1993: Souls of Mischief- 93 'til Infinity

Another Bay Area album on the list, noticing the trend here? Souls of Mischief was an offshoot of the group Hieroglyphics from Oakland consisting of MCs A-Plus, Tajai, Phesto and Opio. At a time where everything coming out of California was either g-funk or straight up gangsta rap, Souls of Mischief went the other route and created a hip hop classic. Filled with jazzy bass lines and creative raps, this is one of the albums that created the mold for what hip hop was supposed to be.

Key Tracks: A Name I Call Myself, 93 'til Infinity, Make Your Mind Up

Drunky Asked For It

Jake One ft. MF DOOM- Trap Door

Off of the upcoming Jake One album, White Van Music.

Clock dough, 24/7 cycle

When it comes to flows he got more than a mic-full

Pull a broad like a dyke bull on a long bid

You're messing with the wrong kids, Michael

1992: Green Day- Kerplunk

This was the first CD I ever owned. And I didn't even own a CD player at the time, I couldn't find the tape at the store I went to when I was 8. My older cousin always played Dominated Love Slave and at my age anything that sounded that funny was a required album to own. So, regrettably, I listened to that one song over and over and over and neglected the rest of the serious, much better tracks. A couple of years later when Dookie came out and I began forming my actual good taste in music, I finally had a walkman and ended up playing this so many times and bringing it with me everywhere so much that the foil kind of stuff on the back of a CD wore off and I had to get a new one. This album really doesn't sound like anything else that was coming out at the time. It actually featured "Welcome to Paradise", probably the greatest song ever made about Oakland, which was later redone and put on Dookie. The CD version had 4 bonus tracks, my favorite being a cover of The Who's "My Generation".

Key Tracks: 2000 Light Years Away, Christie Road, One of My Lies

1991: Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Another one that got in by default. Not really one of my favorite albums but my favorite of 1991 seeing as my first choice is by a band who's got 1992 locked up tomorrow. This is still a great record, solidified by the fact people still listen to it constantly to this day, with a few songs still played on the radio every week. Show me a person over the age of 23 who doesn't know all the words to "Under the Bridge"

Key Tracks: Breaking the Girl, Suck My Kiss, My Lovely Man

1990: Mark Lanegan- The Winding Sheet

Kicking off the 90's is an album by a man with one of the most distinctive voices in the history of music. Lanegan started off in the band Screaming Trees and went on to release 6 solo albums, as well as feature with other musicians such as Queens of the Stone Age, Isobel Campbell, Soulsavers and The Gutter Twins. The Winding Sheet was his solo debut and established that he didn't need to stay with his grunge/alternative roots to make a great record. Featuring mostly acoustic guitars this album has a very eerie and bittersweet feel to it, as Lanegan's voice bellows out tales of hangovers and despair, but still manages to keep your finger off the trigger as there's still a sort of beauty to it all. He was also the first to cover "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", originally written by Leadbelly, and later covered by Nirvana on their Unplugged performance. Kurt Cobain and Chris Novoselik also perform backup vocals and bass on the song "Down In the Dark". Not necessarily my favorite Lanegan record (I'll Take Care of You), but definitely my favorite album of 1990.

Key Tracks: Undertow, Wild Flowers, Woe

1989: Miracle Legion- Me & Mr. Ray

Miracle Legion was a "college rock" band, often compared to REM, although they never really sounded alike. If you haven't heard of them maybe you've heard of Polaris, the band who made all the theme music for The Adventures of Pete & Pete, which was Miracle Legion with another band member. After their first few releases the drummer and bass player of the band left, leaving singer Mark Mulcahy and guitarist Mr. Ray Neal, leading to the duo writing a more stripped down, acoustic album, Me & Mr. Ray. Mulcahy's voice is so versatile this album is all over the place, from upbeat toe tapping songs like "The Ladies From Town" to slower, heartfelt songs like "Sailors and Animals". Not limiting themselves, there is one song with an electric guitar, and "Cold Shoulder Balcony" consists solely of Mulcahy's voice and a flute. Closing out the 80's, this is without a doubt my favorite album of the decade.

Key Tracks: You're The One Lee, Cold Shoulder Balcony, Gigantic Transatlantic Trunk Call

1988: Danzig- Danzig

Backed by Rick Rubin, Danzig was what rose from the ashes of Samhain, Glenn Danzig's band after he left Misfits. Blending dark metal with blues, this is one of my favorite metal albums of all time. It almost went unnoticed until the Mother '93 video started getting airplay on MTV, after they released a live version of the song that first appeared on their debut album. Little known fact, James Hetfield of Metallica did backup vocals on the songs "Twist of Cain" and "Possession", but couldn't be credited on the album due to being signed to a different record label. This album effortlessly goes from heavier, balls to the wall songs like "Twist of Cain" and "Am I Demon", to bluesy and spacious tracks like "She Rides" (Now a stripper anthem) and "Soul On Fire". Packed with classic lyrics, such as this gem from "The Hunter", 

Don't use no love gun

Don't need no kissin'

When I get ahold of you, honey

Gonna' light you up like Christmas

I may like Danzig II: Lucifuge a little bit more than this one, but as far as 1988 went this is the best.

