Scotland the Brave

England's northern neighbor has long produced groundbreaking bands. I'm thinking of Simple Minds (when they were truly groundbreaking), Orange Juice, Josef K, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, The Beta Band and Franz Ferdinand... (and not so much Big Country, Del Amitri and the Proclaimers.)

Add another band to the groundbreaking list: Django Django. The similarity with the Beta Band is obvious -- after all, Django's David Maclean is the younger brother of the Beta Band's John Maclean. But add more synths, surf guitars, and Brian Wilsonesque vocal harmonies and you're getting closer. Their self-titled debut album got major critical acclaim from usual suspects like NME and The Guardian, but also on this side of the Atlantic courtesy of Rolling Stone, which voted it the 26th best album of 2012. I'm not sure how I missed it last year, but I'm happy I found it now.

Which One is Not Like the Others?

I've been thinking - and blogging - a lot about Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party lately, and I was trying to remember some of the other British bands that came along at roughly the same time. Franz Ferdinand is an obvious one, although they broke big here in the states in 2004, one year before Kaiser Chiefs and Block Party.

Later that year, a rather poorly named Scottish band joined them on the U.S. airwaves, and unlike the other three bands, they've largely been forgotten. Dogs Die in Hot Cars had one real hit - "I Love You 'Cause I Have To" - which peaked at #32 on the UK Singles Chart. They never found chart success in this country, although they were mainstays on radio stations like LA's KROQ for a few months. I bought the CD anyway. It had a few moments, but overall was mediocre.

My 15 for 15 (based off of NME's selections.)

Sorry for the delay on this.  I have been swamped, but called Court to talk about this.  I was extremely disappointed in the selections that NME came up with for the best songs over the past 15 years.  I KNOW I can come up with 15 great songs that were not even considered.  So, based off of their list, here is what I came up with.

#15 - Smile, Lily Allen (NME's rank - 104)

A cute little song about bad boyfriends and revenge.  Pretty "poppy," but I think it earned its stripes.

#14 - Bloc Party, Banquet (20)

Court turned me on to this.  I think we will never hear from them again, but pretty cool song.

#13 - Pumping Up Your Stereo - Supergrass (124)

Such an upbeat, moving song.  I think if I were cleaning the house, this would keep me motivated.

#12 - Young Folks, Peter, Bjorn, & John (93)

I don't know if I would really want to listen to this song at this very moment due to overplay, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's a great song, that YOU KNOW you were whistling along too!

#11 - Take Me Out, Franz Ferdinand (27)

I am not one who loves to dance, but I find myself tapping my feet to this one.  It's that driving beat!  I love the way the song changes ala Paul McCartney (1971-1979).  Terrific.

#10 - Paper Planes, MIA (15)

This song took a long time to warm up to.  My kids like it.  They would play it, and it grew on me.  I know they have no clue what the song is about. 

#9 Paranoid Android, Radiohead (1)

I must admit, I am not crazy about Radiohead like others are.  I respect them.  This song and video intrigued me.  I bought OK Computer and enjoyed it.  I am not as warm on Kid A, or others like so many others are. 

#8 - A Punk, Vampire Weekend (62)

Probably the most exciting new thing that I bought into when it came out.  I just felt they were so fresh.  I can still enjoy this song now. 

#7 - Song 2, Blur (79)

It's a shame Blur is best know for this 2:00+ "grunge" song, when they are so talented.  Many great songs to chose from, but man this song gets you pumped up!

#6 - Ms. Jackson, Outkast (81)

Next to the B-Boys, I feel these guys are it in the hip-hop world.  Andre 3000 is the thinking man's wrapper.  Here he promises to be a good father to his child with Erikah Badu, even if they aren't together.  "I am for real!"

#5 - Clint Eastwod, Gorillaz (141)

141, really?  A weird concept, but works in all dimensions.  Plus, it revived the career of Del, the Funk Homosapien!



#4 - Reptillia, The Strokes (129)

I love the Strokes.  It may not be their best song, but ti gets stuck in my head anythime I hear it. 

