Blackbird’s been a bit fussy the past few days. The remedy? Dancing to the musical hits of the 1930s.

She’s always liked two things: being close to Mom (or Dad) and movement. Well, it turns out she likes music as well, and is a sucker for the 30s. I was playing 1930s compilation (link opens in iTunes) I’d purchased and dancing around like an idiot with Blackbird in my arms and not only did she quiet down, but she even cracked a few non-directed smiles before slipping into that almost-asleep-but-I-won’t-let-them-take-me-without-a-fight state where she looks like a sleepy cross-eyed drunk.

If there’s anything I’ve taken from this experience, it’s the following three things:

1) It’s surprising how many of these songs are part of our cultural lexicon. With one exception (the woeful 'Ten Cents a Dance’), I knew every track.

2) I’m going to be very fit in about a month with all this dancing.

3) Once you get past the modern, irony-tinged, throwback quality of the music, you realize that most of these performances are excellent. These people could get the job done. I realize that this revelation is not novel.

Check out the track list after the jump.

Two scenes as viewed from the train this morning. These are best considered while listening to Cicada’s Technology Crisis, which is available for free.

I noticed this last night on a package of ‘Hearty Grains’ Thomas’ English Muffins:

Aren’t they describing the very parts of the English muffin that are nothing?

I mean, I know the “nooks & crannies” thing is their hook, but don’t start assigning adjectives to pockets of nothing; adjectives that are, by their very nature, describing qualities of things made of matter.

I recently ordered a copy of DJ Shadow’s latest mix album, Funky Skunk. Because it’s part of some thing he’s doing with Shepard Fairey and his OBEY project, I also got a tshirt as part of the package (I didn’t go for the big super-expensive package with seven tshirts and tons of stuff). I didn’t expect to get anything else. But when I opened the oddly-shaped packing box, I got the coolest piece of vinyl I’ve seen:

Have you ever heard an album that makes a sigificant percentage of the music you listen to suddenly make more sense? It all suddenly become related and connected in a natural progression? I had that experience when I started to listen to KRS-ONE. I always knew that Ultramagnetic MCs was a key group in hip-hop. I’ve always liked Dr. Octagon (Kool Keith and Dan the Automator), and Kool Keith’s flow is still unmatched in funk, kink, style, and vocab. But now that I finally got my hands on ‘Critical Beatdown’, so much hip-hop makes so much more sense. Another building block falls into place.

Also, it’s really damn good.

So, one of my favorite musicians, DJs, and hip-hop artists, DJ Shadow, re-released his first full-length album, Endtroducing as Endtroducing: Deluxe Edition, back in June and I promptly snapped it up on its release day. The re-release is a two-disc set, the first of which is the original album and the second is rarities, remixes, and alternate takes. There’s also a booklet included in the new packaging that contains: an excerpt from the Continuum book on the original Endtroducing, a hello from Shadow, and some brief notes on each new track. If you’re an avid Shadow fan, then it’s worth it. If you’re not, or you spend a lot of time on whatever file sharing service isn't being closed down at the moment, then you may have heard most of it before, or won’t care enough to invest the cash for the new disc.

Alisa and I went to see Autolux play at Northstar bar in Philly on June 1st, and it was great. We both like Autolux (Alisa especially so), so we really went just to see them. Unfortunately, because we have early-morning jobs (I have to get up at around 5 AM when commuting to NYC), we didn't stay for the headlining Ravonettes. But The Peels were new to both of us and they were on first, so we did get at least a little extra rock culture exposure from the night.

I saw one of my favorite groups, Interpol, live this Sunday, and they brought more rock than I knew what to do with. Even if you’ve heard their first album Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics, their latest, you can’t grasp what they’re like onstage. There’s a deep, intense, charismatic energy that grabs you and everyone around you when they delve into their songs. It’s great. It actually reminded me of seeing the Ramones live. The Ramones were a seminal punk band, and their albums are classic, but they blasted the veneer off the floor with the energy they bring live, which the studio can only dampen. Interpol does the same to the thin disaffected veneer people often bring to concerts in an effort to look cool. By the end, you’re dancing.

In addition to Interpol, there were two opening acts. The first, On! Air! Library! was very cool. If it’s any indication, I bought their album. They’re definitely too abstract and odd to go mainstream any time soon, but when the two female vocalists sing together, the songs are just amazing. Definitely worth a listen.

