My Favorite Music of the Decade

My wife and I our spending this week reflecting (like way too many people) about the best of the decade. Today we're both writing about our favorite music from the past 10 years; tomorrow and throughout the week we are both also writing what our favorite movies, books, and TV shows have been. You can see her list here.

I am not big on music; Diana's usually the ones discovering new bands. Still a few stood out--suprisingly Kelly Clarkson didn't make the list...it was a very close call.

It's too hard to call some of these albums better than others, so the list is in chronological order:

White Blood Cells - The White Stripes (2001) -- This was one of the first album's I ever bought--I rarely ever buy albums (or download them for that matter). When I "Fell in Love with a Girl," I went to the store right away, and have bought every album they've did since.

Nirvana - Nivana (2002) -- This is cheating a little, but the album featured the unreleased track, "You Know You're Right," which was a great song.

Mouthfuls - Fruit Bats (2003) -- This is one of the first bands Diana ever recommended to me, and I'm glad she did; I love both of their records, but this one always stands out.

The Grey Album - Danger Mouse (2004) -- Why this album is illegal is beyond me--something this good should be beyond laws.

Wolfmother - Wolfmother (2005) -- They rip off Led Zeppelin in almost everyway, but boy do I love them.

Black Holes & Revelations - Muse (2006) -- They're a louder version of Cold Play, yes, but I never get tired of listening to them.

The Crane Wife - The Decemberists (2006) -- This album is more like listening to a story (a very good one) than an album.

Modern Times - Bob Dylan (2006) -- Listening to this record was like sitting in an old blues bar; it was really like nothing I've heard before, and it never has grown old on me.

Neon Bible - Arcade Fire (2007) -- The first time I heard "Intervention" played on the radio, I was sold.

Riot! - Paramore (2007) -- It's pop rock and it's catchy; I listen to the album way too much.

The Bravest Band Around? Perhaps...

I've been enjoying the local SoCal band "Airborne Toxic Event" lately...especially their catchy single "Sometime Around Midnight."

When Pitchfork completely slammed their record, I didn't mind; I don't really read Pitchfork so I didn't even notice.

While most bands would simply shrugged and silently curse the reviewer, Airborne Toxic did something every artist kind of wants to do...they wrote a response.

Nearly every newspaper that published a review of "Quiet, Please" wrote favorable reviews, but there was two or three that wrote something a little less favorable. Writers always say they ignore reviews of their books, which sounds good on paper--but I know few that actually do; I've been reading all the great tributes to David Foster Wallace on McSweeney's, and one that stuck out was a guy who talk about him being upset at a bad review; I thought to myself, "man, there's one of the world's greatest writers, who has to know he's the best, and he even takes offense at a bad review." The fact is a bad review means there's someone out there who just doesn't understand you; we all want to be understood and it's frustrating, especially as a writer, when you're not.

But there's an unwritten rule about reviews...you tell everyone you don't take it personally, and you never respond to the bad review or reviewer directly. That makes you sound sort of like an arrogant jerk who can't take criticism.

That's why Airborne's response is so interesting. It's really quite ballsy on their part because they risk a great many people saying what a bunch of whiners. They are a quite unique band, and I applaud them for standing up against a reviewer who obviously doesn't know what he is talking about.

Mark Twain once said of critics, "Unless the bastards have the courage to give unqualified praise, I'd say ignore them." While I found it quite courageous of Airborne to write that response (and it was a very well written one), I'd prefer to take the Mark Twain wussy way out and ignore them...

The Dylan Harmonica

Bob Dylan is releasing his own line of Harmonica in a limited edtion set. The deluxe set (see
picture below) will go for 700 bucks; a smaller, but equally nice, one piece gift set will set you back 100 bucks. Dylan fans can get full details on both sets here.

Free Music Download

The Cold War Kids have new CD coming out in September (Loyalty to Loyalty), and have released a single off the record for free; follow that link, and you'll have the song for free.

You won't be disappointed...it's by far the catchy song I've heard all year; it's not there best song (my personal favorite is "Saint John" and "Quiet, Please" (no I did not name my book after it)), but it is the most radio accessible, pop-like, and, like I said, catchy!

