The Flaming Lips - 20 Years of Weird

Flaming Lips 1986-2006
Interesting little collection of live tracks and rarities from the Lips. Actually, only three of these tracks are not recorded live so it definitely feels like a random, 20 year collection of live experiments than anything else. The 12 minute version of "When You Smile" is the best thing on here as it reminds you of what makes the Lips great: they're the only band that can mix Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Pixies, Butthole Surfers & Can and make it seem like it's (somewhat) normal.

Calexico - Hot Rail

AMG Review

Continuing the Tijuana Brass meets Giant Sand and Ennio Morricone in a dark neuvo-waveo spaghetti Western approach they've gradually refined over the past two albums, multi-instrumentalists John Convertino and Joey Burns keep exploring terrain they've uniquely staked out. While not as cinematic, sprawling, and impressive as 1998's The Black Light, the duo create vivid soundscapes as dry, hot, and shimmering as the weather of their Tucson, Arizona home. Although they subtly expand their palette in all sorts of interesting ways, the spooky, late-'70s Miles Davis feel they inject into the nearly eight-minute "Fade" through jazzy drums, spacy vibes, and ominous cello works best. The songs, especially the appropriately named atmospheric instrumentals "Untitled II" and "Untitled III" tend to meander, but the duo keeps peeling back more layers and different instruments to pull the listener's interest. "Sonic Wind" and "Ballad of Cable Hogue" are as succinct, melodic, and tight as they've ever been, and Joey Burns' yearning, whisper of a voice suits this evocative music perfectly. This could easily turn into schtick, though, and it's to the duo's credit that they not only take themselves seriously, but don't pummel their weirdness into the ground. Instead, they push and knead the already elastic boundaries of a genre they've practically created, in jazzy, bluesy, and experimental directions that indicate they have a rich future ahead of them. Hot Rail isn't a great album; it's far too spotty and inconsistent musically. But it's an important one because it proves Calexico isn't content to remain stuck in an intriguing but limiting rut and is willing to explore new sonic directions while maintaining a distinctive identity and vision.
Other Albums:
calexico - feast of wire
calexico - even my sure things fall
calexico - alone again
calexico - convict pool
calexico - aerocalexico
calexico - iron and wine in reigns

Japan - Tin drum

Tin Drum is the last studio album produced by Japan. Released in 1981, this album was somewhat different from their previous works, with more far-eastern influences. Guitarist Rob Dean had left the band by this point. Four of the album's eight tracks were released as singles in the UK ("The Art of Parties", "Cantonese Boy", "Visions of China" and "Ghosts"), whilst a live version of "Canton" was issued as a single to promote the Oil on Canvaslive album in 1983. Of these, the most commercially successful was "Ghosts", which is perhaps notable for being cited by several music commentators as probably the most unlikely track ever to reach the Top 5 in the UK singles chart, something which occurred during April, 1982. "Ghosts" is a minimalist, morose ballad, incorporating ring modulation sound-effects reminiscent of some of Karlheinz Stockhausen's seminal electronic music from the 1950s. Bereft of drums, the track would not be described as a commercially viable single in most circumstances. However, Japan's popularity at the time, in addition to the early 1980s fashion for New Wave / New Romantic music, allowed the single to become unexpectedly popular

The Flaming Lips - Zaireeka (1997)

A combination of the words "Zaire" and "Eureka," Zaireeka is a term coined by Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne symbolizing the fusion of anarchy and genius. It's a perfect title; Zaireeka is the culmination of the Lips' helter-skelter brilliance. Pushing the concept of interactive listening into new realms of possibility, the work extends Coyne's infamous "parking lot experiments" into not merely one album, but four separate discs that can be played separately or in groups of two, three, and four with multiple stereos. (Properly synchronized multi-disc playback requires more than one person -- it's literally a party album.) Between combining the discs and toying with volume, balance, fidelity, etc., the options are truly limitless. No two multi-disc performances can be repeated, thanks to the space-time continuum and discrepancies from one CD player to another. Musically as well as conceptually, the Lips are defiantly experimental throughout Zaireeka; individually, each disc sounds more like free jazz than pop, although Coyne's diamond-sharp melodic sensibilities prevail even during the most chaotic moments. With each additional disc, the music's force and ingenuity reveals itself: "Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)" is an epic orchestral noise suite, "Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair" is a multi-narrative plane-crash drama remarkably evocative in its depiction of fear and chaos, and "How Will We Know? (Futuristic Crashendos)" features such extreme high and low frequencies that it can lead to disorientation, confusion, or nausea (the track is not recommended to be played while operating a motor vehicle or in the presence of infants). Logistical nightmares aside, Zaireeka is a dense, difficult work, recommended only for the hardiest Flaming Lips fetishists; however, they're in for the musical experience of a lifetime.

History Of T. Rex - The Singles Collection 1968-77

By 1969 there was a clear rift between the two halves of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Bolan and his girlfriend June Child (ex-girlfriend of Syd Barrett) were living a quiet life, while Took had fully embraced the anti-commercial/community spirited/drug-taking ethos of the UK Underground scene centered around Ladbroke Grove. Took was also attracted to the most anarchistic elements, such as Mick Farren/Deviants and members of the Pink Fairies Rock 'n' Roll and Drinking Club.

By now Took was writing his own songs and wanted the duo to perform them, but Bolan firmly refused. Took contributed his talents and two songs, including "The Sparrow Is A Sign," to Twink's Think Pink album, which Bolan probably also did not approve of.

Bolan's relationship with Took ended after Unicorn, although they were contractually obliged to go through with a US tour which was doomed before it began. Poorly promoted and planned, the tour saw the acoustic duo senselessly billed alongside loud electric acts. Took commented that the audience often did not even notice they had started their set, and he would sometimes strip to the waist and whip himself in Iggy Pop manner.

As soon as he returned to the United Kingdom, Bolan replaced Took with bongo player Mickey Finn, who would remain with Bolan until 1975. They made A Beard of Stars, the final album under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex. Unlike Took, Finn had no song writing aspirations.

As well as progressively shorter titles, the albums began to show higher production values, more accessible song writing from Bolan, and experimentation with electric guitars and a rock sound. The breakthrough was in "King of the Rumbling Spires," (recorded with Steve Took) which used a full rock band. This era also saw the publication of The Warlock of Love, a book of Bolan's poetry; derided by critics, it nevertheless became the best-selling poetry book of its time.

Sonic Youth - Dirty

Modern Music
Dirty is an album by Sonic Youth that was originally released on July 21, 1992.

The track "Sugar Kane" includes a reference to fellow alternative rock band Half Japanese. The lyric "kiss me like a frog" is a reference to the Half Japanese song of the same name.

On March 25, 2003, a double-CD deluxe edition of the album was released. It comprised the original album with additional B-sides, demos and rehearsal recordings.

With the help of their first real producer, they stop flirting with progress and concentrate on remaining the world's greatest rock and roll band--if Butch Vig snuck in a "Smells Like Teen Spirit," it's known only to David Geffen's bagmen, who understand things about airplay that you and I don't. "Youth Against Fascism" is catchy indeed, but fun as it would be to hear "I believe Anita Hill" roaring from a passing boombox, I don't think it'll fly. And elsewhere it's gonna be tough extricating the hooks, which are more plentiful than ever, from the noise, which makes a comeback. Aurally as well as lyrically, this album earns its title. Thurston never could carry a tune, but he can surround one. And when Kim warns you not to touch her breasts, the possibility that she's an uptight chick never crosses your mind.

Thin Lizzy - Chinatown

Chinatown is the tenth studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1980. (see 1980 in music). It introduced guitarist Snowy White who had previously worked with Cliff Richard and Pink Floyd and featured seventeen-year old Darren Wharton on keyboards who would join Lizzy within the year. This album also introduced guitarist Snowy White who would also perform on the next album as well as tour with Thin Lizzy between 1980 and 1982; he replaced Gary Moore as permanent guitarist.

