Top 5 of... anything !

Nassim
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Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nassim »

Hi all, I'm stealing this thread from last.fm where I just posted what will follow.

The idea is to post a top 5 (or more) of anything you want. So go ahead, be imaginative, give us your 5 favourite facial hair in rock music, the 5 best songs below 1 minute, the most overused hip-hop clichés or whatever !

Top 5 best-of good bands I'd rather listen than any album of said band

I usually listen to full albums, this being said there are some bands that, as good as they are, were better at making great singles than great albums, some of them had the chance to have very good best-of released, here they are :

Special award :
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For me the best best-of ever released, succeeding in the very hard task of covering a band who released music so diverse as what the Beastie Boys did, going from hits to B-sides, screwing the chronological order in a brilliant way. That said, I love Paul's Boutique far too much to say that I'd rather listen to this.

5) Mano Negra - Best-Of

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Best-of often seems like pure marketing things, sometimes even released only so a band can be free of a contract with the label they had signed with. Here is an example of the opposite, a best-of that seems to be done with love for the band music more than anything else. Offering hits, live songs, a few unreleased tracks, following each other with an evidence rarely heard in a best-of, it's here the quality of the best-of that gives it a place on this hit more than the sheer quality of the albums of the band.

4) Blur - The Best Of or Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

ImageImage

Couldn't really make a choice there, both albums have their merits. Midlife while being longer lacks some crucial songs, but being released later has some gems from Think Tank, both are very good anyway. Like for the Beastie Boys, Blur's evolution makes a best-of quite hard to pull and both succeeds in this hard task, and that's this diversity this makes them more enjoyable than any of their albums for me. For the same reason the Cure could have deserved a spot in this top 5, but I still find Desintegration and Seventeen Seconds more enjoyable than any of their best-of. Some are very good though.

3) Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium I

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There's no way AMers will agree on this one, but I never fully enjoyed any of Stevie Wonder's classics of the 70s, there's always a bunch of tracks that lose me. That being said, he released so many great songs in this decade that packing them together makes an impressive result. You have to get the right best-of, you want to avoid having to suffer songs like "Happy Birthday" or "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Original Musiquarium might lack awesome early singles (Fingertips, Uptight, Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours) so you could prefer "Looking Back". I give the edge to Musiquarium for being shorter and, being released later, including Master Blaster which is one of my very favorite song of his.

2) The Chemical Brothers - Singles

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So sure, as an album made by DJs, there is a natural flow and brilliant transitions in Dig Your Own Hole or Surrender that can not be reflected in a best-of, that being said this best-of is so packed with killing hooks that it tops 4 great albums, hands down. There's so much to go apeshit about here.

1) Queen - Best-of I & II
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Queen is for me pretty much the definition of "singles band", almost unable to pull an album enjoyable from the start to the end. A Night of the Opera comes pretty close, News of the World & Innuendo might be a bit underrated and the first 2 albums have great shares of herois fantasy madness, but for a band that pulled that much through its career, all are deceptive. So sure, with those 2 best-ofs you will miss some great songs, even a couple of strange omissions (Keep Yourself Alive and Princes of the Universe) and you will have to go through a bunch of lame ballads (which would in a perfect world be replaced by the charming ones like Spread Your Wings, My Melancholy Blues and some others) , but it showcases a talent much broader than any of their albums.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by John »

Top 5 guitars based on looks alone:

A couple traditionals.

5. Gibson Les Paul

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4. Epiphone Casino

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And a few customs:

3. Red White and Blue Mosrite

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2. Prince's Cloud Guitar

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1. Noel Gallagher's Epiphone Sheraton

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Zorg
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Zorg »

Top 5 second-to-last songs on an album

(The Creator Has A Masterplan on Karma by Pharoah Sanders would be an easy number 1, but I reckon that's cheating)
(also, this is almost entirely arbitrary - furthermore I'm not picking the "best" second to last songs, but those that are in my opinion the most effective, those that bring their album perfectly (almost) to a close, so while Like Spinning Plates is far from my favourite Radiohead song, I think it definitely fits its second-to-last role stunningly)

1. The Wrens - 13 Months in 6 Minutes (from The Meadowlands)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POK_PEgGVLI

2. Radiohead - Like Spinning Plates (from Amnesiac)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezOAxhYo9vE

3. R.E.M. - Nightswimming (from Automatic For The People - I'm now realising how futile it is to put the youtube links)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahJ6Kh8klM4&ob=av3n

4. Frank Zappa - The Gumbo Variations (from Hot Rats)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an71zLfrEwY (starts at 24:52)

5. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (from Funeral)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_aFmziaRdU
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nick »

Top 5 Debut Albums

5. The Doors- The Doors
4. Television- Marquee Moon
3. The Velvet Underground- The Velvet Underground & Nico
2. Arcade Fire- Funeral
1. The Strokes- Is This It

Top 5 Sophomore Albums

5. Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
4. Pixies- Doolittle
3. Nirvana- Nevermind
2. Oasis- (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
1. LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver
Jirin
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Jirin »

Top 5 vowelless bands:

1. XTC
2. X
3. BLK JKS
4. SBTRKT
5. !!!
Gillingham
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Gillingham »

Top 5 Warp acts:

