Iron & Wine

By Brad East

WHEN: 2002 – present

CULPRITS: Sam Beam

ALBUMS: The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002); The Sea & The Rhythm EP (2003); Our Endless Numbered Days (2004); Woman King EP (2005); In the Reins EP (with Calexico; 2005); The Shepherd’s Dog (2007); Around the Well (2009)

HOW: I came to know of Iron & Wine like a lot of people, when Garden State came out in 2004. The next year I got his (I’ll keep the “his” instead of “their,” although who knows what’s better) second LP, Our Endless Numbered Days, and … enjoyed it as background music. It was enjoyable, and there were a few great tracks, but I just couldn’t get myself into it.

But, I kept putting OEND on to study, and it grew on me. And grew on me. At some point, I realized that there was more to this than just plucked guitar and a soft voice. I actually remember sitting in an apartment in Tomsk, Russia, in June of 2007, and deciding spontaneously to download all of Iron & Wine’s EPs and B-sides on iTunes. I was greatly anticipating the release of The Shepherd’s Dog that August, and I wanted to expand my I&W vocabulary. The combination of the EPs and Shepherd’s Dog finally did me in. I got it.

WHY: More than most bands, Iron & Wine takes time to learn. Sam Beam is a quiet force of nature, and in order to come under his yoke, you have to submit to the discipline of learning the themes, the images, the habits and characters that make up his music. The simplicity that lies beneath the complex guitar picking and multiple harmonies, in concert with the southern narrative poetic style of his lyrics, is extraordinarily compelling, and often beautiful. This is not even to mention the remarkable consistency of quality over the decade comprising his work, much less the diversity of instruments and styles on display. In many ways Sam Beam is one of the most exciting musicians working today, and he is at the peak of his powers.

SONGS: I wanted, of course, to draw not only on I&W’s three LPs, but also from the myriad compilations and EPs, and thus the whole of the mix is pleasantly diverse and cohesive together. Some of the non-LP/EP songs were gathered into this year’s Around the Well double disc collection, but I put the original location to find them. Some favorites include the more or less perfect “Resurrection Fern,” the percussively biblical “Woman King,” the heart-wrenching cover of “Love Vigilantes,” and the brilliant outro “Dead Man’s Will.” As well, see the couple representative collaborations with Calexico, “Dark Eyes” (a cover of the Bob Dylan song) and “History of Lovers.” “The Trapeze Swinger” is epic, profound, and whenever I listen to it I imagine a short film adaptation of Wendell Berry’s short story “Making It Home” as directed by Terrence Malick or David Gordon Green. And “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” is, simply, gorgeous.

I hope you enjoy.

LINK: Click the list below to hear IRON & WINE for free on Lala.com!

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Brad East is co-creator and editor of 80 Minutes For Life, and blogs at Resident Theology. He is currently in the middle of his Master’s of Divinity at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and loves Wilco, Mexican food, the San Antonio Spurs, and attending midnight showings at the Alamo Drafthouse with his wife. Also, he is from Texas.

The Dresden Dolls

By Alexandria Brown

WHEN: 2000 – present (on an unofficial hiatus since 2008-ish)

CULPRITS: Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano, harmonica, ukelele, guitar) and Brian Viglione (drums, percussion, guitar, bass guitar, vocals)

ALBUMS: A Is for Accident (2003); The Dresden Dolls (2003); Yes, Virginia… (2006); No, Virginia… (2008)

HOW: Is your punk lacking cabaret?  Do you often lament the lack of performance art in rock concerts?  Need more music about masturbation, sex, break-ups, rape, abortion, stalking ex-lovers, gender identity issues, LGBTQN debates, the sad state of the world, and people slowly going mad?  What about mimes: sexy or really sexy?  Does your coin-operated boy look nothing at all like Brian Viglione in a dress?  Well, look no further, dear reader, for I have the band that is sure to solve all your woes!

Formed in the heady, seedy, quirky, and totally unorthodox era of the Boston music scene in the early aughts, The Dresden Dolls are a uniqueness unto themselves. Like Nine Inch Nails does with Industrial, The Dolls pretty much has the market cornered on punk cabaret (well, them and the utterly awesome Two Ton Boa). This is a band that demands headphones. Layers upon layers, secret chords, whispering chains, vocals on top of vocals on top of vocals. Plug ‘em in and crank it up to 11.

Staffed only by Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione, The Dresden Dolls sounds absolutely unlike anything else you’ve ever heard.  Neither are anything like anyone else but themselves: Brian is a transvestite and often skirts it up on stage; AFP doesn’t shave her underarms or legs but shaves off her eyebrows and paints them decoratively instead.  She resides usually on the keyboard and he on drums, but the sounds that come out of the two of them is akin to an orchestra. Though they are no longer a couple (she’s currently madly in love with Neil Gaiman and their relationship – christened “Steve” – can be chronicled through their adorable Tweets to each other) they have continued to use that passion to drive them musically.

WHY: It was the spring of 2005 and I had spent the last half of the semester staying up all night, waitressing all morning, and going to class all afternoon.  My thesis and about 8 squillion other papers were all due in space of two weeks and college graduation just after that.  It was 2:00 am and I was shaken out of my statistical analysis induced stupor by “Coin-Operated Boy” on the radio.  I was, needless to say, completely bowled over. That summer I saw them live for the first time when they played a local festival as an opener for The Violent Femmes.  Maybe two dozen people were there, it was deathly hot, I was drunk on cheap, watered down beer, and the music was so moving I thought someone spiked my drink.  Watching them join The Femmes later on was even better.  Now at least twice a year my best friend and I see them (or just AFP) perform live and each show KO’s the previous one.

