The 11 Best Songs By Menomena

I'm tired of Apple people claiming that the ipod and itunes are these two apexes of industrial invention.  I like the ipod...it's a neat device...but perfection?  Far from it.  First of all...the scrolling sucks.  When you have 500 artists on your ipod, there's nothing more irritating than wanting to listen to Zero 7 or Zwan and needing to spend 5 minutes scrolling through the entire alphabet.

But I think itunes takes the cake when it comes to pure moronic development.  Why?  There's no play button.  Yes, I know there's a play button at the top of the screen.  But that's useless.  Why is there no play button next to each song?  I mean...that's a no brainer, right?  Currently, when I want to play a song, I have to double-click on that song.  And what happens?  Does the song play?  No.  Itunes thinks I'm trying to change the name of the song and brings up a form box.  So then I have to click out of that without accidentally altering the name of the song.  Then find a blank portion to double-click on.  You know what would be easier???  A PLAY BUTTON.  To play music!!!  How could you not include that???

Genius?  No, but don't tell then Apple people that.  They're too busy waiting hours at the Genius Bar to get their perfect computer fixed.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Menomena:

1.  Evil Bee (Friend or Foe)
2.  Wet and Rusting (Friend or Foe)
3.  Twenty Cell Revolt (I Am The Fun Blame Monster!)
4.  Cough Coughing (I Am The Fun Blame Monster!)
5.  My My (Friend or Foe)
6.  Rotten Hell (Friend or Foe)
7.  Pilgrim's Progess (Record Store Day 2010)
8.  Strongest Man In The World (I Am The Fun Blame Monster!)
9.  Copius (Double Seven Inch)
10.  Muscle N' Flo (Friend or Foe)
11.  Polo (Wet and Rusting EP)

Buy Menomena's new album, Mines...now!!!

The Good: Free Music Friday (Levi's Pioneer Sessions)

I haven't bought a pair of Levi's in about 15 years. Nothing against the company...just wear a lot of shorts. So this isn't some shameless whoring out to a big corporation. Not that there's anything wrong with some shameless whoring. I'll be more than happy to take cash from any corporation to hock their product. That said...not sure what this series of music session has to do with Levi's jeans. Are the artists wearing Levi's? Who knows. The collection rocks and that's all that matters.

13 currents artists cover 13 classic artists. And it's a solid selection on both ends. The Kills do a crunchy cover of Velvet Underground. Passion Pit do a minimalist cover of Smashing Pumpkins. Raphael Saadiq nails a cover the Spinners' classic "It's a Shame." The Shins give Squeeze's "Goodbye Girl" a coffee shop make-over. And She & Him ressurect a classic take on Rick Nelson's legendary "Fools Rush In."

These along with The swell Season, Dirty Projectors, and Nas...among others are alll FREEE!

Yes free. Just go to their page. Download. And enjoy.

Have a good weekend.

Check it out now at www.levispioneersessions.com

The 11 Best Iron Maiden Songs of the 80s

This weekend I saw Blue Oyster Cult put on a free show at the mall. Yes, at the mall. (watch the clip!) Granted it was half-park/half-outdoor mall. But still...should a band that wrote one of the greatest rock songs of all time (Don't Fear The Reaper) be giving free shows at a shopping complex near the kids' play area? Don't get me wrong, I appreciated it. Took my daughters, who actually really enjoyed it despite the lack of talking backpacks and dancing monkeys. But is this how bad the music industry is? Real bands...real rock n roll bands....real rock n roll bands who actually know how to play their instruments are reduced to giving free concerts because they've chose to forgo autotune and lip syncing?

BOC has been putting out music for 40 years. And they still were able to gather a crowd of close to 8,000 people. That says something to the quality of a band. It also says something to type of music. People just love rock n roll. And no...it will never die.

Pop is plastic. Rock is metal. One guess which will outlast the other.

BTW...before you say anything...Iron Maiden doesn't make bad music. All the songs kick ass. Especially the 80s stuff...

