I’m doing a little shopping for new headphones to listen to at work. I’ve been using a pair of Sony 7505s that I hate for the past 4 years and I’ve reached the breaking point. The most likely reason for this is that I’ve been using my favorite pair of cans at home a lot more lately and that makes listening to the Sony phones sort of unbearable. My home pair are Grado SR125s. They put me in such a happy place. They distract me from reading. They kept me up the last two hours sitting in the dark listening to music. That seems to happen all the time. The sad: I can’t use them at work since they’re open and would drive my coworkers insane, they’re also pretty uncomfortable.

A friend pointed me at this head-fi thread which has tons of recommendations for different kinds of phones in various makes and price ranges. It’s pretty solid. Given my current tastes in sound and known dislikes, I’m leaning towards a pair of Audio-Technicas. I don’t belabor the technical specifications, I’m picky about what I like, and I’ll know it when I hear it. I’m going to go listen to some soon. Here’s the list of songs that I’m going to use.

♫ Boards of Canada - RoyGBiv

♫ Blue Sky Black Death - Stillness
I don’t know much about these guys but I’ve loved this song since I first heard it. It’s very trip-hop, kinda hard to go wrong with that. There’s also something weird about the mix that makes this track hard to listen to on my Grado’s but acceptable on my Sony and Shure phones.

♫ Ladytron - Beautyx2
Favoritest ladytron track? Yup! So pretty.

♫ Lil Wayne - BM Jr.
♫ Lil Wayne - Money on my Mind
BM Jr was the first track I heard off of Carter I back in 2004. This album came out of nowhere. Before this, Wayne had released three pretty forgettable records (yeah yeah yeah, Tha Block is Hot). The track is typical-to-pretty good Mannie Fresh production — too much snare and high hats but a great bass line and driving melody. And Wayne just killed this track. In a jaw-dropping, “whoa, who is this guy” sort of way. His flow and breath control on this are just incredible. Personal classic.
Money on my Mind is from Carter II and is responsible for unleashing The Runners‘ brand of production on the world. Have you heard Hustlin’? Same fucking formula.

♫ Crookers ft Kid CuDi - Embrace the Martian
I catch myself bobbing my head to this on the subway all the damn time. Oops.

♫ Jay-Z ft Beanie Sigel - Ignorant Shit
Jay’s flow and lyrics. The Isley Brothers sample. Just Blaze is amazing for this. Did you think I wasn’t going to have a Jay track on this list?

♫ M83 - My Own Strange Path
The first time I heard M83 was on the Night<space>Watch trailer. I’ve been sort of obsessed since. This track is from Digital Shades Vol 1, an ambient side project. By itself, it’s a great track. As part of the album it’s the height of a progression, and sort of amazing.

♫ Nina Simone - I Put a Spell on You
Speechless, just speechless. This is going on three times.

♫ Brian Eno - St Elmo’s Fire
The synths, the crazy lyrics, I love this track.

♫ Black Milk ft Royce 5′9” - Losing Out
♫ Black Milk ft Pharoahe Monch Sean Price - The Matrix
Black was easily my favorite producer in 2008. Easily. The Caltroit album, Elzhi’s albums, and Tronic. All just ridiculous, and he manages to hold his own against all these incredibly talented guest rappers… somewhat. His rhyme structure can be a bit forced, but all in all a huge improvement from his first album. The production is the star here though.

This post was brought to you by insomnia

I wanted to pre-emptively hate on this new Flo Rida song (Round Round), but I kinda got into it after the 3rd or 4th listen.

Ordinarily I might say something like:
Producers, it’s 09. That “Hey!” shit is getting old. And unless you’re Mali Boi (who gets a pass¹ on cheesy samples), leave the fucking 80s alone! This song was already ruined by that scrubbing bubbles commercial! and Marilyn Manson! and a billion other things. Whine whine whine.

To be honest, I’ve been bad at judging some of these songs on first listen. I hated² on Live Your Life when I first heard it and then grew to love it. Fuck it, this song is catchy. And pseudo-sexual. Almost as catchy as Low or Elevator. Sample it one more time. That’s Kesha on the chorus. Anyone have a producer credit?

At some point last night, in between donning a reindeer sweater with blinking lights and diving into a moving cab, the topic of 5 star songs in iTunes came up. See, I thought the majority of my music library was rated. I use ratings to make smart playlists to fill my iPhone, etc. Blah blah, I couldn’t remember which songs were 5 stars either. Anyway, a little python+appscript script later… (BTW, why is utf-8 in python so *fucked* ?)

Total tracks: 13629
Rated tracks: 5289
1-star rated tracks: 33
2-star rated tracks: 638
3-star rated tracks: 3428
4-star rated tracks: 1138
5-star rated tracks: 52

I have so much work to do now! There are thousands of mp3s that aren’t even getting a shot in my regular rotation.