Why are they so amazing?  Because they love what they do.  They really, truly love it.  And by putting their hearts and souls into their music, into their concerts, they don’t just play on stage, they perform.  They both have backgrounds in theater, performance art, and street performance (as living statues) and that desire to put on display something they and the audience are proud of, something both can experience, create, and alter together, something profound and interesting and artistic and creative presides through everything they do.  They have no pretensions and no egos.  These are rock stars who will hang out with their fans at the bar before their set, who buy flowers for people waiting in line to be let into the venue, who willingly and eagerly sign autographs and take pictures with their fans.  AFP is known for hanging out online for #LOFNOTC, auctioning off her belongings, and showing off creative fan art.  Sadly the band is currently on a quasi unofficial hiatus (mostly due to their continued battle with evil Roadrunner) so AFP can be found on her never-ending world tour or on Twitter while Brian teaches drums and guest-spots on other albums.

Watching Brian drum so hard he breaks his sticks, hearing AFP hit the piano keys so intensely her whole body quakes, feeling my heart race faster and faster with each chord, it was like I was listening to music for the first time.  It was the same experience I had when I first read Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman, when I first saw a Hayao Miazaki film, when I first heard Nine Inch Nails, Death Cab For Cutie, and Nick Drake.  The Dolls shifted my perception of reality by showing me new ways of experiencing life and new ways of interpreting those experiences.

SONGS: I covered every studio album, but no EPs.  A For Accident is mostly just a collection of live songs, but I included it so you can at least hear them live if nothing else.  But I urge you to drop what you’re doing and go see them (or AFP) live next chance you get.  On a personal note, their self-titled record is my favorite of theirs and if you ever need to track me down just look for the car blaring “Girl Anachronism” at the top of its stereo.

SIDE NOTE: If you do find yourself wanting to get your grubby little hands on some Dolls, please buy directly from The Dolls themselves. They’ve been trying to extricate themselves out of their contract with Roadrunner for ages and whatever you buy from any other source (like Amazon.com or Target) goes to the evil corporate entity rather than the two hardest working musicians in the business.  She self-financed her solo record (Who Killed Amanda Palmer — which is excellent, by the way), solo tour, and music videos and she still hasn’t seen a dime of it.  And if you can track it down, buy a copy of the WKAP book; it’s chock full of photos of dead Amanda and short stories by Gaiman.

Brian Viglione has just started using Facebook and has been posting links about upcoming shows there.  AFP has a blog but is more likely to be found on Twitter.  There is also a Dresden Dolls website but neither Brian nor AFP have anything to do with it and it is run by Roadrunner.

LINK: Click on the list below to hear The Dresden Dolls for free on Lala.com!

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Alexandria Brown is a librarian by day, writer by night, and archivist in training.  She was born, raised, and still lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and when she’s not at work or procrastinating on her homework for an ongoing Master’s degree you can usually find her at the beach, driving to the beach, or setting up iPod playlists to listen to at the beach.

New Order

By Ben Rose

WHEN: 1980- 2007

CULPRITS: Bernard “Barney” Sumner (vocals, guitar, synths, programming, melodica; 1980-2007), Peter “Hooky” Hook (bass, drum pads, occasional mullet; 1980-2007), Stephen Morris (drums, synths; 1980-2007), Gillian Gilbert (synths, guitar; 1980-2004), Phil Cunningham (guitar; 2004-2007)

ALBUMS: Movement (1980); Power, Corruption & Lies (1983); Low-Life (1985); Brotherhood (1986); Technique (1989); Republic (1993); Get Ready (2001); Waiting for the Sirens’ Call (2005)

HOW: I first learned about New Order from a girl I fancied in high school. I had heard “Blue Monday” in movies and what not before and always loved it, but I admittedly didn’t know who had recorded it. The aforementioned lass introduced me to New Order while I was discovering a lot of other disco-influenced records, by the likes of Front 242, Pet Shop Boys and such. I bought the US CD reissue of Power, Corruption & Lies largely because it had “Blue Monday” on it, and instantly fell in love with “5 8 6.” From there, I purchased the US CD version of (The Best of) New Order, where I flipped out over “True Faith” and “Dreams Never End,” although I still didn’t love the band as a whole. After a few years of this not quite “getting” them — let’s face it, they’re a weird, weird group — I became a huge Joy Division fan. After a bit, I finally realized that they were all I’d ever wanted, and I bought as much of their catalogue as I could, and began collecting shows. I’ll be honest — I virtually never listen to studio New Order. The live stuff is just too incredible, too raw, too macaw. There’s nothing I’ve ever heard that touched live New Order, ca. 1982-1989. Seeing them in New York City and Manchester in 2005 just cemented it for me. Admittedly, I can only offer a limited perspective on them, being an American born shortly after their inception who didn’t really become an obsessive fan until near the end of their career, but my love for them is, I think, extremely genuine.

WHY: “[T]he truth of Zen is absolute in which there is no dualism, no conditionality. To speak of ignorance and enlightenment … as if they were two separate objects which cannot be merged in one, is not … expressing the ultimate truth. Everything is a manifestation of the Buddha-Nature, which is not defiled in passions, nor purified in enlightenment. It is above all categories. If you want to see what is the nature of your being, free your mind from thought of relativity.”

-Hui-neng, The Sixth Patriarch of Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism

“I’d like to dedicate this set to Caroline and Peter, who should’ve been here tonight, but Caroline’s not here because she’s dead. It’s not a joke and it’s not funny. Then again, we never are.”

-Barney, at the beginning of their Finsbury Park gig, June 6, 1987

Think about being, matter. What is it without non-being, or apparent nothingness? If there was no nothingness, there would truly be nothing; 1=0. All that is, is defined by being and non-being, equally. Being is both itself and not-itself, just as light appears to consist of both particles and waves, matter and non-matter.

