Day 6...the mighty mos def and the last true American rockstar

These two selections have two of my favorite artists, in any medium, on the planet. Mos Def, who collaborates with everyone who matters in the world of hip-hop; and jack white, the "supergroup" guru.
Mos released "The Ecstatic" this year and was part of Blakroc, a collaboration formed by Damon Dash and The Black Keys that features Mos Def, Jim Jones, RZA, Q-Tip, and more. There will be more on Blakroc later, until then read the Hypebeast interview on the collab.

Mos Def
"The Auditorium" ft The Ruler, The Ecstatic


The second track is Jack White's latest side project-supergroup known as The Dead Weather. The Dead Weather consists of Alison Mosshart from the kills, Jack(on drums and vocals), Jack Lawrence from The Greenhornes and Raconteurs, and Dean Ferita from Queens of the Stone Age. The are touring now, listen and love.

The Dead Weather
"Hang You Up from the Heavens", Horehound

5 Days Strong

These are two of my favorite "new" bands that both released records this year. Both released critically acclaimed EP's before these releases and at Phoenix has been touring extensively throughout the world. Phoenix is one of the many amazing bands to recently come out of france along with the likes of M83; and the second band, Passion Pit, hails from Boston and mixes synths with great vocal arrangements, and an 80's pop sensibility.

Phoenix
"1901", Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix


Passion Pit
"Little Secrets", Manners

Tis the season

Every year between Thanksgiving and Xmas the Sundance Film Festival announces it's line-up for the the films in competition for the upcoming festival. This years batch seems promising, a lot of good docs and the usual batch of luminaries and envelope pushing auteurs. Im still waiting on a handful of films from last years festival to get a theatrical release, and I wish movies like Precious, Tyson, and Ballast actually came to the theaters here in the Sticks.
I had the opportunity to attend last years festival after years of yearning to be in Park City, Utah in January, and Sundance lived up to the hype. if money and circumstance allows me; I would go every year. Check out the Sundance website and look at all the amazing seminars they put on throughout the year and check this years line-up to see what everyone will be talking about in the world of film.

Sundance 2010

Day 4, an exclusive just for you

The first track in the best of '09 Day 4 is off of the Blueprint 3, Jay-Z's return to his Blueprint legacy. This album has some heavy hitters from the music world in terms of production and featured guest spots ranging from Timbaland and Pharell to newcomers like Drake and Kid Cudi. Kid Cudi lends his voice and skills on "Already Home", which is the best track on the album in my opinion.
The second song is from a good friend and former co-worker of mine during my time in Los Angeles, Kashif, who performs under the name The Orphan Factory (he has a blog under the same name)

Jay-Z
"Already Home (Ft. Kid Cudi)", The Blueprint 3



The Orphan Factory
"Image of the Sea", Self Titled EP


Buy the rest of The Orphan Factory EP at bandcamp.com

Day 3 cont.

so i tried to fool you guys a bit. im so hooked on this Wale vs Justice song that i had to get in on the blog. but billy, one of my cohorts on this project and writer of CONCRETE OPINIONS, informed me that this mixtape came out in '08, so here is a track off of "Attention Deficit". Enjoy and consider the other Wale track a bonus.

Wale
"Diary", Attention Deficit

Day 3 of '09 GOOD

today, we've got two very different options...a lil folk, and a lil hip-hop. J.Tillman, a member of the Seattle band Fleet Foxes gives a mellow, beautifully sung tune.
the second is from D.C. MC, Wale, with a cut off his mixtape "100 Miles and Runnin" Wale has been tearing up the East Coast and the mixtape scene for some time, and he just released his debut album "Attention Deficit". which is great, i love this new wave of intelligent, conscious, and clever hip-hop. this record is proof of that, not to mention the production from the likes of The Neptunes and Mark Ronson.

J. Tillman
"First Born", Vacilando Territory Blues


Wale
"W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E", 100 Miles and Runnin (Wale vs Justice)

sorry about that link

sorry the day 2 links to animal collective and karen o were not working for most of the day. i messed up the hyperlink, but it is fixed now. sorry for the mix-up, im still new at this.

Day 2: Too much good stuff

We've got so much music we wanna share that we are going to do two songs a day for the month of December. Here are some more tracks that I think you'll enjoy.

Animal Collective
"My Girls", New Harvest


Karen O and The Kids
"All is Love", Where the Wild Things Are" Soundtrack


And if you haven't already seen "Where the Wild Things Are", dont make me remind yo again. An original score from Karen O and Carter Burwell, Spike Jonze in the Directors chair, and one of the best childrens books of all time. enough said.

Rascally Rabbit

This is the new limited edition collaboration from
The Hundreds and famed comic book artist Stan Sakai. The Hundreds teamed up with Stan and Dark Horse comics to release this line of limited edition tees featured on The Hundreds website. Check out their blog too, it's the reason why im sitting here typing right now. The Hundreds also just finished another collab with DMC, the car makers that brought us the epitome of 80's gaudiness...the Delorean.
But here is the Stan Sakai tees, you should recognize the character, especially if you were a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

friends and commrades

so i mentioned that my friends Billy and Andrew are helping me with the 31 Days of Good. here is a link to Billy's blog and the second link is to another friends blog. the second is my friend Kashif who writes and performs as The Orphan Factory. Check 'em out, it's all good stuff.

CONCRETE OPINIONS

The Orphan Factory