New Countdown!: May 2020

Grouplove

Hey everyone! Well we made it through another month (basically) and so there's another batch of songs from Alternative Radio to listen to! We'll be back next month. Stay safe and healthy. And also, I hope it's very clear that at Appetite For Distraction, we firmly support Black Lives Matter and want swift justice for George Floyd and every other Black human being that has been murdered by police officers. The system is broken and we need to fix it.


Countdown #417

***Featuring***
AJR
Billie Eilish
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Glass Animals
Green Day
Grouplove
The Killers
lovelytheband
Neon Trees
Powfu featuring beabadoobee
Stephen Lynch
Tame Impala
twentyonepilots

New Countdown!: April 2020! (with special guest Lila!)

Billie Eilish

Hey! So, this is what monthly countdowns looks like! We are back with all of the songs that charted in April. And my daughter is here to weigh in on what she thinks of the songs from this month. We had such a fun time recording that this might become an occasional feature. I hope you have as much fun. The "cover art" for this episode is not random as it normally is, but was purposefully selected after Lila correctly pointed out that there's only one female voice in this whole countdown. (Diet Cig has an album you could go preorder, if you were interested....)


Countdown #416

***Featuring***
AJR
AWOLNATION
Billie Eilish
Cage the Elephant
China Crisis
Green Day
Grouplove
Hot Chelle Rae
The Killers
lovelytheband
The Lumineers
Neon Trees
Strung Out
Sub Urban
Tame Impala
twentyonepilots
The Unlikely Candidates

New Post!: March 2020! (CAUGHT. UP!)

The Lumineers

WE DID IT!!! This episode marks the official last episode I can feasibly do before the end of April. I'm feeling like I'm in a prime position to keep current with a monthly countdown show and I'm excited to do it. Thanks for hanging in with me as I've worked to get current. See you in April!!!


Countdown #415

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Billie Eilish
Cage the Elephant
Green Day
Grouplove
The Killers
The Lumineers
Meg Myers
MxPx
Neon Trees
Sub Urban
twentyonepilots
The Unlikely Candidates
White Reaper

Bonus Countdown: All-Time Top Alternative Songs (ca 2013) (Part 2)

Fuel

Well ladies and gents, it's the episode you've been waiting for all your...week. The thrilling conclusion to the two-part, nail-biting, down-to-the-wire, All-Time Top Alternative Songs countdown... according to Billboard more than 2 years ago...

It's just a time to reflect on some choice cuts of decade-spanning Alternative goodness, so sink your teeth in and enjoy!


All-Time Alternative Songs (Part 2) (ca 2013)

***Featuring***
Foo Fighters
Fuel
Green Day
Incubus
Imagine Dragons
Marcy Playground
Muse
Neon Trees
Peter Murphy
Rise Against

New Countdown: Welcome to October!

Walk the Moon

Well here we are in the 10th month. This year is just flying by and the air is getting colder. My thoughts are turning to the Festive Fifty and that email will go out at the end of the month.


For now, enjoy the Alternative goodness :)


Countdown #266

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Beck
Bleachers featuring Elle King
Cold War Kids
Coleman Hell
Elle King
Florence + the Machine
Neon Trees
The Struts
twenty one pilots
Walk the Moon
X Ambassadors

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

Neon Trees - Pop Psychology

I don't think Pop Psychology, the new Neon Trees album being released on Tuesday (4/22) is going to end up on many 2014 Year-End lists.

It's weird to start a review of an album that I really enjoyed like that, but it's the truth. Neon Trees remain one of those bands that are on a lot of people's radars but people don't tend to check them out. I felt like I was completely alone in my love of the Neon Trees' debut Habits, but then fell into the trap myself when I didn't buy the follow-up, Picture Show (the name of which I had to look up just now), even though I really enjoyed the big single from it, "Everybody Talks".

Pop Psychology sounds like an album that you might have found in your older brother's room after he left for college in 1987. And I mean that in a very good way. It has all of the pop conventions of that era, but contextualized in the middle of the modern world. Songs like "Love in the 21st Century" and "Text Me in the Morning" make this juxtaposition clear. And it's that very same juxtaposition that I loved on Habits.

