solrey3.com

When you stick a crappy cord into the headphone jack of your iPod Touch 4G, the plug will break and a piece of it will get lodged in the jack.  When a piece gets stuck in your phone jack, you try to use to Krazy Glue to get the piece out.  When glue doesn’t work, you pry open the iPod.  When you put the MP3 player back together, this is what you see on your screen:

…don’t see this on your screen; avoid cheap audio cords so you don’t waste away 200 bucks.

“I told you something. It was just for you and you told everybody. So I learned cut out the middle man, make it all for everybody, always. Everybody can’t turn around and tell everybody, everybody already knows, I told them.” -Childish Gambino

While most of you don’t dwell into the depths of technology that I usually partake in as described in Part 1 of my Tech Inventory Check, I am sure most of you will feel more at earth in understanding the details I will go into in this second part of my check since its focus centers around social networking. These sites are meant to serve as a community to live in on the web. But right now there are too many of insignificance/oversignificiance and only a few that are meant to play in the power struggle. As I see it, the major obvious players are Facebook, Twitter, and Google (with Google+ and YouTube) with Tumblr and Instagram getting some visual attention. But in comparing all these social networks, there are just three points of comparison I need to make.

Point No.1: Twitter > Facebook

So yeah, if you were to ask me which major social network will survive in the long-term and still has room to grow, then the answer is Twitter, hands-down. Whenever you see an @ or a #, you have already made the association. Sports leagues and television shows have been resurrected or have accelerated its fan base with Twitter integration. Moreover, why watch the horrible spectacle that is the MTV VMAs or Golden Globes when you can depend on Twitter to relay you the crazy stuff that’s happened while doing something better. You can get news, whether it’s the death of Osama or Qaddafi, hours before the major outlets report it (ahem, where do you think big media gets their news from now?) Plus, the best way I found to get my media fix is to create a twitter list that follows every media outlet I’m interested in (https://twitter.com/#!/solrey3/media). I do not have to follow these Twitter handles which leaves more room to follow people I want to follow in my feed without the annoying repeat tweet by HuffPo; I like to use Dunbar’s number as a rule of thumb in terms of people I follow on Twitter. More importantly, your twitter feed is defined by who you follow, not who’s following you. Obviously, it’s cool when people follow you, but you get joy in understanding what people publicly feel about things.

Tweeters I Don’t Know Personally But Love Following
1- @WojYahooNBA – a main reason why Yahoo! Sports is WAY better than ESPN.com
2- @phontigallo – because he retweeted my album review of his “Charity Starts At Home”
3- @CobraCommander – this guy is funny, his tweet after the death of Kim Jong-Il “Peace out, Lil’ Kim”

In the end, Facebook still has purpose; it’s meant to serve as a more intimate way to connect to people you really want to stay connected to. Facebook Chat has virtually killed any need for people to hold out on AOL IM. But, to all my “friends”, I don’t need to know what is obliviously obvious (ex., being glad your work day is over) nor do I need to know that you checked-in to every place you’ve driven next to in the past hour. So if you just need something to connect to people near and far, that’s what Facebook is for. But if you need to shout out to the world and can say it in under 140 characters with some meat and wit, Twitter serves as the better service. Yes, as much you may hate that Twitter found a way to play some role, direct or indirect, in anything you do, you still have to get into Facebook to do something in it. Ultimately, since you feel contained in that circle, that becomes a major reason I try to minimize my time in it.

Twitter is the ultimate catch-all tool that doesn’t require tremendous commitment,yet, with a little dedication, can be a self-controlling mechanism for how you use the Web. Whatever you use for blogging, posting, or commenting, Twitter can capture it all. If you still think Twitter is just a micro-blogging tool, then you probably follow Oprah a little too much. The better thing to call Twitter is a micro-media tool. Twitter still has room to evolve into something bigger while Facebook is contained into what it is. Ultimately, Twitter is thee public broadcasting service. If you are afraid that the things you want to say may offend in any way, then don’t tweet it. All that Twitter invokes is that if you have something to share, it doesn’t hurt to share with everyone (which is why I quoted Childish Gambino at the start of this article). And that is what defines your social viability, if you use it.

