The 11 Best Songs By Phantogram

There's no better kick to a rock band's music credibility than to be invited to guest on a hip hop album. Phantogram didn't get ask to guest on one song, they were asked to guest on three...and not just by any street poet, they were asked to guest on an album by one of the greatest hip hop artists of all time, Big Boi of Outkast.  One of their duets, CPU, may easily be the best solo song that Big Boi has ever done.  Phantogram keeps getting better with every release; maturing, refining, and expanding with every song.  Soon, it will be Big Boi guesting on Phantogram's album, giving him more music cred. Here are the 11 Best Songs By Phantogram:

1. As Far As I Can See (Eyelid Movies)
2. 16 Years (Night Life)
3. You Are the Ocean (Eyelid Movies)
4. Don't Move (Night Life)
5. Black Out Days (Phantogram EP)
6. Turning Into Stone (Night Life)
7. Never Going Home (Phantogram EP)
8. Mouthful of Diamonds (Eyelid Movies)
9. Bloody Palms (Eyelid Movies)
10. The Day You Died (Night Life)
11. Voices (Mouthful of Diamonds)

Buy Phantogram's new album, Voices...now!!    

The 11 Best Bands at Coachella by day...

Incredible line-up this year.  Impossible to do one list for the whole festival...so here's three lists! One for each day.  These are by no means the only good bands playing, just the ones that I'm most excited about.  And Saturday is easily the most packed day.

The 11 Best Bands at Coachella on Friday:

1. Outkast
2. Girl Talk
3. Broken Bells
4. The Replacements
5. HAIM
6. A$AP Ferg
7. Ellie Goulding
8. Waxahatchee
9. Bryan Ferry
10. Grouplove
11. Zedd

The 11 Best Bands at Coachella on Saturday:

1. Foster The People
2. Empire Of The Sun
3. Cage The Elephant
4. Nas
5. Muse
6. Pet Shop Boys
7. Skrillex
8. MGMT
9. CHVRCHES
10. Blood Orange
11. The Head and The Heart

The 11 Best Bands at Coachella on Sunday:

1. Arcade Fire
2. Neutral Milk Hotel
3. Beck
4. Superchunk
5. Lana Del Rey
6. STRFKR
7. Calvin Harris 
8. Disclosure
9. Preservation Hall Jazz Band
10. Chance The Rapper
11. Bad Manners

The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s

Is this the greatest book ever written?  Probably not but it's close.  I've been writing this blog for the past six years; I've written hundreds of lists.   Taking some of the best lists directly from the site and adding in some brand new lists, I am proud to present my first book.  Sticking with the theme of my blog I've delivered a book that takes a look back at one of the most chaotic decades in music.  It was the decade where music went from being physical to only existing in a digital space.  It was an era where pop dominated and rock was stuck taking the bus.  With this book, I hope to right the ship and look back at some amazing bands that were overlooked.

You can purchase the book now at Amazon and Kindle.  Right in time for all your holiday shopping needs.

The 111 Best Music Lists of the Decade

Enjoy!

The 11 Best Reunions That Have Never Played Coachella

They crammed all my favorite bands into Saturdays line-up, so I was left with no choice but to watch the Chili Peppers.

One of the best things about Coachella is guessing with iconic band will reunite for that year's show.  This list taps into the wet dreams of all the indie kids heading out to the desert every year.  For a list of the best bands who are still together that have never played together...check yesterday's list.  I excluded a couple of groups (N.W.A., The Replacements) because they were missing dead members.  I only did this to narrow down the list.

Who am I missing?

Here are the 11 Best Bands Who Have Never REUNITED To Play Coachella:

1. The Smiths
2. The Police
3. The Talking Heads
4. R.E.M.
5. Neutral Milk Hotel
6. Outkast
7. Soundgarden
8. lush
9. Oingo Boingo
10. Fugazi
11. A Tribe Called Quest
12. Sneaker Pimps (original line-up)
13. Porno For Pyros

um...yeah...that's 13.  It's a hard list to make!

Watch Coachella now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Big Boi (solo):

I wanted to discuss the new Myspace, which I have spent the week playing with and obsessing about.  It's pretty cool...and there's much about it I want to bring up...but there was a big event last night that is more topical...since the new Myspace is still in very beta form and hard to get onto.

Last night, we came as close as we ever will come to a Nirvana reunion.  Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic jammed with Paul McCartney at the 12-12-12 relief concert.  For some reason this caused a huge uproar among Nirvana fans and music fans alike.  And honestly, this uproar needs to be addressed.

First of all, people were pissed that it was Paul McCartney.  Many said they'd be okay if it was John Lennon, if he was still alive.  That's the worst exception ever.  Yeah, that would be cool.  But you know who would be cooler?  Kurt Cobain.  But they're both dead.  So shut the hell up.  That's not an option.  It's Paul McCartney, the greatest living rock and roll legend out there.  It doesn't get bigger.  If you're going to pick anyone to fill Kurt's shoes...starting at the top is not a bad way to go.

