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'People like me with voices gotta step in,' rapper says of L.A.X. track.
By Shaheem Reid

The Game
Photo: MTV News

It's January 15, and Game is pursuing the American Dream with a vengeance. He's in the studio with DJ Toomp and a gang of homies and women, and he's working on his third album, L.A.X. The kid from Compton has filled his résumé with potent, poignant raps, shaking up the mixtape circuit and parlaying his skills into multiplatinum sales.

Because it's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, tributes to the civil-rights leader, who was assassinated four decades ago, are showing constantly on the television screen. Amid the celebrations comes a disgrace: a news report about a shooting on Los Angeles' Crenshaw Boulevard during a MLK Day parade. The Game looks around and sees that almost everything he's doing is contradictory to King's legendary "dream." There's blunt smoke in the air and all types of liquor, and the scenario has the Game a little unsettled. At the same time, he's inspired. After kicking everyone out, he places a call to Hi-Tek and gives him instructions for making a beat.

" 'Take me back to '65,' " he recalled instructing Tek. " 'Martin Luther King is getting dressed in the morning. Coretta Scott King is dusting his shoulders off. He's about to go out. The dude waiting in the car, I'm him. I don't know if I'm his homie; I'm just gonna drive him to where he's going, and I'm gonna talk to him.' Then he came with [the track]. When we heard that beat, we went nuts. I immediately wrote three verses."

The instrumental that Tek provided, for a song that would be called "Letter to the King," turned out to be as soulful as lunch after Sunday church service. He wanted to add to the record with a guest spot and thought of Common and Nas. Since Common was already on an L.A.X. track called "Angel," his good friend Nas was an easy choice. As it happened, Nas was right around the corner from the studio.

"I called Nas, he came through, knocked it out," Game said. "So many people tried to take that record off the album. This record is a hip-hop must. That record, 'Never Can Say Goodbye' and 'Angel,' those are the meat and potatoes of what hip-hop is about."

Indeed, "Letter to the King" is one of the most provocative album cuts you'll hear this year. It is definitely a song you'll have to rewind a few times, especially Game's last verse.

"The word 'n---er'/ Is nothin' like 'n---a,' " Game rapped on Tuesday during a visit to MTV's New York offices. "Don't sound sh-- alike/ Like Game, like Jigga/ ... One is slang for 'my brotha'/ One is 'hang and take his picture/ The rope ain't tight enough/ He's still alive, go fix it/ Pour some gasoline on him/ Call his daughters black bitches/ Make him pick cotton/ While they mama cleanin' up the kitchen.' "

"When I first wrote it, man, that was ill," Game said. "I don't even believe I be writing sh-- like that sometimes. When I'm in the zone, man, I'm in the zone."

The record ends with Game weaving in references to Rihanna with civil-rights history and taking a jab at the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

"I need Rihanna's umbrella/ For Coretta Scott's teardrops/ When she got the phone call that/ The future just took a f---in' head shot/ I wonder why Jesse Jackson didn't catch him/ Before his body drop/ Would he give me the answer?/ Probably not."

Game explained his fiery words to us.

"Jesse Jackson, all the things he's done great for our people, you commend him for it. But the way he spoke about Obama, Jesse Jackson was wrong for what he did," the rapper said, referring to Jackson's videotaped comment that he wanted to "cut [Obama's] n--s off." "I wanted to expose a little of his dark side. Don't forget he had a baby out of wedlock awhile back. Everybody is imperfect. But when you do something like that, disrespect a situation that's affecting us all on an everyday basis, people like me with voices gotta step in.

"Jesse Jackson is always in pictures with Martin Luther King, and he's always talking about Martin Luther King in his speeches," Game continued. "On the day King got shot, he wasn't there. [Editor's note: Jackson was present at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated in April 1968, but he was not on the balcony with King when he was shot.] When I say, 'How come you couldn't catch your man's body when it dropped?,' it's because you couldn't if you wanted to. You was somewhere else. You claimed to be his man. Where were you that day?"

Game has some advice for Jackson on how to respond to his provocations. "I wasn't even born then, but I'm real knowledgeable," he said. "You can't get it over on me. I don't mind letting you slide until you do some crazy ish. Then I have to give you a bar or two. [Jackson] got one on 'My Life.' That was a little brash, Hurricane Game. Then he got one that was real Game, real conscious, real hip-hop, on 'Letter to the King.' But it was well-deserved. If I was him, I would take it on the chin and walk away."

