Because of space and bandwidth limits, I can’t keep mp3 files stored on the server for long. Soooooooo yeah. This is basically just a running list of the songs I’ve featured (on the front page). If you were expecting more, well, I'm sorry. Life is filled with disappointments. Much like doughnuts are filled with jelly. What? I’m always looking for good music, old or new, popular or otherwise, so please shout me a holler if there’s an artist or band you think I might like!
This group used to be called Poney Poney. Which is of no relevance to me, because I never heard of Poney Poney. Anywho, I like this album. It reminds me of a different time and place. (The ‘90s, and a beach. For whatever reason.) Fun and uncomplicated!
Last year, I saw this band play at Beat Kitchen. They played their entire album (Olly Oxen Free) front to back. It may have been the best show I’ve ever attended. Coincidentally, I also started talking to this girl who ended up being the lead singer’s cousin. She gave me her number, but didn’t pick up when I called the next week, twice. That made me sad. I never saw her again… until my birthday this year, when I went to see Via Audio at Schubas. Anyway, that’s what I associate this band with. Other than being fucking awesome.
The opening chords to this song sound like those of ‘Politik’ by Coldplay, except it fools me and doesn’t resolve to a minor chord. Also, the name of the song is a good one (other choice titles on this album: ‘North Korea and Kim Jong Il’s Fat Fucking Face’, track 7; ‘Marla Singer Doesn’t Take Standardized Tests’, track 9).
I like that they’ve consistently been putting out solid stuff since their album Heart.
Hey, remember when I used to listen to music?
Song’s hot. Dare you not to dance and sing along after one listen.
I think I previously ignored this band because their name is so generic-sounding. They are pretty good though. Recommended if you like Grizzly Bear and that kinda stuff. (I like the breathy heh-heh-hehs in this song.)
I feel terrible sharing just one track here because this is clearly a concept album meant to be heard in its entirety, but this really is one of the standout tracks. The album was written by Peter Silberman about a cancer patient he met, fell in love with, and watched die in hospice. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
I’ve never liked any kind of music that could qualify as ‘experimental’ (I like results, not experiments), but this is nice!
I resisted this album and this band because to me ‘passion pit’ sounds offensive for some reason (I dunno, I’m a weirdo) but I heard them on Gossip Girl and from there it was all over.
The buildup at 0:58 makes me feel optimistic about life. This album is maybe the best I’ve heard in 2009 thus far… despite the obnoxious title.
Great, another white guy singing about Japan. The only thing more irritating than that is that I actually like this song. ADDENDUM: Oh hey, Vampire Weekend side project. Didn’t know that… I guess that gives them more credibility than just being a random electro-pop band.
I’ve filed this under neo-retro-pop… I like this new resurgence; the album reminds me of bands of today like Music Go Music and Phoenix, which remind me of bands of yesterday like ABBA and Queen. This particular track sounds like CSS got hit by a wave of funk.
Good beat. Nice use of the high hat! Thanks, Brisbanian Rach. I really like this guy’s whiny voice. (I’m not being sarcastic! I really do like it!)
So Racho sent me this album eons ago, and I basically ignored it, and then yesterday in the OR, the attending who likes indie rock played this song, and it sounded familiar, but more importantly awesome, and now it is the soundtrack to my life.
I kind of think of this band as a poor man’s Brand New, but they are in fact pretty good (and, to be fair, Brand New IS my favoritest, so in my eyes, very few other bands measure up to them). The intro to this song, which is also the first track on the album, is killer.
Sometimes optimism is refreshing, eh?
They remind me of Los Campesinos! except a little more screamy.
Totally sounds like ‘90s dance-pop. Also, I only just realized that the album cover is a hand crushing an egg, not holding a yellow flower.
I’ve been waiting so long for this album to come out that I knew there was no way I would love it. Also, I am becoming increasingly wary of albums I love at first listen anyway; they tend to be like people I think are cool upon first meeting them, who end up being losers. Anyway, I love this album. Go fig.
