Author Archives: acompleteunknown

The 11 Best Songs By The Arctic Monkeys

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When the Arctic Monkeys closed the Olympic games in London a couple years ago, most Americans had no idea who they were.  They all asked why did this no name band get to go on an international stage with Paul McCartney and play at one of the biggest events in the world?  Where were the big English bands that everyone knew?  The Led Zeppelins?  The Elton Johns?  What most Americans didn’t know and still don’t is that the Arctic Monkeys are one of the biggest English bands of all time.  In England, they are the equivalent of Nirvana in the states.  They expected England to entertain the world with what the world wanted instead of England had to offer.

This week, we enter week 2 of the NFL season.  For years, Dallas had been America’s team.  But over the last decade, the Patriots took the reigns.  Though the Pats are now 2-0, it’s obvious their time is limited.  Who will represent the NFL to the world this decade?  The Niners? The Colts?  The Seahawks?  Whoever becomes the NFL’s supreme team will be America’s team, no matter what the rest of the world thinks.

The Monkeys are England’s bread and butter, just as the NFL is America’s.  Both are exceptional, unpredictable, and something we can’t live without.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Arctic Monkeys:

  1. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Whatever People Say I Am)
  2. The View From the Afternoon (Whatever People Say I Am)
  3. Dancing Shoes (Whatever People Say I Am)
  4. Brainstorm (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
  5. Old Yellow Bricks (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
  6. Still Take You Home (Whatever People Say I Am)
  7. If You Were There, Beware (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
  8. The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala (Suck It And See)
  9. Fluorescent Adolescent (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
  10. When The Sun Goes Down (Whatever People Say I Am)
  11. From The Ritz To The Rubble (Whatever People Say I Am)

Buy The Arctic Monkeys new album, AM…now!

The 11 Best Songs By The Pixies

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Earlier this year, David Bowie made a long-awaited return.  My Bloody Valentine released their first album in 22 years.  Now, the Pixies are following suit. (And Sebadoh is not far behind)  Granted it’s only an EP and Kim Deal is no longer with the band.  Though the EP is receiving generally good reviews, there’s a lot of animosity out there that the new music tarnishes the band’s legacy.  I never understood how bands’ comeback albums always bring the question of whether the new music will trample the band’s legacy. Isn’t that the case with every new album?  Every subsequent album in a band’s catalog can either bring down a band’s legacy or elevate it.  It doesn’t matter if it’s been 3 years or 22 years in between releases.   Every release can affect that band’s career.  A great legacy can be formed with one album, look at the Sex Pistols and Jeff Buckley.  If a band releases a truly bad album that doesn’t necessarily discount the great music they made before that.  Dylan’s Self-Portrait didn’t ruin his career, it may have been a road bump, but now 30 years later, that album is receiving new love.  The great thing about being a musician is that they have the ability to re-establish themselves with the next album, look at what Eminem did with Recovery after Relapse.  The new EP series from the Pixies is a new era in the life of the Pixies…and will always be a piece of the legacy of the Pixies.

Here are The 11 Best Songs By The Pixies:

  1. Wave of Mutilation (Doolittle)
  2. Where is My Mind? (Surfer Rosa)
  3. Debaser (Doolittle)
  4. Rock Music (Bossanova)
  5. Alec Eiffel (Tromp Le Monde)
  6. U-Mass (Tromp Le Monde)
  7. Gouge Away (Doolittle)
  8. Monkey Gone To Heaven (Doolittle)
  9. Here Comes Your Man (Doolittle)
  10. Dig For Fire (Bossanova)
  11. Gigantic (Surfer Rosa)

Buy The Pixies new EP, EP1…now!!

The 11 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs of the 00s

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This November I have book coming out based on this blog.  There will be more details to follow in the coming weeks.  Until then, I’ve included a direct copy of the Nine Inch Nails blurb in the book.

I have a friend who is madly in love with Trent Reznor and thinks everything he does is genius.  I think Trent has an edge but I do not think it is genius.  In my opinion, Trent Reznor’s edge is that he’s psychotic. The guy bought the Sharon Tate Mansion so it would inspire him to write the album, The Downward Spiral. He spent five years in a drug-induced coma so he could write the album, The Fragile. He sent hate mail to Guns N’ Roses’ message boards.  He worked out like an Austrian bodybuilder to pump himself up to make the album, With Teeth.  He watched hours of Fox News to mentally cripple himself so he could write the politically paranoid album, Year Zero.  He released a four-disc instrumental album, Ghosts, and gave it away for free.  He released one of his best albums in years, The Slip, and gave it away for free. Recently he ditched his day job as a singer and stepped behind the scenes to play sideman in a band with his wife.  Sometimes, being a genius and being psychotic are not too different.