• The Game

Arizona authorities have 15 days to extradite the rapper to face other drug charges.
By James Montgomery and Chris Harris

DMX (file)
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Despite dropping the F-bomb during his bond hearing on Tuesday, DMX may soon be allowed to leave the Florida jail where he's been held since his August 14 arrest and fly back to Arizona for his next trial.

On Wednesday, X (real name: Earl Simmons) pleaded guilty to his Florida charges of attempted purchase of cocaine and marijuana and was sentenced to time served and a $483 court fine, lawyer Bradford Cohen told MTV News. Had the case gone to trial, he could have faced six years in prison.

But because X's most recent arrest was for missing a pretrial hearing for an Arizona drug case, he will remain behind bars while Arizona authorities have 15 days to extradite DMX to their state, where he'll post bond and be released. If Arizona officials fail to pick him up within that time, he will be released, Cohen explained.

After Judge Lawrence Schwartz denied the rapper's request for bond on Tuesday, setting an October 3 court date for his case, the rapper curtly replied, "I ain't coming back on f---ing October 3."

While X was being led away, Schwartz scolded him. "Oh, that just ingratiated you to me — I've never heard the F-word before," he said, before turning to Cohen and saying, "You need to tell your client that I've heard the F-word before. ... He can send it to me anytime he wants to come in, if that's what makes him happy, but he certainly didn't help his stature any with what he mumbled as he left the podium."

It was just the latest bizarre court-related outburst from DMX. In June, he freestyled to reporters outside a Phoenix courtroom, after pleading not guilty to two felony theft charges. The rapper is currently facing a string of charges in both Florida and Arizona, including drug possession, animal cruelty, driving without a license and failure to appear in court.

• DMX

'This speech is important because the time is important,' Black Eyed Peas rapper says at the Democratic National Convention.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Will.I.Am and MTV's Sway Calloway
Photo: MTV News

Longtime Barack Obama supporter and Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.I.Am hit Denver for the Democratic National Convention to show his support for the presidential hopeful.

This isn't the first time Will.I.Am has publicly showed love for Obama — back in February he released a video endorsing the Illinois senator that featured Obama's January 8 New Hampshire primary-night address. The "Yes We Can" clip not only spread Obama's message but became a YouTube sensation.

Will.I.Am spoke passionately about remixing Obama's speech: "The words of his speeches inspired the song. I didn't write a lyric. The only thing I wrote was the melody," he said. "I could say, 'I support Barack Obama. I want him to be the president,' or I could do an immediate thing."

Will says the spirit of his connection with the senator lies in the song "Yes We Can." "I don't think Barack said, 'Yeah, I like Will.' I think it's the song — he embraced the song 'cause I captured the message," he explained. "I didn't put my opinion on it. I think Barack and the campaign embraced the song. It's beyond me."

Will.I.Am eagerly anticipates the delivery of Barack's speech on Thursday at the DNC and hopes that it will show everyone what he already knows: Barack is ready to run the country.

"This speech is important because the time is important," he said. "It's important, 'cause it's engaging the people who have supported him.

" ... There's people who are going to be skeptical," he added, "but with the momentum of the victory, that's going to propel us up the hill. It's beyond just black and white. It's American — and I'm just happy to be here."

And don't worry about missing out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30.

• Will.I.Am
• Black Eyed Peas

Fat Joe, Ghostface Killah, Jim Jones also make cameos at Game's concert.
By Shaheem Reid

The Game (file)
Photo: Ben Rose/ WireImage

Tuesday night was a busy night for hip-hop fans in NYC, with Young Jeezy and the Game going head to head with separate concerts. Fabolous, Lil' Kim and Maino joined Jeezy's Blender Theater show, but Game paraded a few of his own lyrically inclined friends down the way at Irving Plaza. Some were former enemies, and some were friends who turned into enemies but came back to friendship.

Game's first guest was a doozy: Joe Budden. Shortly after Game joined G-Unit, the two squared off lyrically for several months, and their disses toward each other were scathing. Their disses toward each other were scathing. Jump-Off Budden performed "Pump It Up" and his new underground classic "Who Killed Hip Hop."

Next were Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. Game at one point bowed in homage as Rae kicked a freestyle: "When my ni--as come down, they burning that crib down/ And you gettin' hit."

"Love you, ni--a," Rae told Game, and Ghost yelled out, "They set the stage on fire!"