1987: INXS- Kick

I'll be honest, I don't love this album but I can't find anything else from 1987 and this is still good.

Key Tracks: Need You Tonight, Never Tear Us Apart, Devil Inside

The Most Badass Band Ever

Fuck off, Slayer. Eat a dick, ETID. Slip in shit and break your neck, Danzig.

Riverbottom Nightmare Band, motherfucker.

1986: Huey Lewis & The News- Fore!

Since "Sports" came out the year before I was born I was a little disappointed seeing as that's one of my favorite 80's albums, until I realized "Fore!" came out a few years later which fulfills my duty to work Huey Lewis into every facet of my life. My idol, Patrick Bateman, incorrectly said that this album came out in 1987, but it was actually 1986. And my dad was a huge fan of Huey so this is the only 80's album on my list that I've actually listened to since it came out. Blending pop, doo wop, rock, and soul together, Huey Lewis & The News made catchy and fun songs that still had substance. The song "Jacob's Ladder" is about someone explaining to evangelists trying to convert them that they can figure out their problems for themselves and don't need to convert for help, and it was also a #1 hit. You don't see too many songs with that kind of meaning making the charts too often. Several other songs also made the billboard charts, which is extremely impressive and shows the talent of everyone in the band as songwriters.

Key Tracks: Stuck With You, Whole Lotta Lovin', I Never Walk Alone, Naturally

Distant Pictures Interview

Again I've had the pleasure of interviewing some favorite people of mine, this time it's Drew and Paul of Distant Pictures.

First off thanks for doing this.

Drew- Not a problem, sir.

Paul- No problem

So I guess first things first I should ask about Distant Pictures and what you guys have done and want to do with it.

Drew- Well, it started out truly because we were bored. Paul wanted to make a movie, and my friend Eder and I did as well, so we just kinda got together one summer and filmed us doing things we thought were funny. and somehow we created something. And that was Weaver, a story Eder and I had when we started college.

You didn't film or write anything before that?

Paul- I had been doing some jackass-type stuff like everyone else and some stuff for the school like battle of the bands and graduation. I don't think Drew had worked in the medium before.

Drew- Well, I was writing constantly of course but I never really filmed anything. Except once, we made something called The Ghost Hunter Hunter, which is lost and gone forever, unfortunately.

How was the whole process of doing Weaver?

Paul- It started out with alot of getting together and eating burritos. We had some writing sessions getting the plot and some of the jokes worked out, then we just shot it. It was mostly improvised by Drew and Eder.

Drew- Yeah, there was literally no script, just a really basic shot list. and then paul would tell us what to do. And Eder and I would basically just try to make each other laugh all day. Which we often did.

Paul- We never had more than one take on any scene

That leads into a question I wanted to ask. Is it easier to improv for comedy or does that tend to lead to lots of mistakes... I guess what do you guys think of writing out jokes versus the spontaneousness of random jokes and situations?

Drew- Well, for me, it's always nice to have a set subject, and a basic idea of what you went to express with the subject, and just go free reign from there. I've definitely gotten a lot better at writing jokes, and in the stuff we've made since, like Pizza and the Spare Change trailer, and things like that, we have stuck to a script. But then there's always that spontenaity of improv thats so alluring that you really cant help yourself. You spat out a line you find funny that wasn't originally there, and we go back and kinda go "Yeah, let's riff on that a while, too."

Paul- As the director of Drew and Eder I like the improv, they are better at that then written dialogue. And they are funny guys, just let them act like they do in real life. However, the more and more stuff we work on, the more scripted its seeming to become. Kind of a blend of the two.

Paul, is it hard to film improv knowing that you have no idea what they're going to do?

Paul- We come from the Kevin Smith school of filmmaking at this point, a set camera with not much movement. So the improv is easy to capture on the film, it's usually in the editing that it's harder to piece together since we're doing it multiple times, sometimes with different lines.

How do you guys go about writing?

Drew- It's a bit of a process for me, anyway. Lots of narrowing things down, kind of shaving things off, condensing them. I have the tendency to be long winded. I just try and make sure to stay concise, whether I'm working on a joke or illustrating something else, themetically, just staying on point. When it comes to the funny, though, I always bounce off Paul. If I can make him laugh, I know I'm on to something.

Paul- Yeah I'm not really a writer, I'm more of an idea guy. If I think of something I'll feed it to them. but usually Drew just bounces it off me.

