Today's Feature Song = 'Breaker Breaker' by Peter, Bjorn, and John

Today's feature song is Breaker Breaker by Swedish indie-rock band Peter, Bjorn, and John. Peter, Bjorn, and John have been active on the rock-music scene since 1999, they are based out of Stockholm, Sweden, and consist of members Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriksson (drums, percussion and vocals). Breaker Breaker is a single that will appear on their latest album titled Gimme Some, which is set to be released in the USA on March 28th, 2011. Check out their website HERE for more band information.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Finale' by Funeral Party

Today's feature song is a littlet track called Finale, by American four-piece indie/alternative-rock band Funeral Party. Funeral Party have been active on the music scene since 2004, they originate out of Whittier, California USA, and consist of members Chad Elliott (vocals and keyboards), James Lawrence Torres (guitar), Kimo Kauhola (bass guitar), and Tim Madrid (drums). According to their Wikipedia page they decided to form the band after hanging out together in the local park, and they named the band after a song by The Cure. Finale is a single, and it was released in December of 2010. It also appears on their upcoming debut studio album titled The Golden Age of Knowing, which is set to be released in the USA on March 29, 2011. You can, however purchase the single on ITunes or Amazon at present. If you like what you've heard then head over to their band website HERE for more band info. Hoorah!

Mentionable Mashup of the Week = 'I Got More Than a Feeling' by MadMixMustang (MMM)

This week's mentionable mashup is I Got More Than a Feeling by VJ/mashup artist MadMixMustang (MMM). This mashup features the 1976 hit More Than a Feeling, by American rock-band Boston. It is mashed with the more contemporary 2009 #1 hit I Gotta Feeling, by American hip-hop/pop group the Black Eyed Peas. This is quite a mashup, and if you like what you hear then I recommend heading on over to MMM's website and have a listen to some of the other mash-ups residing there.

Feature Song of the Day = 'I Wrote the Book' by Beth Ditto

Today's feature song is I Wrote the Book, by American singer-songwriter Beth Ditto. Beth Ditto (Mary Beth Patterson) is based out of Portland, Oregon, USA (originally from Searcy, Arkansas, USA) and is most well known for her work with indie-rock group Gossip. I Wrote the Book comes off of her upcoming 2011 debut solo and self-titled EP. If you like what you hear be sure to check out her work with Gossip at their MySpace page HERE.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Whut!" by Dialectrix

Today's feature song is Whut!, by Australian hip-hop artist Dialectrix. Dialectrix (Ryan Leaf) comes from the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales Australia, and is currently signed with the Obese Records Label. Formerly he was a member of Down Under Beats Crew and Gully Platoon but has since gone solo and released 2 solo studio albums. Whut! comes off of his September 2010 release album titled Audio Projectile, which can now be on ITunes and Amazon. If you like what you hear then be sure to check out his MySpace page HERE.

Today's Feature Song = 'Through the Night' by Grum

Today's feature song is Through the Night, by UK electro-artist Grum. Grum (Graeme Shepard) has been active on the synth-electro music scene since 2007 and he originates out of Leeds, UK. Through the Night comes off of his May 2010 debut album titled Heartbeats, which I would highly recommend checking out if you are into the synth-electro scene and are fond of artists like Cut Copy, Van She, The Presets, Miami Horror, and Tesla Boy.  If you like what you hear be sure to visit his MySpace page HERE, and note that you can purchase this album now on ITunes or Amazon.

Today's Feature Song = 'End It Tonight' by Convaire

Today's feature song is End It Tonight, by Australian indie-electro-pop group Convaire. Convaire is a 4-piece band from Sydney, Australia which consists of John Towey (guitars), sisters Liz and Jane Slattery (keysboards) and Dan Talbot (bass guitar). End It Tonight can be found on their January 2011 release Hey Say Hey EP, and as a matter of fact they have the entire EP still available as a free and legal download HERE, so be sure to check it out, its free after all. Also, be sure to check out their Myspace page HERE, and for even more general band info be sure to head to their Unearthed Page HERE.

Today's Feature Song = 'Dancing With the DJ' by The Knocks

Today's Feature song is Dancing With the DJ by American electro-pop/dance duo The Knocks. The Knocks consists of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson, who are currently based out of NYC. Dancing With The DJ was released in November, 2010 on the EP of the same title (which contains this song plus a few other remixes) and it can currently be purchased on ITunes or Amazon. Also, be sure to check out their MySpace page HERE if you want to hear more from this artist.