Second of all, it was not a Nirvana reunion.  It was the remaining members of Nirvana jamming with Paul McCartney on a new song.  It was not billed as a Nirvana reunion, it was not sold as Nirvana, it was a bunch of quality musicians rocking out together.

Third of all, Kurt's dead.  It fucking sucks.  But why does that mean that Dave, Pat and Krist should never play together again?  They're friends and they have great musical chemistry. They're not touring, recording or performing as Nirvana...they're just having fun.  Which they should.  Let's let them do what they do best.  You know who else hated the Paul Mac performance?  Courtney Love.  and if she thought it sucked...then it has to be good.

Lastly, and most importantly, the song was fucking awesome.  It was with exception to Blackbird...the best song of Paul's set...and possibly the best performances of the night...better than the Rolling Stones, The Who, Roger Waters and Eddie Vedder, Billy Joel and even Bruce himself.  At the end of the day, does it matter if the original members are together making music...as long as the music being made kicks ass?

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Big Boi (solo):

1. Flip Flop Rock (Speakerboxxx)
2. Turns Me On (Sir Lucious Left Foot)
3. The Way You Move (Speakerboxxx)
4. Ghetto Musick (Speakerboxxx)
5. Knowing (Speakerboxxx)
6. Daddy Fat Sax (Sir Lucious Left Foot)
7. Shine Blockas (Sir Lucious Left Foot)
8. The Rooster (Speakerboxxx)
9. Bowtie (Speakerboxxx)
10. Back Up Plan (Sir Lucious Left Foot)
11. Follow Us (Sir Lucious Left Foot)

Buy Big Boi's new solo album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Outkast of the 00s

I feel like every month or so I make a list for a band that doesn't deserve to be narrowed down to 11 songs.  This month, it happens to be OutKast.  I'm only constructing a list of songs from one decade, I would hate to do this list and include their albums from the 90s.  And no...no songs from Andre 3000's solo kids' album didn't make the list.  Yes, he has a kids album...look it up.

My favorite thing in the world will likely happen with this list.  I will get some moron who says I don't know what the hell I'm doing and send me their list that will be identical to my list...with only 1 song different.  And that one song will either be a duplicate of another song on the list...or a song that's not eligible...or by some other artist altogether.  True stuff...someone sent me a Depeche Mode list with an Erasure song on it.  Can't wait to see what Goodie Mob song gets mistakenly put in.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by OutKast of the 00s:

1.  Hey Ya! (The Love Below)
2.  Mrs. Jackson (Stankonia)
3.  Roses (The Love Below)
4.  Flip Flop Rock (Speakerboxxx)
5.  The Way You Move (Speakerboxxx)
6.  B.O.B. (Stankonia)
7.  PJ and Rooster (Idlewild)
8.  Humble Mumble (Stankonia)
9.  Dracula's Wedding (The Love Below)
10.  So Fresh, So Clean (Stankonia)
11.  Morris Brown (Idlewild)

Buy Big Boi's new solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot ...now!

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (1-11):

In creating the top 11, it really comes down to finding albums that weren't only great but also helped define the musical landscape of the decade. These ablums don't need a lot of explanation of why they were chosen. If you haven't heard these discs...then you likely were in a coma for the Bush years. It's only fitting in my opinion, that the most potent artist of this decade (Jay-z) opens the decade with the Blueprint...and closes it with the Blueprint 3.0. I've been racking my brain...trying to come up with something clever to say that sums up the decade musically...but when sitting down to finally write it...I think letting the music play...just speaks for itself.

NOW...it's your turn....

What are your top 11 albums of the 2000s???

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (1-11):

1. Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)
2. Wilco - Yankee Foxtrot Hotel (2002) - War on War
3. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003) - Seven Nation Army
4. Coldplay - Parachutes (2000) - Yellow
5. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
6. Beck - Sea Change (2002) - Lost Cause
7. Green Day - American Idiot (2004) - American Idiot
8. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007) - Reckoner
9. Kanye West - College Drop-Out (2004)
10. The Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004) - Laika
11. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

    
    

    Buy these albums now!

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (23-33)

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (23-33):

23. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (2001)
- Did you see Garden State? Enough said.

24. Outkast - Stankonia (2000)
- The only bad thing about this album is that it wasn't a double album.

25. The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004)
- Hands down the hardest rocking Mormons to ever come out of Las Vegas.

26. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (2007)
- Album number 2 is louder, faster, stronger, bigger, braver, and better.
(New York I Love You)

27. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
- A concept album that isn't a concept album. Would expect something from the Flaming Lips to make sense?
(Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)

28. The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
- Don't side projects usually suck?
(This Place Is a Prison)

29. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (2008)
- Just because you're short and ugly doesn't mean you can't make good music.

30. Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)
- Just because you're loud and obnoxious doesn't mean you can't make good music.

31. Spoon - Gimme Fiction (2005)
- Do these guy know how to make bad music? (Sister Jack)

32. Johnny Cash - American IV: Man Comes Around (2002)
- F.U. Trent Reznor.

33. Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (2002)
- Who ever thought sappy piano ballads could be so good?

Buy these albums now.