“Don't Fall Down”, The Black Angels

This way: Don't Fall Down

The Black Angels are an American psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas. Formed in May 2004, they took their name from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song." They have released six studio albums and one compilation album.

This song is for a Roky Erickson Tribute LP.

In 2005, the Black Angels were featured on a dual-disc compilation album of psychedelic music called Psychedelica Vol. 1 from Northern Star Records. This, along with the growing popularity of their MySpace page, gave the band a jump in popularity in the underground scene. 

Passover and Directions to See a Ghost (2006–2009)

The group's debut LP, Passover, released in 2006, was generally well received in the underground independent rock community and was noted for its dark tones and lyrical content. A review of Passover described them as "Walking in the shadows cast by Spiritualized mastermind Jason Pierce," invoking "dirges" reminiscent of the 13th Floor Elevators. Passover included a quote in the liner notes from Edvard Munch: "Illness, insanity, and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life." The band was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 Kevin Bacon movie, Death Sentence, on the second episode of FOX's Fringe, and in the ninth episode of Californication.

[Spotify] Don't Fall Down

“Tarkovski”, BODEGA

This way: Tarkovski

BODEGA is an American punk band from New York City, United States. They released their first full-length album in 2018, titled Endless Scroll. The album was produced by Parquet Courts member Austin Brown and released through record label What's Your Rupture? In 2019, BODEGA released their first EP titled Shiny New Model. Ben Hozie – vocals, guitar, Nikki Belfiglio – vocals, Dan Ryan – guitar, Adam See – bass guitar, Adam Shumski – stand-up percussions. 

[Spotify] Tarkovski

“Showy Early Spring”, Eleanor Friedberger

This way: Showy Early Spring

Eleanor Friedberger (born September 2, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as one half of the indie rock duo The Fiery Furnaces, alongside her older brother Matthew Friedberger. In the band she contributes the majority of the vocals both on record and during their live performances. 

In 2011, The Fiery Furnaces went on hiatus, with both Friedberger siblings embarking upon solo careers. To date, Friedberger has released four solo studio albums: Last Summer (2011), Personal Record (2013), New View (2016) and Rebound (2018), all four of which have peaked in the top 20 of the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.

Friedberger was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and grew up singing with her grandmother Olga Sarantos and family in a Greek Orthodox church. 

[Spotify] Showy Early Spring

“Clear Signal from Cairo”, Fiery Furnaces

This way: Clear Signal from Cairo

The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The siblings are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago. They are known for their ambitious, highly conceptual releases, which have frequently divided critical opinion.

In May 2011, the band entered a nine-year hiatus, with both Matthew and Eleanor pursuing solo careers. In February 2020, it was announced that The Fiery Furnaces would reunite to play at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event was canceled. It was later revealed that the band signed to Jack White's Third Man Records label.

The Fiery Furnaces signed with Rough Trade in 2002, and recorded their debut album, Gallowsbird's Bark, the same year. Released in 2003, it was often compared in the press to The White Stripes due to the garage blues elements of the band's sound and the fact that the members are siblings, which the White Stripes duo originally presented themselves as.

[Spotify] Clear Signal from Cairo

“Fingerprints”, Green

This way: Fingerprints

The group was started by Jeff Lescher (guitar and vocals), John Diamond (bass and backing vocals), and John Valley (drums). This lineup recorded the 1984 four-song EP The Name of This Group Is Green and the group's 1986 self-titled debut album, which featured 14 songs, including re-recordings of all four songs from the earlier EP. 

Green established themselves via live shows around Chicago and undertook several national tours with the assistance of manager Cindy Illig. In 1986, Diamond and Valley elected to leave the band as Lescher announced plans for a national tour. Recruited from local music papers and from among their Chicago fan base were new bassist Ken Kurson (who had his own band, Circles, and later fronted The Lilacs), rhythm guitarist Stuart Shea, and drummer Rich Clifton. Shea departed following a brief U.S. tour, and the remaining three-piece recorded Elaine MacKenzie, including the tracks "Heavy Metal Kids", "She Was My Girl", and "Radio Caroline."

[Spotify] Fingerprints

“Good Times Roll”, The Cars

This way: Good Times Roll

The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek was the band's principal songwriter and leader. 

The Cars were at the forefront of the merger of 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that became popular in the early 1980s. Music critic Robert Palmer, writer for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars' musical style: "They have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."

