The 11 Best Songs of 2011

I usually don't like doing Top song lists of the year (ironic...huh?) but I wanted to give everyone a last chance to get your votes in for the top album of the year.

Just list your favorite albums of 2011 in the comment section below.  Monday is the final day to vote.

Here are the 11 Best Songs of 2011:

1.  Midnight City - M83 (Hurry Up We're Dreaming)
2.  Holocene - Bon Iver (Bon Iver)
3.

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The 11 Best Songs By Skrillex

Back in the 90s...the last couple weeks before Christmas were always a mad dash to the CD shelves.  Bands would throw out "best of" collections...holiday collections...etc.  Now all that stuff comes out in November...sometimes you see Christmas stuff way back in October...right Zooey?  After Christmas, we'd be hit with a dry spell for a few weeks...but things have changed in the digital era.

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The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (1-11)

So here it is...my top 11.  My choices.  My opinion.  So, shut up.

SEND ME YOUR LISTS!  I'm still collecting your top 20 lists for a massive 111 Best albums of 2011.  It doesn't have to be 20...just all your favorites albums you can think of.

Here are the 11 Best Albums of 2011:



1.       Yuck
- Yuck (Holing Out)

2.       <

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The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (12-22)

No song was more infectious this year than Foster the People's Pumped up Kids.  What started as a catchy indie rock diddy took off and became an international hit rocketing up the Billboard charts and propelling rock album sales.  Most people still don't know the song is about a school shooting.  Maybe that why despite its popular success, it's still retained its indie cred.  Hopefully this

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The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (23-33)

It was the year of the reunion/comeback.  So many big artists came back together to put out one more album.  Maybe I'm just getting older and there are more bands under my belt who have the potential to reunite...but this honestly has to be the most reunions I can remember in awhile.  The strongest outing by far was by The Cars...and they seemed to have the most stacked against them.  Missing

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The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (34-44)

Just the other night, I informed a rather astute music person that the Book of Mormon was written by Matt & Trey from South Park.  Even after I told them, they still didn't believe me.  It took a web search on a cell phone to confirm my piece of incredulous information.  It wasn't that it was impossible to think that Matt & Trey had the musical chops to write a musical...it was insane to

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The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (45-55)

For the week I will count down my favorite albums of 2011.  Like a holiday advent calendar I will only give you a little taste of the good stuff one day at a time.  There's no denying that this year dubstep broke through to the mainstream like a ADD little boy hopped up on food coloring.  For those of us listening to Burial years ago, this was an overwhelming "duh" moment.  But for the rest

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Free Music Fridays (The Saturday Edition): The 11 Best Free Albums of the Year

It's that time of the year...the best of the year lists.  As every year...I ask for your help.  Starting next week, I'll reveal my favorites of the year.  But I want your help to make a master 111 Best Album of the year list.

Send me your favorite albums of the year.  Give me your top 20...if you can't think of the 20...then just 10, 5, or 1 is fine...whatever you liked.  I'll compile the list

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The 111 Best Songs By the Cure

Since I did this about a year and a half ago...I figured I would just re-post instead of re-thinking something new.  I have been listening to the Cure's Bestival album.  It's their new live album with an insanely good track list   Musically it sounds solid and Smith's voice sound stellar...although I'm sure it's just pro-tools track at this point (I'm trying not to think about it too much).

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The 11 Best Song By The Roots of the 90s

Recently, the Roots got in trouble for playing Fishbone's "Lying Ass Bitch" as the entrance song for Michelle Bachman when she appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show.  Was is it a dick move?  Sure.  Did she deserve it?  Probably not.  Was it kinda funny?  Fortunately so.

Politicians have no sense of humor.  Musicians have no sense of politics.  Musicians are successful at what they do because

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The Unknown: The Black Keys - Surrender & Grab

I have to discuss my epic trip to the mini-Record Store Day last weekend because I wanted to wait to talk about it for a band that had a stronger association with the day and the people.  Nothing against the Smashing Pumpkins...but the Black Keys are one of the few current bands who are still bonding with the record buying audience.

Black Friday was awesome.  I honestly think there were more

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The Unknown: Smashing Pumpkins - Adore Sessions

Adore came out when I was in college.  No other album in my collegiate career or for that foreseeable future caused more arguments than this album.  With Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins were the unstoppable force who had taken over rock music.  After they kicked out the best working drummer of the day, they turned their sound on its head and did the unthinkable...they rejected rock music and put

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The 11 Best Smashing Pumpkins B-Sides

Here's a little Smashing Pumpkins story for you.  It's not enough that we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of these two albums when their releases really only seem like they happened yesterday.  But I was trying to explain to a co-worker who the Smashing Pumpkins were.  I named songs...which didn't help.  I even tried to hum a few of the bars but I'm a terrible singer and probably did more

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The 11 Best Songs By Smashing Pumpkins (Post-Break-Up)

The post break-up years of the Pumpkins might as well be considered the dark years.  Billy has had to endure years of criticism for everything he put out.  Zeitgeist was criticized for sounding too much like the original Pumpkins (true story).  Teargarden was criticized for being given away for free.  I remember reading one review where the writer said that "A Song For A Son" was an

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The 11 Best Songs By The Smashing Pumpkins (Pre-Break-up)

Back in the 90s, Smashing Pumpkins were it.  Nirvana had faded since Nevermind and wouldn't perk up again until Kurt died.  Pearl Jam was big until No Code...then slipped away quickly.  But the Pumpkins kept going strong.  Through Mellon Collie in the late 90s, they were the biggest rock band out there.  Even when nu-metal rap-rock took over...the Pumpkins stayed relevant.  In hindsight, the

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The 11 Best Chris Cornell Solo Songs

It's the last few minutes of Thanksgiving.  I hope you're all full of turkey and are ready to hit the mall.

Stay tuned for my Black Friday experience.

Here are the 11 Best Solo Songs By Chris Cornell:

1.  You Know My Name (Carry On)
2.  Sunshower (Great Expectations)
3.  Can't Change Me (Euphoria Morning)
4.  Seasons (Singles)
5.  Billie Jean (Carry On)
6.  Killing Birds (Carry On)
7.  

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The 11 Best Black Friday Record Store Releases

Every April...us old dudes who still own record players crowd around record stores to pay a lot of money for limited edition colored vinyls with one extra track.  But Christmas has come early this year.  The wonderful folks at RSD have a new day for us...like a teaser trailer for spring's epic event.  Black Friday features a much smaller amount of releases but some exclusive and exciting ones

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The 11 Best Moby Remixes of the Past Decade

Why does everyone think that Tim Tebow is such a douche?

What has the guy done really except be an uber outspoken Christian?  Sure you could fault him for being outspoken.  Or a Christian...but is anything that he's saying really that awful...or just annoying?  The guy goes to foreign countries and builds houses for poor people.  How does that make him a douche?  He plays his own style of

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The Unknown: Tegan & Sara - The Pro

There's some sort of adverse reaction I have to live albums. Maybe it's years of buying them and expecting great things...only to listen to them one time and cringe at the thought of ever listening to them again.  The only live albums that I have ever really found have repeat listening potential are acoustic albums.  Mainly, this is because the songs sound much different than their original

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The 11 Best Songs By Sigur Ros

I don't know what it is about Sigur Ros songs but they are always disappearing off my computer.  It's the strangest thing.  I've bought all the CDs, so I'm merely burning them into my computer.  But for some reason, every couple months when I check in to give them a listen...the complete song files are just missing from the computer.  The actual folder is missing as if it has been deleted.  

