Have you ever stopped to wonder why we here at Castrocopia refer to David Hernandez as Mojito? The coinage credit goes to our good friend Susan DiPlacido's blog - specifically this article. (And for added bonus, check out Mojito signing an autograph to her at the finale WITH his nickname!)

Let's face it. American Idol wouldn't be half the fun it is without the bloggers we love to read. I look forward to Susan DiPlacido's recaps almost as much as the Tuesday night show itself. But she's not just a fantastic blogger, she's an established author with a catalog of novels that I highly recommend - especially 24/7. I should warn you upfront that if you're mildly offended by the language on Castrocopia, Susan's writing might not be for you. For the rest of you, her books and blogs on just about anything are well worth the read.

Thanks Susan for agreeing to do the shuffle.


Susan DiPlacido's Shuffle

Guest 5: Susan DiPlacido

1. Teddy Bears feat. Iggy Pop - "Punkrocker"
I'm a loser when it comes to music, not hip at all. Since I don't listen to the radio very often, I find most of the music I like from movie soundtracks. That Teddy Bears/Mad Cobra song "Cobrastyle" was like, everywhere for a while, and I had a month long thing with my nephew where I'd sing it and try to have him figure out what song it was. We went through Saliva "Click Click Boom" which wasn't it, and Kid Rock's "Bawitdaba" and a few others until I just finally gave up and looked it up on the "Entourage" site and found it. I then put it on heavy rotation at my house because it still annoys the piss out of my nephew, particularly when I sing along, as it truly is a disturbing sight and sound. And, also on that CD is this song, and it's okay, man.

2. The Coasters - "Down in Mexico"
Uh, what I said up there about songs from soundtracks. Ditto here. From "Death Proof."

3. Tony Bennett - "Green Dolphin Street"

4. Backstreet Boys -- "I Want It That Way"
Okay. This is embarrassing now. Seriously, I'm sitting here thinking that my mp3 player is intentionally trying to make me look totally fucking uncool. I swear to you, I have some RHCP on this damn thing! I honestly considered lying about this one. But, you know, it's there, it came up, and I'm going to own it. I hum along to it and it's one of those tunes that triggers a visceral memory for me, one of my very happy memories. So that's how life, liquor and stupid circumstance collude to expose me as the unhip tool I am. One of my best nights had this song as background music, so it will forever be linked and wired into that certain feeling/emotion and, hence, there it is on my playlist. Fuck.

5. Tom Jones - "Sexbomb"
I cannot even believe this just happened. Talk about soundtracks? I'm reminded of Jason Lee in "Almost Famous" -- "Is it that hard to just make me look cool??" Apparently, for my mp3 player, it is. I truly regret how this experiment turned out.

Credit: Andrew Shepherd



Thanks to Aspiring for bringing it over.

Who would have thought there'd be cause to plug our meme twice in one week? Thanks to michal in Israel for directing our attention to this site.



It's kind of funny those jeans are called David...

Oh and yes they do carry women's jeans too. Check out the name on these:

Jason posted a bulletin on his MySpace:

goodmorning! and goodbye, im headed to LA! left you guys a little message on my page :) later!

And the message? A vlog!


Good catch, folklore!

Remember that ew.com article asking for nominations for Entertainer of the Year? Thanks to all your comments, Jason Castro is listed in the gallery of Your Picks. I don't know if the order is significant but Jason is listed 13th after such pop heavy hitters and big names as Robert Downey, Jr., Heath Ledger, Michael Phelps and Shia LaBeouf. The Davids are listed 3rd and 4th. Who's in the number 1 spot? Me! [/delusion that I'm actually Tina Fey].

Congratulations to dh658 whoever you are. Your comment was captured to explain Jason's appeal and you couldn't have said it better. Nice job!

My Entertainer of the Year is Jason Castro. Not only was he a breath of fresh air on a stale show, he was a class act — humble, joyful, unique and so talented for such a newbie. And what an entertaining sing-out. If his Myspace numbers are anything to go by, he's still entertaining the masses...11,145,053 views and 4,258,524 plays. Pretty good numbers for someone who isn't allowed to release an album until the Davids do.

Raya - as always, thanks for the link.

It's Tuesday, biatches. Listen and wonder!

And as always - if you like the song, support the artists by purchasing their work. Keep musicians fed.


1. So Alive, Love and Rockets
80s math: Bauhaus - Peter Murphy = Love and Rockets; Love and Rockets - David J = Tones on Tail. I confess I'm a total child of the 80s. This song transports me back to my dorm room in college and reminds me of the record store I worked at, cassette tapes and my music-genius of a brother who probably turned me on to this band.

Random: I've been hearing this Tones on Tail song in a car commercials lately.

2. Black Swan, Thom Yorke
This could be a Castrocopia theme song. Should I put [EXPLICIT] next to the song title? Or next to the blog title? Oh Thom Yorke - I'm loving you and your ear candy.

