a full Beatles album
The Flaming Lips
a full Piebald album
a full Poison the Well album
a full David Bowie album
Hall & Oates
Glassjaw
a full Snoop Dogg album
Only Built for Cuban Linx (working on this one)
a full Wilco album
a full Beck album
a full The Shins album
a full Misfits album
the XX
Pavement
a full Ryan Adams album
Kid Dynamite
The Velvet Underground
Massive Attack (minus that House intro)
a full Jimi Hendrix album
a full Rolling Stones album
the Pixies (i may have heard a song recently)
a full Van Halen album
a full Led Zeppelin album
the Arcade Fire (only enough to know i didn’t wanna hear more)
Cold War Kids (couldn’t tell you a single song)
Interpol
Radiohead- In Rainbows

Watched:

a full Star Wars movie
Titanic
Hard Candy
The Tracey Fragments
Gladiator
Amistad
The Patriot
The Passion of the Christ
Avatar (i’m chalking this one up already)
Gran Torino
Monty Python
The Matrix, any of them
The Godfather
Fight Club
all of Se7en
American Beauty
Saving Private Ryan
Thin Red Line
A Clockwork Orange
Sin City
Cool Hand Luke
The Graduate
Planet of the Apes

I’ve been listening to Power 92 in the mornings and they’ve been talking about a school in Houston looking to do something about 400 teachers because their student test scores are so low. A high school in Rhode Island just decided to fire 74 teachers because less than half the school was graduating. That’s the back story, now for my input.

First, we need to find a new way to measure success. Standardized tests don’t cut it. I went to school with some smart kids who were terrible test takers. Fortunately I was an awesome test taker but I’m a terrible student (homework and whatnot). We’ve also heard the debate on whether or not standardized test like the SAT are culturally & racially biased. Furthermore, I know students who weren’t academically brilliant but will no doubt be productive members of our society. I don’t know what we should be measuring but it’s not test scores. That’s unfair to teachers and students.

Secondly, it is time for these teachers to change the way they do things. About 85% of my college friends are going to be (or already are) teachers, and that excites me because they’re all great people (of course I’m slightly biased), but I can’t help think the old wave of teachers are still trying to get by on old standards of success and education. I’m also reminded of a night I spent last year around several teachers who’s alcoholic intake was pretty high. They were all sitting around playing poker and talking about students. Turns out, they’re all latently racist. I sat and listened to these privileged, middle to upper class white teachers recount stories while they made fun of student names like Kamisha. One teacher told a story of the other faculty members calling the black students Canadians. You get that? Canadians. They were using Canadians as code for nigger. Think I’m wrong? That’s cool, leave it in the comments. During the stories I didn’t laugh, I didn’t even smile, I sat there with disgust in my stomach and texted my friend saying, “I’m sitting with a bunch of racist teachers. I swear if you’re not a better teacher than these people I will come kick your ass, wherever you are.” He assured me he’d do the best he could. This is a very specific example, from a specific school and city, so I’m not saying all teachers are like this, but I’m guessing there are lots of jaded teachers out there who have their own prejudices and preconceptions about students.

At any rate, the discussion on Power 92 is whether or not teachers should be held responsible in this manner. I believe it’s a give and take relationship. You can’t hold teachers entirely responsible because there are circumstances and factors outside of their control, but their obviously needs to be some sort of reform. I’m excited about the new era of teachers who will hopefully reshape the education system and bring a little more positivity into it.

p.s. I’d really like to rant about school lunches but this isn’t the post for that. However, i think they are a contributing factor in education performance.

Weigh-in with your comments, critiques, corrections, hate, love, whatever you got.

hardcore is a subculture and it can be whatever you make of it. the concepts i take from hardcore that make me believe in jesus as a hardcore kid are these: compassion, acceptance, tolerance, aggressive action when appropriate, kindness, sharing, love and activism. these are all ‘ideal’ ways i wish to view the hardcore scene. it’s not always this way by any means.

in college my sister got me a subscription to this magazine, hm magazine (hard music magazine). i don’t know if the publication still exists (their site has a problem establishing a database connection?) but that coupled with a few friends really changed my perception of jesus. no longer did jesus have to be this grandpa in the sky. jesus didn’t just stand idly by when action needed to be taken. he didn’t have to always use force, but he was aggressive. jesus was fierce, he was a force to be reckoned with. i don’t mean this in the, “oh shit here comes jesus, you better get out of his way” kind of thing. i mean this in a, “damn, jesus, i don’t know how you stay so posi when these douchebags come in here ruining our scene and beatin up on people. it keeps me in good spirits and i wanna always be like that” kind of way. people respected jesus and you can guarantee that kids like that in a hardcore scene are respected, at least by me.

