Mixtape On The Moon

Hi Friends! Check this freaky naughty mixderp from these people I totally haven't ever heard of before [via my sister]

For those of you who can't read, it reads: 

BENZI & DIPLO

PRESENT

MANSIONS ON THE MOON

PARADISE FALLS

Randy and I only listened to this mixtape once over but knew we had to post it for all'y'all'all to enjoy. It is full of jams reminiscent of our good pal Flying Lotus. Keep an eye out for 'Glimpse of the Future' feat. Xaphoon Jones (he is soooo crazy..crazy..crazy..crazy?) and 'Satellite' feat. deadmau5.

FREE DL OF THE MIXTAPE HURR

You guys Betr Cech it out!

Eh,

Charlie?

ALBUM OF THE WEEK >> UP FROM BELOW

HERE IT IS YOU ASSHOLES

Sorry 'bout that, the publisher has been on my ass all day about this post but IT'S FINALLY HERE SO YOU CAN SHUT UP NOW. So I called dibs on AotW this time and I only had one alby on my mind...the beautiful Up From Below by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

Where the hell are they all coming from?

Oh.

Tasty, yes? Check the rest after the jump

2420 - Vol. 1

site of the 2420 official after-party

Here are 24 tracks that have been burning through our collective eardrums since the last playlist. 

20 for 20 has been updated to 2420 to accomodate our expanded staff [yo Kanye!]

Hopefully this makes the Mondays sting a little less.

track list after the jump

Home (Oh!)

Hey gang, Charlie here. So it's pretty obvious that I'm totally NOT in college since I'm writing for a 'kewl'/relevant/semi-famous (here's lookin' at you, Denmark!) blog....but if I WERE in college, this past weekend probably would've been my fall break. So in true not-in-college fashion, Randy and I decided to celebrate fall break anyway with a trip down to Nashville, TN, then up to Lexington, KY. And boy, what a trip it was (check out Randy's Local Natives concert write-up here).

 Hey, I did my best on this one

Read my emotional ramblings after the break: 

Bent Mornings

Hello again, internet! How have you been since last time we hung out? Me too.

I’d like to take this time to tell you about a cheeky little video I was introduced to by a cousin of mine (he’s like a cousin to me). The video is a studio sesh of The Morning Benders playing the song “Excuses”, the first track off their second studio album Big Echo. It’s quite a powerful performance because the band brought in a buttload of their musical pals to play along. Check it out after the jump.

Free Energy Concert Review/Album of the WEAK

WOOH! FUCK YEAH! 21^st POST! WILD CARD! SUCK IT!

Note: My apologies for the delayed review post, but I fell into a wormhole earlier this week and just recently got back. Luckily, I did manage to get back before I forgot about seeing Free Energy this past weekend. Check the review after the jump.

20 for 20

hehe see what I did there?

After a long production logjam (read: classes, hangovers, impromptu dancing), we are back.
Every 20 posts we'll throw down a new playlists of 20 songs to keep in mind the original concept behind this blog. Some of these will be new tunes, and old favorites still make for one hell of a playlist. These will remain in the HNW Jukebox until #40. Thanks for stopping by/reading/listening/accidentally landing, and hopefully these songs can make your day better. Love you all.


Full list after the jump.

Scooby-Dooby-Doo, VMA Review

The VMAs were great this year. That is, great compared to last year when I tuned in to the wrong program. Let me tell you right now, the Video Music Awards show is much more enjoyable than one called Virgin Man Anus. That’s the last time I ever watch HBO after midnight.

But, I digress…and I should point out that the real VMAs weren’t COMPLETELY terrible. I enjoyed Chelsea Handler’s hosting. I’ve always thought an “in-your-nuts, I don’t give a flying hoot” attitude is refreshing to see from a female comedian, and there’s just something about her that makes me go vroom vroom (she’s a cougar, I tell ya).

Me-ow!

Now that I have weirded out the internet, allow me to rattle off some more highlights from Hollywood’s 3^rd best award show:

-I was preparing to shove hot skewers into my eyeballs from J.Bieb’s performance when he hit a snag, flinging his drumstick into the crowd (avg. age 11). Baby, baby, baby! Let that girl develop forearm muscles before you let her go crazy on a drumset!

-My imagination went CrAzY when I saw Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry presenting Best Male Video (imagine Perry’s magumbos with Minaj’s buzunga…now stop drooling). It was a nice moment until they spoke

-Seeing half of the Jersey Shore cast in a hot tub on stage was great because, well, when ISN’T it nice to see those little macaronis? A’capisce?

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

Before I continue, let me make it clear that I only tuned in to the VMA’s to see Deadmau5 do his thing. Unfortunately, being house DJ at a goofy awards show means that you have to cram your “thing” into the 20 second slot before and after commercials. Rats. I had no choice but to watch most of the show, but all in all it was worth it. Hearing the Mau5man’s funkadelic b34t5 made me forget about all the dumb scripted segues and shoddy performances. He dropped Ghosts ’n’ Stuff (duhhhh) and brought the hau5 down with performances feat. Jason Derulo (Jason DeWHOlo?), Travie McCoy (Travie McWHO?), and P!nk understudy Robyn (oh right, her). IMHO, Robmau5 was the best collab, pairing the sweet, sultry croons of Robyn whats-her-face with a nasty dub5teppy drop from everyone’s favorite rodent. Here's a clip (sorry about the advert):

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video

Everyone pretty much got what they expected out of this year's VMAs: two hours of poopy sprinkled with a few specks of gold. We can only hope that the uneducated masses were paying attention when Deadmau5 was bumping.

