The InterNat

I haven’t posted in a while. So here’s a hilarious...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:02:00 -0400

I haven’t posted in a while. So here’s a hilarious video. Go Sawx

"Because what’s the point in them being happy now if you know they’re going to be sad later? The..."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:45:32 -0500

“Because what’s the point in them being happy now if you know they’re going to be sad later? The answer is, of course, because they are going to be sad later.”

- The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe - The Doctor (via rhiannonevans-1993)

Rather than lingering on her past transgressions, this is the...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:15:53 -0500

Rather than lingering on her past transgressions, this is the Whitney we should all remember.

Everything about Feist is pretty untouchable, this latest music...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:27:00 -0500

Everything about Feist is pretty untouchable, this latest music video release included.

So it’s barely 2012 and I’ve just...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:40:12 -0500

So it’s barely 2012 and I’ve just stumbled across the funniest video of the year.

Seriously, this is incredible.

Shouts to URI

apkallday: //Best of 2010: Music Videos 2011 was an INCREDIBLE...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:04:00 -0500

apkallday:

//Best of 2010: Music Videos

2011 was an INCREDIBLE year for music videos. It could be something in the water or maybe it was aliens, but the artists— from the musicians to the directors to the editors_ got real busy this past year. They spared no expense, they didn’t take no for an answer and the result was a year of videos that continue to leave lasting memories. Here’s our picks for the best music videos of 2011!

apkallday: //Best of 2011: Albums Welcome to the last...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:20:33 -0500

apkallday:

//Best of 2011: Albums

Welcome to the last installment (I think) of //ApK’s best of 2011 series. We figured we’d collab on this one and give you both mine and DN’s top seven records of the year. Why seven? Not six or eight, but seven? Chalk it up to //ApK’s New Year’s resolution to break boundaries and continue to not abide by the social norms that have tripped the entertainment industry into a rut from which it may never escape. Something like that.

DN’s Top Seven Albums Of The Year Are:

(cue drumroll)

No. 7

Feist // Metals

‘Fame is the scentless sunflower with gaudy crown of gold/But friendship is the breathing rose with sweets in every fold’

No. 6

Jay Z and Kanye West // Watch The Throne

‘Sunglasses and Advil/Last night was mad real’

No. 5

Zumo Kollie // Last Showing

‘Well alright…’

No. 4

TV On The Radio // Nine Types Of Light

‘I’m in an army/ A mega quake/ A force of Nature/ A hella shake’

No. 3

St. Vincent // Strange Mercy

‘Forgive the kids, for they don’t know how to live.’

No. 2

Real Estate // Days

‘I skated on a frozen sea/ It’s real as far as I can see’

No. 1

Girls // Father, Son, Holy Ghost

So, how can I say I love you/Now that you’ve said I love you?/ And how can I say I need you/Now that you’ve said I need you?/And how can I say I want you/ Now that you’ve said I want you/Now that you’ve said everything I said to you/ to somebody new

NRTIII’s Top Seven Albums Of The Year Are:

(cue less enthusiastic drumroll)

No.7

The Weeknd // House Of Balloons

Even though you don’t roll/Trust me girl, you wanna be high for this

No. 6

Drake // Take Care

‘Hate the rumours, hate the bullshit, hate these fucking allegations/ I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking/Watch me take it’

No. 5

Cults // Cults

‘Well I know what’s good/ Exactly cause I have been there before/ Yeah I know what’s good/ Exactly those things night cannot behold’

No. 4

Zumo Kollie // Last Showing

‘I’m from the Ocean/ Where the sharks be at, Prov city where my heart beats at’

No. 3

Fucked Up // David Comes To Life

‘Hello, my name is David, your name is Veronica/ Let’s be together, let’s fall in love/ Hello, my name is David, your name is Veronica/ Let’s be together, until the stars go out’

No. 2

Beyonce // 4

‘Maybe we reached the mountain peak/And there’s no more left to climb’

No. 1

Big K.R.I.T // Return Of 4Eva

‘Plus I heard the angel wings was kind of heavy/ Scared to put em on my back, so I threw em on a Chevy’

Bring it on, 2012…

NRTIII

DN

#APKALLDAY

apkallday: //Best of 2011: Tracks Well kids, we made it....

