Director Ross Harris Presents: The Lions & Black Shakespeare's Long-delayed Soul Riot Single, "The Magnificent Dance" (The Clash Riddim)

"We have filmed a new video for our cover of The Clash's "Magnificent Dance" with director Ross Harris. It is currently in England being animated and should air sometime in the next month or so," Lion-master Dan Ubick wrote in an emailed conversation about a month ago. "I am excited, as we've attempted a couple videos for other songs, and they didn't pan out. Even Ross' rough cut looks amazing because he brought great energy, ideas, and professionalism to the set. Super psyched to see how [our] tribute to Joe Strummer & The Clash turns out," Ubick enthusiastically continued. The Lions let loose their Stones Throw-pressed second album, Soul Riot back in February and it quickly became one of my favorite albums of 2015 right alongside MR. WONDERFUL, Detroit's Son, Uptown Special, and recent addition Yours, Dreamily. Not too far off from their first album, This Generation, Soul Riot is a well-executed R&B-leaning, horn-accented multi-genred tribute to Reggae's founding fathers, yet a welcomed addition to the genre's burgeoning "4th Wave" tier. Not only as a music writer, but as a tried-and-true Lions fan, I'm overjoyed to see that Soul Riot is finally getting the proper media push it's deserved all along because it really is a fun-loving Reggae album that the masses (young and old) really need to hear. I can vividly remember spotting a "Making movies with The Lions" post uploaded to Stones Throw's label Instagram page back in mid-August, while I was at my Uncle Bob's dentist office, seemingly one of the days Ross Harris, Dan Ubick, Black Shakespeare, and The Lions players were filming "Magnificent Dance" on-location in downtown LA.

Resident Stones Throw-affiliated director Ross Harris' opening shot for "The Magnificent Dance" starts with Lions emcee Black Shakespeare chanting, "DON'T YA EVER STOP... LONG ENOUGH ENOUGH TO START... TAKE YOUR CAR... OUTTA THAT GEAR" down in a dimly-lit alleyway, a powerful scene which is suddenly interrupted by Betty Rox's gyrating dance crew. Harris' raw black-and-white video footage was sent overseas to artists Ruff Mercy & Patch D. Keyes who overlaid simple scribbled accents throughout "Magnificent Dance;" including split-second cartoon-worthy motion lines, sonic bursts, flashing tunnel arrows, nearly step-by-step dance moves, ALL CAPS lyric fragments, geometric shapes, winking and quickly disappearing eyes, and maybe best of all, a dance battle-inflected "R.I.P." tombstone. Ross Harris and The Lions recruited Jamacian-born dancer Betty Rox to choreograph an uptempo dance routine befitting "The Magnificent Dance," which additionally features the slick dance moves of Kaleila J, Ivy Morrison, Giulia Mancini, Victoria Olopherne, DHQ Moiika, Tango Leadaz, Jason Facey, Stunna, Lorenzo Hanna, and Lyndon LBoogie. "WHAT HAVE WE GOT? MAAAAAAAG-NIFICENCE," mysterious YouTube user Ben Velez proclaimed, as he unintentionally debuted The Lions' then-unreleased "The Magnificent Seven" cover on his channel way back in November 2013. "It's very rare that musicians can approach a truly iconic song and cover it properly. It's like Icarus, flying too close to the sun only to get his wings destroyed... It stinks of [Dillinger's] "Cocaine In My Brian" and [Singing Melody's "Money Love"] and everything in between," Velez wrote in his fitting description.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

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