Dropkick Murphys - Barroom Hero

"Face down in the gutter won't admit defeat though his clothes are soiled and black, he's a big strong man with a child's mind, DON'T YOU TAKE HIS BOOZE AWAY..."

Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies

Flogging Molly - Seven Deadly Sins

Tossers - Siobhan

Tossers - Goodmorning Da

Rambocky

Wawa Records and Filmed Entertainment presents Rambocky, starring Philly Boy Roy and Patton Oswalt.

See it HERE.

Rojo Johnson

Earlier in the week:

"The Round Rock Express have acquired Billy Ray "Rojo" Johnson... Johnson, who was born in East Texas but was raised in Venezuela, recently had his prison sentence commuted. He served time for running a smuggling ring that imported rare and illegal species of reptiles into the United States from South America during the mid-to-late 1990s."

Pitcher Rojo Johnson made his minor league debut for the Round Rock Express last night. Astonishingly, he threw only one pitch before being chased out of the ballpark. Just watch.

Gorlliaz - Stylo

Gorillaz have a new album coming out soon (I'm sure the kind Sheriff will let us know the details), and with it comes this outstanding new video for "Stylo."

If, like me, you wonder for a moment about half way through, "is that Bruce Willis?" Why yes, yes it is.

Am told you can preview the entire album for free and with a clear conscience here.

Arctic Monkeys on SNL

Speaking of musical guests, my favorite performance of all time was the Arctic Monkeys performance of "A Certain Romance" on SNL. I had never heard of them or the song, but after seeing them that night I've been a fan since. Unfortunately, NBC has pulled the video. What I remember most about that specific song (they played 2 that night) was that at one point their lead singer (Alex Turner) noticed an audience member yawning and pointed it out mid-song and continued on disgusted. The guitarist broke his guitar as he slammed it in anger after the song. I guess the single yawn justified the band's apprehension to leave the UK for the first time. Anyway, that part of the performance is of course still alive and well here on youtube.

Airborne Toxic Event

If it's not too late, I'd like to put in a nomination for Best Musical Guest on a Late Show of 2009. It was the January 16th performance of "Sometime Around Midnight" by Airborne Toxic Event on Letterman. Just a great performance of an otherwise still fantastic song made all the better by being performed live. Got it?

Please watch it HERE.

Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste

If you listen closely to "Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste" (starting at 2:38) from Fenix TX's self-titled album, the otherwise standard pop-punk song becomes a tribute to this scene from the 1984 smash hit Revenge of the Nerds.

Glengarry Glen Ross

I've not seen the film Glengarry Glen Ross, but I've seen this scene about a dozen times since it was spoofed as "Glengarry Glen Elf" on SNL a few Christmases ago (and every Christmas thereafter in my house). I figure there's really not much else to see after watching the greatest scene in the history of cinema.

#1 - Paul F Tompkins

I can't lie. The fact that Paul F Tompkins is from Philadelphia brings bias into the equation, but not much. He's certainly been a funny enough stand up in my mind to earn the #1 spot, and he must be doing a lot else right too having landed roles in both The Informant! and There Will Be Blood. Besides that you may have seen him in various roles on VH1s Best Week Ever and before that all over the place writing and acting on HBO's Mr.Show, The Daily Show (pre-Stewart), and Real Time With Bill Maher. Also, if there's a comedy podcast that exists, chances are Paul is a regular on it. Examples include The Best Show on WFMU, Never Not Funny, and Comedy Death-Ray.

The reason I love Tompkins' stand-up is his versatility. Sometimes he relies on his unparalleled ability to make funny that which could not possibly have otherwise been funny, which is to say his delivery and preparation of pre-written material are incredible. But he can also be funny on the spot as can be heard on those podcasts, which I think is an underrated skill.

Here's an example of making funny a story that is, by nature, not. In this set he talks about his mother's last days alive days and her contemplation of religion during that time. Which..obviously doesn't sound funny at all..but is. Just listen.

#2 - Louis CK

Though he's been credited behind the scenes as a writer for The Late Show, Late Night, and The Dana Carvey Show (which was fantastic), these days most people have heard or seen Louis CK behind a microphone or acting on tv.

And although he comes in at #2 on my personal list (who gives a shit about lists?) CK could quite easily be the best standup on the planet right now if only because he's quite frankly the ballsiest. His formula is to just get in front of an audience and spill his pathetic guts out in the form of jokes, even if it means alienating the people closest to him. He says the things you won't even admit to acknowledging about life.

Here's one of his more famous appearances on Conan in October 2008.