Drew- Paul says the funniest shit ever, but he has no idea it's funny.

Does being in film school have any effect on what you do or is the medium and themes of your videos something entirely different from what you're learning about?

Paul- So far film school is kind of different from what most people think. We learn a lot of the basics but for the most part we are left to what we want to do, which is nice. So with our brand of humor, we arent really put out or anything.

Drew- Yeah, and even though we've learned a lot, and seen some really, really fantastic films, the quality of our stuff hasn't exactly changed.

Do you both want to make a career with filmmaking?

Drew- Yeah, definitely. In some capacity.

Paul- I want to be in the world of film, but not necessarily feature length films at this point. I'm kind of leaning towards starting my own production company at some point. Be it features, shorts, commercials I don't know yet.

Drew- Operating in the industry in some form is definitely the goal. We're doing our best to get there!

Do you have any advice on getting past having no budget and still making a quality video?

Paul- I think the most we have spent on a movie was $3.25 for an Oregon Burrito but we still get the laughs out there. Especially for comedy, I don't think you need a big budget, or one at all.

Drew- You just have to have confidence on what you're doing. If you have enough conviction in you're trying to create, budgets shouldn't be a constraint. ESPECIALLY if you're just posting it on the internet

What kind of equipment do you use? Cameras, editing software, etc.

Paul- Right now I have kind of assembled a small production kit of a Panasonic Camera, Shotgun mic and then I edit with Final Cut Pro. But back in Oregon we just got the camera and mic from the local tv station. I just had to take a really easy class and we could take out the camera, it sucked, but it was all we needed. That's what I would suggest to anyone who doesnt have a camera.

Drew- Yeah, there's always a means to get what you need, even if it isn't the best quality equipment... We're getting real inspirational here people.

So are there any future plans for anything right now?

Drew- At the moment, we're giving Weaver a complete face lift, retooling the script and story turning it into a feature length. The script is just about done and when it is, we'll definitely go the more legit route with it. Thanks to the connections we've made at school, we can have a whole crew and cast, and a decent budget eventually.

Paul- We just need to get Eder out here.

Drew- Yeah, he's the last piece of the puzzle

Awesome, are you going to shoot it in Chicago then?

Drew- Yeah, Chicago would be a good setting for Weaver, I think.

Lightning Round: You can only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what is it?

Drew- That's a tough one, but think I'd have to stick to my roots and say blink-182's "untitled" record. It just barely beats out "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel.

Paul- I'm going to have to go with Modest Mouse, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank." They're one of my favorite bands and I listened to that album alot last year. So I probably won't get tired of it.

Favorite website?

Paul- SlashFilm i think is where I go the most besides the book (Facebook). Got to get all my film geek news somewhere.

Drew- I'm going to make a plug and say the-frat-pack.com. They have all the best Frat Pack and Apatow-related news, plus they've got this really great writer who reviews all the movies.

Paul- He is good

I stumped myself with this one so have fun with it... The Weatherman or adaptation.?

Paul- adaptation. for sure. Spike Jonze is amazing.

Drew- adaptation. definitely, no contest. How did you stump yourself with that one?

I fucking love The Weatherman.

*Both laugh*

But that's why you're the ones being interviewed.

Drew- Good point, we are better than you.

10 years from now I'll ask you "Bangkok Dangerous vs. The Wicker Man remake?"

*Both laugh*

Favorite Movie?

Drew- Dude, that's even harder than favorite album. Actually, no, what am I saying. Punch-Drunk Love

Paul- I think over all I'm going to go with Pulp Fiction, it's just so good all around. Theme-wise I think up there too is I Heart Huckabees.

Drew- I hate that movie.

Jude Law was good in it.

Paul- Yeah, I liked Marky Mark.

Paul- favorite director, Drew- favorite actor?

Paul- I hate to sound like a cliche film student, but I'm a big Kevin Smith fan. I don't think he's the best, but his style is his own and sets him apart.

Drew- Favorite actor, I think I'm gonna say David Hess. He appeared in a lot of grindhouse movies throughout the '70s and I've never seen anyone play sleazey better than him. Check out The Last House On the Left and Hitch Hike.

This is the part that His Hideous Heart started when I couldn't think of a last question, so both of you can ask each other one.

Drew- Hey, Paul, who's your favorite Olympian?

Paul- I think I'm going to go with Phelps. then Dolhossen. 'Cause he's a beast.

Paul- Yo! Drew. Why have we never fucked?

Drew- Because the dude's name is Dollhauser, and you piss me off.

Thanks guys.

1985: The Smiths- Meat Is Murder

One of my favorite 80s albums by one of my favorite UK bands with one of my favorite singers. Funny this was their only album to hit number one on the charts in the UK. This album has a lot of political undertones which I'm not too familiar with, but the music speaks for itself. It was another breath of fresh air for a time when punk, metal and new wave was all that was going on. This album can be considered one of the first "indie" albums to ever be released.