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:10:16 -0500

apkallday:

//Best of 2011: Tracks

Well kids, we made it. How’s about we celebrate by looking back at the best music from 2011? Welcome to //ApK’s Best of 2011: Tracks Edition.

No. 5

Drake // Marvin’s Room

With it’s moody tones, it’s muddy beat and it’s vulnerable, almost insecure lyrics, Marvin’s room paints a picture of who Drake is and how he feels about himself and his music. The song, which was released as a single preceding his latest record Take Care, discusses the rarely seen ugly side of fame in which an artist feels repulsed by himself and those with which he associates. From an industry standpoint, leaking a dark and generally self loathing track like Marvin’s Room was a bit of a bold move considering that a record’s pre-released singles are usually club bangers rather than a musical manifestation of a Vicodin and vodka cocktail. For me, this shows Drake’s overall confidence in his work and his unwillingness to play this game any other way that his own.

No. 4

Lana Del Rey // Video Games

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a sucker for overly nostalgic, emotional, sultry music. But come on; Lana Del Rey killed this one. Video Games is both unstable and dark, critiquing relationships and highlighting the flaws of men by returning to video games as a microcosmic sign of a dead end relationship. Being a progressive male, I’m ok with a song explaining how much guys suck even though I think she’s just mad that she isn’t very good at Call Of Duty. With the lo-def, strange image heavy video and Del Rey’s awesome live performances of the track, Video Games becomes a solid musical package and certainly worthy of my number four spot.

No. 3

Tyler, The Creator // Yonkers

What can be said about this song (and video) that hasn’t already been said? The sluggish baseline, the nails-on-chalkboard sample, the aggressive— to say the least— lyrics, and the gut wrenching imagery gave this song serious staying power. When it came out last February, no mind was left unblown and people craved more OFWGKTA. As an album, Goblin left some people disappointed but Yonkers remained to be the singular track that, when people thought Tyler, The Creator, they thought Yonkers. Best part is, Yonkers is still an incredible song. Like, I still listen to it which is more than I can say for most every other song that came out in early 2011.

No. 2

Fucked Up // Queen Of Hearts

Queen Of Hearts is the first song off Fucked Up’s latest album and the track that begins the hardcore opera that is David Comes To Life. It is also a song that sings to a part of me that had long laid dormant until recently. When I started to get into Fucked Up, a wave of old feelings and memories began rushing back into my head. Sneaking out of my house back in Providence to go see hardcore shows. Walking home from school in the freezing cold, my pace quickened by the insane drums of Lightening Bolt blaring in my headphones. Feeling untouchable in a world that seemed like all it wanted to do was hurt you. It was hardcore, and it was awesome. Sure discovering Fucked Up brought me to a little bit of a weird place mentally, but it was totally worth it and certainly worth the Number Two position.

No. 1

Beyonce // Love On Top

For those who know me, this may have been a bit obvious as I have never been shy about how I feel about Beyonce. However, this was one of the most heart breaking decisions I’ve ever had to make. Well, maybe not ever, but this was really tough. You see, I knew that my number one spot was locked down by Beyonce having just edged out my number two and three picks. What I didn’t know was which Beyonce song I was going to drop in at number one. The entire album is incredible and I could see any song on the album living here. Countdown? 1+1? Party? Best Thing I Never Had? I was in a Sophie’s Choice-esque situation and I didn’t like it one bit. As I was listening to the record trying to decide, Love On Top began to play… and I knew.
Love On Top is the most fun, innocent and underrated song on the record. Using some oldschool R&B tricks and utilizing Beyonce’s pension for the classics, it’s is ego-less and hasn’t an axe to grind on any front. It is simply a great song, and stands out as number one among of sea of songs that don’t quite stack up.

NRTIII
#APKALLDAY
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this list are that of NRTIII and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of other //ApK employees… for now.

