7" of Separation

On her new Taken by Trees album, East of Eaden, Victoria Bergsman takes on the Animal Collective’s “My Girls,” slightly transforming the song into the bouncy, Euro-pop “My Boys.” Bergsman used to front the Concretes, who had some stellar songs a few years back.

Check out the unofficial video below, and then ignore the lackluster visuals and let the song make you smile:

Guess who’s back? Carter’s back. And attending hipster concerts on the Brooklyn waterfront, to boot.

I’m glad Jay-Z’s back, though. Blueprint 3 leaked, and it’s killer, packed with smart, rapid-fire pop-culture references. It’s also full of Jay’s apparent disrespect for all songs Auto-Tuned, despite featuring Kanye’s heavy production work and guest raps.

And while Jay may be down on the ol’ A-Tune, he’s more than happy to take to the trend of having Rihanna sing the hook.

Also, I’m rather taken by The xx, and their new album, xx. These Londoner, 20-somethings play deliriously hook-based slow-pop.

I’ve listened to the new Antlers album, Hospice, about 100 times in the last three weeks. The Brooklyn-based band fills the same appetite that calls for Arcade Fire, but they mix in a little bit of OK Computer and Low to craft some beautiful slow-core.

Ellyn and I took to top 40 hip-hop on the honeymoon… and now Kid Cudi has come along and crammed all our favorite lines into one self aware video:

I’d never seen this… but thanks to Netflix instant viewing, I’m now a fan. Its Emilio at his best, truly.

The new Modest Mouse ep is one the way in August. I’m a big fan of the Mouse. They capture a hopelessly Pacific Northwest state of being with their tunes. So perfect.

Here’s a video for the first track:

Ellyn and I love the Food Network, and its fantasticly funny Paula Dean. She reminds me of my aunts in a lot of ways.

Shes the perfect guest for Cribs.

This is just too glorious.

Hi. I’m Phil Spector. I’m going to jail. Finally.

He almost pulled an OJ. Almost.

Check out some of Phil’s better days:

What can really be said about Celebrity Apprentice? It’s amazing reality television, preserving C-lister careers.

Dennis Rodman, who somehow survived to mid-season, was the center of one of the most falsely emotional moments in TV history. The Celebrity Apprentice: Intervention:

If music cues alone could do all the emotional work, this show would let them. What raw power. It’s interesting though, especially when Jesse James talks about celebrities’ social responsibility to live up to civilian expectations.

The problem with reality TV stems from its inability to be profound due to an overindulgence in emotive rhetorical techniques. When editing is used to create narrative from a number of out-of-context clips, the rhetoric has no structure. It relies on hitting the audience over the head with the message to make sure the clips can fit the desired storyline. It breaks. Then the show attempts to cover the holes with sappy music, falsely tense commercial break points and other “magic.” Smoke and mirrors.