Well yesterday was Labor Day so it marks the end of Summer for many people in the US. However, I’m about 3 days behind on posts because I took a short trip over the weekend and didn’t post. So here are two summer classics to round out summer with.

Don Henley – Boys of Summer [YSI]

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Drifters – Under The Boardwalk [YSI]

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(Media Fire was down at time of posting. Those links will be up ASAP)

Felt like spicing it up today with a little comedic music from Jack Black and Kyle Gass. I actually really like their song “Kielbasa” for its musicality. And “Explosivo,” well it’s “Explosivo.” That’s enough reason. And for anyone who didn’t get a chance to see their 2006 movie, The Pick of Destiny, don’t, just don’t.

Tenacious D – Kielbasa [YSI]

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Tenacious D – Explosivo [YSI]

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Queen is one of those bands that will forever be ingrained in music history as being utterly amazing. From their weird noise synthesizer days to operatic rock ballads, they have had so many fantastic songs to choose from. Being a child of the 90s, I remember exactly how I was first introduced to Queen: The Mighty Ducks. After hearing “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions,” I immediately asked my parents to get me a Queen CD and I have hooked ever since, probably even more now. And you know, for all the great Queen songs out there, I think these are my two favorite:

Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now [YSI]

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Queen – Somebody To Love [YSI]

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Barbara’s cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” showed up in February and has appeared on Hype Machine off and on since then. Now they’re back! Just over a month ago, I wrote a post about these guys and questioned where they disappeared to. Well they got back to me. Their website has been updated and their EP is released. And I gotta say I am totally digging it! I’ve listened to the whole thing a couple of times and I’m not sure which is my favorite but there’s nothing I dislike on it. I really hope the future is bright for these guys and they continue to create.

I’ve been listening all morning out on the beach, and even as I sit here writing the post, I keep changing my mind as to which song I want to feature off of the EP. Also, the electro-folk trio will be releasing their album in the upcoming months and I got my hands on an exclusive unreleased demo from the album, not the EP (second track below).

Barbara – Advertisements [YSI]

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Barbara – Unicornica (Exclusive Demo) [YSI]

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Mike Posner’s LP drops today and it’s got one big question behind it: Will it live up to his mixtapes? Some say absolutely while others say it’s not raw enough or almost family friendly even. I personally can’t say because I’m not familiar enough with his mixtapes but from what I know, he’s writing this album from a different place. There was a lot of pent up bitterness that came out in the mixtapes whereas I feel this is more about getting over all that despair, for lack of a better word. It’s still there but it’s his journey past it.

Regardless of the comparison to his other work, I actually am really digging this album for the most part. Of course, to be fair, I was in a really good mood my first listen through, so I just kinda wanted to get up and dance. The album started real strong for me but kinda flattened out near the end. It might just be personal preference but the energy just wasn’t high enough for me in the last few songs, specifically those produced by Greg Kurstin.

I’m actually not sure where exactly he falls in the music spectrum. He’s a lot R&B, mixed with a little soul, a little pop, a little dance. The funny thing is I was actually going to compare his song “Deja Vu” to Boyz II Men and then I realized they were featured in it. Good thing my ear is still in tune to the 90s. I also clearly hear Cisco Adler’s influence on certain songs.

By this point in time, if you haven’t heard Posner’s first single (Cooler Than Me) off the new album, you should prob get on that before listening to these. Posner also released a second single in July entitled “Please Don’t Go,” but it’s not even one of my favorites off the album. Instead, posted below are a a few of my favorites from this album including “Boom Chicka Wow Wow,” a song produced by The Smeezingtons. In case you don’t know the Smeezingtons, they are a production trio that includes Bruno Mars, and I’m actually really impressed by the work they have done as producers. I never realized how many tracks they are responsible for. Check em out. The second song I chose was “Gone In September.” I don’t know what it is, but I just really dig this song. I’ve never been in the situation of losing a love after the summer, yet I feel like it’s such an easy song to relate to from either side. This is one of the tracks certainly influenced my Cisco Adler considering he co-produced it.

Mike Posner – Boom Chicka Wow Wow [YSI]

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Mike Posner – Gone In September [YSI]

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Arcade Fire’s newest album, The Suburbs, was released today. And I have to be completely serious. Sometimes I love these guys; other times I could care less if I ever hear their song again. I just got the new album today I have not listened to the entire thing but posted today is a track exclusive to the vinyl. It’s called “Suburban War,” and this track, well, this track I dig a lot. I also posted the very first Arcade Fire song I heard that got me into them, “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out).” It’s not necessarily my favorite song of their 2004 album, but it’s the most important one to me because it’s what got my attention to them.

