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