EW's List of the 50 Best Movies You've Never Seen

Entertainment Weekly published a list of the 50 best movies released in the last 20 years. Check it out here.  I've seen about half of the movies on the list.  It helps that the EW writers seem to like Sam Rockwell almost as much as I do.  Below are my favorites from their list:

Fish Tank (2009).  15-year-old Mia lives in the Essex projects with her single-mom and sister.  Mia has a tough life, her mother pretty much ignores her and the only person who seems to take an interest in her is her mom's boyfriend Connor. Media Corner favorite Michael Fassbender is in it!

George Washington (2000).  If you are only familiar with director David Gordon Green's recent work, including Your Highness and Pineapple Express, this movie will definitely surprise you.  This is Green in his arty, serious, Malickian mode. George Washington is also Paul Schneider's film debut. 

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999).  Jim Jarmusch's film about a professional killer (played by Forest Whitaker) who follows a strict samurai code of ethics. RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan did the score fore the movie and even makes a brief cameo!

Moon (2009).  Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of his time of a solo three-year stint on a lunar mine.  However, he starting to have health problems and strange hallucinations.  After a bad accident, Sam discovers something unnerving about his mission on the moon. 

My Summer of Love (2004). This film shows how the friendship between two girls, working class Mona (Nathalie Press) and wealthy Tasmin (Emily Blunt), evolves over the course of one summer. 

Safe Men (1998).  An outrageous comedy that has one of the best casts ever: Paul Giamatti, Steve Zahn, Sam Rockwell and Mark Ruffalo are all in it!

Happy Birthday Ghostface Killah!

Break out your biggest gold chain necklace and start blasting Supreme Clientele, because it's Dennis Coles aka. Ghostface Killah aka. Ghostdini aka. Ironman aka. Tony Starks aka. my spirit Wu-Tang Clan member's 42nd Birthday!  Check out an album by Wu-Tang Clan or by Ghostface to celebrate!

The Rise and Fall of Wu-Tang: An Infodiscography

An enterprising designer named Jess Bachman has assembled an "infodiscography" of the legendary hip-hop group, Wu-Tang Clan. These visually striking graphics offer an insightful overview of the myriad Wu-affiliated releases, and are particularly useful for exploring the members' solo projects. The three-part series sets out to highlight the rise, fragmentation, and decline of the group. I would argue that the enduring artistic influence of the Wu-Tang Clan precludes anything like a decline, but it's a well executed project that can be especially useful to beginner or intermediate Wu aficionados. If you'd like to know which of these solo projects are available through the library, you can take a look at the list I've compiled in bibliocommons.

The "infodiscography" graphics themselves are quite large. Check out part one after the jump.

Music Roundup: My Top 10 Albums of 2011

My (Always Subjective) Top 10 List:


Apocalypse - Bill Callahan
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If Bill Callahan puts out a new record, it will be my favorite record of the year. That's not mere dedication to a songwriter I've favored for two decades, but rather an acknowledgment that he gets better with each passing year. I would argue that Apocalypse, the latest from Callahan, is as evocative and frankly spellbinding as any work in the artist's catalog.
Standout tracks: "Baby's Breath" and "Riding for the Feeling"

Undun - The Roots
A percussive, soulful concept album that somehow, impossibly, improves upon the band's prior successes. By my count, this is the tenth Roots record that is an unequivocal classic. Tenth. Can you name another contemporary group with those credentials? I can't.
Standout tracks: This is such a cohesive work, there's little point in highlighting specific tracks.

Bad as Me - Tom Waits
Arguably less ambitious than your average Tom Waits album (there's no song-cycle or high-concept narrative on this one), Bad as Me still offers just about everything you could possibly want from the artist at this stage of his career: guttural crooning, dusty blues, early R&B, rockabilly, and, yes, Keith Richards and Marc Ribot on guitar.
Standout tracks: "Raised Right Men", "Get Lost", and "Hell Broke Luce"

House of Balloons/Thursday - The Weeknd
House of Balloons is The Weeknd's proper full-length debut, and it justifiably received most of the accolades. But the mix-tape that followed it, Thursday, was a compelling listen in its own right. I'm including both in my top ten list, because I can. The lyrics on these recordings range from amusing to clumsy, but the sound is guaranteed to make you woozy. In a good way. (These two albums are only available as digital downloads from artist's Tumblr page.)
Standout tracks: "What You Need", "The Party and the After Party" and "Lonely Star"