1. Boards of Canada
2. Autechre
3. Plaid
4. Aphex Twin
5. Flying Lotus
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by John »

Top 5 Warped Tour Acts: :D

1. Beck
2. Jurassic 5
3. The Specials
4. Weezer
5. Bjork
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nick »

Top 5 Albums by Artists That Only Made One Studio Album

5. Derek and the Dominos- Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
4. Janelle Monae- The ArchAndroid (See my comment below on the James Blake album)
3. James Blake- James Blake (Which is sort of cheap as he only put out his first album last year, but I'll let it slide)
2. Sex Pistols- Never Mind the Bollocks- Here’s the Sex Pistols
1. The Avalanches- Since I Left You
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nick »

Top 5 Final Studio Albums
*(Not including artists that only made one studio album)
*(Not including any albums less than 5 years old unless the artist has stopped making music)

5. Nick Drake- Pink Moon
4. Nirvana- In Utero
3. Joy Division- Closer
2. My Bloody Valentine- Loveless
1. Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Top 5 Live Albums

5. The Who- Live at Leeds
4. Talking Heads- Stop Making Sense
3. The Allman Brothers Band- At Fillmore East
2. Johnny Cash- At Folsom Prison
1. James Brown- Live at the Apollo 1963
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Dan
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Dan »

Top 5 Sopranos

For those who can be distracted from the realm of contemporary music and lured into the world of opera, here’s my list of top 5 sopranos. A desire to make this list overwhelmed me immediately after forcing myself to listen to Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville for the 1993 poll. I’m sorry to sound like a prat and annoy all the Liz Phair fans on this forum, but OMFG, that woman has such a limited range and her singing is so dreadfully fucking one-dimensional. But I guess I should thank that painful listening experience for making me revisit some wonderful arias and songs performed by the great sopranos (the truly talented female voices) of the last 100 years or so.

The list of amazing sopranos is a very long one, but these are the ones that have stood out from the rest IMO. Maria Callas was great at showcasing her raw talent during live performances, and Renata Tebaldi arguably had the most beautiful voice of all, but at #1 on my list is Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson, a true all-rounder. She was/is often regarded as the greatest Wagnerian soprano of all time, and as the clip I chose for her below shows, even after hours of performing demanding Wagnerian arias, her laser beam voice could still hit those incredibly high notes with perfect control and clarity (not to mention emotional depth). And she was just as good with the Italian operas as she was with the German ones IMO. Anyway, here’s my list (it doesn’t include mezzo-sopranos – there’s a whole different repertoire for them)...

1. Birgit Nilsson

Composer: Richard Wagner
Opera: Tristan and Isolde
Aria: Liebestod
2. Renata Tebaldi

Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Opera: Tosca
Aria: Vissi d'arte
3. Maria Callas

Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Opera: Madama Butterfly
Aria: Un bel di vedremo
4. Lucia Popp

Composer: Richard Strauss
Song: Zueignung
5. Diana Damrau

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Opera: The Magic Flute
Aria: Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

Skip to 2:10 if you don't want to listen to the German dialogue at the start of the scene
Honorouble mentions:

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Opera: The Marriage of Figaro
Aria: Dove sono i bei momenti
Montserrat Caballe

Composer: Charles Gounod
Opera: Roméo et Juliette
Aria: Je veux vivre
Jessye Norman

Composer: Franz Schubert
Song: Ave Maria
...will keep us together.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by sonofsamiam »

I'm going to get extremely unfashionable here, but I've been re-exploring prog in an evidently sentimental pining for my teen days as I drift relentlessly into middle age.

So...top 5 tracks by various prog bands:

Rush

5. 2112 - Grand Finale (I'm cheating by going for the last few minutes, as the rest gets pretty bloated. But they never rocked better than here.)
4. Limelight
3. The Spirit of Radio
2. Subdivisions
1. La Villa Strangiato

Genesis

5. Firth of Fifth
4. Home by The Sea (needed something from the '80s)
3. Dance on a Volcano
2. In The Cage
1. Supper's Ready

Yes

5. Yours Is No Disgrace
4. South Side of The Sky
3. Close To The Edge
2. Tempus Fugit
1. Starship Trooper

King Crimson

5. Thela Hun Ginjeet
4. 21st Century Schizoid Man
3. The Court of The Crimson King
2. One More Red Nightmare
1. Starless


Ah, that feels better.

Oh, and great list of sopranos, Dan. Opera is like a final frontier for me (odd given the prog predilection, I know); this looks like a good place to start.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Jackson »

Prog may be unfashionable, but I've never seen anything wrong with liking King Crimson and Yes.

Yes:
1. Close to the Edge
2. Starship Trooper
3. Siberian Khatru
4. Heart of the Sunrise
5. And You And I

The Close to the Edge album is just a masterpiece. Perfect mix of instrumental complexity/virtuosity and beauty.

King Crimson
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. Starless
3. One More Red Nightmare
4. Epitaph
5. Fallen Angel

I've listened to more outside Red and In the Court of the Crimson King, but those two tower over everything else. The Great Deceiver and both of the Larks Tongue in Aspic tracks get honorable mention. Starless used to be my favorite, but recently Schizoid Man had a resurgence for me. Its one of those songs where I sit back and wonder how people actually made it. So crazy, so different from any other song I've heard...top 10 all time.

