5 On A Friday : Friday X 5

March 21, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
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Friday, a lot of things to a lot of people,for instance today is Good Friday, it’s the end of the work week, an 80’s television late night variety show, Robinson Crusoe’s side kick, a restaurant chain, Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year and let’s not forget one of everyone’s favorite Bag Of Songs features 5 On A Friday. Enjoy.

1: Girl Talk – Friday Night
Buy Night Ripper
2: Joe Jackson – Friday
Buy I’m The Man
3: The Darkness – Friday Night
Buy Permission To Land
4: Lily Allen – Friday Night
Buy Alright Still
5: The Replacements – Love You Til Friday
Buy Sorry Ma Forgot To Take Out The Trash

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Top 25 Albums Of 2007 – 21 to 25

December 19, 2007 by · 1 Comment
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What do you really call a list like this, best of ?, top ? favorites ? it’s all so subjective in the end anyway and based on what you personally listened to. I listened to more music this past year than I have in a long time, so after much deliberation, roughly akin to organizing a pile of sand in the wind, I committed to a final 25 that for the sake of posting I’m going to call the Top 25 Albums Of 2007. The albums I enjoyed and listened to the most. If I looked at it again tomorrow I’d probably shuffle it around again but I had to stop somewhere or I’d never get it posted. So without further ado here’s number 21 to 25 of my top 25 albums of 2007. Expect some surprises.

21: Lily Allen – Alright Still The perfect summer album, big beats, plenty of sing a long lines, this blasted from my car stereo nearly all summer. At its best when it moves away from the more reggae influenced sound that dominates about half the album, the New Orleans piano riff of Knock Me Out and the swinging sixties sound of Everything’s Just Wonderful make them standout tracks.

MP3: Lily Allen – Everything’s Just Wonderful
Buy Alright Still

22: John Fogerty – Revival Due to some interesting industry restructuring John Fogerty ended up back on the label that had made most of his post Creedence years a legal hell. Who can ever forget about him being sued for sounding like himself. In doing so he ended up releasing what is possibly the best solo album since the band broke up. Lyrically one of the most directly political and biting albums of the year and filled with the signature guitar sound that made him the legend he is today.

MP3: John Fogerty – I Can’t Take It No More
Buy Revival

23: Wilco – Sky Blue Sky The seventies rock sound is something that had been creeping into indie rock for a while but no one really wanted it to lay claim it as a major influence. Wilco turned the page for everyone on that ideology with this one. Warm soft production laced with Nels Clines snaking guitar solos, Wilco took the sound of an era that inspired punk rock and made it relevant again.

MP3: Wilco – Impossible Germany
Buy Sky Blue Sky

24: Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin Opening their album with Is There A Ghost, one of the best single tracks of the year, set the bar pretty high for what followed. After the first couple listens I almost wrote this one off as a couple hits and a lot of filler, but it’s really a grower where repeated listenings pay off.

MP3 : Ode To LRC
Buy Cease To Begin

25: Holy F*ck – 2007 EP The first time I heard these guys was opening for !!! and was blown away. Their all instrumental dance music is created all manually, no sequencers or drum machines holding the mix together. To see these guys on stage manipulating a myriad of random equipment into something this beautiful and engaging is amazing. Six of their best songs and no filler on this one which I listened to quite a bit.

MP3 : Holy F*ck – Lovely Allen
Buy 2007 Limited Edition EP

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5 On A Friday : The Grammy Nominees

December 7, 2007 by · 1 Comment
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In what is generally one of the weaker lists of nominees for The Grammy Awards in recent memory, here’s a handful of standouts worth a mention.

Best Alternative Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental.)

1: Lily Allen – Alright, Still… [Capitol Records]
Everything’s Just Wonderful

2: Arcade Fire – Neon Bible [Merge Records]
Keep The Car Running

3: Bjork – Volta [Elektra/Atlantic]
Hope

4: The Shins – Wincing The Night Away [Sub Pop]
Turn On Me

5: The White Stripes – Icky Thump [Third Man/Warner Bros.]
Conquest

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YouTube Tuesday : SXSW 2007

March 20, 2007 by · Leave a Comment
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I wasn’t there, but thanks to the magic of YouTube we can all experience a piece of the annual music festival from deep in the heart of Texas, SXSW.
The Fratellis with Pete Townshend – The Seeker

Amy Winehouse – Rehab (acoustic)

Tom Morello with Slash and Perry Farrell

OreSkaBand – PANTIME, Hana no Ska Dance, Pinocchio

The Stooges – No Fun

Lily Allen – Heart of Glass (acoustic in-store)

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Lily Allen wants to knock you out

February 1, 2007 by · 1 Comment
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It’s been out since last July in the UK, but Lily Allen’s Alright,Still just saw US release this past Tuesday. Somehow I managed to avoid hearing any of it until a couple weeks ago. It’s probably not as good as the hype surrounding it, but it would make a damn good, summer,windows down, cruising in the car disc. About two thirds of the songs fall back on a basic reggae/ska formula that wears a little thin after a few listens but the other third take some chances on the rhythms and sound sources and really jump out as great singles. Knock ’em Out with its samba cha cha beat easily being the album’s shining star. There’s also a smooth sixties pop feel running through a lot of it, kind of like Petula Clark on steroids. It’s not all great but there’s plenty here that’ll have you hitting the repeat button.

MP3: Lily Allen – Knock ’em Out
MP3: Lily Allen – Alfie

UPDATE : Some Lily Allen live info for you

Lily Allen live video on the AT&T Blue Room

Catch Lily on this week’s(2/3/07) Saturday Night Live and again on 2/13/07 on Late Night with Conan O’Brien

Upcoming MTV DISCOVER & DOWNLOAD – Lily Allen Tour Dates
2/5/07 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Music Box
2/6/07 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
2/8/07 Chicago, IL Metro
2/10/07 New York, NY Webster Hall
2/12/07 Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of Living Arts
2/16/07 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
2/18/07 Boston, MA Axis

[BUY IT] [iTUNES] [WEBSITE] [MYSPACE] [HYPE]

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