Monday night the ever so wonderful NetFlix delivered a movie I’ve been dying to see, Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. I had read a little about this movie and it sounded like something straight up my alley. The story, obviously, revolves around our central character Buckaroo Banzai, played by Robocop himself Peter Weller.
Buckaroo is an exceptional hero, a physiscist, a neruosurgeon, a samurai, a rock star, and comic book hero. The movie takes no time to establish just how amazing Buckaroo is. It opens with him preforming experimental brain surgery, where he leaves to barely make to pilot an experinmental craft that can phase through solid matter. This experiment in turn allows out laws who were banished to the eighth dimension to come tumbling through to Earth. The aliens from Planet Ten then arrive and inform Buckaroo that he will need capture or kill the leader, or they will vaporize the Earth to make sure he is stopped.
Buckaroo Banzai has an amazing cast. As you watch it you notice more and more great Hollywood actors, like Jeff Goldblum or Christopher Lloyd. Everyone is at the top of their game, making this one enjoyable ride through the amazing universe of Buckaroo Banzai.
Our friend Harlan Muir got his EP mastered! Hurray for the little guy coming out on top. You can listen to the titular track off the Phone Love EP. You can also hear the entire EP here.
I personally love Harlan’s nerd love songs full of quirky and humorous lyrics. Harlan was also lucky enough to have Ryan Garza (Knife) and Adam Thomas lend their vast talents in creating an excellent EP. Jump over to the link to stream the entire EP and if you are feeling generous and have quality taste in music, $5 gets you an excellent selection of songs.
I have to say, this is more than a little bittersweet, and a little painful to watch – given the circumstances and the fact that It’s True! is no longer going to be a band – but it’s still beautifully shot, and pretty funny, too.
As a child, Weird Al Yankovic was one of my musical heroes. I thought his endless supply of fart jokes were the greatest source of entertainment ever conceived by mankind. This afternoon, I had a co worker come into my office and tell me to watch this new video from Funny or Die. It is certainly funny and certainly ‘weird.’
Aloe Blacc. New album drops September 28th. You can preview it here. I think we can expect great things from this guy. I’m really loving the throwback trend in soul/R&B right now. Raphael Saadiq, Mayer Hawthorne, and now Aloe Blacc. It’s a good thing.
Dear Stone’s Throw,
Please send this man to Omaha. Free free to bring Mayer Hawthorne back as well.
If this video is any evidence it would be “no one.” Matt Smith took the stage at this years Glastonbury festival and rocked out his own version of the classic Doctor Who theme song. Phenomenal, is there really anything the Doctor can not do?
In related news Saturday had the end of this season of Doctor Who. I felt that Steve Moffat and Matt Smith did a wonderful job with the series and took it in a good direction. I plan on putting my opinion of the series up at a later time, so wait with baited breath.
The Onion has up this extremely clever article about President Obama’s weekly address getting more into the avant-garde. I wish this were true with every fiber of my being.
Call it a folk revival, call it whatever you want, Mumford & Sons are kind of my favorite thing right now. Perfect harmonies. Excellent instrumentation. Great lyrics. Great band, as far as I’m concerned.
A few days ago, a friend of mine (and a generally reliable source for all things hip-hop) told me that The Roots had a new album coming out. Now, I was skeptical, of course. It’s been a while since their last studio album, Rising Down (2008), and I guess, I sort of stopped following any Roots-related news since news that they were retiring from touring to become Jimmy Fallon’s house band. Like I said, skeptical. I assumed anything ‘new’ from The Roots would be nothing more than an album full of remixes or rarities (much like the Tribe did in 2008). Well, I have to say…I’m glad I was wrong.
From Wikipedia: Questlove confirmed on Twitter that The Roots were working on their ninth studio album (11th overall), entitled How I Got Over. Black Thought spoke more broadly about the record, calling it a positive album, as opposed to their last two records, How I Got Over reflects the relief the band feels at the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama presidency. Guests are set to include Beanie Sigel; Young Chris; Chrisette Michelle; L.A. rapper Blu; Phonte of Little Brother; Pharoahe Monch; Cody ChestnuTT; Jim James; and Patty Crash, whose song “Serve This Royalty” is covered on the album.
Rather than relying on samples, the album will be played live, with any covers featuring the song’s original artist) being reinterpreted by the band. The album is supposed to be out today.
Now, a few things I can say for this single: I love Jim James and am pretty sure he can do no wrong, I love the video, I love the Jim James cameo, I love the concept and, overall, think this is a solid, solid track from a great band. I am really excited to hear this record.
