Bands That I Like

8 Adam Green Have you heard of anti-folk? Does anyone have any idea what the hell that is? Well Adam Green is a torchbearer of the anti-folk NYC scene. Adam Green got his start as one-half (the other half being Kimya Dawson) of the New York City group The Moldy Peaches. Forming in 1994 and, after playing a Halloween show in 2002, went on a hiatus that continues today, not counting a brief reunion in 2008 after the 2007 film Juno and its accompanying soundtrack catapulted the Moldy Peaches into the spotlight thanks to their 2001 song “Anyone Else But You.” That, however, is all backstory. This is about Adam Green’s solo career after the Moldy Peaches. He just released a new album, this year’s Engine of Paradise , on Danger Mouse’s record label 30 th Century Records. But what about the time in between when Moldy Peaches broke up and him releasing his 10 th solo album this year? Well, let’s take a closer look at each of his albums. It started with the lo-fi (think early Beck re...

7 Abba ABBA                                                  Has there ever been a band so singular? So significant? So… Swedish!? Not a lot of bands can say they have been offered one billion dollars to reunite and tour, on top of that, not a lot of bands can say they TURNED DOWN a billion dollars to reunite and tour, but then again not a lot of bands are like Abba. Did you know that the CD of choice on Nirvana’s tour bus was Abba’s Gold ? I mean, shit, there is an entire book written about that greatest-hits-compilation. The group’s debut album, 1973’s Ring Ring , would start the band’s streak of eight amazing albums. They really found their first taste of fame by entering in 1974’s Eurovision Song Contest [a sorta-proto-American Idol show]...

6 A Place To Bury Strangers BRO! A Place To Bury Strangers fuckin’ rocks. There’s no way around it. IT’S HEAVY. This Brooklyn, NEW YORK band is loud & proud.  This is good music to listen to while you are getting buried alive & yet somehow manage to make it out alive. I mean seriously- that whole scenario could be soundtracked by this band. They bring new textures of rock I’ve never heard before; thanks in part to band leader Oliver Ackermann’s own guitar-effects-pedal company   Death By Audio . I really jumped on board with this band on their 2015 album  Transfixiation.  Their impressive longevity is not only due to the fact they can cater to their wearin'-sunglasses-inside crowd BUT also being able to bring the noise without sounding noisy... if the makes any sense at all.   Let me try and break this band down to it's simplest terms: It began in 2002, in a tinnitus-inducing noise-pop world, with textural richness & emotional depth,...

5 A Sunny Day in Glasgow This Philadelphia band first came onto my radar with their excellent 2014 album Sea When Absent , however, the band had been making waves since 2009 with their self-released E.P.  The Sunniest Day Ever.  Philly has a rich music history and this band really adds to that mix. There have been multiple line-up changes since their formation in 2006. In their humble beginnings, A Sunny Day in Glasgow compromised of Ben Daniels and his twin sisters Robin and Lauren (who would later leave the band). The best way to describe their sound is ambient-pop. I say "ambient-pop" because I feel like the term "dream-pop" is a bit over-played and under-stated. However, they are in line with bands like Grizzly Bear and My Bloody Valentine. A Sunny Day in Glasgow is perfect music to listen to while sun-bathing in the park... perfect three-minute pop songs. Honestly, to just under-sell this band as a "shoe-gaze" band (how did shoes end up in music...

4 65daysofstatic When your indie-hipster friend says, "Explosions in the Sky are too mainstream for me," you can lead them to 65 Days of Static (stylized as 65daysofstatic). It's post-rock at its finest... which... by the way... what the hell does "post-rock" even mean? Is this rock 'n' roll for when the aliens come to earth, missing humanity by a couple of millenniums; They show up and find a planet similar to the one after the meteorite hit & killed all the dinosaurs (you know- that asteroid collision?!)... here they are on earth... maybe they fall into a landfill or find themselves in the ocean littered with plastic bags & CD's... or they are in a burning forest and find an iPod & headphones- and magically- the battery is at 1%- the alien puts in his headphones & hears 65daysofstatic; Well, if this were to be the case- I think that the aliens would think highly of us. This is truly out-of-this-world music. Each song this Sheff...

3 311 Before the term "frat-rock" was a thing, hell, before the internet was even around & broke down genres to a microscopic level & invented sub-genres & sub-sub-genres (see "Yacht Rock") ultimately re-branding legendary artists- wait-what was my point? I'm getting off track... what I'm trying to say is BEFORE ALL THIS (& that) there was 3-mother-fuckin'-11 . First off, any band that can make a name for themselves in an over-populated field like music deserves some respect; but a band from NEBRASKA that can do something like this deserves respect AND  praise. The band formed  in 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska. After spending their formative years killin' it in Nebraska, the band, which consists of Nick Hexum (guitar and vocals), Tim Mahoney (lead guitar), bassist P-Nut (you read that correct), Chad Sexton (drums) and Doug Martinez (vocals and turntables), moved to Los Angeles, signed to an independent label and, little did they know...

2 2 Chainz It'z 2 CHAINZ! I'm doing my 2 Chainz impression via text. I hope you're picking up what I'm throwin' down. 2 Chainz is the light, not at the end of the tunnel, but the light IN the tunnel. What I mean by that is- in a world of crappy, mumbly, hook-driven rap music- 2 Chainz is the true prophet keeping the legacy of G-funk, conscious rap, & wherever we were headed next... that next chapter of rap... where rap should have headed after the late 90's and early aughts- not the crap we hear on the rap radio stations today or what is poppin' on Soundcloud. 2 Chainz is recognized as an influential player in the southern hip-hop scene.  He was a part of the duo Playaz Circle, who were signed to Ludacris' label Disturbing Tha Peace (not a bad sign of confidence from a fellow Atlanta legend). He busted solo and signed to Def Jam Records in 2012. His debut album, Based On A T.R.U. Story threw him into the mainstream limelight with certifited hit...

1 13th Floor Elevators Boy, oh, boy. Where to start with this legendary Austin, Texas band? Where to start? What to say? Okay, I'll give you half facts & half fan appreciation. The Facts : The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band which consisted of Roky Erickson (guitar and vocals), John Ike Walton (drums), Stacy Sutherland (guitar), and Tommy Hall ( electric jug ). They released three studio albums and one live album on the International Artists label. They were huge pioneers in the counter-culture movement of the 1960's. Between the amazing vocals of Roky Erickson & his amazing songwriting, not to mention the ELECTRIC JUG ! Yes, you read that right. Remember the days of acoustic guitar, banjo, washboard & jug? Well The 13th Floor Elevators somehow found a way to keep the jug relevant (sorry washboard- drums won in the end!). Their shear amount of fearlessness as a band is something to be admired half-a-century later. They were also one of the ...