Little Anthony and The Imperials -- The Hits Of ...

  Classic Doo-Wop group Little Anthony and The Imperials are a way to cherry pie happy for me to handle, I search for the dark desperate Doo-Wop that longs for love.  Needless to say this record isn't bad, for two reasons Travelling Stranger and Cha Cha Henry.  Travelling Stranger is a typical swingin' Doo Wop tune, lots of vocals and a great beat, while Cha Cha Henry sounds more like a soulful Rock 'n' Roll number, like Little Eva's Locomotion, you get my drift!  Bargain basement label Pickwick (see Isley Bros Soul Shout! for more label info) bought what they could to make this hits collection, I guess they couldn't afford Shimmy Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop.

Sufjan Stevens -- Michigan

  The first of the 50 States project starting at the beginning with his home state of Michigan.  I'm guessing he has given up on this feat since he only released two albums with this theme, but I do love the idea.  The sound of the record is a pastiche of Donovan, the softer side of Bowie, some Neutral Milk Hotel horn stylings, a Christian choir and Charlie Brown's piano player -- I think that just about does it!  The album reads like a tour of his home State and personal life, part promotion, part mystical journey.  This isn't the kind of record you slap on during your killer house party, but if your chillin' out, feeling peaceful, Sufjan is the way to go.  The album will definitely be a New Weird America (a pseudo-genre still in the works) classic.  Stevens is clearly a firm believer in the DIY aesthetic, by playing most instruments himself,  even going as far as producing his own record and co-founding his own label Asthmatic Kitty, with his step-father.  This dude is a real artist he better get the credit he deserves, what the hell, let's all go to Michigan and relax to some Sufjan Stevens!!!!

Tyrannosaurus Rex -- Beard of Stars

  The last Tyrannosaurus Rex record before Bolan became the better known T. Rex.  Beard Of Stars, to me, sounds like a Lord Of The Rings obsessed, minstrel wanna-be, electric busker.  I don't get it, the music, the lyrics, which Bolan was never the best at, but the whimsical fantasy flake fest took the cake ... why the hell does this record get somewhat good reviews?  Thank god Electric Warrior was just around the corner because this record should have been called beard of sh*t!

Arcade Fire -- The Suburbs

  Immensely popular Arcade Fire hasn't missed the mark with any of their releases, and to me their third full length effort is their best.  It was a great moment in indie rock history that these guys won the Grammy for album of the year, and countless other awards, but the Grammy, however cheesy the award is, is still a big deal, like winning an Oscar.  Now is it the best indie rock record ever released, hardly, but it solidifies the scene, like London Calling should have done for punk (why didn't that win), and Sgt. Pepper did for the hippies.

  I love this record, the damn thing opens like a shotgun blast, the first side is mostly a slew of mega hits and ends with the heavily intense Rococo.  I don't know what it is but their dark mix of electro folk shogaze just reminds of the city of Montreal, especially in the winter, I know that the city itself influenced them since they live there, but word is the record is about their suburb experiences in Houston, I suspect that the lyrics have are Huston, but the sound is Montreal.

  I can't say that the words move me too too much, some tunes seem to have good insight, especially when he sings about wanting a daughter, showing her beauty ... yadda yadda ... that statement is against the grain for the generation he is speaking to, from what I know of the hipster 30 somethings, they mostly don't want kids, they just want to live for themselves, and see the world as a bad place for children, not a place of beauty for children!  But otherwise the whiny spoilt art school dropout "businessman drink my blood" kinda thing is a big turn off for me!  Otherwise who cares, the album is great!  And marks a scene that's been around for over 20 years into the history books!  So thanks guys from this pretentious prick!

My Bloody Valentine -- Loveless

  Noise noise noise, such beautiful noise!  Loveless kick started the 90's and put the stamp on the shoegazer sound.  This album took years to make, producer problems, band problems, money problems, etc ... but they finally got it done, dubbing, over dubbing, layer after layer of noise making a mammoth wall of sound, with who knows how many elements buried in the music.  Many of the new indie rock bands today only wish they could mimic the smooth lush power of this record, but they only remain Loveless ....

Guns And Roses -- Appetite for Destruction

  Uh oh I'm probably gonna get in some trouble here, but I f*ckin' hate Guns and Roses, their glorification of white trash culture drives me batty!!!  Not that this record doesn't have a nostalgically endearing quality to it,  in a sorta  there's a time and  a place kinda way, but the array of skinning the dead cat continuous album releases just irritates my nerves.  For what it is I do find that Sweet Child O' Mine is a pretty good song, the hooks are unforgettable, and the main riff, they must have known, is worth a million bux.  I could just imagine the band rehearsing, and teasing their hair, hearing it for the first time, they all look at each other thinking cha-ching ... all of a sudden they're sent into the stratosphere of popularity.  If Appetite for Destruction was released without Sweet Child O' Mine, I am certain, as they are sh*tty, they'd have a fraction of their fan base.  The only reason this bad boy survives in my record collection is because the inlay sleeve features the original album artwork by Robert Williams, which was way too risqué for mass release, but the painting's cool, thumbs up to GNR for having good taste in art, otherwise I'd give this album to my dog so he could sooth his Appetite for Destruction!!!  

The Ramones -- S/T

    The best damn rock 'n' roll album ever put out -- that's my opinion.  And if you try to simply label it as punk rock because it's loud and fast, forget that.  This record changed the whole ball game of the music business once the needle hit the wax.  These guys gave music a total face lift, no more pretty boys, no more showing off, justpure rock 'n' roll music from the most basic skeletal perspective.  But it wasn't that simple either, maybe the riffs were, but you had some bubble gum pop, 60's girl groups, Spector's wall of sound, Chuck Berry's Maybelline simplicity and the Raw Power of the MC5/ Stooges all mashed together into one sound, rattling the world, and forcing some major changes. 

  I would have loved to be there in 1976 when this album hit the streets.  Jaws must have been dropping on epidemic scale, thinking what the hell is this and are these guys for real, but there's no mistake, those songs would have engrained themselves your mind until you started your own Ramones rip-off band.  People constantly argue, which is the real first punk band is it, The Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls, The MC5, The Stooges or maybe the 60's punks, The Sonics, The Music Machine, The Seeds, The Velvet Underground, yadda yadda, admittedly those groups are all just pieces, but The Ramones mastered it first, putting their stamp on the sound!

  The Ramones never made it as big as their influence on music, but every year their legacy grows ... I think I saw one of the Backstreet Boys wearing a Ramones t-shirt on TV, now does that douchebag really like the band or is it just trendy nowadays to wear their t-shirts, who really knows?  As far as I'm concerned Dee Dee is one of the coolest cats in Rock history, like a Lou Reed or a Bob Dylan, his lyrics have beat poet quality and essence of life, freedom meets struggle, the ideal punk rocker.  The Ramones proved to us all that less is more and more is just a waste of time!! Hey Ho Let's Go!