RECOMMENDED LISTENINGS

THREE blog posts in a row?! Is Richie going mad? Or bored? Or both?

Yeah, I'mma pull a Jeph Jacques and list all of me current favorite albums and why they kick so much ass. All of these must be listened to. For your own good. I beg of you. I'll even rate their awesomeness, so you can tell which ones the best.

Let the page load, there's lots of pretty pictures.

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ALTERNATIVE/INDIE ROCK


~ Funeral, The Arcade Fire
I'll go out on a limb here, and say that half the lyrics on this album make absolutely no sense. To me at least. Maybe I'm not looking into them enough. Anways, forget the lyrics. Wait, actually don't. Theyre quite good. In an eerie sort of way. Anyways, either way, listen to the actual music. The variety of instruments, (accordian, anyone?) the sweet beats, the drummer who is absolutely insane (no really, find a video of him playing on the internet. the whole band is crazy.) Put 'em together, and you get a freakish awesome psychadelic experience... I think? You'd like it... maybe? Fuck it, just listen to the thing.
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Reccommended


~ A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay
British rock! Everyone's been loving it ever since the Beatles, and Coldplay be no exception. Pretty much every song on here be awesome. They're all powerfully emotional (yet not emo!... if that made sense) and any song with a piano part in it is a sheer pleasure to listen to. Plus, they all sing with British accents. What more could you want?
Awesomeness Factor : Reccommended


~ Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
YES. One of the best indie bands out there, this album does not disappoint. Absolutely kicking drums (like in Take Me Out... or Matinee) along with addictive lyrics (Take Me Out... again, and Auf Auche) and some disturbing songs thrown along in with the mix (Michael... it's scary, yet you can't help but listen to it) all make a truly grand album.
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Reccommended


~ The Go! Team, Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Nonlyrical goodness. Well, yeah, there's lyrics, but they're indistinguishable. Sounds like ranting. Or chanting. But yeah, the whole album sounds like the soundtrack to some random 70's show. Scooby Doo, or something. Which may not like the cat's meow to everyone, but for me, it's like ecstacy to the ears. The emotion ecstacy. Not the drug.
Awesomeness Factor : Listen First, Then Buy


~ Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Good God. This album... is really scary. No, really. Some songs (such as the ever famous Float On... or One Chance) sound like good 'ol addictive indie rock. But others (The Devil's Workday and Dancehall come to mind) sounds like the type of music that would play when some random witch doctor would rip off your head with his specially treated knife, shrink it, and offer it to his cajun god of creepy music. Yet, even these songs are as infectious as the others.
Awesomeness Factor : Listen First, Then Buy

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ROCK


~ Dave Matthews Band, The Central Park Concer
Okay, lots of people don't like Dave Matthews Band. That's peachy. Some people don't like live music on a CD either. That's fine and dandy too. I'm not either of these. They take some of their best songs, (Ants Marching, Don't Drink The Water) add 10 teaspoons of kickass, 2 pints of screaming crowd, and stir vigorously. Bake in overn at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool. Serves party of 6.
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Recommended


~ Jet, Get Born
Do I even need to explain this one? It's Jet. It's got some of the most kickass AC/DC-like songs on it (Are You Gonna Be My Girl? and Cold Hard Bitch) yet, on the other side, they have some slow, Beatles-like tunes on there too. (Radio Song, Timothy) AND you can get the two-disc set, which has some live songs as well as singles. Truly great album, one of me favorites on here.
Awesomeness Factor: Highly Recommended


~ Taking Back Sunday, Where You Want To Be
Besides the interesting album art (bare-assed baby throwing up the horns!) this CD kinda breaks away from the band's punk rock sound and goes for a more alternative style. Sure, there is punk on the CD (The Union) but theres some other less heavy stuff (A Decade Under The Influence, New American Classic) that lets you enjoy TBS without having to headbang. Or whatever punkies do nowadays.
Awesomeness Factor : Recommended


~ U2, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
A lot of people hate U2. And when I mean hate, I mean that they'd kill them if they had the chance. I, however, am not one of those peoople. A lot of good 'ol fashioned rockish songs (Vertigo, Love and Peace Or Else) along with some great slow songs (City of Blinding Lights, A Man and A Woman) make it varied... good for everyone to listen to. The only downside is that the members of the band look scary. Eek.
Awesomeness Factor : Recommended

