Thursday, December 27, 2007

12 Days of Mixmas


A music blog entitled You Ain't No Picasso has compiled, as they have done for the last few years, the 12 Days of Mixmas. The idea is that they have notable music figures compile a short mix tape for all of us and make the MP3s available for download. The most recent entry was by Gregg Gillis (pictured).

Oh, and I hate Christmas and sports.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Favorite Songs/Albums of 2007

Favorite Songs of 2007

1.Panda Bear - Bro's
2.LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
3.Animal Collective - For Reverend Green
4.Battles - Atlas
5.Frog Eyes - Bushels
6.Spoon - You Got Your Cherry Bomb
7.Field - Everday
8.Chromatics - Running Up That Hill
9.Sunny Day In Glasgow - 5:15 Train
10.Dan Deacon - Wham City

11.Talib Kweli - Listen!
12.Liars - Plaster Casts of Everything
13.White Rainbow - Mystic Prism
14.M.I.A. - $20
15.Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica
16.Deerhunter - Octet
17.Rapture - The Sound (Ben Trucker's Back To 95 Mix)
18.Radiohead - House of Cards
19.Grizzly Bear - Alligator (Choir Version)
20.Rhianna - Umbrella

21.Slaraffenland - Watch Out
22.Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let the Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson Remix)
23.Manu Chao - Rainin In Paradise
24.Pantha Du Prince - Saturn Strobe
25.!!! - Heart of Hearts
26.Radiohead - Nude
27.Yeasayer - 2080
28.Spoon - The Underdog
29.Chromatics - In The City
30.Jay-Z & Pharrell - Blue Magic

31.Timbaland - Give It To Me
32.Shins - Sleeping Lesons
33.Grinderman - No Pussy Blues
34.Animal Collective - #1
35.No Age - Loosen This Job
36.Earthless - Godspeed
37.Panda Bear - Take Pills
38.LCD Soundsystem - North America Scum (Onastic Dub Remix)
39.Santagold - Creator
40.Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 10 x 10

41.Celebration - Hands Off My Gold (Simian Mobile Disco Remix)
42.LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
43.Grizzly Bear - Het Hit Me
44.Studio - Life's A Beach
45.Bjork - Earth Intruders
46.High Violets - Chinese Letter (Ulrich Snauss Mix)
47.Pantha Du Prince - Steiner Im Flug
48.Deerhunter - Wash Off
49.Field - Over The Ice
50.Dragonette - I Get Around (Van She Remix)

51.M.I.A. - Bird Flu
52.Muscles - Marshmellow
53.Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey
54.Rekkid - Next Stop Chicago
55.Pharoahe Monch - What It Is
56.Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life
57.Animal Collective - Chores
58.Kanye West - Flashing Lights
59.Marrisa Nadler - Cortez The Killer
60.Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan - Who Wellses In Mt Hoff

61.Arboretum - Pale Rider Blues
62.Kanye West - I Wonder
63.Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe
64.Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
65.Sunset Rubdown - Winged Wicked Things
66.No Age - Everbody's Down
67.Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not A Movie
68.Andy Palacio - Baba
69.LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous
70.Sunset Rubdown - The Mending of the Gown

71.Liars - Sailing To Byzantium
72.A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Ghost In The Graveyard
73.Outkast - Art of Storytellin' Part 4
74.Parts & Labor - Fractured Skies
75.Muscles - Futurekidz
76.Broken Social Scene - Frightening Lives
77.Ulrich Schnauss - Stars
78.Jay-Z - Fallin
79.Map Of Africa - Wyatt Urp
80.Jens Lekman - A Postcard To Nina

81.R.Kelly - I'm A Flirt
82.Crystal Castles - Untrust Us
83.Le Loup - Le Loup (Fear Not)
84.Burial - Archangel
85.Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
86.Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy
87.National - Fake Empire
88.Handsome Furs - What We Had
89.Elliott Smith - Whatever (Folk Song in C)
90.Studio - Origin (Shake You Down By The River)

