Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 3)

We did it! We got all three episodes published before the new year and I couldn't be more stoked. Thank you to everyone that contributed and voted and made all of this possible. I hope you've enjoyed these episodes and will decide to participate next year, too!

Hooray!

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 3)

17. King Creosote - Something to Believe In (Shaun)
16. The Amazing Snakeheads - Here It Comes Again (Kathy)
15. War on Drugs - The Ocean In Between the Waves (Nat)
14. Big Data featuring Joywave - Dangerous (Alan (Big Data))
13. FKA Twigs - Two Weeks (Rachel)
12. Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You) (Kev/Bella)
11. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Andrew)
10. Tiny Ruins - Me at the Museum, You at the Wintergardens (Tim via James)
9. Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed (Marc)
8. St. Vincent - Prince Johnny (Katy)
7. Johnny Marr - Easy Money (Rob G)
6. War on Drugs - Red Eyes (Mad Mackerel)
5. First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining (Stuart)
4. Elbow - My Sad Captains (Robert Todd)
3. Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys (Rick)
2. Hozier - Take Me to Church (Jason)
1. St. Vincent - Digital Witness (Rob G)

Top Ten Tuesday: Meghan Trainor "Lips are Movin"

Not a huge fan of this video or song. It feels like she's trying to ride her own coattails from the success of "All About That Bass" and it just doesn't work for me. What do you guys think?

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 of the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty for 2014! It just gets weirder and weirder and I couldn't be happier! :)



Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 2)

33. Withered Hand - Horseshoe (Tricia)
32. Bastard Mountain - Drone Armatrading (Rory from Bastard Mountain)
31. Jenny Lewis - Late Bloomer (Marc)
30. Panda Bear - Mr. Noah (Kristen)
29. Hookworms - On Leaving (Eiron)
28. Jonnie Common - Shark (Jonnie Common)
27. Mary Lambert - Dear One (Victoria)
26. Real Estate - Talking Backwards (Jeremy)
25. Joan as Police Woman - Holy City (Brendan)
24. Caribou - Can't Do Without You (Shaun)
23. Caribou - Silver (Linda)
22. Elbow - Color Fields (Brendan)
21. Spoon - Knock Knock Knock (Jason)
20. Sharon van Etten - Every Time the Sun Comes Up (Jeremy)
19. Death Vessel - Mercury Dime (Linda)
18. Pharrell Williams - Happy (EJ)

2014 Year End Countdown!!!

Bastille

Well here we are at the end of another year. It's been a year of breaking bands, for the most part and this countdown reflects that. I think you'll find this is a very enjoyable countdown and I had a lot of fun making it, as well as all of the countdowns this year.

See you next week for the Artists of the Year countdown and then the week after that for the first new countdown of 2015!!!


Year End Countdown

***Featuring***
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Bleachers
Cage the Elephant
Fitz & the Tantrums
KONGOS
Milky Chance
Neon Trees
Vance Joy

Throwback Thursday: Christmas on SNL

Merry Christmas! Here are two classic Christmas songs performed by two classic casts of SNL.

Festive Fifty 2013 Top Ten

And this catches us up to last year! You can look at similar posts from the previous Festive Fifties, or listen to the new episodes for this year as they come out by clicking the Festive Fifty tag at the bottom of the page!

10. Josh Ritter - Joy to You Baby
9. The National - I Should Live in Salt
8. MS MR - Hurricane
7. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
6. Bastille - Pompeii
5. James Blake - Retrograde

4. Dessa - Skeleton Key

3. Dessa - Fighting Fish

2. Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky

 
1. Lorde - Royals

Top Ten Tuesday: Ed Sheeran "Thinking Out Loud"

Very sweet video this week. A lot of people have been saying that this is going to be in a lot of weddings and I didn't believe them until I heard it. And they're right. The video is pretty amazing, too. Second Ed Sheeran video in a row with some amazing choreography.

There's also a behind the scenes video that I haven't watched, but it seems like a cool thing to have shot for such a complex video. Enjoy!

New Countdown: Welcome to the Future!!!

Milky Chance

Oh boy, we are cooking with grease now! It's only 4.5 years in and I finally found out how to embed a track into my blog. So now you don't have to download it to listen to it! Plus, now you don't have to leave the blog to download it! What an amazing age we live in.

This is the last new Countdown of the year and I hope you'll join me next week (presumably Sunday, though who knows, you know?) for the Year-End Countdown, where I count down the 10 best charting Alternative Songs of the year according to me using Billboard data.




Countdown #228 (To stream, hit the play button above. To download MP3, right click + save the file)

***Featuring***
Arctic Monkeys
Big Data featuring Joywave
Cage the Elephant
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Walk the Moon

Throwback Thursday: 1998

10. Shania Twain - Come On Over

9. 'N Sync - Home For Christmas

     1. Home For Christmas
     2. Under My Tree
     3. I Never Knew the Meaning of Christmas
     4. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

     5. The Christmas Song
     6. I Guess It's Christmas Time
     7. All I Want Is You This Christmas
     8. The First Noel
     9. In Love on Christmas
   10. It's Christmas
   11. O Holy Night

   12. Love's in Our Hearts (On Christmas Day)
   13. The Only Gift
   14. Kiss Me at Midnight
 
I figured that, since nothing really jumped out at me this week, I would feature the Christmas album on the list. This is the last Throwback Thursday before Christmas (Technically, Christmas is a Thursday. But I will probably post a couple of classic Holiday songs, regardless of when they're from).

So the first video is the super produced video for the single. And then the second one kind of showcases the actual talent of these guys.

I feel like it's a sign of my ever-increasing maturity that I can post about a late 90's boy band and not be worried about being made fun of. I never owned this Christmas album, but I certainly can appreciate the talent that was there!

8. Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys
7. Mariah Carey - #1's
6. 2Pac - Greatest Hits
5. Metallica - Garage Inc.
4. Jewel - Spirit
3. 'N Sync - N'Sync
2. Celine Dion - These Are Special Times
1. Garth Brooks - Double Live

Video: Doomtree "Gray Duck"

So the new single from the forthcoming Doomtree crew album All Hands (Out on 1/27) has a video. And it's weird. And menacing. And fun. And funny. Check it out and enjoy!

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 1)

 Well, here it is! And on schedule! Enjoy and come back, ideally next week for Part 2!


Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 1)
(as always, I apologize for this not being available as a podcast on iTunes, but hopefully this will suffice)

Tracklist:

50. Fink - Looking Too Closely (Niels)
49. Bleachers - Rollercoaster (James)
48. Damien Rice - I Don't Want to Change You (Victoria via James)
47. Angel Haze - Black Synagogue (Pieter)
46. Vance Joy - Mess Is Mine (Nat)
45. Morrissey - Kiss Me a Lot (Tricia)
44. Milky Chance - Stolen Dance (Kathy)
43. Real Estate - Past Lives (EJ)
42. Sinéad O'Connor - Take Me to Church (Jeremy)
41. Stars - No One is Lost (Rachel)
40. Phantogram - Bill Murray (James)
39. Perfume Genius - Queen (Kristen)
38. Temples - Shelter Song (Kathy)
37. Beck - Blue Moon (Kev and Bella)
36. Wye Oak - Shriek (Linda)
35. Warpaint - Love is To Die (Linda)
34. Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me (Andrew)

Festive Fifty 2012 Top Ten

The new Festive Fifty will be out soon. Here's the top ten of the 2012 list to tide you over. Click the "Festive Fifty" tag to see previous years!

10. First Aid Kit - Emmylou
9. The Lumineers - Ho Hey
8. Jack White - I'm Shakin'
7. Adele - Skyfall
6. Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
5. Alabama Shakes - Hold On

4. Gotye featuring Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know

3. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

2. Tame Impala - Elephant

1. fun. - Some Nights

Top Ten Tuesday: Nick Jonas "Jealous"

So there were two new songs on the Top Ten this week and I can't say I'm a fan of either. But this one seems slightly less derivative. SLIGHTLY. If there are no new songs to pick from, I suppose you might get to see the other song that is basically riding the coattails of the previous single from the singer.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Green Day

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that Green Day introduced me to punk and pop-punk music. They are an important band in my life. Here are some videos.

New Countdown: "Improvement"!

Foo Fighters

So, here this is!  A day later than scheduled but a day EARLIER than last time it was late, and that's what they call, in the industry, "improvement"!

It's the penultimate countdown-based-on-a-new-chart of the year, you guys, so soak it in. I love when we have a run of weeks with debuts every week. I'm not necessarily hinting at anything, but i'm not necessarily NOT hinting at something

Countdown #227

***Featuring***
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
Cage the Elephant
Doomtree
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Walk the Moon

Throwback Thursday: 1999

10. Christina Aguilera - Christina Aguilera

     1. Genie in a Bottle
     2. What a Girl Wants

"Boys, stop doing all those boy things. Us girls have prepared a dance routine! Have that creepy clown watch, too!"

     3. I Turn to You
     4. So Emotional
     5. Come On Over (All I Want is You)

     6. Reflection
     7. Love For All Seasons
     8. Somebody's Somebody
     9. When You Put Your Hands on Me
   10. Blessed
   11. Love Will Find a Way
   12. Obvious

Well, this is certainly an interesting week in an interesting time, isn't it? Two Millennium references, Britney, Christina, and Backstreet Boys all in the Top Ten, plus Santana's HUGE Supernatural album. There were a lot of great options for me to choose from, and maybe you're saying, "Yeah, and you somehow screwed it up. Also, why TWO songs??" Well, these songs take me back to the era (that choreography! seriously.), plus I think they're really enjoyable pop songs. So there :) Consider yourself thrown back.

Also, I had COMPLETELY forgotten about Christina's involvement in Mulan (She sang the song "Reflection" which is also included on this, her debut!). What an important movie that was! (Seriously. I love that movie.)

9. Will Smith - Willennium
8. Santana - Supernatural
7. Nas - Nastradamus
6. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time
5. Korn - Issues
4. Backstreet Boys - Millennium
3. Dr. Dre - 2001
2. Metallica - S&M
1. Celine Dion - All The Way...A Decade of Song

Top Ten Tuesday: Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk!"

This is a fun video and fun song. Kind of an old-school feel. I was going to also include the recent SNL performance of this song, but it's pretty much just a recreation of this video on the SNL stage.

Enjoy!

New Countdown: Done Early, For Once!

Fall Out Boy

 Well I had some time to myself on Saturday morning/afternoon. So that, plus the announcement of the Grammy nominees yesterday made for a quick and easy recording session. I was done recording by 11pm!

So there are lots of Grammy nominee things on this one, and that's the kind of thing I like: when the songs that we've been looking at all year start pulling Grammy noms!

It's a good one! Enjoy!

Countdown #226

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Walk the Moon

2015 Best Alternative Music Album Nominees Announced

So the Grammy announcements are going on today and they just announced the 5 nominees for Best Alternative Music Album (the award that we just spent a couple years going through every winner on the podcast). The nominees are:

• This Is All Yours – alt-J
• Reflektor – Arcade Fire
• Melophobia – Cage the Elephant
• St. Vincent – St. Vincent
• Lazaretto – Jack White

I'm pulling for St. Vincent to win this one, but really, I'd be ok with Jack White or Cage the Elephant to win, as well. The other two are contenders, but I can't say I'm really pulling for them.

