Monday Morning Shuffle

I'm up early (well, kinda) to get the Monday Morning Shuffle done in the Morning this time. I know i promised a concert review last Wednesday too but i got a little busy (socially) and never got to it. I'm still going to do it, probably have it up by this Wednesday instead. Additionally, i've taken all of your suggestions and made a list and i've been downloading them like a madman. As soon as i can organize them into CDs and listen to them, i'll give them their very own spots here. In a related technological tragedy, my iPod is now full, so whenever i get new music, i have to delete something old. This is obviously a painful process for me. So, like i said from the beginning, if you discover a band and would like to review them yourself, i'd love to have some guest posts up here. I appreciate the suggestions of course, but i'd love for this to be a chorus instead of a solo project. Just let me know in the comments who the band you're reviewing is and when you'll have it done and i'll get it posted for you.

Anyway, on to the shuffle.

1. Where you Gonna Run - Talib Kweli, off of Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD
The iTunes is loving the underground hiphop lately. This is Kweli's most recent release and the official story is that these were tracks he recorded through his career but never released and he wanted to get them onto an album before the recording studio leaked them onto the internet for free. I really haven't had a chance to disect this album like i have the others but there are some superior tracks on this such as Where you Gonna Run, Ms. Hill (about Lauryn Hill) and Drugs Basketball & Rap. Additionally, for all you Phoenix people, Kweli is going to be performing at the Clubhouse (an excellent small venue for this type of show) on Dec. 2nd. I'd love to go but don't really know anyone else that would be interested. So, if you're at all interested, let me know in the comments. Drinks are on me.

2. Tao of Now - Saul Williams
I've always had this thought that of all the things that we try to make equal in this world, talent is the one thing we absolutely can't control. Some people are born with none, some people are born great at one thing and one thing only, and some people are born with heaps and heap of it and find skills in any avenue they persue. Saul Williams is the latter. He acts, he writes music, he writes books, he is one of the undisputed Slam Poetry champions in all of the world, he is one of the greatest political voices of our generation (think Ginsberg, DuBois, Robeson and Shakur wrapped into one) and most of you have probably never heard of him.
I first heard of Williams when a class i was in watched his movie Slam. It was about a guy arrested for selling small amounts of pot and put in jail next to the murderers and the rapists. He writes slam-style poetry in jail, pounds out beats on his bars and makes a few friends and avoids some ugly situations through his words. It kinds sounds hokey when i describe it that way, but it isn't and i highly suggest you rent the film. Anyway, i became a huge slam poetry fan after that and absorbed everything i could. Williams has 3 books or poems out, She, 'Said the Shotgun to the Head, and his most recent, The Dead Emcee Scrolls. He also has 2 solo cds out, Amethyst Rockstar and a self-titled album, both of which are fantastic. His music is mainly his poems set to beats but the productions and creativity is fantastic. This song, Tao of Now, is off of a compilation CD called Lyricist Lounge, and is probably one of my favorite poems and beats that he has.
I went to see him live in Boulder, CO when i lived there. The two opening hiphop groups got the house all wound up and excited and then Saul walked out onto this stage in this dark blue light. We didn't know if he was going to have a DJ or a band or if he was just going to read poems, but everyone was standing there, hot and sweaty from dancing, and Saul just said, "Everyone can take a seat because the only music i'll be playing is between the lines." He was carrying a tattered canvas messenger bag, wearing old Chuck Taylors like he was on his way to class or something, and he pulled out a journal from his bag, set the bag against the mic stand and just started to read various poems. In between he took questions from the audience and talked about where the world was headed and what we could all do to fix it. It was one of the most inspirational and moving nights of my existence.
If you haven't heard of Saul Williams, i highly, highly suggest you get into him. Whether it's the music, or the books, or the movie, or just looking him up on Wikipedia and reading some of his poems, you won't be sorry. He is one of the greatest artists of our short time here. I don't even hesitate to say it.

3. Mo Money, Mo Problems - Notorious BIG
Wow, talk about your all-time 180s. We go from one of the greatest poet activists of our time, to one of the people who was most resposible for turning rap into what it is today. Now don't get me wrong, this is a great song: a great beat, good rhymes, all the featuring artists you could ever want, but to mention Saul in the same shuffle with Biggy just doesn't seem right. I think the BIG man did some good things in his career, he had some songs that changed things, he said some things that got people thinking, he was absolutely one of the forefathers of rap music, he was influential to thousands of artists. Whether he made the right influences or not is up for you to decide. You can hear a little bit of biggy in every album out today, from the superb College Dropout album to the absurd Lil John albums. Just depends on which side you'd like to take.

4. Brand New Colony - The Postal Service, off of Give Up
I'm not going to lie to you. When i clicked next after Mo Money, Mo Problems it went back to Saul Williams then to a skit on Kanye's Late Registration, then to Common, then to this. And we've just had enough hiphop in the last 2 weeks so i had to skip forward and break the streak. I don't know what the shuffle on my iTunes is smoking, but it's probably Chronic.
I love this song from Ben Gibbard because it just sounds like the sounds from a really old video game, like PacMan or something. The Postal Service is great, i don't need to tell any of you this, let's move on.

5. As i Rise - The Decemberists, off of Her Majesty
There have been calls for The Decemberists for a long time so i'm glad they finally came up on the shuffle (Happy now Courtney???). I haven't had a chance to listen to this CD in it's entirety from front to back so i'll reserve passing too much judgement right now. But at first glance, i like this song. Despite it's only being 2:15 long, i think it has an interesting parlor song feel to it and i'm curious to hear how it fits into the mix of the rest of the CD.

Alright, i'll post something else this week, hopefully the concert review. If i don't catch you before Thursday everyone have a happy Turkey day and fall into a tryptophan induced coma on the couch listening to something good (or watching the Broncos win.).