The Animal Show » MP3

The Animal Show Rocks You Into 2009: Part I

Edward — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:52:49 +0000

OMG THIS IS THE LAST TIME THIS MILLENNIUM YOU CAN WEAR THESE! Unless you're like my friend Drew, and are blind in your left eye. If that's the case, you can wear right-side monoculars for, like, ever. You'll look like a moron, though. And I doubt any company will make or market those. THIS IS THE LAST TIME THIS MILLENNIUM THESE WILL BE MADE!

You know what I hate? New Year’s Eve. It’s the biggest letdown of a holiday ever. For me, it’s sorta like Christmas without the presents. I keep hearing about what a great time I’m supposed to have, but it never really comes together. But not this year! I’m gonna have a New Year’s so rocking it’ll bring Dick Clark back from the dead. Or kill him. Is he still alive? Anyway, I’m going to share the joy of New Year’s with you all, by bringing you my ultimate party soundtrack, counting down the days until the ball drops. Many of these tracks will not be groundbreaking, but they’ll be enough to help you survive the night.

Most of all, hopefully doing this will get me excited enough that I break my New Year’s tradition of staying home, watching When Harry Met Sally, and eating my loneliness away. If nothing else, hopefully someone will leave me a comment quoting that scene. Please???

Catch the inaugural jams after the break

Wiz Khalifa – Say Yeah

Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone

Yes, Wiz samples Alice, and that’s why you need to put both of them on the same playlist, to totally screw with everyone listening.

OMG NEW SUFJAN, GUYS!

Edward — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:30:27 +0000

Merry Christmas from Sufjan Stevens and Some Random People He Met On the Street and Asked to Pose as His Family, or Something Like That!!

Most of my days, when I’m not thinking of ways to out-hipster my peers (note to self: ironic fu man chu), I spend my hours weeping and wondering whether Sufjan Stevens is ever going to record another album. Come on, man! It’s been like a year since I’ve heard new material from you. Maybe.

Lucky for me and Sufjan/Jesus-lovers everywhere, everyone’s favorite indie banjoist has dropped another of his Christmas Albums

Catch it after the break.

Sufjan Stevens — Songs for Christmas Vol. 8

Thanx, VOLUME KNOB!

Hot New Prince

Edward — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:20:07 +0000

Prince, Seductive as Always

We interrupt our regularly-scheduled programming to bring you an important update on everyone’s favorite androgynous pan-sexual, Prince Rogers Nelson. The five-foot phenom has just dropped 5 hot new tracks, which are spreading across the internet as quickly as news that Sarah Palin isn’t actually worth any attention anymore.

After finding dead link after dead link (sorry, PMA), I’ve found 4 of 5 in mp3 form. And, believe it or not, they’re pretty damn funky. Much better than most of Planet Earth. (Which was miserable, with one possible exception.)

Find it after the break.

The Double-secret Probation EP (aka the first 4 tracks from America’s royalty’s 2009 album, which is rumored to be titled Crimson & Clover.)

Word is that Prince is eying some sort of new way to release his album, a la Radiohead. If you remember, 2007’s Planet Earth was given out free with a Sunday edition of the UK’s Daily Mail. Its distribution led directly to the success of Prince’s 21-night stay in London, playing the O2 and Indigo2.

His purple highness is really what The Animal Show is all about. I won’t rhapsodize here, but let’s just say that Prince has made me everything I am. If you’ve never seen Purple Rain, you’ve never experienced human emotions, plain and simple.

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.