In any case, we'll see what album we're looking at for the month when the Grammy Awards happen on February 8th on CBS

Throwback Thursday: 2000

10. Nelly - Country Grammar
9. The Offspring - Conspiracy of One

     1. Intro
     2. Come Out Swinging
     3. Original Prankster
     4. Want You Bad

     5. Million Miles Away
     6. Dammit, I Changed Again
     7. Living in Chaos
     8. Special Delivery
     9. One Fine Day
   10. All Along
   11. Denial, Revisited
   12. Vultures
   13. Conspiracy of One

This was the album after Americana. It came out and I was less than enthusiastic about it in general. But I really liked "Want You Bad" and would always forget that it was The Offspring, because it had a more "classic" pop-punk sound. I kept thinking it was Allister or someone.

8. Jay-Z - The Dynasty Roc La Familia (2000--)
7. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water
6. Outkast - Stankonia
5. R. Kelly - tp-2.com
4. Ricky Martin - Sound Loaded
3. Sade - Lovers Rock
2. Now 5
1. The Beatles - 1

I could have featured the Beatles this week, but they'll have their chance soon, won't they? ;-)

New Doomtree album and Tour Announcement!!

So, Doomtree dropped a new track from their new album today. AND ALSO ANNOUNCED THE ALBUM! It's going to be called All Hands and it'll be coming out on 1/27/15. I'm so excited. Here's the track. It's called "Gray Duck"

 You can PRE-ORDER ALL HANDS HERE

They also announced the tour they're going to be doing in support of the album. Here are the dates:

 

Top Ten Tuesday: DOUBLE FEATURE: Taylor Swift "Blank Space"/Sam Smith "I'm Not the Only One"

So, to kick off my Thanksgiving week of not having any regular features happen the way they normally do (kinda like I'm a real network!), I didn't have a Top Ten Tuesday last week. So this week, we're going to feature two songs!!

It's really a shame that I missed out on featuring this Taylor Swift song the week it went to number one. In doing so, it made Taylor Swift the first female artist (and tenth overall) to replace themselves at #1. The other 9 were: The Beatles, Boyz II Men, Puff Daddy, Ja Rule, Nelly, Outkast, Usher, T.I, and the Black Eyed Peas. Pretty amazing stuff.

This video is pretty amazing, too. Great visuals to a song that, I don't know about you but, I really like a lot!

And for the second part of our double feature, another very cinematic, very old-school-feeling video from Sam Smith. It features the girl who played Quinn on Glee and the guy who plays Danny on The Mindy Project, which feels like it should be a generation off, but I guess isn't?

New Countdown: Indestructible!!

Milky Chance

Well, we did it. It's finally done. 225 nearly defeated me, but I said, "Nay! I will not let a nasty stomach bug prevent the Alternative Tunes from reaching the ears of my fans! They've worked too hard for too long to keep up with my ramblings for me to quit now! I must create an episode with extra ramblings! Extra windy ramblings!"

And that's just what I did :)

Countdown #225

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Girls
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Milky Chance
Vance Joy

A Throwback Thursday Thanksgiving

Hi. So, it's Thanksgiving. So we're going to break with our regularly scheduled programming this week (The year 2000 will return next week) and throw back to 1967, or, any time you've listened to this on Thanksgiving with your parents. If you haven't, you should. Well, take stock of how well your parents like hippies and then decide if you should.

Either way, you should listen to it. It's super long and funny. Enjoy!

New Countdown: Late Night Inspiration

Kendrick Lamar

For having started as late as I did, this one came together quite quickly and quite easily. That said, this late late night nonsense has got to stop! Buuuut it probably won't.

Happy Sunday, everyone! Don't forget to vote on the Festive Fifty if you haven't already!

Countdown #224

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Kendrick Lamar
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy

Throwback Thursday: 2001

10. Incubus - Morning View

     1. Nice to Know You
     2. Circles
     3. Wish You Were Here
     4. Just a Phase
     5. 11am
     6. Blood on the Ground
     7. Mexico
     8. Warning
     9. Echo
   10. Have You Ever
   11. Are You In?

   12. Under My Umbrella
   13. Aqueous Transmission

So I got this CD a bit before it came out because my friend Danielle was a big Incubus fan and knew somebody that knew somebody or something. She gave me a copy in the first weeks of our first semester of college. Anyway. At first, I was disappointed that this album wasn't more like the previous album Make Yourself, but now I think it might be way way way better. I think that I might prefer chill Incubus. And if you can give me chill Incubus and still have the DJ scratching, I'm totally in. Hence the above video.

In looking for videos for this album, I also found the complete Morning View Sessions concert which came out the following spring. I've embedded it below.

This is definitely getting into an era where I'm actually making myself nostalgic. An actual Throwback Thursday

9. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
8. Ja Rule - Pain is Love
7. Various Artists - God Bless America
6. Nickleback - Silver Side Up
5. Enya - A Day Without Rain
4. Backstreet Boys - The Hits--Chapter One
3. DMX - The Great Depression
2. Enrique Iglesias - Escape
1. Michael Jackson - Invincible

Top Ten Tuesday: Ariana Grande & The Weeknd "Love Me Harder"

This song is very very catchy. It's one of those "wait, what did she just sing" songs where the lyrics sound sweet until you listen to them closely and realize that the content is QUITE racy.

Of course, this song is fairly run-of-the-mill for The Weeknd, if perhaps a little toned down. Man, I need to listen to those Weeknd EPs.

So, accompanying this song is a suitably subtle video. It's pretty dense with symbolism and I hope you can pick up the meaning behind it all!

Fun Trivia Fact: Ariana Grande has posted the second highest number of songs since Top Ten Tuesday started early last year, second only to Justin Timberlake. And if you don't count features, she takes the prize.