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs 1974

Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by

RCA in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel 1984 by George Orwell and Bowie’s own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell's book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups, but the late author’s estate denied the rights. The songs wound up on the second half of Diamond Dogs instead where, as the titles indicate, the 1984 theme was prominent.

Though the album was recorded and released after the 'retirement' of Ziggy Stardust in mid-1973, and featured its own lead character in Halloween Jack ("a real cool cat" who lived in the decaying "Hunger City"), most commentators regard Ziggy as still very much alive in Diamond Dogs, noting in particular Bowie’s haircut on the cover and the glam-trash style of the first single "Rebel Rebel". As in some songs on Aladdin Sane, the influence of The Rolling Stones was also seen in the chugging title track. Elsewhere, however, Bowie appeared to have moved on from his earlier work with the epic song suite, "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)", whilst "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" and the Shaft-inspired wah-wah guitar style of "1984" provided a foretaste of Bowie's next, 'plastic soul', phase. The original vinyl album ended with the juddering refrain "Bruh-bruh!", a corruption of "(Big) Brother", repeating insistently ad infinitum.

Descendents - Milo Goes To College (1982)

Milo Goes to College is the 1982 release by the punk band The Descendents. It was released on SST Records. Today it is considered to be the band's best album. SPIN magazine rated the album one of the top all time hardcore albums. "Suburban Home" and "Myage" became locally popular (as well as being college hits), while many other songs from the album became fan favorites. Taking Back Sunday covered "Suburban Home" for the game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. Moreover, Sublime covered the song 'Hope' on their 1991 album 40 Oz. to Freedom.

The band enjoyed putting the suffix "-age" at the end of things, as seen on the tracks "Myage", "Tonyage" and "Bikeage" (as well as, coincidentally, "Marriage). This is also proven by the title of their live album, "Liveage". This, as well as the band's affiliation and appeal with and to nerdage, have linked the Descendents to the common addition of the suffix "-age" in Leet.

The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols were, despite their short existence, a very influential English punk band. While of the original set of English punks The Clash were perhaps more articulate and politically motivated, The Damned more versatile, and Buzzcocks had more astute pop sensibilities, the Pistols achieved more recognition through their iconic punk rock passion and flamboyancy, and no other Punk band of the era made such a lasting impression on British popular culture.

On February 24th 2006, Sex Pistols were officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - although they (as expected) refused to attend the induction.

Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (2006)

Like the Kinks and the magnetic fields, Scottish pop perfectionists Belle and Sebastian are brilliant at pairing heart-tugging melodies with perfectly turned lyrics that favor kiss-offs over come-ons. But on the group's seventh album, a little bit of the bloom has come off the rose. The single "Funny Little Frog" -- with its Muswell Hillbillies horns and lyrical nod to the early, amazing "The State I'm In" -- is cuter than it is clever. And attempts to augment the band's trademark chamber pop with Shuggie Otis-style psychedelic soul (on "Song for Sunshine") and a Frampton Comes Alive guitar solo ("We Are Sleepyheads") aren't as memorable as you'd like them to be. But when the experiments work -- as on "White Collar Boy," which marries a whistle-ready melody with a fat synth line, and the awesomely glam "The Blues Are Still Blue" -- it's clear that band leader Stuart Murdoch still has plenty of major-league tunes left in the tank.

Punk Revival

Punk Revival
During the early '90s -- nearly a full 20 years after punk happened -- the United States had its first punk rock hit albums and singles, as a wave of bands raised on '80s hardcore and '70s punk worked its way into the American mainstream. Essentially, Punk Revival bands were all traditionalists -- they kept alive the sounds and styles of groups like the Sex Pistols, the Stooges, the Jam, the Exploited, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, the Descendents, and countless other punk and hardcore bands. Since hardcore mutated into speed metal in the late '80s, it wasn't surprising that these punk traditionalists were heavier than their initial influences, but that is partially what made the music appealing to a mass audience in America -- it was simpler and heavier, much like a faster, harder outgrowth of grunge rock. The first punk revivalists to break into the American mainstream were Green Day and the Offspring, and their success helped solidify cult followings for groups like Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise, and Pansy Division, as well as bring the spotlight to neglected '80s punk bands like Bad Religion and underground punk genres like the third wave of ska revival.

the magnetic fields - i (2004)

[Modern Music Recommended]
i is the seventh studio album for the New York-based indie pop band, The Magnetic Fields. While previous later-years Magnetic Fields albums featured a strong cohesive theme, the songs of i are only connected by their starting with the letter "i". As a result, frontman Stephin Merritt's lyrics tend to focus on more personal or first-person narrative stories than in past albums in which he tended to utilize techniques of gender reversal or seemingly intentional narrator detachment.

Also, for the most part, Merritt ditched many of his past synthpop and electropop influences for an album led by guitars and strings.

You should listen this album and fall into the atmosphere where i used to be living there...

BETTER THAN EZRA - compilation

Before the Robots is the studio follow-up album to Better Than Ezra's 2001 studio release Closer and debut album for Artemis Records. It was released on May 30, 2005 internationally and a day later in North America.

The band enjoyed their biggest success since 1996's Friction, Baby on the reworked single "A Lifetime" which first appeared on 2001's "Closer"

The Editors - Back Room

Editors (never The Editors) are a British indie rock band from Birmingham, England, comprised of Tom Smith (lyricist/vocalist/guitarist), Chris Urbanowicz (guitarist), Russ Leetch (bass guitarist) and Ed Lay (drummer). Their brand of epic, sweeping indie rock is frequently compared to other purveyors of such, including Joy Division, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, Kitchens of Distinction, The Chameleons, and Interpol. However, the band is considered to have achieved their own unique identity which differentiates them from these comparisons.

Editors are four likely lads from Birmingham, England, who've become darlings of the British rock press thanks to a seductive, thoroughly English sound and a wardrobe that evokes Robert Smith shopping at the Gap. Their debut, The Back Room, drags Joy Division into a posh bed of dueling guitars and streamlined atmospherics, with songs that touch on death, disease and doomed love. If you like one Editors song, there's a good chance you'll like them all. But because these swirls of desperation are as much about aura as fully formed tunes, their payoff is negligible.

Editors singer Tom Smith is blessed with that peculiarly British ability to sound simultaneously suave and pained, as if admiring his reflection in a shit-house mirror. When Smith vagues out, so does The Back Room: On "Open Your Arms," Smith stretches his wavery baritone into near oblivion over a slate-gray patter that sounds like Vicodin-numbed Death Cab for Cutie; with "Lights," Smith gazes into the void with a desperation that's damn near cloying. On the album's best songs, the give-and-take between Smith's gossamer croon and his band's tensile shimmer can be seductive. "Bullets" sports a brittle, noise-flecked groove that blossoms into a resplendent spattering of spidery guitars; "All Sparks" delivers a chorus worthy of top-shelf Coldplay. "If fortune favors the brave, then I'm as poor as they come," Smith sings early on. There's the rub: On The Back Room, Smith gets lost in his own gloom-addled mind while attempting to turn despair into gleaming euphoria, and ends up only halfway toward the light.

The Dead Kennedys - Mutiny On The Bay

Mutiny on the Bay is a live album by the Dead Kennedys. It was compiled and released after a lengthy lawsuit, which resulted in the rights to the Dead Kennedys' catalog being transferred from lead singer/songwriter Jello Biafra's record label, Alternative Tentacles to the other three members of the band. Its quality has been criticized by Jello Biafra, as well as numerous music critics and fans. Biafra issued a statement through Alternative Tentacles' website stating that his only access to the project was a cassette of the final mix mailed to him by guitarist and album producer East Bay Ray, and that he was not allowed any input into the album despite the fact that that he was still, on paper, an equal member of the band's business partnership.

The Rolling Stones - After-Math

Aftermath is the fourth UK and sixth US studio album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 1966. The album proved to be a major artistic breakthrough for The Rolling Stones in that it was the first full-length release by the band to exclusively feature Mick Jagger/Keith Richards compositions.

The album is also notable for its musical experimentation, with Brian Jones - possibly inspired by George Harrison's use of sitar on The Beatles' Rubber Soul - playing a variety of instruments which feature prominently in each track, including the sitar on "Mother's Little Helper" & "Paint It Black", and the dulcimer on "Lady Jane" and "I Am Waiting".

Once again, two editions of the album were released. The first release of Aftermath appeared in April of 1966 as a fourteen-track long-player, and is considered by many to be the definitive version. Issued between the non-LP single releases of "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "Paint It, Black", Aftermath proved a big smash, spending eight weeks atop the UK charts.

In the US however, fourteen tracks was considered too many. With a substituted cover art, the American edition of Aftermath, released that June, features a subtly re-shuffled running order that eliminates "Out Of Time", "Take It Or Leave It" and "What To Do" (all later released in the US), while replacing "Mother's Little Helper" with current #1 hit "Paint It, Black". Despite compromising producer Andrew Loog Oldham's and The Rolling Stones' intentions for the album, the revamped Aftermath shot to #2 in the US, eventually going platinum. In 2002, the US edition of Aftermath was ranked number 108 on the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Aftermath was important in establishing Jagger and Richards as respected songwriters in the same vein as Lennon-McCartney and Bob Dylan and also redefined The Rolling Stones from being R&B enthusiasts to a progressive and artistically-inventive group.

In August 2002 both editions of Aftermath were reissued in a new remastered CD and SACDdigipak by ABKCO Records.

Grandaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat (2006)

Imagine a band that possesses Queen’s musical flamboyance, The Cars’ infectious synth and three-chord guitar riffs, and the ambience of Wall-era Pink Floyd. Now, throw in elements of the crunching guitars of post-punk, the altered strings and overdubs of electronica, and a few grandiose, classical piano interludes. The result most likely would sound like the latest from Modesto-based Grandaddy, Just Like the Fambly Cat. A musically mercurial, lyrically pithy take on suburban America, the album finds Jason Lytle and company producing an oft morose, yet strangely upbeat, tour de farce.

Just Like the Fambly Cat’s 15 tracks include numerous high points and very few lows, in spite of Grandaddy’s seemingly incongruous musical influences. Summer...It’s Gone is a wistful, whimsical folk-rock jaunt that features a space rock-oriented middle interlude and a power pop-imbued outro. The Animal World, by contrast, is a neo-psychedelia-meets-electronica ditty that boasts harmonies worthy of the Mamas and the Papas as well as the sarcastic punk refrain "joy to the world." With its trippy, folk-pop melody and ethereal strings, Guide Down Denied takes the band further into space rock territory, while Elevate Myself, with its Cars-inspired synthesizer accompaniment and lyrics lambasting the TRL generation, is experimental new wave at its best. The one-minute vignette 50% is yet another true gem on which Lytle drapes his best punk sneer over crunching power chords and lyrics about the loquaciousness of the information age.

To be certain, Just Like the Fambly Cat has moments that are less than engaging and experiments that don’t quite work, but for the most part, these are few and (more often than not) brief. In fact, Just Like the Fambly Cat is one of the few adventures in musical excess that succeeds, presumably because of the ostensible sarcasm and wit with which Grandaddy undertakes its task.

Wilco - Summerteeth

Summerteeth is a 1999 album by the band Wilco. It was released by Warner Brothers on March 9, 1999. Summerteeth continued Wilco's evolution into an alternative rock band, almost completely void of their alt-country roots.

Wilco is an American contemporary rock band. While originally known for its alt-country roots, it is now mostly known for its rock or alternative rock style.

Calexico - spoke (1995)

AMG review
The back cover photo of Spoke is a furrowing farm machine. When I see such machinery working, clouds of birds follow to eat up the disturbed insects. Calexico snatches up the bits of Americana turned out by a rototilling of the national music psyche. The nineteen resultant tracks can be insect small (0:28 to 3:54) and erratic in flight. The tracks are lo-fi songs suggested and themes follow without concern for what preceded. One bit is held up by guitar, another by accordion, then one by vibes. A bit of desert dust sprinkled throughout may be the only constant theme - a Santa Fe rummage sale of sounds. Spoke is very intriguing and well-worth exploring.

Other Albums:
calexico - feast of wire
calexico - even my sure things fall
calexico - alone again
calexico - hot rail
calexico - convict pool
calexico - aerocalexico
calexico - iron and wine in reigns

Alternative Country-Rock

Alternative Country-Rock
Alternative country-rock is often simply referred to as alternative country, but the two styles are actually somewhat distinct from one another -- simply put, alternative country performers come from the country side of the equation, whereas alternative country-rock is rooted more in rock. It's considered a branch of alternative rock -- even though it may not always sound that way on the surface -- because it doesn't fit any mainstream sensibility, and also because its bands usually get their start as part of the American indie-label scene. In contrast to alternative country, which pushes the boundaries of country music from the inside, alternative country-rock is music made by outsiders who love the sound and spirit of country. They faithfully preserve traditional sounds, but reinterpret the spirit in personal, contemporary, and idiosyncratic ways that rarely appeal to straight country fans. The godfather of alternative country-rock was Gram Parsons, the single most important figure in the invention of country-rock and an enduring cult legend for his deeply emotional records. Neil Young's varying musical personalities were also an important influence, as was the progressive country movement of the '70s, particularly an Austin, TX-centered group of highly literate singer/songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff Walker, among others. The man who heralded the birth of alternative country-rock was Lyle Lovett, whose wit and eclecticism seemed to revitalize country's possibilities in the minds of many rock fans. But the first true alternative country-rock band was Uncle Tupelo, who at the start of their career fused punk and country in a far more reverent way than any band in the short-lived '80s cowpunk movement. Their cover of the A.P. Carter spiritual "No Depression" gave its name to their seminal 1990 debut album, the premier fanzine chronicling the alt-country scene, and a nickname to the movement in general. Uncle Tupelo soon became a more tradition-minded country-rock outfit, and following their 1993 landmark Anodyne split into two different bands, the staunchly revivalist Son Volt and the more pop-inflected Wilco; by that time, alternative country-rock itself had begun to split into several strains. One school was chiefly dedicated to reviving the Parsons/Young sound of the early '70s, sometimes adding elements of Beatlesque pop to their crunchy rockers and aching ballads. Others were sincere traditionalists, drawing from the most haunting qualities of old-time country and Appalachian folk while updating the lyrical sensibilities just enough. A related school made that old-timey sound into a soft, spare, ethereal hybrid of country and indie rock, usually featuring a female vocalist. Still other alt-country-rock bands brought a sense of humor to their traditionalist work, whether it was the good-natured wit of a twangy, rollicking bar band, or the flat-out weird irony of Lambchop. Alternative country-rock continued to produce new, critically acclaimed hybrid acts into the new millennium, with an increasing indie-rock flavor.

Morrissey - Vauxhall and I (1994)

Vauxhall and I is a 1994 album by Morrissey, generally considered his best. The release cemented Morrissey's success in the US, giving him a top 20 album and his first hit single with the song "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get." This is Morrissey's second album that reached the top of the charts in Britain. The first was Viva Hate.

Vauxhall and I represents Morrissey at his most mature and reflective. Several songs see the artist commenting on his mistakes and on the course his life has taken. With its blend of guitar rock, largely acoustic ballads, and wry classic rock, Vauxhall and I stands in stark contrast to Morrissey's other work. It is distinguished by its ironic and introspective nature as well as its somber and emotional mood.

