Download & Unload: New Music Edition

Kind of a “do, date, dump” …… but for music.

Unload:
Love Lockdown, Kayne West
His new single with a similar techno effect of the Daft Punk hit “Stronger” only not as much pop in it. I still expect big things for his album due out in December.

Download:
Self Esteem, Nelly
Off his new record 'Brass Knuckles,' it is the only track somewhat reminiscent of Country Grammar, one of my all time favorite albums. The record, which was released on 9/16/08, has tons of collabs: Ashanti, Akon, Usher, Fergie, Snoop, Ciara and Pharrell, but the tracks all sound like cookie cutter hip hop. Ok, I kind of dig “Body On Me” too... and I have every intention of dragging someone with me to see him at my favorite venue in the city: House of Blues: 10/7/08.


Unload:
Guilty As Charged, Gym Class Heroes
The general sound quality does it for me, however the lyrics are overdone and generic: “Guilty on all charges for the dopest album of the year.” Sadly, my favorite part of their new album, 'The Quilt,' is The Dream’s hook in “Cookie Jar.” But, I will rest well knowing that both tracks will be shamelessly overplayed by every radio station in the nation for the next four to six months.

Download:
Brothers On a Hotel Bed, Death Cab for Cutie (Live from Las Vegas at the Palms)
Soothing, reliable Death Cab music. Will make a note to add it to my next rainy day mix.

I love Coors even more, if that's possible.

As an adamant Coors drinker, I was pretty stoked when those guys came up with the cold-activated bottles that alert me that my beer is cold, even when I can’t feel feelings for myself any longer. I really didn’t think things could get any better until I saw this article: Attorney generals from 25 states are asking MillerCoors to scratch plans for a new alcoholic energy drink called Sparks Red, which would contain as much as eight percent alcohol by volume.

“The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest’s filed a lawsuit Sept. 8 over the alcoholic energy drink, arguing it encourages binge drinking, underage drinking, drunken driving and sexual assaults.”

..... it’s like blaming the mirror for being ugly.

Loving. Loathing. Listening.

Loving:
Getting a pedicure while flipping through ESPN and Spin magazines... My piggys are now painted Windy City Pretty.

Loathing:
The Crystal Method Nike + Original Drive running mix I downloaded recently. The thought behind this being that the continuous mix would provide me 45 minutes of not having to worry about what song I wanted to hear next while working out. I was very wrong.

Listening:
Dammit, Blink 182
After an "And I'll smile and you'll wave," run-in this afternoon, I think I might have listened to this song ten times in a row.

Download:

Neighbors, The Academy Is...

Forbes hates "Chicago, Ill"...Attempts to discredit a classic Sinatra number

All-knowing Forbes Magazine ranked the Windy City as the number one most stressful place to live in America this week, effectively tarnishing the whole "Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago," thing we've got going on around here thanks to Ol' Frankie Blue Eyes.

In my opinion, anyone who would put San Francisco and San Diego on an "America's Most Stressful Cities" list is seriously deranged. Californians living in beach towns don't really strike me as tense people.

My favorite part of Chicago's synopsis was the writer's use of term "Molotov cocktail." Sounds like someone went to an upstanding university. Too bad they missed the class that covered proper state abbreviations (Hint: They have only two letters, both capital).

Loving. Loathing. Listening.

Loving:
Spin Magazine’s September article on the Gym Class Heroes. I happen to find Travie extremely charming, but maybe a little bit less so now that he is dating Katy Perry.



Loathing:
The Colt’s Lucas Oil Stadium. It looks like a whitehead in aerial shots.


Listening:
Ruby, Kaiser Chiefs

TRL to fans: "It's not you, it's me."

After ten years on the air, MTV's Total Request Live is saying goodbye this November, citing the show "Isn't gone for good, but just taking a rest." Yeah, I've heard the "We need a break" line before... and I’m still waiting for that guy to call.

Their "next-gen" rebound show will be hosted by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, which leaves me wondering if Wentz’s puny head could possibly fill the void of Carson Daly's gigantic noggin.

“This is for Mike and Papa Bear Halas.”

- The Superbowl Shuffle, 1985 Chicago Bears

My co-worker, who also works in sound production for ESPN Radio, meets my Chicago sports idols on a tri-weekly basis, so he scored me an Adewale Ogunleye personalized autograph today. And last week he brought me Devin Hester's...

Kind of makes my bringing homemade blueberry muffins to the office today seem trite.

Loving. Loathing. Listening.

Loving:
The new Genius Sidebar feature on itunes, because even I get lazy. It's kind of like eharmony for my music; matching together all the songs that have good chemistry. And anyways, those 'itunes essentials' playlists were obviously compiled by eighth grade hipsters.

Loathing:












The new ipod nano, but only because it’s cheap and cool as hell and I don’t have it yet. The shake to shuffle feature almost had me maxing out my credit card. Will have to suffer until my next pay check without one.

Listening:
Playing Favorites (Acoustic version), The Starting Line.
A rediscovered favorite.

Rainy Day Compilation

Since severe thunderstorms and flooding (not to mention a declared, official state of emergency) have kept me indoors for the past two days, I decided to spend some quality time reacquiring music lost to the great computer crash of 2007 as well as updating my playlists. So, in honor of my compulsory productivity, I believe I may have compiled the perfect rainy day compilation...

1. Razor, Foo Fighters
2. What If You, Joshua Radin
3. Holiday in Spain, Counting Crows
4. Rewind, Paolo Nutini
5. No Rain, Blind Melon
6. Snow, Red Hot Chili Peppers
7. Look After You, The Fray
8. M79, Vampire Weekend
9. The Thanks I Get, Wilco
10. The Way We Get By, Spoon
11. When I Look to the Sky, Train
12. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
13. Tears and Rain, James Blunt
14. Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby, Counting Crows
15. Till Kingdom Come, Coldplay
16. Starting Now, Ingrid Michaelson
17. Bruised, Ben Folds Five