3. David Bowie, The Man Who Sold The World
I hope most people don't only know the Nirvana version of this song. It is faithful to the original which always begs the question for me: why bother covering a song if you're just going to copy it? That seems a little like stealing to me but evs. David Bowie was my first serious crush and wow, this song kicks serious ass. This album is not his very, very first but close enough. The stuff that came out before this album was seriously scary. Proof. More Proof. Even MORE proof. The sad thing is I can sing along with those songs.

4. Jason Mraz with Colbie Caillat, Lucky
Remember back when Jason told us all to go and check out this single on Jason Mraz's MySpace? Remember that he and Brooke hoped to duet with this on the tour? Can you imagine how amazing that would have been? AI - you rob from us with your short-sightedness. Oh and I saw Jason Mraz perform this with Lisa Hannigan last week. Since I'm going off on tangents today, here's Lisa with Damien Rice on Volcano. So hot. Heh.

5. Steve Miller Band, The Joker
Ok so I admit it. I like Steve Miller Band. I do not know how I'd feel about them if I heard them for the first time today, but I do not have the option of knowing that. What I do know is that when I hear the opening guitar on any song on this album, I know what it is and I turn into a rock n' roll star. In my car. To the horror of my children.

And Cowboys sans pants. Oh my.

It's been so long since we've used 'Jason Castro Pants' for a blog title - and what better time to revisit the meme than with a link to this?

(Check the ends of the dreads while you're at it.)

Remember that movie Tierra de Tigres we heard about last summer? The name has been changed to Amar a Morir but the soundtrack still features Jason's Hallelujah. Check it out at the official site - click on Soundtrack to see Jason's profile. There are some new pics of Jason as well as a media player that currently does not work but it says Coming Soon above it.

The soundtrack of this movie has brought together very talented, renowned contemporary musicians, as well as artist that, although just getting started, have already shown tremendous talent and potential.

The theme song of this film is the famou "Halleluya," written by Leonard Cohen. This song was performed by Jason Castro, one of the four finalists of American Idol in 2008. Jason sang this song epecially for "Amar a Morir." Music critics now consider Jason's performance of "Halleluya" as one of the two best interpretations of this song, just behind the late Jeff Buckley's."

Thanks to ShouldKnowBetter for the tip.

Oct 25, 2008 2:16 AM
Subject: new myspace layout and new pics!

man i have had a blast tonight! i love the internet. i love myspace. i love knowledgeable people, specifically a nancy that guided me over to killerkiwi tonight where i was able to create my own layout! ya im lovin it! mclovin it! ;) speaking of nancy, shes getting a street team together for me over on the forums at JCM! ill post the link below if youre interested! i think well get a myspace up for it soon...anyways its wayyyy late and ive got a stomach ache.
time to get some rest!

laterrr

jasonnn.


aaand the link as promised ;)

http://cafe.jasoncastromusic.com/index.cgi?board=jst

Not MySpace in general -- Jason's MySpace. He's got a cool new background and he uploaded the pictures from the photo session with Andrew Shepard of Dallas, including this one - currently set as his new default profile picture.

Oct 24, 2008 6:25 PM
Subject: helllooooo world!

i just got home from a few weeks in la and as you all know, internet is scarce where i have been staying. it feels like forever! anyways i just wanted to say hey heyyyy, and let you know ill be posting a video blog soon. sorry its been so long! who wants to go to a haunted house? that sounds fun.
yessss lets do it!

Pining for Jason news? Yeah, we understand, but he's busy. That's good. That means we're getting what we've been saying we wanted all along, right? Music. According to Betsy Castro, a single is coming sooner than we think, so hang in there.

O hai! While we're waiting, how about another batch of songs from Jason's iPod? (In case you missed the first one, it's right here.) As always, if you like what you hear please support the artists by purchasing their songs.

Thanks again for the music, Jason.

Guest 4: Jason Castro

Jwaye Nwel

1) Hilary Duff - Sweet 16 (Jackie put that one on my itunes!)

2) Mae - Suspension

3) Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
McLovin sez: I only had the acoustic version of this, so that's what I used. Jason didn't specify which one he had.

4) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

5) Carpenters - Superstar

6) U2 - New Years Day

7) Frou Frou - Let Go

8) Justin King and the Apologies - Outro (Instrumental)

9) Phil Ochs - Draft Dodger Rag

10) The Black Dahlia Murder - A Vulgar Picture [Explicit]

11) Juan Luis Guerra - La Bilirrubina

Michael Slezak probably regrets opening the comments of his Popwatch Blog to nominations for this year's pick for Entertainer of the Year. But he has, and posters are making their case for who they'd like to see listed in the end of year MVP Gallery of entertainers. Or in some cases, just listing the name over and over and over and over and over. So if you want to nominate Jason, head over and leave your comment.

Carly wrote on her MySpace page about getting a new apartment and hanging out with Jason and getting out to see a movie together. And lucky her:

"We also listened to some of each others new songs we have written . Let me tell you I will be buying Castro's record . I am very proud of him . Beautiful songs !!!"

EEEEE!

Thanks to Ashokie for the tip.