Morrissey had also recently suffered the loss of three people close to him: Mick Ronson, Tim Broad, and Nigel Thomas, which may have had the effect of giving Vauxhall and I somewhat of a funereal feel. Indeed, just two years later Morrissey acknowledged that he felt at the time that this was going to be his last album, and that not only was it the best album he'd ever made but that he would never be able to top it in the future. This has largely held true as both Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted were received with critical and commercial ambivalence (and not-infrequent disdain), although the latter-day You Are the Quarry from 2004 sold well and was critically well-received.

The lead single off the album, "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" became the only song by Morrissey or the Smiths to achieve chart success in the United States, where it reached #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also became a #1 Modern Rock Tracks chart hit. In the United Kingdom, the song hit #8 and was the only single by Morrissey to reach the top ten during the 1990s.

The album's title appears to be a reference to the 1987 film, Withnail and I. Vauxhall is an area of London, and there is also a British car manufacturer of the same name.

David Bowie – Hunky Dory

Hunky Dory is David Bowie's fourth album, released by RCA in 1971. It is described by AllMusic.com as having "a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by Bowie's sense of vision: a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class."

The album saw the partial return of the fey pop singer of Space Oddity, with light fare such as "Kooks" (dedicated to his young son known to the world as Zowie Bowie but legally named Duncan Zowie Heywood Jones) and the cover "Fill Your Heart" sitting alongside heavier material like the Buddhist-tinged "Quicksand" and semi-autobiographical "The Bewlay Brothers". Somewhere in between the two extremes was "Oh! You Pretty Things", whose pop tune hid lyrics predicting the imminent replacement of modern man by "the Homo Superior", and which has been seen by some critics as a direct precursor to "Starman" from Bowie's next album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

On Hunky Dory, the composer also took time to pay tribute to his influences in the songs "Song for Bob Dylan", "Andy Warhol" and the Velvet Underground inspired "Queen Bitch". Supported by the single "Changes", the album scored generally favourable reviews and was reasonably successful on its initial release, without being a major hit. However, after the commercial breakthrough of Ziggy Stardust, it sold tremendously well, climbing to #3 in the UK charts. In 1973, RCA released "Life on Mars?" as a single, also a #3 UK hit.

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Hunky Dory the 43rd greatest album of all time; in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 47. In 2003, the album was ranked number 107 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Pixies - Wave of mutilation

Wave of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies is a compilation album by the Pixies. It was released on May 4, 2004 with a companion DVD featuring a live show, promotional videos and two documentaries. Early batches of the record feature a fault on the track "Hey", where Frank Black's opening shout of "Hey" is missing.


During their six years together, The Pixies released five albums to fan, peer, and critical acclaim. This new 23-track best of CD runs almost chronologically and expands on the previous comp, "Death To The Pixies" with a couple B-sides, the live favorite "Into The White", and a cover of Neil Young's "Winterlong".

Morrissey - Viva Hate

Viva Hate is Morrissey's debut solo album, released on March 22, 1988. The album was more successful than any of Morrissey's work with The Smiths and was more modern and musically innovative in comparison as well. The album was originally going to be called Education in Reverse, but was renamed to reflect Morrissey's feelings after the break-up of The Smiths. Some LPs in Australia were misprinted with the original title.

The album was released a mere six months after The Smiths' final album, Strangeways Here We Come. The title predicts the content as Morrissey's lyrics are sardonic and filled with invective, while some of the tracks deal with the harshness of the breakup of The Smiths.

Interestingly, British band The Ordinary Boys were previously called 'Viva Hate'. The band are big Moz fans and their current name is another Morrissey song.

'Everyday Is Like Sunday', proving that the artist was very much capable of making records which sell too. Forgetting the largely perfunctory three tracks which conclude the recording it would take some time for Morrissey to surpass this album with the outstanding 'Vauxhall And I'.

Echo and the Bunnymen - Reverberation

Echo & the Bunnymen is a British rock group formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of Ian McCulloch (of the Crucial Three), Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine assumed by many to be "Echo," though the band deny this.

By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.

McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What Are You Going to Do with Your Life1999) and Flowers (2001). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.

Mercury Rev - Boces (1993)

With Boces, Mercury Rev took everything that made Yerself Is Steam such an impressive debut and made their second album even more so. Over the course of ten minutes, opening epic "Meth of a Rockette's Kick" moves from dreamy musing to guitar-fueled crests -- and throws in flutes, harps, a brass section, and a choir for good measure -- announcing that the group is at the height of its powers. Thrashy freakouts like "Trickle Down" sound even more explosive and stand in sharper contrast to the Technicolor pop of "Something for Joey" and "Hi Speed Boats," while the sweetly lovelorn "Bronx Cheer" and "Downs Are Feminine Balloons" (key lyric: "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's up") reveal the vulnerability beneath the group's jet-powered guitars. But Boces doesn't just perfect the sound Mercury Rev pioneered on Yerself Is Steam, it expands it in predictably unpredictable ways. The Cheshire cat jazz-pop of "Boys Peel Out," the sleepwalking speed metal of "Snorry Mouth," and the spooky, smoky finale "Girlfren," though very different from each other, are equally captivating examples of the band's witty, innovative modus operandi. Mercury Rev never released another album as joyfully, unselfconsciously creative as Boces; after chief weirdo David Baker departed, the band pursued other fascinating directions, but this album remains one of the highest points of its career. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

R.E.M. - PERFECT SQUARE - LIVE DVD

This is a fantastic DVD showcasing one of the greatest live acts of the modern era. This is R.E.M. on their world tour after bringing our their magnificent Best Of CD. The band play a huge selection of their greatest hits in a beautful setting in Germany. R.E.M. are full of energy, and passion and deliver a concert that is simply out of this world.

Ignore the negative posts on that have been posted. To say R.E.M. were unethusiastic is nothing short of a joke, their performance was full of energy and passion and is nothing short of incredible. Also so say songs such as `Bad Day, Animal, and Begin The Begin' suck is again complete trash. They are all awesome songs, performed very well by the band. Also to say `Drive' and `Orange Crush' needed better delivery is again trash along with saying the band looked burnt out. Did Michael Stipe look burnt out when he delievered an incredible encore which sent the crowd hope in absolute raptures. Watch it and tell me they are burnt, and you will a comment like that is nothing short of being scandalous. Both songs were delivered fantastically well. Also comments about the music sounding exactly like it did in the studio is another trashy comment.

This is DVD full of energy and unrivalled enthusiasm showing R.E.M. performing a great selection of their biggest hits, from songs that fill a stadium to songs that fill your soul. The concert is set in a beautiful setting in Germany, making for an incredible concert with a vibrant and excited crowd. This R.E.M. at the top of their game, make no mistake about it, they are one of the greatest live acts of the 20th century and beyond, this is a DVD for all R.E.M. fans. Even if you are not an R.E.M. this DVD will go someway to persuading to become one. An amazing live DVD.

Jangle Pop

Jangle Pop
Jangle Pop was an American post-punk movement of the mid-'80s that marked a return to the chiming guitars and pop melodies of the '60s. Sparked by the arrival of R.E.M., jangle pop also had some folk-rock overtones, but it was essentially a pop-based format. Jangle pop wasn't mainstream music -- the bands' lyrics were often deliberately cryptic and their sound was raw and amateurish, bearing all the signs of do-it-yourself productions. Jangle pop was a major force between 1984 and 1987 -- not only were there Southern-pop bands like R.E.M. and Let's Active, there were the Paisley Underground bands on the West Coast who were more psychedelic, and there were numerous bands scattered throughout the Midwest. In the late '80s, the sound fell out of favor, mainly because there were so many bands that sounded similar and were indistinguishable from each other. Though R.E.M. managed to cross over into the mainstream -- in fact, the band became one of the most popular rock bands in the world -- many of the groups (including Uncle Green and Miracle Legion) simply ran out of steam by the early '90s and disbanded.