early on in hardcore i learned about something called straight edge. it was explained to me in a very simple way: no drugs, no drinking, often no premarital sex. you could argue that ian mackaye (minor threat, fugazi) is the guy who coined the term and sort of invented straight edge (inventor and coiner of terms isn’t really important but ian is important in straight edge). in my mind only knowing the ‘rules’ and not the ‘why’ behind straight edge i was like, “oh, so why don’t these guys and gals just be christians?” after some time of knowing about straight edge it occurred to me that it probably had nothing to do with religion but was more of a middle finger to religion, “we can do this and we don’t need a crutch (ie god) to lean on in being good, honest, clean, positive people.” straight edge is a choice and a way of life, it’s not one i choose but i greatly respect people who do. there are of course, like anything else, the bad sects of straight edge and we can call those folks ‘hardline.’ they’re the kids who might get pissed at you for smoking at a show and decide to beat the living crap out of you. understand me now, that’s not the hardcore kid i see in jesus. that’s hate and fear mongering as bad as westboro baptist. let me also say, not all hardline followers are violent, it just seems to be a trend, and often times the violent hardliners are associated with crews like FSU. (to my friends who know more about hardcore than me, if i’m incredibly wrong about this, please correct me)

regardless of your stance on just about anything, hardcore is a platform and a movement to express who you are and to be accepted for that. there’s a lot of kids who disgrace god and any notion of him but there’s also a lot who accept it and write great music about it. ideally these differing viewpoints get along but obviously there are conflicts at time. in my mind jesus is the posi hardcore kid, the one moshing around like my friend luke and holding up peace signs. he’s my friend joe who firmly corrected a kid for kicking me while i was moshing. he’s daniel who dances with such ferocity that you can’t help be excited. he’s vince who’s always compassionate and willing to help. he’s jeff the big tall dufus who let me ride around on his back in the pit. he’s nate who loves to stage dive and wears his x’s proudly. he’s tim who barreled through the crowd at my first hardcore show and joined right in. he’s travis who could spin kick your head off but doesn’t. jesus is my friend, a hardcore kid and so much more.

It’s always next to some stairs or rails that look really fun to skate. I’m not a short boarder but this sign is screaming out, “NO FUN! (cos if you get hurt we’ll get in trouble” Stupid liabilities. Anyway, the only reason I do any sort of skating is my buddy Jeff. Jeff’s from Vancouver, BC and got into longboarding. The only time I legitimately thought I was going to be arrested was with him, and it was for skating.

It was Atlanta, circa 2005, our friends went to see Yellowcard but Jeff and I just went for fun. We skated that whole city it seemed. Then we got to Georgia Tech’s campus…Jeff had a mishap with a wheel but we got it fixed and moved along. We got harassed by a homeless man asking us to go into one of the frat houses and get him a beer.

“Dude, we’re not from here, we don’t know those people either.”

Whatevs, we kept skating, skating, and skating. We’re skating down Frat Row when a campus security car pulls out in front of us. The car proceeds to go about 1mph leaving us with no option but to pass. Jeff passes the car and immediately gets cut off, all diagonal like. I catch up right as the cop gets out of the car and yells at us,

“Put your fuckin boards on the ground and sit on the sidewalk!”

Woah buddy! We’re just skating! Next thing we know our pockets are emptied on the trunk of the car and we’re being patted down. The guy keeps asking us why we’re there and we try to tell him but he doesn’t believe us. (Let’s note here that at our school, Harding, the security guards are not real cops and would never do this, so we were sorely confused.) The cop ask us a couple of times, “Why were you skating in the street?” Jeff repeatedly says, “We didn’t know we couldn’t.” Fed up the cop retorts, “I swear to God if you tell me one more time you didn’t know you couldn’t I’m hauling your asses to jail!” Finally the dumbass gets it, we’re not from here so we don’t know the rules. Then he explains to us that, “on Georgia Tech’s campus you skate on the sidewalk, not the street. If you’re skating on the street and see one of us you know to pick your board up and get on the sidewalk.” Well thanks for that explanation after you harassed us! At any rate, the guy let us go with a few more snide remarks from himself and his partner. All the while kids are walking by us clapping and chanting, it was great. We had a little bit of fame that night as we dared the streets a few more times and did a few slides in front of a big party. Everyone cheered and we pumped our fist.

