The 11 Best Songs By Burial

Back in the 60s, we knew nothing about the musicians except for the music that came out of speakers, the cardboard jacket of a record, or the rare picture in a magazine.  Musicians were a mystery.  Like the wizard behind the curtain.  We care more about what they created and not about who they really were.  With that mystery came obsession.  The less we knew, the bigger fans we became, all because of this musical foreplay they teased us with.  I don't want to know what my favorite lead singer is doing at a hot dog stand in Encino or seeing pictures of them out for a jog in Costa Mesa.  It humanizes them.  And that's the last thing I want from my rock n roll gods...to be human.  I want them to stay these untouchable gods.  I want to believe that an artist like Burial is actually from an alien planet who has come to Earth to re-educate us with his magical beats, have sex with all our women, then return to his planet for a few year hiatus.  I don't want to know that he's some stay-at-home dad, who likes to watch golf on the weekends while he works on his culinary skills.  We already have a doorway into the lives and personalities of our musical icons...it's their music!  When you add in all these paparazzi bullshit photos and articles, you take power away from the only that matters.

Thankfully, no one know too much about Burial.  And I hope they keep it that way.  It just makes hearing new music from him (or her) all that more exciting.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Burial:

1. Archangel (Untrue)
2. Raver (Untrue)
3. Distant Lights (Burial)
4. Unite (Box of Dub)
5. Untrue (Untrue)
6. Etched Headplate (Untrue)
7. In McDonald’s (Untrue)
8. Shell of Light (Untrue)
9. Night Bus (Burial)
10. Southern Comfort (Burial)
11. Fostercare (Single)

Buy Burial's new EP now...Street HALO.

The 11 Best Songs By Say Hi

It will always amaze with the amount of music I listen to and how many different artists that I'm at least familiar with...that I always seem to discover great bands that I never even knew existed.  

Say Hi (originally Say Hi To Your Mom) is basically a one-man wrecking crew better-known among friends as Eric Elbogen.  I stumbled across Say Hi's new release (Um, Uh Oh) based on a rather high score on metacritic.  Everyone who scores a 75 or higher, usually gets an obligatory listen from me.  I usually skip through the album...but this time, I was impressed.  I picked up the album thinking it was a debut or at best a sophomore release.  There's no way an artists this good could have seven albums under their belt and I hadn't heard of them.  Not that I'm the authority on all things music...but it's rare an artist slides by unnoticed, especially one who makes albums about vampires and Star Trek.  I mean, seriously, how much cooler could he be?  I've heard him technically categorized as mumblecore...but who knows what any of these music labels mean anymore.  Think Bright Eyes meets The Promise Ring...and I'm not sure that adequately describes him.  My best suggestion...go take a listen.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Say Hi:

1.  Dimensions and Verticals (Ferocious Mopes)
2.  Blah Blah Blah (Impeccable Blahs)
3.  Pop Music of the Future (Numbers and Mumbles)
4.  Hallie & Henry (Oohs & Aahs)
5.  Not As Goth As They Say We Are (Impeccable Blahs)
6.  November Was White, December Was Grey (Oohs & Aahs)
7.  Unless The Laker Game Was On (Discosadness)
8.  Toil and Trouble (The Wishes and The Glitch)
9.  The Stars Just Blink For Us (Oohs & Aahs)
10.  These Fangs (Impeccable Blahs)
11.  The Twenty-Second Century (Ferocious Mopes)

Buy Say Hi's new album, Um, Uh Oh, now!

The 11 Best Songs By William Fitzsimmons

Today, Amazon unveiled its new "cloud."  An online storage space for all its customers to store all their Amazon-purchased media files on.  This gives you the ability to access your music from any location (home, work) or on the go (via your cell phone).  What's most surprising about this announcement isn't about how far technology has come...but the fact that no one thought of this so far.  In the era of streaming, instead of trying to pre-determine the content you think the user will want...why not let them choose it (and pay for it) themselves.  I always wonder if the people who run the music industry actually listen to music themselves.

