The Animal Show » Kid Cudi

Turn the Beat Around

dfjacobs — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:00:13 +0000

In the last fortnight, I humorlessly lowered the musical pulse of The Show. Now I’m not retracting my overwhelming endorsement of The Tallest Man on Earth and Mumford & Sons, because their greatness has not wavered. However, after three Snapple Peach Ice Teas and a pack of Sour Patch Kids, I’m ready to rave like a MDMA champion. And this may just be the booze talking (read: sugar high), but dancing to the Swedish “giant” doesn’t bring the thunder like say, dancing to a MSTRKRFT vs. Bieber mashup. “What?!” you ask, could such a raucous and remarkable combination exist? Well, thanks to the wonder woman of DJs, CJ Milli, the tween sex magnet has had his music morphed into a track that will destroy clubs he’s not even old enough to enter. CJ Milli mixes the track startlingly well and she should definitely be watched in the coming months (and no, not just because of her surprisingly good looks.)

Next up on our Beenie Man playlist is Them Jeans remix of “Pursuit of Happiness.” Them Jeans, or Jason Stewart (an actual giant standing at 6’8’’), speeds up the introspective Cudi ballad promoting crazier dancing and less head nodding. The addition of thumping bass and substitution of synthesizers in place of piano makes this track an instant explosion versus the original’s slow burn.

Finally, rounding out this stunning threesome is a deep cut. This song will not promote boogie nights as well as its predecessors, but I have been searching for an opportunity to promote this track for an annoyingly long time, and it will certainly get you moving. Released back in a trivial time void of the Double Down (November ‘09), this K-OS track samples Phantom Planet’s “California” (The O.C. theme song). As if this wasn’t incentive enough to give it a listen, K-OS tears this track a new one. “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman” is an infectious Hip-Hop track that with major label support would be a mainstream radio destroyer. Now stop reading and go dance the hell out of these tracks, you can thank me later.

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Heartbreaker Baby (CJ Milli Mix) – Justin Bieber x MSTRKRFT (YSI)

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Pursuit of Happiness (Them Jeans Remix) – Kid Cudi (YSI)

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I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman – K-OS (YSI)

Turn the Beat Around… Again

Top 10 Songs of 2009

Edward — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:27:39 +0000

It’s time to refocus, kids. Yes, we’re all excited that it’s finally 2010 and Lost will be returning soon and that maybe the Apple tablet will be released and hovercrafts, etc. But the Show is not done looking back. No, in vintage .org form, we have returned to the task at hand much later than promised. I would make another promise to continue to post regularly, but I don’t make promises I can’t keep (New Year’s Resolution 20-10, y’all). Today we bring you our 10 favorite songs of 09, and tomorrow you’ll get our favorite mashups. It was one smash-banger of a year, and I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say I miss the hell out of it. Oasis, you may be gone, but you will never be forgotten. You and I are gonna live forever, Noel. Team Noel forever. Liam can go straight to h-e-double-hell.

Oh, and here are the songs we liked:

#10: Drake – “Best I Ever Had”

The best thing about the year-end lists, in my opinion, is that it often gives us a chance to talk about guilty pleasures we would otherwise be too embarrassed to share. By my count, there are 3 such songs on this list; I’m writing about 2 of them. Drake has it all, ladies and gentlemen: the blessing of Lil’ Wayne and Kanye, the sort of street cred attainable only by appearing as a regular character on Degrassi: The Next Generation, and a voice that could make angels shit their pants (do angels wear pants?). “Best I Ever Had” is derivative, it’s repetitive, and it will stay with you, so that whenever anyone does anything you appreciate you find yourself saying (depending on whether you favor the radio-friendly version, or, like this foul-mouthed writer, the real version), “you da fuckin’ best” in your best Drizzy voice. It’s a hot jam, and leads me to believe that the R. Kelly signature only-somewhat-subtly-sexual-song approach to music may actually be the apex of musical composition. -Edward

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Drake – Best I Ever Had (YSI)

