by SHANE SINNOTT

One of the toughest things about trying to be cool and finding out about new music is the ever-present burden of making your tastes unique, and the standard albatross around any hipster’s neck is the pitchforkmedia.com bookmark sitting atop their browser list. Turn tired into wired by going to Stylus Magazine instead (www.stylusmagazine.com). They have the same general mandate, but Stylus kicks Pitchfork’s ass with its “Stycasts”—40 or so weekly podcasts, from the always enjoyable Singles Jukebox to obscure weirdo stuff you’ve never heard of. You’re pretty much guaranteed to be exposed to something new that you like, if what you like falls vaguely under the indie/hip hop/noise umbrella. The best find this week were sessions Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded for Nashville Skyline. Only “Girl of the North Country” made the album, but the rest of the recordings are available here, courtesy of the Hype Machine (hype.non- standard.net/search/dylan%20cash/1/). Click on “listen,” not the blog post. They’re all duets of Cash or Dylan songs, mostly Cash’s, and Dylan uses his creepy country voice exclusively. A recent discovery for me is that there are people out there with such a disproportionately high level of interest in particular bands that they’ve taken to making their own music videos for them, entirely unsolicited. Check out this one, for Cannibal Ox’s “Ox Out the Cage”: youtube.com/watch?v=9ls6CvY3e_k. The video itself sucks, but the song is amazing, and I couldn’t find an MP3 for you. It’s the kind of hip hop that you’ll like even if you think you don’t like hip hop. n Rinse and repeat! ssinnott@gmail.com

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