91.Shocking Pinks - Smokescreen
92.Broken Social Scene - Tbtf
93.Bjorn Torske - Hemmelig Orkester
94.Panda Bear - I'm Not
95.John Maus - Do Your Best
96.Glass Candy - Computer Love
97.Roisin Murphy - Let Me Know
98.James Blackshaw - Running To the Ghost
99.Bon Iver - Lump Sum
100.Deer Tick - Dirty Dishes

Favorite Albums of 2007

1.Panda Bear - Person Pitch
2.LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
3.Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga
4.Jay-Z - American Gangster
5.Radiohead - In Rainbows
6.Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
7.Deerhunter - Cryptograms/Flourescent Grey EP
8.Field - From Here We Go Sublime
9.MIA - Kala
10.Liars - Liars

11.Kanye West - Graduation
12.Burial - Untrue
13.!!! - Myth Takes
14.No Age - Weirdo Rippers
15.Studio - Yearbook1
16.A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Scribbel Mural Comic Journal
17.Broken Social Scene - Spirit If
18.Grinderman - Grinderman
19.Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is EP
20.Caribou - Andorra

Honorable Mention: Simian Mobile Disco - Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release

Friday, December 21, 2007

Videos of the Year - A He Response

While there are many merits to Victor9000's list (and existence) I have to say that I'm a little hurt that only one video that I placed on the He Blog made his list. Videos are all that I post here. This leads me to wonder if he even reads this blog or if he's just completely stupid and doesn't know what great videos are. So just to refresh your memory, and point out what Victor9000 missed out on, here is a look back at the actual videos of merit in 2007 (in chronological order).


Bat for Lashes - What's a Girl to Do


Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing


Architecture in Helsinki - Hold Music


The 1990's - You Were Supposed To Be My Friend


The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance


Parts and Labor - The Gold We're Digging


The Bees - The Listening Man


zZz Is Playing - Grip
(this is the runner up for the video of the year)


The National - Apartment Story


Los Campesinos! - International Tweexcore Underground


Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
(posted by HeManZero but still left off stupid dummy head Victor9000's fucking list)


The Cool Kids - Black Mags


Snoop Dogg- Sensual Seduction
(without question the best video of the year)

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Albums and Videos - Victor9K

Top Albums - 2007
10. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
9. Apparat - Walls
8. Feist - The Reminder
7. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
6. A-Trak - Dirty South Dance
5. Muscles - Guns Babes Lemonade
4. M.I.A. - Kala
3. The National - Boxer
2. Menomena - Friend & Foe
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

Videos of Merit - 2007
Kavinsky - Testarossa Autodrive


Feist - 1234

The National - Start A War (Takeaway Show)

Menomena - Wet & Rusting

And for good measure...
(make sure you watch to the end)

Rihanna - Umbrella

Ghosthustler - Parking Lot Nights

Bat For Lashes - What's A Girl To Do

The Mae Shi - Run To Your Grave

The Knife - Heartbeats

This may be from last year, but it's so good, you should see it in this one.
Clark - Ted

M.I.A. - Bird Flu

Modest Mouse - Dashboard

That crazy shit jbell put up.

Kanye West - Stronger (good lord this video must have been expensive)

Monday, December 17, 2007

Top Songs of 2007 - Victor 9K



Here's my list:

20) Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe
The prototype for electronic music in 2007.

19) Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready
I am sure there's a 14 year old kid in Detroit, wearing an Interpol shirt, who hears this song and thinks "Fuck this bullshit, 1993 was awesome!"

18) Underworld - Glam Bucket

God-awful title aside, it's been a while since I've dug an Underworld song this much.

17) R. Kelly - I'm A Flirt
How is it that a song promising infidelity and alpha male dominance over me is so damn fun?

16) Hans Zimmer - Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho
Hate if you must, but the film score is a great medium for taking you through many moods. Guilty pleasure pick.