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The 11 Best Remixes By Justice

There's really only one news story that taken over this week and that's the horrid appall of the Penn State football program.  It's a story so vile that it wouldn't even be believable in a horror film.  But real life is always stranger than fiction.  It's a story so disgusting you want to blame anyone and everyone involved in the situation.  And I believe that's what happening. What bothers

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The 11 Best Songs By Mutemath

I'm continuing on with my catch-up week with the very underrated Mutemath...

This has been a busy week with sex scandals.  Between Herman Cain's sexual comments, to Bieber's sexual exploits, to the sheer ugliness of Penn State.  I mean how lucky are both Cain and Bieber to have their sex scandals break at the same time as Penn State.  You hear what Cain and Justin did and your instant reaction

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The Unknown: Middle Brother - Live at the Paradise

With a slower music week, I decided to go back and hit a couple of releases from the past few weeks I may have missed.  First up is Deer Tick's new album out about two weeks ago.  When Middle Brother's new album came out a few weeks ago, I did a list for Deer Tick.  Now with a new Deer Tick album I figured it's only fair to do a Middle Brother post.  With only one album...can't do a best of...so

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The 11 Best Songs By Florence + the Machine

For an artist who only has one official album, Florence has been a busy artist over the past couple of years.  She has four special deluxe versions of her album, each with 4 to 12 bonus tracks.  She has three full length live concert albums, plus two concert DVDs and a remix album.  She has two live EPs and one regular EP.  Plus, she has a song on a Twilight soundtrack.  That's a more impressive

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The 111 Best Hair Metal Songs of All Time

Knowing this genre wasn't the most difficult part of making this list.  I know this music better than I know the names of the members of my family.  The difficult journey in making this list was figuring out what bands belonged.  There are some giants of the metal field that have been obviously excluded.  Metallica is too metal.  AC/DC was too hard rock.  Iron Maiden and Judas Priest didn't

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The 11 Best Songs By Lou Reed of the 70s

For fans of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music...his new collaboration album with metal giants, Metallica, might as well be its mainstream sequel.  Lulu seemed like a match made in Bosch's Garden of Delight, where the anticipation was far greater than the actual delivery. But we all knew it was going to be a Monster Truck demolition...we just weren't ready to admit it.  That said...is it that

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The Unknown: Coldplay - A&B

I was turned onto an article by the AV Club referring to something called the five-album test.  It's actually an old music cliche that was originally coined by Sting decades ago.  I guess some writer thought he could pass it off as his own, hoping his audience wouldn't know about or have forgotten a 30-year-old theory.  Basically the five-album test proves true greatness.  It basically poses the

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The Unknown: She & Him - Volume II and 1/2

Recently Zooey put up some videos of herself singing covers of Patsy Cline and other various traditional songs by herself to a webcam...although one featured a cameo by Parks & Rec's Jean Ralphio, check them out here and here.  How many singers could do this?  Could Lady Gaga in her undershirt, lack of make-up and a guest spot by a supporting cast from Community not only generate some viral buzz

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The 11 Best Songs By My Brightest Diamond

My Brightest Diamond fans always seem to look exactly the same.  They're usually all woman.  They're tall but not tall enough to play basketball.  Skinny.  They like wearing felt trench coats and scarfs even when it's still rather warm out.  They usually have black hair or black hair with a red streak down the side.  And they always wear that stupid little hat that is a cross between a beret and

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The 11 Best Songs By Puscifer

Someone sent me a review of the newest Jane's Addiction album from the Onion's AV club.  They slammed it.  They gave it an F.  Now, after giving the album a few listens I can verify it's not their greatest effort but it's no F quality.  Here was my problem with the review.  It sounded like the reviewer listened to the album already expecting to hate it.  So then, he looked for things to hate

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The 11 Best Songs By M83

M83 ran into an interesting hurdle with their new epic double-album masterpiece.  It leaked.  Now, most albums leak these days.  There's actually websites out there that keep track of the very instant an album leaks and links to them. When the Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration didn't leak...that was huge news!  But not only did M83's new album leak...it leaked two months early.  A week or two

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The 11 Best Songs By Jane's Addiction

One of my friends in college, praised Jane's Addiction as the greatest rock band of all time.  He said there has never been a band like them and there will never be another like them.  When Jane's Addiction broke up in 1992, he said he would never see the band reunite or buy another album if they got back together.  To him, Jane's would always be that eclectic spirit that was frozen in time

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Free Music Friday: Tokyo Police Club - The Polaroid Album

I know this is a few weeks old but that doesn't change how much fun the music is. As a promotion for Polaroid, Tokyo Police Club covered 10 songs from the past decade.  They covered one pivotal song from each year.  And the choices are all over the place from the alternative smash hit The Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World to the indie darling Kim & Jessie by M83 to the tween pop smash hit Party in

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The 11 Best Ryan Adams Solo

Doing any sort of list for Ryan Adams is a complicated mess.  The guy has so many different albums it's hard to compile them in any sort of comprehensive list.  There's the music he made with the Cardinals, his dozens of B-sides, his unreleased albums and bootleg albums.  Since I've done Cardinals albums and posted many unreleased tracks...I thought I'd go back to his solo work since this is the

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The 11 Best Radiohead B-Sides

I can't believe the Detroit Lions are 5-0.  For too long, they've been the dirt that everyone complained about at the bottom of the NFL barrel.  They were always the fodder on the schedule that gave good teams an extra win to pad their schedule.  B-sides are kind of like the Detroit Lions of sports.  While you always hope for them to be great, you never really expect them to be any good.  But on

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The 11 Best Songs By Feist

At first I wasn't going to do a Feist post today with the new of Steve Jobs passing.  But then, considering how Feist's career is so closely tied to the success of one of Jobs' marketing campaigns, I found it's actually rather fitting.  I have always been a PC guy.  I've never liked working on Macs despite being pressed into using them by all my apple friends.  I have an ipod and appletv...so

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The 11 Best Songs By DJ Shadow

There's a new trend going around with rock stars creating their own wines.  I think the Grateful Dead might have the been the first out of pure novelty.  But Tool's Maynard really took it to the next level by quitting the band to focus on his grapevines full time in the Arizona desert.  Once Maynard did it...and did it well, it opened the floodgates.  Primus' Les Claypool has his own wine.  Kiss

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The 11 Best Songs By blink-182

With the list of nominees up for this year's Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Induction, the irresistible question about a possible Guns N Roses reunion has already sprung up.  I've talked about the GNR reunion in the past and although I was a huge fan of the original band...I'm not one who is expecting a reunion.  People just want a reunion because it's nostalgic of the band they grew up with. But a

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The 11 Best Songs By Mastodon

What better way to celebrate the Jewish New Year than with a list by the metal band Mastodon.  Five years ago, Mastodon was one of two bands I had stumbled upon that I never thought would try to go mainstream (the other being Fucked Up).  It wasn't that I didn't think they would go mainstream...I wasn't sure they could.  But early this year, Fucked Up or F'd Up now...found their way onto

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The 11 Best Songs By VHS or Beta

The other day I was trying to compare the choosing of song files (MP3 vs. AAC) to what it was like choosing between VHS and BETA.  Back in the 80s, this was an issue that split societies.  I remember losing friends because my parents went rogue with the less main stream Betamax, despite it being the higher quality choice.  One day I was at a swim party and a friend offered to loan me his copy of

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The 11 Best Songs By Wilco of the 00s

This week the Flaming Lips released a new song to hear online for free.  Now this being the Flaming Lips...nothing is what it seems.  Now I've always been told, you get what you pay for.  So what's the catch?  The catch is that the song is 6 hours long.  Obviously, my curiosity is high to hear what a six hour song sounds like.  But do I want to listen to six hours of the Flaming Lips chaotic

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The 11 Best Songs By The Jayhawks

The Jayhawks are the perfect example of the bands we don't know we love until they're gone.  I remember when they came out in the 90s.  They were a cool filler in between Uncle Tupelo and Archers of Loaf.  But they were never the band you stayed tuned to listen for.  Though they had a very prosperous 90s...they were always fighting against the trends of garage grunge, adrenaline-charged rap-rock

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The 111 Best Songs By R.E.M.