#3 - Maps, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. (55)

Man this song is moving.  Such emotions when listening to this song.  I love how, much like the Velvet Underground, the song goes form soft to hard.  Terrifc song.

#2 - Jesus Walks, Kanye West (69)

I'm sure it might be shocking that Kanye makes my list, especially this high.  The College Dropout is a fantstic album before West cracked and let stardom get to his head.  A very heartfelt and honest song about religon in pop culure with the dramatic strings and chanting.  I would say it is in constant rotation on my iphone. 

#1 - Where It's At?, Beck

One of the most creative and innovative musicians out there today.  Has tried (and succeeded) with many different styles and genres, but is at his best with the non-sensical rhymes and the Dust Brothers sampling.  I don't think there was a record like thsis ever made again.

Well, that's my list.  "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor," by the Artic Monkeys, "Hate to Say I Told You So," by the Hives, "Firestarter" by Prodigy, "The Hindu Times" by Oasis, and "The Scientist" by Coldpay all got consideration.  Once again, the list left off soem great songs & heavy hitters. 

15 for 15

NME is out with its top 150 songs of the past 15 years. There's a lot on their list, but the songs that I'd consider the best of the past 15 years are nowhere to be found. More on that later. For now, here are my Top 15 from NME's 150, with their ranking in parentheses:

#15 Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk" (62)

#14 TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me" (46)

#13 Blur - "Out of Time" (73)

#12 Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out" (27)

#11 Johnny Cash - "Hurt" (35)

#10 M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (15)

#9 Futureheads - "Hounds of Love" (89)

#8 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" (39)

#7 Animal Collective - "My Girls" (91)

#6 Beck - "Where It's At" (76)

#5 The Strokes - "Hard to Explain" (36)

 #4 Bloc Party - "Banquet" (20)

#3 Jay Z - "99 Problems" (24)

#2 Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood" (141)

#1 The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony" (9)

Honorable mention goes to "Milkshake" by Kelis. Just kidding. Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes" and Belle and Sebastian's "The Boy with the Arab Strap" just missed my Top 15. As did "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I went with "Zero"). And MGMT was a late cut as well.

But my overall thought is that the NME list really missed the mark. How does Hole's "Celebrity Skin" make the list but "Malibu", a far better song, get left off? And I appreciate the love for LCD Soundsystem --- after all, "Someone Great" might be the single best song of the past 15 years. But it's nowhere to be found. Yet "All My Friends" is on the list at #118. Art Brut's "Formed a Band" is #102 -- I would have included "Direct Hit" instead. And "Men's Needs" by the Cribs is a fine song, but their better work came after Johnny Marr joined the band. Let me go on: The Streets "Dry Your Eyes" (#87) should have been "Has It Come To This?" or "Geezers Need Excitement" or -- if you needed to keep the schmaltz, "It's Too Late". I would have liked to include Radiohead and Arcade Fire -- but I wasn't thrilled with NME's choices. And don't get me started about Super Furry Animals. The song NME chose - "The Man Don't Give a F---" - wouldn't even make my top 15 of SFA songs.

This post was John's idea... so I'm eager to see what his list looks like... John?

Song In My Head

Ok, with tonight's season finale of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" (side note - this might be one of the greatest seasons of any reality show I have ever seen.  Gene, the super ego maniac, comes to terms with his reality of the destructiveness he has cause his common law wife, Shannon Tweed, and his two children, with the help of a psychiatrist - all in front of a TV camera!!!) I have chosen what KISS fans consider one of the worst moves the band ever made. (...and they have made plenty of bad moves - The Elder anyone?) The song in my head is the disco driven "I Was Made for Lovin' You."  I would have loved to see a band like Franz Ferdinand cover this.  ***Trivia note*** - Peter Criss, drummer for the band, for whatever reason, could not play this song, so on the studio recording, David Letterman drummer Anton Fig filled in for him.  Enjoy

I Was Made for Lovin You