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The 11 Best Songs By The xx

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This summer Jamie xx will have us up raving all night with his new album.  It’s already easily one of the best albums of the year but there is still something missing.  I don’t know if it’s the appearance of his xx band mates on a few random songs that makes wish this was a full xx album…or if it’s the appearance of his xx band mates who make me wish this was a full Jamie xx album.  When something leaves us wanting more, it’s only because it’s great.  We don’t wish for excess of mediocrity.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The xx:

  1. Shelter (The xx)
  2. Islands (The xx)
  3. Intro (The xx)
  4. Chained (Co-Exist)
  5. Sunset (Co-Exist)
  6. VCR (The xx)
  7. Crystalised (The xx)
  8. Reunion (Co-Exist)
  9. Night Time (The xx)
  10. Heart Skipped A Beat (The xx)
  11. Hot Like Fire (The xx)

Buy Jamie xx’s new album, In Colour now!!!

 


 

The 11 Best Songs By Imperial Teen

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It’s Faith No More week but that doesn’t mean the Mike Patton gets all the guts and glory.  Let me tell you…he wants them, too; but it’s more about the guts than the glory.  Keyboardist Roddy Bottum may have the second best post-FNM career to Patton; it is just a lot less known since Patton has 50 side projects and is everywhere.  Roddy’s band Imperial Teen has had a decent life of its own and they deserve their own list.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Imperial Teen (listen here):

  1. Out From Inside (Feel The Sound)
  2. Alone In The Grass (What Is Not To Love)
  3. Over His Head  (Feel The Sound)
  4. Don’t Know How You Do It (Feel The Sound)
  5. Year of the Tan (What Is Not To Love)
  6. Shim Sham (The Hair The RV The Baby and The Band)
  7. All The Same (Feel The Sound)
  8. Undone (On)
  9. Balloon (Imperial Teen)
  10. My Spy (On)
  11. 21st Century (The Hair The RV The Baby and The Band)

Buy Faith No More’s new album, Sol Invictus…now!!!

 

The 11 Best Letterman Musical Performances

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Thank you, Dave.

Here are the 11 Best Musical Performances on the David Letterman Show:

1.  Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days

2.  Future Islands – Seasons

3.  Foo Fighters – Everlong

4.  R.E.M. – So Central Rain

5. Beastie Boys – Ch-Ch-Check It Out

6.  Warren Zevon – Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner

7.  Eminem & Jay-Z – Renegade

8.  The Orwells – Who Needs You

9.  The Vines – Get Free

10.  James Brown – Sex Machine (July 12, 1982)

11.  Eddie Vedder – Black

 

 

 

 

The 11 Best Songs By Mr. Bungle

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When Mike Patton joined Faith No More, he was wilder and crazier than any other frontman at the time.  He made Axl Rose look like a librarian. Patton was so wild and crazy…that one band could not contain him.  He kept it together for his stint in Faith No More…which by Mike Patton standards was keeping it together.  He unleashed his insanity in his side project known as Mr. Bungle.  Get ready for one wacky playlist.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Mr. Bungle (listen here):

  1. Carousel (Mr. Bungle)
  2. Slowly Growing Deaf (Mr. Bungle)
  3. Retrovertigo (California)
  4. Vanity Fair (California)
  5. Squeeze Me Macaroni (Mr. Bungle)
  6. Pink Cigarette (California)
  7. The Girls of Porn (Mr. Bungle)
  8. Quote Unquote (Mr. Bungle)
  9. Phlegmatics (Disco Volante)
  10. My Ass Is On Fire (Mr. Bungle)
  11. Chemical Marriage (Disco Volante)

Buy Faith No More’s new album, Sol Invictus…now!

The 11 Best Songs By Tomahawk

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In the long hiatus between Faith No More albums, the band members kept busy.  The busiest of them all was Mike Patton and his six octave range who released 23 albums and almost 50 guest appearances.  You couldn’t stop him, you could only hope to contain him.  It was inevitable for Faith No More to get back together because Mike Patton was running out of people to play with!  One of the most successful post-FNM projects was Tomahawk, featuring Duane Denison of The Jesus Lizard, Kevin Rutmanis of the Melvins and John Stainer of Helmet.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Tomahawk (listen here):

  1. Stone Letter (Oddfellows)
  2. Rape This Day (Mit Gas)
  3. Capt Midnight (Mit Gas)
  4. Sweet Smell of Success (Tomahawk)
  5. God Hates A Coward (Tomahawk)
  6. Mayday  (Mit Gas)
  7. Sun Dance (Anonymous)
  8. I.O.U. (Oddfellows)
  9. Laredo  (Tomahawk)
  10. M.E.A.T. (M.E.A.T.)
  11. Totem (Anonymous)

Buy Faith No More’s new album, Sol Invictus…now!

