Austin Town Hall

During 1989 I received my first CD player.  Since that day, I’ve collected music vigorously, but only recently has that seem to have gotten a little bit out of hand.  Some friends know I have stuff, so they want to borrow it, or they want a burned copy.  Other times, people want me to make a mix for some purpose or another, so I gladly oblige.  It recently hit me that there are some mysterious tunes lying around in my iTunes library that I really rather wish weren’t there, or that I am going to pretend like I downloaded for a friend and lay no claim to whatsoever.  Do you have those too? It can’t be just me.

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What’s that ya say?  SXSW is almost upon us?  Get the F*** out!  With our fancy little music festival we call SXSW coming up in March, I wanted to take a quick look at some of the bands I just gotta see during the upcoming week.  Now obviously I had to stick to a few strict rules here.  For starters, the band has to be one I haven’t seen before.  Two, it has to actually be possible to see the band (sorry STP & Band of Horses).  Three, the band needs to be fairly new with high praises coming from us and others.  I’d say that about does it.  These are bands on the verge of breaking it big in the national scene.  Will they have what it takes to impress me and the snobby Austin music scene with their live shows?  Only time will tell…  Follow the jump for my full list of bands I’ll be waiting in line to see during SXSW.
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In the history of popular music, there have only been a handful of truly memorable and iconic logos. While searching through all of the logos out there, I decided to try and make the list a little more interesting. So I’ve chosen my favorite band logos from a few different genres and then ranked those. There were great logos out there for crappy bands. There were band logos from my younger days that reminded me a little too much of a Yaga shirt. So follow the jump and you’ll find logos that are as timeless as the bands they represent.

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In the 60s it was the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones. In the 80s it was Duran Duran, Eurythmics, and New Order. I wouldn’t say it was an “invasion,” but here are some of the best British bands of the past decade. Sorry, Susan Boyle didn’t make the list.
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It’s Friday night. Whether or not you are the host of a party, en route to a social gathering, or made sure to pack a few extra bucks to load up the bar jukebox; you have a few songs in mind that are gonna be played. Everyone has their own fist pumping, head rocking, “make up your own dance moves” go-to tracks that you know everyone will dance to without shame. The following are a few songs that will make you dance your pants off, with or without liquid courage. Follow the jump for the full list (in no particular order).
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We all have that feeling. You have a crucial presentation or test the next morning and you just need some damn sleep. Then it hits you. Out of nowhere, the chorus to ‘Rocky Mountain High’ (or some equally random song) decides to lodge itself deep within your subconscious.  “What the hell John Denver, I don’t even listen to your music and can’t possibly even remember the last time I hear that song!”  This kind of thing happens to me more often than I would like to admit, but here goes. The ear-bug phenomenon may be an inevitable curse to the music junkie.  I can’t go through the day without listening to some sort of music and therefore, some rhythm or theme, or even a random lyric gets stuck, leaving me with nowhere to run. The only thing to do is to listen to music as a guard against this from happening, from my own personal theme music infiltrating my deepest thoughts. And thus, the cycle begins anew.  Over the years, I find myself humming the tunes of many songs in the short-term, but a few have never left. It’s a living nightmare.  Damn you Hippocampus!  Follow the jump for full list.

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There are few song subjects that lend themselves to expressions of pure happiness.  Songs about automobiles seem to be an exception.  The sense of freedom that comes from driving a car always seems be a joyful experience in songs.  Whether you’re talking about The Beach Boys or The Geto Boys, exalting the virtues of the automobile seems to be a peculiarly American phenomenon.   Most songs seem to be about American cars too as, to my knowledge, no one yet has written a great pop song about a Honda Civic.  Maybe some day.  In the mean time, follow the jump for five great songs about (American) cars.
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We really live in a day and age when the idea of being a rock star is just about gone. Gone are the days of the lead singer who gets mobbed by fans everywhere they go or sleeps in hotel rooms full of strange women.  We don’t even get a lot of musicians with drug and alcohol problems anymore or who quite obviously don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.  You know, those people who were just way cooler than you ever hoped to be?  Dylan, Jagger, Plant, etc.  We all know the names.  That’s what makes them rock stars.  So today I wanted to create a list of those “modern rock stars” who have carried the torch of debauchery and coolness into a new age.  These guys (and gals) represent all the great things about being a rock star: alcohol/drug rehab stints, celebrity girlfriends, trend setting, don’t give a shit attitude, members of popular bands, and decent music all earn you a place on this list.  As a disclaimer I’ll say that all these artists rose to fame in the last decade so this means you won’t see a Dave Grohl or Eddie Vedder on this list because they have long been in the halls of the greats.  I’ll also make an attempt to compare each artist to who they most closely resemble from years past.  Please don’t assume that I’m comparing anyone artistically, I just wanted to give you a  frame of reference.  Follow the jump for the full list.

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