Secondly, beer. Vino’s probably wins on selection here but I still would rather hit Damgoode for some cheap PBR’s. What about US Pizza, what do we got there? Like 3 beers on tap (possibly an exaggeration): Amber Bock, Shock Top and Miller Lite? I dunno, whatever the choices they suck. Vino’s has the homebrews (which can be really hit or miss depending on the batch) and Damgoode has hella cheap PBR. Your choice.

Thirdly, pizza. Vino’s has great, simple pizza. It’s tasty and works in a crunch time but it’s nothing absolutely special. I feel like I’ve had their pizza before, y’know? US Pizza, wow, what can I say… I’ve had pizza there a couple times and only been happy once. It was a specialty pizza with artichokes or something and it was tasty. Wasn’t a big fan of the crust but whatevs. Again, I’ve tasted this pizza before and I didn’t like it. Damgoode has such a unique taste and flavor with some unique options that feel more genuine and original. Pink sauce i say! Who the hell else in Little Rock has pink sauce? No ONE! (at least that I know of). Who else has stuffy? No ONE! (at least that I know of). Who makes a better pizza in Little Rock with this atmosphere and this price? No ONE!

Lastly, I usually get the same thing at Damgoode Pies. An Underdog, stuffy, pink sauce, minus the sausage or ground beef, whichever it is. Except one time I forgot to say that. I got my food took a couple bites and realized, something is weird here and discovered MY error. I told my waiter, “man, i’m really sorry but I ordered the wrong thing. I forgot to say without the meat and I’m a vegetarian.” Dude was sooo sympathetic and said, “Oh, no problem man, I’ll just tell em I put the order in wrong so you don’t have to pay for 2.” Dude got a fat ass tip, like $10 at least. That’s the kind of service I want. US Pizza servers might as well be the most disinterested people in the world. Vino’s people intimidate me a bit cos they seem a little too cool for me. At any rate my only complaint about Damgoode is that I don’t live close enough for delivery. I’m sure you all have a different opinion and that’s fine because this is mine.

Up next we had the ol Capgun Coup. Not a bad set. I’ve heard their name and they’re on Team Love (which has a free album of theirs to download if you signup for their ‘library’). They’re set was noisy and entertaining. The last song they did was a cover of an old Cursive song that pretty much solidified in my mind the idea of modern indie music being all about self deprecation. Self deprecation isn’t necessarily a bad thing but too much of it just gets annoying. I think also at this point I realized most indie/hipster shows are all about the show, the performance if you will. They’re not really about engaging the audience. Maybe it’s because I don’t feel I’m a part of that group but I just really didn’t feel engaged. The best I can compare it to, something I’m more familiar with, is a hardcore show. At these indie shows I just don’t feel a sense of unity. It’s just standing around thinking about whatever you think about, I guess how ironic everything is (more irony to come).

Cursive took the stage. I couldn’t tell you what song they opened with first but the second song was Butcher the Song from The Ugly Organ. They went on to play a few more, probably from Mama I’m Swolen, but I’m not very familiar with that album yet so I’ll give you my highlights. They did play 4-5 tracks off The Ugly Organ and closed with A Gentlemen Caller which was brilliantly done. Art is Hard made an appearance and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like Cursive has a lot of punk and early emo in their music and wish the crowd had been a little more rowdy. Mostly just head bobbing and whatnot. One of the shining moments came from What Have I Done. Though not familiar with this song the lyrics are incredible and the downtime for Kasher’s confession style waling was beautifully constructed. If there’s such a thing as love at first listen then this was it for me. The other huge moment for me was during Art is Hard and another song I don’t remember. I read a long time ago that The White Stripes had an incredible way of taking a song down to nothing and then bringing it back. A pure mess of chaos into beauty. I’ve seen Bright Eyes do this and Cursive was no let down. They went into what seemed to be the end of a song on Rock Band where you can just go nuts and get all these extra points. Cursive knows how to break the song into pieces, having every musician do their own thing and then bring it back into this cohesive piece. That’s a bright star in my book.

Now for the ironic part. Tim Kasher wrote The Ugly Organ after a divorce. It was if anything, an incredibly emo album. It’s well done and points out the irony of playing music that’s born from pain. It’s just sort of awkward to see a show, know why those songs were written and still see those songs get the most attention from the crowd, but I guess we all identify with pain. It’s a weird cycle that’s part of hipsterdom, at least as I understand it: It’s ironic that things are ironic which makes it more ironic so it’s just super ironic. Ironic huh?

Nonetheless, Cursive didn’t disappoint for their first appearance in Little Rock. I wish the crowd had been a bit more rowdy, maybe a little more participatory. I could envision kids crawling on top of each other to shout the lyrics to a lot of Cursive’s discography. Thanks for coming to see us fellas.

