I'll shoot...

1) Propeller by Guided by Voices
2) Hex Enduction Hour by the Fall
3) London Calling by the Clash
4) Bizarro by the Wedding Present
5) Perfect Teeth by Unrest
 

Oh I can do this. I think.

1) Guided By Voices
2) Super Furry Animals
3) The Fall
4) The Who
5) David Bowie
6) Swervedriver
7) The Beatles
Prince (preferrably with the Revolution)
9) The Beach Boys
10) Can
11) The Wedding Present
12) Stereolab
13) Belle and Sebastian
14) My Bloody Valentine
15) His Name is Alive
16) Wilco
17) Superchunk
18) The New Pornographers
19) Boredoms
20) Unrest
21) Spoon
22) The Clash
23) TV on the Radio
24) Caribou
25) The Smiths

Even though it ain't out yet - and even though what's out may be unmixed - TV on the Radio just keeps sending me right back to Cookie Mountain and I keep enjoying the everliving hell out of it.

Also I'm shocked and amazed that there's already been two great hip-hop albums out this year so far (Ghostface Killah's giraffescale and Kool Keith's Project Polaroid). After 2004 and 2005 I started to write good hip-hop off as a passing thing.

I'm also liking this thing that's out from Citay (Piano Magic/fuck*ng Champs side project).

I think getting Sirius is spoiling my appreciation of new more popular music though. Although this week S-26 started playing this new Camera Obscura song that is really neat and keen.

As far as older stuff, I got a Robert Pollard/Mac McCaughan album a few weeks ago that's much better than the 'forkers gave it credit for being.

In fact, the topic of the White Stripes came up at my band's practice two weeks ago.  When I disinterestedly stated that they were "the most over-rated band in the entire history of Western music," our singer got so pissed you'd think I had fingered his wife.  It's just a band.  Who cares?

So now I like the White Stripes even less: they're over-rated and they made one of my best friends angry and condescending for a few minutes.

Well they're over-rated but I wouldn't go THAT far. The Eagles have that spot far and fuck*ng away.

I did like the last White Stripes album though - at least the quieter songs. It wasn't breaking any sort of new ground at all, but I at least thought "White Moon" was a pretty song. But still - they're not the creative geniuses these kiddies think they are.

They're not even the most creative current band in the whole Detroit garage scene. By a million miles that's the Dirtbombs.

I'm in agreeance on previously expressed hatred of Nickelback, Bright Eyes, Insane Clown Posse, Good Charlotte, and most bands of a similar brand. I also think the jam bands are no fun at all.

But to take aim at a few bands that haven't been smacked around yet...

Eels - The songs are very middling. And a couple have sounded like they were crafted just to go into commercials. But I think what really gets to me is E himself. He just seems like the ultimate poseur in so many ways - not just as it relates to indie rock, but as to his whole self-presentation. I can only think of the phrase "manufactured weirdness". And lots of folks buy into it.

To quote Jeff Lebowski, I hate The Fuckin' Eagles.

although not the eagles of death metal. They can live.

And finally, I must apologize to my Jewish friends...

SORRY JEWS. MATISYAHU SUCKS.

Ya'll are still totally my doggs, and will stay that way if the Beasties make a better album than that horrid To the 5 Boroughs record.

Picking a nit here.

Alt-text says Ray's not much of a Tenmen fan...

Wha...?

Oh nevermind. I guess having them play is more of an image and hipsterism thing.

This strip was great, regardless.

This year I liked a lot of music.

But at the same time, this year was a boiling point for my social relationship with music.

I wanted to be through with pretense, through with statement music, through with musicians that honestly sounded like they did not like what they were doing.

So my album of the year was Bang Bang Rock and Roll by Art Brut. Just because it was everything escapist I was looking for. It was fun from start to finish. It was funny as hell. And it seriously rocked. So yes.

So, Alien Lanes is next?

Either Propeller or Alien Lanes.

Propeller reminds me a lot of the Who - especially A Quick One or Sell Out. In some ways, it's a different record than a lot of what they did before or after. It's probably the closest Bob got to gigantic-sounding rock anthems when they were still recording on four tracks in a garage. I think this may have been actually done in a fairly servicable studio setup though. Either way, it was the most clean-sounding album they did in the early 90's.

You may be able to find it used sharing a CD with an album called Vampire on Titus.  It's a good record, but about half the songs on it sound horrifyingly bootlegish. They sound like the vocals were recorded at the bottom of a well almost. If you see copies of VoT floating around, check the back - they should have everything here listed.

Alien Lanes is closer to Bee Thousand sound and song style-wise than Propeller was.  There's really great songs on both - I guess what has me putting Bee Thousand over is that more of its' songs were a lot more immediate to get into. More instant pop classics, I guess.