Icarus Himself – Digging Holes

I'm sure a good portion of you are aware of the turntable.fm phenomena by now. If you haven't heard of it, it's a fun communal space to listen to music and chat with your friends. I have to say I'm thoroughly hooked. I was never a huge Pandora guy because I always end up wanting to hear all of the album as soon as a good song comes on, but with turntable.fm the social features make you giddy for what's next and give you motivation to constantly show up your friends.

Other than being the most addicting thing since Starcraft when I was 13, turntable.fm is a great place to discover music. Odds are, you're going to end up in a room with people with similar tastes and it's only a matter of time before someone plays something you haven't heard that's right up your alley. On my first day DJing, someone played "Digging Holes" by Madison, Wisconsin's Icarus Himself and I realized how great turntable.fm could be.

"Digging Holes" is one of those songs that crept up behind me wearing camoflage before taking me down like I was a lazy guerilla. It starts out with a dramatic keyboard/synth section that sets the mood before a bouncy bassline and steady organ drop in. And then comes that guitar. Oh, the guitar. It pops in and crashes out, all lazy chord strums and full note blasts. The interplay of the instruments is a thing of beauty while Nick Whetro yelps a tale of self-destruction. The song continues to build and evolve until it erupts in horns, slows down again, and returns to whence it came.

Pick up Icarus Himself's album, Mexico, for only 5 bucks and check out turntable.fm. Warning: prepare for heavy addiction to both.

Elvis Costello – No Action

The needle on my mind's turntable kept dropping on this tune every time I woke up last night. I've previously said (via Tweet, probably while drinking) that Elvis Costello's "No Action" is my favorite Side 1, Track 1 ever. That might be a slight stretch upon further reflection, but it's not terribly far from the truth. It absolutely is, however, a killer start to This Year's Model, an album with great song after great fucking song and one of my favorites ever. There's such a timeless sound to this album; indie rock bands are still trying to replicate Costello's off-kilter, up beat punk to no avail. He's one of the very few artists who's never made a song I didn't at least mostly like.

What do you guys think? Best album opener ever?

Left Boy clearly knows the way to my heart. He was already fast becoming one of my favorite new MC/producers, and then he sent me "NIGHT". Dude samples Buena Vista Social Club. Swag!

Left Boy – NIGHT

I hate Christmas music. Like really really hate Christmas music. Well, except for that Ella Fitzgerald album. I can, however, get on board with Left Boy sampling Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" and rapping about chicks and drugs over it. See, I'm festive!

Left Boy – Wonderful Song

Rural Alberta Advantage released a new song today off their forthcoming LP, Departing. It's due out March 1 via Paper Bag Records and if this track is any indication it will be just as stellar as Hometowns was. Check out their US tour dates for a show near you.

Rural Alberta Advantage – The Stamp

Jay-Z's protege, J. Cole, released the mixtape Friday Night Lights recently and it's pretty stellar. It's also pretty lengthy at 20 songs. That's why I'm here to spoon-feed you a stand-out track in "Higher".

J. Cole – Higher

I'm a newcomer to the PJ Harvey fanclub, but after hearing the track "Written On The Forehead" from her forthcoming LP, Let England Shake, I'm a believer.

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. I've been there several times and always enjoy it. There is so much that can be said about the place (and you should definitely go if you haven't been), but my focus at the moment is the city's rich musical heritage.

"My Generation" is one of the best tunes from Nas and Damian Marley's recent hit-or-miss collaboration, Distant Relatives.

Nas + Damian Marley (ft. Joss Stone + Lil' Wayne) – My Generation