Point No. 2: WordPress > Tumblr
Tumblr is a great web publishing tool. I gave it a shot for a while and found it easy to use and convenient. Unfortunately, the major drawback is that any information you add to Tumblr now belongs to them. Basically, anything personal you put there you can’t export out. Until that’s allowed, I’ll still use WordPress to host my personal web site. That leads me to the next point…

Point No. 3: Google+ > Tumblr
Tumblr can be a great source for external videos and images. While there are a few good tumblrs out there like gotemcoach, the site has a young user base that just loves to post dozens of pictures a day. Google+ has become an enclave for the geek-centric, tech-savvy, and mature. You tend to put more thought in linking to external posts and hope to provide insight in what you are posting to the public. Yes, it’s hard to get people onto Google+ since most have already dedicated so much time and energy to Facebook. But the ability to control your contacts in circles and integrate with other Google tools you use gives it value and makes it worthwhile in the visible long-term. Plus, it’s configurable enough for the privacy-centric that you don’t have to share with the Public, just the Circles you feel appropriate. It’s because of Circles that Google+ is better Facebook and Twitter as a configurable contact communication tool. But until more and more Facebook users dive into “another” social networking platform, Google+ will remain a0 distant third behind the big two players.

So with those comparisons, there are only 3 tools I use for social networking:

1) Tweeting and Status Updates -> Tweetdeck (UPDATE 2012-02-12: I can no longer recommend Tweetdeck for the Desktop since its integration with Facebook has been faltering.  The best alternative right now is Seesmic. )
This is all you need to tweet or post status updates to Twitter and/or Facebook. You can get your Twitter feed, Twitter list(s), and Facebook feed in one convenient interface. Yes there are many good social network aggregators (HootSuite, yoono) out there, but this tool is great on the desktop and on an Android phone. It’s such a killer app, no wonder Twitter bought it and stripped it down a bit. All that it needs now is a Google+ feed to become your one-stop social networking tool.

2) Personal Posts -> WordPress
I also use ifttt (if this than that) to send my WordPress posts to Twitter and Facebook. To add these posts to Google+, I just have to +1 it for now.

3) External Links -> Google+
I use Rob McGhee to send these posts to Twitter but I decided to make a 2012 commitment not to bleed my external links and comments to the Book. For now, I am minimizing my Facebook usage to chat, messaging, and wishing good friends a happy birthday. Also, I use Google Reader to review blogs I like to read regularly, so sharing posts on Google+ has never been easier with the obvious integration. I understand why Google is taking a lot of heat for for modifying its search to include preference to Google+; tinkering their baby (search) seemed not to benefit the customer. But Google+ does serve as the model of innovation in how social media platforms should move forward.

“Do you know anything about computers?”

…majoring in Information Systems and spending 10+ years working in IT, I better hope I do. So being the geek I am, one thing I like to do at the beginning of the year is to take inventory of all the technology I use, which unfortunately is a daunting task (I know, I’m lame). So for the first part of this check, I’ll account for all the computers, devices, and apps in my arsenal. I might get a little overboard with this, so bear with me if you dare.

First, the computers:

1) The Desktop – Custom-built Hackintosh running OSX Snow Leopard
I could’ve survived on a Windows 7 desktop but it was a piece of crap software called iTunes that made me give this geeky setup a shot. Anything I like to use on Windows works just as well on a Mac with the exception of Microsoft Office. Building a hackintosh isn’t for the faint at heart since u need the right motherboard and graphics card for it all to work right. But it’s so satisfying once you get it up and running. The only thing that annoys me is that damn rainbow wheel that comes up and makes you more impatient.

2) The Laptop – Acer Aspire TimelineX 5820T-6401 running Windows 7
I’m eventually gonna get a Macbook Pro but a powerful Windows 7 laptop on the cheap can suffice for most work-related needs. As much as I like OSX on my desktop, I don’t have gripes with Windows 7. So if you want to be economical, go for a Windows 7 machine; similar spec’d machines tend to come out 2x cheaper.

