Gigs

Heres is my complete list for gigs I must see before I die.

1. Radiohead
2. David Bowie
3. Bjork
4. New Order
5. Led Zeppelin
6. Belle & Sebastian

Here are some others I want to see, but are not yet a "must".

- Arcade Fire
- Cat Power
- My Morning Jacket
- Phoenix
- Bright Eyes


Here's some that were on the list, but I've had a chance to see.

- Bob Dylan
- Morrissey
- Paul McCartney
- Roger Waters
- Rolling Stones
- U2 (5 times)
- Depeche Mode
- The Cure
- Pearl Jam

Radiohead is coming to NoVa.

I was recently making a list of the artists/bands I must see before I die. Radiohead was on top of that list. Two days ago I bought tickets for their May 11 show outside DC.
Why is Radiohead the number one on that list? Because I consider Radiohead the most important band in terms of their contribution and influence on music, from the last years. Yes, there's Grunge and Nirvana, yes there's Britpop, yes there's rock's revival in the early 00's with the "The" bands (The Strokes, The Vines, The Hives, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs... you get it.) But Radiohead has been an inspiration in some form or another to all the before mentioned.

I have to recognize they are not an easy-to-digest band. Some people have even told me that they've found it difficult to get into Radiohead. But their greatness is there, even though not being the mainstreams' favorite, they have influenced every band that has been inside or outside the mainstream since the early 90's.

But, if your not that into them or haven't found a way, there is hope. Here's the way to start out on Radiohead, and then continue going until you find that you've become a fan.

1. The Bends: This is Radioheads' best album. Everyone will say otherwise and even say OK Computer is one of the best albums ever (some critics and magazines have even named it THE best, above Sgt. Peppers and others.) But reality is, The Bends has never been topped. The band has evolved and changed, but this album remains as their greatest. The funny thing is, it's their easiest. So if you get through this one, and you will, you're on the right track.

2. OK Computer: A piece of art. A "must have". It's not as easy as The Bends, but in terms of production values it might be one of the best produced albums ever, courtesy of Nigel Godrich. This is the album that told the world "we're doing something different".

3. In Rainbows: Yes, from their two most famous, go to the new one. It's great and lighter than the ones I'll mention next.

4. Hail to the Thief: A little underrated, but still a great work.

5. Amnesiac & Kid A: I'm counting these as one because they are similar in some ways. Both are tough, weird, but include some great tracks and moments. These are the two albums for true fans, that's why they are at the bottom of the list.

NOTE: I'm not listing Pablo Honey, mainly because it's the least Radiohead album of all. Forget about Creep, they hate it, don't play it live and consider it the biggest mistake in their career.

What's new.

I was talking to a friend today about how I've been kind of falling behind on new music in the last months. Since I got in the Adcenter (now Brandcenter), I've had little to no time to really research new music. Yes I still check Pitchfork and CMJ like twice a week, but I'm not in the look for new bands as I was before coming to Richmond. Maybe that explains why for the first time in years I wasn't able to come up with a best of the year list for 2007.
That said, I hear Vampire Weekend is coming up big now. I just started listening to them so I don't have a veredict yet. But I found this in Pitchfork today: Guest List is a section they do where every week a different artist or band is requested to fill an interesting questionnaire. Vampire Weekend is this week's band. Let's see what this New Yorkers have to say.

Click here to go to the article.

By the way, "In Rainbows" by Radiohead was my 2007 top album.

Dead Hard Drives and Pulp music.

This morning I was informed that my computer's hard drive is dead, or at least dying. There is a big possibility that I might loose all my data. And what hurts me the most is the fact of loosing my 6,000 song music library. Too much technology trusting. I'm pissed and I can't think.
The worst part is that the last time I downloaded songs to my iPod I decided not to download my whole library so that means that I don't have my songs backed up anywhere. So my iPod right now has around 1,000 songs. The ones that made it.
One of those playlists is one by Pulp, one of my favorite bands and definitely one of the biggest bands of the so called 90's movement, Brit Pop. That means I've been listening to them a lot lately, it's almost as if they've helped me through this whole crisis.
From many conversations I've had with peers, there's a lot of people that don't know Pulp, either too well or at all. So here it is, the ultimate Pulp playlist, a good way to start liking this great band. Enjoy.

