The 11 Best Beastie Boys Songs

Fraternities have a way of destroying everything. Not that I have anything against the fraternal order (some of the best college parties I ever attended were frat parties), but frat boys have a way of infesting something cool (like a good song or a girl's virginity) and ultimately annihilating it. When I was in college, you couldn't go to a frat party without the DJ spinning the Beastie Boys' "Brass Monkey." I can't tell you how many times I heard 200 drunk assholes sing along with "Yo baby, was up?" Worst of all...the song was about 8-years-old at the time. It wasn't even current. Sadly, those drunk assholes are more than likely controlling the world as we speak, destroying more of what we consider cool.

Go buy the Beastie Boys stellar new instrumental CD: The Mix-Up. If enough people buy the new album, I'll post the infamous Beastie Boys country album. And I'll be checking to make sure you bought the album...so no fibbing.

Here are the 11 Best Beastie Boys songs:

1. Shadrach (Paul's Boutique)
2. Get It Together (Ill Communications)
3. The Sound of Science (Paul's Boutique)
4. The Negotiation Limerick File (Hello Nasty)
5. B-Boy Bouillabaisse (Paul's Boutique)
6. Time To Get Ill (Licensed To Ill)
7. Flute Loop (Ill Communications)
8. Intergalactic (Hello Nasty)
9. Hey Ladies (Paul's Boutique)
10. Sabatoge (Ill Communications)
11. Pass The Mic (Check Yo Head)

THE UNKNOWN: Ryan Adams - Silver

I still buy music. I still buy a lot of music. I actually buy too much music. My wife has scolded me many times about the excessive amounts of money I've spent buying CDs. We'd be living in a mansion instead of a condo if I decided to cash in my CD collection. But I won't. I love the comfort of a good tune more than a backyard and a swimming pool. When Ryan Adams new CD leaked all over the internet, I waited. I knew I would buy the CD and I love Sir Ryan so I wanted nothing to ruin the surprise of the new album (Easy Tiger). I bought the CD today at Best Buy because it came with a bonus track to download ("Alice"). Little did I know it was a trick. If you download the track, Best Buy is actually download DRM software onto your computer to monitor your music listening/burning. Didn't some company get sued for doing the same thing like just last year? Why do these companies never never learn?

Do not buy the new album at Best Buy. Buy it here cheaper.

People want Mp3s. That's the file-type we want to use. Why do these companies continue to try and shove alternate files down our throats? We do not want AAC, WMA, or WAV. Stop selling us those tracks. Better yet, if you WANT TO MAKE MONEY...then stop selling those tracks. I would buy ten times more songs off itunes if they got rid of the DRM and sold MP3s. How come only Emusic gets it? Maybe that's why even such a limited catalog, they are still the number two retailer on the block.

Wake up record labels. Don't make the same mistakes of your predecessors. 90% of the digital music is in the MP3 format. Learn from history. The consumer is not going to change to meet your format. Either you can change or you WILL BE left behind.

Here is the first of four Ryan Adams B-sides collections. This one is called Silver and spans the Heartbreaker/Gold years. The only track I couldn't find was "Poor Southern Girl," which I should get eventually.

If you personally have other Ryan B-sides...I am still missing a few for the other collections and would love some assistance. Coming soon: "Hate Is Heaven," "Jazz & Blues," and "Hot Tulips."

Ryan Adams - Silver

1. Monday Night
2. Rosalie Come and Go
3. Fools We Are As Men
4. Sweet Black Magic
5. The Bar Is A Beautiful Place
6. Cannonball Days
7. Mara Lisa
8. From Me To You
9. Lovesick Blues
10. Blue
11. Damn Sam
12. Goodbye Honey

The 11 Best Ryan Adams Songs

For those of you to young to remember sports superstar Bo Jackson or better yet...Tecmo Bowl star Bo Jackson, let me give a brief history (for a longer one, see wikipedia). Bo Jackson was the first bonafide dual-sport NFL/MLB superstar. This guy could play any sport. Nike even gave him his own commercial where he ran around saying "Bo knows football. Bo knows gardening. Bo knows nuclear science." Okay, I made up the second one. Bo Jackson was a monster. He was a full-powered scoring machine, until...in a football game he was tackled. Not a Joe Theismann tackle...a very normal one. But this one tackle destroyed his knee. One doctor said that if a Mac truck had hit his knee it would have done less damage. Bo never recovered.

