The Animal Show » Black Kids

Date Night

dfjacobs — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:00:20 +0000

"Best movie since Drumline"- DFJacobs, The Animal Show

In honor of the upcoming “Date Night” starring Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg and Common that hits theaters everywhere on April 9th, I thought I’d write an article about everyone’s most dreaded bonanza of uncomfortable interactions (No, unfortunately 20th Century Fox is not currently paying me for this unabashed pandering, but clearly I’m for sale). So here are a few tracks covering all aspects of the ulcer inducing evening, from the kicks to the entertainment to the encore (in your dreams).

While you may not have reached for a pair of Pumas since 5th grade, according to five-man Canadian hip-hop outfit The Lytics, they’re back and fresher than ever. According to the hot fire spit by either Andrew “A-nice” Sannie, Mungala “Munga” Londe or Anthony “Ashy” Sannie (if anyone familiar with these cool cats could tell me which I’d be damn grateful), “I like my shoes athletic/cause I’m so kinetic” but also when girls ask “how the hell do I stay so cool? What’s my secret?” he confesses, “It’s my shoes, it’s my shoes.” Beneath the clever rhymes is a club ready beat that may or may not have been made on GarageBand. While “Checkin’ On My Pumas” is not overwhelmingly profound or insightful, it is a party starter that will get your heart racing even before you lay eyes on your date.

Now that we’re all sporting our fly Pumas, let’s move on to the entertainment. The concept single “24 Frames (Movie Night),” from T.Shirt’s new Tan Face Children EP, features lyrics composed entirely of strung together movie titles. Behind the 120 titles is a synthesizer and snare beat that the discerning listeners among us will recognize as “Polite Dance Song” from the 7th best record of 2009, The Bird and the Bee’s Ray Guns Are Not Only Just Future. Beyond it’s awe-inspiring creativity, the track will also produce head-nodding and foot-tapping aplenty. Though T.Shirt insists that the lyrics actually tell his life story, I think he should just be content to call it a concept track in the same vein as Jay Stay Paid favorite “Reality T.V. (feat. Black Thought).”

On the off chance that your date actually asks, “can I have an encore?” and is looking to “cook it raw with the Brooklyn boys,” you should have this mashup at the ready. Not only does it feature the Hova hit “Encore,” but it also includes Edward’s old wake-up favorite (don’t ask why I know this) “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (The Twelves Remix).” The catchy “Not Gonna Encore” is a fantastic combination of Jigga in all his Black Album glory, and the dance inducing Black Kids anthem. And even if your evening becomes the disaster you feared it would, at least there’s “Date Night,” which again will obliterate theaters everywhere April 9th.

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Checkin’ On My Pumas – The Lytics (YSI)

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24 Frames (Movie Night) – T.Shirt (YSI)

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Not Gonna Encore (Ha! Yes Mashup) – Jay-Z vs. Black Kids (YSI)

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A Synthesized Saturday: The Twelves

Edward — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:04:14 +0000

Synthesize me, captain!

By now, you should know that nothing gets me dancing as hard as some blaring synthesizers. And, if you know me personally, you know that my vocabulary for describing synths basically encompasses the word “chunky.” Synthesized music I like is “chunky;” bad synth stuff is “nowhere near chunky enough.” “American Boy” — chunky to the max. “Lights & Music” — double chunk. “Sleepyhead” — chunkytown. And if there’s one band that knows how to chunk up the volume, it’s the Twelves.

Loyal Animal Showsters will remember when, back in 2 BHM (before Hype Machine), I posted a delectable Twelves remix of one of my all-time favorite songs, “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You.” Well, kids, the goodies don’t stop there. We’ve got a bonanza of bangers for you to kickstart your party, and get everybody on the same chunky page as you. Be forewarned: these remixes will all make you think the original songs suck in comparison. And, if you’re Drew, you’ll say, “they totally made that Fleet Foxes song listenable!” Drew’s a moron. That song was brilliant before this. And now it’s different and brilliant. Hell, these are all brilliant:

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Take On Me (The Twelves remix) – A-Ha (megaupload)

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Hurricane Jane (The Twelves Remix) – Black Kids (megaupload)

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The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (The Twelves Jam/Remix) – The Flaming Lips (megaupload)

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White Winter Hymnal (The Twelves Remix) – Fleet Foxes (megaupload)

Buy some Twelves music. You know you want to.

Januaremix II: The Emperor Tiger Strikes Back!

Edward — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:54:08 +0000

Who says recycling images is bad? I worked damn hard on this the first time, and I plan on getting at least 3 uses out of it.

