June 20, 2008
Ew is right. In celebration of issue 1,000, Entertainment Weekly put together a number of lists documenting so-called "New Classics" in movies, books, television, and, of course, music. There are also individual lists like Will Arnett's Wire-spoiling list of television moments that made him cry ("When I realized the theme song to The Greatest American Hero was the best song ever, and that I would never hear a better song again"), Beck's non-list, and Jack Johnson fan Liz Phair on lazy Sundays. We're most interested in the "100 Best Albums From 1983 - 2008." (Thanks for the tip, Joe.) It's a bizarre concoction that finds Loveless beat out by the Dixie Chicks, Mariah and Kelly Clarkson. Oh, and Kelly Clarkson tops OK Computer and Appetite For Destruction. Thing is, this list is so all-inclusive and in spots, bizarre, that you almost have to take it on its own terms. I'm just trying to figure out what those terms might be....
Continue reading EW's 100 Best Albums From 1983 To 2008...
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latest by Ben Wedin
March 24, 2008
Esquire has compiled a list of this last year's 10 best car commercial as part of their annual music awards, The Eskys. Right off the bat, you should notice the importance of Jeff Tweedy to the car industry ... and half-baked lists. Via Esquire:
10 "Sky Blue Sky" - Wilco (2007 Volkswagen Eos)
09 "Our Country" - John Mellencamp (2007 Chevy Silverado)
08 "You Are My Face" - Wilco (2007 Volkswagen Jetta)
07 "Walken" - Wilco (2007 Volkswagen Jetta)
06 "Stars" - Hum (2007 Cadillac CTS)
Continue reading Esquire's Top Ten Car Commercial Songs Of The Year, Or, Wilco Make Good Car-Selling Music...
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latest by Natalie
February 19, 2008
AOL's Spinner has a Top 25 posted for "the best band logos," reminding us that "a band's logo can be just as memorable as its biggest single." (You know they had Jamiroquai in mind when they wrote that. Maybe.) The countdown beings with our favorite leathery (in all senses) Queens punkers the Ramones:
25 Ramones
24 Nine Inch Nails
23 Public Enemy
22 Korn
21 Aerosmith
Ramones, NIN, PE ... Korn beat you. Top 20 after the jump.
Continue reading AOL's Best Band Logos...
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latest by Phil K
December 17, 2007
We'll get into the homestretch of 2007's work-year, here, with what is probably the last year-end list (save Pitchfork's), and definitely the most aggressively shitty. Congrats, RS! Despite some close calls from other rags, this list pretty much has it all; it's a fully functioning masterclass in boat-missing predictability, so take notes on 'how-to' from the vets at Wenner Media, annotated with #s for extra happy fun times. For starters, after Bob Dylan's win last year, you knew Bruce was gonna be #2 -- dad's choice for top spot, replaced last minute by something hipper to avoid any sense of being out of touch with what the kids are listening to. And what are the kids listening to anyway? Well, the indie kids like that Bright Eyes (#12) and those White Stripes (#17) and this Devendra Banhart (#19) and Rilo Kiley (#8?!?!), right? OK, enough bowing to the crazy fringe acts and their career-defining opuses? Good now get to some bands from Papa Jann's youth, like a little Plant (#24) and Macca (#22), and get Fogerty at #11.
Now something for the older guitar girls, say Lucinda Williams (#18). Did Melissa Ethridge put anything out this year? She did? Are you sure? Far out! Make it top 20. And for those mall kids, say, oh I dunno, Fall Out Boy. Ah and that Apple ad! Put the "1234" gal up there somewhere. OK, one more for you kids (Band Of Horses) and one more for Papa Jann (Mavis Staples). So, that's 48. Who else was in the news this year? Red Sox won the baseball thingy there was that band with the song that gave us the music angle on the Series -- put 'em at #49. And, wasn't there something with limos and underwear and everybody talking about Britney Spears? That's a thing, right? Ladies and gents, I think we've got ourselves a list. Boom, baby.
50 Britney Spears - Blackout
49 Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest of Times
48 Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back
47 Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
46 Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
45 Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
44 Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
43 Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
42 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
41 of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Continue reading Guide To The Misguided: Rolling Stone's Top Albums Of '07 List...
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latest by James
December 12, 2007
Get 600,000 VH1.com users together to vote their tastes from the '90s and what do you learn? Pretty much that Backstreet Boys had the third best single of the decade. And that we are so thankful VH1 never linked to the Gummys voting. We're not even gonna reverse the order -- it's a treat from 1 to 100.
01 Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
02 U2 - "One"
03 Backstreet Boys - "I Want It That Way"
04 Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You"
05 Madonna - "Vogue"
06 Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
07 Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time"
08 TLC - "Waterfalls"
09 R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
10 Sinéad O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U"
11 Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"
12 Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know"
13 Dr. Dre (Feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg) - "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang"
14 Mariah Carey - "Vision of Love"
15 Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge"
16 MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This"
17 Destiny's Child - "Say My Name"
18 Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
19 Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
20 Hanson - "MMMBop"
Continue reading VH1's 100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s: Not Enough Pavement...
