While Austin’s Beauty Bar isn’t exactly my favorite place for a number of reasons, it is the weekend hotspot for high-profile after parties and A-list DJs. So I find myself there from time to time.
This past Saturday, my favorite mashup duo rocked the house: The Hood Internet. They’ve been around for three years, and you’ve probably heard their work if you’ve spent time cruising the web. I would be safe in saying they’re probably the most popular mashup group out there, second only to Girl Talk. Needless to say, they got the place bumping. Afterwards, I browsed their site extensively, and I have compiled the finest of their work. Browse the list and don’t be afraid to sing along and shake your money maker.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
230. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Plinking pianos, soaring background vocals, and an accessible approach to the band’s quiet tendencies brought Grizzly Bear their breakthrough track in 2009. While Veckatimest still had the trademark off-kilter minor keys and dark lyrics, “Two Weeks” came out of the oven ready for Gossip Girls. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of the King of Pop. Whatever your opinions of the man, his fascinating (and unusual) life, and his music, I haven’t met a single soul who doesn’t recollect where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. It’s one of those moments in history, like the murder of John Lennon, the suicide of Kurt Cobain, the 9/11 tragedy, or the JFK assassination, that resonates with a collective majority. It’s a moment that stands the test of time and forever remains in the memories of many.
While others would deride Michael Jackson’s achievements and focus on his eccentricities, I am a huge fan of the man’s music and the impact it still has on popular culture. And so, in honor of this anniversary, after the jump are my ten favorite MJ tracks. Don’t stop til you get enough.
*this list only includes solo Jackson material – Jackson 5 deserve their own list – maybe next year.
It’s not news that Fox News is a megaphone for the conservative movement and a right-wing media propaganda tool. It always has been, regardless of its original tagline promising “fair and balanced” coverage (haven’t seen that graphic in a while). There has always been one anchor there, though, even from the beginning, and usually reporting in the afternoons, that has been the lone voice of reason – an actual reporter surrounded by bumbling idiots, analysts, and pundits shouting rhetoric and heresy rather than fact.
A man who seeks to deliver the news, nothing more, nothing less. A man who usually keeps his views to himself, but when asked, will become the voice of reason in a room full of shouting matches. While Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck squawk and squeal, this man sits back and does his job for the viewers at home, rather than for the content managers behind the camera.
That man is Shepard Smith.
After the jump are some of my favorite YouTube-rendered moments of Shep sticking to his guns, proving that knowledge is power, valuing his journalistic duty over ratings credentials, and making an effort to actually keep things “fair and balanced.”
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
40. Phoenix – Lisztomania
It’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the French quartet are now a festival circuit band and one of the biggest groups in the world. Their jazz-fused, stream-of-consciousness take on upbeat pop is clearly expressed through this track, featuring an unconventional chorus that, like so many things Phoenix, works perfectly, even if it’s a bit outside the boundaries of what we normally hear on CHR.
