Rex Kickass

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 12:58 PM) I read the first 5 in the stickied thread and didn't recognize a single artist. It gets less obscure as the list goes on.

Tea Party Express fundraising off the Arizona shooting. http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01...be-silenced.php

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 11:09 AM) And on the last line edit, why is Kos scrubbing his site then? Because that kind of crap is STILL going on. Diary users have the ability to delete their own diaries. That doesn't mean that Kos scrubbed the site at all.

We had over a dozen lists submitted by Soxtalk music fans. We scored based on position in the top 10 chart, and every #1 album of the year makes the list. So, tonight, we'll list albums 21 - 16. 21. The Gay Blades - Savages 10 pts - top rating, 3E8 #1 Brooklyn, NY/Asbury Park, NJ trash-pop duo The Gay Blades released their sophmore effort "Savages," this October, on Triple Crown records. From the Absolute Punk review: 20. Javiera Mena - Mena 10 pts - top rating, TomPickle #1 Javiera Alejandra Mena Carrasco (born June 3, 1983), publicly known just as Javiera Mena, is a Chilean Indie electronic pop musician. She started her musical career in the Chilean indie music scene in 2001, and transformed into one of the most relevant Chilean indie acts after the release of her first studio album in 2006. Her musical style tends to be electronic-oriented with the presence of a synthesizer, although prior to her official debut she used to make more acoustic-oriented songs with a guitar. Javiera’s second album, after more than 4 years of production and mastering, was released in 2010 entitled just Mena. This work was also produced by Cristian Heyne, and took a more dancefloor-oriented taste compared to her first album, that despite of having songs of this type, it also had some mid-tempo and slow ballads. The album’s first single, “Hasta la verdad”, was listed as one of the Singles of the Week to pay attention to in the USA iTunes Music Store, and iTunes Mexico in December of this year considered Mena as the breakthrough album of the year. (From Wikipedia) 19. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More 10 points - top rating - GREEDY - #5 Mumford & Sons are an English folk rock band. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (vocals, guitar, drums, mandolin), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums), "Country" Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo, dobro), and Ted Dwane (vocals, string bass, drums). Although the band members have claims on certain instruments, the members switch instruments during live shows according to convenience, for they each play a variety of instruments. The band formed in late 2007, rising out of West London's folk scene with other artists such as Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and Noah and the Whale. From the review from the Late PASTE magazine. 18. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid 10 points, Top Rating - The Bones #1 Janelle Monáe is an American Grammy-Nominated singer, songwriter, dancer, and performer. She is currently signed to the Wondaland Arts Society and Bad Boy/Atlantic Records. Monáe first introduced herself to the music scene with a conceptual Extended Play named ‘’Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase)’’ which gained her a Grammy nomination for her track ‘’Many Moons’’[1]. The EP failed to make much of an impact commercially peaking at 115 in the United States.[2] In 2010 Monáe released her first studio album, ‘’The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)’’, a concept album sequel to her first EP. It was released to general acclaim from critics and it gained a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album; the song "Tightrope" is also nominated for "Best Urban/Alternative Performance". The album made more of an impact commercially also peaking at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 200. From Pitchfork's review: 17. Robyn - Body Talk 10 pts - Top Rating - RexKickass, TheBones #6 Robyn is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hits "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)" from her debut album Robyn Is Here (1997). Robyn released the first of a trilogy of albums to be released over the course of 2010 titled Body Talk Pt. 1, in June of that year, peaking at #1. It was her first album since Robyn. The album's lead single "Dancing on My Own" was released a few weeks prior to the album's release, and became a hit single worldwide, and brought her a 53rd Grammy Awards nomination for the category of Best Dance Recording. A follow up album, Body Talk Pt. 2, was released on September 6, entering straight at #1[2] of the Swedish chart, and the final album of the trilogy, Body Talk, was released on November 22, 2010 with the first single "Indestructible". From the Pitchfork review: 16. Rick Ross - Teflon Don 10 pts - Top Rating - Top Rating - Mhizzle85, ChiSox Sonix #6 Rick Ross released his fourth studio album entitled Teflon Don, which was released on July 6, 2010. The lead is "Super High" featuring Ne-Yo. Actress Stacey Dash made an appearance in the music video. A second official single was released titled "Live Fast, Die Young" which features and is produced by Kanye West. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 176,000 copies in its first week. From the CultureBully review:

