20 Albums That Changed My Life

Via The Facebook...

Think of 20 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 20 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!

1. Nirvana- Nevermind (i don't even need to explain this. if you are around the same age as me and were a teenager when this came out you know what it meant. but even more importantly than this actual record was all the cool bands that i discovered in the wake of listening to Nirvana and buying everything that Kurt Cobain name dropped in interviews) also this album directly changed the way i looked as i went from short haired baseball player to long haired grunge poseur which in turned helped me get laid in highschool.

2. Michael Jackson-Thriller (this album was my childhood. i used to dance around my room and act out the videos all the time when i was alone pretending to be Michael. i wore Pennyloafers almost everyday in 1st grade. i was Micheal Jackson as the Werewolf from teh Thriller video 2 years in a row. i fucking LOVED Michael Jackson.)

3. Guns N Roses- Appetitie For Destruction (a friend dubbed me a copy in 5th grade. the 1st album i ever owned that made me feel cool for listening to it. also the album that made me ask my parents for a guitar...that i never bothered to learn how to play)

4. NWA- Straight Outta Compton (i stole a copy from Camelot music in the Mall the summer after 6th grade. i hid it in a shoebox in my room inside a Bon Jovi tapecase so my mom wouldn't find it. the first thing i ever owned that felt like i was doing something bad for listening to it. still my favorite rap record of all time)

5. Sonic Youth- Dirty (after Nirvana, Sonic Youth were my favorite band ever and Dirty was my introduction)

6. The Clash- The Story Of The Clash (in 10th grade i started going back and learning about all the punk bands of the 70s. this double disc Greatest Hits cds was my favorite CD ever at the time.)

7. Fugazi- Repater (got me into hardcore and underground music, the first band i ever liked that not every kid at my highschool listened to)

8. Black Flag- First Four Years (still my favorite punk record ever made)

9. Beastie Boys- Check Your Head (this album is the 90s)

10. The Jesus and Mary Chain-Honey's Dead (i discovered them in 10th grade and this is just one of those records to defines highschool and the 90s for me)

11. Gang Of Four- Entertainment!

12. The Replacements- Let It Be

13. Belle & Sebastian- If You're Feeling Sinister

14. Jawbreaker- 24 hour revenge therapy

15. Nation Of Ulysses- Plays Pretty for Baby

16. Radiohead- OK Computer

17. Elliott Smith- Either/Or

18. The Smiths- Hatful of Hallow

19. Refused- The Shape Of Punk To Come (came out in 1998 and saved my love of punk rock. also reignited my desire to be in a band)

20. The Agenda- Start The Panic (hey, i made this record and this is the reason i've seen the entire US and went to the UK which was my first time out of the country. so yeah, this changed my life for sure.)

i'm having a Wu Tang revival moment

ah the Wu Tang Clan...how i've missed you. what took me so long to start listening to you again?

15 favorite Wu Tang songs of all time

1. GZA/The Genius- 4th Chamber
2. Ghostface Killah- Daytona 500
3. Wu Tang Clan- Shame On A Nigga
4. Wu Tang Clan- C.R.E.A.M.
5. Ol' Dirty Bastard- Shimmy Shimmy Ya
6. GZA- Shadowboxin'
7. Wu Tang Clan- Method Man
8. GZA- Liquid Swords
9. Wu Tang Clan- Visionz
10. Ol' Dirty Bastard- Got Your Money
11. Wu Tang Clan- Dogshit
12. Ghostface Killah- All That I Got
13. Method Man- Release Yo Delf
14. Raekwon- Ice Cream
15. Wu Tang Clan- Can It Be All So Simple

post Valentine's song of the day

you can go your own way
Loving you
Isnt the right thing to do
How can I ever change things
That I feel

If I could
Maybe Id give you my world
How can i
When you wont take it from me

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You an call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

Tell me why
Everything turned around
Packing up
Shacking up is all you wanna do

If I could
Baby Id give you my world
Open up
Everythings waiting for you

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You an call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

But I Already Own Every Joy Division/New Order/Happy Mondays release

Rhino Records just put out a new boxed set highlighting Factory Records called Factory Records: Communications 1978-92. i've got pretty much everything included minus some random remixes and a few bands i never got into and or never listened to. i never buy CDs anymore, but when i do make the rare exception it's usually for something Rhino has reissued. the Box set is a great intro for anyone who is slightly interested in one of the most important record labels of all time.

here's the tracklisting.

