[View the story "What Will the Maid Think?" on Storify]

p.s. – If you are going to contribute, and by all means I hope you do, two things:
1) Leave a $20 – Don’t fuck with the maid unless you are going to compensate them for the gag.
2) Tweet me that pic @radioestes

The Massive Attack & Burial remix project has been on my mind all week, strangely enough.  Burial‘s project is a two track remix project, however both tracks are fairly lengthy.  Check out Paradise Circus above and Four Walls below.

More about the project and preorder here:

The subject of prolonged rumour and intense speculation, Inhale Gold and The Vinyl Factory are proud to present Massive Attack’s long awaited collaboration with Burial, Four Walls / Paradise Circus. 

These new Burial mixes of previously unreleased Massive Attack track ‘Four Walls’ and Heligoland favourite ‘Paradise Circus’ are available exclusively as limited vinyl edition of only 1000 copies worldwide. 

Pressed on heavyweight 180g 12” vinyl housed in a stunning, hand numbered, gold glitter screen-printed sleeve designed by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja (3D), this edition has been crafted by The Vinyl Factory, and is sure to become a highly coveted collectors item.

As you’d expect from these two acts these are no ordinary remixes andBurial has completely rebuilt both tracks in his own unique style providing a masterclass in production.

At around 12 minutes each, both ‘Four Walls’ and ‘Paradise Circus’ have been given the time and space to evolve and develop going way beyond the scope of normal remixes, with the end result two highly original, in every sense of the word, pieces of music.

Vajra, how does it feel to be the best deejay in the world?  I’m not going to lie, when I heard the news that my dude Vajra had taken the 2011 World DMC title this year, I wasn’t surprised as much as I was completely proud.  Like, making me cry proud.  Those who know Vajra have witnessed his dedication to the craft and know that this title is very, very well deserved.

Check out his 2011 World DMC Competition set above and praise the turntable Jesus.

Nothing but love & huge congrats to the champ!

Nas – “Nasty” Music Video (NasirJones.com) from Nasir Jones on Vimeo.

Check out the video for the first single off of Nas‘s tenth album above. Is it just me or is the luxury back to the ‘hood music video plot a bit cliche?

Regardless, the video is shot beautifully and the accompanying soundtrack bangs.

Check out the list after the jump.

#5: WC

#4:  Freeway

#3: ?uestlove

#2:  Rick Ross

#1:  Rick Rubin

To me, producer Rick Rubin is one of the most important figures in music today.  He’s a busy guy, after all between founding Def Jam and currently acting as president of Columbia Records, Rick certainly doesn’t have time for petty things like personal grooming… and I love him for it.

Honorable non-hip hop Denver beard mentions: My dude Dom (The4thDoor).  He has a kick ass beard.  If the term “swag” wasn’t so overused, I’d totally use it here.  I mean.. Check him out.

Blue Mesa, Colorado 08.29.2011

Nothing says summer quite like the quintessential road trip and I was lucky to embark on one of epic proportions earlier this week (epic to me, at least — it was my first).  If I was given one word of advice (other than that cops in Utah are assholes and stay in the right lane, except to pass), it was to have a goddamn solid music selection for the trip.  I had actually planned out a bunch of music, but literally listened to six CDs for the duration of my 14+ hour drive.

Check out my Colorado -> California playlist after the jump.

Denver, CO to Montrose, CO

12pm – 6pm

Dj Amen – NeVEr TRuSt ROBoTs pT. 2

(download here)

Honestly, I pretty much listed to this mixtape like, six times in a row.  Amen is truly the king of making a really well blended and well thought out mix and NTR2 is no exception.  A few stand outs:  the Adele / Heatwave remix, and the Little Dragon / Tensnake remix.

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne

Watch the Throne album insert

I actually kind of like Watch the Throne, but only under the following conditions:

• The song with Beyonce must be skipped at all times, always.
• I can rap Kanye‘s opening verse to Gotta Have It as loudly as possible without being judged.
• I can go on a possible tangent about how dope it is that Pete Rock finally got to work with Jay-Z after all of these years.
• I don’t have to listen to some ass hat complaining about how Jay-Z / Kayne went soft / fell off / are awful artists / are mainstream / dress weird / are Illuminati / and so forth.

Montrose, CO to Las Vegas, NV

6am – 3pm

Kanye West - Graduation

Strangely enough, when I burned this CD, I noticed that the bonus tracks were all out of order, so I corrected this on the playlist before I burned the disc, HOWEVER, Mercury must be all fucked up because the tracks were laid out completely out of order.  It actually made the album better in a way… Crazy.  Love the Kid Sister remix still to this day.  This album carried me to sunrise.

DJ AM - Elton John Mixes 1 & 2 

(check out all of AM‘s mixtapes available for download here - I would have also rocked 3, 4, and 5 on the road but I ran out of CDs)

Elton John x David LaChapelle

The thing I really like about all five of AM‘s Elton John mixes is that they can be played together, out of order, in order, whatever — and they still make perfect sense.  A little hipster-y for some, perhaps, but a nice mix of a bit of indie and a bit of relaxed.  As the story goes, he actually made these mixes to drive around to for himself and released the download links a few months before his untimely death.

Las Vegas, NV to Los Angeles, CA

11am – 3pm

First, listen to the song above.  Granted, it’s an outro.  And, the folks who shine on this track are a little bit out of the ordinary — Bun B, Nas, Shyne (oookay), and Busta Rhymes, but it comes correct.  The rest of the album is rather subpar, but I have always enjoyed listening to Weezy in the car.  I’m not exactly sure why, but he seems to make the most sense there.

I think that we all knew it would happen sooner or later, but the fine city of Los Angeles will have a new resident in about twelve days — Yes, that’s right.  I’m finally making the move to Los Angeles from my hometown of Denver.

With that being said (and before I embark on what is turning in to being the longest road trip in the history of road trips), I’d like to personally invite every single one of you to celebrate the birthdays of my beautiful friends, The General (Whorebath Clothing) and FireLily (FireLily Concepts), and also my departure from the Mile High.  I want nothing more than to spend one of my last nights in Denver with you.

The legendary Pase Rock & Dj Big Styles will be behind the decks all night to provide is with the soundtrack for the evening.  If you’ve ever checked out one of the P4TP parties, you know it gets packed early and turns into the epitome of a dance party by midnight — I suggest that you get there early.

Get the tequila pinkies ready, lovers.  I will see you all on August 27th at Beauty Bar (608 East 13th Avenue || Denver, CO 80203).

Lots of love (and catch me at the ocean),
Rachel aka Miss Rachel aka founder and owner of PopularLemonade

PS – Special shout and and lots of forehead kisses to everyone in Colorado who has helped me become the woman that I am today.  I’m going to miss you all more than you know.

Check out the video for the Otis, the first single from Jay-Z & Kanye West‘s collaboration project, Watch the Throne.

Directed by Spike Jonze, the video is on some Mad Max shit.  Truly.

PS – If you want to see Kanye fall on his ass, check out the video below.

MyAss is mad convenient yo.

problem solved

Dropbox is free: Apple, PC, iOS, and Android platforms.

It’s no secret that all of us absolutely adore music.  In fact, it’s one of the bonds that has brought all of us together.

In the essence of summer concerts and music festivals, we wanted to share our very first concert experiences with you — from the shameful, the hilarious, and the awesome.

Don’t believe me?  Check out some of my favorite excerpts before the jump.

Enjoy!

