Jon Brion.

I was just in a well-spirited argument with Abe about all this horseshit thats been passed off as music these days, I found it unfair that crap like MGMT and The Pains of Being a Ridiculously Long & Overzealous Name, gets praised til' kingdom come, true musicians and visionaries get the shaft. Case in point: Jon Brion.
Im tired of talking about how much I want to see Charlie Kaufman's opus Synecdoche New York, each time I mention that Jon Brion did the soundtrack, all i get are blank faces. "the guy that did the Punch-Drunk love soundtrack! I Heart Huckabees! Magnolia too!" Nothing. Then I have to get into this whole thing about how he produced Elliott Smith's Figure 8, Aimee Mann, The Wallflowers, Kanye West(UGH!), Eels; and that Fiona Apple album that never came out(seeing as Brion made it "unmarketable").
In 2000 Brion finally got selfish and cut a record of his own. Some would say that his past collaborations are heavy influences but he comes into his own. Extremely catchy, beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Elliott Smith fans should feel right at home. One of my favorite pop records, gems throughout, it is out of print and underappreciated to say the least. Do yourself a favor, put that "The Fray" album in the microwave set it to 30 seconds, enjoy the fireworks(probably 1000x more entertaining than the album itself) come back here, and download Meaningless.


I don't easily forgive like I used to
And I seldom get carried away
No, you don't have the pull that you used to
But you can still ruin my day
Oh, you can still ruin my day


PT Anderson is a semi-deity


I cannot fucking wait.


"The Grays were a short-lived supergroup comprising singer/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Jon Brion, Jason Falkner, Buddy Judge, and Dan McCarroll.
They only released one album, the out-of-print but highly regarded Ro Sham Bo (1994) on Sony/Epic Records"

The Embarrassment - Heyday (1979 - 1983)

Call me trite, but whenever i see the words "the best band you never heard of" I am instantly sold.


Reasons for this band being note-worthy:
1.They borrow the name from the novel Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut (one of my all-time favorite authors).
2. They shared the stage with none other than Iggy Pop, William S. Burroughs & John Cale.
3. They were one of the original bands in the now seminal record label Sub-Pop.
4. They're rocking the thick rimmed glasses way before it became the norm.
5.They draw influences from all the right places, amongst them: The Feelies, Mission of Burma & Gang of Four.

BAM! SOLD!
This whammy of a double record spans their 4 year career.

still not scurrying to find the download link?

"It's hard to say the Embarrassment were ahead of their time: they were OF their time, as soundly and fundamentally as a band can be."

one & two.

The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms

One of the most underrated "college-rock" (a silly, inconclusive genre, i know) bands of the early 80's, some even go as far as to call 'em post-punk. I dunno about that, they've got a great sound, all their own. This is their debut album, one hell of a record, great songs throughout, including two covers: a spastic rendition of the beatles' "Everybody's got something to hide" and another cover i never get tired of hearing, the Stones' "Paint it Black". You'll be sure to enjoy the instant classic "Fa Cé-La" including "tuki tuki" percussion and whyning guitar solo's. Crazy Rhythms was rated #49 in Rolling Stone's top 100 albums of the 1980s, fully deserved. Anyone else notice a certain similarity with a certain weezer cover? Or is it just me?

FA-FA-FA-FA-FA-CE-LA!