I'm just sayin'...

Outback Dreamers

Australian band Powderfinger have 20 years together and seven albums to their credit, the most recent being the just-released Golden Rule. While they haven't made a huge dent in the worldwide music industry, in their home country they are hugely popular and critically-acclaimed, racking up an impressive total of 15 ARIA awards (the Australian equivalent of the Grammys) to date. Their sound is an earnest brand of pop-rock, imagine Switchfoot or a more rocking Counting Crows and you'll have a ballpark idea of their style. The first single from the new album is the driving "All Of The Dreamers," which we've got for you here:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/69179998cfd62db5/

If you like that, keep ahead of the rest of the block and get the upcoming second single "Burn Your Name" too...

http://www.zshare.net/audio/691801609c65ff77/

Fertile Little Tattooed Pageant Parents Who Enjoy Baking

The Soup always gets a few good laughs out of me. What's funny about this clip is how frighteningly believable the whole premise is in today's TV age!

Stairway to Lobster

Just wanted to share this fun video of Australian cover band The Rock Lobsters and their inventive take on Led Zep's classic "Stairway To Heaven..."

Acid in the Willowz

Hailing from Anaheim, California, The Willowz play soulful, bluesy garage rock ala the White Stripes or The Hives. The video for their song "I Wonder" was directed by none other than famed director Michael Gondry, who also used a couple of their tunes in his film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. They've been making music since the early 2000's and have released records on indie label kingpins such as Sympathy For The Record Industry and Dim Mak, who recently released their new album Everyone. The first single is the catchy, raucous "Repitition," which we have for you here...

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68958739b29f6213/

And because the Queens love you, as a bonus here's the spirited and pulsating remix by the Acidkids...

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68958882a4727fec/

Stone Age Prodigy

Twelve years ago the Liam Howlett-masterminded Prodigy released their massive worldwide break-through album The Fat of the Land, bringing rave and techno to the mainstream for the first time. That very same year, the young guitarist from the recently defunct desert stoner band Kyuss started slowly building a new musical adventure that would be known as Queens of the Stone Age. Now, a decade and change later, Josh Homme's Queens are hugely successful, not to mention his newer notoriety with rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. The Prodigy, although still huge overseas, have cooled a bit here in America in recent years. Fortunately for us, the two acts still share a mutual admiration. The Prodigy recently released an all remix album of tracks from their recent Invaders Must Die album, and the two Mr. H's, Homme and Howlett, got together to remix the track "Take Me To The Hospital." Dubbed the "Wreckage Mix", the quite tasty and heavily-pounding mix recalls the best days of industrial dance, and here it is...

http://www.zshare.net/audio/689124488176267d/

Under-Appreciation Society : For Squirrels

One of the saddest stories of unrealized potential in rock history is the story of For Squirrels. Coming out of the typical college town music scene of Gainesville, Florida, they began with a few simple jam sessions and very quickly grew into a band of great promise. The "classic" line-up that recorded their two albums of material consisted of vocalist Jack Vigliatura, guitarist Travis Tooke, bassist Bill White and drummer Jack Griego. Their sound was very much influenced by the then hugely successful R.E.M., who had started out under similar un-pretentious college-town beginnings a decade and a half earlier in Athens, Georgia. As the band's songwriting progressed, the influence of other alternative rock artists of the time, most noticeably Nirvana, shone through.

They independently released their first album Baypath Rd. in 1994. Pleasantly rough around the edges, the songwriting and playing were obviously inspired and attracted attention for the young band, enough so that Miami-based Y&T Music re-released half of the tracks from the album as an EP entitled Plymouth. This afforded the music some better distribution, and the extra visibility, along with their ever-increasing live following, resulted in their being signed by major label Sony/550 by 1995.

At this point, the band was joined by famed English record producer Nick Launay (INXS, Silverchair), and recording was started in studios in Miami and the Bahamas. The resulting album, Example, certainly delivered on the earlier promise. The rough edges were still there in spirit, but the songs and production were far more realized and polished. Listening to these songs, one is definitely struck by the feeling that more great strides were to come for this developing group as their career progressed.

Sadly, that was not to be. Less than a month before the scheduled October 1995 release date for Example, tragedy struck. On their way back to Gainesville from a performance at the legendary CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, the band's touring van lost control somewhere in Georgia. Vigliatura, White and tour manager/close friend Tim Bender were all killed, and both Tooke & Griego were seriously injured.