So what is sincerity? How would we define it without insincerity, or even without the possibility of cheekiness? The genius behind New Order is that they reveal and render sincerity to be both itself and not-itself, for at nearly every moment, they are both completely sincere and completely taking the piss at your expense, and the difference is indistinguishable. Their mode of expression asserts and denies paradox, resulting in the use of paradox to refute the possibility of itself. If Johannes Scotus Erigena was even selectively correct when he asserted, “All that is, is light,” then that explains why the music of New Order feels more genuinely essential to me than that of any other artist; they are both, neither, and one or the other, all at once. And if ol’ Hui-neng is onto something, and Zen is in fact expressive of some sort of ultimate truth, then that is why I love New Order. Their music, their message, is not one thing or another, it merely is what it is. It is pure and categorical in its eschewing of category.

There seems to be a prevalent conception that for a piece of music, a book, or a work of art to be profound and truly significant, it has to be dire; a portrait of suffering, angst and unhappiness. This strikes me as a huge part of why Ian Curtis is revered as such a genius, the music of Joy Division the most essential portrait of fractured modern life from the late 70s/early 80s. And while I’m not trying to pit New Order against its prior incarnation — both are excellent — I would argue that the Ian-less group is actually even more significant, more powerful, and more fully human than the band driven largely by the personal aesthetic of their producer, Martin Hannett. I think that, for both groups, the live performances of their frontmen largely define what was going on with them. Ian, with his frantic “dead fly” (shouldn’t it be “dying fly”?) dance and inhumanly cold blue eyes, revealed this heroically repressed energy that had been fatally sublimated into something resembling a machine (I think this is evident throughout their music, too), struggling to either break free and embrace itself — or die (which is what actually happened, in Ian’s case). Barney represents the exact opposite: personal freedom of expression, which also shines through on nearly every record they made (I’m thinking particularly of Temptation here). Listen to virtually any recording of them live, and you’ll hear a man overcome with childlike joy — or at least bursting with humor — whooping and grunting and transforming his own lyrics into spontaneous infantile rhymes about his favorite body parts (and no, we’re not talking about ear lobes or dimples here). What most deride as childish buffoonery and the result of the supposedly copious quantities of drugs Barney ingested throughout the 80s, I champion as the unfettered expression of self, a spontaneous reaction to one’s own reality with courage, honesty and humor.

To me, what you get when Barney acts like a drunken child is pure spontaneity, pure being, in which emotion and sensation transcend the song’s lyrics, written long ago in an entirely different context, transformed by the purity of the moment. Late in New Order’s career, Barney notoriously used a teleprompter when playing live, and he would still screw up lyrics. A brain destroyed by drug abuse? Sure. But beyond that, I think it reveals that the words he used to express himself meant very little to him, or at least, their meaning changed over time, losing relevance. And when you listen to the whole band playing live, you really get the sense of one organism, working together, sending out waves of pure, unfiltered consciousness — they make mistakes, they change the song’s melody at will, they make jokes and Barney hoots and hollers while he dances like, in the words of one reviewer, “someone’s embarrassing dad.” But isn’t that the way people really are, and isn’t that what music makes you do? Instead of being these statuesque, carefully rehearsed harbingers of God-tinged music as many performers try to be, New Order treated their music almost as if it wasn’t their own, as if the fact that they had written it and originally recorded it meant nothing, getting swept up in the moment by what they were making in that same instant, acting and reacting with no discernible difference between the two. And in those infinite instants, what they expressed was a kind of honesty that transcended any artificial duality of sincerity and cheekiness and truly became what it was — nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else: a fluid expression of an essence beyond language through language, where what is said means nothing and everything, is material and immaterial, revealing light, laughter, and a group of adults who still view the world with a sense of pure fun that, in some bizarre and unexpected way, just might channel exactly what Hui-neng was talking about, all those years ago.

SONGS: Attempting to create an introductory compilation of New Order is particularly challenging, since very little of their work is necessarily synecdochic. Virtually every New Order single stands alone, drastically different from the last, as are many of their finest album tracks. With this list, I attempted to provide a look at the essence of the band’s output, with emphasis on accessibility for a New Order newcomer. I imagine that I didn’t bring that many particularly unique things to the table here, but I think this list provides a good look at who New Order was (almost wrote “is” there — still can’t believe it) and why they were so unique. Certain tracks are, in my opinion, a bit more dispensable here; “Bizarre Love Triangle,” in particular. I know that everyone loves a good “BLT,” but I just don’t think it’s one of their better or even more representative studio tracks (although it’s a total banger live, what with Barney’s dancing and lyric changes). Certain other inclusions are fairly obvious — who wouldn’t include “Blue Monday,” “Regret,” and “Ceremony”?

Some of the less obvious inclusions — most notably “5 8 6,” “Love Vigilantes,” and “Every Little Counts” — reflect fundamental aspects of the band’s music. Perhaps the most important of the trio, with respect to my reading of New Order’s music, is “Every Little Counts.” The closing track on Brotherhood, “ELC” reflects perfectly the strange and seamless union of cheekiness and sincerity essential to their musical program. The song seems to express a genuine tenderness and affection through what can only be called an extremely insensitive joke (Barney even laughs at the beginning). But is it sincere? Is he taking the piss? The two are completely inseparable; he is doing both and neither. Even the music itself supports both — it is sincere and pretty for the majority of the song, until the end, when it all falls apart, leaving you confused. In live performances — particularly of the monstrously awesome “Face Up” — from the mid-80s (around the time of Brotherhood), Barney was quite fond of lyrics like these, in which a woman for whom he seemed to care was the object of ridicule (“I’ve known you for such a long time now / You have always been such a dirty cow”). If you can find any of these, they are well worth a listen, if not only for how emotionally confusing they are in their patent purity.

The tracklisting is fairly simple: I opted to kick things off with what many consider to be the ultimate New Order track, “The Perfect Kiss,” partially because I think it worked well as a setlist opener. It also features what may be, in my estimation, the greatest line in pop music history: “Tonight I should have stayed at home, playing with my pleasure zone.” What a beast, right? The playlist’s ending is crucial too, with the final trio of songs some of the band’s most powerful and uplifting. I chose to end with what I think is their biggest bang: “Regret.” Pop perfection and their greatest song, I say. I hope you agree.