3) The Server – Custom-built machine running Ubuntu
I need a main machine for my insanely huge music collection, all my downloads, and a bunch of automated services. So whenever you need a machine that needs to be constantly running, building a Linux server is the way to go.

4) The Extra Desktop – Custom-built machine dual-booting Windows 7 & PinguyOS
Right now, this machine isn’t being utilized. But when I do get a Macbook Pro, the hackintosh experiment will probably end and this computer will stop retaining dust. I’ve been unhappy with Linux distos recently due to convolutedness of desktop environments and the instability of network drivers. For some reason, web browsing isn’t perfect to me which makes me hold back on it as a consistent desktop OS. I’ll give the customizable ArchLinux a chance to prove me wrong, but you can’t go wrong with the stability of OSX or Windows 7.

5) The Netbook – Asus Eee PC 1005HAB running Jolicloud
I really have no use for this and may just end giving this to my family in the Philippines. But if you want it for a hundred bucks, give me a holla.

Second, the devices:

1) The Phone – Rooted HTC Evo 4G Android on Sprint
My issues with smartphones has always been battery life, so I had to get an extended battery just to save to make this one bearable. I’ll wait another year to decide if I want a iPhone but so far I’ve been happy with the ability of my phone. I don’t knock on the iPhone because it’s a stable device. But if you are willing to test the limits of what a phone can do, then an Android, especially a rooted one, can take you to new worlds.

2) The Walkman – iPod Touch 4G (32GB)
It’s a good music machine for my workout. It works well with my iHome device thanks additionally to Wi-Fi sync. It’s good to have traveling around the Greater New York City Area. Besides that, it’s just a music machine. Everthing else, I can just do on my phone.

3) The Other Walkman – iPod Classic 6G (80GB)
I have a huge music collection, so this is a good device to have on hand if you are away from your collection for an extended time. Besides that and connecting to my xbox, it doesn’t do all that much for me.

4) The Streaming Media Player – WD TV Live HD
For a while I was relying on my xbox to stream video to my TV. But transcoding .mkv files became a hassle. With my WD player, I don’t have to care what format my files are in and they all (even ISO files) just play flawlessly.

5) The Gaming Machine – Xbox 360 with Kinect
Unfortunately, the last video game I really played was Portal 2. I had an XBox Live subscription but I was only using it for ESPN3 and Netflix. And since i can get Netflix on my media player for no charge, I cancelled my XBox Live subscription. Hopefully setting up the Kinect will bring some life back to it.

6) The Reader – Amazon Kindle
It’s a great reading device; my only problem, I really should read more.

And finally, the apps:

Multi-platform Apps:
Google Chrome – portable extensions make this the best of the web browsers
Firefox – for better memory management, performance and private browsing
Opera – mainly for Unite
Audacity – great for simple music file editing
Picasa – Google Photos manager
GIMP – viable alternative to Photoshop
uTorrent – torrents when it’s your last resort
Dropbox – great cloud service
Wunderlist – great to-do list app
Evernote – my web-based note-taker and web page archiver. Comes as a desktop or Chrome app
Google Earth – all for fun
NX Client – to connect to the desktop environment on my Linux server
Handbrake – for managing video files and ripping DVDs
Synergy – software-based mouse/keyboard sharing that works across all OS platforms
Skype – videoconferencing
VLC – video player
calibre – handy tool for the Kindle, works best on a server to automate news feed downloads to your Kindle but can be installed as a desktop app as well

Web apps:
LastPass – everyone should use a password manager
XMarks – simply so you can manage your bookmarks across multiple browsers and computers
Tweetdeck – simplifed social network management but only limited to Twitter and Facebook
Google Docs – Office on the cloud
ifttt (IFThisThenThat)- best resource to connect your social networking apps, so posting in one place will help you post everywhere
youtube to mp3 converter – does what the name suggests

Google Chrome Extensions:
AdBlock – it works, that’s all you need to know
FlashBlock – so yo don’t have to wait for annoying flash programming to load up
Hype Machine Downloader – not a public extension, but it helps me download songs off one of my favorite music sites, hypem.com
FindThatBand – great music-minded search tool
Webpage Screenshot – self-explanatory
SABConnect++ – to help manage my Usenet downloads

Mac apps:
iTunes – a neccessary evil on your Mac machine.
Adium – chat service aggregator that works with Google, Facebook, AOL, and Skype
TextWrangler – a good, free text editor
Unarchiver – provides some more functionality that is needed when handling Archives
iTerm – I like working in a terminal and this is an upgrade to the standard console provided
Burn – good for disc burning.

