BuzzSugar

What Are the Best Indie Rock Albums Ever?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:00:00 -0800

Half the time, we music fans can't even decide what indie rock is - so naturally, Blender magazine's list of the 100 greatest indie rock albums of all time is bound to be fodder for debate (starting with No. 1, Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted). So I'm tempted to put it to you guys sans commentary and just say, "Have at it!"

But, let's be real: I can't resist making just a few comments. I'm pleased to see one of my favorite bands, the Mountain Goats, represented, but I would have picked Tallahassee instead of We Shall All Be Healed (No. 72). On the other hand, I support their pick of Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous (No. 50). And I've never considered The Velvet Underground an indie band - but maybe that's just me.

You can read Blender's full list with explanations, or if you're just raring to go, you can see the list if you read more

100. The Shaggs - Philosophy Of The World
99. Dream Syndicate - The Days Of Wine And Roses
98. Palace Music - Viva Last Blues
97. The Mekons - Rock 'N' Roll
96. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
95.The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
94. Half Japanese - Greatest Hits
93. Big Black - Atomizer
92. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
91. The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
90. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
89. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
88. Daniel Johnston - Yip/Jump Music
87. Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary
86. Flipper - Album - Generic Flipper
85. The Clean - Anthology
84. Beat Happening - You Turn Me On
83. The Misfits - Walk Among Us
82. The Embarrassment - Heyday 1979-83
81. The Vaselines - The Way Of The Vaselines
80. Feist - The Reminder
79. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
78. The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators
77. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
76. Le Tigre - Le Tigre
75. Galaxie 500 - Today
74. The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong
73. Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun
72. The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
71. Stereolab - Refried Ectoplasm
70. Mudhoney - Superfruzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles
69. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
68. Descendents - Milo Goes To College
67. Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising
66. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
65. Various Artists - No New York
64. Cat Power - The Greatest
63. Nirvana - Bleach
62. The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
61. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
60. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
59. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
58. Built To Spill - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
57. Bikini Kill - Pussy Whipped
56. Archers Of Loaf - Icky Mettle
55. Bad Brains - Bad Brains
54. Unrest - Imperial F.F.R.R.
53. Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
52. Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
51. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
50. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
49. Spoon - Kill The Moonlight
48. Mission Of Burma - Vs.
47. Green Day - Kerplunk
46. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
45. Fugazi - Repeater
44. Various Artists - Wanna Buy A Bridge?
43. Black Flag - Damaged
42. Brian Eno - Another Green World
41. Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
40. New Order - Power Corruption & Lies
39. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
38. The Strokes - Is This It
37. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
36. Elliott Smith - Either/Or
35. Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville
34. Superchunk - On The Mouth
33. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
32. Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
31. Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
30. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
29. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
28. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
27. M.I.A. - Arular
26. Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
25. Sebadoh - III
24. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
23.Yo La Tengo - Painful
22. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
21. The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
20. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
19. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
18. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
17. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
16. Slint - Spiderland
15. X - Wild Gift
14. De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising
13. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
12. Dinosaur Jr - You're Living All Over Me
11. Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
10. The Smiths - The Smiths
9. Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
8. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
7. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
6. Arcade Fire - Funeral
5. Pixies - Surfer Rosa
4. R.E.M. - Murmur
3. The Replacements - Let It Be
2. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted

Source

How Do You Feel About a Mass-Market Indie CD?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:00:13 -0700

Here's a little something to chew on as you roll into the weekend: A Now-style compilation CD of indie tunes is hitting stores this month. The track list includes songs from Sonic Youth, Neko Case, Deerhoof, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Hold Steady and others.

A couple things about this strike me as funny. For one, a whole bunch of the songs are from 2006, which I'm pretty sure means they're not "next." And second, who exactly is supposed to be buying this? I can't imagine any self-respecting fan of the included artists deigning to buy the compilation, and I'm not sure your average Target shopper would pick this up, think, "Hmm, I've always wondered what this 'indie music' is all about!" and toss it into the cart. What's your take?