Who knew we'd ever be able to put 50 Cent lyrics up on the blog? I decided to pass on the 'and we don't give a fuck 'cause it's your birthday' line, because that would have been gauche.

MJ turned 30 yesterday and had a celebratory bash over the weekend. I don't know if they were drinking Bacardi, I just know that that's what I would have been drinking.

Thanks to finnster and scootersmom for the tip on these pictures from the party from 944.com.

It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for Random Music by Not Jason. Remember -- if you enjoy the songs, please support the artists by purchasing their music. I'm trying out a new widget because I found out that it wasn't really clear that you could flip through the smaller widgets to find what you're looking for. Ya'll let me know how it works out for ya.

1. Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole
Trent Reznor, bitches. Yea-ah!

2. Scott Matthews - Sweet Scented Figure
From Scott's 2006 debut, Passing Stranger. Our friend, Tdouglas Woomble, showed us the videos for Dream Song and Elusive and I just had to have the CD because I loved Scott's voice. But I wasn't expecting him to bust out the sweet bluesy guitar like he does here. Noice.

3. Under the Influence of Giants - I Love You
Because it's not fair to expect Scissor Sisters to be solely responsible for all the funky disco poprock in the world. Except this one song isn't funky or disco-y or rock.

4. Tommy Tucker - Hi-Heel Sneakers
Two things: a) If you don't ever listen to older music like this, you're just robbing yourself and b) the picture on the Amazon widget for this song is srsly disturbing. WTF?

5. Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life (Road Version)
Jeff comes up all the time on my shuffles, but it's always been something we've played before so I skip it. This week I finally got lucky. From the Legacy Edition of Grace.

6. Elliott Smith - Thirteen
Bonus song, added for my sweet Lemony Snickers. I heart you, girlfriend.

This turned out to be a difficult quest today. I couldn't find any live videos of the Beatles performing Michelle so I went with a YouTube with clips. Covers by anyone you've ever heard of were few and far between, but everyone and his uncle have webcasted themselves playing this song in their bedroom. Or montaged a tribute to their favorite pet to this song. Apologies for the disappointingly sad collection today. If you know of another cover and can find it on YouTube, don't hesitate to send me an email and I'll add it to this post.

The Beatles:


Bela Fleck and the Flecktones:


Ben Harper:


Jason Castro:


Studio version. When I first heard this, I was really happy because Jason sounds wonderful on this. But then... oh my lord, what the hell is going on with the arrangement? It starts out as a quiet serenade and promises to be good, despite the weird time signature. Then with no warning the whole thing turns into a disco bossanova. THEN there's this random electric guitar solo. Just when you think it can't get worse, the violins stage a coup against the percussion and win! But on the positive, Jason sounds lovely.

You're right, McLovin. Flatty seems to be everywhere lately. Guess where he's going now? He's heading to Haiti to take supplies to the kids! (But not before going to the Jason Mraz concert on Sunday.)

Flatty went out to slake his nigh insatiable lust for live music this week and caught Justin Nozuka, Jay Nash and The Gabe Dixon Band in concert at The Roxy Theater in LA. Photos courtesy of Lovebugger, of whom I am extremely jealous, even though I just saw this show last week.


Flatty says "Remember, Justin. When you point a finger at me, there's three other fingers pointing at that wall behind you."



Here's a shot of one of our new favourite artists - Jay Nash - just being awesome. And I say that with the utmost sincerity and not because I'm hoping he'll do an iPod shuffle for us. Srsly.

Oh hey -- speaking of jealousy, Flatty's a little envious of the finger span Jay's getting on the neck of that guitar because Jay's span is huge and Flatty's is non-existent.



Jay, Bug and Flatty hugging it out after the show.



I think Flatty was overcome by the epic win of it all by this point, hence the lack of Gabe Dixon Band photos but he was overheard shouting "GDB FTMFW!!" throughout their set. Geeze, Flatty. Watch your mouth.

These guys are still touring for a few more days so if you get the chance to see them live -- GO!

Tonight! @ Martini Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ
19 Oct 2008 @ The Glass House in Pomona CA
20 Oct 2008 @ Sainte Rocke in Hemosa Beach, CA
21 Oct 2008 @ Great American Music Hall in San Francisco CA

Here's the latest news from Amber at GLOW:

Our school bus should be packed and ready for the trip to Florida by next week. We are so thrilled to be taking wonderful and essential things to Haiti. Phil purchased 50 bio sand water filters which will be assembled on site. Also included are a wonderful gift from our friends at Castrocopia for our new preschool in LaKoline, and some handmade quilts from Borculo CRC and Baker Colony. Yesterday we were given a donation of 50,000 meals or 7,000 lbs of dry food packets for distribution to needy areas. These are made of dry rice, soy protein, and dehydrated vegetables.

Our hope is to send many more of these packets in the future. All we have to do is raise the funding and ship this food on a regular basis. If you'd like to be a part of sending relief supplies to Haiti with this shipment there is still time to help. We would like to purchase tools for rebuilding roads and homes and will also buy supplies in Haiti as funding is available. If you would like to donate toward this cause, you may click on this link and designate your donation for Hurricane Relief.