I'M BACK

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:04:04 -0500

…hold on to your butts.

Hey Tumblr

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:22:27 -0500

I know I haven’t posted to you in a while. Sorry about that. I just wanted to tell you that I know you still exist. I’ll be back soon, pal.

Nat

Photo

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:53:46 -0400

apkallday: //Wrongly Accused: Troy Davis In this, one of...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:50:26 -0400

apkallday:

//Wrongly Accused: Troy Davis

In this, one of APKALLDAY’s more sombre posts, we take a look at a man named Troy Davis. Sentenced to die by lethal injection tomorrow at 7pm, Davis was accused, tried and convicted of killing off duty police officer Mark MacPhail in a Savannah, Georgia parking lot. Ordinarily this would be nothing new. After all, states like Georgia just love to demonstrate why killing is wrong by killing people who kill. This time, however, there is a catch. Troy Davis is innocent.

Accused by the person most people and officials involved in this injustice believe to be the actual killer, Davis and his team of councilors have been fighting tooth and nail for the sentenced to be overturned and for Davis to be let free ever since his conviction in 1991. With no physical evidence to link Davis to the crime and a prosecution based entirely on the testimony of nine witnesses (seven of whom have since rescinded their sworn statements in which they single Davis out as the killer) and no murder weapon, one may be inclined to think that this would be a slam dunk for the defense. Not the case.

To add insult to injury, it would seem that even the people funding the prosecution (i.e. the police) knew they hadn’t a leg on which to stand and resorted to ‘pressure’ and ‘harassment’ of the witnesses such that they would point to Davis as the murderer.

This morning, after years of rallies, pleas for mercy and presentations of overwhelming evidence in favour of Davis’ release, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Troy Davis clemency.

In 1843, a wealthy businessman and mill owner by the name of Amassa Sprague was shot and beaten to death in what is now Cranston, Rhode Island. The widely disrespected, generally disliked and easily blamable minority of that time were the Irish immigrants who had flooded to the American colonies seeking a new start. In the end, three Irish brothers were accused of the murder without a shred of conclusive physical evidence. The prosecuting team based their case solely on the testimony of a few ‘witnesses’ who were threatened by the Sprague family to testify against the brothers. This was not to mention that the jurors of the trial were openly anti-Irish. On February 14th 1845, John Gordon was hung and his brothers sent to prison.

I’d like to think that we as a country have come farther than that in 168 years. That the justice system is refined enough to look at a situation in a new light and then reassess or, at the very least, look at reason. Given what America is bearing witness to concerning the so clearly unjust execution of Troy Davis, I guess we still have a lot to learn.

There are few last ditch effort options including that of Amnesty International in which you can send a letter to the parole board.

NRTIII

#APKALLDAY

zuscottfitzgerald: Got some shows coming up to share with...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 23:20:22 -0400

zuscottfitzgerald:

Got some shows coming up to share with y’all.

First up, I’m at Lupo’s on Friday the 16th for a competition for the opening slot at the Mac Miller show on the 25th. The show is sponsored by Lupo’s (79 Washington St. Prov, RI) and Hot 106 and the tickets are 10 dollars in advance, 12 at the door. The audience votes for the opener so I could definitely use y’all in the crowd for that little shindig. Doors at 9, show starts at 9:30.

Second: I’m at the Met (1005 Main Street, Pawtucket RI) on the 26th for the Back 2 School showcase. The Met is like my second home so come pay me a visit! The tickets are only 10 dollars so come get one last quality show in before you head back to the books for good!

www.zumokollie.com has the show calendar up, so that’s the spot for any updates on that front.

Thanks for the support, my people.

I gave this man ten dollars and the other half of my roast beef...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:15:45 -0400

I gave this man ten dollars and the other half of my roast beef sandwich. I’m strangely inspired by this guy. Or, at least, his ability to make light of his down and out situation.

Currently Swangin

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:25:54 -0400

Currently Swangin

Currently Listening.

