T.I.'s Back!

T.I. - "I'm Back"

ScatterPoints #1: Mid/Late Octoberish

Here is a breif recap of this past weekish in the world of MidPoints music...

SCATTER POINTS #1: Mid/Late Octoberish

10/20: Black Eyed Peas & U2

This past Tuesday I was finally able to fulfill a long standing music wish. The first CD I ever remember going to purchase was U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind back in 2000 and ever since then they have been one of my favorite bands. It was a long 9-year wait to see them live, but it absolutely lived up to my expectations. They played an epic two and a half hour set, on the biggest stage ever built, and ran through just about all of their hits. It was easily one of the best shows I've ever been to.

U2 Setlist:

1. Breathe

2. Get On Your Boots

3. Magnificent

4. Mysterious Ways

5. Beautiful Day

6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

7. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of

8. No Line On The Horizon, Elevation

9. In A Little While, Unknown Caller

10. Until The End Of The World

11. The Unforgettable Fire

12. City Of Blinding Lights

13. Vertigo

14. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

15. Sunday Bloody Sunday

16. MLK

17. Walk On

Encore 1:

18. One

19. Where The Streets Have No Name

Encore 2:

20. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)

21. With Or Without You

22. Moment of Surrender

Pics:

ONE-SENTENCE REVIEWS:

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Rating: 68/100

Five-years after Green Day's American Idiot opus, the American punksters return with an album is only for those with a long standing loyalty to the band, and even then don't expect to hear anything you haven't heard before.

High-Point Track: "East Jesus Nowhere"

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Rating: 83/100

While it is both louder and noisier than the band's debut, Veckatimest is one of the more interesting records of the year, blending pop sensibilities and harmonies not unlike Pet Sounds era Beach Boys, with the twist of modern distortion and sonic exploration.

High Point Track: "Cheerleader"

T.I. - King

Rating: 75/100

Clearly inferior to last years Paper Trail, this is an album that hints at greatness to come and although it is often lacking strong lyrical content, it offers it's fair share of truly original and memorable tracks.

High Point Track: "You Know Who"

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Rating 81/100

This album is f***ing strange, but stick with it and after each listen the pieces will start to come together and add up to a true album experience in the most classic sense of the format.

High Point Track: "The Ego's Last Stand"

Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

Rating 79/100

Despite a being fun, memorable and genuinely classic pop album, Off The Wall proves just how far MJ was able to take both his music and the entire pop genre in the span of four years with this album's incomparable predecessor Thriller.

High Point Track: "Burn This Disco Out"

Thanks for stopping by ScatterPoints, check back next week!

Detox Leak?? Dr. Dre, T.I. and Nas - "Topless"

I just read an article in GQ the other day that featured the music industry's next Chinese Democracies.  They featured D'Angelo's third album, Lauryn Hill's second studio album, My Bloody Valentine's follow up to the nearly perfect Loveless and my long time personal favorite Dr. Dre's Detox.  For those of you who may have forgotten, it's been over nine long years since 2001 dropped in late 1999.  I just found a potential leak from Detox, featuring T.I. and Nas.  It's called "Topless", and unfortunately it's a radio rip, but at least it's something.

Download the mp3 here, thanks to PMA.  

The Grammy's

Last night's Grammy performances were impressive, to say the least.  If you didn't have a chance to catch it, here is what you missed:

KANYE WEST, JAY-Z, LIL WAYNE, TI, and MIA - SWAGGER LIKE US

Swagger Like Us indeed.  It's just Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and a super pregnant M.I.A.  I'm still in shock.  For the most part, I just can't believe all of five(!!!) of them were on the same stage at the same time.  I suppose it makes sense.  I mean they are all there, right?  Why not get five of the biggest musicians in the world to perform one of the biggest songs of the year?  The plan was so simple, I didn't even expect it.  Once that curtain roles up and The Rap pack appear, one fact becomes incredibly clear: this is going to be good.  And good it was.  

RADIOHEAD - 15 STEP

Radiohead (ya know, the best band in the world) also showed up and with the help the USC marching band to play the In Rainbows lead off track "15 Step".  Although the absence of Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway is curious, the marching band gives this already brilliant track a very cool feel.  I could write pages about the injustices of In Rainbows not winning album of the year, but I don't have the time and I assume you don't have the patience. Instead, use your time effectively and watch this.

There was other stuff, but these two were my favorite.  For more performances check out Pitchfork's video recap.

Dead & Gone (T.I. STRIKES AGAIN!!!)

T.I. is unstoppable.  I never thought I wouldconsider myself a T.I. fan but the dude has released and/or leaked four songs in the past few weeks and I haven't heard one I didn't like.  I'll admit I was dissapointed by what should have been the collaboration of the century, Swagga Like Us.  Any song that features Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne AND a sample of M.I.A.'s insanely cool Paper Planes should be, mathmatically speaking, the best song ever.  Instead, Swagga Like Us is decent at best.  Enjoyable, sure, but not the world ending collaboration it should have been.  Then I heard the undeniably fun Whatever You Like.  This song is everything pop-rap-excessess should be.  Within hours of my first listen of the track, the phrase 'whatever you like' was solidified as more than just a  song title, but rather a whole new paradigm, nay, a lifestyle.  Then another collaboration! But instead of the best rappers in the business, T.I. called upon the top pop singer in the industry: Rihanna.  Sampling O-Zone's Dragostea Din Tei (made famous by the Numa Numa dude), Livin' Your Life is another guarunteed chart topper.  Soaring choruses from Rihanna and some pretty respectable verses from T.I. make Livin' Your Life a bonafied anthem.  But did T.I. stop there?  Is there anything left to prove?  Apparently, there is, because today yet another track surfaced this time featuring the greatest pop musician of our generation: Justin Timberlake.  Dead & Gone is awesome.  I'm tired of writing about T.I. and frankly, amazed that I had this much to say about a guy I never gave any serious credit to just weeks ago.  Check the song out, and when T.I. takes over the world, remember that I told you so.