DISC 1

1. Joy Division: Digital
2. A Certain Ratio: All Night Party
3. OMD: Electricity (Original version)
4. Joy Division: She's Lost Control
5. The Distractions: Time Goes By So Slow
6. Joy Division: Transmission
7. The Durutti Column: Sketch For Summer
8. X-O-Dus: English Black Boys
9. Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart
10. A Certain Ratio: Shack Up
11. Section 25: Girls Don't Count
12. Crawling Chaos: Sex Machine
13. A Certain Ratio: Flight
14. The Names: Night Shift
15. New Order: Ceremony (Original 7" version)
16. Minny Pops: Dolphin's Spurt
17. John Dowie: It's Hard To Be An Egg
18. Crispy Ambulance: Deaf
19. Section 25: Dirty Disco

DISC 2

1. New Order: Everything's Gone Green
2. ESG: Moody
3. Tunnelvision: Watching the Hydroplanes
4. The Durutti Column: Messidor
5. A Certain Ratio: Knife Slits Water (LP version)
6. Royal Family and the Poor: Art on 45
7. Swamp Children: Taste What's Rhythm
8. New Order: Temptation
9. 52nd Street: Cool As Ice
10. New Order: Blue Monday
11. Cabaret Voltaire: Yashar (John Robie Remix)
12. Quando Quango: Love Tempo
13. The Wake: Talk About The Past

DISC 3

1. New Order: Confusion
2. Marcel King: Reach For Love
3. Section 25: Looking from A Hilltop (12" Restructure)
4. Stockholm Monsters: All At Once
5. Life: Tell Me
6. The Durutti Column: A Little Mercy (Duet)
7. James: Hymn From A Village
8. Kalima: Trickery
9. A Certain Ratio: Sounds Like Something Dirty
10. Quando Quango: Genius
11. Happy Mondays: Freaky Dancin'
12. Miaow: When It All Comes Down
13. The Railway Children: Brighter
14. Biting Tongues: Compressor
15. New Order: True Faith
16. Happy Mondays: 24 Hour Party People

DISC 4

1. New Order: Fine Time
2. Happy Mondays: WFL (Think About the Future)
3. Revenge: Seven Reasons
4. Happy Mondays: Hallelujah (Club Mix)
5. Electronic: Getting Away With It
6. Happy Mondays: Step On
7. Northside: Shall We Take A Trip
8. New Order: World In Motion
9. Happy Mondays: Kinky Afro
10. The Durutti Column: Home
11. Electronic: Get The Message (DNA remix)
12. Northside: Take 5
13. Cath Carroll: Moves Like You (Remix)
14. The Other Two: Tasty Fish (12" mix)
15. Happy Mondays: Sunshine and Love (Lionrock Remix)

Freaky Japanese Space Jams For Your Ass

this is Les Rallize DeNudes.

they were a Psychedelic Rock band from Japan that existed from the late 1960s and into the mid 1990s. they're sort of a Japanese version of the Velvet Underground...meaning nobody ever heard of them when they started out but it's pretty obvious if you've ever bothered listening to Japanese rock bands like the Boredoms and Acid Mothers Temple that they were a huge influence on the underground rock scene. their sound is somewhere in between The Jesus And Mary Chain during their heavy-feedback era playing long spaced out 13th Floor Elevator songs by way of Sun Ra and the entire No Wave movement....or something like that. maybe a little Can and Spaceman 3 thrown in for good measure. honestly None of those bands really hit the mark at all. they were involved with some left-ist political organizations so an MC5 comparison is probably in order as well...other than the fact nobody in the MC4 ever hijacked a motherfucking airplane like the original bassist did back in 1970.

this is music for noise freaks and obsessive nerds...so if you fall into either of those categories then you will probably enjoy. if not, well then i hear there's a new album by The Fray coming out.

some youtube footage