Moxy Früvous - Michigan Militia Banjos are cool. Loops are cooler. Looping banjos are coolest. I like this song a lot because it uses the classic method of the "evil" narrator. The song is sung from the point of view of the michigan militia, the very group this band aims to make fun of! For other examples of this method, see the Dead Kennedys' 'Kill The Poor' or Catscan!'s 'Yuppieville'. It's great... not to mention the song itself is pretty catchy and sweet. I like the alien/sci-fi synth that comes in at the end. And, like I mentioned before, you gotta love the banjos. These entries are getting worse... Posted by Mason Shelby November 14, 2006 5:41 PM XTC - Scissor Man Snippy snippy snippy... I really do enjoy story songs. And, XTC is a great band... unusual harmonies and melodies, but still fits within the basic guitar + bass + piano + drums instrumentation. Don't get me wrong, this isn't really that experimental. It's more just quirky pop. But I still like it. And it even ventures a little into either avant-guarde or ska kinda sound in the bridge, I can't really decide which. It is a fun song though. It is kinda jumpy and fun, but has lyrics that are a little bit tweaked. I typically enjoy that sort of thing. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby September 17, 2006 10:41 PM Buckethead - Three Fingers Ah, the versatility of Buckethead. Great guitar playing, excellent rapping! Buckethead collaborates with a rapper. Of course, he's not gonna rap about butts or somethin' lame. This song gets to me because I can relate to the fear in the song: walking around a big city, and you see some blind panhandler on the street, and he's begging for money or whatever. And you walk by... you have some spare change but nothing under a $5 bill and besides... the guy is really huge and there's something messed up about his eyes. He's playing the guitar. You hurry by, hoping he thinks you didn't notice him. But he did. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby September 09, 2006 4:29 PM Dead Kennedys - Police Truck REVERB. This is probably one of many songs that I discovered while driving. Some songs just kick so much more ass when you are driving. This is one of the ones at the very top. Dead Kennedys are pretty great, once you get passed the initial jellobiafraphobia. He's not unlike the guy from Ima Robot or Primus, or I guess a couple of the bands I listen to. He has a weird voice that grows on ya. The guitar's got that sweet reverb on the insanely catchy riffs only Dead Kennedys can provide. It probably has some political message behind it too. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby September 03, 2006 3:52 PM Buckethead - The Black Forest I know what you're thinking: what's with his obession with weirdo music? Well, weirdness alone cannot make a song great, there has to be something else about it that I like, in order to earn a spot on my hallowed list. I just had to share this one because it is basically just a distorted drum machine and a guy playing an accoustic guitar. But, that guy happens to be Buckethead; you can always except some damn fine guitar playing with that guy. The power from the souls of the slain chickens channeling through the KFC bucket he wears really shine on this track. This is probably one of Buckethead's best tracks because it is so unique, I don't really know any others that sound even remotely close. Rockin' out in weird ways always wins major points with me. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby August 29, 2006 12:07 AM Gorillaz - Tomorrow Comes Today The Gorillaz' first single just happens to be one of the most hypnotic songs I have ever listened to. Great production on the drums and bass, perfect vocals with that reverb effect that is heard throughout their self-titled first album. I like this song because it is so chill; and that's not a term I would use lightly. This song really relaxes me and makes me want to drive around at night. I also love how it starts out very repetitive and kinda hypnotic, and at the end gets kinda weird with the random distortion and freakshow whistling: it's perfect. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby July 31, 2006 3:56 PM Primus - Jerry Was A Racecar Driver Probably THE best Primus song. I think the strength of the song lies in the fact that they got the bass distortion to sound like an engine. Then, there's that one part that sounds like racecars goin' by but it's actually just the singer. I mean, it sounds silly when describing it here, but it sounds cool enough to make you want to watch Nascar, until you realize it is just hicks driving in circles. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby July 22, 2006 11:36 AM Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein Best instrumental ever, without a doubt. Lots of air guitar in this song. Seriously, try not to play air guitar and listen to this song. It's pretty much impossible; that's probably why they threw it into Guitar Hero and all. You'll at least head bang a little. But seriously, I was into this song a long time ago, back when I heard a recording of TMBG cover it and I was like WOW GREAT SONG. Unfortunately I lost that version, but... I found this original studio version and was completely blown away. It was even better, and done years before! SICK guitar and drum solos, total breakdown in the middle, then it rocks you back to earth with that main catchy riff, which is built around like 3 notes. Best song ever! Posted by Mason Shelby July 16, 2006 12:31 AM Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade - Whamola This is a core song. It definately dances on the line that divides noise and music. The instrumentation is what makes the song so cool: it's mostly really weird instruments, the main one being a WHAMOLA: basically, an electric gut-bucket. It's a bass D-string attached to a large piece of wood, with a pick-up, that is struck with a drum stick. The band goes crazy on this number, it's like the soundtrack to insanity. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby July 08, 2006 11:55 PM They Might Be Giants - Why Did You Grow A Beard? I'll try not to put too many TMBG songs, but I thought this one was a must. It seems like TMBG has been on a steady decline. However, with their newfound love for podcasting, more strange and interesting songs have been popping up. This could be a good example of where TMBG is headed, which would be a welcome change; they have been tryin' too hard to please casual fans and attract new ones, they need to write for themselves again like they did in the early days. Anyway, this song doesn't have a very beautiful melody, or touching accoustic instrumentation; it's very frustrated and in-your-face and loud and purposefully electronic and dissonant, I love it. Best song ever. Posted by Mason Shelby July 04, 2006 12:09 PM