Blog Posts by Robert of the Radish

Last year I posted a playlist of Hip-Hop Drinking Songs and wrote about the hip-hop community's love of, and ultimate rejection, of Cristal champagne due to perceived racist comments by the company's managing director, Frederic Rouzaud.

However, hip-hop's love of Hennessy cognac continues to this day. One of the most famous urban party staples, "Crunk Juice", is made by combining Hennessy and Red Bull energy drink. This playlist features a double-album's worth of hip-hop tracks that mention Hennessy somewhere in the lyrics.

From Wikipedia — Hennessy is a leading, and the oldest, manufacturer of cognac.

Hennessy currently sells about three million cases of cognac each year. Recent innovations include trying to broaden the appeal of the drink beyond its traditional base of older drinkers, by introducing new products such as "Pure White" and "Fine de Cognac" and marketing them accordingly. Cocktail recipes have also been popularized, such as (the previously mentioned) Crunk Juice, a

The automobile and the motorcycle have inspired a seemingly endless stream of songs in popular music. The "roadtrip playlist" is one that's popular even among "non-playlisting" types. When a long car trip is planned, it makes sense to create a mix tape that can keep you entertained on the drive.

I've been driving a lot lately. From North Carolina to North Eastern Pennsylvania to Providence, RI, to Cape Cod and back again. The traveling got me thinking about creating my own "ultimate roadtrip playlist" and inspired this list. I had a only a few requirements for selecting each song.

1. They had to be excellent songs to keep interest up and help the time pass
2. They had to be about the road, the automobile or driving in general
3. Mellow songs were allowed, but not too many in a row to prevent sleeping at the wheel

That's it. It took me quite some time to come up with the final list, but was worth the effort. The end result is over four hours of music that will make the time go by much

If you've been reading the Y! Music Playlist Blog for any amount of time, you're probably aware that I'm fascinated with songs about death.  Whether it's the fear of death, or suicide, or murder, or car accidents, it's a subject that's a powerful foundation for the songwriter.

Everyone ponders mortality, and a song can express what words alone cannot when it comes to the eternal repose. I can dig any genre of music you could throw at me, but at my core, I'm a child of the modern rock or "alternative rock" movement born of the 1980s. It's just what I happened to listen to during my impressionable years before my musical tastes expanded to present levels.

What better way to celebrate my alternative rock roots and fascination with "death songs" than to create an alternative rock death song playlist? Well, this is it, and the end result includes songs about death, songs inspired by death, or songs that use death as a metaphor. It contains 19 heavyweight alt rock bands like The Pixies,

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, Yahoo has created a dedicated Star Wars site, as well as a LAUNCHcast Star Wars radio station!

The first installment of the Star Wars universe hit the big screen over 30 years ago. At the time I was lucky enough to be in the single digit age group. A time when my young impressionable mind could be completely absorbed into the world created by George Lucas' Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Still to this day, no movie experience has left a bigger impact on me than that film did when I first saw it with my family 3 decades ago.

The special effects were truly groundbreaking (and breathtaking) for the era, but the film's stunning success was tied to much more than this. The music, the sound effects, and the timeless theme of good vs. evil all helped Star Wars transform into something much bigger than the sum of it's parts. And although we have had 5 more films since the original, none have had the same impact on me.

The franchise

This Hip-Hop Halloween playlist starts and ends with the act that embraces Halloween more than any other, Insane Clown Posse.

Horror-based rap music can be traced back as far as the mid 1980s when artists like Insane Poetry, Esham and Ganxsta Nip began to combine the dark side with hip-hop. The term "Horrorcore" was brought into the public view in the 1990s when acts like Gravediggaz, Insane Clown Posse and Flatlinerz gained wider acceptance. It has since expanded and merged with other genres. Horrorcore bands like Necro and Twiztid combine hip-hop, metal and horror themes into the latest incarnation of evil-tinged music to be labeled the "music of Satan".

In addition to the essential horrorcore, you'll find both old skool and new skool tracks by Ice Cube, Quasimoto, Brand Nubian, Public Enemy, Whodini, Buck 65, Madvillain, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Kool Moe Dee, Cypress Hill and The Geto Boys.

The Playlist:

1. Every Halloween - Insane Clown Posse

2. Do You Like Scary Movies?

If you prefer alternative rock, this may be the Halloween playlist for you. It includes 13 shuddersome modern rock tracks that span the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Subjects covered in the playlist include vampires, bats, bones, zombies, voodoo, serial killers, ghosts, devils and death. Just what Dr. Jekyll ordered for your All Hallows Eve celebration.

I'm a fan of alternative rock from back when you could only hear it on college radio. The genre has since split into numerous sub genres, and today has become what it initially set out to counter. I tried to ignore the current state of alternative rock (ie: Adult Alternative, Alt Metal) and have instead focused on tracks that I feel are worthy and diverse.

The first song, the vampire classic "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" by Concrete Blonde, sets the mood for this hour-long ghoulfest. Other artists include Ween, The B-52's, Talking Heads, INXS, The Cranberries, Alice in Chains, Oingo Boingo and more.

The Playlist:

1. Bloodletting (The

My obvious first choice for an Indie music Halloween playlist was "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" by the indie supergroup the North American Halloween Prevention Initiative.  The song was co-created by Islands and ex-Unicorns member Nicholas Diamonds, and was recorded using an ensemble that includes members of Arcade Fire, Rilo Kiley, Wolf Parade, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beck, Sonic Youth, Les Savy Fav, Buck 65, Peaches and more. Profits from the single go to UNICEF, so you should really consider buying it if you have not already. Unfortunately, the song is no longer available on subscription music services, but you can check out the quirky video on YouTube.

You might think that when putting together a Halloween playlist based on genre, indie music would be difficult. Well, it really wasn't. There's a lot more darkness under the surface of the sensitive indie artist than you would think. This Halloween compilation starts with the Sufjan Stevens track "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are

Our latest Halloween playlist  features 13 of the best classic rock songs to explore Halloween themes like magic, witchcraft, werewolves, Frankenstein, spiders, monsters and other spooky subjects.

These tracks will go great with beer and cigarettes, and they're good selections for a Halloween party if you're not sure what kind of music your guests are into. After all, classic rock is loved by the old and the young, the hip, and the hopeless. Many of the songs selected are certified AOR hits, but a couple are excellent deep tracks that you won't hear on your local classic rock radio station very often.

The playlist includes no-brainers by Warren Zevon, Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne and Santana, as well as overlooked picks by Rush, John Fogerty, Donovan, The Doors, The Who, The Rolling Stones and the Steve Miller Band.

The Playlist:

1. Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band

2. Werewolves Of London - Warren Zevon

3. Wicked Old Witch - John Fogerty

4. Black Magic