Special Countdown: 12 Years of Last.Fm (Part 3) (#30-#21)

Rise Against

It's the end of the month, so that must mean that it's time for another installment of 12 Year of Last.fm. It's a great episode with a wide range of music. Enjoy!


12 Years of Last.fm (Part 3)

***Featuring***
Alkaline Trio
Bad Religion
Dar Williams
Elliott Smith
Frightened Rabbit
Pearl Jam
Rise Against
Sublime
Sufjan Stevens
Thrice
Vampire Weekend

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: 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

One Year, 100 Albums: #8 Rise Against "Revolutions Per Minute"

Rise Against Revolutions Per Minute, 2003

I feel like everyone has an "angry" album. The album you listen to instead of burning it all to the ground and going off and living in the desert because the world is against you and it always will be. Revolutions Per Minute is that album for me. But it's so much more than angry, yelly catharsis.

The hint that this is the case is right there in the title. And in the album art. The title's a pun on the unit of playing speed of a vinyl record vs how many times can you revolt in a minute's time. (Five Iron Frenzy did SORT of the same thing with their live album Proof The Youth are Revolting). The album art (the cover and the back and the inside of the liner notes) features objects of destruction hybridized with everyday objects. For instance, the cover features a pair of headphones plugged into a grenade.

This is an appropriate symbol for what this album contains. Half reflections on living life to its fullest despite what naysayers you might encounter and half anthems to inspire people to fight against oppression in all its forms. In the most moving songs on the album, the first type and the second type meld together.

My favorite track, however, is solidly in the second type of songs. It's called "Blood-Red, White, and Blue" and is one of my all-time favorite protest songs. And before you call me out on it, yes, it has a bitchin' guitar solo. But that's only PART of what makes this song great.

I want this to be an album that my children and their children discover and draw inspiration from. Inspiration to stand up for others, to stand up for themselves, and to fight for the life that will make them happy instead of settling for a life that doesn't make waves.

Rise Against - Like the Angel
Rise Against - Blood-Red, White, and Blue

You can buy Revolutions Per Minute at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

Mushmouth presents A New Countdown!

I felt like I was on a first date with this week's podcast. I was talking too loud sometimes, too quietly other times, I was nervous, forgetting the points of stories......

But the music is great! :) It always is.

Countdown #99

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Rise Against

Oh, also, in honor of #99....wasn't Barbara Feldon a knockout on Get Smart?

Happy Easter! Here's a New Countdown!

I seriously found myself thinking just now, "Wow, so when New Year's is on a Sunday, Easter is on a Sunday!"....Yeah. So, that's where my head is. How are you? :)

We're quickly approaching 100 episodes and I couldn't be more stoked. Actually, I will be more stoked. Next week!

Countdown #98

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Rise Against

A Countdown to Say Goodbye....

This has been a lot of fun and I'll never forget all the memories, but I think it's time for me to do something else with the time I have been using to do this podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for all the support.

Countdown #97

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Evanescence featuring Paul McCoy
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Pearl Jam
Rise Against
















APRIL FOOOOOOOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!
(See you next week :) )

Genre-hopping with the New Countdown

You know, if I ever featured a band called The New Countdown, I would have to be very careful about how I titled the post.

Yes, I really felt like this week's countdown mixed it up pretty nicely. There weren't a lot of back to back songs of the same genre and that always feels like a win to me.

I heard from a listener that she made chicken while listening to last week's show. Has anyone else tried cooking to the countdown? That sounds like an Appetite For Distraction/I Sing in the Kitchen crossover show, doesn't it?

Countdown #96

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Rise Against
U.S. Royalty

New Countdown: The Voice is Back! And it's working overtime!

No more croaking! Only some wild, youthful partying with a touch of rocking added to taste. Oh and more rambling than I've been doing recently (don't leave!). I'm liking where the countdown has been heading these past few weeks. What have you guys been thinking?

Also, has anyone come up with any Countdown #100 ideas? I certainly haven't.


Countdown #95

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. Featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye Featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Another Unprecedented Countdown

Well, I've never done a countdown like this before. It was certainly an experience and there's (appropriately) not much more to say about this. It's an enjoyable episode and I think you'll enjoy it a lot!

Thanks so much to my sister for all her help and contributions this week.

Countdown #94

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Chevelle
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun
Gotye
Grimes
Grouplove
Janelle Monae
Kimbra
Rise Against
Young the Giant

I'm paranoid that if I don't say NEW COUNTDOWN, you won't know this is a new countdown...

Well, this is when I would prefer to be finishing up a countdown. It's currently Friday evening and it's not even 11 yet! Woohoo!

So my sister is coming to stay with us for a week. It's going to be lots of fun and I'm certain we'll listen to lots of music.

I can't wait until I have a computer of my own again so that I can DL all these episodes I've been making for like the last 6 weeks and listen to them on my iPod!

Countdown #93

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun.
Gotye
Janelle Monae
Kimbra
Queens of the Stone Age
Rise Against
Young the Giant

The Countdown That Never Ends

You'll see what I mean when you listen to the episode.

I feel like I'm in one of those situations where I'm playing catch-up. I mean, it's not as bad as it used to be, but this is the latest I've been putting a countdown together in MONTHS. I suppose it'll get better, right?

Countdown #92

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Homer Simpson
Rise Against
Sleigh Bells
Young the Giant

Even MORE new music for February on a New Countdown!