Alternative Trendsetters.  Rock N Roll Legends.  American Icons.


January 1980 - September 2011


Here are the 111 Best Songs By R.E.M.:
Country Feedback (Out of Time)
These Days (Life's Rich Pageant) 
Losing My Religion (Out of Time)
Harborcoat (Reckoning)
Pretty Persuasion (Reckoning)
Driver 8 (Fables of Reconstruction)
The One I Love (Document)
Orange Crush (Green)
Talk About the Passion (

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The 11 Best Songs By Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

A recent article stated that most department stores a la Target, Best Buy, Walmart will completely remove CDs from their shelves by 2014.  It's crazy to imagine that the entire physical element of the music industry will be gone in less than three years.  It will exist in space, in a place between nowhere and our ears.  Some will go kicking and screaming...clutching the physical form until their

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The 11 Best Songs By Girls

So here's a little rundown of my Spotify saga....

First, when I went to sign in Spotify told me that it could not connect to the server for an update.

Then, I went to the website and they told me to download a new update from the site.  So, I downloaded the new update and installed it.  It told me that it could not connect to the server for an update.

I went back the website they said I

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11 Songs By Primus That Suck

Primus sucks!

Only a real Primus fan will agree with me.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Primus:

1.  Harold of the Rocks (Frizzle Fry)
2.  John The Fisherman (Frizzle Fry)
3.  Professor Nuterbutter's House of Treats (Tales From The Punchbowl) 
4.  Making Plans For Nigel (Miscellaneous Debris)
5.  Speghetti Western (Frizzle Fry)
6.  Fish On (Sailing The Seas of Cheese)
7.  Over The Electric

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The 11 Best Songs By St. Vincent

Wasn't sure what to talk about...but now I have something.  My first issue with Spotify.  I signed up for the Premium because I like being able to have this wealth of music on my phone.  Even though I have spotty cell service in my car, I found it to be rather handy.  Until today.  Spotify needs me to update my player.  Until I download an update...I can't use Spotify.  Here's a big problem...

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The Unknown: Sleater-Kinney - BBC Sessions

With an insane week of new releases...I have no idea where to start or even where to go from here.  New albums drop on Tuesday from Das Racist, Ladytron, Mates of State, Blitzen Trapper, Kevin Devine, Girls, Kooks, Lady Antebellum, St. Vincent, Saves The Day...not to mention some classic artists making big returns like Primus, Alice Cooper, Bush, Anthrax, Blondie, and the Human League. The

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The 11 Best Songs By Samiam

Punk bands were never supposed to get old.  When I was a kid, the whole point of listening to punk rock was to reject the big name dinosaurs making rock music.  Those guys in their forties had no idea what they were doing.  We listened to punk rock because it was louder, smarter, and better than any of that mainstream shill. Twenty years later, punk bands are not only in their forties, they're

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The 11 Best Songs By The Rapture

Tomorrow starts another NFL season...and better yet another fantasy football season.  I have an ongoing argument with a friend whether fantasy football takes away from what football is about or that it makes it better.  I believe the latter.  I think the fantasy aspect brings fans closer to the sport.  It makes us feel like we are a part of it. It's the closest most of us will ever be to

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The 11 Best Songs By Lindsey Buckingham

This weekend I watched "Take Me Home Tongiht" and "Gnomeo and Juliet."  Both films relied heavily on soundtracks to help keep the audiences entertained.  "TMHT" was slathered in 80s hits, strangely Eddie Money's party anthem (for which the movie is named) is not used in the movie.  Nothing bothered me more when watching the movie as I was waiting through the entire film for that pivotal moment

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Free Music Friday (Saturday Edition): Wilco - The Whole Love

Hear the new Wilco album streaming for free.

There is a catch.  It's for 1 day only!!  Stop watching college football and get listening.

HERE

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The 11 Best Songs By Beirut

I think great music is like a disease.  It's contagious.  I hadn't planned on doing a Beirut list.  I was leaning toward Tom Morrello...but that meant listening to him sing for a couple hours which I wasn't looking forward to do.  A co-worker asked me if I had heard the new song by Beirut.  I had heard it months ago...but she started listening to it at her computer.  I found myself nodding along

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The 11 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs of the 00s

What interesting about the Chili Peppers that no other band can claim is that they they can replace the guitarist and not effect the overall chemistry of the band.  For all intensive purposes, the Chili Peppers are Flea, Anthony and Chad Smith.  No band has ever had the same amount of rotating lead guitarists as the Chili Peppers and remained a popular/relevant band.  Maybe Fleetwood Mac...  But

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The Unknown: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Venus (Stadium Disc 3)

It's been a week now that I've had a chance to digest the new RHCP album.  I was a huge fan in the 80s and Blood Sugar Sex Magik years had everyone dancing.  But when Navarro joined the band they never recovered.  I always gave them a fair listen but nothing ever stuck...except Scar Tissue, which I had no choice but to absorb since it was played about 10 million times the year it came out.  

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The 11 Best Songs By Lil Wayne (Tha Carter Era)

Last night's MTV Video Music Awards continued its reign in celebrating mediocrity.  I feel like a broken record as I continue to argue that MTV was much better when it was ground breaking, rather than too scared to take its feet off the ground.  Granted, it wasn't as bad as it had been in year's past.  Young The Giant stole the show in my opinion, considering they were the only real rock band

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Free Music Friday (Thursday Edition): The Weeknd - Thursday

I don't know what I like more about the Weeknd...is it the fact that he put out one of my favorite albums of the year so far, creating an entirely new genre with his dark heroine sheik beats and angst-ridden croon?  Or, it is because that after his debut album (that he gave away for free) he turned down the massive avalanche of major label proposals to release his second album...a mere 7 months

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The 11 Best Songs By Cansei De Ser Sexy

I recently took a plane trip from LA to Boston and can't believe the overrated service of Virgin Airlines.  Everyone raved about the airline.  It was an all around better experience.  I have to say I was taken in by the sexy music being played when I checked in.  Even the plane had a softer atmosphere when I boarded the plane and was pleasantly impressed by the nice new seats.  But after the

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The 11 Best Solo Songs By Stephen Malkmus

This past week I took a vacation traveling the New England states on a needed vacation.  Besides being my first trip to many of these states and enjoying a "must-see" part of the US, I also tried out my Spotify mobile account for the first time.  It was a surreal experience literally having control of hearing any song I wanted at a moment's notice.  The possibilities were literally endless.  So,

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The 11 Best Songs By Warrant

When it came to hair metal, Warrant seemed to be the butt of many jokes.  They were the epitome of the stereo-typical hair metal 80s band.  They had the cheesy songs...but they still managed to have the big hits.  They had the big hair, the leather, and the hot girl in the video.  Their songs were loaded with sexual innuendo and cliches about unrequited love.  But despite the rolling of the eyes

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The 11 Best Guest Collaborations by Kanye West

Expectations are high when two of the arguably best rappers in the game team up for a collaboration album.  If this isn't at least the best hip-hop album of the year, it'll be a disappointment.  For years, Kanye has complained about being snubbed for the Grammy of the Year.  Right now, there is very little that stands in the way of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Album of the Year.  Lady

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The 11 Best Songs By Ra Ra Riot

Yesterday's big news about The Smiths having their songs turned into a comic book, left me with mixed feelings.  Of course, every time there is news about the Smiths, it's always a good day...but the more I thought about it, I became a little concerned.  I know it's "based" on Smiths lyrics...so are these little short stories or is this going to be an ongoing epic about Super Morrissey:  A mild

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The 11 Best Music Videos

Today, MTV turns 30.  I spent a lot of years of my life sitting in front of the TV absorbing the mind-numbing awesomeness of MTV in the 80s and 90s when they still showed videos and knew how to have fun.  A very surreal moment to see this young hip cultural icon step into middle age.

