There's A Lady Who's Sure All That Glitters Is Gold

I wanted to do a Best of 2008 list, but the truth is, I hate ranking things. If you know me or you read the blog regularly, you already know what the favorites are. Hopefully you've related to a post, been put on to an artist, or gotten something out of The Labyrinth from time to time. That's the goal anyway. So, rankings aside, here's a little summary of what Lacezilla repped, closed her eyes for, nodded with, and danced wildly to in '08...

SERIOUS IPOD BURN:

N*E*R*D, Seeing Sounds

Freindly Fires, Friendly Fires

Raheem Devaughn, Love Behind The Melody

MGMT, Oracular Spectacular

Kings of Leon, Only By The Night

Duffy, Rockferry

Wale, The Mixtape About Nothing

Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple

Kate Nash, Made of Bricks

Kid Cudi, A Kid Named Cudi: The Mixtape

Jasmine Sullivan, Fearless

Cold War Kids, Loyalty To Loyalty

Lykke Li, Youth Novels

Kanye West, 808s and Heartbreak

(These albums can get played all the way through and have multiple songs that should also be included in the list below.)

PLAYED LOUDLY, ON REPEAT:

(Songs decoded below... click to listen!)

Sam Sparro "Black and Gold"

Chris Brown "Fallen Angel"

Hercules and Love Affair "Blind"

Thriving Ivory "Angels On The Moon"

Lil' Wayne "Playin' With Fire"

Justin Nozuka "After Tonight"

Keane "Spiralling"

Cut Copy "Hearts on Fire"

Leona Lewis "Bleeding Love"

Flobots "Handlebars"

Ashanti "The Way That I Love You"

Black Kids "Love Me Already"

Max B. "Live Comfortable"

MGMT "Electric Feel"

MOST FUN TO PHOTOGRAPH:

Wale and Blu @ SOBs

(LINK to post)

Santogold @ Highline 

(LINK to post)

Lykke Li and Friendly Fires @ Bowery
(LINK to Lykke Li post)

(LINK to Friendly Fires post)

And don't forget Lykke's enchanting cover of Wendy Rene's "After Laughter":

N*E*R*D @ Madison Square Garden

(LINK to post)

Matisyahu (with Brett Dennen) @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg

(Post coming soon!)

VIDEOS THAT LINGERED IN MY MIND:

InnerPartySystem "Dont Stop" WATCH

Kanye West "Flashing Lights" WATCH

MGMT "Time To Pretend" WATCH

Gnarls Barkley "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" WATCH

Hot Chip "Ready For The Floor" WATCH BELOW:

LIVE SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

Kanye West @ MSG and @ Essence Music Festival

The Ting Tings @ Bowery Ballroom

Janelle Monae @ Spotlight Live (pre-murder)

Gnarls Barkley @ Highline Ballroom

Lykke Li @ Le Poisson Rouge

Radiohead @ Lollapalooza

Adele @ Highline Ballroom

N*E*R*D @ Roseland Ballroom

Maxwell @ Radio City Music Hall

Madonna @ Roseland Ballroom

Bloc Party @ Lollapalooza

Janet Jackson @ MSG

State Property @ SOBs

and Thriving Ivory @ Mercury Lounge:

(Beatboxing Rahzel's "If Your Mother Only Knew," and then transitioning into Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven." Oww.)

Although the scope of The Labyrinth has substantially widened over the past year, I'm sure to have missed a few albums/songs/artists/shows/videos along the way. I can't listen to everything. If you think I missed something, please please please enlighten me :) And as for 2009, I'm interested to see what transpires with the careers of Lady Gaga, Kid Cudi, Janelle Monae, The Script, and Eminem.

I'm On The Right Path To Who I'm Gonna Be At Last

After running into 9th at the Highline show last Tuesday, I decided it was necessary to attend the Jean Grae in-store he'd be performing at on the following day...

In the PictoBrowser below, click the tabs to view my photos from Fat Beats:

They were there to promote the Jeanius album's re-release(s), and it felt really good to be among hip hop heads. I've said it before; Jean Grae is not only the best female MC in the industry, but she's up there with most males who rhyme as well. I felt horrible for missing her 11/30 Highline show, so I couldn't skip this intimate performance.

Footy via AnalectsBlog. 

They have more great footage on the Fat Beats blog, so if you want to see Jean performing alongside Talib Kweli and 9th, I suggested you go there. They were both signing albums after, but the line was crazy long, so I'll just support via Amazon- as you should. Thanks to Ls and Cani8a for coming with me!

That same night, 

10.Deep hosted their holiday party at Element...

KiD CuDi throwing me a deuce...

Disappointed at first, I'm now kind of glad the flash wasn't on.

Ahhh, con flash. Much better.

He ended up performing at the party too...

Hollywood Holt was hammer-, uh, having fun. (I'm not a fan.)

But how adorable are these three?!?...

Asher Roth in attendence...

Thanks to Boz y Brenda for the bracelets :)

"Dont Rush Me":

Rock Star, Bitch... Kurt Cobain Sh*t

The live performance is becoming more and more important for up and coming artists. As the music industry evolves and is further aligned with the digital world, what an artist does on stage can help separate them from the competition. Everyone has a Myspace page and a Youtube channel and a Twitter account. But during a live performance, the exclusive eyes, ears, and opinions go beyond the spectators in the venue; fans and critics can now see footage of artist's shows right after they end. One solid performance in the right city -with the right tastemakers- will have the blogs, magazines, and radio hosts buzzing like they were there in person. Luckily, Wale knows this. And how he executed last week's show at Highline made me realize that I might be a jaded NYC resident.

Unfortunately, I missed Colin Munroe's set, 

but I made it in time for KiD CuDi's...

He was joined by Capo to perform "Day N Nite":

I love how he goes into the "Crookers Remix" instrumental at the end, trying to get everyone to merge into a more electro lane. And trust, it wasn't the first or last genre-blending move of the night.

Peter Rosenberg and Mark Ronson 

entertained the crowd between acts...

But out the gate, Wale was full of that energetic, DC swag.

The crowd ate it up, proving that they were clearly there for him.

Chrisette Michelle joined Wale to perform their record with 

The Roots, "Rising Up."

After her, Clipse's own Pusha T joined him to perform "Back In The Go Go"

"That fly sh*t I been on..."

Each show, Wale takes time out to recognize historic Go Go band UCB, and in turn, educates the audience on DC music and culture. In the video below, you can catch a piece of that night's Go Go music lesson:

Embodying "regional" (DMV) celebrity: 

Wale with Tre, Mike and Marcus of UCB.

After the lesson, Freeway came out to represent for the Roc...

Wale didn't seem to mind.

And shortly after, Young Chris joined them on stage:

Along with Leo DiCaprio, the Roc was definitely in the building to support...

Hov amongst the spectators (and virtually impossible to photograph!)

Still, it appears as though The Dynasty is thoroughly intact.

Continuing the genre-crossing theme of the evening,

Wale performed "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.," and then transitioned into Nirvana's 

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," testing the crowds ability to summon their inner rocker:

Overall, it worked.

Hip Hop, Electronica, Pop, Go Go, and Rock music, all under one roof...

And all there for this "Folarin" dude - via the Allido magician, of course.

"Name Wale, don't say Wall-E!"

Many thanks to Mjeema and JZ for the ticket! XO

Pin The Tail On The Donkey

Late to post about it, but JD and I went to see Jim Jones perform at Mercury Lounge two weeks ago. I'm a sucker for Capo's bafoonery, so I looked forward to the intimacy of the small venue, and my company. 

Juelz made an appearance... along with most of Byrdgang - sans Cam.

Mr. Santana got to showcase his artist, Starr...

I had heard a few of her tracks in early '08, and she can definitely sing. 

To his credit, Jim put verses on two great songs this year - "Electric Feel" and "Day N Nite" - and he took time out to perform both at the show.

Sa-Ra opened for him...

I was a fan of their funky vibe, but seeing them do their thing live?!? 

Those dudes are pretty wild...

Although Pitchfork is notorious for being overly critical, I'd unfortunately have to agree with their thoughts on SA-RA. Word to the wise: If you want to be misogynistic, at least make it big first, so that when you do it, we give you a pass...

Like Puffy, with his portable harem; I'm sure you've seen his 007esque I Am King ad on TV, in cabs, and on billboards:

A bit more tasteful, Dolce & Gabanna use Miles Davis' "Nuit Sur Les Champs-Elysées" in their ad for men's fragrance, The One (below). I had just left the room, and it was the music from this commercial that made me go back and look at the TV:

Luckily for me, A Time To Kill was a great book, and Matthew McConaughey playing the lead in the '96 film didn't bother me then, and this shirtless ad doesn't bother me now. Oww.

Lastly, and to prove I'm not completely boy crazy, here's Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle TV ad with Keira Knightley. Joss Stone covers Nat King Cole's song "L-O-V-E":

It's a good look for the british songstress, whose voice is always recognizable. Speaking of which... Joss, where are you?!? The game needs you!