"i'd rather just play the blues"

(thanks, sizod.)

yikes! i forgot 2 of the hottest songs of the year when i did my faves list. look at that pic of ellen allien and listen these tracks.

belle and sebastian "we are sleepyheads"
they continue to surprise me. what a tight band! rhythmically solid. the background vocals make the track for me. "ba da ba da ba da ba da ba da" ascending to blissful heights.

ellen allien and apparat "do not break"
dj ray liotta first played this one for me. scorching dancey drum machine beats.

a few close pals of the sneakmovement put together this quick and hilarious video--watch as jeff and grandma betty whip up a delicious batch of "." c.weisbart and r.eigen provided stellar production work. bravo, guys--make more of these!

a very sad way to start my christmas morning, as reports are circulating that has . there's no need to explain how influential he has been for so many decades. a true legend and a true loss.

let's listen on more time: james brown - i feel good (mp3)

is the protege of timbaland and has for some of timbaland's biggest hits.

get to know him now because we are gonna hear about him soon.

please enjoy , , and

i highly recommend a vacation in mid-december. it is just after thanksgiving and then right before the xmas/hanukkah/kwanza/dick-in-a-box holidays. mexico is always a fine location, as well. it makes you think, however, that some places look just like the us. i should say that we look like mexico, since mexico is older than us. a few interesting things to ponder as we spin dreidels or tear open presents. there is a beach town, within about 15 miles south of puerto vallarta, called yelapa. yelapa is owned by the families of its original habitants. the formal land ownership came to the indigenous people by a grant the spanish crown in 1581 as a gift for their allegiance. the land ownership has been maintained ever since and protected in the 1910 constitution. amazing. they only recently have installed electricity and are still without cars. most of the restaurant owners and workers are decendents of the original families and will find offense in being called hispanics or latinos. when tripping to pv, make a stop there. another little point that i pondered whilst roaming around: how could a country so rich in natural resources, manufacturing, and wealth have such a wide divide of income? sure, it is a question asked around the world and there are many opinions. one cause of perpetual underdevelopment: remittences. payments by workers in the us back to mexico in 2001 came to 8 billion bones. imagine what it is now, as we near 2007. why would a country want to forge clear development lines when you are getting such a big chunk of regulated loot from the states?



by malverde playing in the background. not the malverde of mexican lore, a robin-hood of sorts, but the rapper of the same name from the costa oeste.

i'm really enjoying my subscription to magazine. every month with a kickass cd compilation of the great bands covered in that issue. and even more pleasing? xlr8r's office top ten picks of the week. !

good luck guys! let's hope the other ray liotta doesn't decide to start his own dj career...

we'll miss you.

this time we finally see what the movie and robots will look like. sort of a cross between starship troopers and war of the worlds--except not at all sucky. all of a sudden this might be the best movie of the 2007.

watch the trailer .
(thanks, señor mott.)

vanilla ice on snl, hilariously bad, strangely addictive. copy these moves at your own risk.

after about the 4th rainstorm of the season, they stop being fun. you lose the cozy seasonal perspective and you begin to focus on the cold and the wetness. this'll be the last rainy day piano post 'til about this time next year. best of luck staying dry in s.f.

ola podrida "pour me another"
the fiery furnaces "rub alcohol blues"
eno, rodelius, moebius "shade"
virginia astley "a summer long since passed"
kepler "untitled"

looking to rock your way into 2007? sneakmove's pals will be headlining at sf's bottom of the hill on dec. 31, and they've given sneakmove two free tickets to give away to our readers. just stating your favorite sneakmove post of the past year (you can even make one up) and we'll put you in the drawing, which will happen next wednesday, dec. 27th. big money no whammies!

but wait it gets better!!!!

the band is also hosting a contest to have them come play a private show in your house. eligible for anyone anywhere in the usa. all you have to do is for birdmonster's new year's show and email the e-receipt to . totally awesome? yes.

peter gave us permission to post this mp3 for your enjoyment: spaceman by birdmonster.

(thanks, sneakmove fans. thanks birdmonster!)

i can't even describe how much i want to try this, a great technique to learn for getting into some of those tight city parking spots. current world record is sliding into a space only 30cm longer than the car.

put this one in your bookmarks. next time you need an xlr cable or a trs cable, just make your own.

info at

yes, lots of people know these songs, but it's not enough. i don't hear them as much as i hear human league and safety dance, etc. new year's is coming and we all know there is never enough 80s when you're partying... or ever.

aztec camera "oblivious"
the icicle works "birds fly (whisper to a scream)"
haircut 100 "love plus one"
the stranglers "always the sun"

rap pioneers are ! don't just mention their names in your raps, promote them!