Brief Review for BBC-Series 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979)' by John le Carré

TV Series (BBC series) = Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979)

Writer = John le Carré

3/5 Stars ***

This 7-part BBC series was based on the John Le Carré novel of the same name, and stars Alec Guinness as main character George Smiley. I have not read the novel itself, but this TV series is quite good. It has its slow areas  but it nevertheless keeps you thinking about all the details and of course all of the names of the players in this complicated game of double agents and internal politics. The main plot is focused around the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) and its highest branch termed 'The Circus.' To cut a long story short, there is a mole in this branch of a few top players leaking information to Moscow-central and George Smiley (Alec Guinness) finds himself in charge of the secret investigation . One of the interesting and revealing points of this story is how all of these high-powered members of 'The Circus' spend a good majority of their time and energy vying for position and playing political games with each other rather than actually doing effective intelligence work (sounds like the C.I.A.). If you are into spy stories then you should check this one out, but note there is not a lot of action in this series and its more about connecting the dots in lieu of all the political games.

February 2011 Global Astrological Forecast by Steve Judd

For individual signs and more head on over to: http://stevejudd.com/

Today's Feature Song = 'DO! DO! DO!' by Carte Blanche (ft. Kid Sister)

Today's feature song is DO! DO! DO! by French electronica DJ duo Carte Blanche (ft. Kid Sister). Carte Blanche is a collaboration between French DJ/producer DJ Mehdi and British DJ/musician Riton, and they join forces with Chicago-based rap-artist Kid Sister who provides the vocals. However, if you head over to Kid Sister's Facebook page HERE, you can still obtain a free and legal copy of her newest mixtape (in zip/mp3 format) titled Fool's Gold, which includes this track on it and was mixed by Nick CATCHDUBS. The other tracks on that mixtape are also worth checking out. You can also head over to DJ Mehdi's MySpace page HERE.

Feature Song of the Day = 'No Pleasin'' by BOOM! BAP! POW!

Today's feature song is No Pleasin' by Australian pop-roots-soul group BOOM! BAP! POW! BOOM! BAP! POW! have been active on the Australian music scene since 2009, thye originate out of Perth in Western Australia, and the band consists of members David Salvaire (drums), Paul Hines (guitar), Clint Bracknell (bass guitar), Novac Bull (vocals), and Dylan Hooper (saxophone). They have released a debut studio album (although this single is not on it) in May of 2009 titled You Got It So Bad for BOOM! BAP! POW!, which I have confirmed is currently available on ITunes and Amazon. This song appears to be a single release, and it is still available as a free and legal mp3 download on their Unearthed page along with a couple of other songs HERE. You can also check out their MySpace page HERE for more info on the band and their gigs and other such things.

A Brief Book-Series Review for 'The Belgariad' by David Eddings (1982-1984)

This brief book review is for the entire Belgariad series, which consists of 5-books written by author David Eddings, and which was published in its entirety between the years of 1982 and 1984. This includes the five books in order as follows: Pawn of Prophecy (1982), Queen of Sorcery (1983), Magician's Gambit (1983), Castle of Wizardry (1984), and Enchanter's End Game (1984). This series is my personal favorite fantasy-adventure-series of all time, bar-none! In my opinion the film-industry is crazy for not doing something with these books. While reading these books one gets the idea that they were written in a screenplay format, in that they could quite easily take every line and scene and quite easily transform it into a film or tv-series if some director/producer desired to do so (Peter Jackson, this one is calling to you!). The most amazing part about these books in my opinion are the human interactions which involve rich details of all the different cultures and lands, their rich histories and socio-cultural-economic nuances. You will leave this series feeling as if you knew each one of the characters intimately, which in my experience not many authors are able to do as well as David Eddings, in fact many sci-fi-fantasy-adventure authors seem to focus most of their attention and energy on producing a compelling or formulaic storyline. While the basic plot of the books may be similar to others there is a richness in the small details that makes them so compelling. To top it all off there is a lot of real-world style politics that goes in this epic series, and it is a great series for young readers to dig into as it will actually teach them something about human interactions, basic politics and economics, as well as the glory and terror of war. That may sound like I have really over-rated this series, but I tell you this, I have hardly just begun. Definitely check this series out, even if you are not into sci-fi or fantasy-adventure books, everyone has something to get out of these books. Also, before I go I would like to add that according to his Wikipedia Page David Edding's wife Leigh Eddings was actually an un-credited co-author on several of his earlier books (including the entire Belgariad and his companion series the Mallorean), and so I would just like to acknowledge her contribution to this series of books as well. For those of you who have read it I just stumbled across this video of someone's own animated-interpretations of settings in these books, and its always good to have a video on a vlog-post. Enjoy!