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:03:20 -0400

Currently Listening.

apkallday: //Album Review: Watch The Throne A week ago...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:21:54 -0400

apkallday:

//Album Review: Watch The Throne

A week ago yesterday marks the digital release of the hotly anticipated Jay Z and Kanye West collaboration album Watch The Throne. The album, the conception and creation of which has been the two rappers’ focus since at least last November, comes after several years of Jay Z and Kanye West team up tracks including ‘Never Let Me Down,’ ‘Power’ (Remix), and ‘Monster’ among a slew of other credited and uncredited production and writing projects.

To say that a full length Jay and Ye album has been a long time coming would be like saying rain is wet, bananas are healthy or, more appropriately, that chopping up a Maybach is expensive. Yet it’s hard to talk about this album without stating the obvious and reiterating what every music fan already knows. When these two, we’ll call them men though I’m not totally convinced they’re human, get in the same room together, things happen. Not only is the music that comes out of their ‘spare no expense’ recording sessions of the highest quality in the industry, but their individual musicianship and their combined and very much genuine love of all things sonic interlock to build elaborate mansions of wordplay, subdued elegance and social wit. In other words, Jay Z and Kanye aren’t just on some next level shit, they live there.

The album runs a little over 46 minutes and includes 12 songs with 6 bonus tracks giving Watch the Throne a grand total of 16 songs to which to dance, bump, ride slow, mean mug and otherwise go H*A*M. In an interesting twist, the album doesn’t sport the usual cast of features and cameos that you might expect from a G.O.O.D Music/Rock-a-fella fueled fire like Watch The Throne. When you give it some thought, it makes sense. Given that a feature is supposed to compliment a single artist, it doesn’t seem necessary when each track is a mutual celebration of Jay and Kanye’s style. Why ruin a good thing by throwing, say, Wale on a track for no reason (ahem Mr. Ross). The track does feature OFWGKTA affiliate Frank Ocean, G.O.O.D Music producer Mr. Hudson, Jay Z wife/ full fledged diva Beyoncé Knowles as well as eternally awesome soul singers Otis Redding and Curtis Mayfield.

The album starts with a song that’s got a more organic sound than we’re totally used to. ‘No Church In The Wild’ is earthy and cool; kind of like walking barefoot down a muddy dirt road. The two rappers bounce off of each other really well, letting listeners know right from jump street that this endeavour will be equally collaborative from a lyrical position. Frank Ocean did what Frank Ocean do on this record and kept it pretty real, adding to the track some of his sedge hat weirdness.

‘Lift Off’ is the second song on WTT and is probably the song that is the most representative of Jay and West’s (but mostly West’s) attitudes towards their careers and the way in which they view the industry. It is safely one of my favourite songs on the record and, even more so than the first song, gets me hyped for the rest of the record. ‘Lift Off’ is the first of several songs on which Jay and Kanye let loose, tripping on a brew cooked up by studio pharmacists Pharrel, Don Jazzy and Q-Tip. This is all not to mention that Beyoncé, as always, killed it. Like, really killed it.

‘Niggas In Paris,’ ‘Otis’, ‘That’s My Bitch,’ and ‘Who Gon Stop Me’ all share the same ‘that shit crae’ sentiments as one another. With over the top rhymes, complicated (and very expensive) samples, Jay and Kanye play a pick-up game of two vs. everyone else ever on these tracks. For a lot of people, the similarity of their intendment was a bit too much and turned some people off, much as ‘H*A*M’ bummed people out in the beginning. Though I don’t share the same opinion, I think that the closeness of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s chronological proximity to Watch The Throne was cause for, at least some, plate pushing fullness. I suppose you could liken the situation to visiting MoMA and then going to the Whitney right afterwards; the work in both museums is fine and well curated, but it’s understandable if you get a little ‘art sick’ after 5 hours of gallery hopping.

‘Gotta Have It’ is my favourite song on the the record. I wish I could articulate why I love this song in better terms than ‘I just really like it, ok?’ but that’s really all I’ve got. Jay and Ye volley off each other really well and you can feel it as your head bobs to the very un-Neptunes Neptunes beat. Jay, as he’s done so well in the past, will set up a line or bar for Kanye to jump four feet over the net and spike it in the public’s face. The way they rap on this track is veritably like the volley ball scene in Top Gun, except way less gay.

