10 Songs That Should Be On Everybody's I-Pod

10. Sex Type Thing by Stone Temple Pilots
09. Summertime Girls by Y&T
08. Painted Ladies by Ian Thomas
07. I Am Here by Grapes Of Wrath
06. Rock On by David Essex
05. Under My Wheels by Alice Cooper
04. Casual Affair by Tonic
03. Aphrodisiac Smile by Age Of Electric
02. I Don't Even Like You by Deadline
01. Emotional Addiction by Line Up In Paris

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Singles: A Quick Review Of New Singles (The Debut Edition)

This is a new ongoing blog post that I am adding after Joshua and I mulled it over during morning coffee this week or last can't remember.

BerlinYC - A Touch Of Velvet A String Of Brass (We Love Barbra, Too) Berlinyc - a touch of velvet a string of brass (we love barbra too)
Well I will admit that this is one of current favorites right now. I can't get enough of the super catchy groove. The song is nothing short of genius and might even be better than the Duck Sauce track which inspired it. The song takes me back to a time in the 70's when I was child. I don't know why but the song educes fond memories of my dad and my grandfather since they are both gone now any song that can only bring positive memories is all good with me.

Young The Giant - My Body Young The Giant - My Body
This is a great new tune that is instantly memorable with its bouncing rhythm and jangling guitars. The excellent lead vocal by Sameer Gadhia on the track has enough originality and familiarity that makes you want to sing-a-long right away. This is song is a surefire smash hit in the waiting and should be in everyone's ear in the very near future.

Static Revenger & Richard Vission Feat. Luciana - I Like That
Another of my current favorites that are getting tons of listens right now is "I Like That". This song is dancefloor monster and for anyone who enjoys and slick beat and some seriously catchy rhymes in their lyrics. If you can sit still while this song is playing you better come to realize your dead.

Duke Spirit - Everybody's Under Your Spell The Duke Spirit - Everybody's Under Your Spell (radio edit) by
The indie rock is splendid on this track with a biting melody that is very reminiscent of the riot girls movement from years past. I would compare the track to something from an early Vines record or Veruca Salt albeit more melodic.

The Black Keys - Howlin' For You

The Black Keys single is a pulsing march down indie rock boulevard. The swampy guitar that's mixed with the mosquito buzz of fuzz rhythm guitar is mimicked with the catchy vocal chorus. This is the type of song that gets in your head and buys property, you can't remove it no way no how.

Finger Eleven - Whatever Doesn't Kill Me
The second release from Life Turns Electric is yet another winner from the band and their best album so far. The song has a nice driving groove that bleeds into a powerful chorus. One of last years best albums and another can't miss single from Finger Eleven.

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Vanilla Sky - Punk Is Dead

Vanilla Sky are not a band I was familiar with until this album. The whole album is covers and its a strange affair for sure. The cover of "Umbrella" is awful but then the Green Day "Basket Case" cover is great. A reggae version of "Help!" which doesn't totally suck is a head shaker for sure. The band continue to strangely entertain with a solid rendition of "A Thousand Miles" that works very well with a rockier edge. Then they fall apart with "Nothing Else Matters" as a screamo song. The turning of "Everlong" into a piano ballad via The Script is again pretty good and works well.

Download it don't buy it!

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The Wanted: Are They Really Needed Let Alone Wanted?

The modern day boy band is The Wanted who take the past goofiness of NKOTB, NSYNC and the like and toss it in the crapper giving that bunk a good flush and maybe a courtesy flush to make sure its gone as best as it can be. This group does have upside by stealing dad's record collection and using it for inspiration.

Take the two singles released so far: All Time Low is a wonderful two-tempo affair – a slow song with a fast pulse – with clever lyrics and a cocksure sense of its own high worth. Heart Vacancy, on the other hand, is a rather more hangdog sort of a thing. It seems to be too fast and too slow, the lyrics are daft, and it clearly needs a few more harmonies to glue some of the bits of chorus together.