I have mixed feelings about this album, because the boy has a beautiful voice but the girl’s is supremely weird, almost Joanna Newsom-esque.
I held off from checking out this album because when has a solo project ever lived up to the musician-in-question’s primary band? (Jenny Lewis, Thom Yorke… I’m looking at you) But, this album sounds pretty much exactly like anything The Dresden Dolls have ever put out (piano, angst, Amanda Palmer’s singing voice), which is a good thing. The full title of this song is ‘Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing (feat. Zoë Keating and Ben Folds)’. Apparently she was being paid by the letter.
The opening lines are total win; I yell along with them every time. The twang of that first chord gets me too. (P.S. Portland is totally hot right now.)
I love almost every song on this album, and equally. Something about their sound is really organic, which is a word I usually reserve to be used in conjunction with folksy, but Annuals is not folksy. I like how a lot of the tracks start quietly and simply, and then build up and become really intense. I had the pleasure and good fortune of seeing them live this past weekend, and randomly on a Conan rerun last night, so to me it feels like they are everywhere. (EVERYWHERE!) The guy’s voice in this song kind of sounds like Mute Math.
I really liked their first album but for whatever reason it took me awhile to really sit down with this album and give it a good listen. I’m glad I did.
Kinda reminds me of Rocky Votolato. (thx Jesse Endahl)
This whole album sounds like it should be the soundtrack to a bad romantic comedy (to say nothing of the quality of the music itself, though; I actually like it). P.S. Is this song about a dead baby?
This album is a perfect follow-up to their debut from last year — it sounds mature enough to show that the band’s progressed musically, but it still retains the same endearing personality. Kinda like when your big brother comes back from college for the first holiday and he’s got a beard and is quoting Proust, but he’ll still pin you down and fart on your face.
Apparently I’m on an M bands kick… Love the guitar intro on this song. Also, I like that the album title reminds me of my childhood. Well, not really, because I never actually played Olly Olly Oxen Free (I mean, I don’t even know if it’s a game or just a whimsical phrase used in a game). But, let’s just say it reminds me of what my childhood WOULD be if I wasn’t Asian and studying for the SATs when I was five. Just kidding, that’s a stereotype. It was the ACTs, and I was seven. What? Just listen to the song.
If you like Cursive’s The Ugly Organ, you will likely enjoy this band.
My favorite track on this album is actually ‘Air Aid’, which I heard at a coffee shop a few weeks ago, but I enjoy this one too; the guitar entrance at 0:43 makes me wish I played the guitar.
I should’ve posted this a long time ago. I went on a lot of bike rides this summer with this song blasting from the boombox.
Recommended if you like Stars, Eisley, Rilo Kiley, and/or The Most Serene Republic. This track somehow manages to be both mellow and fast-paced, and I’m not quite sure how (magical unicorn pixie dust? is my current leading theory), but it works.
Been listening to a lot of old Hawksley lately.
Wow, I feel like it’s the ‘70s, and I’m rocking out to ABBA in my orange shag-carpeted bedroom, and bell bottoms are cool, and the AIDS epidemic hasn’t hit yet, and what? Anyway, their name is somewhat palindromic, too, just like everyone’s favorite Swedish pop band. This band only has two 3-song EPs out as of yet, but every song is a winner, IMO. I love the theatrical, almost gaudy feel of this stuff.
This band is like Mexican C.S.S. (the Brazilian synth-pop group, not the stylesheet coding language) with a tad more hip-hop and rock & roll influence, and about the same amount of fun!
In general, my musical tastes seem to be swerving away from this kind of anemic indie rock, but I’ve enjoyed this album, so there you go.
Heard ‘Shut Up and Let Me Go’ on Gossip Girl; loved. Doesn’t the name of the band sound like they should be Chinese or something, though? Lulz. I think I heard them on the new 90210 too. I think I just admitted that I watched the new 90210 too. What?
I like that it sounds epic without trying too hard. And that the dude’s voice sounds like the lead singer of Sigur Rós’s.
This band sounds like The Cure and VHS or Beta. This song sounds like The Arcade Fire. (Yep, it’s kinduva clusterfuck, but it works.)