That's right. We have a couple more songs debuting on our chart this week and I'm pretty excited about both of them. One is by an old friend of the countdown and one is by someone we've never seen on the charts before. Listen and enjoy!

Also, in a couple of weeks, I'll be hitting Countdown #100. Any ideas about what I should do, if anything, to commemorate the occasion? I'll try to remember to ask on the next podcast, too.

Countdown #91

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Chevelle
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Puddle of Mudd
Rise Against
Young the Giant

2011 Artists of the Year

This is one of my favorite episodes of the year. I look forward to it and I think that all my anticipation has paid off. I had so much fun putting it together and I think you'll have a lot of fun listening to it!

2011 Artists of the Year

***Featuring***
Dessa
Doomtree
King Post Kitsch
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
New Found Glory
NOFX
P.O.S.
Rise Against
Smashing Pumpkins
Wild Flag

Happy New Year! It's the Year End Countdown!

Well Holy Crap, you guys. It's time for the SECOND ANNUAL Year End Countdown. Can you believe it? So much has happened this year and I've been countin' them down all the while!

It's such an honor to do this podcast for you and I plan to do it for as long as I'm able. Feel free to check in from time to time ;-)

2011 Year End Countdown

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Bush
Cage the Elephant
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Linkin Park
Mumford & Sons
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against

So, they didn't have two of my top 10 (which I posted earlier this month) so I naturally replaced them with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes EP's. This is to vote in the Hype Machine's blogger category for their Zeitgeist 2011 (I love end of year stuff!!)

Best Albums of 2011 #10-6

 10. Rise Against - Endgame I will always buy any album that Rise Against releases. I can't really say they're breaking any new ground with Endgame, but the ground that they've already broken is so rich in nutrients, that I could survive on it for many years to come. The track I've selected from Endgame is the one that I've listened to over and over. It features some good sampling from the film version of Catch-22. It may be the sampling, in fact, that makes the song for me. So, thanks, Joseph Heller!

Rise Against - Survivor Guilt

9. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light When Foo Fighters release a new album, it always feels like the first single is amazing and gets my hopes way up for the rest of the album. And while the rest of their albums are fine, they never really live up to the excitement of that first track. Wasting Light is the exception to that. The first single, "Rope" (the track I've picked to feature from the album), is fantastic. And it is representative of the amazingness of the rest of the album. I still need to spend some time with the second half of the album, but it's time I'm looking forward to spending!

Foo Fighters - Rope

8. Yuck - Yuck I know that if I was like 5 years older, I would get a lot more of the allusions and influences that make this album so enjoyable. There's like Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine and stuff, right? Well, in any case, I love the fuzzed out guitars, the wailing solos, the gorgeous vocals. This is a good driving album. Just don't, like, punch your windshield or window. I could have basically picked any song to feature, so I picked "Operation"!


Yuck - Operation

7. Radiohead - The King of Limbs This album was too short. That's my one complaint with it. I wish they'd put "Supercollider", "The Butcher", and "Staircase" on it, but I suppose it's their band and not mine. The trick to "getting" this album, I think, is to look at it as a dance album with a break to catch your breath in the middle. I've picked one of the "breather" songs to feature. The other being "Codex", natch.

Radiohead - Give Up the Ghost

 6. The Antlers - Burst Apart I did an actual review of this album back in September but what still gets me about this album is how it is, at the same time, so frigid and so cathartic! It's practically, well, bursting with potential energy. And it lets that energy loose only twice. If this was vinyl (and I'm sure it is, somewhere), it would be the last track of each side. The album closer "Putting the Dog to Sleep" is what I featured back in September, so here's the Side 1 closer:

The Antlers - Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out

New Countdown! Breath of Fresh Air!

So did you hear me on the radio?? Its so fun to listen to yourself in a format where someone else is causing you to be heard. I hope that that makes sense. If I was a movie star or something, I feel like I'd feel the same way as I do now.

So, once again and then I promise I'll stop plugging: If you go to shoutcast.com or get the shoutcast app, then search "Destado", you'll find Destado Radio, where the Countdown plays every week at about 830 on Sunday Mornings!

This week marks what I believe is the official end to the craziness that was the month of October. I went and saw Dessa, Lila had her Flu shot and now we are taking it easy this weekend. It feels so luxurious to be able to take it easy, you know?

Countdown #79

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

Tune In to New Countdowns!

Hi there! If this is your first time at Appetite For Distraction. Then welcome! Tell your friends!

If you've been here before, welcome back! Tell your friends! ;)

So, this morning, I was on the radio. Internet radio. If you go to shoutcast.com or download the Shoutcast app and then search "Destado", you will find the Destado Radio Network that will be broadcasting the Countdown every Sunday morning at around 8:30 am!

It's such an honor to be on there and I think back to when I started the Countdown and how Casey Kasem was sort of the model that I was trying to emulate. And now my show will be heard on Sunday mornings. Just like Casey Kasem!

I hope you'll tune in. And then I think I'm going to set it up so that at 10:30 or so, the blog post with the Countdown that has just played will go up and you can download it to listen to over and over again!

Here's this week's!

Countdown #78

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant

New Countdown: Surprises Abound!

This episode has some surprises at the front and the back, so why not listen to the whole thing? ;-)

But seriously. I've learned a lesson over the course of the last couple of weeks and that is this: If you just keep doing what you're doing and doing it the best you can, you will find opportunities to do more of what you're doing on a grander scale!

Countdown #77

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
Blink-182
Bush
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Goo Goo Dolls
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant