I’m Taking Dedications, I’ll See You At The Station

Kazmi with Rickies “Jesus Christ Super Star” – Wow. I looooove this song. I first heard this song a few days ago on Ken Freedman’s show on WFMU, and I’ve been listening to it over and over ever since. This song has nothing to do with the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, but everything to do with shambolic, catchy Wowee Zowee style pop.

The Sounds “Seven Days A Week” – I heard this song for the first time on David Letterman’s show earlier in the week – it’s fun powerpop, not too far off from the best New Pornographers songs, but performed by Swedish fashion victims.

The Exploding Hearts “Throwaway Style” – This is sort of like a low budget sequel to the Strokes’ “Last Nite” with the original cast replaced with total unknowns. It’s a lot of fun, all the same.

Matrix Reloaded

Whoa. What a shitty movie.

There are just so many things wrong with this movie, I barely know where to begin.

I knew going in that it wouldn’t be a very intelligent or thoughtful film, I knew from the first one that The Matrix that the film would only offer a shallow pretense of philosophy. So there’s no point in discussing that stuff, right? I will say this, though – if you’re a person who went to see Matrix Reloaded and was exposed to philosophies and ideas that you had never been exposed to/thought of yourself by the age of 15, then I do believe that you are shallow and lacking in intellectual curiosity, and frankly, you deserve movies like this.

All I wanted from the Matrix Reloaded was some nice action fluff, and some pretty visuals. My expectations were low. 90% of why I bought my ticket was to see Neo fight a million Agent Smiths. And they fucked that up!

Pretty much every fight scene was a miserable failure, and there is a reason why. The ‘heroes’ in the story never appear to be in the slightest bit of danger – obstacles are placed in their path, but Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity have these godlike powers that make every fight they get into rigged in their favor from the start. In the first film, when Neo is resurrected and gets his godlike powers, it’s a big exciting rush because he can finally fight back effectively after having gone through quite a bit of danger throughout the film. In this movie, he’s just swatting guys around. It doesn’t seem like violence, it seems like Michael Jackson video dancing. No one ever appears to be in pain, it all feels extremely disconnected from the reality of the ultraviolence they are simulating. What’s the point of watching these scenes? Is it really just ballet for video game fans? Was the Neo Vs. Agent Smith fight little more than a Busby Berkeley routine for kids on ritalin?

Also, what is the point of having a fight on top of a moving tractor trailer on a freeway if you’re going to ignore the basic laws of physics that would make such a scene exciting and dangerous under normal circumstances? The way they were on top of that truck, they may as well have been having the same fight on a stationary bed. I’m sorry, I don’t play video games. This shit bores me – if it’s going to be violent, that’s cool with me, but I want it to feel scary and physical, and I want it to feel like it has some meaning. Ugh – I think of that one terrible line “you never truly know someone until you fight them” – bullshit. Such macho crap, and in the context of the film, so meaningless. We learn nothing from watching these people fight, other than that it’s a boring and necessary ritual for them.

I should say that in most any superhero-style fiction, one does expect the protagonists to win, but The Matrix Reloaded takes this to an extreme – the heroes have no limits, and have almost no challenges beyond petty annoyances offered up by the Agents, the Twins, and assorted thugs. It’s video game wish fulfillment, but it has nothing to do with drama or interesting storytelling.

The prospect of a swarm of Agent Smiths was a wonderful idea both visually and conceptually, but what’s the point of throwing them all at Neo if they really pose no threat to him at all? The only time in that fight scene where they even seem to have anything on Neo is when they have him pinned down, but that lasts all of 30 seconds. This is the point in the film when I decided that I was rooting for the bad guys (Smith, The Architect, The Merovingian, Persephone, the Twins), not just because they were such underdogs, but because they were invariably more human and charismatic than the protagonists. Not only that, but I despise the heroes in this story. Neo and Trinity lack personality entirely, and Morpheus is a pompous moron. I absolutely hate Morpheus, actually. I can’t think of a less likeable protagonist in a film like this, even the petulant Anakin Skywalker from the two most recent Star Wars movies.

