Great. Moves.

The Bonus Jonas

Sorry for the blogging absence, I wish could blame it on a fugue state or maybe a bender in Reno, but really I have a far more mundane excuse: finals and long hours at work.  Boring, anyway...

Previously on Children's Hospital...maybe you're like I was this time last week and these words don't mean anything to you, if so then listen up.  Children's Hospital, a little gem of a show, is funny and actually does the medical genre right, ie it shamelessly makes fun of it.  My little brother forced me to watch the new season premier with massive amounts of passive aggression last week, I put up fight, but thankfully wasn't a match.  Episodes are only 15 minutes, and a welcome reprieve from the normal shite of popular "pop" culture.  So be prepared for nuggets like the bonus Jonas, ridicule of the healing power of laughter, and my new mantra "Sometimes no matter how smart you are, you have to do what your brain jelly tells you to do."  Watch full episodes on the adultswim site.

Okay, 5 songs for the 5 days of our upcoming work week...I'm going to need 'em.  Download below.

Luna: Bonnie & Clyde
Austra: Beat and the Pulse
Timber Timbre: Woman
Nancy Sinatra: Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham
The Rosebuds: Second Bird of Paradise

Oh, by the way, in case you're not a 13 year old girl, the bonus Jonas refers to the fourth, unknown Jonas brother not it the band.

Heading Into Empty Space

I really wanted to write a witty one-liner for this post.  Realistically, it's not going to happen.  I can't decide if it's because I haven't slept in over 40 hours or if I just don't have it in me.

Pro tip though: combine sleep deprivation, a strange sense of removal, and a dark room for optimal listening of this song:

Sound familiar?  Lead vocals on this track done by the xx's professional etherealalist Romy Madley Croft.  Anyway, this is Creep, just another Brooklyn duo making great, twisted electro.  Can't wait for more from these two ladies.

Keep Shelly in Athens..Again

I'm still in love with mysterious, down tempo, electro masters Keep Shelly in Athens -- pleeease come play LA!  The duo just put up a string of recent remixes to download, for free.  Listen/download below.  I was pretty blown away by how they completely transformed Lasting Love into this totally creepy, amazing song; check out/compare with the original here. Or listen to some non-remixed KSIA here, and tell me you don't love it.

Our remixes by Keep Shelly in Athens

Fab Friday Music

In an age when sexy boy/girl band duos are the norm, it takes something pretty good to get a bit of buzz swarming around a twosome.  Cue in Big Deal...a sexy boy/girl band duo from the UK who has that something which means they haven't left my "listen to on the ridiculously long bus ride you have to take because west-side apartments are so GD expensive" playlist.


To quote the pair: "We don’t know how to put this but we’re kind of a big deal."  Weirdly, I'm sort of into the arrogance.  Enjoy.

MP3: Big Deal – Locked Up

Talk by Big Deal

Homework by Big Deal

Golden Age of Girl Rock - Coachella '11

"VV" of the Kills at Coachella

With memories of Coachella '11 already blowing away on the trailing edge of the Santa Ana winds, I have got to get this post out before it's irrelevant.  So, let's get to it...Coachella this year was in one word: amazing.

And, all about the ladies!  Or at least the female-led bands.  Robyn and Alice Glass (aka 1/2 of Crystal Castles) stole the show Friday.  Arcade Fire was awesome Saturday, but it wasn't until after Régine Chassagne took the lead for Sprawl II that I lost it.  And don't even get me started on Sunday - Alison Mosshart from the Kills reminded all you dudes that she can rock harder than you, the Strokes had nothing on Phantogram's dance-friendly, trip-hoppy, dirty beats, and wow, PJ Harvey...the real closing headliner of Coachella...I've never had my mind blown so hard.

Call it progress, social evolution, whatever. Thank Patti Smith, Kim Gordan, Joan Jett, whoever. The point is when I think back to who made the biggest impact for me this year, and which act I still can't get out of my head, it's obvious Coachella '11 will go down in history as the Year of Girl Rock.