Ryan Adams is the Bo Jackson of music. If his 8 albums in 7 years isn't impressive enough. The guy also has 3 unreleased full length albums and a 250+ song, 20-disc live set. And that's just his solo work. Unlike Bo, Ryan recovered from his injury and is back making some of the best music of his life. Buy his new album here.

Get your tomatoes ready. Yes, there are no songs from Heartbreaker or JSL. But to make you all happy, I am compiling a Ryan Adams B-Side album called "Miserable" which I will post later this week.

Here are the 11 Best Ryan Adams songs:

1. La Cienega Just Smiled (Gold)
2. This Is It (Rock N Roll)
3. How Do You Keep Love Alive (Cold Roses)
4. Nobody Girl (Gold)
5. Luminol (Rock N Roll)
6. New York, New York (Gold)
7. 1974 (Rock N Roll)
8. If I Am A Stranger (Cold Roses)
9. Please Do Not Let Go (Love Is Hell)
10. Let It Ride (Cold Roses)
11. Strawberry Wine (29)

The 11 Best Whitesnake Songs

Blogging is becoming its own monster. Posting is now becoming a competition. Whether it's being the first to post Jeff Tweedy doing the theme song to Christina Appelgate's sitcom, "Jesse" (I have this) or the acoustic Nirvana gig at the UCLA radio station in 1990 (I used to have this), each blog wants to be the one that brings the most viewers to their blog because they are offering the coolest free shit.

My intention today was to post the White Stripes B-Sides album called, "Giraffe." It features 14 White Stripes B-Sides from the first half of their career. Then a couple of days from now, I would post the second B-Sides comp from the second half of their career called, "Get In Front of Me Jesus." But the only problem with that is every one under the sun is posting White Stripes B-Sides. I would just be lost in the crowd.

Then I thought about posting a White Stripes concert...those are also all over the internet...

Here's a good one from Michigan 02 (http://www.whitestripes.net/downloads.php)

I already posted their best songs, which was met with mild excitement. I thought about posting the best Polyphonic Spree songs...but does anyone really care about Tim DeLaughter?

So, that left me with one true option...the best Whitesnake songs. For all of you who thought Whitesnake was a forgettable 80s hair metal band, then you are sorely mistaken. They may be legends for having the coolest video of all time. If you were a teenage boy in the late 80s, the visual of Tawni Kaitan dancing on the white corvette is an image that may have defined your pubescent years.



But what a lot of people don't know or recall is that most members of Whitesnake came from the band Deep Purple, including lead singer David Coverdale. Their early work was a grungy blast of rock blues that could have possibly been the offspring of Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy. They sold out to the aerosol companies in the late 80s, still managing to deliver some gems. But their early work is where they truly shined.

Here are the 11 Best Whitesnake Songs:

1. Here I Go Again (Whitesnake/Saints & Sinners)
2. Is This Love? (Whitesnake)
3. Ain't No Love In The Heart of the City (Snakebite)
4. Time Is Right For Love (Trouble)
5. Victim of Love (Saints & Sinners)
6. Fool For Your Lovin' (Ready an' Willing)
7. Standing in the Shadow (Slide It In)
8. Til The Day I Die (Come An' Get It)
9. Breakdown (Snakebite)
10. Ain't Gonna Cry No More (Ready an' Willing)
11. Crying in the Rain (Saints & Sinners)

The 11 Best Songs By The White Stripes

Led Zeppelin is dead. Well, technically only one of them is dead. But that's not what I'm really talking about. What I'm referring to is the balls out rock and roll of yesteryear. There has not been...nor will there ever be another Led Zeppelin. And we are a weaker society because of it. At least in past years, bands tried to follow in their footsteps. Whitesnake, Def Leppard, even freaking Pearl Jam tried to bring rock back to the masses. And at times, they made a very valiant attempt. But PJ came out almost 16 years ago...yep, that's right 16 years ago!! Since there has been a void of bands who make music that grabs you by the back of the neck and forces you to bob your head back and forth with the beat. Sadly, we've been forced to listen to rap metal, which was led by a bunch of men dressed like clowns. Then we had the emo movement, which was led by a bunch of guys with vaginas. Now, we're stuck with the revival of the 80s androgynous electroclash bands, where you can't even tell if the singers are men or women. In this haze, one band has managed to carry the torch. The White Stripes. Tuesday sees the release of their extremely exciting 6th album, The Icky Thump. And I'm in now way inferring that the Stripes are the next Zeppelin...but for now, thank God they've continued carrying the Zeppelin torch.

