Mainstream

Someone asked me the other day what I blog about, and I indicated that I blog, rarely, about whatever I happen to think needs writing about. It then occurred to me that I've never blogged about media. I've got several friends who have lots to write about movies and music, but that's never been me. I think mostly because media is such a personal and subjective thing. It might also be because my tastes are pretty mainstream.

Yes, I'm coming out and saying it, my musical tastes tend toward what's popular, and even though I listen to alt-rock, it tends to be mainstream alt-rock. I like singles, because they honestly tend to be the most approachable tracks on any given album. I like catchy. I like top countdowns. There, I finally got that off my chest.

Still, what about albums? Some albums I've deeply listened to happened by accident (back when it was a pain to swap CDs out of trunk mounted cartridges.) Some albums are just so filled with track after track of goodness that you can't help but listen to the entire thing. I thought about albums, and then I decided I'd write about my favorite ones.

Anywhere, here are all my favorites (difficulty: no soundtracks, compilations, or greatest hits) of all time.


Honorable Mentions:
Moby - Play

Eminem said of Moby "It's over, nobody listens to techno" Sadly, he was kinda right. While electronica fans are still on an endless quest to figure out their sub-genres and who goes in them, the rest of the world sorta moved on, and I doubt you'll ever see anything the likes of the success of Play. Which is ridiculous, because it's an amazing, downtempo album that perfect for cruising around and doing nothing. If you've never jammed with your friends to South Side on a 1000 dollar stereo system in a 500 dollar car, you missed out on something amazing. Sadly, I'm not sure it quite held up to the test of time for me, but that's more about my personal taste than the skill of the artist.


Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This To Memory

This album caught me at a very, hell, I'll say it, emo point in my life, and boy does it show. A masterfully constructed medley of pop-punk upbeat melodies and some of the most depressing lyrics you'll ever hear. I guess I eventually outgrew it, because I never really fell in love with another MCS album, and eventually found myself skipping this more often than not, due to just being too darn happy for it.



8) Massive Attack - Mezzanine

The perfect trip-hip construct, this is good from beginning to end. The lush female vocals sampled on Teardrop mashed up with dark, heavy, but slow beats make a standout track on an amazing album. Its a shame trip-hop didn't really have anywhere to go, because it was something special.


7) Cake - Fashion Nugget

Ohh man, I love Cake. The vocals are some of the most unique I've ever heard, and the simple chords and arrangements on their big single reflect the style of the entire album.  It's all so very catchy and likable.


6) Blink 182 - Enema Of The State

Yes, this is as juvenile as it gets, but so what? Part of it's probably nostalgia, which is why this gets picked over Blink-182's more mature self-titled album. I don't know why I'm apologizing, maybe a bit too much music hipster got into me. This is good pop-punk, full stop.


5) The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

I love cohesive concept albums, and boy is this one a doozy. A white British rapper opens with a story about losing a stack of money, and then spins a tale of anger, dependence, betrayal, and resolve. Listening to one song just won't do, and it sorta takes a while to get used to the casual sort-of-garage-rock lyrical style, but it's worth it.


4) The Postal Service - Give Up

Ohh Lord, was I determined to hate The Postal Service. I'm not a fan of Death Cab for Cutie, for reasons I've never understood. But somehow Ben Gibbard's so-indie-it-hurts lyrics work so incredibly well here, and the whole thing gets deep inside your heart. I'd like to make special mention of The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, which always manages to rip me to shreds every time I hear it. If anyone were foolish enough to put it on a breakup playlist, it would probably cause your heart to have a Chernobyl style meltdown, leaving a big radioactive lump on the floor. And, like all good things, it was too good to last.


3) Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials

I think I might be a little bit in love with Florence Welch. As much flak as I'm likely to get, I consider Ceremonials to be many times better than Lungs. I love ethereal female vocals, and her vocal style mixes so well with the dreamy synthy sounds that make this album so sultry it can only be played past twilight.


2) Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American

The fact that I had such a hard time picking an example track for this album that I just gave up and picked the release single is a testament to how much I love this album. It's got no overall theme, and I can't think of any particular gimmick that I can point to. It doesn't need it. There's no dead or even weak tracks to be found, and the upbeat pop-punk mixes perfectly with the pseudo-slow emotional rock that treads incredibly familiar ground without feeling cheesy or stale.


1) The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

The Decemberists are my favorite band, and picking a favorite album was almost impossible. Ha, I'm kidding, HoL wins hands down, because uhh, concept album, duh. Featuring all of the unapologetically arcane hipster lyrics you'd expect from a band that. were it a person, would have a pretty severe Victorian Era fetish, mixed with the crunchy guitar riffs of 70's prog rock. Its like someone shoved an English major into my dad's CD changer. Glorious!