15) Justin Timberlake - SexyBack (Tyler Fedchuk Mix)
This is everything a great remix should be - a little playful, a little irreverent to the original spirit of the song, and most importantly, it puts a smile on your face and makes you feel joyful

14) Chromatics - Runnin Up That Hill
So incredibly good. But then I heard the Kate Bush original, which is better. Still, one of the year's best.

13) A-Trak - Get on My Pony
Hugely danceable, but that deep soldier voice chant dumps testosterone into your system, stimulating the rawk zone of your brain without sacrificing your dignity (see: Creed, Linkin Park).

12) Dan Deacon - Wham City
After spending a good portion of the year watching The Wire, it's got me thinking that something great is happening in Baltimore.

11) Muscles - Hey Muscles, I Love You
The sonic capture of that moment when a really great party peaks and everyone tries to hold on as tight as they can to the feeling.

10) Rihanna - Umbrella
Rihanna's jam is sexy in the way that nothing is really sexy anymore, langorous and you have to give it about 30 extra points when you realize how it's got a full, unique sound in a pop landscape where that is about as useful as the ability to play an instrument.

9) Shystie - New Style Remix
The mid-point breakdown with reversed vocals is perfect, just perfect. I want to send "Wish You Were Here" postcards from it.

8) King Kahn & the Shrines - Welfare Bread

Makes me want to own a stoop in Brooklyn in 1967.

7) Le Loup - Fear Not
A little bit folksy, a little bit ethereal, and [full disclosure of bias] one of the best things DC has going for it.

6) Tigercity - Powerstripe
This is such a welcome introduction to the record that follows - it warms you to a sound and a place that requires you to check your edge and cynicism at the door.

5) Miami Horror - Don't Be On With Her
"I keep thinking that if Justice was fun then this is what they’d sound like" - not my quote, but Bullseye!

4) Sunset Rubdown - The Mending of the Gown
"This one's for Maggieee. This one's for Sal." Perhaps the peak of the year.

3) LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
This one wins the Most Likely to Provoke Strong Feelings of Nostalgia In The Future Award.

2) Menomena - Wet & Rusting
Enjoying this song is like experiencing a novel, article or documentary whose strength comes from the integration of seemingly dissonant ideas. It's like a Pynchon novel or an early Godard film. And the video makes me cry a little.

1) The Knife - Heartbeats
I know it came out in '06, but shit if I'm not going to recognize one of the best songs ever. It's #2 on the All-Time list behind Naive Melody.

Other notable jams of 2007 in the comments...

Friday, December 14, 2007

Who We He Be

I think you can trace every strain of our generation to this:

It features reappropriation, reverence coupled to an irony-tinged distance, unabashed fondness for childhood and childish things, using coolness (here the canonization of the Talking Heads) as a foil for the haters while spectacularly geeking out, the dense layers of references one must understand to enjoy the media...
I don't know, am I taking this too far? I would appreciate voices of skepticism on my little theory.

Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists of People On Top Ten Lists.

Pitchfork, whose own top songs and albums lists will undoubtedly be out next Tuesday or Wednesday, today released its Guest List: Best of 2007 List. Basically, these are the top ten lists of all the musicians who will be on the aforementioned Pitchfork top songs and albums list in a few days.
In celebration of this orgy of self-reference I have entered the fray with my very own Top Ten List of Top Ten Lists of People On Top Ten Lists, using this morning's Pitchfork List as my source. Also, one thing I noticed is how few indie musicians listed In Rainbows.

1. Diplo
2. Vampire Weekend
3. Yeasayer
4. Annie Clark (of St. Vincent)
5. A-trak (despite having Justice on the list. also gets props for having the balls to list himself)
6. Bradford Cox
7. Dan Snaith (Caribou)
8. Axel Willner (The Field)
9. Bowerbirds
10. Noah Lennox (Panda Bear - not all music related, but still good).

*UPDATE*
For those still not getting enough lists, here is a list of Best of 2007 lists.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Misheard Lyric of the Year

"You can stand under my armed Beretta"
-heard by coolerdanu

It's That Rap Phenomenon

Why does Biggie freestyling over a Hitler mashup work so well? Are there any He-Physicists that can explain this to me?

