A Prophet (film)

I've never been incarcerated before (excluding that one time in the drunk tank), but this movie literally made me feel like I was living a real-life nightmare in a filthy, corrupt French penitentiary. The movie begins with the Arab protagonist being forced to murder a fellow Arab by some Corsican mobster inmates, or face of the consequences of being murdered himself. The plot takes off from there, and I'm not surprised the critic in the poster above says that it "takes its place among the greatest crime films ever made."

I'm not sure when this movie comes out on DVD, though if you're the crafty type, you could probably find another way to track it down : )

Millionyoung (part 2)

Yes, I'm doing another blog about Millionyoung. Why? Because he rules. And he also just came out with a new EP that is über dank. Good bedroom dreamy washy poppy type stuff. Here's a couple tracks off the new EP:

Millionyoung - soft denial

Millionyoung - day we met

Capturing the Friedmans (Film)

Considering this documentary is a twisted tale of incest, rape, and pedophilia, I feel kind of weird calling Capturing the Friedmans "one of my favorite films." But, well, it is! It's so damn good! I've never seen a movie where there was so much home footage being taken, even before anyone knew there was anything super fucked up going on. If you have a Netflix account, you can stream it directly right here.

New Joanna Newsom!

I'm really excited about Joanna Newsom's new album. I was lucky enough to see her play the whole thing live in Big Sur about a year ago (quite possibly the best show I've ever seen), and have been waiting patiently ever since for its release. Drag City just released this song off the new album. Give it a listen and pick up the new triple album "Have One on Me" on Feb 23.

Joanna Newsom - "81"

Caribou

Check out this catchy new jingle just released from Canadian music gurus Caribou. Way more dancy than any of their previous stuff, but if this is a taste of things to come on their unreleased new album, I think 2010 will be a big year for these mystical beasts.

Caribou - Odessa

Golden Ages

First heard about Golden Ages over at getoffthecoast (excellent music blog btw). If you're into the tripped out animal collective/panda bear/neon indian/beach boys on acid aesthetic, then I highly recommend this solo artist. You can pick up the brand new album Tradition here. In the meantime, check out these sweet jamz:

Golden Ages - Waiting

Golden Ages - Be Cool

Husky Rescue

Out of all the bands out there on this planet, Husky Rescue would rank in my top 5 list of "bands I'm shocked have not blown up yet." I just listened to their brand new album, and like their previous two full lengths, I end up inevitably sitting and wondering to myself why it seems like nobody has heard of them yet. That's usually when I remind myself that the majority of people that listen exclusively to mainstream music are MORONS to the nth degree. Don't believe me? Check out the latest Billboard 100. See what I mean?

Anyway, here's a couple brand new Husky Rescue tracks:

Husky Rescue - Sound of Love

Husky Rescue - We Shall Burn Bright

Black Dynamite (Film)

Overtly racist stereotypes, glorified sexual promiscuity, heroin addicted orphans, superfluous violence, and gratuitous 70's "blaxploitation" cliches? YES PLEASE!! These are some of the many things that make this such a special film. 20% Bruce Lee, 20% Jean Claude Van Damm circa Bloodsport, and 100% gigantic black penis, Black Dynamite is one bad mutha fucka. Despite looking and feeling like a carbon copy of a 70's "black pimp flick," Black Dynamite came out in 2008, and succeeds remarkably at bringing back all the glory and realism of the original movies it mocks. Unfortunately, I think the movie loses steam about 2/3 through, but it's still definitely worth checking out. Currently playing at the Red Vic, and out on DVD in February 2010.

The Vice Guide to Liberia

It doesn't get much better than this.

A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (Film)

No, this blog is not about my life. It's a brilliant and HILARIOUS British documentary about a lazy, scruffy, unmotivated filmmaker who's been dumped by every girlfriend he's ever had. With hopes of understanding why he always gets dumped and how to improve his future relationships, he tracks down every one of his former lovers (dating all the way back to age 11) and attempts to interview them. Things soon become very personal (think embarrassing erectile dysfunction, painful dominatrix scene, etc) and very, very funny.

This movie is annoyingly difficult to find (you can forget about Netflix), but it's well worth the effort.

Cat Killer

Cat Killer is a solo project of a guy named Dylan that lives in Cleveland. Some people have referred to his music as "hazy, lo-fi beachside pop," but considering Cleveland doesn't exactly have the most picturesque beaches, I'd like to imagine that Dylan took a time machine back to a sunny San Diego beach in 1986 to record these beautiful tracks.

You may have to pump up the volume as these were undoubtedly ripped from a cassette that was baking in the dashboard of a car for just the right amount of time.

Cat Killer - Tree Limbs Together

Cat Killer - Word to Remember

Brother's Keeper (Film)

So I'm thinking of making this thing into a music AND movies blog. People tend to tell me I have pretty good taste in music and movies (which I feel is quite the understatement), so why not?

Anyway, Brother's Keeper is a superb documentary from the early 90's that I recently discovered and highly recommend. It's about 3 hillbilly brother's who've been farming in the "backwoods" of New York their entire lives. When one of them is accused of killing the fourth (dead) brother, the events that follow are, well, just go watch the movie and you'll see what happens.

You can stream it from Netflix here

oOoOO

In case you didn't know, goth music is back, and it's making old timers like Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor go running home to their mommies for a cup of warm milk and a hug. I don't know much about this mysterious San Francisco-based group called oOoOO, except that they are making some seriously heavy haunted house type shit that reminds you of that time you were doing way too much blow off tombstones all night in that dark, eerie graveyard during a full moon.

Thanks to the friendly ghosts of oOoOO for emailing me these tracks:

oOoOO - NoSummr4u

oOoOO - Nadiaohrmxxx

Check out for Salem and White Ring for more like this.

MillionYoung

MillionYoung is a really talented dude from South Florida. His jamz are more crazysexycool than Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes setting NFL star Andre Rison's Georgia house on fire, and have more flayva than an entire buttload full of Shoop sauce. If you like blissed-out, hazy stoney beach bands like Washed Out and Toro y Moi, then you will like this. If you don't know who Washed Out and Toro y Moi are, well, then you probably have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about.

MillionYoung - Chlorophyl

MillionYoung - SunnDreamm

Dishwasher

Montreal-based solo project Dishwasher (aka Martin Cesar, pictured above with yamaka) has been one of my all around favorite musicians since 2005. He writes simple, honest, bittersweet pop songs that seem flawless in every way imaginable. Everyone I've ever introduced his music to pretty much falls in love with it immediately and subsequently wants to have his baby. Have a listen and you'll see what I'm talking about:

Dishwasher - Again and Again

Dishwasher - Always Call Your Boyfriend

This is Why I Love The Swedes

Tanlines

This is my very first post, and how fitting it is that I just got this AMAZING brand new EP titled "Real Life" from Brooklyn-based duo Tanlines. Their tracks kind of remind me of that tropical High Places/Lemonade sound, except these guys are about 100x more fun to listen to.

UPDATE - HAD TO TAKE THESE TRACKS DOWN, GOT A DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTIFICATION