REM called it a career today. as an Athenian it makes me kinda sad...even if they haven't made a record i give a shit about since at least New Adventures in Hi-Fi. RIP the greatest rock and roll band from the South....other than Black Crowes (obviously).
My 20 Favorite REM songs (at this moment off the top of my head)
a lot of hits, not a ton of deep cuts. almost all music from the 80s...nothing post Bill.
Harborcoat (Don't Go Back To) Rockville Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars) Sitting Still Country Feedback Catapult Pretty Persuasion Orange Crush Ages Of You Fall On Me Crush With Eyeliner Gardening At Night Driver 8 Nightswimming Radio Free Europe Leave Low Drive Pop Song '89 Let Me In
1 The Gun Club- Fire Of Love 2 Black Flag- Damaged 3 Gang Of Four- Solid Gold 4 The Birthday Party- Prayers On Fire 5 Mission Of Burma- Signals, Calls, And Marches 6 The Replacements- Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash 7 X- Wild Gift 8 The Wipers- Youth of America 9 Television Personalities- …And Don’t The Kids Just Love It? 10 New Order- Movement 11 Hall & Oates- Private Eyes 12 The Cure- Faith 13 Prince- Controversy 14 Motley Crue- Too Fast For Love 15 Bauhaus- Mask 16 The dB’s- Stands For Decibels 17 Josef K- The Only Fun In Town 18 The Go Go’s- Beauty and the Beat 19 The Psychedelic Furs- Talk Talk Talk 20 Agent Orange- Living In Darkness 21 The Adolescents- Adolescents 22 Public Image Ltd.- Flowers Of Romance 23 The Au Pairs- Playing With A Different Sex 24 Siouxise & The Banshees- Juju 25 The Scientists- The Scientists 26 Echo & The Bunnymen- Heaven Up Here 27 This Heat- Deceit 28 The Cramps- Psychedelic Jungle 29 The Pretenders- Pretenders II 30 Brian Eno & David Byrne- My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
apologies to Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Plimsouls, INXS, The Clean, Tom Tom Club, Killing Joke, The Sound, Saccharine Trust, The Raincoats, Klaus Nomi, Iron Maiden, U2, Minutemen, Kraftwerk, Glenn Branca, Romeo Void, Radio Birdman, Soft Cell, The Rolling Stones, The Go-Betweens, The Police, and tons more artists. 1981 was a loaded fucking year for amazing albums.
i used to really love making my year end top 10s...but as i have become old and no longer as obsessed with KNOWING about everything i have fallen into a pattern of only getting albums by bands that i've heard good things about from people i really trust. (i also realized i only listen to new music that sounds like old shit i already liked as a teenager). anyways 2010 might be the least active i have ever been in my whole life when it comes to discovering new music...regardless here are a list of albums that i liked a lot, listened to a lot, and will probably still like around this time next year.
1. Harlem Hippies
probably the best power pop/garage rock band since The Strokes unleashed their first two albums on the hipster population of the United States is Austin, Texas' Harlem. this album is so fucking catchy it might as well have been called Herpes.
2. The Walkmen Lisbon
my favorite band of the last 10 years just keeps chugging along with album after album of solid material. easily their best record since Bows & Arrows.
3. Deerhunter Halcyon Digest
the best band from Atlanta, GA also happens to be one of the best bands in all of indie rock. Deerhunter are falling into their place as the Sonic Youth of the new generation.
4. Grinderman Grinderman 2
my love for Nick Cave can not be understated. the man is truly one of my musical heroes and i consider him one of the great songwriters of all time in league with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen...but it's still pretty awesome to see him cut loose in his 50s with a band whose music can best be described as dirty old man rock.
5. Zola Jesus Stridulum EP
i always have and always will have a soft spot in my heart for weird goth chicks.
6. Dum Dum Girls I Will Be
two of my favorite kinds of music are 60s girl group stuff like the Shangri-Las and Ronettes and 1990s indie pop. apparently that is also the chicks in Dum Dum Girls favorite two genres as well.
7. Beach Fossils Beach Fossils
sounds like a 90s shoegaze band trying to sound like the Beach Boys. Surfgaze. solid.
8. No Age Everything In Between
No Age are here to remind us that Husker Du and Sebadoh are fucking awesome.
9. Crocodiles Sleep Forever
The Jesus and Mary Chain aren't just a band from the 80s who wrote "Just Like Honey" and had awesome haircuts, they are also an entire genre of music...or you'd think they were based on the amount of bands who have ripped them off the last 25 years. Crocodiles do it a lot better than most.
10. Best CoastCrazy For You
summer music by chicks who just wanna smoke pot and go to the beach. good vibes rock and roll.
(BONUS pick) The Black Ryder Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
sounds like Mazzy Star. i loved Mazzy Star.
i’m sure i’m forgetting something i got this year that i really enjoyed. but anyways that’s my boring ass mostly indie rock favorite records of 2010.
1.Pale Blue Eyes (which is also my favorite song of all time) 2.I Found A Reason (demo version) 3.There She Goes Again 4.Sunday Morning 5.Sister Ray 6.Here She Comes Now 7.I’ll Be Your Mirror 8.Candy Says 9.Stephanie Says 10.I’m Set Free 11.Heroin
1.Into Your Arms (Bad Seeds) 2.Mr. Clarinet (Birthday Party) 3.Swampland (Birthday Party) 4.Do You Love Me? (Bad Seeds) 5.Sonny’s Burning (Birthday Party) 6.Mutiny In Heaven (Birthday Party) 7.Are You The One I’ve Been Waiting For? (Bad Seeds) 8.Shivers (Boys Next Door) 9.Deanna (Bad Seeds) 10.Babe, I’m On Fire (Bad Seeds) 11.The Mercy Seat (Bad Seeds) 12.Release The Bats (Birthday Party) 13.No Pussy Blues (Grinderman) 14.Where The Wild Roses Grow (Bad Seeds) 15.Death Is Not The End (Bad Seeds) 16.From Her To Eternity (Bad Seeds) 17.Fears Of Gun (Birthday Party) 18.Nick The Stripper (Birthday Party) 19.As I Sat Sadly By Her Side (Bad Seeds) 20.Zoo Music Girl (Birthday Party)
# Joy Division Unknown Pleasures # Gang Of Four Entertainment! # Wire Chairs Missing # Suicide Suicide # Public Image Ltd. Second Edition/Metal Box # The Cure Pornography # Pere Ubu The Modern Dance # The Raincoats The Raincoats # The Fall Live At the Witch Trials # James Chance & The Contortions Buy # The Birthday Party Prayers On Fire # Mission Of Burma Signals, Calls, and Marches # Rough Trade Records Wanna Buy A Bridge? # No New York # Magazine Real Life # The Slits Cut # Devo Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo # Siouxsie & The Banshees The Scream # Bauhaus In the Flat Field # Swell Maps A Trip To Marineville # Killing Joke Killing Joke # The Pop Group Y # Pylon Gyrate # Chrome Half Machine Lip Moves # Au Pairs Playing With a Different Sex # A Certain Ratio Early # Metal Urbain Anarchy In Paris! # Throbbing Gristle 20 Jazz Funk Greats # Talking Heads Remain In Light # Echo & The Bunnymen Ocean Rain # Chameleons UK Script of the Bridge # Young Marble Giants Colossal Youth # The Teardrop Explodes Kilimanjaro # The Psychedelic Furs Talk Talk Talk # XTC Drums and Wires # New Order Movement # ESG Come Away With ESG # Liquid Liquid Liquid Liquid # Orange Juice You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever # The Homosexuals The Homosexuals Record
anything that shitty and short sighted had to be voted on by fans. as usual England is not unlike a 14 year old girl with a new crush every fucking week.
8 songs by Muse? for real? hahahaha. oh man, you Brits and your little lists.
things England is good at
make boring period dramas enslaving the world stealing music from black americans and selling it back to us with bad teeth and funny haircuts
things you don’t know shit about
food weather how to make a fucking list that’s worth a shit
1. the hardest walk 2. just like honey 3. taste of cindy 4. some candy talking 5. april skies 6. reverence 7. kill surf city 8. i hate rock n roll 9. snakedriver 10. everything's alright when you're down 11. head on 12. happy when it rains 13. up too high 14. never understand 15. something i can't have 16. darklands 17. sometimes always 18. teenage lust 19. don't ever change 20. my little underground
so everyone's totally Beatles crazy of late, what with video games and remastered cds being shoved down our throats. it's times like this that you start listening to the Meatmen's classic "One Down Three To Go" and start wishing someone would wipe Ringo and Paul off the face of the planet...okay, not really, but still it's total Beatles overload. regardless it got me thinking about my own favorite Fab 4 cuts and so i have my personal top 30 of all time for you:
1. I Saw Her Standing There 2. Happiness Is A Warm Gun 3. Taxman 4. Help! 5. Helter Skelter 6. I'm Only Sleeping 7. Two Of Us 8. Tomorrow Never Knows 9. I Should Have Known Better 10. Across The Universe 11. I'm So Tired 12. I'm Looking Through You 13. Something 14. I Want To Hold Your Hand 15. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey 16. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 17. Hey Jude 18. Revolution 19. Here Comes The Sun 20. Strawberry Fields Forever 21. Paperback Writer 22. If I Needed Someone 23. A Hard Day's Night 24. Ballad Of John and Yoko 25. It Won't Be Long 26. Don't Let Me Down 27. I Want You (She's So Heavy) 28. Lady Madonna 29. Eight Days A Week 30. Because
London Calling and Nevermind the Bollocks are both great, don't get me wrong, but for me...these are the true greatest punk albums of all time.
1. Black Flag- The First Four Years this album is what it says...a collection of all Black Flag's singles/eps/etc. from their first four years as a band. all of it is pre-Henry Rollins. the band went through several different vocalists (their 1st one Keith Morris does a pretty fucking good Johnny Rotten impression). every song on this is a hardcore punk classic with "Nervous Breakdown", "Wasted", & "Six Pack" being some of my favorite songs ever written. this is the sound of Hardcore being born. nihilism, paranoia, depression, isolation, despair, the sound of the city of LA closing in around you. whenever i put this on i just wish i was a 15 year old skater who could go out and vandalize something.
2. The Stooges- Fun House recorded in May of 1970, Fun House was the Stooges 2nd album. the band recorded everything live in the studio with no overdubs, so it's the closest thing to capturing their live fury of any of their other records. after their debut's basic garage/psych approach (if you could really call it basic) the band decided to indulge in their love of free jazz. most of the songs are basically just a riff with the rest of the band and Iggy just doing whatever they want. this is the sound of the apocalypse and next to the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat is one of the first truly punk records ever recorded. "Tv Eye", "Loose", & "1970" are the highlights...but honestly every fucking song on this album is a chaotic masterpiece.
3. Gang Of Four- Entertainment! okay, so this is more of a post-punk record to be honest, but there's enough punk rock attitude on this album to let that slide. equal parts political manifesto and dance record, Gang of Four took the sound of 70s punk and mashed it together with funk to create a sound totally original. they influenced the likes of the Minutemen, REM, & Fugazi and basically spawned an entire genre of music (Dance Punk) that exists today. "Anthrax", "Damaged Goods", & "At Home He's a Tourist" are some of the highlights...but every song is memorable.
4. Suicide- Suicide has there ever been an electronic record that sounded darker, scarier, and more punk rock? Ministry and Nine Inch Nails can go fuck themselves. Suicide pre-dated the New York Punk scene by a number of years and their live shows were the thing of legend. singer Alan Vega is like an Elvis on bad cocaine and Martin Rev just keeps the drone going. they influenced EVERYONE. the Jesus & Mary Chain, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, Spacemen 3, Chrome, Big Black, The Screamers, Bruce Springsteen (yeah the Boss credits them for the inspiration to Nebraska), and every single band that ever decided to make music with just a singer and a drum machine. "Ghost Rider", "Rocket USA", and "Girl" are among the best tracks on this album and the 10 minute plus "Frankie Teardrop" is one of, if not THE, most fucking harrowing songs put to record.