Key Tracks: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, How Soon Is Now?, Barbarism Begins At Home

1 Album For All Time

Drew, Drunky, and myself are going to start doing a rundown of our favorite albums of each year since we've been born. So check back regularly and let us know what you think.

1984: Prince & The Revolution- Purple Rain

Hopefully I'm not sued for using his likeness, but this is without a doubt the best non-score soundtrack ever. The first album of The Artist to feature The Revolution as a backing band, the genres and influences are all over the board, which is a large part of why this album was so accessible to all sorts of people. Winning three Grammies and an Oscar shows how much success it had to go along with the thirteen million albums sold. But it's by no means your average pop record. It's filled with great lyrics, exhibited most in the song I Would Die 4 You, written from Jesus' perspective in a conversation with a non-believer. "I'm not a human, I am a dove, I'm your conscious, I am love, All I really need to know is that you believe."

Key tracks: Computer Blue, When Doves Cry, Purple Rain

Beast Mode With the Blue Diamonds

Marshawn Lynch on a bitch, Cal fit.

Nocturnal Hustlers- T-O

Well I guess this is NFL week here on TBOES, I've got my money draft coming up this weekend and the football season's almost here. So keeping things going here's the best Terrell Owens related song of the last 5 years, off the 3rd volume of the West Bay classic Arsen & Cane mixtapes.

Listen here.

We like SamTrans, bitch, take your punkass to school.

Always loved that line seeing as how I took SamTrans to Serra every day when I was 16.

The NFL Reigns Supreme... Commercial Wise

MLB peaked with the old "Chicks dig the long ball" commercials, and those face morphing ones the NBA did last season were just creepy, so since the Steven Jackson/LT Last of the Mohicans commercial and the ESPN Fantasy ones the NFL has been delivering the goods.

Interesting People It Doesn't Hurt To Learn About

I like knowing stories about people,  so I'm going to add another ongoing part of my blog along with The Coolest Shit... which will be people with interesting stories, updated when I think of them.

When I was 15 I was playing baseball in California and after a game a guy on my team was playing some rap in his car that caught my ear. Mostly because the person rapping was doing so on what sounded like a phone. So when I asked who it was he proceeded to skip to a track that started with an operator's voice, "You have a collect call from- X Mothafuckin' Raided- an inmate at Sacramento County Jail." He then told me the story of X-Raided and how he recorded his album Psycho Active over a pay phone from prison, and I've been a fan ever since.

Shortly after releasing his 1992 debut album Psycho Active, Anarae Brown (X-Raided) was convicted for the murder of a woman during a home invasion robbery. He has stated that he believed the home he was invading was that a member of rival gang Meadowview Bloods. Shortly before the album was released X-Raided was arrested and charged with murder in the first degree with gang-related murder. He was accused of murdering a rival gang member's mother.The lyrics in the album were used in his trial because they contained mirror images of the murder. The Gun on the cover of the album was said to be the murder weapon. The album's violent lyrics were cited as evidence at his trial. He is currently serving a 31 year sentence.

Read more here.

His album The Unforgiven Vol. 1 is also a gangsta rap classic, and much improved sound wise due to bribing a guard to allow him to sneak real production equipment into his cell. Here's my favorite track from it, Misanthropy.

The Coolest Shit You're Gonna See All Day

Interactive artist Daniel Rozin works in a very particular artistic milieu, making mirrors from unreflective surfaces. 
Ine of his creations, 'the wooden mirror' is a testament to his skill in this area. The mirror uses 830 square pieces 
of wood which are hooked up to an equal number of small motors which move the wooden blocks according to a 
built in camera. The camera picks up movement in light and somehow transfers the signal to the wood. The result 
is an eerie representation of reality depicted in tiny wooden pixels.

Check his page here

A-Wax- Offica Rawze

Was only a matter of time before the Rick Ross disses started, and I think it's fitting Waxfase is the first one I've heard now.

Listen Here

Kingpin correctional officer, we will not accept it

Why's he wearing Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince around his neck?

Lupe Fiasco, Wale and Kardinal Offishall- Dopeboys Remix

Jacked from nahright, this song's crazy. Listen here.

Paper Rival- Cassandra

Created by Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter.

Dear & The Headlights

Working on their new album "Drunk Like Bible Times", in stores September 30th.

Good Old War- Coney Island

I could go for a dog right now.

Mega Mega White Thing

Get Well Soon- Born Slippy Nuxx (Underworld Cover) Live In Vienna.

UFC 87 Teaser

Huerta, K-Flo, Texas Crazy Horse, Brock, Fitch and GSP all get a word in. Countdown to UFC 87 airs on Friday the 7th on SpikeTV with the event taking place the next day. I can't fucking wait for this.