Okay, festival highlights:

FRIDAY:

Warpaint  I've touted the Silver Lake quartet on this blog before, so it shouldn't surprise you that I was front and center for the spacey, psych alt rock.  And the group definitely delivered, in all it's dark, transfixing glory.  For a weekend in which more than a few bands where plagued during sound checks, the tone was set from time zero, when the group sound checked for like .1 seconds and jumped right into it.

Ms. Lauryn Hill  Doo-wop, Fu-Gee-La, Ready or Not, Ex-Factor...a pretty good/nostalgic reminder of how awesome she was.  Please, a moment of silence for the Fugees.  May they rest in peace.

Interpol  Remember that part in Gladiator, when Russell Crowe just won a fight and the emperor comes out and puts his fist out, thumbs up, you live, thumbs down, donezo?  Yeah, this wannabe Roman emperor writer is deeming Interpol thumbs down, not good, so over it.  Okay, the light show was pretty cool though.

Cut Copy  Always a good time, synth-pop, dance friendly rock from Australian's.

Crystal Castles  Noise rock meets disco.  I'm in love.  Made all the better by how weird and feral front-woman Alice Glass is.  Um, yeah, she was writhing on stage, crawling around, and making those noises...I'm totally freaked out in such a good way.  It was a no brainer passing up Kings of Leon.



Robyn  Dance-pop Swedish princess.  Acts like this keep you going for another full year until the next festival swings around.  The set was full of catchy, unabashed techno pop.  I still have With Every Heartbeat bouncing around in my head.

SATURDAY:

Gogol Bordello  Watch Everything is Illuminated and you'll love everything Eugene Hutz does too, no matter how brazen and arrogant he probably is.  The group has added a bit a Rasta/Latin vibe since I've last seen them, and honestly I prefer the Gypsy punk Gogol Bordello, but how can you be disappointed with anything coming from the Ukrainian, especially after he removes his shirt and demands you Start Wearing Purple?

Glasser  Another of the women who ruled Coachella this year.  The show was out there, but listen to the band and you know their music is out there...twinges of the Knife, or a little like the weirder side of Goldfrapp.  The feel of the music was made all the more complete, when front-woman Cameron Mesirow came out in a full body bridal veil.

Bright Eyes  A healthy mix of classics and songs from their most recent album, made for an overall crowd pleasing set from Bright Eyes, and reminded me why I liked the whiny ballads in the first place.  I think it's time to bust those old albums out from the indie attic for another listen.

the Kills  Ah, where to begin??  I was floored.  Garage rock, lead by a girl, head banging and thrashing around, getting grimey, all under a full moon lit sky.  In my top 5 acts of the weekend.

Empire of the Sun  More Australians, even crazier the rest!  The electro rock music is only half the reason to see these guys.  The real treat is the stage show, it was like Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Star Trek.  The show featured some pretty intense visual aspects: sequined Hammer-pants, space mermaid costumes, swordfish horse costumes, some sort of strange commercial sex workers from space, feathers, rhinestones, square head-pieces...suffice it to say it was a head trip.  An alien circus dance troupe, all played out to the bands songs.




Suede  Of the Britpop bands reuniting this year, Suede was not the band I wanted to see gracing the Coachella bill (ahem...Pulp...ahem).  But Suede it was, and a deep love for the 90's genre brought me into the Mojave tent to see these guys, the force that arguably launched the entire Britpop genre.  Wow, do I feel ridiculous for every hoping for something else.  Suede completely delivered.  A full hour of hip swivels, raw sexual energy, and glamorous androgynes.  It was definitely a highlight.  If you at all are into the genre, check this group out.

Arcade Fire  The Saturday headliner, with a killer new album.  They played hits, synchronized with the Creator's Projects' visually stunning additions to screens.  Pretty much just as great as you would imagine.  About two hours in, a massive black box opened above the audience releasing huge balloonish orbs that lit up and changed colors corresponding with the music.  It was pretty gd amazing.  And like I said, Régine Chassagne blew it away when she took the lead for Sprawl II, with the screen going nuts with an abstract visual to the already super amped up situation.  It. Was. Great.



