FunJunkie's Summer Burn 2010, Part the Second

The Missus was more than kind enough to help me put together the covers for these mixtape masterpieces last night, so they're en route to recipients in far off lands even now. Part of the experience of FunJunkie's annual Summer Burn, you see, is the case itself.

Last year, i went shitty and just used iTunes auto-jewel-case-cover-program, which is pretty plebeian on its own. Of course, that was the year i exchanged with some graphic designer who sent me this lush, handmade piece with silk screening and the whole nine yards. So this year, i returned to my fourth grade collaging skills for the cover (pictured here) and even bought some nifty program at Best Buy that was supposed to be the shit's tits, but the paper fucked up my printer. Long story short if it's not too late already, The Missus came through like a champ, so they actually looked like they were made by more than a drunken goat herder.

If you enjoyed yesterday's foray into the mind of Uncle Terrible's summer mix mentality, here's some more of the same. Only infinitely different.

mp3: All Talk (ft. LCD Soundsystem and Christian Bale) (Kid Cudi from his website)

mp3: Lately Troisieme (Memoryhouse also from their site)

mp3: The Curse (Josh Ritter from So Runs the World Away)

mp3: Laughing with a Mouthful of Blood (St. Vincent from Actor)

mp3: Exile (Enya from Watermark)

mp3: Getting to Know You (ft. Lilla D'mone) (Alex B from Moments)

mp3: Shutterbug (Big Boi from Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty)

mp3: Ain't No Sunshine (Bill Withers from Just As I Am)

mp3: Eat Boiled Peanutz (ft. Buttafly) (Digital Underground from "...Cuz a DU Party Don't Stop!")

mp3: Today's Your Day (ft. Chalin 2na) (Fatlip from The Loneliest Punk)

mp3: Smokin' Cheeba Cheeba (George Benson and the Harlem Underground Band from Erotic Moods)

mp3: I Heart California (Admiral Radley from I Heart California)

mp3: Heavy Deeds (Sun Araw from Heavy Deeds)

Video Vixens: All Sorts of New to Newish Stuff

i've been meaning to do a Video Vixens post for a while now, even having gone so far as to compile a list of things i've watched lately that i wanted to share. As i've mentioned in the past, MTV lost anything resembling relevance to me decades ago, and so i wrongly assumed that videos were dead, too. Au contraire, mon frere. Seems nothing could be further from the truth. As long as we're sticking to the truth, however, i should probably point out that i've lost that aforementioned list, so there probably are a couple of gems i wanted you to see that now may never come to pass. Try not to lose any sleep over that fact.

Die Antwoord apparently is a "fake" band, but regardless of that fact, they've actually got a pretty decent sound. Their angle is that they're a South African hip hop group, clearly playing up the "inner city" side, so if you don't understand half of what they're saying and you don't happen to be South African yourself, there you have it. That being said, who else out there it touting their ninja-ness in this day and age? Not nearly enough folks. And is it just me, or does Yo-Landi Vi$$er (the borderline albino singer) have a lil' sumfin sumfin going on?

mp3: Enter the Ninja (Die Antwoord from $0$)

i've always dug St. Vincent, and i still feel bad that i slept so much on her Actor, which clearly is a stellar piece of work. Here she is with the wonderful THUNDERANT, getting her bookstore groove on.

mp3: Laughing With a Mouth of Blood (St. Vincent from Actor)

Dude, it's a love story with Ronald McDonald. And it's a kick ass tune. 'Nuff said.

mp3: When I'm With You (Best Coast from Black Iris 7")

Clearly, the most fucked up video you will see today. Well, maybe. It's good to see Janeane Garofalo working again, though. Not for the faint of heart. Or crotch, for that matter.

mp3: We Are Water (Health from Get Color)

José James is a jazz singer who recently teamed up with Wunder-Producer Flying Lotus. Yes, the following is a K-Swiss commercial, but this track is so damn smooth, it had to be shared. Plus, maybe you need new shoes. i don't know. i'm just trying to be helpful.

mp3: Blackmagic (José James from Blackmagic)

A lot of people thought Q-Tip's last joint was pretty good, but i didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips. This track with Norah Jones, though, was out-of-the-park fantastic. The video's not too shabby, either.