I'm not sure what I'm more troubled by...the fact that MTV is spending the day playing a 16 and Pregnant

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The 11 Best Songs By Rogue Wave

Over the past couple weeks, the internet has been buzzing about Spotify.  The new subscription-style music service.  Any track, any album, anywhere for only $9.99 a month.  It's not such a bad deal...but it also feels too good to be true.  What happens when you're signed up, you stop buying music and have converted all your listening focus to Spotify, when suddenly they jack up the price?  Do

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The 11 Best Songs By Amy Winehouse

I'm not sure it's more surprising to hear about Amy Winehouse's death...or that it wasn't that surprising.

Truly a great talent.  An incredible voice.  A big loss.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by Amy Winehouse:

1.  You Know I'm No Good (Back To Black)
2.  Tears Dry On Their Own (Back To Black)
3.  Rehab (Back To Black)
4.  Valerie (Back To Black single/Mark Ronson)
5.  Someone To Watch Over Me

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Free Music Friday: Newermind - A Tribute To Nirvana

I didn't post for the week since I've been out of town, traveling.  I was down in the south for a bachelor party.  We went to a hip-hop club that was supposedly the hottest club in town.  I personally thought the music was terrible and I may not have been the only one.  For the first two hours that we were there, no one danced except the occasional drunk girl looking for her friends as she

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Free Music Friday (Thursday Edition): Wugazi - 13 Chambers

This week while I was at home visiting my parents, they were playing this cutting edge Tango music to try and impress me.  My mom was trying to sell me on the album by explaining that these songs were so good they could be played on the radio.  I'll always give any music an honest listen, but my mom was so enthusiastic about the tango music, I knew something had to be wrong.  I started listening

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The 11 Best Songs By Buddy Holly

Been on vacation for the past two weeks...so not as much time to commit to the posting as usual.

One catch up I had to do was a Buddy Holly post.  With the crazy good new tribute album out, I had to do a list for one rock's trailblazing original stars.  Buddy Holly had everything:  geek appeal, hooky songs, was poppy enough to be mainstream but edgy enough to push off parents.  He had charm

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The Unknown: The 11 Best Depeche Mode Bonus Remix Tracks.

Last week, Amazon ended its Affliates program for residents in California.  This came about from a new law signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown.  In crude terms, the new law put a new tax on retailers who were located in California.  Since Amazon had affiliates located in California under the new law that would make Amazon a "California" business and be susceptible to the new tax.  Therefore,

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The 11 Best Albums of 2011 (so far)

Happy 4th of July.  We're halfway through 2011.  Here's what's worth listening to so far...
Here are the 11 Best Albums of 2011 (so far):
1.       Yuck - Yuck (The Wall)2.       Bright Eyes - The People's Key3.       The Strokes - Angeles4.       Jeff the Brotherhood - We Are Champions5.       James Blake - James Blake6.       Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing7.       Foo Fighters - Wasting

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The 11 Best Songs of 2011 (so far)

Today, the killer band Gomez gave our humble little blog a shout out on their Facebook page and stirred a frenzy of fans.  They argued whether our top eleven list accurately depicted their best songs. The issue shouldn't have been whether our list accurately depicted the band, it should have been could anyone make a list that would accurately depict their catalog.  I would argue that it would be

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The 11 Best Side Project/Solo albums of 2011 (so far)

This week another project from the Dispatch family comes out.  Chad Urmston under the moniker Chadwick Stokes has a very strong solo release hitting the digital shelves.

Dispatch is a very interesting band considering their huge popularity on the east coast...while out on the west coast nobody even knows who they are.  It's rare to see a band whose popularity is regulated to a region of the

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The 11 Best Debut Albums of 2011 (so far)

All these albums are solid and every one of these artists is someone you should keep your eye on.  But there's one artist in particular I want to point attention to and that's The Weeknd.  An unknown artist who came from nowhere that has taken the blog world by storm with his first mix-tape/album.  Here's the kicker...he's giving it away for free.  What is original about the debut isn't just the

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The 11 Best Songs By Gomez

If you read this blog you know that I really respect bands who try to evolve rather stay stuck in the same groove over and over.  Gomez is one of those bands that’s been evolving from day one.  Even on their debut, I remember friends initially discouraged by them because they thought the band was struggling to find their sound.  But they weren't struggling at all, their revolving style was their

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The 11 Best Songs By Bon Iver

This weekend, our culture lost two sidemen.  Two sidemen that may have been small parts of a bigger machine, but were integral to that machine's distinct existence.  First and foremost was the loss of Clarence Clemmons, the infamous sax man from the E Street band.  Usually, a sax player is a last second thought and is only thrown into the song to add texture.  But Clemmons added more than flavor

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GBU: Free Music Fridays - Warm Weather EP

I have done a free Friday in awhile.  Stumbled upon this EP this week courtesy of I Guess I'm Floating.  Have to say I was very impressed.  It's light, dancy, and has the perfect summertime vibe.  I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more from these guys in the very near future.  You know that I rarely pitch new bands...so take note.

Get Warm Weather - Dances EP - FREE!!

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The 11 Best Songs By Sebadoh

There are some albums that not only define a band’s career, they define an entire genre.  When it comes to lo-fi, in my opinion, nothing tops Sebadoh’s Bakesale.  Being re-issued this week with another 25 bonus songs, it’s the perfect example of doing more with less.  Some people might argue for one of the Doh’s early releases like III or Smash Your Head…even Bubble and Scrape are a better

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The 11 Best Songs By Woods

There’s a gift at being good at being lo-fi.  Just because you have a 4-track in your bedroom and a guitar doesn’t mean that you have what it takes.  In fact, it’s probably harder to be a good lo-fi artist than it is to be a mainstream pop artist.  Yes, you heard that right.  In a genre where less is more, there are no bells or whistles to cover up your faults.  You have to be good at the most

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The 11 Best Guest Spots By Eminem of the 00s

It's great to see rock stars who don't take themselves too seriously.  This week, the Foo Fighters tour rider was leaked to the internet.  For those who don't know, a tour rider gives venues specifics on what artists want in their dressing room when it comes to food and drink...and what accommodations they need for their crew.  Nothing too scandalous for the Foos, in fact, their rider makes me

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The 11 Best Songs By Fucked Up

Many musicians say their only in bands for the music.  Most of them are liars.  At the end of the day, most musical artists would love to be atop the charts while driving around in a Ferrari and sleeping in a hot tub with swimsuit models.  You know what band really means it when they say it?  Fucked Up.  It’s not because of their epic twelve hour concerts or their endless supply of 7-inch

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The Unknown: Dawes - Daytrotter Sessions

Def Leppard have said that they are considering not releasing albums anymore.  That the album format is dead.  But I think dead is a harsh term.  The album is just hibernating.  For the moment, everyone is into singles.  The single works better in the digital era.  But this week Apple joined the cloud revolution which could change everything all over again.  The cloud could create a whole new

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The 11 Best Songs By The Arctic Monkeys

With all the problems in the world this week, it’s no wonder that America focused on one of the most trivial…that of Andrew Weiner.  It amuses me how we all act so offended from what he did…but we all have friends who have done this.  And we’re still friends with them.  What’s possibly the most troubling about this situation isn’t that he did it or that he got caught…but he’s more than likely

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The 11 Best Solo Songs By Eddie Vedder

At lunch today, I was impressed by the music selection in the franchised restaurant where we ate.  It was a selection of early 90s rock, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains.  I love this music, I grew up on it, but I was impressed how it had been adopted by such a mainstream establishment.  It made me think about how back in the 90s eccentric bands were the trend-setting uber-stars.  