New Countdown: Not Insanity

Big Data

It's a fun countdown this week. It's one that changes up the order of things a little (I mean, the bonus song isn't right at the beginning. Otherwise, you know, i'm not counting down out of order or whatever. That would be insanity.)

I hope you enjoy it!

Oh and don't forget to vote on the Festive Fifty. Look down a couple of posts for more information!

Countdown #223

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy

Throwback Thursday: 2002

10. Dixie Chicks - Home
9. Avril Lavigne - Let Go
8. Eminem - The Eminem Show

     1. Curtains Up (skit)
     2. White America
     3. Business
     4. Cleanin' Out My Closet

     5. Square Dance
     6. The Kiss (skit)
     7. Soldier
     8. Say Goodbye Hollywood
     9. Drips (featuring Obie Trice)
   10. Without Me
   11. Paul Rosenberg (skit)
   12. Sing For the Moment
   13. Superman (featuring Dina Rae)
   14. Hailie's Song
   15. Steve Berman (skit)
   16. When the Music Stops (featuring D12)
   17. Say What You Say (featuring Dr. Dre)
   18. Till I Collapse (featuring Nate Dogg)
   19. My Dad's Gone Crazy (featuring Hailie Jade)
   20. Curtains Close (skit)

7. Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk
6. Faith Hill - Cry
5. Rascal Flats - Melt
4. Santana - Shaman
3. Nirvana - Nirvana
2. Christian Aguilera - Stripped
1. 8 Mile Soundtrack

     1. Eminem - Lose Yourself

     2. Eminem/Obie Trice/50 Cent - Love Me
     3. Eminem - 8 Mile
     4. Obie Trice - Adrenaline Rush
     5. 50 Cent - Places To Go
     6. D12/50 Cent - Rap Game
     7. Jay-Z featuring Freeway - 8 Miles and Runnin'
     8. Xzibit - Spit Shine
     9. Macy Gray - Time of My Life
   10. Nas - U Wanna Be Me
   11. 50 Cent - Wanksta
   12. Boomkat - Wasting My Time
   13. Rakim - R.A.K.I.M.
   14. Young Zee - That's My Nigga Fo' Real
   15. Gang Starr - Battle
   16. Eminem - Rabbit Run

It's an Eminem Throwback Thursday this week because back on this week in 2002, Eminem had TWO albums on the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. I mean, I know the 8 Mile Soundtrack had other artists on it, but I think we can all agree that it counts as an Eminem album.

I was originally going to do "Without Me" from The Eminem Show, but I looked at a couple more videos and "Cleanin' Out My Closet" is such a fantastic song. So, no silly Eminem in either video, but both videos are really really great.

2014 Festive Fifty Shortlist!

Here's an email I sent yesterday. I think you'll find it VERY interesting :)

Alright everyone! Here's the shortlist. We're 1/3 of the way there and the steps only get easier!
Here's what's next:
1. From the list below, pick your 10 favorite songs
2. Arrange them in order from 1-10 with 1 being your most favorite.
3. If you choose to, you can give a negative vote to any one song.
4. Share the list! Get more people to vote! Facebook! Blog! Twitter! Tumblr!

Please do all of the above by midnight Pacific on 11/25 (3 am 11/25 Eastern, 8 am 25/11 in the UK)
Also, yes, there are 106 choices. And yes, Bleachers has three songs to choose from. There was a tie, so I just included both of the songs in the tie.

Here's the Spotify playlist that is being made for this list. As usual, not all the songs are available on Spotify, and if you see a song that isn't on there but IS on Spotify, please add it! http://open.spotify.com/.../playlist/0Bn1IwRLfrP7s6V10Cy1KK

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Ages and Ages - Divisionary (Do The Right Thing)
alt-j - Left Hand Free
Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me
Amazing Snakeheads - Here It Comes Again
Amazing Snakeheads - Where Is My Knife
Angel Haze - Black Synagogue
Bastard Mountain - Drone Armatrading
Beck – Blue Moon
Big Data - Dangerous
Black Keys - Gotta Get Away
Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
Bleachers - Reckless Love
Bleachers - Rollercoaster
Caribou - Can't Do Without You
Caribou - Silver
Coldplay - Magic
Conor Oberst - Double Life
Damien Rice - I Don't Want to Change You
Death Vessel - Mercury Dime
Dirty Elvis - I Hate Being Bipolar, It's Awesome!
Elbow - My Sad Captains
Elbow – Colour Fields
Fink - Looking Too Closely
First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining
First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
FKA Twigs - Two Weeks
Flying Lotus - Never Catch Me
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You)
Gavin Clark - Bermondsey Stutter
Gavin Clark - Low Are the Punches
Griswolds - Beware the Dog
Haley Bonar - Kill the Fun
Hookworms - On leaving
Hozier - Take Me to Church
Iggy Azaelea - Fancy
Interpol - My Desire
J Mascis - Me Again
Jack White - Lazaretto
Jamie T - Zombie
Jennifer Nettles - That Girl
Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys
Jenny Lewis - Late Bloomer
Joan as Police Woman - Holy City
Johnny Marr - Easy Money
Jonnie Common - Shark
Kate Tempest - Circles
King Creosote - Something to believe in
Kitten Pyramid - Uh Oh
KONGOS - Come With Me Now
Lana Del Rey - West Coast
LORN - THERE AIN'T NOTHING IT'S JUST PAIN AND THEN YER GONE
Mary Lambert: Dear One
Milky Chance - Stolen Dance
Mimicking Birds - Bloodlines
Morrissey - Kiss Me a Lot
Nathaniel Rateliff - Still Trying (Daytrotter Session, Daytrotter Studio, 4/19/2014)
New Pornographers - Champions of Red Wine
Panda Bear - Mr. Noah
Perfume Genius - Queen
Phantogram - Bill Murray
Phantogram - Fall In Love
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Pierces – Creation
Pierces – Kings
Pink Floyd - Things Left Unsaid
Pink Mountaintops - North Hollywood Microwaves
Pretty Reckless - Heaven Knows
Ray LaMontagne - Drive in Movies
Ray LaMontagne - Lavender
Real Estate - Past Lives
Real Estate - Talking Backwards
Rebel Light - Strangers
Roseanne Cash - When the Master Calls the Roll
Royal Blood - Figure It Out
School Of Language – A Smile Cracks
Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed
Sharon Van Etten - Every Time The Sun Comes Up
Shearwater - An Insular Life
Shilohs - Palm Readers (Daytrotter Session, Studio Paradiso, 2/28/2014)
Sinead O'Connor - Take Me To Church
Spoon - Knock Knock Knock
St. Vincent - Digital Witness
St. Vincent - Prince Johnny
Stars - No Better Place
Stars - No One is Lost
Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Temples - Shelter Song
Thom Yorke - A Brain In A Bottle
Thom Yorke - The Mother Lode
Tiny Ruins - Me at the Museum, You at the Winter Gardens
Ty Segall - Feel
Ty Segall - Manipulator
Typhoon - IJswater
U2 - Raised By Wolves
Vance Joy - Mess is Mine
Vance Joy - Riptide
War on Drugs - An Ocean Between the Waves
War on Drugs - Red Eyes
Warpaint - Love Is To Die
Water Liars - Swannanoa
Wild Beasts - Mecca
Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos VII
Withered Hand - Horseshoe
Wye Oak - Shriek