#3 - Patton Oswalt

Because not all good stand up can be based on politics, religion, and an overall dark world outlook.

Patton Oswalt continues to be comedy's King of the Nerds. Though he does incorporate some atheism into his act, most of his bits are derived by applying his nerdy D&D playing, Star Wars obsessive, english major's perspective to pop culture topics. He earns additional credit in my book for willingly including inside stories about his acting career into his material, which is rare for comedians with lucrative side careers to do. Both of his last two albums, Werewolves and Lollipops (2007) and My Weakness is Strong (2009) have spent time at #1 on the US Comedy chart, though admittedly I have no idea whether or not that's even difficult. Let's assume it is.

Here's Patton explaining the noble thing he'd do if given access to a time machine.

#4 - Marc Maron

Throughout the entire tenure of Conan O'Brien's Late Night, Marc Maron appeared as a guest 44 times, and I can't think of a time he wasn't funny. Of course, on the east coast that meant you could only have seen him after 1am, or else waited until a few years later when youtube was invented. So you may have missed him, but it's not your fault. Unlike most mainstream comedians, Maron hasn't done any television or movie writing or acting in a very long time. His non late-night guest appearances are limited to a brief stint as host of Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater in the early 90s and a 2002 run as host of the VH1 game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks that literally lasted for 1 month. Lately he's been associated with a few podcasts and radio shows in the Air America Radio family.

The reason I think Maron's success as a comedian is limited to stand up appearances and other spoken word formats is that he seems to be funny only as a product of a seriously skewed world view and depression. I don't mean to say he doesn't write jokes, just that the jokes he writes need to be explained and are only funny in the correct contexts, which for him are best explained and explored straight on as stand up comedy instead of re-interpreted as sketches or plots. As a result, you'll hear him say "hear me out" at least once a set, as he strings the audience through his thought process. Like David Cross his topics tend to skew toward the religious or political, but only because he finds a way to see a tongue-in-cheek "conspiracy" in all of the forces that act on his life. He's highly funny and grossly underrated as a comedian, but I understand why. Any one of his 3 CDs is absolutely worth checking out.

Here's a 2001 appearance on Late Night in which Maron is disappointed with modern technology and also somehow offends Adam Sandler fans everywhere.

#5 - David Cross

David Cross is a master of sarcasm, but what sets him apart from other comedians is his perspective. He grew up in the south, outside of Atlanta. You wouldn't know it by looking at him or listening to him, but his experience there was certainly atypical and often finds its way into his act. He's jewish for one, but only by birth. His religion is actually atheism which is probably the more outlandish of the two given where he grew up. Then there's the open letter to Larry the Cable Guy, and the super liberalism he can't help but bring out in his bits.

Cross would be higher in the Top 5 if he did more stand-up work, but he hasn't recorded any original material since 2004. To his credit, that's mostly because he's being doing more lucrative work, as his writing and acting are both top notch as well. You'll remember him as Tobias in Arrested Development or in various roles on HBOs Mr.Show. His stand up is pretty NSFW, and his topics are mostly political or religious. So when I set out to find an example of his funnier stand up work, I tried to avoid all three. I failed, but this is still funny.

So here's David discussing heaven at his most recent appearance in his hometown of Atlanta.

Great Music Videos

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass

In my mind, Ok Go will forever be the champions of the music video league. Case in point, their latest video for "This Too Shall Pass," from their new album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. This one was supposedly filmed live and features the Notre Dame marching band. Check it out HERE.

For context and further proof see also:
Here it Goes Again

A Million Ways

Goldline

"Do you like apples?"
"Yea. Why?"
"I just bought my gold from Certified Gold Exchange instead of Goldline, how do you like them apples?
-Fin

Actor Scott Winters, for Goldline

The Brothers Schwartzman

I wrote about Jason's music career as Coconut Records, here. But did you know that his younger brother Robert is the lead singer and guitarist of a moderately popular band called Rooney?

As a fan of both bands and an unapologetic fanatic for all of Jason's movies (go see Fantastic Mr.Fox right now) I have to admit it's a little disappointing that Coconut Records doesn't tour. From what I understand, Jason has only ever performed one or two songs from his albums live on about three different charitable occasions somewhere in California, each time effectively opening for Rooney and using them as his backing band. For the most part they play his single, "West Coast." Of course, he doesn't need to tour or sell records for the money, but personally I think the only reason he doesn't tour is because he can't sing and play guitar simultaneously.

HERE are the videos that exist of these performances. Each was taken by a shaky cell phone, but in each Jason simply sings while his brother does most of the legwork.

It's okay Jason, I can't do it either.