HALLOWEEN A to Z!

Posted on October 31st, 2009 by ekko

It is time for Halloween! And I haven’t done an A to Z post in like forever, so, two birds, one post. You get the idea. As always, a zip file is hidden, lurking creepily in the shadows below.

A is for Arctic Monkeys-Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But… I loved this band’s first album. Their stuff went progressively downhill, but none of of it sucks.

B is for Ben Gibbard-Thriller (Michael Jackson cover). A classic. All the cool blogs will have it this time of year.

C is for Candyland Part 3-Soul Position. Soul Position is RJD2 and Blueprint, and this song is cool because BP rattles off more candy brands in two minutes than I could name in twenty minutes.

D is for Dracula’s Cigarette-Spoon. Gotta have Drac in a Halloween post!

E is for Eminem-Nothin’ To Do (feat Bad Meets Evil). Vintage Em. Back when he had the eye of the tiger, fire in the belly, and violence on his mind. His stuff as half of Bad Meets Evil stuff was great. It’s sad what happened between him and Royce Da 5’9″.

F is for Fearless (Pink Floyd cover)-Mary Lou Lord. Any excuse to post Mary Lou. Such a great voice.

G is for Gail Swanson-Sympathy For The Devil (The Rolling Stones). Sympathy is my favorite song about Satan. What’s yours?

H is for Heartless Bastards-Searching for the Ghost.

I is for Is There a Ghost?-Band of Horses

J is for J-Live-Vampire Hunter J. J-Live: One of the most underrated underground rappers around. Great flow, witty rhymes . . . You need some J-Live in your goodie bag this year.

K is for King Kong-Tom Waits.

L is for La Lamentor, the title of Weinland’s great album that has this song: The Devil In Me.

M is for Monster-MF Doom & Trunks. Haven’t been able to find a legit copy of this EP anywhere, but I advise all of you to try to find it. It came out last year, and it’s about as good as rap gets.

N is for nothing. Because We Have Nothing To Fear Except Death Itself-Detective Kalita. DK’s Michael Parks album is one of my favorite indie records of all time. Absolute genius. Part Neil Young, part Flaming Lips, part gentle, beautiful singer-songwriter compositions, and all wonderful.

O is for One (Blake’s Got A New Face) [Vampire Weekend Cover] Mystery Jets and Natty. So, the vampire reference makes it a Halloween tune, but the “new face” chorus, well, that’s Halloween, too, innit?

P is for The Postmarks-Every Day is Halloween.

Q is for Quoth the Raven, Nevermore, a rendition by Buddy Morrow and His Orchestra.

R is for Ryan Adams-Halloweenhead (direct link).

S is for Sunshine Superman (Donovan cover)-Husker Du. Superman isn’t strictly Halloween, but it’s close. And it’s so cool to have found this cover.

T is for Thriller-Petra Haden. Great cover.

U is for under the weather. If you’re sick, why not stay home and rent all the Halloween flicks, back-to-back? Halloween-John Carpenter.

V is for the underrated rappers Vizion and Vakill-Man Into Monster.

W is for Wilco-Don’t Fear the Reaper.

X is for Xentrix’s cover of Ghostbusters.

Y is for your zip file right here. Usually, I hate it when a big kid comes and takes all the candy while I’m out, when I left the bag on the stoop and all. But a virtual candy sack? Come one, come all!

Z is for Zombie! (Follow the link for a bunch of tunes!)

Tags: A to Z, Covers, Hip Hop, Horror, Monkeys, Zombies

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Posted on October 31st, 2009 by ekko

Big post coming later today. For now . . .

A few free “treats”:

Close Encounters-Fire For Effect (Direct link from their new EP.)

Israeli collective Soulico has a free mixtape you’ll find here (direct download, single mp3).

Tags: Halloween, Hip Hop, Mixtape, Picture of the day

EVERYBODY’S TALKIN . . .

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by ekko

1. CD has updated his list of the greatest zombie songs ever, in time for Halloween.

2. It pays to browse the live music archive. It was there that I found an EP by a band called “InHuman Project.” It’s an interesting industrial/noise recording. Direct download the whole thing here.