Kool Herc stood on the sidelines among Game's Black Wall Street clan, who flooded the stage. The Compton MC called Herc out to the spotlight and bowed to him. The legendary DJ told Game that his favorite record was "Hate It or Love It."

"Always love, man," Herc said.

Fat Joe was the next to enter the big kids' playground with "Lean Back." They even let parts of jailed former Terror Squad member Remy Ma's verse play.

Game's putting on for the city didn't stop there. After Maino (busy night, huh?) held down the show with "Hi Hater," it was a reunion of booted G-Unit members who hadn't shared the stage in four years.

Young Buck arrived and immediately gave the star of the show an iced-out watch.

"I read on the Internet that you were broke," Game said to his pal.

"I'm a street n---a, we gets money for real," Buck responded.

Of course, the two had words for 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. (Who couldn't see that coming?) "Without me, they just a Unit," Buck rapped a cappella, implying that the clique was no longer gangsta.

Game took liberties with his own song "How We Do" soon after, bashing his former rap collective: "Took three years, kicked me and Buck out/ New York was like, ['Huh']?"

Later, Young Buck said he had no beef with Fat Joe.

Game gave the fans another taste of his L.A.X. LP with current single "My Life" and probable second single "Money," but he didn't perform his controversial track, "Letter to the King."

Jim Jones was the last surprise of the night. He and Game did a piece of "Certified Gangsta." Jim took control for portions of "Love Me No More" and "Byrdgang Money." The Harlem Dipset Capo then handed the mic back to his Cali friend. The night's main attraction sent the fans home with "Game's Pain."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports. And send your own concert pics, videos and reviews to MTV News You R Here!

• The Game
• Young Buck
• Ghostface Killah
• Jim Jones
• Fat Joe

First-time delegate Hector Balderas and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s son Conor both leave senator's address impressed.
By Gil Kaufman

Hillary Clinton speaks at the 2008 Democratic National Convention
Photo: Paul J. Richards/ AFP/ Getty Images

DENVER — It was the night the Democratic Party was looking forward to ... and dreading.

As some of the pledged delegates for New York Senator Hillary Clinton vocally expressed support for their candidate of choice during her prime-time speech Tuesday night (August 26) at the Democratic National Convention, others worried that the divisions between the Clinton camp and that of presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama could send a message of disunity at a time when the party was trying to put on its most unified face for the world.

"Whether you voted for me, or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," said Senator Clinton during her rousing speech, during which the floor of the convention center was a sea of signs that said either "Hillary" or "Obama" on one side and "Unity" on the other. "We are on the same team, and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future. And it's a fight we must win together.

"We were all very interested to see her reasons for supporting Barack Obama, and so I think it's very clear tonight that she was a strong messenger that we have to change our country and that it's OK, even though we supported Hillary Clinton in the past, to unite behind Barack Obama," said Hector Balderas, 34, an elected Clinton delegate who serves as the state auditor for New Mexico and is the youngest Hispanic statewide elected official in the country.

Speaking outside the Pepsi Center just after the Clinton address, Balderas was joined by Conor Kennedy, 14, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose family, like Balderas', faced some internal squabbling over which Democratic candidate they were going to back in this election.

"Even though I can't vote, I'm trying my best to support Obama and get the word out about how great he is and what an inspiration he's going to be," said the preternaturally on-message Kennedy, who was wearing a dark blue suit, red tie and Vans. "I've met a lot of women who switched from Hillary to McCain just because they were upset, so I think it's really, really important that she came here. It's a great thing. ... She had everyone on their feet clapping for her. It was an inspiring speech, and I think that it spoke to everyone."

After the bitterly contested primary, Clinton unequivocally threw her support behind Obama on Tuesday night, even if, as Balderas noted, there was a bit of a scramble and some grumbling among members of the delegation over which of the unity signs to take during the speech. Free of the bitterness that marked the campaign, Clinton called herself a "proud supporter of Barack Obama" during the 23-minute address and repeatedly stressed the importance of those who supported her lining up behind Obama to defeat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

"No way, no how, no McCain," she said.

Despite the obvious, intense emotion on the floor, Balderas said her message of unity definitely sunk in. "People were ... clinging to her every word in many ways," he said. "She put things in proper perspective. She clearly said that it wasn't about her, it was about the many Americans who are suffering, the many Americans who want change in this country, and so I think that we've left a better and more united party." As a first-time delegate, Balderas said he's learned this week that people may not necessarily set aside their preferences in terms of candidates, but that they will unite in an effort to "improve our country."