LINK: Click the list below to hear New Order for free on Lala.com!

Spacemen 3

By Marilyn Roxie

WHEN: 1982 – 1991

CULPRITS: Jason Pierce/J. Spaceman (guitar, vocals), Peter Kember/Sonic Boom (vocals, guitar), Pete Bain/Bassman (bass, 1982-88), Nicholas Brooker/Natty (drums, 1984-87), Stewart Roswell/Rosco (drums, 1987-88), William Carruthers (bass, 1988-91), Jon Mattock (drums, 1989-90), Steve Evans (guitar, 1990), Mark Refoy (guitar, 1990)

ALBUMS: Sound of Confusion (1986); The Perfect Prescription (1987); Performance (1988); Playing With Fire (1989); Recurring (1990); Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To (1990); The Singles (1995)

HOW: I was recommended Spacemen 3’s Playing With Fire by Jakob Battick (a quite talented musician and artist who is part of the Tea and Oranges collective) sometime in 2008 because he’d noticed I had been listening to Suicide (70s electronic pioneers) a lot and thought I might like them as well. I noticed it was in Robert Dimery’s 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which I’ve been soldiering on to finish for some time, so I thought I might as well … and I was blown back entirely!!! I wondered why I hadn’t heard of them before, why didn’t everyone know about them (only just now approaching 100,000 listeners on Last.fm, at the time I’m writing this). The Suicide association made sense, because of the drone-riff repetition throughout, and of course an 11-minute jam called “Suicide” as an homage to that band. Some months later, I obtained The Perfect Prescription, which is now one of a very few albums I’d give 5/5 stars. I hesitated a bit before getting Sound of Confusion, since people seemed not to think highly of it, but I absolutely loved it, despite the fact that much of it is covers (13th Floor Elevators’ “Rollercoaster”, Juicy Lucy’s “Mary Anne”, and The Stooges’ “Little Doll” — “O.D. Catastrophe” might as well be a cover since it’s a lift from The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye”), as well as their last album, Recurring, which is curious to listen to because of it being split between a Sonic Boom/Peter Kember side and a J. Spaceman/Jason Pierce side. I had previously heard Spiritualized’s (J. Spacemen’s band, post-Spacemen 3) Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space and Lazer Guided Melodies a couple years prior; Spiritualized is certainly more well-known than Spacemen 3, and both are further still more listened-to than Spectrum (Sonic Boom’s post-Spacemen 3 band), which is a shame, because I love them all!

WHY: Spacemen 3 have quickly become one of my most-listened to bands and part of an elite club of music that actually makes me somehow more relaxed and even help me to fall asleep (The Kinks and Natural Snow Buildings also often do the trick). As much as the band were linked with and lyrically/thematically revolved around drugs, there is also a more profound spiritual element and unabashed sensuality in the music and words that one would be hard-pressed to ignore. To me, Spacemen 3 are nothing short of musical magic.

SONGS: The song selection here comes from highlights on their studio albums (chosen with assistance from polling people on Tumblr), as well as an alternate version of “Hey Man” (“Amen” from Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To), a Perfect Prescription demo (“Walking With Jesus“), the single version of “Transparent Radiation” (Red Krayola cover), and a live track (“Things’ll Never Be the Same“). It was tough to narrow down the essentials, but I think this better than any singles/greatest collection around previously — it’s the best compilation of Spacemen 3 you’re apt to find anywhere!

LINK: Click the list below to hear our 80MFL SPACEMEN 3 iMix.

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Marilyn Roxie is a 19-year old music blogger at A Future in Noise and an electronic, instrumental composer. She’s just released her first single “Zug der Krautrock” (a tribute to the genre that Can and Kraftwerk both share) and is getting ready to launch her own record label, Electronic Angel.

The Decemberists

By Chris Smith

WHEN: 2000-present

CULPRITS: Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Funk (guitar, various other instruments), Jenny Conlee (Hammond organ, accordion, melodica, piano, keyboards), Nate Query (bass guitar, double bass), John Moen (drums, backing vocals, melodica) / Former members: Jesse Emerson (bass guitar), Ezra Holbrook (drums, backing vocals), Rachel Blumberg (drums, vocals), David Langenes (guitar), Petra Haden (violin, vocals), Lisa Molinaro (viola, guitar, keyboards, vocals)

ALBUMS: 5 Songs EP (2001); Castaways and Cutouts (2002); Her Majesty the Decemberists (2003); The Tain EP (2004); Picaresque (2005); Picaresqueties EP (2005); The Crane Wife (2006); Connect Sets EP (2006); The Perfect Crime #2 EP (2007); The Hazards of Love (2009)

HOW: I stumbled upon The Decemberists sometime during my freshman year of college and quickly fell in love with their unique style of music.  I somehow found their first full-length album Castaways and Cutouts and just became obsessed with it.  For one reason or another, I stopped listening to them after a few months and then just before The Crane Wife came out, I came back around and stockpiled the rest of their musical library to ready myself for the release.  Since then, I have been completely addicted to everything they do and love listening to anything I can find that they have put out.

“Leslie Anne Levine” from Castaways and Cutouts

WHY: They are unique.  Too many bands sound like this band or that band … not The Decemberists.  Colin Meloy has this amazing way of weaving such interesting storylines into each of the songs the band puts out.  Every song is a story, not just a bunch of one-liners that may or may not have some sort of meaning.  They have instruments that you don’t always hear in music these days (accordion, melodica, organ, and various other strange and interesting sound-making devices), and I love the way those instruments are woven into the songs.

The band does not expect their listeners to simply turn on and tune out.  Instead, they put so much into every song that if you do not focus while listening, there is a good chance you will get lost before the end.  With SAT words and crazy storylines, it is hard to get bored when listening to The Decemberists.  I read a few months ago that The Decemberists have killed off about 70 characters throughout their repertoire of songs.  That is impressive, if you ask me.