I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen an on-screen couple with less chemistry than Neo and Trinity. Seriously, Scott Summers and Jean Grey in X2 seem so passionate by contrast! It’s not entirely Carrie Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves’s fault; their ‘romantic’ scenes are so poorly written that by comparison the relationship between Anakin and Amidala in Attack Of The Clones seems touching and poignant. Have the Wachowski brothers ever met a woman? Have they ever been in a romantic relationship? This also applies to the scene early on in the film with the rave cut with shots of Neo and Trinity having sex – how could they possibly have made sex and dancing look any more joyless and boring than that? God help their sex partners, and please do not invite me to their discotheque.

Needless to say, all of the quasi-military jargon in Zion was tedious and obnoxious. I felt as though I was watching a lousy Star Trek spin-off for the first 40 minutes or so. What the hell were they thinking – of all the things one can borrow from Star Trek, they’re going to take the dull Starfleet beaurocracy shit? By the same token, why did this world need a film with a homage to the scene in Return Of The Jedi when they’re planning the attack on the Death Star?

And what the hell was with that kid who was pestering Neo? That made no sense, and was just annoying. It had nothing to do with anything, and wasn’t developed, just dropped into the script without explanation or purpose. It just made things more confusing, as if we’ve missed several episodes of continuity coming into this film. The same goes for the pointless “love triangle” crap with Morpheus and Niobe. The plot did not need the clutter, and any attempts at adding some humanity to a character like Morpheus was probably doomed to fail no matter what.

I should mention that the second half of the film was so poorly edited and choreographed that it barely made narrative sense, but by that point, the film was too far gone for it to matter too much.

There were some bits that I liked – I love watching Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith; some of the visual/action parts were enjoyable to look at; I certainly don’t mind watching Monica Bellucci in a rubber dress; and the scene with Neo and The Architect wasn’t bad.

But fuck, what a mess.

You Give Yourself To Him

Pavement “The Killing Moon/Green Grow The Rushes” (live in Liverpool, 1999) – This has been one of my personal favorite Pavement live recordings for some time now, but I just found a nice clean digital non-tape copy and I couldn’t help but want to share it here. This is worth downloading if just the segue into R.E.M.’s “Green Grow The Rushes;” it’s Pavement at their most beautiful.

Buddy Starcher “History Repeats Itself” – This is yet another selection from the wonderful Happy Listener’s Guide To Mind Control tape. Basically, this is a numerology/conspiracy nut solemnly listing off the trivial coincidences linking the Lincoln and Kennedy administrations, with “God Bless America” playing in the background. According to the liner notes, this single actually hit #39 on the American pop charts in 1966, which may officially make this the most bizarre Top 40 single of all time.

I promised something exceptionally creepy yesterday, and I’m going to follow through. I wasn’t entirely sure if I really wanted to post this, but what the hell. A few weird Google search results leading to this site aren’t going to hurt me.

Jason Moss was a precocious young man who developed a keen intellectual interest in serial killers as a teenager. Moss’s interest led him to correspond with some serial killers as an attempt to gain insight into their minds, which he achieved through psychological manipulation, deception, flirtation, and ego-stroking. Moss’s relationship with John Wayne Gacy was the most complex, and Moss later wrote a book titled The Last Victim about his experiences with Gacy.

The recording here is taken from Moss’s telephone conversations with Gacy, and I’m guessing that these excerpts all come from a point fairly early in their correspondence.

(Moss/Gacy audio courtesy of Grant)

So That Makes Me A Full-Time Lifeguard

“Samson” – This is a classic skit taken from the Best Show On WFMU. Andy Earles calls in as Samson, believing that he is leaving a message on an answering machine in response to a singles ad. You’ve met Samson. We’ve all met Samson, I’m sure of it. When I interviewed Andy Earles a few months ago, he had this to say about the Samson skit:

MP: Where did the Samson bit come from? That one is so great, this man’s whole depressing life compressed into six minutes on an answering machine.