I've never had a Rush or Genesis phase, but "YYZ" is a killer track
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Jackson »

And to add one of my own:

Top 5 My Bloody Valentine songs not on Loveless
1. Off Your Face
2. Drive It All Over Me
3. You Made Me Realize
4. Feed Me With Your Kiss
5. We Have All the Time in the World
sonofsamiam
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by sonofsamiam »

Jackson wrote:Prog may be unfashionable, but I've never seen anything wrong with liking King Crimson and Yes.

Yes:
1. Close to the Edge
2. Starship Trooper
3. Siberian Khatru
4. Heart of the Sunrise
5. And You And I

The Close to the Edge album is just a masterpiece. Perfect mix of instrumental complexity/virtuosity and beauty.

King Crimson
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. Starless
3. One More Red Nightmare
4. Epitaph
5. Fallen Angel

I've listened to more outside Red and In the Court of the Crimson King, but those two tower over everything else. The Great Deceiver and both of the Larks Tongue in Aspic tracks get honorable mention. Starless used to be my favorite, but recently Schizoid Man had a resurgence for me. Its one of those songs where I sit back and wonder how people actually made it. So crazy, so different from any other song I've heard...top 10 all time.

I've never had a Rush or Genesis phase, but "YYZ" is a killer track
Yeah, sometimes, as with King Crimson, the conventional wisdom is correct. I'm still a huge Red fan above all else.

If you like "YYZ" due to the lack of vocals (can't blame people for this given Geddy), have you tried "La Villa Strangiato"? It's ridiculous, apparently played live in one take, but more tongue-in-cheek (in places) as well as more beautiful (in other places) than Rush generally get credit for.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

top 5 reasons why I now HATE Female British Soul Singers (top 5 Reasons Dusty Springfield is rolling over in her grave)

5. Joss Stone
4. Duffy
3. Kate Nash
2. Lily Allen
1. Adele
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

Top 5 CBGB-Era Artists

5. The Dead Boys
4. Ramones
3. Blondie
2. Patti Smith
1. Television

Top 5 Punk Deaths

5. Billy Murcia
4. Jerry Nolan
3. Joe Strummer
2. Sid Vicious
1. Dee Dee Ramone

Top 5 Groupies

5. Cynthia Plaster Caster
4. Connie Gripp
3. Pamela Des Barres
2. Starr Sabble
1. Nancy Spungen

Top 5 hipster songs featured on HBO's Girls [see context they were used]

*TIE* 5. Lady - Pussy Be Yankin/Best Coast - Our Deal
4. Oh Land - White Nights
3. Camera Obscura - French Navy
2. The Knife - Heartbeats
1. Robyn - Dancing on My Own

Top 5 David Lynch-Related Instrumentals

5. Pretty 50s (from Mulholland Drive)
4. Falling [Instrumental] (from Twin Peaks)
3. Audrey (from Twin Peaks)
2. Blue Velvet Main Title (from Blue Velvet)
1. Honky Tonk Part I (from Blue Velvet)

Top 5 David Lynch-Related Songs

5. Falling (from Twin Peaks)
4. In Dreams (from Blue Velvet)
3. I've Told Every Little Star (from Mulholland Drive)
2. Into the Night (from Floating Into the Night by Julee Cruise)
1. Llorando (from Mulholland Drive)

Top 5 Liz Phair tracks

5. Glory
4. Fuck and Run
3. Divorce Song
2. Go West (Demo)
1. Canary

Top 5 Overrated Records

5. The Beatles - Revolver
4. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
3. The Doors - The Doors
2. Jeff Buckley - Grace
1. Strokes - Is This It

Top 5 Poets whose reading sound good on Record

5. William S Burrougs
4. Jack Keroauc
3. Patti Smith
2. Allen Ginsberg
1. Captain Beefheart

Top 5 Artists that emerged from the No Wave Scene

5. James Chance & The Contortions
4. Mars
3. Lydia Lunch
2. Swans
1. Sonic Youth

Top 5 "Gal Walking 'Round Her 'Hood" songs

5. Rihanna - What's My Name
4. Alicia Keys - Girlfriend
3. Me'Shell Ndegéocello - If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
2. Jill Scott - Gettin' in the Way
1. Erykah Badu - Me

Top 5 Sheer Brillant David Byrne Songs about The Wonderful Chemistry of Common Life

5. With Our Love
4. Happy Day
3. Mind
2. Air
1. Don't Worry About The Government

Top 5 Tracy Chapman Songs not from Her debut album

5. Heaven's Here on Earth
4. Telling Stories
3. Crossroads
2. Give Me One Reason
1. Bang Bang Bang

Top 5 Jazz Artists to listen while reading Fitzgerald

5. Bill Evans Trio
4. Art Blakey
3. Charles Mingus
2. John Coltrane
1. Miles Davis

Top 5 Underrated Punk Gems

5. X - Los Angeles
4. Patti Smith - Ask the Angels
3. The Clash - Janie Jones
2. Richard Hell - Love Comes in Spurts
1. The Replacements - Androgynous

Top 5 "The Dean Got Wrong" Albums

5. Tim Buckley - Starsailor
4. King Crimson - In the Court of the Krimson King
3. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
2. The Smiths - The Smiths
1. Joanna Newsom - Ys