5. Wire- Pink Flag easily one of the most original bands of the UK punk explosion, Wire are part art project, part lesson in minimalism (in both sound and song length), and part fucking awesome. this record is the beginning of indie rock as it's pretty obvious that Pavement were fans of this. intelligent, strange, catchy, sometimes abrasive...a true classic. "three girl rhumba", "strange", and "ex lion tamer" are my favorite tracks...but honestly there isn't a single song of the 21 on here that aren't awesome.
6. The Clash- The Clash the Clash's debut record combines the band's love of reggae, 50's rock and roll, and British pup-rock and delivers one of the greatest records of all time. London's Calling gets all the press, but THE CLASH is the album that defines who the band are and what they've got to say. both the US and UK versions of this album are both chock full of classic hits. the US version has a couple of UK singles added and a few album tracks missing from the UK version. honestly it's just better to buy the US one and download all the missing tracks from the British version.
7. The Birthday Party- Prayers On Fire take the Stooges noisey freakouts...add an even darker and crazier frontman (a young Nick Cave), stick it in a meatgrinder, crank the murder/sex/death/rock up to 11 and then you've got the Birthday Party. this is as punk as goth ever got.
8. The Misfits- Static Age sounding like a scary version of the Undertones and Ramones...Static Age is the ultimate Misfits album. horror cartoon punk. the soundtrack for any high school kid worth a shit's night on the town. EVERY SONG IS A CLASSIC. "attitude", "hybrid moments", "last caress", etc....
9. The Gun Club- Fire Of Love swamped out hill billy punk...like of Creedence Clearwater Revival had grown up Black Flag fans. this is LA roots punk at it's finest. better than anything X ever recorded by a mile. this album had a huge influence on the coming Alt.country scene as well as The Meat Puppets, The Flaming Lips, & the Pixies....plus the White Stripes owe them a dept as well. "sex beat" (which has maybe the best line ever: "we can fuck forever but you'll never get my soul."), "she's like heroin to me", and "for the love of ivy" are the choice cuts.
10. Bad Brains- Bad Brains the holy grail of hardcore punk was created by four black kids from Washinton DC who decided to take their jazz chops and play the fastest punk rock music ever at the time...and with some little reggae numbers thrown in to change things up a bit. Bad Brains moved to New York and basically changed the punk scene to hardcore overnight. LA metal and thrash owe a huge dept to Bad Brains as well. "attitude", "banned in DC" & "pay to cum" are the hits.
11. The Damned- Damned Damned Damned the first UK punk band to hit the airwaves and easily one of the best. thrashy rock and roll and Stooges influenced garage rock. "Neat Neat Neat", "New Rose", and "Stab Your Back" are classics. they also do a Stooges cover for good measure.
12. The Nation Of Ulysses- Plays Pretty For Baby! teenage rebellion as a political manifesto. the band's 2nd album took their love of the MC5, free jazz, artrock, and hardcore punk and then just took the whole thing up about 20 notches. angry, witty, and full of passion. Image isn't everything...it's the only thing. listen to "shakedown"...if you don't get it after that then you never will.
13. New York Dolls- New York Dolls predating the punk scene by a few years, this American glam band took what T.Rex and Bowie were doing in England and made it seem dangerous. Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry riffs being played over songs about sex, decadence, drugs all done sloppy and violent. THIS IS THE MOST ROCK AND ROLL ALBUM EVER. The Dolls were New York's first and their finest. "personality crisis", "lookin' for a kiss", "trash", "jet boy"...every single song is perfection.
14. Ramones- Rocket To Russia the 3rd and the best of all the Ramones albums. cleaner production and more hooks plus the best songwriting to date. iot's the perfect combo of their love of 60s girl group pop, surf rock, and chuck berry. "rockaway beach", "sheena is a punk rocker", and "teenage lobotomy" standout...but every single song is a classic.