AE: Yeah, you make fun, but…..you are the one that thinks too much, you are the unhappy one.

(Oh hey look – William “The Only Decent Writer At Pitchfork” Bowers has written a review of the two Scharpling/Wurster cds looooooooong after they’ve been released over on Pitchfork today. They are positive reviews, but I think that Bowers makes the skits seem unfunny in the way that he writes about them. It is definitely written with that odd tone of humorless defensiveness that permeates nearly everything written for Pitchfork, which is probably not the best approach to take when writing about comedy.)

“The ‘Sermant’ of God Vs. Bill Clinton” – This is another recording taken from the Audio Kitchen archives. According to the Professor, this was a homemade recording which was intended to be sent to the White House by a mentally ill young man who believed himself to be channelling the voice of God. He refers to himself as a “sermant,” which apparently is a combination of the words “servant” and “sermon” – he is delivering God’s sermon as His servant, get it? This is certainly one of the most disturbing recordings that I will post here, but trust me, it’s not even half as creepy and dark as what I’ve got planned for tomorrow.

In the meantime, enjoy this eternal disco classic, Loose Joints “Is It All Over My Face”. This is the MAW remix. I defy you not to smile or feel compelled to at least awkwardly move your body around while listening to this song. This song has one of my all-time favorite bass lines, too. It’s just wonderful all the way around.

Endorsement:

I know that I’ve got a million and one links over to the left of this page, and it may be a chore to check them all out, but if you aren’t regularly reading Sharpeworld, Clap Clap, Dilettantism, and Big Sunny D, you are totally missing out.

The Trumpet Summons Us Again!

“The Trumpet” This comes from a weird old record called Sing Along With JFK, which was made up of Kennedy’s speeches played over music, with a very cheerful-sounding chorus singing his words after he speaks them. It almost sounds as though they are childishly mocking him, it’s just so bizarre. I can’t imagine why anyone would have thought that this would be a good idea. This is taken from the Happy Listener’s Guide To Mind Control tape.

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z “Crazy In Love” – It’s just so great to hear them both performing up to their potential, isn’t it? Excellent stuff. I heart Beyonce.

Martina Topley-Bird “Need One” – Here’s another one living up to her potential, though to be fair, she’s never been anything less than spectacular. The band she’s playing with is Queens Of The Stone Age, if that means anything to you. In a better world, this song would be a huge mainstream hit in America, but in this world, it’ll probably just be a minor hit in the UK. It’s too bad that the American market is so segregated that a pop/r+b/rock hybrid like this would have a hard time finding airplay. It almost doesn’t matter that Michael Jackson hasn’t put out any decent music in the past several years, it wouldn’t get played anywhere for the same reasons.

In Case You Were Wondering…

The runners-up in the Malk trivia contest got:

Pig Lib poster

Pig Lib stickers

Pavement Terror Twilight sticker

Matador Intended Play Spring 03 sampler, featuring The Jicks, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Dead Meadow, Aereogramme, Interpol, and the New Pornographers. I knew all of the songs, but it is a very listenable disc of great selections, and I’ll probably listen to it on the discman fairly often.

Very cool! Thank you, Matador!

SM + Jicks 5/15 NYC

SIN TAXI / JENNY AND THE ESS DOG / SHEETS / RAMP OF DEATH / WITCH MOUNTAIN BRIDGE / DARK WAVE / VAGUE SPACE / WATER AND A SEAT / ANIMAL MIDNIGHT / JO JO’S JACKET / VANESSA FROM QUEENS / IT KILLS / DYNAMIC CALORIES / DO NOT FEED THE OYSTER / US // GRAB IT AND GONE / unknown aborted song / THE FISHERMAN / 1% OF ONE

I’m disappointed that “Old Jerry” and “Craw Song” were not played either night, and that the setlist didn’t change too much, but that’s not so bad. I enjoyed this show quite a lot more than the previous night, which in some ways had a lot to do with being more physically comfortable. I do think that the band were more dynamic and engaging tonight, and it never hurts to have “Jo Jo’s Jacket” in the setlist instead of “Church On White.” Don’t get me wrong, “Church On White” is a beautiful, lovely song – it’s just a downer, and I’m a little bored with it by now. I’ll never get sick of hearing “Jo Jo,” I can’t hear the song without getting a nice rush of euphoria.