Thank you very much for your interest in Haiti and its beautiful people.

You can contact either Amber or Phil on the forum. Amber posts as queenofzeeland and Phil is zbztster. If you have items you think they could use, please hurry and let them know. Donations are ALWAYS helpful and if you add LKL to the contact line on the donation form on their site, they will know you are supporting LaKoline.

Our guest shuffle today is none other than the fun, infectiously fan-tastic, blogger extraordinaire ... Rickey of rickey.org fame. We're thankful to Rickey for the hard work he does keeping everyone up to date year-round. And who hasn't zipped over there on Tuesday night during the AI season to snag the first mp3s of their favorite performances.

Rickey - YOU rock.

He doesn't know this, but I met him once outside Regis and Kelly waiting to see Elliott Yamin and he was the friendliest, most vivacious person I've ever encountered. And I should add that Rickey has been a great friend to the Castros and even to Castrocopia - I think he has a bit of a crush on our Emily (and who doesn't).

Thank you, Rickey, for contributing this list.

I give you ... Rickey's IPod Shuffle:




Love Me Tender - David Archuleta (American Idol Studio Version)
Wow, this was the first song, how... appropriate.

I'm Not That Girl - Idina Menzel (Wicked)
I love Wicked!

Illiterate City (Jacskon 5 vs. Guns N' Roses) - Davide & Kreate (Best of Bootie 2007)
This is a mashup of Paradise City and ABC

And Then There Were None (Live) - John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening Live from Soho)
I watched 'Spring Awakening' a few weeks ago and I absolutely loved it. Go see if you are in New York.

It Won't Be Long Now - Original Cast (In the Heights)
The David Archuleta fans recently gave me a pair of tickets to watch 'In the Heights' this December. *excited*

Shop Around - David Archuleta (Live)
Recorded this myself from the TV broadcast because Rickey.org is the "fastest on the planet". This was "fun" David Archuleta before someone advised him to go adult contemporary and all of a sudden became serious (and stressed).

Alabanza - Original Cast (In the Heights)
I need to get more music so the shuffle is more random! Or iTunes really wants me to watch this show.

When You Believe - Leon Jackson (Karaoke Version)
Bought some background music for the drunk Rickey TV karaoke sessions.

Without You - Carly Smithson (American Idol Studio Version)
I love Carly!

Fragile - Jason Castro (American Idol Studio Version)
Whew. My iTunes showing some Jason Castro love for Castrocopia!

So I've noticed that my blog alerts have dried up and it seems like nothing's happening since the tour ended and we wait. It feels like we're going into an information recession... and when will we hit bottom(!).

Well the fact is that we don't have something to report every day, but we are lucky to get occasional vlogs and blogs from Jason. And the quiet we're experiencing is not an indication that Jason is sitting idle. You know he's working hard. If we have nothing now, it's so we will have a concert and a CD sooner than later. But still, I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing my Tuesday blog on the top of the page on a Thursday.

So for lack of news in the outer world, I'm going to do some navel-gazing and see what's going on at home in our little forum. What funny or interesting quotes have been uttered this week? (Hollah if you get recognized!)

In the Third Thread for Jason, we were discussing alternate Neil Diamond songs we wished Jason had chosen in place of September Morn (survey says, it's the least re-played performance of our posters). HappilyHopeless had this to say to McLovin's suggestion that Jason perform Solitary Man à la Chris Isaak:

Ditto for wanting Solitary Man. If AI could do it like Hallelujah, with a dark, FUCKING QUIET stage instead of screaming, clapping idiots, it would have been a show stopper. The presentation/audience sucked a lot of the awesome out of If I Fell, so I'm afraid they would have done the same thing with Solitary Man. (and geez, can Chris Isaak get any more sex into a video without actually getting an R rating? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Innuendo is our friend.)

Then the thread somehow promptly derailed into a discussion of Neil..... Young. Go figure.

Over in the LOLZ thread, Writer is still entertaining us with her serial lolz. Here's one panel from the latest hilarious creation:



In our GLOW thread, the last push is being made to get the show on the road and take all the items YOU all donated down to Haiti on that bus.

Amber writes:

I am off to the bus to get her loaded up today. Phil purchased 50 large water filters and will have 7000lbs of food available in Detroit Monday. He is talking to the person responsible to find out what the cost will be. I will be packing your goodies into storage totes for the trip today, and have the job of listing everything on to bills of lading.

Amber and Phil are fully made of win. Hopefully, they'll soon send us pictures of the children with their reaction to this unexpected wealth of awesome.

In Random Acts of Music, reviews are coming in from Aimster and Lovebugger from their Justin Nozuka concert last night:

Justin Nozuka was A-MAY-ZING!! Squeee...he is the shit live...damn he just oozes passion from his bones.

They're promising video and photos. So if you love Justin N, you might want to see what they've got. They tell us Flat Jason was there too!