Bon Iver - Bon Iver
This self-titled album is the proper follow-up to Justin Vernon's critically acclaimed debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. Vernon's gentle voice and impressionistic lyrics are still the focal point, but this record features a much fuller sound. I think I favor the intimacy of the earlier album, but Bon Iver has some excellent songs that benefit from the enhanced instrumentation.
Standout tracks: "Calgary" and "Minnesota, WI"

Black Up - Shabazz Palaces
Remember the '90s rap group Digable Planets? Doesn't matter. Even if you were familiar with that group, you'd probably never have guessed that Shabazz Palaces is the current project for former Digable Planets rapper Ishmael Butler. This is an astoundingly relevant and forward-looking album, particularly as it comes from an artist who has been in the business since the Clinton Administration.
Standout tracks: "A Treatease Dedicated to the Avian Airless from North East Nubis"

Demolished Thoughts - Thurston Moore
A solo outing from Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore, Demolished Thoughts is essentially a singer-songwriter album that sounds a lot like Sonic Youth. I find that to be a pretty irresistible combination. The songs are uniformly strong on this record, but they reach greatness thanks to the gorgeous production, courtesy of Beck.
Standout tracks: "Circulation" and "Orchard Street"

W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) - Pharoahe Monch
This may be the most focused, concise Monch album yet. His lyrical delivery is always a thing to behold, and his work on W.A.R. just might be up there with his revered solo debut.
Standout tracks: "W.A.R." and "Black Hand Side"

Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2 - Beastie Boys
I never thought I'd be including a Beastie Boys album in my top ten, but here we are. I've enjoyed Hot Sauce Committee more than any Beasties record since...the '90s? This is a record by a group of guys who know their strengths and actually sound like they're having a good time. Bonus points for collaborating with Nas on "Too Many Rappers". I would endorse an entire of album of Nas rhyming over Beastie Boys beats.
Standout tracks: "Make Some Noise" and "Too Many Rappers"

Father, Son, Holy Ghost - Girls
I'll be honest, the big over-the-top climaxes on Father, Son, Holy Ghost don't always pay off. But when they do... If you can appreciate the idea of a decidedly idiosyncratic songwriter going all out, you owe it to yourself to give this a listen.
Standout tracks: "Honey Bunny" and "Love Like a River"

Runners Up/Honorable Mentions:

The Family Sign - Atmosphere

El Camino - Black Keys

Deerhoof vs. Evil - Deerhoof

The Book of David - DJ Quik

No Kings - Doomtree

I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive - Steve Earle

Ceremonials - Florence + the Machine

Tell Me - Jessica Lea Mayfield

The Only She Chapters - Prefuse 73

Fear of God II: Let Us Pray - Pusha T

Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang - Raekwon

The Whole Love - Wilco

Wild Flag - Wild Flag

Da Mystery of Chessboxin

You may not immediately associate the acclaimed hip-hop collective known as The Wu-Tang Clan with the tiny pieces of colorful plastic known as Legos. But, it's high time something was done about that. The anthemic track "Da Mystery of Chessboxin" comes from Wu-Tang Clan's justly lauded 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). And here we have a clever little accompanying video, featuring all the synchronized sword-play and allegorical chess maneuvers you could wish for. Don't expect the slick polish of Michel Gondry's award-winning video for The White Stripes' "Fell in Love With a Girl". What you've got here is relatively low-tech stop-motion animation that nicely manages to capture the humor and menace of the original track. The highlight for me is the hilariously glowering Lego-man that denotes ODB. Green overalls! I also like the inclusion of several blank-faced figures (around the 2-minute and 2-minutes-30-second mark) which seem to correspond with the original album cover. I commend the Wu-Tang aficionado who put this video together, whoever he or she may be. I'm guessing it was done by a particularly industrious and inspired intern at Wu-Tang international headquarters, located in central Shaolin.

