• The 2004 BBC dramedy, NY-LON, starring Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) and Stephen Moyer (True Blood) is now available on Hulu.  Highly recommended
• Marc Webb has been named the director of the new Spider-Man movie. How one goes from (500) Days of Summer to Spidey I do not know.
• U2 and Jay-Z Record Haiti Benefit Song. Why is Swizz Beats producing it?
• Part 1 of Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan’s super-long interview with the producers of Lost, Carton Cuse and Damon Lindeof
• The New Yorker did a profile on one of my favorite writers ever, Neil Gaiman
• Who wants to buy me this t-shirt?
• NPR’s Monkey See Blgo explores the battle between buying single-issues of comics versus buying the trade collections. Personally, I can’t break my habit. My expensive, expensive habit.
• The 100 Cheesiest Movie Quotes of All Time
• Tom Caruana made this Wu-Tang/Beatles mash-up, Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers. It sounded like a horrible idea but turned out pretty good.  Download before Apple Corp kills it.
• Slate has come with a great idea for a follow-up to MTV’s Jersey Shore. Massholes.
• The Onion’s AV Club has inducted Requiem For A Dream into its “New Cult Canon”. Maybe it’s time to finally rewatch that movie.
• The Wall Street Journal looks at creative decision to end Lost after six seasons.

Has no relevance to the song but the visuals are great.

15. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion

14. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati

13. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3

12. The Swell Season – Strict Joy

11. St. Vincent – Actor

10. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II

9. The Gossip – Music for Men

8. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

7. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

6. The Temper Trap – Conditions

5. Me’Shell Ndegéocello – Devil’s Halo

4. Tegan and Sara – Sainthood

3. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

1. Metric – Fantasies

I’m going to revive the Mixtape For No One to showcase some of my favorite songs of 2009.  These are the hip-hop/R&B tracks.

1. “Never Forget You”  by Noisettes (Wild Young Hearts)
2. “The Power That Kisses Hold” by Eric Roberson (Music Fan First)
3. “Cold” by Maxwell (BLACKsummersnight)
4. “Fortune” by Little Dragon (Machine Dreams)
5. “Successful” (Featuring Trey Songz And Lil’ Wayne) by Drake (So Far Gone)
6. “Lola” by Me’Shell Ndegéocello (Devil’s Halo)
7. “Kinda Like A Big Deal” (feat. Kanye West) by Clipse (Til The Casket Drops)
8. “Casa Bey” by Mos Def (The Ecstatic)
9. “House Of Flying Daggers” (feat. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface & Method Man) by Raekwon (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II)
10. “Maybach Music 2″ (feat. T-Pain, Lil Wayne & Kanye West) by Rick Ross (Deeper Than Rap)
11. “Errbody Scream” (Featuring Keith Murray) by Method Man & Redman (Blackout! 2)
12. “Tour Stories” by Souls Of Mischief (Montezuma’s Revenge)
13. “So Damn Down” by Tanya Morgan (Brooklynati)
14. “Thank You” by Jay-Z (The Blueprint 3)

A couple of notes:

• Just a reminder, I am not saying these are the 50 BEST albums in the last decade, these are the ones I am most fond of
• Apparently my best years for music was 2000 and 2002 as nine albums from each year made the list.
• Nothing released this year made the list and only two albums from 2008
• Only Jay-Z and Radiohead have more than one album on the list (unless you count Jenny Lewis twice for her solo and Rilo Kiley)

In Alphabetical Order:

1. About A Boy by Badly Drawn Boy (2002)
2. Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo by Aimee Mann (2000)
3. Back to Black by Amy Winehouse (2006)
4. The Black Album by Jay-Z (2003)
5. The Blueprint by Jay-Z (2001)
6. Colour the Small One by Sia (2004)
7. The Con by Tegan and Sara (2007)
8. The Crane Wife by The Decemberists (2006)
9. The Documentary by The Game (2005)
10. Donuts by J Dilla (2006)
11. Fantastic, Vol. 2 by Slum Village (2000)
12. Fever to Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)
13. The Fix by Scarface (2002)
14. FutureSex/LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake (2006)
15. Gang of Losers by The Dears (2006)
16. Heavier Things by John Mayer (2003)
17. Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack by Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
18. Hold on Now, Youngster… by Los Campesinos! (2008)
19. In Between by Jazzanova (2002)
20. In Rainbows by Radiohead (2007)
21. In Search Of… by N*E*R*D (2002)
22. Instant Vintage by Raphael Saddiq (2002)
23. Kid A by Radiohead (2000)
24. Late Registration by Kanye West (2005)
25. Lewis II by Lewis Taylor (2000)
26. Like Water for Chocolate by Common (2000)
27. The Listening by Little Brother (2003)
28. Lord Willin’ by Clipse (2002)
29. Mama’s Gun by Erykah Badu (2002)
30. Marry Me by St. Vincent (2007)
31. More Adventurous by Rilo Kiley (2004)
32. O by Damien Rice (2002)
33. Once soundtrack by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová/Interference (2007)
34. Philadelphia Freeway by Freeway (2003)
35. Plans by Death Cab For Cutie (2005)
36. Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins (2006)
37. The Reminder by Feist (2007)
38. Restless Times by Clara Hill (2004)
39. Rock Me by Platnum (2005)
40. A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay (2002)
41. Silent Alarm by Bloc Party (2005)
42. Simple Things by Zero 7 (2001)
43. Stankonia by Outkast (2000)
44. Subject by Dwele (2003)
45. Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah (2000)
46. Third by Portishead (2008)
47. Urban Legend by T.I. (2004)
48. Vespertine by Björk (2001)
49. Voodoo by D’Angelo (2000)
50. Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 by Jill Scott (2000)

Now the hardest of them all: 50 Favorite Movies

That’s pretty hot

“Without a soundtrack, human interaction is meaningless.”
— Chuck Klosterman

The rules are simple. I’m going to put my iPod on shuffle and write about the first 10 songs that play.  Some of these will be really stupid or have nothing to do with the song but hey, who doesn’t like to hear me go off on a tangent.

“Give Me Back My Heart Attack” by Land of Talk: I got introduced to Land of Talk thanks to Last.fm My Recommendations radio station. One day someone borrowed my iPod chord so I chose to give Last.fm a shot.  Land of Talk was one of two bands that I added to my iPod.  The other being Eisley.

“Scatterheart” by Björk: “All the hurt in the world/You know/There’s nothing I’d love to do more/Than spare you from that burden/It’s gonna be hard/If I only could/Shelter you/From that pain/Just to make it easier on you” This is from Selmasongs: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack Dancer in the Dark and this is the song to her son. I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone.  Dancer in the Dark is one of the movies I can count on one hand that legitimately made me cry but that’s a story for another day.

“Lost+ (feat. Jay-Z)” by Coldplay: I like Coldplay. I love Jay-Z. But this doesn’t really work for me (although Jay’s verse seems weird considering MJ’s passing: “With the same sword they knight you, they gon’ good night you with/Shit, that’s only half if they like you/That ain’t even the half what they might do/Don’t believe me, ask Michael”). I know that Chris Martin, Jay-Z and Gwynth Paltrow are great friends but I think they should stay away from each other’s musical endeavors

“Linger” by The Cranberries: I remember when I saw Click starring Adam Sandler a few years ago and in one scene where he’s in like the year 2030 and the band sings “Linger” at his son’s wedding.  The first thought I had was “You’re telling me that in 2030 ‘Linger’ is going to be a song that everyone recognizes at a wedding?” Even a movie that involves a remote control that allows you to fast-forward through your life, I thought that was a bit of a stretch.  Still love the song though.

“You” by R. Kelly: This was from a bootleg version of R.Kelly’s Loveland album that leaked while he was going through his case.  Too bad it got bootlegged because it contained some of the best music that illiterate pedophile ever made.  Some of it ended up on The Chocolate Factory album and some he gave to other artist like Joe and Carl Thomas. Honestly, I’m embarrassed how many R.Kelly songs I have on my iPod.

“House Party (I Don’t Know What You Came To Do)” by Tony! Toni! Toné!: This is from the House Party II soundtrack and is probably one of the funkiest songs Tony! Toni! Toné! ever did.  It makes me want to do the running man in my pajamas.

“Give It Away” by Red Hot Chill Peppers: Wow. This is the third song from my high school days.  Strangely enough, I wasn’t a big fan of the Chill Peppers. I liked Under The Bridge but that’s about it.  Then they were in Ice Cube’s “Wicked” video and though they must be cool.

