORK: Listen: Toro Y Moi Remixes Cut Copy
  • Ain’t No Doubt About It.

    A video.

    Starring Game, Pharrell, & Justin Timberlake.

    Sunday, July 03, 2011

    The Look.

    A video.

    Starring Metronomy.