In the Boy's Thread, Dan is keeping us up to date with his efforts to get Jason's name out:

I have over 50 brand new Jason fans in my immediate circle. I am still working though...That's not enough...

Good work, Dan. It's been fun having more guys around, but we would love more of you to stop in and chat with us. Don't let our sapphic love fest scare you, we're actually equal opportunity.

Well, that's enough for today. Hope you've enjoyed a peek inside the asylum.

Welcome to this week's edition of Songs that are Not Jason. You may be saying to yourself that this is becoming Shuffle-topia. Your point? As always, if you like the artists and haven't already done so, support them by checking them out and purchasing their music.


1. Feist, Gatekeeper
So I realize that McLovin already featured Feist on a shuffle but I'm keeping this cause it's a great song. Sometimes the right people make it in this business.

2. Sam Phillips, I Need Love
If you're not familiar with this artist, you might be wondering a) why does Sam Phillips sound like a woman and b) when did the mogul of Sun Records start recording. But no - this is a different Sam Phillips. In fact, her name is Leslie Ann Phillips. I bought the album Martinis and Bikinis back in the 90s ... and this is really the only song I listened to. It's a great song though. And for some reason I can't put my foot on, it makes me think of McLovin's signature.

3. Fleetwood Mac, Landslide
I have nothing to say here. If you don't know Fleetwood Mac, I'll assume you haven't been born yet.

4. Osmond Brothers, Utah
Ok. I will not apologize for this, even if it looks like I'm stalking McLovin here. I loved the Osmonds as a child. Maybe that's because it was the only band I was allowed to listen to, or maybe it's because they rule! (Yeah, it's the first option there.)

5. Cat Power, The Greatest
Aside from having the best stage name ever, Cat - aka Charlyn "Chan" Marshall - has a gorgeous voice, much like Feist up there, and some killer music. Plus the bitch sings with Beck on 2 tracks of his latest album. This is a stellar album.

Haïti
never free
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme
~ Arcade Fire



Remember a couple weeks ago when we posted that our friends, Phil and Amber Snyder at GLOW Ministries, were driving a bus down to Florida and shipping it to Haiti for use by their mission? And we were encouraging anyone who could do so to send school supplies and anything else they could use for the kids at the LaKoline pre-school?

Well, that turned out pretty well. They got a motherlode of supplies - including the antibiotics they were looking for and some of the cloth they need to make school uniforms for the kids - and they wanted to show you what you've done and thank everyone who contributed.




They'd planned to head out last week but need to do some repairs on the bus and have rescheduled for Oct. 19th........SO! If there's anyone out there with the inclination and the ability to help out a little more -- or help for the first time -- they are trying to purchase as many of these food packets as they can to load onto the bus to take with them. If you've got some items around the house that they can use, please contact Lemon or I and we will get the address to you, but if you've got some cash you can send them so that they can get all the food they possibly can, then by all means PLEASE visit their website and send them a donation.

Here's what Amber had to say about these food packets and why it's so urgent:

In regards to buying food for the bus, yes! Anyone who'd like to be a part of that is welcome to participate! This is a very cost effective method for us to take in emergency rations which can be carried home by any one who needs them since they are packaged to feed 6 per packet. They contain rice, dehydrated vegetables, and soy protein. Usually we buy food in 100lb bags, but that doesn't make it quite so easy to send rations home with children.

Part of the thing Phil has been saying is that the world is not REALLY hearing Haiti's calls for help. I watched the movie Titanic last week. Remember that part where the ladies in the lifeboat are hearing the cries but they don't go back for fear of being swamped? Then when the seamen go back, they realize they waited too long. We do not have time to wait for the governments to get their acts together to send food and supplies. As long as there are methods of getting things in to the country, now is the time to do what we can. If you feel to spread the word to others, that is the message we need to share.

So if our nine readers could each tell a friend who could tell a friend, that would be a great start in the right direction to getting these people what they need. But hurry! We've got less than a week to get this done.

Squee! The Beatles!! I remember this week clearly. It was the first week we put up a poll to ask what readers would like to hear Jason sing and I was psyched that the majority vote was for If I Fell* since that's my favorite early Beatles song. And then double squee! he chose that. Love.

*In my dreams apparently. I went back to look at the poll results and was surprised to realize that You've Got to Hide Your Love Away ended up winning with If I Fell at close second. Then we left the poll open and If I Fell... well it fell. Out. Of the results that is. Clearly, my memory is as poor as I usually claim that it is.

Here's The Beatles - dreamy aren't they?


I didn't expect to find many covers of this but was I wrong.... Click the Jump for the covers plus Jason's performance.

One of our long-time forum posters went missing about a month and a half ago. We were happy when she returned but saddened by the news that her disappearance was due to her beautiful seven year old daughter's recent illness, which was followed by a diagnosis of juvenile diabetes.

Despite having their lives so recently turned upside down by these events, she and her family are working to spread awareness of juvenile diabetes and have joined a team to walk in Hannah's honor in the JDRF Walk for the Cure in Columbia, SC, on October 26th. Anyone who's interested in sponsoring Hannah's team is encouraged to do so here.

