“Staying Home”, Superchunk

This way: Staying Home

Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and do-it-yourself ethic were influenced by punk rock. 

Members McCaughan and Ballance founded the successful independent record label Merge Records in 1989 as a way to release music from Superchunk and music created by friends, which has expanded to include artists from around the world and records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts. Superchunk released a string of full-length albums and compilations throughout the 1990s

[Spotify] Staying Home

“My Impression Now”, Guided by Voices

This way: My Impression Now

Two minutes and seven seconds of GBV perfection. Guided by Voices (GBV) is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard, who founded the group with his brother Jim Pollard, guitarist Mitch Mitchell, Tobin Sprout, and drummer Kevin Fennell. The classic lineup included these musicians along with bassist Greg Demos, who also has some song co-writing credits. 

[Spotify] My Impression Now

“Welcome to my Nightmare”, Alice Cooper

This way: Welcome to my Nightmare

Alice Cooper is one of my earliest musical loves. He went to the same high school as I did (Hello Camelback High!). I saw him on this tour in the huge Coliseum show. Heavy on stage craft as he was known for. Ive had a bit of a like hate relationship with this LP. Up until this point Alice Cooper was a band effort. Alice basically kicked out all the members and took the Band name with him. Certainly not their best record, but it seems to be fitting in todays world. From 1975.

[Spotify] Welcome to my Nightmare

“Jacking the Ball”, The Sea and Cake

This way: Jacking the Ball

The Sea and Cake is an American indie rock band with a jazz influence, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. 

The group formed in the mid-1990s from members of The Coctails (Archer Prewitt), Shrimp Boat (Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge), and Tortoise (John McEntire); the group's name came from a willful reinterpretation (as the result of an accidental miscomprehension) of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol. Starting with 1997's The Fawn, the group has relied on electronic sound sources, such as drum machines and synthesizers, to color its music, but has retained its distinctive post-jazz combo style. The band has shied away from releasing singles, preferring the album format. Contrary to his multi-instrumentalist role in Tortoise, John McEntire almost exclusively plays drums in The Sea and Cake.

Members Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, and John McEntire each have released solo albums. The cover art of The Sea And Cake's releases are largely paintings by member Eric Claridge and photographs by Prekop. Prewitt has been involved in publishing his own comic books and doing graphic design.

In 1995, the band contributed the song "The Fontana" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization. The band was on hiatus from 2004 to 2007. 

[Spotify] Jacking the Ball

“PS Exclusive”, Life without Buildings

This way: PS Exclusive

Life Without Buildings were a Glasgow, Scotland based indie rock band. The band, mostly ex-students of the Glasgow School of Art, formed during the summer of 1999. The band initially consisted of Will Bradley (drums), Chris Evans (bass) and Robert Johnston (guitar). Painter Sue Tompkins (vocals) joined later that year. Sue's "talk-sung" vocals eventually became the band's most famous attribute. Impressed after their first London gig, the Rough Trade-affiliated Tugboat label asked the band to record a debut single on the label.

Released in March 2000, "The Leanover" b/w "New Town" secured the band a full deal with the label. The band released two more singles on the label. The band's debut, Any Other City, recorded by Scottish producer Andy Miller, was released in 2001 in the UK; label DCBaltimore2012 issued it months later in the United States. In May 2007 a live album was released in Europe called Live at the Annandale Hotel on the Gargleblast Records label. The album has subsequently been released in North America on Absolutely Kosher Records in August 2007. 

The band broke up in 2002

[Spotify] PS Exclusive

“Novelty”, Peel Dream Magazine

This way: Novelty

Peel Dream Magazine, just listen. I really could not find any info in them. 
 

[Spotify] Novelty

“Glenn Tipton”, Sun Kil Moon

This way: Glenn Tipton

Sun Kil Moon is a band from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist Mark Kozelek. The project is named after the Korean super flyweight boxer Sung-Kil Moon. 

Following the delayed release of Red House Painters' final studio album, Old Ramon (2001), vocalist and guitarist Kozelek began recording new material under the name Sun Kil Moon with bandmates Anthony Koutsos (drums) and Jerry Vessel (bass), alongside Geoff Stanfield and Tim Mooney. The resulting album, Ghosts of the Great Highway, was released in 2003 to critical acclaim. The project's second studio album, Tiny Cities (2005), was composed entirely of Modest Mouse cover songs.

