Author Archives: acompleteunknown

The 11 Best Moby Songs of the 00s

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Continuing the countdown to the release of my book, here’s the Moby chapter.  I would love to hear your thoughts!! 

In 1999, Moby released his ground-breaking album Play. The album turned electronic music on its side with its historically haunting audio sampling.  For one brief moment, Moby’s sound was the only game in town. In the ’00s Moby might be best remembered for being the target of Eminem’s wrath at the 2002 MTV video awards.  After Moby called Eminem a homophobe, racist and misogynist, Eminem’s ire had so much strength that it not only publicly embarrassed Moby, but it also derailed his musical popularity.  Play made Moby one of the most respected songwriting innovators.  Eminem’s angst made him last night’s leftovers.

After that, Moby’s career wasn’t the same.  Even though 18 sonically picked up where Play had left off, it was criticized for being too safe.  Moby had set his own bar too high.  He pushed his sound on Hotel but it was dismissed for lacking focus.  He tried to win back his original techno fans on Last Night, by combining early techno with a modern twist.  No dice.  On his 2009 release, Wait For Me, he put out his best-reviewed album of the decade.  Many praised Moby’s return and welcomed his comeback.  If it hadn’t been for Eminem, would they have realized that Moby had never left?  From 18‘s darker vision of loneliness, to Hotel‘s personal honesty, to Last Night’s viral enthusiasm, while no one was paying attention, Moby continued to build a richly layered catalogue of music on par with his best efforts. 

The 11 Best Moby Songs:

1.      Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) (18)

2.      At Least We Tried (18)

3.      Where You End (Hotel)

4.      Shot In The Back of the Head (Wait For Me)

5.      Raining Again (Hotel)

6.      In This World (18)

7.      Mistake (Wait For Me)

8.      The Stars (Last Night)

9.      In My Heart (18)

10.  One of These Mornings (18)

11.  Lift Me Up (Hotel)

Fun Fact:  Recently, Moby co-owned a tea shop, called TeaNY, where he helped out serving customers. 

Buy Moby’s new album, Innocents…now!!! 

The Unknown: HAIM

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Female rock groups have always been in short supply.  For every Patti Smyth there’s a hundred Chad Kroegers.  And that many Chads Kroegers is never a good thing. It feels like musical men have forgotten what it takes to wield a guitar and kick some ass.  It’s like dancing in the moonlight is better than barking at the moon.  Well, maybe it’s time for the women to take over rambling on.  HAIM has arrived to show us exactly how it’s done.  With Jett’s love of rock n’ roll and Ford’s deadly kiss, HAIM hit like Benatar’s best shot.  The lyrics ooze with wit and wild.  The music pounds with hook and slammers.  These girls have come to take over the rock crown and this time it’s the men who will be sitting in the back seat.

PS.  I’m working on getting my music hosting fixed.  They changed my password and now I can’t remember it.  Good times.

Buy HAIM’s new album, Days Are Gone…now!!!

 

The 11 Best Songs By Drake

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In hip-hop, it’s all about street cred.  If you haven’t murdered and pillaged townships for most of your life then you might as well turn in your mic and become a DJ. I don’t think any rapper in the history of the game has had less street cred than Drake.  First of all he’s Canadian, which should have eliminated him right off the bat.  But to make matters even more unrealistic, he used to star in Degrassi High.  Even with all this going against him, Drake has managed to become one of the most inventive and innovative hip-hop artists out there.  Because he had to fight against his thug-less image, it’s as if he’s pushing the boundaries of rap can be to prove that he knows what the hell he’s doing.  He’s pushed rap so far, it’s to the point that it’s questionable if it’s even rap anymore or has become something unto itself.  Don’t let his squeaky clean image fool you, Drake is as hard as any one in the rap game.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Drake:

  1. Take Care (Take Care)
  2. Over (Thank Me Later)
  3. Marvin’s Room (Take Care)
  4. Fear (So Far Gone)
  5. Fireworks (Thank Me Later)
  6. Best I Ever Had (So Far Gone)
  7. Find Your Love (Thank Me Later)
  8. Well Be Fine (Take Care)
  9. Thank Me Now (Thank Me Later)
  10. Headlines (Take Care)
  11. Look What You’ve Done (Take Care)

