Guided By Voices / Times New Viking – Live @ Riveria Theatre

While usually I plan for concerts months in advance, this Guided By Voices reunion tour show at The Riviera in Chicago sprang up on me from out of blue. I had heard of the tour and read the rave reviews from their performance at Matador 21, but didn’t plan on attending until the night before when I randomly checked the Riviera’s website and saw that more tickets had just become available for the sold-out show. I don’t claim to be the hugest GBV fan, out of their 15 studio albums I own three plus their greatest hits compilation, but I followed my gut reaction thinking “when am I going to ever get the chance to see Guided By Voices again” and hit Buy. I can definitely say that I made the right decision, the band put on one of the best rock shows I’ve seen all year.

Opening for the Guided By Voices was another Ohioan lo-fi band, Times New Viking. As I walked into the theater I overhead someone tell a friend “this band sounds like shit” and from hearing the distorted noisy mess that was coming off the stage I couldn’t help but agree. The band did grow on me slightly as their show went on, there were a couple of moments where they sounded like a less-catchy Japandroids, but I can’t say I’ll be revisiting their music any time soon. All was well though once Bob Pollard and co. took the stage, which was adorned with the iconic “This Club Is Open” neon sign and multiple coolers of beer. They immediately started plowing through their catalog of 2-3 minute lo-fi rock songs that are never short on hooks. Fortunately for me, the majority of songs that were played were from Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, the two albums I’m most familiar with (and lots of the rest I had heard on their Best Of album). In the first 15 minutes or so, they had already played “Exit Flagger”, “Cut-Out Witch”, “Gold Star for Robot Boy” and “Tractor Rape Chain” and it only got better from there.

I would have never guessed that these were guys that hadn’t played together in years by watching their performance. Pollard strutted around the stage, swinging the mic, chugging beer, and smoking cigarettes (sometimes all at once) and the rest of the band was just as energetic. It was rare to find a moment when someone wasn’t kicking the air or pulling off a classic rock pose.  Pollard ate up the attention and entertained the crowd with some rather amusing anecdotes like one about recording “Hot Freaks” while guitarist Tobin Sprout was having a yard sale outside. In addition to being one of the most humorous moments of the night, the story was a stark reminder of the progression that these songs have taken, from being written during drunken garage sessions and recorded on amateur equipment to becoming cult classics and now indie rock anthems, being played in front of thousands with the lyrics being shouted out in unison by adoring fans.

I was glad to hear that the tracks preserved their lo-fi qualities live while also having a slightly harder rock edge. The simple yet ridiculously infectious guitar riffs and powerful drumming came off splendidly, while Pollard’s tuneful vocals haven’t seemed to change a bit in 15 years. Personal favorites like “My Valuable Hunting Knife”, “Echos Myron”, “The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory”, “Motor Away”, “Game of Pricks”, and first set closer “I Am A Scientist” were all played to perfection. The band came back for three encores which included mostly rarities like “Ballad of Johnny Appleseed” and “Matter-Eater Lad” with a few crowd pleasers like “‘Smothered in Hugs” and the exceptionally pretty Under the Bush, Under The Stars ballad “Don’t Stop Now”. After Bob quipped that they had “drinked themselves into oblivion” and thanked the crowd for sticking around, the band closed with their ode-to-partying theme song “A Salty Salute” which had Times New Viking joining the band on stage for the “The club is open” sing-a-long, a perfect cap to a boisterously fun evening.

MP3 Echos Myron
MP3 Don’t Stop Now

Follow the jump for more Guided By Voices / Times New Viking pictures. Click here to see the full set.

Clive Tanaka y su orquesta

The recent resurgence of cassette culture has been slightly baffling to me. One the one hand, it appears to be a relatively inexpensive way to release music. Cassettes are more appealing as an artifact than CDRs, but less costly than making proper CDs, and certainly less expensive than pressing records. On the other hand, cassettes? Really? I think the last cassette I bought was Yanni’s Live at the Acropolis. At least it was, until Jet Set Siempre 1° came along.

Here’s what I know about Clive Tanaka: almost nothing. Judging by his URL, I’m guess he’s Japanese. But who knows? Apparently Jet Set Siempre 1° is a collaboration between Tanaka and su orquesta, but with only a tracklist accompanying the blue-green cassette, it’s impossible to tell where one’s contributions end and the other’s begin. But that distinction quickly becomes a moot point. I heard one song and didn’t care who made it, when, or why. Even the fact that the album is currently only available on cassette didn’t deter me. I needed to hear more. So I ordered a copy, went down to the basement, and dusted off the Walkman.

