Blog Posts by Robert of the Radish

The Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, TN has become one of the largest and most important concert events on the planet, and it unofficially kicks off the summer festival season. Bonnaroo started as a jam band based event, but has expanded to be one of the most diverse music celebrations around. Every music fan will find something they'll love here. So if you're willing to brave the crowds and the heat, don't miss it.

In preparation for Bonnaroo I'm putting together some playlists of artists performing at the festival this year. But instead of doing a giant list I've organized them by genre, this way you can check out those genres that appeal to you in one place.

For our first list I've pulled together 10 songs by 10 different hip-hop acts who are all currently on the list of performers for Bonnaroo 2012.

Check the official website for dates and times.

Bonnaroo Hip-Hop 2012

1. You Got Me - The Roots

2. Fix Up - Black Star

3. What's Your Fantasy - Ludacris

4. Donald Trump - Mac

Hopefully, your mind is open to the wide variety of musical styles to be found at Bonnaroo this year, but if your tastes are more streamlined you can still build a fantastic weekend schedule!

If you're a fan of country, bluegrass and roots music you'll have a bit more to choose from than the hip-hop fans, but not as much as alt/indie fans. This year's line-up includes festival circuit veterans like The Avett Brothers and Sam Bush who are well-known for their stellar live performances, but it also includes acts you really need to discover and see live. Trampled By Turtles is a personal favorite who will be playing this year. You'll also have an opportunity to see country music legend Kenny Rogers who is responsible for a myriad of timeless hits, and at age 73 your opportunity to see this legendary performer is growing short.

This playlist includes 14 country/Americana artists performing at Bonnaroo this year, which of these are on your "must see" list?

Check the official website for

My family and I take trips to the Blue Ridge mountains quite often, and when we do I always love to see the cotton fields we pass on the way. Especially, when they're at their peak. The region where I live was once a thriving textile area, with mills providing jobs for a majority of those who settled here. Today, most of those mills are gone, unable to compete with cheap labor in Asia. But our history with cotton will not disappear as quickly as the textile mills have, and the United States is still the world's leading exporter of cotton.

For this playlist I've selected 10 songs that pay homage cotton, so the next time you pull on a pair of jeans put this playlist on and think about where they came from.

Most likely, your jeans started as a cotton crop in America where is was harvested, packed and shipped to China, then turned into the jeans and shipped back where you picked them up at your local department store.

The average American spends two to three years of their life waiting in line. If you add in the time spent waiting for a phone call, a job offer,  your wife to get ready, etc. -- you're now talking about a hell of a long time spent waiting. Let's face it, waiting is no fun, but today we can be connected with mobile devices and actually get work done, or entertain ourselves. There are even new mobile apps that may make waiting in line a thing of the past. Just queue up virtually and arrive at the time specified, no physical presence necessary.

That day cannot come soon enough.

But in the meantime, ease the pain by listening to this kickin' playlist of songs about waiting.

This playlist features 31 songs that are the perfect addition to your iPod. You can listen the next time you find yourself with a delayed flight, at the DMV, or waiting in line at the Apple store.

What would you add?

I was listening to the new Keane album today titled Strangeland. And I must admit, it hasn't done anything for me yet, but one track reminded me of the softer side of Radiohead. The track is called "Black Rain" and the song title made me think of some other "black rain" songs.

Namely, "Black Sheets Of Rain" by Bob Mould and "Black Rain" by Ozzy Osbourne. This made me wonder what else was out there.

The term "black rain" paints images of something unpleasant. Rain is depressing enough, but if you dress it in the color black it has even more impact as a melancholy backdrop. Black rain was a term used by the Japanese to describe the nuclear fallout that fell after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. So it has its roots in something very negative for humanity. It's also sometimes used synonymously with "acid rain". And although acid rain is bad, I'll take it over black rain every day of the week.

This playlist includes ten songs that all use the term "black rain" in the song title.

What have I missed?

Joseph is a really popular name. It happens to be my brother's name, my middle name, and every year it can be found in a list of the most popular baby names for boys. Joe was the 7th most popular name in 2003, but has been in losing ground each year. In 2010, the name Joseph was the 20th most popular, which is still a respectable place to be, but not as popular as it once was.

The name "Joseph" is of Hebrew origin and means "God will increase".

When I think of famous Joes in music I think of Joe Strummer, Joe Cocker, Big Joe Turner and Joey Ramone, but the name also has been featured prominently in song.

For this playlist I looked for songs that use the nickname "Joe" in the song title. I did not include songs that use "Joeseph" or "Joey" in order to keep the list concise, but if you did want to include all forms of the name you could build yourself a very long list.

What would you add?

People are still trying to come to terms with the death of Adam Yauch, known as MCA in the highly influential rap act the Beastie Boys. It's always a tragedy when someone dies, but for a musician to die so young (47) and not due to self destructive acts is like a punch in the stomach from many. Adam was a Buddhist, husband, and father. Not the stereotype of a rock star you would expect to die young.

The Beastie Boys were not only highly influential, but critical components in bringing rap music to the masses. This is a band that was doing rap before most people even knew what it was. They never stopped, and their full body of work still holds up today. It's quite an accomplishment.

Cancer sucks ass.

The death of MCA had me thinking back to all those early rap songs that I discovered through a local college radio station. I remember clearly the first time I heard "Rhymin & Stealin". I was instantly pulled in, and I ran out to buy Licensed To Ill. I wore that album out.

This playlist includes a cover version of the Beasties' "Paul Revere" along with 9 other classic rap songs as redone by different artist.

Props to the pioneers.

If I had to pick a favorite cartoon show from my youth, I would have to say it was The Flintstones. I watched this the Hanna—Barbera produced show in syndicated reruns, but  The Flintstones originally ran on ABC from 1960 to 1966, which was well before I was born. But this prehistoric family, loosely based on The Honeymooners, continues to be popular today. It was so closely modeled after The Honeymooners that Jackie Gleason considered suing Hanna—Barbera at one point, but decided against it. After all, the backlash for being the guy who had the Flintstones pulled off the air could have been severe.

Many musicians grew up with the Flintstones, just as you and I have, so it makes sense that you can find references to this wacky stone age family in popular music.

For this playlist I've found 10 tracks that mention the Flintstones somewhere in the lyrics, or the song title.

What have I missed?