– Rachel

I was addicted and as long as I had music to comfort me, my mom’s terrifying anger couldn’t break my spirits. – Alli Sands

What I’m trying to say is, “Fuck you, mom.” – @2509

Women scrambling for their purses and men lighting the pews on fire. – @radioestes

He’s the Michael Jackson of white people. – @2509

@radioestes

My first concert was Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Cherry Hills Community Church in 1989.  Ladysmith was fresh off their Paul Simon/ Graceland tour.  My folks took my sister and I to church in Cherry Hills, though we lived in the Harvard Gulch neighborhood [in Denver].  Probably a case of the come-upins.  Donating relief-aid to Africa had a certain cache in the late ’80s.  Kids there were starving.  Across America, there was a savage crack war going on in the cities.  Rich white-people in gated communities liked their black people tame and non-threatening.  Therefore, they pitied the prior and punished the latter.  I don’t remember much about the show but I remember being awestruck by the band. Ladysmith killed it.  A dozen black men in Cherry Hills would have typically created a riot.  Women scrambling for their purses and men lighting the pews on fire.  But those black men were Africans; Afrikaans actually.  They sang in faint whispers and wore dresses.  They were polite and courteous.  Their music was gentle and reserved.  I’ll bet the preacher still sweat a bit.  Probably sent his daughters home.

Alli Sands || @AlliHeartsMusic

Get ready to deduct one million cool points from my score because my first concert was the Family Values Tour 1999. In 8th grade, I was absolutely in love with Limp Bizkit and when my friend told me her older sister was taking her to see them at the Pepsi Center, I knew I had to go.

Twelve years later and I still vividly remember that night. All the girls dressed as the dancers from the “Nookie” music video. The overwhelming smell of weed. The rising anxiousness that was building up inside of me as I sat through Staind, Method Man & Redman, and a slew of other acts waiting to see Limp Bizkit take the stage. Finally, the lights went out and the opening chords of “Break Stuff” blared through the cavernous sports arena and before I knew it, the show was over and I had lost my voice entirely from screaming along as Fred Durst rapped each & every lyric. Leaving the Pepsi Center that night, I knew my world would never be the same.

I unlocked the front door to my mom’s house to find her waiting at the top of the stairs. As soon as I saw her standing at the top of the stairs, I knew that the pain in my neck and head from the excessive headbanging of the evening was nothing compared to the verbal beating I was about to receive. Being that it was after midnight on a school night, my mom’s Jewish neuroses went into overdrive around 10pm when she tried to reach me on her cell phone which she had let me borrow in case of an emergency. For those of you that don’t know the pleasure of having a Jewish mother, I’d like to inform you that when I say, “she tried to reach me on her cell phone,” I mean she had called her phone 48 times (literally) not to mention getting in touch with my father and stepmother, the Pepsi Center security office, and the Denver Police Department.

You better believe I was grounded but it didn’t matter. I was addicted and as long as I had music to comfort me, my mom’s terrifying anger couldn’t break my spirits. I had experienced live music for the first time and I made a promise to myself to pursue the feeling that overtook my body and mind the night of the Family Values Tour.

Rachel’s note: If you’d like to buy the Family Values Tour 1999 compilation CD, you can do so here — but none of us really recommend it.

Tim Davids || @2509

My first concert was the Denver stop of the Garth Brooks World Tour in July 1996, at McNichols Sports Arena with my mom. I think this is supposed to be embarrassing. It is not, and here is why:

Garth Brooks rules. If you ever decided to care about one mainstream-pop-watered-down-southern-rock-pretending-to-be-country-music-even-though-hank-williams-or-johnny-cash-never-fucking-sounded-like-that artist, it needs to be Garth Brooks. He’s the Michael Jackson of white people, down to the time he turned himself all pale and grew weird facial hair and pretended to be a whole different person in order to release an album with a little less twang in the guitars. RIP Chris Gaines.

