The PYRAMID of POKéDUB

I remember the very first time I ever heard of Pokémon. I was in the second or third grade. As I stepped outside for recess, I saw a swarm of kids unlike I had ever seen before. I mean, I had seen games of manhunt that spanned across the entire field, but nothing like this. Everyone was huddled together in what I would later in life liken to the shady people at the party, but what a party it was!

As I stumbled my way befuddled over to the crowd and inched my way into the chaos, someone quickly explained that this phenomenon that I was experiencing was called "Pokémon," and one of my friends' older brothers very nicely donated a Magikarp to my cause. I was immediately hooked. I traded my way up until I scoffed at the mention of Magikarp. I pulled off some deals some crazy deals in my day, but those are stories for another time.

What I'm getting at here is that the first time I felt the rush of that card in my hands was eerily similar to the first time I heard dubstep. I'd probably yawn at the first dubstep song I ever listened to...probably some early Datsik or something - but it was that feeling. The feeling that you had something special you could show to your friends that would cause them to defecate. No doubt that as of late, the dubstep as well as Pokémon markets have both become a little overcrowded and inflated, so to speak, so I have made it my responsibility to filter through it all to find the cream of the crop. I present to you:

THE PYRAMID OF POKéDUB

The cream:

The crop (still some decent mixes compared to what's out there)

MTL livin vs. Ottawa grinding

As many people who read this I'm sure are aware, I have returned to the parent-entiary that is West Ottawa. Free room and board and food, but the catch is that I have to get a job. Oh, and answer to people. Now what was formerly this, has turned into this. And I don't even have anyone to sue..

All kidding aside, I ended up getting a job somewhere that doesn't not look like this place, where I'm forced to grind it out on the daily. It's pretty average, if not a little cushy and easy..which coincidentally brings me to the theme of this post: Adele.

Recently, my mother has grown fond of Adele's music (thank you Qtv) and I thought I might use her new-found fandom as the inspiration for a metaphor. Whereas Ottawa is much like the original song - classy and presentable, with a #greatpersonality - Montreal is much like the remix I have posted: Dirty, disgusting, and #delicious...bust most importantly - too fucked up to give a shit.

In conclusion, I'm headed to MTL to go livin' for the weekend. Peace, bitches. Here's some music.


Ottawa:


Montreal:
 Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Deep Feel Dubstep Remix) by Bondo Music

Lookin forward to the Weeknd

The Weeknd > Drake

The Weeknd. Again. The iron is hot for these guys/(this guy?) and they are (he is?) striking like a viking. Picture this track as a mellowed out, Drake track if Drake realized he had no street cred and got a substance abuse problem (like, a #legit one). This guy flows like auto-tune if it had the #swag of real rap. Not gonna waste anymore time setting it up...it's all valuable time I could've spent saying that #I saw it #before you.

Views at time of encounter: 306... #hipsterswag

PS this link is for whoever said they like watching where my links take them. I spend way too much time on them...glad to know someone digs it

The Golden Rule

After a night of drunken debauchery (aka getting lost on the way to the party followed by some shopping cart escapades to round out the night) it's always advisable to go over golden rules. Now, "don't throw shopping carts off bridges" is a pretty good rule to live by, but I wouldn't call it golden. Bronze, maybe...hell it might only get a 'participation' ribbon if we're talking about #rulestoliveby here.

No, more generally, I would say one golden rule that I like to live by is "Keep Calm and Carry On." This gem has got me out of sticky situations, time and time again. The trick? Not giving a fuck. Once you've mastered the art of keeping calm, the 'carrying on' really just seems to fall into place.

That being said, I'm not going to get into the specifics of why I was forced to keep calm or carry on last night..rather I'll just move on to the next golden rule. This rule was featured on last night's SNL, and is the trilogy to Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake's "Dick in a Box" and "Mother Lover" skits. Throw in a feature from Lady Gaga and it makes it an instant classic. Enjoy! (PS you might have to go to photobucket to see the vid)

"It's not gay when it's in a 3 way...with a honey in the middle there's some leeway"

a WHALE of a post

whJust posting a whale post. Because there are too many awesome, whale-ish things that I've seen today. I'll start it off with the classic clip



Dory is one of my favourite Disney characters ever, no doubt. It's a shame my buddy Harrison has never seen this movie.

