I love the softer side of The Stones… even though it’s not really that soft. Well, they are named after rocks. Here are The Rolling Stones with “Ruby Tuesday” live.

Audio Addiction: Sufjan Stevens

A lot of times when I write about music, I look to alert readers about upcoming or undercover acts that deserve some recognition. Sufjan is nowhere near unknown, but he’s still relatively unfamous, which is enough to prompt me to write.

He’s a great songwriter and he’s very subtle in his stylings. His music is very strong, yet his brand remains untapped. He’s relatively popular to people who know good music, yet he’s still just playing tiny concert halls for devoted fans, most likely just because he wants to, which is great! I’m a big fan of Conor Oberst and all of his projects, but I think the Bright Eyes frontman has reached a level of critical acclaim and public notoriety that leaves him in a weird limbo within the music world, in that he’s still brilliant but bordering on mainstream indie. I think Sufjan could be a decent alternative, in his own right. 

This is another one of my all-time favorite songs. It’s Blink-182 with Mutt, live in Sydney. It’s one of those songs, for me, that just has so many memories behind it.

Audio Addiction: The Pink Spiders

I’ve been into The Pink Spiders for a few years now. I actually accidentally bought their demo CD Hot Pink and then, a few months ago, realized they had rerecorded most of their material on a more polished and produced album, Teenage Graffiti.

You may know them for their semi-popular hit “Little Razorblade” which is pretty good, and made it’s mainstream debut on The Hills and subsequently in Hollister stores and finally in Hell. Sorry guys, mainstream is not meant for you. You were meant to be underground. Since their minor MTV audience hit, the band has gone on an “extended hiatus.”

Blame Hollister!

The Pink Spiders aren’t about awesome vocals. The lead singer is definitely capable, but they’re more about hitting semi-hard, really really quickly. The songs on Hot Pink flash by, sometimes even clocking in under two minutes, but the lyrics are catchy and some of the lines they throw out are super clever.

Above is a video of my favorite song of their song, “Modern Swinger.” I am very happy to have come across the original demo version because it’s somewhat better, in my opinion, than the new one.

Audio Addiction: Shwayze

Shwayze’s music glides by on catchy hooks and clever lines. I’m honestly surprised he’s not more popular than he is at this point. You don’t have to love hip hop to love Shwayze. He’s pop enough to be readily digestible by mainstream radio, but cool enough to like. He also had his own reality show on MTV, appropriately titled Buzzin’.

I think he suffered from a lack of critical approval surrounding his debut. His sophomore effort, however, is a hell of a lot better than his first attempt. The tracks seem a lot more polished and a little more complex, not so heavily reliant on just an infections hook. Honestly, I’ve listened to “Corona and Lime,’ his second single, a couple of hundred times at this point (driving around down the shore over the course of two summers), and I still can’t remember anything aside from the chorus.

Wait, I just put it on, and all of a sudden I know the words. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing for Shwayze.

Anyway, what’s more important is that Let it Beat, the sophomore album, has a lot more complexity. Start off with a track like “Maneater” and then graduate to the likes of “Livin’ it Up ft. Snoop Dogg” and “Dirty Little Girl.” In reality, if you like one track then you’ll probably like all of them. If you don’t like one track, then you’re boring.

Check out the lead single from Let it Beat called “Get U Home” above.

One of my favorite songs… Vampire Weekend’s “Bryn.”

I’ve written about it previously. Give it a listen. Everyone deserves to have a Bryn in their life.