52 songs that I apparently find desert (or tropical i guess, let’s say… deserted) island worthy, sorted by genre, with playcounts. And bonus: artists with more than one 4-5 star rated tracks, sorted by number of said tracks. I present this information so that you may make fun of me.

Electronic

• Ladytron - Beautyx2 (39)
• M83 - On A White Lake, Near A Green Mountain (81)
• Nanook of the North - The Explorer (22)
• Nanook of the North - Forget It Jenny, Love Is Just a Privilege for the Rich (24)
• The Shanghai Restoration Project - Bubbling Well Road (12)

Hip-Hop

• Blueprint - Pendulum Master Feat Wind’n'breeze (58)
• Common - Nag Champa (10)
• El-P - Innocent Leader (33)
• J Dilla - Stop (102)
• J Dilla - Won’t do (19)
• Jay-Z - Ignorant Shit (Feat. Beanie Sigel) (33)
• Jay-Z - dead presidents 2 (16)
• Jedi Mind Tricks - When All Light Dies (34)
• Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (23)
• Outkast - Aquemini (14)
• OutKast - You May Die (23)
• Pimp C - Knockin Doorz Down (23)

Industrial

• Nine Inch Nails - Right Where It Belongs (30)

Metal

• Isis - Wills Dissolve (42)
• Isis - Grinning Mouths (35)

Pop

• Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (21)

R&B

• John Legend - Coming Home (7)

Rock

• Bjork - Pluto (12)
• Coldplay - Talk (40)
• The Cure - The Same Deep Water As You (42)
• The Cure - Disintegration (41)
• The Cure - Boys Dont Cry (18)
• The Cure - Sinking (22)
• Death Cab For Cutie - What Sarah Said (17)
• Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism (34)
• The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?? (45)
• The Mars Volta - Cicatriz E.S.P. (43)
• Modest Mouse - Float On (18)
• Mogwai - Punk Rock? (61)
• Mogwai - Auto Rock (44)
• Mum - The Land Between Solar Systems (79)
• Mum - The Ballad Of The Broken Birdie Records (61)
• The Organ - Memorize The City (89)
• Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) (39)
• Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine (51)
• Porcupine Tree - The Start Of Something Beautiful (51)
• Porcupine Tree - Lips Of Ashes (31)
• Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong (27)
• Radiohead - Black Star (15)
• Radiohead - Sit down. Stand up. (Snakes & Ladders.) (22)
• Radiohead - The Gloaming. (Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.) (24)
• Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Phthisis (38)
• Stereolab - The Noise of Carpet (22)
• Stereolab - Motoroller Scalatron (24)
• Tool - Schism (41)
• Tool - Lateralis (36)

