New DJ Shadow tracks surface...

Gorilla vs. Bear has unearthed a couple of new tracks from DJ Shadow, who is set to drop a new LP, The Outsider, sometime this Fall.

DJ Shadow feat. Q-Tip and Lateef Enuff mp3
DJ Shadow This Time (I'm Gonna Try it My Way) mp3

Personally, I think they both sound a little too glossy for Shadow, whose past albums, Endtroducing... and The Private Press, are staples of the indie electronic crowd.

He must've been thinking the same thing, 'cause on his blog, the Shadow had this to say:

"In some ways, it's a risky record. It's going to turn some people off. And I think I'll lose some fans. On the other hand, I know I'll gain some new ones. That's a fair trade in my mind. Besides I can't see playing it safe at this point in my life."

Sorry, but these tracks not only sound like he's playing it safe, but maybe a little too safe. What happened to old school Shadow? Tracks like...

DJ Shadow The Number Song mp3 (from Endtroducing...)
DJ Shadow Six Days mp3 (from The Private Press)

Three Things You Need to Do/See/Click On!

• I am officially addicted to La La, which is this kick-awesome service that allows users to trade CDs with other like-minded music geeks, for only $1 a disc. Think of it as Netflix for music, 'cept you're the ones providing the music. I already traded away my copies of Frou Frou, Sigur Rós, and a couple Ben Folds EPs and, in return, I have received U.N.K.L.E, Gorillaz, and more Ben Folds! Sign up and add me as a friend. Here's my public page.
  
• The second season of The Venture Bros., probably one of the greatest animated series to emerge from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup (yes, better than ATHF), premieres TONIGHT AT 10:30 PM!! If you missed the Season One finale, you can catch that at 10 PM as well. But, lemme tell you, what you need to do is buy the whole first season on DVD!
  
• Finally, even though I'm sure some of my more wound-up readers would frown on it, I gotta link to the new commercial for Al Gore's environmental documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, featuring Bender from "Futurama"! Click and behold...

Three Music Reviews (in 75 Words or Less)

Various Artists, Late Night Tales: Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian's contribution to the provocative and most-certainly thrifty mixtape collection is a well-weathered affair, consisting of a healthy dose of obscure '60s R&B, indie trip-hop, and just plain weirdness (check the selection from the Novi Singers; Manhattan Transfer-style crooning from Cold War-era Poland?) And even though the selections on this album were not made by B&S frontman Stuart Murdoch, but rather keyboardist Chris Geddes, it still makes for fun listening.

Fatboy Slim, Why Try Harder: The Greatest Hits
There is always a place in my heart for Fatboy Slim. Or rather, my booty. That's right; I said it. While this greatest hits collection is plentiful (16 tracks plus two remixes), I wish some different songs had been pulled from Slim's latest LP, Palookaville. Specifically, the Damon Albarn collaboration "Put it Back Together" and the gorgeous "North West Three". Still, beggars can't be choosers, and this set neatly rounds out Norman Cook's impressive career.

Keane, Under the Iron Sea
While not as immediate or as sweeping as debut album Hopes and Fears, Keane's second outing is a moody one, complete with eleven tracks that will definitely require repeated listening for maximum effect. They've also expanded on their sound, employing vast arrays of keyboard effects and studio programming, which reaches its climax on the hidden instrumental track that serves as the bridge between "Put it Behind You" and "Crystal Ball". Another winner from the Brits.

Yorke Tells All

Like most other Radiohead fans, I've been eagerly devouring all the poorly-written, gramatically-incorrect spoutings of frontman Thom Yorke on Radiohead's personal blog, Dead Air Space. A typical post either consists of some nice photographs of the band rehearsing or performing live, or utterly incoherent ramblings from Mr. Yorke. Today, however, is an exception. A surprisingly eloquent Yorke wrote this post about one of the President's daughters making an appearance at one of their gigs in New York, and how the Secret Service had to push through the endless throngs of Radiohead fans (a majority of which probably hate President Bush) when the First Daughter decided to leave midway through the song "The Tourist".

How lame. I could understand leaving in the middle of, say, "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" or "The Gloaming," but an OK Computer track? That's just bad form. She probably went to the concert in the mistaken belief that they'd play "Creep."

I still can't wait for Thom Yorke's solo album (apparently, Yorke's shying away from that term), which sees stateside release on July 11. Check out some sound bites from the album here.

A Message to Hollywood Movie Executives

Could we please start getting back in the habit of assigning numbers to the titles of movie sequels? You're not fooling anyone with this Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties or The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift bullshit. We know that they're sequels! So, let's be good little movie execs and add a 2 or a 3 or whatever number is supposed to go at the end of the title. I'm so sick and tired of these long-winded movie titles, almost as much as the fact that there are so many sequels being made in the first place! I mean, come on:

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (a.k.a. Garfield 2)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (a.k.a. The Fast and the Furious 3)
Ice Age: The Meltdown (a.k.a. Ice Age 2)
X-Men: The Last Stand (a.k.a. X-Men 3)
Underworld: Evolution (a.k.a. Underworld 2)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (a.k.a. Pirates of the Caribbean 2)

You can say one good thing about Tom Cruise. At least he named his last film Mission: Impossible III and not something stupid like Mission: Impossible Cubed or Mission: Triple the Impossibleness.

Right now, the only films anyone needs to be going to theaters to see are Cars, A Prairie Home Companion, Over the Hedge, and Thank You for Smoking. See those and you don't need to return to the theater again...at least, not until Pirates of the Caribbean 2 comes out.

Oh No! Oh My! ...Again!

I know I've already sung the praises of Austin, TX indie rock group Oh No! Oh My!, but I just gotta bring 'em up again. I am still convinced that "I Have No Sister" is one of the best songs of 2006, but the remainder of the album is just as accomplished.

Up until recently, you could pre-order burned copies of their self-titled debut for $1.50. I still have my pre-ordered copy, along with an early demo CD-R of stuff they performed under their previous moniker, The Jolly Rogers (for another $1.50). Now, you can get their full-length debut, plus two bonus tracks which rival the regular tracks in terms of quality and catchiness, for just $11 ($9 + $2 shipping) direct from their site, or you can get it for $10.99 from Insound.

If you aren't easily swayed by my recommendation, I'm sure these free MP3s will change your tune:

Oh No! Oh My! Walk in the Park mp3

Oh No! Oh My! Jane is Fat mp3

and 'cause I know y'all are aching to hear it...

Oh No! Oh My! I Have No Sister mp3
(This one's right-click, Save As...)