In 2008, the band released its third studio album, April. Recorded as a three-piece by Kozelek, Koutsos and Stanfield, the album was well received and featured guest vocal appearances from noted indie rock musicians Will Oldham and Ben Gibbard.

Inspired by classical guitar music, Kozelek recorded Sun Kil Moon's fourth studio album, Admiral Fell Promises (2010), as a solo act, and continued to record mostly alone on its follow-up, Among the Leaves (2012). In 2013, Kozelek released three studio albums under his own name before releasing Sun Kil Moon's sixth studio album, Benji, in February 2014, to widespread critical acclaim and increased exposure, with the band releasing their seventh studio effort, Universal Themes, in 2015. 

[Spotify] Glenn Tipton

“America is Waiting”, Brian Eno & David Byrne

This way: America is Waiting

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded prior to Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' album Remain in Light (1980), but sample clearance delayed its release by several months. 

The extensive sampling is considered innovative, though its influence on later sample-based music genres is debated. Pitchfork listed it as the 21st best album of the 1980s, while Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 83 on its list of the "Best Albums of 1980s"

[Spotify] America is Waiting

“Germfree Adolescents”, X-Ray Spex

This way: Germfree Adolescents

Here is one of the great gems of Punk Rock. From the near perfect LP of the same name. Germfree Adolescents is the debut album of English punk rock band X-Ray Spex. It contained the UK hit singles “The Day the World Turned Dayglo” (No. 23 in April 1978), "Identity" (No. 24 in July 1978) and “Germ Free Adolescents” which reached No. 18 in November 1978. 

[Spotify] Germfree Adolescents

“(Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy”, The Magnetic Fields

This way: (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy

The Magnetic Fields are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. The Magnetic Fields is essentially a vehicle for Merritt’s songwriting, as are various side-projects including The 6ths, Future Bible Heroes, and The Gothic Archies. Merritt’s recognizable lyrics are often about love and with atypical or neutral gender roles, and are by turns ironic, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and humorous. 

This is from “69 Love Songs”, the sixth studio album by American indie pop band the Magnetic Fields, released on September 7, 1999 by Merge Records. As its title indicates, 69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt. 

[Spotify] (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy

“The Other Newest One”, Germs

This way: The Other Newest One

Germs were an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, originally active from 1976 to 1980. The band's main early lineup consisted of singer Darby Crash, guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Lorna Doom, and drummer Don Bolles. They released only one album, 1979's (GI), produced by Joan Jett, and were featured the following year in Penelope Spheeris' documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization, which chronicled the Los Angeles punk movement.

Germs disbanded following Crash's suicide on December 7, 1980. Their music was influential to many later punk rock acts. Smear went on to achieve greater fame performing with Nirvana and Foo Fighters.

[Spotify] The Other Newest One

“Isolation”, Joy Division

This way: Isolation

“Isolation” is a 1980 song appearing on the band Joy Division’s second and final album, Closer. The song is based upon an electronic drum beat by Stephen Morris, accompanied by a high-pitched keyboard line by Bernard Sumner. Midway through the song, a rushing drum and hi-hat motif come in, propelling the song toward its dramatic end.

[Spotify] Isolation

“Acony Bell”, Gillian Welch

This way: Acony Bell

Gillian Welch (born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, country and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms." 

Welch and Rawlings have collaborated on seven critically acclaimed albums, five released under her name, and two released under the name Dave Rawlings Machine. Her 1996 debut, Revival, and the 2001 release Time (The Revelator), received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her 2003 album, Soul Journey, introduced electric guitar, drums, and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, she released a fifth studio album, The Harrow & The Harvest, in 2011, which was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the soundtrack of the Coen brothers 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. She also appeared in the film attempting to buy a Soggy Bottom Boys record. Welch, while not one of the principal actors, did sing and provide additional lyrics to the Sirens song "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby." In 2018 she and Rawlings wrote the song "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" for the Coens' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, for which they received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Welch has collaborated and recorded with Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, the Decemberists, Sam Phillips, Conor Oberst, and Ani DiFranco.

[Spotify] Acony Bell

“Jumping Someone Else’s Train ”, The Cure

This way: Jumping Someone Else’s Train

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1978. The band members have changed several times, with guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter Robert Smith the only constant member. The band’s debut album was Three Imaginary Boys (1979) and this, along with several early singles, placed the band in the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. Beginning with their second album, Seventeen Seconds (1980), the band adopted a new, increasingly dark and tormented style, which, together with Smith’s stage look, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock as well as the subculture which eventually formed around the genre. 

