Supersonic is a rockin’ tune from Pearl Jam’s upcoming new record Backspacer. This track wins me pretty hard. Am I surprised? No, come on! It is Pearl Jam that we are talking about here!!
Another good track from PJ. I think I may even like “Supersonic” more than “The Fixer”, which I also like a lot. Mike McCready shreds it up! This one is likable right off the bat.
Backspacer comes out September 20th. Preorder the album here
[mp3] : Pearl Jam – Supersonic
Arctic Monkeys have given us another great b-side! This time it is the itunes bonus track; “Sketchhead”. It sounds like it could have come off of the FWN b-side sessions. Almost like the big brother to “Nettles“. Really unusual melody/time signature. Turner is rapping a bit more so than singing.
You can’t help but get a sinister circus vibe from it, due in part to the dark keyboards. Matt’s drumming is in top form here. Overall a really nice tune, and yet another great b-side.
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Sketchhead
We all love reading lists. I know I certainly do. I love reading what other people think is “the best”. Maybe its just what they like, rather than what they think is the best. Either way, I find it really intriguing to see what everyone else loves.
2009 is here, and this decade is coming to an end. As expected, everyone is posting lists of their favorite songs/albums of the decade. I won’t get to my list until much later. I haven’t had a chance to listen to everything that I want to (it’s just impossible!). Plus, I think we need to get through 2009 first in order to fully digest the albums, and then to make room for them in the decade list.
Pitchfork loves to make lists. They take pride of their “hip” best of lists. A large chunk of their picks usually make people scratch their heads. People do read these lists though, a lot of people. The people who read these lists, such as myself, may not agree with the list at all. Your favorite band may get left off (like Arctic did for the entire 500 song list!!!). Or pitchfork will add a mainstream rapper that you never saw them pimpin’ before. You start to wonder if they stop being hipsters when it comes to making best song lists.
There is a reason their website is the biggest musical source. They know how to create controversy, while also displaying strong musical knowledge.
Their list of the top 500 songs of the decade was iffy to me. Sure, there are tons of great picks, but there are also plenty of snubs. There are tons of mainstream rap/r&b artists, which makes no sense. I don’t say this because I am against it. I’m not. Rather, I find it strange to see these types of picks when they never praise these artists during regular coverage. Oh well…
With all that said, I think that the top 20 is pretty good. Some things don’t quite belong in the top 20, some could have been replaced by better songs in the artists catalog. Either way, this is probably one of the better lists that you will see.
Enough rambling. Here are pitchfork’s top 20 songs of this decade. You probably know a good chunk of these anyway, but here they are:
#20 | The Walkmen – The Rat
#19 | R. Kelly – Ignition (Remix)
#18 | Hercules and Love Affair – Blind
# 17 | Annie – Heartbeat
# 16 | The Rapture – House Of Jealous Lovers
# 15 | The Knife – Heartbeats
# 14 | Jay-Z – 99 Problems
# 13 | LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge
# 12 | Outkast – Hey Ya!
# 11 | Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
# 10 | Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
# 9 | Animal Collective – My Girls
# 8 | Radiohead – Idioteque
# 7 | Missy Elliot – Get Ur Freak On
# 6 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
# 5 | Daft Punk – One More Time
# 4 | Beyoncé – Crazy in Love (Feat. Jay-Z)
# 3 | M.I.A. – Paper Planes (Diplo Remx) (Feat. Bun B and Rich Boy)
# 2 | LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
# 1 | Outkast – B.O.B.
View the list at pitchfork here
You know the deal, check out the track, if you like it, well go visit the bands myspace and see what they are made of! Sadly, I am still trying to play catch-up with my emails. So here are some more goodies that I have discovered while skimming through the good old inbox! :
Divisible
[mp3] : Divisible – Love Is The Cost | myspace
Empire State Human
[mp3] : Empire State Human – Melancholic Afro (Rob Kiraly Remix) | myspace
Afghan Raiders
[mp3] : Afghan Raiders – Admiral’s Doorbell | myspace
Anna Ternheim
[mp3] : Anna Ternheim – What Have I Done | myspace
Casy & Brian
[mp3] : Casy & Brian – House On Haunted Hill | myspace
Collider
[mp3] : Collider – Isolator | myspace
Michael Gross & The Statuettes
[mp3] : Michael Gross & The Statuettes – Something Out Of Nothing | myspace
The Twin Atlas
[mp3] : The Twin Atlas – Versions | myspace
The long rumored super band of Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters/Nirvana/QOTSA), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is indeed a band. They call themselves Them Croked Vultures.
They are even playing gigs already, announcing them only a few days in advance! A video of the song “Dead End Friends” was recently captured at one of their show’s in Amsterdam. It is face melting good!
Head over to their website or twitter to catch all of their updates, such as this studio clip of a song called “Nobody Loves Me And Neither Do I”:
Them Crooked Vultures is the real deal, this could be quite the side project!!!
The Big Pink seem to be riding a pretty decent wave of buzz. If you remember, I called them a band to watch back in early July. Seems that the rest of the internet agreed with me.
The Big Pink made “Dominos” the first single, and for good reason: it’s catchy! It aint at the epic level of “Velvet” (which is one of my favorite songs of the year), but there is plenty to love about “Dominos”. The Big Pink know how to mix dark shoegaze with pop. You cannot argue this after listening to “Dominos”. They have a fine act going, and I can really tell these guys are going to blow up soon.
“Dominos” is off their debut album A Brief History of Love, which is due September 22nd. You could say it is highly anticipated!
[mp3] : The Big Pink – Dominos
If you are new to The Big Pink, you have to check out this song:
[mp3] : The Big Pink – Velvet
Here’s a little tribute to John Hughes. I never made a post for the wonderful director of classic films such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Breakfast Club. So here is a shout out/tribute to him. I thought the National’s cover of the Psychedelic Furs song “Pretty In Pink” would be appropriate.
Only the National could sound this good.
[mp3] : The National – Pretty In Pink (Psychedelic Furs Cover) (Daytrotter Session)
Check out the latest Velvet Underground from Beck’s Record Club Project. He covers “There She Goes Again” from their classic Velvet Underground & Nico album. It is a cover that is both playful and raw, staying true to the original song.
Beck and co. accomplish their goal once again: to honor these classic songs.
[mp3] : Beck – There She Goes Again (The Velvet Underground Cover)
Ratitude.
Oh Weezer. They are like Peter Pan. They never will grow up eh? Let’s just hope the whole albums is as cool as “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To“.
Jacknife Lee and Butch Walker produced it. It comes out October 27th.
Here’s the new single in case you missed it the other day:
(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
I love the Arctic Monkeys. Ok, your practically laughing at how pathetic I am at this point. Thats ok.
Anyhow, they recently rocked Zane Lowe’s BBC show with their Maida Vale Session. They performed it yesterday, and as expected, a rip is all over the internet. High fives all around!
The Monkys of the Arctic played 10 songs, all hailing from their Humbug sessions, except for “A View From The Afternoon” & “505″. Alex Turner is very playful and talkative throughout the performance. Something that I wish he would demonstrate more when they play live in NYC!
It is a very strong performance overall, totally worth a listen if you have time!
Download every track below:
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – The View From The Afternoon (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Potion Approaching (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Pretty Visitors (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Dangerous Animals (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – My Propeller (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Red Right Hand (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Cornerstone (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – Secret Door (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – 505 (Live BBC Maida Vale Session)