Top 5 Philip Glass albums

5. Music in Twelve Parts
4. Einstein on the Beach
3. Glassworks
2. Piano Solos
1. Koyaanisqatsi

Top 5 Madonna Covers

5. Tori Amos - Like a Prayer
4. Ciccone Youth - Into the Groove(y)
3. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
2. Elton John - Material Girl/Like A Virgin
1. Ciccone Youth - Burnin Up
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by John »

HRS wrote: 3. I've Told Every Little Star (from Mulholland Drive)
There's not many like Lynch who can take innocent songs like In Dreams and put an image in your head every time you hear the song that's miles away from where the song goes. It's like his scenes are creating a brand new song. I think I've Told Every Little Star takes the cake when it comes to the mental images I have when I hear it. It's a little creepy but not on the same level as In Dreams, but there's so many things going on in that scene and I can remember every piece of it as the song plays.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

Top 5 Hipster Bands/Musicians

5. Pavement
4. Joanna Newsom
3. Jeff & Tim Buckley/Nick Drake/Elliott Smith (Same Reasoning: sensitive,"soul bearing," songwriter + tragic ending=hipster following)
2. Neutral Milk Hotel
1. Tom Waits
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nick »

I'll give the whole "Top 5 Hipster Band/Musicians" thing a shot.

5. Pavement
4. Elliott Smith
3. Radiohead
2. Animal Collective
1. Neutral Milk Hotel
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Henrik
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Henrik »

This hipster genre seems great. Any more recommendations?
Everyone you meet fights a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

John wrote:
HRS wrote: 3. I've Told Every Little Star (from Mulholland Drive)
There's not many like Lynch who can take innocent songs like In Dreams and put an image in your head every time you hear the song that's miles away from where the song goes. It's like his scenes are creating a brand new song. I think I've Told Every Little Star takes the cake when it comes to the mental images I have when I hear it. It's a little creepy but not on the same level as In Dreams, but there's so many things going on in that scene and I can remember every piece of it as the song plays.
Yes! :mrgreen: I always remember of the iconic "She's the Girl!" line!

If I had listened to any of these tracks before, I'd sure imagine them being sung on a stage by the artist, or being played on a jukebox in a restaurant in the 60s whereas the teens would dance. Those very 50s-cliched stuff. Then he goes and changes everything. Now, everytime I listen to "In Dreams" it takes me back to the Blue Velvet scene when Frank and Ben are singing and the later one when Frank is yelling it as the song plays in the background and Dorothy is crying and Jeffrey has no idea of where things are going to end up at. It's a little different with I've Told Every Little Star, since I also think of the singer singing it in the dark, like in the woods - the innocence of her delivery contrasts so beautifully with the dark.

Last week, I read a book of David Lynch's interviews and he admits being a 50s aficionado. He even gives a nice example of how cars these days are much more boring since board computers do all the work and when you crash, it doesn't slash you in pieces :D Lynch also spoke of how he believes that the more darkness you allow yourself to perceive in your life, the more light you'll see. He goes as far as saying that the challenge of life is to balance this contrast, light and darkness. I really liked Lynch and he gave some great insights on arts without having to explain what his films mean and things that he believes that destroy the magic of the cinema - like, how was the baby of Eraserhead built or who's dreaming what on Mulholland Drive.

So, I don't know if Lynch is giving depth to 50s-early 60s tracks or if he's just helping us to realise that a song means what we want it to mean. He had these interpretations of these songs before using it. I guess it's common to overlook everything - except wasn't jazz - before the Beatles came out. I guess if someone gives an out there interpretation of a Patti Smith track, a Bob Dylan track or a Tom Waits track it's easier to buy because they carry this whole poetic personas, but a pretty simple love song like the ones Lynch uses suffer for being so straight about what they mean. Lynch plays with its meaning and interprets in his way, this is something that we can do given the subjectivity of music. I guess it is also a recurrent problem in poetry where people fight too much to figure what was going on in Rimbaud's head or Poe's mind or what did John Ashberry meant by this or any other poet instead of taking what it means to us to heart. It's weird, but Lynch changed my ways of facing arts.

I guess that's my whole problem with 2012 in music. In one of the parts of the book he affirms that if you're making art with "being different" in mind or "others", or "how'll be received", you might be doing for the wrong reasons. I feel that more than ever some artists are doing stuff for the sake of being hip or weird or different or Pitchfork-certified. I listened to the Grimes albums, I liked some tracks, but I always questioned myself why would she add some of that sounds on a otherwise great pop song that didn't add anything to it. I believe that is just for the sake of weirdness. Many bands jump on the Pitchfork bandwagon to get press and money, many tries to fit its sound to actually achieve this. This a Dirty Projectors press release for their new music video:

GUN HAS NO TRIGGER is about the possibility for true dissent, and how I can’t figure out what that could be. What is a 2012 Exodus from the Society of the Spectacle (to mix language Situationist and Rastafari)? So we made a video from the iconography of the default profile image used by Facebook and Gmail, and also the look of the classic Apple iPod commercials. The colors in the background are the ones I think of when I hear the harmonies of Amber and Haley (via experimental synesthesia). Enjoy!!