Buy Drake’s new album, Nothing Was the Same…now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Kings of Leon

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The new TV season is finally upon us.  Thousands of new shows will debut and we will pick a lucky handful to survive through-out the season.  Even less will be renewed.  And only a couple will become our new collective crushes.  Like a great song, a great show can unite us as a people.  The most conservative Republican and the most liberal Democrat will find some common ground if they both watch Breaking Bad.  A Boston Red Sox fan and a Yankee fan will have at least one hour of solitude if they both watch Game of Thrones.  The hardest gangster and the nerdiest scientist will share a laugh over the Big Bang Theory.  At the end of the day, with all our hardships, our life struggles, our fights, our disagreements, our debts, and our losses, we all have a need for escape.  And no, we don’t all like the same shows.  But the same shows are the common thread that hold us together at the water cooler.  And for one minute, your least favorite co-worker will become your best friend when you both share a mutual distaste for the series finale of Dexter.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Kings of Leon:

  1. Sex On Fire (Only By the Night)
  2. Knocked Up (Because of the Times)
  3. The Bucket (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
  4. Closer (Only By the Night)
  5. Four Kicks (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
  6. Use Somebody (Only By the Night)
  7. California Waiting (Youth And Young Manhood)
  8. On Call (Because of the Times)
  9. Happy Alone (Youth And Young Manhood)
  10. Velvet Snow (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
  11. My Party (Because of the Times)

Buy The Kings of Leon new album, Mechanical Bull…now!!

 

The 11 Best Songs By Nirvana

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Last night I saw Paul McCartney perform live on Hollywood Blvd.  It was a surreal event with the streets closed down and a giant stage in the middle of the road.  This was the first of two live concerts for the Jimmy Kimmel show.  Monday night featured Sir Paul while Tuesday night would host Justin Timberlake.  I was the only one in my office who made the walk down to see Paul perform live.  Everyone else in the office chose to wait and see Justin Timberlake the next night.  When talking about Paul, there was even one girl in my office who said, “I don’t even know any of his songs.”  It wasn’t until we had to explain to her that he used to sing for the Beatles that she finally acknowledged that she “guesses” she knows who he is.  After squeezing my way onto a balcony overlooking the street I was treated to one of the greatest rock n roll artists of all time…for free.  Perks of working in Hollywood.  One of the most amazing moments of the night was during “Hey Jude.”  Now if you’ve never been to Hollywood Blvd. then let me explain to you that it’s an amalgam of tourists, Angelenos, amateur hip hop artists trying to sell their rap CDs, bums, crazy drug addicts, and street people dressed up like your favorite movie personalities like Marilyn Monroe and Chewbacca. When “Hey Jude” started playing, everyone was singing along: the rich, the poor, and the guy dressed like Jack Sparrow. This one song transcended every era, every nationality, every walk of life.  It is bigger than iconic.  It defines iconic.  This ordinary man wrote a song that every man, woman, and child knows.  This song is a piece of our lives.  It is a piece of us.  It is a part of the tapestry of our universe.  This is the power one song has to bind us together

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Nirvana:

  1. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nevermind)
  2. Lithium (Nevermind)
  3. In Bloom (Nevermind)
  4. Serve The Servants (In Utero)
  5. Heart Shaped Box (In Utero)
  6. Lounge Act (Nevermind)
  7. Pennyroyal Tea (In Utero)
  8. All Apologies (In Utero)
  9. Aneurysm (Hormoaning Version)
  10. Sappy (No Alternative)
  11. Rape Me (In Utero)

The 11 Best Songs By Jack Johnson of the 00s

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As we’re nearing this website’s book release, here’s another sample ripped from the pages of The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s.

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Jack Johnson’s debut album, Brushfire Fairytales, was one of the last truly great word of mouth albums.  Before the internet, word of mouth meant something more than a mass email or blog hit.  When you recommended an album, your music cred was on the line.  Your recommendation could not be previewed by 30-second sound snippets.  The only way to hear the music was to go out and buy the album.  So, if you were telling your friend to go out and spend their money on one of your music recommendations, it had better be good.

