am/fm

By eh

Kanye is streaming his new album (out Tuesday) from his blog. He's all about the singing on this one, but unfortunately, he's just not that good.

You may have already seen this if you went to the Murakami exhibit at Brooklyn Museum this spring. (Backdoor compliment translation: I saw this video months ago, kids. I'm so cool.) It's cute, right? I go back and forth on Murakami (those Luis Vuitton bags annoy the crap out of me), but I think his self-consciously commercialized J-pop style works here. And Teddy Bear Kanye is adorable.

The song itself is pretty understated as far as 'Ye goes. In a good way.

— eh

• Kanye's video for "Homecoming" -- the song he did with Coldplay's Chris Martin -- is out. Idolator hates it.

• Over on Gawker, they discuss the ubiquitous reggaeton IO digital cable ads. There's one in Spanish as well. I kind of love these ads ...

• Best Week Ever question's Morrissey's habit of releasing a "Best of" album every two years.

• The Onion's Noel Murray continues his record collection examination in his Popless column. I don't know what it is, but I really enjoy his writing. Also, he's dead on about the press kit thing. I don't even read them any more.

• Oh no! Kim Deal and Stephen Malkmus, two of my musical heroes, are in a feud, kinda.

• NKOTB reunite. For reals!

eh.www.amNY.com

• I can't hear this song without thinking of Guitar Hero, but it's still a great song. I forget what made me think of it, but there you go.

• LA Times talks to Rick Astley about Rickrolling. He seems like a pretty cool guy, actually.

• This Gawker headline pretty much speaks for itself: 18th Century Pop Music Sounds Remarkably Like Joanna Newsome.

• We just had a convo in the office the other day about how everyone should know Bob Mould but they don't. Well, study up guys, The Onion AV Club delves into his iPod. Apparently he's so influential his own songs come up on shuffle.

• I don't know if even the Kanye factor saves this. This guy's shtick is that he paints while music is playing. OK.

• A new Al Green track! Produced by ?uestlove!! Unfortunately, it's kind of meh. Good beats, but Al seems kind of, I don't know, underutilized ... misutilized. He sounds like he's trying for a James Brown impression or something. After all these years, Al Green, you should be OK with being yourself.

eh.www.amNY.com

(via)

• I've never actually been on Facebook, but I've been sick of hearing about it for quite some time. I also enjoy this song's appropriation of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire."

• Elvis Costello has named his latest album, Momofuku after either, Best Week Ever speculates, the inventor of ramen or a series of local restaurants named after the inventor of ramen. BWE misses the fact, though, that momofuku also means "lucky peach" (according to David Chang, owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar et al.; I cannot find a translation, however, that doesn't mention Chang or his restaurants).

• Nah Right has a new Big Boi track, which features Andre 3000, but is not an Outkast tune. They also have some videos from Kanye's "Graduation" release.

• We were just talking in the office Thursday about the fact that due to KISS' theatricality, the band lends itself to the tribute band treatment more naturally than others (Do we really need more than one Bono?). It could be anyone underneath all that make-up, and the performance seems more like a piece of musical theater rather than just a rock show. Paul Stanley seems to think the same thing. Talking about a possible impending retirement, he says, "I think Kiss is more about a point of view, about a respect for fans and about a loyalty and a direction much more than it is the people in the band."

• Finally, NY Mag makes a list of the Ten Greatest Albums Made by Actors. They only come up with three. Surprisingly, this isn't one of them.

eh.www.amNY.com

Last night's ceremony did go on forever, but there were some cool moments.

• Amy Winehouse (or as I'm calling her until it catches on, Amy Win-house) delivered a performance to be proud of.

• Kanye invoked his mom to get TPTB to stop the "wrap it up" music.

• Rihanna had Jay-Z to help her give a cute acceptance speech.

• Also she performed with The Time, while wearing an ostrich.

• Vince Gill poke some good natured fun at Kanye.

• Daft Punk showed up!

• And Feist was there. She got a bit lost in the shuffle, but she still gave a sweet performance.

