[dump]

i've got some free time this morning, so i decided to see how many of the top 500 songs i actually purchased at one point in time.

the tally:

27 of the top 250
34 of the next 250

total: 61

if the editors didn't like the pixies and the replacements, i'd probably have 8 or so fewer...

what? you didn't buy 50 cent's - in the club???

 

[narlus]

what? you didn't buy 50 cent's - in the club???

you didn't know?

i AM 50 cent.

 

[bluebug32]

you didn't know?

i AM 50 cent.

fity-cent mountain bikes???

 

[narlus]

if you want to make yr opinions known, and get a chance to win a free year's sub to napster, tell blender what song they ignored and why it should have been on the list.

www.blender.com/contests/500songs

i've got 5 entries in, will probably send a few more. i'll post up my thoughts for entertainment purposes, if people are interested.

 

[Toshi]

i've got some free time this morning, so i decided to see how many of the top 500 songs i actually purchased at one point in time.

the tally:

27 of the top 250
34 of the next 250

total: 61

if the editors didn't like the pixies and the replacements, i'd probably have 8 or so fewer...

my total is 12...

 

[robdamanii]

Where's Fall To Pieces, Mr. Brownstone, and Money?

 

[narlus]

Where's Fall To Pieces, Mr. Brownstone, and Money?

do you mean "Money", the pink floyd song? 1980, bub.

"fall to pieces" eh? stoney will be glad to know there's another avril lavigne fan here.

 

[robdamanii]

do you mean "Money", the pink floyd song? 1980, bub.

"fall to pieces" eh? stoney will be glad to know there's another avril lavigne fan here.

Fall To Pieces = Velvet Revolver, and Money = VR cover of PF.

 

[narlus]

ok, the contest is over and i haven't found out if i won yet. but for completeness sake, here're the entries i submitted:

intro rant and Black Flag - Rise Above

ok...where to begin? the capricious selection of the top 500 suggests that yr editorial staff is too heavily swayed by hip-hop and/or cheesy pop hits. this is my attempt to throw a few foot candles of light on some overlooked songwriting geniuses, people who apparently were no match for musical luminaries such as t.A.T.u., beenie man, foreigner, night ranger, or jermaine stewart.

even though there were a bunch of deserving bands who got a sole mention in the list (sonic youth, yo la tengo, husker du, tom waits, kool keith, etc) there were also a few dozen acts (totally essential acts, at least in my experience) who were totally ignored. exhibit A: Rise Above, by Black Flag.

this was the sound of aggression, aggression fueled by boredom, frustration, and a genuine affection for hitting things and/or people. and this was the song which launched a thousand tattoo needles, culminating in the familiar 4 bar logo. not as adept as UK punk like the Clash or the Ruts, or humorous as the Ramones blitzkreig bubblegum, or politically snide as the DKs. just pure emotion, distilled, tempered and forged by squalor, dead-end jobs, and the rigors of an existence under first term Reagan. the anthem of a generation.

 

[narlus]

XTC - Dear God

originally a throwaway (not on the _Skylarking_ lp, seemingly a last minute tack-on as a B-side to the ok but soon forgetten "Grass", "Dear God" found enough traction to finally be included on the US pressing of _Skylarking_. that a polemical screed about the big guy/gal/flying spaghetti monster in the sky brought the most attention to andy partridge's exquisite skill of songwriting probably says more about the polarizing force of religion in the US, rather than any acuity of the general public about great musicianship.

The Go! Team - Panther Dash

fusing hip-hop, R&B, chanting and an ungodly penchant for writing catchy hooks, the Go! Team's choice of "Panther Dash" to start their debut cd is a no-brainer. vaguely reminiscent of the Hawaii 5-0 theme w/ a gale blowing over the top, the clincher is the out-of-nowhere harmonica melody that cinches it tight. a stunner.

Guided By Voices - Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox

bob pollard could be the most prolific songwriter my generation has ever seen, a seemingly endless cauldron of creativity where equal parts of british invasion pop bliss, minimal fidelity garage rock, and mystic prog rock gets mashed together. the signal/noise ratio is suprisingly high, esp given the fact that he's *published* more than 1000 songs since the first Guided By Voices ep came out in 1986. realistically, i could tick off 40 songs for consideration, but for simplicity's sake i'll nominate Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox. boasting a hook catchier than flypaper, the song literally explodes when pollard exhorts "throw the switch, it's rock and roll time". a true, timeless rock moment; you can almost hear pollard's high kick and mic twirl. the song takes on a melancholy/yearning edge for the Mesh Gear Fox outro, but doesn't lose any of the intensity. an unjustly ignored song. i find it hard to believe that fans of the kinks/beatles/who/big star would not like this song.

Songs:Ohia - Farewell Transmission

while his contemporaries like jeff tweedy, ryan adams, or steve earle have critics falling over themselves and fans stampeding down the aisles w/ arms full of cds, ready to inundate the local record clerk, jason molina's toiled in relative obscurity for a decade on. maybe he needs to get addicted to narcotics, throw temper tantrums when being confused w/ bland canadian rockers, or do time in the big house to get some recognition. he did the stripped-down, bare-bones sound long before unplugged was a socially accepted format for arena rockers to co-opt, and he gradually built his sound up note by note until Magnolia Electric Company was released. accoutrements like keyboards, slide guitar, violin and backing vocals were somewhat new territory for molina's songs, but the self-loathing and self-doubt still runs a vicious streak through the music. "farewell transmission" signals this change most clearly as the lead-off track, full of mourning pedal steel slide and black lyrics like "The real truth about it is my kind of life's no better off/If I've got the maps or if I'm lost". fans of _Tonight's the Night_ or other bleak mid-70s Neil Young will find a lot of time for this record.

Mogwai - Christmas Steps

mogwai gets a lot of stick for worshipping at the altar of Slint (loud/soft dynamics, little to no vocals) but they proved very early on in the game that they can bring loads of their own ideas into that template, and stand head and shoulders above the crowded field of similarly inspired bands. "christmas steps", like so many of mogwai's best songs, is built around a simple, elegant pattern, and gradually builds enough steam to blow a hole in the ****er. the first salvo fired is @ the 4:10 mark, when the drums kick in. the guitar step up their urgency until another minute passes and the overdriven amps spill their guts at the 5:30 point. this in-the-red moment is one of those rare hair-raising moments in music, when a band is in full control of a seemingly out-of-control moment. the fury subsides, the tension dissipates, and yr eardrums slowly return to a functional state.

The Soft Boys - Insanely Jealous

the safe pick off the Soft Boy's univerally accepted high water mark Underwater Moonlight would be some brilliant pop confection like "queen of eyes" or the spirited "i wanna destroy you", but robyn hitchcock nailed the obsessive stance of spurned lover w/ this unhinged rant. he's pretty much a career of writing surreal lyrics about men w/ light-bulb heads or insects hatching from one's skin, but this is a direct, soul-baring diatribe at its frantic best.

 

[TreeSaw]

What was it based on, actual quality or just sales? There are some real stinkers in that list.

That's what I was thinking

 

[narlus]

i'm sure it was the usual "stir the pot" best-of list...no real basis, just a mechanism to boost sales and generate controversy.

works every time.

 

[Thrillkil]

no Megadeth = List incorrect.