The eight songs here are split evenly between the two aptly titled sides: “For Dance” and “For Romance”. It’s not hard to imagine listening to side A while on your way out for the night, saving the B side for the drive home in the hours of the early morning. It’s the kind of music that works no matter your mood; it will lift you up to a new level of bliss if your spirit is high, or it can soothe your melancholy heart when things are looking down.

“All Night, All Right” kicks off side A, and is an unstoppable jam; by the end of it you have no choice but to surrender to the rollicking bass line and chopped, vocodered vocals. “Neu Chicago” slows things down to a more chill pace, laying Tanaka’s voice bare as he pines for an unrequited love. And even though Tanaka is usually shrouded behind a thick layer of processing, “Neu Chicago” being the exception, the songs on Jet Set Siempre 1° still convey the kind of longing that makes for great pop music.

“International Heartbreaker” perfectly encapsulates the more relaxed side B. The only thing missing from its jazzy drums and laid-back horns is a hot tub and some champagne. (And maybe a mustache.) “Lonely for the High Skyscrapers” wraps everything up, a warm paean to lonely souls that sounds totally comfortable even without the sympathetic platitudes. By the time it’s finished, you really have no choice but to hit rewind (literally!) and start again from the beginning.

You can cop Jet Set Siempre 1° on cassette from Clive Tanaka’s website or from Burger Records. Tall Corn is releasing the album on vinyl in November.

MP3 Clive Tanaka y su orquesta – All Night, All Right
MP3 Clive Tanaka y su orquesta – International Heartbreaker

We Are Trees

The days of spending hours in record shops seem to be up on the shelves. Oh, how we’d drift like modern day explorers, wandering through aisles of alphabetized chaos. There was and still is something exciting about never knowing whether or not something is worth purchasing–or should I say being extremely hopeful where it really doesn’t seem to matter… and now, we sit, greedily, in the comforts of coffee shops, arrested by the arms of our chairs as we tirelessly indulge on a wireless connection. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent clicking away on every Twitter, Tumblr, and Social Network alike. The rate at which information is received could easily be considered instantaneous, yet it still functions on the basis of being passed on from one person to another… and has narrowed itself so far down that I am now blessed with the luxury of being contacted by artists themselves, asking to be featured, asking to be heard.

This one-degree of separation indirectly begged the question of what really separated us and the more I looked into it, the less I found… which is the real essence of what James Nee has done here with We Are Trees (whom I can’t thank enough for reaching out). He has produced a sound so honest you can’t help but want to be closer and in that very moment you’ll realize just how close you are. This four-piece band from Virginia Beach sits tangled with triumph and defeat, yet are so in tune with their emotions it is almost weightless. James pushes through the wood work with the vocal charm of Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear), calmly taming a tempered echo of drums while simultaneously reverberating the heavy-eyed strings of a violin. The harmonies found throughout his debut EP Boyfriend are akin to that of the Fleet Foxes, with the lyrical content being a little more youthful and perhaps embodying a more comparative case of human emotions… something I know we are all too eager to relate with.

Pre-order a 12″ Vinyl off Collective Crowd Records.

MP3 We Are Trees – Sunrise Sunset
MP3 We Are Trees – Daniel Chan Marshall

Boom! Boom boom, cha! (v3.0)

The Phil Spector-penned / Ronettes-performed “Be My Baby” intro is probably the most iconic drum beat in pop music history and we here at Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good can’t get enough of that classic “Boom! Boom boom, cha!”. This spring I posted two mixes with about 40 songs worth of “Be My Baby” drum beats and since then I’ve been hearing it everywhere (twee-poppers and lo-fi bands like Waaves and Best Coast seem to have a particular affinity for the beat).

