So, I know I’m a bit late on the parade with this band, but that’s not a reason to  keep from posting about them. I present to you the Airborne Toxic Event.

The L.A. band,  was formed by Mikel Jollett after he had the worst week of his life: he went through a bad break up , his mother was diagnosed with cancer, and he found out he had a genetic autoimmune disease. They do say that bad things come in threes, don’t they?

But through these events the would-be novelist found the cathartic process of songwriting. Thus, The Airborne Toxic Event.

A mix of good old rock and roll, punk rock, gravelly vocals, and some solid orchestral strings makes up their great sound.

The band’s self titled debut isn’t perfect, it most certainly has it’s high and low points lyrically (highs: look below lows: specifically the terrible “Wishing Well” and “Papillon” which inexplicably open the album);  but musically, The Airborne Toxic Event delivers throughout.

Basically, skip the first two tracks and you’ll really enjoy the album.

Well, don’t just listen to me, listen to them:

Sometime Around Midnight – The Airborne Toxic Event

- This is a pretty enormous track  and a surefire first single – lots of strings and a bloody brilliant rock breakdown. It hits the nail of seeing an ex after a bad breakup perfectly on the head.

Happiness is Overrated – The Airborne Toxic Event

- Starting off like low-fi recording of a bar performance, the track suddenly breaks out into a peppy rock romp worthy of The Strokes. Of course, the lyrics are the direct opposite of the sound of the track, making it absolutely sublime.

Classical violinist Joshua Bell is, much like his treasured instrument, one of a kind. Not only is he an esteemed performer in all classical circles, but something of a pop culture phenomenon. In his new record, Bell  recreates the magic of performing with a room full of talented friends by producing a string of duets as diverse but uniform as the colors of the evening sky.

In At Home With Friends, Bell gathers an impressive group of comrades made over a  period of 20 years – beginning with an orchestral debut at age 14 – and performs duets with vocalists like Josh Groban, Sting, Kristen Chenowith and Regina Spektor,  as well as musicians like Chris Botti and Edgar Meyer.

Bell gave me a ring at work to tell me about his new endeavor, and to answer questions about his life as a famed musician. Bell was rehearsing  for a recent appearance on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, but where one would imagine a performer to be a bit rushed or nervous, Bell seemed cool and relaxed – a testament to his may years of performing.

At Home with Friends holds a great many types of music ranging from classical to rock and even salsa. In one instance Bell follows a cover of the Beatles’ melancholy masterpiece “Eleanor Rigby” with a piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff, but it is no way jarring in listening to the album.

“I did wonder how it would sound all together,” Bell remembers. “I definitely believed in all the pieces individually, and getting the right order on the record was tricky so that it didn’t sound too disjointed, but I was surprised at how things did flow from one to the other. It goes to show that music is music and that there is no reason why you can’t follow ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with Rachmaninoff.”

The violinist revealed that to keep the album sounding coherent, he tried to illuminate the classical nature in each of the pieces, even though some of the tracks did “live in their own world” like the salsa rhythms in “Para Ti” featuring Tiempo Libre in collaboration with sitar player Anoushka Shankar.

“The neat thing is to hear the violin as a common thread through all of these pieces,”  he said.

To some violinists, their instrument may be a tool to express their music, but Bell holds a completely different relationship to his instrument: it’s part of his performance, it becomes an extension of himself.

Bell plays the Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius exclusively. The Gibson Stradivarius has a colorful history: created by the famed 17th century violin maker Antonio Stradvari and later belonging to famous violinist Bronislaw Huberman, the violin was stolen twice from Huberman.

The second and final time the instrument was taken from Huberman was during a performance at Carnege Hall in 1936; the thief only revealed the tale of the instrument on his deathbed in the late 1980s.

The Gibson Stradivarius has since come into the possession of Bell, who has become attached to the exceptionally crafted violin.

When asked if he worries about the violin being stolen, Bell divulges how he keeps his cool: “I think of it sort of as my baby,” he said. “A mother is always worried not to lose her baby, but in the end you get used to it and you’re not tearing your hair out worrying that your baby is going to disappear every second.”

