I had a long discussion with a co-worker at the perks of buying a CD and why it means something.  He hates CDs and thinks they’re a waste of space.  Why should he buy 12 mediocre songs when he only wants the 1 good song he likes?  I suggested maybe he should stop listening to bands who only have one good song.  That didn’t go over too well.  But this is my reason for buying a CD or vinyl.  Owning a CD is like owning a physical piece of the band.  It’s a physical connection to the music.  It’s your personal portal into the world the band created.  And that piece of the band is always mine.  No one can ever take that away.  It’s almost like owning a piece or art.  As much as it means something to hold it in your hands, it’s a visual companion to the music.  The pictures, the lyrics,…most of which can always be found online…but the construction of the booklet, even the CD package itself…it means something.

The era of the album isn’t dead.  It’ll be back.  CDs may disappear…but something will come to take their place.  Music changes and evolves…so will the industry that distributes it to our ears.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By TV on the Radio:

1.      Wolf Like Me (Return To Cookie Mountain)

2.      Dancing Choose (Dear Science)

3.      Staring At the Sun (Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes)

4. Stork & Owl (Dear Science)

5.      Dreams (Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes)

6.      Hours (Return To Cookie Mountain)

7. DLZ (Dear Science)

8.      New Health Rock (New Health Rock EP)

9. Crying (Dear Science)

10.  Blues From Down Here (Return To Cookie Mountain)

11.  I Was A Lover (Return To Cookie Mountain)

Buy TV on the Radio’s new album, Nine Types of Light…now!!

In the recent Rolling Stone, there’s a huge article on the best new rock of 2011.  I was excited by the prospects of the article.  It’s not a bad article except they forgot one important thing…they forgot the rock bands!!!  They give Adele first billing (a pop artist).  They give too more attention to rap artists (Wiz Khalifa, Odd Future, and Lex Luger).  The only real solid current rocking bands that get any attention are Pearl Jam, DBT, and Fleet Foxes.  And they give a small box to 90s influenced bands like Yuck, Cage The Elephant, and Mr. Dream.  The rest are pop artists, aging rockers, and nod to the ukulele.  How terribly disappointing of an article in a year where Bright Eyes made a solid comeback, the Decemberists resurrect R.E.M. who then in turn resurrects themselves.  The Strokes return, Soundgarden is recording, new Beastie Boys is on the way, not to mention the fact that the Foos put out their best album in 14 years. Come on RS…a deaf monkey could do better.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Foo Fighters of the 00s:

With a huge music week…I’m kicking it off with an unlikely start.  Mainly because I have a guest poster and you can get the new album for a mere $3.99.  Presenting The X-Man or better known as E-Money.

Acompleteunknown asked me to do a guest post about one of my all time favorite bands Low.  A band who gave me goosebumps the first time I saw them in 1994 play as a duo (a female voice playing just a single snare drum along side a male voice playing a muted bass guitar) in a run down Minneapolis club.  The question to me, choose what I think Low’s 11 best songs are.

The To and Fro of Questions & Words.
The craft of word.  The craft of the question.  If Socrates gave Western Civilization anything, it certainly wasn’t answers.  It was the act of asking better questions.  Simpler, plainer, shorter questions. Usually done by whittling questions of questions of questions, until what you are left asking is a question about a base truth or a foundational point of clarity to seek real meaning.   In the Socrates Dialogs, this method of questioning takes the reader to asking the meaning of “single” words (i.e. Beauty, Art, Wisdom, Justice).

Low’s entire first Album, “I Could Live in Hope” is 11 songs titled each with a single word.

A Note.  A Beginning
In Robert Henri’s Art Spirit, he taught art students to focus on the beginnings.  To find the right beginning was critical.  For, if not started right, you cannot truly finish something; at least not well. Low obsesses on beginnings.  The drawing out of notes, chords, tones.  Each word, spoken or sung…..hangs in the air just a little longer.