Oh and Tim, seriously, the whole tangent about having a small penis, completely unnecessary and kinda boring. Maybe if I was drunk I would’ve laughed?

Cursive- What Have I Done?

Cursive- A Gentlemen Caller

• So these are 31 albums

  I’ve selected to represent what I believe to be some of the best music from this decade. I’m sure you’ll leave this list thinking, “I can’t believe he didn’t put blah blah blah (insert Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) on his list!” That’s cool, it’s whatever, this is music that meant a lot to me this decade, I don’t expect it to mean the same to everyone else. Also, I don’t always use my words very well to explain why I chose the album but you’ll just have to deal with it. At any rate, hope you enjoy and maybe you’ll find something new.

• Brand New

  The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me

  
  2006

  Brand New has continuously changed from album to album. First album was incredibly pop punk, 2nd album a little more melodic. After that second album we didn’t hear much from them for awhile. Then came the 9 demo tracks around 2004-2005. We were enamored. Great song writing, different sound, we were foaming at the mouth for the next album. Then came ‘The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me.’ I gotta make a disclaimer here and say that part of the reason I fell in love with this album is it’s all I had to listen to for a week over Thanksgiving Break. However, this album is dynamic, beautiful and showcases Jesse’s lyrical talent more than the previous albums. It was a total 180 from ‘Deja Entendu’ but it’s perfect in so many ways.
  Limousine (MS Rebridge)

• Taking Back Sunday

  Tell All Your Friends

  
  2002

  Before this album I had never heard a song constructed this way. Vocals and complementing lyrics layered on top of one another track after track. No one can write a break down like Taking Back Sunday. That epic build up to the climax is so well done by these fellas. This album took some pokes at lead singer of Brand New, Jesse Lacey and for those ‘in the know’ it made the album that much more personable. This album is still the guys best release.Great Romances of the 20th Century

• Bane

  The Note

  
  2005

  I had never heard of Bane prior to this album (though they’ve been a mainstay in hardcore for several years now, maybe like 9?). Maybe a few friends mentioned their name but nothing stuck. I had heard that a lot of people didn’t like them because of Aaron’s , the singer, monotone style of scream. I decided I’d give it a try and I was hooked. I think it had been awhile since these boys had put something out and they came out guns blazing with this album. One of the most epic moments I’ve had at a show was in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church with Bane, This is Hell and Outbreak. It was the last song (also the last song on this track), we all knew it was coming, Swan Song. At the end the lyrics repeat, “when Armageddon’s been locked and loaded, I will come back for you!” and let me tell you, seeing 20+ kids piled atop Aaron (who at this point is lying on the floor trying not to be crushed and thrusting the mic into our faces) will be in my memory forever. That moment, that lyric, this album, golden.
  Swan Song

• Sufjan Stevens

  Come on Feel the Illinoise

  
  2005

  Most Christians making music or Christian music in general is terrible. It’s kitschy and just holds no weight. Sufjan came along and showed us that Christians can still make good, unique music. This album tops my list mainly because it was ambitious and beautiful. The idea at the time was to do an album for all 50 states but we’ve now been told that’s off and that Sufjan may not want to make music anymore, so treasure what ya got.
  Casimir Pulaski Day

• Thursday

  Full Collapse

  
  2001

  I bought this album on a total whim. I was sitting at home in high school, staying up past my curfew and watching tv. All of a sudden this Victory Records commercial came on promoting this album. I was all, “Oh, that was neat, I’ll buy that.” So next time I was in the store I found it and bought it. I had no idea or understanding of hardcore, pop punk, punk, post-hardcore, emo or any of it. I just thought this album was awesome and I fell in love. Almost 10 years later I’m still in love. The album’s fantastic and probably the one that people think of when they think of Thursday.
  Paris In Flames

• Bright Eyes

  Lifted or the Story is in The Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

  
  2002

  I haven’t really seen any Bright Eyes albums on anyone’s lists. I don’t really know why. This album is incredible, possibly their breakout album (although I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning is a little more listenable). Lifted just may be the pinnacle of good Bright Eyes. It’s emotional, it’s creepy, somewhat hard to listen to, beautiful and astounding. I don’t really know what sort of influence this had on the indie music scene. I don’t really hear anyone modeling their sound after it. I feel that to some extent people have forgotten about Bright Eyes. Let’s not forget about Lifted, k?
  You Will. You Will?