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon is a 1973 concept album by Pink Floyd. It deals with the issues surrounding a normal person's life, such as time, greed, conflict, travel, mental illness, and death.

It is considered by many fans to be the band's magnum opus (surpassing even The Wall). It was a landmark in rock music, featuring radio-suitable songs such as "Money", "Time", "Us and Them", and "Brain Damage/Eclipse" that also incorporate ethereal concrete sound techniques. Some critics use the album as a point of reference between "classic" blues rock and the then-new genre of electronic music. However, the work's softer touches of lyrical and musical nuance are what make Dark Side stand apart from its peers. All four of the band members participated in the writing and production: David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright.

The Dears - No Cities Left (2004)

Murray Lightburn, "writer and director" for the Montreal collective the Dears' elegant vocal style, gets plenty of Morrissey comparisons -- and rightly so -- but the Mozz would never be caught delivering a line like "It's the same old plot to these things," from the electrifying "Lost in the Plot," in a full-on primal scream. Lightburn may be a hopeless romantic, but his Canadian version of wine-drunk British doom and gloom owes a great deal more to bands like the Auteurs and the London Suede. No Cities Left, the group's long-awaited follow-up to 2001's critically acclaimed End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, is a sweeping chamber pop nightmare of post-apocalyptic heartbreak. Lightburn reluctantly visits the breakup ("We Can Have It"), the all-consuming grief ("The Death of All Romance"), false hopes of reconciliation ("The Second Part"), and finally, nerve-twitching acceptance ("No Cities Left"). All of this misery is wrapped in a mid-'80s Britpop wrapper that takes more twists and turns than the London paparazzi following Princess Di, resulting in a record that at its best sounds like a suicidal combination of Blur and the Divine Comedy -- "Never Destroy Us," the winsome duet with keyboardist Natalia Yanchak is a fine example. The problem is, the skies are eternally gray in the Dears' Great White North, and though they may have successfully wrapped the smoky fingers of cabaret around the throat of rock & roll, the listener can't help but go down with the sad-sack ship. It's both long and long-winded. But it's hard not to ultimately fall for No Cities Left, even though there's a lingering sense of emptiness that permeates the air above it. In fact, maybe that's what Lightburn's trying to say: that in the end, it's what you put into the moment that matters, even if it's a knife.

The Police Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings

Despite their legendary status, the Police only released five albums during their brief reign from 1978-1983. In addition, the trio had amassed a healthy amount of both studio and live B-sides, plus songs that only appeared on soundtracks. For the 1993 four-CD box set Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, every single song the Police ever recorded is included. All the tracks were digitally remastered for the project, sounding superior to the original CD versions of the single albums. Also included is a 68-page booklet that includes an interesting (and often humorous) biography, a time line, and notes from all three bandmembers regarding the rarities that appear for the first time on compact disc here. But of course, the real charm of the box set is the music -- album tracks ("Hole in My Life," "It's Alright for You," "Driven to Tears"), hits ("Message in a Bottle," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Spirits in the Material World"), and rarities ("Fallout," a live version of "Next to You") are all timeless classics. While the set is highly recommended to newcomers just discovering the wonders of the Police, longtime fans should consider replacing their tinny-sounding single CDs with the definitive Message in a Box. After all, it contains a total of 24 tracks unavailable (for the most part) anywhere else.

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

In the Court of the Crimson King is the title of a 1969 album by the British progressive rock group King Crimson.

The album opens with a track called "21st Century Schizoid Man", which features heavily distorted vocals, a driving mechanical rhythm and piercingly loud saxophone and guitar. The pace then abruptly changes with a gentle melodic piece called "I Talk to the Wind". "Moonchild" is an ethereal psychedelic piece which closes with a quiet freeform improvisation. Both "Epitaph" and the title track, "In the Court of the Crimson King", feature sweeping mellotron orchestrations.

The album was remastered and re-released in the late 1990s.

Along with songs by Yes, the King Crimson song "Moonchild" was used to great effect in the 1998 movie Buffalo 66

Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire (1996)

Evil Empire is the second album by Rage Against the Machine. It was released on April 15, 1996, almost four years after the band's first, self-titled album.

The album's title is taken from the phrase evil empire, which was used by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and many Western conservatives in describing the former Soviet Union.

Evil Empire debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200.

Alice Cooper - Greatest Hits (1974)

AMG Review
With the future of the original Alice Cooper band in doubt by mid-1974 (they would soon break up for good with Alice going solo), Warner Bros. decided to issue a best-of compilation entitled Greatest Hits. If you're a newcomer to Alice, this 12-track compilation is a must-hear -- all the selections are exceptional. While many have chosen to focus primarily on Cooper's theatrics over the years, the original band members were indeed supreme rock songwriters; such anthems as "I'm Eighteen," "Under My Wheels," "School's Out," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" are unquestionably among the finest hard rock tracks of all time. And the other selections prove to be just as strong -- "Is It My Body," "Desperado," "Be My Lover," "Elected," "Billion Dollar Babies," and "Muscle of Love" are all outstanding as well. The only criticism of the original release is that the collection overlooked the band's key album tracks never issued as singles, but the 2000 Rhino reissue corrected this with an expanded track listing.

Peter Gabriel - So (1986)

So is the fifth studio and seventh album overall released by British rock musician Peter Gabriel, released in 1986. Many of its songs reflect a more conventional pop-writing style which became radio hits. Others still retained Gabriel's dark, brooding sense of experimentalism and are held as classics by his more eclectic fans.

This is Peter Gabriel’s second album produced by Canadian artist Daniel Lanois. The previous year, the two of them had worked together on Birdy. Lanois had been previously known for his ambient collaborations with Brian Eno as well as producing U2 since 1984. As he had with the soundtrack to the film Birdy, Lanois brought many of his own ambient sensibilities to this recording.

Roxy Music - Stranded

Stranded is the third album by art rock band Roxy Music, and was released late 1973, reaching number one on the UK album charts. The cover features Ferry´s girlfriend and 1973's Playmate of the Year, Marilyn Cole. It was the first Roxy Music album on which Bryan Ferry was no longer the only songwriter, because Andy Mackay and guitarist Phil Manzarena also contributed to the album.

The track "Street Life" was released as a single and reached number 9 on the UK charts.

Paisley Underground

Paisley Underground
The Paisley Underground was the most distinctive subgenre of jangle pop in the mid-'80s. Like jangle pop, the bands in the paisley underground revived the clean, chiming textures of folk rock, but they had a more psychedelic bent to their sound. Jangle-pop bands weren't necessarily revivalists -- they updated the ringing guitars and melodies of '60s guitar pop for the '80s -- but the paisley underground was determined to keep the sound of the '60s alive, through their music and their appearance. The paisley underground gained a dedicated following in the American underground during the mid-'80s, but their audience declined in the late '80s and the scene soon disappeared

By far the most popular band to emerge from the movement was The Bangles, who have had massive mainstream success, although each of the best known groups released at least one album on a major label.
sounds it often features. It was paralleled in other parts of the world by genres such as New Zealand's The wider movement of which it is a part is named jangle pop after the ringing, light guitarDunedin Sound, whose chief exponents (such as The Chills and Sneaky Feelings) were often cited as directly comparable to Paisley Underground bands

Massive Attack - Live With Me 2006

It's a shame that this first single release from Massive Attack in three years is lifted from a greatest hits package (Collected) rather than a forthcoming new album, but at least it's a small morsel for fans to get their teeth into. Some extremely evocative and rich vocals come courtesy of soul legend Terry Callier, who builds Live With Me to a mesmerising climax against a backdrop of lush, expansive strings and a rolling, hypnotic bassline. It's clear the band have lost none of their distinctive edge - let's just hope we're not in for another three year wait for more fresh material.