Concert notes: Joanna plays drums and John plays bass on “Grab It And Gone.” The audience really, really, really liked “Witch Mountain Bridge.” Big cheers for “Jenny” and “Jo Jo” too. I’ve never loved “Sheets” as much as I did tonight. “Oyster” had a different intro than the usual version, nothing too radical – just a variation on the melody. “Water And A Seat” was performed a lot better tonight, and I loved every bit of it. I think that I like “Animal Midnight” a lot more in concert, but not necessary as a live recording. I really badly want a nice clean recording of the band performing “The Fisherman.” It’s so stunning, I was thrilled to hear it again tonight. I wasn’t expecting it.

Oh, And Hello

Hello to the rather large number of visitors coming from the Sharpeworld site. Please do stick around, I’ll be hosting some very peculiar mp3s over the course of next week which I’ve just acquired today.

SM + Jicks 5/14 NYC

Setlist, with notes.

DYNAMIC CALORIES / DO NOT FEED THE OYSTER (fans obviously love this song as much as I do) / JENNY AND THE ESS DOG / SHEETS/ VANESSA FROM QUEENS (with a little mellow jam bit at the end) / WATER AND A SEAT (Mike Clark makes intense faces while singing the backup vocals)/ PHANTASIES / ANIMAL MIDNIGHT / THE FISHERMAN (Aslan cover, gorgeous slow song with high John harmony, I can’t wait to get a copy of this one, it isn’t in circulation yet but some guy was recording this show with pro equipment so it should be soon) / WITCH MOUNTAIN BRIDGE (best guitar solo of the night) / RAMP OF DEATH / CHURCH ON WHITE / DARK WAVE / US (starts off with only drum, vocal, and bass before returning to the regular arrangement once the organ comes in for the ‘treeeeees to climb’ part) /IT KILLS (song from the El Ray show, very immediately likeable) / TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS (improvised Beatles cover, vocal and keyboard) // NEED YOUR LOVE (Status Quo cover) / VAGUE SPACE /1% OF ONE (I had to leave through the beginning of the soloing to catch my train)

Please Jicks, play “Old Jerry” tonight!

You Can’t Have A Bar-B-Q When You’re Scuba Diving

“The Specious Moment” – This is taken from the Audio Kitchen archives. This is a homemade recording of a very mentally ill guy pretending to do his own radio station, which he sent to a local college radio station as a way of harassing them. The guy isn’t scary-crazy, but just far-out weird crazy. The drill bits ad is priceless, by the way. “Aww, fiddlesticks!”

“The Museum” – This is an excerpt from the LP version of Eric Weber’s How To Pick Up Girls book from the early 70s. In this selection, we learn how to pick up “long-legged stylish looking girls” at an art museum through deception, insincerity, and manipulation of common female insecurities. This is casual misogyny at its most insidious.

The Shimmer Kids Underpop Association “The Last Joke In Town” – This is my personal favorite song from the band’s forthcoming EP Book Of Mirrors. Join the most criminally overlooked band in America for a ska party in outer space, and check out their website for more MP3s from previous releases.

Tricky “The Love Cats” – This is from the forthcoming album Vulnerable, which is easily the best and most consistent Tricky record since Pre Millenial Tension. Yes, this is a cover of The Cure classic.

Also: Be sure to check out the very amusing X-Men 2 Vs. Cremaster Vs. A Mighty Wind chart that Emily and Todd made over on Dilettantism.