“Slide Show (featuring John Legend) by T.I.: From his last album “Paper Trail”.  The album should have been called “I’m Going To Jail. Please Miss Me While I’m Gone.” 2Pac did this better with Me Against The World

“Imitation of Life” by R.E.M.: One of the few post 90’s R.E.M. songs I like.  I remember it more for the music video than anything else.

“Get By” by Talib Kweli: Ah, the days when Kanye West was just an upcoming producer with (mainstream and underground hip-hop creds) on the rise and not the Gay Fish he is now. Also, the days when I thought Talib Kweli would be a solid solo artist.  Oh well.  This makes my think back to the 03′ Okayplayer reunion when we all sang this together when it came on the radio. Fun times.

Until next time…

With the same sword they knight you, they gon' good night you with
Shit, that's only half if they like you
That ain't even the half what they might do
Don't believe me, ask Michael

Well, that’s another one off “The List”…

So Bill IMs me on Thursday night asking me if I wanted a free ticket to this Jay-Z rehearsal show on Saturday to which I said “of course” (this may seem like a nice interaction but Bill asked me in a more dickhead-like way and, later, took one of my tickets away from me because he thought I was one of the people who he didn’t think was possible to get someone to go with them…in case you are wondering why I didn’t ask anyone to go to me).

So, Saturday, after I went to the movies (Click) with friends, I decided to make my way to the Nokia theater. Doors opened at 8:30 and I got there like 7:10. The line started forming but there could not have been more than 40 people ahead of me and I was like “Cool”. I put on my iPod and started reading some comic books.

Rule #1, 5 and 17 of Waiting on Line: If you don’t want someone to join you in line or don’t feel comfortable letting someone cut in line, no eye contact. That’s why I brought the comic books. Someone who joined me in line that I didn’t mind did not adhere to this rule which not only allowed 4 people to join us in line but those 4 people got in to the theater before us.

No matter, we got a really good spot at the stairway to the right of the stage.

Now that was 8:45 PM.

?uestlove had a really good DJ set where he played a lot of sampled soul records.

And that was cool.

For an hour.

Although by 2 and half hours later, I was ready to go outside and scalp my ticket.

When the show finally started at 11:15 (!), the curtains pulled back and there was Jay-Z, ?uestlove and the Illadelphonics and a fucking orchestra. Nice!

Jay-Z went through all the songs on Reasonable Doubt (celebrating the 10th anniversary of it’s release) and hit us with the sequel to “22 Two’s”, “44 Four’s”, which was really hot.

Memphis Bleek and Sauce Money (who has gained at least 125 pounds and should go by the moniker of “Extra Sauce Money” or “BBQ Sauce Money”) did their verses. I was expecting (hoping) that Mary J. Blige (“Can’t Knock The Hustle”) or Foxy Brown (“Ain’t No N!gga”) would come out for their parts or Nas would do the chorus of “Dead Presidents” (although he was in the VIP section) but it wasn’t to be. It was only a rehearsal (Genius idea btw, charge $100 dollars for tickets but by calling it a rehearsal you are not guranteeing the quality of the performance).

After he finished those tracks and the band and orchestra left the stage, Jay & Memphis Bleek did a good set of snippets of Jay-Z’s hits which got the crowd amped. He could have gone on all night long. The only thing that sucked is when he did your favorite song, he would cut it off and move quickly on to the next.

All and all, it was a great night.

Thanks for the tickets, ?uest…sigh…and Bill. Now if ?uest would just get good enough to be on Prince’s band so we can get some free tickets to his shows.

Two side notes:

1. The only rappers who can do a show like this — i.e. number and quality of songs — are Jay-Z, Outkast, Run DMC (although DMC can’t perform anymore) and LL Cool J (but LL would probably ruin it by doing songs released after Mr. Smith). I’m sure I’m missing someone but I doubt it.
2. Seeing Jay-Z Saturday took him off “The List of People I would Like to See Perform While They Are Still Relevant”. I’ve seen Prince, Omar, Lewis Taylor, D’Angelo & Me’Shell Ndegeocello. I’m going to see Fiona Apple on July 25th which would leave me with Outkast and Radiohead.