“Plowed”, Sponge

This way: Plowed

Sponge is an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1992 by vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, guitarist Mike Cross, bassist Tim Cross, drummer Jimmy Paluzzi, and guitarist Joey Mazzola. Dombroski and the Cross brothers were previously in the hard rock band Loudhouse, with Mazzola joining later before the end of the band's tenure. Sponge's discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums, and several charting singles. They are best known for their 1994 hit "Plowed", their 1995 hit "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)", and their 1996 hit "Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)". 

Sponge has undergone several lineup changes throughout the band's history, with founder and frontman Dombroski serving as the band's sole constant member. The band released their ninth studio album, Lavatorium, on August 6, 2021.

[Spotify] Plowed

“Why do Men Fight”, Carbon/Silicon

This way: Why do Men Fight

Carbon/Silicon is a rock music duo consisting of Mick Jones (formerly of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite) and Tony James (formerly of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik). The band formed around 2002. 

Similar in many respects to Jones' earlier work in Big Audio Dynamite, Carbon/Silicon aims to break the traditional approach to rock and roll. The band was described by critic Alan McGee as "...the Stones jamming with a laptop," as they initially made extensive use of samples in their recordings and live shows but have given up that practice in recent years. The formation of the band was catalyzed by the internet and file sharing. The first song written by Jones and James was entitled "MPFree," in which they expressed their willingness to embrace the technology of the internet and file sharing, in the interest of spreading music, rather than profit. The band still makes live bootlegs and recordings freely available through their own website, and the fansite.

[Spotify] Why do Men Fight

“She Cracked”, Echo and the Bunnymen

This way: She Cracked

Great cover of the fantastic song "She Cracked", by The Modern Lovers. Does it get any better than this? Live from 1985.

[Spotify] She Cracked

[Siouxsie And The Banshees too] She Cracked

“Long Time Traveller”, The Wailin' Jennys

This way: Long Time Traveller

The Wailin' Jennys are a Canadian music group. They have released several albums and received two Juno Awards. The group has been featured several times on the American Public Media program A Prairie Home Companion and their album Firecracker peaked at number two on the Billboard Bluegrass charts, in 2006. Their album Bright Morning Stars peaked at number one on the Billboard Bluegrass charts, in 2011, and Fifteen peaked at number one on the Billboard Bluegrass charts, in 2017. 

[Spotify] Long Time Traveller

“Larousse Baron Bic”, Rosa Yemen

This way: Larousse Baron Bic

With guitarist D.J. Barnes (Didier Esteban), Lizzy Mercier Descloux formed the performance art duo Rosa Yemen, and recorded an eponymous mini-album for ZE Records in 1978. The following year, ZE released her solo debut LP Press Color. Self-taught as a guitarist, she expressed herself as a minimalist within the no wave genre, concentrating on single-note lines combined with wrong-note harmonies and funky rhythms. While the record did not sell well, she did tour the USA and Europe.

Island Records boss Chris Blackwell bankrolled the sessions in Nassau, Bahamas for her second album Mambo Nassau, with Compass Point All Stars engineer Steven Stanley and keyboardist Wally Badarou co-writing and producing. The album was influenced by African music as well as art rock, funk and soul. While the record was unsuccessful in the U.S., it won her a contract with CBS Records in France.

Returning to France, she released two singles, then traveled through Africa, drawing on the music of Soweto for the infectious "Mais où Sont Passées les Gazelles?" ("But where have the gazelles gone?"), a hit in France in 1984, and the album Zulu Rock, with producer Adam Kidron. Collaborating with Kidron as a producer, she recorded the albums One for the Soul (1986) in Brazil with the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker and later Suspense (1988) in London with the American musician Mark Cunningham of Mars. She also acted, composed film scores, and wrote poetry. In the mid 1990s, she moved to Corsica and devoted herself to painting and writing an unpublished novel. 

Lizzy Mercier Descloux died April 2004 (aged 47).

[Spotify] Larousse Baron Bic

“You Felt Comfort”, Tim Darcy

This way: You Felt Comfort

Tim Darcy is a Canada-based songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist with an idiosyncratic delivery that may evoke a David Byrne or Lou Reed. Referred to as leader from the high-intensity indie rock-band Ought, he’s also released even more personal solo materials. Heading by Tim Beeler at that time (his delivery surname), the Arizona-born musician created Ought in Montreal in 2011 with keyboardist Matt Might, bassist Ben Stidworthy, and drummer/violinist Tim Eager. Taking weighty cues using their city’s flourishing picture of underground politics, loft celebrations, and D.We.Y. tradition, the music group melded unlikely affects from both high-energy middle-’90s emo rings and airy, early university rock acts just like the Feelies and Speaking Mind. The bandmembers all resided together inside a distributed house/practice space, self-recording their 1st EP, New Quiet, in 2012. They performed regularly in Montreal, ultimately catching the hearing of indie label Constellation, which released their debut full-length recording.