At their very best, Low’s songs are just beginnings: beginning with a simple note or a plain open chord, repeated and repeated again.  As if questioning whether this could be the beginning of the song….. that is until you notice you’ve just reached the end.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Low:

1.  Death of a Salesman (The Great Destroyer)

2.  Sea (I Could Live in Hope)

3.  Don’t Carry It All ( A Lifetime of Temporary Relief)

4.  A Little Argument With Myself (Trust)

5.  In the Drugs (Trust)

6.  Over the Ocean (One More Reason to Forget)

7.  Long Long Long (A Lifetime of Temporary Relief)

8.  Like A Forest (Things We Lost In The Fire)

9.  Murderer (Drums & Guns)

10.  Point of Disgust (Trust)

11.  Transmission (A Means To An End)

Buy Low’s new album, C’mon, now!!!  For only $3.99

Record Store Day should be a national holiday.  It is a music fan’s wet dream.  And I mean every part of the imagery that comes with.  Over 200 exclusive releases on CDs and vinyl, just for independent record stores.  Last year I got in line a half hour before the store opened and I was 25th in line, this year…I’m planning on two hours in line.  I don’t think I’ve been this excited about new music since GNR’s double album midnight sale back in 1991.  And I know I’m not the only one.  The music blogs are buzzing…fans are frothing at the mouth.  This makes Bieber Fever look like a case of mild night sweats.  All the record labels are getting involved which means they know how profitable this day is.  Last year, they sold more records on Record Store Day on single day than any other day in the history of Soundscan.  Obviously, fans still want to buy music.  Instead of playing the blame game for music sales plummeting, why don’t you figure out how to harness this musical obsession that is still turning a profit.

Now everyone will have their different favorites…so instead of making a general list, these are my favorites of this coming holiday.  If you want to check out the full list…go here.  What are you favorites?

Here are my 11 Most Exciting Releases for Record Store Day 2011:

1.  The Foo Fighters – Medium Rare LP

2.  Ryan Adams – Class Mythology EP

3.  The Decemberists – Live At Bull Moose CD

4.  Fucked Up – Town Comp LP

5.  Sonic Youth – Whore’s Moaning LP

6.  Fistful of Mercy – 7-inch single

7.  Guided By Voices Tribute – LP

8.  Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Telesterion 2CD

9.  Deftones – Covers LP

10.  Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American 3LP

11.  Naked and Famous – This Machine CD

Check out the official site for more information and a store near you.

There’s a lot to love about Ezra Furman.  He makes some of the most frantic rock music this side of the Clap Your Hands/Talking Heads line.  But that’s not the only reason to love him.  On his last release, he offered some of his fans the the most exclusive thing a musician can offer a fan…a bonus song.  But not just any bonus son.  A personal song…written just for them.  Each person who order this special edition got their own personal song.  I was not fortunate enough to order in time to get one…but I respect him for at least making an attempt at such a grand undertaking.  You can find some of these songs on Youtube (check out below)…they vary from personal stories to songs about zombies and carl marx.  All I can say, is those who were lucky enough to get a private song…were truly lucky.

Zombie Track

Carl Marx

Personal Story

Here are the 11 Best Song By Ezra Furman:

When the Kills came out, they had the unfortunate luck of have a band name that was only a couple letters off a the more commercially popular Killers.  Killers fans came out in droves to accuse the band of trying to milk off the Killers success.  Those who bothered to stick around and listen for a bit, discovered they were a very different breed of band.  They fell more into the White Stripes world rather than the world of 80s throwback dance.  But that only opened another can of worms.  Now, White Stripes fans were giving them crap for trying to rip off the Stripes sound.  When Jack White recruited The Kills singer, Allison Mosshart, to join his Dead Weather wrecking crew, he legitimized them.  Ten years down the road, the Stripes are no more.  The Killers are less relevant than the 80s music their mimicking…and The Kills are still rocking.

Be sure to check out my $5 store for an updated roster of new albums…many recent releases among the classics.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Kills:

Would you rather me write an article about something sorta music-related or would you rather get some free music?

Would you rather me write a list that you’ll just complain about or would you rather get some free music?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.  Here’s the new Foo Fighters in its entirety streaming for free.

http://wastinglight.foofighters.com/