January 1, 2009, I started a blog called The New Classics. You can read about my original goals here. Mid-year however, I lost a lot of interest when it became too time consuming, and after several attempts to revive it, something just didn’t feel right. I need a new start.

So, starting fresh I am relocating the blog right here. A lot of my original hopes and ideas for the blog are still in tact, but they will executed be a much looser, easier way.

At 12:00am on November 26th, 2009, Thanksgiving Day, I am re-launching The New Classics with a month-long countdown of the Top 150 Songs of 2009, filled with downloadable links, music videos, videos of live performances, track information, and some words about each song.

Then on January 1, 2010 the site will resume it’s old duties of reviewing new songs, albums, mixtapes and music videos daily (hopefully).

If you’re interested in being around for the new beginning, bookmark http://thenewclassicsmusic.blogspot.com/ or subscribe to the RSS to keep up with all the happenings. If you don’t really give a shit until there’s some actual quality material up here, check back soon and see if you like what I’m writing.

Either way, I hope you enjoy all the hard work I am going to put into the new site, and please drop some comments even if you don’t. I love debates and discussions, and that is what this site is going to thrive off of.

I’ll see you all on Thanksgiving. Thanks guys.
gM

10.25.09

Song: Popular Demand (Popeye’s) [ft. Cam'ron]
Artist: Clipse
Album: Till the Casket Drops
Producer: The Neptunes
Label: Columbia Records
Notes: none
Analysis: Cult followings in hip hop don’t get much bigger than that of both Clipse and Cam’ron. Neither act has had a mainstream hit in years, but both have fans hungry for new material constantly. In Clipse’s case, most of the material they put out is worthwhile, but with Cam’ron, for every ‘Dead or Alive‘ there is an absurd track like ‘IBS‘ (which  happens to be about his irritable bowel syndrome). Thankfully, on the drowsy piano-laced banger ‘Popular Demand (Popeye’s)’, Malice, Pusha T and Cam’ron stick with what they’re all best at – shit talking, bragging and drug raps:
I kept it in the crib, it made me a light sleeper.
Whether watching for the feds or avoiding the grim reaper.
Way deeper than rap, money and hoes, it’s deeper than that.
Fight the temptation but it keeps coming back.
Money stacked to the ceiling just as quick as it dispense.
Who knew those commas meant you could lose your common sense?
Before it’s too late, all I could tell ‘em is repent.

That’s Malice’s paranoia in the closing verse. Till the Casket Drops is shaping up to be much lighter than true new classic Hell Hath No Fury, in terms of subject matter and beat selection so far, but the brothers obviously haven’t dumbed down the lyrics. The Neptunes crafted the beat here for the three emcees, something that Clipse aren’t unfamiliar with, as they have worked almost exclusively together for their entire career. I really don’t understand what the Popeye’s reference has to do with the rest of the song, but the image of these three guys hanging out in front of the fast food joint ‘eating chicken with fries‘ kinda cracks me up, so I’ll allow it.
Rating: 8.0

10.23.09

Song: Cornerstone
Artist: Arctic Monkeys
Album: Humbug
Label: Domino / Warner Bros.
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: ‘Cornerstone’ has a simple, slowly-strummed sweetness to it that Arctic Monkeys songs don’t usually go for, as far as I know. Here, Alex Turner sings a tune about (or at least what I interpret as) wanting to pretend that every woman he meets is a different woman in particular, and in the end settles for the woman’s sister. It’s the kind of song that I picture will get the crowd of a Monkeys show swaying back and forth and singing grinningly.

When I saw that she was on her own,
I thought she might understand.
She was close, well you couldn’t get much closer.
She said I’m really not supposed to but yes,
you can call me anything you want.

After several failed attempts for the character (or Turner himself), it’s a rather happy ending, even if it is just a whiskey-soaked one night stand. Musically, it has that smokey hole-in-the wall pub atmosphere that very well fits with the theme. Not being a very big fan of the Arctic Monkeys, I wasn’t expecting that this track would become one of my recent favorites, and probably the best song overall on their recent release Humbug. The music video below isn’t what I pictured to represent the song at all, and is very public-access level weird, but you can’t take away from a great song.
Rating: 8.5

10.23.09

Song: Gangsta Luv [ft. The-Dream]
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album: Malice in Wonderland
Producer: The-Dream
Label: Priority Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: Snoop decided to play it a little bit safer with his latest lead single. Unlike the stripped-out classic ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’, or the auto-tuned disco-flaired weirdness of ‘Sexual Eruption’, ‘Gangsta Luv’ is a more straightforward pop rap dance track. Not much different than many other The-Dream produced/featured songs, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The-Dream is one of the better R&B personalities on the radio these days, and he knows how to make a hit. Snoop continues to ignore his age, to our benefit. He’s just trying to make fun music, and while ‘Gangsta Luv’ is nothing original, or even surprising, it’s one of the better new songs you’re going to hear on the dancefloor this winter.
Rating: 7.0

10.22.09

Song: Swim Until You Can’t See Land
Artist: Frightened Rabbit
Album: The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Label: Fat Cat Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ is a song about abandoning all hope and getting the hell out of dodge before the worst hits the horizon.

Dip a toe in the ocean. Oh how it hardens and it numbs.
And the rest of me is a burgeoned man
built to collapse into crumbs.
And if I hadn’t come down
to the coast to disappear,
I may have died in a land-slide
of the rocks, the hopes and fears.

Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison is one of my favorite songwriters of the moment, and two albums into the band’s career, they have yet to disappoint me. Sing the Greys is great, but if you don’t have The Midnight Organ Fight you are truly missing out on some amazing music. Hutchison’s Scottish-twanged vocals are in full effect on ‘Swim’; a warm, spirited track that essentially urges a “let’s get the fuck out of here” rally, onto better times ahead. The Winter of Mixed Drinks isn’t due for release until spring of next year, but this early single is probably the best holdover that we could ask for.
Rating: 9.5

10.22.09

Song: Shine Blockas [ft. Gucci Mane]
Artist: Big Boi
Album: Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Producer: unknown
Label: Def Jam Records
Notes: none
Analysis: When you’re using a sample better than Jay-Z, you have to be doing something right, regardless of how many times your album is pushed back. ‘Shine Blockas’ rocks a soulful ‘I Miss You Baby’ sample by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes once used in the Kanye West-produced ‘This Can’t Be Life’ on Jay-Z’s Dynasty album. Where Jay (along with guests Beanie Sigel & Scarface) spat about the problems of their worlds, Big Boi takes a different turn by going in about those darn haters that always sound like such jerks. It’s a more upbeat take as Big Boi lets us know that nothing’s going to stop him from ’shinin’ and living his life how he wants. The track’s nice and glossy, lightly dipped in some down-south trunk rattle with the help of Gucci Mane, whose profile is growing track by track. Who knows if Outkast will ever return, but for the moment, everyone should be more than pleased with Big Boi’s solo work, with ‘Shine Blockas’ now up there with the best of it.
Rating: 9.0

10.21.09

Song: Meet Me on the Equinox
Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
Album: New Moon (OST)
Label: Atlantic Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: Death Cab has had a great 2009 thus far. Riding the success of their near-perfect 2008 LP Narrow Stairs, they released two of my favorites from the album: ‘Cath…‘ and ‘Grapevine Fires‘ as singles this year, followed by the equally-superb The Open Door EP followup that further cemented my admiration of this band. ‘Meet Me On the Equinox’ is a track written specifically for the soundtrack to a teen-fad film franchise of the last couple of years; New Moon. ‘Meet Me’ reminds me of ‘The Beginning Is the End is the Beginning’ from the Batman & Robin soundtrack of 1996; great, dark-mooded song from an awful movie. Now, Death Cab isn’t going for goth here like the Smashing Pumpkins did, but you can feel a smoky twilight (sorry) leaking out of the melody that puts you out on a brisk full-moon midnight somewhere with nowhere specific to go:

Let me give my love to you
let me take your hand.
As we walk in the dimming light,
oh darling understand
that everything, everything ends.

Ben Gibbard has done a fantastic job in the past two years in bringing the band to a new level, and ironically by introducing himself to a legion of tweens, this soundtrack cut may end up being their peak in popularity. The bottom line is that these films do not deserve to be associated with music of this quality… but surprisingly we still have them and their weirdo fanbase to thank for it.
Rating: 8.5

*warning: music video is terrible.

Posted in Download, Indie Rock, Music Video, Song Tagged: Death Cab for Cutie, New Moon Soundtrack ]]> http://thenewclassic.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/new-music-death-cab-for-cutie-meet-me-on-the-equinox/feed/ 0 gM http://thenewclassic.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/new-music-gucci-mane-spotlight-ft-usher/ http://thenewclassic.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/new-music-gucci-mane-spotlight-ft-usher/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:56:53 +0000 gM http://thenewclassic.wordpress.com/?p=1652 ]]>

10.21.09

Song: Spotlight [ft. Usher]
Artist: Gucci Mane
Album: The State vs. Radric Davis
Label: So Icey / Warner Bros. Records
Producer: Polow da Don
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: Mark my words, you will be hearing this one everywhere for the rest of 2009. Convicted criminal and gutter-flowed mixtape rapper Gucci Mane is likely to hold a Top 40 spot next to Miley Cyrus with this song, and deservedly so. This track drips of the spilled Heineken Lights of women flocking to the dance floor to get busy to their new favorite song. It’s a club song in the best sense of the description: loose, undeniably catchy, and stamped with the consistantly solid Usher on the hook. Actually, it will hit you much in the same way T.I.’s ‘Live Your Life’ did (whether that’s positive or negative depends on your mood and level of intoxication). There’s no reason that this can’t be the breakout song for Gucci and his simple, but humorous and sometimes surprising lyricism, but also has the threat of turning him into the next Flo Rida, which no respectable artist could ever recover from. Hopefully The State vs. Radric Davis has enough fire in it to keep Gucci’s name in our icey mouths. Gucci!
Rating: 8.5

I turned 25 a few days ago. I’ve been looking for a milestone of some sort to jump back into this thing headfirst, as I have several times before, and this one’s as good as any. I couldn’t fully commit to The New Classics for the past 4-5 months, and if you can’t put your best into something, why even bother? But as the gap from my last real update to “today” gets wider and wider, I think it’s time to give it another shot. I’ve missed a lot of music, and perhaps I will be able to cover it all in retrospect, but for right now I’d like to just dive into the freshest and newest, because there’s still some good shit coming down the pipeline. 2009 ain’t over yet.

gM

Thought I’d share this blog article (blarticle) about the subjectivity of music, and “best of” lists, even though they’re something that a lot of us love to read, and even take as gospel. This is the very point of the conundrum that The New Classics has aimed to solve from the beginning, despite using a rating system in itself. I believe that listing should be used more in the sense of directing people towards extraordinary music, rather than a “#32 is better than #45″ bullshit argument, because it is impossible to say for certain (especially when voted on by a group of very like-minded individuals). Anyway, TSURURADIO is a pretty rad blog that I only came across recently, and I encourage everyone to give it a read.

As for the future of The New Classics, I’m slowly coming back into the swing of things, compiling a butt load of dope music videos that I’ve missed out on in the past 3 months of absence, to be followed by getting back on track with the new day-to-day jamz, and some opinion pieces. Keep checking in, please.

In the meantime, here are the top 500 songs of the 2000’s!
gM