This week will be a bit of a catch-up week (not to be confused with ketchup week which is in May).  I could do lists for Unwritten Law, Sum 41, or Whitesnake.  But would you really rather see a bunch of lists for bands you don't listen to or care about anymore...or would you like me to turn you onto some new music.  Of course, that Whitesnake list is certainly tempting.  If you haven't heard William Fitzsimmons lately, he looks like he belongs in the freak folk crowd...but his sound leaves most of the freak at the door.  Good basic folk music to mellow out to.  His fourth album is out this week.  Enjoy.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By William Fitzsimmons:

1.  Please Don't Go (Goodnight)
2.  Funeral Dress (Until When We Are Ghosts)
3.  Leave By Myself (Goodnight)
4.  You Still Hurt Me (The Sparrow and the Crow)
5.  So This Is Goodbye (Derivatives)
6.  I Don't Feel It Anymore (The Sparrow and the Crow)
7.  Everything Has Changed (Goodnight)
8.  They'll Never Take The Good Years (The Sparrow and the Crow)
9.  Heartless (Heartless)
10.  Kylie (Until When We Are Ghosts)
11.  Afterall (Goodnight)

Buy William Fitzsimmons' new album, Gold in the Shadow, now!!

The 11 Best Songs By LCD Soundsystem

As I walked around Border's this weekend, picking leftover books off their shelves during their going-out-of-business sale, a chilling thought crossed my mind...where am I going to buy books?  I rarely went to book stores with specific titles in mind.  I only went with a general idea of something I wanted.  I wanted to enjoy browsing all the different titles and coming home with something new and unique.  But even if I wanted something specific...where will I get it?  Amazon?  Sure...but what if I want it today and not in 3 days?  That's doable...but not efficient.  Target?  Target carries less book titles than CDs.  Last time I was there, they dedicated an entire shelf to Sarah Palin and another shelf to Snooki's new book.  That left one shelf to the rest of their titles.  That's just sad.  I could use a kindle and download it...but like I said...most of the stuff I bought did not come from knowing exactly what I wanted.  It came from reading a book jacket...looking at the cover...reading some pages here and there.  That experience is now gone.  Completely.

We also say goodbye to LCD Soundsystem this week.  Though equating their loss to the loss of the book industry isn't really fair.  But there are some similarities.  It is time to say goodbye to an artist that was totally uncompromising in their musical expression.  They had no label to tell them what to do...because James Murphy, who basically is the whole band, also owns his band's record label.  They had complete freedom to do what they want and had no one to tell them what to do.  Very few bands if any will have that freedom to do what they want.  Like the freedom we had walking around in a book store, freedom to express yourself musically is disappearing fast.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By LCD Soundsystem:

1.  Tribulations (LCD Soundsystem)
2.  Someone Great (Sound of Silver)
3.  All My Friends (Sound of Silver)
4.  Daft Punk Is Playing in My House (LCD Soundsystem)
5.  All I Want (This Is Happening)
6.  I Can Change (This Is Happening)
7.  Great Release (LCD Soundsystem)
8.  North America Scum (Sound of Silver)
9.  Losing My Edge (Non-Album Single)10.  You Wanted A Hit (This Is Happening)
11.  45:33 (45:33)


Buy LCD Soundsystem's London Sessions now!

The Unknown: Soundgarden - Motorvision 92

Usually I don't pay mind to live albums.  Even those I do pick up get listened to one time then sit on the shelf.  Very rarely does an album slip through that's worth even mentioning.  The new Soundgarden sounds promising.  It's not a new album of the reunited band...which could have still been cool.  But hearing SG in their prime definitely is tempting.  I've saw them play in the early 90s...and they were insanely good.  In fact, they were easily the best live band of that era.  Better than Pearl Jam.  Better than Nirvana.  Even better than Hootie and the Blowfish.

This is one of my favorite performances by them.  Proof that they were one of the elites.

I'm posting this selfishly since I don't have all the songs.  I'm hoping someone out there can fill in the gaps.