My good friend was so confident about his recommendation that he gave me a money-back guarantee.  If I did not like the album, my friend would reimburse me.  There are very few artists that can prompt that kind of blind assurance.  How could I say no?  I bought the album and weeks later, I found myself making the same money-back guarantees to other friends.  Not one of them logged a single complaint. 

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Jack Johnson:

1.  Symbol in My Driveway (On & On)

2.  Banana Pancakes (In Between Dreams)

3.  Never Know (In Between Dreams)

4.  Flake (Brushfire Fairytales)

5.  Cookie Jar (On & On)

6.  Go On (Sleep Through The Static)

7.  The News (Brushfire Fairytales)

8.  Imagine (John Lennon Tribute Album)

9.  Taylor (On & On)

10.  Better Together (In Between Dreams)

11.  If I Had Eyes (Sleep Through The Static)

Fun Fact:  Jack Johnson records his music in a purely solar-powered recording studio.

Buy Jack Johnson’s new album, From Here To Now To You…now!

The 11 Best Songs By The Naked and Famous

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A new season of Fantasy Football is like a new year in music.  Every year/season you have your old reliables.  The players (& bands) who always meet your expectations.  Then you have the old guns who still have a few moments still left in the tank but overall they’re on their way out.  And finally, you have the newcomers.  From the rookies who bring on the unexpected to the second year players who have to deal with the sophomore slump. In music, nothing is more crucial than the sophomore album.  The second album is almost more important than the debut.  On a debut, bands are give a little bit of slack.  As long as your debut shows promise, it’s acceptable.  On the sophomore album, there is no slack.  You either show up with your A game…or your game is over.  A second album that doesn’t meet expectation can have a trigger effect on a band’s entire career.  A weak second album will make the world think your first album was a fluke and you’ll be shut you out.  A strong showing on a second album will almost solidify you as a legit band for the rest of your career.  The Naked and Famous deliver their second album this week.  After their hype-heavy debut, it will be up to their new album to move them forward.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Naked and Famous:

  1. Young Blood (Passive Me, Aggressive You)
  2. Punching In a Dream (Passive Me, Aggressive You)
  3. All Of This (Passive Me, Aggressive You)
  4. Spies Spies Spies (This Machine)
  5. Eyes (Passive Me, Aggressive You)
  6. Serenade (This Machine)
  7. Meeting People Sucks (This Machine)
  8. Girls Like You (Passive Me, Aggressive You)
  9. Birds (No Light)
  10. Frayed (Passive Me, Aggressive You)
  11. Wild (Punching in a Dream)

Buy The Naked & Famous new album, In Rolling Waves…now!

The 11 Best Songs By The Dirtbombs of the 00s

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Two months away from the release of my first book.  As promised, here’s another post from the book as it appears in print.  Enjoy!  More to come…

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Back in the 1960s, England had outlawed rock music.  The government needed to protect its fragile British youth from the dangerous influence of the corruptible messages of the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Kinks.  So private boats anchored in international waters, broadcast the scandalous songs to their audience on dry land.  That music that pulsed with intense raw energy.  The bands of the 60s were painted as criminals but they were nothing more than a bunch of young kids banging on their instruments and shouting about everything that crossed their mind.  To have that kind of unbridled freedom was an attractive force that could never be stopped.  The Dirtbombs sound like they were part of this generation.  The static charge of their guitars blasts out of the speakers like the band was broadcasting live from a garage hidden on the bottom deck of an abandoned fishing boat.  It’s not just like the band sounds like they should have been part of this world, they play as if they still have a chance.  As if they play with such fury and fire, their music might actually travel back in time and be heard by this past era.

