Amazon's Best Music of 2010 So Far (And I Know None of These Artists)

Okay, that's not entirely true, but it does seem that 2010 has been a pretty thin year as far as music is concerned. I mean, we're still gaga-ing over Lady Gaga -- right -- and The Fame Monster is a year old.

To be honest, I usually look forward to Amazon's Critic's list. Overwhelmingly, their choices are just outside the mainstream enough to keep aging Gen-Xers interested, but not enough to remind us that, damn, we are aging Gen-Xers. Amazon's Top Ten, so far...

1. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
2. Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
3. Christian Scott - Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
4. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
5. The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
6. Little Boots - Hands
7. The Drums - The Drums
8. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
9. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
10. VV Brown - Travelling Like the Light

(And all the rest)

Janelle Monae is the artist who's impressed me most from this list. She's young, smart, super-talented, and managed to craft an image that stands apart from all the Ke$has, Mileys and yes, Gagas.

Madness, "Our House"

From 1982, here's "Our House" by Madness.

Enjoy!

Set Your DVRs: Week Of July 5, 2010

It would appear that everything's in reruns except for Leno this week, so the pickings are pretty slim.

Here are the musical acts appearing on the talk show circuit this week. We compiled this list to the best of our abilities. Check your local listings and don't shoot the messenger.

Monday, July 5th
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Broken Bells (R)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Phish (R)
Late Show with David Letterman: The National (R)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Alanis Morissette (R)

Tuesday, July 6th
Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Specials (R)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Sarah McLachlan (R)
Late Show with David Letterman: Miley Cyrus (R)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Enrique Iglesias

Wednesday, July 7th
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Dierks Bentley (R)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Stars (R)
Late Show with David Letterman: The Black Keys (R)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: The Hold Steady (R)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Big Boi

Thursday, July 8th
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Blitzen Trapper (R)
Late Show with David Letterman: Willie Nelson (R)

Friday, July 9th
Friday Night Alright: Linkin Park
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Drake (R)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Eminem (R)
Late Show with David Letterman: Sarah McLachlan (R)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Chris Isaak

Saturday, July 10th
Austin City Limits: M. Ward / Okkervil River (R)
Saturday Night Live: Pearl Jam (R)

(R) = repeat performance
shows in red = our picks for the week

Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger"

So how was your Fourth?

From 1979, here's Supertramp with "Goodbye Stranger."

Enjoy!

LinkChurch: Beck, Frank Black, Bobcat Goldthwait

Here's our weekly wrap-up of pop culture commentary and news we didn't get a chance to cover during the week.

Culture Brats Highlights of the Week

• We review Despicable Me.
• We break down the 2010 BET Awards.

Pop Culture Commentary

• Popdose takes a look at Airplane!
• Vulture wonders if Grown Ups and Sex And The City 2 are the same movie.

Music

• After covering all of INXS' Kick, Beck is moving on to Yanni's Live At The Acropolis. Really.
• Frank Black is creating a rock opera.
• Taylor Swift finally gets her revenge against Kanye West.
  

Movies

• There's going to be a new Pee-wee Herman movie. YES!
• Bobcat Goldthwait is writing and directing a musical based on The Kinks.

Mixtape: Songs About Vampires

To cash in on the Twilight craze, we devoted our show to vampires on this week's Culture Brats Radio. In case you missed it or just want to reminisce, here's the playlist:

SIDE A

1. Antsy Pants, "Vampire"
   
2. Sting, "Moon Over Bourbon Street"
3. Kings of Leon, "Closer"
   
4. Roky Erickson, "Night Of The Vampire"
5. My Chemical Romance, "Vampires Will Never Hurt You"
6. Concrete Blonde, "Bloodletting"
7. Bif Naked, "Vampire"
8. DJ BoBo, "Vampires Are Alive"
9. Arctic Monkeys, "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..."
10. Pet Shop Boys, "Vampires"
    
11. The Misfits, "Vampira"

SIDE B

1. Bauhaus, "Bela Lugosi's Dead"
   
2. Marvelous 3, "Vampires In Love"
   
3. Future Bible Heroes, "I'm A Vampire"
   
4. Annie Lennox, "Love Song For A Vampire"
   
5. HIM, "Vampire Heart"
   
6. Vanessa Carlton, "Half A Week Before The Winter"
7. Marcy Playground, "The Vampires Of New York"
   
8. Siouxsie & The Banshees, "We Hunger"
9. OutKast, "Dracula's Wedding"
   
10. Buffy Sainte-Marie, "The Vampire"
11. Bad Brains, "Fearless Vampire Killers"
12. Rocket From The Crypt, "I Drink Blood"
13. Vampire Weekend, "Oxford Comma"

Thanks to everyone who came out and requested songs. If you'd like to catch future shows, follow us on Twitter.

Spend Your 4th Walking On Air!

Ok, kids! Time to set those VCRs DVRs! The Syfy Channel will be showing a Greatest American Hero marathon beginning at 9:00 AM on July 4th.

I'll be watching, but for the life of me, every time I think of the Greatest American Hero's theme song, Seinfeld pops into my head.

Damn you, George Contanza and your answering machine!

And... do you realize that kids born today will have no idea what an answering machine is?

[source]

Jon Stewart Is Clearly On Team Culture Brats

I was watching some catch up video from the The Daily Show and ran across this story. Like we've been saying, everything '80s is coming back around!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Kremlins 2: The New Batch
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Have a great holiday weekend if you're in the US!

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts (Sorta)

Last year an ultra low budget flick called Paranormal Activity was released and became a huge hit.  It was billed as one of the scariest movies ever made and had a trailer that showed audience members literally jumping out of their seats. 

I have a love/hate relationship with horror movies.  I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but as a movie geek I felt obligated to see what became a pop culture phenomenon. 

One night (when my wife was home) I turned on all of the lights and popped in the DVD.  I sat tensely on the couch, anticipating to be scared out of my mind.  I watched and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Soon the movie was over and I realized that clever marketing had had its way with me.  The movie was entertaining, but not nearly as scary as I was expecting.

Now comes the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2.  And while I didn't expect to be suckered into being scared of it like the last movie, there is a new wrinkle in this one that creeps me out.  In the first flick, a young couple is tormented by ghosts in their new house.  In this one, whoever is being haunted has a baby. 

Check out the trailer:



I know it's because I'm a parent, but I don't like to see babies and small kids in jeopardy in movies.  So it seems that the makers of the Paranormal Activity series has me freaked out once again. 

Well done guys.  Well done.

Murray Head, "One Night In Bangkok"

"I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine."

From 1984, here's Murray Head with "One Night In Bangkok."

Enjoy!