JDRF holds walks across the nation throughout the year. If you're looking for something to do at a local level, take a peek at their official site to see how you can help in your own community.

Says Hannah's mom:

We are told that it is realistic to believe that a cure is forthcoming within the next 10 years! That is about the time that Hannah would be graduating from high school. We would love to send her off to college diabetes free!

Hooray for Hannah-tude!

We have another friend with the initials J.C. who agreed to shuffle his I-Pod and let the embarrassing chips fall where they may. Y'all remember MTV's Jim Cantiello from his Idol in 60 Seconds. I remember him from Newsical the Musical. Jim's work is always hilarious. Thanks for playing the shuffle with us Jim! (Remember, I'm your number one Fantiello!)

So without further ado... Take it away Jim!

Guest 2: Jim Cantiello

Prince - "It" (from "Sign O' the Times")
Everything that Andre 3000 got credit for on "The Love Below," Prince did decades earlier on this beyond brilliant double-LP. The orchestra hits on this particular track date the album just a little bit, but if you stripped 'em away, you'd be left with a deliciously dirty, fresh-sounding track. Obviously, the "It" that Prince is referring to is "sexing."

Beirut - "The Flying Club Cup" (from "The Flying Club Cup")
I really dug Beirut's debut album - that "Gulag Orkeidisksdieif" one I can never spell correctly - but was underwhelmed with Zach Condon's follow-up. I didn't buy the whole "each song represents a different city in France" shtick he was selling. I love the song "The Penalty," though. I wish that popped up instead.

Clinic - "Walking With Thee" (from "Walking With Thee")
Nice. This entire album gives me the creeps in the best possible way. Speaking of creepy, it's totally weird that two songs in a row are both titular tracks to their respective albums.

Guster - "Diane" (from "Keep it Together")
My wife went to Tufts University, which is where Guster formed, so I've heard and seen much more Guster than I've cared to. "Diane" is one of the few Guster songs I tolerate...until it gets to the lazy chorus. I wish their producer whipped them into shape in the studio and said, "Hey guys, the verses rule but the rest of it is garbage. Let's go back to the drawing board." I actually re-edited the song myself for a mix I once made and cut out the choruses entirely! How Mormon Video Store of me!

Sorry Guster fans (and Jumbos)!

Meat Loaf - "It's All Coming Back To Me Now (featuring Marion Raven)" (from "Bat Out of Hell III!!!!")
HAHAHAHA. I went to some "Bat Out Of Hell III" press conference thing for work last year. It was beyond ridiculous. It took place at Avalon, a club in NYC that used to be a church. The air conditioning wasn't working properly and it was July, so it was about 40,000 degrees inside. Matt Pinfield hosted it. Nikki Sixx showed up. Meat Loaf kept insisting that he and Jim Steinman didn't hate each other. And they played the Loaf's new song "The Monster Is Loose" on a loop for about 40 minutes straight. At the end of it, I scored a copy of "Bat Out of Hell III," and being a completist, I tossed it on my iPod. "Idol" fans might recall that Meat showed up to the Season Five finale to sing this song while panting all over Katharine McPhee (or, as I like to call her, Kat Out Of Hell). And yet, somehow, that performance was less embarrassing than this threequel to his classic album from the 70's.

Beck - "American Wasteland (Remix by Mickey P.)" (from the "Where It's At" Japanese single)
Oooh, this "Devil's Haircut" remix rules. Some dude named Mickey P. turned "Devil's Haircut" into a hardcore punk song. And it's surrounded by ambiance of a small club with a band saying stuff like "Can I get a little more guitar in the monitors?" and people in the audience screaming "You suck!" I wish all remixes were this fun.

Elvis Costello - "Little Triggers" (from "This Year's Model")
I'll admit it. Growing up a child of the 80's who watched way too much HBO, I was first exposed to Elvis Costello thanks to that one scene in "Just One Of The Guys" when that slutty friend says Joyce Hyser's "guy" character "dresses like Elvis Costello" and "looks like the karate kid." So now, no matter how much I obsess over Elvis Costello's awesome music, I can't help but think of Sherilyn Fenn and William Zabka.

Jim Cantiello - Hello All (demo 2) (from "Directing Rye soundtrack")
Back-story: years ago I went to NYU film school and made a senior thesis film called "Directing Rye." [There's a trailer here]. The flick's a father/son coming of age story that revolves around a Junior High School musical production of "The Catcher in the Rye." But the joke was that the English teacher who "adapted" the book had trouble rhyming Holden Caulfield's name with anything, so she changed the character to "Holden Hall." And this song, "Hello All," was the big opening number. Please forgive my frightening vocals here. This was merely a demo. Singing aside, I'm so friggin' proud of the "Catcher in the Rye" music I wrote for this. We ended up featuring about four songs in the film but me and a dude named Anthony Pollera wrote about six tracks total. I toy with the idea of finishing the "Rye" musical, just for laughs. Oh, and the amazing Eef Barzelay and his band(at the time), Clem Snide, donated a boatload of tracks for me to use as the film's score. Memories!