The 11 Best Songs By Faith No More

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I have been on an extended hiatus…but if Faith No More can find it in themselves to put out a new album, I can devote this whole week to them.  That’s right…it’s Faith No More week.  5 days…5 Faith-based lists.

The 11 Best Songs By Faith No More (listen here):

  1. From Out of Nowhere (The Real Thing)
  2. Midlife Crisis (Angel Dust)
  3. Falling To Pieces (The Real Thing)
  4. Zombie Eaters (The Real Thing)
  5. Digging The Grave (King For A Day)
  6. Kindergarten (Angel Dust)
  7. King For A Day (King For A Day)
  8. Land of Sunshine (Angel Dust)
  9. Underwater Love (The Real Thing)
  10. Be Aggressive (Angel Dust)
  11. The Cowboy Song (Live At Brixton Academy)

Buy Faith No More’s new album, Sol Invictus…now!!!

 

The 11 Most Popular Record Store Day Ebay Flips 2015

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You can’t read anything about Record Store Day anymore without reading some article whose author spends pages of digital content, complaining about the vinyl holiday. “It’s killing independent stores,” “it excludes indie labels,” and it’s only for unnecessary major label titles.”  You know what would be worse than Record Store Day?  NO RECORD STORE DAY.  A world where there is nothing promoting independent records stores, causing them to fade and dissolve into music history alongside the 8-track, mini-disc, and reel-to-reel.  But today, music stores are alive and well…in part, thanks to record store day.  Record stores having to deal with throngs of audiophiles twice a year (Black Friday) is a way better scenario than dealing with foreclosure.  .

Another complaint comes from independent labels themselves who have found their material excluded by the event coordinators.  Read here about Father/Daughter’s comp, which seemed like a rather cool release.  Sure there are some releases that get excluded…and there are some titles that seem unnecessary.  But even if we’re talking about 10% of the titles or even 25% of the released titles being unnecessary…that still leaves 300 great vital releases!  Isn’t it worth some crap to get some gold?  That said, I’m not even sure how we determine which titles are unnecessary.  I read bloggers claiming the Citizen Dick release was the most unnecessary title this year…it’s an unreleased Pearl Jam song from the 1991/Ten era version of the band!  I bought it and it’s the title I’ve listened to more than any other release.  If someone wants to buy them…then doesn’t that make them necessary?  (and the Citizen Dick record just missed this list…so the 12th most popular record flip is somehow unnecessary?  Okay…)

That said…it’s hard to determine prior to the holiday which albums will sell out in seconds and which ones will linger until August.  Some of the most talked about releases including Courtney Barnett, Brian Eno, and Run The Jewels were still available at stores late on Sunday afternoon.  While others (like Brand New) had people lining up the night before.  I mean seriously, how is Brand New’s reissue of a 12-year old album that is readily available on Spotify and itunes AND coming out in wide release next month the number one Ebay flip merely because it comes in a paper bag?  Every store I visiting had people waiting 12-24 hours for this record.

For this list, I determined the ranking based on list price versus Ebay sale…and what was the greatest increase in comparison to the price.  Stereogum lists Jurassic 5’s $100 Ebay sale as a big flip…but the list price was $90 to begin with.  That’s only a $10 increase.  Same with Phish’s Live 1995 6-disc set that listed at $160 but sold for $200.  The biggest flips versus price, I believe, truly shows what were the must-have vinyls of RSD 2015.

Here are the biggest Ebay Flips of Record Store Day 2015:

  1. Elvis Presley – My Happiness (List price $12 – Ebay price $245) 20.5x increase
  2. Brand New – Deja Entendu (List price $28 – Ebay price $384) 13.7x increase
  3. Interpol – Everything Is Wrong (List price $9 – Ebay price $99) 11x increase
  4. John Prine – September 78 (List price $25 – Ebay price $227) 10.1x increase
  5. David Bowie – Changes (List price $11 – Ebay price $99) 9x increase
  6. Bob Dylan – Basement Tapes (List price $30 – Ebay price $250) 8.3x increase
  7. Citizen Dick – Touch Me I’m Dick (List price $11 – Ebay price $69) 6.3x increase
  8. Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up (List price $9 – Ebay price $59) 5.9x increase
  9. U2 – Songs of Innocence (List price $36 – Ebay price $199) 5.5x increase
  10. Twenty One Pilots – The LC LP (List price $20 – Ebay price $99) 4.9x increase
  11. Foo Fighters – Songs From The Laundry Room (List price $20 – Ebay price $99) 4.9x increase

Honorable Mention:

Paul McCartney’s Sweet Trash sold for a ridiculous $895 but I didn’t include it since it’s signed by Sir Mac (which obviously alters the true value of the vinyl).