Other notable songs on Watch The Throne are ‘Murder to Excellence’ and ‘Why I Love You,’ with some sort of runner up position going to ‘Illest Motherfucker Alive.’ ‘Murder and Excellence’ is one of a couple other serious songs on the record but is certainly the most poignant as Kanye and Jay openly discuss issue of Black on Black crime in their respective neighborhoods. Kanye, more so than Jay Z since his part ends with S1’s ‘Excellence,’ does work on this record, bringing the epidemic right to your front door. And though some will say that, since neither dude has probably been back to their old neighborhoods in quite some time they haven’t the right to rap about their homes’ associated problems anymore, I think the song is still important as a means of unification and warning.

As a whole I really like the record. Jay Z and Kanye West, in not very much time at all and perhaps without even trying that hard, gave the world an indisputably rock solid record. My only complaint, if I can even call it that, is that Watch The Throne comes off as unmistakably Kanye heavy at times. When you look at the guts of the record, it’s easy to see why this record seems like it’s another segment of the Kanye West Show. Save for three tracks, Kanye produced or had a hand in producing all the songs on the album while Jay is given no producer credit. This coupled with the several times Jay Z can be heard trying to catch up with Kanye can be cause for concern for Jay Z fans looking to hear him crush beats. If this were a normal CD we’d be calling a spade a spade and say that Watch The Throne is a Kanye West record that features Jay on every track.

Lucky for us, them and everyone else involved in the project, Watch The Throne is most certainly not your average run o’ the mill hip-hop album and there’s nothing anyone could do to make Jay Z look like a chump. It is a cool, calculated guilty pleasure of a record that not only shows what creativity and cash can afford an artist, but also shows what a small time producer from Chicago and a kid named Shawn from Marcy have become all these years later.

So go out, and buy the CD. I know that it may seem like a guy who spent 250k at the bar last Sunday and a guy who has several lines of shoes bearing his (and his friend’s) name may not be worthy of your $14.99, but rest assured that the music is. Follow, follow and like us.

NRTIII

#APKALLDAY

I WROTE THIS YA BASTIDS!

Yeah.

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:46:38 -0400

Yeah.

apkallday: //The End: NASA Space Shuttle Program Yesterday...

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:29:36 -0400

apkallday:

//The End: NASA Space Shuttle Program

Yesterday morning was a sad day for us men and women who were not so long ago little boys and girls looking up towards the night sky and dreaming of what it would be like to fly through space. After 30 years and over 100 flights into outer space, NASA’s Space Shuttle program has just completed it’s final mission.

It’s ~~hard~~ impossible to get Americans to agree on anything. But I think when Atlantis touched down for the last time early yesterday morning, people all over the country took part in the collective wiping of a tear or two as a program that inspired an entire generation came to a quiet close. I know that I speak for Generation Y when I say that we are totally bummed about this. All of us wanted to be astronauts at some point or another. Our parents, knowing that there was no way in hell the paste eating, ant burning, Barbie undressing, motion sick little person they were raising was ever going into space, supported our unrealistic childhood career path and let us dream about wearing a cool suit and drifting among the stars. With the passing of the shuttle program, so too passes that youthful ambition.

I sincerely believe, or at the very least wish, that the shuttle program will not be the last of it’s kind; that what Atlantis’ commander Chris Ferguson said is true. ‘America,’ he said as put the ‘ole girl in park, ‘Will not stop exploring.’ Fingers crossed.

I guess one silver lining to the totally depressing cloud hanging over space travel is that, since ‘astronaut’ is put on hold for a while, there will be no shortage of police officers, firefighters, doctors, presidents of the United States, Dora The Explorers, and Spidermen. Without space travel, it would seem that the world looks like it is to be a much safer place.

NRTIII

#APKALLDAY

When Ugg Boots Kick Back: The Becca Mancuso Story

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:21:50 -0400

When Ugg Boots Kick Back: The Becca Mancuso Story