Girls with smoky voices are totally hot. So are songs in triple meter.
Short and sweet. This album is pure unadulterated fun. (What would adulterated fun be, I wonder? Probably something you’d see on the Spice Channel I guess.)
After much resistance, I have decided that I do like this duo (I initially had problems with their unpolished singing voices, but now I begrudgingly admit that they are kind of charming).
These Aussies remind me of the Canucks, The Stills. Which is a good thing, eh mate! (thx again racho!)
The first line of the song is ‘Rack of lamb of God’... SOLD. (Also, Nick Diamonds kinda sounds like Tim Kasher from Cursive, so that’s a plus, too.)
This song punched me in the face the first time I heard it… there’s just a heap of great unique visual images that the lyrics evoke (‘sucking dick for drink tickets at the free bar at my cousin’s bat mitzvah’, for one).
The band name is a Ricky Gervais Office quote. The song name is a George Romero film title. WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED? (This is my top album right now. Although ‘Dawn of the Dead’ is one of the less frantic tracks, I still like it a lot.)
Poppy! (Like the adjective, not the opium seed.)
I don’t think this band is around anymore, but this song is kind of amazing. What can I say? I’m a sucker for piano octaves. (Heard it on the MySpace page of the Waitress from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, of all places…)
‘Broken hearts tessellate tonight’. That’s so indierocknerdcore that I don’t know whether to say ‘awww’ or gag. Maybe both.
This band sounds like The Knife + The Flaming Lips. Hey, that’s a cool image—a knife severing lips that are afire. What? (P.S. Songs are now streamable. You know what else is streamable? Urine.)
Reminds me of Hot Hot Heat. Whatever happened to them? Anyway.
This album’s been in heavy rotation for the past couple months or so. I feel I can’t really extract just one track of note because it’s one of those albums you have to listen to beginning to end, but I chose this one because the moment just before 2:00 when the bottom drops out is WIN. (thx again racho… srsly i owe you my firstborn)
Tegan Quin’s guest vocaling isn’t the whole reason why I like this song… but it’s about 97% of the reason why.
You can’t really go wrong with a name like Vampire Weekend. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible.
Okay, so apparently I’m on a ukulele kick.
I’ve got this album on repeat. This song features what appears to be a ukulele and is therefore awesome. Something I just learned about 37 seconds ago: ukulele is not spelled UKELELE.
This song doesn’t get good until around 0:17, but when it does, man is it GOOD. Recommended for Death Cab or Stars fans.
The opening guitar bit reminds me of Metric’s ‘Glass Ceiling’. This band is good in their own right, too. (You can actually download the whole album from their MySpace page.)
I heard the song ‘Secret’ on the debutante ball episode of Gossip Girl and thought it was pretty fantastic. The whole album has that theatrical feel to it, which is cool. They kind of remind me of girl-fronted alternative bands from the ‘90s like No Doubt and Garbage.
Generic chick rock… but sometimes we need it.
I’d say the name roughly translates to The Campesinos! in English…
Piano rock! (With some strings and pop thrown in for good measure)
In general, instrumental stuff isn’t my favorite, but this band does all right by me. They kinda sound like what would happen if Caribou and Ratatat had a torrid one-night stand and produced a musical lovechild but then the chick’s dad tries to keep them apart and the lovechild ends up living in an orphanage but then when he’s eleven he tries to get the parents back together through music. Oh wait.
Japanese indie folk, eh? Sounds kinda Sufjan-y.
Dude, just look at the title… awesome. VIOLENT YET FLAMMABLE!
Sounds a lot like acoustic, Fred-heavy / Adam-less Taking Back Sunday. Which it essentially is (i.e., Fred Mascherino’s solo project). This album sounds pretty mainstream-oriented, but I like it a lot.
Kinda feels like this is in the wrong decade, but it’s catchy.
uhhhhh holy shit amazing???
Yes, everyone loves “Young Folks” and cute whistling but this song’s good too.
She’s from St Andrews! I held off from listening to her stuff for a long time because I don’t like it when artists refer to themselves by their initials… Yes, I’m irrational that way. Yay chick rock!
This is an old song that came up in Party Shuffle. I haven’t listened to her in at least a couple years, so it was a fun surprise. You know what’s not a fun surprise? Finding a dead hooker in your bathroom. Yeah, that’s right.
Say what you want about mmmbops and whatnots, but these guys fucking rock, and this song is catchy. I can’t believe they were ever mentioned in the same breath as Nsync (oh sorry *NSYNC) and BSB; the Tulsa bros are 10000x superior. (P.S. I think it’s hilarious that Q101, Chicago’s alt-rock station, is playing this song but refusing to say who it is because they’re all embarassed.)
‘The one certainty of living / Is that you’re gonna die / So why not stand in awe of it / Instead of asking why?’ [Mucho thankso, Racho Relaxo]
I guess I should stop filing pop-punk under ‘guilty pleasure’, because I like too many pop-punk bands. Sigh. I guess I’m just a 13-year-old girl at heart. Anyway, this album is what Avril Lavigne’s latest would sound like if she weren’t annoying and actually knew how to write lyrics more interesting than ‘She’s like, so whatever’ (I really wish I were joking about that). I like the part in the song where they yell out, ‘2-3-4!’
I pretty much like every song on this album. I heard about these guys because they played a sold-out show here a couple months ago, and at first I was like, ‘Great, another The ______s band,’ but they’re really really good. My favorite part is where he goes ‘Pret-ty pret-ty petticoat’. And the way he says ‘spat’. And the chorus is pretty good too. Yay!
This is a really good album from 2004 that I only recently discovered.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM. Best moments of the song? 1:18 and 1:43. Big ups to Racho for the rec!
Sophie Ellis-Bextor is the most English-sounding English name ever! This song is fun!
These dudes are like Arctic Monkeys without the annoying hype. I also like the song ‘Chelsea Dagger’, which is in the Run, Fat Boy, Run trailer.
The Capricorns’ songs are musically very simple and somewhat unpolished-sounding, but I think that’s the idea, and I like it.
Cute.
This might be the best song ever. I don’t know if I mean that ironically or not.
I listened to this album six times yesterday.
Hard-Fi is very British. This song is kind of disco-flavored, which I enjoy.
Not sure what the ‘magic position’ is, but I’m pretty sure I want to find out…
Catchy as HELL.
I like this song because of the organ sound.
Sounds like Cobra Starship with a teensy bit of Justin Timberlake thrown in the mix, as well as Love Arcade.
‘All the icicles, falling, falling, ooooooo’
I don’t really like the lead singer’s voice that much, but this song is pretty darn catchy. (P.S. It’s pronounced ‘chk chk chk’.)
‘When you’re holding me… we make a pair of parentheses’
I just really like the degga-degga-degga-deg guitar part.
Rachel’s favorite band of the moment. Any song that mentions Azerbaijan is a winner in my book! This band reminds me of Tilly and the Wall + The Boy Least Likely To.
I don’t even know how to pronounce this band’s name (or type it without copying-and-pasting from iTunes)... but they’re cool.
Sounds like Muse. Sounds like good! Me no speak English. What? Just download this song.
Cheesy trite pop-punk goodness! (Note: Intensify.org does not condone the consumption of alcohol.)
I like them.
No, not cascading style sheets—this Brazilian band’s name stands for Cansei de Ser Sexy, or ‘Tired of Being Sexy’ in Portuguese. And lemme tell you, they can ser as sexy as they wanna be.
Apparently the new thing this year is to screw political correctness and not be afraid to say ‘Christmas’.
Someone recommended this band to me through the feedback form a while back, and I only recently got around to listening to them. They pretty much rock, yeah.
Gabe Saporta is a fucking cocky motherfucker (‘G-A-B-E gonna get you high’? ‘My light is electric’? Give me a break). He also makes fun catchy music to which I cannot stop listening. File under guilty pleasure!