Here are some other fun lists:

 

 

The 11 Most Talked About Record Store Day Releases:

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Tomorrow is the annual fun-loving shopping spree for audiophiles everywhere.  Pretty much every music mag/zine/blog/critic/expert has their own top essential purchases they recommend for RSD.  I could do the same.  But it would just be my recommends for what I really want.  Instead, I’ve dug through the net and tallied up everyone else’s list.  I’ve created a combo list of the most talked about releases.  I was surprised to see only two of my “must buys” on the list.  And craziest of all, the number one most talked about release on Record Store Day is…a CASSETTE.  Metallica’s reprint of their very first release on cassette is the most talked about release this year.  Overall, it’s a pretty solid list with current rockers, classic rockers, rap lords, and some fresh indie faces.

Happy hunting!!!

Here are The 11 Most Talked About Record Store Day Releases:

  1. Metallica – No Life ‘Till Leather

2.  The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan

3.  Foo Fighters – Songs From The Laundry Room

4.  Father John Misty – I Loved You Honeybee

5. J. Dilla – Fuck the Police

6. Run the Jewels -Bust No Moves

7. Courtney Barnett – Kim’s Caravan

8. Sly and the Family Stone – Live at the Fillmore East

9. David Bowie – Changes

10.  Brian Eno – My Squelchy Life

11.  Willie Nelson – Teatro

Honorable Mentions:  Mclusky, Elvis Presley, Sim Dunlap, Phish, Mumford and Sons, and Hanni El Khalib

What are your favorite releases?

 

The 111 Best Songs By Beck

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Why did Beck win album of the year over Beyonce?

Let’s start with the basics.  First, Beck and Beyonce both put out very good albums.  And in all honesty, Beyonce has the better album.  Personally, I prefer to listen to Beck’s album but Beyonce’s is still a triumphant piece of music.  I love Beck but this isn’t his best album.  It doesn’t even make my top five, which would be:

  1. Sea Change
  2. Midnight Vultures
  3. Odelay
  4. Modern Guilt
  5. Guero

I even prefer Beck’s Record Club’s full album cover of the Velvet Underground and Nico over Morning Phase.  So why did Beck’s good but not great album beat out Beyonce’s career-defining tour de force?  One reason: legacy.

Sad but true, the Grammys are more about legacy and proficiency than what’s trending.  It comes down to the voters.  Most of the voters are old school rockers.  So what’s more appealing to an old school rocker who still spins vinyl because he never got into that CD craze:  a funk-dified bombastic sexual dance party or an intimate portrait of a man and his guitar?  Beck has been nominated a few times for album of the year.  It’s just name recognition.  Ultimately, it doesn’t mean anything.

On Monday I may want to listen to Beck.  On Tuesday, Beyonce.  What I like at that moment has to do with the mood I am in, it has nothing to do with which album is a better piece of music.  The outrage over Beck’s win from the media, to Twitter to Kanye is totally misplaced.  We shouldn’t be mad at the voters for picking Beck.  We should be mad at ourselves for caring.

That said…ahem…here’s a list of the best Beck songs.

Here are the 111 Best Songs By Beck:

  1. Girl (Guero)
  2. Jackass (Odelay)
  3. Sexx Laws (Midnight Vultures)
  4. Where It’s At (Odelay)
  5. Lost Cause (Sea Change)
  6. Chemtrails (Modern Guilt)
  7. Debra (Midnight Vultures)
  8. Gamma Ray (Modern Guilt)
  9. Loser (Mellow Gold)
  10. Mixed Bixness (Midnight Vultures)
  11. Turn Away (Morning Phase)
  12. One of These Days (Cold Brains)
  13. I Think I’m In Love (The Information)
  14. Golden Age (Sea Change)
  15. Pressure Zone (Midnight Vultures)
  16. Modern Guilt (Modern Guilt)
  17. Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
  18. Devil’s Haircut (Odelay)
  19. Lord Only Knows (Odelay)
  20. Nicotine and Gravy (Midnight Vultures)
  21. Lonesome Tears (Sea Change)
  22. Diamond in the Sleaze (Cold Brains)
  23. Que Onda Guero (Guero)
  24. Profanity Prayers (Modern Guilt)
  25. Blue Moon (Morning Phase)
  26. Burro (Stray Blues)
  27. Hollywood Freaks (Midnight Vultures)
  28. Ramona (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World)
  29. Guess I’m Doing Fine (Sea Change)
  30. Sunday Morning (Velvet Underground + Nico)
  31. Electric Music and the Summer People (Mutations)
  32. Cellphone’s Dead (The Information)
  33. Tropicalia (Mutations)
  34. E-Pro (Guero)
  35. Strange Apparition (The Information)
  36. Heaven’s Ladder (Beck’s Song Reader)
  37. I Won’t Be Long (Single)
  38. Walls (Modern Guilt)
  39. Earthquake Weather (Guero)
  40. Sissyneck (Odelay)
  41. This Is My Crew (Sexx Laws)
  42. Inside Out (The Information)
  43. Go It Alone (Guero)
  44. Beercan (Mellow Gold)
  45. Mexico (Rare On Air)
  46. Hotwax (Odelay)
  47. Diamond Bullocks (Mutations)
  48. Heaven Can Wait (IRM)
  49. Waking Light (Morning Phase)
  50. Looking For A Sign (Jeff Who Lives At Home)
  51. The New Pollution (Odelay)
  52. New Round (The Information)
  53. Nobody’s Fault But My Own (Mutations)
  54. Missing (Guero)
  55. Nausea (The Information)
  56. Blackbird Chain (Morning Phase)
  57. Black Tambourine (Guero)
  58. Corvette Bummer (Loser)
  59. Readymade (Odelay)
  60. Send A Message To Her (Guero Japanese)
  61. Asshole (One Foot In The Grave)
  62. Salt In The Wound (Sexx Laws)
  63. Pay No Mind Snoozer (Mellow Gold)
  64. Paper Tiger (Sea Change)
  65. I Just Started Hating Some People Today (Single)
  66. The Information (The Information)
  67. Scarecrow (Guero)
  68. Youthless (Modern Guilt)
  69. Milk & Honey (Midnight Vultures)
  70. Halo of Gold (Stray Blues)
  71. Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground + Nico)
  72. Cold Brains (Mutations)
  73. Orphans (Modern Guilt)
  74. Heart Is A Drum (Morning Phase)
  75. Get Real Paid (Midnight Vultures)
  76. Hell Yes (Guero)
  77. I’ll Be Your Mirror (Velvet Underground + Nico)
  78. Rowboat (Stereopathetic Soulmanure)
  79. Novacane (Odelay)
  80. Dark Star (The Information)
  81. Fuckin’ With My Head (Mellow Gold)
  82. Beautiful Way (Midnight Vultures)
  83. True Love Will Find You In The End (The Late Great Daniel Johnston)
  84. Bonfire Blondes (Gamma Ray)
  85. Gold Chains (Odelay Deluxe)
  86. Modesto (Sterpathetic Soulmanure)
  87. Elevator Music (The Information)
  88. Sleeping Bag (One Foot In The Grave)
  89. Diamond Dogs(Moulin Rouge)
  90. Sunday Son (Sea Change)
  91. Deadweight (A Life Less Ordinary)
  92. All In Your Mind (Sea Change)
  93. Brother (Stray Blues)
  94. Ship In A Bottle (Sea Change Japanese)
  95. Peaches and Cream (Midnight Vultures)
  96. Leopard-Skin Pill-box Hat (War Child Heroes)
  97. Fume (Loser)
  98. Vampire Voltage No. 6 (Chemtrails)
  99. Soul Suckin’ Jerk (Mellow Gold)
  100. Inferno (Odelay Deluxe)
  101. Feather in Your Cap (Stray Blues)
  102. Bad Blood (True Blood Volume 2)
  103. Sisters of Mercy (Songs of Leonard Cohen)
  104. Don’t Let It Go (Morning Phase)
  105. Lampshade (A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight)
  106. Movie Theme (The Information)
  107. Little Hands (Oar)
  108. Half And Half (Youthless)
  109. Mattress (One Foot In the Grave)
  110. No Complaints (The Information)
  111. The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton (The Information)

 

The 11 Best New England Bands

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There are two teams playing in the Superbowl…let’s not forget the east coast rival, the New England Patriots.

Here are the 11 Best New England Bands:

  1. Boston
  2. Aerosmith
  3. The Cars
  4. The Pixies
  5. J. Geils Band
  6. Dinosaur Jr.
  7. Dispatch
  8. MGMT
  9. Passion Pit
  10. Deer Tick
  11. Phish