You all thought that there was no topping the creative genius of the last remix post in terms of hilariously punning title and ridiculously ingenious mspaint’d photo, but then I totally outdid myself. I borrowed a technique from Dumb and Dumber, to bring you my own Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, serializing the title of my previous post with a snappy pop-culture reference. And then making you watch the same story again. Except this post has NEW SONGS! Can you believe it? The Animal Show is the best mp3 blog ever!!

Today, I’m going to unleash a couple of remixes I’ve been sitting on for a while. The first scratches that itch we all perpetually have: the itch for new Shins material. Wincing the Night Away happened far too long ago; we need more Mercer, dammit. This “remix” is more of a reinvention by the band, putting a fantastic new spin on aforementioned-album-opener “Sleeping Lessons.” The other remix is a sweet double-billing of the Black Kids (top 5 songs of 08 alert!) and Lykke Li. Grab ‘em while they’re hot. Out of the microwave. (Get it? Because they’re old and had to be reheated! Right, guys?)

Sleeping Lessons (The RAC Mix) – The Shins

I’m Good, I’m Gone (Black Kids Remix) – Lykke Li

Januaremix

Edward — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:56:00 +0000

The in-picture text says it all.

After an unbelievable bout of creativity in both the title of this post and the picture accompanying it, I’m a little embarrassed to say I’m not going to be giving you anything truly brand-new today. Instead, I’ll give you a couple remixes which are well worth attention, but which have been scattered all over the internets. Conveniently, both made my best of 2008 lists!

Get ‘em:

Lights Out (Tepr Emo Remix) – Santogold (via mossip)

I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You (Twelves Kickmix feat. Li’l Wayne) – Black Kids

This twelves kickmix is awesome. It gave an-already funky song a synth injection, so that it now is bouncing off the walls with non-stop awesomeness.

My Top 5 Songs of 2008

Edward — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:35:41 +0000

Unlike my favorite albums of live acts or movies or anything sensible, my favorite songs reflect what gets me bobbing my head in embarrassingly reflexive reaction to the beats. These are the sort of songs I can put on repeat and still enjoy. And, for the most part, they’re hip-hop. Maybe they represent more of the guilty pleasure side of my musical taste. Blurbs, list and links after the break.

5) Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It): If you haven’t seen the music video for this, you’re living under a rock. I’m still working on learning the moves, but I’ve got this much down: having a Robotic Hand makes everything a little cooler. This is an uncompromising joy ride of hard-hitting beats and the sort of wails only Beyonce can pull of. It’s no “Irreplaceable,” sadly, but it’s my November party anthem nonetheless.
4) Vampire Weekend – Ottoman: Vampire Weekend are crazy addictive. I’ve probably listened to the album 50-odd times now, and by the end I’m always craving the beginning again. By mid-September, however, I was craving new material. Luckily this gem dropped right around then. Not ashamed to cover ground they’ve tread well, those cheeky Manhattanites followed their pattern perfectly, going so far as to even repeat lyrics from a previous song. Oh-ho! Indie bastards! How I hate to love you!
3) Swizz Beats – That Oprah: Viva La Vida is like the flaming bag of crap you leave on your old racist neighbor’s doorstep, but, because you rang his doorbell at 8:30 PM, he answers the door without his glasses and mistakes the enflamed turd for an orphaned baby who needs changing. Later, you see him walking the poop in a stroller around the block, and you think, “how the hell did I work my way into this metaphor?” Has noone caught onto how boring and repetitive that album is? Do people still like Coldplay uncompromisingly? I enjoy 3 songs on Viva La Vida, and that’s on days when I’m feeling generous. This masterpiece/craptastrophy samples the opening salvoes of the title track of my choice for most over-rated album of 2008, and then provides some choice rhymes over the pop beat. My personal favorite couplet? “Bill Gates! Steve Jobs! iPhones! Microsoft!” Shakespeare is crying in his grave.
2) The Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You: Every now and then, you get a free song on iTunes that’s worth more than just one listen. I was really excited when I saw this was free, because the Black Kids definitely deserve the exposure that got them. Basically, this has everything I look for in songs to beat to death: a hummable synth part, repetitive lyrics, and explicit references to dance. If you can sing or shout “dance” while dancing, you know it’s an awesome song.
1) Estelle ft. Kanye West – American Boy: Late summer and early fall of this year, it was hard for me to turn my head without hearing this song. And I can say honestly I liked it more every time I heard it. Each of those million times. In a year in which Kanye spent the better part embarrassing us with off-key warbling, this reminded me of why I loved him. I’ll give you a hint why – the man drops hot rhymes about his clothes being designer. Also, the way he enunciates the “rubbish” at the end of his verse is priceless.