I Act With An Always-Positive Mindset

“The More You Sell” – This is taken from the WFMU compilation tape The Happy Listener’s Guide To Mind Control. According to the liner notes, this is from an in-store motivational tape intended for the sales staff of some NYC boutique dating back to the mid-to-late ’80s. Basically, this is a recording of the most evil sounding voiceover man who ever lived intoning creepy self-help/sales jargon over 80s dance pop music. It’s terrifying stuff, like being trapped inside the mind of Patrick Bateman.

A Request:

If anyone would be so kind as to let me know what the song at the end of tonight’s episode of Six Feet Under was, I would greatly appreciate it.

And how about that episode, huh? That was one of the most depressing episodes of any television series that I’ve ever seen. At least Claire finally stood up to Olivier, and cut him down a bit. I’ve been very proud of her.

Don’t Be Too Flirty, Caroline

Amy Sings With Prince For Caroline – Taken from the archives of The Professor’s Audio Kitchen, this bizarre gem was found by the Professor via Napster. This is apparently the opening track of a mix cd made by a girl named Amy for her girlfriend Caroline. Amy sings along with the Prince song “Kiss” and makes flirtatious and occasionally creepy remarks over the music. Amy seems so genuinely in love with Caroline, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Caroline’s affections are nowhere near as intense. I can’t shake the feeling that Caroline eventually broke poor little Amy’s sincere, earnest heart. But hey, I may just be projecting.

Yvonne’s Answering Machine – This answering machine tape is another interesting recording from the Audio Kitchen found by The Professor. In thirteen minutes, the messages create a surprisingly complex portrait of this troubled young woman’s life. I really hope that Yvonne broke up with that overbearing, possessive asshole who kept calling her, and that when she did, he didn’t cause her any further grief.

Radio announcement of a Velvet Underground concert, circa 1968 – This is a brief selection from the WFMU compilation Radio Archival Oddities, and it is fairly self explanatory.

Radio Beijing – This was also taken from the Radio Archival Oddities tape. This is a portion of an English language radio account of the events of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989. It followed shortly by the party line being restored at the station a few days later.

It’s A Big Fish, Your Net Is Full Of Holes

Recording of a news broadcast from Liberty, NY circa 1970 – This recording fascinates me. I don’t know much about it, it was given to me without much explanation on a disc full of radio airchecks. This recording was obviously made with a tape recorder in a room – you can hear the mic move around, noise in the room, some quiet talking here and there. I can’t figure out why they recorded this news broadcast. Perhaps they were waiting to record one of the news items – there are some announcements of funerals and social functions, that could be it. The most interesting parts of the broadcast include some very biased reports about hippies and their drug usage. I particularly like the part where they are announcing an invitation to “come out and see the real American youth – the clean-cut youngsters who make up the vast majority of our young people.”

Knowing Me, Knowing You – “Alan Does Not Fire Blanks” – Aha! This is the first episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. If there is a positive response, I will offer each of the six episodes over the next few weeks. In this episode, Alan interviews a novelist and discusses Sherlock Holmes, and meets a feminist therapist who gives a demonstration of her therapy techique.

All Apologies

The Apology Line (1-212-255-7714) was/is an art project created in 1980 by an anonymous person who goes by the name of Mr. A. The idea of the line was to give people a non-religious outlet to apologize for things that they were feeling guilty about. The line recieved hundreds of calls daily from 1980 up through the mid-90s, but the numbers for the Apology Line are no longer in service or have been reassigned.

I recorded these mp3s from a tape that The Apology Line created and circulated titled The Apology Line: Uncut Gems From Year Zero (1980-1981) which I bought at this past weekend’s WFMU record fair. I didn’t bother breaking up the individual confessions into separate mp3s, and decided that it was just easier to offer each 22 minute side of the tape as its own track.

Please bear in mind that many of these confessions are very upsetting, and some of the callers seem to be genuinely disturbed individuals. There is a caller on side B who is particularly creepy, who sounds like a psychopathic murderous rapist version of Woody Allen, and another caller at the beginning of side A who admits to brutally attacking homosexuals. This is not easy listening. However, there are some lighter moments here and there, and some other parts which are just bizarre. The tape is an amazing document, and an often fascinating peek into the minds of total strangers.