Fun Fact:  Trent released digital samples of his songs from Year Zero for free for fans to download and remix.  The best remixes were released on their own album called The Limitless Potential.

Song Note (Only):  The song was influenced by the movie Fight Club, directed by David Fincher.  Coincidentally, the video for the song was also directed by David Fincher.

The 11 Best Songs By Nine Inch Nails of the 00s:

1.      And All That Could Have Been (And All That Could Have Been)

2.      Right Where It Belongs (With Teeth)

3.      Discipline (The Slip)

4.      Only (With Teeth)

5.      The Hand That Feeds (With Teeth)

6.      MeetYour Master:  The Faint Mix (Y34rz3r0r3m1x3d)

7.      Head Down (The Slip)

8.      Every Day Is Exactly The Same (With Teeth)

9.      The Beginning of the End (Year Zero)

10.  Not So Pretty (NINJA Tour Sampler)

11.  Zero Sum (Year Zero)

Buy Nine Inch Nails new album, Hesitation Marks…now!

The 11 Best Songs By Ellie Goulding

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Today is the true first full day of college football.  The college football is the ultimate single elimination tournament.  The entire season is the playoffs.  Whether it’s fair to the teams that slip up on the first week of the season has been the hotly debated controversy for years.  Teams that may have a slow start and lose a couple of tight early games to strong competition are all but eliminated from the championship even if by the end of the season they’re playing as strong or as skillful as the best teams in the country.  College football is one of the only places where people aren’t rewarded for improvement.  You have to be perfect from the first step.  Imagine if music believed the same thing.  Anyone who ever started on an indie label would all but be forgotten.  Nirvana, Green Day, The Arcade Fire, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Skrillex, N.W.A., and thousand mores would be footnotes rather than trailblazers.  Ellie Goulding wouldn’t have had second life with “Lights.”  She would be second string, hoping for a spot at some second tier festival like Joe’s Backyard BBQ opening for the likes of Missing Persons and Candlebox.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Ellie Goulding:

  1. Lights (Bright Lights)
  2. Every Time You Go (Lights)
  3. Ritual (Halcyon Deluxe Edition)
  4. Only You (Halcyon)
  5. Little Dreams (Bright Lights)
  6. Under The Sheets (Lights)
  7. Your Song (Bright Lights)
  8. Anything Could Happen (Halcyon)
  9. Believe Me (Bright Lights)
  10. Guns and Horses (Lights)
  11. Starry Eyed (Lights)

Buy Ellie Goulding’s new expanded album, Halcyon Days…now!

The 11 Best Songs By Bob Dylan (1969-1971)

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I think we need Bob Dylan now more than ever.  The US is on the brink of war and instead of centering our social debate around this event, we’re obsessed with an ex-Disney porn star who can’t carry a note.  Dylan has never been known for his vocal range and he’s always had a knack for thumbing his nose at the establishment.  But Dylan never wanted to be the voice of his generation, he became the voice out of the purity of his lyrics and emotions.  He questioned societal restraints and fought for the rights of the lower classes, the persecuted races, and the underprivileged.  He didn’t do it for fame and fortune, he did it because he believed in it. During the height of the Vietnam War, Dylan’s voice was a beacon of hope.  As if saying that change could come if we demanded more of ourselves.  Dylan never promised the answers but only opened the door by saying…”what if…”  Mylie Cyrus covered a Bob Dylan song a couple years back (You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go).  Though she did a competent version there’s something missing.  The human element.  It was too clinical.  Too perfect.  And that’s not what Dylan was about.  He wasn’t about a crazy stage show.  He wasn’t about elaborate costumes (except for may the Rolling Thunder Revue).  Dylan played for the music.  And his music has changed the world. The world is becoming a more radical place.  We need less drugged out teddy bears and a little more tambourine, man.

The 10th edition of the Bootleg Series is out now.  Another Self Portrait focuses on demos, outtakes, and unreleased material from three Dylan albums (Nahsville Skyline, New Morning, and Self Portrait) between 1969-1971.

Here are the 11 Best Bob Dylan Songs (1969-1971):

  1. Lay Lady Lay (Nashville Skyline)
  2. Early Mornin’ Rain (Self Portrait)
  3. Tell Me That It Isn’t True (Nashville Skyline)
  4. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You (Nashville Skyline)
  5. If Not For You (New Morning)
  6. I Threw It All Away (Nashville Skyline)
  7. Days of ’49 (Self Portrait)
  8. Girl From The North Country (Nashville Skyline)
  9. Alberta #1 (Self Portrait)
  10. New Morning (New Morning)
  11. The Man In Me (New Morning)

Buy Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series Volume 10, Another Self Portrait…now!

