Gilad Shalit: 5 Songs for 5 Years in Captivity

At 19 years old, I'm free to enjoy summer with my family and friends. The sun in shining, music blasting, life is good. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to be Gilad Shalit, who at age 19 was kidnapped by terrorist group Hamas and has since been held hostage in an unknown location, denied contact with the outside world since 2006. Who knows what kind of mental and physical abuse he's been facing?

Today marks Gilad's 5th year of torture. In his honor, I've put together 5 songs that try to help us understand the idea of captivity, desperation, and descent into darkness. Please keep Gilad in your mind and heart as you listen to these lyrics.

Amazon - M.I.A.
Stockholm Syndrome - Blink 182
One - Metallica
Climbing up the Walls - Radiohead
I Was a Lover - TV on the Radio





FREE GILAD


I'm sure there are so many songs out there that would better fit this list. Please comment with a song that's explicitly about being held prisoner or makes a good attempt at explaining the feeling.

RAPPERS WHO DON'T SUCK: CHARLES HAMILTON

"Hip-hop aint dead; it just turned 20." - CH



Do you like Incubus? Modest Mouse? TV on the Radio? Then you have something in common with Charles Hamilton, an emerging rapper from Brooklyn. The artists mentioned are a few of the many who the rock fan has sampled in his tracks, featured all over the internet and on dozens of mixtapes.
What else defines CH? Video games. He's taken Sonic the Hedgehog as a logo and works sound effects from the game into his beats. He's got a sense of humor, sampling from TV shows like Family Guy in C Food and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood in The N Word. One last thing: this dude adores the color pink. And will kick your a** if you have a problem with that.
Look out for an official album this summer. For now, there's the digitally-released Pink Lavalamp.

"Brooklyn Girls" - The Single

"Starchasers" - My personal favorite, samples Lykke Li

Get to know Charles: CharlesHamilton.blogspot.com

"November 10th":

TV on the TV

Tune in to TV on the Radio's performance on Saturday Night Live tonight! I've been waiting for this moment for too long. The band will also appear on The Colbert Report on Monday. And yes, I still have yet to hear their music on the radio.
TV's scheduled to play the Coachella Festival in April and Bonnaroo in June. If you can't wait till then, lead vocalist Tunde Adebimpe is now launching his solo project "Fake Male Voice" and will perform under this name for the first time on Tuesday at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn.

Dancing Choose - TV On The Radio

[above photo by Rumi S]

TV on the EVERYTHING!!!

WHAT IS TV ON THE RADIO?
TV on the Radio is a 5-piece band that's pretty hard to categorize. Generally labeled an art-rock group, they take huge risks with their music, including using a'capella, slap-dash raps, heavy distortion, and even opera. Became one of my favorite bands last year (special thanks to Deena). Their music's got elements of rock, funk, hip hop, soul, and much more.

The News....
TV on the Radio, the Brooklyn-based band very dear to my heart, is blowing up everywhere. This has been their biggest year so far since their humble beginning, jamming in shoddy apartments back 7 years ago. The lastest album "Dear Science" has gotten rave reviews from the biggest mags, including Rolling Stone, which awarded them #1 Album of the Year. (The previous album, "Return to Cookie Mountain", AKA soundtrack of my life for 4 months, also received high acclaim and set up well for this big debut). TVOTR graced the cover of Fader for the oct/nov issue, and inside they won a lengthy, analytical write up. SPIN recognized TV's genius back in 2006, and featured them on the cover in December. TV returns to glorify the cover of SPIN this month! So take a nice look at those lovely faces in dork-glasses! And while you're at it, go marvel at frontman Tunde Adebimpe's face in "Rachel Getting Married". He stars in the 4-star film alongside big-name Anne Hathaway [who's not my favorite, but she plays a crazy drug addict so...] During their long and successful US tour '08, TV performed on David Letterman and even hosted "Subterranean" on MTV2. Where will we see them next?

Surprisingly, I feel pretty comfortable witnessing this very experimental and kinda diffident group gain exposure and become more and more mainstream. It's about time they're recognized as the perceptive and revolutionary band they are, though inevitably, media and press attention can do as much harm as help. I doubt the funky gang, led by nerdy vocalist Tunde and unassuming guitarist Kyp Malone, is so into soaking up the spotlight. But that's the great thing about the band: fame is not their ultimate goal - they're truly committed to creating music that gets the public THINKING... and moving! I really feel like they'll hit the people that are worthy of them and they won't lose integrity or get tired out too soon. They've barely even gotten much radioplay yet (ironic?). But so, in general, I'm loving the way TV is being portrayed as a band with a higher knowledge, set against a background of unique alternative-doo-wop-electro-art-rock sounds.
NOW GET IN ON THE HYPE!


TRACKS TO TRY:

Dancing Choose [if you're into alt rock/rap style]
Golden Age [funky alternative]

And don't forget the older stuff!!

Check out singles like "Wolf Like Me" and "Me-I"
(both have awesome videos)
"New Health Rock" and "I Was A Lover" are among my personal favorites.