What're Y'all Still Doing Here?

I'm over HERE now...

Where The Hell Is E?

Where the hell did Uncle E go?

Why, he's right HERE!!!

Just click on the above link to see where I've gone. Not sure if it's a better format, but I'm kind of bored with this one and thought I'd try something a little different. A few of you cheeky buggers have already discovered it (Fusion 45!). I may use this new blog to delve into a more varied format including comics, general pop culture and more, but the focus will still be music. Since traffic is usually at a minimum on the weekends I'll be stuffing some of the older posts from here on there so I can keep track of some of the...erm...better ones.

I'll still keep this one open for a while (for archival purposes), but there will be no new posts...at least for a while. So please for those of you kind enough to include a link to this little site on your far superior one, can you update it?
Thanks a bunch, and head on over to the new blog to see Encle E's Top Albums Of 2008!!

I Rediscovered The Beatles Today, Oh Boy...

So I'm in my car with the iPod in it's "shuffle" mode and my musical mindset is not jivin' with what's shufflin'. I'm fast forwarding so much I almost run off the road and then "Help" by the Beatles comes on and I stop my finger twitching long enough to listen.

I mean really listen.

I enjoy it so much that I stop the random shuffle and go directly to a Beatles mix that I created when I first got my iPod a couple of years ago that, albeit very edited, lists selected tracks from this amazing group in chronological order.

I mean, MY GOD, was there ever a band that evolved so fast in so little a time frame and will there ever be another? Everyone reading this knows the answer to that question. If you don't then you're either a Menonite or a deaf mute. Just listen to Love Me Do, Paperback Writer, Tomorrow Never Knows, A Day In The Life, Helter Skelter and Hey jude all in a row sometime. It's freakin' evil that's afoot, I'm tellin' ya!

Was it the competition between McCartney and Lennon (and George and Ringo to a lesser extent), or was it something else? Was it George Martin's production? A combination of all the above coupled with excellent timing?

What did these four lads have to sign over to the devil in order to become...well...what they became?

I don't know and quite frankly I don't care, but what I do know for certain is that I don't make a point to listen to them nearly enough. That's possibly due to the fact that I am so ubber familiar with their body of work that it slips my mind. It's tough to really appreciate their influence and brilliance when you've heard it so many times, but every once in a while I can pretend that I've never heard the White Album and be absolutely blown away.

Again.

Quick Update

Sorry folks, been busy entertaining corporate visitors this week and have had no time for blogging.

I'll be back soon.

Promise.

Prefab Sprout's 'Steve McQueen'

Although Prefab Sprout never made much of a splash stateside, it’s 1985 album “Steve McQueen” remains a landmark of 80’s songwriting and production prowess.
The lush production is courtesy of one Thomas Dolby who adds space and air to songwriter Paddy McAloon’s dense, sometimes obtuse pretensions.
The first 6 songs are absolute classics, and although the techniques Dolby uses are utterly of their time the songs themselves remain oddly timeless. ‘Faron’ is a rockabilly shuffler and a great way to start the album but is not quite representative of the remaining tracks which have a connection through the lyrics primarily that deal with the human conditions of loss, regret and redemption.
‘Moving The River’ is truly a wonderful song and the lyrics are some of the finest of McAloon’s career.

“You surely are a truly gifted kid
But you're only good as
The last great thing you did
And where've you been since then
Did the schedule get you down
I hear you've got a new girlfriend
How's the wife taking it ?

If it's uphill all the way you should be used to it by now

You must know me, Father it's your son
And I know that you are proud of everything I've done
But it's the wonders I perform,
Pulling rabbits out of hats
When sometimes I'd prefer
Simply to wear them

Movin' the river, money for jam, and it takes such an effort to stay where I am…”

‘Bonny’, ’When Love Breaks Down’ and especially ’Appetite’ are standouts of pure sophisticated pop music, and the remaining, while perhaps not immediately as affecting, are no less gems in their own right and grow on you like a fungus.

