Would You Stay if She Promised You Heaven?

Fleetwood Mac--a band that truly has my heart. If ever I marry, I think one of my requirements in a spouse would be that he loves Fleetwood Mac. Because one, if he could sing me any of the mushy love songs they've put out over the years, I could never be mad at him, two, he's obviously good people, and three, when listening to The Mac, all I want to do is makeout and be gushy with someone--especially when listening to their album, Tango in the Night. Between "Big Love," "Family Man," and my personal favourite Mac tune, "Everywhere"--this girl's heart can't help but get all a-flutter. You want to know why else Fleetwood Mac is amazing? They can do angst and heartbreak just as well as they can do lovey-dovey--and they can do it smiling whilst giving their ex the lyrics they inspired and then ask them to not only sing them, but record them as well. Isn't falling in love with a colleague a bitch--especially when you're in a band? While I am a Stevie Nicks girl myself (short chicks need to stick together), if the only Fleetwood Mac songs you know are Stevie driven, you need go out and buy Fleetwood Mac & Tango in the Night, stat. Oh, and when you buy Fleetwood Mac make sure you listen to the entire album, and not just the tracks you know. There will be a quiz, so make sure you study.


Fleetwood Mac -- You Make Loving Fun

Fleetwood Mac -- The Chain

Fleetwood Mac -- What Makes You Think You're The One

Fleetwood Mac -- Family Man

Fleetwood Mac -- Caroline

Fleetwood Mac -- Big Love

Fleetwood Mac -- Brown Eyes

Fleetwood Mac -- When I See You Again

Fleetwood Mac -- Sentimental Lady

Fleetwood Mac -- Love That Woman

Fleetwood Mac -- Looking For Somebody

Fleetwood Mac -- Dissatisfied

Fleetwood Mac -- Mystery Boogie

Fleetwood Mac -- Love That Burns

Fleetwood Mac -- Heroes Are Hard to Find

Fleetwood Mac -- Hypnotised

Fleetwood Mac -- Landslide

Fleetwood Mac -- Over My Head

Fleetwood Mac -- Spare Me A Little Of Your Love

Fleetwood Mac -- Sometimes

Mashing: not just for Potatoes, Part IV

I'm about two days behind, so pardon. Between work, work, packing, apartment hunting, and just general living, this female didn't realise the week was through.

Aber N Stein -- Disco Inferno (50 Cent vs The Tramps)

Lenlow -- ABC+OPP (Allman Brothers vs Naughty By Nature vs Jackson 5)

DJ C Boast -- Pure Body Movin' (Beastie Boys vs All Saints)

Digital Punkz -- Starman's Next Episode (David Bowie vs Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre)

Brat -- Big Shot Pimpin' (Billy Joel vs Jay-Z)

Cry on my Console -- This Is One 2 Work Ur Bodygaurd (Paul Simon vs Ciara)

Flump -- Unpretty Bop (TLC vs Hanson)

Manriki -- Smoo Talking (Soulwax vs Michael Jackson)

Visually Delicious, Part III

Gnarls Barkley -- Run

The single dropped last month, this month we have a video. Guest-starring J. Timb as the City Vibin' host, the video has the Gnarls duo as performers on a music show--think American Bandstand in the '80s. At the 2:20 mark, the acid you forgot to drop kicks in as the visual effects pick up. Good watch, making me all the more anxious for their sophmore release, The Odd Couple, to drop next month.


Erykah Badu -- Honey

Speaking of waiting for new releases, Erykah Badu dropped Part One of her New Emerykah releases, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) on February 26th. "Honey" is the first single offf the album. The video is brilliant in my opinion. Having Ms. Badu recreate the covers of several classic albums, as well as the Yoko One and John Lennon Rolling Stones cover. Unique, fresh--one would expect nothing less from her.


OutKast -- Ghettomusick

To keep the videos connected, I'm throwing up one from Badu's babydaddy, Andre 3000. The tune is Big Boi based, so 3000 doesn't even appear in the video, but can be heard throughout the chorus.


Since homegirl is tired and still has to go to work, this week's installment is going to fall two videos (as well as tracks) short. Don't worry though, I'll catch you on the flipside.

Six Degrees: Round One

Six Degrees of Musical Separation--standard Kevin Bacon rules apply, sans the Kevin Bacon (at least until I work in the Bacon Brothers). Producers, offspring, lovers, mentors, fellow musicians, etc., are all fair game. Since this is going to become a regular feature, challenges are not only welcomed, but encouraged and should be e-mailed to me or left in a comment.