Bell has played the $4 million instrument in the grandest music halls across the planet, but the most interesting setting has been a Washington D.C. Metro Station where he posed as a busker for 40 minutes during early morning rush for a 2007 Washington Post article.

The most surreal thing to him was not that only seven people stopped to listen to the virtuoso play, but “how it caught on with the public, the YouTube [exposure], the sort of viral e-mails sent as a subway experiment,” he says. “From all corners of the Earth I’ve heard from people who saw that article. I thought it would be here and gone in a week… but I’m still hearing about it three years later.”

Washington Post Video and Article

And three years later Bell has gone from classical virtuoso to viral pop culture phenomenon and back with more fame and acclaim under his belt.

When asked which of the tracks from At Home With Friends he considered a favorite, Bell laughed and said he “couldn’t have a favorite, especially considering that all my friends have agreed to be on my album.”

But he did illuminate some stand-out collaborations that came to mind: old friend and double bass player Edgar Meyer, with whom Bell made a Grammy-nominated album, A Short Trip Home, is featured on two tracks; the fresh arrangement and duet of “My Funny Valentine” with Broadway and television star Kristen Chenowith, which they had previously performed together seven years before; and a track with a new friend, indie pop sensation Regina Spektor, called “Left Hand Song.”

Bell describes “Left Hand Song” as a remarkable last-minute recording.

“I’d heard [Spektor] was interested in doing a duet with me just as we were getting ready to go to press with the album,” he recalls. “So we extended the deadline another week and I threw together an arrangement on the spot, really, of  one of her songs, working in a violin part. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite things on the album.”

Left Hand Song – Joshua Bell and Regina Spektor

My only complaint when first listening to the album is that the songs were recorded in the studio and not during one of Bell’s at-home musicales.

But, of course, a large gathering of brilliant and famous musical talents is nearly impossible to come by because of scheduling.

“I’ve never actually gotten this many names like that together for an evening,” he laughs. “Even getting everybody together for the record was not that easy, because everybody is so crazy busy and we pulled it all together in six months or so. But it all worked out.”

There were other artists Bell wished he had been able to collaborate with on the record, hinting that he might have to create another duets album in the future. He wished he could have included collaborations with some of his musical “heroes.”

“Let’s just put it this way,” he said. “In the next one I’d love to do something with Peter Gabriel and Paul McCartney – if he’ll even speak to me after hearing my version of ‘Eleanor Rigby.’ Maybe he’ll like it. I don’t know. I’d like to get in touch and hear what he thinks.”

It’s funny to hear a musician of Bell’s caliber worry about another artist’s opinion, especially after seeing a video of his performance.

Joshua Bell’s musical presence is astonishing in recordings – you know it is him even when he’s just a featured artist – but to see the man play the Gibson Stradivarius is an experience in itself. The way he wholeheartedly throws himself into each performance is as breathtaking as the sounds emanating from those strings.

GaGa in her coffin.

Here’s some of my music that I’ve picked out for Halloween:

Thriller -Michael Jackson

-Not that it’s not already constantly on the radio, but who can resist? Here’s the brilliant video:

Morning After Dark – Timbaland feat. SoShy

- The vampire song. Timbo apparently wants Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart for the video HA! I really wish that could happen.

Come Alive (The War of the Roses) – Janelle Monae

-Zombie/Vampire Undead song. “Take me six feet under, but while your roses died I came aliiiiiiiiive!” muahahaha. I love the sound of this song!! Janelle Monae has finally won me over.

Paranoid (New Mix) – Kanye West and Mr Hudson

- I just love the single mix, and the video is killer and like old horror movie trailers:

Disturbia – Rihanna

- Have you seen the video for this? It’s perfect for this season. Plus this song just kicks ass. Check it out below:

Bad Romance (Radio Edit) – Lady GaGa

- Like Disturbia, this song has the potential to amp up the horror side. Don’t know if she’ll do it, but it’d sure be fun.

