Most of my friends know my fondness for break dancing, in particular, popping. I’m not very good, but I have my signature “robot arm spin” move, and can moonwalk/float moderately well. I also am one of those people that went to see “You Got Served” in the theater. Even with Viral videos of David “Elsewhere” being seen by millions of people, it’s still a relatively underground art form.

So when Robert Muraine (aka Mr. Fantastic) showed up on the TV Show “So You Think You Can Dance”, I was shocked. Not just at how creative and brilliant this kid is, but at the judges’ reactions as well. Somebody give this guy some money. Now.

Watch him totally kill it in the video audition…

I was the DJ at the recent Beer Tasting party for the “thefourtwo.com” crew (see previous article). Instead of just having music in the background I thought I would try to channel the feeling of a club where they play chic music videos in the background. Music videos just seem to add something to the ambiance, and give people something to look at in case they get board. Of course the party was a HUGE success and the music videos I spent hours on all but went unnoticed ;(

You can see my hand-picked youtube.com playlist of some really neat videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AE75024C9F5C3AEE

One of the videos is called Precious from Depeche Mode’s most recent album - Playing the Angel. I have to say when I stumbled across the video I was highly impressed. They’re a band that you don’t hear much from anymore, but Precious is a song that is modern but still rooted in the classic Depeche Mode of the 80’s.

After Precious I decided to find their new album and give it a listen. When I did I was absolutely shocked by two different things.

First, this album was NOT new. In fact it was released on October 17th 2005 - almost 3 years ago! How did I miss it? Was I under a rock? They even toured the U.S. to promote Playing the Angel.

Second, the album was really good! Dave Gahan’s voice is as clear and melodic as ever and unmistakably links this new album to “People are People” and “Enjoy the Silence” I remember growing up. The synthesized sound, that makes them who they are, has matured a lot over the last decade. In fact, on some of the songs I would compare them to harder electronic groups like NIN (which is ironic because when they got started they were living in the shadow of Depeche Mode).

If you get a chance I would highly recommend giving this wonderful new-er? new-ish? album by Depeche Mode a listen. Keep a look out for them in the near future as well - currently they are in the studio recording a new album and I promise not to miss that one.

Last Sunday night I went down to Naples, where they were having the Naples Music Festival. I met up with some friends outside the venue, and hung out for a bit there. After some loitering and a scotch & salad (separate items, mind you) at Blu Sushi, I met up with some other friends inside the venue, just in time to see the Gin Blossoms. They put on a great show, nothing too fancy, but everyone there seemed to have a good time.

Here’s some pictures, I’ll have some shaky videos up soon, as well.