(potentially NSFW, more likely just inappropriate. Wait, why the fuck are you reading the He Blog at work?)

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The White Stripes on Conan

I've never seen this live set of the White Stripes on Conan O'Brien and I'm very unhappy with myself for making that mistake

Friday, December 7, 2007

Robbie Williams - Goodbye To The Normals

what up, stein.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Seventy Minutes of Joy


You can download it here.
100 points for the cover riffing on the Judgment Night soundtrack. 'Spec to the genre's elders.

Thriller, 25th Anniversary



It's the 25th anniversary of the release of Thriller. No snark. No snobbery, justified or otherwise. I was fresh off the boat from Manila, when my parents got it for me--the first album I ever owned--and it's still a masterpiece.

The Grammy Nominations

This makes me want to riot.

Best New Artist
(For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.)
* Feist

[Commence Justified Snobbery]

Bonde Do Role - 'Marina Gasolina'

Thanks Mr. Whatevs for the heads up. Just keep watching. You will love it by the end.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Kleptones Bestival download

The Kleptones love you. And you. And you.

And since they do they're giving you an early Christmas present. Unless you're Jewish and then it's a Hanukkah present. Or African American and it's a Kwanzaa present.

Kleptones Bestival 2007 - A compilation of their favorite live sets from the 2007s

Indie Rock and Football

I know some of you may hate sports, but the section beginning at -4:04 uses Explosions In the Sky, so you have to watch it as a music video.


I think the music and slow motion in that segment really work to showcase the grace within so much speed and power.

Pimp C Found Dead in Hotel Room



RIP to the Prince of P.A.T.

R.I.P.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Fun Chart!

Hey He Man Zero:


He Man Woman Haters Podcast #5 (bonus track)

This was accidentally left out of the original podcast. The track is by Bonde Do Role and is called "Solta O Frango" and should be the second track on the HeCast. Our deepest He-apologies for this unfortunate oversight.

Bonde Do Role - Solta O Frango

(If you're subscribed to the podcast it will be downloaded the next time you refresh your podcatcher).

Sunday, December 2, 2007

He Man Woman Haters Podcast #5

He Men: Never on schedule, always on time.

We've put together our fifth He Man Woman Haters' podcast. This a big one. More than usual with tracks from seven different He Men. It's 26 fucking tracks. It's over an hour and a half. Fuck yes. FUCK. YES!

The whole thing can be downloaded directly via this link (download podcast episode #5).

Download the individual tracks as a ZIP file via this link (He Man Podcast #5 ZIP File).

Here's the track listing

01 Shout Out Louds - Time Left For Love
02 Bonde Do Role - Solta O Frango
03 Japanther - Seventy Nine
04 White Williams - Fleetwood Crack
05 John Maus - Do Your Best
06 The Wombats - Kill the director (CSS remix)
07 MGMT - Time to Pretend
08 Mum - They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded
09 Codebreaker-Exiled!
10 Tiger Tunes – Charlie
11 Pull Tiger Tail – Animator
12 Kid Sister - Pro Nails
13 Young Dro - How you do that
14 MF Doom - Wu Tang remix
15 Mr Fantastic & MF Doom - Rap Snitches
16 Ghostland Observatory - Sad Sad City
17 Figurines – Ambush
18 Feist - My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix)
19 Young Galaxy - Outside the City
20 Justin Timberlake VS Metronomy - Sexyback (Tyler Fedchuk mix)
21 My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallows
22 Flight Of The Conchords - If You're Into It
23 Purple Ribbon Allstars vs Broken Social Scene - Kryptonite (Certified Bananas remix)
24 Whitey - Wrap it up
25 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood (My!Gay!Husand! Redo)
26 Mazzy Star - Halah

If you'd like to subscribe to the RSS feed for the He Man Woman Haters so that you can get all of them, here are the links.

Subscribe to this Podcast


RSS Feed

Add to Googleaddtomyyahoo4subscribe in newsgator online


Click here to get your own player.