Yeah, three of my seven highlights invoke 'Ye. I'm kind of obsessed. He's just fascinating.

eh.www.amNY.com

• Gawker has some fun perusing iTunes' celebrity iMixes. Katie Holmes' taste apparently matches her soccer mom hair cut. The Beatrice Inn's (venues have playlists?) selections tend towards songs that you love but have to publicly deride.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes cover Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl." (What is this parent trying to say about their child?!)

• NY Mag was at Mars Volta at Terminal 5. Over-indulgent prog rock in a post-apocalyptic cavernous dungeon? And, they didn't like it? Shocking. I like their earlier stuff — I had "De-Loused In The Comatorium" on repeat for like 6 months in 2004 — but, eh, they're just not doing it for me anymore. And, apparently they opened the concert with a big "F-you" to people who wanted to hear anything old.

• Coachella comes east. Stereogum has the news.

• (Via Idolator, via Variety) The Grammys have asked the WGA for an interim agreement. The union said they'll think about it. Idolommentor Dennisobell: "... and - c'mon - you really think anything would get between Kanye West and a possible nationally televised award?"

Also, Idolator Pop '07 (formerly Jackin' Pop, until the Village Voice complained) results are in.

eh.www.amNY.com

Kanye West blogs about beating Beyonce at Connect 4. Miss BT is also very good at Connect 4 (it's not a game I previously thought one could be good at, but watching her play, I have to admit that there's some skill involved), so I propose a showdown. I, of course, will be on hand to moderate.

eh.www.amNY.com

Here's a baker's dozen of my favorite posts from the last year. They were either fun to write or fun to read, or I just think that they represent the blog pretty well.

1. These are the only acceptable Christmas songs.

2. Songs that feature cowbell prominently, in list form.

3. You should be watching Flight of the Conchords already.

4. I can't include this on my "Great Albums of 2007" list, because it came out in 2006, but The Cardigans' "Super Extra Gravity" is a great one.

5. I saw Calexico! I didn't tag it "live review" for some reason, so I missed it for the Best Shows of 2007 post. It should be on there.

6. I do love Muppets and Kanye, so when I can talk about them both in the same breath, I'm a happy girl. Also, I love imparting random, tangential trivia.

7. Porcupine or Pineapple!

8. The one and only Soundtrack Battle Wednesday.

9. An internet-wide discussion of the worst song ever. I still say not in a million years would it ever be "Ebony & Ivory."

10. Cool music makes the TV shows that play it cool, right? I don't know if I'm noticing it less, or what, but the hipetude of "Gossip Girl"'s soundtrack is less glaringly obvious these days. And, yes, I watch it every week.

11. I liveblogged the VMAs. It's taken me a while to recover, but I think I'll be ready for the Grammys by the time February rolls around.

12. We covered all aspects of CMJ (for which we won an award from Newsday!), including what was in the gift bags.

13. Me and the kids love Pavement.

eh.www.amNY.com

Crap. So this happens to everyone at one time or another, and tonight it's happened to me. I typed up a big long review of last night's show, and as I was proofing it, the whole thing went up in smoke.

OK, here it goes again.

I went to the Fools Gold showcase last night, with Lane and Sara (this is important, because I will be jacking their quotes later in this review). The room filled up pretty quickly, and even though I didn't know what to expect from the night, I was ready for fun.

Nick Catchdubs warmed up the crowd spinning rap mixed with vintage and modern rock beats (I particularly like the ones that used samples from The Zombies' "Time of the Season" and Gary Numan's "Cars").

Next up, is what may have been an impromptu set by Kid Cudi. Not that he wasn't prepared, but it seemed as if the show wasn't ready for him, so they just tacked a short set on the front.

My take: Fast paced rhymes that were gleefully boastful.

Sarah: "It sounds like bad karaoke."

more after the jump...

My boy made fun of himself on SNL last night. I love the face "Dakota Fanning" makes as Kanye yells at her. Also, "I am the greatest show on earth, and I won't apologize for that." (Which he probably truly believes, to all of our benefit.) And, "Give a black man ... give a short black man a chance," is hilarious.

Actually, he does a good job of acting through out the skit. Maybe he should have hosted... The rest of the show was kinda meh.

