UNLEASH THE PARTY WITHIN

Me and The American Teens - Kingston Falls

So, I wouldn't normally post my own band, but we're going to be on tour this week and I wanted an excuse to post the tour dates. Come out and say hello!

March 13 The Cinemat, Bloomington, IN with OS

March 14 The Bunk Warehouse, Cincinnati, OH with Rocket 00000 and Kevin Bruce

March 15 The Market Hotel, Bushwick, NY with Magnet City Kids, PC Worship, and Cop City/Chill Pillars

March 16 The Butcher Shoppe, Allston, MA with Exusamwa, Night Moves, and Yawn Alms

March 17 TBA, Belfast, ME with Caethua, Shep and Me

March 19 The Comfort Dome, Baltimore, MD with Needle Gun and Funky Spot House Band (Dan Deacon)

March 20 Morning Glory Coffee Shop Pittsburgh, PA

March 21 The Skylab, Columbus, OH, with Sewn Leather, DJ Dog Dick and Narwhalz of Sound

March 25 The Cinemat Bloomington, IN with Real Estate and Ducktails

http://www.myspace.com/dylanettinger

ILL FUCKING BITE YOU

Puff Daddy - Come With Me

Now, just imagine you are ten years old. You have never heard Led Zeppelin, you know nothing about rap. Without any much cultural reference at all, this video comes off as intense and bad ass instead of the over the top big budget clusterfuck it really is. I'm starting to miss the 90s.

PURE MOODZ

Pure Moods TV Commercial

If you grew up in the 90s and watched a lot of television, you know this commercial. It was everywhere. I downloaded the whole compilation and its pretty uninteresting actually. The way the songs are cut together in this video are really all you need to hear. If you listen really carefully at the end of the commercial, you can hear the theme song from Twin Peaks, weird.

I'VE GOT NOTHING

Krokus - Screaming In The Night

They just don't make music like this any more.

FEELIN ON YO BUTT WHAT

Jamie Foxx and T-Pain - Blame It (On The Alcohol)

This video wins the award for most random and pointless celebrity cameos of all time. What's Nathan Vollmar doing in this one?

LIGHT UP THE SPLIFFS

J Dilla - Lightworks

I've been listening to Donuts non stop lately. I remember right after Dilla's death, people were raving about this record constantly. I was put off for a while, and avoided listening to it. If I had heard it then, I don't think I would have "gotten" it either. I just wasn't open to this kind of music at the time. After my friend Caleb raving to me about this record for a while, and hearing that DOOM was sampling Dilla's track "Lightworks" on his new record, I decided to give Donuts a spin.

When I was through with my first listen, I was impressed, but still not sold. After talking to Caleb about it for a little bit and discussing the record, I went back and listened to the song "Stop" and I was utterly blown away. I started back at the beginning and everything just made sense. The samples are combined absolutely flawlessly. Each new track challenges any conceptions the listener may have made about the album to that point. Just when you think Donuts is going to play out like a straight forward, neo-soul mixtape, a track like "People" or "Lightworks" comes on and just shatters whatever idea you had of what this album is really all about.

Understanding the context of when and how this album was recorded really does add another layer of depth to the album that is hinted at, but not obvious. Since Dilla relies on his own weird, cryptic method to tell his story, knowing the background is necessary to piece everything together. J Dilla knew that this was going to be his last album and he hints at it throughout the record with samples that blurt out things like "You're gonna need me some day." Track titles like "Last Donut of The Night" and "Bye" show that he was sure that his days were numbered.

Anyway, if you know this album, nothing I'm saying is new. If you haven't given this one a chance yet believe the hype, its THAT good.

If you're interested in reading more about the album, this blog has been running a series of brief yet insightful essays about each track on Donuts in celebration of the third year anniversary of its release.