While it may not have healed all wounds, Balderas said Wednesday was likely going to be a new day, with a focus on McCain's and Obama's policies and the plan to beat the Republican candidate in November. "It will take us some time, but we will be a united party, and because of both leaders, we're going to be a stronger party and we'll feel that power in November."

Despite the split in his family, Kennedy said, from the start "we all knew we had two really great leaders here. Even when our family was divided, we were not the ones making fun of each other for that choice," he said, smiling. "As long as we're not voting McCain, I think we're all cool about that. We really got lucky with ... Hillary and Obama this year. ... It's great that they've come together."

According to a recent New York Times poll, as many as half of Clinton's delegates were onboard with Obama as the party's pick, but a portion of them, possibly more than 5 percent, were not planning to support Obama.

On Wednesday, Clinton plans to release all her delegates to the Obama campaign, officially ending her bid for the presidency, though CNN reported that just hours before the Clinton address, some supporters were still threatening to jump ship and possibly support McCain.

In the Pepsi Center on Tuesday, Clinton's backers were not shy about voicing their opinions on buttons, hats and T-shirts bearing the New York senator's name and likeness. During the speech, the hundreds of attendees who could not get onto the floor for the address huddled around monitors and cheered as loudly as the crowd inside did for the applause lines.

As late as Tuesday afternoon, it was still unclear what would happen during Wednesday's roll-call vote. According to reports, there was a tentative deal in place that would let some states cast their votes in the roll call before someone, possibly Clinton, cut the vote off and asked for Obama to be nominated by unanimous consent. Before the speech, Clinton had not publicly instructed her delegates on how to vote, and the uncomfortable behind-the-scenes dance put some Clinton backers who feel Obama has not shown the former first couple the proper respect on edge.

"It seems to be a little more of a problem than I anticipated," former Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler told The Associated Press on Tuesday before the speech. "All you need is 200 people in that crowd to boo and stuff like that, and it will be replayed 900 times. And that's not what you want out of this."

Don't miss out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30.

• The 2008 Democratic National Convention

AP - An upcoming concert by Paul McCartney has revived memories of the 1960s, when an Israeli official supposedly called off a Beatles concert for fear it would corrupt the nation's youth.

AP - The immigration department said Wednesday it was conducting a character assessment of Snoop Dogg, including his criminal history, as Australia considers whether to grant the rapper a visa for a concert tour later this year.

AP - Disappointed Neil Diamond fans will get a refund after attending a concert at Ohio State University in which the 67-year-old singer's voice sounded raspy.

AP - Moms push strollers through throngs of bare-chested, tattooed twenty-somethings. Dads in khakis dole out fruit drinks while guys sporting mohawks and ripped jeans sip beer. And the grade-schoolers cheer as loudly as the hard-core metalheads.

AP - It was only her first day as an "American Idol" judge, but already Kara DioGuardi seemed part of the dysfunctional family.

ARTIST: New Kids On The Block
TITLE: The Block
WEB DEBUT: Aug. 27, 2008
RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 2008

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: How do you transition a group that's known as a retro act into something relevant to the present day? Whoever was in charge of the comeback album for OG boy band New Kids On The Block decided to drag Joe, Jordan, Jonathan, Danny, and Donnie into the present day by stuffing The Block with as many signifiers of the mid-oughts as possible: T-Pain levels of Autotune; cameos by the Pussycat Dolls and Akon; Timbaland beats; lyrical references to Grey's Anatomy; libidinous songs about bottle service and homemade sex tapes. The end result, you may not be surprised to hear, is an album that sounds almost as awkwardly "of the now" as 1993's attempt to drop the "Kids" from their name, Face The Music. With songs like "Sexify My Love," which recalls both Flo Rida and the most generic radio R & B and "Full Service," a New Kids/New Edition collab that should be !!-worthy but instead forces every vocalist on the track through a pseudo-patois filter, The Block is constantly on the verge of turning itself inside-out and becoming a retro piece of its own, although the age it's recalling is one when Akon was all over the radio and Nicole Scherzinger had a chance at a solo career.

Sometimes, the Kids will dip into the memory banks of the ladies who, as screaming young things, filled malls in their honor: "I'm like Swayze," one of the Kids sings on the also-Akon-inspired, Autotune-heavy "Dirty Dancin'." Which should pull the heartstrings of many a 30something; after all, that movie taught a lot of middle school girls about eroticism (and illegal abortions) when it came out. But I can't wonder how many of the younger kids listening to this album are wondering, "oh, you mean like Cisco Adler's bestie?"