Windows apps
Ninite – neccessary tool to install the must-have free apps on your Windows machine. This should be the first site you go to after you get a new Windows machine or reinstall the OS and Windows updates. Listed below are the ones I get for my Windows machine excluding anything I may have mentioned mentioned earlier:
Pidgin – chat service aggregator that works with Google, Facebook, AOL, and Skype
Runtimes (Flash, Java, .Net, Silverlight, Air, Shockwave)
Paint.NET
Sumatra PDF – forget about Adobe Reader
PDFCreator – create PDFs for free
Essentials/AVG
imgBurn – Good for disc burning.
CCleaner – neccesary system cleaner
RealVNC
Revo – use this as opposed to the standard uninstaller program
7-Zip – all archive formats are handled
FileZilla – file trnasfer
PuTTY – remote console
Notepad++ – a better text editor
Bonjour – if you don’t put Quicktime or iTunes on your machine, just get this to communicate with Macs on your network
Office/Visio – especially with Visio, alternatives are hard to find, unfortunately it ain’t cheap
MusicBee/WinAMP – good alternatives to iTunes on Windows

Linux desktop apps:
puddletag – music library management, used for managing my MP3 albums
ex falso – music file management, used for managing my MP3 track downloads
Double Commander – for some reason, Nautilus in GNOME doesn’t cut it for file management
amule – for eDonkey servers
terminator – a great all-purpose console
gnome-do – for Gnome users, a great launcher similar to Mac’s Quicksilver

Linux Server apps (besides the standard LAMP, samba, ssh):
ampache – to stream my music collection
NX – to setup connections to the desktop environment on my server
sabnzbdplus – for my usenet downloads
sickbeard – my personal DVR for downloading TV shows

Android apps:
Tweetdeck – works great with Twitter and Facebook
Battery Indicator – I like to see percentage numbers when I check my battery level
Google Voice – I’m on Sprint, which means you can intergrate Voice with your phone number at no extra xost
Wunderlist – A great to-do list app that works across all platforms (desktop or mobile)
SoundHound – preferred over Shazam, but you should have both just in case you need to find the name of that song
Barcode Scanner – to make use of all those QR Codes you see around
Flikie Wallpapers HD – good set of free Wallpapers for you phone
android-wireless-tether/android-wired tether (rooted) – two of the reasons you root your Android
Google Shopper / Amazon Mobile – gotta love doing price comparison when you are out and about browsing the stores
Tasker – the only Android app I paid for and it’s all worth it if you are into automating tasks on you’re Android

That’s the gist of all the little tech gadgets I have lingering around me. In part 2 of this Tech Inventory Check, I’ll be covering Social Networking apps.

As one of my first actions for the year, I am re-positioning my web identity around a more accurately self-depicting domain, solrey3.com. You should still be able to get to me from solr.net but will be redirected here. Nothing has changed as it was a just a seamless reconfiguration. As to sticking to some rules and guidelines with this, I will try to keep the content as personal as possible. Plus, I hope to expand the scope of this site to more than just music since I do have a diverse interest in subjects such as business, technology, NYC, Jersey, the Philippines, sports, basketball, poker, chess, pop culture, fortune cookies, and lifestyle design just to name a few. Well, I am looking forward to this year and I hope you are as well. At worst, it’s the end of the world as predicted by the Mayans; so anything better is a sign of hope for civilization. Enjoy the ride.

Oh, I’m also testing my ifttt task to Google+ with this post. So here’s a poster pic from the movie The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo just because I just saw it and everyone should do the same.