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 07:42 PM) Since I doubt any of my albums will make the final list: 1. The Gay Blades - Savages | "trash" pop | lushbeat.com = 4.5/5 2. Hellogoodbye - Would It Kill You? | power pop | USA Today = 3.5/4 3. You, Me, And Everyone We Know - Some Things Just Don't Wash Out | power pop | ap.net = 82/100 4. Tokyo Police Club - Champ | indie/garage rock | metacritic.com = 71/100 5. Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise & Appendage EP | prog rock | sputnik.com = 4.5/5 The first Gay Blades album did make my top 10 back in 07. Really fun, great guys.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 05:33 PM) Seriously. I want to come into this thread trying to get updates on Giffords' condition, and all it really consists of at this point is finger pointing and defensive stances on both sides. "THIS IS WHY THE RIGHT IS AT FAULT." "NO, THE LEFT IS AT FAULT INSTEAD." Loughner was and still is nutty, and if he is paranoid about government brain-washing, he is not going to be concerned about the party affiliation of a government official but simply the fact that they are a government official. There has been no change in the Congresswoman's condition which is a good sign. Given that the bullet apparently went straight through her brain. She is able to answer simple requests like hold up two fingers and squeeze your hand. She is being kept in a medical coma, and they are watching for any brain swelling. Doctors remain cautiously optimistic.

http://www.slate.com/id/2280605/ Really great read.

http://washingtonindependent.com/104866/io...012-gop-hopeful Also invited to this forum? The former Republican governor of New Mexico, whose primary issue has been the legalization of marijuana.

This is such a horrible tragedy. I feel for those injured and the families of those killed. It appears the guy who did the shootings seems to be mentally unstable, and didn't have a specific political bend, one way or another. There is a chance, although frankly I'm not that optimistic, that something good can come out of this aftermath. Hopefully, we will see discourse ratchet down from the tension and nastiness that we've seen. No side holds a monopoly to nastiness, this is true. But if you feel the need to circle the wagons to defend the rhetoric that's come from your side lately, your side has probably been a little too nasty, and this might be hitting a little too close for comfort. The truth is that we can disagree and we can argue and we can hold differences of political philosophy and policy and still be civil, and still show respect. Many among us, even in the mainstream political world, have chosen to leave that to the wayside - and choosing instead to lead by exploiting fear and anger. This shouldn't be acceptable now, nor should it ever seem acceptable. We are seeing some signs of comity returning to Congress, starting with Speaker Boehner's suspension of votes on HCR repeal for at least a week, and at least some signs of a return to respectful partisanship. Hopefully, this will be something that is more than temporary.

It's the last day to submit your music lists! Please get them in tonight!

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 09:24 AM) First, no, Illinois does NOT have one of the lowest. They have one of the lowest non-zero - there are something like 10 states with no income tax at all. Second, yes they need the money - but they ALSO need to cut a lot of spending, cut a lot of waste, and fix the 238957208956723590682 pound gorrilla of pension systems. Yes. That, to me, is actually worse than the personal income tax increase. Impact will be far worse. Here's the problem with fixing the pension system. A lot of people paid into that pension system, my mom included, and didn't pay into Social Security because you used to be encouraged to do it that way. My mother worked as a college professor for the state for nearly 35 years, and dealt with a lot of s*** because of it. She earned every penny of her pension as part of the promise the state made for her service to the state. Reforming the pension system would have been simple back then, it was called funding it properly. Politicians chose not to, and its a mistake to think that the people who should sacrifice because of political malfeasance are the people who paid into that pension to begin with.

I really hope the Congresswoman sees her way through this... and I really hope it was just some stupid random violence, instead of being politically motivated.