Here is Soundgarden's Motorvision '92:

1.  Searching With My Good Eye Closed
2.  Rusty Cage
3.  Outshined
4.  Little Joe
5.  Mind Riot
6.  Room A Thousand Years Wide
7.  Jesus Christ Pose
8.  Slaves & Bulldozers

Buy Soundgarden's new live album, Live on I-5

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 00s

In music, it's not about being the best, it's surviving the longest.  Duran Duran was a seminal 80s group.  They had a string of hits...but very few people would consider them one of the best of the decade.  In fact, I would doubt they would even crack the top 25...maybe not even the top 50.  But entering into their 4th decade as a band, they've outlived most of their synth-pop peers.  Because of this, they've been pushed higher on the alternative pedestal.  Now, 30 years into their career, they've just put out their best album since the 80s.  It's at this point in a band's career, that every thing comes full circle and they just go back to doing what they do best.  Now, bet you can't wait for the new Whitesnake album next week.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 00s:

1. Reach Up For The Sunrise (Astronaut)
2. Playing With Uranium (Pop Trash)
3. Someone Else Not Me (Pop Trash)
4. Still Breathing (Astronaut)
5. Tempted  (Red Carpet Massacre)
6. The Sun Doesn’t Shine Forever (Pop Trash)
7. Want You More (Astronaut)
8. Mars Meets Venus (Pop Trash)
9. Astronaut (Astronaut)
10. Skin Divers  (Red Carpet Massacre)
11. She’s Too Much  (Red Carpet Massacre)

Buy Duran Duran's new album, All You Need Is Now...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 90s

Most movie trilogies struggle through their second film.  In a similar situation, most bands struggle through their second decade.  Bands spends their first decade as the next big thing with the fresh sound.  When they hit their second decade, they're now being pushed aside for the new young fresh next big thing.  Most bands spend their second decade re-ordering their line-up and playing with their sound.  In their second decade, U2 went pop/dance, R.E.M. went grunge, Beastie Boys went back to punk, and GNR went into hiding.  It's not until the third decade that bands once again find even footing and become comfortable with their sound.  That doesn't mean those second decades don't give us some good moments.  There are always a few hits among the plethora of misses.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 90s:

1. Come Undone (The Wedding Album)
2. Out of My Mind (Medazzaland)
3. Ordinary World (The Wedding Album)
4. Electric Barbarella (Medazzaland)
5. Serious (Liberty)
6. Perfect Day (Thank You)
7. Thank You (Thank You)
8. Can You Deal With It? (Liberty)
9. So Long Suicide (Medazzaland)
10. Too Much Information (The Wedding Album)
11. Watching The Detectives (Thank You)

Buy Duran Duran's new album, All You Need Is Now...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 80s

Jon Bon Jovi recently said that Steve Jobs is to blame for killing the record store.  He may have a point.  Itunes has made buying music so easy, that people don't browse anymore.  In the days of the record store, an errand to buy music wasn't like a trip to the grocery store, it was its own experience.  You blocked time out of your day to ensure that you experienced the whole store and not just the artist that brought you there.  Every time you bought an album by a desired artist, you had to look at their whole catalog.  You were familiarized with their other releases, whether you were planning to get them or not.  I'm only here today to buy Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever" but that album cover for "Let Me Up I've Had Enough" looks pretty interesting...I may have to look into that.  That doesn't happen anymore.  We only know what we want, and we only get what we know.  Buying albums based on cover artwork or impulse is gone.  We've forgotten how important cover artwork is...or was.  Seeing the cover art for an album in a record store is basically a visual advertisement for that album.  Every time you see it, you're reminded that it's sitting there waiting for you.  Like Peter Gabriel's melting face, or Andy Warhol's banana...or especially Bruce Springsteen leaning in a doorway, hands in his pockets, starting at you...just waiting for you to buy Darkness on the Edge of Town.  Maybe this is why Duran Duran and the other 80s band have lasted so long.  They came from an era where bands built foundations with legions of fans who took time out of their days to hunt down their music.  Now, when you can buy music with a call from your cell phone, there's no connection to the music.  There's no journey to acquire.  And without a connection...there's nothing holding the fan base in place.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 80s:

1.  Rio (Rio)
2.  Save A Prayer (Rio)
3.  Hungry Like The Wolf (Rio)
4.  Union of the Snake (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
5.  A View To A Kill (Decade)
6.  New Moon On Monday (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
7.  Girls on Film (Duran Duran)
8.  Shadows on Your Side (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
9.  Anyone Out There (Duran Duran)
10.  The Reflex (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
11.  Is There Something I Should Know (Duran Duran)


Buy Duran Duran's new album, All You Need Is Now, now!!

