A new situation can really shut me up sometimes. I remember sitting in a circle of 10 or so staff members as the newly selected Promotions Director of Syracuse University’s radio station WERW 1570 AM. Being one of two freshmen among upperclassmen experts, I thought, What the hell am I doing here? It was petrifying. Come to find out, joining this radio station was life altering in the best way. It was hard to leave it behind when I transferred to Boston College. Had I stayed, I would’ve subbed in for John Dwyer as Production Director while he studied abroad in China. I was so psyched to land that position, but that what-the-hell-am-I-doing-here feeling? Back in full strength.

John is two years older than me, and at the time, that was two years more experience in the radio biz. He was a deliberate guy — reserved in manner, in control, and smart with his actions. Not to mention, he was infinitely cooler than me with his impressive collection of kicks, his weekend getaways to Boston to hit up Bodega, and this cool little website he was running on the side.

Well, I never had to fill John’s shoes (thank the Lord, I think he has a lot), but a year later and this cool little website on the side has exploded into a buzz worthy enterprise. Though it has got some growing left, SwaggerDap is out of its diapers and playing with the big boys. I recently caught up with John, and here’s what he had to say.

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Hot off the press is Ratatat’s latest music video for their song “Falcon Jab.” The track is from the New York duo’s 2008 hit album LP3. Personally, I’m not too privy to “Falcon Jab,” so naturally it’s tough for me to enjoy the music video. (I’m much more of a “Shiller” or “Mirando” kind of guy.) Nevertheless, the clips of the Ancient Greeks/Spartans, Amazonians, and Egyptians are very apropos in this trippy, psychedelic, and flat-out weird music video. It’s essentially an acid trip gone awry — but then again so is the song. Only a handful of bands could pull this off, and Ratatat is among them.

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So I stumbled across this gem earlier today. It’s supposedly a new Radiohead song entitled “These Are My Twisted Words” that isn’t due to be released for quite some time that has seemingly surfaced out of nowhere. I initially had my doubts as to whether this was the real deal or not, but after giving it a good couple of listens, it’s definitely the unmistakable voice of Thom Yorke. It reminds me of the sound and style showcased on one of Radiohead’s greatest albums, Kid A. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

The release of this track comes just a few days after Thom Yorke said Radiohead will not be releasing a new album anytime soon.

“None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again,” he said. “Not straight off…It worked with In Rainbows because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us. …obviously, there’s still something great about the album,” Yorke said. “In Rainbows was a particular aesthetic and I can’t bear the idea of doing that again. Not that it’s not good, I just can’t…bear…that.”
[audio:Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words.mp3]

DOWNLOAD: Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words

Oh where did this all start? Although Roger Troutman or Teddy Riley are often credited for the first use of auto-tune, that was in fact the talkbox. I once heard that the pioneer of auto-tuning is none other than Cher. That’s right, ‘Do you believe in liiiiife after looooove!?’ Who knew this diva would influence artists in totally different genres.

Now it seems auto-tune is for the masses. Haters tend to target T-Pain, the most notorious (ab)user of auto-tune, but some others include Akon, Lil’ Wayne and Kanye West. Now we see it spreading from R&B to indie rock with Discovery, the much talked-about love child of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot.

Personally, I’m at a loss. I do not know what to think of auto-tune. I had no respect for T-Pain until I watched his interview with DJ Skee of Los Angeles’ KIIS-FM. When asked about the active use of auto-tune in his music, he responded,

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Earlier today KiD CuDi’s “Make Her Say” music video was released by Universal Music Group. It’s the rising hip-hop star’s third music video out there, with the first two being “Day ‘n’ Nite,” and its Crookers remix counterpart. When I first heard “Make Her Say” back in May, I thought it was a hilarious, novelty song. Since then, it’s definitely grown on me, and I feel like the song is blowing up. I mean, hey, with the unbelievably talented team of Kid CuDi, Kanye West, Common, and A-Trak, it’s pretty much expected that an amazingly hot song will be birthed. Check it out.

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