My moral compass of this year hinged around a couple of episodes of South Park where, to Stan, everything now “sounds like shit”.

Don’t get turded out now, this is not the direction I am heading with this writing; I, more or less, am emphasizing that there is a point in your life where you realize most things just end up being a waste of your valuable time to even garner attention. For music, that came to me in 8th grade waiting on line in the school parking lot hearing my fellow adolescents rave about some eponymously named Porno For Pyros album. So despite the positive first impressions of a cool band name lead by that guy who was in Jane’s Addiction, the album was essentially a piece of junk. I may have thought I was getting it wrong since I was known to blast rap music on full blast; but since I knew of actual good alt-rock music going on at the time, I didn’t get what these other kids “got”. It was there I realized I didn’t have to; I was gonna like what I was gonna like and that was it. That whole tangent was to get to this simple point: Like what you like, don’t get into things just because everyone else is into it. Information is so vast, you can be your unique you. Also, don’t let all the crap that’s out there get you cynical about life. There is something out there for you to peak your interests; sometimes, it just takes time to find it.

6 FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2011:
Only six because I really don’t like to run the risk of watching a bad movie and wasting 10 bucks and 2 hours of my time. Plus, I’m a downloading whore, so I prefer waiting for these things to come out on disk in order to cop.

6. Limitless
I wonder if it works with people that have A.D.D.

5. X-Men: First Class
I could never get myself into watching the past X-Men movies since I knew they would just be bad. But I really appreciated this franchise revisit.

4. Source Code
Jake Gylllenhal would be fact alone to not watch this film, also the name alone is blashphemy to anyone involved in computer programming. But the premise was stated clearly and became a very interesting watch.

3. Beats, Rhymes, & Life
I like how Michael Rappaport dug deep into the story behind Tribe making this an essential watch for anyone who fell in love with hip-hop.

2. Super
I liked Kick-Ass and Super just took it to an even darker level.

1. Attack the Block
This was the movie I wanted to see when I decided to watch Super 8.

TV
Thanks to Netflix and Sickbeard, the time dedicated to watching TV shows is nearing what I dedicate to music consumption. The good thing is that it has helped weed out shows I should have no reason to watch. I’m a product of the 80s and television will always be in my life. Thank God, though, that technology has made my couch potato syndrome more manageable.

15- The League
Sure, the show has started to become less and less about the fantasy league, but almost every character portrayed is brilliant in their unique way.

14- Modern Family
Everyone works together on this show

13- How I Met Your Mother
We probably won’t get around to the whole premise of the show, but one thing for sure is that Neil Patrick Harris is the coolest gay dude in entertainment right now.

12- Fringe
I can get into this show but I have a feeling this will be the last season of it all.

11- New Girl
A great comedy about the hipster crutch that has hit New York; oh and Zooey Deschaneal has become more desirable since she got off that vegan kick and left that Death Cab For Cutie guy.

10- Wilfred
Dude, he talks to a dog. That’s so awesome.

09- Doctor Who
My Nerdist listening tendencies got me into this show and yes, every episode makes you fell the fate of the world is in the hands of the Doctor.

08- Parks & Recreation
Netflix got me caught up on this and I can’t help but laugh at every episode I catch. Right now, it’s definitely the best comedy running on network television. Oh yeah, and Ron Swanson is my hero. I plan to get this shirt soon.

07- Louie
Given carte blanche with this show, you now know why he is the top comedian right now. The Dane Cook episode is amazing and the scenes with Pamela Adlon are funny on a meta-level if you ever caught Lucky Louie on HBO. He’s a man who knows how to talk about what’s he observes and this little diddy when he met up with Conan is further proof.

06- Community
Perhaps the best ensemble cast in comedy television that it saddens me the show was put on hiatus. Plus, any show that finds a way to incorporate D&D into a whole episode or pay homage to My Dinner With Andre should be treated with more respect by NBC. I hope this has room for a 15″ Macbook Pro.

05- The Walking Dead
The show would be ranked higher if it just gave the people more of what they need: zombie killings

04- Shameless
Who would’ve thought a story about a poor family in the Southside of Chicago would be so hilarious. Hour-long comedies never live up to billing but it definitely knows how to fill the time up well.