I really hope that I'm proven wrong about the Year-End lists, though. It would be a shame for people to miss out on this fantastic synth-pop time machine. But I feel like people still haven't woken up to how talented this band is. If you really want a great example of this, perhaps something to play for your friends, check out that last track, "First Things First" (great closing track title) for a heartfelt song punctuated by one of the greatest musical creations of all time, the Bitchin' Guitar solo. It's a rare beast to find in pop music these days, but when it appears as majestically as it does on this song, you count yourself truly lucky to have witnessed it.

So pick this album up, go home to your bedroom, throw on some neon-frame sunglasses and dance til you drop. Then get up and do it again. See if you don't wake up in the morning with a new favorite album. (I realize that buying an album outside of your home is rare. If you're planning on a download from your bedroom, then at least leave the room and come back, to simulate the experience. It'll feel SO 80's!)

Here's the video for the first single from the album:

New Countdown with another close call!

Did I almost forget about this week's countdown? No. Did I almost not get it recorded? Yes. That happened. Sometimes having a life outside of the blog is so inconvenient! ;-)

Big shoutout to Having Said That in this episode. Let's just say I tried something. I don't know if it's something i'm going to continue to try or what. I guess we'll have to see.

This one starts slow and builds up a good head of steam. Enjoy!

Countdown #107

***Featuring***

The Black Keys

Bon Iver

fun. featuring Janelle Monae

Gotye featuring Kimbra

Grouplove

Imagine Dragons

Linkin Park

M83

Neon Trees

Of Monsters and Men

Silversun Pickups

11 years and 1 week later: This Week's Countdown

Wasn't the Flashback last week fun? I wonder if people who didn't graduate that year got as much nostalgia from it as I did. I hope you enjoyed it in either case.

We're back to present day this week and there's a bit of movement to come back to.

I can't believe we're going into the THIRD summer of these countdowns. I love it.

Countdown #106

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Silversun Pickups

A New Countdown for your Memorial Day enjoyment!

Hey all! Hope you are enjoying Memorial Day weekend! It's supposed to be nice where I live and I hope that it is nice where you live!

Enjoy this countdown. I think that if you're looking for punchy, you're going to find it in the first 3 or 4 intros. Just a little tip!

See you next week for a Flashback Countdown! We'll count down the top 10 from the first week of June 2001.

Here's this week's countdown:

Countdown #105

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Nine Inch Nails
Of Monsters and Men
Silversun Pickups


And here's the video I mention at one point!

We'll always have Countdowns...

Even though I'm adjusting to my new schedule at my new job and that's making it hard to do my other normal postings, I have enough experience making these podcasts that I can do them in one sitting if I put my mind to it.

I should have a new laptop sometime this summer and I think that's going to mean a renaissance for this blog. I will have email submissions, my external hard drive, and my recording location all in one place. It's going to be killer.

So. I made you a countdown. Hope you like it!

Countdown #104

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Green Day
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Silversun Pickups

A Countdown I almost forgot to finish making!

Yes it's true. I don't always knock countdowns out in one sitting. Usually it's more like two. Sometimes three sittings. This time it was three, but the third very nearly didn't happen at all! Thank goodness I have a routine where I look at the blogs before I go to bed (is that what people will do instead of "reading the paper" in 20 years? Is it actually what people mostly do now?) and that jarred the idea that I publish on Sunday mornings!

But here it is in all it's glory. 103.

Countdown #103

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Silversun Pickups

New Countdown in Stere-ere-o. In stere-ere-o. In stereoooo (Beastie Boys reference)

So MCA (Adam Yauch) from the Beastie Boys died on Friday. He contributed so much to music right up to the very end. And he will be missed. The show this week pays tribute to him and the Beastie Boys in general. Enjoy it!

Countdown #102

***Featuring***
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Shins

Countdown 101: Back to Basics

Whoa. So Blogger's all weird now. I know that probably most of my listeners don't blog themselves (you should though!), but I guess they've changed the setup of what it looks like when I write a blog post. Things are in different places. It's like someone cleaned my house and moved all my stuff around. Eh, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

So, we're in the 2nd 100 episodes now, huh? Pretty sweet. :)

Enjoy this week's show!

Countdown #101

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Lostprophets
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Countdown #100. That's Right. 100.

So, this is the 100th podcast I've made that I've labeled a "Countdown". There are Flashback Countdowns and Off the Charts podcasts and stuff, but this is the 100th proper countdown of current chart hits.

