Phil Spector is the greatest producer in the history of rock and roll. Unquestionably. Not only have his tracks included some of the greatest pop and rock songs of all time, but many great artists and whole movements — Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, ABBA, the entire shoegaze movement — have cited Phil Spector as…
When I was in sixth grade, my parents decided the female teen idols that were sweeping the charts — specifically Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears — were too sultry and suggestive for my young ears. This censorship would have made most pre-teen boys become obsessed with them, but I was a good, obedient kid. I…
This is part 2 of Will’s countdown of the top 100 ska-punk songs 90. This Gigantic Robot Kills – MC Lars “This Gigantic Robot Kills” is Nerdcore rapper MC Lars’s attempt at making a ska song. Pulling MC Bat Commander from the Aquabats and the horn line from Suburban Legends, Lars succeeds in infusing his…
Ben Folds is the punk of punks. He doesn’t reject the norm; he rejects the norm of rejecting the norm. (In fact, some of his early fame was based on his hilarious evisceration of the punk scene in early favorite “Underground”.) You think of punks as spiky- or shaggy-haired shouters who make loud and abrasive…
Below are the links to all of the articles in Will’s Top 100 Ska-Punk Songs countdown Introduction, #100-91 #90-81 #80-71 #70-61 #60-51 (#50-1 coming soon!)
This is part 1 of Will’s countdown of the top 100 ska-punk songs Preface As the name of the article implies, I’ve composed a list of what are my top 100 favorite Ska-Punk songs. Note that I consider the list an ongoing draft. It’s not truly finalized, and it never will be. I spent about…
Probably the most fun ska band. I fell in love with Suburban Legends as soon as I heard their early EP’s, and though that’s still my favorite music they’ve ever done, I’ve appreciated their focus on light, straightforward ska in recent albums. Led by the likes of Rx Bandits and Streetlight Manifesto, ska has skewed…
I’ve been listening to Relient K since the end of 2002, and since then they’ve evolved into one of the most interesting and thoughtful pop-rock bands in the business. They’re one of my all-time favorites: From the catchy throwaways to the moving reflections to the sweeping epics, Relient K has covered a lot of ground…
I’m going solo and weirdly specific for the third iteration of the Earn This Mixtape. Here are eighteen covers of the seminal holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey, separated into the good, the bad, and — since this is the internet — the ugly. –Dan
A little while back, you might recall, Dan wrote a paean to Billy Joel’s 100 Greatest Songs. Naturally, as a male, my first reaction was: I have to equal or surpass his work–by providing a list of the top 100 songs from my favorite (probably) artist, U2. As someone whose number of U2 concerts is in…