The next two videos come as a result of the prophecy "Any indie act that associates with the word 'whale' will be original and quality, if not always a little quirky". Think about it...bands like Freelance Whales, Said the Whale, Noah and the Whale (the list goes on)

Without further ado, Here is Yellow Ostrich with "Whale"



...and Lemolo with "Whale Song"



...and just for stickin' around with me, here's a clip of Dr. Dre on "Kids Say the Darndest Things"

Fly...Too High

New video from #JamesBlake. It almost sounds like an insult when I say that it sounds a lot like every other song he puts out, but believe me when I say that it's a compliment of the highest order. The track is off his self-titled, debut album which is on my list of great records of 2011 that demand a front to back listen. (I bet you're thinking...how the hell can I justify that in my busy life?). This guy has mastered 'dubstep on ambien' as I like to call it. Drowsy, vocoded samples drag in and out of heavy bass sounds to create a new, fuzzed-out world somewhere in between the clouds and the Matrix. If you haven't heard of this guy, give it a listen.

The video pays homage to an "Oracular Spectacular"-esque group of teenagers in a "leaving home" scenario. I'm sure there's more to gain every time you watch it, so here I go! (#unemployed)

Wicked Wednesdays

Stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

...and by 'rock' I mean the school I finished about three weeks ago and by 'hard place' I mean the job I'm not starting for another 3 weeks. The only other thing I have to occupy my time is busking... and the weather network is only calling for rain, rain, rain.

It's a tough life. Seriously - Twitter and blogging are the two things that make me feel productive...does anyone else see how messed up that is?! I suppose I could do my laundry, but then that would only mean that there'd be even more dirrty dubstep out there for me to dig up.

Today's entry comes to you from my favourite CBC Radio Broadcaster, and although that might not sound like the greatest endorsement, you gotta hear me out on this one. @JianGhomeshi is a man that truly has his  finger to the pulse. This guy's done insightful interviews with the likes of Broken Bells, Damon Albarn (of the Gorillaz) as well as many more. (In fact, he was the object of Billy-Bob Thornton's diva-hissy fit after inadvertently mentioning that Mr. Thornton was an actor). He also gets top-notch acts to play on his show..there are too many to mention here, but recently he has brought on Adele to belt out some beautiful music.

The focus of this video is London, Ontario's Shad K. I think I speak for most suburban, white teenagers who have outgrown Drake when I say that Shad is where Canadian hip-hop is at. Sure you can throw a couple more names at me (and I'm sure my buddy Lucas will do just that when he reads this) but Shad is fresh, talented, and deserves to be up with the likes of Classified, K-Os and Kardinal. Here he plays guitar and spits over a DJ and beatboxer (can you say entourage?) on his track "Rock To It". Shit gets so heavy that he has to drop a new verse at the end. Fire.

"My blog buzz is at an all time height..ooh I'm in the prime of my online-life"

PS another little gift to make this Wednesday a lil' more wicked...here's a track I heard of via Earmilk. Mashes up one of my favourite artists with one of my favourite products. Click here to spin that track

1,000 Words

My boy Mat Lev just got a flickr. Gonna let the pictures do the talking here. Expect good things.

DUBstache

Remember, remember the fifth of November?

I had just started growin' my sick 'stache. 'Twas an epic Movember if I do say so myself. I went from "unaware that I had the capability to grow a mustache" to (self proclaimed) "#hotstuff" in a matter of weeks. Now don't get me wrong - I'm more than happy that summer's here... Busking, beaches and bikinis are just few of the many things I have to look forward to over the next couple months - but some part of me yearns for the day where I can let the sub-nose flow grow, you know? Let the upper-lip strip whisp, so to speak (k, I admit - both of those were pretty weak).

The reason for this nose-stalgia (getting warmer?)? This new Moustache Mixtape (Volume II) from Inspector Dubplate (via Fuck Yeah Dubstep). It sounds like cyber-zombies battling armoured gorillas. For an hour straight. In other words - everything dubstep should be. I tried to do research on this guy, but everything just kept coming up moustache. So without further ado, here's the duttty mixtape...oh, and a picture of my totally badass moustache. Happy half-birthday-ish Movember.

  Inspector - The Moustache Mixtape Volume 2 by InspectorDubplate

Take a Look At Yourself

Hi internet,
Today I write to you from hangover-ville. Rumor has it that the town is pretty densely populated, but no one has ever bothered to get out of their bed to attempt a headcount before..

Anyway, as I lie here, after trying every remedy from herbal remedies to the #cookingswag that they entail, the correct antidote today turned out to be Youtube and music. And water. Lots of water.

