Mixtape

I can't say I am the biggest fan of cartoons or of the Adult Swim on Cartoon Network.  I also am not a fan of the paranoia of the police when the figure shown above shut down more than one city in this great country of ours.  But, it did lead my to this mixtape.  I am not sure what connection it has to the show, but it does offer all the songs for free to download or stream.  I am definitely loving it already.  Sadly, its a little late to make Zeus' end of the year list, which has been already formulated and is coming soon, keep your eyes open for it.  Give it a listen to break up your day if you want to hear the direction of rap music, and by that eventually pop music, if its not already there.  Also, let the hype build for the Diplo / Gucci Mane mixtape coming out soon. 

Keep it Going Louder

Major Lazer once again shows up with some whacky video, this time for one of my favorite songs of the year. To be honest, I hate cartoons, but I am intrigued by the upcoming Major Lazer series on Cartoon Network. I know nobody does any work on the days before thanksgiving so take a few minutes and have a few chuckles while watching this video.


Major Lazer "Keep it Going Louder" from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.

Pop Music

As I occasionally listen to pop music and usually enjoy myself.  I am seeing two district roads it is going down currently, today I will focus on the the adult alternative charts.  A song I am sure you are all familiar with, "I'm Yours" (video below) by Jason Mraz, currently holds the record for consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with 76 week.  76 weeks  = one year and two months, that's a long time.  Well everybody knows its simple drum and upbeat reggae guitar riff.  Am I the only one to think that now other people are trying to ride his coattails, or is it simply becoming a popular genre?  Please listen to the song below by the hitmakers behind Drops of Jupiter and Meet Virginia, Train.  Did their style change to appease the masses after not having a hit in over ten years and will this become a hit?  Or am I completely off on thinking these songs are close?


Hey, Soul Sister

Train | MySpace Music Videos


"I'm Yours" Official Video

Jason Mraz | MySpace Video

Music Blogs

Starting December 1st, music blogs will now have to disclose if their are being run on payola schemes similar to what we see on the radio, specifically z100 in new york, or get fined up to $11,000.  I am trying to figure out which large music blogs this could influence, and the only two I came up with is stereogum and pitchfork. Here is some of the exact wording, "the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement."  Now, I don't think this means much to the music blogs because they are still going to love to post about the most obscure act they can find, so they can go around saying they found them first.  But then again, we may not ever see the blog buzz surround a band, such as MGMT or Vampire Weekend, again.

Pitchfork top 500 songs of the decade

After spending an hour of two of my very precious free time going through the list, I realized that I have listened to only around 140 of the total 500. Here is the list of the top 20?

#20| The Walkmen – The Rat
#19| R. Kelly – Ignition (Remix)
#18| Hercules and Love Affair – Blind
#17| Annie – Heartbeat
#16| The Rapture – House Of Jealous Lovers
#15| The Knife – Heartbeats
# 14| Jay-Z – 99 Problems
# 13| LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge
# 12| Outkast – Hey Ya!
# 11| Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
#10| Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
# 9| Animal Collective – My Girls
# 8| Radiohead – Idioteque
# 7| Missy Elliot – Get Ur Freak On
# 6| Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
# 5| Daft Punk – One More Time
# 4| Beyoncé – Crazy in Love (Feat. Jay-Z)
# 3| M.I.A. – Paper Planes (Diplo Remix) (Feat. Bun B and Rich Boy)
# 2| LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
# 1| Outkast – B.O.B.

There are two very pop songs that this top 20 list omits but I feel should be in the top 10. These songs had so much crossover appeal. #21 Kelly Clarkson-Since You Been Gone and #25 Rihanna - Umbrella. I would take out Animal Collective-My Girls because this song came out three months before this list so definitely suffers from premature evaluation.

But overall, I think the top 50 is pretty solid. #30 The White Stripes-Seven Nation Army did get the short end of the stick, because I can definitely hear that song on classic rock radio for the next 40 years. And while Paper Planes was a huge anthem and a great song it does use the Clash sample for which I don't think it belongs in the top 10, but I think the gunshots / cash registers may make up for it.

Inaugural Post

Ever since I was laid over around a month ago, I have been thinking about starting writing a blog. Primarily because I have so much time and do not know what to do with it, jobs are scarce and money is tight. My goal in this is to share information on a variety of subjects such as music, movies, sports, pop culture. Eventually I want to find a focus for this experiment, but hold on for the next few weeks because it would be a bumpy ride. Once again I have no idea who the audience is going to be so for the moment im not going to write with any particular style. With that enjoy and welcome to the Z FILES!