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In all my years of covering for BFD's shortcomings as a blogger and person, I've never actually done one of these Saturday Nights Tunes threads for him. I have no idea what this says about him or about myself. Or maybe I do, but I'm not willing to admit such things in the presence of others. Or maybe I'm just rambling and should get on to the musical part of this musical post.
Yeah, probably that last bit.
ANYWAY, I've been on a hip-hop kick of late, spurred in large part by my enjoyment of the newest album from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, "The Heist." Macklemore (who, if you pay enough attention to such things, you might remember as "Professor Macklemore") has been performing since 2000, but has really become more popular over the last few years since teaming up with producer Ryan Lewis. If you've only heard one song from "The Heist," it's almost certainly "Thrift Shop," which I've embedded below, but almost all of the album is very good.
Next up, also hailing from Seattle, are "Bayani" and "Oof! EP," both by Blue Scholars. I feel like I can safely say that they'll be the best group you'll hear this week rapping about U.S. neo-imperialism in the Philippines. I know...that's a bold claim on my part, but I feel confident. (Bonus: this is likely to be the best video featuring parkour that you'll see this week as well.)
Finally, I offer up a non-hip-hop artist: Fitz & The Tantrums. The best way to describe their sound is imagine if the Black Keys collaborated on an entire album with Adele, and someone supplied the studio with copious amounts of cocaine and acid. It works, as most of the tracks on "Pickin' Up The Pieces" will attest.
What about you? What are you listening to on this fine Super Bowl Eve?