Labor Day Summerend

Labor Day Weekend is here. It's time for a few days of barbeques, drinks, a day off of work and a bitter sweet toast to the end of summer. I live in LA, summer doesn't really end, but it is still fun to pretend it does. The perfect mix for a Labor Day party starts off with a bang and ends with a nostalgic whimper as we look back on the summer that was and look forward to the fall that will be. Enjoy.

(cntrl, click, dl linked file)

1. "Inland Empire" by Peter, Bjorn, & John
2. "Calling And Not Calling My Ex" by Okkervil River
3. "Sausalito" by Conner Oberst
4. "Furr" by Blitzen Trapper
5. "No One Does It Like You" by Department of Eagles
6. "You in Forty Years" by High Places
7. "Pretty Please (Love Me)" by Estelle Ft. Cee-Lo
8. "Gallery Piece" by Of Montreal
9. "Heart From Us All" by White Denim
10. "Can You Tell" by Ra Ra Riot
11. "I Might Have Guessed" by Birdmonster
12. "Red Moon" by The Walkmen

The Human Head Weighs 8 Pounds

Not much to say about this one other then it's a great sketch and great sketches are few and far between. So enjoy it while you can.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Anything Radiohead Does, They Do Better

Radiohead covered Neil Young the other night at the Hollywood Bowl. Once that darn clapping stops it's a really nice listen. Good Young impression Yorke. 

Radiohead :: "Tell Me Why" (neil young cover) from gorilla vs. bear on Vimeo.

The Wawkward

Hip indie rock bands and local news channels don't mix. Check out this enjoyablely awkward interview a local NY caster has with local NY rockers The Walkmen. And get their new fantastic album here.

Video Link

Nice To Meet You

Sometimes you can like a band but then you see them all playing together in a video and you start to love them. The youth and enthusiasm Ra Ra Riot display in this live clip of "Oh La" will have you falling for them too. 

Aw shucks.

He Kissed a Girl

So John Edwards cheated on his wife when she was dying of cancer. Can't say I like the guy as much as I use to. What makes me the most mad is he thought he could run for president and that this would have never come out. What if he was the democratic candidate? He would have screwed his party! What a jerk.

I thank my friend Fred for making fun of him in the video parody.

This is Dagan

Faker than a spray tan

Sunset Tan E!'s reality cannot possibly be real. Everything about this show is scripted from the supposed hiring and firing of the "Olly Girls" to the relationship between Ania and Nick. Who writes this stuff? This information is obviously not available on IMDB which must be in on the joke. I mean how much real-life drama could unfold at a tanning salon? If human beings we're really that dumb then they definitely wouldn't be capable of running a successful business. Americans can't believe that this is actually a reality show. There must be a catch here. Perhaps the whole purpose of the show is to market and sell Sunset Tan. Even the website makes no distinction between the salon and the show as if it is one and the same. Has television has gone to next level where there is no distinction between real life and consumerism. Forget product placement or commercials! I don't know if this is a brilliant marketing scheme or a disgusting commentary on American consumerist culture. Will other industries follow in suit? Is Starbucks next to have its own reality show? Regardless of their intentions, Sunset Tan, now in its second season, will not fade away after the first wash.

The Best Song Of All Time, Today

"Crawl" didn't really get me too excited for the new Kings Of Leon album. However, "Sex on Fire" sure does. It's a perfect mix of old messy southern rockin Kings combined with their new suped up big arena rock produced sound. Hopefully this is closer to the direction of the new LP. Get it while it's hot:

"Sex On Fire" by The Kings Of Leon

Wet Hot American, Bummer?

The bad news first, Stella is not ever coming back on Comedy Central. Too bad, the show was great. But the good news is that Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black are going to be back with a new series! So not that much of bummer, you just hope that they can reach the same level of brillence sanz David Wain who's busy with other things. Read the article below, their new show sounds odd, quirky and of course hilarious. Can't wait.

"Michael and Michael Have Issues"

The Best Song Of All Time, Today

My favorite song of the moment  is the first single off the previosly mentioned Okkervil River new album, "The Stand Ins".  From a band with an arsenall of deep, exciting, dramatic and unfrogetable songs this is definitely one of their most deepest, excitingest, dramaticest and unforgetablest. Try to dissect the lyrics when front man Will Sheff trades verses with recently relinquished band mate (now full time Shearwater front man) Jonathan Meiburg about the struggles of being, of all things, an american rock and roll band. La la la indeed.

"Lost Coastlines" by Okkervil River

A Thosand Words..

A good amount of noteworthy albums have been released and leaked in the past few weeks. What do I think of them you ask, well just read the pictures below.

"Conor Oberst" by Conor Oberst (out now)

"Donkey" by C.S.S. (out now)

"The Stand Ins" By Okkervil River (out 9/9)

"You & Me" by The Walkmen (out 8/13)

Who would you rather do?

Today's trailer off focuses on two highly adaptions. Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk are agrguably two of the most accomplished  and hippest modern authors. If there are rockstars in the literary world then these two are of  Mick and Keith caliber. Bret's adaptations so far have been fantastic (American Physcho), great (Rules of Attraction)*, and 80's (Less Than Zero). Pallahniuk's only film jaunt so far was a grand slam (Fight Club). So it will be interesting to see what film holds up to the sacred source material or which one chokes.

The Informers:

Choke:

*Is it just me or does American Psycho get better with repeat viewing and Rules of Attraction get worse?

When it Wains, It Pours

This is the trailer for David Wain's new directorial effort. After doing too hillarious absurd films it looks like he's going for the big time with a big ol' studio comedy. I have no problem with this. It's not like he's selling out. But then there's the the whole Matchbox Twenty (20?) song in the trailer's third act (yes trailers have acts) and you start to worry, "is he selling out?But then again there's that great Ben Afflek joke in the end of it all. So I'm not gone worry about Wain the Brain. He knows what he's doing. He's a professional and pretty soon everyone will know that.

Wonder No Longer...

Did you ever stop and think about what might have happened to Kevin Arnold? Well it ain't pretty, but it is very funny...

News

Pitchfork inspired me to write reviews with just a simple picture. Its fun, clever and saves me the type time. I've decided to try it out with three new songs by three of my favorite artists. I was also nice enough to upload mp3s of each song for you to download, you lucky duck you. 

1. "Id Engagerk" by Of Montreal

2. "Let It Be Me" by Ray Lamontagne

3. "Crawl" by Kings of Leon