“hip-hop doesn’t promote its history,” mr. mcdaniels (d.m.c. of run-d.m.c) said. “ and will talk about little richard or howlin’ wolf. a lot of rappers now will cite rakim, but they don’t promote him. people in the industry don’t want people to be focused on anything other than what is going on right now.”

:

• david lee roth has officially been asked to rejoin van halen by eddie
• bassist michael anthony has departed the band (kicked out? quit? please let me know)
• eddie's 15 year old son wolfgang is the new bassist, and rehearsing with eddie and alex for a 2007 tour

lets hope it doesn't get any lamer.

UPDATE: in response to the question posted in the comments, i ask you to listen to the first 30 seconds of this legendary track: unchained by van halen's 1981 release "fair warning"

the trailer promises some awesomely bad tv this january. leave that girl alone!

"punk rock is a big flashy neon sign"

i like listening to raps. i like receiving gifts. i like star wars, alot. in fact i enjoy attempts at combining all of these "likes", unfortunately i have not had a great deal of luck anything remotely interesting that combines these "likes" of mine. therefore i figured dividing each like would serve me and you best. therefore, i give you a gift that comes in two parts. the first involves star wars and the second involves raps. both treats involve a famous time of year for gift giving.

enjoy: star wars christmas album "r2-d2 we wish you a merry christmas"
run dmc "christmas in hollis"

*i am filling in for turncoat politician because he is currently basking in the puerto vallartan sun.

i just heard about today. pretty crazy. it has documents and diagrams from patents for almost anything imaginable. i and got the 1878 patent of an "apparatus for the manufacture of seamless balls".

after posting my list of faves from 2006, i keep thinking of songs that really should've be on the list. this song is fantastic.

pajo "insomnia song"

our fantastically close friend has hooked up this little remix. as with any good song, it has mad commercial potential. so what if it could easily be a mariah carey song from 1995? we all love that s&*t. rumor has it qb made this beat for a "rock with you" remix, but it worked better for this ciara song. enjoy!

ciara "promise (quarterbar remix)"

p.s. - quarterbar worked on the meanest man contest record. it's a grabber!

gives a breakdown of the best and worst cars listed by class and mpg. the winner of course is the prius. the loser? all of us. i really thought there were more good options than this.

for those of you lucky enough to live there:

DON'T MISS THIS ONE: MONDAY DECEMBER 18TH AT PARIS PARIS FOR THE COLETTE DANCE CLASS #17 "NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - STEP BY STEP" WITH FAMED FRENCH DANCE INSTRUCTOR JOHN + CLUBBING COURTESY OF RIC&ROB VS TIM&VASS. FROM 10PM. FREE FOR ONE AND ALL!

via (colette.fr) -- "the epicenter of hip," located in paris.

if you accidentally go to instead, you'll find some nerdishly amazing space videos from nasa. this one blew my mind: the descent of a booster rocket from space back into the atmosphere and down into the ocean, filmed from a camera mounted on its side.


(thanks, pammy.)

mr rollins speaking his mind.

as an amateur photography buff, i find this review very interesting: wired's editors pick the pentax k100d as their , beating heavy hitters from canon and nikon.

(via (hi brian lam))

it's raining again in san francisco. now is as good a time as any to enjoy some contemplative piano songs. maybe get some tea and cozy up for a listen.

felt "magellan"
idaho "levitate"
gastr del sol "the relay"
yann tiersen "toujours là"
aphex twin "avril 14th"

has some great hip-hop sneaker culture action going on. check this post about a made for the man himself by "hong kong's famed toy designer" eric so.

we were recently alerted that sneakmove was suspiciously approaching its bandwidth limits. some investigating revealed that a nelly f. song file we posted was getting thousands of hits, but as a direct link apparently since there was no bump in site visits. first thought was to pull the file before it crashed the site. but why waste a great opportunity, right? so we replaced the file with a much smaller one, which has been accessed over 25,000 awesome times since we switched it.

please enjoy our "new" nelly furtado version of say it right.

one other good thing come from this is the discovery of a mp3 aggregator/search site. (from aol, blech, although it had some surprising search results and decent functionality).