 

The 11 Best Songs By Franz Ferdinand

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Sexuality is a gift not a right.  Just because you wear something skimpy and get a stage all to yourself, doesn’t mean that you can do anything you want and still win over a crowd.  Sexuality is about subtle confidence.  It’s about teasing your audience with just enough ammunition that their imaginations run wild.  There’s grace to being sexual.  There’s charisma.  There’s even brains.  What Mylie Cyrus did at the VMAs was not sexual, it was shock and awful.  I’m sure this is what happened, Mylie and her friends were sitting around dropping E or Mollie and they came up with some brilliant idea to have her she’s dress up like a gross little rat (lame Disney reference) while surrounded by teddy bears (Hannah Montana reference).  The problem is that idea is only brilliant when you’re fucking high.  It was like watching someone else’s bad drug trip while being sober.  And what do high people look like to sober people? That’s right:  fucking idiots.  This will be a lesson to Mylie.  Watch a Madonna video…see how it’s done.  Elvis wore a suit when he gyrated on stage and he had millions of screaming women wanting him.  Mylie had millions of people screaming…for her to go away.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Franz Ferdinand:

  1. Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand)
  2. Well That Was Easy (You Could Have It So Much Better)
  3. No You Girls (Tonight)
  4. Dark of the Matinee (Franz Ferdinand)
  5. You’re The Reason I’m Leaving (You Could Have It So Much Better)
  6. Live Alone (Tonight)
  7. 40′ (Franz Ferdinand)
  8. You Could Have It So Much Better (You Could Have It So Much Better)
  9. Twilight Omens (Tonight)
  10. This Fire (Franz Ferdinand)
  11. All My Friends (All My Friends EP)

Buy Franz Ferdinand’s new album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions…now!

The 11 Best Songs By The Crocodiles

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Today I went to Barnes & Noble.  I still prefer reading books over digital.  There’s something more fulfilling with a book.  On digital, I find myself getting bored and giving up more readily.  With a book…there’s a goal that you can physically see.  A challenge to accomplish.  There’s no question that books are a dying business…pretty much holding by a thread, which was evident by some of the ridiculous prices on hand.  Probably the most absurd thing, which makes me want to stop buying books altogether (or at least stop shopping at B&N) is that when I was checking out, they asked me if I want to buy a bag for 10 cents.  They wanted to charge me for the bag to carrying my books in.  Not a nice bag…a plastic bag. Seriously…a plastic bag.  Is there a bigger fuck you then asking the customer to buy a plastic bag?  Is the ten cents really that crucial that the company would rather risk the insult to the customer for it?  For a dime?  Are they that cheap or really that cash poor?  I honestly felt embarrassed for the girl at the counter for having to ask the question.  I wanted to make a jackass comment but knew she was only doing what she was instructed to do.  Barnes & Noble is doing everything in its power to stay in business.  Adding music CDs, Blu-Rays, board games, puzzles, toys, and a coffee shop to keep people coming in.  But the one thing they should really be doing is treating their customers with respect and not trying to gouge every last “dime” out of them.

What I needed was some brass, crass, kick you in the ass Crocodiles style rock to back me up.  Thankfully, there’s a new album to enjoy.

Here are 11 Best Songs By The Crocodiles:

  1. I Wanna Kill (Summer of Hate)
  2. Mirrors (Sleep Forever)
  3. Soft Skull (Summer of Hate)
  4. Sunday Psychic Conversation #9 (Endless Flowers)
  5. Refuse Angels (Summer of Hate)
  6. My Surfing Lucifer (Endless Flowers)
  7. Hearts of Love (Sleep Forever)
  8. Dark Alleys (Endless Flowers)
  9. Neon Jesus (Neon Jesus)
  10. All My Hate And My Hexes Are For You (Sleep Forever)
  11. Endless Flowers (Endless Flowers)

Buy The Crocodiles new album, Crimes of Passion…now!!