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latest by Şeref
December 7, 2007
And just like that, Radiohead went from no #1s to two of 'em. Earlier today MOJO found gold in Rainbows, and now Filter does too. Drink up, boys! But so far we've been giving our British brethren some leeway because not all countries have similar release dates. Filter, we're looking for your excuse. In just ten strokes you've managed to outline the most transparently flailing, 'something for everyone' list yet. There's the good (Radiohead, AC, AF), the bland (just 'cause Harcourt said Great Northern's Top 10 doesn't make it so), and The Good, The Bad & The Queen (are you fucking kidding me). How can TGTB&TQ be there ahead of ... ugh forget it.
Continue reading Filter Finds In Rainbows Best Of '07...
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latest by I am awesome
November 30, 2007
Stephen King's Entertainment Weekly column gives the horror master a place to unleash his cultural musings, which run the gamut from calling TV a wasteland ("all is not LOST"!) to calling for Jon Stewart to head up a US Department of Fun. It follows that EW also provides King safe harbor to pontificate on the year in music, which is fair enough given how masterfully Christine seduced Arnie with choice music selections, and how much ink King gave over to Roland's fascination with the "Hey Jude" jukebox in The Dark Towers (yep, King factored into our adolescence just a little). But for a man profferring his expertise on the new sounds of the day, Stephen's musical tastes seem to have ossified some. He writes in the 12/7 issue of EW (via MSNBC), "In truth, your Uncle Stevie was disappointed with this year’s new music, very disappointed indeed, and his year-end list reflects that. I could only find seven albums I wanted to mention..." Only seven albums worth speaking of! Well that's OK, suppose it's better and more paper-saving than rattling off an all-inclusive annotated list of 101 or whatever. Economical. Cool. Let's have 'em:
07 Southern Culture On The Skids - Countrypolitan Favorites
06 John Fogerty - Revival
05 Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain
04 Lyle Lovett And His Large Band - It's Not Big It's Large
03 Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion
02 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
01 Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade
Fogerty, Lovett, Steve Earle, Ozzy. Ozzy? King calls
Black Rain the "finest heavy metal record of the year; a true speaker-buster." Brandon, you need to YouSend him a copy of that Watain. Yes Stephen if these are the only records worth mentioning than this hasn't been a good year for music -- or really, your listening of it. But most puzzling of all, what happened to
all that love for Easy Tiger? If Ryan's "
the best North American singer-songwriter since Neil Young," and "there has never been a Ryan Adams record quite as strong and together as
Easy Tiger" ... you must not have a very high opinion of Neil Young.
UPDATE: Having got our paws on a physical copy of the issue, Stephen tries to make amends with some mitigating language ("Might I add, while I'm at it, that I'm haunted ... by all the good stuff I may have missed?") and acknowledges there were at least 11more singles than albums that he dug. So a shot at redemption! But then he had to include Avril and James Blunt on it. The list of his Top 18 tracks after the jump.
Continue reading Stephen King Didn't Like Many Records This Year (And Apparently Changed His Mind About Ryan Adams)...
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latest by Cool Brah
November 14, 2007
In the December issue of Blender, the magazine's editors have compiled what they see as the "The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever," opening with this little graph:
Mumbled lyrics, couldn’t-care-less strumming, white dudes in sweaters—what’s not to love about indie rock? Born 25-odd years ago in suburban garages and spread via college radio, it has made distortion into something hummable, boredom into something thrilling and aimlessness into a raison d'être—and these days, thanks to blogs and the fine people at Grey’s Anatomy, it’s more popular than ever.
Grey's Anatomy and blogs? Cute. Let's take a look at 100-50 here and then round it up post-jump. There are a lot of classic albums on this thing ... and a lot that aren't.
100 The Shaggs - Philosophy Of The World
99 Dream Syndicate - The Days Of Wine And Roses
98 Palace Music - Viva Last Blues
97 The Mekons - Rock 'N' Roll
96 TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
95 The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
94 Half Japanese - Greatest Hits
93 Big Black - Atomizer
92 Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
91 The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
90 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
89 Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
88 Daniel Johnston - Yip/Jump Music
87 Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary
86 Flipper - Album - Generic Flipper
85 The Clean - Anthology
84 Beat Happening - You Turn Me On
83 The Misfits - Walk Among Us
82 The Embarrassment - Heyday 1979-83
81 The Vaselines - The Way Of The Vaselines
80 Feist - The Reminder
79 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
78 The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators
77 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
76 Le Tigre - Le Tigre
75 Galaxie 500 - Today
74 The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong
73 Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun
72 The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
71 Stereolab - Refried Ectoplasm
70 Mudhoney - Superfruzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles
69 Nick Drake - Pink Moon
68 Descendents - Milo Goes To College
67 Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising
66 Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
65 Various Artists - No New York
64 Cat Power - The Greatest
63 Nirvana - Bleach
62 The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
61 LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
60 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
59 Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
58 Built To Spill - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
57 Bikini Kill - Pussy Whipped
56 Archers Of Loaf - Icky Mettle
55 Bad Brains - Bad Brains
54 Unrest - Imperial F.F.R.R.
53 Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
52 Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
51 Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
50 Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Continue reading Blender's 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever...
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Tags: Arcade Fire | Pavement | Pixies | R.E.M. | Sonic Youth | The Replacements | Velvet Underground
latest by Tonie