Also, he has a blog.

eh.www.amNY.com

My favorite quote: "The people have chosen. The people came out, bought the album ... I can't walk down the street, ' 'Ye, we love album!' [people say.] I say, 'Man, I know. It's great, isn't it. I love it too! I love it too! We agree!' "

(Via)

eh.www.amNY.com

I skipped most of the Emmys last night, but my buddy Jon tipped me off to this bit starring my man Kanye AND my man Rainn Wilson. Awesome. (Also, I think I would kick ass at "The Singing Bee" or whichever show Wayne Brady actually hosts.)

From what I did see of the awards show, it seemed to be an altogether more coherent and entertaining affair than the VMAs. But this is not a TV blog...

eh.www.amNY.com

Tonight is it! MTV is broadcasting the Video Music Awards once, and only once. Fortunately, I'll be here to liveblog it. Oh, and they'll find some way to get this footage back on the air twenty billion times later this week....

11:09pm: Now the MTV VMA afterparty is summing up what just happend in even more ADD-friendly chunks. I don't have to watch this again, though. Thank goodness. This was tough. I feel a little bit roughed up after all this. Expect a lot of ink tomorrow about The State of The Music Industry, and MTV's Failure to Make a Meaningful or Entertaining Statement. Not from me, though. That's enough mainstreaming for me for now. I know there's good music out there, and I already know that MTV is not the place to find it.

(This has nothing to do with music. I just love Yoda Cat.)

• More Kanye! The album's leaked and everyone's talking about "Good Life."

• David Bowie may appear on Dr. Who.

• For my UK reader (also, from my UK reader) a new database of songs used in British commercials. Now we can all be international commercial watchers!

• Heart on a Stick remembers Hilly Kristal and CBs with some live tracks from back in the day.

• And, finally, surprise! MTV isn't running this year's VMAs once and only once after all.

eh. www.amNY.com

• RIP Hilly Kristal. I have conflicted feelings about the closing of CGBG — who needs more luxury condos on the LES vs. the club hadn't been relevant in years — but no doubt, it, and Hilly, was an important part of NYC rock history.

• Radar talks with British rapper M.I.A. about her visa troubles, politics and what being an outspoken woman gets you in today's social climate (nothing good).

• Kanye has teamed up with just about everyone in the world for "Graduation," including Coldplay's Chris Martin. Stereogum has some advance analysis. They also send me back to the drawing board with my theory that everyone who mentions Daft Punk in the next few years will have to also bring up James Murphy. Although, if we include the stipulation that the Daft Punk/LCD Soundsystem connection must be made IF AND ONLY IF Daft Punk is the primary subject of a given post, the theory holds true.
Per their comments on Steely Dan, the Steely Dan Principle is still intact: People who like music like Steely Dan, even if they admit it only reluctantly. If you think this is untrue, you're lying to yourself or you've never heard Steely Dan.

• Spinner has an eclectic list of the top 25 best opening lyrics. Prince, Elvis Costello, Pavement and Merle Haggard!

• The Modern Age has some Radiohead synchronization shenanigans.

• According to Brooklyn Vegan, New York Magazine is hosting a killer NYC scavenger hunt Labor Day weekend. Explore nooks and crannies all over the city in search of clues, with your eyes on the $1,000 prize. Afterparty features performances by Dan Deacon and Ra Ra Riot. Now I appreciate Mr. Deacon, there's something about his music that reminds me of Wesley Willis, minus the mental illness, I guess.

• Stereogum doesn't like it, but I think "Be Kind Rewind" could be cool. Why is this music related? Well, we could stretch the Mos Def connection — I love him as a musician and an actor, he was an awesome Ford Prefect — and Jack Black/Tenacious D, of course. But also the music in the trailer. Is it cool to use another film's score as part of your own? OK, String Quartet in F major By Ysaye Quartet is it's own piece of music, but given that soundtrack is such a vital part of every Wes Anderson movie, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to go sniffing through his laundry. But, this is just a trailer after all. And second song, Billy Preston's "Nothing from Nothing" is one of those songs that, like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," is a go to soundtrack song, but I just love it. It should be in every movie. (Tangent: There should be some sort of soundtrack database, that tracks which songs are used in each movie. C'mon internet, get to it.)