This one's for Babs...

Because I'm feeling generous today, and because I feel the need to provide some counteractive positive karma for these fellas, 2 bonus tracks. The first: probably my favorite Dr. Dog jam. And of course, the second: my 2008 song of the year, which would be my favorite, except that it's a cover.

"It's all in how you look at it."

- 'It'

Confronted with times of transition and change, one inevitably engages in all varieties of retrospect: nostalgia, regret, pride, longing, riddance. It's hard to put it all in its proper context. So as I mentally prepare for my imminent departure from DC, I am taking this idea to heart. It's all in how you look at it. Love that.

The song isn't much, musically, so I'm throwing in another one from the new Dr. Dog. These guys catch a surprising amount of flak, in my opinion. Charged with overreliance on 60s influences, I wonder, what's inherently bad about that? If you're gonna draw from anyone - and it's no secret every musician does - why not the Beatles? What matters is that they do it well. The Dog writes excellent songs that feel immediately familiar and are guaranteed to stick in your head. They remind me of the jukebox at the back of my favorite neighborhood dive bar. That's a good thing.

... on NYT website. The quality of the stream is not great, but the quality of the music is.

BTW, always interesting to see new promotional tools - in this case: advance, low quality streaming to build album buzz among New York Times demographic.

Thx to LA for the tip!

"I want you back... back... back... you baaaack
I love it all"

Young group of Silver Lakers with a semi-hyped debut. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but it's slowly growing on me. Listened to this song about 5 times yesterday. There's just something about the energy, the audacious, rangy vocals, and the hard-hitting choruses that are doing it for me right now.

Does anybody in the game have a more chill voice or style than Guru? And that attitude is contagious; I mean, when you listen to Gang Starr, you just wanna lay back in the CUT. Right!?

So much of hip-hop is posturing, and although Guru was as self-aggrandizing as anybody, he was never over-eager to prove himself. All he had to say was, "you know my steez." And you nodded along. He was just a cool cat.

I also think the Jazzmatazz entries were worthy attempts to infuse hip-hop with a variety of musical styles, something the genre could use a little more of. He dropped "Le Bien, Le Mal" with a jazz trumpet and a French MC way back in '93! I didn't discover him until years later, but he still expanded my horizons.

Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal. Another sad loss.

This Saturday is the 3rd annual Record Store Day, a celebration of music and the mom & pops that have helped carry the torch through the years. You don't need me to sermonize about the importance of independent record stores, but I just wanted to send out a friendly reminder to take the opportunity to show a little love.

Not only is it a good cause, but there are tons of great releases out these days. AND you might just catch a special offer, a cookout, or an in-store. Factor in a nice stroll or windows-down drive on a sunny day and a potential Saturday night soundtrack, and really, you're just supporting yourself. Go ahead, you deserve it.

Participating venues here: http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venues