For version 3.0 of this mix, I’ve compiled 20 more songs with “Be My Baby”-inspired drum beats. Some of the tracks here use different variations of the beat like the MGMT, Handsome Furs, and Lucksmiths contributions which feature the “boom, boom boom, cha!” in the middle of the song instead of the intro. I have to thank commenters on the last mix for contributing some of the songs that made it here. Again, if there’s any more “Be My Baby” drum beats out there, let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

Download “Boom! Boom boom, cha! (v3.0)” (98MB)

MP3 The Ronettes – Be My Baby
MP3 Wild Nothing – My Angel Lonely
MP3 Best Coast – I Want To
MP3 Miracle Fortress – Maybe Lately
MP3 Handsome Furs – All we Want, Baby, is Everything
MP3 Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – Rag Doll
MP3 MGMT – It’s Working
MP3 The Raveonettes – Little Animal
MP3 Gigi – No, My Heart Will Go On (Chorus)
MP3 My Morning Jacket – The Bear
MP3 El Perro del Mar – Oh What a Christmas!
MP3 Devendra Banhart – 16th & Valencia Roxy Music
MP3 Light Pollution – Drunk Kids
MP3 Sambassadeur – Sense of sound
MP3 The Lodger – Falling Down
MP3 Roky Erickson – I Walked With a Zombie
MP3 Thrushes – Heartbeats
MP3 Lucky Soul – Give Me Love
MP3 Wavves – When Will You Come?
MP3 The Lucksmiths – Great Lengths

***

If you can’t get enough “Be My Baby” drum beats, these first two mixes are still up!

Download Part 1 of this mix “Boom! Boom boom, cha!”.
Download Part 2 of this mix “Boom! Boom boom, cha! Redux”

The National / Owen Pallett – Live @ The Pageant

This has really been a breakthrough year for The National. After years of quietly putting out great records, they are now sitting comfortably in that elite class of top tier indie rock bands with High Violet hitting #3 on the album charts and the band selling out large-sized theatres (including legendary venues like Radio City Music Hall) across the U.S. I’ve seen the band play three festival sets, and have loved each of them but those didn’t compare to seeing the band at The Pageant, a beautiful theater in the Delmar Loop part of St. Louis. The band’s frenetic chamber rock is meant to be heard in this type of environment and they absolutely nailed their performance.

Opening up for The National was violinist extraordinaire Owen Pallett, who released an incredible album called Heartland early this year and has been touring non-stop ever since including shows with Arcade Fire and Dirty Projectors. I must say that his presence was a big factor in my attendance to this show and he didn’t disappoint me with his performance. Except for Andrew Bird, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a more impressive display of looping then with what Mr. Pallett presented during his short set.

Also like Bird, he switches from plucking the violin strings to using the bow all while singing and playing keyboards. Unlike the last time I saw him, he had an additional multi-instrumentalist on stage with him to add some much-appreciated percussion, bass, and guitar. It’s certainly a fun act to watch and Owen has some fantastic songs to back it up like “Keep the Dog Quiet”, “Lewis Takes Action” and the terrific set-closer (plus one of my favorite songs of the year) “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”.

MP3 Lewis Takes Off His Shirt

The National are known for their dynamic performances and this was very visible from the very start of the night. The band opened with a slow build, playing two of the softer songs from High Violet, “Runaway” and “Anyone’s Ghost” before unleashing a crowd favorite, the rapturous “Mistaken For Strangers” and then following that up with the driving intensity of  “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. Their loud/soft range was evident throughout the night and the band also balanced a good deal of humor in their stage banter with their particularly moody, bummed out songs.

One of the most memorable moments occurred when lead singer, Matt Beringer announced they were going to have a crowd-determined contest to see who’s the best looking member of the band and then began to sway us towards himself. The Dressner brothers revealed that this is why they call him “Dick Jagger”. Another funny moment occurred before my favorite song on the new album “Conversation 16” in which Beringer described it as a song about marriage before deciding that was too boring and saying it’s a song about “marraige and cannabilism”. That led off into a pretty hilarious discussion on whether the eating of brains in the lyrics was literal or figurative.

I enjoyed that the setlist was varied between all the bands albums with tracks as old as “Available” and “Cardinal Song” from Sad Songs From Dirty Lovers being played, plus a handful from Alligator (still my favorite from them by the way) and Boxer and almost all of High Violet. All the songs hit their mark but there were a few that stood out like “Squalor Victoria” which had Beringer pacing the stage and screaming into the mic like a madmen while Bryan Devendorf played a thundering drum beat. “Abel” is another hard-hitting song that I’ll never tire of hearing  and had fans singing their lungs out in unison at the chorus. Many of the best moments though, were the ballads like “Slow Show”, “England” and “Afraid of Everyone” which were delivered as passionately as the fist-pumpers and really came alive in the theater’s intimate setting.