Top Ten Tuesday (UK Edition): Cheryl "I Don't Care"

A little late today, but I know that you're all patiently waiting for today's TTT. It's another UK track this week because the US Top Ten is full of songs that have already been covered.

So, debuting at #1 in the UK is Cheryl (not Cheryl Cole, who was featured on a previous UK edition) with her song "I Don't Care". This video is fun. Kinda weird though. I feel like the song is a mixture of 80's and modern sounds, but the video is pure late 90's. I'm not sure what the fingerprints of a late-90's-looking video are, but surely partying on a boat and standing on mountains in the sunshine and just having fun and being comfortable making a video are among them. Enjoy!

Oh, also, I am becoming an advocate for casual profanity in these breezy pop songs. I feel like it adds something to the song.

New Countdown: Danny DeVito

Weezer

A chilly November morning with some hot tunes!...would be my synopsis of this song if I were advertising it in a newspaper, or posting it on iTunes. :)

It's a good one this week. Short, but good. Like Danny DeVito.

Countdown #222

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Milky Chance
St. Vincent
Vance Joy
Weezer

Throwback Thursday: 2003

10. Barenaked Ladies - Everything to Everyone
9. Barbra Streisand - The Movie Album
8. Jagged Edge - Hard
7. Dido - Life For Rent
6. Loon - Loon
5. Ludacris - Chicken*N*Beer
4. Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below

Speakerboxxx

     1. Intro
     2. Ghetto Musick (featuring Andre 3000)
     3. Unhappy
     4. Bowtie (featuring Sleepy Brown and Jazze Pha)
     5. The Way You Move (featuring Sleepy Brown)

     6. The Rooster
     7. Bust (featuring Killer Mike)
     8. War
     9. Church
   10. Bamboo (interlude)
   11. Tomb of the Boom (featuring Konkrete, Big Gipp, and Ludacris)
   12. E-Mac (interlude)
   13. Knowing (featuring Andre 3000)
   14. Flip Flop Rock (featuring Killer Mike and Ludacris)
   15. Interlude
   16. Reset (featuring Khujo and CeeLo Green)
   17. D-Boi (interlude)
   18. Last Call (featuring Slimm Calhoun, Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz, and Mello)
   19. Bowtie (postlude)

The Love Below

     1. The Love Below (intro)
     2. Love Hater
     3. God (interlude)
     4. Happy Valentine's Day
     5. Spread
     6. Where Are My Panties?
     7. Prototype
     8. She Lives In My Lap (featuring Rosario Dawson)
     9. Hey Ya!

   10. Roses (featuring Big Boi)
   11. Good Day, Good Sir
   12. Behold a Lady
   13. Pink & Blue
   14. Love in War
   15. She's Alive
   16. Dracula's Wedding (featuring Kelis)
   17. My Favorite Things
   18. Take Off Your Cool (featuring Norah Jones)
   19. Vibrate
   20. A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)

I mean, there really was only one option when it came to which album to pick this week, wasn't there? 39 tracks (a couple of tracks of filler, but mostly complete songs) over the course of two discs? What a deal! I have equal amounts of love for both of these albums. Speakerboxxx is a tad easier to listen to, being less experimental, but the truly rewarding experience is listening to them both. I picked the two huge singles from them because it IS Throwback Thursday, after all. Enjoy!


3. Eagles - The Very Best Of
2. Rod Stewart - As Time Goes By...The Great American Songbook Vol.II
1. Clay Aiken - Measure of a Man

Top Ten Tuesday: Hozier "Take Me To Church"

Wow, this video is intense. It's a great match for the song. I'm a little speechless right now because this video feels like I just read a really well-written short story.

This is the first time since February that a song that has appeared on the AFD Alternative Top Ten Countdown (my podcast. Most of the blog entries from this blog are for episodes of it) has made it to the Hot 100's Top 10 (Bastille's "Pompeii" and Lorde's "Team" both broke into the Top 10 the week of February 1st)

New Countdown: Are you more of an Adam Duritz kind of person? Or More of an Adam DON'Tritz kind of person?

Vance Joy

It's funny. This episode takes a long time to get to the first song and then the first song is really long, but this one ended up shorter than last weeks, somehow. I think it's a lack of reading FULL REVIEWS for many of the songs.