With The Hazards of Love, The Decemberists gave their listeners an album that should be listened to in its entirety, as all of the songs come together to create a narrative about lovers William and Mary.  I love this album, it is awesome, but it is hard to listen to many of the songs by themselves since all of them go together so much.  I personally prefer their earlier albums, which are decidedly more folk in style.  The older albums have a little more variance and I just love how I can hear so much over each album.

So, here you go 80MFL readers — you will not be disappointed.

“16 Military Wives” from Picaresque

SONGS: I really do not have much of a method to my madness for this list.  I did my best to give you a smattering of their career while picking the best songs from each album.  I only included one song from Hazards of Love because most of the songs are hard to listen to apart from the rest of the songs.  I also did not include some fan favorites, like ‘The Tain,” because it is long and probably best reserved until one has listened to some of the bands other stuff.  With these songs, you will get a great sense of who the band is and what they are about.

LINK: Click on the list below to hear The Decemberists for free on Lala.com!

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Chris Smith spends his time serving up steaming cups of coffee at an It’s A Grind coffee house in Austin, Texas. When not at the coffee shop, he enjoys tossing frisbees around, spending too much time in book stores, and finding new TV shows to watch on Hulu. He is also somewhat obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman.

The Cars

By Caitlin Flynn

WHEN: 1976-1988

CULPRITS: Ric Ocasek (vocals, rhythm guitar), Benjamin (Ben) Orr (vocals, bass), Elliot Easton (guitar, backing vocals), Greg Hawkes (keyboards, saxophone, various percussion, backing vocals), David Robinson (drums)

ALBUMS: The Cars (1978); Candy-O (1979); Panorama (1980); Shake It Up (1981); Heartbeat City (1984); Door To Door (1987) / Additional tracks have been released on Just What I Needed: The Anthology (1995) and the deluxe edition of the first album (1998), and live versions of some songs are on The Cars Unlocked (2006)

HOW: By 2003, I was in a serious musical slump. Granted, most 13-year olds aren’t very musically advanced to begin with, but I was only semi-successfully trying to like top 40 pop, and I almost got into Good Charlotte and Sum 41, which meant that I could have very well become a mall-emo rat … had not what I consider divine intervention occurred. I vividly remember hearing “Just What I Needed” on the radio that fall for the first time I can remember, as my dad drove me home from my piano teacher’s house, and it felt like an epiphany. I had never heard a tune so catchy and immediate, and full of the keyboards for which I’ve always had a weakness. As at the time I only downloaded individual songs from iTunes, I didn’t get a Cars CD (their Complete Greatest Hits, which I played to death) until June 2004, but then a month later, five days before my fourteenth birthday, I couldn’t resist getting their debut album, still my favorite album of all time. Even though I knew six of its songs, the way the familiar tunes fit in with the exciting new ones was nothing short of magical the first time I heard it. Soon it became a voracious addiction, and I snapped up all of their sadly small discography, first on CD and then on vinyl. (Also, after a few months of denial, I realized that I had a serious crush on Ric Ocasek — don’t laugh, nerdy gawky guys are my type!) The year of 2005 was The Year Of The Cars, but even as I became addicted to other bands as well, The Cars, along with Sonic Youth, were the bedrock of my musical foundation. The things I loved about Ocasek & Co. were exactly what I sought in other bands — simple but sharp lyricism, warbly quirky vocals, irresistible hooks, guitar/synth dueling backed by crashing drums and palpable energy. Even while I don’t listen to them now quite as much as when I first discovered them, no other band even comes close to being my favorite, and they’re like a wonderful old friend whenever I listen to them.

WHY: Fun music unfairly gets a bad rap. The Cars aren’t seeking out to make some grand political statement or display the contents of their thesaurus (but don’t get me wrong, I do love lots of bands that do do that!), they’re just looking for a good time in their little vignettes about love, lust, and nightlife. I can’t tell you how many of their songs give me an uncontrollable urge to start dancing wildly around the room like a monkey that’s just escaped from the zoo. At the same time, however, they have a distinct nerd-chic about them that’s detached from usual balls-out macho posturing. As the primary lyricist, Ric Ocasek always had (and has, even though he’s rather more mellow now) a way with a zinger — such as “You mighta been a neon lover/But you didn’t have to advertise” in “Up And Down” — but he also can be romantic in totally unexpected ways, such as “When I was crazy, I thought you were great” in “It’s All I Can Do.” Granted, that time he gave that line to the more conventionally voiced Ben Orr, not toning down his low, idiosyncratic warble down to love songs until halfway through their career. The multi-singer format is one that I’ve grown extremely attached to since discovering The Cars, and though Ocasek has always said, “If a song needed a good voice, it would go to Ben,” I think he’s selling himself short, and their very different yet still compatible voices merely lend different perspectives to the subject matter.

SONGS: One thing I’ve always loved about The Cars is that while I can definitely tell if a band, older or newer, has a Cars-like sound — that is, using a rhythm-guitar intro, a warbly-voiced singer or zooming keyboard sounds — no two Cars songs really do sound alike. You’d be hard-pressed to guess, not knowing who recorded them, that the instantly catchy, rockabilly-flavored “My Best Friend’s Girl,” the soaring, churning epic “Panorama” (my favorite song of all time), and the lush, gorgeously mournful ballad “Heartbeat City” all were the product of one band. Likewise, both Ric and Ben range vocally from sounding sinister (“You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” and “Moving In Stereo,” respectively) to ridiculously endearing (“Victim Of Love” and “It’s All I Can Do“). But one of the best things about The Cars is their little lost gems, the rarities and live/alternate versions. “Slipaway” is a bouncy send-off that deserved to be a huge hit but didn’t see the light of day until 1995, the live version of “Good Times Roll” streamlines the sound and makes it catchier and the live “Touch And Go” makes it dreamier, swirlier (proto-shoegaze?) and more romantic by changing the last line from “All I need is what you’ve got” to “All I need is you tonight.” The early demo version of “All Mixed Up,” meanwhile, has a heartbreaking vulnerability absent from the album version, particularly since Ric, not Ben, sings the original demo. I’m afraid that I can’t fit all the songs I’ve mentioned in here onto the mix, and there will be some on there that I’ve neglected to mention, but please do dive in and explore their discography, as they have not one bad album — even their much-maligned swan song, Door To Door, is great campy cheesy-80s fun — and they have one of the highest rates of catchy songs per album that I know.