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HIP-HOP


~ Black Eyed Peas, Elephunk
Rediculously varied. Sweet soothing songs... kinda (like Sexy) to rockish riffs (Anxiety) to good old ghettofabulous raps (Labor Day) make this a good CD to listen to no matter what your mood be. And you can listen to Let's Get Retarded any time, because it kicks arse no matter what. Period.
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Recommended


~ Jay-Z & Linkin Park, Collision Course
Okay. If you don't like Jay-Z, stay away. If you don't like Linkin Park, stay away. If you don't like both of them, stay far, far, FAR away. If you like either one, get it. If you like both of them, (such as I) THIS MUST BE BOUGHT. Mixing pretty much all of their best songs (Papercut, Izzo, One Step Closer, Big Pimpin', blah blah blah) and switching up the lyrics and such... pure bliss.
Awesomeness Factor : Listen First, Then Buy

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JAZZ


~ Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus
A fair warning to anyone who doesn't like jazz: stay far, far, far away. This CD won't change your mind. To anyone else, sweet swingin' tunes await. He may not be as well known as Coltrane or Gillespe, but personally, I like the sound of Rollins better than all of them. It's somehow different, but I can't put my finger on how. Just listen to it.
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Recommended


~ Miles Davis, The Birth of Cool
As with Saxophone Colossus, if you don't like jazz, The Birth of Cool won't make you change. It was remastered pretty recently (1998, as opposed to like 1958 or 1968) and it's got a hell of a lotta songs on it. If you dig Davis, pick this one up. Prolly the best set of his best stuff out there.
Awesomeness Factor : Recommended

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SOUNDTRACKS


~ Cowboy Bebop Box-CD Set
Every. Song. Ever. Produced. For. Cowboy Bebop. Okay, I'll stop typing like that. But yeah, you read correctly. EVERY FLAMIN' SONG produced for Cowboy Bebop (and the movie!) was put in this box set. A treat for anyone who loves the anime and its soundtrack (such as me.) They also have some live stuff, and the solos in them defy anything ever heard by these two ears (the Tank! solo in particular is pretty damn amazing...) Even if you've never even heard of Cowboy Bebop, your life wouldn't be complete without this set.
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Recommended


~ Halo 2 Soundtrack
Interesting. A soundtrack with barely any songs from the actual game. But the songs that they DID pick from the game are the best (Peril and Impend) and the rest of the CD is filled up with musical bliss from bands such as Hoobastank, Breaking Benjamin, and Incubus (which is the highlight of the CD: Incubus made a nonlyrical series of songs, the Odyssey series, on this album, and while they have almost nothing to do with Halo 2, theyre fucking awesome)
Awesomeness Factor : Highly Recommended


~ Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2CD Set
WHAT? GTA?! A game about beating hookers with baseball bats and shooting up police? How can that game have an awesome soundtrack? Lesse, by basically taking every hit from the late 80's/early 90's and putting them on 2 CDs. If you grew up in the 90's, listening to these songs, it'll be a pure nostalgic treat. Most of them you'll listen to and be like, "... OH. CRAP. I REMEMBER THAT SONG. IT'S AWESOME." and listen to it over and over and over again. It's like a time trip back to when I was 4.
Awesomeness Factor : Listen First, Then Buy


~ Kill Bill: Volume 1 Sountrack
Okay, I must admit that I didn't like the second Kill Bill soundtrack. It lacked the vibes from the first one. Making songs that sound perfect in a Tarantino movie, this CD has jazz gods (Al Hirt, Issac Hayes) and other groups (The RZA) and makes it into a soundtrack truly worthy of a B+ movie. An awesome B+ movie. That was actually trying to be a B+ movie. And it has that whistle song thing, that GETS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD.
Awesomeness Factor : Recommended


~ Spiderman 2 Sountrack
Possibly the best CD up on this list. Let me just run down the artists on here for you that are awesome:
JET
YELLOWCARD
HOOBASTANK
THE ATARIS
SMILE EMPTY SOUL
TAKING BACK SUNDAY
DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL
MAROON 5
AND MUSIC BY DANNY ELFMAN
Yeah. Nuff said.

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*sleep*

*dreams of snow*

~mEh~  ¶ 9:38:00 PM