We've got a lot of great lists in and three more days to get your list in. If you have less than 10 albums, thats fine, just let us know what you think the best albums of 2010 were and we'll get them listed just like you like it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 01:43 PM) I think in principle we're all opposed to that...the problem is...those b****a** moves work! They work in every state. They work at the federal level. John Boehner has been asked to name a single program he'd cut to reduce the deficit about a hundred times over the last year, and he still doesn't have an answer. He didn't have an answer yesterday. If the B****A** moves are going to work, and there's no skeptical or honest alternative or press to call the candidate on it, then at least give me the candidate who gets into office and suddenly deals with the situation, rather than continuing to pretend there's no problem. Sorry, I fail to see "They all do it and it works" as a reason to pardon someone for making a b****ass move.

Thought this was interesting: http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/01/...s-to-obamacare/

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 01:00 PM) Oh come on, at least he's actually being honest about the state's financial situation. That's a hell of a lot better than 95% of the people who just took office around the country. That's fine. But be honest about it always. You can't even make the excuse here that he didn't know what was going on. He was the governor when he was elected. I am not necessarily saying that this income tax increase doesn't make sense. It very well might. I'm not opposed to governments raising taxes when necessary. I am opposed to politicians making b****ass moves by lying about their true position through their teeth.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 12:51 PM) Jon Stewart beat you to it last night. Curses! Foiled again!

It's still a p**** move to completely contradict a campaign promise within weeks of your election. Especially when you are already the Governor and knew the score when you made the promise to begin with.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 12:50 PM) It's already a clown show. Have you seen Boehner's Gallagher-sized gavel? I kinda wanted to photoshop a watermelon under it actually.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 12:47 PM) I was never a big shots cause autism guy. But I will tell you, that when my little girl went for her 2 month appt and the doctors said 6 shots at one time, I told them to tap the brakes and spread them out a little bit. 4 at 2 months, 2 at 3 months with the boosters that follow on the same schedule. Common sense just tells me that it doesn't seem right to inject a 2 month old, 9lb baby, with all of those things at once isn't a good thing. There's a big difference between spacing out vaccination and a mentality of "Vaccines are Dangerous."

More Congressional Day 1 Shenanigans. The Congressman across the river from me (Mike Fitzpatrick, R-PA) missed his very first swearing in ceremony because he was gladhanding with supporters at a fundraiser in the Capitol. He watched on TV with his hand raised instead, and then went and voted in the House. They were all welcomed by Congressman Sessions, head of the GOP Congressional Fundraising arm. Turns out, that the reason he missed it might have been an illegal act. You're forbidden to use the Capitol Visitor Center for any campaign fundraising activity. Yet the supporters there paid to come to watch the swearing in. And they paid the campaign to do it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/t...t_n_805423.html As to whether or not this should be considered a fundraiser may be up for debate. The price for entrance was approximately $30 per person and was to "pay for transportation" according to the new Congressman. But money was collected by the campaign for access to the Congressman in Washington D.C. Just because you don't make money doesn't make it a fundraiser. Some of them end up losing money too. I just find it pretty funny is all.

NJ Congressman Frank Pallone interrupted in reading the constitution by a birther in the gallery. http://blogs.app.com/capitolquickies/2011/...on-house-floor/

So in the attempt to be the "Constitutional Congress" that angry voters sent to Washington, the House had the constitution read (minus all the nasty mentions of things like slavery and who constitutes what percentage of the person) today. And then to show how serious the new Republican led Congress is about the constitution, nobody showed up to the reading. Oh and our new Constitutionalist speaker of the house? Picked the time when the constitution was being read to hold his press conference. So I guess we can look at it this way, according to the new Republican led House, its important that Congress reads the constitution aloud. It's just not important any Congressman actually listens to it.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 4, 2011 -> 10:39 AM) That was easy. There was some amazing music this year. Agreed. The funniest thing, is that I think if we made this list six months from now, after the dust of the year settles, the list would probably be pretty different as well. It's funny how some albums tend to get better with age, and others just wither and get dated fast.

By the way, if you have an album in your list that you down anyone else has or even has heard of, let us know here. I would love to throw out serious props for the Curren$y albums and for the new Bran Van 3000 albums. Both very different albums with very different sounds, but they are really really great records worth a listen.