Arcade Fire – Suburban Warfare [YSI]

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Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) [YSI]

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I believe that the pairing of Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse was a match made in pop heaven and my favorite work Danger Mouse has done. I might be wrong about the latter part of that statement because DM has done so much amazing work in his career. Something about his musicality mixed with Cee-Lo’s smooth vocal style drew me into their 2006 album, St. Elsewhere. The extremely famous first single, Crazy,  off St. Elsewhere change so much with how we acquired music. I don’t know if it still holds the record but for the longest time, Crazy was the most legally downloaded song. It boosted iTunes users and overall sales and has been on too many top songs lists to count, yet it never reached number 1 on any US chart.

I believe Crazy will live on as one of those songs epitomizing the first decade of the 21st century. And once again to further their musical talent, Gnarls Barkley have morphed Crazy into a song that has more than one sound. The first song in today’s post is a live stripped down version of the song that Gnarls performed for a website called From The Basement (video below). I love the vocals on this version so much and the purity and truth in Cee-Lo’s voice.

For the second song today, I so wanted to post something from their 2008 album, The Odd Couple, but I just couldn’t. The album just didn’t live up to St. Elsewhere in my opinion. And for as much as I love some songs on it, none can top the joy that Smiley Faces gives me. It’s so upbeat musically, and the lyrics paint just enough of a picture for you to fill the rest in with your life.

I want to be you – whenever I see you smilin’
Cause it’s easily one of the hardest things to do
Your worries and fears become your friends
And they end up smilin’ at you
Put on a smilin’ face

Gnarls Barkley – Crazy (Live Stripped Down Mix) [YSI]

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Gnarls Barkley – Smiley Faces [YSI]

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Gnarls Barkley – Crazy (Live From The Basement)

There’s something about Kate Nash’s “I don’t give a f***” persona in her lyrics that gets me to listen so often. So today, I’m posting up two of hers. And these aren’t two from her latest album. Instead, I went with my two favorite songs of her 2007 album “Made of Bricks.” They happen to be 2 of the 5 singles that were released off that album and charted fairly well in the UK. Which I guess brings me to my next point. How does a country the size of the UK get so many more charting artists compared to the US? Is it all because the southern states are trapped in the country music mode? Meh, here’s some Kate Nash for you.

O yeah, her easy-to-hear English accent kinda does it for me too.

Kate Nash – Pumpkin Soup [YSI]

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Kate Nash – Foundations [YSI]

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A couple weeks ago I saw “Get Him To The Greek” and I thought it was a comedy that had some lasting value. Movie critique aside, I laughed… a lot! When I got home I listened to a couple of the songs and laughed again. Now a few weeks later, I wanted to see if the songs still held up on their own without the movie fresh in my mind. Some do, some don’t. I think my favorite song off the soundtrack is “Going Up” which isn’t one of the songs meant to be funny. However, for comedic value, I would definitely vote for “Furry Walls.” For those of you who haven’t seen the film, it doesn’t mean anything but to anyone who has seen it, I think this song holds it comedy factor. I’m also throwing in one more song this week sorta as a comment on society. Although “The Clap” is meant as a joke, I could easily see a song like that actually going to #1 in our culture. I mean the topic of gonorrhea isn’t that far from singing about brushing one’s teeth with Jack Daniels and then partying all night.

No matter what, though, always remember, “When life slips you a Jeffrey, stroke the furry walls!”

Infant Sorrow – Going Up [YSI]

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Infant Sorrow – Furry Walls [YSI]

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Infant Sorrow – The Clap [YSI]

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Sometimes I just need some uninspiring pop/dance music to fill that musical void between everything else I listen to. Good thing Debi Nova is filling that void for me. Born in Costa Rica, she released her first album this year and “Drummer Boy” is the first single. This is not your Christmas drummer boy. It’s more like that drummer boy has grown up and now Debi is hitting on him in a club. The second song I initially, but it turns out chose today is simply because it features Citizen Cope, but it turns out that I actually like it quite a bit. Less dance and a bit more soulful.

Check out her album on iTunes. Spanish version also available.

Debi Nova – Drummer Boy [YSI]

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Debi Nova – Something To Believe In (ft. Citizen Cope) [YSI]

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