The 11 Best Songs by The Dirtbombs of the 00s:

1.      21st Century Fox (Dangerous Magical Noise)

2.      Wreck My Flow (We Have You Surrounded)

3.      Ever Lovin’ Man (We Have You Surrounded)

4.      Don’t Break My Heart (Dangerous Magical Noise)

5.      Chains of Love (Ultraglide In Black)

6.      Brand New Game (If You Don’t Already Have A Look)

7.      All My Friends (If You Don’t Already Have A Look)

8.      If You Want (Ultraglide In Black)

9.      Stuck In Thee Garage (Dangerous Magical Noise)

10.  Lupita Screams (If You Don’t Already Have A Look)

11.  Indivisible (We Have You Surrounded)

Fun Fact:  Lead singer, Mick Collins, originally conceived the band as singles-only outfit.  But due to mass popularity, they caved and began releasing full albums.

Buy the Dirtbombs new album, Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey…now!

The 11 Best Songs By MGMT

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When MGMT burst onto the scene a few years ago, it was like a meteor filled with chocolate covered cherries exploded in our ears.  The album was all over the map from sugary synthy dance mania to psychedelic-laced head trips.  It was chaotic sound storm but it was beautiful at that same time.   Though their sophomore album toned down the frequency it still managed to deliver a worthwhile effort.  But now it’s time for album three and the early word is not good.  I know MGMT sounds like they’re trying to be the next Flaming Lips…but they should really be following in the footsteps of The Offspring.  See, the Offspring was originally a straight up punk band in the style of Bad Religion.  Though they had some hardcore fans, they were not appeasing a bigger fan base.  They started adding one or two goofy radio songs per album for the pop radio fans while on the rest of the album they stuck to their typical aggressive rock.  Twenty years later, they’re still trucking.  It was a compromise.  Do a couple songs or the labels and radio, and in return, you get to have a career making music you love.  Not a bad trade-off.  MGMT should have a 1-2 Kids-like songs per album.  It’s what the fans want.  Learn from Dexter Holland, he’s a very smart guy.  He may sing for a punk rock band…but he also has a doctorate in microbiology.  True story!

Here are the 11 Best Songs By MGMT:

  1. Kids (Oracular Spectacular)
  2. Electric Feel (Oracular Spectacular)
  3. Time To Pretend (Oracular Spectacular)
  4. Flash Delirium (Congratulations)
  5. Weekend Wars (Oracular Spectacular)
  6. Song For Dan Treacy (Congratulations)
  7. Of Moons, Birds, & Monsters (Oracular Spectacular)
  8. Brian Eno (Congratulations)
  9. Indie Rokkers (Time To Pretend EP)
  10. Love Always Remains (Time To Pretend EP)
  11. Metanoia (Metanoia)

Buy MGMT’s new album, MGMT…now!!

The 11 Best Songs By The Weeknd

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Jewish holidays are like R&B.  No matter how happy they are, you always leave them feeling guiltier than when you started.   Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.  In Judaism, you try to let go of everything bad that happened the year before and focus on doing better in the coming year.  Rosh Hashanah is basically a Jewish mother, “why can’t you do better than you did in 5773?”  But Rosh Hashanah is ultimately a time of celebration, which is why there was a new John Legend album.  Even though there’s time to reflect, it is really about jubilation. Today is Yom Kippur and to coincide with it we have a new album by The Weeknd.  Yom Kippur is the day of atonement.  It’s a time when Jews fast from sundown to sundown.  It a time of hunger, suffering, and inner reflection.  As dry, sullen, and bleak that The Weeknd’s music is, there is an inner reflection that shines through.  Would the new album be a great soundtrack at a break the fast sedar dinner?  Thematically, yes.  So if there is a rabbi out there who is pumping Kissland Saturday evening, just after sundown, then that’s a dinner you want to attend, whether you’re Jewish or not.

The 11 Best Songs By The Weeknd:

  1. The Birds Part 1 (Thursday)
  2. Wicked Games (House of Balloons)
  3. The Morning (House of Balloons)
  4. The Birds Part 2 (Thursday)
  5. House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls (House of Balloons)
  6. High For This (House of Balloons)
  7. D.D. (Echoes of Silence)
  8. What You Need (House of Balloons)
  9. Til Dawn Here Come The Sun (Trilogy)
  10. The Zone (Thursday)
  11. Montreal (Echoes of Silence)

Buy The Weeknd’s new album, Kissland…now!!