And the big list

Jay-Z (46), Kanye West (28), Radiohead (25), Pink Floyd (20), The Flaming Lips (19), Mogwai (19), M83 (18), Nas (18), Mum (17), The Mars Volta (15), Outkast (15), Ratatat (15), Little Brother (14), Ladytron (14), Common (14), Isis (14), Eminem (13), Goldfrapp (13), Jedi Mind Tricks (13), Porcupine Tree (12), Stereolab (12), Explosions in the Sky (11), Sigur Ros (11), Mobb Deep (11), The Cure (11), The Album Leaf (11), MF Doom & Madlib are Madvillain (11), Death Cab For Cutie (11), Lupe Fiasco (11), El-P (10), Stars (10), The Foreign Exchange (10), TV On The Radio (10), J Dilla (9), Lil Wayne (9), T.I. (9), The Game (9), Sneaker Pimps (9), The Notorious B.I.G. (9), 50 Cent (8), Beck (8), Tool (8), John Legend (7), Young Jeezy (7), Handsome Boy Modeling School (7), Massive Attack (7), Elzhi (7), The White Stripes (7), Nine Inch Nails (6), Editors (6), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (6), MGMT (6), A Perfect Circle (6), N.E.R.D (6), Air (6), Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (6), The Organ (6), Bone Thugs N Harmony (6), Gorillaz (6), Tears for Fears (6), Blueprint (6), The National (6), 2pac (6), Jill Scott (6), Junior Boys (6), Modest Mouse (6), Murs (6), Nina Simone (6), Erykah Badu (5), Pineapple Thief (5), Delays (5), Lauryn Hill (5), Rick Ross (5), Zero 7 (5), Kidz In The Hall (5), Secret Machines (5), Snoop Dogg (5), Bjork (5), Mick Boogie & Terry Urban (5), Beanie Sigel (5), Cormega (5), Metric (5), The Knife (5), RJD2 (5), DJ Shadow (5), Binary Star (4), Blackfield (4), Quasimoto (4), Nanook of the North (4), Yoko Kanno (4), Broken Social Scene (4), Tortoise (4), The Postal Service (4), Brian Eno (4), Ray Cash (4), Cloud Cult (4), Matt Pond PA (4), King Crimson (4), Puff Daddy & The Family (4), Kill Bill (4), Nicolay (4), Black Star (4), Gnarls Barkley (4), Deltron 3030 (4), cibo matto (4), Mr. Lif (4), Bitter Sweet (4), Atmosphere (3), Black Milk (3), Lovage (3), Dntel (3), Cannibal Ox (3), Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! (3), Terence Blanchard (3), Cam’ron (3), Cut Copy (3), dead prez (3), BLu (3), ABN (3), Andre 3000 (3), UNKLE (3), The Beta Band (3), Wax Tailor (3), The Octopus Project (3), Joe Budden (3), Michael Jackson (3), Four Tet (3), Coldplay (3), The Notwist (3), Honeycut (3), Goapele (3), The Strokes (3), Bones Domingo (3), Paul Oakenfold (3), Wutang Clan (3), Juvenile (3), Franz Ferdinand (3), D12 (3), Fela Kuti (3), Entre Rios (3), M.I.A. (3), Cee-Lo (3), Mice Parade (3), Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek (Reflection Eternal) (3), Howard Shore (3), Freeway (3), S.A.S (2), Tenacious D (2), Wilderness (2), G-Side (2), Moby (2), Obie Trice (2), Propellerheads (2), Big Punisher (2), Memphis Bleek (2), Nicolay & Kay (2), Bun B (2), Slim Thug (2), Pimp C (2), Dr. Dre (2), C-Murder (2), Jay-Z And Linkin Park (2), Mannie Fresh (2), Army of the Pharaohs (2), Portishead (2), Mos Def (2), Alicia Keys (2), Prodigy (2), Notorious B.I.G (2), Dwele (2), Dilated Peoples (2), Ellen Allien & Apparat (2), Mars Volta (2), Big Tymers (2), Ras Kass (2), Jane’s Addiction (2), James Figurine (2), The Clipse (2), 120 Days (2), Jim Jones (2), B.G. (2), Scissor Sisters (2), Janelle Monae (2), Ghostface Killah (2), Kenna (2), Floetry (2), Sean Price (2), Mase (2)

If only I had a dating site profile to fill out…

I was just thinking about Paul Verhoeven. Yay for sushi. Thank you Blue Ribbon Sushi for being open late and being delicious. Paul. Hollow Man, Starship Troopers, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, and let’s not forget about Showgirls. All that Basil Poledouris. And RoboCop! The scene where Boddicker dies was great (Spoiler!) RoboCop stabs him with a computer interface connector that is, for reasons never explained, a 10 inch metal spike. I anxiously await a future where it’s possible to be impaled while trying to charge an iPod. God help us if WirelessHD ever catches on, this wireless shit is softening our children.

And that lead me to thinking about RoboCop. The song. Again. It’s awful, a disservice to the name really. It manages to stand out on an album chock full of mediocrity. 808s suffers from a shtick that wears thin three tracks in then forces you to put up with it for another nine. There’s no progression or evolution in the production, the lyrics are b-b-bad and the autotune does nothing to mask the fact that dude can’t sing. It’s vaguely reminiscent of The New Danger in terms of WTFness. Or Love Below. Or Zo & Tigallo love the 80s. Did you listen to that Take on Me cover??? Mamas, please don’t let your rapper children try to become singers! And Ye (or his guest blogger) swore this wasn’t the final version. This final version is not better, robot hydraulic sound effect and all. Though it’s still better than the third RoboCop movie…

Yay, it’s vacation time. Tomorrow morning I head off to southeast Asia, specifically Singapore and various places in Thailand. It’s going to be great. I plan to be sick of roti by the time I get back. If I come back, there’s some possibility of a Brokedown Palace situation.

I love bass. I… I have two SVS subwoofers within 20 feet of each other in my apartment. This is the only reason I’m still listening to 808s and Heartbreak. I suspect that Welcome To Heartbreak and Love Lockdown are going to be the only songs to join Heartless in my 808s rotation. The rest of the album is meh to me.

Are any of these new breed of “backpack rappers” that the blogosphere is currently in love with going to be in any way successful? Does the average man on the streets care about Wale? or Asher Roth? Is sampling Sonic the Hedgehog an annoying gimmick?

Have a good week peoples.

Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth, B.o.B - Change Gone Come
Charles Hamilton - Brooklyn Girl

Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
…

There’s a scene in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna where the Lennie Small character is trying to devise a communication system with the little boy they’ve rescued in war-torn Italy. The little boy only speaks Italian (and maybe German, it’s not clear), and “Lennie” only speaks English, so Lennie’s trying to teach him to communicate by tapping on his shoulder. 1 tap for ‘yes’. 2 taps for ‘no’. 3 taps for ‘I’m sleepy’. And he keeps going. And this is funny, haha, because this is never going to work in practice.