I've read this book - Society of the Spectacle. I've also searched other stuff he mentioned and this is my conclusion: name dropping shit. He's just putting this stuff out there to gain cred. Song is okay though.
It's the same way I feel about pop artists these days. They have these out there outfits for concerts and red carpets, but their music is just the same plain mainstream 4 minute pop song. You can put Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kesha and all the others in a room and they won't feel naturally weird like the freaks the inhabit Warhol's Factory back in the 60s. Many of today's music experiments just ring false to me now in comparison to other works. Captain Beefheart was weird, but even Trout Mask had its straight moments and in other records he didn't try to top that or be weird for the sake weirdness. He even releases plenty of accessible material before and after the seminal record. Maybe I'm realising this too late, but I feel like a good amount of contemporary artists - from major labels to DIY - are releasing records with reception and press in their mind. Even fans feel the need of "officialize" a love for a record only after its reception, like there's a need for legitimation that only critics can give. This reminded of a long talk - one of many - that I had with nj - netJade, whatever his name these days hahaha - about reception, critics, the British Press mania of supporting each other or destroying an icon they built, legitimation of opinion and how would I feel if the hype surrounding contemporary artists I enjoy (like Joanna Newsom, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, Sufjan Stevens, Deerhunter, etc etc) disappeared. Back in the day I was terrified about less than stellar reviews or nice year-end performances by them, but these days jade had a point and I feel like my perception of the material shouldn't been so much in the hands of the press.
Last edited by HRS on Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Zorg »

I wonder if any of you proggers have heard of Puppenhaus. I happened to pick up their album and the very first track sounds so much like 21st Century Schizoid Man it took me back. No vocals though, but it's still progressive jazz rock, and it's bitchin' at that.

Puppenhaus - Anfang (beginning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQchABeHQwo
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

Henrik wrote:This hipster genre seems great. Any more recommendations?

Yeah we should all have a poll for who we think the top hipster bands of all time are.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Henrik »

Rodneyontheblock wrote:
Henrik wrote:This hipster genre seems great. Any more recommendations?

Yeah we should all have a poll for who we think the top hipster bands of all time are.
To be honest, I really am not sure what a hipster band is. Rodneyontheblock, when I read your list, I know that you hate these bands and artists, so it seems to me that a hipster band for you is something negative. But for me, although hipsters are people who hate everything that is/becomes commercial and I have a different viewpoint, I think a lot of the hip(ster) bands are really good. Furthermore I think that a lot of your favorite bands are hipster bands too (and really good as well), for example My Bloody Valentine and Belle and Sebastian.
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Rodneyontheblock
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

Yes you are DEFINITELY right about My Bloody Valentine. If there were a top 10 they would definitely be in it. So I don't necessary hate all hipster bands. I even like some kitsch hipster bands like the Carpenters and Neil Diamond who prefer to Neil Young another HUGE hipster name who I think makes decent music.

Back to the top 5

Top 5 Bands/Artists that do NOT have a Career Retrospect Album or Box Set that deserve one
5. Blonde Redhead
4. Pale Saints
3. The Frames
2. Shonen Knife
1. The Catherine Wheel
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

Top 5 Watchmen closing quotes.

5. “Outside in the distance a wild cat did growl, two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.” (Bob Dylan)

4. "Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do." (Bob Dylan)

3. "Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" (William Blake)

2. "And I'm up while the dawn is breaking, even though my heart is aching. I should be drinking a toast to absent friends
instead of these comedians." (Elvis Costello)

1. “It would be a stronger world, a stronger loving world, to die in.” (John Cale)
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nick »

Henrik wrote:
Rodneyontheblock wrote:
Henrik wrote:This hipster genre seems great. Any more recommendations?

Yeah we should all have a poll for who we think the top hipster bands of all time are.
To be honest, I really am not sure what a hipster band is. Rodneyontheblock, when I read your list, I know that you hate these bands and artists, so it seems to me that a hipster band for you is something negative. But for me, although hipsters are people who hate everything that is/becomes commercial and I have a different viewpoint, I think a lot of the hip(ster) bands are really good. Furthermore I think that a lot of your favorite bands are hipster bands too (and really good as well), for example My Bloody Valentine and Belle and Sebastian.
A hipster band is a band that is beloved by hipsters. Whatever a hipster is. I would say that My Bloody Valentine and Belle and Sebastian are hipster bands.When I did my "top 5 hipster bands/musicians" list I wasn't ranking the 5 GREATEST hipster artists, I was ranking the 5 artists most beloved by hipsters. Whatever that is.
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

Adaptations of Hairspray might have been well received, but I still believe that they lack the excitement and joy that the 1988 original brings to the screen. A much successful satire of Retromania and a stronger medium for subtle social commentary than any of the versions that followed, the original Hairspray built on Walters' eccentric and shocking Midnight Movies while adding accessibility. I really like the soundtrack and the songs featured on it. It's not a musical, but you just feel the 60s and References to Dylan, the Beatnicks, a girl reciting the first lines of Allen Ginsberg's celebrated Howl - a favorite of mine - and even bad girl Amber warning her parents (the mother played by Debbie Harry) that "There's a Riot Goin' On" - ok, this was the 70s! This movie is smart, subtle, yet outrageous and exagerated, but never overstaying its welcome or driving away of its premise and into the tiresome road. Here's my top 5 songs featured on 1988's Hairspray.