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The 11 Best My Morning Jacket Songs of the 00s

My Morning Jacket is stepping into the future while recreating the past.  Before the internet, MTV, and Twitter, there was an air of mystery about bands.  All you knew about them was what came out in their music and what little you could glean from their record jackets.  Now you know everything about them, from the time they enter the studio in the morning to the moment they take a bathroom

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The 11 Best Death Cab For Cutie Songs of the 00s

The one harsh reality about illegal downloading is the songwriter really does get screwed.  I don't feel bad for the record labels that much.  They've ripped off the customers for years and fucked over the artists even more.  Labels are nothing more than bully distributors who charge a ridiculously large fee for use of their toll roads.  The internet killed the label's monopoly over the rivers

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The 11 Best Songs By Pedro The Lion

This week, the media is pushing the biggest music release of the year…the new Lady Gaga album.  Is this the biggest release of the year…or is it the biggest release because the media is calling this the biggest release?  Sure, Gaga has stuck like lightning and been everywhere…and sold millions of albums in a dead market.  That certainly makes her marketable…but how much of it is based on actual

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The 11 Best Songs By She Wants Revenge

The last Oprah to women is like the last Seinfeld to men.  Both shows had the power to get people to look at their lives in entirely new ways that transformed our lives.  Men do like Oprah but watch it to understand or appease the women in their life.  Women liked Seinfeld because it helped them figure out what they hell their boyfriends were doing.  Oprah inspired people to school and college

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The 111 Best Songs By Bob Dylan

Happy 70th birthday, Bob!  Thanks for all the great tunes.
Here are the 111 Best Songs by Bob Dylan:
1. Hurricane (Desire)2. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)3. My Back Pages (Another Side of Bob Dylan)4. It Ain't Me Babe (Another Side of Bob Dylan)5. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bringing It All Back Home)6. Lay, Lady, Lay (Nashville Skyline)7. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (

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The 11 Best Albums by Danger Mouse

One of the signs that a band or artist is truly unique is if it is impossible to cover their songs and do the material justice.  Artists like Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Guns N Roses, even the Beastie Boys have such distinct styles that are so-intricately infused with their personalities that is it virtually impossible for another artist to come along and mirror that

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The 11 Best Songs By The Elected

Today at work the TV was on behind me.  I was loosely listening while doing my real work.  I heard a singer come on the TV.  It sounded like they were talking about American Idol.  But the singer on the TV sounded like a joke...like it was someone spoofing an American Idol singer.  And I wasn't the only one in the room thinking that.  In fact, it was a finalist for American Idol.  It was the

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The 11 Best Songs By Moby of the 00s

In the 90s, Moby was a stud.  He basically owned the underground club scene, re-inventing rave culture with every new release.  Then in the mid-90s, when rave culture crept into the mainstream dance clubs, Moby dominated with his epic release after release.  He ruled soundtracks and scores, even re-imagining the iconic James Bond theme.  He had one misstep with his ill-advised rock album...but

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The 11 Best Songs By Ben Harper of the 90s

On another note from my car trip this weekend, I've been exploring the numerous XM/Sirius stations that come free with my new car for three months.  I noticed that there are about 25-30 rock stations but only about 5 pop stations.  With the constant media announcements that rock is dead, why would you have so many stations playing rock if no one wants to hear it?  This is just another of the

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The 11 Best Songs By Manchester Orchestra

This should have come out last week if not for Blogger's two-day hiatus.

Took a long road trip this weekend.  Started to grade music on a new scale.  The road trip scale.

I was surprised by how many of my favorite albums are not the most enjoyable to listen to while I'm driving a car.  Actually, I found myself skipping rapidly through them to get the songs I wanted to hear while avoiding the

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The 11 Best Songs By The Antlers

I feel like there are two kinds of companies out there.  Companies who get it and companies who don’t.  I saw a news blurb about Google, who is out testing a driverless car.  That’s some awesome forward thinking.  On the other end, we have Warner Brothers.  WB doesn’t stream any of its movies for Netflix because they’re idiots and haven’t realized that streaming is the present while DVDs are

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Double Shot: The 22 Best Songs By The Cars

It’s always a question whether a band should continue on when they lose one of their integral members.  Every time you get a situation like AC/DC, who loses an icon like Bon Scott, then turns around and releases the best-selling rock album of all time with Back In Black….there’s a Lynyrd Skynyrd, who after losing their legendary leader, Ronnie Van Zandt, pushes on to play county fairs and

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The 11 Best Songs By Stevie Nicks

In a recent interview, Jerry Seinfeld compared the show Seinfeld to the Beatles.  Though it’s not a far stretch that his TV show was the medium’s version of the Beatles that wasn't the reason for the comparison.  He said it because both entities left at the peak of their popularities.  That it was better to leave on top, with the audience wanting more than it was to leave on the way down when

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The 11 Best Songs By Thursday

Thor has always been the comic book that I never thought would get it's own movie.  I wasn't even sure he would make his cameo in the Avengers movie.  But the movie is getting great reviews, and some are saying it is one of the best comic book movies...yet.  Thor isn't late to the comic book movement...but may be coming in to put the cherry on top.

The band Thursday has a similar story. When

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The 11 Best Punk Songs By The Beastie Boys

This week Miley Cyrus did the ballsy thing and took her teen pop shtick and layered it all over Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit."  This prompted Rolling Stone to do a list of the worst/interesting covers of the 90s anthem.  Tori Amos succeeds only because she re-invents the song.  Bruno Mars does a decent job, but he only succeeds by mashing it with Michael Jackson.  And Kathleen

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The 11 Best Beastie Boys Songs of the 90s

When I first heard the Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head," I was shocked.  This was the Beastie Boys?  I was a big Paul's Boutique fan but this sounded nothing like PB or License.  It took a few listens, but by the end of the weekend, I was hooked.  This was the Beastie Boys!