SUNDAY:

Health  Noise rock at Coachella!  Woohoo!  Read a few posts on this blog and you know I'm one of those people, you know, one who consumes My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth like it's manna from heaven.  The LA based band Health offered a respectable amount of dissonance intertwined with its Coachella requisite electro.  Just the way I like it.

Phantogram  Warning: biased review ahead.  I love this group.  Bringing in influences from all over (trip-hop, acid jazz, Detroit hip-hop, and of course electronic), these guys had the Gobi tent moving.  It's hard to believe they've only got one album under their belt.  The show was great.  I can't wait to see what this group comes up with next.



PJ Harvey  The highlight of the entire festival.  The only performer I insisted on showing up early for and getting as close to the stage as possible (which meant we were pretty amazingly close).  The woman has a truly impressive stage presence, I was completely blown away - brought right back to my little 15 year old wide-eyed self unable to articulate just how I felt when I first heard her music.  She stood up there, a sort of a pagan princess, in a floor length white dress and feather headdress, bemused, probably mischievous.  It was pretty much agreed upon by all those who turned up for the show, which overlapped with Kanye West, that PJ Harvey was the real Coachella closing headliner - and when the cameras focused in on a fan-held sign saying exactly that, that total agreement was vocalized by thousands of booming cheers.  Mother Gaia seemed to feel the same, with the winds getting stronger and stronger as the show progressed, carrying the music across the field and keeping Kanye's blaring at bay.  Songs came from all throughout the singer's prolific twenty year career.  Great music from a great musician. And thanks to AudioPerv, we can all watch the show again and again.



Photo above from the LA Times

Top 5 Coachella 2011

Line-ups out, set times are up, festival starts Friday!  So where will you find me among the masses on the polo field?  Well, here's a list of 5 bands I can't wait to see...each day.

Friday

COLD CAVE    listen: love comes close

WARPAINT   listen: beetles

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI   listen: round and round

ROBYN    listen: cobrastyle

CRYSTAL CASTLES    listen: crimewave

Saturday

SUEDE    listen: saturday night

BRIGHT EYES    listen: lua

the KILLS    listen: last day of magic

ARCADE FIRE    listen: ready to start

GOGOL BORDELLA / the RADIO DEPT.   listen: start wearing purple / listen: pulling our weight

Sunday

PJ HARVEY    listen: to bring you my love

SHE WANTS REVENGE   listen: tear you apart

PHANTOGRAM    listen: mouthful of diamonds

the PRESETS    listen: talk like that
DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 / FOSTER THE PEOPLE / BEST COAST    listen: romantic rights / listen: pumped up kicks / listen: when i'm with you

...maybe I had a hard time with '5' per day.

Thurston Moore: Benediction

Considering how much you all know I love Sonic Youth, Thurston's newest solo is a no brainer.  The single Benediction is the first song released off Demolished Thoughts; it's way more subdued than SY, and honestly a beautiful song.  Listen and download below.  The album, Demolished Thoughts (which was produced by Beck) and comes out late May.  Can't. Wait.

MP3: Thurston Moore :: Benediction

The Universal Sighhhhhhhhhhh

Yours truly spent 3 hours waiting in line on Tuesday to get Radiohead's self-published periodical, The Universal Sigh. Unlike those lucky Brits, Thom didn't show up to pass them out himself here in LA...but hey it was 75 degrees and sunny instead grey and rainy like it always is in London.  That's something.  Anyway, it's pretty cool, and so is the King of Limbs (the album that was released on the same day).  Basically the paper is 12 pages of artwork, short stories and poems - true Radiohead form.  Not to worry if you didn't grab a copy but you'd like one, it's in PDF form all over the internet.

In case you haven't seen thom yorke dancing in a hat to a song off the new album, enjoy:

Bullion

I cannot get enough of this song: Magic Was Ruler, by Bullion.  Makes me want to wander around the city street dancing.

BULLION / Magic Was Ruler by Young Turks

Keep Shelly in Athens

Not feeling super great today, oncoming cold or just a case of the Mondays? I don't know, but the downtempo duo Keep Shelly in Athens is definitely helping.

They're from Greece, they're kind of old-school 90's era mellow electro, and they're perfect when you feel like crap and are stuck on public transportation.

