Multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird performing “Anonanimal” from his latest cd, The Noble Beast. Check out more of Andrew Bird’s music at his official website.
You might recognize this song from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack, or more recently from a commercial for the video game Gears of War 2. Check out more of Devotchka at their official site or at their MySpace page. They didn’t realease an official video of this song so enjoy this song with a collection of photographs of the band.
I’m a big fan….I’m hoping he’ll be releasing a new album soon. This song, “Volcano” is from his album 0. Recorded live at Abbey Road Studios. Oh, in the interest of full-disclosure, I have a voice-crush on the woman singing with him, Lisa Hannigan.
Homestar Runner is a series of Flash-animation characters that should leave you in stitches. Stitches I say! Ck. out the site sometime. I found out about it years ago, and it’s guaranteed* to make you laugh. The video below is from one of the site’s most popular characters, Strong Bad. He answers reader emails in a very snarky fashion.
Jakob Dylan, frontman for The Wallflowers, recently released a solo album he recorded with Rick Rubin working as producer. The album, Seeing Things, is a pretty stark affair, almost solely acoustic guitar. Check out the animated video to Evil is Alive and Well, a kind of creepy and interesting short.
Rolling Stone recently produced a list of the top 100 guitar songs of all time. Below, you can find a link to the story and an explanation of how songs were chosen for the list. The Rolling story also has a little blurb about each song, too. I’m sure this list will both please and annoy a lot of people if their favorite guitarist/band/song is left out. Ck. it out for yourself. I’m included a few video performances of some of my favorites on the list. (for some reason, I can’t figure out why those smiley faces appear…sorry)
This is what makes a great rock & roll guitar sound: an irresistible riff; a solo or jam that takes you higher every time you hear it; the final power chord that pins you to the wall and makes you hit “play” again and again. Every song here has those thrills. But these are rock’s greatest guitar moments because of what’s inside the notes: hunger, fury, despair and joy, often all at once. You hear the blues, gospel and rockabilly that came before, transormed by the need to say something new and loud, right away. Rock & roll has been the sound of independence for half a century. The guitar is still its essential, liberating voice. These are the 100 reasons why.
The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time
1. “Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry
2. “Purple Haze,” The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
3. “Crossroads” Cream (1968)
4. “You Really Got Me” The Kinks (1964)
5. “Brown Sugar” The Rolling Stones (1971)
6. “Eruption” Van Halen (1978)
7. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” The Beatles (1968)
8. “Stairway to Heaven” Led Zepplin (1971)
9. “Statesboro Blues” The Allman Brothers Band (1971)
10. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Nirvana (1991)
11. “Whole Lotta Love” Led Zeppelin (1969)
12. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968)
13. “Layla” Derek and the Dominos (1970)
14. “Born to Run” Bruce Springsteen (1975)
15. “My Generation” The Who (1965)
16. “Cowgirl in the Sand” Neil Young with Crazy Horse (1969)
17. “Black Sabbath” Black Sabbath (1970)
18. “Blitzkrieg Bop” Ramones (1976)
19. “Purple Rain” Prince and the Revolution (1984)
20. “People Get Ready” The Impressions (1965)
21. “Seven Nation Army” The White Stripes (2003)
22. “A Hard Day’s Night” The Beatles (1964)
23. “Over Under Sideways Down” The Yardbirds (1966)
24. “Killing In The Name Of” Rage Against The Machine (1992)