• mewithoutYou

  Brother, Sister

  
  2006

  It was only 2 years before that we heard Catch For Us The Foxes. It was a bit of a different turn for mewithoutYou but still held on to some of the more aggressive tones from [A-B] Life. However, Brother, Sister brings us the new mewithoutYou. A bit softer in their approach, still as meaningful. Aaron’s a great recycler of lyrics and tunes and we see that a bit on Brother, Sister. This album just holds a lot of dynamism and beautifully constructed pieces. Some people complain about the colored spider interludes but I think they bring a lighthearted feel to the album that aids its overall balance. Also, this album’s title is largely influenced by St. Francis of Assisi who I’m kinda obsessed with.
  In A Sweater Poorly Knit

• WHY?

  Alopecia

  
  2008

  I don’t know of anyone making music like this as well as these boys do. It’s beautiful, artful, lyrically stunning, witty, so many good things about this album. In some review I heard WHY?’s music described as ‘art rap.’ I’d never thought of it before but that’s a great way to classify it.
  The Hollows

• Talib Kweli

  Eardrum

  
  2007

  Sadly the first time I had heard of Talib Kweli was on Dave Chappelle’s show with Kanye West. I thought I would like him but didn’t know and went out seeking some of his stuff based on a whim. I picked up this album and it was love at first listen. Talib is one of the best lyricists around. He writes meaningful content and expresses the need for a change in the way we live. Just about every song on this album could be a single. That’s pretty difficult to do. This album introduced me to the talents of Jean Grae who takes a spot for album of the decade as well.
  More Or Less

• Mos Def

  The Ecstatic

  
  2009

  Mos Def’s True Magic had a lot of rumors flying around it and didn’t receive much accolade. He had some other successful releases but I feel like most people really forgot about Mos Def as a rapper. Until 2009 when The Ecstatic came out. This album is incredible. It’s not one I can listen to at passing because it has such lyrical value. I haven’t even digested the entire thing yet and it’s been out for more than a few months. I think he’s even getting a Grammy nod for this album. Alls I know is, Mos Def’s still got it and this album, if nothing else, proves that. The production on this album is spot on and Mos Def’s flow is impeccable. Another element that’s impressed me on this album is the lack of choruses and just how short each track seems to be. It’s unique and works perfectly with Mos Def’s style.
  Priority

• Thrice

  The Alchemy Index

  
  2007-2008

  There were 4 albums that made up the Alchemy Index but I’m lumping them into one. They’re a collective that explore 4 different style of music. There’s an electronic style, hardcore style, acoustic style and I guess you could say a rock style. Dustin Kensrue impressed me (and this is something I keep in mind when making mixtapes) with his thoughts on how a release like this should be constructed. I read about these in HM Magazine and Dustin basically says he enjoys a 4-6 song album that is able to cover a specific area of thought, music, idea, etc. WIth The Alchemy Index Thrice has been able to do this incredibly well and I think have comprised a group of albums that will stand up for a long time.
  Open Water

• Lil Wayne

  Tha Carter III

  
  2008

  I always knew who Lil Wayne was but kind of forgot about him for awhile. I knew he made tunes I dug but again, just kinda forgot about him. I decided to pick up The Carter III when it came out and was blown away. This dude is nuts. It was like experimental rap. Talking about how he’s an alien and junk? Nuts-o genius. This album crossed all spectrums. White people liked it, black people liked it, kids liked it, adults liked it, clubs liked it, everyone liked it. It was such a universal album. No one can rap like Lil Wayne. The guy doesn’t write his lyrics down, (wtf?). He has a ridiculous amount of music he’s done as far as mixtapes and full releases. I can’t deny the impact this album made on rap music. Especially Lollipop. After that track came out everyone was trying to imitate that style of beat. It was ridiculous and no one had pulled it off as well as Weezy did.
  Mr. Carter (Featuring Jay-Z) (

• Have Heart

  Songs To Scream at the Sun

  
  2008

  My friends had told me about Have Heart for awhile. I’m not sure what made me listen to them but one day I did and I was changed. Have Heart is a straight edge band from Boston who broke up in 2009. Fortunately I was able to see them on their last tour and I note this album as the highlight in their career because of how much it differs from their previous albums. This album really defines what modern hardcore has become/is becoming. It’s lyrically driven and at the shows there’s no shortage of kids piling on top of each other to scream out the lyrics. The second track on the album , Bostons, sucked me in for good with the lyrics, “So I could be the boy you couldn’t be, have the father you didn’t get to see, have the youth you did not get to live, or feel the love this world forgot to give…” Don’t get me wrong, this ain’t no pansy album, it’s still hardcore.
  Bostons