"are you even thinking about gender roles?"

bonus track: pase rock (w/santi white and spank rock) - "lindsay lohan's revenge"

my knowledge of the french is pretty lean. i've never been to france. i like french fries with old bay seasoning, french kissing, three musketeer bars, musketeer-like facial hair, and crepes. crepes with nutella and marshmallows. i don't speak french, either. fortunately i speak the international languages--love and head nodding. a bit back i was farting around on this site, note sure if you have heard of it, called "youtube." i saw i liked the beat and tried to track the guy down. it is 20syl and he is a rapper/producer, a raducer, and his group is called hocus pocus. i they have some good jams. there are also some good photos on there.

here is song called faits divers

move over mc solaar, you are no longer the only french rapper the kids in the states know!

simultaneously totally random and inevitable. i love it!

also see and .

master wood carver and sculptor does some amazing custom guitar work, as evidenced by the magestic shown above.

however, not all of his work is influenced by fantasy or the macabre. in fact, for one guitar doug appears to have found inspiration in a rather unlikely place: an average gentleman's groin.

behold:

(thanks, bottleneck.)

it simply isn't the holidays without a christmas mix from the . last year, the superduper homie bomarr dropped the bomb-ass wild x-mas with the bomarr monk, vol. 1 cd, which included hot awesome yuletide oddities from acts like daniel johnston, suicide, and little marcy. this year, merry matt is back with volume 2, which includes happy holiday wishes from mojo nixon, audio 2, and erlend oye. you can buy a limited-edition cd copy of volume 2 ; you can also download both mixes (in which case, you can leave a little paypal christmas gift to show how bomarr a little christmas cheer).

our good ol' pal frankie is a musical expert. he's been in bands for 10 years. he's toured nationally. he works in "the industry". he has thousands of records and cds. what i'm getting at is this: i trust his opinion. he says they're in no particular order, but let's keep em numbered 'cause it looks cool. what follows are frankie's actual words...

1. "River to Sea" - Jeremy Enigk
the most beautiful song you've ever heard, pretty much
2. "Hideaway" - Uncut
This song is wonderful. Distorted bass and jangly guitars should win cutest couple.
3. "I Lost Something in the Hills" - Sibylle Baier
Haunty, melodic and a little sad. Three's Company
4. "La Dame Et La Licorne" - Shearwater
This whole album is badass. Kind of Talk Talkish
5. "If You Fail We All Fail" - The Fields
I don't know if this song is even out yet, but it's damn good anyway
6. "Tiddlywink" - Rebelski
Cool Production and Instrumentation on this electronic type song
7. "One Time Too Many" - Phoenix
pure pop perfection, I'm not kidding
8. "Oh mandy" -the spinto band
9. "Fragment" - Max Richter
Don't even listen to this song. It will make you literally melt.
10. "Black Carpet Magic" - Lilys
This band has been all over the place musically, and this song slays.
11. "My Old Jacknife" - Ladyhawk
A great sing along hand-clapper style song.
12. "In the Reflection" - Flying Canyon
Doom Folk. Two words that should stay together forever.
13."Take A Walk Outside" - The Coast
So freakin catchy! Try not to 'air-bass' to this song, I dare you.
14. "So Much Time To Call My Own" - Barzin
Dreamy Dreams with some slide guitar
15. "Strings" - Asobi Seksu
I picked this song cuz it's really good.
16. "Pretty Baby" - Entrance
Psychedelic Craziness
17. "Drain Cosmetics" - Serena Maneesh
Kind of a stony version of a MBV and JAMC tune. A real joy.
18. "Battleground/Christmas Letters" - Seachange
Had to pick two songs by this band, couldn't help myself.
19. "Wolf Like Me" - TV On The Radio
I mean c'mon. You can't find a better song
20. "You Only Live Once" - the Strokes (no link. sorry.)
Yeah I know the Strokes are old news, but this song has it all. Jangle town baby!

honorable mention:
"Evil" - The Memory Band
Makes you feel like your outside in the rain and some spooky beautiful music is coming out of the woods.

oklahoma city natives/residents flaming lips get alleyway named for them. read the article .

these guys have been at it 1983 and are more popular now than ever. a testament to those who are out there doing what they love to keep up the fight.

watch as listens to a sample of beats. right at the 1:43 mark timbaland showcases a beat that judging by the look on jay-z's face was sure to be a hit.
here's a hint...
peep: jay-z "dirt off your shoulder"

loving all the free mp3s on the web but hate having to manually download each and every one of them? lets you download all files on a page with one click. i haven't tested it enough to know how it handles other linked files (such as html webpages)--if you have any great discoveries with it, post 'em in the comments.
(thanks, blumbz.)

has a tv show on the bbc called . thom yorke performed on the show. this is from that performance. supposedly it'll be on the next radiohead album.

thom yorke "videotape"

the same episode also featured the white stripes, kieran hebden (four tet) and steve reid. pretty rad. .

having spent major to have all the removed from my house, and many hours running ethernet, fiber and cable through the walls. I can't even begin to imagine what it would take to re-wire the , but thats the next for the space shuttle in december.

rewire training session

we blogged about samamidon's video for "tribulation" not long ago. sam is working on a new video and you can be a part of it.