Drumming Song – Florence and the Machine

- Florence uses the symptoms of demonic possession as a metaphor for the intoxicating nature of her dangerous affair with her lover. Many documented cases of possession reportedly begin with the human hearing a drumming noise. The song is very explicit about an exorcism (that just doesn’t seem to work), with the imagery of church bells and a river/holy water using phrases like “sweeter than heaven and hotter than HELL”. Frankly, it’s frightening and brilliant, as is the VERY symbolic video with the pagan ritual held in what seems to be a church – including the mask that Florence dons while she dances like she’s being pulled in different directions by an unseen force. It’s very calculated. Yet another reason Florence’s album is one of the best things that came out this year. Check out the video below:

From Universal's 2010 version of The Wolfman

The next few tracks have to do with werewolves. 2009 has really been the year of the werewolf.

Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

-Okay. This song isn’t really about a werewolf, but there is one prominently featured in the brillz video for it. Not to mention how awesome his dancing is. Check it out:

Alive – Kid Cudi

- Though the word wolf is used only once in this song, it is very obviously about a werewolf. The transformation into an animal that is closely related with moon phases…  totally hombre-lobo. It’s obviously truly about lust growing as a night progresses and the song fits perfectly into Cudi’s album, but it’s most definitely conjuring loup-garou images.

She Wolf (Calvin Harris Radio Mix) - Shakira

- I’ve beaten this song to death in coverage, so here it is. It’s awesome. That’s all.

Howl – Florence and the Machine

- Yes, another Florence song. It’s just such a deliciously dark album – it’s perfect for the Halloween season.

(Some more werewolf songs can be found on my On Boys and Monsters mix from January. I’m telling you… Werewolves.)

AUUU!

This is the best BEST thing I’ve heard all week.

Amazing.

Weezer’s take on the pop music scene:

Can’t Stop The Partying – Weezer feat. Lil Wayne

Yes, you read that right.

Off their new album, RaDitude.

Brilliant. Haha!

Rihanna returns to the music scene for her first solo effort since her scandal with a tragic outlook and Lady GaGa unveils her newest  hit off of the re-release of the critically acclaimed album, The Fame. Both tracks’ morbid and cynical themes are perfectly fit for an October release.

Russian Roulette – Rihanna

- The lead single off of Rihanna’s new album, Rated R is not what I was expecting. It is a bold move to release a midtempo track as a comeback solo when she is known mostly for gargantuan club hits. Penned by Ne-Yo, the song’s lyrics – much like its production – are effective because of its harsh minimalism. Rihanna bellows the chorus with vocal forte not present in her earlier attempts of a heartfelt ballad. The subject matter is especially striking considering the very public abuse scandal she endured earlier this year. The metaphor of playing russian roulette as her relationship with a man is interesting. It implies the grave chances one takes when trusting someone in love. Most striking is the track’s abrupt finish, with a sharp inhale by the diva and the resounding crack of a gunshot. Who shot who? Well, that’s up to the listener. Brava.

“Russian Roulette” is bound to divide fans. And while the song might have been pulled off better by someone vocally superior (like Beyonce) the emotion emanating from Rihanna’s vocals will drive the song to be a hit.

Bad Romance – Lady GaGa

- Lady GaGa is in full form on “Bad Romance” the lead single from her upcoming re-release of The Fame subtitled Monster. The track is most definitely a retread on the similar singles that made her a massive hit, and will most certainly hit the top of the charts – if not the top 10. With hooks thrown at you from all angles(starting with the raragagaohlalala opening, to the chorus, to the “love love love” bit in the verses and even that bridge with the french) the song seems pretty safe, but what makes it enjoyable was the incredibly raw performance in the top layer of vocals for the track. The raspy nature of GaGa’s lower register is front and center – harkening back to her famous piano and GaGa performances, which are thoroughly enjoyable. It also helps that RedOne is a bloody brilliant track maker: killer synths and 808s are cued perfectly – especially at the end of the Vogue-era Madonna style spoken bridge where he builds the track through the “love and revenge” breakdown all to be muted for GaGa’s powerful yell that leads us into the final chorus. Pop brilliance.

