zimbabwe

Here is a fun fact about the newest star of the underground hip hop scene, Camron: he wants to name his child Zimbabwe. I wholeheartedly approve because Zimbabwe + [Your Last Name] will always be a winning name. No really, try it. Zimbabwe Roberts? Zimbabwe Gallant? Beautiful.

In other news, here is the blog of the moment, Why the fuck do you have a kid?

jazzercise

Since my last couple of posts, I've moved from collegiate radio to the jazz stations because apparently I only have Amy Winehouse and Adele to fall under that category. I'm glad Adele is coming up as a singer because Amy needs to get her life back in order. And it's such a pity because the girl's got a lot of talent.

1 am radio

Last night in my usual vacation stupor I thought it would be a good idea to check out the college radio stations on iTunes. Anyway, here's my breakdown of a couple stations I had the misfortune to come across around one in the morning.

1. BIRN 4, The Setlist: I skipped over this one completely when I noticed it was Berklee's station because I wouldn't have been able to deal with the pretentiousness at ungodly hours of the morning. Same with Bard College Radio.
   
2. Fresh Air - The Alternative: I was actually quite impressed with this one. It's a lot like the Emerson College radio, which I love but with Scottish people because it's Edinburgh University's student-run station. I don't understand a fucking word they're saying but one of the DJs on Fresh Air is called Angus and he just said he was dedicating a song to the "Easton Massive" and I think he has some sort of Arctic Monkeys and LSD obsession. Weird.
   
3. WERS 88.9 FM: Emerson. Only good things to say about them. Mildly pretentious indie stuff in the mornings, perfect before being thrown back into school, Rockers and Reggae at night, playground and all a Capella on weekends.
   
4. WHRB, Cambridge, 93.5 FM: Harvard's college radio, which has the name, clearly, but was actually HORRIFIC. My ears are still vomiting. Please note that Thursday nights around quarter to one, they only play death metal.
5. WMBR 88.1 FM: MIT radio which is actually super. I remember at one point last year they had a Beethoven marathon where they played every single piece he ever composed. SUCK THAT WCRB (our so-called Classical station which is actually 10 seconds of music, 60 minutes of advertising directed towards old people. I listen to it enough to know. E.g. "Bella wood!" "Omega-3 fish oils!" and numerous nursing homes to consider.)

So while my little Scottish friends discuss their summers in Tanzania, droppin' LSD, playing calypso music, and trying to convince us to go to "Edinburgh's Got Talent!", I hope this will help you when you are awake after a night of debauchery and need something to listen to.

santOgold 4eva

Santogold changed her name which is a bit "ehhh" and not at all newsworthy but I was stalkin her Wikipedia and scoffing that they were screwing around with the page and misspelled her name but then I noticed that everyone (aka Youtube) was misspelling her name, so something was up. With my expert detective skills I have found this out for you. You can thank me later. Whateva.

on a dolphin, doing flips and shit

The douche anthem of 2008 was Jizz In My Pants and I'd even venture to say that it would be difficult to top, but you can't say they didn't try. Here's the Lonely Island and they've recruited T-Pain for his electronic "yeah yeahs" (I blame Timbaland and OneRepublic for starting this craze) in I'm On A Boat. If for some strange reason you read this (at all!) or during the day, it's NSFW... or school (unless you go to CSW, in which case even doing lines of coke during school dances seems to be okay).

umberto eco helps us out

I'm not at all religious and in fact, my loyalty swings back and forth all the time. (Note: heavy metal monk is still great but I'm still waiting for that Hindu glam folk rock band.)
Anyway, Sigur Ros wasn't really doing a lot for me recently in terms of quiet music while studying, so fortunately this morning I rediscovered Gregorian chants! We listened to this shit earlier this year because we thought it would help us learn something about Romanesque art. (It didn't.)

Anyway, this is the Salve Regina, humbly brought to you by the monks of the Abbey of Notre Dame. Nice for a bit. But if Umberto Eco taught me anything, it's that getting up half an hour before I go to bed, at the crack of dawn, and wandering around, trying to avoid being murdered by crazy monks isn't really my cup of tea.

I got a need to feel, so I shake! shake!

I'd like to say I'm doing my art history homework but in fact I'm attempting to write this and looking at Hel-Looks.

My dad loves to listen to this Minnesota Public Radio Station, The Current, nonstop. Personally, I think it's great. Here are some songs I've heard recently that I've liked:

The Bird and the Bee - My Love

This song is dangerously catchy. I don't think I like any of the rest of their music but "My Love" is good. Though all the clown references are a little weird. Anyone else have a childhood fear of clowns?

"My love let me go again
Right back, back to the top of the
Slide down sad clown
Oh oh oh oh oh"




Shake! Shake! - The Subways

Another song that I can't get out of my head is called "Shake! Shake!" by The Subways. It doesn't seem like something I'd usually listen to but I kinda just want to start dancing in some weird, hipster shuffle way. Shaking my long ironic hipster hair.




Paranoid ft. Mr. Hudson - Kanye West

Lastly, I present to you this song, but not without a disclaimer. I have never liked Kanye West. I don't like hamster voices (wasn't that "Through the Wire"), I don't like "Stronger" (I liked the Daft Punk version better if anything), and I can't stand more that 2 seconds of "Love Lockdown." That said, I was shocked when I discovered Kanye had finally created something pleasing to my oh so indie ears. "Paranoid" featuring Mr. Hudson (whoever that is) from his new album that has some weird name and numbers trying to be all electronic-y and shit is actually worth a listen! Still, I am not a Kanye fan. No sir. I don't like that attitude of his either.




I leave you with this lithograph thingy because I'm supposed to be studying 19th Century European and American Architecture and Sculpture (though this isn't really either). Say that 5 times fast. I won't because I have a sore throat and a cough.


Aubrey Beardsley - Salomé

Because everybody likes Art Nouveau.