Faith No More - Angel Dust

Angel Dust, released in 1992 (see 1992 in music), was the fourth studio album by US rock band Faith No More, and the second to feature vocalist Mike Patton.

Angel Dust is a very complex and at times hard to approach album. Although much of the material retains the straightforward pop-rock sound which made them famous ("Midlife Crisis", "A Small Victory", "Everything's Ruined"), elsewhere the band begin to drift into less familiar and more experimental territory. The album often indulges in Patton's penchant for screaming aggressive vocals and deliberately offensive lyrics ("Jizzlobber", "Malpractice", "Be Aggressive").

These unusual moments arguably make the album unique amongst the band's output, at a time when they were beginning to lose out to grunge in the commercial stakes. Other notable features of the album include the white trash-baiting monologue of "RV" (a truly odd song; piano-driven and in waltz-time), and the band's version of the theme from Midnight Cowboy. Fans still consider this album to be Faith No More at their finest. The later versions of the album included the Commodores cover, 'Easy', which hit it big in the UK, Aus & all of Europe. Still the album did not match the sales figures of that of The Real Thing in the US. But everywhere else it matched or outsold "The Real Thing", specially in the UK, South America & Europe. To this day it is still held in very high regard as one of the most influential records of the 90s, with Kerrang! magazine naming it number one in the 50 most influential albums on the current music scene of 2003.

Surpisingly in the UK, with little promotion the album went straight to #2 in the Chart Albums and Faith No More had two UK top 10 hits with Midlife Crisis peaking at #10 and their biggest hit Easy at #3, making Angel Dust a chart success.

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams 1977

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Neil Percival Kenneth Robert Ragland Young, better known as Neil Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has become one of the most respected and influential musicians of his generation.

Young is recognizable for his high-pitched, nasal voice and for his deeply personal lyrics. Musically, most of Young’s work falls into one of two distinct styles. The first is an acoustic, country-tinged folk rock, heard on such songs as "Heart of Gold," "Old Man" and "Long May You Run." The other style is a grinding, lumbering form of hard rock, heard on songs like "Cinnamon Girl," "Southern Man" and "Rockin' in the Free World" and often recorded with the backing band Crazy Horse. He has also experimented with soul, swing, jazz, rockabilly, and electronica in his widely varied career.

Young came to prominence with folk rock band Buffalo Springfield in the mid-1960s. He reached his commercial peak during the singer-songwriter boom of the early 1970s with the albums After the Gold Rush and Harvest and his role in the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He has since fiercely refused commercial stardom, which has led him to create both durable, uncompromising music and outlandish experiments that have left critics, audiences and—in one notable case—his record label baffled.

Journey - Raised On Radio

Journey's ninth album, Raised on Radio, was released in May of 1986 on the Columbia Records label.

Following their two most successful albums, lead singer Steve Perry decided to take more control over the band's direction. Ross Valory and Steve Smith were fired from the band. The two were replaced by various studio musicians for the recording of Raised on Radio, including Randy Jackson (bass) and Larrie Londin (drums). Smith did record two tracks with Journey on the album.

Much of the album has a feel similar to Perry's solo album Street Talk. However, the classic Journey sound can still be heard on songs like "Girl Can't Help It", "Suzanne", and the long time concert staple "Be Good to Yourself". The album closer and ballad "Why Can't This Night Go on Forever", similar to that of "Faithfully", also achieved minor chart success.

Highest Chart Position: #4

AC-DC - Rare Tracks

AC/DC is an Australian hard rock band.

The group formed in Sydney, Australia in December, 1973. Their albums have sold in colossal numbers, the total now being estimated at well in excess of 150 million copies worldwide, with the 1980 album Back in Black selling over 21 million in the US alone and 40+ world wide. The band has had two distinctive lead singers, and its fans tend to divide its history into the "Bon Scott era (1974-80)" and the "Brian Johnson era (1980-present)".

Although the group is generally considered to be a pioneer of hard rock and heavy metal music, the members have always referred to their music as rock 'n' roll. Their music is rhythm & blues-based with a higher level of distortion in the lead and rhythm guitars. Overall, AC/DC is the most successful and well-known rock band to hail from Australia, ahead of other notables such as INXS.

The Rolling Stones - Get Satisfaction... If You Want!

Culled from a series of early British Broadcasting Corporation television and radio appearances from 1963 to 1965, this collection of cover songs along with early hits like "The Last Time" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is superb all around. The album is also noteworthy for the brief interviews sprinkled throughout as the band contemplates the future and their success. Because these are radio recordings, the sound quality throughout is quite high given the technology available at the time. Highlights include "Cops and Robbers" and "Cry to Me."

Byrds - Farther Along

Farther Along is an album by American band The Byrds, released in 1971 (see 1971 in music). Well aware of the stinging criticism that Byrdmaniax was receiving (and none too pleased with the album themselves), The Byrds promptly dispensed with Terry Melcher again, headed off to London, England in the summer of 1971 and quickly cut a new album, producing the whole thing themselves.

Unfortunately, the damage inflicted by Byrdmaniax was not undone, and Farther Along went largely unnoticed upon release, stalling at 152 in the U.S. (and failing to appear on the U.K. charts) and it disappeared quickly.

It would also turn out to be the last Byrds studio album with its latter day line-up and on Columbia Records. By 1972, Roger McGuinn had broken up the Columbia Byrds to facilitate a reunion of the original 1965 group (with David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke) and a "comeback" album.

Indie Rock

Indie Rock
Indie rock takes its name from "independent," which describes both the do-it-yourself attitudes of its bands and the small, lower-budget nature of the labels that release the music. The biggest indie labels might strike distribution deals with major corporate labels, but their decision-making processes remain autonomous. As such, indie rock is free to explore sounds, emotions, and lyrical subjects that don't appeal to large, mainstream audiences -- profit isn't as much of a concern as personal taste (though the labels do, after all, want to stay in business). It's very much rooted in the sound and sensibility of American underground and alternative rock of the '80s, albeit with a few differences that account for the changes in underground rock since then. In the sense that the term is most widely used, indie rock truly separated itself from alternative rock around the time that Nirvana hit the mainstream. Mainstream tastes gradually reshaped alternative into a new form of serious-minded hard rock, in the process making it more predictable and testosterone-driven. Indie rock was a reaction against that phenomenon; not all strains of alternative rock crossed over in Nirvana's wake, and not all of them wanted to, either. Yet while indie rock definitely shares the punk community's concerns about commercialism, it isn't as particular about whether bands remain independent or "sell out"; the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place. There are almost as many reasons for that incompatibility as there are indie-rock bands, but following are some of the most common: the music may be too whimsical and innocent; too weird; too sensitive and melancholy; too soft and delicate; too dreamy and hypnotic; too personal and intimately revealing in its lyrics; too low-fidelity and low-budget in its production; too angular in its melodies and riffs; too raw, skronky and abrasive; wrapped in too many sheets of Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr./Pixies/Jesus & Mary Chain-style guitar noise; too oblique and fractured in its song structures; too influenced by experimental or otherwise unpopular musical styles. Regardless of the specifics, it's rock made by and for outsiders -- much like alternative once was, except that thanks to its crossover, indie rock has a far greater wariness of excess testosterone. It's certainly not that indie rock is never visceral or powerful; it's just rarely -- if ever -- macho about it. As the '90s wore on, indie rock developed quite a few substyles and close cousins (indie pop, dream pop, noise-pop, lo-fi, math rock, post-rock, space rock, sadcore, and emo among them), all of which seemed poised to remain strictly underground phenomena.

