Culture Greyhound

Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.

150. Kanye West – Stronger

The Daft Punk-sampling first single from Graduation not only showed a compelling progression in West’s production, but it showcased his always-improving lyrical prowess.  Kanye’s known for his incessant bragging and unfathomable ego, but with beats and words this precise, this banging, this funny, he continued the consistency of delivering on his Cassius Clay-channeling talk.

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Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation? Part 1 – 1990

How the Left Alienated Millions of Americans

Every Song That Apple Has Ever Used for Advertising

1. The Crowds

As with any major festival, there are thousands of people clamoring around each other in a heated, sun-screened swarm of deck chairs, umbrellas, flags, and people who actually want to see bands and elbow their way to the front.  Bottom line: there’s way too many fucking people to have any sort of intimacy with the performer you’re watching.  Chances are, you’re probably just watching them because you are NOT missing whoever’s next from far away.  A word of advice for ACL virgins: stick with someone ALWAYS because you may never see them again if you lose them.  Find a meeting place, a landmark, and forget about your cell phone working.  It will not. Especially if you’re on AT&T.

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The now-elder-statesmen of the Chapel Hill music scene (and the currently immensely popular indie rock machine), Superchunk have been off the radar for a while now.  Majesty Shredding is the group’s ninth album and their first in nine years.  While the band didn’t break up, they certainly have been busy with other projects (namely the cash cow Merge Records, which was founded by a portion of the group).  But while the terms previously used to describe the band’s sound -“indie,” “emo,” “power pop”- have changed since their 90’s heyday, they certainly haven’t.

And so we could surmise that time apart is, indeed, healthy – Majesty Shredding is one of the sharpest-sounding and hook-laden CDs of this year, and probably the strongest of Superchunk’s career.  It’s more energetic than anything most of Merge’s current roster could muster up, and it shows a mature, seminal 90’s band injecting a little perspective into today’s musical state.  The sound, for the most part, hasn’t changed, so how do they make it sound so fresh?  The answer is the same as it was then – no one does it like Superchunk.

Superchunk – Digging For Something

Superchunk – My Gap Feels Weird

Superchunk – Rosemarie

Matthew Dear – I Can’t Feel

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Tame Impala – Lucidity

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Teenage Fanclub – Dark Clouds

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Superchunk – Digging For Something

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Drake – Shut It Down (featuring The-Dream)

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Once every three months I list the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter. I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months. I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.

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Anderson Cooper has been on a roll lately:

Trailers for upcoming movies. Some are good, some not as much.

All of my close friends know I am a very frugal, selfish, non-charitable individual.  If you owe me money/beer/meals, I do not forget.  If you borrow something from me, I will eventually hound you for its return.  If you need admission to an event or out of jail, call someone else.  I am too busy being awesome to be gracious.

I suppose there are exceptions, however.  My dear friends, the Thrift Store Cowboys, are currently promoting, marketing, and touring in support of their fourth disc, the remarkable Light Fighter, an album that is certainly a contender for my coveted Top Albums of 2010 list (if it can beat out Weezer and MIA….kidding).  As you most likely know – and even if you don’t I’ll tell you – these things cost a LOT of money.  The crew has been doing it DIY-style for years now, cruising around in a broken-down van and scraping together their savings for studio time and merchandise.

Thus far (that’s a decade, for those counting) they’ve done pretty well by themselves, touring stateside numerous times, gaining a dedicated following, and churning out four incredible albums that reveal the Lubbock group’s immense talent and trademark cinematic country-rock sound.  But alas, hard times have fallen on the group: a fire caused irreparable damage to a slew of merchandise and almost took the life of frontman Daniel Fluitt a few months ago, and TSC are asking for your help.

And so am I.  Even if you’ve never heard of this band, never heard a note of their music, never seen them play live, but have a passion for independent, do-it-yourself, honest-to-goodness music, take some time and make a pledge.  If you actually HAVE heard this band, then you know your investment is worthwhile.  Pick your dollar amount and choose your prize – the guys aren’t asking for money without incentive – always true to the fans, they have a slew of one-of-a-kind rewards for pledgers, including an exclusive, intimate, in-home performance for the top-dollar givers.

Time is running out on Kickstarter, so take 2 minutes of your time today and help out a band well on their way – when you see them in a bigger venue, know that they’ll remember you helped get them there.