The subject matter conjures images of the twisted romances found in Hitchock films, and I am pretty certain that the upcoming music video will reflect that – but set in France.  [Radio Edit]

What do you think of the singles from these megastars? Are they good or just overrated? Let me know. Leave a comment.

One of my favorite new artists, Marina and the Diamonds has just unveiled her new video to her single, “Mowgli’s Road”. The video has beautiful Marina walking on accordion paper legs down Mowgli’s road. The video seems like a kooky version of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video, which is a big plus in my book. Marina Brings her ‘A’ game for the video with a great choreographed dance on wobbly legs and arms. (And two paper-legged girlfriends.)

Mowgli’s Road – Marina and the Diamonds

DAAAAYUM.

I’ve had the European edition of Shakira’s She Wolf for about a week now, but I had a nagging feeing that the tracklist was going to change for the American edition.  I was right.

Just leaked is a collaboration of Shakira and Lil’ Wayne produced by my favorite hip-pop producer, Timbaland.

I’d been wondering why she hadn’t collaborated with Timbaland for her urban dance album, but my wishes came true in this track. Not only does she hook up with the pop producer, but with insta-hit maker Lil Wayne. Massive.

The song is, as is usual for Timbo, a big affair. Lil Wayne brings his A game (“I’m a cashier, I change girls”) and Shakira makes the sexy, breathy She Wolf the life of the party – she even mentions it in the lyrics!

And, of course, Timbaland delivers the song’s title with his staple layered, back-and-forth chant hollering to Shakira.

The song is so bloody catchy I can’t even explain. This song is going number one. It has to. If this song isn’t massive, there is something seriously wrong with this country/the world.  Enjoy it!

Give It Up To Me – Shakira feat. Lil Wayne and Timbaland

I’m glad Timbaland is back, it seems like he hasn’t had a big hit in the better part of a year. (That seems like a long time for him.) This is probably a lead-up to his much anticipated Shock Value 2.

And where the devil is Wayne’s Rebirth? He might just attach that question mark permanently to the title, because it’s been coming for at least a year and  nothing. There must be some big changes in the album’s lineup. Hopefully this and Jay Sean’s “Down” breaking Black Eyed Peas’ summer-long reign over the Hot 100 will speed things up.

Do you think “Give It Up To Me” will be a big hit? Leave a comment below!

I know this is obscenely, OBSCENELY late.

I announced this mix way back in… (it’s sad when I have to look it up) July.

JULY! I. am. so. sorry.

The worst is that I had this post ready to go but WordPress ate it at the last minute so I’m going to just post a tracklist for it rather than descriptions for each track.

There is a bright side. This mix is tested and true. It is a great testament to what I listened to this summer.

Some of the tracks may seem a bit outdated, but you’ll find that if you have kept up with the blog you’ll be familiar with some , but not with all the tracks. AND if you haven’t followed the blog, here’s a pretty swift recap of the past four months.

Like any good summer mix, the first half is predominantly laden with heavy beats and pop gems. The latter half, however, requires a bit more attention (especially those last few tracks). I think that if you stick with the instrumentals, you’ll find that they’re deserved AND it’ll be a good break from the raucous opening of the mix.

In my introductory post I said that the theme and feel of some of the mix is very worthy of the fall. So it’s partially good that you’re getting this now. Read the original post for the theme of this mix, if it isn’t explicit enough. And yes, it is VERY loose this time.

In fact, since it has been so much time since I created this mix, I am pleased to announce that I’m pretty far along in my new one – it’ll see the light of day a lot faster than this one. Promise.

I hope you’ll enjoy it, these songs have become very dear to me over the past few months and I hope they will do the same to you. From the dirty-sweet pop of the first four tracks, the rousing nature of Muse’s “Uprising”, the utter bliss of Mr. Hudson’s “Supernova” followed by the gothic melancholy of Florence’s “Howl, the freedom of Passion Pit’s “Moth’s Wings” and to the ebb and flow of Moby and Kevin Devine’s brilliance in instrumentation; I know this mix will treat you well.

