It was tough being a music fan when “alternative” broke. Suddenly everyone thought The Smiths were their band and Soundgarden were considered as good as Black Sabbath. Worse, if you brought your hot new Nirvana Nevermind cassettes to house parties you’d get them stolen. Twice. Fuck you anonymous Nevermind cassette stealers.
Anyway, it was with that wealth of knowledge and experience that I wrote the story Where Are They Now? 20 Years After Alternative Broke for Spinner. In said story you can find helpful updates on the likes of L7, NIN, Blur, Pearl Jam and all those other faves of Gen Xers.
The Wire is a brilliant television program. Ghostface Killah is a brilliant rapper. But both of them are kind of difficult to understand — their respective art forms are filled with codified language, insider street slang that’s virtually impenetrable.
At least, that’s how Aaron felt about the music of the Ghostman until he watched all five seasons of The Wire. Then it all made sense. The criminals of the show provided him his eureka moment to understanding the Wu Tang Clan member’s music.
Wanting to share this revelation with the world, Aaron wrote How The Wire Helped Me Finally Understand Ghostface Killah for AUX TV. You can read the story by clicking here.
“Black Water” was my most listened to song this year. Not sure what that says about me.
2. PJ Harvey Let England Shake
It took me awhile to “get” Let England Shake. The song that did it was “In Dark Places.”
3. Chad VanGaalen Diaper Island
If you told me at the start of the year that CVG would create my third-most favourite album of 2011 I’d have eaten my shoe. It’s a good thing I don’t hang around with fortune tellers. This is “Blonde Hash”
4. Austra Feel It Break
Everybody’s all about Austra’s electro-dance-witch-goth vibe. I’m on it, too, but the song on this album that really got me was the spooky piano ballad “The Beast.”
5. Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
“I Follow Rivers” is heavy.
6. Young Galaxy Shapeshifting
This album was a bold experiment and it completely worked. This is “Peripheral Visionairies”
7. Herpes Symptome und Beschwerden
This is the exact real world manifestation of what I believe the nihilists from The Big Lebowski would sound like. I understand absolutely none of what’s being said in “Das Karnickel im Hut.”
8. D-Sisive Run With The Creeps
The more caustic, outsider and marginalized D-Sisive gets, the more pointed his music becomes. P.S. I found that GG Allin doll, D!
9. Raphael Saadiq Stone Rollin’
There are at least three songs on this record that are genuinely magic. “Movin’ Down The Line (Don’t You Go Away)” is one of them.
10. Destroyer Kaputt
This one’s a personal shocker because I’ve always hated Dan Bejar until this album. I appreciated the audacity of a yacht rock almost-concept record, though. And “Chinatown” is pretty groovy.
Other album lists…
2015 Top Ten — SUUNS + Jerusalem In My Heart SUUNS + Jerusalem In My Heart is #1 2014 Top Ten — Sharon Van Etten’s Are We There is #1 2013 Top Ten — M.I.A.’s Matangi is #1 2012 Top Ten — Dirty Ghosts’ Metal Moon is #1 2011 Top Ten — Timber Timbre’s Creep On Creepin’ On is #1 2010 Top Ten — The Black Angels’ Phosphene Dream is #1 2009 Top Ten — Gallows’ Grey Britain is #1 2008 Top Ten — Portishead’s Third is #1 2007 Top Ten — Joel Plaskett Emergency’s Ashtray Rock is #1 2006 Top Ten — My Brightest Diamond’s Bring Me The Workhorse is #1 2005 Top Ten — Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Howl is #1 2004 Top Ten — Morrissey’s You Are The Quarry is #1 2003 Top Ten — The Dears’ No Cities Left is #1 2002 Top Ten — Archive’s You All Look The Same To Me is #1 2001 Top Ten — Gord Downie’s Coke Machine Glow is #1 2000 Top Ten — Songs: Ohia’s The Lioness is #1 1999 Top Ten — The Boo Radleys’ Kingsize is #1 1998 Top Ten — Baxter’s Baxter is #1 1996 Top Ten — Tricky’s Maxinquaye is #1
Awhile back Sarah went on an epic whirlwind trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, investigating the weird afternoon pool party nightclubs and the fancy eatin’ places and such.
She loved it and for weeks was all “Vegas! Vegas! Vegas!” non-stop. This, from a gal who doesn’t gamble.
Anyway, her first profile story for AOL Travel about the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is now live. The place is exactly what you’d expect a high-gloss rock ‘n’ roll-themed Vegas hotel would be like. To read her review, click here.
Have you been to the Encore Beach Club? No, then apparently you’re missing out on one of life’s great baccanalian adventures. So says Sarah who got to spend some time there as part of a whirlwind Las Vegas adventure awhile back.
She found the entire facility at Wynn Las Vegas & Encore particularly awesome, from the afternoon pool parties to the entirely classy hotel.
You can read all about it at AOL Travel by clicking here.
Risky Fuel 