Warning: Video Contains Explicit Lyrics and LEGO Weapons


Courtesy of Flavorwire

Wu-Tang at Congress Theater

Saturday night, the mighty Wu-Tang Clan, pride of Staten Island, took to the stage at Chicago's Congress Theater. But fans had to wait, and wait, for the pleasure. Doors opened at 7:30, but there was a long delay before anything happened on stage, and then what felt like a never-ending stream of opening acts made their appearances. First up was DJ Rude One, who was a fairly low-key presence on stage, but played an impeccable selection of records by East Coast hip-hop acts. (The inclusion of "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" by Houston rappers the Geto Boys was something of an anomaly, but it's a classic, so I'm not going to nitpick.) I was particularly impressed with the way he inter-weaved several tracks by Nas, making the unrelated songs into a sort of mini-suite. Next up was Que Billah, an artist I was completely unfamiliar with. The only conclusion I can make is that Billah is some kind of '90s rap revivalist: he took the stage with a posse of over-eager hype-men, one of whom wore a backpack the entire set; Billa himself removed his left shoe at one point to emphasize the importance of sneakers; and at least twenty minutes of his set was devoted to covers of iconic rap recordings by performers far more successful than himself. I don't really know what to make of Billa's placement on the night's roster. Next up was Chicago native and current candidate for 20th ward alderman, Rhymefest. He performed a sampling of songs from his current album El Che and his 2006 debut Blue Collar. Rhymefest was heavy on audience interaction, even bringing an audience member on stage to rap Kanye West's verse for one song. (His version was quite proficient, I thought.) To their credit, the opening acts seemed cognizant of their second-fiddle status. Both Rhymefest and Que-Billa made mention of having seen Wu-Tang perform on that same stage back in 2006, and Mr. Billa candidly posed the question, "Who can open for Wu-Tang?" It was after Rhymefest's set that the video screen onstage lit up with a giant yellow Wu-Tang logo. The crowd took this to mean that the headliners were up next, but no, it was tangential Wu-affiliate LA the Darkman who took the stage. His repeated statement "I'm LA the Darkman and I represent that mighty, mighty Wu-Tang" was cold comfort for many in the audience, myself included. The Darkman was a powerful presence onstage, standing alone in the harsh lights and frequently dropping verses without DJ backing. (He name-checked DJ Muggs, and performed the track "Devil in a Blue Dress" from the now-classic Muggs album Soul Assassins.) His flow was impressive, and many in the audience expressed familiarity with his songs, but no one seemed sorry to see his set come to an end. Anticipation was sky-high at this point, and the chants of "Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang" repeatedly reached crescendo and died away.

Hip-Hop Classics...Live!

According to Billboard, the acclaimed hip-hop crew Wu-Tang Clan will not only headline this summer's Rock the Bells Festival but will also perform their legendary 1993 debut album in its entirety. The hugely influential album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), is notable for its lyrical diversity, complex slang and allusion, and groundbreaking production by founding member RZA. The Wu-Tang Clan's sound has evolved considerably over the course of its five studio albums, but Enter the Wu-Tang is still considered a landmark in rap music and hip-hop culture. Several other seminal emcees are scheduled to perform live interpretations of their debut albums: KRS-One is set to perform the 1987 Boogie Down Productions album Criminal Minded, Rakim will perform his 1987 masterpiece Paid in Full, and consummate storyteller Slick Rick will perform 1988's The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. Other artists scheduled to perform at the festival include: Brother Ali, Clipse, DJ Muggs, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Murs. I'm hoping that a future headliner will be the Virginia Beach duo Clipse, performing their debut album Lord Willin'.

Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim
Find it in the catalog!

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick - Slick Rick
Find it in the catalog!

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan
Find it in the catalog!

My Top 25 Hip-Hop Records

This is a personal and subjective list of the twenty-five hip-hop records that I hold in the highest esteem. These albums are not ranked. If I had to come up with some sort of qualitative ranking system, I know that Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and Illmatic would be near the top of the list. That's about as close as I can get to naming an all-time favorite rap record. I have ordered the albums chronologically, to give a sense of the art-form's progression; from the early party-centric crews (Sugarhill, Stetsasonic) to the aural and political revolution of Public Enemy, to the rise and ultimate mainstreaming of "gangsta" rap, and the ascendancy of the Wu-Tang Clan. Running through this roughly thirty year history is a lineage of left-field underground artists that, I would argue, are the truest creative legacy of the genre. I'm thinking of The Ultramagnetic MC's, De La Soul, and MF DOOM (the artist who probably comes closest to my ideal emcee). I have previously written about some of these albums and artists in greater depth. Feel free to check out my blog entries on MF DOOM, Raekwon's masterpiece Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and Dälek's Gutter Tactics.