I give my guarantee (which really amounts to nothing) that this song is going to be big once radio stations start pushing it.

Last year Rolling Stone called them one of the best new acts around; download the song and see why. Feel free to comment your thoughts below when you hear it...

New Dylan Bootlegs

Fans of Bob Dylan, rejoyce! October 7th will see the release of Dylan's eigth bootleg series CD! Titled "Tell Tale Signs." The two disc set will include songs composed between 1989 and 2006. The CD, as has been the case with all the Bootleg Series CDs, will contain a 60 page booklet.

This isn't big news to anyone who doesn't love Dylan, but Dylan lovers can testify that these CDs are just as good (sometimes better) then studio albums by the bard.

Track Listing
Disc One
1. Mississippi 6:04 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
2. Most of the Time 3:46 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
3. Dignity 2:09 (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
4. Someday Baby 5:56 (Alternate version, Modern Times)
5. Red River Shore 7:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
6. Tell Ol' Bill 5:31 (Alternate version, North Country soundtrack)
7. Born in Time 4:10 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
8. Can't Wait 5:45 (Alternate version, Time Out of Mind)
9. Everything is Broken 3:27 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
10. Dreamin' of You 6:23 (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
11. Huck's Tune 4:09 (From Lucky You soundtrack)
12. Marchin' to the City 6:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
13. High Water (For Charley Patton) 6:40 (Live, August 23, 2003,Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)

Disc Two
1. Mississippi 6:24 (Unreleased version #2, Time Out of Mind)
2. 32-20 Blues 4:22 (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
3. Series of Dreams 6:27 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
4. God Knows 3:12 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
5. Can't Escape from You 5:22 (Unreleased, December 2005)
6. Dignity 5:25 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
7. Ring Them Bells 4:59 (Live at The Supper Club, November 17, 1993,New York, NY
8. Cocaine Blues 5:30 (Live, August 24, 1997, Vienna, VA)
9. Ain't Talkin' 6:13 (Alternate version, Modern Times)
10. The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore 2:51 (Live, June 30, 1992,Dunkerque, France)
11. Lonesome Day Blues 7:37 (Live, February 1, 2002, Sunrise, FL)
12. Miss the Mississippi 3:20 (Unreleased, 1992)
13. The Lonesome River 3:04 (With Ralph Stanley, from the album Clinch Mountain Country)
14. 'Cross the Green Mountain 8:15 (From Gods and Generals Soundtrack)

Why You Shouldn't Feel Guilty for Illegal Downloading

Yahoo! announced last week that it is doing away with its music service; so what happens to all the people who used Yahoo! to buy music? The easiest way to explain things: you're screwed. If you did a lot of downloading, then you better start backing up that music on CDs and then ripping it back onto the computer, because that's about the only way to get rid of the DRM.

To all those laughing and saying that didn't happen because you use iTunes...well your time could come to. Apple makes a lot of money off their little iTunes store, but they've screwed their customers over big time in the past. They've walked away from their customers in the past, and you better believe they'll do it again if they want to focus their energies on something else.

The problem that everyone is complaining about, is, of course DRM. When you buy a song with DRM you don't really buy the song; you buy the rights to play it on your computer or iPod, but if the company wants to they can just stop supporting that DRM at any moment.

Until the music industry comes up with a better solution...like get rid of DRM entirely...then why are people supposed to stop downloading music? Piracy is the easiest and most practical way to get a lot of music; iTunes is a bit of a hassle--especially if you don't want MP4 files.

As Seen In Quiet, Please: The Long Blondes

If you have read "Quiet, Please," then you probably will remember the name "The Long Blondes." They're librarians turned indie rockers. They are crossing the pond this summer to tour the U.S. If you'd like to check them out live, check the dates below and see if they'll be in your town.

The Flobots

I don't get excited about music often (unless it's Bob Dylan), but every once in awhile a group comes around that actually has smart lyrics and a nice sound...meet The Flobots; they've been around a couple months, but their single "Handlebars" is finally getting coverage on the radio. The songs good (the video is awesome), but the album is great. Take a listen for yourself...