The band’s encore performances was one of the best I’ve seen in a while, starting with a spine-tingling acoustic performance of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”. The band then proceeded to blow everyone away with what may be their most beloved song “Mr. November”. Shouting along to “I won’t f*** us over, I’m Mr. November” along with the rest of the crowd stands among my top rock show experiences. The closer for the night, “Terrible Love” was just as epic, with Beringer leaping over the guard rails and singing the last stanza of the song literally inches from my face. With their powerful and engaging live performance, The National have shown yet again, that they are one of the greatest rock to emerge in the last ten years. I just hope they’ll continue to make great albums and put on shows like this one for the next ten.

MP3 Abel
MP3 Terrible Love

There’s more The National / Owen Pallett pictures after the jump. Click here for the entire set.

Secret Knives

I think Murray Hewitt best portrayed what the average person thinks about New Zealand on the tourism posters in his office with sayings like “Come Visit Us Down Underer” and “It’s Like Lord Of The Rings”. That is to say, a booming music scene isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind. I don’t actually think I’ve listened to any kiwi artists (other than these guys obviously) until I stumbled on a guitar pop band called Secret Knives this week, and I must say that I’m extremely impressed. The Wellington-based band (which may or may not be named after the Wolf Parade song) is led by Ash Smith, who does all the recording solo although they tour as a quartet. The effects-heavy, dream pop tunes are comparable to 80’s shoegaze / post-punk like Slowdive and Ride, but with a prominent bedroom pop vibe.

The first song that really hooked me on this band is one called “The Northwest States”, a twinkling guitar pop song backed by sublime drum beats and a fantastic bass line that gets your head bopping even before the wistful vocal melody comes in to knock you away. The real treat though is the sweeping guitar work which builds throughout the song, seeming to hit all the right notes at the right times. The breezy solo that hits about mid-track is just memerizing. “Wicker Park” has more of that ultra-melodic chiming guitar and really does a great job of pulling you in with some swirling electronica and hazy vocals. Their debut album, titled Affection, is a fully captivating listen front-to-back and their label, A Low Hum, is generously letting you download it (plus their first EP) at their website. I highly recommend you do so.

MP3 The Northwest States
MP3 Wicker Park

Visit the Secret Knives’ bandcamp to stream / download their music.

Pygmalion Festival: Roky Erickson w/ Okkervil River, Caribou, Ted Leo, Cap'n Jazz

The last time I saw Ted Leo was at Pitchfork Fest, where he swung a microphone into his forehead and had blood streaming down his face for the last song. There wasn’t any bleeding this time around, but Ted Leo did put on a solid opening set to the last day of Pygmalion Festival. The Krannert Center seems like a strange place for the punk rocker to play, given that all the other days of the year the venue plays host to classical and jazz orchestras, but the crowd had no problem in moving away from the seats to the front of the stage to rock out. 

Ted is always a joy to watch on stage, jamming on his guitar and jumping around like someone half his age. The Pharmacists and him stormed through a short set of mostly new material with a couple of older gems like “Timorous Me” and “The Angel’s Share” thrown in to appease the long-time fans. His new album hasn’t gotten as many plays from me as his earlier stuff, but I did I enjoy hearing a number of the songs live, like “The Mighty Sparrow” and the ultra-catchy “Bottled in Cork”.

MP3 Ted Leo – The Mighty Sparrow
MP3 Ted Leo – Timorous Me

I admit I’m not really familiar with any of Roky Erickson‘s work and have only heard one or two songs from his highly influencial psychedelic-rock band, 13th Floor Elevators, so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this show. I am a big fan of Okkervil River though, so their involvement definitely peaked my interest. I was impressed by the variety of the show. Some songs were hard rock, even approaching metal, some were acoustic and folky. Some were very catchy (like my favorite song of the night “I Walked With A Zombie”) and some had no real discernible melody at all.

Okkervil River are all extremely accomplished musicians so even when a song didn’t suit my fancy, I enjoyed seeing Will Sheff and the gang rocking out on stage. Since I’ve last seen the band last, they’ve added an awesome lead guitarist named Lauren Gurgiolo who killed it the entire set. I think it speaks a lot to Roky’s significance as rock icon that a band as talented as Okkervil River would put their career on hold to become his backing band for a year. I can’t say I enjoyed everything that I heard but for what it’s worth, it was a very entertaining show.