They had re-invented themselves at a time when everyone had assumed they were down for the count.  Like Weezer's Pinkerton,

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The 11 Best Songs By Fleet Foxes

With Donald Trump’s chances of knocking out Obama for President looking slimmer by the second, another dark horse is taking a mighty swipe at another behemoth.  Today, Amazon slashed all of its song prices to .69 cents.  That’s almost 50% cheaper in some cases to Itunes’ prices.  Almost all of Amazon’s songs are better quality.  In this battle, I don’t believe Apple will be able to hire Seth

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The 11 Best Beastie Boys Songs of the 80s

This week will be all about the BBoys...even with Obama's big news.  It's time for our favorite jewish new york rappers to bring a little bit of life back to the party.  There's so many lists I want to do for this band.  Narrowing it down was practically impossible.  Best songs, best songs by decade, best instrumentals, best punk songs, best videos, best b-sides, best unreleased...the Beasties

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The 11 Best Songs By The X-Ray Spex

When the history of music is written, there will be the bands who are remembered, then there will be the bands who laid the foundation for those bands.  Most of them will be forgotten.  I always found the X-Ray Spex to be one of the latter.  This band that pushed boundaries and made it okay for other girl rock bands to follow in their chaotic footsteps, but never had an audience strong enough to

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The 11 Best Songs By Joan As Police Woman

This weekend, when my parents were in town, I had on the Cure's Disintegration.  About half way through the album, my mom commented that she was really enjoying the music and wondered what it was and if it was new.  I told her what it was but did not inform her that this was the same album I used to play in high school that she used to complain about.  To her it was so dark and dreadful and now

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The Unknown: Explosions in the Sky - Live at the Grey Eagle 2007

One of the main things I love about music is how it becomes the soundtrack to our lives.  Certain songs can instantly bring me back to memories from twenty years ago.  My own brain can't even bring me back to memories from last week let alone two decades back.  Explosions in the Sky have the pleasure of the being the soundtrack to other people's lives.  Fake people at that.  I don't think I'll

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The Good, The Bad, The Unknown: Record Store Day

Record Store Day did everything right by just doing everything right.  If you haven't heard yet, the 2011 Record Store Day was the most successful yet.  With over 200 exclusive vinyl releases, it did something that no one in the music industry thought was possible:  it got people to buy music. It didn't try to sell people what they wanted us to buy...they sold us stuff what we wanted to buy. 

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The 11 Best Solo Songs By Duff McKagan

With Record Store Day reporting record numbers...no pun intended, it seems like a new trend might be forming in the music world as Record Store Day Part 2 may be quickly being thrown together for May 17th.  And this time, it's not pop music pushing sales...it's good old fashioned rock n roll.  As in the past, trends that end up ruling the music industry grow from the underground through grass

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The 11 Best Songs By Sparta

Jim Ward is truly the unsung hero of the Austin music scene.  I truly believe that Ward was the songwriting presence that made At The Drive-In the tight punk rock package that it was.  Once he was pulled out of the fray...the band became The Mars Volta, which practically threw song structure out the window.  Ward formed his own band, Sparta, which I thought had even crossover potential that ATDI

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The 11 Best Songs By Maritime

The Promise Ring was the first emo band I found myself obsessed with.  I had recently graduated college and was still clinging to the last of the grunge bands while I swam around in the rap-rock infested radio waters.  The future of rock seemed rather bleak, until I listened to Very Emergency.  It was like wandering around in a darkened room and someone suddenly turned on the lights.  Was this

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The 11 Best Songs By Animal Collective

The music industry has been on a roller coaster ride for the past decade, and no one, not fans, not the artists, nor the industry insiders have any clue where it's headed...or for how long.  Right now, all we can do is throw our hands in the air, scream, and hang on for the ride.  This weekend we witnessed the bi-polar yet beautiful chaotic mess that is music.

On Saturday, the old school

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The 11 Best Solo Songs By Jason Isbell

I finally got my live Soundgarden CD.  I ordered it on the 24th of March and received it on the 12th of April. That's what I got for the $5.50 they charged me for the speedy delivery option.  I'm glad I didn't pick the freight price.  I wouldn't have received the CD until the next reunion tour.  Here's the kicker, I ordered this from Soundgarden's own website.  Shouldn't that have great service

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The 11 Best songs By TV on the Radio

I had a long discussion with a co-worker at the perks of buying a CD and why it means something.  He hates CDs and thinks they're a waste of space.  Why should he buy 12 mediocre songs when he only wants the 1 good song he likes?  I suggested maybe he should stop listening to bands who only have one good song.  That didn't go over too well.  But this is my reason for buying a CD or vinyl.  

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The 11 Best Songs By Foo Fighters of the 00s:

In the recent Rolling Stone, there's a huge article on the best new rock of 2011.  I was excited by the prospects of the article.  It's not a bad article except they forgot one important thing...they forgot the rock bands!!!  They give Adele first billing (a pop artist).  They give too more attention to rap artists (Wiz Khalifa, Odd Future, and Lex Luger).  The only real solid current rocking

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The 11 Best Songs By Low

With a huge music week...I'm kicking it off with an unlikely start.  Mainly because I have a guest poster and you can get the new album for a mere $3.99.  Presenting The X-Man or better known as E-Money.

Acompleteunknown asked me to do a guest post about one of my all time favorite bands Low.  A band who gave me goosebumps the first time I saw them in 1994 play as a duo (a female voice playing

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The 11 Most Exciting Releases for Record Store Day 2011

Record Store Day should be a national holiday.  It is a music fan's wet dream.  And I mean every part of the imagery that comes with.  Over 200 exclusive releases on CDs and vinyl, just for independent record stores.  Last year I got in line a half hour before the store opened and I was 25th in line, this year...I'm planning on two hours in line.  I don't think I've been this excited about new

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The 11 Best Songs By The Raveonettes

I don't know how many time I have to talk about this.  Why does the music industry constantly cock their weapon and shoot themselves deliberately in the foot...then while they writhe around on the ground in pain, they blame illegally downloading for making them do it?
Two weeks ago I ordered the new Soundgarden on CD.  I ordered it from the band's website because it came with a bonus EP.  I'm a

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The 11 Best Songs By Ezra Furman & The Harpoons

There's a lot to love about Ezra Furman.  He makes some of the most frantic rock music this side of the Clap Your Hands/Talking Heads line.  But that's not the only reason to love him.  On his last release, he offered some of his fans the the most exclusive thing a musician can offer a fan...a bonus song.  But not just any bonus son.  A personal song...written just for them.  Each person who

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The 11 Best Songs By The Kills

When the Kills came out, they had the unfortunate luck of have a band name that was only a couple letters off a the more commercially popular Killers.  Killers fans came out in droves to accuse the band of trying to milk off the Killers success.  Those who bothered to stick around and listen for a bit, discovered they were a very different breed of band.  They fell more into the White Stripes

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Free Music Friday: Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Would you rather me write an article about something sorta music-related or would you rather get some free music?

Would you rather me write a list that you'll just complain about or would you rather get some free music?

Yeah, that's what I thought.  Here's the new Foo Fighters in its entirety streaming for free.

http://wastinglight.foofighters.com/

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The 11 Best Songs By Burial

Back in the 60s, we knew nothing about the musicians except for the music that came out of speakers, the cardboard jacket of a record, or the rare picture in a magazine.  Musicians were a mystery.  Like the wizard behind the curtain.  We care more about what they created and not about who they really were.  With that mystery came obsession.  The less we knew, the bigger fans we became, all

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The 11 Best Songs By Say Hi

It will always amaze with the amount of music I listen to and how many different artists that I'm at least familiar with...that I always seem to discover great bands that I never even knew existed.  

Say Hi (originally Say Hi To Your Mom) is basically a one-man wrecking crew better-known among friends as Eric Elbogen.  I stumbled across Say Hi's new release (Um, Uh Oh) based on a rather high

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The 11 Best Songs By William Fitzsimmons

Today, Amazon unveiled its new "cloud."  An online storage space for all its customers to store all their Amazon-purchased media files on.  This gives you the ability to access your music from any location (home, work) or on the go (via your cell phone).  What's most surprising about this announcement isn't about how far technology has come...but the fact that no one thought of this so far.  In

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The 11 Best Songs By LCD Soundsystem

As I walked around Border's this weekend, picking leftover books off their shelves during their going-out-of-business sale, a chilling thought crossed my mind...where am I going to buy books?  I rarely went to book stores with specific titles in mind.  I only went with a general idea of something I wanted.  I wanted to enjoy browsing all the different titles and coming home with something new

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The Unknown: Soundgarden - Motorvision 92

Usually I don't pay mind to live albums.  Even those I do pick up get listened to one time then sit on the shelf.  Very rarely does an album slip through that's worth even mentioning.  The new Soundgarden sounds promising.  It's not a new album of the reunited band...which could have still been cool.  But hearing SG in their prime definitely is tempting.  I've saw them play in the early 90s...

