This song is catchy. So catchy, in fact, that it’s the only thing that’s been stuck in my head for the last three days. I stumbled across it by perusing MTV2 OnDemand’s Rock section (where you can also catch Diamond Nights and Tapes n Tapes) and fell immediately in love. Something about electronic dance beats and Brazilians in bad 80s fashion just does it for me apparently.

The Song
I like that there’s a lot going on. The fact that it’s super-repetitive makes it listenable. The drums and bass lay down a relatively simple base to build on. On top of it guitars, a whistly-synth, and the lyrics compete for your attention. Then out of nowhere comes a breakdown with a driving pulse punctuated by what sounds like the warning buzz of a truck backing up. Then it’s back to the same poppy dance goodness that is the melody.

The lyrics are charmingly delivered by Lovefoxxx in a softened English that perfectly fits her child-like appearance. This, combined with the racy-but-not-quite subject matter, embodies their name — the Portuguese ‘Cansei de Ser Sexy’ = ‘Tired of Being Sexy’.

The Video
All good. I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like about it. Except for maybe the mustachioed man, but that’s just due to my general aversion to facial hair. Some things I particularly like:

+ the awesome 80s fashion
+ the layered skyline
+ the mix of film + cutouts
+ the sweet dance moves
+ the DFA1979 tribute via drum, bass, and elephant masks and subsequent cameo by the band
+ the idea that everything is kind of shaky and out of control until people get together and love

After watching this five times in a row for the purposes of review, I’m still feeling good about it. High fives for South American electronic dance rock.

I haven’t read Bikari Kitwana’s The Hip-Hop Generation. It’s supposed to be very, very good.

I have, however, just finished his 2005 release, Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America.

After finishing, I’m still not sure why white kids love hip hop.

Kitwana is a fantastic writer and did his research, but wasn’t successful in answering his own question. If anything, he really should have tweaked the title to “White Kids and Hip Hop: The New Reality of Race in America“ and I’d be a lot happier. I should call his editor.

Throughout the book Kitwana challenges claims that whites have taken over and begun to dominate the hip-hop arena, that white kids are only into hip-hop because it’s cool, and that hip-hop is no longer ‘owned’ by Black youth culture. In challenging these ideas he offers insight as to why people have these perceptions, as well as lays out the situations as he views them. All in all, the book makes for a quite interesting read on race relations in the context of hip-hop culture, but is not as much about the music as the title would lead you to think.

The most interesting thing that I found in the book was not about white kids, or music, or Eminem as this generation’s Elvis, but a fact about America’s voting choices. The last section in Kitwana’s book , “Coalition Building Across Race: Organizing the Hip-Hop Voting Bloc,” reveals the following (as of going to print in 2005):

• “Barack Obama was on the verge of becoming the first Black senator in the United States since Illinois elected Carol Mosley Braun in 1992.” (p. 164)
• “Not since Douglas Wilder served as governor of Virginia (1990-1994) over a decade ago, has there been a Black governor–and he was the only Black governor ever elected by the popular vote to head a state in the Union.” (p. 164)
• “There have been only two Black U.S. senators since Reconstruction.” (p. 164)
• “Currently there are no Black governors.” (p. 164)

I honestly had no idea that our representation was so unbelievably lopsided. I was shocked.

As far as Why White Kids Love Hip Hop being a recommended music read, I’d have to say no. However, it’s a fantastic look at issues surrounding the hip-hop community and American culture in general. If you are looking for more music-centric books relating to hip hop, here are a couple to look into:

• A Change Is Gonna Come - Craig Werner (1999 w/updated editions)
• Can’t Stop Won’t Stop - Jeff Chang (2005)

Also, if you happen to live in Madison, enroll in African American Studies 156: Black Music and American Cultural History at the University of Wisconsin. As of Spring ‘06, Werner and Chang’s books were required reading and the final project consisted of making a mixtape. Perfect.

A Winter Passing

01| Peace and Hate by The Submarines

02| It’s Happening by Number One Fan

03| Polaris by Jimmy Eat World

04| This Modern Love by Bloc Party

05| Lullaby by The Cure

06| Comptine D’un Autre Ete: Lapres Midi by Yann Tiersen

07| 9 Crimes by Damien Rice

08| The Scientist by Johnette Napolitano and Danny Lohner

09| I Know You Are But What Am I? by Mogwai

10| Hot Summers Nuclear Winters by The Meteah Strike

11| Jesus Christ by Brand New

12| Monachetti by Further Seems Forever

13| Textbook by We Are Scientists

14| Motorcycle Drive By by Third Eye Blind

15| Your Hand In Mine by Explosions In The Sky

—

The file is too big for one player, so the mix is split into two parts:
Tracks 1-8

Tracks 9-15

Alright children, run out to your local record store and buy Damien Rice’s 9.

The opening track and lead single, “9 Crimes”, is a slow and cavernous female/male duet where the players keep asking “is that alright with you?” when it is clearly not all right with either.

The video, debuting tomorrow night in the UK, is directed by Jamie Thraves, who directed the video for “Just” by Radiohead. It’s the one we all watched about 4,000 times when we were in sixth grade trying to figure out what the guy says at the end — the thing that led to everyone laying on the ground. I still want to know what he’s mouthing, even if it’s just nonsense. It still bothers me. But I digress…

“Rootless Tree” proves to another standout track. Weaving between quiet ruminations on a failed relationship and a screaming chorus that more anguished singer/songwriters should strive for, the track devolves into a pathetic* plea for the narrator’s lover to stop dragging him back into the relationship.

[*pathetic (adj.): having the ability to move one to compassionate pity; also: marked by sorrow or melancholy]

Things I don’t particularly care for on the album include the song “Dogs” (a little sappy and doesn’t really fit in the context of the album, at least for me), and a secret track of sorts that is ten minutes plus of a sustained tone. The tone isn’t even obnoxious, making one wonder why in God’s name it goes on for so long; it’s just there. I have to be honest — I did scan through it on my mp3 player, periodically checking in to see if the tone changed at all or if it ever led into a song, so it’s totally possible that I managed to skip over some mind-blowing millisecond of sonic ecstasy. If this is the case, I apologize.

I’ve only listened to this once through and given it a quick second run-through so I may add more to this later. Until then, share your thoughts.

Be sure to check out the premier episode of The Real World: Denver. Not only does it have amazingly promiscuous young people, a gay-hating southern baptist, and an ex-Raiders cheerleader (scandal abound!), it has a nice sound clip of Punchline’s song “Green Light” from their latest album 37 Everywhere. You can hear it when the room mates first arrive at their new home.

You can see their self-made video here:

They’re nice kids, check ‘em out.

I like music. A lot. And I talk about it to the point that it’s probably annoying to most people. So, instead of driving everyone nuts with my stupid running commentary and horrible speaking skills, I thought I would try getting most of it out on the ‘internets’ instead.

Expect lots of reviews (aka my biased opinion on concerts, CDs, books, people, etc), shameless promotion of things I like, non-music-related tangents, and for me to give up on this and forget about it after three mediocre posts.

My real goal is to someday develop this into a legitimate blog (oxymoron? perhaps.) and have real interviews and insightful commentary on today’s ever-finicky popular culture. Also, going legit will somehow validate my $60,000+ journalism degree. Right?

Happy reading.