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  • Jay Bennett, Formerly of Wilco, Dies at 45

    Jay Bennett, a former member of Grammy winning alt-country/alternative/folk/rock band Wilco, passed away Sunday night from unknown causes. Bennett was a multi-instrumentalist and engineer for the band, who was kicked out in 2001 after well-documented squabbles with band leader Jeff Tweedy (which continued after Bennett was ousted from the band). Recently, Bennett filed suit against Tweedy, claiming he was owed royalties for work he did while a member of Wilco.

    In addition to his work with Wilco (which included the critically adored 2001 album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”), Bennett recorded a handful of solo albums and also worked as a session musician for artists including Sheryl Crow.

  • The Top 100 Songs of the ’00s, #97: “Promiscuous”

    nelly

    Remember pre-“Promiscuous” Nelly Furtado? All cutesy and quirky. A far cry from the sex goddess we now know her as.

    She and Timbaland (who, as much as I think he’s overrated, is responsible for 8 or 9 songs on this list) had worked together before (on Missy Elliott’s “Get Your Freak On” remix and a single for forgotten femme-cee Ms. Jade), but “Promiscuous” was the song that revitalized both their careers.

    Adding “sexy”, to “sassy” and “spunky”, Nelly and Timbo traded lines in a manner most flirtatious. Furtado proves herself a pretty capable rapper (at least these days), while Timbaland debuted his new Eighties-inspired production style. The result? A jam that lit up dance floors during the early summer of ’06.

    Great song and all, but I believe Nelly when she says that Timbaland didn’t know the meaning of the word “promiscuous” when he wrote the song. Who’s gonna go to a club and say “hey, girl who sleeps with everybody, I want YOU!” “OK, guy who sleeps with everybody…let’s get together!” Although, if you’re getting around that much, your game probably is MVP like Steve Nash.

  • SonicClash’s Memorial Day Triple Play

    Hey folks, it’s the beginning of summer! Break out the sunglasses and shorts, because the warm weather is upon us! There’s no shortage of tunes to blast out of your boombox on those beach trips (do people still use boomboxes?), but here are a couple of my favorite songs that celebrate the season. Play them and enjoy the good vibes.

    If you like your summer songs spiked with a little bit of nostalgia, then NKOTB’s “Summertime” is for you.

    Next up is my man Doug E. Fresh with his own “Summertime” from 1990. This is by far the rarest of the three songs here, and the fact that embedding is disabled grinds my gears a little bit. Check out the hip-house influence in the song, and also check out a very brief cameo from Sean “Diddy” Combs at the beginning of the video.

    I think you can all guess what’s next. As I do every year, a summertime kickoff isn’t complete without DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Enjoy, and have a great Memorial Day weekend (we’ll still be here, so don’t forget to check in when you have a free sec!)