Idolator film-music critic Andy Beta places the videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin',": "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs" under his critical microscope: "Under such pressure, these blue-collar boys encounter their fairy godfathers, ZZ Top (who appear like a mirage in the Texas Panhandle landscape), via a set of magical car keys with the ZZ logo and 'The Eliminator' herself, a customized two-door, cherry-red 1933 Ford coupe. Attended by a triumvirate of hotties decked out in halter tops, fishnets, leather minis, studded belts, and red pumps, these modern-day Fates arrive just in time for the makeovers (seriously, in the intervening decades, how did no one at Spike TV conceive of Skank Eye for the Straight Guy?) and triumph." Andy, I hope you put a patent on Skank Eye For The Straight Guy right after you file your review, so the good people at Spike pay you the cash you deserve. [Village Voice / YouTube]

ARTIST: T.I. featuring Rihanna
TITLE: "Livin' My Life"
WEB DEBUT: Aug. 26, 2008

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: If making a song that forces Rihanna to sing a vocal hook based around the "may-ya-heee" melody from O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei" is T.I.'s revenge on the Internet for leaking tracks from Paper Trail before its release, I am now in love with him more than ever. And I can't wait to see the video for this track.

WHERE TO HEAR IT: Where else but YouTube:

And what the hell, just for comparison's sake:

Both Britney Spears' people and MTV's publicity department want you to know that, despite her appearance in ads for the awards show and the promise of a "surprise" that night, the maybe-rising-again pop star will not be performing on the Sept. 7 telecast, at least according to a statement her manager Larry Rudolph gave to Ryan Seacrest yesterday. Whether or not this is all part of a dis-dis-disinformation campaign crafted for the purpose of item-hungry entertainment reporters to have something to chew on in this cursed final week of August or the truth is anyone's guess at this point—maybe we're all supposed to analyze, Nixon tapes-style, the fact that Rudolph used the word "perform" instead of "appear" in his statement to Seacrest? [Reuters]

On Sunday, Jim DeRogatis penned an overview of the Jonas Brothers' rise to stardom that not only called the Disney-peddled pop trio "goobers," it claimed that the lyrics on "BB Good" "could just as well be dialog from a date rape as the prelude to an innocent teen make-out session" and said that the Nickelodeon boy band the Naked Brothers "beat [the JoBros] any day." You probably know what happened next: a 43-comment freakout and many, many e-mails, some of which DeRogatis was helpful enough to repost today.

First, I feel like this comment from "K" shouldn't go un-cut-and-pasted, if only because of the old-timey locution:

WTF! you only gave the jonas brothers 1.5 stars?! You little!!!!!!! I hate Chicago Times! That's why no one will ever read this crap because the Jonas Brothers deserve so much more. And NO sex DOES NOT SELL! It's purely dirty and not appropriate for teenagers/tweens. Besides, they wear purity rings because they believe in it. Not just so they can get attention. Honestly the Jonas Brothers aren't like that. Posing seductively in front of Rolling STone cover? They were simply posing. It wasn't seductive so get over it. MOFO!

I'm just sad this didn't throw a "rassa frassa" in there somewhere.

"Lizzie" writes in about DeRogatis' insensitivity to Nick Jonas' health issues:

I saw your article concerning your response to the new Jonas Brothers album: A Little Bit Longer. I strongly disagree with the negative things you said about them. But especially your comment about the song "A Little Bit Longer" being cheesy. Not only is that insulting to Nick's reflection of his struggle with diabetes, but that song was also #1 on iTunes for more than a week. Nick's passion and talent with songwriting really shines through on that song, and I don't think that this song (or the whole album) deserves any critisism.

Here's hoping she hasn't stumbled across any Rock Of Love writeups lately. After all, that show did well in the ratings, too!

Next up is "Meghan," who... well, we'll just let her take it from here:

Okay so I just read your article on The Jonas Brothers in the Chicago Sun-Times and I was deeply disgusted by you.

Saying that the Naked Brothers Band is better than The Jonas Brothers is like saying that Green Day is bigger than The Beatles. Are you kidding me?! How many albums did the Naked Brothers Band?sell? Oh wait, that's right.?Nobody even heard about?their CD. Are you even sane? You clearly have no clue what you are talking about so you should stick to talking about food because that's?CLEARLY your main focus in life.

Also, if you're going to put pictures of them in your article, you might want to actually get their names right. On page 6D you said it was Kevin, then Joe, then Nick.

