Indie Artist of the Week

Passion Pit are an electro-pop band that hails from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their sound is some strange mix between indie rock, electronica, 80s music, and Neil Young. The sound is great though. They're definitely the best band I've heard in a while. Their new album Manners is out now. Check it out.

Stuff of the Week

Record of the Week: Dead Presidents - Jay-Z

Jay-Z is one of the best rappers ever to exist. So, I took this opportunity to give those of you who aren't familiar with his stuff to show you a taste of his old school stuff. This comes off an incredible album called Reasonable Doubt. The album was his debut, and a meaningful moment for hip-hop and Mafioso Rap in particular. The beat, a nice, slow, almost jazzy piano riff, was written by Ski Beatz. The Lyrics? Well, they're Jay-Z. Don't expect less than the best.

Movie of the Week: Ferris Beuller's Day Off

One in the catacade of important teen films John Hughes put out in the eighties, it's got real heart. It's not a grown-up trying to be a kid. It's really a successful teen movie about things teenagers go through. It also needs to be said that the movie is hilarious, and that it can connect to audiences of all ages. The movie may not be a masterpiece, but it's severely entertaining.

Album of the Week: Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

Probably one of the most secretly legendary albums in history, this one takes the crown for arranging. Brian Wilson is an undisputed genius. This album was the one that really proved that Wilson was a musician, and not just a hit maker. You will be able to tell, by the fact that you've probably heard of one (or three at most) of these songs, before you encountered the album. The album was the main inspiration for The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Beatles Producer George Martin once noted "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." The arrangements are pitch perfect, the songs are beautiful pop songs, and the lyrics are perfectly suited. What more could you possibly ask for?

Indie Artist of the Week

The Cribs are a band that sound like an English Punk version of the Strokes. It works a lot better than it sounds. The lyrics are often pretty damn fun. Their tunes are great, and danceable. It's really rockin' shit. Check out their best album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever.

Stuff of the Week

Record of the Week: Baby I'm A Fool - Melody Gardot

Melody Gardot is a new Jazz/Pop lady who everyone should keep their eyes on. She's a very talented singer/songwriter and could very well reach real mainstream success very soon. This song is particularly nice. It's a nice combination of vocal jazz strings and jazz quartet. The song is very fluid. The lyrics are also pretty soothing. The best moment of song however is when she first sings "Baby I'm a fool who thinks it's cool to fall in love". It's a great and beautifully bitersweet moment. The video is also pretty nice.

Movie of the Week: Nashville

Robert Altman's 1975 movie about Nashville is great. It's really an important movie. Only secretly though. It was truly catching Nashville when it was first making it's rise. Easily one of Altman's best films, It's truly a snapshot of the lives of many characters in Nashville, and a snapshot of mid-western America in the mid-70s. This movie is absolutely phenomenal, check it out.

Album of the Week: No Line on the Horizon - U2

I was waiting pretty much since this came out to post this, because I wanted to see if it really stuck with me or I just had an inaccurate first impression. Fortunately for U2, you, and myself, the album is really incredible. It's very new. The chord progressions are awesome, the lyrics are at the top, the sound is a lot newer then their past albums. Pretty much everything on this album is a step forward. God, even the Edge uses a lot less delay on this album. I doubt Bono's Sunglass situation has changed though.

Stuff of the week

Record of the Week: Hold Me Up - Live (The Link's name is wrong)

90s Alt-Rock group Live wrote this song for their breakthrough album, but it didn't make the cut. The song is really cool. It's like a strange mix between a love ballad and a hard rock song. It's not necessarily the most lyrically interesting song on earth, but it's good enough to hold itself up nicely.

Movie of the Week: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

I finally saw this movie this past sunday, and I was so happy I did. I am a big fan of Kevin Smith's and I hadn't seen this for any reason. Smith's writing is gold again after a slightly (really, only slightly) less well-written last two movies. The real differences that you can see here as opposed to his other movies, is that with this movie, he's not really using his classic rat pack of actors. The two leads (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) are both very funny and have a very good chemistry on screen. Also, Smith has severely upped his visual game. It's great to see (no pun intended) that he is concerning himself with visuals now. The music is also perfect. All of it is great and very well suited to the scenes it it's attached to. The movie has it's corniness, but It's totally worth it. Plus the corniness to coolness ratio is like 1:20, making it totally worth it.

Album of the Week: The Black and White Album - The Hives

The Hives are a really cool band. Their music is like a garage rock type sound. It's honestly just a lot of fun. The Black and White Album (their fourth) is the most musically involved. There are more pop music ideas and more hooks. I'd guess it's because of The Neptunes' influence. The album works. The lyrics are frequently funny, and deeply involved in nearly hip-hop like swagger. One of the better records of last year.