baby i l u

i've only been listening to this album for a couple days, but i can confidently say it's GREAT. it was produced by phil spector, which definitely changed the band's sound. the record, 'end of the century', isn't as hard their self-titled album, but it still has songs like "chinese rock" (written by dee dee ramone and richard hell) which is a classic punk song. i love that they cover spector's song "baby i love you," which was originally recorded by the ronettes. apparently the ramones weren't the biggest fans of this record, because it's too commercial or something, but i don't think there's anything wrong with that. oh, and apparently, spector held the band at gunpoint and repeatedly made them listen to him sing "baby i love you." yuuup.

click HERE to download end of the century

such hawks, such hounds

when i was in los angeles last spring, my friend grace and i went to see psychedelic/stoner metal band, dead meadow, play at the hollywood forever cemetery. the band made a beautiful video to go with the show in which the drummer wandered through the desert, and my friend tatjana walked out of the ocean as a goth mermaid. I'd been listening to this band for a while, but the show made me appreciate them even more. here's a preview of what it was like: click here. feathers is their fifth album, and each song is so dreamy and beautiful, you'll feel like you're in a weird haze. (in the best way possible).

click HERE to download feathers

he dances really well

venus de milo

this album's great. it captures the 70s punk sound so well, even though the band isn't as hard as dead boys or the ramones (who are also incredible). television was started by tom verlaine on vocals and guitar and richard hell (who later formed richard hell & the voidoids) in 1973. not to brag, buuut i have a soft spot for hell because my mom was in a movie with him back when new york was rad. click here. yup that's her! apparently the rest of television didn't want to play hell's songs like 'blank generation,' so he went off to start his own bands. so without hell, the band played gigs at max's and cbgb, and released their first record, 'marquee moon.' my friend thinks that verlaine's voice sounds really similar to patti smith's. maybe that's why i like it so much. and the guitar riffs in these songs are just sooo good, you won't be able to get enough of them.

click HERE to download marquee moon

making pasta

broken heart

what do you do when your girlfriend/keyboardist secretly marries the singer of the virve? you record your sorrows into an incredibly beautiful record. if you're the genius behind spiritualized and spaceman 3, jason pierce aka j. spaceman, you'll also turn to heroin, but don't do that. 'ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space' will bring you back to that feeling of hopelessness after a bad breakup, but will also give you empowerment. after all, amazing art can be the result of a deep depression. j. spaceman was evidently so heartbroken when he wrote these songs, that he didn't need to sugarcoat his lyrics with metaphors. the way he felt was profound enough. so you'll hear lines like, 'i don't even miss you, but that's cause i'm fucked up' that pretty much speak for themselves. spaceman has a wonderful ability to arrange a song with saxophones and crazy psychedelic guitar rifts full of feedback, and then sing a ballad with hardly any instrumentation behind it. for lack of a better analogy, this album is like a roller coaster, which probably isn't far from the way spaceman was feeling when he wrote it.

click HERE to download ladies and gentleman we are floating in space