MP3 Roky Erickson w/ Okkervil River – Goodbye Sweet Dreams
MP3 Roky Erickson & the Aliens – I Walked With A Zombie

I’ve never listened to much Cap’n Jazz, but but I grew up listening to their style of music: loud, passionate, melodic emo-rock and I’m pretty well-versed in some of the bands that spouted from Cap’n Jazz like American Football, The Promise Ring, Joan of Arc, and Owen. After their set at Pygmalion Festival, I’m kicking myself for not checking out these guys earlier because they were absolutely incredible live. They sound excactly like something that would have rocked my 16-year old self’s world.

From the very first song, lead singer Tim Kinsella spent the majority of the time howling into the mic while crowd-surfing. All the while, the band assaulted the crowd with Davey von Bohlen’s tight, blaring guitars and Mike Kinsella’s rapid-fire drumming. I’ve rarely seen such an energetic and devoted audience, with the rambunctious crowd members shouting out every lyric. Tim even handed over the mic to fans a few times and let them sing. Even though I didn’t recognize the songs, I absolutely loved Cap’n Jazz’s gloriously chaotic performance.

MP3 Cap’n Jazz – Oh, Messy Life
MP3 Cap’n Jazz – Little League

Even though I was exhausted from all the good shows I’d seen over the weekend, there’s was no way I was going to miss Caribou‘s late night set. Since the last time I saw the band, I’ve become a much bigger fan and a big part of that was due to their amazing live show. Since I’ve seen the band last though, they’ve released a great album called Swim where Dan Snaith ventures into the electro/dance realm. The majority of set (“Melody Day” and “Every Time She Turns Round It’s Her Birthday” being the exceptions) were songs from the new record, and it was altogether phenomenal. Snaith usually begins the songs setting up various loops, before moving over to the mic and the songs ended with himself and drummer Brad Weber pounding their dual kits into submission, emphasizing the percussive qualities of the music. 

Opener “Kali” is one of my favorite songs of the year and set the precendent with it’s trancey, synth-soaked, beat-induced wall of sound for the dance-fest that followed.  It was non-stop jams from that point on, with even the more subdued songs on record coming alive when you got the sweeping instrumentation and the drum blitzkrieg going on. The set ended with the two best songs of the night. “Odessa”, the first single on Swim, was played to perfection and then after a brief encore, the band knocked everyone’s socks off with a mind-blowing performance of “Sun”. The song’s pulsating beat built into euphoric ending which had everyone in the room jumping up and down in absolute bliss. Now THAT’S how you end a festival.

MP3 Odessa
MP3 Sun

Follow the jump to see more pictures of each band. Click here for all my Pygmalion Festival Day 4 pictures.

Video/MP3: Cloud Nothings – Hey Cool Kid

“Hey Cool Kid” is the debut single from Cleveland-based lo-fi pop band Cloud Nothings. It’s got a nice guitar hook to it and a catchy chorus which has made it a favorite on the blogs, and now it has a rad video to go along with it featuring the story of a nerd who makes a remote controlled basketball-playing robot out of a homeless dude. It’s also got some truly bizarre special effects and lots of random Japanese letters (anyone want to translate?). Check it out above and download the MP3 below!

MP3 Cloud Nothings – Hey Cool Kid

Pygmalion Festival: Plus/Minus, Candy Claws, Holy F*ck, Gold Motel

After spotlighting Gold Motel this summer I’ve been eager to check out one of their shows so I made sure I was there for their early slot on Day 3 of Champaign-Urbana’s Pygmalion Music Festival. The band’s folsky chamber pop is abundantly fun and light-hearted on record and live even more-so. The group is led by former Hush Sound keyboardist/vocalist Greta Morgan who is an energetic, charming presence on stage, and while she inevitably takes most of the spotlight her all-guy backing band in matching duds (it’s like an inverted Jens Lekman) also deserves credit for their superb performance. The band mixed songs from their self-titled EP like the blissed-out 60’s-era pop of “Perfect In My Mind” and some excellent newer material like the addictively catchy “Safe In L.A.” from their full-length, Summer House.

MP3 Gold Motel – Perfect In My Mind

After the early sets from Gold Motel, Pomegranates, and Colour Revolt at Canopy Club, the rest of the night was dominated by DJ / Dance acts (Cut Chemist being the headliner). I skipped out on most of this, but I did get to see Holy Fuck, a improvisational electronica band from Toronto, Canada. The band are known for their use of organic instruments to create their digital sound and their set-up included live drums, keyboards and guitars in addition to electronic elements. The sound was hypnotic and dynamic, often building to intense dance-inducing climaxes. I left wishing I knew more songs from these guys, because what I heard sounded pretty great.

MP3 Holy Fuck – Latin America

Candy Claws are one of my favorite new bands of the year and were my most anticipated set of the night. Fortunately, the Fort Collins, CO-based band lived up to they hype, putting on a fantastic, mind-boggling performance. The band came out dressed in freaky cat-masks and long fake beards, all except the lead singer, Ryan Hover, who wore leafy headpiece that covered his whole face and carried two twigs which he twirled around and used to conduct the music. Even weirder, inbetween the songs, pre-recorded messages spoken in a young girls voice were played which Ryan lip-synced. Pretty wild stuff.

As anyone who’s listened to their albums would know, the inventiveness of their live show is carried over from their unique, experimental approach to music. Even in the elaborate guises the band were able to beautifully perform their blissful, warbling dream-pop songs. The atmospheric sounds filled the room as one psychedelic melody blended into another. It was amazing to hear the lush dreamscapes of songs like “Silent Time On Earth” and “Sunbeam Show” and all their intricate textures and tempo changes being reproduced. The comparison that kept running through my head as I listened to the otherworldy music was Yellow House-style Grizzly Bear, a comparison that is much more apparent live then on record. Candy Claws put on a truly surreal, transcendent show which was unlike anything I’ve seen. Definitely check these guys out if you get a chance.

MP3 Candy Claws – Silent Time On Earth
MP3 Candy Claws – Sunbeam Show

I was surprised when Plus/Minus were added to the Pygmalion Festival line-up, it’s been a couple years since their last full-lenth album and that’s about the last time I heard anything about them. Further research shows they’re still going strong though with an EP released December last year, and a B-sides compliation just released this week. Before the set, I described the band’s music to my friend as Postal Service-like electronica, but soon after they started playing, I had to take that back. The band were much more guitar heavy then I expected, althought they did still utilize some light keyboard and electronica flourishes. I had to leave early but it was nice hearing a couple of older tracks I recognized like the poly-rhythmic pop song, “Fadeout” (although I later heard they closed with my favorite Plus/Minus song, “Steal The Blueprints” which kindof made me wish I had stayed).

MP3 + / – (Plus/Minus) – Steal The Blueprints
MP3 + / – (Plus/Minus) – Snowblind

Follow the jump to see more pictures of each band. Click here for all my Pygmalion Festival Day 3 pictures.

The F-Bomb Mix

When Sufjan Stevens’s new album Age of Adz hit the web, apart from the auto-tune section in “Impossible Soul”, the most talked thing about the album was the multiple F-bomb drops in the song “I Want To Be Well”. Rewind a couple months back and Cee-Lo’s delightful anthem “F*** You” was making waves for it’s incessant usage of the word. So, inspired by the recent upswing of F-bombin’, I’ve made a mix of my favorite uses using the notorious word in song (with the lyric in question highlighted below). Let me know some of your favorites in the f***ing comments.

MP3 Sufjan Stevens – I Want To Be Well
“I’m not f***ing around I’m not, I’m not, I’m not f***ing around”

MP3 The Antlers – Two
“Daddy was an asshole, he f***ed you up”

MP3 MC5 – Kick Out The Jams
“Right now, Right Now, Right Now, I think it’s time to…KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERF***ER!”

MP3 Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma
“Who gives a f*** about an Oxford comma?”

MP3 Cee-Lo Green – F*** You
“I see you driving ’round town with the girl I love and I’m like, F*** you!”

MP3 Bright Eyes – Lover I Don’t Have To Love
“I want a lover I don’t have to love / I want a girl who’s too sad to give a f***”

MP3 UGK – Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)
“My partner yellin “Too soon! Dont do it! Reconsider! Read some litera – ture on the subject. You sure? F*** it”

MP3 Broken Social Scene – Cause = Time
“They all want to f*** the cause”

MP3 Islands – Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby
“f*** what you heard, you were lied to”

MP3 The National – Mr. November
“I won’t f*** us over, I’m Mr. November”

MP3 Wilco – Ashes of American Flag
“I wonder why we listen to poets and nobody gives a f***”

MP3 MGMT – Time To Pretend
“I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and f*** with the stars”

MP3 Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up
“i wish you would come pick me up, take me out, f*** me up”

MP3 Titus Andronicus – Theme from “Cheers”
“And now that I’m older, I look back and say, ‘What the f*** was it for anyway?'”

MP3 Rilo Kiley – Spectacular Views
“It’s so f***ing beautiful”