03- Game of Thrones
A brilliant story about humans surviving in a unique fantasy world. What could be so wrong about a show that provided such a great WTF scene with a golden crown. I also respect the fact that the plot tries to stay true to the book and doesn’t truly change just for the sake of television standards.

02- Breaking Bad
Another show I finally caught up to on Netflix and it never failed to disappoint. I even loved the hate-able lawyer. Every episode has a thriller moment and the season finale will just suspend your thoughts of reality for just a moment producing an even greater WTF moment. This is season is further proof that Gus Fring has to be one of the most captivating crime bosses ever on TV.

01- Homeland
Claire Danes has become relevant again for the first time since My So Called Life. If you wanna get known as an actress in today’s world, you gotta play somebody crazy pretty well. Too bad she’s broken Showtime Nudity Rule No.1. Besides that, it’s the best new thriller on televison with Sgt. Brody (Damian Lewis) being the best character ever created.

Shows I only really watch because of its use of music:
Entourage – Eh, it went on for too long.
Chuck – I’m really gonna miss their music selection
House – Goodbye, Olivia Wilde; Hello, Odette Annable

SPORTS (because when I was young and the Asbury Park Press was delivered, I first went to the Sports section)
01- Game 2, NBA Finals
It wasn’t the comeback. but rather the moment before where the Heat go up 15 with under 5 minutes left and Lebron celebrating during the timeout break. I wanted them to lose because of that and Dallas made my desires true.
2011 NBA Finals, Game 2

02- Game 6, World Series
You had a feeling the Cards were going to get out of that situation and when the Rangers couldn’t get a run in on the final inning, you know the end was near.

03- Larry Merchant telling off Floyd Mayweather

04- Kemba Walker buzzer-beater on Pitt
I was very determined to take him early in my keeper fantasy league

05- Lyoto Machida does the Karate Kid kick on Randy Couture

SONGS
20- Circuital – My Morning Jacket
It’s jams like these that keep me listening to this group

19- Rumour Has It / Someone Like You – Glee Cast
Every once in a while, you’ll eventually catch a cover on this show that hits it on the mark. I’m also a big sucker when a dramatic pause is utilized so effectively, especially in the TV version of this mash-up below.

18- I Just Had Sex feat. Akon – The Lonely Island
The kicker is the line “She put a bag on my head (Still counts!)”

17- Selecta – Afrojack & Quintino
Selecta (Original Mix) by Afrojack & Quintino
16- No Beef – Afrojack & Steve Aoki

Talk all you want about David Guetta, Skrillex, LMFAO, and what not, but Afrojack is the hottest DJ out right now.

15- Eyes Like Pearls – Van Hunt
The album is little too Lenny Kravitz for me, but this

14- Toes – Lights
One of those rare hypem gems I found that I am surprised it never really got any national airplay

13- Promises (Skrillex Remix) – Nero
I can deal with Skrillex once in a while, but I’ll pass on the a whole KoRn album with that signature bass break
Nero – Promises (Skrillex & Nero Remix)

12- Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
It became one of those you just hear everywhere and you never minded that it was on.

11- Sure Thing – Miguel
I caught this song on some guy’s Tumblr and I liked it. Sad to say, I got tired of Tumblr but I probably would use it if I didn’t already have my own WordPress blog on my site.

10- Hello – Martin Solveig & Dragonette
I would hear this song a lot in the beginning of the year whenever I went to work out at my fitness club. Let’s just say some songs just stick in your head in a bad way, but this song I didn’t mind now matter how much it reminded me of some Vengaboys’ songs

09- Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win feat. Santigold (Major Lazer Remix) – Beastie Boys
The album track is amazing itself but Major Lazer added that extra kick to it.
Beastie Boys – Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win (Feat. Santigold) (Major Lazer Remix) by Mad Decent

08- Mind Your Manners – Chiddy Bang
As was proven last year with ‘Under the Sheets’, Chiddy Bang have become one of the most innovative pioneers in hip-hop just by instantly sampling really good songs and making better hip-hop versions of them.