Without further ado,

THE PREY

[Siulelbon's Summer 2009 Mix]

You know the drill, click the letters above or the album cover to download the entire mix.

1. She Wolf – Shakira
2. Remedy – Little Boots
3. TiK ToK – Ke$ha
4. Good Girls Go Bad (feat. Leighton Meester) – Cobra Starship
5. Beatbox – The Sounds
6. Dull Life – Yeah Yeah Yeah
7. Uprising – Muse
8. One More Chance – Bloc Party
9. Heartbreaker (feat. John Legend) – MSTRKRFT
10. Bulletproof – La Roux
11. Supernova (feat. Kanye West – Mr Hudson
12. Howl – Florence + the Machine
13. Laughing With – Regina Spektor
14. Obessions – Marina & The Diamonds
15. Gimme Sympathy – Metric
16. Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit
17. I’ll Fight – Wilco
18. Lungs (feat. Tom Morello) – Steve Earle
19. Shot In The Back Of The Head – Moby
20. Brother’s Blood – Kevin Devine

Here’s that link again, for those who missed it. Download the entire mix at: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1TXBAO0Y

Please leave a comment with your reactions to The Prey. Did you enjoy your hour and a half trip through the summer?

T-Pain’s taken a crack at Shakira “She Wolf” and it’s … interesting.

Okay, okay. It’s pretty bloody awful. T-Pain’s verse just lowers it to a level of generic stupidity.

But it’ll be great on radio! Hopefully this will garner enough clout for the original track that She Wolf will hit number one. I’d love that.

Here’s the remix. You’ll hear it on the radio, especially if you listen to stations that play hip-hop.

She Wolf (Remix) [Feat. T-Pain] – Shakira

You know, after the first listen, I’ve decided I like the way it’s remixed. I still hate the T-Pain verse – so unoriginal. Where is Kanye West when you need him?? [ "Yo T-Pain, imma let you finish..."]

Here are a couple of remixes of the song that are just brilliant:

She Wolf (Villains Original Remix)

-A distorted rock guitar does wonders to the track, plus some really awesome remixing of the track’s strings. This and the Deeplick Remix are exactly what I hoped for in terms of remixes. That breakdown and build-up near at the 2:48 mark gets me every time.

She Wolf (Calvin Harris Remix)

- This is the most “straight up” remix of the track. It’s still fantastic, though. Calvin Harris keeps it interesting giving us a heavy dose of stellar synth effects and upping the 70s leanings of the original.

She Wolf (Deeplick Radio Edit)

- The fresh almost handclap beat and the distorted pre-chorus is brilliant, not to mention the staccato feel it gives the song. Tied with the Villains remix.

Britney Spears is about to release a new singles collection celebrating her decade of making music. And even though the album will feature “Baby One More Time,” the pop classic “Toxic,” and “Womanizer” there will be new tracks including the single that debuted today on the radio.

3 – Britney Spears

I’ve found what seems to be the non-radio rip. A HQ version. Enjoy it!

I don’t know what I think about the track. Loving, loving, loving the production by Max Martin, but the number and theme seems extremely arbitrary – even for Britney Spears.

I mean, threesomes? Really? Oh well. Her penultimate single was “If You Seek Amy”.. Why on Earth complain about 3?

No matter. It is a giant dance number that holds an “old Britney”-style bridge that could have been lifted from her early albums which then segues back into the hyper-produced dance electronica. It is certainly representative of her overall career, it doesn’t make too much sense, it’s incredibly produced, there’s no real singing in it and it has a fucking unstoppably catchy countdown chorus.

I can’t say that this song will catapult her to number 1 again, but it’ll certainly be played on dance floors and radios for at least a few months. Get ready.

Embrace it. It’s fun.

Isn’t that what the Britney brand has always been about? Yeah. It’s fun!

What do you think of “3“?