This album has spawned numerous fan sites and inspire a fanatical following worldwide. I myself have owned this album in it’s vinyl form, on cassette, cd (two copies!) and in MP3 format.
Paddy recently released a re-mastered edition of “Steve McQueen”, which was re-titled
“Two Wheels Good” in North America due to legal issues with the actor’s estate, with a generous helping of gorgeous acoustic editions of some of the tracks. I would definitely recommend you hunt down this edition. It’s really worth it.

Best Album Covers For 2008

Even though you have to squint to see the details with cd's, album covers are still an important part of the overall experience. In my opinion it can actually add at least a quarter of a star to my rating, as weird as that may sound. It becomes the identity of an album, as linked to the artist as the music itself. Just try and think of the Velvet Underground's debut and not see that iconic Warhol banana. It's impossible.
Anyway, in lieu of my upcoming "best of 2008" list here's a link to Rolling Stone magazine's picks for best album covers of 2008.

CLICK HERE

Damn Devil iPod, Volume II

So here's a quick update on my iPod/ computer troubles.

Finally got my computer fixed and set up back in the old den, went looking for my music folder and it was nowhere to be found. After about an hour and a half of searching I found an old one which pretty much contained a good majority of the tracks and moved 'em into the new folder.

This took about 25 minutes or so.

Found my EMusic folder and started downloading certain files from that and then all of a sudden my track listing count went from a paired down 8,000 to well over 14,000! Seems a slip of the finger selected "all" so that's what I got. Problem is, a large portion were duplicates so now I had to start the long task of going through the library looking for duped songs. THIS took over 4 hours.

Now, as I write this, I am downloading individual burned cd's I have purchased through iTunes, which takes an ungodly amount of time anyway, but to add insult to injury it's not recognizing the track names or any other info from the house-burned little plastic info discs!!

Which means I have to go in and personally edit each track including the song name, the album name and the artist. Screw the genre, etc.

So that's where I'm at. If I didn't love it so much I would've abandoned this folly long ago...

(Great?) Albums Released in 1996/1997/1998/1999/2000

Ok, so at this rate I'll never reach my goal of bringing this list up to date by the end of the year, sooooo....here's 5 years for the price of one for you to digest while we hear at The Nightmare are tabulating the results of our year end poll for best albums released in 2008.

I did this list in a hurry so I'm sure I've left out some great albums. Just let me know what they are in the comments and I'll update it soon thereafter.


1996

Beck - Odelay
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Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
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Orbital - In Sides
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Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic
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DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
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Screaming Trees - Dust
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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads
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Tricky - Pre-Millennium Tension
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Rocket From The Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream!
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Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
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Suede - Coming Up
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Placebo - Placebo
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Kula Shaker - K
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The Boo Radleys - C'mon Kids
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REM - New Adventures In Hi Fi
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Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup
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The Divine Comedy - Casanova
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Aphex Twin - Richard D James
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Fun Lovin' Criminals - Come Find Yourself
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Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die
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Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants
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The Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle
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The Future Sound Of London - Dead Cities
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1997

Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentleman We Are Floating In Space
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Radiohead – OK Computer
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The Verve – Urban Hymns
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Primal Scream – Vanishing Point
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Super Furry Animals – Radiator
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Cornershop – When I Was Born For The Seventh Time
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Mogwai – Mogwai Young Team
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Teenage Fanclub – Songs From Northern Britain
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Bentley Rhythm Ace – Bentley Rhythm Ace
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Supergrass – In It For The Money
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Daft Punk – Homework
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The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
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Blur – Blur
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The Charlatans – Tellin’ Stories
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Bjork – Homogenic
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Death In Vegas – Dead Elvis
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Prodigy – The Fat Of The Land
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Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
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Black Grape – Stupid Stupid Stupid
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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – The Boatman’s Call
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Pavement – Brighten The Corners
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Oasis – Be Here Now
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Stereolab – Dots And Loops
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Grandaddy – Under The Western Freeway
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Roni Size & Reprazent – New Forms
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Travis – Good Feeling
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Portishead – Portishead
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Eels – Beautiful Freak
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Wilco – Being There
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Robert Wyatt – Shleep
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1998

Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs
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Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty
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Beck – Mutations
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Air – Moon Safari
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Massive Attack – Mezzanine
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Elliott Smith – Either/Or
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Pulp – This Is Hardcore
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Sparklehorse – Good Morning Spider
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Belle & Sebastian – The Boy With The Arab Strap
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Boards Of Canada – Music Has The Right To Children
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The Afghan Whigs – 1965
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Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come A Long Way Baby
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Lo-Fidelity Allstars – How To Operate With A Blown Mind
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Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
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Idlewild – Hope Is Important
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Manic Street Preachers – This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
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Placebo – Without You I’m Nothing
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R.E.M. – Up
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Madonna – Ray Of Light
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Spiritualized - Live At The Royal Albert Hall
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Bob Dylan – Live 1966:The Royal Albert Hall Concert
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Elliott Smith – X.O
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Jeff Buckley – Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk)
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The Boo Radleys – Kingsize
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Sonic Youth – A Thousand Leaves
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Garbage – Version 2.0
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Gomez – Bring It On
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1999

The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
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Super Furry Animals – Guerrilla
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Death In Vegas – The Contino Sessions
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Beck – Midnite Vultures
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Pavement – Terror Twilight
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Basement Jaxx – Remedy
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Underworld – Beaucoup Fish
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Godspeed You Black Emperor! – Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada
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Eminem – The Slim Shady LP
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Jim O’rourke – Eureka
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Blur – 13
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The Charlatans – Us And Us Only
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Tindersticks – Simple Pleasure
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Low – Secret Name
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Leftfield – Rhythm And Stealth
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Ian Brown - Golden Greats
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The Chemical Bruthers – Surrender
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The Beta Band – The Beta Band
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Kevin Rowland – My Beauty
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Travis – The Man Who
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Stereolab – Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night
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Sebadoh – Sebadoh
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The Auteurs – How I Learned To Love The Bootboys
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Rage Against The Machine – The Battle Of Los Angeles
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2000

Queens Of The Stone Age – Rated R
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Primal Scream – Exterminator
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PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
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Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
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Coldplay – Parachutes
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Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
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Doves – Lost Souls
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Super Furry Animals – Mwng
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Radiohead – Kid A
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Granddaddy – The Sophtware Slump
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Lambchop – Nixon
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Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
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Teenage Fanclub – Howdy!
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Godspeed You Black Emperor! – Levez Vos Skinny Fists Comme Antennas To Heaven
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Elliott Smith – Figure 8
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The Go-Betweens – The Friends Of Rachel Worth
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Richard Ashcroft – Alone With Everybody
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Belle And Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant
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The Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
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Johnny Cash – American III: Solitary Man
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Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun
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Paul Weller – Heliocentric
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Asian Dub Foundation – Community Music
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Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
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The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs

Terrible Band Names

Worst band names ever?

Find out who made the list HERE

But before you "click" consider that most band names are pretty stupid until you develop an affinity for their music. Even "The Beatles" as a name was probably kind of silly at the beginning but is now synonymous with musical excellence. Time and talent heal all, no?

That being said, there are REALLY stupid band names out there, many of whom are represented on the list I link to. What do you think? Who'd they leave out?

And maybe the question should be, "Are there any band names that, taken out of context with the music, don't sound goofy?"

GUILTY!!

Every once in a while the rock snob in me takes a sabbatical and is replaced by the 12 year old boy that was discovering his cousin’s record collection. Bear in mind I was born in 1968, so that would make the year 1980. My cousin was older than I and his collection was pretty much dominated by the classic rock of the 1970’s which is, you’re soon to find out, where the majority of my “guilty pleasures” originate. I have no real fear of any retaliation (except maybe Philbert--he knows where I work!), but just in case I think I’m going to invest in some Kevlar body armor.

So here’s some more guilty pleasures. Let the snickering begin!


The Alan Parsons Project, I Robot
I had this really hot drama teacher in public school who used to use this album as a “warm up” for our interpretive movement sessions. If I can be totally honest, the fact that she was a hottie is only part of the reason for my affinity towards the APP. Listening again with unprejudiced ears I have to say that the dude knew how to build a mood. In addition, I think I could make a pretty good case for the guy as an electronic pioneer! He would soon sink into mediocre balladry, but this…THIS…was a fantastic record for it’s time.

