#198 - pop rock.

in my college years, i transformed from a gangsta-rap-lovin' high schooler into an embracer of all things alt-rock, specifically music of the "grunge rock" variety. later in life, i moved onto "indie rock" & throughout, many of the artists that i've listened to were signed to sub pop records, the seattle-based label best known for putting out the first nirvana album. BEFORE nevermind. that's right, unhip losers. nirvana had an album called bleach a full two years BEFORE the "teen spirit" song took over MTV. said debut album was kinda good.

if the idea of "grunge music" makes you want to punch somebody in the face, you should probably aim your fist in sub pop's general direction.

Click to read more ...

#196 - tracks & snacks 2011.

for the past two years, when this time of year rolled around & i sat down to compile my top ten tracks & snacks of the year, it's been a relatively painless process. not so this year. in the past, i've always been able to open up itunes, take a look at my list of most played tunes & easily compile a list. this summer, my computer finally decided to kick the bucket for good, taking all the precious "most played" info with it & forcing me to rely on my memory, a task which is a dicey proposition at best. 

...so there's inevitably something i'm forgetting but i have to give nods to das racist, st vincent, cut copy, adele, shabazz palaces, los campesinos, atlas sound, pj harvey, destroyer, girls, anvil hands & cities aviv who, if this was a top 22 list, all had songs worthy of being on it. in the end, each artist on this year's list has never been in my top ten before although three songs from the albums on my mid-year top five list made it into the 2011 top ten.

...so if you're the type who's looking for a shiny new band to call your own, there are ten great candidates below & links to videos for eight of the songs & "listen" links for the other two. ALSO, since spotify has finally made its way to america, i've tossed up a playlist of the nine top ten tracks that are available on it, so if you swing that way, have at it here. BRING ON THE TRACKS! BRING ON 2012! SMELL YA LATER 2011!

Click to read more ...

wilco needs to try harder this time.

...so last week i was hanging round the apartment & i'd just finished watching this week's episode of rescue me. i'd opened a bottle of lagunitas wilco tango foxtrot (which i'd first tried last june) & i was playing on the internet & randomly learned that wilco has a new album--the whole love--coming out near the end of september. since i was having a beer with "wilco" in the name & they have a new album on the way & i haven't been listening to music much recently & haven't enjoyed much of wilco's recent output but believe in second chances, i got this crazy idea. starting with 1995's A.M., i'd listen to a bunch of wilco's discography in chronological order as i had myself a lagunitas wilco tango foxtrot, eventually, i fell asleep & when i woke up the next day, i listened to some more wilco, finishing with 2009's wilco (the album).

Click to read more ...

cut copy bday BBQ.

photographic evidence of food & drink at my oft-brooklyn flea companion jessica's bday BBQ gathering in prospect park just outside the bandshell, where cut copy was playing...

Click to read more ...

#193 - mid-year hype.

is it really that time of year again? you bet your sweet ass it is...it's time for my mid-year top five list of albums, accompanied by some sort of snack-drink list! for the past two years (2009, 2010), i've paired my top five albums with five snack-drink pairings that i'd planned on writing about but never got around to. this year, since i'm feeling slightly nostalgic, i'm changing it up a bit & pairing the top albums with the top five posts of all time on eat!drink!snack! isn't change exciting?

has it been a good year for music so far? it's been aight i suppose. while the list of bands who've put out albums is impressive, the quality of those albums is much less so. over the last six months, we've had lackluster new efforts from a bunch of bands i expected more from--the decemberists, arctic monkeys, tv on the radio, the strokes, art brut, deerhoof, destroyer, okkervil river & the beastie boys.

even with all these letdowns, there have been a bunch of good albums released thus far. the dodos, pains of being pure at heart, yuck, man man, bon iver, the kills & radiohead have all put out albums that are worthy of being in my top five. in the end though, there were just too many albums to cram into a top five, so i sort of leaned toward my current faves.

as a predictor, last year only one of the songs from my mid-year albums list ended up on my end of year "top ten songs" list. in the previous year, four of my favorite mid-year albums had songs on the 2009 end-of-year list. how will this year's mid-year albums fare? more importantly, how drastically will my mood change by the end of december? you'll just have to stay tuned for another six months to find out!...or you can skip the next six months of amazing blog posts & check back here in january if you want to be a jerk about it. but for now, here are the top five...

Click to read more ...