LINK: Click on the list below to hear THE CARS for free on Lala.com!

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Caitlin Flynn is a 19-year-old college sophomore, calls both Springfield, IL, and Ithaca, NY, home; which one she is in depends on the conditions of her life and the time of the year. She is perhaps a little too obsessed with both music and linguistics — as the vast majority of her income is spent on something related to one or the other — but that’s just how she likes it. Some of her favorite bands include The Cars, Destroyer, Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian, Roxy Music, Stereolab, and the Magnetic Fields.

The Shins

By Chris Smith

WHEN: 1997 – present

CULPRITS: James Mercer (guitar, singer), Ron Lewis (bass), Dave Hernandez (guitar/bass), Joe Plummer (drums), Eric Johnson (guitar) / Former members: Jesse Sandoval (drums), Marty Crandall (keyboard), Neal Langford (guitar),

ALBUMS: Nature Bears a Vacuum (1998); Oh, Inverted World (2001); Know Your Onion EP (2002); So Says I EP (2003); Chutes Too Narrow (2003); Wincing the Night Away (2007)

HOW: To be completely honest, I have no clue of the exact way I came to love these guys.  All I remember is watching the movie Garden State, hearing Natalie Portman’s character talk about how awesome they were and thinking, “Natalie Portman likes the same music as me! Yes! I have a chance!” (I am still holding on to that thought and hoping one day I will get the chance to talk to her about our mutual love of The Shins — if she actually likes them, that is).  I would guess that somewhere between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college I stumbled across this group and fell in love with their catchy tunes.  I recently found copies of mix CDs I made back then and The Shins somehow found their way onto a lot of them.  And then, when Garden State came out, I really dove into all of their music again.  I got all of it that I could find; I even found some music from Flake (a few of the members old band); basically I just immersed myself in their music.

“Kissing the Lipless” from Chutes Too Narrow

WHY: The Shins have a way of singing about some depressing stuff while sounding surprisingly upbeat; it’s weird, but I love it.  They sing about heartbreak, loneliness, and everything that follows.  James Mercer is great at putting it all out there without making you want to either cry for him or tell him to grow a pair and get over it.  Their songs are catchy, too.  I get some of these songs stuck in my head for days after listening to one of the albums.  Not stuck in an annoying way, but in a way that makes me walk to a different beat, or makes me hum that song all day long and smile, even if it is about losing a girlfriend or whatever.  Their songs have everything I look for in a song, great imagery, good music, and a front man with a great voice that does not get annoying no matter how long I listen to him.  I think a big part of why I like The Shins so much is how they take me back to a different time in my life. Regardless, I hope you enjoy The Shins — they are worth a long listen!

“Pink Bullets” from Chutes Too Narrow

SONGS: I did my best to include all of their more popular music, because that is how people tend to get hooked on them.  And I believe I did a good job of taking a good sampling of all of their albums.  I did not include songs from their EPs, mainly because they are better to listen to once you have a grasp of them as a band and not while you are still getting to know them.  It is kind of like someone telling you their entire life story ten minutes after you meet them; it can be a little off-putting.  Anyway, I think this is a perfect introduction to The Shins; if anyone thinks I left some stuff out, please leave some comments and let others know.

“Phantom Limb” from Wincing the Night Away

LINK: Click on the list below to hear THE SHINS for free on Lala.com!

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Chris Smith spends his time serving up steaming cups of coffee at an It’s A Grind coffee house in Austin, Texas. When not at the coffee shop, he enjoys tossing frisbees around, spending too much time in book stores, and finding new TV shows to watch on Hulu. He is also somewhat obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Batman.

Ryan Adams

By Patrick Gosnell

WHEN: 1994-1999 (w/Whiskeytown), 1999-2004 (solo), 2004-2009 (w/The Cardinals)

CULPRITS: David Ryan Adams (vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, bass guitar, drums, banjo), collaborative partners too numerous to mention, but including members of the Cardinals and Whiskeytown

ALBUMS: Heartbreaker (2000); Gold (2001); Demolition (2002); Rock N Roll (2003); Love Is Hell (2004); Moroccan Role EP (2004); Cold Roses (2005); Jacksonville City Nights (2005); 29 (2005); Easy Tiger (2007); Follow the Lights EP (2007); Cardinology (2008)

HOW: I remember watching the video for “New York, New York” played repeatedly on MTV in the days following 9/11.  I’d never heard of Ryan Adams, or even Whiskeytown, so I didn’t give him much thought at the time, other than to consider the poignancy of the fact that the video was shot on September 7th, with the Twin Towers displayed proudly behind this troubadour in a blue jean jacket. It was the second single from Gold, however, that initially piqued my interest.  “Answering Bell” had such a cogent alt-country cadence, and featured remarkable harmonies from another one of my favorite frontmen, Adam Duritz … so I knew this Adams guy was doing something right! I quickly scooped up Heartbreaker from a friend, devoured it, and proceeded to purchase every subsequent album on the day of its release. (I know. “Nerd.”) I was finally able to see Ryan live for the first time in late 2004, when he played a few “comeback” shows following his wrist injury from earlier that year. He had trouble getting through some of his songs (and was definitely awash in booze and painkillers), but it was certainly an enthralling show. After a near two-hour set at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia, he kicked the band off the stage and proceeded to tell the audience that he was going to play some songs he’d been working on during his recovery … people could stay or leave (he didn’t care) … but he was going to play them all through, no matter how long it took. For those unfortunate few who retired to an early night, they missed the seeds of what was to come in 2005 (count ’em, 3 albums!), some extremely colorful stage banter, and a truly generous performance by one of the most prolific and talented songwriters of the last decade.

“Answering Bell” from Gold

WHY: There have been plenty of reviews over the years calling Ryan Adams everything from a prolific poet-genius to a whiny over-hyped provocateur. I’m going to agree with both of those terms. Sure, he has been known to be a little “touchy” on stage. I quickly learned that a real Ryan Adams show is not complete without some snide remarks made to the audience, or the occasional temper tantrum. In fact, when he walked off the stage at an Atlanta show last year after only playing nine songs, I was one of the few attendees that came to the show fully prepared for that possibility! But I say let’s cut the guy some slack! What other artist has churned out ten albums (and then some) in the last ten years? and full of mostly high-quality material?? Ryan is one of those true artists who doesn’t go a day without writing a new song. And yes, with such an accelerated production schedule, there are bound to be a few duds and indulgences (for example, the droning, 7-minute “Jesus, Don’t Touch My Baby,” titles like “Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.,” yelling “Guitar Solo!” in the middle of “Halloweenhead“). But when a songwriter is also capable of penning an “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” or a “Dear John” or “Firecracker,” then I fail to see how anyone can’t recognize the talent, inspiration and value of such an artist. Yes, I will take the bad with the good, because the good from Ryan Adams is spectacular!

“Oh My Sweet Carolina” from Heartbreaker

SONGS: I have grouped Ryan’s songs into three distinct categories.  First, what I believe he is most well known for, his spunky brand of alt-country. I always like to start where the artists themselves began, and “To Be Young” is a perfect first taste if you’re new to Adams’ music. The plucky “Answering Bell” provides a mellow segue into two upbeat numbers, “Chin Up, Cheer Up” and “Firecracker.” The next four songs showcase Ryan’s later work with the Cardinals, and include the heartfelt ballad “Two,” and a re-worked version of “This Is It” (originally on the Rock N Roll album).

“This Is It” from Follow The Lights

The middle third of the mix contains some of Ryan’s more raucous and rambunctious numbers — songs that I think critics and fans tend to overlook or call “forced” but I think that’s merely a side-effect of his other writing styles being so bang-up brilliant! His knack for poetic storytelling shows up strong in “This House Is Not For Sale,” and Ryan cranks out the loud for “1974” and “I’m Coming Over.” I have included “Life Is Beautiful” because it shows off Ryan’s musical prowess, as he played every instrument on the track.

“Life Is Beautiful” from Cold Roses

For the final third of the mix, I’ve selected a few of Ryan’s best ballads, which I believe are his strongest songs. The first few piercing notes from Ryan’s harmonica on “I Taught Myself How To Grow Old” draw you in like a far-off porch light to a weary traveler. The partnership between Adams and Norah Jones on “Dear John” wrap you in a soulful blanket of soothing sound, and when the drums finally kick in at the end of “Please Do Not Let Me Go” has to be one of my favorite musical moments from any Ryan Adams record! The mix closes with three slow burners, which are (at least I believe they are) three of the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs written in the last decade: “La Cienega Just Smiled,” “Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play That Part,” and “Oh My Sweet Carolina” (his arresting duet with Emmylou Harris). If you do nothing else with this playlist, please, I beg you, just download these last three songs, wait until you’re driving home after dark, and just listen. If the instrumental melody at the end of “Elizabeth…” doesn’t get you, then I don’t know what will.

“Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play That Part” from 29

WHAT’S MISSING: There are, of course, many other outstanding songs that just could not fit into the 80-minute time limit. Some that just barely missed making my final cut include: “Dance All Night,” “Nuclear,” “Sylvia Plath” (a personal favorite), “My Blue Manhattan,” “Come Pick Me Up,” “Call Me On Your Way Back Home,” “Crossed Out Name,” “Friends,” “Lost and Found,” “Starlite Diner” (a great storytelling song!), “Let It Ride,” and “The Shadowlands.” I think this list is certainly a great place to become acquainted with the many distinct styles that Ryan has to offer, but if you like what you hear, please check out any of his full-length albums — you really can’t go wrong!  Just know that each record has a well-defined sound and style, so if you don’t particularly care for one, I’m sure there is another that will suit your tastes perfectly.

LINK: Click on the list below to see the 80MFL iMix, where you can listen to samples, download what sounds good, or get the whole thing!

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Patrick Gosnell is co-founder and chief designer for 80 Minutes For Life. He spends his days practicing photography, listening to music constantly, and spending way too much time reading design blogs. He and his wife, Karen, enjoy completing puzzles, watching Community, and eating Thai food with close friends.  You can check out his portfolio here.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

By Amanda Parker

WHEN: 2000 – present

CULPRITS: Karen O. (lead singer), Brian Chase (drummer), Nick Zinner (guitarist)

ALBUMS: Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2002); Fever to Tell (2003); Show Your Bones (2006); Is Is (EP, 2007); It’s Blitz (2009)

HOW: It was summer and my family was packing to move out of the house and town I had grown up in. The first few notes of “Maps” rang out over my living room and stopped me dead in my tracks. Despite the song’s melancholy vibe, there was something raw and ready to break loose. I was transfixed by Karen O. Was she about to cry or shout? Or both? And then it was over, only to resurface a few times over the next few years. Still, this was my introduction into a whole new style of music. Despite its difference from “Maps,” I had a similar reaction to the album Show Your Bones, played loudly on back roads with the windows down. And later, at a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show, with confetti “Y’s” and rain falling as Karen O. jumped, screamed, and whispered in front of the confident Nick and Brian. There are so many sides to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that I had to fall for them more than once.

WHY: There is something pleasantly untamed about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and yet, they have a really tight sound. They are the tattoo under the cardigan, the head banging while you fix your tie in the morning,  the glitter, and the smudged eyeliner. They are the wild romance, the angry break-up, the quiet moment of being okay. There is a certain art to the balance of the extreme highs and lows.  There is plenty of great music out there that is beautiful, wild, or unexpected. What is unique is that they combine it all. Just when you think they are about to go too far, they pull back. Just when you think you know where they are going, they throw in a techno beat or throaty yell. If you’ve ever seen them live, you know that they embody their music perfectly. Karen O breaks down and jumps up, twists, pauses, stretches, smirks, explodes. Meanwhile, Brian and Nick back her calmly, controlled. It makes you realize more than ever that this is music that is meant to be felt.

SONGS: Since most of the songs are fairly short, I was able to put a good variety together for this list. While I absolutely love the new album, it will never beat the classic Yeah Yeah Yeahs for me. I feel like the older songs really show off the unique style that first won me and most of their fans over. With the new album, the same YYY’s style definitely shows through but there is a slightly more polished feel. Two songs from their Is Is EP are nice additions and really tie the different albums together, in my opinion. While “Maps” is different than a lot of their other songs, I felt like it was a good way to ease into their music. Some of their most popular songs eventually lead to the lesser-known “Art Star” and then to the energy of both “Heads Will Roll” and “Dull Life.” Slowing down, I ended the list with songs that highlight the softer and sometimes even pretty side of their music.

WHAT’S MISSING: I am not including their single “Zero” on this list. I never felt that this song really represented them well and don’t feel that it fits well into this list. Another song that I am actually sad to have left off is “Modern Romance.” While this song is a personal favorite, it also just didn’t add to the overall list.

LINK: Click on the list below to hear our YEAH YEAH YEAHS playlist on Lala.com!

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Amanda Parker is a graphic designer who gets excited about color swatches, paper, and good ink pens. In her spare time, she teaches yoga to members of a local fight club (and obviously, ignores the first rule). She rarely sleeps but laughs uncontrollably and often. She is most often seen rocking out a black cardigan, regardless of weather or occasion. You can read more about her adventures and recent shows here.

Page France

By Brad East

WHEN: 2004-2008

CULPRITS: Michael Nau (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Whitney McGraw (vocals, glockenspiel, keyboard), Clinton Jones (drums), Jasen Reeder (bass) / Miscellaneous: B.J. Lewis, Bryan Martin, Chris Morris, Matt Smith, David Tracy

ALBUMS: Come, I’m a Lion (2004); Hello, Dear Wind (2005); Pear / Sister Pinecone EP (2006); Tomato Morning EP (2006); …and the Family Telephone (2007)

HOW: I was introduced to Page France in the most dramatic and immediate of ways. In the fall of 2006, I randomly bumped into my old freshman roommate, Kyle, on campus and, he being one musically in the know, asked him what he was listening to at the moment. He gave two bands: Horse Feathers and Page France. I took (and take) Kyle’s word on music as gospel truth, so the moment I got back to my apartment, I found Page France on iTunes, and upon listening to a single 30-second clip, I immediately ordered the entire album. This was back in my antiquated days of valuing the tangible CD, so after waiting a few days I held in my hands Page France’s sophomore work, Hello, Dear Wind.

Put simply, it was a masterpiece.

WHY: As I continued playing the album, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and more, how no one had told me about them. It was sincere astonishment. The lyrics, the consistency, the fun, the thematic arc, the power and swells and climactic outros — everything was perfect!

My favorite story about the power of Hello, Dear Wind is from later that fall, when visiting home in Austin. I was at my friend Heath’s house, and we were heading over to my house across town in separate cars. I was dying for him to hear the album, but in the glory of its fullness, so I gave him the CD with the explicit instructions to listen to it in its entirety, with no distractions, the whole way over. As I got out of my car 40 minutes later, having arrived at my house, I walked over to his car only to see the windows down, the gentle, closing chords of the last song filling the quiet air, as Michael Nau’s laconic, hopeful voice faded away. Heath’s face said it all: he’d been had. And he was hooked.

SONGS: For a while I wasn’t interested in doing a list for Page France, because I didn’t feel like the rest of their catalogue matched the singular achievement of Hello, Dear Wind. Their first album is a healthy step in the right direction, and the later EPs and third (and, prematurely, last) album went in different, more goofy, less substantive directions. I even considered just making the 80MFL mix the whole of Hello, Dear Wind and leaving it at that.

However, as I listen to the 26-song mix, it is actually exactly the sort of eclectic, oddly representative experience of encountering the music of Page France that a newcomer needs. It is unapologetically all over the place, intimating obsessions with odd and mundane and transcendent themes, acoustic and experimental and bursting with life — all rooted in the fantastic worlds woven by the poetry and thin but numinous voice of Michael Nau.

All I can say for this mix is: hang in there; it’s a wild ride.

THERE’S MORE: Though the band called it quits early, Nau and McGraw have formed a new collaboration called Cotton Jones, which has already released one full-length album. I have no doubt this is not the last we will be hearing from them!

LINK: Click on the list below to view the 80MFL iMix or go listen to Page France for free on Lala.com!

SAMPLE SONGS:

“Goodness” from Hello, Dear Wind

“Chariot” from Hello, Dear Wind

“Mr. Violin and Dancing Bear” from …and the Family Telephone

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Brad East is co-creator and editor of 80 Minutes For Life, and blogs at Resident Theology. He is currently in the middle of his Master’s of Divinity at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and loves Wilco, Mexican food, the San Antonio Spurs, and attending midnight showings at the Alamo Drafthouse with his wife. Also, he is from Texas.