I want to emphasize that this list is entirely my own. There are innumerable "objective" lists of the Greatest Hip-Hop Records Ever, the majority of them placing Dr. Dre's The Chronic in a place of honor. My list does not include any records by Dr. Dre, Eminem, Ice-T, LL Cool J, N.W.A., and many other mainstays. These are not oversights, but preferences. Without in any way questioning their varying influence on the genre, those artists are not particularly interesting to me, and I see little point in duplicating the prevailing hierarchy. As for the reverse problem, many albums were left off my list for the sake of concision. Some albums I would like to have placed on my list include: Big Daddy Kane's Long Live the Kane, Gang Starr's Daily Operation, Little Brother's Get Back, the Mos Def & Talib Kweli collaboration Black Star, Slick Rick's The Great Adventure's of Slick Rick, and any of the five studio albums by A Tribe Called Quest. Follow the jump to view what did make my list.

My Top 25 Albums of the Decade

The "best" albums of the Aughts? Nah. This is a list of the 25 albums that I have listened to and enjoyed and ultimately spent the most time with over the past ten years. I set out to make a modest list of 10 such albums, which quickly became 20, then inexplicably 26. After some deliberation, I sacrificed one and made it 25. (Apologies to Shellac's 2007 record Excellent Italian Greyhound.)

Many of the artists on my list had made waves in the preceding decade. Ghostface Killah had distinguished himself with the seminal Wu-Tang Clan records and his 1996 solo debut, but 2000's Supreme Clientele was still a shockingly advanced work of art. Sleater-Kinney had been indie stalwarts since the mid-'90s, and their 2002 album One Beat provided a stripped-down and cathartic sense of what the new millennium felt like. Modest Mouse had released records on the indie labels K-Records and Up before making their major-label debut with The Moon & Antarctica. Fugazi put the capstone on a stellar and incredibly influential career with their final album, The Argument. Bill Callahan bid farewell to his Smog alias in 2005 with what was quite possibly his finest work to date, A River Ain't Too Much to Love.

But some of the artists represented here were new faces in the '00s. The hip-hop duo Clipse hooked up with super-producers The Neptunes and recorded the incredibly self-assured debut, Lord Willin'. Emcee/musician/producer Madlib had his hands on more wax this decade than a candle-maker. His 2003 album Shades of Blue is a perfect example of the artist's ravenous - and yet somehow reverent - reinterpretation of classic sounds. And a young woman named Mathangi Arulpragasm, better known as M.I.A., introduced herself to a global audience with the endlessly inventive Kala. "No one on the corner has swagger like us..."

A Hip-Hop Classic Revisited: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

In the mid-to-late-90s just about everyone even tangentially involved with the Wu-Tang Clan had a solo project in the works. The groundbreaking group had revolutionized hip-hop with their debut album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and while still very much a unit, the nine individual members were determined to prove themselves as viable solo artists. Of this first wave of Wu solo projects, there were two undisputed masterpieces: Liquid Swords (1995), by GZA, and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995), by Raekwon the Chef.

Imagine Brian De Palma's Scarface crossed with a '70s blaxploitation flick filmed on the New York borough of Staten Island and you'll have some idea of what to expect from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Raekwon crafted a hard-edged, powerfully realized crime saga, made even more frighteningly real by the imposing presence of fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah. This cinematic narrative style was virtually unheard of at that time, but proved to be hugely influential, its mark unmistakable on the work of fellow artists such as Nas (who appears on the track "Verbal Intercourse"), Notorious B.I.G., and Jay-Z.

Raekwon's debut set the bar so high that his subsequent solo work almost invariably disappointed his hardcore fan base, and his repeated hints at a possible sequel to Cuban Linx were difficult to credit as the years passed. And yet, fourteen years later, on September 8th, 2009, Raekwon made good on his promise. Not just a worthy followup to the original album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II is a startling work of art that reaffirms Raekwon's greatest strengths: his intricate storytelling and his ability to choose complimentary collaborators. Ghostface is back and is no less intense in his role as Raekwon's foil, and producers Alchemist, Dr. Dre, Marley Marl, Pete Rock, and Erik Sermon lend their considerable talent to the project. (Track #2, "House of Flying Daggers", features beats by the late J Dilla, whose particular genius is still being felt three years after his early death.)

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx - Raekwon
Find it in the catalog!

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II - Raekwon
Find it in the catalog!