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Song of the Day #1,917: ‘Berzerk’ – Eminem

eminem_berzerkEminem returns next month with his first album since 2010’s comeback record Recovery. The new album is titled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, calling back to his sophomore release, the one that really put him on the cultural map.

Today’s SOTD, ‘Berzerk,’ is the first single from the new album, and it’s a riotous throwback to the old-school rap of the original white rappers, The Beastie Boys. Produced by Rick Rubin (like The Beasties’ debut record it samples), the song is bursting with fun, inventive touches.

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Song of the Day #1,916: ‘It’s Too Late’ – Otis Redding

otis_redding_its_too_lateMy knee-jerk reaction to sampling was negative. Back when Puff Daddy was lifting the music of ‘Every Breath You Take’ and simply rapping over it, I was incredulous that such a practice could pass as artistry.

I still feel that way about sampling as egregious as that. Recently, Pit Bull and Christina Aguilera lifted the glorious introduction of A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ for their otherwise bland track ‘Feel This Moment‘ and it reeks of laziness.

(On a side note, has Pitbull ever released a song that didn’t feature some other artist?)

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Song of the Day #1,915: ‘Gone’ – Kanye West

kanye_quit_videoThese kids today with their viral videos.

The latest “gotta see it” clip I’ve seen circulating is this video by a woman who quit her job at a video news site via a YouTube clip of her dancing to a Kanye West song.

Apparently she didn’t like the fact that her boss (whom she describes as a brilliant, great guy) valued clicks over clever content.

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Song of the Day #1,914: ‘Piano Man [Live]’ – Billy Joel

pianomanI’ve featured Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ on the blog before, in its studio version, but I wanted to tell a little story about it so I dug up this nice 1975 live version on YouTube.

‘Piano Man’ has the honor of being the song I most misunderstood as a kid.

The year was somewhere between 1981-1986, making me somewhere between 9 and 14. I hope I was closer to 9.

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Song of the Day #1,913: ‘Passion Fruit’ – Belle and Sebastian

belle_sebastian_third_eye_centre

I’m not sure how much I can really say about a two and a half minute instrumental track from an album of Belle and Sebastian b-sides.

This song has that familiar surf rock sound, which I like. It conjures up a modern western vibe, memorably tapped into by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction.

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