Here are the 11 Best White Stripes songs:

1. Seven Nation Army - Elephant
2. Hotel Yorba - White Blood Cells
3. Truth Doesn't Make A Noise - De Stijl
4. I Can't Wait - White Blood Cells
5. Death Letter - De Stijl
6. Black Math - Elephant
7. Apple Blossom - De Stijl
8. We're Going To Be Friends - White Blood Cells
9. I Fell In Love With A Girl - White Blood Cells
10. Denial Twist - Get Behind Me Satan
11. Stop Breaking Down - The White Stripes

If you pre-order the new album, Icky Thump,at insound.com and enter the promo code "whitestripesnet" at checkout you will save 10 percent on your order! Actually, the promo code works for anything you purchase at insound.com.

THE UNKNOWN: Soundgarden's "WhiteNightSky"

Alright, by popular demand, here is the companion disc to Soundgarden's B-side album "Black Sunshine." I call this one "WhiteNightSky." If I get busted and sent to jail for this...then one of you better come and bail me out. And if you're Chris Cornell and you're ready to kick my ass for posting this...please just email me first and I'll take it down.

And in all fairness...everyone needs to go out and buy Chris Cornell's new disc. It's only $9 here. You just got two albums worth of Soundgarden B-Sides, the least you can do is support Chris' new endeavour. And let me tell you, it's well worth every penny. There isn't a better voice in rock today. Fair deal?

Here is Soundgarden's "WhiteNightSky:"

1. Into The Void

2. Girl U Want

3. Stray Cat Blues

4. She's A Politician

5. Bleed Together

6. HIV Baby

7. Exit Stonehenge

8. Heretic

9. A Slice of Space Jam

10. Homicidal Suicidal

11. I Can't Give You Everything

12. Touch Me

13. Big Bottom

14. Jerry Garcia's Finger

The 11 Best Nominations for the Music Blog Awards

(Soundgarden Part 2 coming on Sunday - just hold your horses)

Every year the Grammy awards come out to a massive fanfare in the media. The way the press drools all over the nominees you would think they had just cured cancer or at least discovered a new medicine for dust allergies. But when the names of the nominees hit the general public, they are always met with a giant Charlie Brown *sigh.* Sometimes the Grammy awards are on the right track (like when Outkast or Bob Dylan won album of the year) but most of the time, the Grammy awards are a closer representation to the year's sales chart rather than a yardstick of talent. Just because James Blunt outsold The Decemberists doesn't mean he had a better record, it just means he had a better marketing campaign. If the Grammy awards are all about awarding marketing campaigns, then they're doing a bang-up job. If they're awarding the best music of the year...then they have a lot to learn.

This year, a bunch of us bloggers got together and decided...hey, we can do this, too. We decided to host our own awards. We have as much musical knowledge as any of the Grammy nominators. Probably more. I mean, how many people who vote for the Grammys have even heard of The Knife, Joanna Newsom, or especially Girl Talk. So we nominated a bunch of artists in a lot of different categories, we convinced emusic to sponsor this little event, and now we're letting the general public vote on the winners. That means you!

Voting ends June 15th!!! Last chance to participate.

Go here to vote:

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2269CC7CSU5

I know I'm not supposed to twist the arm of the voters but here are my favorite nominees from this year. Take That Grammy!!!

1. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
2. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
3. Midlake – Roscoe
4. We Are Scientists – With Love and Squalor
5. LCD Soundsystem – 45:33
6. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America
7. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
8. Girl Talk – Night Ripper
9. Tapes and Tapes – The Loon
10. Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
11. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat


The 2007 Music Blog Award Nominees:

Album of the Year

1. Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out Of This Country
2. Hot Chip – The Warning
3. Joanna Newsom – YS
4. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
5. The Knife – Silent Shout
6. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
   

Song of the Year

1. Band of Horses – The Funeral
2. Beirut – Postcards From Italy
3. Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken
4. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
5. Midlake – Roscoe
6. Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks
   

Best Artist

1. Beck
2. Joanna Newsom
3. The Decemberists
4. The Knife
5. TV On the Radio
   

Best Blog

1. An Aquarium Drunkard
2. I Guess I’m Floating
3. Large Hearted Boy
4. My Old Kentucky Blog
5. Stereogum

Best Live Band

1. Cansei Der Se Sexy (CSS)
2. Radiohead
3. Tapes N Tapes
4. The Decemberists
5. TV on the Radio

Best Rock Album

1. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
2. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
3. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
4. TV on the Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain
5. Wolfmother – Wolfmother

Best Rock Song

1. Band of Horses – The Funeral
2. Tapes N Tapes – Insistor
3. The Decemberists – O! Valencia
4. The Raconteurs – Steady As She Goes
5. TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me

Best Debut Album

1. Beirut – Gulag Orkestar
2. Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
3. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
4. Lily Allen – Alright, Still
5. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
6. We Are Scientists – With Love and Squalor
   

Best Indie Album

1. Cold War Kids – Robbers & Cowards
2. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America
3. Sunset Rubdown – Shup Up I Am Dreaming
4. Tapes and Tapes – The Loon
5. The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine
   

Best Dance/Electronica Album

1. Cansei De Ser Sexy – Cansei De Ser Sexy
2. Girl Talk – Night Ripper
3. Goldfrapp – Supernature
4. Hot Chip – The Warning
5. The Knife – Silent Shout
   

Best Dance/Electronica Song

1. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
2. Hot Chip – And I Was A Boy From School
3. LCD Soundsystem – 45:33
4. The Knife – We Share Our Mother’s Health
5. The Rapture – Whoo! Alright, Yeah…Uh Huh
   

Best Rap Song

1. Nas – Hip-Hop Is Dead
2. Outkast – PJ and Rooster
3. T.I. – What You Know
   

Best Rap Album

1. Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
2. Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
3. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
4. Nas – Hip-Hop Is Dead
5. Rhymefest – Blue Collar
   

Best Country/Alt.Country/Country Rock Album

1. Drive By Truckers – A Blessing And A Curse
2. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat
3. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
4. Old Crow Medicine Show – Big Iron World
5. The Be Good Tanyas – Hello Love

The Unknown: Soundgarden - Black Sunshine

Okay, I'm cheating a bit with this one. There is no official album called Soundgarden's "Black Sunshine." I made it up. At one time, we were promised a Soundgarden B-Sides album that would have been the partner to their "A-Sides" (less than $10 here) greatest hits album...but 10 years have passed and that never happened. So, I have taken it upon myself to finish the job. This is an original GBU unreleased album. Basically all my life I have collected B-sides and created ficitional albums by my favorite artists. I do have rules to these albums. All songs must have been offiically released in some form. No demos. B-Sides, soundtracks, japanese bonus tracks are all eligible. I try to keep the tracklist to 12-15 songs. And I try to break it up chronologically. I think most people would be surprised how many albums could be created from their favorite bands' extra tracks. In Soundgarden's case, I have been able to create two very strong alternative albums. The first one listed below is called "Black Sunshine." I have created a second one called "WhiteNightSky." For the moment, I will hold off on releasing the second one...you know, to give everyone a chance to absorb these songs...and secondly, to see if there's even a demand for it.

But if you're craving more screeching by Chris Cornell then please go buy his new (and very excellent) album, Carry On. (only $10) It's much stronger than his first solo album...and frankly better than most of the Audioslave material. Long live Seattle.

Soundgarden - Black Sunshine

1. Birth Ritual
2. Show Me
3. Blind Dogs
4. Karoake
5. Sub Pop Rock City
6. Fresh Deadly Flowers
7. Cold Bitch
8. Toy Box
9. I Don't Care About you
10. Can You see Me?
11. She Likes Surprises
12. Kyle Petty, Son of Richard
13. Come Together
14. Motorcycle Loop

Buy Carry On here.