Skunk Anansie - Paranoid & Sunburnt

1. Selling Jesus
2. Intellectualise My Blackness
3. I Can Dream
4. Little Baby Swastikkka
5. All In The Name Of Pity
6. Charity
7. It Takes Blood & Guts To Be This Cool, But I'm Still Just A Cliche
8. Weak
9. And Here I Stand
10. 100 Ways To Be A Good Girl
11. Rise Up

Paranoid and Sunburnt is the first studio album by British rock band Skunk Anansie, first released in 1995.

Incubus - Make Yourself

1. Privilege
2. Nowhere Fast
3. Consequence
4. The Warmth
5. When It Comes
6. Stellar
7. Make Yourself
8. Drive
9. Clean
10. Battlestar Scralatchtica
11. I Miss You
12. Pardon Me
13. Out From Under

Incubus (vocals and percussion), ( is a five-man alternative rock band based out of Calabasas, CA. Members include Brandon BoydMike Einziger (guitar), Ben Kenney (bass), Jose Pasillasdrums) and DJ Kilmoreturntables). Former members of the band include DJ Lyfe (turntables) and Alex Katunich (a.k.a. Dirk Lance) (bass). The band's name may seem a peculiar choice to fans, as an incubus is a type of demon that, in mythological lore, lured women to bed and impregnated them. The story behind the name is that the band needed to think of a name hours before their first show and, after a few failed choices, Mike looked in a dictionary and chose "Incubus" almost at random. Mike says that the name was chosen because it sounded silly; Brandon holds that it was chosen because they were teenagers and the definition had the word "sex" in it. "We really didn’t want to rape woman in their sleep. But, we were fifteen and it seemed harmless to us then, and we never changed it," says the band. Incubus has also tried to cover its tracks by stating that they got the name from a plant in South America that produces mind-altering chemicals. However, the fabled Incubus plant does not actually exist.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4XOQEHP

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Fishbone - The Essential Fishbone (2003)

The Essential Fishbone is a look back at band's rowdy rock party, a definitive selection of classics for the casual fan, but also a decent collection for Fishbone loyalists. Early hits "Party at Ground Zero" and "Skankin' to the Beat" -- rooted in Fishbone's signature frantic ska -- are featured, as well as the bass-driven staple "When Problems Arise." Other highlights consist of "Freddie's Dead" and "Bonin' in the Boneyard," but fans will be pleased with the chosen cuts from 1991's stunning release The Reality of My Surroundings. Everything after that, with the exception of "Unyielding Condition" and "Lemon Meringue" from 1993's lackluster Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe, is ignored. That's OK though, for The Essential Fishbone is solid enough to last without the oddly experimental moments made on Chim Chim's Badass Revenge (1996) and The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx (2000).

1. Party At Ground Zero
2. Cholly
3. Skankin' To The Beat
4. When Problems Arise
5. Freddie's Dead
6. It's A Wonderful Life (Gonna Have A Good Time)
7. Movement In Light
8. Bonin' In The Boneyard
9. Unyielding Conditioning
10. Everyday Sunshine
11. Change
12. Fight The Youth
13. Ma And Pa
14. Lemon Meringue
15. Lyin' Ass Bitch
16. Sunless Saturday

http://rapidshare.de/files/10910034/TEF.zip.html

Faith No More - Songs to Make Love To

1. Easy (Lionel Ritchie Cover)
2. Das Schutzenfest
3. Midnight Cowboy
4. Let's Lynch The Landlord (Dead Kennedys Cover, duh)

Faith No More was an influential metal and alternative rock group that formed in San Francisco, California in 1982 and disbanded in 1998. The band is probably best known for the singles "Epic" and "Falling to Pieces" from their 1989 album The Real Thing, and, particularly in Europe, for their cover version of the Commodores' classic "Easy".

Their music is difficult to categorize neatly, but is rooted in heavy metal. In some ways they anticipated the nu metal of the late 1990s, combining angular, distorted guitars with big poprap-style vocals; the astounding vocals of Mike Patton adding greatly to Faith No More's distinctive sound. Faith No More have been classified as alternative metal, demonstrating their talent for incorporating elements of funk, rap, soul and synth pop into their sound choruses and occasional.

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Funk Metal

Funk Metal
Funk Metal takes the loud guitars and riffs of heavy metal and melds them to the popping bass lines and syncopated rhythms of funk. Funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger funk underpinning than metal. The bands that followed relied more on metal than funk, though they retained the wild bass lines. Like heavy metal, the genre became a way to showcase instrumental prowess.

Echo and the Bunnymen

Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain (1984)

Channeling the lessons of the experimental Porcupine into more conventional and simple structural parameters, Ocean Rain emerges as Echo & the Bunnymen's most beautiful and memorable effort. Ornamenting Ian McCulloch's most consistently strong collection of songs to date with subdued guitar textures, sweeping string arrangements, and hauntingly evocative production, the album is dramatic and majestic; "The Killing Moon," Ocean Rain's emotional centerpiece, remains the group's unrivalled pinnacle.

1. Silver
2. Nocturnal Me
3. Crystal Days
4. The Yo-Yo Man
5. Thorn Of Crowns
6. The Killing Moon
7. Seven Seas
8. My Kingdom
9. Ocean Rain

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Echo and the Bunnymen - Porcupine (1983)

The group's third album is a solid outing, a noticeably better listen than its predecessor, Heaven Up Here. Songs are intriguing and elaborate, often featuring swooping, howling melodic lines. Arrangements here owe a lot to 1960s psychedelia and feature lots of reverb, washed textures, intricate production touches, and altered guitar sounds. Ian McCulloch's vocals are yearning, soaring, and hyper-expressive here, almost to the point of being histrionic, most notably on "Clay," "Ripeness," and the title track. Driving bass and drums lend the songs urgency and keep the music from collapsing into self-indulgence. Parallels between the group's U.S. contemporaries such as Translator, Wire Train, and R.E.M. can be drawn, though all seem to have developed aspects of this style at about the same time -- and none utilize it as flamboyantly as the Bunnymen do. Highlights here include "Back of Love" (with its galloping drumbeat and fragmented yet ardent vocal line) and "Gods Will Be Gods" (which gradually speeds up from beginning to end, working itself into a swirling frenzy). This album is well worth hearing.

1. The Cutter
2. The Back Of Love
3. My White Devil
4. Clay
5. Porcupine
6. Heads Will Roll
7. Ripeness
8. Higher Hell
9. Gods Will Be Gods
10. In Bluer Skies

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Echo and the Bunnymen - Echo and the Bunnymen (1987)

This fine release (not to be confused with the self-titled 1983 EP) is the Bunnymen's best since their debut, Crocodiles. The album catches the group at a fortuitous career juncture; the clutch of songs here is among the hookiest and most memorable the band would ever write, while the arrangements are noticeably clean and punchy, mostly eliminating strings and similar clutter to focus almost exclusively on guitars, keyboards, drums, and occasional percussion touches. The warmly expressive "All My Life," and which might perhaps have received an overheated arrangement on prior albums, benefits especially from this approach. The band rocks out convincingly on other selections, such as "Satellite" and "All in Your Mind." Pete DeFreitas' solid drumming at times veers toward the danceable on tracks like "Lost and Found," "Lips Like Sugar," and the overtly Doors-influenced "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo." Surprisingly, vocalist Ian MuCulloch appears to have rediscovered the maxim "less is more"; his singing is comparatively restrained and tasteful here, resulting in a more natural, unforced emotiveness that is extremely effective. Production values are excellent, with many subtle touches that do not detract from the album's overall directness. In short, doing it clean really pays off here; this energetic, top-notch album is highly recomended.
1. The Game
2. Over You
3. Bedbugs & Ballyhoo
4. All In Your Mind
5. Bombers Bay
6. Lips Like Sugar
7. Lost and Found
8. New Direction
9. Blue Blue Ocean
10. Satellite
11. All My Lif