25. “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” The Rolling Stones (1971)
26. “How Blue Can you Get” B.B. King (1965)
27. “Look Over Yonders Wall” The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
28. “Where the Streets Have No Name” U2 (1987)
29. “Back in Black” AC/DC (1980)
30. “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” Bill Haley and His Comets (1954)
31. “Keep Yourself Alive” Queen (1973)
32. “Sultans of Swing” Dire Straits (1978)
33. “Master of Puppets” Metallica (1986)
34. “Walk This Way” Aerosmith (1975)
35. “1969” The Stooges (1969)
36. “Interstellar Overdrive” Pink Floyd (1967)
37. “That’s All Right” Elvis Presley (1954)
38. “Stay With Me” The Faces (1971)
39. “Black Magic Woman” Santana (1970)
40. “I Can See for Miles” The Who (1967)
41. “Marquee Moon” Television (1977)
42. “Hideaway” John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (1966)
43. “Holidays in the Sun” The Sex Pistols (1977)
44. “Dig Me Out” Sleater-Kinne (1997)
45. “I Saw Her Standing There” The Beatles (1963)
46. “Miserlou” Dick Dale and the Del-Tones (1962)
47. “Panama” Van Halen (1984)
48. “London Calling” The Clash (1980)
49. “Machine Gun” Jimi Hendrix (1970)
50. “Debaser” Pixies (1989)
51. “Crazy Train” Ozzy Osbourne (1981)
52. “My Iron Lung” Radiohead (1995)
53. “Born on the Bayou” Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
54. “Little Wing” Stevie Ray Vaughan (1991)
55. “White Room” Cream (1968)
56. “Eight Miles High” The Byrds (1966)
57. “Dark Star” Grateful Dead (1969)
58. “Rumble” Link Wray (1958)
59. “Freeway Jam” Jeff Beck (1975)
60. “Maggot Brain” Funkadelic (1971)
61. “Soul Man” Sam and Dave (1967)
62. “Born Under a Bad Sign” Albert King (1967)
63. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” Guns n’ Roses (1987)
64. “Freebird” Lyrnyrd Skynyrd (1973)
65. “Message in a Bottle” The Police (1979)
66. “Texas Flood” Stevie Ray Vaughan (1983)
67. “Adam Raised a Cain” Bruce Springsteen (1978)
68. “The Thrill is Gone” B.B. King (1969)
69. “Money” Pink Floyd (1973)
70. “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” Smashing Pumpkins (1995)
71. “Take It or Leave It” The Strokes (2001)
72. “Say It Ain’t So” Weezer (1994)
73. “Summertime Blues” Blue Cheer (1968)
74. “La Grange” ZZ Top (1973)
75. “Willie the Pimp” Frank Zappa (1969)
76. “American Girl” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976)
77. “Even Flow” Pearl Jam (1991)
78. “Stone Crazy” Buddy Guy (1970)
79. “Silver Rocket” Sonic Youth (1988)
80. “Kid Charlemagne” Steely Dan (1976)
81. “Beat It” Michael Jackson (1982)
82. “Walk — Don’t Run” The Ventures (1960)
83. “What I Got” Sublime (1996)
84. “Gravity” John Mayer (2006)
85. “You Enjoy Myself” Phish (1988)
86. “I Ain’t Superstitious” Jeff Beck (1968)
87. “Red” King Crimson (1974)
88. “Mona” Quicksilver Messenger Service (1969)
89. “I Love Rock N Roll” Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (1981)
90. “How Soon Is Now?” The Smiths (1985)
91. “Drunkship of Lanterns” The Mars Volta (2003)
92. “Memo from Turner” Mick Jagger (1970)
93. “Only Shallow” My Bloody Valentine (1991)
94. “Money for Nothing” Dire Straits (1984)
95. “Omaha” Moby Grape (1967)
96. “New Day Rising” Husker Du (1985)
97. “No One Knows” Queens of the Stone Age (2002)
98. “Under the Bridge” Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991)
One of rock and roll’s least publicized pioneers passed away today after complications from a stroke. Diddley had a very distinctive playing style that came to be known as the “Bo Diddley beat.” You can hear his influence in several popular songs over the years from U2’s “Desire” to The Who’s “Magic Bus.” Ck. out a video of one of Bo’s performances from the 1960’s. Oh…and if you’re around my age, or older, you probably will remember the second video, a Nike ad campaign for Bo Jackson. R.I.P., Bo.
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