The first and last song below, Running Out Of You and Fokionos Negri Street, are from their 6 tack EP In Love With Dusk.  The second song, Hauntin' Me is a newer single.  And they're all amazing.

They're releasing a super limited cassette sometime pretty soon, only 150 copies to be sold.  I almost pre-ordered it...then I realized I don't even own anything to play a cassette on.  Even so, I think these guys are so great that I still want it.

Okay, now I'm turning the lights off, turning Hauntin' Me up, and lamenting the fact that I didn't get a flu shot.

Keep Shelly in Athens - Running Out Of You by Keep Shelly in Athens

Keep Shelly in Athens - Hauntin' Me by Keep Shelly in Athens

Fokionos Negri Street by Keep Shelly in Athens

Little Dragon, Blood Diamonds and Marissa Nadler

Little Dragon, my third favorite Swedish band (after the Knife and the Sounds), has new music! Specifically, a new album, Ritual Union, coming out this summer.  This song Nightlight is a bit of a sneak peak. How cool is that band picture too?

I've been listening to this one by Canada's Blood Diamonds, called Lasting Love, a bunch too.

Lasting Love by Blood Diamonds by The Pop Manifesto

Alright finally, I'm kind of strangely really into this song, Baby, I Will Leave You in the Morning, by Marissa Nadler, she has this Nancy Sinatra, Leonard Cohen-y feel.

EXITMUSIC

So back when I first started this blog, I googled the name and found this band EXITMUSIC.  I really liked them.  Kind of darkly melodic synth work, a little like another of my favorites Portishead.  Plus they were based in LA back when I first started listening, so I got to check them out live...you lucky New Yorkers should definitely see a show, they're based out of Brooklyn now.  Anyway, they've released a new demo and you can download it free!  So seriously, check out THIS link to listen and download their new songs, or just click the download link on the player below.

Here's a part of an interview with the band from Anthem magazine, I love that polaroid, and then two videos for some older songs:

BAND NAME: EXITMUSIC

HOMETOWN: Brooklyn, New York

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN TWO SENTENCES: Lately, our sound has been pulling in a lot of different elements—the heavy bass of hip hop, drum sounds from old techno, distressed guitars, FM synths, samples of wild animal calls, sounds from outer space, and really big and beautiful vocal melodies. It tells a story of how humanity has displaced itself from the natural world and is now finding itself alone and in trouble.

FAVORITE NIGHTSPOT IN THE CITY YOU CALL HOME: Home

BEST SPOT FOR A LATE NIGHT SNACK: Home

TWO OTHER BANDS THAT WOULD COMPLETE THE FORMATION OF YOUR SUPER GROUP: Fever Ray and Brian Wilson

HOTTEST POP STAR: Bob Dylan

HOTTEST DEAD ROCKER: Tupac Shakur

MOST MEMORABLE SHOW YOU’VE PLAYED: Our farewell show at The Smell with Warpaint and VOICEsVOICEs before leaving Los Angeles (where we lived for awhile). It was a beautiful show.

CHOICE VICE: Paranoia. No drugs required.

YOUR NERDIEST EQUIPMENT FETISH: We don’t really nerd out on equipment too much, but we try to make good use of what we find lying around the house or in secondhand stores. Aleksa plays an old Yamaha DX-7 synth and a cool-looking black Hondo Professional guitar, which, according to the guy at the store, used to belong to Luscious Jackson. Devon sometimes plays guitar with a violin bow or a screwdriver.

BEST RECENT PURCHASE: A Roland SP-404 SX sampler. I guess we’re kind of nerdy after all…

SOMETHING THAT’S ALWAYS IN YOUR POCKET/PURSE/WALLET: Lint, receipts, guitar picks, toothpicks, fingernails and this Polaroid.

LAST THREE MOVIES YOU’VE SEEN COLLECTIVELY: We just went to the premieres of two films last week: Happythankyoumoreplease, which our friend Todd DiCiurcio did all the artwork for, and Potiche, a French film starring our new friend Judith Godreche. This is a TV show, but we’ve been watching The Wire pretty obsessively.

