Tag Archives: alternative

Shuffle: Little Stereo + Kicking

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Soft Machine
Soft Machine

“Little Stereo”
by Teddybears (ft. Daddy Boastin)
from the album Soft Machine
2007
Buy the album on Amazon

Car therapy, it’s a thing. Windows down, music playing just a little too loud, driving just a little too fast, and with shuffle determining your fate.

I was deep in a funk this morning, feeling down on myself for a shitty show, being sick for weeks on end and general nonsense at the office.  And then I got hit with a one-two punch of pure joy.  Having a great song come up on a shuffle is the best.  Experiencing a completely unrelated, yet equally great track right on its heels is the jam.  And when all of that happens in a car where you can sing as loud as you want, off-key, out-of-time and with all the wrong lyrics rolling off of your tongue, that’s car therapy.

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Album of the Month: Gish

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Gish

Gish
by Smashing Pumpkins
1991
Buy the reissue on Amazon

If I’m ever put on the spot with one of those “top ten albums of all time” questions, without hesitation, I’ll name Gish and then I’ll stumble around for while and name off albums that happen to be on high rotation at the time of the inquiry.  But Gish is always there.  In my mind it’s timeless and that has a lot of to with the lyrics. I don’t understand any of them. Continue reading Album of the Month: Gish →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Solid”

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Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia

“Solid”
by the Dandy Warhols
from the album Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
2000
Buy the album on Amazon

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I reached a five-star song on shuffle that I’m demoting after having listened to it again.  Not to say “Solid” isn’t a good song,  but I definitely gave it a bonus star just because I wanted to remember it as the theme song to the television series Undeclared.  If you haven’t seen the show, Undeclared is a Judd Apatow produced comedy set during the freshman year of college.  There are only a handful of episodes so it’s definitely worth cruising through on a binge weekend.  Plus it features Seth Rogen before he was super popular, and Charlie Hunnam before he was a Son of Anarchy.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Solid” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Country Feedback”

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Out of Time
Out of Time

“Country Feedback”
by R.E.M.
from the album Out of Time
1991
Buy the album on Amazon

Damnit. I wanted to start off Monday morning with a good rocking pick, and then this came up (actually, “Jane Says” came up but it’s already been posted, and so did “Under the Bridge” but I feel like karaoke rules sort of apply to MNP as well, so I may let Lance post that one). I couldn’t hit skip forever though, so here we are.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Country Feedback” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Burn”

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Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers

“Burn”
by Nine Inch Nails
from the album Natural Born Killers Soundtrack
1994
Buy the album on Amazon

Not necessarily what I was hoping for, but a great track nonetheless. This was originally released on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack (one of the picks I ran out of time to do for October Soundtracks), and is also on the deluxe edition of The Downward Spiral. There were bits of NIN woven throughout that soundtrack, but this was the only new NIN song, and it’s fantastic. If you need a song to listen to when you’re feeling pissed at the world, or even just need a workout song that will get you moving (just try not to run faster at the 2:30 mark), this is the one.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Burn” →

Album of the Month: Violent Femmes

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Violent FemmesViolent Femmes
by Violent Femmes
1983
Buy the album on Amazon

I was planning on a different Album of the Month, but then my friend new Kelsey and I were talking about our top 5 bands. I had mostly not heard of hers (because I’m old) and she had mostly not heard of mine (also because I’m old). Violent Femmes were on my list, and though my main thought was trying to hold back from screaming out on the subway “how do you not know who the Violent Femmes are?!”, my other thought was “if their first album is not a perfect album, then brother, I don’t know what the hell is.” So Kelsey, this is for you.

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November Five-Star Shuffle: “The City That Day”

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Split“The City That Day”
by Matt Skiba and Kevin Seconds
from the album Split
2002
Buy the album on Amazon

I was really hoping this album would come up on the 5-star shuffle this week. I was hoping for one of the other songs I’ve got in this playlist, because they’re more like 6 or 7 stars, but this is the one that came up, and them’s the rules.

I don’t have any idea how I first got turned on to this album, but man, do I love it (I think I used to think I should give 7 Seconds a try, and saw this and picked it up). Half of the songs are 3 stars for me (meaning good but not something I listen to all that often, and they’re not portable), and one is 4, but the others are all 5 stars, which is not normal for me.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “The City That Day” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “High Speed Changer”

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Driver not Included
Driver Not Included

“High Speed Changer”
by Orange 9mm
from the album Driver Not Included
1995
Buy the album on Amazon

Oh sweet, I was hoping some Orange 9mm might crop up during this month.  I first heard these guys on a CMJ sampler when they were on their final album – Pretend I’m Human.  That album  is  great, but definitely on the more experimental side.  When I told a co-worked about this new band I had discovered, he quickly schooled me on their earlier albums.  Good call.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “High Speed Changer” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Cherub Rock”

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Siamese Dream
Siamese Dream

“Cherub Rock”
by Smashing Pumpkins
from the album Siamese Dream
1993
Buy the album on Amazon

Having a Smashing Pumpkins song pop up on one of my five-star shuffles is a sure bet, particularly if it’s from the first two albums.   I was so excited when the “Cherub Rock” video debuted as I was one step closer to listening to their new album.  Their debut, Gish was and still is one of my favorite albums of all times and this new track didn’t disappoint, me at least.  The record company wanted “Today” as the first single, but Corgan strong-armed them into releasing this as the first track.  I’m glad they did – it gave me a little time to adjust to thought of my darling band becoming huge.  You could feel the shift about to happen with the Pumpkins.   Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Cherub Rock” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Disconnected”

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Big Choice“Disconnected”
by Face to Face
from the album Big Choice
1994
Buy the album on Amazon

In my first year of college, I met my friend Brendan, and in between watching boat loads of horror movies and drinking boat loads of cookies and cream shakes at Village Inn, we listened to and talked about a whole lot of music. We already had some crossover favorites, but he also got me into a bunch of punk (or punk-ish) bands – NOFX, Blink 182, Pennywise, Propagandhi, and, you guessed it, Face to Face. Though there’s certainly a time for the lightheartedness of the first two bands, I always appreciated that Face to Face was more sincere without being super hardcore, and I love the singer’s voice.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Disconnected” →