Both ways of doing things ends in entertaining podcasts, in my opinion, though, so either way works for me!

Happy "Fall Back", everyone!

Countdown #221

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Counting Crows
Fall Out Boy
Hozier
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Weezer

Throwback Thursday: 2004

10. Sum 41 - Chuck
9. Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying
8. Good Charlotte - The Chronicles of Life and Death
7. Green Day - American Idiot

     1. American Idiot
     2. Jesus of Suburbia
          I. Jesus of Suburbia
         II. City of the Damned
        III. I Don't Care
        IV. Dearly Beloved
         V. Tales of Another Broken Home

     3. Holiday
     4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
     5. Are We the Waiting?
     6. St. Jimmy
     7. Give Me Novacaine
     8. She's a Rebel
     9. Extraordinary Girl
   10. Letterbomb
   11. Wake Me Up When September Ends
   12. Homecoming
         I. The Death of St. Jimmy
        II. East 12th St.
       III. Nobody Likes You
       IV. Rock and Roll Girlfriend
        V. We're Coming Home Again
   13. Whatsername

An appropriately intense video for an album that is a lot more intense than people remember. I probably talked about this when I did the "Wake Me Up When September Ends" video the first time 2005 came around on this series, but I'll never forget listening to this in the car with my friend Riley and marveling at how innovative it was. And I'll stand by that feeling to this day.

6. Hilary Duff - Hillary Duff
5. Mos Def - The New Danger
4. Celine Dion - Miracle
3. Nelly - Suit
2. Usher - Confessions
1. George Strait - 50 Number Ones

Top Ten Tuesday: Ed Sheeran "Don't"

Wow! This is an amazing video. It's a good song, but the video is amazing. Let's do some internet research to see who this dancer is...

His name is Philip Chbeeb and he's from I.aM.mE, a dance crew that won the 6th season of the television show America's Best Dance Crew. He is also in Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" video that was featured on Top Ten Tuesday last month!

New Countdown: And so shutters shut and so and also.

Vance Joy

So, right before I went to bed last night, I tweeted: "I'm going to wager that my podcast this week is the only one that starts with Rise Against and ends with Gertrude Stein"

And I think that pretty much covers it.

Enjoy the journey! (No songs by Journey appear on this episode)


Countdown #220

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
The Dirty Heads
Gertrude Stein
Hozier
Milky Chance
Rise Against
Vance Joy
Weezer

Festive Fifty 2014

So I sent this email out on Friday. If you didn't get it, consider this blog post your formal invitation to participate!

Hey Everyone!!!

Well, it's nearing the end of October and so that means it's time to start constructing the Festive Fifty for this year! 


And now...the rules :)

1. Choose up to 50 (yes fifty) songs that were released in 2014 that you like. If you can only think of 10 (or even just one!) .. don’t worry .. We'd still like to know what they are.

2. Our resident 'statman' James has agreed to do the adding up, so please send your list to him at janderson716@gmail.com 

starting with your favorite track first. (I could have changed this, but i always like thinking of myself as "statman")

3. Do this by Sunday 9th November (Midnight Pacific Time (so, 3 am Monday on the East Coast and 8 am Monday in England) at the latest .. and try to get other people to vote too .. please!! (Share it on Facebook!)

4. I will compile a short list of the top 100 songs which we will vote on to be in the top 50 and then we'll start inviting people to record introductions.

5. Any questions? .... good ... get thinking!!!

Looking forward to your lists,

James

Festive Fifty Tips: The Longlist

This is going to be one of a series of probably two posts about the Festive Fifty which is a series of three podcasts that I put together in association with the Contrast Podcast every year idealistically publishing it over the last three weeks of the year (though usually it's in the first month or two of the new year)

Basically, you send in a list of 50 songs from the current year ranked from 1 to 50 (the "longlist") and then I tabulate all of those votes into a list of 100 songs (the "shortlist"). You will then vote on your favorite 10 songs from that list (with the option to "downvote" one song in addition to your list of 10). I compile those votes into a list of Fifty songs. Then I ask people to introduce a song or two. Then I make it into three podcasts and we all enjoy it!

I often hear about people who feel like they didn't get any songs they liked on the Festive Fifty. Usually, it's that none of the 50 songs they submitted made the 100 song shortlist. So I decided to let you in on some of the behind-the-scenes stuff and the kinds of things I see when I'm tabulating results to maybe help you "game the system" as it were. I am not sure if the system will change if everyone tries to game it, but I suppose we shall see.

1) Song Ranking

In a perfect world, you'd make your long list of 50 songs in order of preference. #1 would be your favorite song of the year and #50 would be your 50th favorite song of the year.  But what usually happens is that 5 or 6 songs get LOTS of votes and the rest get one or two people voting for them.

My first recommendation for getting your songs on the Festive Fifty is to put the songs that you feel like everyone might vote for below songs that you think you might be in the minority of liking. So, for instance, I really liked KONGOS's song "Come With Me Now" this year, but I have a feeling I'm not alone in this. So I will put that song in the teens or even 20's (depending on how popular I think the song is) and I'll put more obscure songs above it.

Now, there are problems with this. You're risking being wrong about the popularity of a song and having a song you love not make the list.

There's also the issue of having a list of 50 songs that are ALL obscure. To those people, I would just offer my best wishes and point out that people following my advice might level the playing field a little and make it more feasible for your songs to make the shortlist!

2) Artist Limit

One of the rules that I implemented a couple years ago is the Artist Limit rule. If, for example, St. Vincent has 4 songs that are in the Top 100 songs from the Longlist Votes, only the top 2 will make the Shortlist. The other 2 will be cut and the songs below them will be moved up.