To celebrate Samamidon's debut video, "Tribulation," Plug Research is holding its very own dance contest.

In the video, Sam does a dance that many reckon will be the next Chicken Noodle Soup, and with that in mind, Plug Research wants to see their fans try it out for themselves. As many renditions of the dance as possible will be lumped together and edited into Sam's next video, for the track "Louis Collins."

here are my favorite songs that came out in 2006. yes, i tend to like sad songs, but there's a nice mix here.

25. clipse "dirty money"
the whole lp is good. it's so hard to choose.
24. islands "ones"
subtle and floating. six minutes long but feels like two.
23. hemstad "patrik sjöberg"
all out instrumental assault of musical fun. feels like about 300 bpm.
22. augie march "cold acre"
"when a dog knows its owner it doesn't ask why it just goes"
21. sunparlour players "pacifist's anthem"
this jam builds from the beginning. eventually you'll just have to admit you love it.
20. flaming lips "it overtakes me"
who would've thunk it? a dancefloor banger from the lips.
19. sparklehorse "see the light"
"the wave's and the thunder's prose within her belly glows"
18. eric bachmann "carrboro woman"
the dude from archers of loaf (and various other bands) doing dylan style songs. this one reminds me of "it ain't me babe".
17. chad vangaalen "burn 2 ash"
"i would hope for true love, not a pair of handcuffs"
16. page france "say wolf in the summertime"
"may i die in the summertime, may your eyes know which glow is mine"
15. sonic youth "incinerate"
it's in her eight.
14. destroyer "your blood"
i could have just as easily picked several other tracks from the rubies record. the songs have a certain ecstatic delivery.
13. jolie holland "springtime can kill you"
great singing of a great melody.
12. sunset rubdown "stadiums and shrines II"
sounds like it was played so incredibly loud the tape can barely contain it.
11. special agent crazy flower "local landmark preservation"
recorded in china on a laptop. this song may have somehow cosmically caused the resurrection of chavez.
10. +/- {plus/minus} "this is all (i have left)"
great guitar playing. trying new things. respect.
9. spank rock "sweet talk"
"stop acting like a bitch and throw your hands up"
8. xiu xiu "save me"
how the heck does he come up with this stuff? sounds like nothing else.
7. edison victrola "clap (unreleased)"
our boy eddie vic really kills it with this one. any dj should grab this track. it contains instant crowd hypeness.
6. tacks, the boy disaster "frozen feet"
really unique. great arrangement. it's eerie and it makes you move.
5. curtis vodka "mary jane"
try not to bump your head to this.
4. m ward "to go home"
another daniel johnston cover from mr. ward. the rollicking main part is irresistible.

the last three songs fit a nice general rule like most of my favorite songs: they could make you simultaneously dance and cry.

3. dosh "um, circles and squares"
2. baby dayliner "at least"
1. junior boys "like a child"

as many of you know, sneakmove is not just a blog, we also release records. today we're proud to announce the arrival of our latest offering:

"split" by meanest man contest and languis



this is a co-release from two fantastic bands. los angeles' own provides 4 hot slices of late '60s-influenced pop/indie rock/minimalist electronic music. gives us 6 tracks of singy raps and dusty jazz and rock samples. more details and ordering information are available here.

listen to what it sounds like!

i'm not sure if this one made the cut, but based on this commerical i'd buy it.

his daughter went to my friend's college. i met her.
her dad is awesome.

(thanks, quarby.)

help fight aids by taking 10 seconds to "light" a candle on .

For every candle lit, Bristol-Myers Squibb will donate $1 up to $100,000 to the National AIDS fund.

(thanks, jeremy.)

for those who know me, you know that i am usually into some and stuff, but i have been and still am pretty sick. so much so that it has been hard to fall asleep, and since i am ill, i can't use my normal sleeping aids like and therefore, i have turned to my other vice: the most puss-bag music ever. i have a soft spot for it and when i am in one of my sicky-snotty- moments, stitting in bed at 2:00am unable to sleep, i throw the ipod on with a short little mix that gives me man boobs and makes me want to watch the end of sleepless in seattle over and over again.

woah-man up and download

you're still a fat dancer from



here is the single rudebox