#9: Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait for the Others”

There are many reasons why a song is the most popular song off of the album, and many times, they are not the same reasons why a song is the best song off of the album. But, in the case of “While You Wait For The Others,” these reasons do seem to be in concert. I’ll explain. Veckatimest is a very good album. What keeps it from greatness is an inability to put together all of their skills—good orchestration, dynamic contrast, catchy melody—in the same song on a consistent basis. Incidentally, these are the same reasons that many songs get radio play, because put together, these traits form a sweeping melody with emotion to carry it along. “While You Wait For The Others” is one of the few places where Grizzly Bear gets it all together, and it sounds great. It makes it the best song off of a good album, radio worthy, and shoo in for top ten tracks of the year. -Dave

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Grizzly Bear – While You Wait for the Others (YSI)

#8: Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

Look at them in that picture. They’re so happy! All that energy and excitement you see in that picture, I feel in this song. The driving backbeat under whistling and trumpets give the feeling of trekking over previously unchartered territory, but Edward Sharpe and the gang are willing to take you along for the ride. You’re in the wagon, and they tell you a story with folksy honesty, evident from the girl/boy interplay to the less-is-more philosophy in the simple chorus of, “Home/Let me go home/Home is wherever I’m with you.” You tap your feet, hum along, sing along, and before you know it, you’re smiling. “Home” is a prescription dose of happy pills shot right through your ear canals into your brain, and while you’re smiling, you’re thinking that there’s nothing wrong with that. -Dave

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Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros – Home (YSI)

#7: The Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feelin’”

This song is completely retarded! But you knew that already; negative reviews, serious and comedic, abound for this track. Its inclusion in this list is thanks to the uncanny way that it touches any listener with the same reassuring and convincing message: tonight IS going to be a good night. Just watch the Oprah season opener again with any individual middle-aged or better — they’ve seen it already — and observe them boogie modestly to the inescapable beat. While you’re at it, notice that the Peas lack talent as live performers, but immediately forgive them because they gave the world a song that delivers unfailingly the message that it is now time to party. -Icebergxc

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Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feelin’ (YSI)

#6: Girls – “Lust For Life”

Late in 2009, Edward sent me a message that was like “hey have you heard of Girls you tend to like things that people desribe as ‘jangly’ so you might like this.” I was like “well yeah I’ve heard of Girls they’re all over Pitchfork’s best new everything list how could I not have heard of Girls numbnuts?” But the problem was, while I had heard of Girls I had not heard Girls. And so I went and got myself a copy of The Animal Show’s 8th favorite album of the year, ‘Album’. I listened to it. And the first thing I said to Edward after hearing the album in it’s entirety was ‘man, I wish they had just released a 7″ EP of Girls/Laura.” And that’s because every track after “Lust For Life” is totally forgettable due to “Lust For Life”’s greatness. You hear it, and its catchy jangling guitars rip apart any want or will to hear anything else. You must hear the bizarre croon of Christopher Owens over and over again as he sings about the harsh reality that clashes with our most desirable dreams. You must feel the beams of sun hit your face again and again as you travel about in San Franciso’s Mission District. And right as the repetitive garage-surf riffs start to get slightly annoying, the song jumps off the pool deck and into an aquatic sounding, finger-picked soft outro. Simply sublime. -Marquis Meowmers

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Girls – Lust for Life (YSI)

#5: Miley Cyrus – “Party in the USA”

Could every person who has never lost their voice singing to this at a party please raise their hand? If you’re raising your hand, congratulations, you probably look like a moron. I hope nobody’s watching. The nice thing about “Party in the USA” was that it was a guilty pleasure you didn’t have to hide. Everyone loved this song. Everyone loves this song. Everyone will continue to love this song. Oldies stations will devote entire hour-long blocks to this song in 2020, and we’ll still be sad when the hour’s up. This song reminded us that it’s cool to love our country. We stood and saluted Wal-Mart, KFC, and liposuction, and the tears rolled silently down our cheeks. We danced pantsless around a fire of Dixie Chicks albums, and we were glad. We tea-partied, surged, and gave shout-outs to God in our tweets. We stuck our thumbs in our belt-loops and hootenanied like there was no tomorrow. It was a damn good year, and it’s all thanks to Miley. (Oh, and also the poor nameless male-pattern-baldness sap stuck somewhere in a 1960’s office building who wrote the song under the flickering hum of a flourescent light.) We salute y’all. -Edward

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Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA (YSI)

#4: Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”

As a New Yorker, Jigga’s unendingly epic ode to the greatest city in the world was an integral part of my year. Getting to blast, “Shit, I made the Yankee hat more famous than the Yankees can/ You should know I bleed blue but I ain’t a crip though” as I popped bottles to celebrate the Yankees was a fantastic gift. Who cares if it was played at Game 2, the ticker-tape parade, every other NYC event, and on every radio station in the country 237 times too many. Does that detract from how incredible it is? No way. This track has too many extraordinary rhymes to be ignored, from “Mommy took a bus trip and now she got her bust out/ Everybody ride her, just like a bus route” all the way to “MDMA got you feeling like a champion/The city never sleeps better slip you a Ambien.” Not to mention how Alicia Keys belts the inspired chorus, and Stephen Colbert’s rap debut for “Empire State of Mind Part 2″. All in all, this song will forever be associated with ’09 and its ass-kicking greatness. – DFJacobs

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Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind (YSI)

#3: Kid Cudi featuring Kanye West and Common – “Make Her Say”

Every facet of the hella hot “Make Her Say” screams best rap song of the year. The beat, like the song itself, is catchy and imaginative, improving upon everyone’s favorite Lady, the Gagski. Cudi’s supporting cast is top notch with Kanyeezy and Common spitting sweltering hot verses. And while both are impressive, Kanye’s submission is possibly his best since he signed up late for college. “I’ve got seniority with the sorority/ so that explains why I love college/ getting brains in the library ‘cause I love knowledge” and “fuck the bus, the Benz is parked like Rosa(osa)” explode out of his mouth and into your ear like one of Weezy’s hand guns (too soon?). “Make Her Say” was indubitably one of the more iconic and quintessential 2009 songs, and is more than worthy of its place near the top this list. – DFJacobs

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Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West & Common – Make Her Say (YSI)

#2: Phoenix – “1901″

Tainted as it was late in the year by its appearance in a Cadillac commercial, 1901 shines as an anthem. When it first dropped, many were predicting that it would be one of the big songs of the summer. However, by avoiding a seasonal meteoric rise, it has settled into a hot slow burn that will keep it fresh for a long time to come, despite its dangling above death by advertisement. – Icebergxc

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Phoenix – 1901 (YSI)

#1: Animal Collective – “My Girls”

Are you shocked? If you don’t like this song it’s probably because, “hey it’s pretty good but it just got overplayed” which is my own pretentious diatribe about brilliant songs that get too popular, and thus are not cool to like anymore (’Paper Planes’, I’m sorry). So, yeah, Animal Collective isn’t making ‘Sung Tongs’ anymore. Bummer. And everyone (and I mean everyone) likes them now. Bummer. But you have to face the truth at some point: bands that are THIS good will almost certainly get mainstream exposure sooner or later. In the animal kingdom that is popular music, bands can either evolve or die. Part of evolving is exposure. And, yup, Animal Collective evolved. But what they haven’t evolved into is shitty husk of their former greatness, crapping out the same mediocre money maker after the other. Instead, Animal Collective has evolved into an unstoppable pop machine capable of ruling the earth with an iron fist of infectious rhythms, catchy hooks, and brilliant song composition.

The first time I heard ‘My Girls’ was when it was inexplicably leaked on various blogs and music forums in the waning weeks of 2008. Having spent a solid month or two checking the internet twice a day for MPP leaks (and getting Rick Roll’d not once, but twice in the process), I finally got a hit around December 14th. I found a stream of ‘My Girls’ on a message board, and naturally, I listened to it. And then I listened to it again. And again. The first time had access to ‘My Girls’, I listened to it so many times that I was 20 minutes late to my first class. And then, in between classes, I listened to it two more times. Why? BECAUSE IT WAS THAT FUCKING GOOD. I wrote about it in my personal blog. I claimed that ‘My Girls’ would be the best song of 2009. And here we are. The best song of 2009.

I shouldn’t have to describe this song to you. You’ve heard it. You’ve rated it a ‘5′ on your iTunes, favorited it on you Last.FM, and clicked the ‘heart’ button next to it on HypeMachine. It was on every mixtape you gave to your crush, you heard it 5 times a day on your college radio station, and it got played at least thrice at every party you went to. It’s just that kind of song. The infectious bass brings together the layers of electronic melody in an amalgamation of ‘experimental sub-cultural capital’ and ‘pop accessibility’. In other words, this song has something for everyone: the synth nerd, the lyrics freak, the girl who ‘just wants to dance’, the guy who is trying to get with her, and all those people who have “everything” listed under the ‘music’ section of the Facebook ‘About Me’ page. And it’s because they all love this fucking song, regardless of whether or not it’s for the same reason you love it. So go ahead, scoff a little bit and then give it another listen. You and I both know it wont be your last. -Marquis Meowmers

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Animal Collective – My Girls (YSI)

You’re Doing It, Internet!

Edward — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:35:20 +0000

NB: In all seriousness, I've never actually used the Pirate Bay to get music. It stands as a handy image representation, though.

I was reading an article on my Kindle* today from USA Today** that suggested that 95% of music downloaded via the internet was stolen. At first I was outraged, and then I reasoned out that, if the Animal Show represents 95% of the traffic on the internet (and it does) and the Animal Show supplies music free of charge (and it does), then it would make sense that the 95% of the music downloaded on the internet came from the Animal Show, and was therefore stolen. Right?

In all seriousness, the proliferation of music piracy represents something much bigger than falling album sales — customers (like you and me) are perceiving less value in an album of music than they did 9 short years ago. Listening is beginning to be seen as a right, not a privilege. I often rationalize blogs like the Show as the radio of the 21st century (because this helps me sleep at night), which is a parallel that only makes sense up to a certain point: while the internet undeniably provides fora for new music to be heard and enjoyed, it also provides unparalleled access for free. As a blog-reader, I’m going to go ahead and assume you have a relatively high amount of tech-savvy. Therefore, you would know that finding and enjoying new music doesn’t take the path that I am forced to act that it does. I’ve seen the click-through data for the Amazon links I put at the bottom of each post, and can say with some degree of certainty that they end up having basically no impact on the album sales for the artist I’m writing about. And I don’t mean in terms of “album sales” (ie on a scale of thousands or more), but instead in absolute terms — if I’ve made a post where 10 out of the 1000+ people who read it click through to Amazon to even think about buying the album, I’m doing something right. And to shoot for a 1% success rate is somewhat depressing.

But I know that, as tech-savvy readers (and, theoretically, as music lovers) you have sought out more from artists whom I’ve posted about and whom you enjoyed. Instead of purchasing their music, this takes the form of downloading the album from any number of free sources, from torrent servers like The Pirate Bay (which is dumb, and you shouldn’t do it) to online hotspots like megaupload, Yousendit, or mediafire (which provide the more intelligent way to download).

Is this worrisome? Yes. Certainly. Do I use these services? Yes, all the time. I’m proud of the fact that I spend the most considerable portion of my disposable income on music, whether it’s concert tickets, merchandise, or albums. But I simply don’t really believe in paying for digital music. Like most consumers, I want to be able to hold in my hand the item I’ve laid money out for. As a result, I probably end up buying 25% of the albums I consume. Sometimes I’ll download first and then buy and sometimes I’ll never buy. I don’t feel bad about it. I’ve grown tired of spending $18 on an album which I don’t know if I’ll enjoy. It’s much lower risk to download and delete bad albums. Hard drive space is hardly at a premium. For a long while I’d been an outspoken supporter of buying cds (which the amount of near-worthless plastic cluttering my room at home can attest to), but I’m growing tired of trying to right a sinking ship by throwing money at it.

I’m writing about this mainly because I think there are a lot of interesting issues in the music business that need discussion, and, as music bloggers and consumers of music blogs, we are the decisionmakers, tastemakers, and, at the most basic level, thieves. Again, I’m not losing much sleep at night, but that’s also because I’ve convinced myself that artists make music, first and foremost, to be heard. Not to make money. They have to earn a livelihood, definitely, but I’d bet that 98% of the up-and-comers playing weekly club-stays would say that they’d rather see a full house of people who hadn’t payed than a 60% capacity crowd that had.

This is an issue we at the Show are going to be coming back to with some semblance of frequency (fortnightly? monthly?) to discuss, from each of our different perspectives. Hopefully it’ll be really rewarding for you, the listener. Or it’ll strengthen our already-impressive bounce rate, as more people coming from Hype Machine for the songs stick around for the words. Writers are like musicians in that they want to be read. Jot that down.

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Krazy Day N Nite (Pitbull vs. Lil Jon vs. Kid Cudi vs. Crookers) – A plus D (YSI)

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My Girls (Gigamesh “Proper House” Remix) – Animal Collective (YSI)

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Animal – Miike Snow (YSI)

*Nobody actually owns a Kindle

**Nobody actually reads USA Today

Poker Face? I hardly know her!

marquismeowmersiv — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:12:09 +0000

I don't think that is Common or Lady GaGa to the right of Kanye, but it's probably close enough...

Collaborations. Samples. Super groups. In this post-modern era, it doesn’t take much time for a chart topper to become sample fodder for another chart topper. So when I stumbled on this track whilst shamelessly perusing PerezHilton, I wasn’t shocked that the CURRENT number 2 song in America is now the lead hook for what is bound to become another chart topper. The Lady GaGa sample is AMAZING, and it sounds like some solid Kanye production on the track. Speaking of Kanye, his verse is refreshing: no auto-tune, not too much singing, no lovey-dovey crap. Just smooth Kanyeezy flow and hilarious innuendo (”… I love college / gettin’ brains in the library / cuz I love knowledge”). Kid Cudi shows that he really can drop a verse here and there rather than a repetitive-yet-catchy chorus, and Common just tears it up like always. Seriously folks, this song is bound to be a hit very very soon… so good!

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I Poke Her Face – Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West, Common, and Lady GaGa (mediafire)

We're gonna have a partayyy

Edward — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:22:34 +0000

Damn right, it's gonna be a theme party.

Here at the Show, we have a strictly-enforced policy of self-congratulation. Therefore, on the 22nd of every month, we are compelled to celebrate. Why, you new readers ask? Because it’s our birthday. Grab your party spork, because we’re having ice cream cake after Domino’s delivers the pizzas. Fistfuls of Smarties for everyone!

You probably remember how, at the last birthday, I unveiled Animal Show 2.o, Snowleopardtigerspots, complete with 4 new staffers. Now you’re wondering what the 2nd birthday surprise is: nothing. Expect the blog to become more petulant and obnoxious as it enters its terrible twos, and be grateful that I don’t start taking things away from you. These dire economic times have been hard on the Show — whereas we used to sip champagne when we thirstayy, a la Biggie, now we are forced to drink Crystal Light instead of water. A very unfortunate corporate tie-in. Anyway, we did start streaming mp3s, maybe you noticed. Isn’t that enough? And we’ll continue to deliver jams and gems, old and new, to make you laugh, cry, or poop your pants. Keep reading, and I’ll keep writing. Until the next meta-post, enjoy some birthday jams: an original, a remix, and a mash-up. It’s the Show’s version of “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue,” except it’s for a birthday and there are only 3 things. Just go with me on this one.