Probably not.

Oh well, at least we tried.

Over one billion served,

McCharlie

Kings of Leon Concert Review

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!


More to come later.


-Charlie


EDIT: Since ol' Chuck was too sauced to really elaborate on what happened, I will recap this event from here on out.

Black Keys started off the night extremely strong, with a fan-base arguably as formidable as KOL, and they blazed through a set of new songs with old favorites peppered in. Some of the high points of the set included "Strange Times" off of their previous record Attack and Release, and new single "Tighten Up," which showcased an unusual sight at a Black Keys show: four guys playing on stage. The added sound is never a bad thing but it does no justice to the fury they play with when it's just Dan on guitar and Pat on the sticks. Closer "I Got Mine", also off of Attack and Release, was undoubtedly the best way to close the show, with it's Herculean riff getting the crowd genuinely amped for Kings of Leon.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Butts, Cincinnati Metromix

To see the full Black Keys setlist...

At this point, Charlie made it clear to me that he was "enjoying the shit out of that" and that he felt Kings couldn't possibly top that set. I scoffed. Kings of Leon proceeded to rock the face off of anyone willing to have a fantastic night. Cincinnati responded to the challenge, providing an even better atmosphere than the reception KOL received at PNC Pavillion on their previous Cincinnati stop.

Coming out of the gate strong with the filthy bass line of "Crawl" and never looking back, the show consisted of equal amounts of music from every Kings of Leon album, including the yet-to-be-released Come Around Sundown, which was a true treat for real fans of the band. The new songs blended in well with their previous catalogue and yet continued to advance their repertoire with the soulful chorus of "Radioactive" and the ode to southern living "Southbound", it is becoming increasingly clear that the Followills can still write a rock record, despite the haters and newfound popularity. Another treat was the first live performance of a new song entitled "Pyro." The climax of the night was a thumping rendition of first-album classic "Trani." The song epitomized the bands true identity, and even though they have aged, they brought the thunder as if it were 2003.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Butts, Cincinnati Metromix

The encore consisted of a mix of poppy crowd pleasers "Closer" and "Use Somebody", along with the achy epic ballad "Knocked Up." The night was capped by a classic KOL set closer from Because of the Times, "Black Thumbnail." This threw a massive bone (lolz) to any fan of their old work, and everyone who knew it basically lost their shit and headbanged like the good ol' days. Once again another Kings of Leon show is in the books and somehow I am already excited for my next one. Shout out goes to the lovely choir of bus riders.

KOL setlist

Highlight reel:

Here Is My Homework

A poem:

Here I sit, trying to shit,

And pass this gargantuan log.

After 4 weeks of waiting,

Sometimes masturbating,

All that came out was this blog.

On a more serious note, 

The power of music is immeasurable. It is true freedom, it is true expression. Nothing else can influence your emotions quite like it. To truly listen to music is an experience. To truly feel it is up to you.

People are losing sight of the purpose of music (Hint: it isn’t Nicki Minaj’s titties). Through this blog we are defending what is obvious to us: music makes the world spin ‘round. Like a record, baby, right ‘round, ‘round, ‘round. Really though, think of the world without music. You wanna live inside No Country For Old Men? You wanna get your brain hole-punched by Anton Chigurh? Of course you don’t. So throw that Justin Bieber CD down the garbage disposal and flush your Seventeen magazine down the toilet because this is a goddamn wake-up call, America. The way things are going now, all good music will be irrelevant within 20 years. People are listening to the same 10 songs on the radio and not asking any questions. There was once a time where good music was APPRECIATED. People listened to music together and a connection was made. Today you can’t even listen to the radio without being interrupted by some wacky morning DJ who says democracy’s a joke. People had it right 40 and 50 years ago. When did all of that die out? And for shit’s sake, why? In the words of a wise Geek Squad employee, Thom, “I wish it was the sixties, I wish we could be happy, I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen”. Have we really all got the Bends? C’mon folks, you’re better than this. My dream for this blog, which I think we can all agree on, is that it sparks a movement among traditional listeners. We need to bring back pure, good music. It’ll take a lot, but it starts with us.

Viva la revoluciòn!

In the meantime, I strongly suggest you experience Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. It is my favorite album of all time and was very groundbreaking as a concept album upon its release in 1973. My favorite way to listen is to slap on my noise-cancelling headphones and just fucking experience the whole thing in one sitting. If you really get into it, your mind will float free and you’ll feel the music moving through you. Very powerful shit.

I love this blog and I love you all.

Stay real,

Charlie Kelly

Ghostwritten by Stephen Hawking