07- I Might – Wilco
Such a blissfully happy song, it makes you want to pop in Summerteeth right after listening to The Whole Love

06- Hits Me Like A Rock (Dillion Francis remix) – CSS
Very few songs can make you bop around like a little kid, that’s why this song deserves to be on the list.
Hits Me Like A Rock (Dillion Francis remix)

05- The Honest Truth – Typhoon
I first heard this song on Chuck and I got instantly hooked on this band.

04- Niggas In Paris – Jay-Z & Kanye West
Unfortunately, for this power duo, this song was so on-point that the rest of Watch the Thrones became mute.

03- Not Going Back – Childish Gambino
Off his freely downloadable EP, it’s the last track on this set and became the reason to wait for whatever he was to give you next, which eventually became his first studio, Camp. More on that later…
Not Going Back – Childish Gambino

02- Give Me Everything – Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer
With the Ne-Yo hook and the Afrojack beat, Pitbull could’ve said jibberish on this track and it would still be hot.

01- Rolling In The Deep – Adele
Remixed and covered in any way imaginable. I remember driving up and down the GSP and hearing this song on every radio station I dialed to (I think Hot97 even played it once). And that didn’t bother me. but no matter how many ways you re-imagine this, the original album version will always hold wait.

ALBUMS

10- Turtleneck & Chain – Lonely Island
09- Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two – Beastie Boys (original first listen review)
The former group are a representable homage of what the latter have effortlessly accomplished for over 25 years. The former achieves laughs while the latter supplants their unfaltering cred. Both are similar in that they achieve what few albums can accomplish: an enjoyable listen.

08- El Camino – The Black Keys
It’s clear that these hipster standard-bearers know how to make good 8-track 70s rock. Even better, they just know how to make rock music, straight-up and with no frills. The irony though is that if you wanted to name the purest rock bands for this decade, The Black Keys should be on the top of the list.

07- Welcome Reality – Nero (original first listen review)
Oh, dubstep. I would give you more credit if you could make more songs you can “step” to. I can listen to this album, now trying to figure out how to dance fluidly to it is another story.

06- 21 – Adele (original first listen review)
Most definitely the pop album everyone will have nothing terrible to say about. It will rightfully deserve all the awards it will achieve.

05- Veronica Falls (original first listen review)
If you were ever a fan of 80′s alt-rock, don’t sleep on this album. Sure, you can call it noise-rock if you want, but it’s “noisy” enough to want to skip to the next track.

04- Charity Starts At Home – Phonte (original first listen review)
In this current age of hip-hop, @phontigallo has definitely become the rapper’s rapper.

03- undun – The Roots
Concept album are a tricky web which is why very few rap acts can achieve such a venture. But this Memento-style tale is another soldification that the Legendary Roots Crew are more than just the best hip-hop band ever.

02- Mondo Amore – Nicole Atkins (original first listen review)
The perfect alternative to anyone who probably overplayed Adele’s 21 to death.

01- Camp – Childish Gambino (original first listen review)
It’s not a perfect album but it’s definitely one of the most listened to in my collection of the year. What really kept me listening to this album over and over again is the Questlove backed-up outro at the end of the album where Mr. Glover goes off into what he learned, which is cutting off the middleman and make it all for everybody, always. Obviously, this may fall out of line with the proven idea that reaching everyone ends up appealing to no-one; but this isn’t about target marketing. This is about being one’s self; what you say to one person should be worth saying to all. Everyone is gonna figure you out eventually so you might as well be honest about it.