• M Ward

  Post War

  
  2006

  M Ward has a nice collection of albums that I feel like are relatively unknown. He’s been around for awhile but I don’t know how much recognition he has or hasn’t received. This was the first album of his I heard and probably my favorite. M Ward’s got a talent of writing simple music and making it beautiful. His song crafting skill really shines through on this album. I don’t think there’s anything incredibly complicated about what he’s playing but he does it so easily it’s beautiful. I view Ward as the more technically talented Conor Oberst. When I think of what I want Jack Johnson or John Mayer to be, it’s M Ward and they just can’t do it.
  Magic Trick

• Crime in Stereo

  Is Dead

  
  2007

  I’m not sure how you would describe Crime in Stereo’s music. It’s pop, punk, hardcore and melodic so whatever that makes them. At any rate, when this album came out it was quite a shock. Compare this album to The Troubled Stateside which came out just a year before and you’ll see a big shift in musical style. It’s great though. It’s along the lines of the Brand New shift we experienced from Deja Entendu to The Devil and God. It was shocking but instant love. The opening track has this incredible drum intro and overall the album is well put together. It’s appropriately titled, Is Dead, which is synonymously confusing and genius. What we know of Crime in Stereo before this is dead because this album shakes it all up and keeps us on our toes.
  XXXX (The First 1000 Years Of Solitude)

• The Chariot

  Wars and Rumors of Wars

  
  2009

  The Chariot started after Josh Scogin left Norma Jean, well it may have been a side project, I don’t know, that’s not really important. The important thing is the music and performance they put on. Wars and Rumors of Wars will keep you hooked. It’s got odd rhythms, dynamism and is artfully done. It’s heavy, dirty, odd, and amazing. The show that these guys put on is no let down either. Potentially one of the best shows I’ve seen in my life. All of the guys had weird face paint, songs ran into each other, bass player is nutso (i’m surprised the guy doesn’t knock himself out with the bass at every single show). Everything you’ve ever wanted to see in a show happens at a Chariot show. At the end everything went nuts, people from all the other bands walked out on stage, drums were unhooked, guitars, bass, mic’s, everything unhooked and it’s like this weird non-acoustic unplugged acoustic show that will absolutely mesmerize you. I suggest picking up this album and going to see these guys live. You won’t regret it.
  Daggers

• Death Cab for Cutie

  Transatlanticism

  
  2003

  I suppose that Plans got a little more commercial success than Transatlanticism but there’s no doubt in my mind that this album trumps Plans any day of the decade. This album is airy, beautiful and represents the perfect mesh between Death Cab’s lower-fi indie sound (You Can Play These Songs With Chords) and the more pop, polished sound of Plans. I feel like a lot of people forgot about this album but it’s wedged perfectly into the decade.
  The Sound of Settling

• Jay-Z

  The Black Album

  
  2003

  I’m sorry but nothing, not even Blueprint 3, has trumped The Black Album. It’s such a universal album. There’s so many hit songs and again with this record it seems like every single track could have been turned into a hit single. It also gained some more recognition when Danger Mouse mashed it up with The Beatles White Album to give us the Grey Album. Surely this isn’t a coincidence of taking 2 incredible albums and putting them together? Get that dirt off ya shoulders son.
  Lucifer

• Kanye West

  808’s & Heartbreak

  
  2008

  You’ll say I’m wrong, you’ll fight it, but you know I’m right. This album was what Kanye needed to do at the time. Who cares if he wasn’t rapping? Who cares if he was auto-tuning? The dude can’t sing, and here’s my deal with auto-tune: if you’re gonna auto-tune, auto-tune the hell out of it and make it awesome. Don’t just aut-tune the dude in the background. Also, read this Puritan Blister post from Pitchfork and you’ll understand another reason I love this album. I’d say this is a groundbreaking album from a hip-hop artist, it’s such a change and just took over my soul for a good month. I think the first night I streamed it on myspace I had chills.
  Street Lights

• New Found Glory

  Tip of the Iceberg

  
  2008

  I had utterly forgotten about New Found Glory. I thought they didn’t exist anymore or were making stupid pop-punk that teenagers on the radio liked. Then I heard this EP and was like, “Woah! These boys are back!” Admittedly when I was younger I didn’t know much about hardcore or that NFG had so many ties to it. This album proved it to me. It was almost to say, “We’ve had our commercial success. Now let’s get back to playing the pop-punk we love with the hardcore influence we have.” Tip of the Iceberg was released on Bridge 9 Records out of Boston and to me symbolizes the rebirth of NFG.
  Dig My Own Grave

