Plans for this weekend in pictures:

















WOOT.

young and restless

(Initial thoughts on Kanye West's The College Dropout.)

Let's get the reservations out of the way first: the really good stuff doesn't kick in until track 7, 'Jesus Walks'. There are too many skits which go on for too long and were never that funny in the first place (I know people say this about almost all modern hip hop albums, but Kanye West might be the worst offender yet - 'School Spirit' has one skit before it, and TWO after, and they're all the SAME joke - not good). Also, I do think that if you're going to have Ludacris on your album, you have to make him do a guest verse - rapping the hook is not enough, it's just going to make people feel frustrated and want to listen to 'Yeah' instead.

But forget all that, because the good stuff makes it all worthwhile. The sequence of 'Jesus Walks' > 'Never Let Me Down' > 'Get 'Em High' in particular is just blinding. It's amazing how much emotion West manages to evoke just through his production arrangements and the way he structures tracks - when Jay-Z comes back in for a second verse at the end of 'Never Let Me Down', after the guy who sounds a bit like Saul Williams and the gospel breakdown bit, it's just... inspirational. There's such a gospel feel to a lot of this album, Kanye West really wants to take it back to church. And it's very clever the way he gets Jay-Z on the soulful, 'positive' track and then Talib Kweli and Common on 'Get 'Em High', the nasty ass-shaking girl-chasing club track...

Although actually 'School Spirit' might be my favourite track. That "Alpha step, Omega step..." chant is so instantly catchy and nagging, and the trademark sped-up soul sample behind it makes it perfect. Then just when you think things can't get any better you have this whole call and response bit where Kanye says "I feel a 'whoo' comin' on, cuz... Whoo!... There it was."

how the hell am I supposed to leave?

The first thing that makes Usher's 'Yeah' so good, and probably the single of the year to date: the way you have the melodramatic and urgent synth stabs, and the melodramatic and urgent vocal, but then this really laid-back whistling over the top, simultaneously off-setting and yet heightening the drama (DRAMA!!!) of it all.

The second great thing about 'Yeah' can be summed up in just one word: Ludacris. Now, Luda, why wasn't all of Chicken-N-Beer quite as good as that, eh?

This is just wonderful: Ghostface Killah vs. Random Spam Text - although how much more wonderful would it be if Tony Starks had announced the launch of his own personal anti-junkmail campaign? Straight off the top of my head I recognise C) and E) as being from 'Buck 50' and 'Mighty Healthy' respectively, but then they are my two favourite tracks from Supreme Clientele. I know D) is Ghost's as well, although I can't place the song. I'm guessing then that the other three are spam texts, for balance, but the fascinating thing is how right Jay Smooth is - they'd slot right into the man's lyric sheet. Seamlessly.

I am officially on an anticipation high about the prospect of All Tomorrow's Parties now. Of course, a week and a half off work doesn't hurt, either. Roll on Friday...

To force me to actually write a post about mixtapes, here's the tracklisting for the last one I completed, which is also the first one I completed in a long, long time, and one of my favourites to date. It's not a bad summary of the last twelve months or so.


Side One: Sure Feels Like Rock'N'Roll

1. ARE Weapons - 'Hey World'
2. Chicks On Speed feat. Peaches - 'We Don't Play Guitars'
3. Jay-Z - 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder'
4. Richard X feat. Kelis - 'Finest Dreams'
5. The Twilight Singers - 'Feathers'
6. The New Pornographers - 'The Laws Have Changed'
7. The Fiery Furnaces - 'Up In The North'
8. Scissor Sisters - 'It Can't Come Quickly Enough'
9. Goldfrapp - 'Tiptoe'
10. Kelis feat. Andre 3000 - 'Millionaire'
11. The Sounds - 'Seven Days A Week'


Side Two: Sharing Different Heartbeats

1. Bubba Sparxxx - 'Comin' Round'
2. Outkast feat. Killer Mike & Jay-Z - 'Flip Flop Rock'
3. Basement Jaxx feat. Dizzee Rascal - 'Lucky Star'
4. The Knife - 'Heartbeats'
5. Phoenix - 'Too Young'
6. Ludacris - 'Stand Up'
7. RZA - 'A Day To God Is 1000 Years'
8. Courtney Love - 'Uncool'
9. Electrelane - 'I'm On Fire'
10. Santa Esmerelda - 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'

sensitive thugs

Some people will tell you filthy lies about the negative effects of American TV, but y'know, I could watch Benjamin McKenzie throw down with rich kids all weekend. And I kinda did. They don't call him the rich man's Russell Crowe for nothing.