Sphex -- Time/ Leaving This Crazy City 45'

  So, I'm from the same sh*tty dirty town as this band Sphex.  Just to get it over with, the A side wasn't my cup of tea, actually I thought it was awful, total classic Rock garbage.  But the B side is a Stooges style Punk Rock number.  This tune should be the city's theme song, it has a way of summing up almost every inhabitants feelings about the town.  Everyone who lives here has said those words at some point or another, so hopefully I'll be Leaving This Crazy City, but I doubt it, 'cause no one ever really does!!!

White Stripes -- Icky Thump

  Man ... I almost liked everything these guys ever did, but I especially hated this one ... sorry ... but this was a total load of horse dung!  I had to skip every song, if you can call these Led Zep keyboard/ guitared disasters songs.  Two icky thumbs way down!

Guided By Voices -- Bee Thousand

  Quintessential Lo-Fi album by Guided By Voices.  Recorded purposely to sound bad, but like the Sonics, it's done so to add character.  Unlike most Lo-Fi bands, these guys take less focus on the artsy-fartsy stuff, instead they play some well versed Rock 'n' Roll.  Bee Thousand is a must for any Indie connoisseur. 

Eric's Trip -- Love Tara

  Folksy Grunge Punk Canadian legends Eric's Trip were one of the, if not the, best band our country had to offer the world.  Rick White was like our Neil Young of the 90's, especially if you were Canadian, no one was making music as cool as these guys, and Love Tara was able to compete with the American Indie giants.

Beck -- Mellow Gold

  A friend and I decided that we are taking Beck's Mellow Gold back and away from the jocks, who goddam ruined it for me so many years ago.  Why do we do it ... the freaks, the initial taste makers, always toss out stuff once the screwheads pick it up, it's like all of a sudden it becomes obsolete and stupid.  But there isn't anything stupid, other than a dumb slacker vibe, about Beck's Lo-Fi/ Anti-Folk opus, which is NOW back in the hands of the weirdos!!  HOORAY!

Tame Impala -- Innerspeaker

  So there I was drinking too much at my buddie's house, I got totally twisted, then slammed skateboarding home, hard, I hit a manhole bombing a hill!  Point is he played this Indie Beatlesesque masterpiece.  I loved it so much I insisted he burn it for me right away!

M. Ward -- Hold Time

  M. Ward's Hold Time mixes the sweet sound of Indie Folk music with the lush cool Rockabilly-ish guitar noodling style of T. Rex and 70's minimalist Spectorized drum beats!  Point is I loved it, especially his cover of Buddy Holly's Rave On!

Feist -- Metals

  After a four year hiatus Feist makes her personal best album, the release is initially hard to get into because it's feel is abstract and broken, focusing on the notes rather than the tune.  Seems like the twenty-tens bands are all about the more the merrier, and orchestrally arranged Indie Canadianana has taken over, we are no longer the yokels who's biggest bands are Nickelback and Great Big Sea ... no no ... we kick f*ckin' ass now!

The Minders -- Cul-De-Sacs And Dead Ends

  Another killer group from the Elephant Six Collective!  Cul-De-Sacs And Dead Ends is a singles and B-Sides compilation but I find it's mixed just like an album.  I am in total love with their modernized Beatles 66' sound.  These guys are definitely a band worth getting into, if you're not already, I suggest to do, AND DO IT NOW!  You'll totally be cooler!

Sebadoh -- Bubble and Scrape

  Lo-Fi masters first all in-studio recording and the last to feature founding member Eric Gaffney, but still done in typical Sebadoh fashion, couple loud songs, some soft songs and some Musique Concrète noise collages.  These guys are definitely my personal favorite Indie Rock band, and why the hell not, they practically single highhandedly invented the genre, yeah yeah, give or take an influence here and there, but no one perfected it like these guys!  Bubble And Scrape might not be their best album, but it's still f*ckin' awesome, who else sings better about human emotion and experience, other than Sebadoh -- especially in the 90's!   Hey and is that the Vonnegut butthole right there in the middle of the cover? I'd say YES!

By the way this was posted on Barlow's Birthday! Weird (meaning I didn't do it on purpose!)!

Meat Puppets -- Too High To Die

  Yes Yes I fully realize what the Meat Puppets did for Rock 'n' Roll, and this album was the closest  that they came to the big time success, but you know what ... I didn't like it!  The only two tunes that did do it for me were Flaming Hearts and Shine ... otherwise I'd suggest to stay away from this one and stick to the classics!

the Lemonheads -- It's A Shame About Ray

  Man oh man, I really really love this album!  There's something about it that appeals to the 17 year old girl living inside me.  It's definitely on my top 5 Indie Rock albums, if not number one and my copy is Ms. Robinson-less, which is a good thing.

Lou Barlow -- Goodnight Unknown

  Shit! Did I stay up all night and jam with some weirdos ... then my Mom walked into my apartment ... and before that had a full day facebook argument with my ex ... goddamn ... what a wonderfully terrible day!  Who better to listen to then the Indie master himself, Lou Barlow!

The Dead Milkmen -- Beelzebubba

  Fourth album by goof Punk luminaries The Dead Milkmen.  What can one really say about the Milkmen?  They make me think of the Violent Femmes, but electric and silly!!  Although this is the one that made them famous with hit track Punk Rock Girl, unfortunately after Beelzebubba things started to go down the drain ... damn fame, f*ckin' things up, again!!!

Julie Doiron -- I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day

  Released in 2009 but somehow is a modernized throwback to the 90's Eric's Trip sound and even recorded by Rick White, album by Julie Doiron.  You know what I was thinking during the duration of this ... forget Feist, Doiron is the real deal ... and she is and was a strong part of inventing the sound everybody wants today, so all power to her!

Apples In Stereo -- Science Faire

  Indie Pop Lo-Fi mega nerd alert album/ compilation by the Apples In Stereo.  What is there not too love about this 60's influenced loosey goosey band?  Nothing, because they are goddamn great!  Although word on the street is they don't like to play the old songs in concert??  That I'll never get!

Mazzy Star -- She Hangs Brightly

  Debut killer, somber, lush cool album by Mazzy Star!  I f*ckin' love this one, it's hard to pin point all the feeling and emotion that goes behind that beautifully dark and haunting voice, accompanied by the slow tempo Blues jangle.  These guys definitely started something here, so stealth, but at the same time so big, you can hear it in the music of today 20 years later ...

The Flaming Lips -- At War With The Mystics

  ... so!  I was thinking the other night, why am I limiting myself only to my record collection?  Well I do know that answer ... anyway ... point is I have a couple of boxes of neglected CD's and a box of dusty old tapes, which I clearly love ... I've been lugging them around long enough!  Last night I jimmy rigged my laptop to my killer set up and decided enough with this format snobbery, records are still better, but I wanna listen to some music!

  At War With The Mystics, the eleventh Flaming Lips album is drenched in 70's style psychedelia mixed with a dreamy futurist Pop vibe.  What I love about this band, other than their live shows, is that they are totally arrogant, over-the-top, pretentious, hippie weirdos in all the best ways, and definitely will be a staple classic in years to come.