Here are the 11 Best Iron Maiden Songs of the 80s:



1. Can I Play With Madness (Seventh Son of A Seventh Son)
2. The Prisoner (Number of the Beast)
3. Prowler (Iron Maiden)
4. Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Powerslave)
5. 22 Acacia Avenue (Number of the Beast)
6. The Clairvoyant (Seventh Son of A Seventh Son)
7. Run To The Hills (Number of the Beast)
8. Killers (Killers)
9. Seventh Son on a Seventh Son (Seventh Son of A Seventh Son)
10. The Evil That Men Do (Seventh Son of A Seventh Son)
11. Remember Tomorrow (Iron Maiden)

Buy Iron Maiden's new album, The Final Frontier.

The Unknown: Arcade Fire - Dark Prayer

I'm not sure there was anything more gratifying than reading last week, that not only did the Arcade Fire have the number one album (The Suburbs) on Billboard's Top 200, but they knocked Eminem out of the top spot to do it. I like Eminem. But this ousting is significant. It's symbolic. It's a glowing neon sign. It goes to show that people want more than what the big labels are shoveling down their throats. Eminem, the number one selling artist of the 2000s, was booted out of the top spot by an indie rock band. He wasn't beaten by another band on another major label. He was beaten by an long-term establish hit maker. He wasn't beaten by a awful American Idol artist. He was beaten by a respected band on a dingy label that has no money for publicity or promotion. That is lucky to get any radio play. That doesn't even know how to spell "auto-tune."

Wake up labels. Pay attention to what people want...not what you want them to want.

In celebration, here's an Arcade Fire Rarities Collection.

Here is Arcade Fire - Dark Prayer:

1. This Must Be The Place
2. Broken Window
3. Cold Wind
4. Brazil
5. Surf City Eastern Bloc
6. Poupee de Cire
7. Lenin
8. No Cars Go
9. Born On A Train
10. Guns of Brixton
11. My Buddy (by Alvino Rey)

Buy The Arcade Fire's new album, The Suburbs, now! (Still an affordable $7.99) Do it for no more reason than to stick it to the man.

The Unknown: Primus - Live In Studio EP (FREE)

Thinking about renaming Fridays....Free music fridays. Any thoughts? Ideas? Criticisms?

This week see Primus in studio, prepping for their upcoming tour...and possibly new album????

This is a free EP given away by the band. Don't thank me. Thank Les.


Get the EP For FREE...here!

The 11 Best Songs By The Band Brad

AC/DC might be geniuses. Their albums sales continue to remain steady while everyone else's have been slipping. The first thought is the reason for that is because they don't sell their music via itunes, etc. They would be wrong. Not selling your music on itunes does not prevent internet downloading. That's not how people trade music. They trade via peer-to-peer networking. But AC/DC has does something brilliant to prevent this. And they did it...over 30 years ago.

AC/DC's masterful move is in their name. It's not the "AC." It's not the "DC." It's the backslash: "/." Computers read the backslash as if it's a piece of programming. They think it means your trying to file something. It can not distinguish between a line of code and a symbol meant as a name of a file. Therefore, it renders many AC/DC files undownable. Smart move guys.

I wonder how long the music industry will take to figure out this basic piece of protection. Looks like Brad did.

Here Are the 11 Best Songs By The Band Brad:

1. Good News (Shame)

2. Some Never Come Home (Interiors)

3. Buttercup (Shame)

4. The Day Brings (Interiors)

5. Screen (Shame)

6. If You Could Make It Good (Welcome To Discovery Park)

7. We (Shame)

8. Secret Girl (Interiors)

9. I Must Confess (Brad vs. Satchel)

10. Brothers and Sisters (Welcome To Discovery Park)

11. Never Let Each Other Down (Welcome To Discovery Park)

Buy Brad's new album Best Friends?...now!?!?!

11 More Best Albums of 2010 (so far)

Last week I made my best albums of 2010 list halfway list.  I had a lot of albums I had been listening to, and was unimpressed by most of them.  But since then...I took some good recommends from you readers and did some exlporing on my own and found some great albums I had neglected to pick up and some albums I had no idea had even been released.  This list does not replace the previous list...nor is it the next best...it's an addendum...for further exploration.