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The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 00s

In music, it's not about being the best, it's surviving the longest.  Duran Duran was a seminal 80s group.  They had a string of hits...but very few people would consider them one of the best of the decade.  In fact, I would doubt they would even crack the top 25...maybe not even the top 50.  But entering into their 4th decade as a band, they've outlived most of their synth-pop peers.  Because

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The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 90s

Most movie trilogies struggle through their second film.  In a similar situation, most bands struggle through their second decade.  Bands spends their first decade as the next big thing with the fresh sound.  When they hit their second decade, they're now being pushed aside for the new young fresh next big thing.  Most bands spend their second decade re-ordering their line-up and playing with

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The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 80s

Jon Bon Jovi recently said that Steve Jobs is to blame for killing the record store.  He may have a point.  Itunes has made buying music so easy, that people don't browse anymore.  In the days of the record store, an errand to buy music wasn't like a trip to the grocery store, it was its own experience.  You blocked time out of your day to ensure that you experienced the whole store and not just

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The 11 Best Songs By The Strokes

I'll have to say, I was pretty excited to see Dave Grohl rip the show Glee.  I'm not a Gleek...nor do I have a real problem with the show.  But I do have a problem with the show runner going around acting like it's a big privilege to have one of your songs selected for the show.  I don't watch Glee...but I have seen the show...and I have not been impressed.  The covers of the songs are mediocre

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The 11 Best Songs By Rise Against

With the work grind and the constant magnetism of March Madness, I didn't want the week to slip by without commenting on the most impressive music news of the week.  No, I'm not talking about the Beastie Boys announcing a release date for their long-awaited new album (it's May 3rd).  I'm talking about Rebecca Black.  An artist that truly exemplifies our current mass media culture. In less than a

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The 11 Best Songs By The Streets

Sting once said that bands only have 5 good albums in them.  They may put out other albums and have decent songs here and there, but they will never have more than 5 great albums.  For the most part this is true.  Although most bands don't have more than 1 good album in them.  His theory is that all bands, no matter how long their career is, can have their catalog weened down to 5 core albums.  

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The 11 Best Songs By Lupe Fiasco

If the 60s were rock's point of inception, then the 80s were where rap was born.  That would mean, this decade for rap should be what the 90s was to rock.  And if you paid attention to my previous post you would know what I thought about the 90s and what it meant to rock.  This is a good moment for rap music.  A lot has been done, so to be fresh and original, artists will need to smarter and

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The 11 Best Songs By R.E.M. of the 00s

In 2001, Reveal was a vivid reminder of life in Hollywood.  A subtle soundtrack to city life.

In 2004, Around the Sun was the soundtrack to birth of my first child.

In 2008, Accelerate was the soundtrack of my second child.

I can't imagine my life without R.E.M. having some part of it.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By R.E.M. of the 00s:

1.  Final Straw (Around the Sun)
2.  Living Well Is the

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The 11 Best Songs By R.E.M. of the 90s

In 1991, I was a high school senior, and maybe no song had a bigger impact on me than R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion. It takes me back to a time before I started college, before my life changed...which was significant because it came out on the eve of the music world changing, too.

In 1992, Automatic For the People was the album that I slept to while settling into my first apartment.  I can

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The 11 Best Songs By R.E.M. of the 80s

I won't explain why I break a band like R.E.M.'s career into decades.  If you must know...go look though the blog history.  Here's a history of R.E.M. according to me.

In 1983, I remember first hearing Murmur being played by a neighbor's house when his older sister locked herself in her room in a defiant act of teen rebellion.  Me and my neighbors used to sit outside and listen to the album

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Free Music Friday: Gayngs Remix EP

Les Claypool once said that "weekends don't mean as much when you're unemployed except you get to hang out with your working friends."  Now, that I'm working I miss the downtimes of being unemployed.  The drawbacks of being at home with young kids doesn't seem so bad as the time you don't get to spend with them.

It was a weekly ritual with me and my kids to play new music and get their opinion

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The 11 Best Songs By Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (of the 00s)

Today, is a bit of clean-up day.  I started a new job recently, so I haven't been able to keep a steady update going...so now I'm playing catch-up with a lot of releases all of y'all may have missed.  First up, a new EP by the Me First and Gimme Gimmes.  Their first new material in over five years.  It's an all Australian EP, in celebration of their Australian tour...let's hope there's more

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The 11 Best Songs By Deer Tick

I had an argument with a young friend of mine about the state of music.  He just graduated college and spent many years absorbing a plethora of indie rock bands...many who even I have never heard of.  Our argument was about whether great music was being made today.  Maybe it's a sign of me getting older, but we both had wildly varying opinions of when the best music was being made.  We both

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The 11 Best Songs By Sonic Youth of the 00s:

Sonic Youth never had a hit single.  They never had a hit album.  They never had a hit video.  They never tune their guitars.  They have never had their albums produced by Timberland.  They have never played Saturday Night Live.  They have never hired the paparazzi to chase them around for a pre-planned nip slip.  They have never tried to make a commercial album.  They have never tried to write

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The 11 Best Songs By G. Love

I'm getting sick of Rihanna.  Strangely, she's one of the few pop stars I can actually tolerate.  And I assume, I'm not the only one who feels the same way.  She performed twice at the Grammy's...a task that not even Mick Jagger has ever performed.  One week later, she was the half-time show at the NBA Allstar game.  Are there really no other great pop stars out there today to perform the

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The 11 Best Songs By Radiohead (of the 00s)

Less than a week ago, the only thing anyone knew about a new Radiohead album were faint internet rumors.  It was coming!...was about the detailed extent of it.  We could hope it was sooner than later, but with Radiohead, it could be any day...or a year away.  Today, as I write this, the new Radiohead album is booming from my computer speakers.  The band announced a new album on Monday, and a

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The 11 Best Songs By Asobi Seksu

In the 90s, the shoegazer genre left faster than it came.  By the time most people discovered it, it was already gone.  My Bloody Valentine and Ride broke up within years of forming.  Lush went pop.  And  most fans of the genre were stuck discovering the other various bands through the used CD racks and cassettes of bootlegs from poorly sounding shows.

As with all good genres, they may burn out

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The 11 Best Songs By The Dears

Believe it or not...I don't really have an opinion on Justin Bieber.  I'm not a big pop music fan, so I don't really pay him mind either way.  But one thing, I will say, is that I've lived long enough to see plenty of Justin Biebers explode onto the scene only to fizzle away.  Remember the Jonas Brothers?  Hanson?  How's 98 Degrees career going?  But that's the shelf life of a pop music star.  

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The 11 Best Songs By The Drive-By Truckers

Let’s get one thing straight, country music today is not country music.  It’s pop music.  Just because you wear a cowboy hat and sing with a twang in your voice does not mean your music is country.  Carrie Underwood has more in common with Norah Jones than she does Patsy Cline.  Kenny Chesney has more in common with John Mayer than he does Hank Williams.  Country music is about the down-trodden

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The 11 Best Songs By Bright Eyes

Today was an uber-epic day in the world of music.  Despite Radiohead announcing a new album out this Saturday, Green Day, The Flaming Lips and Foo Fighters releasing new songs, Quesadilla spaulding attacked by pre-pubescent tweens in need of pubes...there was one thing on the tip of everyone's tongue:  Who the fuck are the Arcade Fire?