[Spotify] Good Times Roll

“The Best of Jill Hives”, Guided by Voices

This way: The Best of Jill Hives

Could be best band of all time, this track from 2003. 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. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted of Pollard (lead vocals), his brother Jim (guitar, bass), Mitch Mitchell (lead guitars), Tobin Sprout (vocals, rhythm guitars), Kevin Fennell (drums), and bassist Greg Demos. Noted at first for its lo-fi aesthetic and Portastudio four-tracks-to-cassette production methods, Guided by Voices' music was influenced by early post–British Invasion garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk rock and post-punk. The band has had a prolific output, releasing 35+ full-length albums along with many other releases, and has garnered a dedicated cult following.

[Spotify] The Best of Jill Hives

“The Look of Love”, ABC

This way: The Look of Love

ABC is an English pop band that originated in Sheffield in 1980, evolving from the earlier ensemble Vice Versa. The band's classic formation featured Martin Fry as the lead vocalist, Mark White on guitar and keyboards, Stephen Singleton playing the saxophone, and David Palmer behind the drums.

Developed from an earlier band, Vice Versa, ABC achieved ten UK and five US top 40 hit singles between 1981 and 1990, and their 1982 debut studio album, The Lexicon of Love, was a UK number one. Their early-1980s success in the US saw them associated with the Second British Invasion. ABC continue to tour and released a ninth studio album, The Lexicon of Love II, in 2016.

[Spotify] The Look of Love

“Shady Lane”, Pavement

This way: Shady Lane

Brighten the Corners is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Pavement, released on February 11, 1997, by Matador Records. The album received very positive reviews from critics.

Brighten the Corners was recorded at Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. According to singer and guitarist Stephen Malkmus, it was either Matador Records or Mary Timony from Helium who suggested that the band should record the album there. Although Brighten the Corners was mostly produced by Pavement and Bryce Goggin, Easter worked with the band for roughly a week when Goggin left the studio.

The recording sessions involved a lot of editing, and the band would often record several versions of the same song before deciding on a final take. The vocals were then recorded in New York separately. 

[Spotify] Shady Lane

“Ice Cream for Crow”, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band

This way: Ice Cream for Crow

Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist wordplay, a gravelly voice, and a wide vocal range. Known for his enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians. This track from 1882. 

[Spotify] Ice Cream for Crow

“Love in Flames”, Be Bop Deluxe

This way: Love in Flames

Be-Bop Deluxe were an English rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s. Be-Bop Deluxe were founded in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, by singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Bill Nelson in 1972. The founding line-up consisted of Nelson, guitarist Ian Parkin, bassist and vocalist Robert Bryan, drummer Nicholas Chatterton-Dew, and keyboardist Richard Brown (who left in December of that year). They started off playing the West Yorkshire pub scene, with one regular venue being the Staging Post in Whinmoor, Leeds. They never played bebop music, but instead came out of the blues-based British rock scene of the late 1960s. Drastic Plastic is the fifth and final album by English rock band Be-Bop Deluxe, released in February 1978.

Drastic Plastic was recorded in Chateau Saint Georges, Juan-les-Pins, in the south of France in the summer of 1977. Nelson recorded the album in Chateau Saint Georges, because he was inspired by the relation of the place with artist Jean Cocteau, who influenced him in the 1960s.

The sound of Drastic Plastic is different from the previous albums, showing changes in the musical direction of the band. 1978's Drastic Plastic, recorded at Juan-Les-Pins in the South of France with influences of punk, new wave and David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, was a substantial stylistic change from the progressive/guitar rock of the early Be-Bop Deluxe. Eager to embrace the changing musical landscape, Nelson dissolved Be-Bop Deluxe. 

The band appeared three times on BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test, performing a total of six songs and once on Top of the Pops, with their 1976 single, "Ships In The Night." For the band's Sight & Sound concert in 1978 the setlist was made up entirely of tracks from the Drastic Plastic album. 

[Spotify] Love in Flames

“Do the Method”, The Method Actors

This way: Do the Method

The Method Actors were an American post-punk/new wave musical group from Athens, Georgia, United States, founded by Vic Varney and David Gamble in 1979 while at the University of Georgia. 

