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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