15. Black Flag- Damaged the band's debut album with Henry Rollins as it's full time vocalists. their sound now was perfected after years of writing and touring. the strongest lineup the group ever had with 2 guitarists and a killer rhythm section. every song is like an angry man balling up his fist and then fighting in a blind rage anything that comes near it. "gimmie gimmie gimmie", "tv party", & "rise above" can peel paint off the wall and "depression" is the birth of noise rock.
16. The Wipers- Is This Real? mostly unheralded Oregon punks whose first 3 albums are basically the sound of Grunge being invented. Seattle was paying attention. this album is their first and best. tons of great songs, "Return of the Rat" and "D-7" (both covered by Nirvana) are the best known, and "Mystery" is a perfect little power pop love song that clocks in under 2 minutes.
17. Stiff Little Fingers- Inflammable Material Belfast punks who took the Sex Pistols sound and cranked up the political unrest 20 notches with their debut record. probably the angriest UK punk record of the 70s. "Suspect Device" and "Alternative Ulster" are the hits, but every song is a classic. "Barbed Wire Love" being my personal favorite.
18. Mudhoney- SuperFuzz BigMuff combining Mudhoney's first EP with their early singles, Sub Pop released the definitive grunge record of all time. Mudhoney combined their love of the Stooges, Northwestern garage (the Sonics), and hardcore punk into a fuzzed out, primitive, feedback drenched sound. 12 songs of perfect rock and roll...with "Touch Me I'm Sick", "In and Out of Grace", and "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" being the most well known. this is the album that made me fall in love with garage punk.
19. The Saints- Eternally Yours the Saints 1st record is a classic of punk rock/garage energy, but it's the follow up that shows off that they could do equal parts oldschool rhythm & blues and even shameless power pop. the song "This Perfect Day" may very well be the greatest punk anthem ever written. "Lost & Found" is a pure garage burner and "Know Your Product" sounds like a soul record on speed with big horns and mighty hooks. Nevermind the Sex Pistols...it's the Saints who showed punks how to rock and roll.
20. The Cramps- Bad Music For Bad People most people would probably pick their debut album as the place to start but for me this collection of singles and b-sides released in 1984 is the perfect intro to the kings of garage trash punk....it probably has something to do with me hearing this first. it's just 31 minutes and full of debauchery and everything is a fucking gem. the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valetnine, The Dwarves, the Horrors, and every band who ever played garage trash afterwards owes this band a lot. classic cuts "human fly", "garbage man", and "new kind of kick" all fucking rule.
Bonus Pick:
21. The Zeros- Don't Push Me Around i hate to put a compilation cd on this list but for The Mexican Ramones i will make an exception. Bomp records collected this comp of Zeros recordings from 1978-1980. if this isn't the best pop punk of all time then it's right up there with anything the Undertones, Buzzcocks, or Ramones ever committed to tape. includes the classic cuts "Don't Push Me Around", "Wild Weekend", and my personal favorite..."She's Just A Girl On The Block"
20 Albums that are a bit overlooked, underrated, or just didn't get the love they deserved and have been a little forgotten....but each one is an indie rock gem for a music lover to enjoy.
1. The Strokes- Room On Fire the 2nd Strokes record is far superior to the 1st in both song writing, production, and quality...yet the hype from the 1st album and backlash buried any chance this album had of being a huge success.
2. The Icarus Line- Penance Soiree this is the album that reminded me how fucking awesome rock and roll could be. a perfect combination of The Stooges, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Jesus Lizard rolled into one nice big fuck you of a record. the sound of sex, drugs, and rock n roll.
3. The Stills- Logic Will Break Your Heart the Canadian answer the Interpol...only with a better pop sensibility. when you listen to the singles "Still In Love Song" and "Lola, Star and Stripes" you can only scratch your head and wonder how these guys weren't fucking huge.