• David Bazan

  Fewer Moving Parts

  
  2006

  Ex Pedro the Lion singer came out with his biting Christian cynicism and curse words. I’m not sure anyone had done this before. This record might be the musical equivalent of Donald Miller’s book Blue LIke Jazz. It’s not that anyone felt these thoughts were all that new, it just hadn’t really been put out there in such a way as this. Favorite track off this album? Backwoods Nation.
  Backwoods Nation

• Girl Talk

  Feed The Animals

  
  2008

  I didn’t really get into the Girl Talk album before this one. I had heard of the guy and what he was doing but just hadn’t really been impressed. However, this album took me by storm. It’s not that he wrote the songs, he was just able to put them together in such a perfect, fun way that made him a huge success. He’s battled the RIAA and other copyright issues. He wasn’t the first to mashup songs but he’s definitely the most popular. I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t like this album, except for a few bitter people.
  Here’s The Thing

• The Avett Brothers

  Four Thieves Gone- The Robbinsville Sessions

  
  2006

  Rowdy folk, bluegrass, country, mountain music at its best. The story I heard concerning this album is that they locked themselves in a cabin in Robbinsville, North Carolina (presumably?) and wrote this album. It’s wonderful. It goes up, down and all around. There’s screaming, lullabies, truth, sadness, love, pain, anger, memories, everything. I’m not sure what happened to these guys. I really feel like their latest album is just a huge disappointment, it’s like they wrote 5 good songs that could’ve been turned into another Gleam EP but instead wrote 5 or 6 more subpar songs and put out an album. Four Thieves Gone- The Robbinsville Sessions is The Avett Brothers at their finest.
  The Lowering (A Sad Day in Greenvilletown)

• This is Hell

  Sundowning

  
  2006

  I found out Bane, This is Hell, Outbreak and Modern Life is War were playing a show in Philly at the Unitarian Church in the summer of 2006. At this point I had fallen in love with Bane and knew of the other bands so I decided to study up. Little did I know how much This is Hell would impress me. I listened to this record all that summer. The breakdowns were incredible, it wasn’t the typical chugga chugg of metalcore, these dudes had that heavy sound but were more of a modern hardcore band. There’s so much heart and energy in this album, Sundowning should be on every hardcore kid’s decade list. It’s also a pretty perfect summer album.
  The Polygraph Cheaters

• As I Lay Dying

  Frail Words Collapse

  
  2003

  This was the first big release from these boys. They had an album before this with slightly less quality recordings of a few tracks featured on Frail Words Collapse. 94 Hours is the one track everyone will know off this album. I think if anything this album proves that Christian metal can be just as brutal as anything else. The lead singer of As I Lay Dying is a freaking giant and I would not want to mess with him. This is one of the few more metal-skewed albums I can really get into. I suggest you check it out and enjoy the incredible riffs, they’ll hook you.
  94 Hours

• Stars

  Do You Trust Your Friends?

  
  2007

  This is a remix of the album Set Yourself on Fire, a beautifully constructed album in itself. I count this as a best of the decade because of the premise behind it. They handed this album off to several of their friends and said, “Remix it.” That’s some true trust and I think they came out with a magical product. My favorite of the remixes being the Junior Boys remix of Sleep Tonight. Other remixers include: Final Fantasy, Montag, The Most Serene Republic, Jason Collet, Minotaur Shock, The Dears, Apostle of Hustle, The Russian Futurists, Metric, Camouflage Nights, The Stills and Young Galaxy.
  Sleep Tonight (Junior Boys)

• Against Me!

  Reinventing Axl Rose

  
  2001

  The rebirth of folk-punk? Probably not but it’s a pretty good effort. This album is raw, lyrically driven and high energy. Bright Eyes’ Lifted album came out the year after this and a lot of people forget the folk punk aspects of early Bright Eyes work but if you listen to this album and Lifted I think you’ll see some similarities, at least in the rawness of it. Tackling concepts of politics and religion just like any rowdy anarchists punk band, this album is one of my all time favorites.
  We Laugh At Danger (And Break All The Rules)

• Norma Jean

  Bless The Martyr and Kiss The Child

  
  2002

  Norma Jean played the first hardcore(ish) show I ever went to. It was The Agony Scene, Beloved and Norma Jean. I wasn’t thrilled with The Agony Scene (in fact they scared the bejesus out of me!) but Beloved and Norma Jean I was down with. Looking back on it I don’t think you can mention Norma Jean and not think of this album. Musically it’s fairly minimal, nothing impressive, but just a well done, heavy, break-down filled album with incredible vocals from Josh Scogin. Highlight of the album? Memphis Will be Laid to Waste featuring Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou.
  Memphis WIll be Laid to Waste (ft. Aaron Weiss)