The Steve Miller Band, Fly Like An Eagle
So I had this really hot French teacher who…just kidding. I think Steve Miller’s stuff has stood the test of time…really. Maybe it’s that blues foundation that’s the backbone of most of his songs, but I think a primary reason is that he just knew how to write a really good hook!

Adam And The Ants, Kings Of The Wild Frontier
I’m not talking about the “Goody Two Shoes” era (although, I have to admit, a damn fine pop moment!), but the era where the Burundi drums were a real innovation in Western music. Malcolm McClaren and Bow Wow Wow would later steal that unique sound but it doesn’t take away from this wonderful early 80’s pop gem of a record.

Bobby Darin, Mack The Knife
How can I , or anyone with a soul for that matter, press the skip button when a Bobby Darin song comes on the old ipod? Mack The Knife, Dream Lover, Beyond The Sea…good stuff. It doesn’t hurt that Beyond The Sea was used to great effect in a memorable jail scene in Goodfellas, either.

AC/DC, any album with Bon Scott & Back In Black
The best damn disco-heavy metal band EVER! Tell me who out there hasn't shaken their thang to at least one AC/DC song? They were bad boy boogie with a penchant for discofied rythms, killer guitar riffs and double entendres. "Big Balls". Need I say more?

The Cars, The Cars and Candy-O
They were terrible live (reproducing their songs perfectly, no enthusiasm or energy, no crown interaction), but the first two albums are pure new-wave pop tasty goodness.

Gordon Lightfoot, Gord’s Gold
I got no excuse for this one. Except that I’m half Canadian…and Sundown contains one of my all time favorite lyrics in "Sometimes I think it's a shame/ When I get feelin' better when I'm feelin' no pain.” Poetry. Sheer Canadian, hockey luvin’, tuke wearin’ drunken poetry.

Sorry Folks...

...but I've got nothin' today. Work is extremely busy, so check back in the next couple of days.

I Freakin' Knew It!

I've always said I thought AC/DC was the best disco-metal band on the planet and now my rant has been justified by the band shooting up the Billboard dance charts with a cut from their new album("Rock N Roll Train"). Not just background music for stripers anymore, AC/DC have now officially graduated to the disco mainstream.

Isn't this one of the signs of the apocalypse?

Read more HERE

The Future Of Music Formats?

Vinyl.

Read the article, then read the comments on this wonderful blog entry by NPR's "All Songs Considered". Make sense to me, I kind of hope it comes to fruition myself.

CLICK HERE

"Shiny Headed Second Rate Rocker Throws Hissy Fit"

I hear Billy Corgan is throwing a hissy fit on the Smashing Pumpkins (or what's left of them, anyway) recent tour.

Honestly, is anyone surprised by this? The guy always was, and remains, a doofus. Sure, he made two decent albums (Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie), but that'll only carry you so far. As Pitchfork rightly point out (there's a first time for everything) he released a mediocre album and his fans want to hear the old stuff at the shows. For $150+ per seat you better damn well play your hits if you ask me. Especially if the latest dreck you've released sounds like warmed over Equinox-era STYX (no offense to Dennis DeYoung and co.). Here's the quote by Corgan that really got my goat: "Last I checked we were in an alternative band. 'Alternative' means 'different than what everyone else is doing,' including those reunion bands that go out and just play the old songs." A not so subtle reference to The Pixies, a far superior band with way more class.

Like it or not, Billy boy, you're now a nostalgia act. And a second rate Peter Gabriel wannabe one at that, you prima donna has-been. Stop berating your fans who bought you that autographed Rick Wakeman double-necked bass guitar by spending their hard earned cash on your crappy faux prog rock and start acting your age. You're a footnote in the history of rock and roll you bald headed baby.

You are Nickleback.

Just chaps my ass, man!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm taking the day off from blogging, so enjoy this disturbing picture of, well...some weirdo dressed as a turkey.