Nirvana – In Utero (1993)

Serve the Servants: first impression: I like this, I might like this a lot. Drumming is way more restrained here than on Nevermind (a good thing). Guitar’s a bit more jangly. A great noise and pop combination.

Scentless Apprentice: before anything else, excellent song name. Okay, drumming is back to being a bit too much for me. Very rough and tumble, “heavy” power chords, trying to sound abrasive. Kurt screams a lot, seems angry but listless, the sound kinda wanders around. The screaming here doesn’t work for me, a little less vocal, a…

I kinda like the style of taking on the fly notes for albums. It also helps when I've heard an album dozens of times and I know what's coming. Anyway, You're Living All Over Me:

Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me (1987)

Little Fury Things: first 30 seconds: holy shit. Mascis’ voice sounds positively emotional at first…then his normal just neutral delivery, which is fucking perfect. The guitar just drowns all sounds here. You can tell the drums and bass are trying really hard but the amp is just turned up and J is playing his ass…

Maroon 5 – Overexposed (2012)

One More Night = gets right to the sexual point lyrically, kinda bland.

Payphone = annoyingly high vocals at beginning; subject matter is completely 2-dimensional. All of these words have been said countless time before. Worse than One More Night “I’m at a payphone” really? Romanticizing the past much? When was the last time you were at a payphone? This song is a very weak attempt at mass-market pop, the last minute is mercifully taken over by rap (Wiz Kalifa)

Daylight = the lyrics are way too much, emphasis is consistently on singing,…

I was pretty excited leading up to the release of I Bet On Sky, Dinosaur Jr.’s 3rd post-reunion record. Considering the acclaim of 2009’s Farm, arguably their second greatest record ever, it wasn’t hard to entertain the possibility that Dinosaur Jr. were back for real. What might the lethal combination of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph create in the wake of such a promising return to form? Before launching into the album, I think it’s important to set the stage for this band. First, with 10 LPs credited to Dinosaur Jr., it seems clear…

Grizzly Bear’s fourth LP, Shields, is brilliant and audacious. The opening track, Sleeping Ute, trumpets Shields’ stunningly clear, immersive production, while simultaneously emboldening the potent Grizzly Beat combination of open chords and polyrhythms. As a whole, the album magnifies Grizzly Bear’s enviable skill of forging dense, baroque music that remains open, airy, and catchy (though this is definitely their most demanding record). The key here is patience; many of these songs are long and intricate, and only gradually do they reveal their full form and beauty. I recommend coming at this album with fresh ears and no…

The music on Juju is both insistent and immediate. It’s also a bit indulgent and meandering at times, but these wandering steps only rarely feel misplaced. After listening to the opening track, Spellbound, you’re left with a vibe somewhere between strange and spooky. Most of the album carries this general feel, characterized by the use of minor and chromatic harmonic structures, Siouxsie's powerful and sustained vocal contributions, and frequently upbeat tempos. The combination of the next two tracks is nothing short of stunning. Beginning modestly with a persistent and syncopated drum and bass duo, Into the Light intermittently…

List your top 15 artists. Come up with a setlist for them to make your perfect gig. The first 8 artists get a 5 song set list. The next 4 artists get an 8 song set list. The 3rd and 2nd artist get a 10 song set list. The top artist gets a 12 song set list with a 3 song encore

*using my Top 15 in the last 12 months

15. Madvillian
Accordion
All Caps
America's Most Blunted
Great Day Today
Figaro

14. The Millenium
Prelude
The Island
5 A.M.
Sing to Me
I Just Want to Be Your…

This is my list of my favorite 35 albums I've listened to, or been largely exposed to, since I started college. I limited each spot to a unique artist, so while there are some artists that would have potentially taken up several spots, I wanted this list to represent more artistic diversity than just specifically the albums themselves.

35. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2002
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/WilcoYankeeHotelFoxtrot.jpg

While I'm not the biggest Wilco fan, this is my favorite album of theirs as their songwriting seems more mature and slightly darker than on Summerteeth. Wilco certainly doesn't lack in melodic hooks and…