• Modern Life is War

  Witness

  
  2005

  The best thing to come out of Iowa? Probably so. This album is fast, melodic and a perfect sing along album. I would consider a part of and possibly beginner of the lyrically driven modern hardcore we’re seeing more of now. This album makes you want to crawl on top of people and scream your lungs out. The opener, The Outsiders (AKA Hell is for Heroes Part 1) will entrap you with the lyrics, “So what the fuck, are you going to do kid? Still rattling the chains of the gates of the world, but you can’t quite pretend…” These guys put on an incredible show and have written an incredible album with Witness, it’s sad to know they’re not together anymore.
  The Outsiders (AKA Hell Is for Heroes Part I)

• Jean Grae

  Jeanius

  
  2008

  I heard Jean Grae first in a Talib Kweli song. I was blown away by her incredible verse and started doing some reading up on her. Found out this album was on it’s way to the shelves and knew I had to pick it up. This girl’s flow and lyrics are incredible. It’s some of the most real content I’ve heard in hip-hop. She hides behind nothing and bears it all for you to digest. The song My Story almost brings me to tears every time I hear it. Jeanius also features her unique sense of humor that is undeniable. I think this chick would be cool as hell to hang with. The best female rapper ever? She’s damn close. (I only say damn close cos I’m not well versed in female rappers, to me she is number 1)
  American Pimp (ft_Median)

• Further Seems Forever

  How to Start a FIre

  
  2003

  Last but not least I submit to you How to Start a Fire. The previous FSF album, The Moon is Down, featured singer Chris Carabba of Dashboard Confessional fame. While I think The Moon is Down is an absolutely incredible album, How to Start a Fire is just a good straight up rock n roll album. I guess it leans on the side of emo but it’s so much more. It’s beautiful, dynamic and emotional. There’s not a boring part to this album and I find myself listening to it under a number of occasions and seasons. Jason Gleason was the singer for this album and in my opinion, the best vocalist Further Seems Forever has seen.
  On Legendary

The first season is incredible.

It rolls beautifully from the hand held prototype that got the show its spot in the first place. The humor’s on point, everything feels organic. It just works. Maybe some shows should stop after that. You know, after you don’t have the idea anymore, let it go. Do something else, like the BBC Office. Now I can’t say this with complete confidence because I haven’t finished the 2nd season or even begun the 3rd season but halfway through this second season I’m losing faith. In every scene where the gang is drinking somewhere besides Paddy’s they’re holding a Coors or Coors Light. Every shot inside of Paddy’s displays some sort of Coors paraphernalia. I’ve even noticed several of the episodes in a row either being completely about taking down ‘the man’ or at least some lines that take shots at ‘the man.’ Is this going to be like Arrested Development? I mean the last time I saw this kind of blatant irony was with Arrested Development. They knew the show was tanking and wasn’t going any further so they started being conspicuously ironic during the last season. Just go back and watch it, you’ll see.

The other thing I noticed in the first season is that the bar seems to be a little dirtier. It has a more homely feel. I understand Frank comes in and makes em clean up but the second season sees the bar with a little less natural character. Things seem more plotted and less organic. In the first season I saw Thrice stickers in several different shots. Thrice is a post-hardcore/hardcore/experimental band from California. Obviously someone on the show likes them and that’s why the stickers were there. Season 2, those stickers are gone. I did see Mac wearing a Bleeding Through shirt which I took as him saying in a way, “screw off Coors!” Does Coors know who Bleeding Through is? Probably not. Does it matter? Probably not. I just hope I’m not witnessing the demise of a great show.

Maybe I’m making all of this up and it’s a fabrication of how I feel about ‘the man’ and big time corporations.

At any rate, I’m hoping the second half of season 2 picks up or that season 3 is incredible.

I’m out on my balcony enjoying some sweet tea and just looking around. All of a sudden I hear a lady yell up to me,
“Hey! You remember me?”
“No?”
“I’m looking for a turkey with two legs. You a turkey with two legs? haha!”
“Oh hey, yeah I remember you!”
“Yeah I been gone for a little while. They locked me up for disorderly.”
“Oh yeah? What’d they say you did?”
“Well you know, I don’t disrespect no cops or anything, they don’t bother me, I don’t bother them. But this one lady started giving me problems callin me a whore and stuff so I told her she just needed some dick!”
“Haha, well I guess that’d do it.”

///end funny part
///begin slightly sad part that made me wish I could’ve done more

“Yeah. You goin home for thanksgiving?”
“Nah, I’m staying here.”
“Oh, well okay, well I’ll be just up here at the salvation army, cos i’m homeless y’know?”
“Alright, well, I’ll see you around. Keep warm.”