While the Youtube channel is something my #olderbrother showed me, the beats this morning come courtesy of one Estevan Falcøne. Estevan (aka Evan) is a guy I met in res this year, and this guy's got some talent. He lived down the hallway from the room we practiced in, and although we didn't get to jam with him till nearer to the end of the year, David and I had an epic prog-rock jam with Mr. Falcone. Seriously, this guy can shred an axe.

That's not exactly what he's doing in this track, though. This has got the 90's metal singer-songwriter vibe goin for it, but without all the scratchiness of Soundgarden/Stone Temple Pilots etc.. Not only does my man do justice to MJ, he adds his own twist to it too. Good shout. His tracks aren't allowed to be embedded in blog posts so I'm gonna have to get you to click here to enjoy this one. Ctrl-click to open it in a new window/tab. (⌘-click for Macs)

Let me come Höm...fur surrious

So I guess blogspot deleted my post with my, Sarah Devlin, Kate Goheen and David Pierre's recording of Edward Sharpe's "Home". I'm not gonna waste the time putting in my usual hashtags and whatnot (does anyone actually even ever read that stuff?).
It's cool. It's ballin'. It's been on my mom's playlist the last couple days. (not sure if that last one's an endorsement or not...)

Here it is, featuring Claire Devlin on whistling. Go to Kate's soundcloud page to download the song for free (or just click on the downward facing arrow on the right side of the track below).

 Home by Katgoheen

BACKLOGGED

Over the past while, Blogspot's been down (or was it just yesterday? I need to get out more..). Case in point, I've been finding all this cool stuff and have no way to share it with the world in more than 140 characters. (As for facebook, I didn't wanna be one of those people...you know?)

Self-deprecating narcissism aside, here are the things that I've been bursting to say I saw before anyone else; in order of how much time I've been wasting on them (wait a second..):

<- 1) Hours after my #PomplamoosePost, Google Chrome just released a free version of Angry Birds. Ever since, I've been getting 2 hours less sleep every night. #FML.

2) For those of you that know me, you probably know that I'm a pretty big @Hollerado fan. These guys are bringing back the "rock" in indie-rock. Think Weezer if they got drunk more and Rivers Cuomo wasn't such a #douche. I posted their newest music video on my old Tumblr. It's off their first album, "Record In A Bag"

Anyway, a video just surfaced of them playing a 'new-ish' song that they've been playing live for a while. It's off their newly released EP "Margaritaville II: The Reckoning" (which I just realized today had already come out, but that's a rant for another time.) I like the way they blend "still-sounding-like-the-band-they-were-on-the-first-record" with "not-just-remaking-their-first-album"

"Way down low, but I got somebody to love"

3) A new track from @JamesBlake. Pretty standard JB track...sounds like a record player being scanned onto a computer and then being printed back out onto glossy paper. Enjoy:

 James Blake - Give A Man A Rod (Second Version) by BOILER ROOM

4) In the time I've taken to write this post, I've found something else 'new' I wanna share with the world. Danger Mouse + Daniele Luppi + Jack White + Norah Jones = nuff said.

Angry Moose!

..or is the plural meese? More than one goose is geese, right?

Anyway, I've been a big fan of the San Francisco Bay area duo @Pomplamoose for a while now. Their unique brand of soft-driving-electro-indie-pop has elicited comparisons to @Feist, with a @DeathCabForCutie twist.

Anyways, they love to do what they call "VideoSongs". They've recorded dozens of originals, plus covers of classics such as "September", "Single Ladies" and "Beat It." The concept being that they record a video of every studio take they perform, and then mash it all into a music video. Their 2 rules for videosongs are:
1) Every sound/instrument that they play appears at least once in the video and..
2) Every video clip that gets played is featured at least once in the track.

The guy (@JackConte) is a little bit of an effeminate, annoying douche (exhibit A @2:28), but @Nataly is just the cutest, so it's all excused. Here's the newest cover they've posted. I really dig the call and response vibe it's giving off. Here you go.

IAlwaysWantYouWhenI..

I used to play music with a guy named Conor Conway. He was a fantastically talented trumpet player that was (and still is presumably..) 3 grades above me. Really chill guy.

Over the years, he's sent me a couple links to Toronto area bands he's played with or people he's known, and generally they were pretty good beats..but when he sent me the link to his buddy @TheWeeknd, I snatched up the free mixtape "House of Balloons" right away. To me it kind of sounded like a cool mix between the 808's @Kanye and more dubb-y @JamesBlake. Admittedly, this sound can rarely sustain an entire album unless you're in the mood, but a couple tracks definitely stand out. I was recently reminded of this when iTunes shuffle threw on "Coming Down". It's a dubby, drugged out ode to regrets and cold sweats.