It's chock full of bonus songs, movement and perhaps for the first time on ANY podcast...Counting to 100 by 6!

Enjoy this one! Tell your friends.

Countdown #100

***Featuring***
All-American Rejects
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Hoobastank
Keith Urban
M83
The Mars Volta
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men

New Countdown! Less Ramble! More Rock!

So I made a valiant effort not to ramble this week. And it was tough! There was a lot to talk about! The Grammys were on Sunday and we had some big wins and some performances by people that are currently on our chart! It's a good episode. And it includes....SOMETHING THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE...on this show...tune in, won't you?

Countdown #42

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Middle Class Rut
Mumford & Sons
My Chemical Romance
Neon Trees
Rise Against

New Countdown with extra parenty goodness!!!

So, my Dad and Stepmom were down visiting the lovely Little Distraction (as I've decided to refer to her) and they were kind enough to join me on this week's podcast! It's lots of fun, but it ran a little long. So I decided to try box.net for my "larger than Fileden can handle" needs. So, the file might not play the way it normally does, but it should download just fine! It's called "Long Version" because I made a shorter version to try to get it into Fileden range, to no avail.

Countdown #40

***Featuring***
30 Seconds to Mars
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Neon Trees
The Psychedelic Furs

Oh yeah. And I do podcasts too :)

I've found myself really looking forward to doing this podcast this week. Not that I'm not normally excited to do it, but this week it's just been something I've been looking forward to. The blog seems like it has new life for me. And I think that it maybe has something to do with Tricia starting her blog. So thanks Tricia!

Countdown #39

***Featuring***
30 Seconds to Mars
The Black Keys
Cage the Elephant
Cake
Florence + the Machine
Linkin Park
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Neon Trees
Sick Puppies
U.S. Royalty

Guest review of Countdown tracks!

While I was in the hospital helping my wife have the baby (read: trying to keep out of everyone's way), I asked my friend Andy to write up his reactions to the songs that have been on our countdown over the past couple of weeks. I initially gave him the order of the songs as they appeared on the countdown, but since that has changed a bit over the last couple of weeks, I put them in alphabetical order by band name.

I'd like to do this occasionally. If you'd be interested in being on the list of people willing and able to give their impressions of 10 or so songs, leave me a comment or shoot me an email!

And now, without any further ado (I say this so often, but never type it...it's fun to type!), here's Andy!

Let's start off by saying that I don't listen to that much modern
rock, so I was pretty much hearing most of these songs for the first
time when writing this post.

30 Seconds to Mars - Closer to the Edge
I hated Jared Leto's acting career. But I'm loving his work with 30
Seconds to Mars. This latest album is the most polished I've ever
heard them. And this song makes me want to jump in the air and never
land.

The Black Keys - Tighten Up
The Black Keys have a distinct vocal sound. It's definitely one that
grows on you.

Cage the Elephant - Shake Me Down
Everyone's been raving about Cage the Elephant and now I can see why.
This song is very catchy and makes me want to sing along.

Cake - Sick of You

Cake continues their trend of light hearted fun rock music and even
their new stuff reminds me of 1998.

Florence + the Machine - Dog Days are Over
Quite a lovely song is all I can say about this track.

Kings of Leon - Radioactive

For some reason, I can't think of Kings of Leon anymore without
thinking about the bird that crapped in the lead singer's mouth at a
show. I'm not a huge fan of this song, but it is kind of catchy.

Linkin Park - Waiting For the End
I remember when Linkin Park was simply a hip-hop/rock fusion band.
They've changed over the years and now they apparently sound like 311.
Not a fan of the direction they're going in, but hopefully something
new and exciting comes out of it.

Muse - Undisclosed Desires
Muse is going to become the Radiohead of this generation.

My Chemical Romance - Sing

I'm glad My Chemical Romance has stopped screaming for an entire song
and worked on creating harmonies and catchy songs

Neon Trees - Animal
I've been in love with this sick ever since I first heard it back on
Record Store Day. James tells me this album is one of the best he's
hard in the past year. I have still yet to listen to the whole thing,
but he's usually a good judge of music.

Sick Puppies - Maybe
I really like the message of this song - breaking out doing something
on your own even though you're scared of what will happen. Very
uplifting and hits a personal note with me at this moment.

Some alternative music for your probably snowy day!

Well, it appears that the snow of the season has begun! Enjoy the new show!

Countdown #36