TOUR NECESSITIES YOU NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT: Books, notebooks, and pens.

ONE BRAND YOU WOULDN’T MIND SELLING A SONG TO: This is hard. It’s always an ambiguous question because musicians have to make a living somehow. It’s one thing if a song gets placed in a movie or something else creative, but another if it’s just being used to push destructive consumerism. We’re really not interested in using music for advertising.

YOUR FLAT IS BURNING DOWN, WHAT ARE YOU GRABBING? I would grab our three cats and the hard drive that has our new album on it.

Coachoosing

The sun's shining again, and you know what that means...Coachella.  Oh, you were thinking cuba libres by the pool, road trips, and the fact that you have to mow your lawn again?  Yeah, well, I guess it means that too...in my dreams.  Hey, but on that side-note, I'm really trying to work out a lifeplan that involves "summer" beginning in Arpil and ending in October, sort of a 1 part school/work/responsibility/blah to 1 part obligationless/meandering/vacation thing.  I haven't figured it out yet, but I'll keep you apprised.  Annyway, the music festival is just over a month away.  And in terms of Coachella prep, I've got some reeesearch left to do.

Doot deet doot deet doot deet.  By the way, I heard President Palmer's going to Coachella.
 
Now, I've got finals next week, so naturally I've decided to start my Coachoosing right now.  There's a billionish bands playing over the three days, so this prep may take a while.  But here's what my pre-festi groundwork is telling me so far:


Don't Miss Glasser

Background: A Los Angelino who makes music on GarageBand - or at least did 'til her newest album.  Oh, and her dad's in the Blue Man Group.
Sound: Electro-pop.  NME dubbed her the electro Join Mitchell.





Seriously Don't Miss Cold Cave

Background: A dude who used to make hardcore gets some band mates and metamorphoses into 80's British synth pop legends - or at least they would have been with this stuff in 80's Britain.
Sound: Dark synth-pop a la early Depeche Mode.

Long live shoegazers!

Photo from here

Really really liking 2:54 right now.  Kind of obsessed.

Like genre predecessors gone before, it's darkish and abrasive guitar counterbalanced by entrancing vocals. Expertly done.  They're UK based, but I really hope they plan to play some US shows in the near future.

If you haven't been convinced by other music on this site already, these guys will be the ones to catalyze your dark and twisted descent into noise rock.

You can listen below if you want, it's really good.





2:54 - On A Wire

Under the Influence...

Cover's playlist!  Okay, so Rob and I made a music mix comprised solely of cover's; only rule was we had to know the cover as a cover, ie knew the original first.  It was crazy how many amazing cover's we came across.  We found so many awesome one's we ended up having massive creative differences on which one's would actually make the CD, but after a time-out, we were finally able to settle on this list:

All Time High  Pulp covering Rita Coolidge
Weighted Down  Beck Record Club covering Skip Spence
Everyday is like Sunday  the Pretenders covering Morissey
It's all over now, Baby Blue  Them feat. Van Morrison covering Bob Dylan
The Headmaster Ritual  Radiohead covering the Smiths
Within You Without You  Sonic Youth covering the Beatles
Temptation  Diana Krall covering Tom Waits
Lover Lover Lover  Ian McCulloch covering Leonard Cohen
Love will never tear us apart  the Cure covering Joy Division
Darklands  Primal Scream covering the Jesus and Mary Chain
Creep  the Pretenders covering Radiohead
Bird on a Wire  Johnny Cash covering Leonard Cohen
Disco 2000  Nick Cave covering Pulp
Pale Blue Eyes  Patti Smith covering the Velvet Underground

My Girl  the Jesus and Mary Chain covering the Temptations

People Are Strange  Echo & the Bunnymen covering the Doors

Into the Groove(y)  Ciccone Youth covering Madonna

What a Wonderful World  Nick Cave covering Louis Armstrong

The Whitey Album cover 

Only going to listen to one?  Okay, pick Into the Groove(y).  Like we needed another reason to be consumed by Sonic Youth, but here it is: Ciccone Youth!  Ciccone Youth is this amazing, twisted, experimental side-project from the members of Sonic Youth, all working under the guise/pseudonym...and a sort of homage to the superqueen of pop, Madonna, who was living in the same area of NYC when both groups were just starting out.  They cover 2 of her songs on the album and do a bunch of other weird stuff for the rest.  I love it!