Here is what I remember from the concert:

• The drummer was in a giant class cage contraption, which Garth Brooks would run up and down over during the show.
• Garth Brooks was chubby and he’d been on that tour for a while and with the amount of physical exercise he was doing every night he must’ve loved pizza and beer more than his unborn children. See also: Beth Ditto, who spends three hours a night jumping around like a cocaine addled monkey but is still a big (sexy) girl.
• I love everything more than my potential unborn children, which is why they’re still unborn (aborted).
• Garth Brooks crowdsurfing and stage diving and his hat staying on somehow.
• The entire stage lighting on fire and then Garth Brooks jumping through the fire.
• A thunderstorm happening on stage, including thunder, lightning, and rain, when Garth sang The Thunder Rolls. So far he’s harnessed the power of three of Earth’s elements – Water, Fire, and Heart.
• Garth Brooks grabbing onto a swing with his bare hands which immediately catapulted out over the entire crowd across the arena before returning him to the stage. I saw KISS on their first farewell tour and Paul Stanley swings over the crowd to a small stage they have set up in the middle of the floor, but he steps into it and straps himself in and it takes like 45 minutes while Gene Simmons grows wings and spews blood to distract us. Brooks just grabs a small slippery bar and jumps while an engine ratches his swing up to 30 mph.
• It’s pry not that surprising that FriendsinLowPlaces is kind of a badass and the StarChild is kind of a pussy.
• I got a really really gay t-shirt. I don’t mean that in the frat boy way, where gay means lame, I mean it in the gay way, where gay means men touching each other’s genitalia. At the end of the show, the only size they had left was an XL. I’ve always been fat, but I was 10 years old.

I wanted a Garth Brooks shirt, and I got a sundress. I wore it with pride, as often as possible, until I fell and fucked up my knee one day playing basketball (I probably tripped over my giant shirt) with my other fat 11 year old Mexican friends and thus used it to blot the absurd anemic bleeding that threatened to end my existence before I could touch a girl’s boobs.

By the way, when I was a kid I was absurdly obsessed with Michael Jackson, probably ’cause I thought if we ever met he’d love me the way the local priest did. He came to Denver with the Dangerous tour and my mom decided not to tell me because I was “too young for all the stimuli.” That could’ve been my first concert.

What I’m trying to say is, “Fuck you, mom.”

Rachel || @popularlemonade

Alright.  I really don’t like to admit this and it takes away any street cred I may or may not have earned over the past 29 (ouch) years.  My first concert was the Under My Spell Tour in 1992 and I was ten years old.  I could have sworn that I was in second grade, but Google is telling me that I was in third.  Or maybe fourth.  But I digress.

I had already missed Michael Jackson‘s BAD tour, to my parents’ ultimate failure.  They wouldn’t let me go because I was like, four.  So whatever.

They ended up taking me to see Paula Abdul and Color Me Badd at what is now the Comfort Dental Amphitheater (formerly known by its much less corporate name, Fiddler’s Green).  I don’t really think that either of my parents knew much about either act, outside of the fact that I really fucking loved Paula Abdul.  I don’t think I had ever been so excited for anything in my entire life.

I thought I was going to meet Paula.  I thought that was what happened at concerts.  I had every single video on VHS and my bedroom walls were plastered with her photos.  It’s almost comical to think about now — I still remember her fucking birthday.  Thanks for that, childhood – hopefully I can use this extensive Paula Abdul knowledge for a future trivia game revolving celebrity rehabilitations.

The concert itself was pretty awesome, minus the awkward nature of hearing a bunch of guys sing, oOoOOo I wanna sex you up! while sitting next to your father.  Paula absolutely killed it and my parents bought me a tour book before we left for the evening.  I remember trying to remember every single moment that evening.  Her choreography was stellar and I remember standing on my seat, trying to see over adult ass heads, and singing along.

I was mesmerized. It was just like listening to all of her tapes.  I remember being so geeked when Paula‘s oh-so-famous costumed wolf-dog-lover thing came out and rocked Opposites Attract with her… and somehow, the Internet has footage of this exact thing.  Thank you, Internet!

Oh Paula.