[Spotify] Do the Method

“True Love at the Worlds Fair”, Algebra Suicide

This way: True Love at the Worlds Fair

Lydia Tomkiw (August 6, 1959 – September 4, 2007) was an American poet, singer, and songwriter, best known for her work with the new wave musical group Algebra Suicide, along with her husband Don Hedeker. In the fall of 1982, at a reading at Columbia Squires, Hedeker publicly accompanied Tomkiw's poetry for the first time. It was a rudimentary setup, with Hedeker providing minimally amplified washes of sound on a somewhat glitchy Vox Guitar Organ. This experiment soon coalesced into an actual band. Their name, Algebra Suicide, came from a line in the poem "Recalling the Last Encounter." It was, from the very beginning, envisioned as a vehicle for Tomkiw's poetry; Hedeker's intention was to bring interesting accents and color to the poems themselves. In 1985, Algebra Suicide released their debut album, Big Skin, on the label Cause and Effect. Its format represented the firmly dual nature of Algebra Suicide — a cassette of thirteen songs paired with a chapbook presenting thirteen poems in the same running order. This track from 1982.

[Spotify] True Love at the Worlds Fair

“Is the Sky the Limit?”, Grant Hart

This way: Is the Sky the Limit?

Grant Hart (March 18, 1961 – September 13, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the punk rock band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1988, he released his first solo album Intolerance before forming the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar. His solo career became his main focus after the dissolution of Nova Mob in 1997.

As the co-songwriter of Hüsker Dü, Hart's songs (such as "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" and "Turn on the News") received praise from critics and contemporaries. His vocal style, in contrast to that of Hüsker Dü bandmate Bob Mould, had a more measured and melodic delivery. His choice of lyrical themes, which ranged from teenage alienation in "Standing by the Sea" and the depiction of a murder in "Diane," to playful story-telling in "Books About UFOs," helped to expand the subject matter of hardcore punk.

Hart died on September 13, 2017, of complications from liver cancer and hepatitis C. 

[Spotify] Is the Sky the Limit?

Charming Live: Is the Sky the Limit?

“Cowboy”, Units

This way: Cowboy

One of my al time fav bands from back in the day. I happened to see them live in LA, once at the Hong Kong Cafe and once at the Whisky. Fantastic live, with the dual synths and the real drums it was an unbeatable combo. Near Perfect EPs? oh yes.

Units were an American synthpunk band that was founded in San Francisco in 1978. It was 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.

The Units was one of the most popular bands of the San Francisco punk and performance art scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s, headlining at the Mabuhay Gardens (aka The Fab Mab), The Savoy Tivoli, The Berkeley Square, The Deaf Club, Valencia Tool & Die, Geary Theater and other punk clubs. The Units also opened for such bands as Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Ultravox, XTC, Bow Wow Wow, the Psychedelic Furs, the Police, Iggy Pop, Dead Kennedys, Sparks and toured the United States with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

[Spotify] Cowboy

“The Main Attraction”, Redd Kross

This way: The Main Attraction

New LP by the perpetual youngsters of Los Angeles, still got it. 

Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the addition of friends Greg Hetson and John Stielow on drums, the band's first gig was opening for Black Flag. The band has since released eight albums and three EPs.

[Spotify] The Main Attraction

“I Do”, Terry Melts

This way (whole LP): I Do

Side project for Magic Bullets from the Bay area. This LP from 2012. 

[Spotify] I Do

“Let's all make a Bomb”, Heaven 17

This way: Let's all make a Bomb

Heaven 17 are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of former Human League members Martyn Ware (keyboards, drum machine, vocals) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) with vocalist Glenn Gregory.

Although most of their music was recorded in the 1980s, they have occasionally reformed, and played their first live concerts in 1997.

Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were the founding members of pioneering Sheffield synthpop group the Human League; Glenn Gregory (who had previously been in a punk band called Musical Vomit with Marsh) had been their original choice when seeking a lead singer for the band but as he had moved to London to work as a photographer and music magazine reporter at the time, they chose Ware's school friend Philip Oakey instead. When personal and creative tensions within the group reached a breaking point in late 1980, Marsh and Ware left the band, ceding the Human League name to Oakey. They formed the production company British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.).

[Spotify] Let's all make a Bomb

“Heartbeats”, The Knife

This way: Heartbeats

The Knife were a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consisted of siblings Karin and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. They gained a large international following in response to their 2003 album Deep Cuts.

The duo's first tour took place in 2006, along with the release of their critically acclaimed album Silent Shout. They have won a number of Swedish Grammis, but refuse to attend awards ceremonies. They have appeared in public wearing Venetian masks. As Fever Ray, Karin released their self-titled solo album in 2009, while Olof released several EPs as Oni Ayhun in late 2009 and early 2010. The Knife disbanded in November 2014 after releasing their acclaimed 2013 album Shaking the Habitual and completing its attendant tour. 

