Shock Mountain

Eugene Mirman released his second album on Sub-Pop earlier this month. I had a hard time finding the album when it initially came out, but someone on At Ease was nice enough to point me in the right direction. The Russian-born and New York raised comic has greatly improved his craft since his list release. If you’ve seen anything he’s ever done, you’ve probably stopped reading by now and are already downloading this. Enjoy!

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- James

Witty, political and outrageous, David Cross is among the best of the best.

The Pride Is Back (1999)

Shut Up, You Fucking Baby (2002)

It’s Not Funny (2004)

Bret and Jemaine will release their second full length album with Sub Pop on October 20th. The album contains songs heard on the second season of their now finished television show. Among the subjects discussed by the New Zealand folk-pop-comedy duo are sensitive rappers, Jemaine’s Sugalumps, missed romantic connections, overabundance’s of wiener in clubs, and cannibalistic castaways. Get it while it’s good because it’s sure to be taken down.

This album is scheduled to be released by Sup-Pop on October 20, 2009

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- James

Do you remember when The State was airing on MTV? I don’t because it was on when I was between the ages of 4 and 6, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t come to grow up with the comedy troupe. The creative minds behind Reno 911!, Stella, and Viva Variety all got their start together on this short lived but wildly funny show. They’re the super group that was a supergroup before they got famous on their own. Either they find that they can only prosper while working together, or they simply have such love and respect for one another that they couldn’t possibly imagine working with other people. After going through my Stella phase I found out about the show and tried to find a torrent of it, but I had a hard time finding one that seemed worthy of downloading. I read online that MTV had set a release date of July 14th for the complete series on DVD along with additional unseen sketches, commentary, and their special which includes a performance by Sonic Youth. I felt inclined to search for episodes on the Itunes store and picked up the first season for just $9 and enjoyed watching it while procrastinating working on my Latin American History essay. Now, as many of you may already know, I am a twitter user and by chance follow Michael Ian Black. He made a tweet that read “Can’t vouch for quality (of the download or of album itself,) but The State’s 1995 unreleased album: http://tinyurl.com/qy8mpe“. Of course, I had to download it right away. The album certainly doesn’t disappoint either. Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter even debate whether it would be better to eat a bowl of french onion soup as opposed to a bowl of shit. Another great track is phone sex between an astronaut and ground control, but my favorite is by far “Bill” in which a principal, vice principal, and guidance counselor ruthlessly rip apart a bald high school student (this means you, Mike Fortunato) who isn’t bald at all. Probably the most relevant situational comedy track I have ever heard is “Better Seats” when two friends find themselves far away from the stage and sneak into very close seats only to be called out by the rock-stars on stage and embarrassed in front of thousands of people. Hopefully this can hold you off until the DVD set is released.

- James

Eugene Mrman is a funny man. This is his second Comedy album. In it he tells Ace Freely of KISS to not fuck his own daughter, on the first track. Well, that’s one way to open an album. He also discusses how everyone in the UK sounds like a pirate, how Sears will deliver a burning cat to your door instead of a washing machine then narrowly escape by diving into the sewer, and how men feel inclined to savagely rip the door off of a bathroom stall after taking a shit. I downloaded this last night and listened to it this morning on my way to school. People in the elevator stared at me while I stood there cracking up with my headphones on, but I didn’t particularly care. Hopefully it will make you laugh as well.

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- James

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Last Sunday, I was watching Adult Swim and I caught a glimpse of The Mighty Boosh. The episode was among one of the wackiest, wittiest, and overall charming things I have ever witnessed. The next day, I started to do my homework on the comedy collective and within one week I had downloaded every epidose of the tv show, this collection of radio broadcasts, and the dvd from their 2006 tour. Noel Fielding met co-creator Julian Barratt in the late 90’s at a comedy club and they soon put their efforts to use together. After a successful stage act, they continued onto radio as they were unable to get a tv deal at the time. The story centers around two zookeepers named Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir  (Fielding). Moon is the lovable loser; a of jazz-fusion enthusiast, but also an unaccomplished novelist, poet, actor, and photographer. Vince is the classic cool guy; charming, handsome, vain and stupid. They are perfect compliments of one another. Neither is as smart as they would like to believe, but together they make subtle observations on everyday life in the context of extremely surreal situations and do their best to survive. Along for the ride is the loud and outrageous Bob Fossil, who projects all of his psychological frustrations onto Howard in the form of utter disdain. At first, I didn’t get the point of Bob Fossil, but I have come to appreciate him as the best person on this show after listening to the radio program. He is inept to the point where it is unknown whether or not he is retarded, which along with his rash demeanor, allows for some of the best one liners imaginable. So sit back, bust a crimp, and enjoy the best thing out of the UK since Radiohead.

Purchase

- James

To all the fella’s out there with ladies to impress, it’s easy to do, just follow these steps:

1. Cut a hole in a box

2. Put your junk in that box

3. Make her open the box

We’re all familiar with the ever popular SNL Digital Shorts that are eaten up on the interwebs. The Lonely Island is the collaborate effort of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone. You may also be familiar with the movie Hot Rod. Whatever the case may be, I haven’t ever heard anyone say that these guys are particularly “not funny”, which should give you some indication of it’s worth. The music itself is a mix of hip hop and clever one liners. The parody is made by the ease they exude when re-creating pop songs that top the charts, with distinguished pop artists no less. Guesting on the album is Natalie Portman, Chris Parnell, Justin Timberlake, Jack Black, and T-Pain among others.

Yes, this album is as ridiculous and funny as it’s cover art is. Micahel Ian Black is one-third of the comedy trio Stella along with Michael Showalter and David Wain. He is probably most famous for his commentary on numerous VH1 shows that chronicle pop culture over the past decades ie. I Love the 80’s. Whereas most of the people on that show are quite boring and lame individuals who I assume will do nothing else with their careers except leech off of the tit of dumb Vh1 viewers, Michael is actually a talented and intelligent man. He attended school at NYU but dropped out to pursue a career in acting/comedy. In his debut comedy album, he confronts important issues: the lack of imagination/talent/intelligence/humor his children possess, bumper stickers, people thinking he is gay, and the bad PR that terrorists have.

Michael Showalter is one-third of the comedy trio Stalla along with Michael Ian Black (I Love The 80’s) and David Wain (Superjail). Along with David Wain, Michael co-wrote the cult comedy film We Hot American Summer. Michael graduated from Brown University and his comedy stylings are unique and well delivered. If you’re looking for a funny album with a comedian bitching out an audience member for sitting in the front row while holding a cat in a box, this album is for you.