[Spotify] You Felt Comfort

“You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”, Spoon

This way: You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb

I finally figured out why I like this band so much: No Guitar solos.

Spoon is an American rock band from Austin, Texas, consisting of members Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar), Jim Eno (drums), Alex Fischel (keyboards, guitar), Gerardo Larios (guitar, keyboards) and Ben Trokan (bass, keyboards). The band was formed in Austin in October 1993 by Daniel and Eno. Critics have described the band's musical style as rock, pop, art rock, and experimental rock.

Spoon released their debut studio album, Telephono, in 1996 through Matador Records. Their next full-length album, A Series of Sneaks, was released in 1998 through Elektra Records. The band subsequently signed with Merge Records, where Spoon achieved greater commercial and critical prominence with the albums Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill the Moonlight (2002), Gimme Fiction (2005), Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007), and Transference (2010). They signed with Loma Vista Recordings and ANTI- for the release of They Want My Soul (2014). The band later returned to Matador to release their ninth album Hot Thoughts (2017), and tenth album Lucifer on the Sofa (2022). 

[Spotify] You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb

“Wish”, Cowboys International

This way: Wish

Here is another lesser known band that Keith Levene had a hand in creating. That's his guitar work on this song. 

The Original Sin actually garnered a rave review from Rolling Stone's David Fricke and was included as number 11 on Melody Maker's Best Albums of 1979 list along side The Clash's London Calling, Talking Heads' Fear of Music and Elvis Costello's Armed Forces. "Here Comes A Saturday", the album's official single became a minor hit in the United States and "Thrash" and "Pointy Shoes" were staples of the New York City club scene. Still, the loose collective of a band didn't stick together and The Original Sin went out of print for over two decades.

The band comprised originally Ken Lockie (vocals), Keith Levene (guitar), Jimmy Hughes (bass), Evan Charles (piano) and Terry Chimes (drums). Almost all of the members had previous experience in the music business: Levene had played in an early version of The Clash and had recorded one album with Public Image Ltd, First Issue; Hughes had played in The Banned; and Chimes had been the drummer of The Clash. Levene only played on the album's final track, probably as guest, because on the rest of the album only Rick Jacks, who probably replaced him, played guitar.

Six months after the release of the album, only keyboardist Evan Charles and singer Ken Lockie remained from the lineup. The replacements had also some experience in music; Hughes got replaced by Lee Robinson, Boney M.'s studio musician, Chimes by Paul Simon, drummer with Neo and Radio Stars, and Rick Jacks by Allan Rawlings, Marco Pirroni and Stevie Shears. The band lasted until 1980. 

[Spotify] Wish

“Einstein's Day”, Mission Of Burma

This way: Einstein's Day

Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting as the band’s sound engineer. In this initial lineup, Miller, Conley, and Prescott all shared singing and songwriting duties. 

In their early years the band's recordings were all released on the small Boston-based record label Ace of Hearts. Despite their initial success in the growing independent music circuit, Mission of Burma disbanded in 1983 due to Miller's development of tinnitus caused by the loud volume of the band's live performances. In its original lineup, the band released only two singles, an EP, and one LP, titled Vs.

Mission of Burma reformed in 2002, with Bob Weston replacing Swope. The band released four more albums—ONoffON, The Obliterati, The Sound the Speed the Light, and Unsound—before splitting up in June 2020. 

[Spotify] Einstein's Day

“Ten Days of Shiver”, The Surfing Magazines

This way: Ten Days of Shiver

This project is one-half of Slow Club and two-thirds of Wave Pictures -- the Surfing Magazines want to highlight that fact -- it is, after all, their defining feature of this UK band.

The Surfing Magazines are a new garage-rock group consisting of two thirds of The Wave Pictures and one half of Slow Club. They release their self-titled album on 1st September 2017. 

[Spotify] Ten Days of Shiver

“The Way I Walk”, Robert Gordon, RIP

This way: The Way I Walk

Robert Gordon (March 29, 1947 – October 18, 2022) was an American rockabilly singer. Gordon grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, United States, the son of Arlene and Samuel Gordon, an administrative law judge. His family was Jewish. At the age of nine, he was greatly inspired by the Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel" playing on radio and decided to pursue a career as a rock and roll musician at that young age. Along with Elvis, Gordon's influences included Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran among other notable rock 'n roll music artists of the period.