Fun facts: Ciccone is actual Madonna's last name; the "band" formed in 1986 and put out 2 records, the Whitey Album started after the band joked about covering the Beatles; all the band members took on an alias (Thurston Moore = The Royal Tuff Titty, drummer Steve Shelley = SS Beat Control, Lee Ranaldo = The Sigh, Kim Gordon = Fly Fly Away) and did hilarous gag interviews, toured, etc.

FRIDAZE

Morning music mix on the 6:46

LA River - view from the train

BANG BANG nancy sinatra
PARADISE CIRCLE massive attack
SHADOW OF A DOUBT sonic youth
AMERIMACKA thievery corporation
LEMONADE cocorosie
UTOPIA goldfrapp
LET ME TAKE YOU OUT class actress
GLORY BOX portishead
ELEPHANT WOMAN blonde redhead
ONE STEP TOO FAR faithless
BREATHE télépopmusik
ENDLESS SPRING houses

IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE... boards of canada

CLIMBING UP THE WALLS radiohead (zero 7 mix)


Turns out trip hop really does it for me when stuck on public transportation in the morning.

What does not so much do it for me?  All the germ ridden denizens of the jam packed metro 720.  Come on people, dracula cough.  I'm not joking buddy, into the elbow nook.  I have never so actively avoided touching my eyes and mouth before - still, it will be a miracle if I avoid the flu this year.  For the first time, I'm actually considering getting the flu vaccine.

See I found this little bad boy on the LA County Department of Public Health's communicable disease website; and that chart's from this week. So looks like the number of sickies on the bus is only going to get worse.  By the way, let me tell you, that website is a hypochondriacs worst nightmare.  People in LA are getting all kinds of diseases...Typhoid, Malaria, Dengue, Hep A-Z, West Nile, parasites galore, Kawasaki Syndrome - I thought that was a motorcycle, but 70 people got it last year.  Okay, those diseases are pretty pretty rare, we're talking 10 million people in Los Angeles, but still typhoid? Whoa.  I'm not even going to get into the STDs, those numbers are crazy.

Wow, sorry about that, I'm studying epidemiology right now. One last music video.  Love the song and the music video's weirdly fitting and cool too.  Oh, and you should know, it might actually be impossible to keep Zach Braff in his wallpaper patterned shirt out of your head when listening to this song, just go with it.  Thanks Britain for all your great work in this genre.

Haphazard for the Holidays - Strategy for Survival #1

Alright, love 'em or hate 'em, everyone needs a strategy for surviving the holidays.  For me, I'm going to take it day by day, adapt, like a chameleon.  The Von Trapps are coming over for a sing-a-long, no problem, I just remembered I have to run to the mall for a last minute item real quick, where I will sit at Starbucks with my laptop for an hour. Insert nosy relative's name here wants to have a one on one chat about where your life is going, no big deal, confess to not having a life plan and grab some more pie. But even with this bullet-proof master plan in play, I've decided to nail down some specific tactics to ensure a Happy Holiday.  So:

Strategy #1 for Surviving the Holidays: find a completely refreshing and new band you just can't get enough of - and listen to them ALL THE TIME.  My pick: Warpaint.

Okay, they're not exactly new, having been around since 2004, but they're new to me. Four girls from Silverlake, hypnotic and psychedelic, intricate weaving of guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and a little dissonance as the cherry on top.  Needless to say, but I will anyway, I really like them.  Their newest album is called The Fool, check it out.

Don't worry with dysfunction running rampant through all those warm and gooey family holiday moments, I've got more strategies to come.  Stay tuned folks.

Music Opinions...on a blog? How original.

In a rare moment of musical decisiveness last weekend, my brother and I decided to respectively list our top ten favorite albums.  I pretty much universally shirk away from these type of things, I love to talk about music, but really it hurts my brain to even think about "favorites"...there's too many.  But both Rob and I did.