I'm not a fan of award shows, you should know that by

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The 11 Best Songs By Thin Lizzy

As hard as it was to see the White Stripes break up last week, we all know they're going to be reuniting in the near future.  It's harder when we truly lose someone forever.

This week, lead guitarist for the epic 70s rock band Thin Lizzy passed away.  Gary Moore laid down some of the truly great guitar riffs of the 70s inspiring everyone from Metallica to Bruce Springsteen to John Cougar

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The 11 Best Songs By ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead

Itunes hates the Trail of the Dead.  For some reason...adding "..." to the beginning of your band title does not jive well with Itunes Maoist operations.  Even though I've imported their CDs into my computer countless times, whenever I go to play the band, Itunes can't find their music. Even if I search by album title or song title, nothing comes up.  When I go to re-import the music...then

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The 11 Best Songs By Cut Copy

Yesterday the Black-Eyed Peas played the Superbowl.  Despite what every talk show said...most people I know...if not every one I know, hated the halftime show.  Sure it was a great visual display, but it completely took you out of the game.  I spent two hours watching modern day gladiators rip each other hearts out, and then I have pause for a half hour and watch the IceCapades. It totally broke

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The Unknown: The White Stripes - Get In Front Of Me Jesus

We start next week in a world without the White Stripes.  And after the Super bowl today, we may start the week in a world without NFL football.  Negotiations pending, could be the end of an era.

Let's enjoy both while they're still around.  (PS...this will be up for a limited time...get it while it's hot)

Here is The White Stripes - Get In Front Of Me Jesus:

1.  What Goes Around
2.  Black

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The 11 Best Songs By The White Stripes

This past decade, one band has managed to keep the Led Zeppelin torch lit: The White Stripes.  In an era where karaoke contests determined the next music sensation, the White Stripes stuck to the basics.  Their break-out release White Blood Cells was recorded on a 4-track.  Their follow-up, Elephant, was recorded for less than the crafts services table at a stage Britney Spears paparazzi shoot.

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The 11 Best Songs By Cracker

The big news of the day is that White Stripes are breaking up.  For good.  Or so they say.  It's definitely sad news for die hard rock fans.  But they're on good terms...and there's only 2 of them.  The chances of a White Stripes reunion in the next 5 years probably falls under the category "highly likely."


The big news should really be about the Decemberists hitting number one on the Billboard

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The 11 Best Songs By Matisyahu

One of the most coveted musical honors is getting to play the Superbowl halftime show.  This year, we get to be dulled to sleep by the Black Eyed Peas.  Don't they realize the band's last album tanked?  I really hate it when the network tries to go after ratings instead of giving football audiences what they want and like.  You really think a bunch of 13-year-old girls are going to sit around and

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The 11 Best Songs By The Dead Weather

I have to dedicate tonight's post to Jack White and his outstanding Third Man Records.  Jack White may not only be one of the greatest musicians out there today...he also gets. He gets music.  He doesn't use autotune.  He doesn't blast the levels out of his productions.  He lets the music speak for itself rather than letting the engineer make it into whatever pop schlock than can conjure.  His

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The 11 Best Songs By The Cold War Kids

You know how a picture says a thousand words?  I think this picture of the CD racks at a local Target speaks volumes to the problems within the music industry.  I went to pick up the new Cold War Kids CD at Target.  They didn't have it.  "Out of stock" was the answer I was given.  In fact, they were out of stock of many hot artists.  In the top 20 slots they were out of stock on 14 titles.  The

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The 11 Best Songs By Iron & Wine

The big news in the music world yesterday was that Trent Reznor (the voice and force behind Nine Inch Nails) was nominated for an Oscar.  A freaking Oscar.  I was surprised when Eminem and Three 6 Mafia were nominated and won...but this is even stranger for some reason.  Eminem and Three-6 were nominated for song, and although this is a category usually reserved for Celine Dion and the Alan

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The 11 Best Songs By The Get-Up Kids

This weekend I took the long drive up the California 5.  A dreary drive that was immensely improved by two unhappy children in the backseat who made it their obligation to inform us of their unhappiness every 5 seconds in case we had already forgotten.  One of them even used the kid-version of backseat wolf-crying by alerting us to a coming waterfall of vomit...causing us to pull over to a 7-11..

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Free Music Fridays: M.I.A. - ViCKi LEEKX

The Coachella line-up was released this week, which I'm sure everyone and their mother has poured over by now.  Even my mom's seen it and she was bitching about Animal Collective and Mumford & Sons getting top billing over Bright Eyes.  And she doesn't even like Bright Eyes.

In case you're living on Mars, here it is:  http://www.coachella.com/

My issue is that I always seem more excited about

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The 11 Best Songs By The Decemberists

Combining two great musical forces from different generations can have disastrous results.  David Byrne & Fatboy Slim.  Billy Corgan & Ric Ocasek.  Or it can be a welcome surprise:  Them Crooked Vultures.  The new Decemberists falls into the latter category.  The album is produced by Peter Buck of REM, which is a perfect match.  Buck's signature restrained twang is an effective compliment to

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Free Music Fridays: Wax Unwound Compilation

Yesterday, one of my favorite used record stores had a huge sale. 20%-50% off all used merchandise.  I thought I would stop in for a few minutes, maybe pick up an item or two.  I was wrong.  I was blown away by the throngs of people.  There were dozens of audiophiles packed in the aisles.  You could barely move from the King Crimson section to the John Lennon section without shoving at least

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The Unknown: Cage The Elephant Daytrotter Session

Yesterday I promised proof that rock music is not dead.  It's alive and it's still kicking ass.


This is a break down of the top 200 best-selling albums of 2010 according to Billboard.  I have broken them down by genre.


1.  Rock - 57 albums (28.5%)
2.  Country - 35 albums (17.5%)
3.  Pop - 26 albums (13%)
4.  Rap - 23 albums (11.5%)
5.  R&B/Hip-Hop - 20 albums (10%)
6.  Soundtracks/

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The 11 Best Songs By Cake

I watched Social Network last night.  A great film and an excellent script even though Aaron Sorkin is a bit of an asshole.  One issue that struck me the most is how the character of Sean Parker kept bragging about bringing down the music industry.  That Napster ruined the music industry.  Is this how history is going to be written?  Is this now the forgone conclusion?  Did Napster and illegal

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The Unknown: Tapes 'N Tapes Daytrotter Session

According to the BBC, 2010 was the worst year for rock since 1960.  That's a very depressing statement...especially if it's true.  But is it?  According to the BBC, the reason they arrived at this damnation proclamation is that there were only 3 rock singles to chart in the top 100 singles of the year.  They must be looking at the British charts because for my own assessment I came up with at

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The 111 Best Albums of 2010

Alright...without further delay...here it is.  The final grand tally.  The 111 Best albums of the year...as voted on by you.  Don't send your complaints to me.  Send them to your own inbox.



The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Kanye West – My Dark Twisted Fantasy
The National – High Violet
The Black Keys – Brothers
 LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Vampire Weekend

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Free Music Fridays: The Klaxons -Landmarks of Lunacy

Next week should be a great start to the 2011 music year.  Though there were many great releases in the latter half of 2010, I struggled to get wood about any of the new releases.  Many times it was like hearing about a great taco place that was opening up next door to the last great taco place.

I'm not sure I understand the method to the music industry's release schedule.  In past, they

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The 11 Best Albums of 2010 (#1-#11)

I recently picked up a new computer and had to go through (actually still going through) the arduous task of transferring my colossal music library to a new computer.  Maybe it's wrong of me to not let Itunes do the automated filing system.  I prefer my music where I want it.  So when Itunes decided that my choice was wrong and it would just arrange my music how they see fit...it basically set me

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