Bob Dylan made several babies with his first wife, Sara Lownds, the youngest being Jakob. George Harrison of Beatles, also made some babies, one being Dhani Harrison. Dhani and Jakob would later grow up to become musicians like their papas. This would ultimately lead to them collaborating on a cover of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth." Dhani appeared on the Wu-Tang's latest group effort, 8 Diagrams, on the track, "The Heart Gently Weeps"--a re-working of The Beatles's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Huzzah!

4 Degrees: Bob Dylan -> Jakob Dylan -> Dhani Harrison -> Wu-Tang Clan

Bob Dylan -- Summer Days

Jakob Dylan & Dhani Harrison -- Gimme Some Truth

Wu-Tang Clan feat. Dhani Harrison & Erykah Badu -- The Heart Gently Weeps

My life has become a boring pop song, and eveyone's singing along

Music is the poetry of the air.
-Richter


Simon & Garfunkel -- Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall
It's no matter if youre born
To play the king or pawn
For the line is thinly drawn tween joy and sorrow,
So my fantasy
Becomes reality,
And I must be what I must be and face tomorrow.
So Ill continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall...

The Pogues -- Misty Morning, Albert Bridge
I dreamt we were standing
By the banks of the Thames
Where the cold grey waters ripple
In the misty morning light
Held a match to your cigarette
Watched the smoke curl in the mist
Your eyes, blue as the ocean between us
Smiling at me
I awoke alone and lonely
In a faraway place
The sun fell cold upon my face
The cracks in the ceiling spelt hell
Turned to the wall
Pulled the sheets around my head
Tried to sleep, and dream my way
Back to you again...


Jack's Mannequin -- I'm Ready
(I wake up to find it's another
Four aspirin morning, and I dive in
I put on the same clothes I wore yesterday.
When did society decide that we had to change
And wash a tee shirt after every individual use:
If it's not dirty, I'm gonna wear it.
I take the stairs to the car
And there's fog on the windows.
(And I'm Fighting the words...)
I need caffeine in my blood stream,
I take caffeine in the blood stream.
I grip the wheel and all at once I realize:
(And you're getting away...)
My life has become a boring pop song
And everyone's singing along...)


Aesop Rock -- Basic Cable
Television; all hail grand pixelated god of
fantasy, murder-scape, and bent perspective.
Fuck a sore channel changed digit,
I sit with a nasty network intravenous plan,
with a stable diet of my cable pirate.
Yo, the doctor is in, the doctor is on,
born the bastard son of static radiance cloned to welcome in every home.
Let a blue screen, bruised dream canopy
victim of the cursed nursed Technicolor drunk support team.
Ooh, I love all advertisements
though accused by robot news casters who capture and pollute
spoon-fed hazardous fog to joy luck catholic squad.
Please take me, please calm me, please make me a zombie
please I want to donate my brain to the monstrous Panasonic profit...


Antony and the Johnsons -- Hope There's Someone
Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired
There's a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night
How will I rest my head
Oh I'm scared of the middle place
Between light and nowhere
I don't want to be the one
Left in there, left in there...

Mix: Then they arrested everybody.

"I came back to save rock 'n' roll..."

Tom Stoppard & New York City--how can one's day get any better? Phenomenal play coupled with phenomenal music in good ol' New York Town. I had never read, let alone seen a play incorporate music as Rock 'N' Roll did. Stoppard is pretty specific throughout his masterpiece as to what songs should be used during blackouts. Each song emphasizing the scene that preceded it. I was going to scour through the play for a playlist of songs, but the playbill from the show saved me the trouble. There are a few differences, but they're minor. Now without further delay...

Syd Barrett -- Golden Hair

Bob Dylan -- I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

The Rolling Stones -- The Last Time

The Rolling Stones -- It's All Over Now

The Plastic People of the Universe -- The Universe Symphony and Melody

The Velvet Underground -- Venus in Furs

The Doors -- Break On Through (To the Other Side)

The Velvet Underground -- I'm Waiting For the Man

Pink Floyd -- Astronomy Domine

Syd Barrett -- Terrapin

Pink Floyd -- Jugband Blues

The Rolling Stones -- It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

The Grateful Dead -- Chinatown Shuffle

Pink Floyd -- Welcome to the Machine

The Beach Boys -- Wouldn't It Be Nice

U2 -- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Pink Floyd -- Wish You Were Here

John Lennon -- Give Peace a Chance

John Lennon -- Bring It On Home to Me

The Cure -- Boys Don't Cry

Pink Floyd -- Vera

The Rolling Stones -- You Got Me Rockin'

Mix: Dig, Dug, Dun, duh!