Source

Other Music Is Going Digital

BuzzSugar — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 14:21:06 -0800

If you've never visited the Other Music store or its extensive e-commerce site, you are really missing out. The Manhattan retailer specializes in underground, indie, and other rare tunes, as well as awesome in-store performances by legendary acts. So I was really psyched to read that later this month, Other Music is launching a digital download store; for now, you can visit the site to get email updates on its progress. This will be a great way to get all those more obscure tracks that iTunes doesn't carry.

What Type of Music Are You Looking To Discover?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:00:00 -0800

I know from your comments that you guys are big music fans, but what type of music are you most interested in finding out about on BuzzSugar and elsewhere?

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:30:52 -0700

Happy Tuesday - also known as my favorite day of the week for new DVD releases as well as music releases. On this crisp Fall day, the new tunes I'm recommending are of the indie, alt-rock variety. Check out the albums and tracks I've picked out as being worthy of a download.

Rock the family tree: Tegan and Sara's Sainthood is harder rocking than their previous albums (this is their sixth), but the relationship-heavy lyrics haven't changed. It's a more updated sound for the twin-sister indie outfit; lyrically and vocally, they seem more mature and evolved. The fast pace of songs like "Hell" is an example of a new-ish sound, while "The Cure" is a little more traditional Tegan and Sara. Don't miss the impassioned "It Was Midnight."

Scruffy sounds sweet: Devendra Banhart's latest, What Will We Be, is a lo-fi collection of subtly sexy folk-rock tracks; I could listen to the funky "Baby" all day long (in fact, I kind of have). Banhart's music often sounds like it's from another era, particularly the '70s, and this album really solidifies that - cue the sweet, twangy "Angelika," which switches it up in the last minute with a '50s Latin flavor. As a San Franciscan, I was predisposed to love the song "16th and Valencia Roxy Music," and its upbeat tempo and chorus are perfect for getting ready for a night out.

Listen in on one more new release when you read more.

Howling at the radio: Cosmic Egg is the follow-up from Australian band Wolfmother. Their debut album made a huge splash in the rock world in 2005, garnering the band a Grammy, but it wasn't all good times; two of its original members left the band in Summer 2008. Despite the new lineup, the hard rock sound hasn't changed a bit; the title track and "White Feather" (my favorite) dive in with heavy guitar riffs and Andrew Stockdale's signature screeching vocals. It also has to be said: "New Moon Rising" has a very timely title (hey, it could have been on the soundtrack!).

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:30:02 -0700

Will Ferrell will star in indie comedy Everything Must Go - Zap2it
Ugly Betty is back tonight! - TV.com
Ian Somerhalder will star in romantic gothic fairy tale Cradlewood - The Wrap
The Big Chill: where are they now? - Moviefone
Last night's 30 Rock is even more meta thanks to low ratings - Vulture
Hilarious: old folks review MGMT's video for "Kids" - Stereogum
Penelope Cruz is going to make a cameo in the Sex and the City sequel - Cinematical
The Top 20 Celebrity Twilight fans - PopSugar
Telling the difference between Where the Wild Things Are and Wild Things - MTV Movies Blog

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Love Him or Leave Him?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:30:30 -0700

Ever since 500 Days of Summer, I haven't been able to get Joseph Gordon-Levitt off my brain. (And yesterday's trailer for Women in Trouble doesn't help!) It's not like I didn't pay attention to him before - I loved 10 Things I Hate About You - but my adoration for this guy is ballooning faster than his career.

Gordon-Levitt has loads of projects coming down the pipeline: his upcoming film Uncertainty just got picked up, and he has Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio and Hesher with Natalie Portman both slated for release next year. Sure, he's kind of an indie guy, but I'd love to see him come into his own as a leading man. (Perhaps he'll even take on the Jack Ryan series someday?)

All right, so I've gushed enough, but am I alone in my crush? Do you see the JGL appeal that I'm talking about, or is he still just the geeky guy from 3rd Rock From the Sun? What do you think of Joseph Gordon-Levitt - love him or leave him?