3. I also found this cool cover by Charlotte Martin. Obstacle #1-(Interpol cover) (direct download).

4. Passion of the Weiss pays tribute to Dam Funk, a retro-sounding new artist. Check out the cool hip new tunes here.

5. “Nightmare on Seven Street” is the new mixtape by G. Malone, featuring guest spots by Game Snoop Dogg, Bow Wow, and Xzibit. He’s West Coast gangsta, and this guest roster is all guys who were a lot better 5-15 years ago . . . But this tape is pretty damn good. Git it!

6. The “Best Songs/Albums/Artists of the decade” lists have begun in earnest. Some are good, some aren’t. I was thinking of doing one myself, but I don’t think I will. It’s way too hard to pick out 10 or 20 albums that best represent 10 years of music.

What do you guys think? Should I do one?

7. Tahiti 80 have a new song out for download (direct link). I’ve got a soft spot for these cute nerds.

Tags: Covers, Go away, Hip Hop, Mixtape

PICTURE OF THE DAY: Prelude to Halloween

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by ekko

Tags: Halloween, Picture of the day

Coolest. Twitterer. Ever.

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by ekko

A few sample quotes:

“You worry too much. Eat some bacon… What? No, I got no idea if it’ll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon.”
“The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain’t like he knows the cure for cancer and he just ain’t spitting it out.”

“Son, people will always try and fuck you. Don’t waste your life planning for a fucking, just be alert when your pants are down.”

“Jesus Christ, Just give the dog his fucking food. Why’s he gotta do a trick first? YOU don’t have to do shit before YOU eat.”

“I turn the kitchen faucet on and the shower burns you, yes, I get it…No, I’m not gonna stop, I’m just saying yes, I get that concept.”

“Anytime someone sells you food in a sack, it’s not a sack of food, it’s a sack of shit.”

“It’s just a fucking june bug, calm down. Jesus Christ, what happens when something bigger than a testicle attacks you?”

All from “Shit My Dad Says.” (link)

PICTURE OF THE DAY: Halloween prelude edition

Posted on October 29th, 2009 by ekko

While you’re here, go here for a copy of all of Pearl Jam’s albums. . . Live! Very awesome.

Tags: Halloween, Picture of the day

YOUR WEEKLY SUPERNEWS BLURBS: T.V., COMICS AND MOVIES

Posted on October 29th, 2009 by ekko

1. Batman: The Brave and the Bold. If you have kids and you’re not watching Cartoon Network’s, “Batman; The Brave & The Bold,” you’re a bad parent. Yes, it’s a little campy (just like the “Batman!” show of the 1960s), but that’s part of its charm: A superhero cartoon . . . for kids! An increasingly rare commodity these days. The second season began with an OMAC episode, and promises an Outsiders appearance, guests like Hawk and Dove, and, get this, a musical. Produced by James “Animaniacs” Tucker, this show proves what has been the rules for years: D.C. does good kids supertoons, Marvel does good superflicks. There are a few exceptions—D.C. is doing a good job with it’s DVD animated movies (Green Lantern, Public Enemies, etc.) and Marvel’s “Kid Avengers” DVD was quite good. But on the whole, kids cartoons are better with Bats and Supes.

2. D.C.’s best writer, Geoff Johns, has publicly affirmed that he is working not only a Smallville episode (which I blogged about last week), but also movie versions of Flash and Shazam. And as for that Smallville, ep, it’s been confirmed that it will feature Hawkman (with a big-ass mace), Dr. Fate, and Stargirl. It will be directed by Glen Winter, who was behind last year’s great “Legion of Super Heroes” ep. Hopes climb ever higher . . .

3. And just so it isn’t all D.C. news: I guess lots of folks already knew this, but I didn’t—a film based on the great indie book “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is currently filming with a 2010 release date, and it stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Chris Evans. Cera is certainly a good sign . . .