Fuck you fuck you fuck you and all we’ve been through (isn’t it cute when troubadours get upset?)
If this doesn’t make you want to bob your head, you are a MACHINE. A machine, I tell you!!!
This is my probably my favorite song right now (from my favorite album right now). I didn’t really like either the dude’s or the chick’s singing voices, but when he busts in with ‘The light had slipped through the window’ and the piano starts rocking out, I get excited. (Not sexually. (Okay, maybe a little bit sexually.))
I think it’s cute that they say ‘PRE-fers’ instead of ‘pre-FERS’. It’s probably just to make it fit with the rhythm of the song, but still.
Hell of a title, eh? The re-recording is oodles better than the original, IMO—they totally got rid of that ugly chord.
When I first heard this track and didn’t know the name, I thought Emily was singing, ‘Crowds of offer clue.’ (For the record, I think her solo stuff is just as good as Metric / Broken Social Scene / Stars / whatever other bands she’s done stuff with.)
I’m so… so… SCARED!
I didn’t like Feist until I started hearing ‘Mushaboom’ everywhere… including Home Depot. This song’s grown on me like whoa.
What happens when French new wave meets ‘80s punk songs? Complete and total awesomeness, that’s what.
I’m not the hugest Coheed fan, but this song is cool, and I like acoustic stuff.
This album is really fun and really catchy. Really.
I’d like to take this opportunity to say that, when it really comes down to it, we all need a little more indie electronica in our lives. Thank you and good night.
This band sounds very ‘80s. Is that good? I don’t know.
Yep, pretty much sounds like Radiohead.
I’m sensing some bitterness here.
I always thought Anberlin was God-rock, but this stuff sounds pretty secular. It’s a good album to drive to.
Thanks, Grace.
This song reminds me of The Faint except the lead singer has a pop-punk voice instead of a New Order-esque one.
Rachel loves Daphne Loves Derby. They kinda sound like Mae, and sometimes like The Early November.
For fans of emo AND hip-hop. This song is cute.
I like their latest album much more than their previous albums (oddly enough, they all sound the same to me anyway).
Not to be confused with the Get Up Kids song…
Nice instrumentation. I like the swingy bass line with the keyboard and guitar up high and the rockout chorus.
I never cared much for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (though I do love ‘Maps’), but this album rocks. I know everyone’s favorite song is probably gonna be ‘Phenomena’ so I thought I’d post this one, which is also really awesome but in a different way. I like the part where Karen O goes ‘up up up above’...
I’ve had this song in my head all day, so I am passing it on to you.
Mellow folksy goodness.
I’ve been getting into synth pop and rock quite a bit lately.
All of Tahiti 80’s songs just make me happy.
I like the contrast between the opening (swingy, and only the vocalist, drums, and bass) and the chorus (straight rhythm, more backing instruments).
This song sounds nothing like the rest of the album, but I like it a lot (as well as the other tracks). Apparently there’s supposed to be an umlaut over the ‘i’ in their name.
Waiter: ‘You Vultures!’ is probably my favorite album right now. These guys are like a less spastic version of The Mars Volta.
Antony’s voice is incredibly soothing and he is beautiful as a man, woman, or anything in between.
I bought the album after hearing this song once. The whole disc is ace.
Similar to Franz Ferdinand, and no less catchy.
Wow, this shit is poppy as hell. But she’s Norwegian, so it’s okay.
I still can’t believe they’re from Alabama.
TSO rocks.
Hark! The Christmas season is upon us. Political correctness be damned – yay Jesus! (Note: This song isn’t actually about the J-man.)
‘Can’t take the kid from the fight, take the fight from the kid’... I still love this album even though I’ve been listening to it nonstop for like three months.
Yay, cello!
I love the opening tinkly sound at the beginning of this song, and how it makes me feel like I’m rejoining a conversation I recently left, and how it sounds nothing like how the title might suggest.
I’m usually not into this sort of female singer-songwriter folksy stuff, but Mirah rocks.
From a review of Media: ‘If The Cure had any balls, they’d sound like The Faint.’