This is where I'm torn. I could advise you to therefore limit your votes to only two songs per artist so that you aren't diluting your vote among many songs. But I could also advise you to put as many songs as you'd like by an artist into your longlist, so that any songs that anyone else voted for will get a boost from your vote. I'm not sure which way is better, so that'll have to be up to you.

So that's my advice for the longlist vote. It's not much, but hopefully it can help you when you're constructing your longlist! When we get closer to Shortlist Voting time, I'll post some tips for that!

Throwback Thursday: 2005

10. Faith Hill - Fireflies

9. The Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business

8. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better

7. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

     1. Extraordinary Machine
     2. Get Him Back
     3. O' Sailor
     4. Better Version of Me
     5. Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)
     6. Parting Gift
     7. Window
     8. Oh Well
     9. Please Please Please
   10. Red Red Red
   11. Not About Love

   12. Waltz (Better Than Fine)

Oh this album. This is one that will always remind me of Kristen's Bridal shower. I played the title track in my Best Man Riley's car on our way either to or from (or both) going to see Dave Chappelle's Block Party (which was fantastic, by the way). We agreed that it sounded very Disney but it a twisted Fiona Apple way.

So "Not About Love" is my favorite track on the album and I thought there was no way I could like it more. And then I watched this video. Holy cannoli. I love watching the two of them interact. And I think you will too.

6. Kanye West - Late Registration

5. Sheryl Crow - Wildflower

4. Gretchen Wilson - All Jacked Up

3. Sara Evans - Real Fine Place

2. Twista - The Day After

1. Nickleback - All the Right Reasons

Top Ten Tuesday: Bobby Shmurda "Hot Boy"

Well, this is a song that's in the Top Ten this week. It's not technically actually called "Hot Boy."

And here's the song at #54 this week. It's much much less popular than the song above. So, I mean, think on that for a while.

Another Mockingjay Soundtrack Update

So iTunes revealed almost all of the tracklist for the Mockingjay Part One soundtrack. The two songs we knew about this afternoon are still on there (why would they go anywhere? why did I write that sentence??) and 11 more tracks have been revealed. There's still a track that's called "Track 5" by "Various Artists" that's listed with a duration of six seconds, so that'll probably be revealed later.

iTunes says the soundtrack will be available on November 17th. Here's a link to the iTunes page. It's not going to take you to iTunes, but it's basically like the browser version of iTunes.

Here's the tracklist:

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Pt. 1 OST:

01 Stromae: Meltdown [ft. Lorde, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Haim]
02 Chvrches: Dead Air
03 Tove Lo: Scream My Name
04 Charli XCX: Kingdom [ft. Simon Bon]
05 Various Artists: Track 5
06 Raury: Lost Souls
07 Lorde: Yellow Flicker Beat
08 Tinashé: The Leap
09 Bat for Lashes: Plan the Escape
10 Grace Jones: Original Beast
11 Lorde: Flicker (Kanye West Rework)
12 XOV: Animal
13 The Chemical Brothers: This Is Not a Game [ft. Miguel]
14 Lorde: Ladder Song

Mockingjay Soundtrack Update

So another song has been announced on the soundtrack that Lorde is curating for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.

So, so far we have these songs:

Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat
The Chemical Brothers, Miguel, and Lorde - This Is Not a Game

Here's a Radio Rip from Zane Lowe's BBC1 Show:

New Countdown: From Off the Wall to Right Smack Dab in the Middle of the Wall

The Black Keys

Ok, so based off the title, you might be thinking this podcast has some early solo era Michael Jackson and maybe Pink Floyd singing "Hey You." And you'd be well within your rights to think that. But it is sadly not the case. Although it occurs to me now that those two albums were out right around the same time, which is weird to me.

No, the title just is referring to the range of song on the countdown this week. Sometimes the really kooky songs are immediately followed by songs that are 100% safe. There's nothing wrong with either category and I think the show is helped by a healthy serving of both!

Enjoy!

Countdown #219

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
Jonnie Common
Milky Chance
Weezer
Vance Joy

Throwback Thursday: 2006

10. Weird Al Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood
9. Fergie - The Dutchess
8. Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways
7. Hinder - Extreme Behavior
6. John Mayer - Continuum
5. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds

     1. FutureSex/LoveSound
     2. SexyBack featuring Timbaland
     3. Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk to You (Prelude)
     4. My Love featuring T.I.

     5. LoveStoned/I Think She Knows (Interlude)
     6. What Goes Around.../...Comes Around (Interlude)
     7. Chop Me Up featuring Timbaland and Three 6 Mafia
     8. Damn Girl featuring will.i.am
     9. Summer Love/Set the Mood (Prelude)
   10. Until the End of Time
   11. Losing My Way
   12. (Another Song) All Over Again

I was relieved to learn that I hadn't posted about a song from this album when 2006 came around the last time. Relieved and surprised. This is a great album. Actually, I can only attest to the singles. I have it on my iPod, but I can't say that I've listened to the whole thing all the way through. I'll rectify that soon.

Of all the catchy singles, "My Love" has always been my favorite. It's such a steady, smooth, chill song. I like the video too. Good dancing. Having just finished watching it before I started writing, I have to say my favorite moment is when the girl is pulling the rubber band on T.I.'s wrist with her teeth and it breaks and he smiles and she smiles and mouths "Sorry". It was an honest moment and I liked it.


4. Alan Jackson - Like Red on a Rose
3. Tony Bennett - Duets: An American Classic
2. Janet Jackson - 20 Y.O.
1. Ludacris - Release Therapy

Top Ten Tuesday: Maroon 5 "Animals"

Well, it's 17 days early, but this is the perfect video for Halloween. We've got Adam Levine the Butcher stalking mostly naked model girl and also hanging out in a meat locker and then it ends in a bloodbath. The visuals are great and Adam Levine is super creepy (and believable) as a...well, Super Creep. Oh, I also really like the song which means 2/2 of the Top Ten Singles from this album.

