Top 5 hello hey and howdy.

What could I possibly say about Jeff Buckley that hasn’t been said before at least a million times by people who are probably much more articulate than I am? To me Jeff Buckley is the living end; I don’t think anyone comes close to the same visceral passion that Buckley put into his songs both lyrically and conveyed in his astoundingly beautiful voice. A lot of people have laughed at me and my fondness for Buckley, but there’s just something about him and his music that endures – I’ve never been able to get tired of him no matter how much I listen to any of his songs. The posthumous release Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk was maybe the easiest album for me to chose when Morty and I decided that this would be the first posts for our blog. We’re treating it as sort of an introduction to us musically speaking, so you have a rough idea of what to expect in coming posts, and I don’t think any introduction to my musical tastes would be complete without a little Jeff Buckley to start the entire thing off. This entire album is like a book of intimate poetry put to music, it’s both refined and rough around the edges with lyrics that will absolutely knock your socks off and make you swoon. Keeping his lyrics in mind, I would like to introduce (or reintroduce) you to Vancouver, one of my favorite Buckley songs of all time.

These guys have been written off as a one hit wonder in the annals of music history, and I would just like to state here and now that in considering them such you are missing out on a real gem. If Buckley is my favorite singer/songwriter then these guys are my favorite band. Their lyrics are catchy and very clever with plays on words, references to both math and literature, and killer lines waiting in every song to leap out and bite you. Like any band their sound has evolved over the years but the heart of the band remains the same, they haven’t ever lost touch with the smart cynical style that borders on theatrical at times that has been more than apparent since their first album: Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? Released in the late 90’s this album isn’t without a touch of the grunge of that era, but as any good band ought they take that sound and warp it, making it something all their own. It’s an album you can yell along to with the windows open, which scores major points in my book; so give Old Hat a listen.

Oh Modest Mouse. Long ago when black lipstick was still considered somewhat chic if only within the confines of my own teenage mind Modest Mouse was a find and a half, mostly because it was so drastically different from anything I had ever heard before. My best friend and I treated this band like our own personal little find, and yes - we even got a bit of snotty pleasure out of people professing to having never had heard of them. We were kids, what do you expect? And then Float On happened, and I don’t know about her but quite frankly I was pissed all the way off, although I did get a laugh when they were nominated for best ‘new’ artist at the Grammys that year. It didn’t take much for me to fall in love with them all over again, their latest effort We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank winning me back without much effort at all. They have a unique sound, although unique is a little bit of an understatement – The Moon And Antarctica wasn’t the first of them that I heard, but it’s still my favorite album, and one I can listen to all the way through – which is the basis for this list! 3rd Planet is a sweet little ditty, so I hope you like it.

The Weakerthans are another group that takes me back years and years, to my first year of college to be exact. I think it says a lot for a band and a lot for a specific album when you can listen to a song that you first heard years and years ago and still get your heart ripped out by it. Left And Leaving as a whole does that for me and I love every second of it. If you haven’t figured it out yet I’m something of a lyric hound and The Weakerthans more than satiate my love of a line that packs a punch. Left And Leaving is an album that makes you want to drive around in the middle of the night with your best friend and be oblivious to what time it is until neither of you can keep your eyes open. It’s an album you can pine for a lost lover to or fall in love with someone new while it plays in the background, warning you of the trials and tribulations to come. These guys will rip your heart out and you’ll thank them and ask for more. Pamphleteer is one of the stand out tracks for me from Left And Leaving, awkward, winsome, and regrettable all at once, it’s a dose of hope with a dash of caution on the side.

There is no top five album list that is complete without Pinkerton or the first self titled album by Weezer on it. They’re nothing new, and they’re not a lurking underground gem waiting to be discovered but by gum I do not care, to me – they’re awesome. Pinkerton was the second release and it wasn’t as well received as the now legendary Blue Album and all I can do is ask why. It’s an album about lamenting I think, and Across the Sea is the most evident of that but you can’t help bob your head and sing along as Rivers lusts after the Japanese teenager of his dreams, writing him letters from a land faraway. Try not to want to learn all the words and sing along, even if you can’t keep a straight face during a few of the lines you won’t be able to turn it off.