The 11 Best Songs By The Strokes

I'll have to say, I was pretty excited to see Dave Grohl rip the show Glee.  I'm not a Gleek...nor do I have a real problem with the show.  But I do have a problem with the show runner going around acting like it's a big privilege to have one of your songs selected for the show.  I don't watch Glee...but I have seen the show...and I have not been impressed.  The covers of the songs are mediocre at best.  I watched the big Michael Jackson "Thriller" episode and thought after seeing it..."meh...that's it?"  The songs sound like watered down versions of the originals.  They don't re-invent the songs...they do functional versions to fit within the context of the show...sometimes.  Sometimes they just cover the songs to cover the songs.  There's nothing unique about having your song covered by Glee except that it boost your songs sales for about a day.  Why would you want your song covered by the show?  What is it that show is going to do for you that you can't already do for yourself?  Exposure?  The Foo Fighters don't need it.  Madonna doesn't need it either...but maybe she likes the show and wants to be a part of it.  That's okay, too.  At the end of it all, Ryan Murphy, Glee's show runner, needs to be careful who he pisses off.  Bands don't need Glee...Glee needs the bands.  If the musicians think you're unappreciative of their involvement...then they won't be involved anymore.  Without the songs...there's no show.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Strokes:

1.  12:51 (Room on Fire)
2.  Heart In A Cage (First Impressions of Earth)
3.  Someday (Is This It)
4.  Hard To Explain (Is This It)
5.  Reptilia (Room on Fire)
6.  Last Nite (Is This It)
7.  What Ever Happened? (Room on Fire)
8.  You Only Live Once (First Impressions of Earth)
9.  Trying Your Luck (Is This It)
10.  The End Has No End (Room on Fire)
11.  Ize of the World (First Impressions of Earth)

Buy the Strokes new album, Angles, now!!  (only $3.99 limited time)

The 11 Best Songs By Rise Against

With the work grind and the constant magnetism of March Madness, I didn't want the week to slip by without commenting on the most impressive music news of the week.  No, I'm not talking about the Beastie Boys announcing a release date for their long-awaited new album (it's May 3rd).  I'm talking about Rebecca Black.  An artist that truly exemplifies our current mass media culture. In less than a week, she went from being an overnight pop sensation...to being a yesterday's pop has-been.  She sold over 2 million downloads of her song in one week.  She's had over 27 million people view her video on Youtube...again, in one week.  If you have no idea who I'm talking about...check it out here.

Now, people are attacking her for having the worst song of all time.  Even, I'm writing about her.  This is what's scary about Rebecca Black...and it's not even her.  It's her road to popularity.  Her parents bought it.  Her parents paid the producers to write her a song and make a video for her.  Her parents bought her celebrity status.  Apparently for only $2000.  It doesn't bother so much that Rebecca Black bought her way into the pop world.  Isn't that how it's done normally?  Don't record labels pay off radio stations to play to their music?  Isn't this just a more direct method of "Payola?"  What worries me, is if you can buy super stardom for $2000...then what can't you buy?  Whether you like it or not, Rebecca Black is now a permanent part of our media subculture.  Her song will be timeless...just for being timely.

Rebecca Black with the worst song of all time...has more youtube video watches than all of Rise Against's videos...combined.  And Rise Against isn't some indie rock band pushing their own music onto college radio music directors.  They're a main-stream, Platinum-selling artist with the backing of a major label.  Bands who busted their asses for years on the road, were the ones with the best chances of breaking through...now, they're the last in line to the ones who didn't even show up to practice.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Rise Against:

1.  Injection (The Sufferer & The Witness)
2.  Like The Angel (Revolutions Per Minute)
3.  Prayer For the Refugee (The Sufferer & The Witness)
4.  My Life Inside Your Heart (The Unraveling)
5.  But Tonight We Dance (This Is Noise EP)
6.  Savior (Appeal To Reason)
7.  Re-Education Thought Labor (Appeal To Reason)
8.  Give It All (Siren Song Of the Counter Culture)
9.  Ready To Fall  (The Sufferer & The Witness)
10.  Life Less Frightening (Siren Song Of the Counter Culture)
11.  Anyway You Want It (Revolutions Per Minute)

Buy Rise Against' new album, Endgame now.