Hello idiot, its Nick then Joe and then Kevin. Kevin is 5 years older than Nick, how can you not tell them apart?

Talking about them having their purity rings isn't new news. You need to obviously get yourself in 2008 and realize that every single article about them talks about their rings. Good?journalist?don't repeat other journalists' work.

And saying that their song "BB Good" is a "prelude from a date rape" is the stupidest thing i have ever heard in my life. They're singing about going on a date; not raping someone. Rape is nothing to joke around about, let alone compare?it to music by 3 boys?from Disney.?

\You honestly make me so repulsed at men, its ridiculous. Your opinions, articles and stupid sayings repulse me like nothing else.

I hope you enjoy getting fired from the Chicago Sun-Times because you disgrace their newspaper and make them look like a joke.

"Good journalists" also know that people who write captions... oh, forget it.

There was also a mother who signed off her very angry letter with "Too bad your mother didn't tell you, 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!'," which seems to miss its own point in such an amazing way that it's almost jaw-dropping. So let's sign off with the one measly letter of support recieved by DeRo, which was so nice, the blog post excerpted it twice:

i thought your article was VERY well written. They are great musicians and i think outstanding people, but, i have to agree with most everything you said. The rollin stone cover wasnt cute, it was downright scandaleous, well,, more like sexy.. And the lyrics are pretty bad in some of their songs.

JUST thought you should know! your artical was just that and ARTicle.

are u going to their concert in CHICAGO tonight?

Jim Hubbard

Well, I guess support's support, right? Even if it comes in slightly mangled text-message form.

Hell hath no fury like Jonas fans scorned [Jim DeRogatis]
Earlier: Jonas Brothers Fans Launch Intimidation Campaign Against Washington Post Critic

When it comes to reviews of the new Kings Of Leon track, there shall be none greater than commenter orton1227's, which read: "'Sex On Fire'??? Sounds like they wrote a song about their struggles with STDs." And when it comes to sounds, there shall be none sweeter than hearing Caleb scream just before the "YOUR SEX IS ON FIRE" line, all with orton1227 in mind. You should really maintain that superimposed misconstruction of the hook throughout the video. It makes the closeups of Caleb's confessional stares and painful writhing all the more special.

Portland songwriter Justin Ringle's evocative vocal twang and sharp lyricism are at the center of Horse Feathers' bedroom Americana. The band's second album House With No Home, which follows 2006's Words Are Dead, finds his vision and voice fleshed out again by multi-instrumentalist/composer Peter Broderick, this time with the addition of Broderick's cellist/vocalist sister Heather, aka Heatherwoods. House arrives 9/9 via Kill Rock Stars, but the heartbreaking final track "Father" debut in this week's Drop. We asked Ringle about the song's inspiration ("Well it is actually inspired by a very awful thing...), its narrative about a father and son's failures, and his opinion on lost grace. Read along while you take a listen.

In the same Drop we offered a chance to win a Gibson Epiphone G-400 electric guitar.

Longstanding Portland quartet the Dandy Warhols last stopped through to bring us "The World The People Together (Come On)" from their elliptical self-released sixth album ...Earth To The Dandy Warhols.... Building upon that title (and the fact that they had sci-fi writer Richard K. Morgan do their bio for the record), the Mike Bruce-directed video for "Mission Control" is broadcast via a television circa 1969 and finds the band decked in spacesuits and rocking out in zero gravity.

Anyone keeping up with Chad VanGaalen -- and everyone should be -- has seen his drawings at some point or another, gracing the covers to his albums, lending an air of animated surreality to videos by Guster and Chad VanGaalen. And once again, Chad does himself a solid -- a murderous and weird, colorfully ominous solid -- with the treatment for the vengeful and eerie strums of "Molten Light." The twisted fairy tale also serves as the second listen to his forthcoming Sub Pop release Soft Airplane, so key in on that. And also how easily you'll sing along to "I'll find you and I'll kill you."

It's difficult not to get cynical about the influx of nostalgia/money-driven reunion tours and reunion records, but if anyone's doing it gracefully and still feels vital and relevant in the process, it's My Bloody Valentine. When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I was lucky enough to catch MBV on their 1992 Loveless tour with (the also successfully reunited) Dinosaur Jr. -- judging from this multi-camera clip of them doing a lovely, smearing "To Here Knows When" before a frenetic backdrop at last month's Fuji Rock Festival, they haven't missed a step. Or aged.