‘We’re not sleeping at the wheel / The wheel is turning the machine / That kills / For us’
Nice remix of a great song.
What’s with punk bands going all sensitive and acoustic? Oh well, I still like this song. These guys are from Chicago.
I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about this band; they are excellent. They’re rather mellow, but they’ve got a good beat. I guess they’ll be my little hidden treasure for now.
Love the bass line.
Iron and Wine should do all their albums with Calexico. Great harmonies between Sam Beam and Joey Burns. (The whole EP’s a winner, really.)
The bells totally make this song (and this album).
I like the dukka-dukka-dukka guitar thingy right after the intro. Yay for piano rock!
This band is sort of a poor man’s Fall Out Boy, but it’s okay… ‘cause I like Fall Out Boy (and songs about elevators).
I like the oooo’s and the hey la’s.
I’m not a huge Arcade Fire fan, but they did this song exclusively for Six Feet Under (it was used at the end of this week’s episode, when Brenda’s giving birth), and it totally brought the scene to a new level.
Did you know that Shirley Manson is from Edinburgh? Massive increase in cool points!
Pachuca!
I totally thought they broke up or something, but yay, they’re back! Word to Glasgow.
Two words: Hand claps.
This is one of my favorite Death Cab songs, and listening to this song lets me pretend what it’d be like to hear them live.
I don’t usually listen to stuff this hard, but Mezmerize is actually a really good album. Other good picks: ‘Radio/Video,’ ‘B.Y.O.B.,’ ‘This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song.’
I heard the (original) Spandau Ballet version of this song in the ‘80s prom episode of Veronica Mars. I also heard Paul Anka’s rendition of it on the radio the other day. Go fig. (I like this Duvall version the best, though. They’re from Chicago.)
I never thought much of Muse before, but this song was used extensively in the movie High Tension, and I really really like both the movie and the song. The slow freaky part was perfect in the suspense-y scenes, and the loud rock-ish part was great in the ‘let’s kick some ass’ scenes.
Wow, violins in a Trio song? Never thought I’d see the day. Sounds pretty good, though.
This song makes me happy.
I heard about this band from the London Times. They were compared to The Killers. Apparently Brandon Flowers doesn’t like them. I do.
Fun song.
A lot less poppy than the rest of the album, but I love it. Ironically, my other favorite track on the CD, ‘Sugar, We’re Going Down,’ is probably the most poppy song on the album.
This band does such good mood music.
I like the contrast between the spastic guitar opening and the more flow-y chorus.
These guys pretty much sound like every other screaming white boy post-hardcore band out there, but this is a nice song.
Nice rhythmic continuity.
Dude, Iceland rocks.
This song reminds me of Brand New’s ‘Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades,’ both stylistically (the dominating bass line) and in terms of content (both paint a picture of the male as boyish, vulnerable and desperate). I love the brief dissonance in the guy’s part of the chorus.
I like the mellowness – these guys are usually very poppishly upbeat.
I thought their first album, Destination: Beautiful, was pretty good, but after hearing a leaked copy of their latest effort The Everglow, they’ve moved up to favorite-band-of-the-moment status.
Yay for instrumental songs!
I like the persisting bass line.
This band kinda reminds me of Keane.
This kind of hip-hop flavour I could definitely get into.
I like how it starts out quiet and mellow, and then picks up with the bass drum beats after the intro. I also like how the chorus is harmonized in parallel thirds, and the ‘I got soul, but I’m not a soldier’ bit.
‘Lonelily’ is a fun word to say. Cute song, too.
I love The Cure, and I love acoustic versions of my favorite songs.
‘And how long would it take me / To walk across the United States…’ Clarity is one of my favorite albums of all time.
I think the correct spelling is ‘Novocaine,’ but whatever. It’s a good song, and I like the acoustic guitar.
I heard about this band from Joe. Good stuff!
Yeah, I’m one of those people who always thought this song was called ‘Teenage Wasteland’... I’m sorry.
I first heard this song when I was studying abroad in the UK, and now whenever I hear it, I am reminded of the good times that were had…