Deliberate Noise

I have always dug this song and while a lot of people may have gotten sick of it, I still haven’t. The fact that Prince is on the guitar for this performance makes it that much better.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Here is a list of my favorite albums by the band U2 (NOTE: All of the images are links to the Amazon page for the albums):

10. Zooropa – I don’t remember much about this album and I haven’t heard it since I bought it when it came out. It makes the list because it rounds out the list to ten.

9.  Achtung Baby - This was the first album with their “new” sound. I wasn’t too happy with it at the time , but it is a lot better than I thought when I listened to it recently. Lots of good singles on it (One and Mysterious Ways quickly come to mind) and if I do this list again in about a year or so, it might even go higher.

8.  Under A Blood Red Sky – This is the first live album that I bought from them and it’s probably one of my favorite live albums. If I get a chance, I want to get the Deluxe Edition which also contains the Live At Red Rocks DVD.

7.  October – Gloria was the most popular song on the album, but I am partial to Stranger In A Strange Land.

6.  Wide Awake In America – This is an EP that contains two of my favorite U2 songs: Bad and A Sort of Homecoming. I like those two songs so much that with all of the times I have heard this record, I don’t recall ever listening to the songs on the other side.

5.  The Unforgettable Fire  - There are great songs all through this album, but Pride (In The Name Of Love) is the big hit and the studio version of A Sort Of Homecoming is the best song.

4.  Boy - The debut album and still one of their best. Odd, but the first song on each side of the album (I Will Follow and Stories For Boys) and the last song on each side of the album (Out Of Control and Shadows & Tall Trees) are my favorites.

3.  Rattle and Hum – This probably won’t be very high on the list of a lot of other people, but it was one of the first CDs that I ever bought, so that gives it extra points in my book. Plus, All I Want Is You is a great song.

2. The Joshua Tree – Not only is this the album that put them on the map with a lot of people, but I think Side One is one of the best Side Ones of all time.

1. War – One of my all time favorite albums. Even after almost 30 years, this album makes me want to rage against The Man and topple the power structure, but then I move around and the arthritis reminds me that I am starting to get close to becoming someone who is almost an old man so I just sit back and enjoy the music.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Au Revoir Simone – All Or Nothing

Miike Snow – Animal

Tokyo Police Club – Be Good (RAC Remix)

Ladytron – Black Cat

Motor – Bleep #1 [Amazon Link]

The Helio Sequence – Can’t Say No

edIT – Certified Air Raid Material

Art Brut – Lost Weekend

Buffalo Tom – Guilty Girls

Whalebones – Blood Bank

Kevin Devine and The Goddamn Bar – Another Bag of Bones

Fair Verona is one of those bands that I liked from the first time I heard them, but by that time, they had already broken up. This is one of the few videos that I can find on YouTube. The sound quality isn’t that great, but this is still pretty cool. Also, Beth Cameron was the first artist who let me play their music when I asked nicely.

I’m not sure, but I think the band Detroit Crunk Star changed their name to Dirty Mitten Funk Band. If so, I think this is a much better name without any ties to the ‘crunk’ movement that The South is known for. Also, they use the phrase ‘dirty mitten funk’ in several of their songs. Great new choice.

The first time I heard this song was on Evil Genius Chronicles and I knew I had to play it on the show. If you know me, then you know that I absolutely HATE to play songs that I know other people have already played, but I made an exception in this case because it was played by my podcast godfather Dave Slusher, and it is such a cool song.

Fleet Foxes is on Sub Pop Records, which had very podcast friendly terms on their website very early in the game. The song ‘White Winter Hymnal’ was the first one I had ever heard by the band and it immediately grabbed me.