Well done, sir. Well done.


The Weeknd - Coming Down by The_Weeknd

Parody Rap Bitchezzzz

The genre of 'parody rap' has been an everchanging landscape of gifted artist that has historically ranged through everything from Weird Al to Mad TV. But lately, one group has just eclipsed all competition. Like, it's not even close...think Lil' Wayne pre-jail (who am I kidding..Lil' Wayne pre-#Rebirth)

These guys are gettin' the guest stars, spittin' the fire, and only mentioning their dicks a little too much. This blog is no stranger to these guys..In fact I catch most of their videos around 300 views (this one included, no word of a lie...the trick? @theLonelyIsland)

Anyway, I'm not much of a Michael Bolton fan/follower. Hell, the most I've ever heard of him is the fact that he had the same name as the guy in Office Space. Love 'em or hate 'em, the "no-talent assclown" does a pretty bang-up job in this cross between Jizz in My Pants and Boombox. Case in point: They try to be cool, and there's something inherently uncool about what they're saying. A hilarious formula that I'm gonna give three more years. Tops.



"Watch it girl, cuz I ain't your mister nice guy, more like the 'meet you take you home and fuck you twice' guy"


Bonus goodies:

In honour of Mother's Day, the boys from the group have released one of their tracks ("Mama") for free. A lovely ode to taking bullets for your Mom n'shit...My Mom didn't like the swearing but fuck that.

aaaaaaand this is a cool lil' parody rap ditty by the second of the two and a half men (The one that isn't on as much Charlie Sheen as the star of the show). It appeared at the #ComedyAwards, the same place the Lonely Island performed I Just Had Sex with Akon.



Peace internet...I have to get my ass out of bed and show my Mom I'm worth something. #stillunemployed. (Gotta highlight the text to see the words in that link...)

This post is A Dead Horse

Kick it Obama! (Thanks @TofuDamours)

I don't believe..

Stumbled across this today...cool lil' mp3 sampling dubya. Probably some of his most intelligent sentences have been strung together by the wonders of technology. Have a listen (via the Strokes bass player @NikolaiFraiture)


God

I'm all about dem promises

Here's some über-nü @Skrillex (released within the last hour) and a video with @AzizAnsari & @ZackGalifianakis. #SWAG

 Skrillex - First Of The Year by VacayWave

Politics n' whatnot

Like any freedom-loving citizen with a blog, I feel that I have a responsibility to push my political opinions on other people who read the internet.. especially after such an historic election just took place. Here are the stats - The Way I See 'em:

60% - Percentage of population that voted.
Verdict: Not bad considering the last turnout was the lowest ever. (It is important to note the connection between a Harper government and general apathy of the population)

30.6% - Percentage of popular vote given to my boy #JackLayton and the NDP.
Verdict: Not bad for a party that's pretty much never been legit. Especially since they only got 9% less of the vote than the supposed "majority" government that was just elected.

39.6% - Percentage of popular vote allocated to the Conservative Party of Canada.
Verdict: If I got a 39% on a test, I'd have a hard time telling my parents that I passed it..(Note: More Canadians want a non-Harper government than a Harper government)

52% - Percentage of seats allocated to the Conservative Party of Canada.

Verdict: Harper's ass got saved by the bellcurve here. Still, where I go to school, this is what's called a 'conditional pass'. Good thing he doesn't need to use this as a prerequisite for a legitimately elected government..

4 - The number of seats won by McGill students. All #NDP. Incidentally, the same number of seats won by the Bloc Québecois.

Verdict: McGill once McGill twice!!..

Final Verdict: Even though not even half the population voted in a majority government, the fact that "Canada's version of Barack" (you heard it here first) is leading the official opposition means I'm not gonna call this one a loss. @ElizabethMay defeated a longtime Conservative riding and, in the process, gained exactly 1 more seat than both the leaders of the BQ and the Liberal Party combined.

K, politics mumbo-jumbo outta the way. Expect to see some combination of #dubstep/dumb internet videos soon.

PS anyone know how to make the links open in a new window/tab? This blogspot thing is relatively new to me...

Texting..

Just testing this new blogspot format..I've been looking for an improvement over tumblr ever since I got a bunch of #constructivecriticism from my buddies who read it. So to keep it phunky-presh phor all my phollowers and phans, I present a classic, timeless internet video.

Enjoy.

PS ..reminds me - hit me up at twitter.com/beateasy