Gordon made his recording debut at age 17 in 1964 with a group called the Confidentials. He was also actively performed with the Newports in his teenage years. At the age of 19 he got married, and shortly after had two children.

When asked how he related to the 1960s, Gordon replied "I didn't." He did not care much for the British Invasion but he identified with soul singers such as James Brown and Otis Redding whom he saw, among other great R&B acts, performing at Washington, D.C.'s famous Howard Theatre. During the turbulent times of the late 1960s, with the rioting and antiwar protests of the period, Gordon served in the National Guard in Washington, D.C. "I didn't want to be sent to Vietnam," he recalls.

Punk rock

By 1970, Gordon had relocated his family to New York City with the intent of operating a clothing boutique. His focus shifted to the punk rock scene at the nightclub CBGB. He became a member of the punk-pop band Tuff Darts. During 1976, the Tuff Darts recorded "All for the Love of Rock and Roll", "Head over Heels", and "Slash" for a compilation album called Live at CBGB's, which included a number of other local New York City bands. 

[Spotify] The Way I Walk

“They've Got me in a Bottle”, Brian Brain

This way: They've Got me in a Bottle

After leaving Public Image Ltd, Atkins revived his Brian Brain project and recorded an EP at Planet Sound Studios in New York for his own, short-lived label Plaid Records, which was released in July 1985. Throughout the late 1980s, the 1990s and early 2000s, Atkins performed with many bands, including Nine Inch Nails (appearing in the video for "Head Like A Hole"), as well as Ministry. The dual-drumming of Atkins and Bill Rieflin appears on the live Ministry album/video In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up. Atkins later joined Killing Joke, performing on 1990s Extremities, Dirt, and Other Repressed Emotions. He also managed the band for that time, and designed their live show scenery and some merchandise. 

[Spotify] They've Got me in a Bottle

“Katie Lied”, Green Pajamas

This way: Katie Lied

The Green Pajamas are a musical group from Seattle, Washington. They formed in the spring of 1984 when Jeff Kelly and Joe Ross recorded and released their first album, Summer Of Lust. They are probably best known for the regional hit single "Kim the Waitress".

The band released 33 albums between 1984 and 2014. The band has never been picked up by a major label.

Joe Ross and Jeff Kelly met at a party and discovered a common interest in 60s psychedelia. Inspired by 1983's Los Angeles "paisley underground" music scene the duo decided to start a similar scene in their home town of Seattle. By spring of 1984 they had recorded and released a homemade cassette called Summer of Lust. 

The 7" record "Kim the Waitress" attracted regional college radio airplay in the mid-80s,[2] and the band went on to record "Sister Anne", and the albums Book Of Hours and Ghosts of Love, before breaking up during the sessions for Ghosts of Love (released 1990 to some critical attention on the L.A. label Bomp!). During the next few years, Jeff Kelly released solo recordings on cassette. The band re-united in 1994 in the wake of "Kim The Waitress" covers released that year by Material Issue and the Seattle band Sister Psychic. A third single, "Song for Christina", was released. (The Green Pajamas' early singles, including "Kim The Waitress", can be heard on the 1997 anthology Indian Winter.)

[Spotify] Katie Lied

“Davey”, Lois

This way: Davey

Lois Maffeo (professionally known for much of her career as Lois) is an American musician and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. She has been closely involved with and influenced many independent musicians, especially in the 1990s-era Olympia, Seattle and Washington, D.C. music scenes. 

[Spotify] Davey

“Tiger Trap”, Beat Happening

This way: Tiger Trap

This LP kills, near perfect. Beat Happening is an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi movements, noted for their use of primitive recording techniques, disregard for the technical aspects of musicianship, and songs with subject matters of a childish or coy nature. 

[Spotify] Tiger Trap

“Careering”, Public Image Ltd (PiL). Anthr RIP, Keith Levene

This way: Careering

Julian Keith Levene (18 July 1957 – 11 November 2022) was an English musician, who was a founding member of both The Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL).

This is one of the all time great LPs, Near Perfect for sure.

Metal Box is the second studio album by Public Image Ltd, released by Virgin Records on 23 November 1979. The album takes its name from the round metal canister which contained the initial pressings of the record. It was later reissued in standard vinyl packaging as Second Edition in February 1980 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and by Warner Bros. Records and Island Records in the United States. 