What does this have to do with anything? The iPhone 2.1 OS update came out last week. It’s great, it fixes a bunch of bugs, it’s the second coming. My favorite feature on paper is triple-click on the mic/remote to rewind. 1 click for play/pause. 2 clicks for fast forward. 3 clicks for rewind. I was so excited when I read about this. I get obsessed with tracks and need to hear them over and over again.

For example,

The track Money on The Game’s new album. Lyrically, it’s typical Game dreck. Unnecessary name dropping, metaphors that make no sense, and pretending that the west coast is still relevant. I mean, the track starts with the lyrics

Kanye told me that Jesus walks in 0-4
but I grew up around impalas and drug lords
Welcome to Los Angeles, palm trees and drug stores
All we know is rocks and presidents like Mount Rushmore

and it goes on like that for 5 minutes. But one does not listen to Game for lyrical content, one listens to Game because he has a great ear for beats and flows really well. The production… it’s got this catchy loop of Betty Wright singing “money… over money.” There’s an overlapping guitar sample. This is one of the better Cool and Dre productions in recent memory. The Game manages to sort of stay on topic and weaves the chorus around the Betty Wright sample. I love it. I wish I could the say the same about you tracks 7, 8, and 9.

My dexterity sucks. Here’s what happens when I try to rewind using the iPhone remote.

1. Clicked too slowly - oops, pause then play.
2. Clicked too slowly - oops, skip track, pause.
3. Clicked perfectly - rewinds to the beginning of the current track. But I wanted to listen to the previous track

Smash! I’m never going to be able to pull off the sometimes 6 clicks it takes to get this to work correctly. I’m not upset, I love this feature. Combining the microphone and the remote was genius, and this makes it even easier to use the iPhone as an iPod while it’s in your pocket. I just wish I could pull off rewind more successfully. I swear I don’t have the rum fits!

There will be no references to the file format in this here post.

Next week

I’m going to the Toronto International Film Festival next week. I’m excited for several reasons — going on a mini-vacation, seeing a bunch of movies, hanging out with strangers, and being in a city I only lived in for a year. My friend Mollie, who works in “the industry” thinks it’s weird for “regular people” to go to film festivals. She may be right, I have no idea. I decided to do the out of town ticket selection and get the 10 ticket package just so I’d have some guarantees. Five days ago they sent me this large packet with a movie guide and somewhat complicated instructions that I was then supposed to send back the next day. There are approximately a bajillion movies showing, but I sort of narrowed it down to 50-ish and then chose 20-ish as primaries and alternates. I didn’t get all my primaries but mayhaps I’ll see them anyway. Some of these I don’t remember selecting but they do appeared to be dog-eared in the movie guide book. My current schedule:

• The Brothers Bloom - I really enjoyed Brick and Mark Ruffalo makes my loins tingle.
• Slumdog Millionaire - I think Boyle can be a bit hit or miss but that kid is so cute. A Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? If that isn’t a formula for… something, I don’t know what is.
• Control Alt Delete - I’m hoping this one ends with his girlfriend coming to terms with his addiction to internet porn.
• Goodbye Solo - Because I’m still mad at myself for not seeing Man Push Cart. Also, I enjoy tears.
• Pride and Glory - Wasn’t this supposed to come out a while ago? Anyway, yeah!
• The Dungeon Masters - A documentary about dungeons and dragons players should be entertaining. I will go in expecting to laugh, but at some point realize that they are people too.
• The Wrestler - Say what you will about The Fountain… actually don’t, because I really liked it. Aronofsky is > your life.
• RocknRolla - I’m crazy skeptical about a new Guy Ritchie gangster movie… but Thandie Newton!
• Miracle at St. Anna - Because I’m secretly trying to figure out which film will have the most black people in attendance.
• Chocolate - Because I literally couldn’t keep myself from jumping up and down during Ong Bak, and omg in Tom Yum Goong Tony Jaa has an elephant thrown at him, and I’ll be seeing this at midnight, and hopefully in a theater full of action movie fans, and omg this will be awesome.

While we’re here

Fuck talking bout the recession, the shit’s depressing

The Recession drops tomorrow, I hope you’re ready. Jeezy is the Michael Phelps of hip hop.

The black and white USDA flags in this video are kinda hot

In this issue of samples I just picked up on even though I’ve listened to both songs a million times…

Rza - A Day to God is 1000 Years
Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy (I assume this specific recording of this song)

It’s subtle I guess, but my mind is blown!

I’m late on this, but there are too many low-quality copies of this on the Internet for me to stand idly by.
Whatnauts - Message From a Black Man
Recently sampled by Saleem Remi on Nas’ “Untitled” album (Track: You Can’t Stop Us Now) and the Rza on Digi-Snacks (Track: You Can’t Stop Me Now) and a million times before that. Classic.