After some healing, the remaining members picked up the pieces and brought in bassist Andy Lord and continued as a 3-piece For Squirrels, with Tooke taking over vocal duties. At first, Griego was still healing and had to play his drums with a crazily-built contraption to help support his arms, but that was how determined they were to continue playing their music. Having seen them a number of times during this period, I can tell you that there was both spooky magic and intense passion in these performances. There was, of course, a deep sadness, but also an undeniable fight to these musicians who had lost their brothers en route to superstardom.

Eventually, they changed their name to Subrosa, releasing a solid debut album on Sony called Never Bet The Devil Your Head, but the momentum of the original band had been irrevocably halted, and with little promotion from the label, Subrosa eventually fizzled out.

The happy part of the story is that the music is still here to enjoy. Example is currently out of print, but can still be found if one looks in the right places. Baypath Rd. is a much harder-to-find treasure, but fortunately for you, we're happy to share some of the best tracks from both releases with you here.

Example

Their Sony major-label debut opened with the surging "8:02 PM," which I recall having read that Jack explained as being about the feeling of the adrenaline rush just a few moments into the start of a much-anticipated event, obviously inspired by the band's set openings on stage.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/687952947b54643a/

The R.E.M. influence was never more apparent than on the charming "Orangeworker."

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6879540164ef6f17/

Their lone radio hit, minor though it was, was Example's "The Mighty KC." KC is, of course, Kurt Cobain, who had become a big influence on the band before his tragic suicide the previous year.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/687956058e7b3ba7/

One of my favorites, "Disenchanted" sounds to me like they had turned their obvious influences into something truly unique and identifiable, a sound all their own.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68795769c2327442/

Baypath Rd.

Special thanks to my friend John Kuge who contributed the high quality mp3 files from the very rare Baypath Rd.

The first track on Baypath Rd. as well as the Plymouth EP was "Flagboy," which established very clearly the R.E.M.-influenced college rock sound that defined For Squirrels.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68793859aeecf1be/

More of the same with "Kabaret," which showcased their talent for soaring, beautiful melodies.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6879397503995931/

Probably my personal favorite from the first album, "R.O." is obviously about Jack's infatuation with his sisters baby. The song is so unapologetically tender and pretty, I'm not sure most other "college rock" bands at the time could've pulled it off at all. The lyrics are so full of imagery that you can practically feel the summer breeze blow across the back of your neck as you cradle this baby in your arms.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68794622a8773b66/

And lastly, the sweet melancholy of "Unicycle."

http://www.zshare.net/audio/687948064f84c525/

Wrangler Really Tiny Jean Shorts

Sometimes it's so easy to just laugh!

Wrangler Really Tiny Jean Shorts - watch more funny videos

Ok Go : WTF?

Just because Chicago hipster darlings Ok Go got on your radar by way of their crazy/cool videos, don't neglect to notice the fact that they make some great power-pop, too. Like the bratty younger brothers of Beck, they manage to blend the cool and the quirky, the smart and the silly, and come out the other end with keenly written songs that are sharply produced. 2010 will see the release of what is, believe it or not, only their third full studio album, "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky." The first single "WTF?" is typically catchy and hip, with some crazy-fast squiggly lead guitar screaming out in the middle. Get it here and now:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68657995436119b5/

The Dead Heart

London's Dead Kids play intense keyboard-heavy new wave with some serious undercurrents of punk, funk and even a little art rock. This is, of course, quite awesome! One of those bands that made the most out of using the internet as a marketing tool a few years back, they are now rather well-established via a number of singles on uber-cool indie labels such as Fierce Panda and Sparrows Tear, where they are currently holding court. Their new single "German Heart" gets a wicked guitar-riff-driven remix by fellow Londoners, psych-metal trio Invasion, and you can get that here:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68613772e3c21dba/

The battlefield-worthy "Cooks DJ Stole My Modem Remix" of previous single "Snakes" probably got some play at the cooler Halloween parties a few weekends ago. Check that out here:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/68613912edba5947/

Last but not least, here's my favorite of many remixes of 2007's single "Fear And Flouride," which We Are Not Ghetto Kids remixed into a hard-hitting electro-industrial mammoth:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6861510890b50433/