Let da Music Out

So almost every other blog I know and love makes some effort to clue you in to some good tunes, or at least to what's most recently been hooking the blogger. I really am trying to branch out a little in my music-listening, though none of that is really reflected in my first sidebar batch of iTunes links. Mary J. Blige's "Enough Cryin'" is my runaway favorite track from her souped-up and spectacular new album The Breakthrough. Props to findfinishfreedom for hooking me up with this LP on Day 1, before my dumb a** even figured out that I don't live anywhere near a record store anymore. (In fact, remind me again why I'm not at a dance party in Ithaca right now?)

Redman's "Let da Monkey Out" has been stuck in my head ever since the first scene of Syriana, where it underlines a swanky and druggy private party in Tehran. "I got so much game I could con Edison" is just a perfect rap lyric, especially if you've ever paid a utility bill in New York City, or you know someone who has. The Talking Heads and Macy Gray tracks are perennial faves that I've caught myself humming in the last few days. Belting out "BO DO DO DA" in Macy's distinctive, emphysemic register is a fun thing to do when shopping the grocery aisles, I tell you. Lastly, "Will I?" from Rent, so beautiful and sad, was one of many tunes from that show that I didn't know before I saw the film. It's been a fixture on my iTunes rotation ever since.