PS I hold The Love Thieves directly responsible this.  At that moment, listening to that song, I was sure it was in my top ten list of songs...even if the album didn't make the list.

10. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles

The Beatles in their experimental stage, don't need to say anything else.

9. Horses, Patti Smith

I've been a sucker for Patti since hearing the song Kimberly...I mean yeah, of course I love it, it's my name.  On top of that she's an f-ing great rock poet, amazing lyrics, love her voice, love her activism.  Saw her last year at Exit in Serbia, still kickass and championing for a cause.

8. Deep Cuts, the Knife

Awesome electro pop from my favorite Swede siblings.  I really really like lead singer Karin Dreijer Andersson, pretty much everything about her, and this album is why it started.  Synth pop meets creepy.  Jose Gonzales covered the most popular track from this album, Heartbeats, gave it a bit more fame in the "indie" scene, but try the original.  Love the twisted lyrics of this album.  Favorite song/music video of the album: Pass This On.

7. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan

Like a Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row, the title track...'nuff said. 

6. Doolittle, Pixies

Great great great Alt rock, my favorite kind of rock, yeah I grew up in the 90's.  And this album (from 1989) laid the groundwork for my favorite alt rock to come...one guess, okay I'll tell you - Radiohead, big surprise, and on top of that it's ridiculous on it's own.  Some incredible writing on this album, plus I love it when girls rock just as hard as boys, and Kim Deal can definitely hold more than her own.  As Thom Yorke said at Coachella years back, "the Pixies changed my life."

5. Washing Machine, Sonic Youth

After the Pixies you suspected, but now you know...yes, I like noise rock.  And Sonic Youth is the cream of the crop in my mind.  Dissonance can be tough for people, mostly I think you either like it or don't.  For me good noise rock is intense, emotive, and yeah it goes there.  Sonic Youth goes there.  Washing Machine is definitely not SY's most accessible album, and according to most, far from the best, but I loove it.  The album's full of long jam songs, with highs and lows, three guitars going nuts, in this super intense, climactic way.  Plus I really like how much time Kim Gordon spent behind the mike this album.  Track suggestion: Little Trouble Girl to get a taste of K. Gordon, or if you're brave dive right in with twenty minute jam session The Diamond Sea and tell if you feel it.

4.  The Bends, Radiohead

The first Radiohead album I bought, first album I laid on my floor and listened to, first band I actually loved.  The album's just ridiculously good, probably the most accessible with so many hits, and weirdly simple in a refreshing way, nice to come back to after going crazy for the Radiohead that will develop over the 15 years after this album.  (Nice Dream), what a song.

3. The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Undergroud w/Nico

This is a really, really great album.  What better way can an album prove it than by being consistently relevant and universally considered great for nearly half a century?  Before the Beatles went experimental, the Velvet Underground were.  Before Frank Zappa was controversial, the Velvet Underground were.  Yeah, they're talking about drug abuse, prostitution, bondage, etc.  Love Nico's voice, too bad it didn't work out.  What makes this album all the more awesome is the fact that it was all recorded in one day with like no money.

2. White Album, The Beatles

What more needs to be said about this album that hasn't already been said?   The Beatles are the best, and this is a double album of the best.

1. Ok Computer, Radiohead

Did you think I could go anywhere else?  Honestly this blog is named after a song on this album.  Radiohead's magnum opus, the album every subsequent Alt Rock album will be compared to.  Great music that gets me every time I listen to it. Exit Music (For a Film), I have chills. 

Well, that wasn't too bad, picking favorites that is, wonder how long this list will stay the way it is?

I think...

Post Focus today: Music.

No rant or critique for today, just two groups to recommend.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros - my new go to group.  They're sort of folk-bluesy rock.  I love it.  It's groups like this that are saving rock and roll...

Next up: Metric.  Yeah, amazing.

Metric's most recent album Fantasies hasn't left my car since I got it (that's saying something considering how long ago it came out).  These guys are more modern new-wave alternative.  The single off the album is Help I'm Alive right which is below, but my favorite's the next one Collect Call.
(So this is an acoustic version, I couldn't really find a good version of the original, seriously though, who doesn't love acousitc?)