(Those of you interested in the Apology Line should check out This American Life’s segment about the line in their January 3st, 1997 episode titled “Justice”. If you listen, you will find out the shocking fate of Mr. A, and get to hear several apologies not found on the tape.)

Making The End Times Happy Times

I’m sorry about the lack of updates, I’ve been a bit busy. I had a very good time working at the WFMU record fair this past weekend, and I’ll have some very interesting MP3s taken from some recordings that I acquired at the fair coming up later on in the week. It is also very likely that I will be offering mp3s taken my current twin obsessions, Christopher Morris’s On The Hour and Steve Koogan’s Knowing Me, Knowing You. Sit tight. Exciting audio is coming your way.

You Go First, Yoko

I am pretty sure that tonight’s segment on Late Night with Conan O’Brien with Conan inside of an opaque black bag with Yoko Ono is one of the most surreal things to be aired on national television for a very long time. Especially when Conan emerges from the bag topless, and puts on Yoko’s tiny leather jacket.

X2: X-Men United Is A Bad Name For A Movie

Russ is right. X-Men 2 is in many ways like a remake of The Empire Strikes Back, in the best possible way. I like to think of it as something of an X-Men Vs. The Empire Strikes Back mash-up, myself.

If you look down a bit in that thread, you can read my geeky little comments about the film, but all you really need to know is that the film is very good (definitely the best superhero-derived film that I’ve seen, edging out last year’s Spider-Man), but it would really help to know a bit about the characters if you’re planning on going in as an X-Men novice. You’ll probably get very confused otherwise.

Jesus Was A Victim, Just Like Me…

Monoliths “On Narrative” – Can anyone tell me who these people are? I found this on soulseek, and have yet to find anything about them, other than that the ep that I have, Newsprint Tomb, is a cassette-only release. It reminds me of Huggy Bear at their best – arty, ‘theory bitch’-y, vicious, dissonant, extremely lofi punk. I would love to know more about these people, and whether or not this is a recent or old release.

Neil Hamburger “Laugh Out Lord!” – Find out why God invented Fleetwood Mac, Alan Alda, and homosexuality. This is the epic final track from the most recent Neil Hamburger record, and is a pretty good bit to start with if you’ve never heard Neil Hamburger before. Hamburger’s shtick should be fairly self-evident after you’ve heard it, if you don’t know about it, I’d rather that you just jump in unaware. It’s pretty hilarious concept comedy, and about as dry and ironic as comedy can get.

I Want A Recording Of This. Badly.

The venue in Malmo turned into a dance club after the show, so we tried to warm up the crowd during our encore. The disco Pavement medley still needs some work, but 50 Cent’s “In tha Club” was totally jammin’.

The Way You Move Yr Sexy Groove

Killer Mike featuring Big Boi “A.D.I.D.A.S.” – Exactly what I was looking for. Yes! It’s absolutely perfect.

(Oh hey look, Tom Ewing loves it too…)

The Knife “Heartbeats” – I am completely obsessed with this song right now, and I’ve got to thank Mr. Nikon Driver from Home By The Sea for telling me about it yesterday. It’s basically sounds like the great (weird) lost Cyndi Lauper song, but not quite as 80s retro as you might be imagining. I can’t get enough of it.

Ween “(Extra) Cheese” – This is the ‘extended mix’ of the Ween Pizza Hut ads that I made, and it is here again by request of Mr. Deric Holloway.

Erma Franklin “Light My Fire” – I am relatively certain that just about every cover of “Light My Fire” except for the one performed by that guy from the UK Pop Idol show is superior to the Doors original. Well, maybe not the Jose Feliciano version. But you get the idea – it’s so much better as a soul song. A few years ago, I heard another more bombastic soul version, but I’ve never been able to figure out who did it. I only heard it once, but I have a very strong memory of it, and I’m fairly certain that it isn’t this Erma Franklin recording. I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t the Jackie Wilson version being played at a faster RPM too.

