popquizkid's Hi, I'm New Here summer short list

Happy summer, friends and strangers!

I've had the pleasure of reading everyone else's 5 Things, and damn, y'all took a lot of the good ones, but here's my list:

1. Sigur Ros "Gobbledigook." The song and the video make me so. unbelieeevably happy. And not (just) because of the nudity, awmercy. It's the energy of all those naked hippies and dudes with drumsticks. You can watch and listen here. If you're over 18, of course.


2. Usher "Love in This Club" performed by

THE SHOWBIZ PIZZA BAND!

When War Machine sent me this video he probably never guessed how it would affect me. Obviously, he has no idea how many Showbiz birthday parties I attended at the shy, impressionable age of 9, before Showbiz sold out to lame-ass Chuck E. Cheese's. Shiiit. All I know is, when I saw the Cheerleader get going, I laughed, I cried...and then I laughed again because "ball pit" suddenly sounded dirty.


3. Jenny Lewis. Lately I've been loving Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - especially "You Are What You Love" - but seeing Rilo Kiley play in Providence in May is what truly sparked my killer crush. The hair. The voice. The charisma. The shiny gold tights and hot pants. Sigh, Jenny Lewis is my silver lining.

4. The Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance." This song has been on my iPod since January but much like the sounds of Chromeo and Coconut Records this kind of funkiness just didn't seem appropriate until the temperature topped 70. (Which took, like, forever.) I loved hearing the guys on All Songs Considered grumble about this song's catchy, youthful, 'verby sound. And I different kind of loved it when those guys listed the ingredients of an infectious indie hit: yelling/chanting + nonsense sounds + numbers. "One, Two, Three, Four!"

It's kind of true, right? These are some of the ingredients that drew me to Justice and The Go! Team and even Animal Collective. The Black Kids' first album Partie Traumatic comes out on July 22 in honor of the day of my birth. But honestly, who cares about their other songs.

5. Where the hell is Matt? "14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands" says the guy who took his aerobic jig around the world and just...danced...sometimes alone, sometimes with a huge crowd of people, while a friend caught it on video. This video was spreading virally through Tumblr a few weeks ago, and I reblogged it, as did a million other people. Quite simply, it made my heart happy. Read today's NYT article, watch the video, welcome the new-agey music, and let yourself love the world for four minutes. It's summer. You deserve it.

Mona's Half-Year "Hot-5" Hoopla

5) 50 Cent/G-Unit drama
Relations between Fitty and every G-Unit re-org are increasingly dysfunctional. Whether it's beef with The Game, firing Young Buck (where’s the G-Unity?!), to rappers crying about loyalty on Hot 97... it's great entertainment and hot tracks (see: G-Unit’s “Rider Pt. 2”). The music is so good, it's criminal.

4) Chris Brown's 19th Birthday (Thank God!...)

...I was fearing a burgeoning Mrs. Robinson complex. He sings/dances, he's adorable, and makes R&B fun to watch. “Forever” gives 4:12 of pure, unabashedly cheesy happiness. Also check out: “Down (feat. Kanye West).” Perfect fusion of R&B, hip hop, and a rockin' guitar riff.

3) Ridiculous Guest Spots: “feat. Kanye” vs. “feat. T-Pain”

A feud with 50 or blaming Pearl Jam for that Bonnaroo fiasco can't stop the inventive beats and Jagger-like swagger I love. He's never too busy to put out something fierce (“Flashing Lights” or “Good Life”), or lend lyrical genius to electrified collaborations, like Estelle- “American Boy” or Ne-Yo- “Because of You.” Both Kanye, both awesome.

T-Pain, aka the most ubiquitous man in hip hop and R&B today, always makes you smile when he does his hip-hopified jig while singing. Whether he's buying you a “Drank” with Yung Joc, serenading “Shawty” with Plies, or giving a “Kiss Kiss” at McDonald’s with Chris Brown, it’s sonic perfection. Also, he's cool for making the auto-tune effect relevant again.

2) Hip Hop euphemisms for, well, you-know-what

Kardinal Offishall assures “I don't get soft easy, call me Captain Crunch” in “Buy You A Drank (Remix),” and it’s always nice to be put on notice, in case you didn't get the memo. And when he requests help in making his “black snake moan” in “Dangerous,” how can you NOT be flattered? But my favorite: in Lloyd’s “You,” Lil Wayne says “You give good brain like you graduated from a good school, you know I'm a good move you should do (me!).” Whatever's clever!

1) Usher- “Love In This Club (feat. Young Jeezy)”

...my favorite song, particularly the remix with T.I.’s rap intro. It’s a ridiculously catchy, perfectly mellow chill-out club song... with substance. Much like Geraldo's hard-hitting journalism, Usher asks those serious questions. So ladies… have you? “Have you ever made love, to a thug, in the club?” Think carefully.