The second group was another story entirely.

I picked up Four Tet's Rounds, and it's really good.

After multiple listens, the best description I can give is the following: this is the sound you'd expect if DJ Shadow and Aphex Twin sat down on a Sunday afternoon to make an album together. Every track has the quirky, sometimes blippy, emotive-in-its-abstraction feel of Aphex Twin, but it also has the beat-minded feel of Shadow's work. Any time I think a track sounds overwhelmingly like one of them, I can imagine the other leaning over their shoulder and saying, "Why don't you add this?"

The end result is defintely worth a listen.

The Roots just released their latest album today, The Tipping Point. After one listen through, I rate this album comparably to Phrenology. It's an uneven album, with good, solid songs and songs I just don't like and/or get. It's got some solid tracks, but like Phrenology, it's got some of that over-wrought R&B male vocal crap that drives me nuts. I understand that many people love listening to that style of R&B, but I do not. Also, some of these featured guest vocalists just pale next to Black Thought, who I'd much rather hear.

Worth a purchase? Probably. If you're a Roots fan, you'll most likely enjoy it as much as their previous album.

My favorite tracks after one listen:

- Don't Say Nuthin'
- Guns are Drawn
- Web
- Boom!

The rest are either just OK or I could do without. The Roots are still great live (at least as of this past New Year's), but I'm not so sure I'm feeling their album work as much anymore. They're definitely moving in a particular direction, so I don't think they're 'losing it,' per se. I'm just not as interested in coming along for the ride.

That being said, Things Fall Apart is still one of the best hip-hop albums ever made, so at least listen to that if you haven't already.

I've recently started listening to Le Tigre, and I've come to one conclusion: they kick ass. They'll kick your ass, my ass, anyone's ass.

So far, we've purchased Le Tigre and the From the Desk of Mr. Lady EP. Both kick ass, as I mentioned. I prefer the more prevalent drum machine beats in the EP, but they still rock hard and rock well on their eponymous album.

I've been a in a very rock 'n' roll mood for a few months now. Interpol, The Strokes, Doves, Elbow, Franz Ferdinand, The Shins, Radiohead... I'm even breaking out some of my old punk albums (Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, etc.). I think my DJ/ turntablist/ hip-hop-centric days are over. Le Tigre is just the most recent step in this personal trend.

Who will be next? Nobody knows. But Le Tigre will still be kickin' ass.

Alisa and I saw Aimee Mann at the TLA last night. It was fun and Alisa really enjoyed seeing one of her favorite singer/songwriters.

A few observations from the performance:

First off, Mann is very good at what she does. Her delivery is tight. She does very true-to-the-album versions of her songs, with the support of a well-coordinated band. She keeps the banter funny and to the point (actually, it was really funny, but that's another story).

I'm not the biggest fan of her stuff, but it's good. It's catchy but not annoying or shallow. She is, in all respects, a talented professional musician. She reminds me of Ben Folds. She can probably churn out Solid, Listenable, Melancholy Aimee Mann Songs, one after the other, just like Folds can churn out Catchy, Peppy But Dark, Ben Folds Songs until the Sun goes cold. And, like Folds, if you don't get her solo stuff, you won't really like any of her stuff. But if you do like it, you'll end up enjoying every successive album.

DJ Shadow, one of the best DJs on the planet, released a live DVD/CD a few days ago, called In Tune and On Time Live! I got my hands on it this week, and am wearing a groove in the CD by playing it pretty much non-stop when I'm not around Alisa.

Shadow never lets me down. Tight, brilliant DJing all done in tune and on time, while simultaneously kicking ass as a rockin' collection of songs. The tour this performance is from is all Shadow mixing Shadow (which means album work, collaborative work, B-sides, whatever).

If you consider yourself a Shadow fan, or if you like hip-hop, turntablism, breaks, etc., don't even consider not owning this album. It might be a bit tough to find outside of his merch site, but once they restock (after selling out immediately) you should be good to go.

EDIT: According to djshadow.com, the album is not a website exclusive. In fact, the reason it sold out so quickly is because they got relatively few copies. You can pick it up at Amazon and other big retail outfits.