mp3: Life is Better (Q-Tip ft. Norah Jones from The Renaissance)

You really liked that fucked up Health one, didn't you? Who am i to deny the sick bastard in each of us? i pity the fool that would even try to pull that shit.

mp3: Theme from the A-Team (Mike Post and Pete Carpenter from The A-Team Soundtrack)

No music in today's closer, but it's something to think about nonetheless, particularly if you're trying to figure out what your kid's school play should be next year. And that's the fudging truth, baby.

mp3: A Children's Crusade on Acid (Margot and the Nuclear So and So's from Not Animal)

The Funniest Sacrilegious Easter Mix You Will Ever Hear

Yes, i'm a couple of days early for the return of Undead Jesus, but tomorrow my office decided to use its floating holiday, so i just may drag my ass out to somewhere fun that may or may not have Internet connectivity. As such, i wanted to get this post in before the holiday had passed.

That's right, children, gather round for the Funniest Sacrilegious Easter Mix You Will Ever Hear.

Side note: if you read as many music blogs as i do, you may well be familiar with Pop Tarts Suck Toasted. While a wonderful source for snagging a lot of brand new mp3s, you might have noticed a very familiar post there today. Coincidence that more than half his list of Top 10 Zombie tracks already were posted in The Greatest Zombie Mix You Will Ever Hear series and a few others were just different tracks by groups we pointed out? You make the call.

Uncle Terrible: taking ownership of the world's most spread fruit cakes and talking trash to strangers for the attention it brings.

mp3: Easter (Bill Hicks from Rant in E Minor)

mp3: Eggs (The Marx Brothers from A Night at the Opera)

mp3: Jesus is Resurrected (Reduced Shakespeare Company from The Bible: The Complete Word Of God (Abridged) )

mp3: Jesus Saves, I Spend (St. Vincent from Marry Me)

mp3: The Rabbit of Seville (Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra from Bugs Bunny on Broadway!)

mp3: Jesus Ranch (Demo) (Tenacious D from D Fun Pack)

mp3: Chocolate Jesus (Tom Waits from Mule Variations)

Live Review: St. Vincent @ the Black Cat, Washington, D.C., May 22, 2009

I feel obligated to preface this review with the fact that I'm a pretty big fan of Annie Clark, the brains, voice, beauty and being of St. Vincent.

With that out of the way, can I say this was one of the worst concerts I've ever attended? Acoustically, damn near nothing went right for then entire hour-plus Ms. Clark played. The root of the problem seemed to revolve around the fact that the house sound guy simply didn't know what to do with Clark's exceptionally quiet voice. Add that to the fact that the audience was in a rare state of assholery, making so much noise as to effectively drown out half or more of the lyrics for damn near every song. I mean, seriously, even the guy at the merch table was talking so loud I could hear him from six feet away.

I simply cannot understand why anyone would pay good money to go listen to a band, only to yap through the entirety of the gig. Damn ass hats.

Interesting enough, NPR streamed the entire performance. I'm just listening to it myself now, and it already sounds much better than it did live. Clearly, her proximity to the mic is paramount to digging the live show. Sadly, some people simply sound superior on wax than they do live. It would appear, on this night at least, that St. Vincent falls clearly into that category.

mp3: Actor Out of Work

Singles Club: St. Vincent

Have you heard the new St. Vincent single, "The Strangers", yet? It's from Actor, due out this May. I've got to say, I kind of like it, just a little bit. Annie Clark sounds like she's remained true to the sound her glorious debut, Marry Me , but seems to have updated things, slightly as well. Ms. Clark's ethereal vocals play marvelously against a backdrop of lush, lightly tinged electronica and odd instrumentation, creating quite the sonic palette.

I understand the CD was in part inspired by her viewing of classic Disney movies, and I'd like to say for the record, I'm all for her scoring the next Grimm bastardization.

Since you were kind enough to stop by here to get your St. Vincent fix, how about a little something extra, too? Here's St. Vincent's take on the Beatles classic, live at Ft. Worth Modern.

mp3: The Strangers

mp3: Dig a Pony