See here is the trouble with this group, they take what credible artists like Kings Of Leon, Maroon 5, Cold Play and so forth and try to have that sort of depth but with that grasp for serious artistry or majestic pomp rock they also have the inability in their craft to show that kind of maturity at all turns and you get gaps all through the album, albeit not Grand Canyon sized gaps.

Let’s Get Ugly deserves special applause then, for the sheer brass neck of taking the theme to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly by Ennio Morricone and writing a come-on song to a girl over the top. And they pull it off, too. Hopefully The Wanted’s second album will be even weirder, if only to protect the future of all boybandkind.

Those pop fans who've jumped onto the adult rock darlings previously mentioned will think this is just as good even though it's not even close. For what it is The Wanted are ok and I mean only ok. It's kinda like the smart teens boy band if that's even possible!

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The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

The indie rock darlings The Decembrists have returned with another album of their branded folk rock. The band have taken a little side-step into alt. country music well a deeper step lets say. I actually don't mind The King Is Dead overall. The songs are pleasant well crafted and definable. This is a huge improvement from the bands last album of over orchestrated and absurdly ambitious music called The Hazards Of Love. That album lacked chorus's and song structure as it was pretty much a 70 minute jam session with some pauses.

Here the band have crafted some good songs like the opening cut "Don't Carry It All" that is breezy and has a nice harmonica bit during the chorus. "Rox In The Box" another of the standout tracks reminiscent of Bob Dylan's great songwriting. Lead single “Down By the Water” employs the tricks of “Don’t Carry It All” to similar effect in a raucous success. There are some dips in quality, yes. “This Is Why We Fight” has a Smiths-tinged tenseness and melancholy, but also shockingly weak lyrics for a writer like Meloy, while “Dear Avery” never quite seems to get going.

For all its rural pedigrees, The King Is Dead is still a clean and meticulously crafted album; the production is smooth and the performances are unnervingly error-free. Consequently, it's missing a little vulnerability-- the best Americana records tend to feel a little lawless, but the Decemberists just can't quite relinquish control.

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Sirenia - Enigma Of Life

The Gothic rock of Sirenia is back with album number five and not much has changed. The band are still pulling the same old tricks from the bag with little new to add to an over done genre. Sure the music is of a decent quality but you've heard it all before by other artists let alone them. There are those giant keyboard punches supposed to be orchestra strikes and then the multi-layered lead vocals giving way to a riff or two repeast as necessary becomes the formula.

This style is usually miss, actually its like 95% miss with maybe 2% being strong enough to listen to more than once a year or two even. I don't know who really likes this genre and continues to support it but I don't know one person that would be heard rocking this in their car on a Friday night cruise. If your really bored with all the good music out there and run of the mill Gothic rock is your fancy then give it a listen. I'm sure this will be much loved by some people who's taste is all in their mouth.

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Joan As Police Woman - The Deep Field

As strange as the name of the artist so is the music, maybe more so eclectic than strange. Joan Wasser who is Joan As Police Woman has been around the block and on her third singer/songwriter record she has struck the weird bell on most of the albums ten cuts. The awkward opening song is reminecint of KT Tunstall and Rufus Wainwright with a noisy production that reminds of something more akin to the Arcade Fire. She quickly improves the production when the sound is more rounded and soulful on "The Magic", "The Man In Action" and "Human Condition". She jumps around in a nearly schizophrenic manner all through the album but for those fans of modern indie alternative singer/songwriter stuff will be all over this album.

I'm not a huge fan of this exact style as sometimes its too stunted and immature or it becomes to smooth and boring to keep me very interested for long. I have to say that I prefer artists like Coeur De Pirate, Diane Birch, Ingrid Michaelson & Kate Miller-Heidke over Joan Wasser. All the mention artists have a much better grasp on melody and timbre. They effectively ebb and flow where Joan gets stuck in the mud a lot. She does pull a good song out now and again like "I Was Everyone" which is the albums best track by a million miles. It's really the entire reason I even bothered giving her album a listen and found myself continuously bored about half way through every song. I can't recommend this album to anyone outside of those music snobs who hate most music considered pop or popular. She's definitely not a mainstream artist and her inability to connect much outside of the indie snobs she will continually stay right where she is in her career.

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