RIP
Nate Dogg
Gil Scott-Heron
Amy Winehouse
Heavy D

PERSONAL EPILOGUE:
It’s been a long time coming but I can’t wait for all the twists and turns that will eventually cross my journey in life. I got my Jesus year coming up and supposedly 2012 is the end of the world. Nevertheless, I’m excited for whatever risk and reward that eventually sees fruition. For once in my life, I patiently played my cards out to the end and got what was expected; finally, I feel totally free and I never want that feeling to end. I don’t feel stuck and I see the world for its true value. You might say I took a Limitless pill, but all that happened is that circumstances made it possible where I am no longer to waste time. Basically, I wake up and WANT to do something. One fact that has been made clear is that time moves faster as you get older and the only void you need to escape are those moments of boredom where time gets wasted and slips. So in the famous words of Soul II Soul…

Wale puts together a major, sophomore release that shows longevity to come along with his ambition. Whether it’s coming off serious or being boastful in a club banger, Wale will hang with all of them. Just as Kanye used that word “ambition” in “Gold Digger”, Wale wasn’t going to let the demise of his debut, Attention Deficit (which I liked, anyways), stop him from climbing to the top of the game. Rick Ross saw that, which is why he hooked him up to Maybach. Yes, a Rick Ross standard dumbed-down template does persist throughout the album, but it’s a direction that Wale needed in for him to climb out of the shadows and potentially become a bigger force in hip-hop. While Kid Cudi and Drake are the drawn contemporaries that in comparison make him look lesser,

you just feel Wale will still be around climbing to be better and better as the more crafty lyricist.

3.5 Stars (out of 5) – SR3

I’m not gonna hide it. This is the best rap album I’ve heard in the longest time. You’ll never listen to rap music the same way again and that’s a major accomplishment from an actor whose day job is being an ensemble cast member of the TV show Community. All this hyperbole for a nerd mastermind who got his rap name from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator (Mine is Tha Winged Cow). No baggage, no ulterior motive, just an album with no limits, no constraints, and an artist not afraid to say whatever since there is no one to impress, just everyone to astonish. While every other young rapper struggles in matching some sort of A&R template, Donald Glover just flipped the game around in turning this new breed of Drakes and wanna-be Drakes with their unauthentic honesty into pathetic jesters for the music industry that true listeners just aren’t buying (metaphorically and literally). You will respect Childish Gambino’s genius and play on words, and you will love it.

Just some of the best lines I’ve heard in a while:
“I put in work, ask Ludwig / Put my soul on the track like shoes did”
“Chillin’ with a Filipina, at your local Jollibee / Yeah, I’m in her ass like sodomy / So if you see my hand under the table, don’t bother me”
“I wanna walk in with No I.D. and no ID.”
“She got ironic tattoos on her back / That ain’t ironic bitch, I love Rugrats”
“Cause God knows what these white kids sayin’/ Dude you’re not not racist cause The Wire’s in your Netflix queue”
“The only thing I put before me is do re”
“Got flow, I could make a cripple crip walk”
“Uh, yeah I’m killin’ you, step inside the lion’s den / Man I’m hov if the ‘O’ was an ‘I’ instead”

You can preview the album here. Oh, and if you don’t watch Community, you should catch that as well…

5 Stars (out of 5) – SR3

Peter Bjorn And John cover “Try A Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding

One of my all-time favorite songs by a liked band who took on a daunting task. Check it out. Otis done right as opposed to that Jay-Z/Kanye mystery.

Florence Welch has cemented herself as a distinguishable and formidable vocalist in today’s pop music. And with her group’s second album release, Ceremonials, it is clear that Florence + the Machine currently possess the anthemic power that usually takes decades for other bands to achieve. With Lungs being the performance-indicator of this band’s capabilities, the follow-up pushes them further up the ladder with its emphatic and lavish orchestration; it’s only a natural progression for good artists to produce a mature sophomore album while maintaining natural rawness. I hate to always use Coldplay as a benchmark, but as hard as Chris Martin works in making his band sound like the next evolution of U2, Florence Welch has transcended beyond that point of significance even with some incorporated adaptation of her contemporary counterparts, e.g. Kate Bush and Adele (“Lover to Lover”). It’s a modern album that Tori Amos and PJ Harvey diehards can embrace. Yet 12 strong songs in just under an hour can be hard to digest; that’s what makes it hard to pick out some standout tracks (if I must, I’ll say “No Light, No Light” and, if you survive the orchestra, “Leave My Body”). Nevertheless, if this album represents the next movement of a Brit-pop invasion, then I can appreciate the Machine.

4.5 Stars (out of 5) – SR3