4. Shocking Pinks- Shocking Pinks this is a compilation CD to introduce this fantastic New Zealand band to the United States but most people i know who would be into them have never even heard of Shocking Pinks. a perfect combo of Clean and Verlaines styled Kiwi Pop and My Bloody Valentine shoegaze...with some dance punk thrown in for good measure.
5. The Radio Dept.- Pet Grief shoegaze is alive and well in the form of this Swedish band. like if New Order, My Bloody Valentine, and the Pet Shop Boys decided to start a band together. lush and beautiful...the perfect music for a mixtape for your girlfriend.
6. The Warlocks- Phoenix the only band i hear get compared to the Velvet Underground that i actually agree with. perfect drugged out drone rock.
7. The Lilys- Precollection one of the under rated indie bands of all time finally released their perfect record.
8. Dead Meadow- Shivering King & Others this makes me wanna start smoking pot again.
9. The Black Lips- Let It Bloom the best album by the best garage band of this decade. Atlanta represent.
10. Pleasure Forever- Pleasure Forever coming out of the San Diego hardcore scene, Pleasure Forever dropped this dark, sexy, and creepy rock album that sounds like Black Heart Procession doing their best Birthday Party impression.
11. Pissed Jeans- Shallow the return of noise rock. the next best thing to the real Jesus Lizard.
12. Death From Above 1978- You're A Woman, I'm a Machine snotty and dancey Canadian dance-punk duo unleash sonic pop assault, date Kelly Osbourne, tour with Nine Inch Nails, and then break up...typical.
13. Hot Snakes- Suicide Invoice the best album by the best hardrock band of this decade.
14. Q and Not U- No Kill, No Beep Beep the last great Dischord band. i thought these kids were gonna be huge...but like most things i was wrong. like if Fugazi decided to make a disco record. handclaps, woo hoos, and catchy fucking songs.
15. The Kills- Keep On Your Mean Side like what if would be like if Pj Harvey and the Jesus & Mary Chain made a secret record together that makes you wanna fuck.
16. The Ponys- Laced With Romance full on ripping off Richard Hell and The Voidoids....but i fucking love it.
17. Radio 4- Gotham! dancepunks with a message. like a combo of The Clash, Gang Of Four, and Mission of Burma. a political album that you can party to. one of my top 10 albums of this decade.
18. Grinderman- Grinderman Nick Cave and a few of his Bad Seeds rediscover the punk rock youth with this noisey garage record that's about 8 thousand times better than what most bands half their age are trying to pull off.
19. The Rapture- Pieces Of The People We Love the 2nd Rapture record expands on the promise of the 1st album with more solid song writing and a ton of catchy dance songs...too bad dance punk never happened.
20. Out hud- Let Us Never Speak Of This Again after releasing their instrumental funk rock debut, Out Hud decided to make an album that sounded like Liquid Liquid backing up the girls of ESG. if you can't shake your ass to this then you're probably dead.
Other albums worth mentioning: The Reigning Sound- TimeBomb High School The French Kicks- Trial Of the Century Panthers- The Trick Albert Hammond Jr- Yours To Keep Black Keys- the Big Come Up Blood On the Wall- awesomer The Cribs- The Cribs The Legends- Up Against The Legends Dr. Dog- We All Belong The Faintest Ideas- What Goes Up Must Calm Down The Gossip- That's not What I heard
Chunklet obviously did their own list years ago...whatever, assholes don't die. 1. Billy Corgan 2. Axl Rose 3. The Gallagher Brothers 4. Lars Ulrich 5. Gene Simmons 6. Steve Albini 7. Eddie Van Halen 8. Lou Reed 9. The Nuge 10. Dave Navaro 11. Sting 12. Fred Durst 13. Greg Ginn 14. Peter Hook 15. Bob Dylan 16. Roger Waters 17. Bono 18. Frank Black 19. Scott Stapp 20. Sebastian Bach 21. Brandon Flowers 22. Stephen Malkmus 23. Courtney Tayor 24. Chris Martin 25. John Lydon 26. Rivers Cuomo 27. GG Alin 28. The Eagles (all of 'em) 29. Ryan Adams 30. Damon Albarn
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