Matmos - "Lunar Module Timeshare Scam (w/ Sutekh & Safety Scissors)" (from "Live at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts")
Matmos is one of my favorite groups alive. (The duo is seriously my dream interview here at MTV. As Rachel Zoe would say, "I die.") They did wonders with Bjork on "Vespertine," made the sounds of surgery dance-able on "A Chance To Cut..." and might just top my "best of 2008" list with the vinyl edition of their latest LP, "Supreme Balloon." This particular song was taken from an art installation they did a few years back called "Work, Work, Work."

Kraftwerk - Electric Café (from "Electric Café")
Ewww. I loves me some Kraftwerk but this song is pretty hellacious. It's like they just put "Trans Europe Express" and "Computer Love" in a blender. Boo!! Although the mental image of Kraftwerk arguing about how to use a blender while wearing those light uniforms is priceless. "No Fritz, I sink we haff to push ze PUREE button." Final observation: another titular song on my playlist?! Eeek!

Justin Nozuka made his way into the land of David Archuleta last night when he appeared in concert at the Murray Theater in....that's right: Murray, Utah. My uniform for attending a general admission concert = whatever I'd planned on wearing anyway plus my steel-toed Doc Martins. Between those and some well-placed elbow-throwing, I was able to secure a primo spot up front to get this video of Justin performing an as-yet-untitled song that will probably appear on his next album -- which he said they were going to start recording next month.

You can hear a crystal clear live recording of this song on Alex Tanas' MySpace. (Alex is the drummer in Justin's band.)




Justin is Teh Awesome in concert. He's still touring for another week and a half-ish with a couple of really great opening acts: Jay Nash and The Gabe Dixon Band (see videos below), so if they're coming your way do yourself a favour and go.

Concert dates from Justin's official site:

OCT 10, 2008 Boise, ID – The Venue
OCT 11, 2008 Spokane, WA – Big Dipper
OCT 12, 2008 Seattle, WA – Nuemos
OCT 12, 2008 Seattle, WA – FYE In-Store
OCT 13, 2008 Portland, OR – Berbati's Pan
OCT 15, 2008 Los Angelas, CA – The Roxy
OCT 17, 2008 Phoenix, AZ – Martini Ranch
OCT 17, 2008 Pheonix, AZ – Hard Rock Cafe - Pinktober 08
OCT 19, 2008 Pomona, CA – The Glass House

There's an additional date listed on his MySpace: Oct 21 in San Francisco, but no venue is listed. (Both Jay Nash's and The Gabe Dixon Band's MySpaces say it's at the Great American Music Hall.)

Jay Nash - The Siren




Gabe Dixon Band - Is This Love



EDIT: Thanks to Lovebugger for this tip that Justin will also be appearing in Las Vegas on Oct. 18th as part of the 12th Annual Bite of Las Vegas.

HOUSE OF BLUES
MAIN STAGE SCHEDULE*
11:40 PM Stomp Out Loud
12:30 PM Justin Nozuka
1:45 PM MYSTERE by Cirque du Soleil
2:30 PM Lenka
3:45 PM Secondhand Serenade
5:15 PM Metro Station
7:00 PM Puddle Of Mudd
8:30pm Lifehouse

Thanks to Jane at her blog girlmomx3 for posting a blog today about Jason visiting her school and her Guitar Club for the 5th and 6th graders.

The kids almost died! There was no oxygen in the room, because they all sucked it up when he walked through the door! He sang parts of 4 songs--more than at the American Idol tour--thank you! answered their questions and signed autographs! Those kids were so excited! They got their guitars signed!

Thanks to Raya for the link!

Lemon and I have such a great time doing the iPod thing that we thought we'd recruit some guest shufflers every once in awhile to give us their lists, too. You know -- just to mix it up. We've got some fun stuff planned, so we hope it all pans out and we really hope you enjoy it. As always, if you enjoy the music please support the artists by purchasing their songs.

We've been super excited about getting this particular list so without any further ado, it is our very great pleasure to post the first of two lists of songs from our very first guest shuffler: Jason Castro

Thanks for the list, Jason!

Guest 1: Jason Castro

1.) Nino Bravo - Noelia

2.) Breaking Benjamin - The Diary of Jane

3.) Chris Tomlin - Famous One
Epic Fail Alert!: Jason's list had this song by David Crowder, but since we don't have it and couldn't find it we're playing this one.

4.) 36 Crazyfists - Destroy the Map

5.) Gary Jules - Falling Awake
Epic Fail Alert2!: This song is not available on Lala so I couldn't put it on this playlist.

6.) Joni Mitchell - The Priest

7.) Hellogoodbye - Oh, It Is Love

8.) Michael Jackson - Beat It

9.) As Cities Burn - Love, Jealous One, Love

10.) A Thorn for Every Heart - February

Plus other things of interest here. Look for the American Idol clip under the video player on the right of the page.