4. Anybody out there reading the new Brubaker/Epting book, “Marvels Project”? If not, check it out. It tells the tales of the first Race For A Super Human. In this retelling of the early history of the Marvel U, there’s an “arms race” between Hitler and FDR over who will create the first superhuman. Yeah, we all know that the U.S. wins and creates Cap, but along the way we see very cool reimaginings of the early years of the first Human Torch, why Sub Mariner hates humans (Nazis destroyed Atlantis tortured him as part of their arms race, natch!), and we get to see Nick Fury form the Howling Commandos. For fans of old Marvel Comics or those with only passing knowledge of its history, this book should be required reading. What are y’all thinking of it?

5. If you’re not reading Marvels Project, what about the new Geoff Johns Superboy/Legion vehicle, Adventure Comics? Personally, I haven’t liked a Superboy comic since . . . ever. Let alone one about black T-Shirt s-boy. I hated Crisis and so I didn’t read the Crisis/Legion book where they brought Conner back from the dead, so I don’t know that backstory, but, happily, I don’t need to. Johns has made Conner Kent real—just as he was during Johns’ Teen Titans run—and Krypto has never has never been better, either. Superboy’s struggle between his mixed genetic parentage (he’s the test-tube offspring of Superman and Luthor) is handled well, even if I personally don’t believe that evil is an inherited trait. My only problem with this book is the second feature. As someone who hasn’t read about the Legion of Super Heroes in about 15 years, I need a little more story than what I’m getting here. Each issue, we get just a flavor—a sliver of a story—and it’s too difficult to get to know the character, let alone understand the complicated back story. However, this last issue had a great, short Legion feature, so maybe that’s improving. And the main feature, Superboy talking heart to heart with Tim Drake for the first time since Conner found out that his gal Cassie was forming the beast with two backs with his former best friend, was terrific. Who knew a comic book that was mostly just a conversation could be so captivating? A perfect marriage of dialog and art.

6. A book I don’t see too much being written about is Chris Claremont’s “X-Men Forever.” The guys at my store don’t like the book much, but I’ve been enjoying it. Yeah, Claremont is still a little wordy—he really likes to spell everything out in excruciatingly detailed captions and forced dialog—but few people have had better plots and stories to tell. I’m anxious to see what he does with Colossus’ solo-superhero adventure, coming up in 2 issues (after Wolverine’s funeral). Any of you reading it?

7. And what about the upcoming Siege? The hype and chatter is full on. I’ve read several interviews with both Bendis and Queseda, and both assure that after this miniseries The Avengers (all three books) will change dramatically. I hope so. When I was a kid, Avengers was my favorite book, hands down, largely because I got to see most of Marvel’s coolest dudes fighting a lot. Dark Avengers is a bunch of B-list villains (and Venom). Mighty Avengers is a bunch of B-list heroes. And New Avengers is probably worth reading, but I haven’t had time to begin to crack open the large stack of trades by my bed. Since all three books sell pretty well, I doubt they’ll be returning to a single flagship book, but I hope there’s at least a central Avengers book that brings together Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to fight World Threatening Menaces. That’s what the book has been about when it was at its best. Marvel’s creative and editorial staff have also been reassuring everyone (like me) with event fatigue that Siege will be self-contained. There will be a few tie-ins, but you only need to buy Siege. That’s how Marvel did World War Hulk. Lots of books tied in, but only WWH was a necessary buy. It’s also how D.C. is handling Blackest Night. I hope they are true to their word.

Tags: Comic books, Movies, Superheroes

JAY KIN-On the Humble (Mixtape)

Posted on October 29th, 2009 by ekko

http://www.myspace.com/jaykin

If you’re going to name your record “On the Humble” you damn well better have a sense of humor. And lucky for him, Jay Kin does. Lucky for us, too, because on his latest bootleg, Jay Kin offers deft lyricism. This is a mixtape of the “before the album” stripe, so there’s a lot of spoken bits between tracks that remind us that Jay’s got a record coming and we should buy it and all, but Jay Kin is so damn charming that they’re all worth listening to. And DJ Seko’s beats are hot as well. Oh, and he’s from Vancouver. But don’t hold that against him.

Get it here.

Taste it:

On the Humble

That’s My Werd video: