Playlist: Ladies, Ladies, Ladies

I threw this playlist together at the last minute because I wanted to post something, so it may not be as good or as well thought out at the other ones, but at least it’s something. I probably will not have one next week because I am running low on ideas, but there will be a new episode of the podcast on Tuesday and I think it is my best episode yet, so stay tuned.

Live Freestyle: Mos Def

Just wanted to share this video that I found on youtube, featuring one of the best freestyle rappers in the world, Mos Def.

Useless Radio Show: Episode 2

The second episode of the podcast has been released and it follows a school theme.

Playlist:
Gym Class Heroes – Live a Little
Gym Class Heroes – Cupid’s Chokehold
The Cool Kids - Pennies
Bo Burnham - High School Party (Girl)
Katy Perry - Thinking of You

Music Video: Anthony Green - She Loves Me So

Weekly Recap: 2/15 – 2/21

News:

1. Bowling for Soup will release their new album, Sorry for Partyin', in June.
2. Sum 41 will be making a new full length this year instead of an EP.
3. The Color Fred is working on new songs for an acoustic EP.
4. The Hint's new EP, I Am The Hint, will be released on March 17th.

Streaming Music:

1. School Boy Humor's new album can be streamed here.
2. The Friday Night Boys have posted "Give It Up" and "You Do, You Don't" to their myspace page.
3. RunnerRunner has posted a new song on their myspace.
4. The Decemberists have posted a new song, "Hazards of Love 1", to their Myspace.
5. Sight vs. Sound (ex-This Providence) has posted a new song on their myspace, "The Sound That Saves Me."
6. The Seams have posted a new song on myspace titled "No Opportunity".

Download:

1. The Fray covered Kanye West's "Heartless" this live morning on Radio 1. Download it here.
2. A new MC Lars song featuring Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship is up for download here.

Playlist: Greatest Rap Songs of Ever

Like I have said before it is that time of the year again, Black History Month, and in honor of all the presidents out there I have created a special playlist featuring 23 of my favorite rap songs of all time. Usually I like to have an idea of what the playlist will be for the next week, but right now I am not sure what I am going to do because I have been spending a lot more time trying to get the podcast off the ground, so maybe I will have a playlist and maybe I won't, but I promise you that I will have a new episode of the Useless Radio Show up on Tuesday so stay tuned for that.

Behind the Scenes: Say Anything in the Studio

Studio Update #1

Useless Radio Show: Episode 1

I made a podcast, it is short and the quality isn't great, but it is just an experiment and we will see where it goes. Please listen to it and let me know your thoughts.

Here is the first episode of the Useless Radio Show, the premise is that I talk and play songs.

Playlist:
Asher Roth - I Love College
Eminem - Crack A Bottle
Dr. Dre - Nothin But A G Thing

You can see the podcast page here: http://www.switchpod.com/p23465.html

And here is the feed if you would like to subscribe using something besides iTunes: http://www.switchpod.com/users/asafford/feed.xml

Or you can subscribe via iTunes

Music Video: Hit the Lights - Drop the Girl

Weekly Recap: 2/8 – 2/14

News:

1. The Fray's self-titled second album will debut at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, pushing Bruce Springsteen's Working on a Dream to #2.
2. The Secret Handshake will release his new album, My Name Up in Lights, on April 21st.
3. Kevin Devine will release Brother's Blood on April 28th.

Streaming Music:

1. Ace Enders posted a new song on myspace.
2. The Hint has released a new song, "Pride," on their myspace.
3. A Change of Pace have posted a new song.
4. A Love Like Pi's new album Atlas and the Oyster is streaming on purevolume.
5. The Auteur have posted a clip of their new single, "Hey! Watch This...," up for streaming on their myspace; if you like the song, you can now pre-order it here.
6. Conditions has posted a new song titled "Born Again Question" on myspace.
7. MC Lars is posting a track from his upcoming album, This Gigantic Robot Kills, on his myspace page every Friday until it hits stores on February 24th. He recently posted "True Player for Real" featuring Weird Al Yankovic.
8. The Real You have posted their cover of The Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" on their myspace page. The song will appear on the Rockin' Romance compilation which comes out April 28th. This is the first "single of the month" that the band will be posting; each month they will be posting another new song.
9. The Arrival has posted a new song titled "Lost At Sea" on the band's myspace.

Download:

1. A new Mae song called "Boomerang" is now available for purchase on their website.
2. Download Thursday's "Resuscitation of a Dead Man" for free here.
3. Maisie has posted her new EP, Visions, up for free download.

Playlist: Little Known Bands: Part III

I finally got a around to doing part 3 of this on going series and like I said before this is a list of bands that I have found over the past year or so and have come to appreciate. There are several parts still to come, but as I pointed out yesterday it is black history month so next week I am going to do a playlist of the best rap/hip hop songs of all time so stay tuned.

Artist of the Week: 2Pac

It is black history month so I think it is important to make a black person the artist of the week and why not choose the person who has been deemed the greatest rapper of all time by many people.

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 — September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a successful film actor and a prominent social activist. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society and conflicts with other rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating political, economic, social and racial equality, as well as his raw descriptions of violence, drug and alcohol abuse and conflicts with the law. Shakur was initially a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground. Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, gained critical recognition and backlash for its controversial lyrics.

Shakur became the target of lawsuits and experienced other legal problems. He was later shot five times and robbed in the lobby of a recording studio in New York City. Following the event, Shakur grew suspicious that other figures in the rap industry had prior knowledge of the incident and did not warn him; the controversy helped spark the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur was later convicted of sexual abuse. After serving eleven months of his sentence he was released from prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records. In exchange for Suge's assistance, Shakur agreed to release three albums under the Death Row label.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center. MTV ranked him at #2 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time right before Notorious B.I.G. and after Jay-Z. Shakur has become a cultural icon due to his success and influences in music and poetry in spite of his assassination more than a decade ago.

Discography
Studio
2Pacalypse Now (1991)
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993)
Me Against the World (1995)
All Eyez on Me (1996)
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)

Posthumous
R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
Pac's Life (2006)

Live Performance: 2 Pac - If My Homies Call

Albums in Stores Today – 2/10

The Lonely Island – Incredibad
The Lonely Island is a group of filmmakers/fake music-makers. They hail from Berkeley, CA and have spent time in LA. They now live in New York where they work for Saturday Night Live.

Track Listing:
01. Who Said We’re Wack?
02. Santana DVX (Feat. E-40)
03. Jizz In My Pants
04. I’m On A Boat (Feat. T-Pain)
05. Sax Man (Feat. Jack Black)
06. Lazy Sunday (Feat. Chris Parnell)
07. Normal Guy (Interlude)
08. Boombox (Feat. Julian Casablancas)
09. Shrooms (Interlude)
10. Like A Boss
11. We Like Sportz
12. Dreamgirl (Feat. Norah Jones)
13. Ras Trent
14. Dick In A Box (Feat. Justin Timberlake)
15. The Old Saloon (Interlude)
16. Punch You In The Jeans
17. Space Olympics
18. Natalie’s Rap (Feat. Natalie Portman)
19. Incredibad

Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus
Pop/Rock/Alternative from Sydney, Australia

Track Listing:
1. What's So Bad (About Feeling Good?)
2. Surrender
3. Sing
4. I Love Pop Music
5. Rise Up
6. Yoko Ono
7. Boy With A Barbie
8. Bad Poetry
9. Blue Denim
10. Wake Up To America
11. I'm A Woman Too
12. Families Cheating At Board Games
13. Song For The Divine Mother of the Universe

Kiss Kiss - The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left

Track Listing:
1. The Best Mistake
2. Plague 11
3. Haunted By The Beauty of an Imperfection
4. All They Draw
5. Innocent I ( the Corruption of self through the introduction of Naturally existing self Producing Chemicals )
6. Innocent II ( A drop from the Ethereal; Swimming Towards the Crescent Moon )
7. iiiiiiiiiii
8. Hate
9. Through the Day
10. If They Only Knew
11. Virus

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Released on Capitol Records.

Track Listing:
1. Everyones At It
2. The Fear
3. Not Fair
4. 22
5. I Could Say
6. Back To The Start
7. Never Gonna Happen
8. F**k You
9. Whod Have Known
10. Chinese
11. Him
12. He Wasnt There

Music Video: Plain White T's - 1,2,3,4

Weekly Recap: 2/1 – 2/7

News:

• Holiday Parade has titled their new full-length record Tickets and Passports and have given it a tentative release date of April 7th.
• Just Surrender will be going into the studio this weekend with Ace Enders to record new material.

Streaming Music:

• Ace Enders' new single is streaming on purevolume.
• Backseat Goodbye has posted a new song titled "Moving On" from his upcoming EP on myspace.
• Stream A Rocket to the Moon's cover of Taylor Swift's "Forever and Always" here.
• The Doppler Effect's new song featuring Will Pugh from Cartel can be heard on myspace.
• The Hint has released the first song off of their upcoming album on myspace.
• New Death in the Park (Andy Jackson from Hot Rod Circuit) song up on myspace.
• Eddie Ramirez has posted two new songs on his myspace.
• Jimmy Robbins has posted a new song title "Losing Control" on myspace.
• Another new Lil Wayne rock song has hit the internet.

Download:

• Two Tongues is now available on iTunes - complete with bonus tracks.
• The Lonely Island's new song, "I'm On a Boat" (ft. T-Pain), can be downloaded on their iTunes page. Their new website, Incredibad.com, is now open for video viewing.

Playlist: Not Acoustic

Last week I posted a playlist of acoustic songs and this week you are getting the non-acoustic versions of those songs so you can compare them. And next week you should get ‘Little Known Bands: Part III’ as I have been promising for awhile now, so stay tuned.

Note: I was unable to find two of the songs anywhere (The Ataris - Eight of Nine and The Starting Line – Playing Favorites) so I was forced to skip them, sorry.

Artist of the Week: Andrew McMahon

Andrew Ross McMahon (born September 3, 1982) is the vocalist, pianist and primary songwriter for the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin.

Something Corporate
In September 1998, vocalist/pianist Andrew McMahon, bassist Kevin "Clutch" Page, and drummer Brian Ireland, former members of the band Left Here, merged with lead guitarist, Josh Partington, and rhythm guitarist, Reuben Hernandez, to form Something Corporate. The band independently released a demo CD titled Ready... Break in September 2000.

Fronted by McMahon, Something Corporate recorded their self-released ten-song demo album Ready... Break in 2000, which led to a record deal with the indie record label Drive-Thru Records. Drive-Thru released the band's nationwide distributed debut EP Audioboxer the following year. McMahon's vocals, songwriting skills and especially the incorporation of the piano earned the CD rave reviews and caught the attention of Drive-Thru's distributor MCA (now Geffen). Due to the labels' distribution deal, MCA was able to sign over Something Corporate and released their major label debut Leaving Through the Window in May 2002.

Something Corporate released their second full-length album North on Geffen Records in late 2003 and toured with 311, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, and Jimmy Eat World. As of 2004 (and the signing of Jack's Mannequin to Maverick Records), the band is no longer under contract to any label.

Discography
Ready... Break (2000)
Audioboxer EP (2001)
Leaving Through the Window (2002)
Songs for Silent Movies EP (2003)
North (2003)

Jack's Mannequin
The initial impulse behind McMahon's solo project Jack's Mannequin was "Locked Doors", a song he recorded in December 2003, which he felt was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that, if he would ever decide to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record. The idea seemed to be off the table, until in late summer 2004 both McMahon and his bandmates were exhausted from months of touring. They decided to take a temporary break. During his time off, McMahon laid down piano and vocal tracks for a song on Hidden in Plain View's Life in Dreaming and two songs on Tommy Lee's Tommyland: The Ride.

While Something Corporate's other songwriter and lead guitarist Partington created a side project of his own called Firescape, McMahon started writing songs, knowing they would not see the light of day as Something Corporate songs. McMahon took a more therapeutic approach in writing these songs, resulting in a more personal and intimate testament of his songwriting. They dealt with "coming home, and having home be way different than I had remembered it [...], abandoning a lot of people, and things, that I had normally been so attached to [...], exploring and being okay with myself, and not having to make excuses for who I am, and accepting who I am", McMahon stated in an interview.

Over the next couple of months, McMahon began recording the newly written songs with producer Jim Wirt, who would play guitar and bass over sampled drum tracks, while McMahon contributed vocals and piano. They later brought in additional musicians such as Bobby Anderson (formerly of River City High) and Tommy Lee to add to the mix. The project's name, Jack's Mannequin, originated from one of McMahon's songs called "Dear Jack", which was written about a friend of his whose brother was diagnosed with childhood leukemia, but ultimately did not make the album's final cut. In March 2005, Jack's Mannequin — now consisting of McMahon on vocals and piano, Jon Sullivan on bass, Anderson and Jacques Brautbar (ex-Phantom Planet) on guitars, and Jay McMillan (ex-River City High) on drums — played their first live show at Molly Malone's Irish pub in Los Angeles, California.

He then proceeded to compose his second Jack's Mannequin album: The Glass Passenger. The first single, "The Resolution", is the band's highest-charting song to date.

Discography
Everything in Transit (2005)
The Glass Passenger (2008)

Leukemia diagnosis
On May 27, 2005 (three months before the release of Jack's Mannequin's debut album Everything in Transit), McMahon was forced to cancel all of his upcoming concerts. After a medical examination in connection with a relentless case of laryngitis, McMahon was admitted to a hospital in New York City, where he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on June 1, 2005. Since the illness was diagnosed in its early stages, McMahon's doctors had high hopes for a full recovery. In the wake of this, many fans started projects to raise money for leukemia awareness.

Over the following couple of months, McMahon received various types of treatment, all the while updating his blog, to keep his fans informed on the progress of his condition. August 23, 2005 marked a very significant date for him for two reasons: Firstly, it was the day his album Everything in Transit was released, debuting at #37 of the Billboard 200 with over 22,000 copies scanned within its first week. Secondly, it was the day he received a bone marrow transplant, with his sister Katie McMahon serving as the donor. As a thank-you, he and the rest of Something Corporate wrote and recorded a song called "Katie" for her. The song finally was played live at a Jack's Mannequin concert on 7/11/2006 in Cleveland, Ohio. Katie was in attendance for the performance.

On December 2, 2005, McMahon celebrated the 100-day anniversary of his stem cell transplant by playing his first concert in six months – a private invite-only show in a small venue in Los Angeles, California. On July 9, 2006, McMahon announced at his Summerfest Jack's Mannequin concert that that night would be the last night he would have to take medication for his cancer treatment. Soon after, the second single from Everything in Transit, "Dark Blue", was released. It was followed by an opening slot on Panic! at the Disco's "Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour" throughout the United States and Canada, starting November 7, 2006 in Florida and ending December 12, 2006 in New Mexico.

Performance: The All American Rejects - 'I Wanna Touch You' (acoustic)

Albums in Stores Today – 2/3

The Fray - The Fray

Track Listing
1. Syndicate
2. Absolute
3. You Found Me
4. Say When
5. Never Say Never
6. Where The Story Ends
7. Enough For Now
8. Ungodly Hour
9. We Build Then We Break
10. Happiness

Two Tongues - Two Tongues

Track Listing
1. Crawl
2. If I Could Make You Do Things
3. Dead Lizard
4. Interlude
5. Tremors
6. Silly Game
7. Don't You Want To Come Home
8. Wowee Zowee
9. Come On
10. Alice
11. Try Not To Save Me
12. Back Against The Wall
13. Even If You Don't

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Lonely Road
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have set February 3rd as the release date for their sophomore album, Lonely Road.

Track Listing
1. You Better Pray
2. No Spell
3. Pen and Paper
4. Represent
5. Pull Me Back
6. Step Right Up
7. Believe
8. Pleads and Postcards
9. Lonely Road
10. Senioritis
11. Godspeed

P.O.S. - Never Better

Track Listing
1.Let It Rattle
2.Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)
3.Savion Glover
4.Purexed
5.Graves (We Wrote the Book)
6.Goodbye
7.Get Smokes
8.Been Afraid
9.Low Light Low Life
10.The Basics (Alright)
11.Out of Category
12.Optimist (We Are Not For Them)
13.Terrorish
14.Never Better
15.The Brave and the Snake

Count Your Blessings - Like Gum in Your Hair

Track Listing
1. Take It Easy
2. Sweet and Petite
3. The Way You Move
4. I'll Drive
5. Sucker for Sweet Girls
6. Fell for This
7. Tore Up

Chris Cornell - Scream
Released on Interscope Records.

Track Listing
01. Part Of Me
02. Time
03. Sweet Revenge
04. Get Up
05. Ground Zero
06. Never Far Away
07. Take Me Alive
08. Long Gone (Ft. Timbaland)
09. Scream (Ft. Timbaland)
10. Enemy
11. Other Side Of Town
12. Climbing Up The Walls
13. Watch Out

VersaEmerge - VersaEmerge EP
VersaEmerge - VersaEmerge EP released through Fueled By Ramen

Track Listing
1. Theatrics
2. The Hider
3. Past Praying For
4. Moments Between Sleep
5. Whisperer
6. Clocks

Automatic Loveletter - Automatic Loveletter EP
Automatic Loveletter - Automatic Loveletter EP released through Epic Record

Track Listing
1. The Day That Saved Us
2. My Goodbye
3. Hush

Music Video: P.O.S. - Drumroll

Weekly Recap: 1/25 – 1/31

News:

1. Mayday Parade are set the begin recording their new album March 1st, and the band are all growing beards in honor of it.
2. This Providence will release Who Are You Now? on March 17th.
3. Anarbor will release Free Your Mind on March 10th.
4. Nevershoutnever! will be releasing his new self-titled album (produced by Forrest Kline of Hellogoodbye) this May.
5. Life's Only Lesson is currently in the studio recording a new EP with producer Nick Scalise (ex-October Fall).
6. Stereo Skyline have just signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV.

Streaming Music:

1. VersaEmerge have posted their new EP for stream on myspace.
2. Runner Runner have posted a new song, "Back To Go Again", on their myspace.
3. Boys Night Out have uploaded two new old demos to their myspace for "Introducing Dreaming" and "Let Me Be Your Swear Word."
4. Show Me The Skyline have posted their EP for stream on myspace.
5. Amber Pacific have posted three new songs on their myspace.
6. This Providence has posted a new song on the band's myspace called "That Girl's A Trick" off their upcoming album Who Are You Now?
7. Thursday's "Friends In the Armed Forces," off their upcoming Common Existence, can be streamed on Spin.
8. The Mess (ex-Novice) have posted a brand new song on their myspace called "I Had You At Goodbye." The band is eyeing a spring release date for their debut album, Songs For Healing, with a tour to follow.
9. Conditions has posted a new song titled "Illuminati" on myspace.
10. And Then There Were None has posted a new song on purevolume.
11. Paulson has posted a new song on their Myspace.
12. Teamwork posted their new EP, Play or Get Played, up for stream on Purevolume.com and is the featured band. The EP is released on March 10.
13. Your Sweet Uncertainty have posted a new song on myspace.
14. No, Really! (Rob formerly of That Was Something) has posted 2 new songs on their Myspace, titled "Bags of Bones" and "I Can't Say I Blame You But I Do".
15. Jimmy Robbins has posted a new song titled "Gonna Get Better" from his Universal Motown debut on myspace.