It's time for Random Music from Not Jason, featuring a two-fer and a bonus!
If you like the music, please support the artists by purchasing their songs. That way they can afford to make MORE music.


OneRepublic – Sleep
Pre-fame Radioheadesque BAMFness that – for whatever reason – was rejected in favour of a tepid remix that was offered as a downloadable bonus track on OneRepublic’s debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, a move which begs the question: “WHAT were you thinking, Ryan Tedder?”

Ryan Adams – Just Like a Whore
This 2000 bootleg recording from the Tractor Tavern in Seattle, Washington, features the sounds of Ryan lighting a cigarette, cursing like a Castrocopian and finishing a song he’d started writing earlier that day in the shower. Hot.

Joan as Police Woman – Furious
Ever wonder about the women Jeff Buckley wrote his songs for? Well here’s the inspiration behind Everybody Here Wants You: violinist / pianist Joan Wasser. She was actually on Lemon’s shuffle from last week. She used to be in Antony and the Johnsons -- that’s her playing violin on What Can I Do? This song is from her second solo album, To Survive, from June of this year.

Lauryn Hill – Ex-Factor
Speaking of artists that Lemon has previously iPodded, here’s another track from Lauryn’s phenomenal The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Srsly – if you don’t have this in your collection? What are YOU thinking? Go on now – go get it. We’ll wait.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals (featuring Norah Jones) – Dear John
Ryan’s got a hella lotta music in him. This track, for example, is from the second of three albums he released in 2005. Yep, that’s right. Three. In one year. He’s Mr. Prolific, that one.

With all that output, I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I hear something he’s done, like this weird shit he posted on the interwebs last year under some damn werewolf name I can’t even remember, and I wonder “What are you THINKING, Ryan Adams?” Then I hear something like this - which seems to be a woman singing about bitter loss, with her husband’s ghost echoing her every word – and the pain and the out of place clicking sounds and the dissonance at the beginning of the chorus all bend into a harmony that’s almost too beautiful to bear and I wonder ‘Why am I bitching about the werewolf?”

Faith No More – Epic
Bonus!

I went to the X96 Big Ass Show the weekend before last, which is this outdoor festival concert that the big alternative rock station here in Utah puts on every year at the end of the Summer. Ten bands, twenty bucks -- Noice! This year, we saw Trapt, Atreyu, Shiny Toy Guns, Local H, Jack’s Mannequin ….um…who else? Oh yeah - Ten Years, Hawthorne Heights, Mindless Self Indulgence.

Anyway, one of the bands, Ludo, did a cover of this song and it Kicked. Ass. I’ve had it on the brain for the last 10 days and that’s just not the kind of thing you should keep to yourself, so here’s the original gnar gnar. It’s it! What is it? You’re welcome.

EDIT: It's just come to my attention that "Epic" was dragging like....well, like my ass the day after a 10-band outdoor music festival hosted by an alternative rock station. The file has been fixed so if your ears aren't broken yet, try 'er again.

If you're hankering for a peek into the mind of the kind of guy who can get a full university scholarship in Petroleum Engineering, head on over to the forum on Jason's Official Site to see if you can find where Jason lets his technogeek freak flag fly. It was only three little words in the midst of a totally non-techno message, but engineer talk is compelling. Or maybe it's architect talk that's compelling. (thanks, rereader!)

Anyway, if you need a hint, it's in the Street Team board.
Also? Congrats, Dani! Squeee!!

*fantard and proud of it*

Subject: hey guys!

sooo this is my first time to have internet in like 2 weeks! unacceptable! haha but what can you doooo. i got home this morning, long drive with my family. this last week i was in la recording and i wrote another smash hit. haha so excited about the music! ill have a little something out before the end of the year for you guys so you can hear what ive been up to! oh ya, and tomorrow how about a date night? im open if you are ;) ah! its been so long! maybe ill save my updates for then.... but ive been working hard! as a matter of fact, i gotta head up to the studio now!

ciao ciao!

jasonnnn.

Have YOU covered this song? No? Well everyone else has. I did not include every single version because that would be beyond impossible and ridiculous. Here are some note-worthy versions, starting with the source. Be sure to click the Jump to view other versions plus Jason.

Leonard Cohen



John Cale



Jeff Buckley
Embedding is disabled on the video but I fully recommend watching it here. It's gorgeous.

Here's a stand in substitute:

Just a reminder.

Michael Orland, AI's Music Director and Piano player has gracioiusly offered to come back and chat with us again on Thursday, October 2nd at 6:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM Mountain / 8:00 PM Central / 9:00 PM Eastern. The chat will last for about an hour. Michael has been busy this summer both with next season's auditions and touring with some former idol contestants including Mojito (David Hernandez) and Constantine. We have gathered questions in the past but would love to add more to our pool so please come visit the forum if you want to submit a question. We're welcoming a wide range of questions, not just Jason specific.

Thanks again to Ms. Scarlett for making this possible and to Michael for being our very honoured guest.