- Common People
- Do you remember the first time?
- Pink Glove
- Sylvia
- Joyriders
- Something Changed
- Babies
- Lipgloss
- Help the Aged
- Underwear
- Bar Italia
- Razzmatazz
- Like A Friend
- Disco 2000
- Happy Endings
- This Is Hardcore.

This should get you started. By the way, you'll commonly see the album "Different Class" listed as Pulps' best, or even in some "best albums of..." lists. Don't believe that, their best album is by far "His n' Hers".

The other 80's

It's MLK day. After having breakfast I sat down to work for a while on some ad concepts. Sometimes when I get stuck I turn the TV on to clear my mind or just to have some noise around and then keep working. This morning I caught a VH1 Classic special called "The Best 100 Songs of the 80's". It was bullshit! George Michael, Nena, Falco? Come on! The people doing the reviews on the show were like people taken from The E! True Hollywood Story. A few good music critics participate.
Most people remember the 80's for one-hit wonders and that horrible sub/genre mistakenly labeled as "glam".
What the mainstream will never tell you about the 80's is that it was one of the most exciting eras of music. The so overused term "indie" was born back then. Except they didn't have a name for it so it was just "alternative music".
Yes, a lot of great songs from that time came from the mainstream, but this VH1 list forgot that in the UK Manchester was going on, and punk, and New York, and the CBGB. Todays music has more influence from the 80's than from any other era of music. That's why the 80's are so important, even though people only remember the worst part of it.

My Best Songs of the 80's List.
Songs are listed in no particular order.
- Hong Kong Gardens - Siouxie and the Banshees
- Killing an Arab - The Cure
- How Soon is Now? - The Smiths
- Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
- Age of Consent - New Order
- 24 Hour Party People - Happy Mondays
- Ceremony - Joy Division
- Blister in the Sun - The Violent Femmes
- This is the modern world - The Jam
- London Calling - The Clash
- It's the end of the world as we know it - REM
- Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
- Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
- Ever Fallen in Love? - The Buzzcocks
- Melt with you - Modern English
- Heart of Glass - Blondie
- Purple Rain - Prince
- The Killing Monn - Echo & The Bunnymen
- I Am The Resurrection - The Stone Roses
- Head On - The Jesus and Mary Chain
- Bad - U2
- Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
- Back on the chain gang - The Pretenders
- Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
- Wave of Mutilation - The Pixies
- Once in a lifetime - The Talkingheads
- A New England - Billy Bragg
- Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
- I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
- Jane Says - Jane's Addiction
- She Bangs the Drums - The Stone Roses
- Fight For Your Right To Party - The Beastie Boys
- Pretty In Pink - The Psychadelic Furs
- Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
- I Melt With You - Modern English
- Synchronicity II - The Police
- The KKK Took My Baby Away - The Ramones
- Need You Tonight - INXS
- Modern Love - David Bowie
- Road Runner - The Modern Lovers

These are not all the great songs of the 80's, there's a lot more songs I like, but this is a pretty decent playlist. If I had my way, I would have put the entire Smiths discography.

Meet the Brandcenter

It happened. The formerly known as VCU Adcenter has now officially changed it's name to VCU Brandcenter. And we are a part of it. There has been a lot of talk about the name and building change, about what it means. I think all changes are for a reason. And most changes are good. I was telling one of my classmates this morning that maybe we don't experience the change as hard as other people due to the fact that we only spent 15 weeks in the old one. And we are young (hell yeah), it's easier to adapt. That said, I'm thrilled. Maybe the functionality of the place still has to be proved, and it will, and I'm sure it'll come good. But it definitely feels like the place for our kind of school. It feels like an agency. It has a creative environment. The previous building was old, small and felt like some random office space that was once a cool place to start an ad school, 13 years ago. That doesn't mean we didn't have memorable times in there, and there will be some things we will miss. There's nostalgia. But there is also a feeling of excitement towards the new era. Our class (2009) will spend the next 18 months in there. By the time we graduate 80% of what we'll remember will be inside these walls. I'm happy to be back in Richmond, start another thrilling semester, and be able to do it in a place like this.

This is advertising... as well.

Cool way to advertise. Get Scorsese to do Hitchcock. Never better.

Client: Freixenet.
Agency: JWT, Spain.