El Dog’s Super Amazing Donkey iMix

Top 10 on my iPod

10. Big Girl’s Don’t Cry- Fergie: Damn you Hills! After weeks of resistance I finally broke down after watching Lauren and Heidi’s friendship fall apart to the soothing sounds of the cutest ex-meth head in music. The chorus is haunting in a “I’d like to have my skull smashed in” kind of way and the lyrics such as “I miss you like a child misses their blanket” leave a lot to be desired but I’ll be damned if I don’t find myself singing and hand dancing along.

9. Start the Show- Common: Here’s a guy who seems to improve on every album. Sure his flow has been great since he blew onto the Chi-town scene but his lyrics have reached a perfect balance between classic old school bragging and new school consciousness. This opening track to his latest album has a bit of a harder edge thanks to the production work by Kanye West but Common’s voice mellows it out.

8. Underclass Hero- Sum 41: If this is a clever comment on this pop punk band’s previous crossover hits like “Fat Lip” then this song is borderline genius. If it’s a rehash of the same old shtick, well then it’s pretty sad but still a decent track.

7. Stuck Between Stations- The Hold Steady: I am now declaring that my musical goal for next year, 2008, is to listen to more of these guys. Oh I know they’re the critical darlings of the alt rock world and have been for the last two years. Sorry I’m coming to the party late and really there is no excuse since I was a big fan of Lifter Puller the band that Hold Steady evolved from. Not sure why I waited so long but their mix of classic rock with fresh guitar riffs and beguiling lyrics but I’m onboard now.

6. Umbrella- Mandy Moore: Love this cover but hate the snobbish, “I don’t usually listen to top 40,” speech at the beginning of the video below.


5. The Pretender- Foo Fighters: Dave and the boys are back again and ready to rock your arse! I was not a huge fan of their last double album. The electric disc was pretty decent but I thought the acoustic disc was repetitive and uninteresting. This new track is class Foo and gives me high hopes for the new album coming in September.

4. March of the Dogs- Sum 41: No I don’t just love this song because it features lyrics about the death of a US president although that doesn’t hurt. No the real joy of the music is in the pogo inducing rhythms and the chord work that will have you bouncing along.

3. Spider-Pig- Hans Zimmer: What more can be said other then genius? This operatic overture based on a 70’s super hero cartoon song updated to a 21st century love song to a pig is one of the many highlights of the Simpson’s movie.

2. Southside- Common featuring Kanye West: Wow this is the best rap duet I’ve heard since Method Man and Notorious BIG did “The What” back in ‘96. The two Chicagoans breathe life into each other in this ode to their hometown and themselves. It also features the strongest production work I’ve heard from Kanye in a while which is something I’m happy to say translated into…

1. Stronger- Kanye West: Finally the strings are dead…long live the synthesizers. I’m not a hater on Kanye’s use of strings throughout his previous albums and productions but it seemed to become a crutch. I’m happy to report that on the first two tracks off his upcoming Graduation album Kanye has ditched the strings. On Stronger he’s picked up a sample from dance club favorite LCD Soundsystem and gone all electronica on us. The result is my favorite Kanye track since I first heard Jamie Foxx sing, “She take my money when I'm in need.”