My Morning Jacket - Chapter 1 & 2

@192
Chapter 1 The Sandworm Cometh: Early Recordings

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Early Recordings, Chapter 2: Learning

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Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla (2005)

01. Hoppipolla
02. Med Blodnasir
03. Hafsol

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Mogwai - Ten Rapid

@ 320 Kbs

1. Summer
2. New Paths to Helicon (Pt.2)
3. Angels Vs. Aliens
4. I Am Not Batman
5. Tuner
6. Ithica 27-9
7. Place for Parks
8. New Paths to Helicon (Pt.1)
9. End

Password - verlorin

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Talk Talk - Laughing Stock

Talk Talk was a British music group that was active from 1981 to 1991. Principal members included singer/songwriter Mark Hollis, producer and co-writer Tim Friese-Greene, bassist Paul Webb, and drummer Lee Harris. The group is known for their early synthpop/New Wavepost-rock genre for their later experimental albums. singles, including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life, "Such a Shame" and "Life's What You Make It". They are also recognized as forerunners to the

Though they were identified with the New Wave movement and bands such as Duran Duran, Talk Talk had a progressive depth their contemporaries lacked. With the addition of unofficial fourth member Tim Friese-Greene in 1983, replacing Simon Brenner on keyboards and becoming producer for the band, each successive Talk Talk release became more sophisticated and original.

They eventually abandoned the New Wave style completely with Spirit of Eden (1988), an album founded on improvised structures and diverse, natural instruments (violin, harmonica) instead of a synth-driven, pop song mold. The less commercial sound did not go well with their label EMI, so they moved to Verve Records to release Laughing Stock in 1991. Laughing StockSpirit of Eden (which has been retroactively categorized as "post-rock" by some critics) and both are widely regarded as the group's masterpieces. crystallized the experimental sound the band started with

After Laughing Stock, the band broke up. Paul Webb and Lee Harris went on to form the band .O.rang, while Tim Friese-Greene started recording under the name Heligoland. In 1998, Mark Hollis released his eponymous debut Mark Hollis. Webb also collaborated under the name of Rustin Man with Beth Gibbons and released Out of Season in 2002.

Post-Rock/Experimental

Post-Rock/Experimental
Post-rock was the dominant form of experimental rock during the '90s, a loose movement that drew from greatly varied influences and nearly always combined standard rock instrumentation with electronics. Post-rock brought together a host of mostly experimental genres -- Kraut-rock, ambient, prog-rock, space rock, math rock, tape music, minimalist classical, British IDM, jazz (both avant-garde and cool), and dub reggae, to name the most prevalent -- with results that were largely based in rock, but didn't rock per se. Post-rock was hypnotic and often droning (especially the guitar-oriented bands), and the brighter-sounding groups were still cool and cerebral -- overall, the antithesis of rock's visceral power. In fact, post-rock was something of a reaction against rock, particularly the mainstream's co-opting of alternative rock; much post-rock was united by a sense that rock & roll had lost its capacity for real rebellion, that it would never break away from tired formulas or empty, macho posturing. Thus, post-rock rejected (or subverted) any elements it associated with rock tradition. It was far more concerned with pure sound and texture than melodic hooks or song structure; it was also usually instrumental, and if it did employ vocals, they were often incidental to the overall effect. The musical foundation for post-rock crystallized in 1991, with the release of two very different landmarks: Talk Talk's Laughing Stock and Slint's Spiderland. Laughing Stock was the culmination of Talk Talk's move away from synth-pop toward a moody, delicate fusion of ambient, jazz, and minimalist chamber music; Spiderland, meanwhile, was full of deliberate, bass-driven grooves, mumbled poetry, oblique structures, and extreme volume shifts. While those two albums would influence many future post-rock bands, the term itself didn't appear until critic Simon Reynolds coined it as a way to describe the Talk Talk-inspired ambient experiments of Bark Psychosis. The term was later applied to everything from unclassifiable iconoclasts (Gastr del Sol, Cul de Sac, Main) to more tuneful indie-rock experimenters like Stereolab, Laika, and the Sea and Cake (not to mention a raft of Slint imitators). Post-rock came into its own as a recognizable trend with the Chicago band Tortoise's second album, 1996's Millions Now Living Will Never Die, perhaps the farthest-reaching fusion of post-rock's myriad touchstones. Suddenly there was a way for critics to classify artists as diverse as Labradford, Trans Am, Ui, Flying Saucer Attack, Mogwai, Jim O'Rourke, and their predecessors (though most hated the label). Post-rock quickly became an accepted, challenging cousin of indie rock, centered around the Thrill Jockey, Kranky, Drag City, and Too Pure labels. Ironically, by the end of the decade, post-rock had itself acquired a reputation for sameness; some found the style's dispassionate intellectuality boring, while others felt that its formerly radical fusions had become predictable, partly because many artists were offering only slight variations on their original ideas. However, even as the backlash set in, a newer wave of bands (the Dirty Three, Rachel's, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Sigur Rós) gained wider recognition for their distinctive sounds, suggesting that the style wasn't exhausted after

The Cure - mixed up

An assortment of remixes, re-recordings, old singles, and one new song ("Never Enough"). Most of the remixes are quite radical, leaving only the bare bones of the original song. There are enough oddities and rare tracks on Mixed Up to make it necessary for Cure fans, but it's too specialized for casual listeners.

Blur - Parklife

Parklife is a Britpop album by the band Blur, released on April 25, 1994. Blur's sketches of British life among ordinary men and women prompted many reviewers to compare the band to The Kinks. The songs themselves span many genres, such as the Pet Shop Boys-esque hit single "Girls And Boys", the jazzy interlude of "The Debt Collector", the Oi! punk of "Bank Holiday", and the hard rocking "Trouble In The Message Centre". At the time of its release it acquired full-on cultural phenomenon status in Britain, particularly in the context of the young middle classes' adoption of Estuary English (several newspaper articles about this tendency appeared during the singles chart run of the album's title track). Although the album failed to chart in the US, "Girls & Boys" became a hit there, while Parklife became Blur's first UK #1 album, entering in the pole position upon its release. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Parklife the 20th greatest album of all time.

BLUR - Leisure

Leisure is the debut album by English rock band Blur, released 26 August 1991 and charting at #7 in the UK Albums Chart (see 1991 in British music). The album was released in the US a month later and featured various differences. The album was frontloaded with the three UK singles and the song "Sing" was replaced by b-side "I Know". Released during the waning days of the Shoegazing period, Leisure was considered an album that was catching the end of a trend, as were Blur. But they would reinvent themselves with their second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, in 1993. Sing Was to be included on the Trainspotting soundtrack.

Elastica - Elastica (1995)

Elastica's debut album may cop a riff here and there from Wire or the Stranglers, yet no more than Led Zeppelin did with Willie Dixon or the Beach Boys with Chuck Berry. The key is context. Elastica can make the rigid artiness of Wire into a rocking, sexy single with more hooks than anything on Pink Flag ("Connection") or rework the Stranglers' "No More Heroes" into a more universal anthem that loses none of its punkiness ("Waking Up"). But what makes Elastica such an intoxicating record is not only the way the 16 songs speed by in 40 minutes, but that they're nearly all classics. The riffs are angular like early Adam & the Ants, the melodies tease like Blondie, and the entire band is as tough as the Clash, yet they never seem anything less than contemporary. Justine Frischmann's detached sexuality adds an extra edge to her brief, spiky songs -- "Stutter" roars about a boyfriend's impotence, "Car Song" makes sex in a car actually sound sexy, "Line Up" slags off groupies, and "Vaseline" speaks for itself. Even if the occasional riff sounds like an old wave group, the simple fact is that hardly any new wave band made records this consistently rocking and melodic.