Random 10 for August 25, 2008

1. Kanye West feat. Adam Levine and Bernie Mac, “Heard ‘Em Say.” Featuring Bill Plympton animation is possibly the most extreme way for a mainstream hip-hop star to declare his independence. In typical MTV fashion — and this galls me since that network provided Plympton with his greatest forum, “Liquid Television” — the song was given short-shrift in rotation, possibly because of a recent ‘Ye rant, possibly because it was just too strange up against Akon’s then-latest Zapp ripoff. Bernie, R.I.P.

2. The Fratellis, “Henrietta.”

3. The Glands, “Breathe Out.”

4. Hot Chip, “One Pure Thought.” Made In the Dark featured considerably more dissonance than the previous two discs, but while I enjoyed “And I Was a Boy From School” and such, it was almost too club-mix-antiseptic. This, on the other hand begins with jangly guitars that sound lifted from the Black Kids album, then goes fully electro with another great pop melody from these odd ducks.

5. The Shins, “Black Wave.”

6. Ice Cube, “Steady Mobbin’.”

7. Paul Weller, “Song For Alice.”

8. Marvin Gaye, “I Want You.”

9. Public Enemy, “Night of the Living Baseheads.”

10. Gang of Four, “I Love a Man in Uniform.” Sharing the title (with Wire) of most important post-punk band of the late-70s and early ’80s, 1979′s Entertainment the template for early ’00s dance-punk. By 1982′s Songs of the Free, Jon King and Andy Gill were fully into the New Romantic phase, and while they looked and sounded a lot like most British pop at the time, their songs such as “Uniform” maintained a snide political message. As a bonus, some Yellow Magic Orchestra on the tail end of this clip.