The album was a departure from PiL's 1978 debut First Issue, with the band moving into a more avant-garde sound characterised by John Lydon's cryptic lyrics, propulsive dub-inspired rhythms led by bassist Jah Wobble, and an abrasive, "metallic" guitar sound developed by guitarist Keith Levene.

[Spotify] Careering

“Thirteen ”, Big Star

This way: Thirteen

Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, and Andy Hummel. The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a new lineup 18 years later following a reunion concert at the University of Missouri. In its first era, the band's musical style drew on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Byrds. Big Star produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. Before they broke up, Big Star created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations", in the words of Rolling Stone, as the "quintessential American power pop band", and "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll". Three of Big Star's studio albums are included in the Rolling Stone's list of the Top 500 Albums of All-Time. 

Big Star's first album, 1972's #1 Record, was met by enthusiastic reviews, but ineffective marketing by Stax Records, and limited distribution stunted its commercial success. Frustration took its toll on band relations: Bell left not long after the first record's commercial progress stalled, and Hummel left to finish his college education after a second album, Radio City, was completed in December 1973. Like #1 Record, Radio City received excellent reviews, but label issues again thwarted sales—Columbia Records, which had assumed control of the Stax catalog, likewise effectively vetoed its distribution.

After a third album, recorded in the fall of 1974, was deemed commercially unviable and shelved before receiving a title, the band broke up late in 1974. Four years later, the first two Big Star LPs were released together in the UK as a double album. The band's third album was finally issued soon afterward; titled Third/Sister Lovers, it found limited commercial success, but has since become a cult classic. Shortly thereafter, Chris Bell was killed in a car accident at the age of 27.This from 1972.

[Spotify] Thirteen

“Soldier and the Lady”, Anna & Elizabeth

This way (studio live version): Soldier and the Lady

Anna & Elizabeth are an Americana/folk music duo formed by Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth Laprelle, integrating experimental music with authentic performances of folk songs from both the north and south of the US.

Elizabeth LaPrelle is a banjo player and singer from Cedar Springs, Virginia. She graduated from the College of William and Mary, specializing in traditional Appalachian singing and has three solo albums, apart from her work with Anna and Elizabeth. Anna Roberts-Gevalt is a multi-instrumentalist who was raised in Hinesburg and attended Champlain Valley Union High School. She played violin and viola for the Vermont Youth Orchestra.

The two met in 2010 and have released so far three albums together. Their first album Sun to Sun, was originally released in 2013, and was re-released in 2016. Their 2015 self-titled first album was released on Free Dirt Records in 2015. Their second album, the invisible comes to us, released in 2018, integrates authentic folk music extracted from archives in the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and at the Macdowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, among others.

[Spotify] Soldier and the Lady

“Now That's the Barclords ”, Urge Overkill

This way: Now That's the Barclords

Now here is band no one should like, but here it is anyway, an absolutely fantastic song. I first got this from the Sub Pop Singles club back in the 80's. Urge Overkill is an American alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). They are widely known for their song "Sister Havana" and their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", which was notably used in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.  

[Spotify] Now That's the Barclords

“Bird Queen of Garbage Island ”, The Burning Hell

This way: Bird Queen of Garbage Island

The first single showcases songwriter Mathias Kom’s typically irreverent, surrealist lyricism (and more Waterworld references than a Kevin Costner fan convention), over a musical landscape provided by bandmates Ariel Sharratt, Jake Nicoll, and Darren Browne, which combines a Tom Tom Club-style groove with an ASMR breakdown featuring office supplies and - fittingly - plenty of actual garbage. The accompanying video was created by the award-winning New Brunswick multi-media artist Graeme Patterson, and the single itself is being released also in the physical world on a limited edition 7” record with an accompanying comic book written for the project by the French graphic novelist and illustrator Emmanuel Moynot.  

[Spotify] Bird Queen of Garbage Island

“I'm a Little Airplane”, Jonathan Richman

This way: I'm a Little Airplane

Jonathan Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic and electric backing. He now plays only acoustic to protect his hearing. He is known for his wide-eyed, unaffected, and childlike outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, is influenced by music from around the world. From 1977. 

[Spotify] I'm a Little Airplane

“Pissing”, Low, another RIP

This way: Pissing

Great Great Great band. Mimi Parker died on November 5, 2022. Her death was announced by the band's official Twitter account on November 6 with the message "Friends, it's hard to put the universe into language and into a short message, but she passed away last night, surrounded by family and love, including yours. Keep her name close and sacred. Share this moment with someone who needs you. Love is indeed the most important thing. 