New Countdown: Is Hozier a BNL Fan??

Coldplay

 Whoa a gif for a cover photo! It's like we're living in Harry Potter or something!

Pretty straightforward show this week. I kind of have an idea about what I'm going to do for bonus songs for a while, so that's good.

And, even though it's 1:44 in the morning as I'm typing this, I'm not feeling too tired, so that's good!

Enjoy!

Countdown #218

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
The Griswolds
Hozier
Milky Chance
Weezer
Vance Joy

Throwback Thursday: 2007

10. Twista - Adrenaline Rush 2007
9. KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic
8. Chamillionaire - Ultimate Victory
7. James Blunt - All the Lost Souls
6. High School Musical 2 Soundtrack
5. Kenny Chesney - Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
4. Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs of the Seventies
3. 50 Cent - Curtis
2. Kanye West - Graduation

     1. Good Morning
     2. Champion

     3. Stronger
     4. I Wonder
     5. Good Life featuring T-Pain
     6. Can't Tell Me Nothing
     7. Barry Bonds featuring Lil Wayne
     8. Drunk and Hot Girls featuring Mos Def
     9. Flashing Lights featuring Dwele

   10. Everything I Am featuring DJ Premier
   11. The Glory
   12. Homecoming featuring Chris Martin
   13. Big Brother

Ok so the last time I did 2007 on this series, I featured "Stronger" from this album and so I wasn't going to feature the album this time around, but I realized how much I love this album (even though 2 of my least favorite Kanye songs are on it) and how much it "throws me back" to the morning I listened to it for the first time. It was in the lab I was working in and I was there early and I was the only one there. I'll never forget laughing out loud when "Champion" started. I had never heard the Steely Dan song it samples, but I love the way Kanye interacts with the sample.

And then we get to songs like "Flashing Lights" with one of the darkest videos of all time. The video is pretty mesmerizing, but listen to the song, too. No one else was making this kind of hip-hop.

Graduation is truly a fantastic album and well worth your time (except for those two songs I don't like)

1. Reba McEntire - Reba Duets

Top Ten Tuesday: Tove Lo "Habits (Stay High)"

When I first heard this song, I wasn't really fazed by it. It seemed like just another pop song and I mean, it IS another pop song, but I think this one is interesting because it's about drinking and partying and living that lifestyle as a way of numbing the pain of a broken heart. Familiar territory tread in kind of a new way. I can dig it.

New Countdown: Pecos Bill

Coldplay

I was listening to the 2000-2009 station on SiriusXM yesterday and "New Divide" by Linkin Park came on and it made me think about how much the chart has changed in the time that I've been doing the countdown. It's gotten a lot weirder, and maybe a little more mellow?

I know that music is in constant flux and I'm just really happy to have lassoed onto that flux so that we can enjoy the ride together!

Countdown #217

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Big Data featuring Joywave
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
KONGOS
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Weezer

Throwback Thursday: 2008

10. The Game - LAX 65
9. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III 84

     1. 3 Peat
     2. Mr. Carter featuring Jay-Z
     3. A Milli
     4. Got Money featuring T-Pain
     5. Comfortable featuring Babyface
     6. Dr. Carter
     7. Phone Home
     8. Tie My Hands featuring Robin Thicke
     9. Mrs. Officer featuring Bobby V
   10. Let the Beat Build
   11. Shoot Me Down featuring D. Smith
   12. Lollipop featuring Static Major

So I had an interesting situation arise for this week's Throwback Thursday. I had heard none of the albums on the Top Ten. So I had no clue what to pick to feature. So I decided to go logical and feature the album with the highest Metacritic score (The numbers next to the album titles this week are the Metacritic scores). The winning album was Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III album. I was a little crestfallen because I've not really cared for Lil Wayne's stuff in the past.

But I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy pretty much the whole thing. It's raunchy and vulgar at times but there's humor to it, too. And, what most surprised me, heart.

I had wanted to play the Jay-Z collaboration, but I couldn't find an actual music video for it. I found a live version, but Jay's part was just played over the system, which was disappointing.

So I played the single I didn't think I liked, "Lollipop". I thought it was dumb and sophomoric. And it is. But it's also very catchy and kinda clever.

I'm really happy to say that I've come around a lot on the Lil Wayne front.


   13. La La featuring Brisco & Busta Rhymes
   14. Pussy Monster
   15. You Ain't Got Nothin' featuring Juelz Santana & Fabolous
   16. Dontgetit


8. Buckcherry - Black Butterfly 50
7. DJ Khaled - We Global 58
6. Young Jeezy - The Recession 72
5. Darius Rucker - Learn to Live 66
4. Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus 63
3. Nelly - Brass Knuckles 61
2. Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman 79
1. Metallica - Death Magnetic 78

Top Ten Tuesday DOUBLE FEATURE: Nicki Minaj "Anaconda" / Jeremih featuring YG "Don't Tell 'Em"

Hi. So I missed last week's Top Ten Tuesday. It was one of those things where I remembered it and then forgot again and over and over until it was Wednesday morning.

So what we're gonna do is a double feature. But that's not enough to make up for the transgression for missing a week of this feature. So we're going to double up on the double feature. You see, both songs featured on this week's TTT sample songs from the 90's. So here's 4 freakin videos!

Feature 1:

A bold sample from Nicki Minaj. A raunchy, empowering song celebrating the female posterior that samples a raunchy, empowering song celebrating the female posterior. We're through the looking glass, here, people.

Feature 2:

This one is a less obvious sample, but I think I like it even more. "Rhythm is a Dancer" is one of the songs I think about when I imagine clubs in the early 90's. I like the Jeremih song, too.