5. The Five Du-Tones - Shake a Tail Feather
4. The Ikketes - I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)
3. The Flares - Foot Stomping
2. Rachel Sweet and Debbie Harry - Hairspray
1. Gene and Wendell - The Roach
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nick »

Top 5 Artists You are Most Likely to Hear at Your Local Supermarket/ On Your Local "Soft Rock" Radio Station-

5. Paul McCartney
4. Fleetwood Mac
3. Hall and Oates
2. Elton John
1. Billy Joel
John
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by John »

Nick wrote:Top 5 Artists You are Most Likely to Hear at Your Local Supermarket/ On Your Local "Soft Rock" Radio Station-

5. Paul McCartney
4. Fleetwood Mac
3. Hall and Oates
2. Elton John
1. Billy Joel
That's a fun one! I think I'd put Fleetwood Mac #1

I'd go:

1. Fleetwood Mac
2. Billy Joel
3. Chicago
4. Elton John
5. Hall and Oates

Honorable mentions: Sting/Police, McCartney/McCartney Beatles songs

And I will say that I really enjoy almost all of these bands other than Fleetwood Mac and Sting and the Police!
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Greg Rumpff »

Henrik wrote:
Rodneyontheblock wrote:
Henrik wrote:This hipster genre seems great. Any more recommendations?

Yeah we should all have a poll for who we think the top hipster bands of all time are.
To be honest, I really am not sure what a hipster band is. Rodneyontheblock, when I read your list, I know that you hate these bands and artists, so it seems to me that a hipster band for you is something negative. But for me, although hipsters are people who hate everything that is/becomes commercial and I have a different viewpoint, I think a lot of the hip(ster) bands are really good. Furthermore I think that a lot of your favorite bands are hipster bands too (and really good as well), for example My Bloody Valentine and Belle and Sebastian.
I've always thought a hipster band was someone you tell other people you like so they'll be impressed with your musical taste...as opposed to your ACTUAL musical preference. :D

I realize that sometimes the two may overlap, however...
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

Greg Rumpff wrote:
I've always thought a hipster band was someone you tell other people you like so they'll be impressed with your musical taste...as opposed to your ACTUAL musical preference. :D

I realize that sometimes the two may overlap, however...
I also use this way! :D

It's a very confusing term. There are those who say that being a hipster is being nothing more than an image, a good propaganda of the self using artistic preferences. I believe that hip bands are those that are in the middle of the road: They're not selling million, but they have online press, good word-of-mouth, receive accolades by critics and have their albums downloaded for free via torrent by thousands of people! I guess that it's not wrong to be a hip band, i guess most of those great artists had its hip era too, the time to be liked and receive all the respect by critics and music aficionados that can be given. I guess that there's a shock going on between a band with those characteristics, with online press, hype from blogs and sites like Pitchfork. The people that tend to unquestionably support these websites are deemed hipsters. But then, I search online and read in a forum a post that says that being a hipster these days is dislike Pitchfork - that the site is too mainstream. I have no idea of what is mainstream these days. I've read here people telling me they've seen people listening to stuff like Grimes and Dirty Projectors at work, so what are they hipsters? Are those artists mainstream? Is Indie Music mainstream? So, if hipsters can't be mainstream, why people say that those who support these kind of artists are hipsters? What is mainstream? And if the punk bands and post-punk bands of New York, of the old days of the late-Factory and CBGB were the ones earning hype and outside the mainstream bubble of the time, receiving attention from critics, underground fans and others, were they hip bands and their public hipster? And what about literature? Is The Beat Generation hip? Or French Surrealism? Or Cubism and German Expressionism? And what about cities like Vienna in the Nineteenth Century, Paris in the early Twentieth and New York afterwards? There are those people who tell me that hipster is a term used for those who like stuff that tend to be foraward-thinking in someway and avant-garde - in this case a lot of acclaimed genres, movements and artists are hip and i'm a hipster! What a headache!

Edit: The term hipster is so confusing that some will read this and see it as hipster commentary! :D
And some artists are acclaimed but they're not seen as hip at all - especially if they were active and commercial successful b.R. (before Radiohead) haha
Rodneyontheblock
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

well I live near Silverlake in California so I know what the look of a hipster is and I know who they consider kitsch. The old look of a hipster was pretty much the look of Badly Drawn Boy. The thick, heavy beard, shaggy hair and the wool cap. Now it's all about the animal eared hoodies which is fine if you're into that, just make sure you stay away from a drunken Ted Nugent who ironically hates hipsters (remember his rant of the beloved hipster staple Exile in Guyville)

Anyway here are the TOP 5 MOST PLAYED SONGS AT MY SUPERMARKET.
1. Everything Changes- Kathy Troccoli
2. Runaway Train- Soul Asylum
3. Fast Car- Tracy Chapman
4. You'll Be in My Heart- Phil Collins
5. That Thing You Do - Fountains of Wayne(????? or some form of the band even though Tom Hanks never officially acknowledged them as the band that his made up band was lip syncing to).
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Henrik
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Henrik »

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think that these three types are more common than soft rock in Swedish supermarkets.
1. "Elevator music"
2. A "modern" radio station
3. (no music)
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Zorg »

Thank god in Britain, we don't get any music in supermarkets! I'd hate to go about a shop with headphones in to drown out the sound of McCartney.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Jackson »