Following the release of the album Pornography in 1982, the band’s future was uncertain. Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired, introducing a greater pop sensibility into the band's music. Songs such as "Let's Go to Bed" (1982), "Just Like Heaven" (1987), "Lovesong" (1989), and "Friday I'm in Love" (1992) aided the band in receiving commercial popularity. The band have released 13 studio albums, two EPs and over 30 singles to date.

[Spotify] Jumping Someone Else’s Train

“Godstar”, Psychic TV, Genesis P-Orridge dead at 70

This way: Godstar

Psychic TV is an English experimental video art and music group, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson in 1981 after the break-up of Throbbing Gristle. 

Contributors to Psychic TV have included artists such as Coil, Current 93, Monte Cazazza, Larry Thrasher, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Soft Cell, Fred Giannelli, Hafler Trio, The Cult, Master Musicians of Jajouka, William Breeze, Derek Jarman, John Gosling, Timothy Leary, Rose McDowall, Andrew Weatherall, and Z’EV.  

Since Genesis P-Orridge primarily wrote the lyrics instead of the music for Psychic TV, they would assemble different groups of musicians together to create the music. The history of Psychic TV can be broken up into the periods of the main songwriter that was working with them at the time.

This is from 1988, the album Allegory and Self and is about Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. 

Some how I posted this the day before they died.

[Spotify] Godstar

“Epistle to Dippy”, Donovan

This way: Epistle to Dippy

Donovan is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and since at least 2008 in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!   

Having signed with Pye Records in 1965, he recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein, after which he signed to CBS/Epic Records in the US – the first signing by the company's new vice-president Clive Davis – and became more successful internationally. He began a long and successful collaboration with leading British independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring multiple hit singles and albums in the UK, US, and other countries.   

[Spotify] Epistle to Dippy

“Street Hassle”, Lou Reed

This way: Street Hassle

What a great triumph this song is. It really is a crowning achievement for Lou Reed. Always a master of tales from the street, this one is so vivid and alluring. Street Hassle is the eighth solo studio album by American musician Lou Reed, released in February 1978 by Arista Records. Richard Robinson and Reed produced the album. It is the first commercially released pop album to employ binaural recording technology. Street Hassle combines live concert tapes (with overdubs) and studio recordings. 

The song is divided into 3 parts: A. “Waltzing Matilda” - 3:20, B. “Street Hassle” - 3:31, C. “Slipaway” - 4:02 

“So the first thing that they see, that allows them the right to be, why they follow it, you know, it's called bad luck”

Bruce Springsteen contributed uncredited spoken vocals during the “Slipaway” section of “Street Hassle”, alluding to his own Born to Run album in the final line “Tramps like us, we were born to pay”. At the time, the singer was enduring a three-year forced hiatus from releasing any of his own work due to legal disputes with his former manager. Springsteen was not credited for his performance in the liner notes to Street Hassle, possibly due to his ongoing legal battles.  

[Spotify] Street Hassle

“ High Pressure Days”, The Units

This way: High Pressure Days

Here is one of my all time favorites. I saw them a couple times in LA back in the day. The Units were an American synthpunk band, founded in San Francisco in 1978 and active until 1984. They were one of America’s earliest electronic new wave bands, and have been cited (along with The Screamers and Suicide) as pioneers of synthpunk, also retrospectively known as “electropunk”. The Units were notable for their use of synthesizers in place of guitars, and multimedia performances featuring multiple projections of satirical, instructional films critical of conformity and consumerism.

In 2016, Futurismo released Animals They Dream About, the band’s previously unreleased second album originally recorded in 1982, including a live set from the Kabuki theater in San Francisco in which The Units opened for Bow Wow Wow. 


In 2016, FDH records from Philadelphia, PA rereleased The Units original debut EP from 1979, the hand stamped 7" four song e.p. entitled "UNITS", including a download of a 1979 live set at the Deaf Club. 

[Spotify] High Pressure Days

“Dwight Yoakam”, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers

This way: Dwight Yoakam

Sarah Shook (born September 15, 1985) is an American country music singer-songwriter from North Carolina. Her "high lonesome" style incorporates country-punk and twang, with shades of outlaw country. 

[Spotify] Dwight Yoakam

“Genius of Love”, Tom Tom Club

This way: Genius of Love

Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, both also known for being members of Talking Heads. Their best known songs include "Wordy Rappinghood", "Genius of Love", and a cover of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk", all released on their 1981 debut album Tom Tom Club.   

[Spotify] Genius of Love