Here are 11 More Best Albums of 2010 (so far):

1.  Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (epic release from one our generations's best) - only $3.99 for this week!!
2.  Anais Mitchell with Justin Vernon - Hadestown (a folk-rock opera...too good to ignore) - only $5.00
3.  Menomena - Mines (amazing step forward for this indie rock outfit)
4.  O. Childen - O. Children (If Nick Cave sang for Interpol)
5.  Gayngs - Relayted (Another Justin Vernon side-project...everything he touches is gold)
6.  Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (stunning DJ mix-mash-jumble-up) - only $5.00!!
7.  Jay Bennett - Kicking At The Perfumed Air (...and it's free)
8.  Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker (grand indie melodies - a little freaky...but not folky)
9.  Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks (there's something to be said for consistency)
10.  Delphic - Acolyte (great electronica that borders on trance...but never goes overboard)
11.  22-20s - Shake/Shiver/Moan (straight-up Euro alternative rock) -only $4.89 right now!!

Buy these albums and many more now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Jay Bennett + FREE NEW ALBUM!!

I was very excited to hear that there was a practically completed Jay Bennett album left behind by Jay.  Not that that's good news when I'd much rather have Jay still around turning out some extremely heartfelt tunes.  As much as Jeff Tweedy was the soul of Wilco, Bennett was the heart.  Usually when a winning combo like this break apart...the amount of good material dwindles.  That's not true in this case.  Wilco's last album is amazing...and Jay's music was getting progressively better with every release.  It's too bad he never got the respect he deserved.  Hopefully in death he has a new life.

For now...get his new album...Kicking the Perfumed Air...for FREE!!  That's right...FREE.

Click on the link.  Get the album.  Leave a donation behind.  Then spread the word to your friends.  Everyone loves free music.  And it's all legal.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by Jay Bennett:

1. The Engines Are Idle (Whatever Happened I Apologize)


2. Replace You (Magnificent Defeat)

3. Talk To Me (The Palace at 4AM)

4. Thank You (Magnificent Defeat)

5. C.T.M. (The Palace at 4AM)

6. Hank (Whatever Happened I Apologize)

7. God's Coffee (Bigger Than Blue)

8. 5th Grade (Magnificent Defeat)

9. My Wicked Little One (Bigger Than Blue)

10. Puzzle Heart (The Palace at 4AM)

11. Pretty Good Year (The Beloved Enemy)

Get Jay Bennett's new album Kicking The Perfumed Air...FOR FREE!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Arcade Fire

Less is more. It's my creedo. On my computer monitor I have it printed on a post-it. With everything I write I try to say as much as I can in as little words as possible. It's not easy. I feel the same way about music. Albums don't need to be 16 albums long. Just because CDs can hold more...doesn't mean they should. 10-12 songs should still be the bench mark for all albums. Keep it simple. Less is more. I've had the priviledge of listening to the Arcade Fire album this past week. And it's great...except...it's a bit too long. They could have trimmed it to 10 songs: 1,2 & 9-16 and it would be the album of the year. It would have been better than Funeral. It's still pretty awesome at times...and sometimes...I'm just hoping it would hurry up and get to the good stuff. Maybe I'm wrong...maybe it will grow on me.


Right now & for a limited time...we're selling the album for $3.99. That's less than $4. That's less than lunch. That's less than a gallon of gas. In the time it took you to read this...you could have gone out and worked and earned enough money to buy the album...that's how great of a deal this is.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Arcade Fire:

1.  Wake Up (Funeral)
2.  Intervention (Neon Bible)
3.  Crown Of Love (Funeral)
4.  Neighborhood #3 (Funeral)
5.  Antichrist Television Blues (Neon Bible)
6.  Keep The Car Running (Neon Bible)
7.  Rebellion Lies (Funeral)
8.  Headlights Look Like Diamonds (The Arcade Fire EP)
9.  No Cars Go (Neon Bible)
10.  Lenin (Dark Was The Night)
11.  Old Flame (The Arcade Fire EP)

Buy The Arcade Fire's new album  (The Suburbs) for only....$3.99!!!!