More soul/funk for you:

The Meters “Cabbage Alley”

Thelma Jones “This Is The House That Jack Built”

(Note about the “nunchucks” thing – it’s just a silly joke, and not a permanent name change. However, I’ve been trying to change it back, and for some reason, Blogger isn’t letting me. Hopefully this will get sorted out soon.)

What A Wookiee!

I realize that this may be old news for some people, but it is new to me – Chewbacca will be in the next Star Wars movie. That’s pretty cool, even though I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the conclusion that there’s almost no way the next one could possibly be very good after having seen the last two. And that’s kinda sad – when I was a kid, I used to always think about how they would eventually film the scene in which Anakin becomes Darth Vader, and I had always imagined something very sad and powerful, but I can’t imagine that actually happening now. I guess this whole terrible prequel trilogy thing is as much a case of George Lucas going mad as it is about how some things are best left to the imaginations of children.

What’s My Excuse? Cartoons Were The Root!

If you’ve been reading this blog with any frequency lately, you have probably noticed that I haven’t been listening to very much hip hop lately. Well, I have, but none of it has been new. I went through some brief Wu and Outkast listening sprees in the past month, which was mostly just like revisiting old pals, not exactly the deepest listening experience. In a way, I guess I was just checking up on them – “Yep, they’re still fantastic.”

But let’s face it, Outkast and the Wu-Tang Clan are rarities in hip hop, keeping up quality with quantity over an extended period of time. Anyone who ever wonders why those two groups have so much credibility with white indie/rock leaning fans need not waste their time with half-baked ILM-ish cultural theories about why that is, it’s basically as simple as this: People like albums that they don’t have to do too much skipping around with, especially when they cost $18 at the mall.

For most artists in the genre, it’s all about singles, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Well, except for when labels seem to refuse to release the best songs as singles, of course. And this happens all of the fucking time – the most egregious recent example would be “Young Boy” by the Clipse, which is hands down one of the best songs that I heard last year in any genre. However, it’s been, what, four singles off of Lord Willin’ by now? For fuck’s sake, what is WRONG with their label? All of the singles that have been released off of the record have been decent, but they just aren’t nearly as poptastic and perfect, they don’t have the swagger and the hooks and the wit of “Young Boy,” and neither does any other mainstream hip hop that I’ve heard since January.

It is things like this which make me feel so utterly alienated from mainstream pop – I enjoy a lot of the music, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not experiencing things in the way that most people are. It seems to me that people are picking the wrong single all of the time – am I so out of touch with what contemporary American audiences want? I always thought it was about hooks, about catchiness. I want pop, really, I do. I love pop so dearly. I really love hip hop. Is it so much to ask for it to be, y’know, good? I understand where the conservatism of the rock audience and rock radio comes from, but I think I expect more from hip hop audiences than to just nod along and say “yeah, 50 Cent is pretty good, I guess…”

I’ve been keeping my ears open and ready for new hip hop singles, but I just haven’t heard anything too special. There hasn’t been much that I’ve heard that I’ve thought to be actively awful (though I’m definitely not crazy about 50 Cent), but it would be nice to tune in to Hot 97, BET, or MTV without feeling indifference or ennui. I admit that I haven’t been working too hard to find hip hop lately – my interests have been elsewhere, but I do miss it. I want some fresh new hip hop singles in my personal listening rotation, and I want your help.

Have you heard anything particularly good lately? Is there something I’m missing, and is it preferably not beardy backpacker stuff? I’ll take a pass on the Majesticons album, thank you. And let’s keep this limited to 2003, alright? I don’t need anyone recommending The Low End Theory to me, or going off on any “the only good hip hop is old school” bullshit rants, okay?

Anyway, let me know. I’m going to download the eight or nine songs that I’m not familiar with from OHHLA’s current Top 30 songs, but I’m not expecting too much. It’s a start, though.