 

The 11 Best Songs By White Lies

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I don’t think I’ve heard as much ire and disappointment as I’ve heard in Ben Affleck being chosen as the new Batman since Heath Ledger was chosen to be the Joker.  And we all know how badly that turned out.  I know fanboys love getting their feathers ruffled when a casting choice doesn’t go perfectly in their mind but no matter who they chose to play Bruce Wayne, some fanboy somewhere would be lying on the ground flailing his legs with a complete meltdown like he was a six-year-old eating the last piece of chocolate in the house.  It’s not just fanboys who get derailed by casting, wardrobe, screenplays, movie posters, or haircuts that they feel did not honor their impossible standard…it’s everyone.  From disappointment in how the President drank a soda to outright frustration in how our teachers teach our children about shapes…we always think we could do it better than them.  But if anyone tells us how to do our jobs better, then they’re idiots who don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.  The irony is the choices that people publicly dispute the most sometimes end up being the best choices.  I remember people hated the idea of Heath Ledger as The Joker.  That’s role is now the standard that all villains are held to.  JJ Abrams’ Star Trek was scoffed by many because he was not a Star Trek fan.  Star Trek Into Darkness was one of the best reviewed movies and favorite among audiences of the summer.  And let’s not even get into how many studios turned down Sharknado.  Maybe we just need to realize that nothing will ever match the perfection that we conjure up in our minds.  Maybe we need leave our expectations behind and be more open to being entertained without pre-determining the result.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By White Lies:

  1. Farewell To The Fairground (To Lose My Life…)
  2. Strangers (Ritual)
  3. A Place To Hide (To Lose My Life…)
  4. Turn The Bells (Ritual)
  5. Bigger Than Us (Ritual)
  6. From The Stars (To Lose My Life…)
  7. To Lose My Life (To Lose My Life…)
  8. Is Love (Ritual)
  9. E.S.T. (To Lose My Life…)
  10. You Still Love Him (Unfinished Business)
  11. Streetlights (Ritual)

Buy White Lies new album, Big TV…now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Travis

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It’s been five years since the last Travis album.  I originally wanted to do one of my mega 111 best song lists…and this band deserves it, but who has the time?  This will be my 10th post about Travis and though a mega list would be a nice way to celebrate…it’s really only fitting that I wait until the 11th post.  I was surprised through-out all my posts I had never done the basic 11 best songs.  I’ve done the best of the ’00s, the best b-sides, unknown b-sides albums…but never a simple “best of.”  The time is now.  For the band who could just cold play before there was a Coldplay…welcome back.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Travis:

  1. Turn (The Man Who)
  2. Sing (The Invisible Band)
  3. Big Chair (The Boy With No Name)
  4. Side (The Invisible Band)
  5. Quite Free (Ode to J. Smith)
  6. Writing To Reach You (The Man Who)
  7. 3 Times And You Lose (The Boy With No Name)
  8. Re-Offender (12 Memories)
  9. Flowers in the Window (The Invisible Band)
  10. Why Does It Always Rain On Me? (The Man Who)
  11. I Love You Anyways (Good Feeling)
Buy Travis’ new album, Where You Stand…now!

 

The 11 Best Songs By Washed Out

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I think there should be a requirement list for people to leave comments in the comment section of any web page.  It’s bad enough that there’s no restraint when people make postings on Facebook.  At least on Facebook you have to use your real name and are forced to stand behind your words.  But on random web pages you can be virtually anyone and say practically anything.  Barack Obama could be on his computer at home visit the Taylor Swift web page and leave a comment about how Swift’s new song is a gun-toting America hate-filled anthem about wanting to kill all the minorities and eat their spleens (I’m referring to the song “22”).  All he has to do is leave a random user name like “Rahmeatsafatone6” and no one will know it is him.  And he can say anything he wants.  I was reading the comment section today about the box office for the weekend at the movies.  The comment section went from bashing the movie because Oprah is a racist to arguing that American school teach alternative history to our children and it’s the reason the terrorists are winning because we voted for a Muslim in the presidency.  This was the discussion about a movie.  Seriously.  WTF.  I wanted to know what people thought about the movie The Butler…and instead I got a history lesson about how Oprah was a tool for the white-hating left.  As a liberal…I didn’t know I hated white people.  And as college graduate with a major in history…thanks to all the well-informed people on the internet for keeping things in perspective.

Here are The 11 Best Songs By Washed Out:

  1. Amor Fati (Within And Without)
  2. Call It Off (Amor Fati)
  3. Feel It All Around (Life of Leisure)
  4. Echoes (Within And Without)
  5. Belong (Kitsune Maison Comp 9)
  6. Straight Back (Just Tell Me That You Want Me)
  7. Soft (Within And Without)
  8. You And I (Within And Without)
  9. Lately (Life of Leisure)
  10. Eyes Be Closed (Within And Without)
  11. New Theory (Life of Leisure)

Buy Washed Out’s new album, Paracosm…now!