[Spotify] Heartbeats

“Francine's List”, Pink Section

This way: Francine's List

Named after San Francisco Chronicle's pink-hued arts and entertainment guide, Pink Section coalesced at SF Art Institute and performed their first show at the legendary Deaf Club on Valentine's Day, 1979. These self-taught musicians existed on the fringe (even in the local underground scene), producing an unusual brand of off-kilter post-punk against a backdrop of Dadaist aesthetics. 

The group itself was strangely symmetrical: singer Judy Gittelsohn and drummer Carol Detweiler (both members of Inflatable Boy Clams), singer / guitarist Matt Heckert (Survival Research Laboratories), and bassist Stephen Wymore.

While the hallucinatory layers of male / female vocals on "Shopping" conjure images of deranged domesticity and '50s Americana gone haywire, the fractured riffs of "Midsummer New York" deconstruct Yoko Ono's original even further, stripping bare Pink Section's fondness for angular rhythms and out-of-control oscillations.

[Spotify] Francine's List

“Friction”, Television

This way: Friction

It's hard to beat the first Television LP "Marquee Moon". It's some kind of perfect begining to end. Im sure i'll get around to post every damn track eventually. Marquee Moon is the debut album by American rock band Television. It was released on February 8, 1977, by Elektra Records. In the years leading up to the album, Television had become a prominent act on the New York music scene and generated interest from a number of record labels, eventually signing a record deal with Elektra. The group rehearsed extensively in preparation for Marquee Moon before recording it at A & R Recording in September 1976. It was produced by the band's frontman Tom Verlaine and sound engineer Andy Johns. 

[Spotify] Friction

[Echo and the  . .  . Live] Friction

“Love is All”, Cold Cave

This way: Love is All

Cold Cave is the solo project for musician Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of darkwave, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Joy Division and New Order.

Cold Cave was founded in 2007 by Wesley Eisold, vocalist of hardcore groups Give Up the Ghost (previously known as American Nightmare), Some Girls, and Heartworm Press founder. Cold Cave represents Eisold's first venture into instrumentation. Eisold was born with one hand which led him to electronic music.  

[Spotify] Love is All

“Soggy Tongues”, Vic Chestnut

This way: Soggy Tongues

Vic Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a charity record of alternative artists covering his songs.

Chesnutt released 17 albums during his career, including two produced by Michael Stipe, and a 1996 release on Capitol Records, About to Choke. His musical style has been described by Bryan Carroll of AllMusic as a "skewed, refracted version of Americana that is haunting, funny, poignant, and occasionally mystical, usually all at once" 

Injuries from a 1983 car accident left him partially paralyzed; he used a wheelchair and had limited use of his hands. An adoptee, Chesnutt was raised in Zebulon, Georgia, where he first started writing songs at the age of five. When he was 13, Chesnutt declared that he was an atheist, a position that he maintained for the rest of his life.

At 18, while drinking and driving, a car accident left him partially paralyzed; in a December 1, 2009, interview with Terry Gross on her NPR show Fresh Air, he said he was "a quadriplegic from [his] neck down", and although he had feeling and some movement in his body, he could not walk "functionally" and that, although he realized shortly afterward that he could still play guitar, he could only play simple chords.[8] After his recovery he left Zebulon and moved to Nashville, Tennessee; the poetry he read there (by Stevie Smith, Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, W. H. Auden, Stephen Crane and Emily Dickinson) served to inspire and influence him.

[Spotify] Soggy Tongues

“Never Do That”, Pretenders

This way: Never Do That

Some people can write a damn song. The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.

[Spotify] Never Do That

“File Not Found”, Tea Eater

This way: File Not Found

I make songs as Tea Eater

I play the triangle & chicken in

@gustaf_nyc @mamajoevramajoe. Weirdo band from Brooklyn.

New musical project led by NYC rocker Tarra Thiessen.  

[Spotify] File Not Found

“Joy is a Crime”, Soft Kill

This way: Joy is a Crime

Soft Kill was founded in 2010 in San Diego, California by Tobias  Grave. Soft Kill resurfaced in 2015 in Portland, Oregon with a new lineup, including veteran drummer Maxamillion Avila, known as a member of doom band Atriarch and an ex-member of screamo godfathers Antioch Arrow, freak-grind supergroup Holy Molar, and electro-punks Chromatics. 2015 saw the new, revived Soft Kill tour with The Chameleons and release the Heresy LP. One year later the band follows up with the masterful Choke a a bright spot on a long, detoured path.  

[Spotify] Joy is a Crime