A Milli: Live with The Roots!

Lil Wayne and The Roots.

?uestlove plays drums AND does all of the "A Milli"s.  

Enough said.

Download the mp3.

Fall Out Boy Returns With Yet Another Absurdly Titled Single

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet is the leatest Fall Out Boy song and it precludes their upcoming album, Folie a Deux set for release on November 4th.  Folie a Deux literally translastes to madness shared by two, and Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet refers to the habitual head-first-slider/gamblin' machine Pete Rose.  Who knew?  I didn't. Luckily, wikipedia did.  Anywho, the song is pretty solid.  If I had to guess the release of this next album will continue the pattern of incredibly fun singles, and relentlessly forgettable album fluff.  However, I should note that the fact that I'm giving them even that much credit shows years of growth and increased tolerance to a band I once dismissed.  Listen via YouTube here. 

Oh No! Oh Yes!

I have a nasty habit of forgetting about how good Andrew Bird is.  His last album Armchair Apocrypha is a beautiful, whistle filled journey that is at worst very fun and at best genius.  Mr. Bird has announced that his next album, titled Noble Beast, will released January 27, 2009.  I know it's a long way off, but luckily we've got a nice little stream of Oh No, a song from the new album.  This song is pretty solid, but do yourself a favor and check out Armchair Apocrypha. 

The Killers New Single

The Las Vegas based synth-rockers, The Killers unleashed their sprawling new single simply titled Human today.  Last week the band announced Day & Age, the follow up to their grossly underrated Sam's Town, will be released on November 25th.  Human sounds like The Killers version of Viva La Vida, if only for the steady bass drum that plays through the whole song.  But if you ask me, and you haven't, the similarities don't end there. Layered synths, strings and elements of U2 worshipping are all present.  Check it out for yourself and download the mp3 directly by right-clicking here.

Keep It Like A Secret (Machine)

One of my favorite bands from my high school years, The Secret Machines, has returned with a slick new jam called Atomic Heels.  This single precedes their upcoming Secret Machines album, set to be released on October 14.  The compact Atomic Heels marches through a mid tempo groove, building to soaring space rock climax, in classic Secret Machines style.  Although I doubt it is likely to top my favorite song of the groups, Lightning Blue Eyes, it is definitely a great track.  Despite line-up changes, I think this single is a good indication of another solid album from the Texas via New York band.  Click here to download the Atomic Heels mp3, courtesy of Spin magazine.

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. 

James Bond + Alicia Keys + Jack White = Another Way To Die

This unlikely duet from The White Stripes/Raconteurs front man Jack White and singin' sensation Alicia Keys is the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Reminiscent of some of the classic Bond theme songs from the 60s and 70s, Another Way To Die is with out a doubt one of the more original songs to be written for 007.  I don't think that either of these individual artists would have been a particularly strange choice for a Bond theme but the pairing of the two certainly is.  It gets wierder.  A clip of the tune was recently featured in a Coke Zero commercial and shortly after it aired, Jack White issued a statement that claimed this commercial was done without his blessing. Although conceptually bizzarre, the cascading horns, heavy piano chords and fuzz-box guitars combined with Key's smokey vocals and Jack White's signature wail make Another Way To Die one hell of a jam.  Click here to listen to a stream of the track or here to download the mp3.