Top 5 Stereolab songs (been on a huge kick lately)

1. French Disko
2. The Noise of Carpet
3. Metronomic Underground
4. Jenny Ondioline
5. Ping Pong

Honorable mentions to Brakhage, Wow and Flutter, and Vonal Declosion.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Fred »

Jazz artists that are interresting if you are into rock:

Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Charles Mingus
Freddie Hubbard or Herbie Hancock
Archie Shepp
Cannonball Adderley
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

"Betcha" never thought about seeing some of these names around, so, riding the wave of that Call Me Maybe discussion (Albums of 2012 thread), here they are:

The Top 5 Annoying Teen Pop Songs (Hard to pick among many; Careful to not get yourself humming one of those)

Les Femmes

5. Spice Girls - Wannabe
4. Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
3. Lil Mama - Lip Gloss
2. Vanessa Hudgens - Sneakernight
1. Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA/7 Things

Les "Hommes"

5. Backstreet Boys - I Wanted that Way
4. New Kids on the Block - Step by Step
3. Hanson - MMMBop
2. N Sync - Bye Bye Bye


1. Justin Bieber - Baby
Rodneyontheblock
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

Top 5 bands that share the same name as another band. You know you've come across several when looking up bands on Allmusic.com
5. Heavenly
4. The Charlatans
3. The Primitives
2. REVOLVER
1. Nirvana

*Catatonia/Katatonia (left them out because of the different spelling)
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nassim »

Nick wrote:Top 5 Artists You are Most Likely to Hear at Your Local Supermarket/ On Your Local "Soft Rock" Radio Station-

5. Paul McCartney
4. Fleetwood Mac
3. Hall and Oates
2. Elton John
1. Billy Joel
We don't really have "soft rock" radio in France, but in "classic rock" stations I would say the bands you are most likely to hear are :

5. Coldplay
4. The Rolling Stones
3. Genesis
2. The Police
1. U2, again and again and again... it's very unlikely you can listen to Rires & Chansons for 2 hours or RTL2 for an hour (2 fairly big French radio stations) and not hear a U2 song. Half of the programs of Rires & Chansons are comedian shows, so the U2 ratio would be the same.

The only Bruce Springsteen song you will hear is Born in the USA, the only Fleetwood Mac will be Go Your Own Way, Blondie is limited to Call Me (and once in a while Maria)... Strangely enough, you don't hear the Beatles that much.

On the other hand, the good thing is French radio stations never play Friday I'm in Love but rather Close to Me, Boys Don't Cry, Just Like Heaven or In-Between Days. It's really surprising for us to see how much Friday I'm In Love seem a cult song in the USA (in a lesser extend,I've never heard It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine) in France while you can expect to hear REM a few times a day, mostly Shiny Happy People, Losing my Religion and Everybody Hurts)
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HRS
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by HRS »

Top 5 Joni Mitchell Albums

5. For the Roses
4. Hejira
3. Court and Spark
2. Blue
1. The Hissing of Summer Lawns

She sure beat Paul Simon by a decade with this experiment. And I do dare to think of it as a better album than the great Graceland - wouldn't be a surprise, since I think it's (slightly) better than, two of my all-time favorites, her own Blue and Court and Spark. The credit is still due for this incredible experiment that I still believe it's the ultimate evidence to put to sleep any "Joni Mitchell of her generation" hype that many singer/songwriters have received over time.
Most of the demos sounded straight from any of the early 70s records of Joni - accompanied only by the piano or the guitar. If those jazzy years post-Hissing-Hejira are a huge turn-off to you, there are very nice version some of the tracks. The material is strong by itself, but it's good to notice how much the textures and production added on the record complemented many of the songs very well. Listening to them, i got the feeling that Joni really wasn't heading for another Court and Spark since the beginning, but she could have released a much more accessible album. Then, she adds those arrangements, then she includes Centerpiece into Harry's House, then she samples an African tribe. At the peak of her commercial success and public relations, she shamelessly chose the experimental road and she didn't look back until the unfortunate Geffen days post-70s. The album is not only a key album in itself, an individual achievement whose other jazz-pop contemporary releases failed to match in sonic execution and ambition, but also the most adventurous record in structure by a female singer/songwriter since Laura Nyro's New York Tendaberry. It sure has influenced adventurousness in followers, but it's the best compliment to this album that none of them since has replicated its sonic palette or take on social commentary. Sometimes, I wish she had pulled off a Tom Waits after Mingus, but, instead, she ran from jazz experiments going AM pop/rock for the 80s - dated and MOR even when they also contained social commentaries or tendencies to previous instruments. What happened to her voice was a crime. Her 90s material is mostly good and it could've been enhanced by a stronger and more expressive voice. Nonetheless, The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the record that proved to be my favorite by Joni Mitchell on the long run.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Dan »

I'm having a serious week. Serious meetings at work, serious conversations with loved ones, and I'm taking the 1995 poll rather seriously. I think it's time for the kind of British humour that I used to find woefully unfunny but now keep chuckling at. So...

Top 5 Monty Python Songs

Of course, if a sperm is wasted God gets quite irate...

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
...will keep us together.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Jirin »

For most likely to hear at your supermarket I would say Michael Buble.

Top 5 bands people hate that aren't actually that bad:

5. Lady Gaga
4. Justin Bieber (If it weren't for his obnoxious marketing I wouldn't hate him at all)
3. Hanson
2. Spice Girls
1. Alanis Morissette

Top 5 music videos for bad songs:

1. Bart Simpson - Do The Bartman
2. REM - Imitation of Life
3. Aerosmith - Crazy
4. Cake - Short Skirt Long Jacket
5. Aerosmith - Falling In Love Is Hard On The Knees
John
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by John »

5 of my favorite guitar riffs:

1. Marmalade- I See the Rain
2. Guided By Voices- I Am a Tree
3. T-Rex- 20th Century Boy
4. Wire- Three Girl Rhumba
5. Television- Friction
Rodneyontheblock
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Rodneyontheblock »

Top 5 Olympic Related Songs

*The Gold Metal- The Donnas
5. Cycling is Fun- Shonen Knife
4. Weightlifting- Trashcan Sinatras
3. The Boxer- Simon & Garfunkel
2. Stars of Track & Field- Belle & Sebastian
1. Olympian- Gene
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Moonbeam »

Top 5 colors that aren't very well-known:

1. Gamboge
2. Azure
3. Viridian
4. Vermilion
5. Carmine Red
Henry
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Henry »

Top 5 overrated songs:

1. Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the U.K.
2. Missy Elliot - Get Ur Freak On
3. Kendrick Lamar - Alright
4. Azealia Banks - 212
5. Laurie Anderson - O Superman
___________________________________________

Top 5 overrated albums

1. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
2. Patti Smith - Horses
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
4. The Clash - The Clash
5. Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
____________________________________________

Top 5 prog rock songs:

1. Utopia - The Ikon
2. Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
3. Utopia - Utopia Theme
4. Yes - Starship Trooper
5. Utopia - Intro / Mister Triscuits
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Madzong »

Rodneyontheblock wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:53 am
Henrik wrote:This hipster genre seems great. Any more recommendations?

Yeah we should all have a poll for who we think the top hipster bands of all time are.
1. Courtney Barnett
2. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
3. Wavves
4. The Postal Service
5. Pomplamoose
"On a mountain range, I'm Dr. Strange"
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Nassim »

Henry wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:11 pm Top 5 overrated songs:

1. Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the U.K.
2. Missy Elliot - Get Ur Freak On
3. Kendrick Lamar - Alright
4. Azealia Banks - 212
5. Laurie Anderson - O Superman
___________________________________________

Top 5 overrated albums

1. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
2. Patti Smith - Horses
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
4. The Clash - The Clash
5. Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
I mostly disagree (especially regarding Get Ur Freak On and 212), though I would agree that The Clash self titled is slightly overrated, and I never enjoyed Public Enemy but I'd say Fear of a Black Planet is more overrated as it's not the groundbreaking statement that It Takes a Nation... is.

So most overrated album (at least based on AM ranking) :

1. Layla and Other Assorted Songs
2. Superunknown
3. Achtung Baby
4. Electric Ladyland
5. Tapestry

I was tempted to put Sgt Pepper's in there, as musically I don't think it's quite as good as the 2 albums that came before or after it by a wide margin (except for A Day in the Life)... but that's probably the album that allowed every band that came after to get weird if they wanted to, and the impact on music and pop culture is too huge to be denied.

On the songs side :

1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
2. Imagine
3. Get Lucky
4. Heartbreak Hotel
5. Your Best American Girl

But let's look instead at who is underrated... and the obvious answer is Fugazi !

So 5 best Fugazi songs that are not ranked at all on AM :

1. Suggestion
The only song sung by a man in Pitchfork's "Story of Feminist Punk in 33 songs", Suggestion is way ahead of its time thematically and out of time musically ; the riff is pretty much perfection, the rhythm section is at its best (I think only Waiting Room tops it), and there are more cool vocal motifs in there than in some bands discographies.
Plus as an all around awesome band, they got wise enough to realise it would be better if the part sung from a woman's perspective was actually sung by a woman.
2. Argument
It's rare a band ends its career on its best album, and it's even more remarkable with such a high quality discography. The album starts mostly in a hard hitting way, but it ends here with the slowest and most melodic song of the album
3. Blueprint
Most of those songs appear in the awesome Wugazi mash-up album, and that's possibly the one that works the best, that brooding riff could be a perfect fit for any dark and angry rapper, but dark and angry being a standard Fugazi mode, it's perfect for them too. That's also where one of their most famous lyrics, "what a difference a little difference would make", comes from.
4. I'm So Tired
Not your typical Fugazi song as this is only piano and a vocal, but rarely has a song evoked its title so well.
5. Cashout
I said The Argument started hitting hard, and Cashout is the opening salvo ; it's possibly the best encapsulation of what Fugazi is and showcases a lot of their signatures habits ; slow and calmly assured killer bass and drums, the way it plays with expectations and delays the chorus, the angry chorus, the uncompromising political lyrics, the extended outro... as an added bonus, you got strings, which is less usual but pretty cool.

Special mention to "Full Disclosure" as the Couch Slut cover is the first song I remember my daughter dancing to.
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Re: Top 5 of... anything !

Post by Humphrey12 »

Top 5 musical instruments we would most like to master:

5. the wobble board
4. the theremin
3. the steelpan
2. the flexatone
1. the musical saw
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