Low is an American indie rock band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993 by Alan Sparhawk (guitar and vocals) and Mimi Parker (drums and vocals). Parker was a member of the band from its formation until her death in 2022. The band was a trio from 1993 to 2020, having featured four different bassists throughout its history.

The music of Low is characterized by slow tempos and minimalist arrangements. Early descriptions sometimes referred to it as a rock subgenre called "slowcore" often compared to the band Bedhead, who played this style during the early 1990s. However, Low's members ultimately disapproved of the term.

Parker and Sparhawk's vocal harmonies represent perhaps the group's most distinctive element; critic Denise Sullivan writes that their shared vocals are "as chilling as anything Gram [Parsons] and Emmylou [Harris] ever conspired on—though that's not to say it's country-tinged, just straight from the heart." Low's style grew experimental overtime, gradually incorporating elements of electronica and glitch on later releases, whilst retaining their minimalist approach.usic for the Swedish drama film Once a Year.

[Spotify] Pissing

“Laura the Horse”, Peter Stampfel

This way: Laura the Horse

Peter Stampfel (born October 29, 1938, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter. 

Stampfel is best known as a member of the Holy Modal Rounders, a psychedelic folk band that he founded with Steve Weber in the early 1960s. He was also briefly a member of the Fugs and has been the leader of several musical projects, including the Bottlecaps, the Du-Tels, and the WORM All-Stars. He has performed with They Might Be Giants, the Roches, Richard Barone, Yo La Tengo, Bongwater, Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Hurley, Baby Gramps and Loudon Wainwright III.  

[download it] Laura the Horse

“It's Over if we Run Out of Love”, David Holmes

This way: It's Over if we Run Out of Love

David Holmes (born 25 February 1969) is a Northern Irish musician and composer. He worked as a DJ before releasing several solo albums that have incorporated elements of trip hop, big beat, electronic and rock. In the late 1990s, he also began composing film scores, establishing a long-standing collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that includes Out of Sight (1998) and the Ocean's trilogy. 

Holmes is currently a member of the band Unloved, whose music has been used extensively in the television series Killing Eve, for which Holmes is also a composer. He has remixed songs for numerous artists and produced albums for Primal Scream.

[Spotify] It's Over if we Run Out of Love

“Widow”, Working Men's Club

This way: Widow

Working Men's Club is the debut album by the Yorkshire synthpop band Working Men's Club, released on 2 October 2020 on Heavenly Recordings.

Clash critic Josh Crowe described the record as something that "could pass as a mixtape, traversing through a medley of sounds, eras and genres", stating that "the one thing consistent throughout are the standout vocals of Minsky-Sargeant." Dave Simpson of The Guardian wrote: "The West Yorkshire band take the stark electronics of the post-punk scene and warm them with Detroit techno and Italian house – while addressing Andrew Neil with mischievous one-liners."

Tim Russell of God Is in the TV was also positive, calling Working Men's Club "a very special record, inspired by a fairly specific past but managing to sound fresh, contemporary and original, due in no small part to the precocious talent and charisma of singer Syd Minsky-Sargeant, a true star in the making."

[Spotify] Widow

“Tough Times at the Day Bar”, Cheap Teeth

This way: Tough Times at the Day Bar

Edinburgh’s post-punk flavoured garage rockers, Cheap Teeth are a band doing alright at the minute, with their sold-out Edinburgh and London Shows, mentions in the NME, Spotify playlisting and championing from BBC Radio’s Vic Galloway. COVID-19 might have tried to slow down their rapid rise, but alas it was in vain, as the four-piece are set to get even more kudos with the release of an excellent new EP, Give Me More. 

[Spotify] Tough Times at the Day Bar

“Moon over Marin”, Dead Kennedys Drummer, RIP

This way: Moon over Marin

On October 28, 2022, Drummer D.H. Peligro died in his Los Angeles home. Police reported that he died from trauma to the head, caused by an accidental fall.

Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.

Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing political figures and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork. Several stores refused to stock their recordings, provoking debate about censorship in rock music; in the mid-1980s, vocalist and primary lyricist Jello Biafra became an active campaigner against the Parents Music Resource Center. This culminated in an obscenity trial between 1985 and 1986, which resulted in a hung jury.

The group released a total of four studio albums and one EP before disbanding in 1986. Following the band's dissolution, Biafra continued to collaborate and record with other artists including D.O.A., NoMeansNo and his own bands Lard and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, as well as releasing several spoken word performances. 

[Spotify] Moon over Marin