Favourite tracks of the moment, in no particular order, y'all! A hip swingin', rump shakin' mix with a couple chill-out tracks for good measure.

Aesop Rock -- N.Y. Electric

Backstreet Boys -- Everything But Mine

GZA -- Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

DJ Krush feat. Aesop Rock -- Kill Switch (Beep Mix)

Jay-Z feat. Lil Wayne -- Hello Brooklyn 2.0

Beastie Boys -- Shake Your Rump

Rihanna -- Push Up On Me

Pharrell -- Baby

Fleetwood Mac -- Everywhere

Nina Simone -- Marriage is for Old Folks

Tender Forever -- Rad

The Shins -- A Comet Appears

Mashing: not just for Potatoes. Version 2.0

I found a treasure trove of sick mashups, so expect amazingness from here on out in the mashup department. The first few in this collection are a bit weak, but the ones at the end of this week's mix are truly spectacular.

Avalanches -- Ray of Zdarlight (Wham vs Digitalism)

What Smile (Lily Allen vs Everlast)

A Plus D -- $20 Monday (M.I.A. vs New Order)

Lying Milkshakes (Panic! at the Disco vs Kelis)

McSleazy -- Don't Call Me Song 2 (Blur vs Madison Avenue)

Bobby Martini -- Too Busy Thinking About The Magnificent Seven (The Clash vs Marvin Gaye)

DJ Erb -- Get That Rocky Mountain High (John Denver vs Method Man & Red Man)

Solcofn -- Work It With a Fury (Missy Elliott vs The Chemical Brothers)

DJ BC -- Oh What a Night For a Gangsta Party (2Pac & Snoop Dogg vs Franki Valli)

Cropstar -- In Da Starlight (50 Cent vs Michael Jackson) [the dope shit]

DJ Tripp -- Next Egyptian (Bangles vs Dr Dre)

McSleazy -- Paranoid Funk (Daft Punk vs Garbage)

Let's get it on, jam all night long

Backstreet Boys. Oh, the memories and gushy pubescent feelings just that name evokes. Yes, I was a BSB fangirl. And no, I am NOT ashamed to admit it. From the ages eleven to fourteen I had eyes for no other boy band. NSYNC? Boo! Hiss! Yes, I listened to other things. I had three older siblings whose musical tastes differentiated greatly, and being the youngest and wanting their attention, I listened to everything they did. From Michael Jackson to Pantera to Garth Brooks to the Wu-Tang--I absorbed it all with audio delight. However, I need blame my sister for my penchant towards boy bands if only for her preoccupation with a certain '80s phenomenon: New Kids on the Block. I think I've digressed too much.

Anyways, as I was saying (or rather, about to say) was that those five "boys" (the Backstreet Boys) saw me through some of the most difficult times in my young life. Paternal infidelity, death, divorce, breaking of friendships, breaking of hearts--they were the comfort I sought after. I've always been one to drown my sorrows with a pen or a set of headphones, and those times were no exception. The Backstreet Boys were so saccharine, so safe, and so fucking cute and non-threatening, that looking back, it only seemed natural to choose them as my comforters. My musical knights in sugar-soaked armour, because hey, they promised to never break my heart. And how irresistible is that to a thirteen year old girl licking her wounds from her first heartbreak?

Backstreet Boys -- I'll Never Break Your Heart

Backstreet Boys -- As Long As You Love Me

Backstreet Boys -- Hey Mr. DJ (Keep Playin' This Song)

Backstreet Boys -- Darlin'

Backstreet Boys --Set Adrift on Memory's Bliss

Backstreet Boys -- That's What She Said

Backstreet Boys -- The One

Backstreet Boys --Don't Wanna Lose You Now

Backstreet Boys -- It's Gotta Be You

Backstreet Boys -- Back To Your Heart

Backstreet Boys -- Shape of My Heart

Backstreet Boys -- Get Another Boyfriend

Backstreet Boys -- Not For Me

Backstreet Boys -- How Did I Fall in Love With You

Backstreet Boys -- Weird World

Backstreet Boys -- Siberia

Bacvkstreet Boys -- I Still...

Backstreet Boys -- Poster Girl

Millennium is pop perfection. Fight me on that, and you will fail. Miserably. I had to re-purchase that album three times because I wore out my cassettes that fucking much. (Yeah, I said cassettes, I didn't get a cd player of any kind until I was a sophmore in high school. So, eat it). More poppy and less RnB then their debut, it's just perfection and so succinct to that period of musical history with its sound. It's hard not to listen to that album and think of the late '90s early '00s. Maybe that's just me. Either way, Millennium is a flawless pop record--even with the nonsensical hottness that is "I Want It That Way."

Cover Me This, Cover Me That!: The Third Coming

Regina Spektor -- Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

Deer Tick -- Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston) [highly fucking recommended]

Jack Penate -- 1234 (Feist)

Devendra Banhart -- Don't Look Back In Anger (Oasis)

Buddy Rich -- Keep the Customer Satisfied (Simon & Garfunkel)

Klaxons -- No Diggity (Blackstreet)

Mary Lou Lord -- I Don't Want To Get Over You (Magnetic Fields)

The Kooks -- All That She Wants (Ace of Base)

The Bird & The Bee - How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees) [if you want to feel gushy, take a listen]

Mobius Band - Digital Love (Daft Punk)

Beastie Boys feat. Biz Markie - Benny and the Jets (Elton John) [download this, seriously]

Mix: 'Cause Love & Stupidity are permanent afflictions.

Frustrated, fed up, and through with feeling vincible--I acted on the first impulse that came: go to the City. Having just picked up my paycheck when the impulse hit, I looked at it as though it was the Holy Grail. The next thing I knew was on a bus heading south. Since I was originally only venturing out for twenty minutes, I had on no coat and no socks, and had no extra clothing with me whatsoever. I was freezing but happy, and if there is a word for being more than happy, I was that. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl who just got her first kiss. And that was only the first twenty minutes of my adventure.

Not being completely reckless, I called a few friends to see if they could put me up for a day or two. Finding refuge at NYU, I ventured out into the Village. I was hyper-aware and everything just seemed to pop. Still giddy and feeling as though I should commemorate this moment of invincibility in some permanent fashion, I meandered down to St. Mark's Place. Having at least seven tattoo and piercing parlours to choose from, I chose Andromeda. Being the snarky wise-ass I am, I quickly befriended the owner, Joe, who not only tattooed me for a reasonable amount of money, but also touched up an old tattoo free of charge. With his card, a promise to look him up when I am down again, and quite possibly a job when I move, I left. Feeling fine and divine, I slept like a baby that night.

I awoke before everyone else that morning, and watched the buildings turn from black to blue to pink to orange and to yellow, before finally fading into their own rustic colours. I didn't know how the day would unfold and I didn't care. Saying, adieu to my friends and her roomies, I ventured into the big City once again. Taking refuge in Grand Central, I bought a notebook and began to people watch. Snapping pictures and coming up with stories for them, from Henri, the f.o.b. frenchman who was dumped by his fiancee a week after moving to the City; to Lydell, the balding 40-something conductor, who buys the New York Times everyday but never reads it; to Cherry, the 19 year old photography major who hates photography. I filled twenty pages with the fictional lives of strangers. Exhausted, Saved with the help of a lovely Korean woman, and with no place to lay my head that night, I made the much unanticipated trip back to Port Authority, back home. Thirty hours later, my romp in the City was over, much to the relief of several friends, family members, and co-workers who had given me up for dead. New York, New York...

The Who -- Leaving Here

Bob Dylan -- You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

David Bowie -- Fantastic Voyage

Social Distortion -- I Wasn't Born To Follow

Journey -- Don't Stop Believing

Elvis Costello -- Let's Misbehave

Lou Reed -- Ecstasy

Eels -- Dusk: A Peach in the Orchard

The Who -- Tattoo

Regina Spektor -- Summer in the City

Nada Surf -- Paper Boats

Cat Stevens -- Blue Monday

Frank Sinatra -- The Best Is Yet To Come

The Muppet Babies -- Wishes Have a Way of Coming True


NOTE: I almost bought Shutter Shades. I haggled the vendor down to $10 from a $40 price tag, but had to walk away when all he had were orange ones. Blast!